Bobby Fischer (1943–2008): playing style, games and openings

11th World Champion, 1972–1975. Uncompromising clarity and energy: 1.e4 'best by test', the Najdorf, and relentless play for a win in every game.

1943–2008 · Known for: Clarity & precision · 825 games in the collection

Explore Bobby Fischer's games in the analyzerCompare with your own games

Playing style: Solid / prophylactic

Keeps the king safe, avoids early adventures and is hard to beat, at the cost of more draws.

These scores come from the 783 games used for the style profile (classical-length games), measured the same way the analyzer measures your own games.

Results

Bobby Fischer scored 445 wins, 249 draws and 89 losses (73% score) in 783 games.

• With White: 261 wins, 107 draws and 41 losses (77% score) in 409 games.
• With Black: 184 wins, 142 draws and 48 losses (68% score) in 374 games.

Favourite openings

As White

• Sicilian Defense: 135 games, 77% score
• Ruy Lopez: 108 games, 77% score
• French Defense: 39 games, 69% score
• Caro-Kann Defense: 37 games, 69% score
• Réti Opening: 24 games, 79% score
• King's Gambit: 13 games, 88% score

As Black

• Sicilian Defense: 115 games, 74% score
• King's Indian Defense: 106 games, 61% score
• English Opening: 26 games, 79% score
• Nimzo-Indian Defense: 24 games, 50% score
• Queen's Gambit Declined: 23 games, 70% score
• Grünfeld Defense: 19 games, 66% score

Practise related lines: Italian Game: Giuoco Pianissimo, Ruy Lopez: Closed, Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox, Sicilian Najdorf: English Attack, Caro-Kann: Classical, French Defence: Advance, Scandinavian Defence, King's Indian: Classical, Queen's Gambit Declined: Tartakower.

A famous game

• The Game of the Century (Byrne, Donald vs Fischer, Robert James, 0-1, 1956) — replay it move by move and see Stockfish's verdict.

Other legends

• Paul Morphy
  Rapid development & open lines
• Wilhelm Steinitz
  Positional theory & tenacious defense
• Emanuel Lasker
  Pragmatic fighting chess
• José Raúl Capablanca
  Simplicity & endgame technique
• Alexander Alekhine
  Combinational attacks
• Mikhail Botvinnik
  Scientific preparation
• Mikhail Tal
  Sacrificial attacks
• Tigran Petrosian
  Prophylaxis
• Anatoly Karpov
  Positional squeeze
• Garry Kasparov
  Dynamic initiative
• Magnus Carlsen
  Universal endgame grinding