About the series
Miniatures to Memorize is a series of short games (30 moves or fewer) that I highly recommend beginner- and intermediate-level players to commit to memory. Some games show how to quickly punish your opponent’s natural-looking but inaccurate moves, while others demonstrate how easily you can go wrong and completely blunder your game. Even if you’re in the world top 20.
Follow along on a physical chess set. I cannot stress this enough. Only if you don’t have one right now, go to the lichess study.
Why should you memorize this game?
As white
Positional concessions are often irreversible. The game shows how quickly a “solid” system can collapse if you fail to respect activity. Unzicker swapped off the wrong bishop and drifted into passivity. His attempt to hold back Fischer’s queenside only led to an exposed king and collapsing coordination.
As Black
Fischer demonstrates that a backward pawn is not necessarily a weakness if it anchors activity. His calm defensive resources, paired with precise tactical timing, transformed latent pressure into a crushing breakthrough. It’s initiative and harmony that win, not material or structure alone.
Game Details
White: Wolfgang Unzicker
Black: Robert James Fischer
Event: Varna Olympiad (Men) Final-A, Varna BUL,
Date: 4 October 1962,
Round: 7
Opening: Sicilian Defense, Najdorf Variation (ECO B92)
The 1962 Olympiad in Varna was an arena of national pride and personal clashes. Germany’s Wolfgang Unzicker, the “amateur grandmaster” who balanced law and chess with remarkable consistency, faced the young and already legendary Bobby Fischer. Fischer, then 19, had just come from Curaçao Candidates earlier that year, embittered by Soviet collusion but undiminished in his confidence.
Unzicker’s solid, classical style met Fischer’s hyper-precise dynamism. In the Najdorf Sicilian, Unzicker chose a quieter Smyslov-inspired system, but Fischer was not one to let quiet positions stay quiet. This game is remembered for its instructive clarity: how a backward pawn, often a weakness, can instead become a springboard for active play when handled with precision.
Pull out your Chess set
If you don’t have one conveniently with you, follow on Chessgame.
1. e4 {Notes by Bobby Fischer} c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6
The Najdorf, Fischer’s lifelong weapon.
6. Be2 {On and off, White resorts to this solid and still respected system (championed by Smyslov) whenever the sharper tries fail.} e5 {Black’s expectation in this Najdorf Variation is that his control of important central squares, with possibilities of Q-side expansion, will more than compensate for the slight weakness of his backward QP.}
Already Fischer frames the logic: he accepts a backward pawn on d6 in return for space, activity, and counter-chances.
7. Nb3 Be6 {To provoke f4–f5 weakening White’s KP.} 8. O-O Nbd7 9. f4 Qc7 10. f5 Bc4
Black’s bishop retreats, ready to contest the dark squares. Fischer is happy to let Unzicker expand, as it weakens his king’s side.
11. a4 {To hinder …b5.} Be7 {Better than 11…Rc8 12 a5 Be7 13 Bxc4 Qxc4 14 Ra4 Qc7 15 Be3 h6 16 Rf2 with a bind. (Schmid-Evans, Varna 1962)} 12. Be3 O-O 13. a5
White tries to fix Black’s queenside. Fischer interjects with a critical note here:
A critical alternative is 13 g4 d5! and White’s pawns quickly overextend. For example: 14 exd5 Bb4 15 g5 Bxc3 16 gxf6 Bxb2 and White is in deep trouble.
13… b5 {Too passive is 13…h6 14 g4 Nh7 15 Bf2 followed by h4.} 14. axb6 Nxb6 15. Bxb6 {? At Curacao 1962, Geller had found the right line: 15 Kh1! Rfc8 16 Bxb6 Qxb6 17 Bxc4 Rxc4 18 Qe2 Rb4 19 Ra2! and Black is hard-pressed to defend his a-pawn.} Qxb6+ 16. Kh1 Bb5 {! Intending …Bc6 followed by a5.}
Already Fischer sees the long-term structure: control of c4, a-file pressure, and harmonious bishop play.
17. Bxb5 {White has already dissipated his theoretical advantage. He should settle for 17 Nxb5 axb5 18 Qd3 with opposite colored Bishops.} axb5 18. Nd5 Nxd5 19. Qxd5 Ra4 {! Avoids conceding the a-file and puts pressure on the KP.} 20. c3 Qa6 21. h3 {It’s hard for White to hit upon a constructive plan. At Curacao 1962, Tal played against me 21 Rad1 Rc8… and after some tactics, Black wins outright.} Rc8 22. Rfe1 h6 {! A handy ‘luft’, as becomes apparent later.}
Fischer emphasizes how even small moves like …h6 contribute to security and tactics down the line.
23. Kh2 Bg5 24. g3 {? Creating more K-side weaknesses. Better is 24 Rad1.} Qa7 25. Kg2 Ra2 26. Kf1 {What else? On 26 Rxa2 Qxa2 27 Re2 Rxc3!} Rxc3 {! On 27 Rxa2 Rf3+ 28 Ke2 Rf2+ 29 Kd3 Qxa2 30 Ra1 Qxb2 wins. Black’s first rank is no longer vulnerable since the King can escape to h7 on the check.} 0-1
A clean finish. White’s pieces are tied, his king is exposed, and Fischer’s tactical strike on c3 ends resistance.
From my chess journal, dated 17 May, 2024
Minakhi Misra 