Fischer-Larsen, Interzonal, Portoroz 1958
The Interzonal in Portoroz was Fischer's first appearance in a European tournament. Even without international experience on such a level, the 15-year-old Bobby took 6th place and became both the youngest player ever to qualify for the Candidates and the youngest-ever grandmaster at the time.
The presented game between Fischer and Larsen from the middle of the tournament is best known as "Slaying the Dragon" thanks to Fischer's title from his book "My 60 memorable games". In the Dragon Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Larsen missed the chance on move 15 to exchange his knight for opponent's bishop on d5, which, as Fischer pointed out, was already a fatal mistake for Black. White's light-squared bishop remained on the board and played a crucial role in the attack that started with the typical advance of the h-pawn. The Danish Grandmaster tried to create counterplay by advancing his own marginal pawn on the opposite side of the board, but as it is often the case in the Dragon, the time factor is decisive. White was the first one to start creating threats, and with some standard sacrifices, Fischer developed the mating attack.