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Contents

Title Page
Key to Symbols used & Bibliography 4
Preface 5
Introduction 7

1 1956-57 Teenage Chess 15

2 1958-61 International Recognition 25
3 1962-69 A World-Class Player 51
4 1970 Part 1: Soviet Union vs. Rest of the World Match 81
5 1970 Part 2: Herceg Novi & Rovinj/Zagreb 107
6 1970 Part 3: Buenos Aires 133
7 1970 Part 4: Siegen Olympiad 159
8 1970 Part 5: Palma de Mallorca Interzonal 179
9 1971 Fischer – Taimanov 207
Mark Taimanov – Robert J. Fischer, Vancouver (1) 1971 211
Robert J. Fischer – Mark Taimanov, Vancouver (2) 1971 221, 237
Mark Taimanov – Robert J. Fischer, Vancouver (3) 1971 231
Robert J. Fischer – Mark Taimanov, Vancouver (4) 1971 239
Mark Taimanov – Robert J. Fischer, Vancouver (5) 1971 249
Robert J. Fischer – Mark Taimanov, Vancouver (6) 1971 253
10 1971 Fischer – Larsen 261
Robert J. Fischer – Bent Larsen, Denver (1) 1971 264
Bent Larsen – Robert J. Fischer, Denver (2) 1971 281
Robert J. Fischer – Bent Larsen, Denver (3) 1971 289
Bent Larsen – Robert J. Fischer, Denver (4) 1971 292
Robert J. Fischer – Bent Larsen, Denver (5) 1971 295
Bent Larsen – Robert J. Fischer, Denver (6) 1971 299
11 1971 Fischer – Petrosian 313
Robert J. Fischer – Tigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires (1) 1971 322
Tigran Petrosian – Robert J. Fischer, Buenos Aires (2) 1971 345
Robert J. Fischer – Tigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires (3) 1971 350
Tigran Petrosian – Robert J. Fischer, Buenos Aires (4) 1971 360
Robert J. Fischer – Tigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires (5) 1971 362
Tigran Petrosian – Robert J. Fischer, Buenos Aires (6) 1971 372
Robert J. Fischer – Tigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires (7) 1971 396
Tigran Petrosian – Robert J. Fischer, Buenos Aires (8) 1971 405
Robert J. Fischer – Tigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires (9) 1971 409

2
Epilogue 420
Game Index 422
Opening Index 426
Name Index 427

3
 The Road to Reykjavik
By
Tibor Karolyi

Quality Chess
http://www.qualitychess.co.uk

First edition 2021 by Quality Chess UK Ltd

Copyright © 2021 Tibor Karolyi

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored

in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic,
electrostatic, magnetic tape, photocopying, recording or otherwise,
without prior permission of the publisher.

Paperback ISBN 978-1-78483-163-9

Hardcover ISBN 978-1-78483-164-6

All sales or enquiries should be directed to Quality Chess UK Ltd,

Suite 247, Central Chambers, 11 Bothwell Street,
Glasgow G2 6LY, United Kingdom
Phone +44 141 204 2073
e-mail: [email protected]
website: www.qualitychess.co.uk

Distributed in North and South America by National Book Network

Distributed in Rest of the World by Quality Chess UK Ltd through
Sunrise Handicrafts, ul. Szarugi 59, 21-002 Marysin, Poland

4
 Typeset by Jacob Aagaard
Edited by Andrew Burnett & Andrew Greet
Proofreading by John Shaw & Colin McNab
Cover design by Jason Mathis & Kallia Kleisarchaki

5
 Key to symbols used
² White is slightly better
³ Black is slightly better
± White is better
µ Black is better
+– White has a decisive advantage
–+ Black has a decisive advantage
= equality
© with compensation
„ with counterplay
ƒ with an initiative
÷ unclear
? a weak move
?? a blunder
! a good move
!! an excellent move
!? a move worth considering
?! a move of doubtful value
™ only move
# mate

Bibliography
Brady: Endgame, Constable 2012
Brady: Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy, Dover Publications 1990
Byrne & Nei: Both Sides of the Chessboard, Batsford 1974
Donaldson: Bobby Fischer and His World, Siles Press 2020
Donaldson & Tangborn: The Unknown Bobby Fischer, International Chess Enterprises 1999
Farkashazy: Fischer visszatér avagy a Fischer-rejtély, Adwise Media 2008
Fischer: My 60 Memorable Games, Simon & Schuster 1969
Flórián & Varnusz: Fischer és Szpasszkij, SPORT 1972
Horowitz: The World Chess Championship: A History, MacMillan 1973
Karolyi: Kasparov: How his Predecessors Misled him about Chess, Batsford 2009
Karolyi: Karpov’s Strategic Wins: Volumes 1-2, Quality Chess 2011
Karolyi: Mikhail Tal’s Best Games: Volumes 1-3, Quality Chess 2014, 2015, 2017
Karolyi & Gyozalyan: Petrosian Year by Year: Volume 1, Elk & Ruby 2020

6
Kasparov: My Great Predecessors IV, Everyman Chess 2004
Lakdawala: Fischer: Move by Move, Everyman Chess 2015
Marin: Learn from the Legends, Quality Chess 2005
Müller: Bobby Fischer, Russell Enterprises 2012
Plisetsky & Voronkov: Russians versus Fischer, Everyman Chess 2005
Saidy: The March of Chess Ideas, Times Books 1995
Soltis: Bobby Fischer Rediscovered, Batsford 2020
Soltis: Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi, McFarland 2018
Taimanov: I was a Victim of Bobby Fischer, Quality Chess 2021

Electronic Resources

ChessBase: Mega Database

Wikipedia
www.olimpbase.org
Jeff Sonas: Chessmetrics

7
Preface

This is the first volume in a two-part work on the legendary accomplishments of Robert James
(Bobby) Fischer, marking the 50th anniversary since the American grandmaster won the right to
challenge for the World Championship crown. The second volume will focus on the match itself, and
will similarly be published on or close to the 50th anniversary of the event itself.

Bobby Fischer attracted more media attention than any other chess player. His 1972 World
Championship final match against Boris Spassky became a page in the book of the Cold War and he
affected chess more powerfully than anyone else, virtually on his own changing the game once and
forever: he stopped the 24-year domination of the Soviets; he attracted the biggest ever prizemoney in
the history of chess, and his records can be endlessly enumerated. The first Soviet champions played
for little money, while all champions after Fischer became millionaires. He achieved the strongest
domination of any player by winning twenty games in a row against world-class opposition, a record
which most probably will never be matched.

It was not only his amazing results that had such an effect; his personality also contributed a lot.
Fischer brought a new level to the board; he was more versatile than the World Champions before
him. Let me tell two small stories, both of which happened decades after he conquered the chess
throne, and which describe how well-known he had become outside of the world of chess.

In the late nineties Hungarian IM Janos Rigo drove Fischer to Germany via Austria and at the border
control the official asked for their passports. Rigo asked the controller whether he knew who was in
the back seat of the car, and after a quick glance the man replied: “The world chess champion.”

In 2016 or 2017 I heard two Hungarians (non-chess-players) talking, one of whom told a joke which
went something like this:
Two prisoners walking in a Soviet labour camp in Siberia in 1972. One says to the other, with
news arriving here so slowly, “I would like to know so much how the Spassky – Fischer match
ended.” The other replied, “I blundered a piece in the last game.”

No other chess champion has ever received such recognition outside of our world, and no one is
likely to get it in the future.

Tibor Karolyi
Budapest 2021

8
Introduction

Fischer’s extraordinary fame did not come without good reason. A child prodigy who became a
world-class player by the mid-1960s, he was one of the favourites to become the World Chess
Champion. In this two-book series I look in detail at Fischer’s magical two-and-a-half-year run
towards the world title, during which he built an unimaginable domination. In this book I will mainly
cover this period of his career and review his earlier years only briefly. The depth to which I have
analysed his games of these two years is deeper than any other books on the great American
champion. This intense scrutiny resulted in spotting new elements to his games. Just one of them:
until now it has been considered that Fischer preferred bishops; great authors such as Kasparov
emphasize it, while Marin devoted a chapter to Fischer’s “pet bishop” in his superb Learn from the
Legends book. However, the numbers tell the opposite story: Fischer clearly opted more often for a
knight than a bishop. Of course, the excellent writers may have been more impressed by his artistic
play with the bishop, but I believe readers who are interested in such detail will like this book. Fischer
was an eccentric person, and I won’t avoid touching on this subject, but I mainly rely on two
absolutely superb books written on Fischer, one by Brady and the other by Donaldson.

Fischer played only one regular game in 1969. After this virtual retirement he returned to chess at the
end of March of 1970. Then he started the run that affected chess in a way like nothing else before or
since. By the final day of August 1972, he had obtained the title of World Champion. This great
accomplishment was obtained at the peak of the Cold War and it was a huge blow to the Soviet
authorities, as they liked to think that chess proved their political system was superior to the Western
liberal democracies. Fischer’s accomplishment was stunning, building an unprecedented domination,
at the peak of which he won 20 games in a row (and one game by default). Since the challengers have
had to go through a qualification system, nobody has come close to showing such superiority as the
‘Great American’ did. Karpov, Kasparov and Carlsen not only obtained the title, but became great,
dominant champions, but even their route to the crown was not as stunning at the zonal or candidate-
match stages to obtain the right to challenge against the reigning champion for their title.

Fischer’s ascent came at a time when chess, for a short while, became a part of the world’s politics.
Fischer also obtained the fame of a superstar, something that other champions were not able to
achieve. Soviet world champions and other world-class players of the fifties and the sixties earned a
comfortable living, but they were not rich, whereas Spassky and all subsequent champions and other
elite players became millionaires.

There are good books on many World Champions, but I found it striking how the number and quality
of books on Bobby are clearly higher than the norm. Fischer’s career is so rich it is worth looking at it
from several points of views. Computer programs have developed tremendously in the last decade,
which also justifies taking a much deeper look at Fischer’s games. Kasparov’s My Great

9
Predecessors book on Fischer was published in 2004, while Karsten Müller gave only light
commentaries on Bobby’s games, and Donaldson did not analyse any games from the Fischer –
Taimanov match. Here I will show one of Fischer’s best-known masterpieces, in which no
commentator I am aware of spotted the hole that exists.

Robert J. Fischer – Mark Taimanov

Vancouver (4) 1971

Fischer’s last move was an inaccuracy, and now Black could have equalized with the superb
defensive move 40...Na7! transferring the knight to d6. I don’t think it changes our view that Fischer
was a genius, but merely affirms that chess is complicated. However, I believe such discoveries
justify publishing a new book on Fischer.

