Phony Benoni: <Sneaky> I think you're right. After 17.Qd2 Ng4 18.h3 Nc4:

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White will have to play 19.Qc1 anyway, and now the rook lift via e3 is not available.

And perhaps Black might consider 18...bxc3 (attacking the ♕d2) 19.bxc3 Nc4, when White no longer has b2-b3 evicting the knight.

Boy, that Fischer guy was good. You know, this might make a decent midweek puzzle.

Once: Interesting question - 17. Qc1 or 17. Qd2?

I think <Sneaky> has called it correctly. Both moves keep the queen on the diagonal leading to the h6 square. But with 17. Qc1 the queen cannot be molested by a later Nc4. Something like 17. Qd2 Ng4 18. h3 Nc4

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Okay so white still wins, but why give your opponent even a leetle bit of counterplay when you can avoid this line altogether?

The centre is blocked so white isn't going to lose out much with Qc1. He isn't going to be in a hurry to park his Ra1 on a central square. It's only a temporary layover anyway as Qh6 or Qxh6 is coming pretty soon.

I guess that's the genius of someone like Fischer. He sees a pair of moves that he wants to play - Qc1/ Qd2. Then he checks out the black defences to each, including Ng4-Nc4 plan to kick his queen off the juicy diagonal. So he adjusts his move to nullify those defences.

And all while playing a simul with only a few seconds per move.

17. Qd2 is the automatic move - grabbing the diagonal, attacking the h6 pawn and connecting the rooks. But Fischer doesn't play automatic moves. He thinks about his opponent's reply and adjusts to counter it.

I'd like to think that I would find 17. Qc1 over the board. I'd like to think that. But I've got a sneaking suspicion that I would play the "principled" 17. Qd2 and then wonder why my attack was harder than it should have been.

There's a lot of chess understanding in that one little move.

19. Ng5 threatening Qh7# gives white time for the rook life Re3-g3 or h3.

Could it be that he didn't see it??

Even the "best" miss tactical continuations over the board. Especially in a simultaneous exhibition!

Richard Teichmann vs Carl Schlechter, 1911. Ed Lasker had a conversation about this in hi chess biography.

... BUT it isn't obviously winning at first glance (rybka didn't find it immediately, so it can't be that straightforward) and you can't hang around for too long checking everything in a simul, AND this is fischer we are talking about, not tal, so, why not play the easy move that eliminates counterplay first? you know you're going to win anyway

David2009: Here's the position at the start of the combination:

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Enjoy the pleasure of beating Crafty End Game Trainer from the diagram (link: http://www.chessvideos.tv/endgame-t...).

Confession: I couldn't do it first time round. Second time I got lucky and won an exchange on top of getting my piece back.

Keep 'em coming.

It's my guess that Bobby didn't even bother to calculate "tactical continuations" because in looking at the board he would have instantly assessed that a tactical shot like that is premature, and the possible replies by black would be far too many to permit, like cxd4 or a counter sac in the center with Bxe4 or something like that. It is better to close the center first, that way it takes black longer to maneuver defense around behind his pawn chain than it would take white to rush pieces to the Kside (like for example his rook as in the game). It must be remembered that very often the best tactical play is to restrain or eliminate any possible counter chances by the opponent.

But how can Black defend? 19.Ng5 Nxg5 20.Qxf6 Ne6 looks fine if White takes the knight, but White can play 21.Re3 with a threat of Rg3-Rh3-Rh8# in mind

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