New In Chess 1998#3

SunscRrBE ro N=C MacezrNE roDAy...

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Contributors to this issue:

Viswanathan Anand, Manuel Aaron, Alexander Baburin, Yuri

Dokhoian, Boris Gelfand, Vasily Ivanchuk, Elizabeth Karnazes,

Vladimir Kramnik, Rafael Leitao, Hans Ree, Ian Rogers, Alexey

Shirov, Kevin Spraggett, Alexander Sulypa, Peter Svidler, Jan

Timman.

Illustrations:

Manuel Aaron, Bas Beekhuizen, Jerome Bibuld, Gerard de Graaf,

Elizabeth Karnazes, Sabine Kaufmann, Rosa de las Nieves,

Wolf Peter Weber.

MAGAZINE 1998-3

S

Cover: Linares'revelation' Alexey

Shirov and Linares aficionado

Vasily Ivanchuk at the closing

ceremony of this year's

Supertorneo

Photo: Rosa de las Nieves

Design: Plooij & Partner

8

38

62

Relieved Anand Finally Wins Linares

Amid Luis Rentero's habitual avalanche of fines, open letters and

crass statements, Vishy Anand maintained his concentration and

confidently went on to win the strongest Linares ever. The Indian star

looks unstoppable. As he acknowledges himself in the accompanying

interview: 'l definitely feel that somethin€ is going on.'

Kramnik and Shirov Top Monaco

For the newly founded World Chess Council the results of the

seventh Amber tournament came as a welcome consolation. The tie

for first of challenger finalists Kramnik and Shirov may lend added

credibility to their forthcoming match.

Armenians Dominate New York Open

To the average European chess player the big American Open is an

outlandish affair. Paradoxical. Mercenary. Kevin Spraggett reports on

the New York Open, which this year drew a record 65 grandmasters.

ae. Another Boost for lndian Chess

I l['

When Anand is not around, it is usually grandmasters from other

85

countries who win tournaments in India. No longer! No longer are

the Indians found lumped and dumped together at the bottom of the

score table, writes the grand old man of Indian chess, Manuel Aaron.

Hanging Attacking Pieces

Jan Timman takes a closer look at a scintillating clash between

Veselin Topalov and Peter Svidler, a game typical of their play in the

Linares tournament.

Chess Plagers Write

Kasparov's Choice

Dear Sirs,

InNew in Chess9S/l,while asking

some critical questions concerning

Ilyumzhinov's money, Jan Timman

wonders about my'fierceness when

Ilyumzhinov's largesse is at stake'.

He quotes me as saying on Dutch

television: 'I cannot afford to play

for this money. I don't think other

players can afford it, but everybody

makes his own choice.'This he follows

up by statinEi that apparently

I made this choice myself in 1990

when after my match against Karpov

in New York and Lyon I sold

the Korloff trophy to Ilyumzhinov

for ten million Russian roubles, at

that time around 250,000 US dollars.

Next he points at my involvement

in the 1994 Moscow Olympiad,

sponsored by the Khoper invest

company, and the 1995 Tal

Memorial in Riga, sponsored by

the Banka Baltija, and adds that

bankrupt shortly after the event,

and the Baltija Bank president,

who had Eiiven such a nice speech

at the openingi, was locked up.'

It may be useful to explain that

there are essential differences between

the examples Jan forwards

and the current situation in FIDE.

His view of the matter is based on

a misunderstanding that I would

like to clarify.

Firstly, when Ilyumzhinov bougfrt

the Korlofftrophy in 1991 he was

still a nobody without any public

image. The trophy was sold through

a bank, and I used all the money

for charity. All the money went to

the Armenian refugiees from Baku.

Secondly, then and in 1994 and

1995 I was dealing with organisations

that were not hiding anywhere.

They wanted to pay big

money purely for promotional purposes.

These organisations may

have been of dubious nature, but

they didn't hide their names. What

happened to them afterwards is

none of my business. In Groningien

there was no official sponsor, no

name, and no publicity whatsoever.

Thirdly, the Moscow Olympiad

and the Riga tournament were

one-off events. Here, instead, we

have somebody who wants to

build an entire system on noney

of dubious nature and from unknown

sources.

Fourthly, I may add that I never

touched this money. In 1991 I

used it for charity, in 1994 it was

used to help organize the Olympiad

and, ironically, the paradox of

the situation in 1995 was that I

was the only person who couldn't

get his money. I asked them to

transfer my money to Moscow, but

they were rather slow in doing so.

