Shall We Play

Fischerandom Chess?

Svetozar Gligoric

B.T. Batsford Ltd, London

First published in 2002
@ Svetozar Gligoric 2002

ISBN 07134 8764 X

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data.

A catalogue record for this book is
available from the British Library.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be

reproduced, by any means, without prior permission
of the publisher.

Printed in Great Britain by

Creative Print and Design (Wales), Ebbw Vale
for the publishers,
B.T. Batsford Ltd,
64 Brewery Road,
London N7 9NT

A member of Chrysalifsooks pic

A BATSFORD CHESS BOOK

 Contents
Author's Foreword 5

Author's Note 6

Part One: World Champion Bobby Fischer,

Creator of Fischerandom Chess 7

Devising Plans for the First Professional Match

in Fischerandom Chess 9

'Introduction 11

Origin of the game of chess and its brief history 11

Nature of the game 12
Society and the game through the centuries 12
The global breakthrough of the game of chess 14
Chess boom in the Seventies and Eighties 15
The Nineties in jeopardy of chess recession 17
The approaching crisis? 23
World champion Fischer-in chess and for chess 25
Grandmasters and the future of the game 26

Part Two: Birth of a New Chess Game 36

Dilemmas to be resolved 40
The harbingers of "BobbyFischer mode" in Europe 41
The ftrstFischerandom Chess tournament-in 1996 42
No rapid progress in popularity ofF.R.Chess ti11 2000· 69
On the eve of the "Big Day" 70
The story of the random positioning of pieces 71
Piece shutller-as a new item 78
Chess clock-at last the player's friend 80
Golden rules crucial to the future of the new chess 84

Fischerandom Rules 86

Part Three: Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt

fails because of mistaken shuftling! 93

World Premiere of Fischerandom Chess at a High Level 104

Exhibition Games in San Francisco 134

 Author's Foreword

n the world of intellectual sporting competition, the game of

I
chess is surely the. most complex invention of the human
mind. It has existed for 14-15 centuries and, in its advanced
form, has been practised for the last 500 years. Its popularity
has grown slowly but surely and reached its peak throughout
the whole world in the second half of the 20th century.

However, despite the fact that chess has reached the four corners
of the globe and attracted men, women and young players of all
continents, by the end of the 20th century it had found itself facing
an unexpected and strange crisis...

As its own unique fate would have it, the emergence of computers
with their powerful playing programs and colossal databases has
aroused serious concern for the future of the game. And this book,
representing an essay both on the history of chess and its present-day
popUlarity-which can be attributed to its ongoing capacity for
creativity---offers an objective review of many, often conflicting,
opinions on world chess which reveal both a state of confusion and
serious doubts as to whether the game in its traditional form can
survive in the 21st century.

In fact this is the first book about an entirely new subject­

Fischerandom Chess. It was the world chess champion Robert James
Fischer who, in 1996, formulated precise rules for randomized
chess-which could breathe new life into the game of chess we play.
Though still not so well-known, this invention of Bobby Fischer is
already raising reasonable hopes among experts that chess will
remain a mass game for the foreseeable future.

In these first years of the new century the author is himself

puzzled when trying to fathom out what kind of glorious-or
inglorious-days chess is heading for. This is why your writer has
not hesitated to present a wide choice of views from both chess
giants and ordinary fans, thus leaving it up to the reader to form an
opinion about the game's destiny-if he or she can. The problem is
alive and kicking...
 Author's Note

he reader should keep in mind that the completion of the

T
manuscript for this book has taken several years, from
1996 till 2002, and that cited statements and opinions are
to be related to specific situations in different years.
The author gratefully acknowledges the international
chess magazine New In Chess, published in the Netherlands, and the
chess magazine 64, published in Moscow, as sources for the quoted
interviews-and also the help given to me by my younger colleague,
1M Jovan Petronic, who meticulously drew the author's attention to
anything in connection with Fischerandom Chess appearing on the
Internet.
Furthermore my understanding of English-in which I wrote my
text-as well as German, French, Spanish and Russian (I found no
useful material in Italian) has enabled me to refer to little known
books and other written material on this rare subj ect, both from the
past and present.
I also happily recall the interest of the current British Ambassador
to FRYugoslavia, Charles Crawford, who read my entire manuscript
and gave me advice here and there on matters of good style in
English, as my native language is Serbo-Croat.
And finally I wish to thank the personal kindness of Bobby
Fischer. It was my pleasure to witness part of the process of creation
of the randomized chess game, invented and formulated by the
world chess champion, who, having probably liked my interpretation
of his match versus Spassky in my earlier book on Reykjavik 1972,
at the time suggested the idea that I try to write a book myself about
the unknown subject of this new version of the game of chess.

Svetozar Gligoric
 Part One:
World Champion Bobby Fischer,
Creator of Fischerandom Chess

he world chess champion Robert James Fischer was born

T
in Chicago on the 9th of March 1943. Fischer, known
fondly as Bobby, spent his first years in several different
US cities before settling in Brooklyn, New York. His
. parents separated early on; Fischer's mother was the
great influence on his life.
After learning the moves with his sister at the age of six, Fischer
was introduced to master play two years later when his mother took
him to a simultaneous display given by Max Pavey. Fischer began to
play up to six hours a day, usually at the Brooklyn and Manhattan
Chess Clubs.
After two years and fifteen tournaments, in 1957 Fischer won his
first major title, the US Open. This was immediately followed before
his fifteenth birthday by first place in the US Championship. His 5th
place in the Portoroz Interzonal the following year made him at the
time the youngest grandmaster in FIDE history. His victory in the
Stockholm Interzonal of 1962, coming hard on the heels of his
second place to Tal at Bled 1961, established him as a world title
contender. However, after his 11-0 score in the 1963/4 US
Championship, Fischer began one of three extended exiles from
competition.
By then he was already the most widely known, the most
controversial and, for many, the greatest player of all time. As with
Steinitz, Fischer's genius has often been obscured by controversies
away from the board. Like Lasker, Fischer raised chess to new
financial heights despite frequent retreats from serious play. And,
like Capablanca, Fischer is recognized by millions of non-players
and has won the game many new adherents.
Fischer boycotted the 1964-5 World Championship cycle and,
while leading convincingly, quit the Sousse 1967 Interzonal after
8 World Champion Bobby Fischer, Creator ofFischerandom Chess

disputes with FIDE and tournament officials. His perfonnance in the

1970 Palma Interzonal was sensational. Despite its strength, he made
mincemeat of the opposition and finished in first place with 1 8lh
points, no less than 3lh points ahead of his nearest rivals, Geller,
Hubner and Larsen.
Even more overwhelming was his progress through the Candidates
series of matches in 1 97 1 . In the quarter-final he beat the hapless
Soviet grandmaster Mark Taimanov 6-0 and repeated this triumph
with a victory by the same score over Larsen in the semi-final.
Petros ian, the ex-world champion, put up a better fight, but he too
was soundly beaten 6lh-2lh.
With bated breath, the world waited for the clash in 1972 between
world champion Boris Spassky and his challenger Bobby Fischer. At
first it seemed that it would have to wait forever, since not only did
Fischer disagree with playing the match in Reykjavik but he also
objected strongly to the financial conditions. However a timely offer
of an additional £50,000 towards the prize fund from British
financier Jim Slater made Fischer relent and play. Somehow or other
the match went ahead, despite continual protests against the
conditions, threats to withdraw and one actual walk-out. In the end
the challenger proved his clear superiority and, by beating Spassky
1 2lh-8th, Robert James Fischer became the first US player to win
the World Championship, ending a domination by Soviet chess
players that had lasted for a quarter of a century.
In spite of Fischer's dissatisfaction with the regulations for the
next match between himself and his eventual challenger, FIDE did
not agree with some fair changes he demanded. A new chess era had
begun but Fischer played no official game for the next twenty years.
In 1992, having been offered the conditions he had asked for a
long time previously, Fischer agreed to play the earlier promised
return match with Spassky. Despite his extremely long absence from
competition, he won it with a good score of 1 0-5 in decisive games.
It was then that Fischer began to think of refonning the game. The
result of his hard work over several years is Fischerandom
Chess-and plans for exhibition matches of a new kind . . .
At the beginning o f 200 1 a large poll for the "Ten Greatest Chess
Players of the 20th Century, selected by Chess Informant readers"
resulted in Fischer having the highest percentage of votes and
finishing as No. 1 , ahead of Kasparov, Alekhine, Capablanca,
Botvinnik, Karpov, Tal, Lasker, Anand and Korchnoi.
 Devising Plans for the first
Professional Match
in Fischerandom Chess

n June 1, 1996, the sensational news broke on the

O
Internet that "World Chess Champion Robert James
. Fischer will be arriving in Argentina, June 18, having
been specially invited by the Sports Institute of the
Province of Buenos Aires, to announce the worldwide
launch of his new game: FISCHERANDOM CHESS.

Other geniuses such as Emanuel Lasker and Jose Raul Capablanca

attempted unsuccessfully to revitalize chess with new rules. Now,
after five centuries of established rules, Fischer has given life to
radical changes that will shake the chess world.

On Wednesday, June 19. a press conference will take place that

has three main objectives: 1) Confirm July 11, at Pasaje Dardo
Rocha in the city of La Plata, Argentina, as the chosen time and
place for the presentation, 2) Make publicly known the rules of the
new game, and 3) Present the participants of the First Exhibition
Match: two time Argentine champion Pablo Ricardi and the first
Asian Grandmaster Eugene Torre of the Philippines.

BobbyFischer, who caused a revolution with his new digital clock

used in the Return Match for the World Chess Championship against
Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992, has been working for years on
this new form of chess to be presented in Argentina.

If we look back for the last significant change made in the

scientific game, history takes us to 1492 when the Spaniard Ramirez
de Lucena introduced castling in one move; previously it had taken
two.

Fischer's next move, eagerly awaited and bearing his hallmark of

originality, will be made in Argentina. As only the greatest have
done, he is moving the world forward."
10 Devising Plans for the first Professional Match in Fischerandom Chess

Just when everyone involved was on the spot and ready, alas, the
first professional match in Fischerandom Chess had to be cancelled
before a pawn had been pushed, because of "Ricardi's illness" .
There were rumours that one of many sponsors responsible for the
prize fund of 1 00,000 dollars had at the last moment failed to satisfy
the event's financial demands. So we all had to wait for another
opportunity. There was even a proposal in Italy to organize a
national Fischerandom Chess championship while elsewhere there
was talk of competitions for a world championship in Fischerandom
Chess.
Interest in the new chess game was certainly growing-as shown
by the statements of a number of world class male and female
chessplayers. But initially there were no significant competitions ...
Then, in March 2000, the Internet reported that the traditional
Frankfurt Chess Classic 2000 in Germany would consist of six
events, running from June 21'1 until the closing ceremony on June
25th• And, watched for the first time by top grandmasters such as
Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik, Shirov, Leko, Morozevich, Adams,
Ivanchuk, Bareev, Topalov, and Van Wely, a two game exhibition
match in Fischerandom Chess was to be the final event, with
grandmaster Artur Yusupov facing the computer program Fritz 6!
Further proof of the interest aroused in the new chess formula
came in June 26th-29th 200 1 , in Mainz (Germany), where, together
with several other events, including a Kramnik-Anand rapidplay
match, the "first high level match in Fischerandom Chess" was
stagea between Michael Adams and Peter Leko--two "top ten"
grandmasters in FIDE's current classical chess rating list! The match
consisted of eight games in "rapid style"-two per day.
 Introduction

ince the 19th century, various ideas for "randomized

S
chess" have been put forward in the hope of providing a
brighter future for the popular old game of chess.

And this is the first book about Fischerandom Chess.

The rules for this game have been formulated by world
champion Robert James Fischer and represent a greatly improved
form of randomized chess. Fischerandom Chess maintains a close,
intimate connection with "Classical" chess and its formidable
creative heritage, yet injects an almost thousandfold increase in the
diversity of initial positions.

Origin of the game of chess and its brief history

As in music where, starting from ancient Greece, two thousand

years were needed to prepare the way for the appearance of Bach
and his well-tempered piano, the human mind was also slow in
improving the game of chess. It was not until the end of the 15th
century, after centuries of chess evolution, that the "modem"
dynamic form of the game appeared. Even as far back as the 18th
century, Philidor, a genius who found out "200 years too early" that
pawns were "the soul of the position", was protesting against a
totally justified rule still applied in modem chess: namely the
"inappropriate" right to promote pawns to a second, third, etc. queen
while having the original still on the board.

In order to dramatically speed up events on the chessboard, many

changes and improvements have taken place since the first
appearance of the game in 6th century India. Thus pawns were given
the option of advancing two squares from their starting position; the
corresponding option of capturing "en passant" was introduced in
order to avert an unpunished blockade of the position. The queen
started as a modest neighbour of the king, moving at first in the
same way-just one square at a time. Then the queen was allowed to
12 Introduction

jump three squares in any direction and finally grew into the most
powerful piece. The right to castle with the king and rook on either
side of the board was introduced. Chess was gradually transformed
into the best game ever invented by the human mind-as the young
Bobby Fischer used to say.
Its popularity grew steadily from the narrow circles of educated
people in various countries to spread from India to Persia and
Arabia, then to Italy, Spain, Portugal, France, England, Germany
and Russia. It was practised at the royal courts of King Philip of
Spain and Queen Elizabeth I of England. Many rulers in different
countries and different periods were chess players, but only in the
1 6th and 1 7th century, with the growth of a middle class, did the game
begin to attract a far greater number of people.

Nature of the game

The game was probably an imitation of warfare in 6th century

India, since the pieces were named after the principal participants of
military activities of the day (today's bishops were then elephants).
As an intellectual competition chess is a sport ; as an illustration of
the beauty of human logic, a science; as a source of vivid
imagination, an art. Dr Euwe, world chess champion, 1935-1 937,
said: "Chess is a struggle, since the aim of a chess game is victory".
The game, observed psychologically, by its abstract nature
divorces a human being from reality, transferring the player to
another world which to a greater extent guarantees justice. This is
another reason why people like chess. When two opponents are
seated at the chessboard they are left on their own and cannot count
upon fame, inheritance, title, privileges, interventions ... Rivals give
themselves up to the impartiality of their pieces which unerringly
yield to the one who finds the way to the truth. The beauty of logic
and its attendant righteousness is the enchanting feature of chess.

Society and the game through the centuries

There were some rare chess professionals in the past who earned
certain respect for their art . In 1575 the Italian Paolo Boi was
presented by King Philip II with 500 crowns each year for his
victories over Ruy Lopez and Ceron in Spain . To the French
 Introduction 13

musician and composer Danican Philidor, chess meant an important

source of income during his long exile in England. Yet it never has
been an especially lucrative activity. Even in 1 85 1 , when
international chess life began to exist in a regular fashion, the
leading players of the world had to pay their own expenses and it
was vital for many among them to win a prize to compensate for
their financial outlay. Bets were a common way of raising money for
competitions.
In other fields many artists have died as social outcasts because of
their "impractical" devotion to their creative work, while having the
misfortune of living at the wrong time or in the wrong place. Van
Gogh did not sell a single one of his paintings in his lifetime. On the
other hand, fate enabled the painters Picasso and Dali to die rich.
So it was for chess players too. One of the greatest composers of
music of all times, Mozart, died in Salzburg in utter poverty; and in
New York the same tragic end befell the first official world chess
champion and founder of modern chess theory, Wilhelm Steinitz.
Such distressing precedents taught the next world title holder Dr.
Emanuel Lasker to charge an appearance fee, ten times greater than
the first prize in the tournament. His successor Jose Raoul
Capablanca imposed 1 0,000 dollars (a big sum in those days) on the
prize fund for a match to challenge for his title, and Alexander
Alekhine, as the next world champion, tried to follow in his
footsteps. But the rest of the chessworld derived no benefit in spite
of all the attractions which chess had to offer to millions of fans in
Europe and America. Prizes were small, even in important
tournaments. Sometimes organizers would provide grandmasters
with strenuous but paid simultaneous exhibitions after a tournament
to slightly increase their modest earnings..
When Alekhine died in 1946 and the chess throne was transferred
by Botvinnik to the USSR, chess became a matter of official prestige
for the Soviet system. Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal, Petrosian, Spassky
and other grandmasters established long-lasting chess domination
over the rest of the world. The Soviet government paid its players
and sent them to tournaments "free " (i.e. without demanding an
appearance fee), until the young American Bobby Fischer came on
the international scene in 1958 and began insisting on extra fees,
thereby incurring unfavourable world opinion.
For too long it was taken for granted that chess had very little to do
with money, although chess meant high intellectual activity and
14 Introduction

required all the time available to true chess professionals. In 1969

and 1970 for about a year and eight months, Fischer felt "pretty
discouraged". He said: "For a time I was thinking of quitting
international chess. But then I thought-what else can I do? The
answer was-nothing."

The global breakthrough of the game of chess

In 1971, by mercilessly defeating Taimanov, Larsen and Petros ian,

Robert James Fischer became the first man from the Western world
to challenge Soviet chess supremacy and the world champion
Spas sky. This raised unprecendented worldwide interest in the game.
Fischer's victory in Reykjavik in 1972 was met with cheers on all
five continents. Many new countries from Asia and Africa joined the
previously narrow chess world. Never before had chess been
transformed in such a way into a popular intellectual sport for all
ages and for a previously passive female chess population.
The Spassky-Fischer match of 1972 constituted a historical
landmark. The popularity of chess soared throughout the world.
According to international statistical data, chess publications made a
breakthrough in terms of numbers and circulation. This was a
monumental achievement for chess in which for centuries only
modest sums had been invested! Many chess federations saw their
membership sudedenly soar. Naturally this boom in world chess
slowed down in the years that followed and it was in the vital
interests of world chess and FIDE that the Fischer-Karpov match
should be played in 1975.
The new world champion Robert Fischer proposed a revival of the
Steinitz-Zukertort system under which three world champions had
played: namely, Steinitz ( 10 victories), Lasker ( 10 and 8 victories),
and Capablanca (8 and 6 victories). Characteristic of the period had
been an unwillingness either to count draws or to accept a margin of
only one point, as this was not considered convincing enough for
determining the new world champion. Therein lay the origin of the
champion's right to retain his title in the event of a drawn match,
accepted in many of the future world championships.
However, in the quest for a "fair compromise" procedural errors
were committed by FIDE in 1974 and 1975 when Fischer's integral
proposal was divided into three parts and a vote taken on each of
them. This led to a situation in which FIDE finally had to betray its
 Introduction 15

interests and committed a cardinal historical mistake by not

accepting Fischer's proposal as a whole. FIDE never dealt
satisfactorily with the problem of the artificial isolation of Robert
Fischer.
In the period 1 972- 1 975 the economically powerful West took a
positive attitude towards chess. The mighty television opened the
doors of its studios to special programmes dedicated to chess. All
the credit for this historical tum of events should be given to Fischer
alone and his inimitable persistence. Yet it was not Fischer himself,
but Karpov, Kasparov and other future big names, who took
advantage of the new favourable situation created by the American.
Defending his principles and taking meticulous care over matters
at the highest level in professional chess, Fischer scorned any further
dealings with FIDE. Thus he paid an unseen personal price for it­
with sev�nteen years of modest anonymity.
In the meantime, Bobby Fischer never stopped thinking about
chess and has remained faithful to the calling of his life. In his
solitude, he even invented a new chess clock, thereby freeing players
from the problems of acute time pressure and providing fair
conditions to everyone for playing better chess.

Chess boom in the Seventies and Eighties

After the Fischer vs. Spassky match in Reykjavik 1 972, for the
first time the world formed an opinion about chess that it was
worthy of "big money", as was the case in other sports such as
heavyweight boxing, tennis, soccer, basketball, golf...
Although the offer of five million dollars in prize money for the
aborted Fischer-Karpov world championship match in Manila 1 975
has not been repeated-the money was instead spent on the
Muhammad Ali - Joe Frazier heavywight boxing contest!-the prize
funds for subsequent FIDE matches, in Fischer's "absence", were
negotiated in terms of a million or more dollars, something
unimaginable in the previous, modestly organized matches among
Soviet champions after the Second World War.
Chess playing changed its image radically from a whimsical
activity into a serious profession. International competitors through­
out the world, both male and female, increased greatly in number­
and females also in their class of play. Chess professionals saw their
16 Introduction

chance and tried to make competitions as attractive as possible for

the public by shortening the time for reflection and also by
abolishing adjournments in tournament games. The lower standard
of play had to be compensated by more results for the audience and
the grateful, deserving press. Electronic displays were often used for
more efficient demonstrations of games in playing halls.
The market for chess literature increased considerably and
prompted a flood of new chess books and other chess publications in
different languages. In some countries, chess was recognized as an
additional useful educational subject in children's schools.
In the Eighties, computers were introduced, representing a
far-reaching innovation in international chess life. There are ever
stronger playing programs to rival human beings, ever better
programs for analysis or for playing specific endgames, and ever
better programs for systematically storing and easily locating chess
information on a huge scale, thereby removing the need for walls of
chess books on openings.
Garry Kasparov, a pioneer in using computers for chess purposes
and wanting to parry the fear of a possible exhaustion of chess ideas
through the flood of easily accessible information, said "The more
information, the better chess! " Vasily Ivanchuk once commented
happily on his sudden queen sacrifice in an "obligatory" opening
variation with the words ". . . but, chess truly is an inexhaustible
game! " But Viktor Korchnoi, though delighted with his more
aggressive play and more ambitious creativity in old age, arrived at
the conclusion that artificial intelligence would soon dominate
normal intelligence and that, since everything moved so fast, the 2 1st
century would mark the end of the game of chess.
On the occasion of his 60th birthday in January 1997, the ex-world
champion Spassky gave his own opinion where world chess was
heading: "For the railway station! ", adding: "I remember an open
tournament in Metz a few years ago, held in the building of its
railway station, a competition of over 500 participants, the majority
of whom needed money urgently. It was symbolic of the new mass
movement from East to West and the strength of many players was
unknown. These opens do not exactly improve our chess culture. I
do not like it. My generation knew only round robin tournaments
and matches. Through this open-inflation the older players are
handicapped or even excluded from practice. Another point is that
this computer chess is being played. Young people have another
 Introduction 17

conception about chess and frequently play monotonous games. I

doubt their understanding of the game."

The above statements, as much as they contradict one other-seem

to be putting out a few feelers expressing the fear that some threat to
chess is in the air.

The Nineties in jeopardy of chess recession

In ancient Rome, wondering about the marked difference between

the past and the present, wise people used to say "0 tempora, 0
mores!", and this is what Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal and Petrosian,
who never saw the sums of money which befit the champions, might
also have said-"What times, what customs!"

Two intruders-money and computers-have entered into

international chess life and are here to stay. Any serious tournament
player is armed with a portable computer and grandiose databases of
one or even two million beautifully classified games.

Allegedly disappointed with FIDE's inability to find money in the

same league as that offered to Fischer in 1975, in the late Eighties
Kasparov created a parallel organization, the GMA, (Grandmasters'
Association) so as to gain support from his colleagues and to take
over the organization of his own matches. The GMA was short lived.
After a few years of regular round robin and Swiss system
tournaments, it collapsed through lack of new sponsors. Displeased
with opposition to his own plans for the GMA, Kasparov left that
organization before disaster struck...

Then Kasparov created another organization, the PCA

(Professional Chess Association), with only two members, the
second one being his rival Short in their London match of 1993.
About twenty other top players also competed in PCA competitions,
thereby doubling the income which they had received from FIDE
tournaments. FIDE reacted by taking away the world title from
Kasparov-and Karpov lost no time in getting it back by defeating
Timman, also in 1993.