On Facebook there was a discussion comparing Fischer’s play with Karpov’s. To my surprise Jacob
Aagaard wrote something like “checking their moves shows that the best computer programs indicate
that the quality of Karpov’s moves are slightly higher than Fischer’s.” But then how come Fischer
beat the same opponents by a bigger margin? I was fortunate to write three books on Karpov totalling
well over a thousand pages, and such a statement made me think. I respect Jacob as a chess author, so
I did not even consider that what he wrote was incorrect. Fischer was able to build such an aura that it
affected almost all his opponents, as well as the experts who formed an opinion on him. Let me
mention some cases.

Regarding Fischer’s stunning play in the super-strong Herceg Novi blitz tournament, which Bobby
won by a huge margin, Tal wrote, “we all made blunders, but Fischer did not even drop a pawn in the
event.” But checking these games with modern computers reveals that Fischer was lost in seven

10
games, in some of the games for a long time. Petrosian writes on his Rovinj/Zagreb game with
Fischer that he had to find study-like moves, when in my opinion the rook ending was not difficult to
hold. Tal predicted that Fischer would beat Taimanov 5½–4½ and we know how that match turned
out...

How could such geniuses as Tal and Petrosian go so wrong in their assessments? In my opinion, the
Soviet/Russian books focus too much on criticizing Fischer, and especially Botvinnik’s pen displayed
little empathy. But even Tal, who was widely loved in chess circles all over the world and was
friendly with Fischer, had not a single word to say on the famous Fischer – Taimanov ending, where
Bobby’s bishop dominated Taimanov’s bishop. In this book I try to find an explanation as to why the
eighth world champion held back his opinion regarding this masterpiece.

On the other hand, many of the books written about Fischer by native English speakers in my opinion
do not understand how special the Soviet champions were, and that their personalities had good sides.
For example, I really do not understand how such a brilliant player as Robert Byrne was able to say
that he was falling asleep at Petrosian’s games, or how another great player said that Kasparov’s
strength lay only in his openings. In my opinion, Garry was able to inject complications and orientate
in the jungle of variations so incredibly well that hardly anybody in history could match him.

True, Fischer was a phenomenal player who stood out from his contemporaries, but the greatest
Soviet champions were also nothing short of geniuses. When I read Kasparov’s My Great
Predecessors volume on Fischer, I was very impressed by most of his analysis but was really
surprised to read his opinion that Fischer was scared of Karpov. I had been involved with chess for 30
years already and had never heard it said, but later I noticed that many native Russian speakers shared
this opinion. Even when they share an opinion, they might mean it in a different way. They all think
that when Fischer forfeited Game 2 in the Reykjavik match he upset the champion. I got the
impression native Russian speakers suppose that Fischer did it intentionally to upset his opponent.
Other experts believe Bobby fought for the conditions he wanted, and disturbing Spassky was an
unintentional by-product of that. I asked Anthony Saidy for his opinion about it, as Anthony is one of
the very few people who knew Fischer relatively well. He believes that disturbing Spassky was, as he
puts it, a “side effect”.

Of course, it is difficult for anyone to remain fully neutral when it comes to writing about majestic
players, especially such an eccentric character as Fischer, and in many cases we can only speculate on
his motives. I will try to remain unprejudiced. Your author personally played and knew, and still
knows, some of Fischer’s opponents. I was fortunate enough to have the chance to write three books
totalling well over a thousand pages on Tal, two books on Petrosian and Portisch, and one about each
of Hort and Torre; in these books I covered many of Spassky’s matches. I played on the same team
with Benko for three years and made commentaries together. I have read quite some material on
Benko, but none featured him so prominently as my trainer Peter Szilagyi, who told me Pal is a
person who wishes others well, and that is his key quality. In addition, in my three detailed Karpov
books I also worked on Anatoly’s games against Spassky and other common opponents shared by

11
Karpov and Fischer. I was also fortunate to play a few games against high-profile opponents of
Bobby such as Tal, Portisch and Taimanov, and against other players who faced him a few times,
such as Szabo, Barcza, Matulovic, Browne, Forintos and Dely. My English and Russian are fluent,
and during tournaments I have spent quite a lot of time with Soviet and American players, as well as
reading a considerable amount of chess literature from both countries. I believe all these elements
help me in my attempt to remain objective.

It is hard to tell how much Fischer’s seemingly miraculous results were due to his magical play, and
how much his opponents played below their normal level. While writing the thousand-page work on
Petrosian’s career with my co-author, Tigran Gyozalyan, I noticed that the 9th World Champion
usually held back his opinions on the chess of his rivals, but in this book you can find what he said
privately to his non-chess-playing friend about Fischer’s play.

One thought keeps coming back to me regarding Fischer: would I want to have met him? His political
views are filled with hate, and I am one of the many for whom being happy about the September 11
attacks is absolutely unacceptable. On the other hand, in my opinion Fischer and Kasparov are the
greatest players that ever graced the game of chess. Bobby contributed so much to our game; I have
analysed a lot of his games and it would be so nice to discuss some positions with him.

One such example is an endgame Fischer reached against Petrosian, which I rate as the most exciting
endgame thriller. It would have been pleasing to be able to share my discovery in the following
position.

Tigran Petrosian – Robert J. Fischer

Portoroz 1958

12
 In the game, Bobby understandably took on d5, but instead 55...c6!! would lead to a not-too-
difficult draw, as interestingly the c5-pawn draws against the f4- and g4-pawns much more easily
without the existence of the c7-pawn. Some further magical discoveries were also presented in my
work on Petrosian.

In the case of Petrosian and Tal, the desire is strong to talk to them about their chess, but it might also
be interesting to hear their views about other topics. In Fischer’s case, I would strongly hope that he
would talk about chess rather than his appalling anti-Semitic views. By the way, I believe the chess
circles in New York and Budapest were similar in that way: in Budapest, I would estimate that almost
half of the players were Jewish when I was a young player (Fischer was socialised as half-Jewish) and
I experienced the advantages and disadvantages of this in Budapest chess society as a young and
dedicated partially-Jewish player myself. Among Hungarians, I was one whose ancestors came from
Jerusalem, while for Jewish players I was considered a Hungarian. I suspect Bobby had similar
experiences, although within him this unfortunately generated completely different feelings.

***

This book was timed to come out on the 50th anniversary of Fischer’s Candidates match against
Petrosian. Following an abbreviated résumé of Fischer’s chess career up to 1970, I devote most of
this book to his extraordinary winning streak which started in the Rest of the World vs. Soviet Union
match, and ended in his match against Petrosian: the Candidates Final which earned Fischer the right
to challenge Spassky, the reigning champion. It is very much worth looking deeply at Fischer’s
magical and somewhat mysterious run on its 50th anniversary.

This book is the first of a two-volume series. In the second I will of course focus on the 1972 World
Championship match against Spassky, though not only this: I will also cover their decades-long
rivalry in detail. Let me mention to you now that Fischer and Spassky were the players who attracted

13
by far the most media attention in chess ever, as well as by far the greatest ever prizemoney for a
chess match at that time. Their game at the 1970 Siegen Olympiad was the most magnetic and hotly-
anticipated by fans in the entire history of chess Olympiads.

Around the time I finished writing this book, I received the news that Jan Timman would also be
bringing out a book covering Fischer’s magical run, and his subtitle would be identical to the title of
my book. This put me in an awkward situation; I would be lying if I said that I was happy about it at
first. But soon I started to see some positive sides to it as well. Such a respected author covering the
same thing means that it is indeed justified to devote a whole book to the subject. I also began to
realize that it is a great honour for me: two very respected (maybe highly-esteemed is a better
description) chess publishers – New in Chess and Quality Chess – plan to cover such an important
subject and one of them wanted me to write it. It is a great honour for me to be given the same subject
as the Dutch grandmaster.

I consider myself very fortunate to have had the opportunity to write books on many great players,
among them Timman himself. I quote myself from my Jan Timman book, published by Chess
Evolution: “Timman goes most impressively deep analysing this 4 against 3 ending in his book Art of
Chess Analysis. He lives up to the high expectations he sets up with his title of the book.” Over the
years I enjoyed many of Timman’s analyses and in that book I devoted a whole chapter only to some
brilliant fragments of his analysis. Timman is one of my favourite chess authors; however, I know I
have a different style as a writer, and I hope readers will enjoy this current subject being discussed in
several ways. His book came out first, but I had no chance to read it before writing my book,
therefore what he wrote is not incorporated into this volume. However, I do quote Timman’s views
from his previous works. I am certain Timman’s book will be a very good one and I will be pleased if
readers like my book anywhere near as much as they do his.

Fischer’s Background
Robert James Fischer was born in Chicago on the 9th of March, 1943. His mother, Regina Wender
Fischer, was born in Switzerland. She was raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and went to study in
Moscow, where she met Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, a German-born biophysicist, who she married in
November 1933. Their daughter, Joan, was born in Moscow in 1938. The couple having already
separated, Regina moved with Joan to Paris in 1938, where the threat of a German invasion generated
the idea of moving to the United States.

In 1943, Bobby was born. His biological father was probably Hungarian Jewish mathematician Pal
(Paul) Nemenyi. According to the FBI, Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered the USA, though Regina
did meet him in Mexico, some nine or ten months before her son was born, while Pal Nemenyi sent
monthly payments to Fischer’s mother. Regardless, it was likely one of these two very intelligent men
was Fischer’s father. I quote Kasparov: “When he was already at a mature age, he said once in an
interview: ‘My father left my mother when I was two years old. I have never seen him. My mother
only told me that his name was Gerhardt and that he was of German descent. Children who grow up

14
without a parent become wolves.’”

This is all I planned to write on the matter, but reading Tivadar Farkashazy’s book Fischer visszatér
avagy a Fischer-rejtély polished my knowledge. It was published in Hungarian, the title meaning
“Fischer returns or the Fischer mystery.” Farkashazy conducted a huge investigation regarding Paul
Nemenyi, who died in 1952, tracing the Nemenyi family tree a few generations back. He invested a
lot of time and energy into this research. Notably, Zita Rajcsanyi, who played a fundamental role in
bringing Fischer back to play a match against Spassky in 1992, told Farkashazy that Fischer had
claimed to her that Nemenyi was his father. Farkashazy asked her to swear on this, as he was going to
invest a lot of time on the matter. However, it is hard to tell whether the question will ever be cleared
up with any certainty.

Let me add that quite a few world champions grew up with no father: Kasparov, Spassky and
Botvinnik also lost their fathers in their childhood, while both of Petrosian’s parents passed away
very early. In a way, these tragic deaths possibly gave an extra motivation to these especially talented
boys.

According to Brady, at the time of her son’s birth, Regina was homeless and shuttled between
different jobs and schools around the country to support her family. She engaged in political activism
and raised both Bobby and Joan as a single parent. In 1949, the family moved to New York City, to
Manhattan, where Regina studied for her master’s degree in nursing and subsequently began working
in that field.

