Bobby Fischer is the all-time favorite chess players by many. In this article, I will go into real depth of Bobby’s Opening Repertoire and show you his favorite Openings, with plenty of examples and diagrams.

After reading this post you will know what variations Fischer liked in five mainstream Openings, and you will know how to modify you own Opening Repertoire if you want to imitate him.

Fischer was famously obsessed with chess. Not in the “normal” GM / World Champion sense, much much more. He wasn’t known to have any hobbies or to do any activities outside chess. He learnt several languages (Russian included), but only because this way he could read more about chess.

In his Opening Repertoire Fischer was definitely committed to the deep approach. Let me explain.

When you build your own Opening Repertoire, there are two main ways to do it.

1. Favor depth over breadth. In other words, to study just a small number of openings, but each of them really really well.
2. Favor breadth over depth. That is, having a lot of different weapons in one’s own repertoire, without being truly expert in any of them.

The first approach, also Bobby’s favorite, means that your opponents will rarely (or never) caught by surprise. On the other hand, it means you are confident that surprise effect does not matter as much as preparation, and that you are better prepared than everyone else in those openings.

The second approach, instead, implies that you want to catch your opponent off-guard. Bobby Fischer did so a few times in his career, but much less than the average GM.

Fischer was famous to have his own pet lines. Five or six lines that he knew so well that didn’t care about surprising his opponents at all. In each game he simply stated “I don’t care that you know what Opening I am going to play, because I will outplay you anyway!”. And that happened indeed very often.

I am going to share with you analysis and anecdotes of five favorite Bobby Fischer Openings. Let me start with a summary.

Bobby Fischer Opening Pet Lines

Fischer has marked a line in the history of chess, from many points of view.

For instance, he was the first player who formally asked (and then pretended) high economic remunerations. About the Opening Theory, he mastered a few openings so well that many of his ideas are main lines even today.

Here’s the list of the openings that I am going to analyze with you in the reminder of this article.

1. The Sozin Attack. A very sharp line of the Sicilian Defense that Bobby played a lot with the White pieces. It’s sometimes called the Fischer-Sozin attack, which gives you some ideas about how important was Bobby’s contribution to the theory.
2. The King’s Indian Attack. A closed set-up that Bobby often used to fight some lines of the Sicilian Defense, with great success.
3. The King’s Indian Defense. One of the strongest point of Bobby’s Opening Repertoire. His games in this opening are still admired and studied by the new generations.
4. The Sicilian Najdorf. The other strongest point of his Repertoire. Fischer even played it against Spassky in their World Championship Match in 1972. Particularly famous for the Poisoned Pawn Variation, Bobby used to handle the Najdorf in impressive fashion. Only Garry Kasparov has reached similar peaks.
5. The Exchange Ruy Lopez. The line of the Ruy Lopez where White takes in c6 very early on. It’s often underrated, but Bobby proved that it can be a very dangerous weapon.

Let’s now go into the bones of Bobby Fischer’s favorite Openings!

The Sozin Attack (Sicilian Defense)

Bobby used to play so consistently well the Sozin Attack in the classic Sicilian Defense that, today, the variation is actually called Fischer-Sozin Attack!

These are the first few moves that characterize the line:

Basically, Bobby would often go for the sharpest variation of the classic Sicilian Defense, with 6. Bc4, and then keep on playing sharp with Be3 and f4. However, he would then castle short, O-O.

The Velimirovic attack is quite similar, but White continues with Qe2 ad O-O-O. The set-up chose by Fischer allows a larger degree of flexibility in the sense that White is not “obliged” in going all-in on the kingside, but can also play a more positional game.

Here is one game where Bobby literally ripped off the board one of the strongest players in the world, Bent Larsen, using the Fischer-Sozin attack. It’s impressive when you think that this game was played in the Candidates Match!

I personally like a lot the Fischer-Sozin Variation, although in my Opening Repertoire I have chosen the Richter-Rauzer line (6. Bg5).

The Fischer-Sozin Attack is a very subtle line, with lots of critical details that is important to know. Also, precise move order is of utmost importance, and there are many many sharp variations.

If you want to study some more recent high level games where the Fischer’s set-up is used, then check out games from the World Championship Match Short vs Kasparov, 1993, and some games of Sergei Rublevsky.

The King’s Indian Attack

The King’s Indian Attack is, in my opinion, a “play one-catch all” opening. In other words, it’s an opening that you can play as White against several different Black’s defensive schemes.

This simple fact has a lot of practical advantages, especially for the part-time player (which I assume you are, if you are reading my blog!).

Most importantly, you can focus on becoming very knowledgeable about the strategic ideas, the tactical patterns and the recurring themes that are generated by this opening, and then you will be able to apply them in a lot of games, even with different openings.

