Fischer Chess Innovations

by Mahin Baqai
(Karachi Pakistan)

Bobby Fischer (March 9th 1943 - January 17th 2008) the Grandmaster was no doubt the chess legend and realistically no one has succeeded him yet. Undefeated chess champion for four years, he had his top rating in July 1972. He was the one who proposed the chess timing system and the new Random Chess or Chess960, which was followed years later by the chess players all over the world.

Fischer suggested the dual clock game method where a specific time interval is allotted to each player. Before the next move, this interval is raised for the current move and this time was added to the remaining time interval (if any) from the previous moves. For example, if a player makes a quicker move saving the time fragment designated to him the left over time would be carried forward which can be used in the future moves. There has also been a derivative method where the clock timing is added after the player has made a move and the interval is added to the left over time of the player. In case any player is unable to make his move within the allotted time, the game would end. This method of allotting time was found to be very advantageous to avoid the unnecessary delay in the game.

Another amendment in chess conceived and supported by Fischer was Random Chess or Chess960, where the basic rules of chess apply. However, the only difference is the opening positions are generated in a random way and since it provides 960 possible board positions it is named as Chess960. The bishops have to be positioned on the differing colored squares whereas the king has to be positioned between the two rooks. The player has to ensure that the king and the rooks occupy the same positions after castling as that of standard chess, whereas the primary castling rules are the same. The advantage of Fisher Chess as it is commonly known is the player has to think from his mind right from the beginning of the game having endless opportunities in every move instead of applying already developed practices.

Fischer, over the years has not only played well but also provided us with the contemporary chess methods to make the game better and better.