Fischer commented in 1958 that he:

“...learned the chess moves early in 1949 from my sister Joan, who was eleven. She often bought
different games at a local candy store and one day happened to buy a chess set. We figured out
the moves from the directions that came with the set. For the next year or so I played chess
occasionally with the boys I taught or by myself.”

Joan lost interest in chess, while Regina had no time to play, so Bobby was left to play most of his
earliest games against himself. When the family vacationed that summer at Patchogue, Long Island,
New York, Bobby found a book of old chess games and studied it intensely. In 1950, the family
moved to Brooklyn. It was there that “Fischer soon became so engrossed in the game that Regina
feared he was spending too much time alone,” to quote Edmonds & Eidinow in Bobby Fischer Goes
to War.

In Bobby Fischer’s Games of Chess, Fischer commented:

“On November 14, 1950, my mother sent a postcard to the chess column of the old Brooklyn
Eagle (we were now living in Brooklyn) asking if they knew any boys my age I could play chess
with. A reply came from Mr. Hermann Helms, dean of American Chess. He suggested I go to a chess
exhibition at the Grand Army Plaza Library on January 17, 1951. There I played against Senior

15
Master Max Pavey and managed to last about fifteen minutes. Watching in the crowd was Mr.
Carmine Nigro, President of the Brooklyn Chess Club. After the game he came up and invited me to
join his club.”

According to Donaldson and Tangborn, Nigro was rated 2028 on the USCF rating list of May 5,
1957. Fischer continues:

“Mr. Nigro was possibly not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher. I went
to the Brooklyn Chess Club practically every Friday night. Later I started playing chess at Mr.
Nigro’s home on weekends and often went with him to play chess at Washington Square Park.”
Nigro hosted Fischer’s first chess tournament at his home in 1952. Fischer is quoted by Brady as
saying, “When I was eleven, I just got good.”

In June 1954, the USA played a match against the Soviet Union, and Nigro took Bobby and some
other kids to the big event. This event may have affected the young Bobby.

“My first tournament out of New York City was the United States amateur, held May 1955 at
Lake Mohegan in upstate New York. Mr. Nigro ... had to persuade me to play in this tournament
as just before the beginning of it I lost my nerve and only wanted to watch. I played, got a minus
score, but found it interesting.”

In August 1955, Fischer, then twelve years old, joined the Manhattan Chess Club. The club policy
rarely gave membership to boys under the age of eighteen, but International Master Walter Shipman
noticed Bobby’s special talent and arranged an exception. Fischer’s relationship with Nigro lasted
until 1956, when his mentor moved away. “Meeting him was probably a decisive factor in my going
ahead with chess.”

According to Kasparov:
“For four years I tried everything I knew to discourage him,” Mrs. Fischer said with a sigh, “but
it was hopeless.”

On the other hand, Regina still took her son to play chess, and even Fischer’s talent would not have
been enough without her help and dedication. She was certain from early on that Fischer would
become a world champion.

In June 1956, Fischer started to visit the Hawthorne Chess Club, based in master John “Jack” W.
Collins’ home. According to Collins, who was born in 1912, he did not actually teach Fischer, but
was more like a mentor to the young talent. Fischer played many blitz games with Collins, but also
with other players, for example William Lombardy, who was also a regular visitor to the club. Fischer
studied the books in Collins’ large chess library. According to Donaldson, Jack Collins beat some
decent players, and when the Elo system was introduced he was in the top 25 players in the USA. I
checked Collins’ games. Looking at them I got the impression his positional play could be distinctly
amateurish, but he was a strong tactician: when he reached positions that suited his style, he achieved

16
some impressive results such as drawing with Robert Byrne and Edmar Mednis, and defeating
Anthony Saidy.

Whatever his exact level, Jack Collins helped Bobby a lot. Collins was modest about his role:

“Geniuses such as Beethoven, Leonardo da Vinci, Shakespeare and Fischer are born out of the
head of Zeus. They are genetically programmed and they know, before it is explained to them,
what is what. About Bobby Fischer I can perhaps use the words that were said about Franz
Schubert: ‘He learned from God himself!’ ”

Fischer was always grateful to the people who helped him with chess in his youth. I noticed it can
sometimes be hard for great players to look back and judge the role of people during their childhood.
For example, your author wrote detailed books on Tal and Petrosian, and got the impression that the
former may have underestimated the role his first trainer, Janis Kruzkops, played in his career; on the
other hand, Petrosian possibly overestimated Arkhil Ebralidze’s role in his. The chess environment of
New York, which was one of the strongest, maybe even the strongest, in the world outside of the
Soviet Union, surely contributed a lot to Fischer’s development in his youth.

17
In October 1956, Fischer played a sensational game, one of the pearls of chess culture, against a
strong player. Many people, taking Hans Kmoch’s lead, consider it “The game of the century.”

Donald Byrne – Robert J. Fischer

New York 1956

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.d4 0-0 5.Bf4 d5 6.Qb3

A rare combination of systems; it looks useful to confuse a young, talented player. By the way,
they played each other six more times, and Byrne drew two of them. He always played some slow
system against Fischer, such as Nf3/g3 or Nf3/b3.

6...dxc4 7.Qxc4 c6 8.e4 Nbd7 9.Rd1

White occupies the centre and hopes to keep it while he finishes his development.

9...Nb6 10.Qc5 Bg4 11.Bg5?

This is a mistake. Black is already ahead in development, but now his advantage becomes so
strong he can successfully attack White’s central pawns. The punishment for this mistake is rather
harsh. Instead, 11.Be2 is a reasonable move.

18
11...Na4!!
An inspired genius at work! A majestic move to divert the c3-knight.

12.Qa3
12.Nxa4 Nxe4 leaves White unable to offer much resistance: 13.Qxe7 (or 13.Qc1 Qa5† 14.Nc3
Bxf3 15.gxf3 Nxg5 and Black wins simply) 13...Qa5† 14.b4 Qxa4 15.Qxe4 Rfe8 16.Be7 Bxf3
17.gxf3 Bf8 White’s position falls apart.

12...Nxc3 13.bxc3 Nxe4 14.Bxe7 Qb6

Nowadays, chess tools (engines!) can be cruel, as it looks as though continuing with 14...Qd5
was even stronger than the game. If 15.Bd3 (15.Bxf8 Bxf8 16.Qb3 Qxb3 transposes to the note to
White’s 15th move in the game below) 15...Rfe8 16.0-0 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Nxc3 Black wins.

15.Bc4
15.Bxf8 Bxf8 16.Qb3 Qxb3 (16...Nxc3 is also strong) 17.axb3 Re8 18.Be2 Nxc3 19.Rd2 Bb4
Black will have far too many pawns for the exchange.

19
15...Nxc3! 16.Bc5
No better is:
16.Qxc3 Rfe8
16...Rae8! is even more precise, stopping all tactics: 17.Qe3 Qc7 18.Bxf8 Qa5† 19.Ke2 Bxf3†
20.gxf3 Kxf8 and Black is winning.
17.Qe3
17.Bxf7† could be tried, although 17...Kxf7 18.Ng5† Kxe7 leaves White with no play for the
heavy material disadvantage.
17...Bxf3!
Black must insert this capture.
If 17...Qc7? 18.Bxf7†!! Kh8 (18...Kxf7? leads to a forced mate: 19.Ng5† Kg8 20.Qb3† Kh8
21.Nf7† Kg8 22.Nh6† Kh8 23.Qg8† Rxg8 24.Nf7#) 19.Bxe8 Rxe8 20.0-0 Black has nothing for
the exchange.
18.gxf3 Qc7
Black wins.

16...Rfe8† 17.Kf1

20
17...Be6!!
Brilliant calculation! Fischer probably saw this lovely zwischenzug when he sacrificed the
knight.

17...Nb5 18.Bxf7†! Kh8! (18...Kxf7? loses to 19.Qb3† Be6 20.Ng5†) 19.Bxb6 Nxa3 20.Bxe8 axb6
21.Bf7 Nb5 leaves Black with compensation for the exchange.

18.Bxb6
White decides to take the queen. Other moves also offered no hope, for instance: 18.Bd3 Nb5;
18.Qxc3 Qxc5!; or 18.Bxe6 Qb5† 19.Kg1 Ne2† 20.Kf1 Ng3† 21.Kg1 Qf1†! 22.Rxf1 Ne2 mate!

18...Bxc4†
Black gets far too much material for the queen.

19.Kg1 Ne2† 20.Kf1

21
20...Nxd4† 21.Kg1 Ne2† 22.Kf1 Nc3† 23.Kg1 axb6 24.Qb4 Ra4 25.Qxb6

25...Nxd1
The dust has settled. White is lost but decides to play on until checkmate.

26.h3 Rxa2 27.Kh2 Nxf2 28.Re1 Rxe1 29.Qd8† Bf8 30.Nxe1 Bd5 31.Nf3 Ne4 32.Qb8

22
32...b5 33.h4 h5 34.Ne5 Kg7 35.Kg1 Bc5† 36.Kf1 Ng3† 37.Ke1 Bb4† 38.Kd1 Bb3† 39.Kc1
Ne2† 40.Kb1 Nc3† 41.Kc1 Rc2#

0–1

Any player with a reasonable chess understanding can judge that this game was won by an especially
gifted player. For instance, Averbakh recalled, “After looking at it I was convinced that the boy was
devilishly talented.” Bobby’s comment on the game: “I just made the moves I thought were best. I
was just lucky.” Later he said it was one of his best games.
Before this game in July 1956, Fischer won the US Junior Chess Championship, scoring 8½/10 to
become the youngest-ever junior champion at the age of thirteen, but he was still unknown outside of

23
the USA. The above game, however, made the young Bobby instantly famous all over the world.
Donaldson pointed out that from summer 1956 to January 1958, Fischer’s strength improved by 900
rating points. According to the American author it had never happened before, and it is doubtful that
it would ever happen again. Your author wrote an article on Fischer’s childhood chess, from the years
before the Byrne masterpiece, and I’ll share a small summary here.

The young Bobby had already faced a truly great player, Samuel Reshevsky, as well as the well-
known figures Bisguier, Sherwin, Mednis and Donald Byrne. Playing them in open tournaments
already shows his level. The Byrne game indicates that he already calculated really well, and later he
would become a monster of calculation. Probably along the way he understood how important it is to
calculate precisely and exercised that facet. I find it unlikely, but it might have happened that he just
developed it while he analysed and played.

What is different from the great player he later became? In what way was the small Bobby’s play
similar to the art of the future great champion? Many of his losses came when opponents caught his
king. He was vulnerable to tactics; the Sobel – Fischer 1956 game is an example of this. His
calculation level on average, at the age of thirteen, must have been good for the time, but compared
with today’s young stars like Karjakin he is clearly behind.

