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Famous Fischer game · 1963

Robert Byrne – Bobby Fischer, US Championship 1963/64

Fischer sacrifices both knights against Robert Byrne and wins in 21 moves; Byrne resigned before the decisive combination appeared on the board.

White
Robert Byrne
Black
Bobby Fischer
Result
0–1
Date
Event
US Championship 1963/64
Place
New York
Round
3
Opening
Grünfeld Defence, fianchetto variation (ECO D71) (D71)
Moves
21

Position after 15…Nxf2

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
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  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
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  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.

Background

The 1963/64 US Championship opened in New York on 15 December 1963. In round three Fischer had Black against Robert Byrne, the older brother of Donald Byrne from the 1956 Game of the Century. Chess Life pointed out that Fischer had never beaten Robert Byrne before and that Byrne had not lost to anyone for more than two years. Byrne eventually finished sixth with 5½ points, while Fischer won all eleven of his games.[1][2]

Byrne chose a fianchetto set-up against Fischer’s Grünfeld. After 12…e5 Fischer’s knight reached d3 and sacrificed itself on f2; the second knight followed on g2, and after 19…d4 and 20…Bb7+ the white king stood exposed on the long diagonal. Byrne resigned after 21…Qd7 without waiting for the finish. Chess Life called it the most brilliant game of the tournament and reported that none of the spectators to whom Byrne explained the game afterwards had seen the combination that forced his resignation.[3][1]

Fischer later included the game among the wins in My 60 Memorable Games (1969). He also expected it to be judged for the tournament’s brilliancy prize: in a talk in Toronto in 1964, reported in the magazine CHESS, he said he had avoided a queen sacrifice against Pal Benko in round ten so as not to detract from the Byrne game. According to Sam Copeland of Chess.com, Fischer regretted that Byrne’s resignation denied him the chance to play the rook sacrifice on the board.[4][5][3]

More in Fischer’s story: Eleven games, eleven wins →

Key moments

  1. The knight that had settled on d3 sacrifices itself on f2. After 16.Kxf2 Ng4+ 17.Kg1 Nxe3 the second knight attacks White’s queen on c2, the rook on d1 and the bishop on g2.[3]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) also chooses 15…Nxf2 here; evaluation afterwards: −3.7 from White’s point of view.

  2. The second knight is given up as well and removes the bishop that shielded White’s king. After 19.Kxg2 d4 20.Nxd4 Bb7+ the black bishop checks along the open long diagonal. Sam Copeland writes that this move shocked Byrne and the commentators.[3]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) also chooses 18…Nxg2 here; evaluation afterwards: −4.0 from White’s point of view.

  3. Byrne resigned here. The threat is 22…Qh3+; Chess Life’s report gave the line 22.Qf2 Qh3+ 23.Kg1 Re1+, after which the rook sacrifice decides the game.[1][3]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) also chooses 21…Qd7 here; evaluation afterwards: −6.3 from White’s point of view.

PGN

[Event "US Championship 1963/64"]
[Site "New York"]
[Date "1963.12.??"]
[Round "3"]
[White "Byrne, Robert E"]
[Black "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D71"]
[PlyCount "42"]
[Source "Chess Database by Ana L. Schaigorodsky, DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.4276523, CC BY 4.0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 c6 4. Bg2 d5 5. cxd5 cxd5 6. Nc3 Bg7 7. e3 O-O 8. Nge2
Nc6 9. O-O b6 10. b3 Ba6 11. Ba3 Re8 12. Qd2 e5 13. dxe5 Nxe5 14. Rfd1 Nd3 15.
Qc2 Nxf2 16. Kxf2 Ng4+ 17. Kg1 Nxe3 18. Qd2 Nxg2 19. Kxg2 d4 20. Nxd4 Bb7+ 21.
Kf1 Qd7 0-1

Download PGNOpen in the game archive →

Sources

  1. Fischer Sweeps U.S. Championship (report, crosstable and round results) · J. F. Reinhardt / Chess Life, United States Chess Federation · 1964-01
  2. Robert Byrne (chess player) · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-25
  3. Bobby Fischer's Perfect US Championship Game — Byrne vs. Fischer, 1963 · Sam Copeland / Chess.com · 2020-12-20
  4. My 60 Memorable Games · Wikipedia · accessed 2026-09-25
  5. Pal Benko 1928-2019 (quotes Wayne D. Komer, CHESS, April 1964, p. 223) · Edward Winter / Chess Notes · undated feature article; 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.