Top 10 Openings Played by Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer is an American chess grandmaster. He is considered to be one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer showed his skill in early age by already winning very strong players by the age of 13. At 20 he became the US chess champion, winning with a perfect 11/11 score. Soon afterward he won the World Championship and became the first official #1 rated player.He achieved top Elo of 2775, which was unprecedented at the time. Today we will examine top 10 openings played by Bobby Fischer.

 
 

White Repertoire:

1. Sicilian Defense: Pelikan and Sveshnikov Variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 Line

For most of his career, Fischer was a predictable player. He almost never surprised his opponents in the openings, but his extensive knowledge allowed him to outplay even very well prepared opponents. The Sicilian Defense is one of the openings where Fischer shined the most.

2. Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 Line

Fischer played 1.e4 almost exclusively throughout his chess career. It was his weapon of choice, and the majority of the most important wins were played using 1.e4 systems. One of Fischer’s most favorite openings was the Ruy Lopez. He knew it extremely well and could surprise any opponent with one of its variations.

3. French Defense

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Line

Fischer did not like to face French, and he tried his best to prove that this opening line is unsound. He did experience some trouble on this territory.

4.Caro-Kann

1.e4 c6 2.Nc3 d5 3.Nf3 Bg4 4.h3 Bxf3 5.Qxf3 Line

Fischer had a great record against Caro-Kann, so he did not mind playing against this setup. Many players tried to come up with a plan to neutralize his game, but not many succeeded.

5. French Winawer

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Ne7 Line

Fischer’s worst record was against French Defense, especially against the so-called Winawer Variation. He never believed that it was a good opening and tried exploiting king’s side weaknesses in his games. Later on, he said “I may yet be forced to admit that the Winawer is sound. But I doubt it! The defense is anti-positional and weakens the K-side.”

Black Repertoire:

6. Kings Indian Defense

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 Line

Against 1.d4 Fischer had a choice of openings. One of his strongest responses was the King’s Indian Defense.

7. Sicilian Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.d4 d6 3.Nf3 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 Line

1.e4 was definitely Fischer’s territory. He played a superb chess in Sicilian Defense with both colors.

8. Nimzo-Indian Defense

1.d4 e6 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0–0 Line

Fischer alternated the Nimzo and the King’s Indian Defense. He did not like playing the same openings all the time, so he wanted to have 2-3 solid-attacking lines he could choose from, depending on the mood.

9. Grunfeld Defense

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 Line

10. English Defense

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 e5 4.Bg2 Line