The young Fischer had quite a few relatively quick draws, in contrast to the adult version who fought
hard in all his games. Here is one of the early examples:

Frank R. Anderson – Robert J. Fischer

Montreal 1956

Fischer has just moved his queen to e7 and agreed to a draw. In such a position, with so many pieces

24
on the board, he would not have done so later in his career. The next example shows how much he
fought...

At the 1970 Interzonal, Geller was leading the tournament after eleven rounds; Fischer’s prospects to
qualify were good. Bobby’s personal score against the very strong grandmaster was negative at this
point: he had lost five and won only two, with two draws. They met in the 12th round.

Efim Geller – Robert J. Fischer

Palma de Mallorca 1970

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.0-0 c6 6.d4 d5

7.cxd5

According to Vasiukov, Fischer’s selection of a symmetrical system gave Geller the impression a
draw would satisfy Black. Playing this move, the Soviet grandmaster offered a draw.

7...cxd5!
Fischer took back without hesitation, stood up, and nervously started to walk around the stage.
So, he knew he was taking a serious risk.

We re-join the game towards the end...

25
65...Rf1
The position was adjourned here. It looks drawn, and perhaps the Soviets did not expect him to
play on – but Fischer did play on, and eventually won the game after a blunder by Geller, as we shall
see on page 192.
...0–1

Interestingly, Bobby in his youth scored better with Black. His openings were better with the black
pieces and he already played excellent openings, like the Najdorf and the King’s Indian. It is
remarkable, but in the Sicilian he scored 8½ out of 10 without a single loss.

With White he played 1.e4 in more than 50 percent of his games, the rest 1.Nf3 when he went for the
King’s Indian Attack. He played five main line Sicilians but did not win a single game. He also
entered the main line Ruy Lopez, and scored well with it.

What are the similarities in his games with the future irresistible force? For one, he was stubborn in
defence in endgames.

Robert J. Fischer – Heinz Matthai

Montreal 1956

26
Fischer managed to hold this difficult ending. Most modern engines will point out that he twice made
a mistake and was losing. Nevertheless, he played it quite maturely, and well enough to hold. Today’s
top grandmasters do not commit fewer mistakes when they play endgames with six or fewer pieces.
These games show remarkable stamina, as it is anything but easy to stay focused and defend for so
long.

When he was dominating the world, Fischer relatively rarely had to defend so hard, but the next game
shows how resilient he was. The game is from the 1992 Spassky rematch. This was played in Game
6, when Fischer was trailing 1–2 (only wins counted). The danger of going two points behind was
real.

Boris Spassky – Robert J. Fischer

Sveti Stefan (6) 1992

27
26...Rxb3
Black is lost, as White is a pawn up and the h-pawn is very weak, while in addition Black’s king
is fixed on the 8th rank. However, Fischer’s stubborn defence earned him the draw after his 65th
move.
...½–½

Fischer liked taking pawns and digging in; he calculated excellently in such positions, as in the
following game:

Robert J. Fischer – Charles Sharp

Montreal 1956

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16.Qd6!
This triple attack wins a pawn. But White must be careful, and skilfully judge whether Black gets
enough counterplay or not. Taking pawns and calculating the consequences accurately would become
a feature of his later play.

16...Nc6 17.Qxc5
And Fischer went on to win.
...1–0

My conclusion in the article was that the young Fischer preferred bishops to knights. By 1970, things
were less clear. Here are a few examples from his youth.

Robert J. Fischer – Samuel Baron

Manhattan 1956

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17.Ng5!
Fischer obtained the advantage of the bishop pair and went on to win.
...1–0

In Bobby’s first tournament of 1957, he scored a nice victory with an early exchange of a knight for
his opponent’s bishop:

Robert J. Fischer – Matthew Green

East Orange 1957

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10.e5 dxe5 11.Nfxe5 Nxe5 12.Nxe5 Bb7 13.Nc6 Bxc6 14.Bxc6
White has obtained nothing apart from having the two bishops, but Fischer went on to win.
...1–0

***

James Sherwin told me that he played blitz game after blitz game with Fischer in his home. Fischer
would sit in a way that damaged the chair, maybe even broke it. Sherwin revealed that in the
beginning, he did not realize what a talent he was playing. He had a good score against Bobby, but
when they played blitz during the Canadian Open, Fischer suddenly started to beat him convincingly;
according to Brady the score was 10-0. He also said that Regina believed in Bobby’s talent and did
everything to provide the best conditions for her son’s chess. She was a very devoted parent. I quote
Brady:

“After the Canadian Open, he asked for a ride home from Larry Evans. Evans said, ‘He asked if I
would drive him back to New York. I had no inkling that my passenger would become the most
famous and phenomenal player in the history of chess. On that long drive home he barely glanced
at the scenery. All he wanted to do was talk about chess, chess, and more chess. While my eyes
were glued to the road he plied me with technical questions and we discussed complicated
variations blindfold, calling out the moves without the sight of the board. His total dedication and
relentless quest for excellence were apparent even then.’”

Some artists and players start their career in a certain style and remain faithful to it. Others change a
lot. I had a chance to write books on Karpov, and the 12th World Champion’s games from his early
years show clear signs of the style of the future champion. Tal’s super-sharp style became more
positional, while Portisch’s became relatively sharper. Fischer’s style did not change radically, but it

31
changed. Apart from his amazing Byrne game, it is hard to see the future chess genius. However,
some features are already there in his junior games. It took him sixteen more years to reach his zenith,
and though sadly he stopped at the age of 29, he probably would have improved until roughly his
mid-30s. The most important aspect of these formative years is that Fischer fell in love with chess,
and from that he devoted so much time and energy to the game, which helped to develop his skill to
new heights.

In 1957 Fischer not only already regularly beat strong players like Saidy and Sherwin, but even won
the US Championship as 1957 turned into 1958. Let’s look at a snippet from one of his Sherwin
games, in which Bobby beautifully obtained a winning advantage.

Robert J. Fischer – James Sherwin

East Orange 1957

18.Nxh7!! Nxh7 19.h5 Nh4 20.Bf4 Qd8 21.gxh4! Rb7 22.h6 Qxh4 23.hxg7
Fischer went on to convert his advantage.
...1–0

The American Star

Bobby defended his US Junior title with 8½/9 in 1957 and then won the US Open Championship,
sharing first place with Bisguier and winning the event on tie-break. This made Fischer the youngest
ever US Open Champion. Later, he won the New Jersey Open Championship, scoring 6½/7 and beat
Cardoso of the Philippines in a match in New York, by the score of 6–2.

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In East Orange he lost to ‘unknown’ players, such as Avram and Santasiere. He also played a mini-
match versus the former world champion, Max Euwe. Fischer lost the first game, getting checkmated
in 20 moves, while the second game was drawn.

Fischer started to learn Russian; his mother, who spoke the language well, possibly helping. This
allowed him to scour Soviet chess magazines, as Bobby explained: “I followed the games of
Smyslov, Botvinnik, Bronstein, Taimanov, Tal and Spassky and I very much wanted to play against
them. I liked their style of play – sharp, attacking, uncompromising.”

Fischer won the US Championship in 1957/58. Scoring eight wins and five draws, his 10½/13 was
simply superb, and he finished a clear point ahead of Reshevsky, who was a world-class player.
Sherwin was third with 9 points. Among others, Fischer defeated Bisguier, Sherwin, Lombardy and
Mednis. After the event, a reporter asked Bobby whether he now considered himself the best chess
player in the United States. Fischer responded, “No... one tournament doesn’t mean that much.
Maybe... maybe Reshevsky is better!” (Brady, p. 21).

As the championship was a zonal tournament, Fischer obtained the title of International Master and it
qualified him to play in the 1958 Interzonal. After the championship, Fischer became the second-
highest-rated active player in the United States, behind Reshevsky. As Saidy writes in his excellent
book The March of Chess Ideas, people in American chess circles realized that they had a chess
genius and were thrilled that an American might become the World Champion. Morphy conquered
the world, but back then there was no such title as World Champion, and Morphy’s reign was short
and his life ended in tragedy. Pillsbury was great, Marshall as well; Reuben Fine did not choose chess
as a profession because of financial reality; Reshevsky tried to make it, and was surely one of the best
players in the world, but couldn’t reach the ultimate prize. I quote Saidy:

“Once, when he had succeeded in salvaging a precarious position, a reporter asked him if he had
feared losing. Fischer replied: ‘Don’t even mention losing to me! I can’t stand to think of it!’”

According to Saidy, for Fischer chess was an end in itself.

33
In 1958 Fischer and his sister Joan visited Moscow, where he hoped to play against Botvinnik,
although naturally the reigning World Champion was not interested. Fischer beat several players in
blitz convincingly. Petrosian, who was clearly a world-class player, was the strongest of these
opponents; in the late fifties Petrosian and Tal were the best blitz players not only in the Soviet
Union, but in the world. According to a Russian source, the Armenian grandmaster won the first two
games, and in the end Petrosian finished plus two. According to Brady, Petrosian won the majority of
the games. Your author has recently written a two-volume book on Petrosian and noticed he did not
want to help his rivals and publicly said nothing about his opponents’ chess. According to players
close to Petrosian, however, he understood that Fischer was especially talented. Brady writes: “Many
years later Bobby indicated that during those speed games Petrosian’s style bored him to ‘death’ and
that is why he’d wound up losing more than he won.” Somehow they never became friends; maybe
that is why Bobby did not want to admit that Petrosian was still stronger than him.

Before the Interzonal, Fischer played two short matches. Donaldson believes that Fischer played a
two-game match with Janosevic first. The result was 1–1; both games were drawn. In the second he
played Matulovic. I conducted a small interview with the Yugoslav grandmaster about Fischer.

T.K.: How was the idea of the match born?

M.M.: Fischer wanted to play me because I was one of the youngest Yugoslav chess stars, and
one of the best theoretical young players.

T.K.: Could you talk about your first Fischer match?

M.M.: It was the Fischer’s first official match in Europe, after he took first place in the US
Championships. Our match was played in Belgrade in July 1958.

T.K.: Was it played in front of an audience, or was it a training match?

M.M.: The match was played without an audience in the official office of the Yugoslav Chess
Federation. The main FIDE arbiter of this match was Mr. Bozidar Kazic. Even though the match

34
 was official, Fischer didn’t want to play in front of an audience; he only allowed Miss Milunka
Lazarevic, WGM and Yugoslav women’s champion, to watch the match.

The games of the match were interesting, and Fischer won the match 2½–1½.

Before the Interzonal, Fischer told journalist Miro Radoicic, “I can draw with the grandmasters, and
there are half-a-dozen patzers in the tournament I reckon to beat.” Fischer did not start well, but in the
end he scored 12/20 and finished tied 5-6th with Olafsson, just qualifying for the Candidates matches.
Tal won the event scoring 13½ points. Fischer obtained the grandmaster title, and his record on
becoming the youngest-ever grandmaster was held for decades, before Judit Polgar finally broke it in
1991.