The split was of little use to world chess, since it was not
heavyweight boxing where unification of "different versions of the
title" would bring a world record sum in sporting history to the
winner. Difficulties in finding sponsors for the preliminary matches
were revealed before the idea of the "final" was even mentioned.
18 Introduction

In the meantime, FIDE had elected a new president, who is also

the President of Kalmykia, a small republic in the Russian
Federation. Having fresh ideas and very considerable personal
financial reserves to support these ideas, Mr. Ilyumzhinov appears as
"Deus ex machina" with his willingness to cut, in 1997, the Gordian
knot of the world chess championship (Fischer is the world
champion and has not been defeated, Kasparov-the peA
champion, Karpov-the FIDE champion) in the manner of
Alexander the Great by inviting a hundred top players to compete in
elimination matches for the highest title every year. According to the
young president, this was to be his first act among others for the
"salvation of chess".
The FIDE President feels in his bones that divisions are harmful to
the popularity of chess. Besides, his assertion is that chess activity
has in recent years amounted to about twenty players taking the
prizes, with the vast majority of others, tied to the rating system,
assuming the role of onlookers, eager to join chess high society.
World champions have in the past been regarded as kings but now
the prestige of that title would be reduced to the position of a
president of a democratic republic with a term of only a year or so.
The champion would also have reduced personal rights for the next
world championship, with automatic participation only to the
semi-final stage, worth a fee of 750,000 dollars-but with a longer
term plan of perhaps doubling the total prize fund of five million
dollars (which included the winner's prize of 1,370,000 dollars) for
all concerned.
In 1999, in Las Vegas, the FIDE world championship was held on
a new knock-out system with short matches (reminiscent of tennis
competitions) and a large number of players. After four rounds of
eliminators came the quarter- and semi-finals of four and two
matches respectively, and several more favourites like Kramnik,
Shirov and Adams fell out of the very tense race. In the final match
Khalifman beat Akopian and so, according to FIDE regulations
under Ilyumzhinov's presidency, became the surprise new world
champion,
An inevitable question was whether grandmaster Khalifman from
St.Petersburg regarded himself as the real world champion. He said:
"I would not call myself the best chess player in the world .. .! am the
FIDE world champion, and that is the only world championship we
have at the moment...Everyone can see that chess has lost part of its
 Introduction 19

prestige and image over the last ten or fifteen years.. .! have no
personal ambitions, like proving that I am the greatest. But I am
ambitious to restore the image to the game. My attitude to chess is
one of deep interest and respect..."

Mr. Ilyumzhinov made an appropriate comment on the general

results of the Las Vegas event: "Being the 'father' of this
competition, it is difficult for me to judge the outcome of the world
championship. On the other hand, my system has won, we have cut
the Gordian knot and, as I see it, tranquillity has returned to the
chess kingdom. Now, chess players have a stimulus. Volodya
Akopian told me that he wanted to quit chess since he saw no
prospects: the caste was established, and nobody could join it as
Kasparov had gathered together 8-10 players who then competed
among themselves in super-tournaments. The next championship
would be held a year later... It is possible that the women will play
their world championship at the same time. .! have already invested
.

22 million dollars and I reckon that I did not spend that money in
vain ...Chess has gained new impetus, 22 new countries want to join
FIDE. And the most important thing is that chess has been accepted
into the Olympic family. In Sydney 2000 chess will be exhibited as a
sports activity."

Kasparov regards himself, and not the "new FIDE guy", as he put
it, as the rightful successor to the past world champions. But he has
failed to find sponsors for a match. After having beaten Anand in
1995, he was due to play Karpov in 1997, Shirov (who did not even
receive his prize for defeating Kramnik in a match to decide
Kasparov's challenger) in 1998, while the promised Kasparov­
Anand match of 1999 also came to nothing.

Speaking about the lack of proper sponsorship for chess in

present-day Russia, Maria Manakova wrote: ".. .leading players are
forced to earn their living abroad, in Russia they are simply
unemployed... Does it pay to arouse love for the game in children and
the desire to make it their life-time profession? Should money be
spent on encouraging a child to be successful in chess if, when he
becomes a strong master, he will be deprived of all social
guarantees? ... One has to make a choice between quitting chess or
living in humiliating conditions ... "

There is a true anecdote told by some Russian chess masters who

happened to be playing in Sicily. After the tournament all the
players went to the port in order to depart for the Italian coast on
20 Introduction

their way home. Instead of travel officials, they were met by the
mafia. As a result of short negotiations, during which the mafia
learned of the chess players' paltry earnings, these bandits gave the
chess visitors a lift to the other coast-free of charge!
After his victory in Las Vegas, Alexander Khalifman drew these
conclusions from his past career: "I got the grandmaster title only
when I was 24. I had prestige but I understood that to be accepted
into super-tournaments I needed always an R+ I 0 rating, where R
was my rating of the moment...Opportunities came rarely, in
tournaments rated Category 1 3 - 1 5, but these events gradually
vanished and so did my illusions .. .! reached 30 years of age... and
nothing could be changed in my life ... since it was bound to chess, I
was 32 when I quit playing and created a Grandmaster Chess School
(on the Internet in 1998) ... Professor Elo could not have anticipated
that his system (which was created in times of round robin
tournaments) would rule the chess world in less than 30 years...
Nowadays, grandmasters play each year in 6-7 'Swiss'
tournaments and, very rarely, (if they are very lucky) in one or two
more objective 'normal' tournaments. Instead of creating a genuine
gauge of strength among players, this practice began to deform the
rating system .. .Instead of counting tournament successes, best
games, interesting ideas, dead numbers of 4 figures were the only
way for organizers, journalists and the public to judge a
grandmaster's class of play ... "
Second-placed Akopian explained the misfortunes of the
favourites in Las Vegas in this way: " ... Rating by itself does not
decide. After playing among themselves in 5-6 round robin
tournaments a year, the favourites are not used to taking risks. We
others, who play in Swiss tournaments in order to keep up our rating,
have to make 7 or 7'/2 points out of nine games ... Receiving an
advance fee just to take part, they have forgotten that they have to
fight for the money, whereas we were more accustomed to the
pressure in Las Vegas ... "
As a participant in the new FIDE world championship in Las
Vegas 1999, Kramnik had his own experiences: " ... The daily
presence in the playing hall of not more than a hundred spectators at
a tournament with a 3 million dollar prize fund can only inspire sad
thoughts.. .In general, an explosion in the popularity of chess in the
USA and a fierce battle between major American companies for the
right to sponsor the next FIDE world championship are hardly to be
 Introduction 21

expected ... Regarding the fonnula for staging the championship . . . one
cannot help but be pleased that the circle of players, able to receive a
worthy material reward for their labour, has been extended from
1 0- 1 5 to 104. I think that this is the only chance of restoring the
situation in the chess world, since everyone knows that no single
state can function morally without an extensive stratum, called the
'middle class' . . . On the other hand, I have always been against the
idea of staging the world championship on the knock-out system,
especially, since at the present moment this is the only event (I have
in mind classical chess) in which this fonnula is used. The point is
that players are not used to experiencing such prolonged stress (I
should remind you that a nonnal tournament lasts 9- 1 1 rounds, and
in a knock-out tournament, believe me, one game is equivalent to
two!). And in Las Vegas it was especially noticeable that the
standard of play deteriorated with every round, as a result of which
often the winner was not the objectively strongest, and not even the
strongest at the given moment, but simply the one with the greater
physical stamina or the one who was luckier. In general, the role of
luck in the knock-out system is too great: after all, a score of 1 - 1 is
highly probable, and in the tie-break (especially considering the
fatigue and enonn"us tension of both players) it is really just how
the cards fall. However, it would seem that it is this that many find
attractive. In a television interview, one of the FIDE officials, Mr
Omuku, was asked what he thought about the knock-out system in
chess. The essence of his reply was as follows: since the
International Olympic Committee has recognised chess as a sport, it
is quite natural and nonnal that in our day it is the physical fonn of a
chess player that should become the most important. Comment is
superfluous.. . Nevertheless, I am absolutely convinced that an
imperfect system for staging the world championship is better than
none at all ... "
Nevertheless, at long last, on the 5th of April, 2000, at a press
conference in London it was announced that from October 9th until
November 9th in the last year of the millenium, there would be a
match of 16 games between Kasparov and Kramnik (who, among his
colleagues, has by far the best personal score against Kasparov) for
whatever you like to call it, "the world championship" or
"Kasparov's title"-but with a prize fund of 2 million dollars, A
new entity, Braingames Network PLC (BON) gave a guarantee that
the financial side was secure for the match, as well as for the
"regular cycle" of two more matches over the next 5 years. Kasparov
said that this new 5-year cycle organised through the BON should at
22 Introduction

least bring "some stability back into the world championship",

(Kasparov had not defended his title for 5 years) thereby
disregarding FIDE and indeed the existence of Bobby Fischer whose
claim on the world championship title falls on deaf ears with most of
the chessworld.
Two months after the Kasparov-Kramnik duel in London, Anand
took the official FIDE title in the second knockout FIDE world
championship in 2000, winning the final match against Shirov in
Teheran after going through the qualification competitions in New
Delhi. With two "official world champions" the situation is even
more confused, As Kramnik put it: "having two world champions is
harmful to chess".
The history of chess tells us that the first match in 1 886 between
Steinitz and Zukertort could not be played until Paul Morphy had
died because no one could accept the winner as world champion as
long as the greatest chess genius of the 1 9th century was still alive.
When Morphy passed away in 1 884, it paved the way for such a
match to take place. Kasparov, at the above mentioned London press
conference, added (thereby installing himself as a "20th century
Morphy'') that "this tradition is still alive". Despite Kasparov's play
and results being held in very high esteem in the chessworld, how is
it that the only undefeated champion is still alive and well and yet
has not been mentioned as a possible holder of the "highest title"
since 1 975? Here is what Kasparov himself wrote about Fischer in
the introduction to Elie Agur's book-Bobb y Fischer: A Study of
His Approach to Chess: "If one may judge a player's strength by
comparing him with his contemporaries, it seems to me that
Fischer's achievement is unsurpassed-the gap between him and his
closest rivals was the widest there ever was between a World
Champion and the other top-ranking players of his time. He was
1 0- 1 5 years ahead of his time in his preparation and understanding.
This could be attributed in part to his dedication to the game, which
was unequalled by any other player before or since."
Was it strong prejudice-of presenting Fischer as a person who is
not to be approached--or a kind of plot, as Fischer, let us suppose,
might suspect or believe? Nevertheless, in 1 992, when Fischer was
for the first and only time offered his conditions, he surprised the
world and played Spassky in a long match to 10 wins, which he had
already promised in 1 973.
 Introduction 23

True, Fischer once said privately that in future he would only play
Fischerandom Chess. Even if that were correct or well-known, and
this is not the case, it cannot explain the attitude of many of his
colleagues, sponsors and also FIDE, who continually ignore the
existence of the undefeated world champion. Would it not be a
first-class sensation if Fischer were offered decent conditions to play
a match with a worthy rival in his reformed kind of chess?

The approaching crisis?

There is an implication that the chessworld is in some kind of

crisis when one man (in his role of FIDE President) makes a
personal attempt to save it-at least for the time being-from its
troubles. It should be said that the split at the top is far from being
the primary cause of this unwelcome trend. The deep rooted reason
is, as the world of commerce would say, the discrepancy between
supply and demand in international chess life.
Thousands and thousands of newcomers throughout the world,
together with the existing big bunch of international players, have
been encouraged to take up professional chess careers. But there is
an insufficient number of competitions to satisfy their needs.
This is how the Swiss system, scorned for many decades by
grandmasters for its lack of objective merit-but nevertheless
catering for hundreds of participants in the same place at the same
time-gained both in popularity and recognition as it was seen as a
way out of a difficult situation by offering a means of qualification
even in very important competitions. The alternative solution lies in
rounds of short matches, where the losers are eliminated, as happens
in the newly invented, reformed "world championship", lasting just
three weeks.
In ancient Rome, emperors knew to please the popUlation by
practicing the slogan "panem et circensem", i.e. offering people two
basic necessities-bread and circus. In this respect, there has not
been much change in modern society where the supply of food and
entertainment are of equal significance for its welfare-and chess
has the honour of playing a part in this. However, the essential
question remains-how attractive is the game of chess going to be in
our ever changing world over the years to come?
In the course of only ten years, computers and their advanced
chess programs have improved the system of information to such an
24 Introduction

extent that the pressing of a button has replaced many long hours
and days of painstaking research through books, magazines and
bulletins. At the same time, each year active players and their
competitions have been increasing in number in geometric
progression as has the amount of recorded chess games, which are
systematically arranged in easy to handle and ever growing huge
databases.
Tournament experience accumulates like a snowball rolling down
a steep hill and books on complete openings are now being
substituted by monographs on individual variations of an opening in
order to make room for a thorough elaboration of today's greatly
increased knowledge of each typical position. There is a tendency to
place memory and preparation above individual creativity. On the
other hand, Kasparov suggested an unusual "idea" that players
should be allowed to use their personal laptop computers during the
game itselfl
All this leaves the public with the impression that they are seeing
the same things being played time and time again. In order to escape
from the monotony in contemporary practice of using "the best
lines" all the time, grandmasters have found the remedy of taking
greater risks and trying out rare variations and underrated gambits,
yet all this cannot root out growing boredom with the all too
frequent repetition of so-called popular positions in chess theory.
The public wants and needs excitement, and if tense dramas cease
to unfold at the chessboard, the game's power of attraction will
slowly but surely evaporate and sponsors will decrease both in
number and financial outlay. And precisely this has begun to occur
in recent times with regard to FIDE matches, individual and team
tournaments-the first signs of an impending threat to the game
itself. If it turns out that the FIDE President's actions are just a lucky
detour around an impassable road, then a different kind of
intervention, coming to grips with the heart of the problem, will be
necessary.
Grandmaster Genna Sosonko summed it up in 1 999: "All this
reflects the situation in today's chess world, where the strongest
player has trouble finding tournaments and the sponsorship of the
world championship depends on one man. It may be clear that as the
century draws to a close we are facing hard times."
 Introduction 25

World champion Fischer-in chess and for chess

Long ago, grandmaster Kavalek explained Fischer' s supremacy in

chess with the words: "Bobby is five years ahead of us". He wanted
to say that the other grandmasters needed at least five years of new
tournament experience to reach Fischer' s level of chess knowledge.
And being a man of great vision, during his rather solitary life in
California, Fischer never stopped thinking of the problems which
concern competitive chess.
An unbelievably long period of twenty years had to pass before
Fischer was able to play under those conditions he had been seeking
ever since the match in Reykjavik 1 972. His world championship
return match with Spassky in 1 992 gave him an opportunity to
present his conclusions on the state of world chess.
His book, which would prove his personal findings, has still not
appeared. On the other hand, the Federal Court in Washington DC
indicted Fischer by a Federal arrest warrant on December 1 5 , 1992,
valid all over the USA, thereby discouraging their only official
world chess champion in history from going back home to collect
his files which he had left in the United States.
Although grandmaster Korchnoi made a surprising gesture by
reminding the new FIDE president in an open letter that Fischer is "a
man who is wanted by the US State Department for his crimes" ,
chess fans throughout the world could not understand the hostile
attitude displayed by the blind US authorities to their American
chess hero. The Fischer-Spassky match, held in Yugoslavia, then
subject to United Nations sanctions, took the blame for this "witch
hunt" , and yet not a hair on Spassky's head came to any harm in
France, also a member of the UN, although Spassky, as a French
citizen, played an equal part in this cultural activity-i.e. a chess
match-as the American citizen Fischer.
Reality suggests that today 's widespread team-work, coupled with
very powerful computer systems, could produce an ideal
environment for "staged chess", or, as Fischer claims,
"prearrangements move by move " . Chess circles reacted to the
champion' S comments in a more low key way than was to be
expected after such sharp criticism and almost unbelievable
allegations. But, right or wrong, at the board Fischer never failed in
his commitment to the public and remains a unique competitor in
26 Introduction

modern chess history-a champion who never made a single short

draw throughout his career.
In response to the allegations, Kasparov had the benevolent
inspiration to call Fischer an "alien" (in contemporary chess).
Earlier, grandmaster Miguel Quinteros from Buenos Aires had given
a different opinion : "Pressmen have been doing Fischer wrong all
his life. He loves chess immensely and he is a wonderful friend."
Much later, the ex-world champion Boris Spassky gave his own
explanation about "Fischer as a man": "Bobby has a clean, innocent
relationship to the chess game, he respects the game as if it were a
god. He is, and remains among chess professionals, the great leading
personality. Like a trade unionist, he fought for the rights and status
of his profession. All organizations, be it FIDE or PCA, could learn
from him. He himself is his own organization. His strong moral code
makes him ready to abstain from big money offers and this explains
best the great difference that exists between him and Kasparov and
Karpov."
Fischer's sincere, profound love for the game has never changed,
which may explain the amount of time and energy that he has
unselfishly devoted in all these years to finding a way to ensure a
promising future for the game of chess. In a different sort of way, he
shares the fears of some of his colleagues that chess might die in
near future. Already in 1996, he said that "old chess is dead, it is
worn out".

Grandmasters and the future of the game

Somewhat bitter after his own experiences in world class chess,

Russian grandmaster Valery Salov, now resident in Spain, admitted
in an interview, given in spring 1997, that "he liked Bobby's
proposal of shuffling the pieces before each game", adding: "Let us
throw chess theory overboard into the sea and play Fischerandom
Chess only! Although I have not tried it yet, I think that it would be
good to return to the kind of chess game of the preceding century
without the knowledge of all sorts of things in opening theory. Only
thus can the way be paved for introducing new ideas and plans into
the game again."
The next question to Salov was: "Do you think that chess in its
present form is dead?" Salov replied: "Yes, it comes down to that.
Computers have turned an inexhaustible game into a game with
 Introduction 27

limits. Its originality has vanished, everything has already been

analyzed. Nowadays one no longer plays against grandmaster
colleagues but against their computer-based preparations. A hundred
and fifty years ago one could introduce a novelty on the 3rd move,
today it happens as a rule only on the 25th or the 30th move-just
terrible... ! I feel pessimistic about the game's future."
While playing in an international tournament in November 1 997,
the Yugoslav grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojevic publicly expressed
his opinion that "Fischer is a man ahead of his time and his ideas are
road markings for the 2 1 st century. Fischer's proposal of changing
the starting positions of the pieces, making more room for creativity,
is the only way that the human race can retain its vitality in the face
of inevitable technological progress. Like his chess clock, which is
used more and more, his idea of a chess game will be
accepted-whether in twenty or fifty years is immaterial. "
In another interview for a Belgrade newspaper, Ljubojevic, who
played for some twenty years at the top of world chess, was more
specific on its present state: "My generation (KaIpov, Timman,
Miles...) fought at the chessboard-nowadays that job is being done
by home analysis. The changes in chess concern the perfection of
computers and the breakthrough of high technology. Under this
influence the game is losing its charm and reducing more and more
the number of creative players. Before, one played on intuition,
feeling; now, technique, especially at the highest level, is more
important. I do not think that Kasparov's defeat is so vital. He lost to
Deep Blue because he entered into a fight against a very powerful
machine which had not been used like this before. Chess is a
mathematically limited game and that automatically gives an
advantage to the computer. Quite simply, I think that the game of
chess has been exhausted and that it is near its end." His conclusion
was: "The ancient game is exhausted, computers have put an end to
imagination, there will be no more creativity, pre-planned moves are
being made on the chessboards. "
When asked whether he saw any possibility that the ancient game
could still be saved, Ljubojevic said: "I am a great advocate of
Fischer's idea of completely changing the rules of chess, of creating
a practically new game. It is the only way out, because then there
would be no previous experience on which a machine could be
programmed, at least until this new chess itself becomes exhausted.
Fischer is a genius and I believe that his project would save the
game."
28 Introduction

Salov's bitter disappointment with the present practice of the

world's top players grew after the Shirov-Kramnik match in Cazorla
1 998 (where he was a member of Shirov's team): " . . .1 have to
confess-and it's a matter of principle for me-that I don 't share
that dominant tendency in modern chess, of which Vladimir
Kramnik happens to be a brilliant exponent. ..As far as I am
concerned he comes too dangerously close to Kasparov's destructive
attitude to chess that reduces it to 99% home preparation, trying to
avoid any possible exertion of over-the-board play. Kasparov,
besides, thoughout his chess career has maintained a team of
worn-out drudges (recently brutally computerized) ...
Nowadays it is practically impossible to create a broad and
aggressive opening repertoire without the permanent help of the
above-mentioned computerized drudges. As Kramnik apparently
does not have such help, his repertoire remains quite narrow. And
with a limited opening repertoire (even when well worked out),
without a wide choice of sharp-looking variations (of course, sharp
only for those who are not familiar with them) it's extremely
difficult to win even one game against a strong player without taking
some risks. Or at least, one has to be a superb technician to do
it. ..For example, I have absolutely no wish to question the
psychotherapeuticaI values of analyzing the 8 :b l Variation of the
Grunfeld Defence up to move 50 with all its schizophrenic subtleties
of .i.e3 or .i.g5-e3 (in fact during the match I got a good dose of
therapy myself that still leaves me groggy). And I'm ready to admit
that it's a highly pragmatic and effective way of misspending one's
life and of wasting one's intellect, besides bringing about good
practical results in chess. But, please, don't call it 'creativity' or
' development' of chess or, if you insist, tell me what is the purpose
of such 'development'? To get right from the opening to move 60,
70, l 20? To convert chess into a competition of autists?"
In the magazine New in Chess Grandmaster Valery Salov, in
advocating Fischerandom Chess, criticised Kasparov, among other
things, for too much preparation. And Kasparov had his response,
when asked whether he felt concerned about the proposals for the
"new chess": "Salov is out of his mind. I will beat everyone in
Random Chess. The majority of my games I win not in the
opening... The majority of my games have been decided in the
middlegame, with the help of tactics. If we shall play randomized
chess, you will witness my fantastic results, better than my results in
the middle of the Eighties! The advantage will be for the stronger
 Introduction 29

player. And I am the best player, especially in tactics. Only Anand

could be my equal in tactics. And in Random Chess there is plenty
of tactics from the very start of the game, and that means, plenty of
NEW tactics! I shall play with pleasure this type of chess game."

But Garry Kasparov is delighted with computer analysis: "I am for

the rewriting of many books, because one may test everything, and
analyze games on computers which are much stronger than before ...
Yet there must have been some human interference in my lost match
with Deep Blue. The too positional move 1 1. .. h5 in the 5th game of
that match computers would NEVER play. I tested it on all programs
afterwards. But nobody noticed it, focusing the general interest on
my negative result. And Anand lost to REBEL, an ordinary program
for PCs, which is no match for Deep Blue, and little was said about
this match in the press".

Salov once described his feelings when he played a new move

(against Shirov) "in a path well-trodden by some of the peA
activists". He wrote: "...it is one of those modern opening variations
which make one think seriously about the timeliness of switching to
shuffle chess (known otherwise as Fischerandom chess)--yet
another great inven,tion of the legendary American champion. While
Fischer's clock has already won universal and almost unanimious
recognition, his ideas of shuffling the pieces before the start of the
game still await their turn. If accepted on a professional level, this
innovation would mean a return to the golden age of chess: the age
of innocence and creativity will return, without us losing any of the
essential attractions of the game we love. In this case the words ' the
best player in the world' will again acquire some sense, they will
refer to a person who plays chess better than all the others (i.e. finds
the best moves over the board), rather than one who has more
money, more seconds, better databases, computers, etc. The
advantages of shuffle chess are too obvious to waste time
enumerating here. Then what is impeding its recognition? The
answer to this question, alas, is only too obvious: the same petty
mafia of obscurants, led by Kasparov.. .In my opinion, the level
demonstrated by Kasparov (against Deep Blue) corresponded to the
strength of a very good professional, but still very far from that of
the best player in the world. And I'm sure that Kasparov realized as
well as I did that the introduction of Fischerandom chess would
effectively mean the end of his chess career. So, how did he react?
He tried to pull in the opposite direction, started to promulgate the
30 Introduction

so-called 'advanced chess' (man+computer against man+computer)

in order, apparently, to reduce the creative level to zero ... "
In an open letter an American chess reader, Bob Ciaffone, tried to
counter Salov's comment with a few points: "(First) ... The truth is
that the grandmasters who have demonstrated extraordinary skills at
the chessboard are those who have won sufficient prize-money to be
able to hire team members. None of them were born to money. My
second point is about...the grandmasters, in particular Kasparov,
who... as the result of their team's assistance, ... (was) scoring many
wins as a direct result of home preparation. This part is true, but only
half a picture. How has Kasparov done when hit with someone else's
opening novelty? Quite splendidly ... My final point...(about) the
suggested solution... to use a different and more flexible starting
position for chess, thus nullifying centuries of opening theory
development. Can you picture what would happen... ? Right now
there is an immense quantity of information available to all, even a
2200 player like myself. Take that away and you will have massive
private investigations by hired teams using computers that are going
to widen the gap between those of us who are on their own and
people who have a large amount of personal and technical
assistance. There may well be good reasons to add a new game to
the chess menu, 'Fischerandom' or such like, but let us not do it
under an illusion that personal assistance in preparation will be
diminished, computer use will be reduced, and the better
middlegame and endgame player will then be able to dominate the
game. Pandora 'a box is open... "
When Kasparov played such a match (man+computer) against
Topalov in Spain in May 1 998, grandmaster Jan Timman from
Holland expressed his feelings on it: "After wrecking the world
championship cycle-together with the Englishman N.Short-and
suffering an appallingly silly defeat against a computer, Kasparov
recently made a fresh bid to drag his public image-and with it that
of the chessworld-through the dust: the invention of 'Advanced
Chess ' . This form of chess is defined as 'A twenty-first century type
of chess in which both players consult with a computer to check or
double-check their planned moves' . We can only hope that it won't
make the next century. You can imagine Kasparov hitting on the
idea. He has been relying intensively on computers for his
preparation for years anyway. Take the tenth match game against
Anand, New York 1 995. The magnificent rook sacrifice which led to
a winning endgame was the product of this type of preparation. 'If
 Introduction 31

there i s a n Open Ruy Lopez, h e i s dead ', Kasparov had confided to

his mother before the game. He wouldn't mind dealing with his
opponents in the same way in the middle game.