Personally, I think this is a very clever choice for someone with Elo in the range 1800-2200. My firm opinion is that players in that range should focus as much as possible in becoming experts in a small set of positions, so increase their over-the-board strength in those position up to 2300-2400 Elo.

There will always time to broaden your Opening Repertoire!

Back to Bobby Fischer. He definitely wasn’t in the 1800-2200 Elo range, so why did he play the King’s Indian so consistently?

Well, in my opinion this Opening is very much in the spirit of his approach to the game. He studied it so well that believed he could outplay and beat anyone with it.

Let’s take a look at some variation in the first few moves.

The main ideas behind the King’s Indian set-up are;

• A slower development than you would normally have in the Sicilian.
• Take advantage of e6, played by Black, somehow claiming that it was a loss of time.
• Wait until having well-organized pieces before grabbing space in the center.
• Build up, slowly but unavoidably, a concentration of forces on the kingside, with a lot of potential to attack Black’s King.

My favorite Fischer’s game with this Opening is the one played against Panno (a strong GM) in 1970 in Buenos Aires.

Panno was a very good player in those years, which is why Fischer’s win is even more impressive. Furthermore, the game shows well all main points of the variation: White keeps things under control, develop the initiative on the Kingside, concentrate a lot of pieces over there and then finds the tactical shot that brings the point home. Here’s the game.

Here is another famous game that Bobby played in this line. It is probably more popular because the game is concluded with a nice Queen’s sacrifice that leads to checkmate. However, it was played against a weaker opponent than Panno.

The King’s Indian Defense (KID)

The King’s Indian Defense is a fantastic Opening. It’s a complex battle from tactical as well as strategical point of view. The uncompromising type of positions it leads to has made it a lethal weapon in the brain of great chess players. Two names among many: Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov. I wrote a in-depth King’s Indian tutorial that I recommended checking out.

Bobby Fischer has played the King’s Indian defense throughout all his career. He actually started with the Grunfeld defense, when he was really young, and then switched more or less permanently to the King’s Indian.

One point I underlined in my King’s Indian tutorial is that in this opening Black must be willing to play a very long torturing game, despite the common belief that says Black “just need to attack on the kingside”.

Bobby Fischer was a grinder too. He was many things, and definitely enjoyed long positional battles. The King’s Indian was a tremendous Opening during his best years.

My favorite game of his, in the King’s Indian, is perhaps the one played in 1970 against Svetozar Gligoric, a very strong GM. It shows how resilient and unstoppable Bobby was when he had gotten a slight advantage.

Of course, Bobby Fischer also excelled at attacking and tactically-complex games. There are many positions generated by the King’s Indian (mainly by the Mar del Plata variation) where Black can develop a very strong attack against White’s king. Of course he must know what he’s doing, or he’ll get smashed on the queenside.

Fischer won many games like this: enter the Mar del Plata variation, stabilize things on the center and on the queenside (thanks to his deep positional understanding), start the attack on the kingside, sign score-sheets 0-1.

A very good example of this is the following game that he won brilliantly against Bent Larsen, during the Candidates Match (preliminary for the World Championship Match). That is to say, even against world-class opponents, like Larsen, he could score such wins. Enjoy this game (I suggest analyzing it in depth, especially if the King’s Indian is in your Opening Repertoire!)

The Sicilian Najdorf

Here we go with the other extremely famous Fischer’s Opening (along with the KID): The Sicilian Najdorf.

The Najdorf is perhaps the sharpest of the variations within the Sicilian Defense. It’s more than sharp, it’s “arrogant” in my opinion! Let’s see the first few moves.

Black invites White to do more or less … whatever they want! They can develop their initiative in a number of ways: castle kingside as well as queenside. Fianchetto as well as not. Push pawns f4,g4,h4, but also a4,c4 if they wish.

The Najdorf is insane in my opinion! If you seriously study the Najdorf then you will surely become familiar with so many different positions that it will make you a better chess player. For sure.

Fischer played the Najdorf from the beginning till the end of his career. He was a aficionado, arguably the best in the world. He even played it during the World Chess Championship 1972 against Spassky, not fearing the home preparation that the Russian team certainly had done (and that costed him one game indeed, game 11).

My Fischer’s favorite game with the Najdorf is the following wild and crazy game played against Boris Spassky during the Match of the Century (1972), the match that gave him the crown. This breathtaking game between the two chess giants ended in a draw.

What a game!!

Another Bobby’s famous game in the Najdorf is the one against former World Champion Vasily Smyslov in 1959. Fischer was just a 16-years old kid, and yet he simply outplayed the former World Champion in a very complex fight. Impressive.