Bobby’s play was noticed by many great players. Max Euwe commented:

“Fischer is an incredible example of an early creative maturity. From a young player one would
expect a wild offensive strength and bold play, which deserves every praise.”

Yuri Averbakh:

“In the struggle at the board this youth, almost still a child, showed himself to be a full-fledged
fighter, demonstrating amazing composure, precise calculation and devilish resourcefulness. I
was especially struck not even by his extensive opening knowledge, but his striving everywhere
to seek new paths. In Fischer’s play an enormous talent was noticeable, and in addition one
sensed an enormous amount of work on the study of chess.”

Bronstein said of Fischer’s time in Portoroz:

“It was interesting for me to observe Fischer, but for a long time I couldn’t understand why this
15-year-old boy played chess so well.”
Robert Byrne:

“Whereas most players find it hard to control their emotions during important games, ultra-
optimistically evaluating their chances in attack or ultra-pessimistically in the defence of difficult
position, Fischer somehow contrives to remain invariably objective. I know some far more
experienced players, who have not achieved such objectivity at any moment of their career, to say
nothing of such a young age.”

Tal’s trainer, Alexander Koblencs, writes:

“Tell me, Bobby,” Tal continued, “what do you think of the playing style of Larissa Volpert?”
“She’s too cautious. But you have another girl, Dmitrieva. Her games do appeal to me!” Here we
were left literally open-mouthed in astonishment. Misha and I have looked at thousands of games,
but it never even occurred to us to study the games of our women players. How could we find the

35
 time for this?! Yet Bobby, it turns out, had found the time!”

Everyone noticed he was especially gifted, and many correctly considered him a genius. It is often
written that Fischer refused to play at the 1958 Munich Olympiad because he did not want to play on
Board 2 behind Reshevsky. John Donaldson writes: “It’s not 100% certain why Bobby didn’t play in
Munich, but missing school appears to have been a bigger consideration than what board he would
have played.” The US magazine Chess Review stated: “Bobby Fischer, really on merit, should be on
the team but says he cannot spare time from school.”

Fischer won the 1958/59 US Championship, scoring 8½/11, consisting of six wins and five draws
with no losses. He finished a full point ahead of the second-placed Reshevsky and two points ahead
of Sherwin. Bobby beat them both; the Reshevsky win is famous.

Robert J. Fischer – Samuel Reshevsky

New York 1958

10.Bxf7†!!
According to the database, Fischer was the first to play this winning combination, but Kasparov
writes that Bobby saw this combination in a Soviet chess magazine.

10...Kxf7 11.Ne6! dxe6 12.Qxd8

Reshevsky did not resign, but Fischer of course went on to win. No other player of such a young
age had won the national championship of such a strong nation before. More than 60 years have
passed since, and still nobody has repeated the feat.

36
I quote Bill Wall:

“He attended Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn (Flatbush and Church) with Barbara (later
changed to Barbra) Streisand and they were good friends. Bobby later dropped out of school to
become a professional chess player. Fischer’s academic records indicated an IQ of 180 with an
incredibly retentive memory.”

In a 1961 interview with Ralph Ginzburg, Fischer said:

“My two and a half years in Erasmus High I wasted. I didn’t like the whole thing. You have to
mix with all those stupid kids. The teachers are even stupider than the kids. They talk down to the
kids. Half of them are crazy. If they’d have let me, I would have quit before I was 16.”

In March 1959 Fischer abandoned school. For him only chess mattered; it was almost the only thing
in the universe. He worked very hard on his chess and in addition he became a fierce fighter. On the
other hand, according to Kasparov, he also educated himself by reading books other than chess books.

Robert Byrne also noted Fischer’s reading proclivities:

“I had to listen to people who told me that Bobby almost doesn’t read, and as if he considered
Tarzan books as the best aside from Informants. But believe me, it was not like that at all. My
younger brother, as with most language and literature teachers, carries with him the latest novels
to have something to read in his spare time. Bobby always called upon him for books, and as far
as I remember, not once they were at variance with each other because of Bobby’s habit of
folding the page where he had paused reading.”

In 1959 Bobby played two tournaments in South America. In Mar del Plata he scored 10/14, winning
eight games, drawing four and losing two, and sharing 3rd/4th with Ivkov, half a point behind
Najdorf and Pachman. In Santiago he was disappointing; he won seven games, drew one and lost
four, finishing 4th-7th in a weaker field than in Argentina.

Fischer was also invited to a world-class event in Zürich. He had a great start: in the first ten rounds
he won six games and drew the other four, including a very long (almost 100 moves) draw against
Barcza. Afterwards he wanted to analyse the game from the very start! In Round 11, Bobby lost to
Gligoric, while in Round 12 a milestone in Fischer’s career happened: he beat his first world-class
Soviet opponent.

Robert J. Fischer – Paul Keres

Zürich (12) 1959

37
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d6 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5
11.d4 Qc7 12.Nbd2 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bb7

Keres chooses a line he regularly played at the beginning of the fifties, perhaps hoping that
Fischer wouldn’t expect it. It would be interesting to know whether or not Bobby expected this line
and how hard he had prepared for it.

14.Nf1
At the time this was the main move.

14.d5!?
Today this move is considered more challenging. Fischer would switch to this approach in 1970:
14...Rfc8 15.Bd3 Nc4?! 16.Bxc4!?
Fischer creates a weakness in Black’s camp. He could also show the same advantage while
retaining the bishop: 16.Nxc4 bxc4 17.Bf1 a5 18.Re3 Ba6 19.Qc2 Rab8 and White has a clear
advantage after 20.Rc3 or 20.Ra3.
16...bxc4

38
17.Re3 a5 18.Rc3
Fischer goes after the pawn.
18...Qd7 19.Qc2 Ba6 20.Nxc4 Rxc4 21.Rxc4 Bxc4 22.Qxc4 Rc8

23.Qd3
Bobby kept the pawn and converted his advantage in Fischer – Rossetto, Buenos Aires 1970.

14...Rac8

39
15.Bd3
15.Re2 is the other main line. Fischer and Keres had already played a game each from this
position:

a) 15...Nc6 16.Ng3 Rfe8 Bobby played 17.Bg5 against Rossetto in Portoroz 1958 and the game
ended in a draw, but 17.d5 Nb4 18.Bb3 a5 19.a3 Na6 20.a4 would have given him a clear advantage.

b) 15...Nd7 16.Ne3 (16.d5!?) 16...Rfe8 was played in Szily – Keres, Budapest 1952, and now either
17.Nf5 or 17.d5 would have given the Hungarian player an advantage.

15...Nc6?!
Keres would go on to deviate from this game in his 1959 encounter with Smyslov, playing
15...Nd7 instead. After 16.Ne3 (16.d5! offers an advantage) 16...exd4 17.Nxd4 Bf6 18.Ndf5 g6
Black had equalized in Smyslov – Keres, Belgrade 1959.

Both players also had a game each featuring the 15...d5 break in the centre. Maybe Bobby would not
have minded a draw, as it is hard to see how he would have improved White’s play: 16.dxe5 Nxe4
17.Ng3 f5 18.exf6 Bxf6 19.Nxe4 dxe4 20.Bxe4

40
20...Rcd8 (20...Rfd8 21.Qe2 Re8 22.Nd2 Qd7 23.Qf1 Nc6 and the great Estonian player had enough
compensation in Geller – Keres, Amsterdam 1956) 21.Qe2 Rfe8 Fischer – Janosevic, Belgrade 1958.
Maybe Bobby was going to deviate from this game with 22.Ng5, but Black is doing all right in any
event.

16.Ne3 Rfe8?
Keres produces an unfortunate novelty; his move is probably driven by the desire to win.

Earlier 16...Nxd4?! and 16...Nb4?, were played but those moves do not equalize.

Opening the centre with 16...exd4! 17.Nf5 is the right idea for Black, although 17...d5?? runs into the

41
stunning move 18.Bh6!!. Instead 17...Rfe8 would equalize.

17.Nf5?!
Fischer is reluctant to push the d-pawn. If he had a trainer, by the time he met Spassky at the
1966 Havana Olympiad perhaps he would have played: 17.d5! Nb4 (17...Nb8 18.a4) 18.Bb1 a5

From here, Fischer likes 19.Qe2 Nd7 (19...Qb6 20.Nf5!) 20.Bd2 Qb6 21.a3 Na6 22.b4 and
White can follow up with Bd3 when he stands better.
White also has other nice options, such as 19.Nf5 or 19.Bd2, which give a clear advantage as
well.

17...Bf8?!
17...exd4! gives Black a fully playable position.

18.Bg5!
The bishop sends the knight to a less active square.

18...Nd7 19.Rc1
19.d5!? Fischer clearly doesn’t like to close the centre in the main Spanish variations and is again
reluctant to push the d-pawn to the fifth rank. Following 19...Ne7 White would be somewhat better
after either 20.Ng3 or 20.N3h4.

42
19...Qb8 20.Bb1
Here too, after 20.d5!? Ne7 21.Ng3 h6 White would retain a small advantage.

20...Nxd4
Keres opens the centre and takes on an isolated pawn.

21.N3xd4 Rxc1?
Paul chooses the worst move-order. A better bet is: 21...exd4 22.Rxc8 (or 22.Qxd4 Rxc1 23.Bxc1
d5 24.Rd1 and Black does not equalize) 22...Qxc8 23.Qxd4 Qc4 (On 23...Nc5! Fischer mentions
24.Bd2! Qe6 25.f3 Qe5 but he doesn’t look at the stronger 25.Bc3!, which would yield an edge.)
24.Qd2 Qe6 Black stands somewhat worse.

22.Bxc1 exd4

43
23.Nh6†!!
Fischer destroys Black’s pawn structure with the help of some small simple tactics.

On 23.Nxd4 either 23...g6 or Barcza’s suggestion of 23...d5 would give Black a nice game.

23.Qxd4 d5! is given by Barcza. (If 23...Nc5? 24.b4 Ne6 25.Qd2 Black will struggle with the
isolated pawn.) 24.Rd1 (24.Bd2 Qc7) 24...Qe5 25.Qxe5 Nxe5 26.exd5 g6 27.Ne3 f5 and it is not
easy to do something with the extra pawn.

23...gxh6 24.Qg4† Kh8 25.Qxd7 Bd5

Keres tries to keep his position together and Fischer highlights this energetic manoeuvre in his
annotations. The bishop is headed, if circumstances permit, towards the defence of Black’s weakened
kingside.

44
26.Qf5?!
Fischer goes in for the kill a bit too early.

