Annotated chess game

Fischer only plays FischeRandom Chess nowadays...

I believe you mean 1. e5 and 1. Nc6 for other options to counter 1. e4. By the way, I think the Sicilian is a lot sharper and more exciting than 1.e5.

Yes, I meant 1...e5. Sorry, I get notation mixed up sometimes.

After d6 there is not enough information to tell what sicilian it is. For example it could be a Najdorf, Dragon or Scheveningen.

I think I read somewhere this is called the Kopec Defence. It is possibly Black's most common reply to White's second move, but 2...Nc6 is almost as popular. 2...g2 and 2...e3 are also playable.

Do you mean 2...g7 or ...e6?

Moscow variation.

Nothing wrong with any of these 3 alternatives: 3...Nc6, 3...Nd7 3...Bd7. On the whole, I'd probably prefer a knight move, myself, and I've played the text in OTB play... If White exchanges on c6, the resulting doubled pawn is no hardship for Black.

You know, I've never played against anyone who actually took the knight, and have always had to unpin.

Only in the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez does white trade his bishop for a knight. More commonly, white will hold onto his bishops. One notable exception being the Tarrasch variation where in my experience white has no choice but to give up the bishop pair.

Of course, here White can not retreat (Ba4) on account of the dreaded Noah's Ark Trap (...b5 then ...c4). To retreat along the f1-a6 diagonal would seem to indicate that 3.Bb5 isn't a very good move. So White was pretty much committed to the exchange from his 3rd move.

Doubled pawns have their upside. Here they add some strength to Black's centre, controlling squares, and supporting a future break move ....d5. I like Black here, though the game is probably even.

One of the ideas in the Bb5+ variations. White has no light squared bishop and therefore does not care if he places all his pawns on white squares and hence black's pawns will be on black squares making his bishop bad. Unfortunately for white, black can simply play to open the centre with d5, making use of the two bishops and is one of the reason's this opening isn't played frequently at top level tournaments.

Better I think would have been to play for d5 and not lock in the black squared bishop. Even the immediate d5! looks good.

I agree with far1ey. The ...d5 break is something for black to aim for, but the text makes it very hard to play on account of the e-pawn baing attacked by the White knight. I would even prefer 6...e6 here, preparing the d5 break.

The fianchetto does nothing either. This is fine.

Further restraint on Black's d-pawn.

While agree with far1ey and ionadowman, I think the reasoning behind the move is less complicated and well thought out than any plan. White knows it's general good to get your knights out and near the center and so goes through the motions without really looking for a better play.

Just as white planned.

On the plus side, if black decides to open up the center with a later d5 boost (after preparing it of course), then the e pawn is still protected after Bg7.

True the hole on d4 is a problem, but a knight is no where near getting to the hole. However, this hole could become more problematic if the position opens up with d5.

The weaknesses on d3 and d4 aren't too serious at this point as Black is in no position to exploit them. White has a fine game at this point. The threat 9.Bg5 could prove annoying for Black...

I prefer 9.Be3 or maybe 9.Bg5 here.

Ne7 is probably a little stronger here, since it doesn't block the DSB's protection of the e pawn. That would help prepare the powerful d5 push.

Thanks for the comments about readying the pawn push. It's something I have to work on - I tend to underutilize/neglect pawn structure.

Yes. He ought to have waited until Black played ...Bg4 first. For the moment, it's not easy for White to find a plan, so this seems to have been something of a waiting move. It isn't a good choice, however, as it weakens White's castled position for nothing. White might have been better advised to start thinking about the placing of his heavy pieces, especially the rooks.

b4 just gets rid of doubled pawns, no problems there for black.

looks like a wasted move to me, although it's hard to come up with a plan here for white. Maybe 11. Qc1 or 11. Nh2 to clear space for a push to f4 and then a kingside atttack.

11.Rb1 maybe? Possibly 11.Qc1 with a view to exchanging bishops by 12.Bh6?