Let me start by saying that I do not share Salov's disgust for such
thorough preparation. There is nothing against spinning the web and
waiting for your opponents to blunder into it. You may get fewer
kudos from the audience, but home-spun creativity really deserves
the same appreciation as creativity over the board. During the game,
however, a player should rely entirely on his or her own resources,
that is the essence of the fight.

Some years back, the adjournment rule was scrapped. Why?

Because computer analysis had virtually taken over. The decision
brooked no argument. Personally I loved those adjourned games,
partly because they added a certain magic to the game, and partly
because they demanded deep analysis and strong discipline, things
that would otherwise not be required. But the argument of improper
help was enough to convince me that there was no other cure than
getting rid of them.

'But what about those seconds, didn't they also assist with those
intermediate analyses?', was a not uncommon question at the time.
The answer is simple: like all human endeavour, chess moves are
fallible. Even in fairly recent chess history there are plenty of
examples of failing teams of seconds, whose support did not
materially affect the basic fight.

The territory of 'Advanced Chess' is less the opening and the

endgame than the middle game, the most difficult part of the game.
If a player cannot rely on himself even there, why not set up a
tournament in which the players can freely consult with their
seconds... ?

I found it striking how sympathetically the chess press dealt with

the Leon match between Kasparov and Topalov. Not a cross word
was written. There was some speculation about the future of the
experiment, not a single word of criticism. A little survey amongst
colleagues showed me that 'Advanced Chess' has very few
adherents. Whereas 'Fischerandom Chess ' enjoys fairly wide
support-there are plenty of players who believe that the excesses of
opening preparation should be weeded out-wholehearted
supporters of Kasparov's proposal are few and far between. This
would be more the chess of the past than of the future, but no less
fascinating for it.
32 Introduction

... Hubner's articles (in Gennan) contain a clear warning: chess

will not only lose a sporting element (as I was saying earlier), but its
creative aspect will suffer as well. It is striking that the very person
who so fiercely opposed the scrapping of the venerable tradition of
the world championship match is now championing this stultifying
fumbler's game .
.. . Kasparov declared that Advanced Chess is 'the best chess that
two top players have to offer at present' . Kasparov assessed the
Topalov+computer combination to have an Elo strength of roughly
3000, an opponent whom, without the assistance of a computer, he
would not have a hope of beating.
Topalov as unbeatable supennan? I believe we need a dose of
reality here. If Topalov would have had 3th hours for 40 moves, plus
a computer, his playing strength would undoubtedly have jumped,
But all top players would tend to be considerably stronger with 3 th
hours for 40 moves, with or without a computer. And in Leon the
players had only one hour for the entire game, with the result that
towards the end of a game they sometimes didn 't even have time to
consult the computer. Topalov lost Game 4, for instance, because of
a 'human' error on move 39. In Game 2 Topalov severely criticized
his 1 9th move and blamed it for his defeat. What is not said is whose
idea it was to play it, Topalov 's or the computer's. I suspect it was
the computer's . . . Experience has taught us that computers cannot
handle difficult strategic positions . . .It is no exaggeration to say that
he would have played better without the electronic machine beside
him."
Remarkably, Maya Chiburdanidze, the Women's World Champion
in the period 1 978-1 99 1 , has never used a computer for preparation.
She said: "I am one of the most conservative players, but I probably
will use a computer in the future. Computers can rule people and
you have to control this. The computer disease has had a very
damaging effect on chess. Computers can 't give you classical
ideas-they reduce creativity and make chess mechanical,
technocratic. There is far too much infonnation now, I can't imagine
what chess will be like in ten years' time. Maybe it will die, maybe
computers will play each other. Maybe people will play
Fischerandom chess."
Several issues in world chess are in rather a mess. The reliability
of the rating system is questioned because of the unpredictable
appearance of too many "Swiss" tournaments, lacking objectivity.
 Introduction 33

The inventor of the rating system, the late Professor Elo, confessed
to the author of this book, who a long time ago happened to be a
member of the Qualificiation Committee in FIDE, that "his system
is mathematically just and valid as long as ALL played games are
counted". In practice this rule was betrayed by grandmasters on
specific occasions (Olympiads, etc.) at different times over the span
of 30 years, whenever the risk of losing Elo points could be avoided.
We can witness chess inflation with over 740 grandmaster titles in
the world today, yet only a very few of these players enjoy a
respectable standard of living based on their income from chess.
There is also the latent fear that chess creativity may run dry because
of excessive infonnation, obtained through mighty computers. Such
a situation could cause a scarcity of sponsorship for chess, contribute
to controversies in the institution of the world championship and
considerably reduce the number of regular competitions for the
crowds of participants, eager to be active and play.

During the Wijk aan Zee 2000 tournament, once again won
convincingly by Kasparov, the journalists' question "Who is the
(world) champion?" was answered by Korchnoi, who fought Karpov
twice for the FIDE title, in this way: "To Ilyumzhinov, and to a few
Leningrad citizens-it is Khalifinan, but the great majority of people
do not think that way. We have only one champion and he is playing
in this tournament. I think that in the near future no one will replace
h·1m. "

Nigel Short from England, who fought Kasparov in 1993 for the
(peA) title, took a different approach: "Kasparov is the strongest
player, but we have the world championship too. I see no
contradiction in it. These are perfectly different things. The world
champion is the man who has won the world championship. I do not
understand how Kasparov can call himself that if he hasn 't defended
the title for five years. Bobby Fischer wanted to call himself world
champion for the rest of his life. Garry has to accept the challenge of
the candidates."

Other logic tells us that it is very awkward to take away the title
from anyone who did not lose it at the chessboard or was not given
fair opportunities (including satisfactory financial tenns and
appropriate conditions) to defend his title. In the case of Fischer,
FIDE is to be blamed for the cancellation of the planned
Fischer-Karpov match in 1975, doing nothing in the meantime to
correct its historical mistake. So, even today, when the ideal solution
-that the strongest player is the champion-cannot be realized,
34 Introduction

another idea should be found for doing justice to everyone involved,

perhaps introducing special titles for life ' to those deserving it, and
another official FIDE title in the present knock-out system. We
know the fact, mentioned by Khalifinan, that in the past Dr.Euwe
was not the strongest player of his day and yet he was world
champion for two years.
Jan Timman from Holland, who fought 'Karpov for the FIDE title,
also in 1 993, had this to say: "I think, Khalifinan is the official world
champion because Kasparov has not defended his title for so long.
Naturally, Kasparov is the best player, but he has no title." These
words could have significance in that one should not block the
ambitions and careers of other top grandmasters because of the
problem of the highest title--complicated by misunderstandings and
the passage of time.
In 1 999, a discussion among grandmasters about the future of
chess spontaneously gained in enthusiasm and topicality. During the
Petrosian Memorial in Moscow the oldest grandmaster in the world,
Andre Lilienthal, said: "In the past, we respected each other more
than nowadays. Gentlemanlike relationships prevailed over the
terrible clashes of today in the press among grandmasters, where, as
life demonstrates, both sides are the losers. Just like all people of my
age, I have a feeling of nostalgia for the past but my unlimited love
for the game has not disappeared. I analyze, write, enjoy the
company of young people . . . "
A similar opinion is to be heard from ex-world champion Vasily
Smyslov: "The torrent of information has to influence our game of
chess ... many openings are worked out almost to move 30, there is
less room for creativity. On the other hand, the game is more mature,
tension at the chessboard has grown, adjournments have
disappeared ... I think that, since man invented the computer, he
should make it his ally-and not be its slave. The speed of reflection
has changed considerably, better health is needed in or�er to cope
with the rapid, 'advanced' (and whatever next?) chess. But our game
will live on. Together with our human weaknesses. Perhaps, therein
lies the game's greatness and the secret of its long life?!...! have
played for almost 70 years and it is a wonderful feeling that such a
passion does not diminish with age . . . "
Grandmaster Vlastimil Hort sounded more bitter: " ...My feeling is
that classical chess is dying in this new world. It will get faster and
faster, I do not know what else is to come? Everything will be
 Introduction 35

speeded up. To many, it makes things easier, simpler, more

interesting, but it will hardly make the game deeper. But very few
will be interested in that. .. With chess one cannot make a living, there
is not the interest in the game now. I am lucky to have my savings . . ."

The leading Hungarian grandmaster for many years, Lajos

Portisch, spoke in more detail: " .. .I think that running after money in
chess began killing the game all by itself. It is understandable that
life affects people' s views on many things. However, I cannot
understand the position of some young grandmasters who, in their
desire to earn money, do not think of the future of our ancient game.
Up to now, I have kept friendly relations with Bobby Fischer, who,
as you know, has long since lived in Budapest. Many wrote that
there is 'something weird' about him, but he is the real world
champion who truly loves the game and understands the
responsibility of a great player to millions of chess fans. When the
famous "Coca-Cola" company offered him a firm contract, Fischer
rejected it, saying that there is no money which could persuade him
to give publicity to a drink that is harmful to people's health .. .l like
such a man who does not measure his accomplishments against the
size of other people's pockets . . . I have come to the conclusion that in
ten years time, with the different approach, there will be no classical
chess and creativity in it. Here I agree with the pessimistic prognosis
made by Hort.. .1 am sorry only for one thing: if I have sacrificed so
much time and energy for chess in vain . . . All my life I felt nostalgia
for music. I am told that I could have been a very good singer. But
we have only one life, and there was no time left for music . . . "

The middle-aged Russian grandmaster Yuri Balashov expressed

his disappointment in this way: "Only God knows what will happen
to chess. Maybe, in order to stop the invasion of computers, the way
out of this unpleasant situation is "Fischer's Chess"?! ... "
 Part Two :
Birth of a New Chess Game

n order to avoid excessive opening theory, remove the

I
influence of team-work and the "bookworm" type of player,
reduce the number of draws, and make genuine ability the
decisive factor in an open fight at the chessboard, there have
long been ideas of reforming the rules of our present classical
game of chess-in fact as far back as the end of the 1 8th
century-and a few games of this kind were played in 1 842, 1 846,
1 85 1 , 1 868 and 1 869. The idea of introducing randomized chess was
also seen again in 1 952.
During his invincible palmy days, the ingenious Capablanca,
fearing the "draw death" in chess, was also thinking, in a simplistic
way, of randomized chess when he suggested that bishops and
knights exchange places so that players would have to cope with
new tasks in the opening. Many other ideas, such as a bigger
chessboard with a hundred squares and Capablanca's invention,
accordingly, of two new chess pieces (rook plus knight, and bishop
plus knight), had the general drawback of lacking a strong link with
the otherwise excellent classical game of chess.
Fischer's concentration on this problem went much deeper. During
his stay in Saint Stefan in 1 992, he recommended shuffling all the
pieces at random on the back row before the beginning of each
game. This idea was also suggested as early as 1 792 by Zuylen van
Nieveld in his work on endgames and followed up by his nephew,
Baron Von der Hoeven, who, in Mannheim 1 842 played a game
against the Parisian-based Bavarian, Aaron Alexandre, where in the
starting position his white pawns stood on b3 and g3, with the black
ones on b6 and g6, while the shuffled pieces on the back row were
arranged thus: White-%bl , �b l , 'ifc l , i.dl , i.e l , �f1 , �gl , :hl ;
Black-l::a 8, �bS, 'ifcs, i.dS, �eS, �f8, �gS, l::h S.
 Birth of a New Chess Game 37

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

The moves were: 1 -'cl-b2 t7-f6 2 d2-d3 �g8-h6 3 e2-e4 �h6-t7

4 .idl-f3 c7-c6 5 .iel-c3 �f8-g7 6 �bl-d2 d7-d6 7 �gl-e2
lIh8-fB 8 h2-h4 h7-h5 9 lIal-d1 �f7-h6 10 �d2-c4 b6-b5 1 1
�c4-e3 e7-e5 1 2 d3-d4 .id8-c7 1 3 .if3-g2 .ie8-d7 1 4 lIdl-d3
a7-a5 15 �fl-el b5-b4 16 .ic3-d2 c6-c5 17 d4-d5 a5-a4 18
�e3-c4 a4-a3 19 i.d2xh6+ �g7xh6 20 'ifb2-cl+ �h6-g7 2 1 c2-c3
�b8-a6 22 �c4-d2 b4xc3 23 �e2xc3 �a6-b4 24 lId3-e3 f6-f5 25
f2-f3 fS-f4
a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a b c d e f g h

and Black won.

38 Birth ofa New Chess Game

In Baden Baden in 1 85 1 , the Baron also lost two games as White

against Von der Lasa. Quite free shuffling produced ugly positions
with bishops on the same coloured diagonals. Let us quote both
games from their starting positions (here, all the pawns were on their
usual ranks):

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

I llJgI-0 b7-bS 2 d2-d4 d7-d6 3 .i.el-aS f7-f6 4 llJO-e3 e7-eS 5

..... 1-e1 .i.aSxO 6 e2xO eSxd4 7 l:dlxd4 llJgS-e7 S b2-b3 llJe7-c6
9 llJe3-dS l:b8-b7 10 l:d4-e4 .i.eS-g6 1 1 llJd5-e7+ �c6xe7 12
l:e4xe7 llJf8-d7 13 "'e1-e6 ....S-gS
. I4 "'e6xgS l:dSxgS lS .i.al-d4

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

15 llJd7-eS 16 .i.d4xeS f6xeS 17 �c1-b2 �cS-dS IS l:e7xc7

•••

l:b7xc7 19 l:bl-c1 �d8-d7 20 .i.aSxc7 �d7xc7 and Black won.

 Birth ofa New Chess Game 39

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

1 g2-g3 tbc8-b6 2 tbdl-c3 c7-c6 3 a2-&3 d7-d5 4 .tcl-a2 e7-e5 5

tbcl-b3 tbd8-e6 6 e2-e3 f7-fS 7 d2-d4 g7-g5 8 .tfl-d3 e5xd4 9
e3xd4 .tf8-g7 10 .td3xt'S tbe6xd4 1 1 tbb3xd4 .tg7xd4 12 tbc3-dl

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

12 J.d4xb2+ 13 tbdlxb2 tbb6-a4 14 c2-c3 'ifh8xc3 15 l:tel-bl

•••

tba4xb2 16 l:tgl-c1 .c3-f6 17 l:tblxb2 J.b8-e5 18 l:tcl-c2 .f6xt'S

19 J.a2-bl 'l'fS-f6 20 �al-a2 J.e5xb2 21 l:tc2xb2 l:tg8-g7 and
White resigned 10 moves later. In spite of all their similarity, the
above-mentioned old games would be illegal in Fischerandom
Chess.
It turned out that Fischer's first plan would make 2,400 different
commencing positions. Immediately after his sensational return to
the chess scene in 1 992, he began experimenting privately with this
kind of chess against colleagues and chance visitors. Although
40 Birth ofa New Chess Game

Fischer was pleased that the mathematical sum of starting positions

was very large, he soon discovered that eventually having two
bishops of the same colour made an unpleasant impression,
producing one-sided and limited opportunities on the chessboard. It
was also clear that obstructing the right to castle would mean a step
backward toward the primitive distant chess past and if the
intermingling of pieces on the back row made castling impossible
for both sides, this would inflict irreparable damage on playing
strategy as well.
The result of Fischer's constant meditation on how to give
alternative life to the game of chess, threatened by the exhaustion of
its creative resources, was the formulation, in September 1 993, of
the rules of "Fischerandom Chess" which are quoted in a separate
chapter of this book.
The rules of Fischerandom Chess accomplish two tasks at once,
preserving the dynamic nature of the game by retaining bishops of
opposite colours for each player and the right to castle for both sides,
and bringing a new and very much lacking element of the totally
unexpected, offering no less than 960 possible, different starting
positions (instead of 2,400 if it were shuffled ad libitum, i.e. without
two above-mentioned limitations), a number good enough to negate
all book work and help by others, including computers, thereby
transforming understanding of the game into the decisive
competitive factor.

Dilemmas to be resolved

By the end of the twentieth century, only time would tell whose
opinions on the future of chess were more correct, whether chess
would survive for a further period of time, or would die, or is
already practically dead. Anyhow, the time was ripe for action by
confronting the beautiful old game, threatened by exhaustion or by
artificial intelligence, as Fischer suspects, and to revive it in the eyes
of the public with a new, very similar version of chess but one which
is immeasurably richer in opening resources. If Fischer's version of
chess were to win the battle for mass popularity, there was a chance
that Man would be able to cope with any supernaturally intelligent
machine that he himself had constructed ...
This is where and when imaginative sponsors will enter into the
world chess scene by promoting the first competitions in
Fischerandom Chess.
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 41

The harbingers of "Bobby Fischer mode" in Europe

Though little is generally known of the details, Fischer's ideas

have generated noticeable interest on the few occasions they have
been promoted in Europe. In July 1 995, Karpov, as Black, easily
won a 1 5 minute rapid "Bobby Fischer Game" against the top
Heidelberg player, master Schwalfenberg. After the game, Karpov
admitted that he had never tried this form of chess before. He was
not ready to express a final opinion about it, adding that the negative
side of the game was the lack of harmonious positions as occur in
normal chess, while the positive side was that no theoretical
knowledge was necessary, so that a match in "Fischer mode"
between two players of the same strength in normal chess would
demonstrate which of the two had the greater natural talent for the
game.
In this particular game, won by Karpov-knights were on a l and
a8, bishops on b l and b8, queens on c 1 and c8, rooks on d l and d8,
kings on e I and e8, knights on fl and fS, bishops on g I and g8,
rooks on hI and h8.

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

1 c4 c6 2 d4 dS 3 cxdS cxdS 4 "xc8 l%xc8 5 �b3 �d7 6 e4 f6 7

�e3 �ab6 8 t3 .td6 9 .td3 g6 10 .tn �c4 1 1 :bl liXlb6 12 exdS
�xe3 13 .txe3 �xdS 14 .td2 .te6 15 g3 �f7 16 �e2
42 Birth ofa New Chess Game

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

16 ... h5 17 :bcl :xcl 18 :xcl b6 19 �e4 h4 20 f4 hxg3 21

hxg3 :h2+ 22 �d3 :h3 23 l:tgl ltJxf4+ 24 �c2 ltJe2 25 :g2 lOxg3
26 �d3 �d5 White resigned.
The general feeling was that "the rules were simple, with bishops
of opposite colours and righteously identical positions for both
sides". Let us quote Fischer's words when he began to experiment
with a newly made electronic "piece shuffler" (special text about
this computerized device can be found in another chapter of this
book)-his delighted comment was: "It is amazing how strange
positions may come out on the little display, you could not dream
of."

In Belgrade, writers and journalists once played a private amateur

tournament in Fischerandom Chess-and each of the two players
alternately would put any piece on one square on the back row of the
chessboard, thereby finding a remedy for the lack of a piece shuffler
in the market-place.

The first Fischerandom Chess tournament-in 1996

In early spring 1 996, in Kanjiza, a spa in Vojvodina, whereFischer

had lived for a while before leaving Yugoslavia, chess fans decided
to honour Fischer 's former stay in that little town by organizing a
rapid mixed tournament with several international players, the first
such competition in Fischerandom Chess.

Not having Fischer's electronic device for shuffling pieces, the

referee decided the chance starting positions of the pieces for each
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 43

game with the help of dice and a prepared long list of numbers
representing each of 960 possible positions.

The tournament lasted three days and was won by the well known
former youngest grandmaster in the world, Peter Leko from
Hungary, with 9� points out of 1 1 games, ahead of Yugoslav
grandmaster Stanimir Nikolic with 9 points. The tournament
consisted of 1 2 players from Hungary, Romania and Yugoslavia
-two grandmasters, four international masters, five masters and one
candidate master. The average Eto rating was 2345. No player failed
to score a win. White won 36, Black 1 5 , and 1 5 games were drawn.

Nikolic gave his impressions: "All participants agree that the game
is interesting. Fischer's Chess may start to flourish, since it opens
new horizons and puts the players right from the start into a situation
of intense reflection on the concepts of play, based on the
unpredictable placement of the pieces. It is very difficult to say what
the real chances are for Fischer 's rules to be accepted by the
majority since it is a fact that people still respect classical chess,
even if they do not run away from changes either. Much will depend
on sponsors, since valuable prizes can motivate top quality players
to play to Fischer's rules. These rules are still not very well known
among the broad circles of chess fans and competitions like this one
in Kanjiza will help everyone see how they work in practice.
Possibly there will be opposition to it too, but I believe that, just the
same, there will be organizations in certain countries and chess clubs
which will play according to these rules as a variation of chess. One
needs attractive tournaments, faster play, slightly more dynamic
chess and that is why Fischer's ideas have a future. The basic
advantage ofFischer's chess lies in negating usual schemes which
have been worked out by lengthy practice and theory. When
Fischer's rules are applied, a player sits down at the board without
elaborated stereotypes, schemes and variations. Fischer's chess suits
me absolutely as I myself have not studied much chess theory and
this has placed me at a disadvantage in classical tournaments. I have
neither sufficiently studied nor practiced opening theory, because I
am not a professional player. This innovation suits me because there
are no preparations and home analysis-a player just sits down at
the board, thinks and plays. For this reason, I expect that young
players will be drawn to that game and it will also be especially
attractive to people with an amateur approach to chess."

The first impression of the winner, Peter Leko, was that "Fischer's
chess" had prospects for the future, particularly in amateur and
44 Birth ofa New Chess Game

semi-professional circles, where players had limited time, as this

form of chess was more rational and did not require much
knowledge of chess theory. He said: "1 won in Kanjiza because of all
the participants 1 had the best view and knowledge of Fischer's
rules, so I was able to set myself a sufficient goal in all situations
and against all rivals."
In Kanjiza, the time limit was 25 minutes each for 20 moves, and 5
minutes each for the rest of the game. The referee, international
arbiter Erne Rirman had his comment: "Knowledge of chess
openings had no significance here but one always had to adapt
oneself to a new situation, game after game. About 1 0 to 15 moves
were needed to reach positions reminiscent of classical chess, and
endgames in the last five minutes were very interesting. It was
exciting and there were many spectators from nearby towns."
Master Mirko Mamuzic, a participant from Subotica, said that the
tournament was an interesting innovation. He added: "Playing
tournaments in this way would be even more interesting if they
included top players. I sincerely doubt that such a thing will happen,
because the best players have invested time and effort in traditional
chess and it certainly does not suit them to do everything anew. My
opinion is that the tournament was a successful experiment, both for
the players and also the chess fans."
Here are all nine games, played by the Kanjiza tournament winner
Leko.

S.Nikolic White Leko Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1

a b c d e f g h

1 d4 dS 2 g3 g6 3 �3 hS!
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 45

White's insufficiently protected d 4-pawn allows Black a tactic to

maintain the material balance.

4 .txdS e6 S .tg2
5 .txe6!? fxe 6 6 "xe 6+ fiJe 7 would leave unclear compensation
for the sacrificed piece.

S ]:txd4 6 0-0 (�gl, ]:to) ]:txdl 7 ]:txdl 'ile7 S fiJd3 fiJd7 9

••.

fiJd2 t:iJd6 10 c4 fiJfS 11 b3 J.xal 12 :xal 0-0 (�gS, :18)

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
13 g4!?
White is concerned at the passivity of his queen on h3.

13 ..• hxg4 14 "xg4 b6 IS fiJfJ .txfJ 16 .txfJ �g7 17 :dl l:bS

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Draw agreed.
46 Birth ofa New Chess Game

Black's position is preferable because of White's weakened pawn

structure on the h-side. The game was played in the last round and
decided the winner of the tournament.

Leko White S.Popov Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6
5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

1 1

a b c d e f g h
1 c4 b6?
An oversight, made by a novice in Fischerandom Chess, or a
sacrifice for an advantage in development? Either way, White will
exploit the chance to gain an early material advantage.

2 "xh7! �f6 3 ....3 �e6 4 �c3 cS S �d3 g6 6 g3 .lxhl 7 :xhl

.lg7 8 b3 �d4 9 "gl "d6 10 �dS!
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Being a pawn up, White would be delighted to enter an endgame.

10 ... �xdS 11 "xdS "xdS 12 cxdS :hS 13 .lxd4 .lxd4 14 e3

.lf6 IS �gl e6 16 dxe6 dxe6 17 �f3 :dS IS �el :d7 19 h4
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 47

Allowing the rook on hI freedom for activity.