The Exchange Ruy Lopez

The Exchange Ruy Lopez is the variation of the Spanish Opening (just another name for Ruy Lopez) where White takes Black’s knight on c6 as soon as he can.

If you consider that in the main Ruy Lopez White never takes on c6, and actually makes all he can to save the light-square bishop, often retreating it all the way to c2 or a2, then you must think taking on c6 is a totally different concept.

In fact, White’s idea is very simple. By doubling Black’s pawns on the queenside, White guarantees a better endgame to himself. In different words, if all pieces are exchanged in the above board, then the Kings and Pawns endgame is winning for White.

Still, endgame is far away! Furthermore, Black’s has got the Bishop’s pair, that is considered as a small advantage (especially in modern times). These two factors pretty much explain why the Exchange Ruy Lopez has never been a common guest at the highest level.

However, Bobby Fischer, following his typical style without prejudices, was willing to play this line against anyone, to prove that his deep understanding, powered by intense home-preparation, could give him good chances to win.

When I come across a Opening that was played by a World Champion, but it does not have the general consensus of theoreticians and other top-GMs, I am moved by curiosity and really want to understand how the World Champion interpreted this Opening. The Exchange Ruy Lopez in Fischer’s hands is a good example. Another, more recent example, is the Colle system in Magnus Carlsen’s hands.

Probably the best illustration of the dangers this variation brings was given by Fischer in the following game, played against Unzicker (a strong GM himself).

Bobby outplayed his opponent slowly, and apparently “simply”. It is really worth studying how Fischer handled the position, exchanging a lot of pieces, but also avoid some exchanges (26. Ne5!).

The beauty of the Exchange Ruy Lopez is that it can also lead to sharp games, with attacking chances against the two Kings. As you can guess, Bobby didn’t dislike this option at all! Here is one example where he beats Gligoric in a tactical fashion.

I think it’s worth mentioning some evidences that Bobby truly believed in this Opening. Even if he didn’t play it during the 1972 match against Spassky (when he did play the Open Ruy Lopez instead, winning with it the beautiful 10th game), he surprised Spassky with the Exchange Ruy Lopez in their return match, in 1992.

Actually, to tell you the truth, he crushed Spassky, who was probably totally unprepared to face this Opening. Here is the game I am talking about.

How To Play Bobby Fischer’s Openings

You can’t play like Bobby Fischer unless you are a GM and your strength is 2700+ Elo, granted!

However, you can play Bobby Fischer’s Openings after some practice. Playing like one of you favorite players is often a strong motivation that can lead you to learn one more Opening.

Additionally, consider that Fischer’s openings are entirely sound. I mean that they are NOT Openings where you try to trick your opponent, hoping that he does not remember something and falls for your home-preparation. NOT AT ALL.

Fischer’s openings are totally correct and are still mainstream openings. If you study and play them in real games then your general chess understanding will benefit from the effort.

Here’s a simple-enough-to-start plan that you can follow.

1. Go get the ultra-famous book “My 60 Memorable Games”. It was written by Fischer’s himself and contains incredibly deep analysis of 60 tournament games that he played. Go through each game and each piece of analysis (multiple times!). You can find the book on Amazon and it’ll cost you about 20 dollars (or about 7$ if you buy the Kindle edition).
2. Pick one of Bobby’s favorite Openings that I showed above and decide to add it into your Opening Repertoire. This will take some time, as studying a chess Opening is a time-demanding task. You can use some of the tips I recommend in my article How to Study Chess Openings With the Computer.
3. Do not waste further time and start practicing that Opening! The easiest way to do so is online. Do NOT play bullet though, I recommend 5’+0" blitz. Also, as strange as it may sound, you must analyze your own blitz games.
4. Choose another Opening among Bobby’s favorites and reiterate the process.

Conclusions and References

To play like one of your chess idols can be a fantastic motivation to learn more. And chess is all about learning, playing, then learning and playing and learning…

Don’t wait one more minute, go get games from your favorite chess player, better if you can find them with annotations and analysis. A book is probably the best choice. Anywhere between 20-50 games should be a good start.

In this article I spoke about my all-time chess favorite player, Bobby Fischer. World Champion, innovator and fighter, he gave a lot to our 64-squares world.

If you want to study Fischer’s games and learn how to play some of the Openings he liked then this the perfect article to start. I gave you a detailed overview of five Opening Variations that he has played a lot during his career and can be considered his pet lines.

Fischer also wrote a book where he analyzed 60 of his best games, which I really recommend reading as second step in your learning process.

As always I will conclude with a few references that can be interesting for further reading:

• How To Study Chess Games With The Computer
• How To Choose A Chess Opening Repertoire
• My Recommended Resources page, always worth checking!

Have fun!!