In today’s puzzle, we try to find an improvement over Fischer’s Qd6+. The unplayed improvement is actually a forced mate in 3 that Bobby Fischer missed over the board. I imagine that the then 15-year-old Fischer was so caught up in the excitement of slaying the dragon that he failed to search for a better move once he had already discovered a winning one. The inaccurate play on Fischer’s part had no effect on the outcome of the game. Immediately following Fischer’s Qd6+, his opponent, Bent Larsen, resigned.
White to move, mate in 3.
Here is the source game for your further enjoyment:
Chris Torres is a nationally renowned scholastic chess coach working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His classes have attracted players of strengths ranging from rank beginners to world champions. A chess professional since 1998, Chris is widely recognized as one of the main driving forces behind the explosion in popularity and sudden rise in quality of scholastic chess in California. Chris Torres served as the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy from 2005-2020 and currently is recognized as a correspondence chess master with the United States Chess Federation. Since 1998 Chris Torres has taught 6 individual national champions as well as led multiple school teams to win national championship titles. In addition, Chris Torres has directed and taught at 10 different schools which have been California State Champions at chess. In 2011 and 2012, several former and current students of Chris Torres have been selected to represent the United States at the World Youth Chess Championships. Mr. Torres’ hobbies include playing classical guitar and getting his students to appear on the national top 100 chess rating lists.
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2 thoughts on “Pawn Sacrifice: Bobby Fischer Chess Puzzle 2”
1- Qh6+ Ke1
2- Qh7+ Kf8
3- Qf7#
1- Qh6+ Ke7 (typo error)
2- Qh7+ Kf8
3- Qf7#