19 ... �g7 20 ltJe1 gS 21 ltJO gxb4 22 ltJxh4 lIhd8?
Black could put up better resistance by the simplifying 22 ...
i.xh4.
23 �O as!? 24 lIc4!
This rook can now join in the action on the h-side.
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

24 ••• lidS?!
Forcing Black to sacrifice the exchange. Better was 24 ... �f8.
2S e4 lId3 26 eS lIxo
There is nothing else. After 26 ... i.e7 27 lIg4+ Black can resign.
27 lIg4+ �f8 28 �xf3 i.xeS 29 �e2 �e7 30 lIb7 i.f6 31 lIe4 bS
32 g4 lidS 33 f4 �f8 34 gS i.g7

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h
48 Birth ofa New Chess Game

3S g6! ::tfS 36 gxti �xti 37 :eS ::txeS+ 38 fxeS �g6 39 ::th3

.i.xeS 40 �e3 a41 41 bxa4 bxa4 42 �e4 .i.b2 43 ltf.J!
Cutting the opponent' s king off from a vital part of the chessboard.
43 ••. �g7 44 �d3 .ta3 4S �c4 .tb4 46 d4 Black resigned.

Leko White Abel Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 d4 g6 2 ttlb3 d6 3 0-0 (�gl, :f1) ttld7 4 g3 c6 S c4 0-0 (�g8,

::tf8) 6 lll c3 ttlf6
If 6 . . . ttlc7 (to develop a new piece), 7 ttlaS would be very
unpleasant.
7 .i.g2 .i.d7 8 h3 tiJb6 9 cS tiJbdS 10 e4 tiJc7 11 .i.d2 .te6 12
.i.h6 .i.g7 13 .i.xg7 �xg7

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 49

White has obtained a clear advantage in space and a strong

initiative.
14 dS .td7 1S exd6 exd6 16 dxe6 .txe6 17 'ii'd4 tiJe6
Black has no time for 17 . . . b6 because of 1 8 :fd l tiJce8 1 9 eS!
etc.
IS 'ii'xa7 b6 19 'ii'a6 tiJeS 20 tiJxeS dxeS 21 lIfel
Having a sound plus pawn
. in the centre, White retains a winning
positional advantage.
2100. tiJd7 22 lIedl 'ii'f6 23 f4 :as 24 'ii'e2 'ii'e7 25 a3 lIfeS 26
'ii'd2 tiJrs 27 eS l:adS 2S 'ii'n 'ii'b7 29 .txe6 'ii'xe6 30 'ii'g2 'ii'eS 31
tiJbS :xdl 32 l:xdl l:dS 33 tiJd6

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

Black is cramped so White naturally avoids further exchange of

material.
33 'ii'bs 34 fS! gxfS 35 tiJxfS+ �hS 36 tiJd6 l:d7 37 'ii'o 'ii'a7
00'

3S :0 �gS 39 "f6 "a4 40 tiJfS tiJe6 41 tiJh6+ �f8 42 'ii'hS+

Black resigned.
Mate would follow after 42 .. �e7 43 tiJfS.
.
50 Birth ofa New Chess Game

S.Lorinc White Leko Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
1 b3 1tJf6
The g7 pawn was attacked.
1 i.xf6
White gives up the bishop pair, hoping that his unspoiled pawn
fonnation will give him the better chances.
1 ... exf6 3 c4 tbg6
A natural reply, developing the knight and protecting the pawn on
h7.
4 tbo b6 5 e3 0-0 (�g8, :f8) 6 d4 c5 7 d5 b5
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h
8 0-0 (�gl, :0)
If 8 cxbS "'as+, recapturing the pawn with strong counterplay
because of the weakness on dS.
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 51

S ••. bxe4 9 bxe4 liJeS 10 liJg3 g6 11 h4?!

In search of some activity White unnecessarily weakens his
position.
11 liJg4 12 liJe4 fS 13 liJegS 1.d6 14 hS 1.e7 1S liJh3 d6 16 g3
••.

1.C6 17 �g2 J:[eS 1S ii'd2 J:[bS 19 hxg6 bxg6 20 liJC4 1.b7 21 J:[h1
J.a6
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
22 "'dJ?
An artificial manoeuvre. Better was 22 J.d3.

22 ••. J:[b2 23 J:[e2 ii'b6 24 liJd2 liJeS 2S "'e2 -.w 26 J:[xb2 "'xb2
White now has no good reply to counter the opponent's pressure
on the a-side.
27 liJd3 J.xe4 2S liJxb2 1.xe2 29 J:[el J:[bS 30 liJd1 liJd3 31 1.xd3
J.xdJ 32 liJb3 1.e4+ 33 �h3 �g7 34 g4 :b8+ 3S �g3 J.h4+
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
Finding himself in a mating net, White resigned.
52 Birth ofa New Chess Game

Leko White Mamuzic Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6
5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

I ltJc3 f5 2 f4 ltJc6 3 g3 ltJb6 4 J.g2 e5 5 d3 g6 6 ltJb3 J.b4

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

This is typical of Fischerandom Chess, with its frequent

possibilities of unexpected manoeuvres. Here Black has created an
unusually strong threat of 7 . ltJa4 and White, although being the
..

more experienced and stronger player, will have to accept

complications, a pawn down, at an early ·stage of the game.
7 J.c5 J.xb3
The idea 7 . ltJa4 would now fail to 8 J.xb4 ltJxb2+ 9 �d2 ltJxb4
. .

10 :bl ! .

8 J.xb4 J.xc2+ 9 �xc2 ltJxb4+ 1 0 �bl ltJc6 11 e4

 Birth ofa New Chess Game 53

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5
4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

White has the better development and some initiative as

compensation for the lost pawn.
11 ••. exf4
Black makes this concession in the centre because he is worried
about White's pressure along the g2-b7 diagonal, the c-file and his
pawn outpost on eSt'
12 gxf4 0-0-0 (�c8, l%d8) 13 e5 'ike7
In order to counter White's pressure along the c-file, Black could
have tried 1 3 .. �b8 with the idea of ... d7-d5.
.

14 'ikfl 'ifb4 15 l%hdl 'ikd4 16 'ikd2 g5!?

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Black wants to give his potentially misplaced queen more space,

but this allows White to advance his d-pawn.
54 Birth ofa New Chess Game

17 fxg5 "'xe5
1 7 ... ll)xe5 was not possible because of 1 8 ll)b5.
18 d4 "'a5 19 d5 ll)e5 20 "'d4 d6 21 .to �bd7
Black decides to return the material. If 2 1 . . . c5 22 dxc6 �xc6 23
�d5 ! etc., and there is the threat of 22 h4.
22 �b5 �6 23 ll)xe7 "'xd4 24 :lxd4 �b8 25 :Lf4 h6 26 gxb6
lbb.6 27 ll)e6 :lg8 28 h3 ll)b6 29 :LxfS �xd5 30 :Lg5 :Lxg5 31
�xg5 l:b5
Time pressure? Playable was 3 1 . . . �e3 with a satisfactory game.
32 �e4 :lh6 33 ll)g5 :lh5 34 �e4 l:b6 35 .te2 �f4 36 .tg4 d5??
A terrible oversight. The position was drawish after 36 ... a6 or 36
. . . �xg4.
37 :le8 mate.

Leko White V.Petrovic Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

1 ����9!J
a b c d e f g h

1 g3 e5 2 e4 �e6 3 ll)e3 g6 4 0-0 (�gl, :LO) �e7

On 4 '" 0-0 (�g8, :lf8) Black might have been afraid of 5 f4 with
no possibility of keeping the symmetry going.
5 b3 d6 6 ll)e2 it'd7 7 d4 0-0-0 (�e8, :ld8) 8 .tg2 fS 9 exfS gxfS
10 d5 ttJrs 1 1 f4 ll)fg6 12 .th3 :ldrs 13 "'d3 e4 14 "'d2 .txa1 15
:lxal b6 16 e4
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 55

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

By clever strategy White has saddled Black with a weakness on f5,

keeping Black's bishop totally out of play and so winning the
positional battle.
16 .•• tl:)h4 17 tOd4 eS 18 tOe6 l%f6 19 tOgS tOO+
In desperation Black gives up a pawn, but to no avail.
20 tOxo exO 21 :xO hS 22 :e1 h4 23 'ii'd3 hxg3 24 hxg3 q;e7
25 tOn j,b7 26 q;n ..te8 27 'ii'c3 :h6 28 ..tg2 tOg6 29 :te3 'ii'g7
30 'ii'xg7+ l%xg7 31 tOd2 j,d7 32 tOo a6 33 tOgS bS 34 :e8 bxe4
35 bxe4 ..txe8 36 tOe6+ q;b6 37 tOxg7 ..td7 38 :bl+ q;aS 39 :b7
tOf8 40 l%b8 l%f6
Here, Black overstepped the time limit.

T.Farkas White Leko Black

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
a b c d e f g h
1 d4 dS 2 e3!?
56 Birth of a New Chess Game

This demonstrates very early that White has no active plan of play.
2 .•.c6 3 tDd3 lDd6 4 b3 .td7 5 lDe5 .irs 6 c3 .txbl 7 .xbl
l%e8! 8 1fd3 f6 9 lDo e5! 10 lDd2 e4 1 1 .e2 0-0 (�g8, l:hfS) 12
lDbl f5 13 i.d2 b5
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

White has lost the fight for both space and development.
14 :ct 1Dc7 15 lDc2 lDe6 16 lDba3 as 17 c4 b4 18 c5 lDf7 19
lDbl f4 20 exf4 i.xf4 21 i.e3 lDh6 22 lDd2 :f7 23 lDfl :efS 24
lDg3 �4
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
25 .a6?
A suicidal manoeuvre, but nor did 25 0-0 (�g l , :hfl ) work
because of 25 ... lDg4.
25 ... i.xe3 26 fxe3 lDg4 27 .xc6 .f6 White resigned.
 Birth of a New Chess Game 57

Leko White Vojinovic Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
1 f4! tbb6
The a7 pawn was attacked.
2 d3 d6 3 1faS �fd7
Black is ready to meet the threat of 4 1fxa7 by 4 . %la8.. .

4 g3 a6
Now the a7 pawn was really in danger.
S �b3 eS 6 e4 g6 7 %leI 1fe7 8 1fd2 :e8 9 0-0-0 (�c1, J:[bdl)
0-0-0 (�c8, J:[bd8) 10 �bl �b8
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
a b c d e f g h

A rather familiar, harmonious position has already arisen, thanks

to the flexible rules and the right to castle in Fischerandom Chess.
58 Birth ofa New Chess Game

11 'ifg2! (6 12 liJe3 liJcs 13 'iff2! liJca4!?

White's bishop pair is more dangerous because of his more active
position in the centre (his pawn is on f4), where White's queen
collaborates well with the bishops to increase pressure against
Black's king. While Black moves his knight around, White
concentrates on gains in the centre.
14 liJdS i.xdS 15 exdS 'ifd7 16 (xeS fxeS 17 i.e4 :f8 18 'ife2
:'de8 19 :0 i.g7 20 i.e3 'ifh3?! 21 c4 liJd7? 22 i.g2

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

22 •.• 'ifhs
Black's queen would be trapped after 22 . . 'ifxh2 23 :'hl 'ifxg3 24
.

:'h3.
23 i.o :xO
With his queen going astray, Black had to sacrifice the exchange
after which the fight is practically over.
24 'ifxo 'ifxo 25 :XO liJxb2 26 :'d2 e4 27 :17 i.el 28 :'xd7
exd3 29 i.1l i.xd2
Black resigned, without waiting for his opponent's reply.
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 59

Leko White Milosevic Black

a b
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 g3 b6 2 e4! e5?! 3 b3! liJe6 4 liJfe3 g6 5 ..txh8 lbh8 6 f4 liJe6?!

7 liJa 0-0-0 (�e8, lId8) 8 c3! h5 9 h4 liJg7 10 d4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

White has a winning advantage because of his mobile pawn mass

and the exposed position of Black's king on the a-side.
10 e6 11 b4 'fie7 12 bxc5 bxc5 13 d5 fi::Je7 14 e4 'fia5+ 15 �e2
•••

d6 16 'fib2! lIhg8 17 lIgdl �e7 18 fi::Jh3! lIb8 19 'fif6 �d7 20 fi::Jg5

exd5 21 cxd5 'fixa2+ 22 lIc2 'fia6+ 23 �a fi::Je8 24 'fixf7 fi::Jc7
60 Birth ofa New Chess Game

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
a b c d e f g h

25 lL'lh7! lL'le8 26 'ii'e6+ �d8 27 lL'lg5 J:U8 28 lL'lf7+ :'xf7 29 'ii'xf7

:'b3 30 l:e2 'ii'a4 31 .*.13 .*.b7 32 f5 .*.a6 33 (6 l:b7 34 l:bl! .*.b5
35 l:eb2 a6 36 'ii'f8 ! Black resigned.
White's next move would have been 3 7 f7.

Because of the rather short time for reflection, it often happened

that the final moves of the games were not recorded. Let us see a
few more games by other players in Kanj iza.

Farkas White Mozes Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2

a b c d e f g h

1 g3 �gf6 2 .*.g2 e6 3 e4 d6 4 d4 g6 5 �e2 i.h6+ 6 f4 �g4?! 7

'ii'g 1 b6 8 h3 �g(6 9 'ii'e3 lL'ld7 10 �13 (6 11 0-0 (�g1, :f1) .*.g7?
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 61

12 c4 eS 13 dS J.h6?! 14 .a3 J.b7 IS b4 J.g7? 16 fxeS fxeS 17

liJgS
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Black has played without any plan of development and White now
gains a decisive material advantage.
17 ... liJef6 18 liJf1 .e8 19 tt)xd8 .xd8 20 .f3 .e7 21 J.c3
0-0-0 22 J.d2 �b8 23 a4 :fS 24 .a3 J.a6 2S l:bc1 �c8 26 J.e3
tt)h5 27 l:xfS+ .xfS 28 a5 .•.

White won easily.

Petrovic White Mamuzic Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1

a b c d e f g h

1 c4 c5 2 tt)f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tt)xd4 tt)f6 5 0-0 0-0 6 b3 d5?! 7

cxd5 tt)xd5?
62 Birth ofa New Chess Game

Black had to try 7 :xd5. White now gains another important

...

tempo, thanks to the already opened diagonal for his queen, and
starts an immediate attack on the h-side.
8 ltJrs f6 9 e4
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
a b c d e f g h

9 . . .tbS
.

Material loss could not be avoided.

10 exdS .txn 11 �xn e6 12 ltJe3 .tf4 13 'ii'd4 .txe3 14 .xe3
exdS IS 'ife6+ �h8 16 'ifh3 h6 17 'ifrs �g8 18 'ifh7+ Black
resigned.

S.Nikolic White S.Popov Black

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
l e4 c6 1 g3
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 63

i.xh2.
The immediate threat was 2 . . .
2 ... eS 3 �e3 �e6 4 f3 �g6 5 a3 i.e7
More circumspect positionally was first 5 ... f6.
6 i.a2 f6 7 i.xe6 dxe6 8 �n i.d7 9 "e4 i.b6 10 �fdl
White does not allow his pawn structure to be spoiled.
10 ... 0-0-0 11 d3 f5 12 .tb4 "f6 13 .teS! .txeS 14 "xeS b6 15
.c3 hS 16 lL\c4 f4 17 a4 fxg3 18 hxg3 h4
1 8 . .xf3 19 �xe5 would favour White.
..

19 gxh4 :Ji8 20 as
Solid was 20 b4 :xh4 2 1 �b2, first completing his development.
20 .•. bS
a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
a b c d e f g h

21 :xg6!
A positional sacrifice of the exchange for a dominating knight on
e5.
21 ... •xg6 22 �xeS "e8 23 .eS
23 b4 Lh4 24 �b2 was an alternative.
23 ••. •f8! 24 .xf8 :hxf8 25 1l)e3
64 Birth ofa New Chess Game

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
2S •.• :f4?
Helping White to consolidate his position, while remaining behind
in development. Better was 25 . . . :Lh8 26 fiJrl (or 26 fiJg2 g5 !) 26 . . .
:Lxh4 27 li)xd8 :Lhl +! 28 !iJdl �xd8.
26 fiJg2 :f6 27 �d2 l:h8 28 �e3 �c7 29 b4 l:hs 30 f4 .te8 31
d4 a6 32 :hl :h8 33 :h3 :Lh7 34 :g3 �b7 3S fiJf3 �c7 36 fiJgel
:g6 37 :Lxg6 .txg6 38 fiJgS :xh4 39 fiJxe6+ �d6 40 fS l:hl 41
fiJf3 .te8 and White won.

Mamuzic White S.Popov Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

1 d4 dS 2 e3 g6 3 c4 dxc4 4 .txc4 .tg7 S 0-0 0-0 6 .tel !iJd7 7

fiJd2 fiJb6 8 .tb3 .tc6 9 a4 fiJd5 10 .txd5 .txd5 11 e4 .tc6 12 dS
.td7 13 .txg7 �xg7 14 'ii'c3+ �g8 15 'ii'e5 :e8 16 fiJe3 f6
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 65

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

17 "f4
More flexible was 1 7 "g3 to derive greater benefit from White's
advantage in space.

17 ... tDn 18 b3 "d8 19 :ac1 c6 20 tDdc4 'i'b8 21 'i'h4 g5 22

"g3 "xg3 23 bxg3 :ab8 24 :fdl c5 25 f4 b5 26 axb5 .ixb5 27
:al a6 28 �f2 :b7 29 :d2 .ixc4 30 tDxc4
If 30 bxc4 tDd6 3 1 �f3 :b3 .
30 ... :Xb3 31 :xa6 :c3 32 :a4 :d8 33 :el tDd6 34 tDxd6
:l.xd6 35 :a7 gxf4 36 gxf4 �f8 37 :c7 b5 38 :e3 :c2+ Drawn.
This book was digitized from James Private Chess Library for exclusive use of
CTorrent Premium Members Only! This book is not for SALE!
POPOV White Farkas Black

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1 1
a b c d e f g h
66 Birth ofa New Chess Game

1 e4 eS 2 b3 g6 3 .i.b2 b6 4 .i.a6+ .i.b7 S .i.xb7+ :xb7 6 tt)gf3

.i.g7 7 "'f1 tt)d6 8 "'e2 tt)e7 9 c4 tt)c6 10 tt)c2 fS 11 d3 .i.h6+ 12
tt)d2 0-0 13 f3 :bb8 14 0-0 :be8 IS tt)e3 tt)d4 16 "'e1 c6 17 :tel
tt)b7 18 b4 d6 19 tt)b3 as 20 bxaS bxaS 21 :bl tt)xb3 22 axb3
tt)cS

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

23 exfS
White is in trouble and, in the search for salvation, opens up the
game.
23 tt)xd3 24 "'e2 tt)xb2 2S :txb2 gxfS 26 :d2 "'f6 27 :tfdl
••.

:d8 28 :a2 :a8 29 :ad2 :fd8 30 "'d3 "e6 31 :te2 e4 32 fxe4

fxe4 33 "'c2 dS 34 tt)f1
a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

34 ••. :a7?
In a winning position Black blunders away his extra pawn.
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 67

35 l:txe4 'ii'xe4 36 'ifxe4 dxe4 37 l:txd8+ �f7 38 l:td6 Draw

agreed.
Abel White S.Popov Black
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
· 4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 c4 c5 2 b3 b6 3 tLlc3 tLlf6 4 tLl13 tLle6 5 l:tdl!? b5 6 J.b2 b4 7

J.f5 'ifh5 8 J.xe6 dxe6 9 d3 0-0-0 10 tLlb5? h3 11 g3 tLlg4 12 �el
White is in a squeeze and tries artificial manoeuvres.
12 ..• l:td7 13 l:to l:tgd8 14 l:td2 a6 15 tLlaJ J.e5 16 J.xe5 tLlxe5
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
17 tLlxe5
In desperation White trades his queen for insufficient material.
17 J.xbl 18 tLlxd7 J.g2 19 tLlxb6+ �b7 20 tLla4 J.xO 21 �xn
•••

'ife5 22 tLlc2 g5 23 13 f5 24 e3 'ifc7 25 d4 cxd4 26 exd4 'ifc6 27

68 Birth ofa New Chess Game

l:.d3 as 28 l:.e3 :'d6 29 �f2 g4 30 c5 l:.d7 31 tLlb6 l:.d8 32 tl)c4

�a6 33 tLle5 'Wd5 34 ':c3
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

34 gxfJ 35 c6? "'e4 36 tLlxfJ ':c8 37 c7 �b7 38 tLle3 l:.xc7 39

•.•

tLlc4 �b8 40 :'e3 �1 41 :'xe6 "'xa2+ 42 l:.e2 "'al 43 tLlg5

"'xd4+ 44 ':e3 f4 45 gxf4 "'xf4+ 46 tLlfJ a4 White resigned.

S.Popov White V.Milosevic Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

�iiI.
����� 1

a b c d e f g h

1 e4 g6 2 tLle3 d6 3 It)fJ tLle6 4 c3 c5 5 0-0

An important achievement in F.R.Chess is to castle early and
establish hannony among one's own pieces.
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 69

5 ... �f6 6 :'e1 b6 7 d4 i.b7 S d5 �c7 9 a4 0-0 10 c4 a6 1 1 i.d2

b5 12 i.e3 bxe4
A better choice was 1 2 ... b4 1 3 i.d2 eS ! .
1 3 �xe4 i.cs 1 4 'ife2 i.d7 1 5 �fd2 .*.g7 16 g3 'ifdS 17 f4 :'bS
1S 'ifd3 �feS 19 i.xg7 �xg7 20 'ife3 :b4 21 b3 i.g4 22 i.g2 'ifeS
23 �a5 :eS 24 �de4 �aS 25 :act

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

25 ... i.d7
The threat was 26 �c6 and 27 b4 ! .
26 e5 'ife7 27 exd6 exd6 2S 'iff6 �fS 29 :'xeS+ .i.xeS 30 :el
:bS 31 g4 �d4 32 :e7 'ifdS 33 �xd6 lDe2+ 34 �f2 :b6 35 �ae4
Black resigned.

No rapid progress in popularity of F.R.Chess till 2000

In the year 2000 a plan was proposed to organize another

international tournament in Fischerandorn Chess, again in Kanj iza
but with a longer time for reflection in order to be able to keep
scores of all the moves in the games.
News about Fischerian chess also travelled to Spain. In Granada,
grandmaster Miguel Illescas gave a mixed simultaneous exhibition,
playing classical chess on 1 9 boards and winning easily with 1 8 : I
(two draws), but on the remaining 1 1 boards, where he played
according to "Fischer's rules", he experienced greater difficulty,
making 4 draws and one loss. Illescas' only defeat showed
70 Birth ofa New Chess Game

inadequate knowledge of the rules, since the kings in that particular

game remained on a l and a8, which is illegal because the rooks, in
whatever way, ought to be disconnected at the beginning of the
game by their king, thereby allowing the option of castling to both
sides.
A doubled misinterpreting of the rules occurred in Germany. At
the end of 1996 took place the " 1 SVL Open in Fischerschach" with
26 participants, but it was not true Fischerandom Chess. The right to
castle was abolished, quite the opposite of Fischer's basic ideas, and
by chance only in Round 1 could the prescribed starting position be
accepted as legal by true F.R.Chess rules. Also the referee, with the
help of a private computer program, instead of deciding on a
different starting position in each played game, decreed a new
starting position, identical for all 1 3 games, which would be chosen
for each of five rounds on the Swiss system. So, only five different
starting positions were used during the whole tournament. It was
characteristic of the spirit of a "new game" that there were only 8
draws in the 65 played games.
In 1 996 and 1 997-over the Internet-was organized in
"correspondence fashion" the " 1 st World Wide Web Progressive
Fischer Random Chess Tournament". This meant that the rules of
"Scottish progressive chess" were used (a chess variant more than a
half a century old), based on the idea that each player makes one
move more than the previous player: White moves once, Black
moves twice, White moves three times, etc. In order to avoid the
danger that increased experience could establish winning patterns
quickly and thus make it pointless to practice the new game, which
lasts only for a few such "moves", fans from various countries
improved their idea with starting . positions from Fischerandom
Chess and thus gave the combined name to their strange kind of
competition, which stands no chance of becoming popular with a
larger number of players.

