Some games of chess are just so good, so beautiful that they stand the test of time, and I'd like to show some of those to you. The game below was my first experience with such a game, and here's the story (none of the others have such a personal story to them):

It was the spring of 2014 and Donovan (Yeah, him!) and I rode the same bus home every day. We had fun bludgeoning each other with trash talk and virtual pieces on his phone, and all was well and good. He was talking about how he admired Bobby Fischer, a name whose sound I was familiar with, but knew nothing about. He showed me this game, claiming that Fischer was the greatest player of all time. We flipped through the game below on his phone, and I was dumbfounded by Black's 17th move. We paused there, and he had to have seen the look on my face because he laughed like a mad man.

"If he's the greatest player in the world, then why would he do that?!?" I asked loudly, completely bewildered. Back then, the queen was sacred to us. We'd fight tooth and nail just to keep Her Majesty on the board, other pieces besides the king be damned.

"I know! I know! I couldn't believe it either, but it's the best move really! That sort of thing would never come to either of us! That's why he's the best!" He sounded like an amused hyena with him almost falling out of the seat. We were at a stop sign and the bus driver looked back at our seat for a moment like we were both insane.

I took the iPhone out of his hands but he took it back before I could get a closer look at the position. We flipped through the rest of the game, and I saw how Byrne's queen was a lame duck while Bobby's pieces were monsters, eating almost everything white had like they were gum. Bobby Fisher had seen this! Wow! I had forgotten the moves that lead up to it, but that sacrifice must have stuck with me, as I can recall that glimpse of a bright spring day with clarity. He got off the bus before me, but I was left mourning the fact of that amazing position had already faded from my short term memory, and unwittingly ingrained itself in the long term.

It was fun reminiscing that good day, so here you go.

Georgia Cyber Chess Club

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