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Famous Fischer game · 1956

Donald Byrne – Bobby Fischer, New York 1956: the Game of the Century

Thirteen-year-old Fischer leaves his queen en prise with 17…Be6 and wins with a chain of checks. Weeks later Hans Kmoch called it the Game of the Century.

White
Donald Byrne
Black
Bobby Fischer
Result
0–1
Date
Event
Third Rosenwald Trophy Tournament
Place
New York
Round
8
Opening
Grünfeld Defence (by transposition, ECO D97) (D97)
Moves
41

Position after 11…Na4

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.
  29. 29.
  30. 30.
  31. 31.
  32. 32.
  33. 33.
  34. 34.
  35. 35.
  36. 36.
  37. 37.
  38. 38.
  39. 39.
  40. 40.
  41. 41.

Background

On 17 October 1956, in the eighth round of the Third Rosenwald Trophy Tournament in New York, 13-year-old Bobby Fischer had the black pieces against Donald Byrne. The twelve-player event, held from 7 to 24 October, included grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky and the reigning US champion Arthur Bisguier. Chess Life’s report referred to Fischer as a newcomer. He had lost to Bisguier in the first round, whereas Byrne had started the tournament by defeating Reshevsky.[1][2][3]

In a Grünfeld Defence, Fischer offered a knight with 11…Na4 and, on move 17, left his queen en prise. When Byrne took it, a series of bishop and knight checks followed in which Black won back ample material, and the game ended with mate on move 41. Chess Life printed it on 5 November, calling Fischer’s queen sacrifice fantastic. The tournament committee, which included Hans Kmoch, I. A. Horowitz and Edward Lasker, gave Fischer a special prize for the most meritorious game of the event.[3][4][1]

The name followed within weeks: in the December 1956 issue of Chess Review, Hans Kmoch presented the game as the “Game of the Century”. Reshevsky won the tournament with 9–2, while Fischer finished with 4½ points from eleven games, so the label never described his overall result. Fischer included the game in his 1959 collection Bobby Fischer’s Games of Chess, but not in My 60 Memorable Games (1969), whose selection begins in 1957.[1][3][5]

More in Fischer’s story: A junior champion and a game for history →

Key moments

  1. Fischer answers 11.Bg5 by placing his knight on a4, where it can be taken. If 12.Nxa4, then 12…Nxe4 attacks White’s queen on c5 and bishop on g5 at once. Byrne chose 12.Qa3; after 12…Nxc3 13.bxc3 Nxe4 Black had won the e4-pawn while White’s king was still in the centre.[1]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) also chooses 11…Na4 here; evaluation afterwards: −1.6 from White’s point of view.

  2. The queen on b6 is attacked by the bishop on c5, but Fischer attacks the bishop on c4 instead. After 18.Bxb6 Bxc4+ 19.Kg1 Ne2+ 20.Kf1 Nxd4+ 21.Kg1 Ne2+ 22.Kf1 Nc3+ 23.Kg1 axb6 Black has captured the bishop on c4, the d4-pawn and the bishop on b6, and the rook on d1 is still attacked. After 25…Nxd1 Black has two rooks, two bishops and a knight against queen, rook and knight.[1][3]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) also chooses 17…Be6 here; evaluation afterwards: −2.3 from White’s point of view.

  3. Mate. The rook on c2, protected by the bishop on b3, checks the king on c1; the knight on c3 covers b1 and d1, and the rook itself controls b2 and d2.[1][3]

PGN

[Event "Third Rosenwald Trophy Tournament"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "1956.10.17"]
[Round "8"]
[White "Byrne, Donald"]
[Black "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D97"]
[PlyCount "82"]
[Source "Chess Database by Ana L. Schaigorodsky, DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.4276523, CC BY 4.0"]

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 O-O 5. Bf4 d5 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 c6 8. e4
Nbd7 9. Rd1 Nb6 10. Qc5 Bg4 11. Bg5 Na4 12. Qa3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe4 14. Bxe7 Qb6
15. Bc4 Nxc3 16. Bc5 Rfe8+ 17. Kf1 Be6 18. Bxb6 Bxc4+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1
Nxd4+ 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1 Nc3+ 23. Kg1 axb6 24. Qb4 Ra4 25. Qxb6 Nxd1 26. h3
Rxa2 27. Kh2 Nxf2 28. Re1 Rxe1 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. Nxe1 Bd5 31. Nf3 Ne4 32. Qb8 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

Download PGNOpen in the game archive →

Sources

  1. The Byrne v Fischer ‘Game of the Century’ · Edward Winter / Chess Notes · 2025-03-23 (latest update)
  2. Rosenwald Draws Strong Field · Chess Life / United States Chess Federation · 1956-10-20
  3. Reshevsky Wins Rosenwald Trophy, Bisguier Places Second in Event (with the Byrne–Fischer game score) · Chess Life / United States Chess Federation · 1956-11-05
  4. Award Fischer Special Prize · Chess Life / United States Chess Federation · 1956-11-20
  5. My 60 Memorable Games · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-25

Game data: Chess Database by Ana L. Schaigorodsky, DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.4276523, licensed under CC BY 4.0; selected and converted to PGN for BobbyChess.