On the eve of the "Big Day"

What the above-mentioned statements had in common was their

enthusiasm, tempered by slight caution. It was clear that the basic
chess rules remained the same with the striking difference that every
played game would produce a total surprise to both opponents. Yet
some players have restrained themselves from undivided praise,
 Birth of a New Chess Game 71

preferring to wait for the future reaction of potential sponsors and of

other leading world players.
Conflicting opinions on Fischerandom Chess may be formed.
During his only meeting with Fischer, FIDE President Ilyumzhinov
advocated "step by step" changes, bearing in mind our chess
heritage. Fischer, obsessed by his great vision, replied: "Teach
people to play new chess, right away. Why do you offer them a
black and white television set, when there is a set in colour?" The
conversation was held at grandmaster Lilienthal's home in Budapest.
Andre was once a great player but now, at the age of 85, made the
modest comment: "Bobby wants me to play according to his rules,
but I have not yet learned sufficiently the old chess-how am I to
learn the new chess, now?"
Are Fischer's ideas the wild imagination of an "alien"-or, an
irresistible appeal to save our beloved game from its natural death?
The answer will be given by the future which awaits world chess.
After having met Fischer, Mr.Ilyumzhinov said: "I read plenty about
Fischer but he is not an eccentric. He is a joyful, communicative
man who knows a great deal about things that are going on in the
world. Fischer is not only an ingenious player, he is a symbol of
clean, honest, absolutely impeccable service to his art. He is a man
like Mozart in music, and Einstein in science."
Was it a valid generalization when, in 1992, Fischer said that "the
problem with chess these days is that it is all cheating. The rules
should be changed to prevent players from preparing that deeply".
How to do it? "You can shuffle the position of the pieces by
computer before the game." His striving for perfection also showed
itself in his design of an electronic piece shuffler and the very
advanced, computerized Fischer chess clock, both ready for use on
the "Big Day" of the first professional exhibition match in
Fischerandom Chess, played on conditions set by international
practice. The game's merits will be properly decided over the
chessboard. The creator of the game, and the sponsors, will then
offer new opportunities to the chessworld.

The story of the random positioning of pieces

The idea of shuffling the pieces on the back row in chess is as old
as the game itself. In India, where the game first came into
existence, White's king stood on e l facing Black's queen on e8, and
72 Birth ofa New Chess Game

White's queen was on d l facing Black's king on d8, while in Persia

the position was reversed with kings on dl and e8, and queens on e l
and d8.

Above-chessboard in India, and below-chessboard in Persia

Full symmetry came later on as the next step in the development
of chess. All the rules were perfected some five hundred years ago.
And, in 1 926, Dr. Paul Felisch wrote in Funk Schach the prophetic
words: "Any revolution in the field · of chess hardly seems
imaginable to connoisseurs, and yet it is slowly being prepared". It
was understood at the time that "chess remained the king of games,
an admirable creation of human genius, a source of ever fresh
pleasures and discoveries, still far from being exhausted... But in the
future it is difficult to believe that the game will escape from the
universal law: nothing lasts for ever, everything is in transformation
and evolution, a law which has already been proved by the past." It
was felt by a few experts in the Twenties, that a new modification of
 Birth of a New Chess Game 73

the game was now due, but one which preserved those essential
qualities which make the orthodox chess game as worthy as it is.

Concern over the possible "incurable evil" of excessive numbers

of draws was growing after the Capablanca-Alekhine world
championship match of 1927, with 73.5% of games drawn (and with
an average of 55% drawn games in other competitions after the
Second World War, while the Karpov-Kasparov match of 1984/85
beat all championship records by having over 80% drawn games).

This is why Capablanca himself began suggesting various reforms

of chess. He recommended a chessboard of I Ox l 0 squares with the
addition of two interesting powerful pieces for each side (l:.+ltJ,
.t+ltJ), and even played four games against Maroczy in London
1929 on a chessboard of 16x12 squares, supporting the idea of
G.Hayward, with two kings and two queens on each side!

The chessboard used in the Capablanca·Maroczy match

Both players had a double wooden army and the winner was the
one who first mated either one of the opponent's kings. Against
Maroczy, Capablanca won three games and lost one.

This "double chess game" for two players was only one of a great
variety of attempts at a different version of orthodox chess, e.g.
chess without castling or with modified castling, restricted chess,
Viennese war game, simplified chess, chess with placed pawns,
74 Birth of a New Chess Game

chess for self-mate, chess with prohibited checking, chess with the
king and pawns and two moves each time, chess without captures,
chess where the winner is the one who checks first, phantasmagoria
chess, amazonian chess, chess with two kings and two queens and 1 0
pawns on each side on a I Ox i O chessboard by Parton, the
above-mentioned Capablanca chess with two new pieces, chancellor
and marshal, an increased version of the old project by Carrera in
1 6 1 7 with a chessboard of I Ox8 squares, etc.
None of these many innovations gained any popularity at any time.
Their mistake was to drift too far from the classical game, which
was in fact excellent. The most remarkable feature of orthodox chess
is probably the admirable balance between the chessboard and the
number, variety and power of pieces, which offers a sufficient
degree of complexity and inexhaustible research, and not too large to
tum off the mass of players who do not have the spare time to
deepen their knowledge of chess "science".
Any attempt at reformation had a chance of survival provided it
did not sever connections with classical chess-and that could
include the idea of shuffling the pieces on the back row. Various
proposals of greater or lesser interest have so far been made in that
basically right direction.
In the "Brunner system" pawns were placed in the same way as
classical chess but then each player would in tum put any piece on a
square of his choice and the opponent would place the same piece
symmetrically on the "corresponding" square--but it was a special
kind of symmetry, where h8 corresponds to a I , g8 to b I , f8 to c I ,
etc. Here i s an example:
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 75

Instead of setting up the pieces by the alternate choices of the

players, the symmetrical position of the pieces could be determined
by the drawing of lots. If two bishops were to be found on squares of
the same colour, the bishop on the right hand side exchanged its
place with the piece placed on the left. Castling was abolished. A
tournament with these rules was held in London in 1 9 1 1 at the
Patent Office Chess Club.
Another method of shuffling was to draw lots only for the king,
and the placement of the other pieces was decided by the alternate
choices of the players. Or the player with Black pieces was the one
who decided on the positions of all the pieces and White was obliged
to place his pieces on the back row in the same way before starting
the game.
A.T. Griffith in Chess Amateur (September 1 908) proposed trying
the following system: at the beginning-the usual position, but as
soon as White had made his first move, Black would have the option
of replacing two bishops and two knights on the squares b 1 , e I , fl
and gl, as he wished but on the condition that the bishops remained
on opposite colours. He believed that this system negated both
opening theory and the advantage of the first move.
Karl Kaiser, in Funk Schach (September 1 926), recommended
players to place pieces, one after the other, alternately, first kings,
then queens, rooks, bishops and knights, without any obligation of
symmetry.
In 1934, under the banner of Real Chess, the Hungarian
E.I.Csaczar, after having placed pawns on the second rank, allowed,
as the above-mentioned Kaiser, the alternative free arrangement of
pieces on the back row, adding the right to castle with the king and
any rook, according to the usual rules (i.e. no previous move of the
king and rook, empty squares between the two pieces, no check to
the king), except that it could be done at any distance; the king goes
to the next square of the rook, then the rook jumps over the king to
the connecting square. If the king is already on the connecting
square to the rook, castling is p erformed by just the jump of the
rook. Here are a few examples: � a l , l:tgl , l:thl-after castling: l:tel ,
�fl, Ilhl ; or Ila l , �gl , Ilhl-after castling: Ilal , Ilfl , �gl , or
�bl , lleI , Ilhl . If the position is Ildl , �el , Ilfl , then castling
would be possible only after having moved one of the rooks. In spite
of the slight similarity, all these differ greatly from the superior rules
76 Birth o/a New Chess Game

of Fischerandom Chess. Let us see an amateur game of the "Real

Chess" kind:

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 e4 g6 2 c3 a5 3 f4 a4 4 .td4 .txd4 5 cxd4 f6 6 ':13 b5 7 d5 c!iJd6

8 .td3 b4 9 ttJe3 'ifb7 10 e5 ttJb5 1 1 .txb5 'ifxb5 12 exf6 exf6 13
�g4 .txd5?! 14 J:e3 f5 15 �f6 �e6 16 �d3 a3 17 b3 .te4 18 'ifc4
d5 19 'ifxb5 ':xb5 20 J:n ':c8 21 ttJe5 d4?

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

22 ':xe4! Black resigned (if 22 . . . fxe4 23 ttJc6 mate! Or

22 ... �e7! 23 �6+! �xf6 24 l:xe6+ �xe6 25 ttJxd4+ �d5 26 ttJxb5
�c5 27 �xc7 ! , etc.)

In 1 952, the Englishman Parton proposed the abolition of castling,

being an "absurd operation", and, in order to speed up play, to start
the game from the following symmetrical position:
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 77

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

The argument for this was: "the rooks are ready to be doubled, the
position of the queen strengthens the kingside" .
In 1903, the British Chess Magazine stressed that in case of a
reversed position of bishops and knights (see the diagram below),
the development of the knights causes embarrassing problems since
it is difficult to find good squares for these pieces. If one takes the
e3 and d3 squares. to be good for the knights, how to develop the
bishops? And the development of knights to b3 and g3 makes the
pawns on b2 and g2 very vulnerable.

a b c d e f g h

In Chess Amateur, in 1926, John C. Warbis made this comment:

"Validity of book knowledge grows ever too much, and time will
certainly come when one should find a remedy for that situation. To
the one who would respond that the game of chess had survived
78 Birth ofa New Chess Game

hundreds of years and that, accordingly, there would be no necessity

to modify it, one could reply that this situation is practically a new
one, dating from no more than a century ago. There is a remedy for
that, placing chess at its old plane of a game, and not of an essay,
which would make disappear the false superiority of book rats. This
remedy would be in establishing an international authority
proclaiming a new starting position on the first day of each year, and
its validity for next twelve months. The spirit of the game would not
be affected if, for instance, rooks exchanged squares with knights,
but complicated analysis of openings would be destroyed and every
player could rejoice at the luck of using his own brain from the
word: move! "

Piece shumer-as a new item

Randomized chess of any kind in the past suffered from two main
defects. Firstly, its essential drawback was a failure to maintain a
sufficiently close connection with classical chess. Secondly, it
carried the practical disadvantage of requiring some little time and
manual work before each game in order to decide on a starting
position at the chessboard, wheras the practice of playing classical
chess created no problems whatsoever of this kind.
This is why, already in 1 992, Fischer had mentioned the
possibility and necessity of putting into operation a computerized
"piece shuffler". It meant that the players, or the referee, had nothing
else to do other than to press a button and one of the 960 random
positions, identical for both sides, would automatically appear on the
double display. Another press of the button would prompt another
starting position on the display, and so on and so on, for ever and
ever.
In 1 994, Fischer explained his ideas about this to an expert, Mr.
Aleksandar Mihailovic, B.E., who prepared the program and made a
prototype for the piece shuffler, respecting Fischer's strict
requirements that the device would never make a mistake, that
bishops had to be of opposite colours, and rooks had to be
disconnected in each case by their king somewhere on the back row.
It meant that each bishop had the choice of only four squares of the
same colour on the back row and that the king and either of the
rooks also had the choice of six squares at most. These limitations in
selecting the starting position were of revolutionary importance in
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 79

that they kept alive all the principles of the good old game in the
new, randomized version.
When the second prototype of the piece shuffler was produced in
1995, enclosed in a neat, small metallic half-pyramid black and
yellow case, it was tested many thousands of times to prove its
"objectivity" in not favouring any particular line-ups of pieces­
with the display consistently avoiding any undue repetition of
randomised positions.
The piece shuffler runs on long life batteries and will probably be
indispensable when it comes to making Fischerandom Chess a
widely popular and easily organized competition. It has two
displays, one on each of its two sides, and a switch showing the
same starting position either for White or Black, following the
wishes of the two rivals. A very important part of this little
electronic device is the connector to the computer and its printer,
which, on basis of the special program, immediately prints, on
command, any number of score sheets with beautiful diagrams of the
specific starting position for that game-to be handed to the players,
arbiters, press reporters and spectators, so that no information will
be lacking about the unpredictable course of the match or
tournament game in Fischerandom Chess.
How many times would a competitor in Fischerandom Chess get
the chance to play a game of classical chess, bearing in mind that its
starting position could theoretically be selected by the piece
shuffler? If we know that Lasker or Capablanca (and indeed the
living world champion Fischer) played less than a thousand
tournament games during their chess careers, the probability factor,
depending on the frequency of personal professional participation in
competitions, is that the Fischerandom Chess competitors will play a
classical chess game once, twice, perhaps three or four times during
their lifetimes-or never!
A clever chess enthusiast wanted to correct these calculations by
saying that 960 possible starting positions represent in fact 4S0
starting positions, if one bears in mind that the horizontal symmetry
of reversed wings means practically the same thing. However such a
conclusion, in Fischerandom Chess, is entirely wrong. Suppose the
shuffler eventually decided on the classical chess line-up with a
slight difference of kings and queens placed on reversed squares, i.e.
white queen being on e l , and king on d l , and black queen on eS, and
king on dS. Would it not be the Ruy Lopez opening, if the first
80 Birth ofa New Chess Game

moves in the game were 1 d4 d5 2 tiJc3 tiJf6 3 .tg5? It could look

like that, and yet it would be something else since castling to the
a-side would bring the king to c I , and not to bI, and the rook to dI,
and not to c 1, which would be the case (on the opposite wing) in the
true Ruy Lopez. The Exchange Variation 3 . . . h6 4 .txf6 exf6 5
0-0-0 (imitating Fischer's move 5 0-0) would have different
connotations, and in the continuation 4 .th4 tiJc6 5 0-0-0 (sic!) the
Morphy Line as a possibility would be completely eliminated,
because 5 . . . tiJxd4 is not playable when the d-pawn (representing
the king pawn here) is already protected. Because of the modified
castling rules in Fischerandom Chess to the a-side and h-side (no
more queen-side and king-side }-the 960 starting positions really
mean 960 essentially different positions !

Chess clock-at last the player's friend

Although mechanical clocks have been in existence for some four

hundred years, and sand glasses considerably longer, it was not until
the latter half of the nineteenth century that either was introduced to
chess for the purpose of limiting the amount of time a player might
spend on a game.
Although a chronometer was used to record the amount of time
taken over each move in most of the games of the Staunton versus
Saint Amant match of 1 848, it was apparently not until 1 86 1 that
any kind of time limit was enforced. Paul Morphy ( 1 837-1 884) was
remembered, around 1 857, as having been unbelievably patient,
keeping his calm in all situations, waiting sometimes-without any
change of expression on his face-for several hours until his
opponent produced the next move and using that time to prepare his
quick, yet very efficient reply at the chessboard.
In 1 86 1 the Anderssen-Kolisch match in London saw the
innovation of timing by means of an hour glass for each player; the
time limit being 24 moves in two hours. The London tournament of
1 862 was the first tournament in which the players had to face a time
limit (20 moves in two hours), again regulated by sand glasses.
It was not long before mechanical clocks were introduced.
Independent clocks were used in the Anderssen-Steinitz match of
1 866. The early chess clocks operated on a pendulum method-the
clock in mid air being the one in motion.
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 81

The change from the pendulum clock to the modern push button
variety occurred between 1 895 and 1 900. This is the clock which we
know has been a great problem for many contemporary players who
spend too much time thinking in the opening and middlegame and
are then exposed all too frequently to the dangers of extreme time
pressure, making the result of the game a sheer lottery.
Another three quarters of a century passed before the next major
development-the appearance, in the early 1 970s, of electronic
digital clocks. However these failed to play any part whatsoever in
removing the creative damage which the chess clock in general has
done to the playing styles of even the strongest players.
The recent abolition of adjourned games in tournament practice
and, as a consequence, an increased rate of play, has handicapped
international competitors even more in their fight against the
negative influence of the clock, which often denies them time for
reflection when it is most needed at difficult moments of a
complicated struggle at the board and upsets their concentration in
severe time pressure. Since the chess clock is essential to ensure that
a player adopts a sporting attitude by taking a reasonable amount of
time on the game-the question of how to reduce its far-reaching
effect on the quality of played games has been unsettling
grandmasters for a century.
Only in 1 992, when Fischer was about to meet Spassky, did he ask
for use of a special digital chess clock, improving upon his well
thought out invention to put an end to maddening time scrambles.
Following Fischer's instructions, A.Mihailovic, B.E., made a
prototype, which was successfully employed in the world
championship return match in Saint Stefan and Belgrade. FIDE then
hurried to copy Fischer's system for its first chess clock on the
market.
The basic idea of this system, which accumulates time, is that a
player does not obtain, let us say, two hours on his clock for the first
40 moves, but only one hour and twenty minutes, and the other 40
minutes are gradually recovered by the clock which will add one
minute to the rest of the player's time each time the player makes his
move and presses his button on the clock. A similar procedure
continues in the second, third etc. session of the game.
No amount of advice will discipline players to use their available
time wisely when problems at the chessboard get too difficult. What
happens then is a panicky period before the time control, when one
82 Birth ofa New Chess Game

or both players have a few seconds only to make their moves and
press the clock. This is when grave blunders are committed, thereby
upsetting the logic and quality of the game. Fischer's chess clock
completely eliminates such chaotic chess scenes because a player
will always have at least one minute for each move till the time
control.
There are other opinions too. Grandmaster Yermolinsky was
speaking to his colleague Seirawan, during their short stint in
Denver in 1 998. Seirawan found playing with Fischer's Clock quite
different from what we are used to (Yermolinsky remarks "I'll try to
avoid the term 'normal chess" '). "One of the problems is that you
can't help but get lulled into the false sense of security that the
30-second increment gives you. It is very difficult to spend your
time and energy wisely on every move, while leaving some for the
rest of the game. Players who are used to looking for the perfect
solution on every move are doomed to exhaust themselves, and
while you're playing you never know what the game may turn
into-you actually may find yourself dealing with more serious
problems in the later stages of the game." Yermolinsky adds a
postscript to Seirawan's words: "Here is a perfect example. Vasser
invested considerable effort in equalizing from a difficult position,
went through one time control and found himself in time trouble
again, just at the worst of times."
Such reasoning failed to find many supporters. FIDE officially
introduced Fischer's Clock in the most important competitions in the
Nineties. While reporting from a rapid tournament in Cap 0'Agde
1 998, won by Karpov, grandmaster Gelfand wrote: "I strongly
believe that the Fischer clock should be used in all · time-controls
where a game is played till the end. This final confirmed my view
about the American champion's invention. Incidently, I hold a
different opinion on another invention of the 1 1th World Champion,
shuffle chess, but this has nothing . to do with the present
tournament."
But this advanced clock from the Fischer-Spassky match of 1 992
is something of a simpleton compared to the new prototype of
"Fischer" chess clock which is going to be used in the first
exhibition Fischerandom Chess match or any future competition of
this kind. This computerized digital device, running on long life
batteries, packed in a neat black and yellow case with two small
loudspeakers for the alarm system, has two displays for White and
 Birth ofa New Chess Game 83

Black on the front and a further display for programming at the back
of the half-pyramidal extended box.
What is there to be programmed? Well, the arbiter or the players
may select any amount of starting time for the game up to the time
control, and any time in minutes and seconds to be granted for each
move executed at the board, regardless of whether blitz, rapid or
tournament chess is at issue. A setting can be made separately for
each of six sessions of the game and an increase or decrease of
available time for reflection performed at will by numbers or by
percentage, with figures automatically calculated by the clock.
Another important innovation is the clock's alarm system,
something that could have never previously been imagined in the
history of contemporary chess. What is it for? Every chess spectator
remembers exciting or even funny scenes in tournaments when
players under time pressure, instead of concentrating on the game,
constantly glance back and forth from the chessboard to the little
flag on the clock, never knowing exactly the precise moment when it
is about to fall. Such an atmosphere is hardly conducive to chess
creativity at crucial stages of the intellectual fight. The new alarm
system invented by Fischer enables players to concentrate fully on
the game without having to divide their time between the board and
the menacing clock.
There is a volume control for the discreet voice which counts
down the time left to the player and each second before the eventual
forfeit so that players are informed precisely and up to the very last
second, without having to look at the clock, whether they can think a
little bit longer before executing their next move. Players also have
the option of hearing a beeping sound instead of vocal counting or
even to switch the whole alarm system off if they prefer it that way.
Chess time has always been counted in seconds but this is out of
step with Fischer's clock, which counts time in tenths of a second.
The intention is to do a player justice, especially in speed chess, if he
makes a move before a complete second expires, thus ensuring that
the rest of that second will be saved for his next move and not
wasted by the usual formality of counting time only in terms of
seconds. This may be considered as non-essential but if the same
thing occurs several times it may add up to a significant amount of
saved seconds which might be critical not just in lightning chess ...
84 Birth ofa New Chess Game

Golden rules crucial to the future of the new chess

None other than the world champion himself is recommending that

enthusiasts throughout the world play chess in a different way than
before. Though keenly aware of the great heritage of classical chess,
which he has himself convincingly popularised in all five continents,
he is now looking for a big change. Why is this?
Some experts and critics are prone to underestimating Fischer's
present recommendations as the actions of a man who has become
an eccentric, since to them the old chess will always have enough
resources to develop from the inside, and to arouse widespread
interest from the outside. Nevertheless, there are already indications
of a lack of big sponsors in the economically stronger West, with
some traditional international tournaments even ceasing to exist in
other countries as well. Even FIDE has increasing difficulties in
organizing its numerous regular team and individual competitions. Is
this just a temporary crisis, as some chess circles like to believe in
their hope for better times ahead, or does it stand to reason that chess
is no longer such great fun as it used to be?
Bobby Fischer gives the impression of a man who thinks that the
excitement of the chess game-in the face of modern computers and
too much repetition of chess positions in practical play-can be
recovered only by far-reaching reform. His encyclopedic knowledge
of classical chess and deep respect for its qualities has made him
follow three basic principles in Fischerandom Chess:
1) The full symmetry of white and black pieces, facing each other
from the back row, implies equal opportunities for the two
opponents.
2) The two bishops have to remain on diagonals of opposite
colours. All pieces on the back row have the capability of reaching
any of the 64 squares on the chessboard, except the bishops which
complement each other in their long-distance control of squares. If
this were not the case, the game would lose one of its glowing
colours.
3) The option of castling for both sides has to be retained at all
cost, albeit in a clever way. Besides the player's personal skill,
castling represents a very important part of his weaponry as it
restores the coordination of his pieces as quickly as possible and
neutralizes the certain disharmony which the shuffler may cause at
the beginning of the game. The modified rule of castling helps to get
 Birth of a New Chess Game 85

the game back to "nonnal positions", similar to those of classical

chess, and these positions will certainly have much more variety. If
the king and castling rook are separated by one or more squares,
these squares of course have to be cleared, but with a-side castling
other pieces may remain on a l and b l (for Black, on a8 and b8), if
the latter are not in the way of the rook, and the same is valid for the
queen, bishop or knight on hI (for Black on h8) for h-side castling.
So the first match in Fischerandom Chess can be supplied with the
best chess clock, a reliable piece shuffler, and the rules as perfect as
can be.
The next chapter presents the final result of Fischer's lengthy
concentration on the subject of appropriate rules.
 Fischerandom Rules

F
ischerandom Chess is Bobby Fischer's new and
improved version of "Randomized Chess". Although the
following rules may at first seem a bit complicated,
they're actually quite simple . . .and the play is much
improved over traditional chess because you don't need
to analyze or memorize any book openings. Therefore, your play
becomes truly creative and real.
Fischerandom Chess uses algebraic notation exclusively.
At the start of every game of Fischerandom Chess, both players'
pawns are set up exactly as they are at the start of every game of
Classical Chess.
In Fischerandom Chess, just before the start of every game, both
players' pieces on their respective back rows receive an identical
random shufile using the Fischerandom Chess Computerized
Shuffler (or even with a single die.!) which is programmed to set up
the pieces in any combination, with the provision that one rook has
to be to the left and one rook has to be to the right of the king, and
one bishop has to be on a light-coloured square and one bishop has
to be on a dark-coloured square. White and Black have identical
positions. From behind their respective pawns the opponent's pieces
are facing each other directly, symmetrically. Thus for example, if
the shufiler places White's back row pieces in the following
position: :a l , i..b l , �c l , lOdl , .tel , lOn, :g l , 'ii'h l , it will place
Black's back row pieces in the following position, :a8, .tb8, �c8,
lOd8, i..e 8, lofS, :g8, 'ii'h8, etc. (See diagram)
 Fischerandom Rules 87

a b c d e · f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

In Fischerandom Chess there are 960 possible starting positions,

the Classical Chess starting position and 959 other starting positions.
Of necessity, in Fischerandom Chess the castling rule is somewhat
modified and broadened to allow for the possibility of each player
castling either on or into his or her left side or on or into his or her
right side of the board from all of these 960 starting positions.
Please, note the following points:
a) In Fischerandom Chess, depending on the pre-castling position
of the castling king and rook, the castling manoeuvre is performed
by one of these four methods:
1 By on one tum making one move with the king, and making
one move with the rook ("double-move" castling).
2 By transposing the position of the king and the rook
("transposition"castling).
3 By making only one move-with the king ("king-move-only"
castling).
4 By making only one move-with the rook ("rook-move-only"
castling).
Clarification: In Fischerandom Chess, whether you "double-move"
castle, "transposition" castle, "king-move-only" castle, or
"rook-move-only" castle, in all cases always both the king and the
rook jointly are deemed to be castling, and to have castled.

b) In Fischerandom Chess when "double-move" castling, if the

king is standing on the square the rook will occupy naturally, you
88 Fischerandom Rules

must move the king first and then the rook; if the rook is standing on
the square the king will occupy naturally you must move the rook
first and then the king; otherwise whether you move the king first
and then the rook, or the rook first and then the king is strictly your
choice.
c) In Fischerandom Chess, when "double-move" castling either
the king jumps over the rook or else the rook jumps over the king.

d) In Fischerandom Chess, when "king-move-only" castling the

king always jumps over the rook.

e) In Fischerandom Chess, when "rook-move-only" castling the

rook always jumps over the king.

t) a-side castling (0-0-0), and h-side castling (0-0) are the

Fischerandom Chess equivalents of queen-side or long castling
(0-0-0), and king-side or short castling (0-0) respectively, of
Classical Chess.

g) In Fischerandom Chess:

1 White's a-side castling (0-0-0) is performed with the hitherto

unmoved White king and the hitherto unmoved rook standing to its
left. After White's a-side castling (0-0-0) the White king stands on
c 1 and the aforementioned rook stands on d 1 .