Kasparov suggests instead the strong 26.Bf4!, which would paralyse Black’s position. 26...Bc4 27.b3
Be6 28.Qc6 Qa8 29.Qb6 White is dominating.

White also has 26.Bd2! when the bishop defends the rook. 26...Be6 27.Qc6 White obtains a winning
advantage by invading on the queenside.

26...Re5! 27.Qf3 f5!

Keres tries to complicate the position; it doesn’t repair the damage but it does create practical
chances.
After 27...Bg7 White’s position would be less problematic than in the game.

45
28.Bf4
28.Qd1 Bxe4 29.Bxe4 fxe4 30.Qxd4 is also strong, when Black would really be struggling.

28...Re8
28...Re7 29.Qd1 Bxe4 30.Bxe4 fxe4 31.Qxd4† Bg7 32.Qd5 According to Fischer, White
“maintains pressure against the weak pawns.” In my opinion Black is unlikely to survive.

28...Re6
According to Kasparov, this was a more reliable way of equalizing, but he may not be right...
29.Qd1
29.Qh5 Bxe4 30.Bxe4 fxe4 31.Qd5 Qe8 32.Qxd4† Bg7 33.Qd2 and White’s position is
somewhat easier to play.
29...Bxe4 30.Bxe4
30.Qxd4† Bg7 31.Qb4 Qe8 32.Bxd6 and I would prefer White.

46
30...Qe8!
Kasparov points out this unexpected zwischenzug.
31.Qxd4† Bg7 32.Qa7!
This looks stronger than Kasparov’s 32.Qd5.
32...Rxe4
If 32...Bxb2 33.Re2 (33.Qxa6!?) 33...Rxe4 34.Rxb2 Rxf4 and Black is lost after 35.Qxa6 or
35.Rb3.
33.Rxe4 fxe4
Black is very likely to lose after 34.b3 or 34.Qxa6.

29.Qh5
Fischer has eyes on the black king but going after the d4-pawn with Hübner’s 29.Qd1! would be
even stronger: 29...Bxe4 30.Bxe4 fxe4 31.Qxd4† Bg7 32.Qb4 White collects a central pawn and
Black has problems with his loose pawn structure in the centre.

29...Bxe4 30.f3 Bc6 31.Rc1!

31.Rxe8? Bxe8 32.Qxf5? would lose to 32...Bg6! as Fischer pointed out.

After 31.Rd1 Bd7 32.Bxh6 Black would be somewhat worse, as in the game.

31...Bd7

47
32.Bxh6?!
Fischer prefers to take Black’s h-pawn, probably hoping that Keres’ king will be weakened, but
taking the f-pawn is a bit stronger:
32.Bxf5! Bxf5 33.Qxf5
Fischer: “...with possibilities of probing Black’s sick pawns.” The black pawns on d4, d6 and h6
are indeed vulnerable.
33...Qb7 34.Bxd6
On 34.b4 Kasparov mentions 34...Kg8 with the idea of ...Qf7.
34...Bxd6 35.Qf6† Qg7 36.Qxd6 Qe5!
Or 36...d3?! 37.Rc3! Rg8 38.g4 h5 39.Qxd3 Qe5 40.Kg2 with excellent winning chances in
Kasparov’s line, and 40.Kf1!? might be even stronger.

48
37.Qxe5†
Or 37.Qxh6 d3 and the strong passed pawn compensates for Black’s pawn deficit.
37...Rxe5 38.Rc2
38.Kf1 d3 39.Rd1 Re2 40.Rxd3 Rxb2 41.Ra3 would be a struggle for Black.
38...Kg7 39.Kf2
Black is struggling and it is hard to tell whether or not he can hold.

32...Re6
On other moves White had a strong answer available as well; for example, on 32...Re2 33.Kf1, or
if 32...Qd8 33.Bd2 can be played.

49
33.Bxf8
Fischer settles for a better ending. His comment to the move: “A difficult choice.”
If 33.Bxf5?? then 33...Rxh6! wins while on 33.Bf4 Fischer mentions 33...Qe8.
But keeping the bishop on the board with 33.Bd2!? would have been more unpleasant for Black.
According to Kasparov, Black’s defence is fairly simple after 33...Rf6, but although Black may have
enough to withstand direct efforts after 34.Bd3, in the long term he can do very little of an active
nature.

33...Qxf8 34.Qh4!
Fischer finally goes after the d4-pawn. He comments: “The text forces Black into an ending
where his weak pawns can’t be concealed by tactical tricks.”

If 34.Bxf5?? then 34...Rh6 wins.

Or if 34.Rc7? Qe7 35.Kh2 (35.Bxf5? Re1† would win) 35...Rg6 36.f4 Qe1 37.Qf3 Qxb1 38.Rxd7
Qe4 White is worse but might possibly hold.

34...Qf6!
Keres exchanges queens; he avoids a catastrophe by entering a somewhat worse ending.

34...Qg7? 35.Rc7 Qe5 (35...Re2 36.Qd8† Re8 37.Rxd7! wins as Fischer pointed out) 36.Bxf5 Qxf5
37.Rxd7 White wins.

35.Qxf6† Rxf6 36.Kf2

“Losing a vital tempo, which gives Black time to rush his king toward the centre,” writes Fischer,
but he over-rates his other possibility.

50
Another Random Scribd Document
with Unrelated Content
for the present.”

Thickens shook his head.

“I did not tell you, but Sir Gordon suspects something to be

wrong.”

“Sir Gordon does, sir?”

“Yes; he consulted me about the matter.”

“Then my course is easy,” said Thickens brightening.

“Not so easy, perhaps, as you think,” said Bayle coldly. “You

must be silent till I have seen Hallam.”

“Seen him, sir? Why, it’s giving him warning to escape.”

“Seen him and Sir Gordon, James Thickens. It would be a

terrible scandal for Dixons’ Bank if it were known, and utter
ruin and disgrace for Hallam.”

“Yes,” said Thickens, “and he deserves it.”

“We must not talk about our deserts, Thickens,” said Bayle
gravely. “Now listen to me. I find I can realise in a very few
days the sum of twenty-four thousand pounds.”

Thickens’s eyes dilated.

“Whatever amount of that is needed, even to the whole, I

am going to place in Robert Hallam’s hands, to clear himself
and redeem these securities, and then he must leave the
town quietly, and in good repute.”

“In good repute?”

“For his wife’s sake, sir. Do you understand?”

“No,” said Thickens quietly. “No man could understand such
a sacrifice as that. You mean to say that you are going to
give up your fortune—all you have—to save that gambling
scoundrel from what he deserves?”

“Yes.”

“But, Mr Bayle—”

“Silence! I have made my plans, sir. Now, Mr Thickens, you

see that I am not going to defraud the customers of the
bank, but to replace their deeds.”

“God bless you, sir! I beg your pardon humbly. I’m a poor
ignorant brute, with no head for anything but figures and—
my fish. And just now I wouldn’t take your hand. Mr Bayle,
sir, will you forgive me?”

“Forgive! I honour you, Thickens, as a sterling, honest man

—shake hands. There, now you know my plans.”

“Oh yes, sir, I understand you!” cried Thickens; “but you

must not do that, sir. You must not indeed!”

“I can do as I please with my own, Thickens. Save for my

charities, money is of little use to me. There, now I must
go. I shall see Hallam as soon as he is at the bank. I will not
go to his house, for nothing must be done to excite
suspicion. You will help me?”

Thickens hesitated.

“I ask it for Mrs Hallam’s sake—for the sake of Doctor and

Mrs Luttrell. Come, you will help me in this. You came to me
for my advice last night. I have changed it during the past
few hours. There, I have you on my side?”
“Yes, sir; but you must hold me free with Sir Gordon. Bah!
no; I’ll take my chance, sir. Yes: I’ll help you as you wish.”

“I trust you will, Thickens,” said Bayle quietly.

“And you are determined, sir?—your fortune—all you have?”

“I am determined. I shall see you at the bank about ten.”

 Volume Two—Chapter Eight.
Brought to Book.

“He—he—he—he—he! how cunning they do think

themselves! What jolly owd orstridges they are!” chuckled
old Gemp, as he saw Bayle leave the clerk’s house, and
return home to his breakfast. “Dear me! dear me! to think
of James Thickens marrying that old maid! Ah well! Of
course, he didn’t go to her house for nothing!”

He was in the street, again, about ten, when the curate

came out, and, as soon as he saw him, Gemp doubled down
one of the side lanes to get round to the church, and secure
a good place.

“They won’t know in the town till it’s over,” he chuckled.

“Sly trick! He—he—he!”

The old fellow hurried round into the churchyard, getting

before Bayle, as he thought, and posting himself where he
could meet the curate coming in at the gate, and give him a
look which should mean, “Ah! you can’t get over me!”

An observer would have found old Gemp’s countenance a

study, as he stood there, waiting for Bayle to come, and
meaning afterwards to stay and see Thickens and Miss
Heathery come in. But from where he stood he could see
the bank, and, to his surprise, he saw James Thickens come
out on the step, and directly after the curate went up to
him, and they entered the place together.

Gemp’s countenance lengthened, and he began shaving

himself directly, his eyes falling upon one of the mouldering
old tombstones, upon which he involuntarily read:
“Lay not up for yourselves treasure—” The rest had
mouldered away.

“Where thieves break through and steal,” cried Gemp,

whose jaw dropped. “They’re a consulting—parson and Sir
Gordon—parson and Thickens twiced—parson at the bank—
Hallam up to his eyes in debt!”

He reeled, so strong was his emotion, but he recovered

himself directly.

“My deeds! my money!” he gasped, “my—”

He could utter no more, for a strange giddiness assailed

him, and after clutching for a moment in the air, he fell
down in a fit.

“Yes, he’s in his room, sir,” said Thickens, meeting Bayle at

the bank door. “I’ll tell him you are here.”

Hallam required no telling. He had seen Bayle come up, and

he appeared at the door of his room so calm and cool that
his visitor felt a moment’s hesitation.

“Want to see me, Bayle? Business? Come in.”

The door closed behind the curate, and James Thickens

screwed his face into wrinkles, and buttoned his coat up to
the last button, as he seated himself upon his stool.

“Well, what can I do for you, Bayle?” said Hallam, seating

himself at his table, after placing a chair for his visitor,
which was not taken.

Bayle did not answer, but stood gazing down at the smooth,
handsome-looking man, with his artificial smile and easy
manner; and it seemed as if the events of the past few
years—since he came, so young and inexperienced, to the
town—were flitting by him.

“A little money?—a little accommodation?” said Hallam, as

his visitor did not speak.

Could Thickens be wrong? No: impossible. Too many little

things, that had seemed unimportant before, now grew to a
vast significance, and Bayle cast aside his hesitancy, and,
taking a step forward, laid his hand upon the table.

