Monokroussos on Pachman vs Fischer

Dennis Monokroussos writes: I recently read the late Ludek Pachman’s memoir Checkmate in Prague, and was thus particularly reminded of his second, very dramatic win over the young Bobby Fischer. (Young, but quite strong: he was already a grandmaster, two-time defending US champion and a world championship candidate!)

It's a very exciting game, and one in which Fischer certainly had his chances. Fischer played the opening and early middlegame extremely aggressively, sacrificing two pieces for a speculative attack. Nevertheless, Pachman defended very cooly, and when Fischer failed to find the most accurate path through the complications, the White king went on a remarkable march to safety.

So there are at least three reasons to watch. First, Pachman is a player worth remembering – he was a very strong GM in his heyday and a fine chess author as well. Second, the game is high in entertainment value – sacrifices, counter-sacrifices, and all sort of special effects. And third, it features an interesting opening (the Ragozin System) every player needs to think about at least once in their career. So join me this Monday night for a terrific show – you’ll be glad you did!

Dennis Monokroussos is 38, lives in South Bend, IN (the site of the University of Notre Dame), and is writing a Ph.D. dissertation in philosophy (in the philosophy of mind) while adjuncting at the University.

He is fairly inactive as a player right now, spending most of his non-philosophy time being a husband and teaching chess. At one time he was one of the strongest juniors in the U.S., but quit for about eight years starting in his early 20s. His highest rating was 2434 USCF, but he has now fallen to the low-mid 2300s – "too much blitz, too little tournament chess", he says.

Dennis has been working as a chess teacher for seven years now, giving lessons to adults and kids both in person and on the internet, worked for a number of years for New York’s Chess In The Schools program, where he was one of the coaches of the 1997-8 US K-8 championship team from the Bronx, and was very active in working with many of CITS’s most talented juniors.

When Dennis Monokroussos presents a game, there are usually two main areas of focus: the opening-to-middlegame transition and the key moments of the middlegame (or endgame, when applicable). With respect to the latter, he attempts to present some serious analysis culled from his best sources (both text and database), which he has checked with his own efforts and then double-checked with his chess software.

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