Black's a-side castling ( . . . 0-0-0) is performed with the hitherto

unmoved Black king and the hitherto unmoved rook standing to its
right. After Black's a-side castling ( ... 0-0-0) the Black king stands
on c8 and the aforementioned rook stands on d8.

2 White's h-side castling (0-0) is performed with the hitherto

unmoved White king and the hitherto uIUiloved rook standing to its
right. After White's h-side castling (0-0) the White king stands on
g l and the aforementioned rook stands on fl .

Black's h-side castling (. . . 0-0) i s performed with the hitherto

unmoved Black king and the hitherto unmoved rook standing to its
left. After Black's h-side castling ( . . . 0-0) the Black king stands on
g8 and the aforementioned rook on f8.
 Fischerandom Rules 89

h) When castling in Fischerandom Chess, you are not allowed to

make any capture(s).

i) When castling in Fischerandom Chess, no other piece(s), yours

or your opponent's, are allowed to stand between the castling king
and rook.

j) In Fischerandom Chess, when in check, you are not allowed to

castle. Or, put another way: In Fischerandom Chess you are not
allowed to castle "out" of check.

k) In Fischerandom Chess you are not allowed to castle into

check.

1) When castling in Fischerandom Chess, your king is not

allowed to move through check, or shall we say any "checked"
square (same thing), nor is your king allowed to jump over your own
rook if and when said rook stands on a "checked" square. (A
"checked" square is a square that is attacked by one or more of your
opponent's pieces.)

m) In Fischerandom Chess, after completing your first move of

"double-move" castling it is quite possible and not at all illegal for
your opponent to be in a position where, were it your opponent's
move, your opponent would be in stalemate, check, or checkmate.
Should after completing your first move of "double-move" castling
one of these three aforementioned situations exist you are to ignore
it and make your prescribed second move of "double-move"
castling.

n) Exception: In Fischerandom Chess, when your first move of

"double-move" castling, or at least what could become your first
move of "double-move" castling, also constitutes a completely
standard non-castling king and rook move, the choice of whether to
proceed with your second move of "double-move" castling or to
consider your move as an already completed non-castling move is
yours to make. You signify your choice for the former by first
making your second move of "double-move" castling and then
pushing the appropriate button on the chess clock, you signify your
choice for the latter simply by pushing the appropriate button on the
chess clock.
90 Fischerandom Rules

0) Suggestion: When playing a friendly game of Fischerandom

Chess without benefit of a chess clock, to avoid any possible
confusion or disputes, it might sometimes be a good idea to
announce to your opponent just before you castle, "I'm going to
castle."

p) In Fischerandom Chess:

1 Once the White king has moved, White is not allowed to castle
for the rest of the game.

Once the Black king has moved, Black is not allowed to castle
for the rest of the game.

2 Once the heretofore unmoved rook standing to the left of the

unmoved White king has moved, White is not allowed to a-side
castle (0-0-0) for the rest of the game.

Once the heretofore unmoved rook standing to the right of the

unmoved Black king has moved, Black is not allowed to a-side
castle ( ... 0-0-0) for the rest of the game.

3 Once the heretofore unmoved rook standing to the right of the

unmoved White king has moved, White is not allowed to h-side
castle (0-0) for the rest of the game.

Once the heretofore unmoved rook standing to the left of the

unmoved Black king has moved, Black is not allowed to h-side
castle ( ... 0-0) for the rest of the game.

4 Any appearances to the contrary notwithstanding, you are not

considered to be castled or to have castled unless you yourself have
actually castled, i.e. performed the castling maneuver. In other
words: If you haven't castled, you haven't castled.

5 Once White has castled, White is not allowed to castle again for
the rest of the game. Once Black has castled, Black is not allowed to
castle again for the rest of the game.
 Fischerandom Rules 91

q) Tip: In Fischerandom Chess, when it is momentarily impossible

to a-side castle (0-0-0) because of the obstructing position of your
other unmoved rook, or vice versa, when it is momentarily
impossible to h-side castle (0-0) because of the obstructing position
of your other unmoved rook, do not be confounded. These are
frequent occurrences in Fischerandom Chess. Play proceeds in
accordance with the rules in this rulebook.
r) Remark: In Fischerandom Chess, depending upon the starting
position, and how the game develops, it may often occur that in the
positions produced immediately after a-side castling (0-0-0), one,
two, or all the three of the squares for White ai, b l , and e l (for
Black a8, b8, and e8), and after h-side castling (0-0), one or both of
the squares for White el and hI (for Black e8 and h8) are not vacant,
as they automatically are, for example, in Classical Chess.
All the other rules are the same as in Classical Chess!
If you are ever in any doubt about the correct "before" and "after"
castling positions in Fischerandom Chess, please consult the
following tables, showing all (84) possibilities of castling, (42) for
White, and (42) for Black:
All twenty-one White "Before" and the one "After" position of
a-side castling (0-0-0):

Before: �gl ; ':fl , e I , d I , c 1 , b i or a l After: �c I; ':d I

Before: �fl ; ':e l , d l , c 1 , b i or a l After: �c1 ; :d I
Before: �el ; ':dl , c I , b i or a l After: �cl ; ':dI
Before: �dl ; ':cl , b l o r a l After: �c I ; ':d I
Before: �c1 ; ':b I or a l After: �c I ; ':d I
Before: �bl ; ':al After: �c I ; ':d I

All twenty-one White "Before" and the one "After" position of

b-side castling (0-0):

Before: �bl ; ':c l , d l , e l , fl , g l or h I After: �gl ; ':fl

Before: �c1 ; ':dI , e l , fl , g l or h I After: �gl ; :fl
Before: �dl ; ':el , fl , g l or h I After: �g I ; ':fl
Before: �el ; ':fl , g l or h i After: �g I ; ':fl
Before: �fl ; ':gl or h i After: �gl ; ':fl
Before: �g l ; ':h l After: �gl ; ':fl
92 Fischerandom Rules

All twenty-one Black "Before" and the one "After" position of

a-side castling ( ... 0-0-0):

Before: �g8; ':f8, e8, d8, e8, b8 or a8 After: �e8; ':d8

Before: �f8; ':e8, d8, e8, b8 or a8 After: �e8; ':d8
Before: �e8; :d8, e8, b8 or a8 After: �c8; :d8
Before: �d8; :c8, b8 or a8 After: �e8; :d8
Before: �cS; :b8 or as After: �e8; :d8
Before: �b8; ':a8 After: �e8; :d8

All twenty-one Black "Before" and the one "After" position of

h-side castling ( 0-0):
•.•

Before: �b8; :e8, d8, e8, f8, g8 or h8 After: �g8; :f8.

Before: �e8; :d8, e8, fS, g8 or h8 After: �g8; :fS.
Before: �d8; :e8, f8, g8 or h8. After: �g8; ':f8.
Before: �e8; :f8, g8 or h8. After: �g8; :f8.
Before: �f8; ':g8 or h8 After: �g8; ':f8.
Before: �g8; :hS. After: �g8; :f8.
 Part Three:
"Fischerandom Chess contest" in
Frankfurt in 2000 fails because of
mistaken shuffling !

n late spring 2000, news broke over the Internet that in

I
Frankfurt on June 23th and June 25th, starting at 1 p.m. , the
No. 1 German grandmaster, Artur Yusupov, would play a
match of two rapid games at Fischerandom Chess, ("in order
to show what the latest variant in the series of games similar
to chess has to offer"-was an additional comment by the Internet
reporter) with the Fischer clock, against the world's best commercial
Chess Program Fritz on the powerful Fujitsu Siemens computer,
Primergy.
•

One comment from Germany went: "Fischerandom Chess-every

chess fan already knows a little about it: now finally the ingenious
Bobby has let himself be heard. An absence from active tournament
play has not diminished his fanatical devotion to the game and his
quest to find ways of making the sport more attractive over the
board. While the Fischer Clock has in the meantime been accepted
as a welcome novelty, the existence of Fischerandom Chess-the
kind of game where the position of the pieces on the back row is
decided by lottery-has remained in the shadows.
It is paradoxical that his inspirations are completely different from
each other. Where the Fischer Clock gives the player additional time
for reflection after each move, thus greatly reducing the factor of
accidents in time pressure, in Fischerandom Chess the chance
starting position is fundamental to the principle of the game, where
the 'better' player, unprepared, has to show his true qualities.
However, both of his innovations share the same tendency of
providing identical opportunities for each player at the beginning of
the game. Equal chances and freedom for the individual to make the
best of it, are typical American ideals and a means through which
94 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt

everyone can find his own road to success. Already in his early
youth such principles had influenced Fischer's sense of justice and
his arbitrary interpretations of tournament conditions of that time
sometimes placed obstacles in his ascent to the top. To him and his
American individualism, the deeds of the ' Soviet chess mafia'
remained a thorn in his side throughout his life. With their
well-planned preparations, before 1 970 his Grandmaster colleagues
from the Eastern bloc had skilfully held back his leap to the top.
Fischerandom Chess bares its teeth at systematic collective
preparation which is now neutralised since an individual
immediately lands in a positional thick fog. The complexity of
starting positions rises dramatically: at the very beginning there are
960 possibilities. Preparation is practically impossible and players
will give it up as a bad job. Devotees of fianchettoes will seldom
obtain their favourite opening position. A competitor's preference
for the king or queen's pawn opening has to be put aside and he
must, like a born again chessplayer, orientate himself without
established opening knowledge."
Under such starting conditions how can one form a typical plan of
play? Grandmaster Leko, a participant at the Frankfurt Giants
Tournament, confirmed to the Dutch Schaak Magazine that "it is
absolutely impossible to prepare in Fischerandom Chess-a player
has to rely totally on his creativity only. It may happen that one
takes completely the wrong road from the very beginning."
According to the German reporter all this did not frighten the
modest, reserved man who created the Fritz program, Matthias
Wuellenweber, who thought that any preparation for the match with
grandmaster Artur Yusupov would be entirely superfluous. This key
member of the Chessbase software firm expressed his firm belief
that "In this form of chess too the program is up to the job: Fritz on
Primergy is brutal when it has an advantage. My guess is that we
will win by 2:0!" Wuellenweber agreed with his opponent Yusupov,
who said that he must "be more creative. The computer does not
mind any position. It simply calculates." The software experts added
that "in Fischerandom Chess appear less stereotyped positions. This
recognition by stereotypes is man's best shot in chess.
Wuellenberger's Chessbase colleague Frederic Friedel conducted an
experiment with Hungarian grandmaster Andras Adorjan, showing
him various chess positions for 1 0 seconds. The 'normal' positions
were recognized by the grandmaster much faster than by an amateur.
Fritz on Primergy merely calculates. Usual stereotypes do not
 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt 95

influence the computer at all. It is indifferent to whether it now has

three knights or not and where these are placed at the start of the
game. The difference between Man and Machine in Fischerandom is
several hundred Elo points!-was Wuellenweber's optimistic
opinion.
On the other hand, Hans-Walter Schmitt, the organizer of the
Frankfurt Chess Classic, thought that the German No. 1 player would
win by I 1J2: 'h 'Fritz will have the same problems as the likeable
'Russian Bavarian' Artur... The comparison is an interesting
experiment. One should not be disappointed, even if Man loses. '
We are counting on Yusupov's ability to adapt himself to different
kinds of chess variants-he has already won the continental title in
the European Janus-Chess Championship, with its l Ox l O
chessboard-which meant having ten pawns each as well as added
Janus-pieces moving like a bishop and knight combined.
He has also previously played a Fischerandom Chess match of two
games against another member of the German national team,
Chrisopher Lutz, with the help of a computer (our question: was it
the right kind?), gaining some experience despite losing by In : 1 th.
Yusupov says that 'it was fun and very close to classical chess. The
game may take a dramatic course even after only 5 or 6 moves if the
pieces are placed more favourably than in a traditional game. One
disadvantage is that I had to take great care from the very first move
how to develop my pieces. '
Will Fischerandom Chess replace the classical game one day?
Yusupov thinks that it does not yet rival the normal game but with
the development of computers and thoroughly analyzed openings it
will probably steadily gain in popularity. Quite simply the
theoretical burden is smaller and that alone makes for greater
creativity. It is too early to say which way things will develop but
Fischerandom is the first alternative. Anyway, chess is so beautiful
and so difficult that it will continue to be played for a long time to
come!"
On the Internet, the Scottish reporter John Henderson wrote: "The
brainchild of the enigmatic Bobby Fischer, the idea is to do away
with opening theory, databases and millions of games and
computers, to rely solely on the creativity generated by the old grey
matter between the ears. The idea is simple: you shuffle the pieces
on the back rank for an entirely different approach to the game. In
the new Fischer form, the initial position of the pieces is random,
96 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt

with an identical positioning for both sides. This makes it impossible

for players to draw on chess theory-and at the same time
improving your bank-balance with no need to further invest in
overpriced books and software goodies-and make all the strategic
decisions on the board.
With 960 possible starting positions, in a single stroke it would
make redundant all those Russian grandmasters clocking-in
(presumably with a Fischer clock?) daily at the Kasparov TN
(theoretical novelties) factory in Moscow. Mind you, knowing
Gazza'a luck, he would probably get the one option out of 960 that
shuffies the pieces to their original classical chess position!
Attempts to reform classical chess are, however, not new. In the
Twenties, world champions Lasker and Capablanca made serious
proposals aimed at rejuvenating chess. They proposed a larger board
and new pieces, all in order to combat what they percieved to be a
threat to the game by perfect technique. The danger, they thought,
was that all chess encounters could end in a draw. But their reforms
were not adopted and the degeneration of the game did not occur.
Here at Frankfurt, the rules of Fischerandom which Yusupov and
Fritz will have to follow are: the pawns are placed as usual; the two
bishops must be on different coloured squares, the two rooks must
be on either side of the king; the black and white pieces must be
exactly reflected.
One person here who has a unique insight into this variant of the
game is Peter Leko, a personal friend of Fischer, who has played
many shuffie games with the former (a reckless formulation!) world
champion. Speaking recently Leko says that the game requires a
special kind of creativity, especially during the initial phase, where a
player may take good and bad decisions. This can decide the
outcome of the game. That should be the downfall of the computer,
which has little long-term strategical understanding.
'Not so', thinks ChessBase boffin Matthias Wuellenweber, who
believes the computer has a big advantage at this form of chess and
is even confident enough to predict a 2-0 scoreline for the silicon
beast. 'In Fischerandom Chess the normal patterns that a
grandmaster has been trained to recognise are missing. Humans have
to adjust to unusual situations. In Fischerandom, Fritz on Primergy
is probably a couple of hundred Elo points stronger than any human
because it is just a brutal, calculating machine. '
 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt 97

Yusupov admits: '1 cannot use my vast experience to reach

middlegame positions where 1 already know the typical plans. '
However, his fellow German grandmaster Eric Lobron, who has
played many shuffle games with another Fischer confidante, Eugene
Torre, claims that from his experiencies what happens is that both
players tend to reach a typical classical chess position as quickly as
possible from the opening. Lobron also says that in this form of
chess however, all eight pawns tend to stay on the board for much
longer than is usual." But, in Frankfurt the opponents could not
realize that which Lobron suggests to be the nature of the game.
What really happened on the days of play? In both games between
Yusupov and Fritz on Primergy the initial positions were illegal
according to the rules of Fischerandom Chess! It was not possible to
castle, and that is an essential feature of F.R.Chess! The
international master and chess writer Sinisa Joksic from Belgrade,
sent this urgent message to the organizer in Frankfurt and to several
other people saying: "Unfortunately, in the first game (our remark:
in the second one, too) between Fritz on Primergy and Artur
Yusupov the rules were broken. The game should have been anulled
and a new game played or that one simply not counted as
Fischerandom. You can call it, for example, Frankfurt-on-Main
Chess! That's all right. It was the position of the rooks in relation to
the kings (white and black) that was wrong. You see, it is mentioned
in the rules that 'the two rooks must be on either side of the king'.
(The white king should be at gl, and the black one on g8). Only then
is castling on either side possible. All this was written and clarified
in June 1996 in Buenos Aires. Another mistake was the use of the
ordinary shuffler instead of Bobby Fischer's original one which is
programmed not to allow positions which are against the rules !"
In the Kanjiza bulletin, in 1 996, the comment was correct that­
Game rules are the same as in traditional chess, except for the
"expanded possibility of castling". Was it these different ways of
castling that created a nuisance to the computer chessplaying
program? The F.R.Chess rules were known in Frankfurt 2000 and
could be read in their bulletin. Yet, they decided (was it for the
above mentioned reason?) to make "one modification of the original
Fischer rules, which requires a complex form (sic!) of castling, is
that castling will only be permitted if the king and a rook happen to
start on their normal squares. Having done that, the organizers in
"

Frankfurt have automatically ignored the very spirit of

Fischerandom Chess Rules, where its creator, world champion
98 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt

Fischer, is meticulous about the intimate, closest possible connection

between his reformed game and classical chess.
Although the two games played between Yusupov and Fritz were
in fact basically a promotion for the computer chess program and
had little to do with real Fischerandom Chess, under the banner of
which this unusual rapidplay match ( 1 5 minutes plus 4 or 5 seconds
bonus for each move) was so greatly advertised by the Frankfurt
organisers, the reader might be interested to see how Man and
Machine behaved in unknown territory. But let us repeat-in spite of
some similarity-this was not true Fischerandom Chess! With
knowledge of this, we may take a proper look at what happened in
Frankfurt in those short playing sessions of June 23rc1 and June 25th,
2000:

Game l
Fritz on Primergy White A. Yusupov Black
(The position below would be legal in Fischerandom Chess only if
the kings were on g l , and g8, respectively! As it is, it does not
comply with the rules of F.R.Chess)

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a b c d e f g h

I �f3 d6 2 d4 e6 3 c4 �e7 4 i.d3 a6

Yusupov admitted after the game that he had decided to adopt a
cautious approach to this game, which is reflected in his early
"Hedgehog-like" pawn moves.
5 i.d2 i.a7 6 �b3 i.a4 7 "c2 h6 8 i.c3 �b8 9 �bl f6 10 J:[dl
�b6 1 1 h4 �d7 1 2 h5 e5
 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt 99

Only twelve moves and already both human and computer have
reached a "normalish" position.
13 e3 'iWe8 14 g4 'iWn 15 tbh4 ':c8 16 ':hel

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

16 ... tbb6
The comment on the Internet here was: "Still too cautious.
Yusupov would have been better off reaching out in the centre now
with 1 6 . . . d5 !? 1 7 cxd5 (if 1 7 dxe5 dxc4; or 1 7 c5 e4 1 8 i..e2 'iWe6)
1 7 . . . exd4 1 8 exd4 tbxd5 ."
17 i..a 5 tbc6 18 i..xb6 cxb6
1 8 ... i..xb6 17 i.. g6 'iW£8 seems more solid to the author of this
book.
19 i..g6 'iWc7 20 i..f5 :cd8 21 i..e6 l:lhe8 22 d5 tba5 23 tbf5!
a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h
100 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt

The Internet says that White has a strategically won game based
on the weakness of the h-side pawns.
23 ... "'xc4 24 _xc4 lDxc4 25 lDxg7 :Ie7 26 lDrs l:th7 27 l:td3 b5
28 l:tc1 i..b6 29 e4
29 lDg3 and 30 lDe4 was also playable.

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
29 ... b4?
Basically Black needs to grovel around with 29 ... �a7 as 29 '"
i..xf2 30 lDd2 ! i..c5 (30 ... lDxd2+ 31 :'xd2 i..c5 32 b3) 3 1 b3 is
winning for White.
30 :'xc4 i..b5 31 lDxd6 ':xd6 32 :'c8+ �a7 33 l:td2 as 34 :18 a4
35 lDc1 i..d8 36 b3 a3 37 lDe2
Heading for f5 via g3 .
37 ... i.e7 38 :Ic8
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4

3 3
2

a b c d e f g h
 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt 101

38 ... .1xe2
Black has no choice. If the knight reaches g3 and f5 he can resign.
39 1be2 l:ld8 40 l:lec2 l:lhh8 41 l:lxd8 l:lxd8 42 l:lc7 .1d6 43 l:lh7
.1f8 44 �c2 �b6 45 �d3 �a6 46 .1f5 b6 47 l:tn .ic5 48 lbf6
l:ld6 49 .1e6 l:ld8 50 l:lxh6 l:tf8 51 .1f5 .1xf2 52 g5 l:ln 53 l:lc6
Black resigned.

Game 2
A.Yusupov White Fritz on Primergy Black

(The arrangement of white and black rooks in the starting position

below makes it impossible to create any similar position which
would be legal in F.R.Chess, because there is no square for the king
between rooks, and so there is no essential, vital Fischerandom
Chess option which gives the right to castle-short or long! Yet,
after a few moves, the specific position of the kings on c 1 and c8,
respectively, as in Game 1, coincidentally gives us the chance to
establish situations where there is effectively artifical long castling!)
.

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 e4 c6 2 ttJb3 f6 3 c3 ttJg6 4 g3 e5 5 .1g4 .ixb3 6 axb3 .1b6 7 f3

.1xgl 8 l:lxgl ttJe7 9 ttJf2 tDb6 10 'ir'd3 g6 1 1 .1h3 'iic7 12 'iie3 f5
13 tDd3 �b8 14 ttJc5 ttJg8 15 �c2 d6 16 ttJd3 fxe4 17 fxe4 l:lf6 18
l:lgO l:lefS l9 'iie2 h6 20 l:txf6 ttJxf6 21 J:.n 'ir'n 22 'ir'e3 g5 23 .1r5
ttJg4 24 'iie2 h5 25 h3 ttJf6 26 .:tf2 l:tg8 27 'ir'n 'ir'e7
102 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt

a b c d e f g h

B B
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Interesting is Fritz on Primergy's positional approach: the strong

bishop left on f5 strikes empty squares while also blocking the open
f-file for its own heavy pieces. Therefore it is not difficult for Black
to maintain balanced chances and grab additional space on the h-side
with his next moves.
28 'i'e2 g4 29 hxg4 tiJxg4 30 :0 tiJf6 31 tiJf2 'i'ti 32 tiJdl :h8
33 'i'b2 :18 34 'i'h4 tiJa8 35 tiJf2 tiJc7
a b c d e f g h

B B
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

36 tiJh3!?
White i s not aware o f dangers in the position. Simplification b y 36
g4 was a better choice, with a probably drawn outcome.
36 ... 'i'g7 37 'i'g5 'i'b8! 38 'i'e3 :g8 39 tiJf2 'i'g7 40 tiJh3 tiJb5!
41 .ie6 tiJg4 42 'i'e2 J:th8 43 tiJf2 tiJf6 44 'l'd3 'i'e7 45 .irs b4 46
g4
 Fischerandom Chess contest in Frankfurt 103

In his search for revenge, Man overestimates his chances. Again,

46 gxh4 llxh4 47 llh3 was a solid line.

46 ... !Dh7 47 ixh7 'it'xh7 48 !Dh3

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

The beautifully placed blockading piece is in fact a badly placed

knight, far away from the centre and the real battlefield.

48 ... llg8! 49 g5 d5! 50 lle3 d4 51 llO lld8! 52 c4?

Anything, like 52 'it'e2 and eventually 53 !Df2, was better than this
mistaken move, made under time pressure.