“Robert Hallam!” he said, in a low, deep voice, full of

emotion, “are you aware of your position—how you stand?”

The manager started slightly, but the spasm passed in a

moment, and he said calmly, with a smile:

“My position? How I stand? I do not comprehend you! My

dear Bayle, what do you mean?” The curate gazed in his
eyes, a calm, firm, judicial look in his countenance; but
Hallam did not flinch. And again the idea flashed across the
visitor’s mind, “Suppose Thickens should be wrong!”

Again, though, he cast off his hesitation, and spoke out

firmly.

“Let me be plain with you, Robert Hallam, and show you the
precipice upon whose edge you stand.”

“Good heavens, Mr Bayle, are you ill?” said Hallam in the

coolest manner.

“Yes; sick at heart, to find of what treachery to employers,

to wife and child, a man like you can be guilty. Hallam, your
great sin is discovered! What have you to say?”
“Say!” cried Hallam, laughing scornfully, “say, in words that
you use so often, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge?’
What do you mean?”

“I came neither as ruler nor judge, but as the friend of your

wife and child. There—as your friend. Man, it is of no use to
dissimulate!”

“Dissimulate, sir!”

“Am I to be plainer?” cried Bayle angrily, “and tell you that

but for my interposition James Thickens would at this
moment be with Sir Gordon and Mr Dixon, exposing your
rascality.”

“My rascality! How dare—”

“Dare!” cried Bayle sternly. “Cast off this contemptible

mask, and be frank. Do I not tell you I come as a friend?”

“Then explain yourself.”

“I will,” said Bayle; and for a few minutes there was a

silence almost appalling. The clock upon the mantelpiece
ticked loudly; the stool upon which James Thickens sat in
the outer office gave a loud scroop; and a large bluebottle
fly shut in the room beat itself heavily against the panes in
its efforts to escape.

Bayle was alternately flushed and pale. Hallam, perfectly

calm, paler than usual, but beyond seeming hurt and
annoyed, there was nothing to indicate the truth of the
terrible charge being brought against him.

“Well, sir,” he said at last, “why do you not speak?”

Bayle gazed at him wonderingly, for all thought of his
innocence had passed away.

“I will speak, Hallam,” he said. “Tell me the amount for

which the deeds you have abstracted from that safe are
pledged.”

“The deeds I have abstracted from that safe?” said Hallam,

rising slowly, and standing at his full height, with his head
thrown back.

“Yes; and in whose place you have installed forgeries,

dummies—imitations, if you will.”

That blow was too straight—too heavy to be resisted.

Hallam dropped back in his chair; while James Thickens, at
his desk behind the bank counter, heard the shock, and
then fidgeted in his seat, and rubbed his right ear, as he
heard Hallam speak of him in a low voice, and say hoarsely:

“Thickens, then, has told you this?”

“Yes,” said Bayle in a lower tone. “He came to me for

advice, and I bade him do his duty.”

“Hah!” said Hallam, and his eyes wandered about the room.

“This morning I begged him to wait.”

“Hah!” ejaculated Hallam again, and now there was a sharp

twitching about his closely-shaven lips. “And you said that
you came as our friend?”

“I did.”

“What do you mean?”

Bayle waited for a few moments, and then said slowly: “If
you will redeem those deeds with which you have been
entrusted, and go from here, and commence a new career
of honesty, I will, for your wife and child’s sake, find the
necessary money.”

“You will? You will do this, Bayle?” cried Hallam, extending

his hands, which were not taken.

“I have told you I will,” said Bayle coldly. “But—the

amount?”

“How many thousands are they pledged for?—to some

bank, of course?”

“It was to cover an unfortunate speculation. I—”

“I do not ask you for explanations,” said Bayle coldly. “What

amount will clear your defalcations?”

“Twenty to twenty-one thousand,” said Hallam, watching the

effect of his words.

“I will find the money within a week,” said Bayle.

“Then all will be kept quiet?”

“Sir Gordon must be told.”

“No, no; there is no need of that. The affairs will be put

straight, and matters can go on as before. It was an
accident; I could not help it. Stop, man, what are you going
to do?”

“Call in Mr Thickens,” said Bayle.

“To expose and degrade me in his eyes!”

Bayle turned upon him a withering contemptuous look.

“I expose you? Why, man, but for me you would have been
in the hands of the officers by now. Mr Thickens!”

Thickens got slowly down from his stool and entered the
manager’s room, where Hallam met his eye with a look that
made the clerk think of what would have been his chances
of life had opportunity served for him to be silenced for
ever.

“I have promised Mr Hallam to find twenty-one thousand

pounds within a week—to enable him to redeem the
securities he has pledged.”

“And under these circumstances, Mr Thickens, there is no

need for this trouble to be exposed.”

“Not to the public perhaps,” said Thickens slowly, “but Sir

Gordon and Mr Dixon ought to know.”

“No, no,” cried Hallam, “there is no need. Don’t you see,

man, that the money will be made right?”

“No, sir, I only see one thing,” said Thickens sturdily, “and
that is that I have my duty to do.”

“But you will ruin me, Thickens.”

“You’ve ruined yourself, Mr Hallam; I’ve waited too long.”

“Stop, Mr Thickens,” said Bayle. “I pay this heavy sum of

money to save Mr Hallam from utter ruin. The bank will be
the gainer by twenty thousand pounds.”

“Twenty-one thousand you offered, sir,” said Thickens.

“Exactly. More if it is needed. If you expose this terrible
affair to Sir Gordon and Mr Dixon they may feel it their duty
to hand Mr Hallam over to the hands of justice. He must be
saved from that.”

“What can I do, sir? There, then,” said Thickens, “since you
put it so I will keep to it, but only on one condition.”

“And what is that?”

“Mr Hallam must go away from the bank and leave all keys
with me and Mr Trampleasure.”

“But what excuse am I to make?” said Hallam huskily.

“I don’t think you want teaching how to stop at home for a

few days, Mr Hallam,” said Thickens sternly; “you can be ill
for a little while. It will not be the first time.”

“I will agree to anything,” said Hallam excitedly, “only save

me from that other horror. Bayle, for our old friendship’s
sake, for the sake of my poor wife and child, save me from
that.”

“Am I not fighting to save you for their sake?” said Bayle
bitterly. “Do you suppose that I am as conscienceless as
yourself, and that I do not feel how despicable, how
dishonest a part I am playing in hindering James Thickens
from exposing your rascality? There, enough of this: let us
bring this terribly painful meeting, with its miserable
subterfuges, to an end. Thickens is right; you must leave
this building at once and not enter it again. He must take all
in charge until your successor is found.”

“As you will,” said Hallam, humbly. “There are the keys,
Thickens, and I am really ill. When Mr Bayle brings the
money I will help in every way I can. There.”
Bayle hesitated a moment, and then mastered his dislike.
“Come,” he said to Hallam, “there must be no whisper of
this trouble in the town. I will walk down with you to your
house.”

“As my gaoler?” said Hallam with a sneer.

“As another proof of what I am ready to sacrifice to save

you,” said Bayle. He walked with him as far as his door.

“Stop a moment,” said Hallam in a whisper. “You will do this

for me, Bayle?”

“I have told you I would,” replied the curate coldly. “And at

once?”

“At once.”

“You will have to bring me the money. No, you must go up

to town with me, and we can redeem the papers. It will be
better so.”

“As you will,” said Bayle. “I have told you that I will help
you, will put myself at your service. I will let you know
when I can be ready. Rest assured I shall waste no time in
removing as much of this shadow as I can from above their
heads.”

He met Hallam’s eyes as he spoke, just as the latter had

been furtively Measuring, as it were, his height and
strength, and then they parted.

End of Volume One.

 Volume Two—Chapter Nine.
A Few Words on Love.

“What has papa been doing in the lumber-room, mamma?”

asked Julia that same evening.

“Examining some of the old furniture there, my dear,” said

Millicent, looking up with a smile. “I think he is going to
have it turned into a play-room for you.”

“Oh!” said Julia indifferently; and she turned her thoughtful

little face away, while her mother rose with the careworn
look that so often sat there, giving place to the happy,
maternal smile that came whenever she was alone with her
child.

“Why, Julie darling, you seem so quiet and dull to-night.

Your little head is hot. You are not unwell, dear?”

She knelt down beside the child, and drew the soft little
head to her shoulder, and laid her cheek to the burning
forehead.

“That is nice,” said the child, with a sigh of content. “Oh!

mamma, it does do me so much good. My head doesn’t
ache now.”

“And did it ache before?”

“Yes, a little,” said the child thoughtfully, and turning up her

face, she kissed the sweet countenance that was by her
side again and again. “I do love you so, mamma.”

“Why of course you do, my dear.”

“I don’t think I love papa.”

“Julie!” cried Millicent, starting from her as if she had been

stung. “Oh I my child, my child,” she continued, with
passionate energy, “if you only knew how that hurts me. My
darling, you do—you do love him more than you love me.”

Julia shook her head and gazed back full in her mother’s
eyes, as Millicent held her back at arm’s length, and then
caught her to her breast, sobbing wildly.

“I do try to love him, mamma,” said the child, speaking

quickly, in a half-frightened tone; “but when I put my arms
round his neck and kiss him he pushes me away. I don’t
think he loves me; he seems so cross with me. But if it
makes you cry, I’m going to try and love him ever so much.
There.”

She kissed her mother with all a child’s effusion, and

nestled close to her.

“He does love you, my darling,” said Millicent, holding the

child tightly to her, “as dearly as he loves me, and I’m going
to tell you why papa looks so serious sometimes. It is
because he has so many business cares and troubles.”

“But why does papa have so many business cares and

troubles?” said the child, throwing back her head, and
beginning to toy with her mother’s hair.

“Because he has to think about making money, and saving,

so as to render us independent, my darling. It is because he
loves us both that he works so hard and is so serious.”

“I wish he would not,” said the child. “I wish he would love

me ever so instead, like Mr Bayle does. Mamma, why has
not Mr Bayle been here to-day?”
“I don’t know, my child; he has been away perhaps.”

“But he did walk to the door with papa, and then did not
come in.”

“Maybe he is busy, my dear.”

“Oh! I do wish people would not be busy,” said the child

pettishly, “it makes them so disagreeable. Thibs is always
being busy, and then oh! she is so cross.”

“Why, Julie, you want people always to be laughing and

playing with you.”

“No, no, mamma, I like to work sometimes—with Mr Bayle

and learn, and so I do like the lessons I learn with you. You
never look cross at me, and Mr Bayle never does.”

“But, my darling, the world could not go on if people were

never serious. Why, the sun does not always shine: there
are clouds over it sometimes.”

“But it’s always shining behind the clouds, Mr Bayle says.”

“And so is papa’s love for his darling shining behind the

clouds—the serious looks that come upon his face,” cried
Millicent. “There, you must remember that.”

