The Game of the Century

The Game of the Century usually refers to a chess game played between Donald Byrne and 13-year old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17th, 1956. It was nicknamed "The Game of the Century" by Hans Kmoch in Chess Review. Kmoch wrote, "The following game, a stunning masterpiece of combination play performed by a boy of 13 against a formidable opponent, matches the finest on record in the history of chess prodigies."

In this game, Fischer (playing Black) demonstrates noteworthy innovation and improvisation. Byrne (playing White), after a standard opening, makes a seemingly minor mistake on move 11, losing tempo by moving the same piece twice. Fischer pounces, with brilliant sacrificial play, culminating in an incredible queen sacrifice on move 17. Byrne captures the queen, but Fischer gets far too much material for it – a Rook, two Bischops, and a Pawn. At the end, Fischer's pieces coordinate to force Checkmate, while Byrne's queen sits, helpless, at the other end of the board.

1.I love this game but almost everyone knows it, why post it?

2.Did you wiki the description?

I too have seen this game countless times, however I can bear to see it again and again. I also enjoyed the annotations and don't care where they came from. Good work and thanks for posting.

cool game

yes its frm wiki......bt i thnk Best thngs R better remembered

Thanks to the OP for posting this beautiful game. It shows what Fischer was capable of doing on the Chessboard before he had even reached his 14th birthday ( and that against an Adult who was on his way to becoming a IM ). Donald Byrne won the US Open Championship in 1953 and tied for 1st place in 1957 ( & also played in several Chess Olympiads ).

This is my favourite game to review. The combination of checks with the bishop and the knight is amazing.