52 ••• !Dc7 53 llf6 'fIe7 54 �dl !De6 55 'flo d3! White resigned
(while overstepping the time limit). Anyhow Black's position is now
winning because of the weaknesses (the b3 pawn and also the white
king on d l ) on White's a-side.
This book was digitized from James Private Chess Library for exclusive use of
CTorrent Premium Members Only! This book is not for SALE!
 World Premiere of Fischerandom
Chess at a High Level
- in Mainz 2001 !

f course it should have been the inventor of

O
Fischerandom himself who was playing the first match
against a world class opponent at this form of chess.
However, the enterprising organizers, though perhaps
disappointed at not having the funds to invite Fischer to
Germany, did manage to attract the No.4 player in the FIDE rating
list-Michael Adams from England, and the No.7 player too-Peter
Leko from Hungary, to take part in a rapidplay match of 8 games in
Fischerandom Chess. Two games were scheduled per day with 25
minutes reflection time for each player for the whole game, plus 1 0
seconds bonus after each executed move (thanks to the special clock,
invented by Fischer). In addition, the clock was not started until 5
minutes after the start of play to give the players a chance to get
accustomed to the unexpected and new style of starting position
which they would have specifically in that game.
The match was a part of the vast organization of the so-called
Mainz Chess Classic 200 1 , which featured another Rapid (classical)
chess match of 1 0 games between two "world title" holders,
Kramnik from Russia (the winner of the match against Kasparov in
London 2000) and Anand from India (the winner of the official
knock-out system for the FIDE world championship title in India
and Iran in 2000). Apart from that, there were also competitions in
speed chess and open tournaments-with many more grandmasters
and other players.
Somehow, the Leko-Adams match was "smuggled" across the
border of classical chess, raising the new question of whether it
could offer an alternative future for the "royal game". Upon coming
to Mainz, Adams declared that he considered Leko to be the
favourite in this unusual match. True, we know that the very young
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 105

Leko was the winner of the first F.R.Chess tournament in

Yugoslavia, mentioned earlier in this book. There were also rumours
that Leko, later on, during Fischer's long stay in Budapest, had had
lessons "free of charge from Fischer himself, by having played
training games in Fischerandom Chess with the very creator of the
new game".
Some creative chess enthusiasts in Scotland, Denmark and
Holland have organized Fischerandom Chess tournaments for
amateurs. An interesting shuffle chess match was played back in
1997 between "Triple Brain" professor Ingo Althoefer of Jena
(Triple Brain meaning two chess engines + Althoefer) against Artur
Yusupov, "A Shuffle Chess Classic", because computers could not
cope with the complicated castling rules in Fischerandom Chess.
And the reader can read about another strange duel, Fritz on
Primergy against grandmaster Yusupov, in this book.
Artur Yusupov, commentating, repeatedly said in Mainz that
Fischerandom Chess did not spell the end for classical chess.
"However, due to the influence of computer programmes and
over-analyzed opening variations, it could become a popular variant.
No more theory means more creativity. It is somewhat premature to
predict how F.R.Chess will develop, but it could become a real
alternative". However: "Chess is very beautiful and difficult, and
will be played for many years to come", he concludes, once more.
The world had to wait until the year 200 1 for a brave decision in
Mainz to organize a Fischerandom Chess match between two world
class players. Will this be the start of a new era?
Four ways of castling in Fischerandom Chess make this
manoeuvre an especially dynamic move (see the chapter on its
Rules). Before the beginning of the match, it created some
problems-and not only for the technical experts to be able to
reproduce games properly on the demonstration board. At one
moment in the first Leko-Adams game, Yusupov suggested h-side
castling, not noticing that this was not possible since the king had to
pass over an attacked square on the way to its (this time) far away
destination, and this is always forbidden-just as in classical chess.
Peter Leko declared after the first game that he was thinking of
castling but could not work out the consequences. Perhaps this was
the reason why both players avoided castling in that game, being
very wary of committing themselves. "In Fischerandom Chess I still
cannot be certain whether a move is good or bad", Leko admitted
106 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

after the game. Also, the commentators, Artur Yusupov, Christopher

Lutz, Vlastimil Hort and Helmut Pfleger had difficulties in assessing
new positions correctly. Wasn't this a charming feature of the new
game? At the press conference Michael Adams described his first
impressions: "It is very important to sit at the chess table well rested
and concentrated. I was thinking especially about a plan to develop
my pieces." After 1 6 moves a position had arisen which looked quite
normal. A few minutes later, the rivals agreed to a draw.
Game l
P.Leko White M.Adams Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

1 e4 eS 2 �3 fS!
A sharp, good reply, since 3 li)xe5 d6, or 3 ... fxe4 right away,
looks quite acceptable for Black. Only two moves and a tense
position already!
3 exfS e4
Of course, after 3 ... 'ibf5? 4 li)e3 White would be far superior in
the fast development of pieces.
4 li)el �6 S li)e3
5 g4? h5 would be wrong and there was also the positional threat 5
. . . i.c4.
5 ••. li)xfS 6 t3
By undermining the exposed e-pawn, White improves his
development.
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 107

6 ... lDxe3 7 .txe3 exO s lDxo .td5!

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6
5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Black exploits the right moment to spoil White's pawn fonnation

on the h-side, so that the wild start to the opening will be
transfonned into peaceful simplification.
9 c4 .txO 10 "xO "xO 1 1 gxO lDe6 12 f4 c5!
White has a slight advantage with his bishop pair, while Black is
looking forward to a drawish ending.
13 rs lDd4 14 .txd4 cxd4 15 .te4 .te5 16 �c2 �c7 17 �d3 l%aeS
IS c5
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a b c d e f g h

White's last hope to do something is to fix the weakness on b7, but

it will cause Black no hann because of the unstable position of
White's bishop on e4.
1 08 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

18 ... i.f6 19 b4 :eS 20 :he1 :he8 21 :e2 dS! 22 exd6+

Wrong would be 22 i.f3? lhe2 23 i.xe2 :xe2 24 �xe2 d3+ and
Black wins a piece.
22 ... �xd6 23 :ael :8e7 24 i.g2 1txe2 25 :xe2 i.eS
Very precise. The remaining rook prevents the activation of
White's king.
26 h3 Drawn.

Game 2
M.Adams White P.Leko Black
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 e4!?
Of course, there is no English Opening here, although played by a
British grandmaster! The quality of the move is slightly questionable
because it may weaken the position of White's king.
1 .•. g6!
Aiming at Black's eventually vulnerable a-side.
2 d3 fS 3 i.e3 eS!
Trading bishops would ease White 's task of more comfortably
developing his pieces. At the same time, Black grabs space in the
centre.
4 f4 d6 5 fxeS dxeS 6 g4 i.e6 7 i.xe6 lLlxe6 8 gxfS gxfS 9 lLle3
lLlge7 10 'ilfe1 'ilfe6 ll lLle2 0-0-0 12 0-0-0
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 109

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

There were cheers among the crew when the technical system
properly displayed to the public on the big demonstraion board both
sides' (long) a-side castling!
12 ... �g6 13 b3 .tf6 14 e3 f4 15 exf4 �xf4 16 'ii'e4 .tg5 17 �bl
Wg6
White's centraliz�d queen was too strong on e4.
18 'i'xg6 hxg6 19 d4 exd4 20 �xd4 �xd4 21 :xd4??
Overlooking Black's threat. In this slightly inferior position White
had to play 2 1 .txd4.
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

21 ••• �d5!
The hanging position of the bishop on c3 and the rook on fl will
cost White precious material.
110 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

22 :xfB lOxc3+ 23 �c2 :xfB 24 :g4

24 �xc3 i.f6 is tantamount to resignation but a piece down is
almost the same.
24 i.f6 25 a3 i.e5 26 :xg6 lOe4 27 h4 :12+ 28 �d3 lOc5+ 29
.••

�e3 :a2 30 lOo i.al 31 h5 :xa3 32 h6 :xb3+ 33 �f4 :b6 34

:gl :f6+ 35 �e3 :e6+ 36 �f4 :f6+
Getting closer to the time control on the 40th move.
37 �e3 i.b2 38 :hl a5 39 h7 :f8 40 :h2 i.f6 41 :h6 1Od7 42
�d2 �d8 43 �c2 �e7 44 1Oh4 �fi

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

45 lOfS
45 tDg6 looks stronger, but the simple 45 . . . lidS also wins because
the knight on h8 would be trapped.
45 ... lOe5 46 c5 a4
Remember-in Rapid Chess there are 10 seconds per move if no
additional time has been saved in the first session.
47 tDe3 a3 48 �b3 :a8 49 �a2 tDd3 50 :hl tDb4+ 51 �b3 a2
White resigned. Leko took the lead with 1 112 : tho
After the two games on the first day Leko declared that "we must
obtain an even greater feel for the unusual positions, then the games
will certainly be even more interesting." In spite of his defeat,
Adams thought that the quality of play was "relatively high".
It was noticeable that, in the first game, the players-intentionally
or not-tried to exchange pieces in order to reach familiar positions.
Yet, some early tension was created after only the first two moves.
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 1 1 1

In the second game Adams tried, with 4 f4 and 6 g4, to establish at

the board a position which was rich in tactical possibilities.
While a top grandmaster like Vasily Ivanchuk from the Ukraine
favours classical chess only, by saying "Chess is already
complicated enough", 2 1 year old Leko thinks differently: "Finally,
one is no longer obliged to spend the whole night long troubling
oneself with the next opponent's opening moves. The best
preparation consists just of sleeping well!"

Game 3
M.Adams White P.Leko Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 d4 dS
Pawns are more powerful when supported by rooks from behind,
like here.
2 h3 c6
For the moment preventing White's bishop from coming to h2.
3 lbo e6 4 .ih2 .id6 5 .ixd6 lbxd6 6 e3 lbg6 7 .id3 'ilc7 S lbg3
fS 9 0-0 lbe4 10 lbe2
White's plan is to gain better control of the dark squares.
10 eS 11 b4 exd4 1 2 lbexd4 1:18 13 1:ct lbeS 14 lbxeS 'ilxeS
..•

15 lbo 'ilf6 16 c4 dxc4 17 .ixc4 0-0-0

112 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2

a b c d e f g h

18 �d3
White could not make use of the exposed position of his
opponent's king along the c-file with the immediate 1 8 b5 because
of 1 8 ... i.xc4 1 9 l:hc4 �c3 !, eyeing the rook on a l .
1 8 ... i.d5 1 9 'W'c2 �b8 20 84 �g5 2 1 �xg5 'W'xg5
Embarrassing White on the h-side, before he opens the other flank
to get closer to Black's king there.
22 �f1 i.e4 23 'W'c5 h6!?

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

l
��.....J
a b c d e f g h

24 'W'e5+!?
Thanks to his pressure on the a-side, White has the initiative. More
energetic was 24 b5, and if 24 ... f4!? 25 'W'xg5 hxg5 26 f3 i.d3 27
bxc6 bxc6 28 e4 with a superior endgame because of the threat 29
llc5 in case of 28 . . .�c7.
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 113

24 ... �a8 25 l:dl

The open file was the strategy which attracted White, but Black
now finds the way to hold the position.
25 ... l:de8 26 'ike7 l:e8 27 'ike5 l:ee8 28 'ike7 l:e8 29 'ikd6 f4! 30
exf4 l:xf4 31 :d4 :f6 32 'ike7 i.d5 33 :e1
If 33 l:g4 'ikf5 Black defends successfully.
33 ... 'ikrs 34 'ike3 l:e6 Drawn.

Game 4
P.Leko White M.Adams Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 d4 d5 2 �g3 �f6 3 b3 �g6 4 i.b2 h5

After having brought both knights into play, Black finds a hidden
way to unlock his queen.
5 e3 h4 6 �e2 :e8
While Leko plays solidly "a la . Philidor", tending to place his
pieces flexibly behind pawns, Adams, at the cost of the bishop pair,
is looking for an early break in the centre to provide manoeuvring
space for his more exposed pieces.
7 �d3 i.rs 8 0 i.xd3 9 l:xd3 e5!? 10 0-0-0 e4 11 fxe4 �xe4 12
�c3 �xc3+ 13 i.xc3 i.a3+ 14 �bl a5?! 15 'ikf2
I 14 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
a b c d e f g h

White's queen enters the battlefield in a more natural way than its
Black counterpart.
15 ... "'fB 16 g3 hxg3 17 bxg3 a4 18 i.g2
This bishop is far superior to the passive black knight on g6.
18 ... axb3 19 axb3 c6 20 :0 f6 21 "'fS Cfje7 22 "'f4+
Black has refrained from castling so as to open the a-file, but he
cannot make use of it while he is lacking a suitable moment to
re-establish coordination between his pieces.
22 ... �a7
Because of the mistaken time-wasting opening of the a-file, the
black king itself is in an awkward position.

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 115

23 e4! dxe4 24 J.xe4 liJd5 25 i.xd5 cxd5 26 .c7

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1
a b c d e f g h

26 ••• •g8?!
To defend the d-pawn, Black resigns himself to passivity since the
only good reply 26 ...•d6 27 .xd6 i.xd6 fails to 28 :f5.
27 J.d2!
This double threat of a mating net (28 .a5+ �b8 29 i.f4+) or
locking in the bishop on a3 brings an easy win.
27 :e6 28 b4 :a6 29 .c5+
•••

Black resigned. Whatever he does, Black cannot escape mate. On

this second day of the match Leko had increased his lead by 3 : 1 .
At the beginning of this game grandmaster Hort, the commentator,
was full of praise for Adams' original treatment of the opening, but
then said that "the position was too complicated for him". Helmut
Pfleger added to the general confusion by saying that "both players
have bad positions".
Adams, as a participant in the match, realised his mistake by
saying "I had difficulties with coordination. In the 4th game I was
perhaps a little bit too optimistic. It is very difficult to defend a bad
position in Fischerandom Chess. In classical chess one knows the
defending strategy. I do not know if I could apply the same
strategies in Fischerandom Chess." At the press conference, Leko
was in a different mood: "I feel fine about having no need of
preparation. Players like Kasparov handle opening · theory
scientifically. It is beautiful to sit down at the chess table without
plans of what to play, hoping that a reasonable game will arise... "
116 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

Vishy Anand, who at the same time in Mainz was playing a

"nonnal" match in Rapid Chess with Kramnik, admitted being sorry
for not having seen any of the Fischerandom Chess games, "because
it is not good preparation for my games", but after his match, "he
would be interested in these games and look at them in the peace of
his home".
The second day illustrated the ultimate importance of the very
dynamic castling manouevres in Fischerandom Chess. In the 3rd
game Adams castled "far away" to the h-side-short, and Leko
-long, and in the 4th game only Leko castled-long, for good.
On the third day of play Adams was faced with the need to
improve his result and to reconsider his decisions in unusual
positions at the board. But the wish to surprise the opponent
somehow, prompted him to make another, "foolish mistake", as he
put it, in the 5th game. It was miraculous that he escaped a third
defeat and perhaps it suddenly raised his spirits for the rest of the
match.

Game S
P.Leko White M.Adams Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

The idea for this first FR Chess match on a high level came from
Mr. Hans-Walter Schmitt, an enterprising organizer of Rapidplay
competitions in Gennany, who promised that "Fischerandom Chess
will replace classical chess within ten years", and sponsorship was
provided by the "Sparrkasse Mainz" (Mainz Savings Bank). Though
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 1 1 7

he is the creator of the game-Bobby Fischer himself had nothing to

do with the whole organization which, among other minor things,
lacked his piece shuffler. The electronic device, made by Matthias
Wuellenweber (creator of the famous ChessBase computer
program), was named "Schach dem Schweinehunde" ("Check to the
scoundrel"), and in Mainz undertook the task of selecting the
starting positions for each game. In the 5th game, there was a rare
similarity to a starting position in classical chess: the h-side was
identical to the h-side in the normal chess that we used to play all the
time!
1 c4 c5
In contrast to Game 2, one senses the true scent of an English
Opening here.
2 lbfJ b6 3 b3 lbf6 4 e3 .txfJ!?
Not necessary, but Black's position in the match prompted Adams
to go for less usual solutions-with unclear consequences.
5 gxfJ g6!? 6 lbc3 .tg7 7 lbd5
White takes the. opportunity to further damage his opponent's
pawn formation-and at less expense than what a similar idea costs
Black.
7 ... d6 S lbxf6+ .txf6 9 .txf6 exf6 1 0 'ji'c3
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
10 ... 'ji'f5
Commentators called this a "typical Fischerandom move". Not a
natural move, but I O .. lbd7 would fail to 1 1 .th3 .
.
118 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

11 f4 0-0 12 J.g2 lDa6

White 's bishop is stronger than the knight, which is left to develop
in a rather artificial manner.
13 0-0 lDc7 14 d4
White is first to make the pawn break in the centre, and it offers
him a lasting initiative.
14 ... lDe6 15 dxcS dxcS

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e g h

16 :dS :'xdS 17 cxdS lDc7 1S 'iVc4

The absence of Black's queen on the sensitive a-side is felt. So
Black should have tried 1 8 . . 'iVd7!, despite the possibility of the
.

unpleasant break b3-b4.

IS ..• 1DeS?! 19 'iVa4!
Did Black overlook this move? One of the pawns on Black's
a-side will now be lost because 1 9 ... as? 20 'iVc6 would be tragic for
the whole pawn group.
19 ... 'ii'cs 20 'ii'xa7 'ii'dS 21 a4
2 1 e4!? 'ii'd6 would be risky.
21 .•. fS 22 as bxaS 23 'ihcs lDd6 24 :al
Though this seems to win new material, Black now begins to put
up tough resistance.
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 1 1 9

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

24 ... ""8! 25 "'xa5

The ideal 25 :xa5 fails to 25 ... �b7! .
25 ... "'xb3 26 "'c5 ""8 27 i.f3 :c8 28 "'d4 "'c7 29 :a6 "'d8
30 �
30 "'e5 �c4 would be ineffective in breaking the blockade. An
attractive but unclear alternative was 30 :c6.
30 ... �e8
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

31 d6!?
Very energetic, yet committal, because this pawn on d6 may need
more solid protection.
31 ... "'d7! 32 i.e2 :d8 33 i.b5 ""7!
J 20 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

This pin along the b-file is Black's only chance of salvation.

34 "'cS
Falling into Black's trap. But if 34 "'a5 %hd6 35 :a8 �g7! , or 35
... :dl+ 36 .in rJ;g7 37 :xe8 "'f3 any win for White is far away.
34 ... :xd6! 3S :xd6 lDxd6 36 "'xd6 Drawn.

In the 6th game, on day 3 , Adams could not believe his eyes when
he sat down at the chessboard to begin playing. Although the
probability was about "one in a thousand", by the whimsical will of
the "Schach dem Schweinehunde" the starting position was identical
with the one in Game 2, where the Englishman again had the White
pieces.

Game 6
M.Adams White P.Leko Black
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
1 e4!
Remembering Game 2, Adams rejects (with disgust?) the move I
c4!?, which, in the end, brought him his first defeat. This time,
White certainly makes a better choice.
1 .. g6!
.

Leko has no reason to refrain from his move in Game 2.

2 f4 d6 3 lDo lDc6 4 d3 fS
Black applies a very similar strategy to Game 2
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 121

5 exfS gxfS 6 1.h4 e6 7 'ifd2 tDge7 8 tDc3 tDg6 9 1.12 'ifd7 10 d4

d5 1 1 g3 0-0-0 12 0-0-0 ci>b8 13 l:[del 1.n 14 b3 tDge7 15 tDa4 b6
16 tDb2 tDc8

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

White looks O.K. in this type of mutual blockade where protracted

manoeuvres are to be expected.
17 tDe5 'ife8
If 17 . tDxe5 1 8 fxe5 White's position is more flexible, and
..

Black's knight can no longer activate itself via the d6 square.

18 'ifc3 ci>b7 19 'ife3 1.g8 20 tDxc6 'ifxc6 21 tDc4! tDd6 22
tDxd6+ 'ifxd6 23 ci>bl 1.f6 24 c4 c6 25 :tel 1.n 26 :tfel h5 27 h4
:lc8 28 c5 'ifd7 29 a4 :lb8 30 :te2 ci>c7

a b c d e f g h
8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a b c d e f g h
122 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

White has some initiative, but only 3 minutes left on the clock,
whereas Black had more than 6 minutes to the time control on move
40.
31 exb6+
Black intended a blockade by 3 1 ... bS.
31 ... :xb6 32 �a2 :fb8 33 :e3
Defending and attacking at the same time.
33 ... :b4 34 "el! :8b6
If 34 ... i.xd4 3S i.xd4 :xd4 36 'ife3 and the a7 pawn is hanging.
35 :ee2 'ifd6
Dangerous would be 3S ... i.xd4 36 i.xd4 :xd4 3 7 'ife3 :db4 38
as :a6 39 :cS and the rook on a6 could be trapped after i.hl -f3-e2.
36 'ifdl <itd7 37 i.o 'ifb8
Indirectly protecting the pawn on hS.
38 :d2 ....8 39 :dd3 a5!? 40 :e5 :a6 41 i.e2 i.e7 42 :el i.f6
43 i.el :b7 44 i.e3 i.e8 45 i.b2 :a8 46 'ifel �e7 47 i.dl 'ifg8
48 :e5 :ba7 49 i.e3 ....8 50 .tb2 �fi 51 'ife2
Black has a greater number of weak spots than White, i.e. as, c6,
e6, hS.
51 .•• �e7 52 :e3 'ifg8 53 'ife2 �d8 54 'ife2 �d7?
a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Finally, Leko has to make a "wrong move", giving White the

chance for a decisive break. Anyway it was impossible to find a
good defence with four weak pawns on as, c6, e6 and hS. After S4 ...
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 123

lIe7 White could continue 55 'iVe l and the a5 pawn is under

irresistible pressure too.
55 1bc6!
At a moment when Black's pieces have lost the best part of their
mutual coordination.
55 ... �xc6 56 l:r.xe6+ �d7 57 lbf6 l:r.c8 58 'ife5 l:tc6 59 'ifxf5+
�c7 60 'ife5+ �b7 61 l:txc6 .txc6 62 CS! 'fib7 63 (6 :a8 64 .txh5
l%h8 65 .tO l:r.e8 66 'ifg5 'ifc2 67 f7 Black resigned.
The first victory for Adams! Leko had only 24 seconds left on his
clock, while Adams, with faster play, had increased his time reserve
to more than a minute.
With two games left in the match, Leko remained in the lead with
the minimal advantage of just one point-3 '12 :2Y2.
In the meantime, visitors from both Germany and abroad, as well
as the organizational team, 24 participants in all, took the
opportunity to play their own tournament in Fischerandom Chess, as
well.
On the fourth day (the last one of the match), the "Schweinehund"
threw pieces in the air (virtually on the screen), caught a bunch of
them and placed the pieces on the chessboard in a different way
from positions in the previous games. Adams badly needed one
more victory to reach a tie-break.

Game 7
M.Adams White P.Leko Black

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5
4 4

3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h
124 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

1 d4 d5
It looks reasonable to open with pawns which have the support of
a heavy piece.
2 c3 f6 3 e4 dxe4 4 .txe4 .tg6 5 tiJbg3 c6 6 tJ tiJf7
Another part of the plan started by 2 . f6.
. .

7 tiJe3 tiJd6 8 tiJef5

Threatening nothing less than 9 tiJxe7+.
8 ... 'iff7 9 tiJxd6+ i.xd6 10 'iftl tiJd7 1 1 .td2

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

1 1 ... O-O!
Here, specifically, the h-side is safer for the king. Commentators
in Mainz called this castling-"short-long".
12 0-0!
Of course!
12 ... .txg3
The leader in the match was more than ready for simplification.
13 'ifxg3 e5 14 .txg6 'ii'xg6 15 .te3 'ifxg3 16 bxg3 exd4 17
.txd4 c5
Depriving the opponent's bishop of its centralized position.
18 i.tl b6 19 g4
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 125

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Making the black pawns stay on dark squares but this is of little
use because Black's knight enters the play in time.
19 ... ttJe5 20 l:tfdl l:ad8 21 b3 ttJd3 22 J.g3 l:d7
The endgame is drawish. Black's strategy has proved its worth.
23 l:td2 l:fd8 24 l:te2 �f7 25 �f1 l:tc8 26 a4 c4 27 b4 a6 28 l:e4
l:te7 29 l:td4 l:tee8 30 l:ta2 l:ted8 31 l:te4 l:te8 32 l:td4 l:ed8 33 l:e4
l:te8 34 l:td4 Drawn.
So, with the score 4:3 in favour of Leko, Adams had to win the last
game with the black pieces to get the chance to fight anew in the
eventual tie-break. The commentators and public were not
disappointed. Regardless of its result, they all agreed that Game 8
was the most spectacular in the whole match.
Game 8
P.Leko White M.Adams Black
a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
126 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

1 d4 g6 2 �d3 i.g7 3 �t3 b5!

