Fischer's Falter

This is the famous 1960 game between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer at Mar de Plata, Argentina (a Latin America destination with recreational beaches, countless hotels, restaurants, casinos, theatres and other tourists' attractions. Yep, exactly the kinda setting for some James Bond movie... Haha) In any case, bearing in mind that the Russian GM would become world champion after winning Tigran Petrossian in 1969, and the American genius was to succeed him in the monumental showdown in 1972, this is an early match between the two national hopes of symbolic supremacy. Included as one of the three losses chronicled in Bobby Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games", I have posted it here as an introductory opening lesson on the KGA C39... King's Gambit Accepted line of opening.

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The result of the game sparked the invention of the Fischer Defense (3. Nf3 d6) with which Fischer claimed to be the decisive refutation of the King's Gambit! Although 3...d6 was previously known, it did not become a major variation until in 1961, Fischer advocated it in the famous article in the first issue of Larry Evans' American Chess Quarterly.

Fischer brashly claimed, "In my opinion the King's Gambit is busted. It loses by force." and he concluded the article with the notoriously arrogant line, "Of course White can always play differently, in which case he merely loses differently.

The point is that after 4. d4 g5 5. h4 g4 White can't continue with 6. Ne5, as in the Kieseritzky Gambit, and 6. Ng5 is not recommended either. This leaves the move 6. Ng1 as the only option, when after six moves neither side has developed a piece! The main alternative to 4. d4 is 4. Bc4, but it is considered inferior.

After Fischer's article was published, the King's Gambit was seen even less frequently in master-level games, although Fischer took up the White side of it in three games (preferring the Bishop's Gambit), winning them all.