My 60 Memorable Games - Bobby Fischer

 

Book review

Carl S. Portman MBE

MY 6O MEMORABLE GAMES

The Collector’s Edition

 BOBBY FISCHER

 

Bobby Fischer

Pages: 392

Published by: Batsford Chess  

2026 Hardcover

ISBN: 9781849948494

 

The Blurb

 

A must-have collectors' edition of one of the most inspirational and influential chess books ever written.

 

First published in 1969, My 60 Memorable Games offers a rare window into the mind of American chess icon Bobby Fischer. It contains Fischer’s objective, honest and self-critical annotations to games he had won, drawn and even lost in the period from 1957 to 1967 – but from which he also learned valuable lessons.

 

Reading Fischer’s intensely personal commentaries is like going back in time and watching live coverage of his over-the-board battles with the leading players of the day. Soon he would become the greatest of them all. Released in a luxurious new edition for collectors, with foiled cloth binding and an eight-page plate section, this remarkable book is a true insight into one of the most gifted, troubled and controversial minds of the 20th century.

 

My thoughts

 

To my own astonishment after over 50 years of playing chess, I have never fully read this classic. Sure, I have flipped through and played the occasional game, as many chess players have but shamefully I have never given it my undivided attention. With this new publication from Batsford (a royal name in chess books if ever there was one) I knew it was time to embrace the moment and actually read it.

 

First to the look and feel of the book. I much prefer actual hard copy books to any digital offering so this is a delight with a classy looking blue cover embossed with gold lettering and delightful figurines. The font and diagrams are easy to read with plenty of space on the pages. It is reprinted exactly the same as Fischer wrote it but with one significant difference. This luxury edition contains six pages of photographs in the centre, one of which is a real favourite of mine – you can choose your own of course. This one below is not in it, so I won't spoil your fun.

 

Bobby Fischer in Manila 1976 – Wikimedia Commons

 

Andy Soltis, himself a most excellent chess author provides a lucid introduction to the book reminding us that everyone still knows who Bobby Fischer was and that he was responsible not only for scintillating chess games but improving playing conditions and prize money for generations to come. He stood up to the sponsors, and the players today can be thankful for that. It was rare at the time for a grandmaster to write about his own games and it stands amongst the great chess books, a must-have for every fan of the game.

 

Fischer is arguably (very arguably) the greatest player of all time and his assertion that the move 1.e4 is ‘best by test’ is immediately placed under the microscope in the very first game as he takes on Sherwin in New Jersey in 1957 when Fischer was only 14 years of age. In this position (below) Bobby played 18.Nxh7!

 

 

What a stunner. He said that tactics flow from superior positions and who could argue with that? These are the sort of tactics that we should all be looking for in games.

 

The thing that strikes me about these games when playing though them is not only the directness – Fischer was a committed pugilist – but the simplicity of his development and opening play. With White playing against Sicilians he often said just play sac, sac and mate and you could see him playing for this during well-chosen h4 thrusts against the castled king.

 

Fischer did not trust many people so it must have been a proud moment for Larry Evans when Bobby agreed to let him write the brief introductions to each game. These condensed of his passages lead us nicely into each battle.

 

Unsurprisingly there are some tremendously instructive games. I found the following position with Fischer as black against Walther in Zurich 1959 to be hugely enjoyable to study. Two pawns down Fischer drew this game – but he knew how to do it, that’s the key.

 

 

Walther played a natural looking move here in 54.a4 and Fischer gave it an immediate ‘?’ saying that Walther had thrown away the win. He should have essayed 54.b4 and by such slim margins games are won and lost. Set this position up in any school classroom and watch the kids go crazy trying to win it as white and defend it as black. Marvellous stuff.

 

Fischer was magnanimous enough to include three losses in this book. Certainly he had an ego but he was also always in search of the truth at the chessboard and if the truth meant showing a loss to the world and exposing his human side (he was not a chess robot after all) to illustrate certain features of a game then so be it. How many players today would do that?

 

I cannot let this review end without mentioning his win against Robert Byrne at the US Championship in 1963-64. Fischer was black and they reached this position after Byrne had played 15. Qc2

 

 

 

 

Fischer now played 15…Nxf2!! Even now in 2026 the chess engine gives the text move as best. Fischer rarely missed an opportunity, pouncing like a voracious tiger once the prey was vulnerable. No wonder that this game won a brilliancy prize. Fischer had already beaten Byrne in a sparkling game in 1956 by offering a stunning queen sacrifice. Byrne must have been sick of him.

 

There are so many games against the like of Tal – who also glittered, all too briefly on the chess stage, and Najdorf and Larsen to name a few.

I love some of the one line comments too such as 'a nettlesome maneuver' or '4...exd5 leads to the kind of wood pushing that always bored me.'

 

Before I knew it I was at the end of game 60 where Fischer beat Stein in a flourish. I felt at this point that I ‘knew’ Fischer a little better through his chess and I have endeavoured to copy his open style in online games with some success! I was not a 1.e4 player before but I am a disciple at the moment after reading this. If I could liquidize this book and inject it into my system, taking all the information with it I would.

 

There were two sides to Bobby Fischer. His chess and his politics. This book celebrates the former and the world was – and is – much richer for having it. It is more than a book, it is part of his legacy. The big picture here is that in my view chess players need to know the classics. The classic players, the classic games and the classic books. This is one of them and we should thank Batsford for sprinkling their magic dust into the chess arena and making this gorgeous special edition hardback copy available.

 

I was only introduced to chess when Karpov was World Champion after the mercurial American had refused to defend his crown which he had torn from the head of Boris Spassky in 1972 so I missed all of the hysteria and brilliance of the man. I never followed the change from chess god to wayward son, if not madman, and in a way I am glad. I want to remember him for his chess.

 

This book has always given me – and everyone else – the opportunity to witness this mesmerizing comet through its pages. Of course many people will already have a copy of this chess bible but you won’t have this copy – it is a lovely book to have. I can only suggest that you get yours quick whilst you can – it can only add value to your collection and indeed your game if like me you read it properly for the first time.

Fischer was notoriously protective of this book and there have been many documented articles about his displeasure with reprints and intellectual property rights. The bottom line is this: if Bobby Fischer were here today would he approve of it?

No one could ever second guess such a genius but you know, I think he would.

 

Who is the author?

Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) became famous as a teenager as he took on the Soviet chess machine almost single-handedly. In 1972, at the height of the Cold War, he won the world title from the Russian Boris Spassky in a gripping match in Reykjavik, Iceland that generated worldwide media interest. Fischer not only played brilliant chess but raised the game to new levels of professionalism and his influence is still felt strongly today.