Robert James Fischer vs Pal Benko, Pirc Defense, Austrian Attack, Weiss Variation (B09)
1963/64 US Chess Championship, Round 10, New York

This game should be memorized by every 1.e4 player as a model attack with which you should fight the Modern and the Pirc defenses. Fischer almost always played the Austrian attack against these types of setups and he improved it significantly. The theory evolved, and his attacking ideas became standard. This game is different, though.

He created a plan of attack in which he pushed the f pawn, an advance which is generally bad against the Pirc since it weakens too many squares and gives black an easier time in the center, but in this particular position it made perfect sense and it gave Fischer tremendous attacking force.

The variation he managed to conceive and calculate was miraculous too. He found an idea which very few (if any) humans could see and let alone prevent.

This game was played at the famous 1963/64 US Championship at which Fischer scored 11/11, and after which a special prize was introduced for anyone who manages to repeat the perfect score.

Finals Standings:
Robert James Fischer 11/11
Larry Melvyn Evans 7.5/11
Pal Benko 7/11
Samuel Reshevsky 6.5/11
Anthony Saidy 6.5/11
Robert Eugene Byrne 5.5/11
Raymond Allen Weinstein 5/11
Arthur Bisguier 4.5/11
William G Addison 3.5/11
Edmar J Mednis 3.5/11
Robert Henry Steinmeyer 3/11
Donald Byrne 2.5/11

Game moves:
1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 Nf6 5. Nf3 O-O 6. Bd3 Bg4
7. h3 Bxf3 8. Qxf3 Nc6 9. Be3 e5 10. dxe5 dxe5 11. f5 gxf5
12. Qxf5 Nd4 13. Qf2 Ne8 14. O-O Nd6 15. Qg3 Kh8 16. Qg4 c6
17. Qh5 Qe8 18. Bxd4 exd4 19. Rf6 Kg8 20. e5 h6 21. Ne2 1-0