Leko strives for control of the centre (was such a committal
approach really wise?), and Adams is pleased to create confusion on
the board, as here with his 3n1 move.
4 e4 �f6 5 �d2 d6 6 b3 'ifd7 7 t3 0-0 8 g4?!
Did Leko want to please the public with plenty of excitement?
Anyway this is a risky move which calls for an early, unclear attack.
8 ... �b6 9 'ife3 :bc8 10 i.g2

a b c d e f g h
8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2
1

a b c d e f g h

White quickly realizes his mistake, since the continuation of the

attack on the h-side would be effectively met by a black
counterstroke in the centre : . . .c7-c5 . The colourless move in the
game prepares a shelter for White 's king, but rather too late. That
things have gone in the wrong direction is noticeable from the fact
that Leko had already spent 1 3 minutes for his first 1 0 moves-and
the enterprising Adams, in this game, only a little bit less.
10 •••c5 1 1 dxc5 dxc5 12 0-0 c4 13 �e5 'ifc7 14 bxc4 bxc4 1 5
i.d4 c3 1 6 �b3
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 127

a b c d e f g h

B B
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Hort remarked: "Black's position is fantastic!". One has to fully

agree and say-true!
16 ... lLlxe4! 17 lLlxg6 lLlc4 18 Wd3 hxg6 19 .txg7 �xg7 20 fxe4
We5 11 :0
Premature would be 2 1 Wd4 Wxd4+ 22 lLlxd4 lLld2 winning the
exchange.
21 ... :fd8 22 Wf3 f6 23 ::tel a5 24 lLlcl ::td2
White's position looks hopeless.
25 lLld3 Wd4 26 lLlf4 �f7 27 lLle2 We3 28 g5!
This is the best chance-trying to fish in muddy waters.
28 ••. Wxf3 29 :xf3 lLle5 30 :h3 :xc2 31 lLld4 :d2 32 lLlb3
a b c d e f g h

B B
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
32 .•. :xa2?
128 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

In severe time pressure, Adams lacks the precision necessary for

the winning technique at this sensitive moment. After 32 . . . :d7!
this rook would remain in the right place: if 33 �xa5 c2, or 33 gxf6
�xf6 etc.
33 :h7+ �g8 34 :xe7 �d3 35 :dl ! �f4 36 .1n fxg5 37 :dd7
�h5 38 .1c4+! �f8
The bishop is taboo because of the mate on the 8th rank.
39 :f7+ �e8 Drawn!
The smiling Leko said: "It was a miracle that I did not lose this
game". He therefore won the match by a narrow margin-4 ':h : 3 ':h.

It was interesting to hear "post mortem" impressions of the

participants and other grandmasters who helped with the
commentary on the first high-level Fischerandom Chess games in
history.
Peter Leko declared: "It was a tough struggle here in Mainz and I
am, quite understandably, glad that I won. But one should not
overestimate the event, it is just an experiment. Since the first moves
are very important, one ought to reconsider if more time should be
given in the opening. The five minutes before the game, when we
saw the selected position for the first time, meant little to me,
personally. In any case, I would be ready to play more matches or
tournaments if organizers have the courage to hold such
tournaments."
Michael Adams said: "This match was excellent propaganda for
Fischerandom Chess. It's a pity that only in Mainz can one play
Fischerandom Chess but I hope that other organizers will like the
new idea. I was a little bit disappointed that in the second and the
sixth game the same starting position resulted from the drawing of
lots. Besides, there were some starting positions which appeared not
to be so interesting, like in the 5th game. That is why I suggest
deleting some of the 960 possible positions. I would like to play
sometimes when queens are in the comer, on a l or h I . I am sorry
that such a position did not occur during our match."
The organizer Hans Schmitt did not like the Englishman's
proposal for elimination of some starting positions, and he added: "I
am certain that within ten years only Fischerandom Chess will be
played. The classical starting position has no special significance for
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level J 29

players who practise Fischerandom Chess only. The first

Fischerandom Chess tournaments will probably take place already
this autumn, the organizers in Dortmund also have expressed their
interest... For the players, Fischerandom Chess is the future."
Artur Yusupov, who played two Shuffle Chess (the older form,
called by the Germans "Misch Schach"-without provision for
castling!) games against the "Fritz on Primergy" computer the year
before, said: "In my opinion, the quality of the games was very high.
Leko played well throughout the whole match, and Adams has gone
up. It was simply unbelievable how Adams won the 6th game! . . . And
he had so little time on the clock... Adams and Leko were the right
players for this match. They are both very creative . . . Creative players
like Morozevich or Shirov already strive in their normal games for
Random positions! It is not more difficult to comment on
Fischerandom Chess than on classical games . . . where, in addition, a
vast knowledge of opening lines is needed. Fischerandom Chess is
not yet a rival to the classical game. We must now wait and see how
the match will be accepted by the media and chess fans. Rapid Chess
also was not taken seriously ten years ago, and now it is a part of
tournament practice. Fischerandom Chess caters for a new
dimension in chess."
In spite of the severe and "unfair" conditions of Rapid Chess in
which so far only the value of F.R.Chess has been tested, Yusupov's
"new dimension" may mean a different option-to enjoy playing
pure chess without the need for preparation and study of
million-game databases, as well as many restless nights. (At the
present time a chess fan subscribed to a chess program can receive
1 ,800.000 archived games on CD and another 1 0- 1 5 thousand new
games each month!).
Thanks to the ingenious castling rules in Fischerandom Chess the
process of reaching positions reminiscent of the ones in our beloved
classical chess-is short. One meets such "normal" situations
already in the early middlegame, and yet such positions are not
exactly replicated in known classical chess openings with their
numerous variations. Endgame problems remain identical to those in
ordinary chess. And-every game in F.R.Chess is quite a new
challenge! All this may provide sufficient compensation for the
distorted ideal harmony of the starting position in classical chess, if
and when it is threatened with exhaustion of "deja vu" ideas.
130 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level

Botvinnik' s fonner challenger for the world championship title

and recognized chess philosopher, David Bronstein, after having had
his own personal experience of two 30 minute games with the Deep
Blue playing program in 2000, drew this conclusion: "Though it is
sad, the days of chess as an interesting game have probably reached
the state of countdown. But one should not blame the computer for
this. Chess players themselves have fallen into their own trap when
they allowed algebra into our divine game. It started with the home
made tutor, continued with scientifically based encyclopedias and
ended logically in total databases.
By directing chess to the process of electronic calculation, we
alone have denied ourselves the joy of creating."
After making a perfect draw as Black in a complicated Griinfeld
Defence, Kasparov once proudly exclaimed: "This was a
mathematical draw!", because the skilful analysis with material
sacrifices lasted right up to the very end of a rather long game which
ended in perpetual check. It should be noted that nowadays it is not
only the leading world chess professionals who find the best moves
in each opening line, working on it practically eight hours a day, but
Man too-in collaboration with his Machincr-and, unlike Man,
computers never get tired, being able to work 24 hours a day and
with astronomical speed and precision. The tendency to begin the
real fight at the chessboard only on move 20 or so, may rise in the
near future to move 25, then 30, and on and on, as far as perfected
preparation and human memory allows, and this may even mean the
very end of "logically played" games.
And as Bronstein remarks: Intuition (Man's pridcr-as the
Machine lacks this) remains below a pure mathematical count which
makes no mistake in deciding on the best moves as it needs no
"intuition" for it. Bronstein even attributes such rare "mathematical"
thinking in human chess to some players, such as Fischer or Karpov,
thus explaining their ease and impeccable play in their heyday.
Whatever happens-prosperity or crisis of classical chess-it
really is still very much alive at the beginning of the 2 1 "t century and
may remain this way forever or for some 10-20 years-no one can
tell.
In December 200 1 , at the closing press-conference of the first
Botvinnik Memorial in Moscow, Kasparov and Kramnik were asked
"about their opinion on Fischer's Chess". Here is what they said
(translated from Russian):
 World Premiere ofFischerandom Chess at a High Level 131

Kasparov: "As is well-known, the idea of altering the starting

positions of the pieces is not new.
Quite frankly, 1 do not like the words "Fischer's Chess", since 1
recently read some research which indicated that this idea was first
conceived in the middle of the 1 9th century, when chessplayers of
that time thought that chess theory had already grown too big and
that it was rtecessary to change the positions of the pieces. An article
written at the end of 1 8th century was cited. Of course, if people do
not want to do any work then it is better to start the game from a
random position.
1 think that the idea itself has a right to exist, but to set it as a
priority and a basis for the further development of chess would be
wrong. Probably, in the course of time this game will gain a certain
popularity in relation to the further development of computers and
especially the computer's opening theory. But, in general, 1 do not
think that it will ever--or, let us say, at least during my chess
career---cause the death of traditional chess.
Kramnik: "I have tried to play a little "Fischer's chess".
Entertaining, interesting, but for the time being it is difficult for me
to treat it other than as an amusement. However, some harmony of
the starting position is being lost-which, in my opinion, is the most
harmonious one. 1 tried many different starting positions and all
these were somehow very unharmonious. And this is not surprising
as in many of these positions there is immediate forced play: the
pieces are placed so badly at the start that there is a need to improve
their positions in one way only, which decreases the number of
choices. But as an entertainment it is interesting and 1 would have
nothing against playing "Fischer's chess" after the initial results 1
have had. Anyhow, the significance of the opening is reduced in
"Fischer's chess"...
The reader has seen many different opinions in this book (the first
one ever written about Fischerandom Chess). A tolerant conclusion
is that whatever the future decides, the game of chess, badly needed
by mankind as the best brain game ever invented, may have a
redoubled opportunity to survive in the 2 1 st century. And there is
also a possibility that the two versions-since 1 996---0f our game
may live and prosper together, enriching international chess life in a
surprising way that has never been seen before.
Exhibition Games in San Francisco

t the beginning of the 2 1 st century, grandmasters have

A
been slowly but surely expressing interest in
Fischerandom Chess. As an example, in honour of
Robert Fischer, Alex Yermolinsky and Aleksander
Wojtkiewicz (who left Poland and settled in USA)
played two exhibition games in Fischerandom Chess in the
well-known Mechanics Institute Club in San Francisco, on two
separate occasions--once in 200 1 , and the second time in 2002.

Game l
A.Yermolinsky White A.Wojtkiewicz Black
San Francisco, February 7th, 200 1

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7
6 6
5 5
4 4
3 3
2

a b c d e f g h

1 f4

Capturing space on the h-side and opening a diagonal for the

bishop.

1 ... f5

If Black had had a long time to think about the problems of the
opening position, this move would be only one in a series of
 Exhibition Games in San Francisco J 33

reasonable replies for Black-a noteworthy feature of Fischerandom

Chess!
2 lbg3 g6!?
Allowing a central pawn break. The alternative was 2 . . . lbd6 or
the enterprising 2 . , . lbg6! (along the lines of the Petroff Defence in
Classical Chess!).
3 e4! fxe4 4 lbxe4 lbf6

a b c d e f g h

5 lbc3!
Here, this is not a simple loss of tempo: White has more space and
it suits him to keep more pieces on the board. In fact it is an
achievement to move the very passive knight from a distant
corner-to the a-side (no more queen and king-side in F.R.Chess !)
where the kings are situated and the site of future action.
5 ... c6! ? 6 lbd3 lbf7 7 :lei ! d6?!
In combination with Black's 5th move, continuing a dangerous
trend of weakening the position of Black's king on c8. Black has
difficulty in finding a reliable plan. White's king is well-protected
by the pawns on c2 and d2, while Black cannot arrange castling on
the safer h-side.
8 g3
The threat of 9 i.h3+ forces Black to move pawns (instead of
developing pieces).
8 ••• h5 9 b4!
134 Exhibition Games in San Francisco

With this and his next moves White gives fresh air to the
"sleeping" queen on b l and rook on a I , at the same time starting
action against the opponent's sensitive a-side. Pleased with his
know-how in dealing with the unknown situation, Yermolinsky
commented: "White knows what he is doing!".
9 �h6 10 a4
•.•

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

"This is how White is going to overcome the lack of

communication between the wings. He is going to ignore it and
launch an immediate attack. Such pawn storms, with the centre yet
to take on a definite shape, are becoming increasingly popular-see
Shabalov's g2-g4 in the 'i'c2 Anti-Meran or Krasenkov's 4 g4!?
after 1 �f3 lL'lf6 2 c4 e6 3 lL'lc3 �b4, or virtually every game by
Pavel Blatny"-was Yermolinsky's comment.
10 .•. 'i'c7
Black could have tried 10 ... lL'ldS, but after 1 1 bS lL'lxc3 1 2 dxc3
cS ( 1 2 ... �dS fails on 1 3 lL'lb4) 1 3 �g2 lL'lfS 14 as White's initiative
could not be contained.
1 1 aS lL'lf5?!
A better chance was the development of Black's h-side with 1 1 ...
�g7 1 2 bS lL'ldS, but after 1 3 b6! 'i'd7 (if 1 3 ... axb6 14 lL'lxdS �xdS
I S �xb6 'i'd7 1 6 �xd8 �xal 1 7 1he7) 14 lL'lxdS �xdS I S lL'lb4!
i.xal (or I S . . . axb6 1 6 i.bS ! and 1 7 i.xb6) 1 6 lL'lxdS cxdS 1 7 'i'xal
O-O! 1 8 bxa7 White would have full compensation for the sacrified
exchange.
12 bS cS 13 i.g2
 Exhibition Games in San Francisco 135

Now, as the annoying tC!d5 has been all but ruled out, White feels
he is in control.
13 ... a6 14 tC!a4
After the game, the Fritz engine found another good line (which
the human White player did not see) in 1 4 bxa6 l:ha6 1 5 iLxc5 dxc5
1 6 iLxb7+ 'ifxb7 1 7 'ifxb7+ �xb7 1 8 tC!xc5+ �a8 1 9 tDxa6 etc.
14 ... tDd7 IS b6 'ifb8 16 :a3 iLg7

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

Black is very cramped on the a-side, and yet it is premature for

White to try a simple sac-17 iLxc5? dxc5 1 8 tC!dxc5 tDxc5 1 9
tDxc5 because o f 1 9 . . . iLd5. Realizing that after 1 7 . . . iLfl Black
would be ready to consolidate and castle on the h-side (J::t to f8, <iii> to
g8), White makes his opponent uncomfortable on the other side of
the board with the following fine move:
17 h3! l%e8
If 17 ... tDxg3 1 8 tC!b4! ( 1 8 :xe7 is ineffective) 1 8 ... cxb4 (if 1 8 . . .
tDf5 1 9 tDc6! trapping the rook on a8) 1 9 :xg3 and 2 0 'ifxb4, or 1 7
. . . iLf6 1 8 g4 and after g4-g5 White captures the pawn on e7. But
now, as the rook has left the d-file . . .
J 36 Exhibition Games in San Francisco

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a b c d e f g h

18 .txcS! dxcS
If 1 8 . . . tiJxg3 1 9 .tfl tiJf5 20 'ifb4 etc.
19 tiJdxcS tiJxcs 20 tiJxcs 'ifd6
After the passive 20 . . . tiJd6 2 1 'ifb4 .tf6 22 :d3 .tfl 23 tiJe4
White's attack would be irresistible.
21 'ti'b4! .tdS
If 2 1 .. , .td4 22 'i'a4! .txc5 (not 22 . . . :f8 23 tiJxb7 'ifd7 24 .tc6)
23 'i'xe8+! 'ifd8 24 'ifxd8+ �xd8 25 :d3+ tiJd6 26 .txb7 :b8 27
.td5; or 2 1 . . , 'ifd4! 22 .txb7+ �b8 23 .txa8! 'ifxb4 24 tiJxa6+
'it>xa8 25 tiJxb4 White collects all the pawns; or 2 1 ... :b8 ! 22 :d3
.td4, when playable is 23 g4 hxg4 24 hxg4 .txc5 (not 24 . . . 'ifxc5
25 :c3) 25 'i'a4 or 23 'i'a4 :d8 24 tiJb3 etc.
22 :d3
a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6
1""7:M,;'�"<1',,",'''-
5 5
II'=:',/�"',.;'O;.,.,.""·:
4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
 Exhibition Games in San Francisco 137

22 •.• i.xg2
Black bows to the inevitable. A tricky idea was 22 ... -.f6 ! 23
'iWa4! (less clear is 23 l:tc3) 23 ... 'iWb2+ 24 <;ir>dl 'iWb 1 + 25 <;ir>e2 1Wb5
26 'iWxb5 axb5 27 i.xd5 l:txa5 28 i.xb7+ <;ir>b8 29 l:td7 and White
wins.
23 l:txd6 lbxd6 24 lbe6 i.f6 2S g4 O-O-O!
To the delight of the spectators, Black castled long!

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

26 gS! i.h8 27 lbxd8 <;ir>xd8 28 l:te6! <;ir>d7

Or 28 . . . i.xh3 29 l:txd6+ exd6 30 'iWxd6+ i.d7 3 1 'iWc7+ <;ir>e7 32
'iWxb7 h4 33 'iWe4+ <;ir>d8 34 'iWa8+ <;ir>e7 35 b7 winning.
29 l:txg6 l:tc8
Or 29 ... i.xh3 30 l:th6 i.g4 3 1 'i'c5 l:tc8 32 ..-d5 with the
unavoidable sequence l:txd6 and ..-xb7 to follow.
30 'ifb3! <;ir>c6 31 'iWc4+
Black resigned without waiting for 3 1 . . . <;ir>d7 32 "-e6+ �c6 33
'iWxc8+.
138 Exhibition Games in San Francisco

Game 2
A.Wojtkiewicz White A.YermoHnsky Black
San Francisco, January 23"1, 2002

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

An opportunity for this "return exhibition game" came in 2002.

Wojtkiewicz claims that White holds a bigger advantage in
Fischerandom than in regular chess as it is easier to grab the centre
and get a spacial advantage. Hence the "central strategy" ...
1 e4 b6
Yermolinsky advocates a flexible attitude, believing that every
piece configuration dictates its own strategy and that there is more
than one of these for every setup. He adds that "as a rule, instead of
trying to rearrange your pieces into a familiar pattern, you should
work with what is dealt to you." Here he thought fianchettoing the
bishop was a neat idea, because it safeguards the king.
2 d4 .i.b7 3 lDg3 e6 4 f4 dS 5 .i.d3 lDg6
Black delays 5 . . , dxe4 because the logical sequence 6 .i.xe4 �6
7 .i.xb7 �xb7 8 111ft allows the activation of White's queen
(according to Wojtkiewicz-this is one of the hardest tasks in
Fischerandom chess) via n .
6 lDo
Playable was 6 e5 f5 (6 . . . c5? 7 fS exfS 8 .i.xfS would mean
trouble for Black's king), and if 7 exf6 lDxf6 8 lDn .i.d6 9 lDe5 lDe7
offering unclear chances.
6 ... dxe4
 Exhibition Games in San Francisco 139

White' s knight has occupied the O-square, so Black can open the
position in the centre without too many worries.
7 i.xe4 �d6
It is important to leave the f6 square free for the pawn, which is
necessary to control the e5 square.
8 i.xb7 �xb7 9 'iffl
If 9 �e5 f6 1 0 �xg6 hxg6 1 1 'ife3 'iff7 1 2 'if0+ c6 with a solid
position.
9 . f6!
..

Denying White's knights good squares.

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3

2 2

a b c d e f g h

10 a4!
A clever idea which helps White to bring his aI -rook into play.
10 ... a5
White's pawn must be prevented from advancing to a5 .
11 :a3 'iff7 12 :ad3
By increasing pressure on the d-file White has in mind a
temporary piece sac.
Solid was 12 'ife2.
12 . . �e7
.

And Black invites it.

13 �e5?
140 Exhibition Games in San Francisco

"Wojtkiewicz was in danger of missing his flight back to the East

coast, so he was interested in finishing the game quickly whatever
the outcome"-is his opponent's way of exp lanation for White's
miscalculation. The normal continuation 13 'iWe2 lbdS 14 ':e l ':e8
offered level chances.

a b c d e f g h

8 8
7 7

6 6
5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h

13 ... 'ife8!
1 3 ... fxeS 14 dxeS would favour White. Now, the a4-pawn is in
danger and White persists in his violent attack.
14 'ift3+ �a7 15 ':c3? fxe5 16 ':xc7+
1 6 dxeS lbdS 1 7 ':xdS exdS 1 8 exd6 i.xd6 leaves White
empty-handed.
16 ... �b8 17 dxe5 �xc7 18 exd6+ ':xd6 19 ':xd6 �xd6 20 'ifb7

a b c d e f g h

8 8

7 7

6 6

5 5

4 4

3 3
2 2

a b c d e f g h
 Exhibition Games in San Francisco 141

With the idea of mate on the next move, but Black's reply defends
everything.
20 ... Wc6 21 �e4+ �d5 22 �c3+ �c4 White resigned.
Many Fischerandom chess games of recognized players are to
come. Will it remind us of the "Modem Age" which started with
discovery of a new continent-or, in this case, our abstract chess
planet?
 About the Author

vetozar Gligoric was born on February 2nd 1 923 in

S
Belgrade, Yugoslavia. He retired from journalism in 1 978.
He has been a chess grandmaster since 1 95 1 . He was
champion of Yugoslavia eleven times and played on the
first board of the national team for thirty years. He has
won one gold, six silver and five bronze medals in Chess
Olympiads, with the best result on first board at Munich 1 958. He
won the Mar del Plata tournaments of 1 950 and 1 953 (creating the
well known Mar del Plata Variation of the King's Indian Defence)
and many more competitions in Europe and the Americas. In the
1 950s he was considered the best European grandmaster outside the
USSR. He was elected Sportsman of the Year in Yugoslavia in 1 958.
He was among the Candidates for the World Championship in 1 953,
1 959 and 1 968. He was given the Gold Medal of Belgrade in 1 973
and, in the former Yugoslavia, the highest state AVNOJ prize in
1 975. In 1 999 he was presented with an award for his achievements
in journalism by the Association of Journalists in Belgrade. In a big
TV poll in 200 1 , he was proclaimed "Yugoslav chess player of the
20th century".
Gligoric acted as the chief arbiter in the Karpov-Kasparov FIDE
world championship match in Moscow 1 984-85, in the Chess
Olympiad at Thessaloniki 1 988, and in Candidates matches at Saint
John (Canada) 1 988, London 1 989, Sarajevo 1 99 1 and Brussels
1 99 1 . He was president of the Appeal Committee in the
Karpov-Korchnoi FIDE world championship match in Meran 198 1 ,
and a member of a similar body in the Novi Sad Chess Olympiad
1 990.
'As a writer, Gligoric is known for his world best-seller Fischer vs.
Spassky (the match in Reykjavik 1 972, originally in English and
translated into German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Serbo
Croatian, selling 400,000 copies), and authored many other books:
Orthodox Defence, Queen 's Gambit Accepted, Semi Slav Defence,
Slav Defence (chess monographs in Serbo-Croat) in 1 946-48,
144 About the Author

Gligori�Stahlberg Match (in Serbo-Croat) in 1 949, Interzonal

Chess Tournament Portoroz 1958 (in German, co-author Aleksandar
Matanovic), Candidates Tournament 1959 (in Serbo-Croatian and
Russian, co-author Viacheslav Ragozin), Victories and Defeats (a
literary collection of articles about travels, in Serbo-Croat) in 1963,
The Sicilian Defence (chess monograph in English, German and
Serbo-Croat, co-author Vladimir Sokolov) in 1970, The World Chess
Championship (in English, Spanish and Serbo-Croat, co-author
Robert Wade) in 1 972-73, How to Open a Chess Game (in English,
co-authors Tigran Petros ian, Paul Keres, Larry Evans, Bent Larsen,
Lajos Portisch, Vlastimil Hort) in 1 974, French Defence (chess
monograph in English, co-author Wolfgang Uhlmann) in 1 975,
Korchnoi-Spassky Match (Serbo-Croat, co-author Miroslav
Radojcic) in 1 977, Chess Guide (in Serbo-Croat, co-author Predrag
Micic) in 1 988, I Play against Pieces (chess autobiography in
Russian and subsequent enlarged editions in Serbo-Croat in 1982
and 1 989 and in English in 2002), Fifth Kasparov-Karpov Match (in
Serbo-Croat, co-author Predrag Micic) in 1 99 1 , The Nimzo Indian
Defence (chess monograph in English and Italian) in 1 985, enlarged
second edition (in English) in 1 993 . In 2000 he published a
monograph on his Mar del Plata Variation in the King 's Indian
Defence in Serbo-Croat and in German (in Switzerland), an enlarged
edition of which appeared in English in 2002.
Bibliography: International Authors and Writers Who 's Who,
International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England.