“Yes,” said the child, nodding, and drawing two clusters of

curls away from her mother’s face to look up at it laughingly
and then kiss her again and again. “Oh! how pretty you are,
mamma! I never saw any one with a face like yours.”

“Silence, little nonsense talker,” cried Millicent, with her face

all happy smiles and the old look of her unmarried life
coming back as she returned the child’s caresses.
“I never did,” continued Julia, tracing the outlines of the
countenance that bent over her, with one rosy finger.
“Grandma’s is very, very nice, and I like grandpa’s face, but
it is very rough. Mamma!”

“Well, my darling.”

“Does papa love you very, very much?”

“Very, very much, my darling,” said her mother proudly.

“And do you love him very, very much?”

“Heaven only knows how dearly,” said Millicent in a deep,

low voice that came from her heart.

“But does papa know too?”

“Why, of course, my darling.”

“I wish he would not say such cross things to you

sometimes.”

“Yes, we both wish he had not so much trouble. Why, what

a little babbler it is to-night! Have you any more questions
to ask before we go up and fetch papa down and play to
him?”

“Don’t go yet,” cried the child. “I like to talk to you this way,
it’s so nice. I say, mamma, do people get married because
they love one another?”

“Hush, hush! what next?” said Millicent smiling, as she laid

her hand upon the child’s lips. “Of course, of course.”

Julie caught the hand in hers, kissed it, and held it fast.

“Why does not Mr Bayle love some one?”

A curious, fixed look came over Millicent’s face, and she
gazed down at her babbling child in a half-frightened way.

“He will some day,” she said at last.

“No, he won’t,” said the child, shaking her head and looking
very wise.

“Why, what nonsense is this, Julie?”

“I asked him one day when we were sitting out in the

woods, and he looked at me almost like papa does, and
then he jumped up and laughed, and called me a little
chatterer, and made me run till I was out of breath. But I
asked him, though.”

“You asked him?”

“Yes; I asked him if he would marry a beautiful lady some

day, as beautiful as you are, and he took me in his arms
and kissed me, and said that he never should, because he
had got a little girl to love—he meant me. And oh! here’s
papa: let’s tell him. No, I don’t think I will. I don’t think he
likes Mr Bayle.”

Millicent rose from her knees as Hallam entered the room,

looking haggard and frowning. He glanced from one to the
other, and then caught sight of himself in the glass, and saw
that there was a patch as of lime or mortar upon his coat.

He brushed it off quickly, being always scrupulously

particular about his clothes, and then came towards them.

“Send that child away,” he said harshly. “I want to be quiet.”

Millicent bent down smiling over the child and kissed her.
“Go to Thisbe now, my darling,” she whispered; “but say
good-night first to papa, and then you will not have to come
to him again. Perhaps he may be out.”

The child’s face became grave with a gravity beyond its

years. It was the mother’s young face repeated, with
Hallam’s dark hair and eyes.

She advanced to him, timidly putting out her hand, and

bending forward with that sweetly innocent look of a child
ready so trustingly to give itself into your arms as it asks for
a caress.

“Good-night, papa dear,” she cried in her little silvery voice.

“Good-night, Julie, good-night,” he said abruptly; and he

just patted her head, and was turning away, when he
caught sight of the disappointed, troubled look coming over
her countenance, paused half wonderingly, and then bent
down and extended his hands to her.

There was a quick hysteric cry, a passionate sob or two, and

the child bounded into his arms, flung her arms round his
neck, and kissed him, his lips, his cheeks, his eyes again
and again, in a quick, excited manner.

Hallam’s countenance wore a look of half-contemptuous

doubt for a moment, as he glanced at his wife, and then the
good that was in him mastered the ill. His face flushed, a
spasm twitched it, and clasping his child to his breast, he
held her there for a few moments, then kissed her tenderly,
and set her down, her hair tumbled, her eyes wet, but her
sweet countenance irradiated with joy, as, clasping her
hands, she cried out:

“Papa loves—he loves me, he loves me! I am so happy

now.”
Then half mad with childish joy, she turned, kissed her
hands to both, and bounded out of the room.
 Volume Two—Chapter Ten.
Husband and Wife.

There was a momentary silence, and then as the door

closed, Millicent laid her hands upon her husband’s
shoulders, and gazed tenderly in his face.

“Robert, my own!” she whispered.

No more; her eyes bespoke the mother’s joy at this

breaking down of the ice between father and daughter. Then
a look of surprise and pain came into those loving eyes, for
Hallam repulsed her rudely.

“It is your doing, yours, and that cursed parson’s work. The
child has been taught to hate me. Curse him! He has been
my enemy from the very first.”

“Robert—husband! Oh, take back those words!” cried

Millicent, throwing herself upon his breast. “You cannot
mean it. You know I love you too well for that. How could
you say it!”

She clung to him for a few moments, gazing wildly in his

face, and then she seemed to read it plainly.

“No, no, don’t speak,” she cried tenderly. “I can see it all.
You are in some great trouble, dear, or you would not have
spoken like that. Robert, husband, I am your own wife; I
have never pressed you for your confidence in all these
money troubles you have borne; but now that something
very grave has happened, let me share the load.”
She pressed him back gently to a chair, and, overcome by
her earnest love, he yielded and sank back slowly into the
seat. The next instant she was at his knees, holding his
hands to her throbbing breast.

“No, I don’t mean what I said,” he muttered, with some

show of tenderness; and a loving smile dawned upon
Millicent’s careworn face.

“Don’t speak of that,” she said. “It was only born of the
trouble you are in. Let me help you, dear; let me share your
sorrow with you. If only with my sympathy there may be
some comfort.”

He did not answer, but sat gazing straight before him.

“Tell me, dear. Is it some money trouble? Some speculation

has failed?”

He nodded.

“Then why not set all those ambitious thoughts aside, dear
husband?” she said, nestling to him. “Give up everything,
and let us begin again. With the love of my husband and my
child, what have I to wish for? Robert, we love you so
dearly. You, and not the money you can make, are all the
world to us.”

He looked at her suspiciously, for there was not room in his

narrow mind for full faith in so much devotion. It was more
than he could understand, but his manner was softer than it
had been of late, as he said:

“You do not understand such things.”

“Then teach me,” she said smiling. “I will be so apt a pupil.

I shall be working to free my husband from the toils and
troubles in which he is ensnared.”

He shook his head.

“What, still keeping me out of your heart, Rob!” she

whispered, with her eyes beaming love and devotion. Then,
half-playfully and with a tremor in her voice, “Robert, my
own brave lion amongst men, refuse the aid of the weak
mouse who would gnaw the net?”

“Pish, you talk like a child,” he cried contemptuously. “Net,

indeed!” and in his insensate rage, he piled his hatred upon
the man who had stepped in to save him. “But for that
cursed fellow, Bayle, this would not have happened.”

“Robert, darling, you mistake him. You do not know his

heart. How true he is! If he has gone against you in some
business matter, it is because he is conscientious and
believes you wrong.”

“And you side with him, and believe too?”

“I?” she cried proudly. “You are my husband, and whatever

may be your trouble, I stand with you against the world.”

“Brave girl!” he cried warmly; “now you speak like a true

woman. I will trust you, and you shall help me. I did not
think you had it in you, Milly. That’s better.”

“Then you will trust me?”

“Yes,” he said, raising one hand to his face, and beginning

nervously to bite his nails. “I will trust you; perhaps you can
help me out of this cursed trap.”

“Yes, I will,” she cried. “I feel that I can. Oh, Robert, let it
be always thus in the future. Treat me as your partner, your
inferior in brain and power, but still your helpmate. I will toil
so hard to make myself worthy of my husband. Now tell me
everything. Stop! I know,” she cried; “it is something
connected with the visits of that Mr Crellock, that man you
helped in his difficulties years ago.”

“I helped? Who told you that?”

She smiled.

“Ah! these things are so talked of. Mrs Pinet told Miss
Heathery, and she came and told me. I felt so proud of you,
dear, for your unselfish behaviour towards this man. Do you
suppose I forget his coming on our wedding-day, and how
troubled you were till you had sent him away by the coach?”

“You said nothing?”

“Said nothing? Was I ever one to pry into my husband’s

business matters? I said to myself that I would wait till he
thought me old enough in years, clever enough in wisdom,
to be trusted. And now, after this long probation, you will
trust me, love?”

He nodded.

“And your troubles shall grow less by being shared. Now tell
me I am right about it. Your worry is due to this Mr
Crellock?”

“Yes,” he said in a low voice.

“I knew it,” she cried. “You have always been troubled when
he came down, and when you went up to town. I knew as
well as if you had told me that you had seen him when you
went up. There was always the same harassed, careworn
look in your eyes; and Robert, darling, if you had known
how it has made me suffer, you would have come to me for
consolation, if not for help.”

“Ah! yes, perhaps.”

“Now go on,” she said firmly, and rising from her place by
his knees, she took a chair and drew it near him.

“There,” she said smiling; “you shall see how business-like I

will be.”

He sat with his brow knit for a few minutes, and then drew
a long breath.

“You are right,” he said. “Stephen Crellock is mixed up with

it. You shall know all. And mind this, whatever people may
say—”

“Whatever people may say!” she exclaimed contemptuously.

“I am innocent; my hands are clean.”

“As if I needed telling that,” she said with a proud smile.

“Now I am waiting, tell me all.”

“Oh, there is little to tell,” he said quickly. “That fellow

Crellock, by his plausible baits, has led me into all kinds of
speculations.”

“I thought so,” she said to herself.

“I failed in one, and then he tempted me to try another to

cover my loss; and so it went on and on, till—”

“Till what?” she said with her eyes dilating; and a chill
feeling of horror which startled her began to creep to her
heart.
“Till the losses were so great that large sums of money
were necessary, and—”

“Robert!”

“Don’t look at me in that way, Milly,” he said, with a half-

laugh, “you are not going to begin by distrusting me?”

“No, no,” she panted.

“Well, till large sums were necessary, and the scoundrel

literally forced me to raise money from the bank.”

She felt the evil increasing; but she forced it away with the
warm glow of her love.

“I’ve been worried to death,” he continued, “to put these

things straight, and it is this that has kept me so poor.”

“Yes, I see,” she cried. “Oh, Robert, how you must have
suffered!”

“Ah! Yes! I have,” he said; “but never mind that. Well, I was
getting things straight as fast as I could; and all would now
have been right again had not Bayle and his miserable
jackal, Thickens, scented out the trouble, and they have
seized me by the throat.”

“But, Robert, why not clear yourself? Why not go to Sir

Gordon? He would help you.”

“Sir Gordon does not like me. But there, I have a few days
to turn myself round in, and then all will come right; but if
—”

He stopped, and looked rather curiously.

“Yes?” she said, laying her hand in his.

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