When I contacted their Moscow

branch one week later I was informed

that the bank had gone

bankrupt. As a matter of fact I

never got.this money at all.

Sincerely yours,

Garry Kasparov

Moscor,u, Russia

!l

z

o

o

NEw IN CHESS ) 5

Chess Plavers Write

The Final Countdown

Dear Sirs,

I ordered Secrets of Practical

Chessby l. Nunn based on your

recommendation in N IC 98/2,

page 65. The book is excellent. I

read Finales de Peonesby Maizelis

(highly recommended by the

author) 25 years ago and a

number of obscure areas have

been enlightened. This is a much

more didactical book.

The funny thing is that Dr.

Nunn says in his book that the

theory of corresponding squares is

of no practical value. Maybe a database

search of his games will

prove him wrongi? At any rate it

would be interesting to know if he

would change his mind after

browsingi throu gh The Final

Countdown...

Best Wishes,

Fernando Semptun

Spain

Reply by John Nunn:

Actually I wrote that'the theory of

corresponding squares ...isof al'

most no practical value', a small

but significant difference! I read

The Final Countdown befote writing

my book, but I stick to my

comment.

Many of the positions in IFC

can be solved using no more than

the opposition, triangulation and

a little thought. For example, they

devote an entire chapter often

pages to the Vaganian-Sunye ending,

yet this is just a case of the opposition,

slightly complicated by

the presence of a mobile pawn. If

the mobile pawn is one square

from its destination, you have the

'anti-opposition', two squares

away you are back to the'normal

opposition' again, etc. - it is just a

question of odd or even. I did in

fact consider including this ending

in SOPC toElether with a solution

occupying slightly less than a

page, but in the end I omitted it.

IFCmakes many endings appear

unnecessarily complicated; cases

of simple triangulation hardly

need strange letters on the chessboard

(page 18) and new terminol'

ogy ('appended squares').

Over-the-board positions which

really require the theory of corresponding

squares are incrediblY

rare - one might get one in a lifetime.

In view of the word 'Practical'

in the title of my book, I think

my comment was well justified.

A Knockout

Dear Sir,

I read the World Knockout Championship

(NIC98/7) with great

pleasure. However, somethin g

struck me while perusing the

analysis of Beliavsky and Mikhalchishin

on paSe 41 ofthe game

Beliavsky-Short.

vo 3.5

Alexander Beliavsky

Nigel Short

Groningen 7997 (4)

1.d4 e6 2.c4 bG 3.e4 Ab7

4.Ad3 f5 5.ef5 Ab4 6.€f1 af6

7.Ae2t O-0 8.c5 bc5 9.a3 Aa5

1o.dc5 Ads fl.4f3?! trfs!

L2.b4 6,b4 13.ab4 Ab4

L4.Ab2 a5! 15.h4!? Ed5!

16.9b3 6aG L7.D,c3 Ac5

18.Wc2 trfs 19.8h3 We7

20.&91, Eaf8 2L.trt1-l do

22.a,95'thG 23.94 hgs 24.9f5

trfs 2s.ag4 trf4 26.f3 gh4

27.wh2t ggs 28.trh4 ad3

29.Eh8 6f7 30.993! Bc5

31.€h2 Ac3 32.9h4!! Afo

33.9h7 Bc2 34.6h3!

Now instead of the game continuation

34...tr8 Beliavsky gives this

line of analysis: 34...E94 35.9g8

€g6 36.We8 @f5 37.f94 @e4

38.We6 Ae5 (38...6e5 39.9f5)

39.Wf5 €e3 40.4c1 €e2 41.Ee8

'when it is unlikely that Black will

survive much lonPler'.

Ummm ... after 41...8fc3 isn't

Black just winning?

A\ 42.8e5 Ae5 43.€h4 (43.9h2

AA 44.8g1 WcS) 43...4f3 44.EEt

EIc5, or

B) 42.&h4 aC2 43.8f8 (if

43.trg1 6e1 44.@hS Wcl 45.8e5

deS 46.8e5 @f2 47.Wd4 @C3

48.We5 eh3) 43...4f6 44.sf6 gfi

45.997 af4t 46.trh1 g,hr 47.g:f4

reaching an opposite colour

bishop endingthree(!) pawns down.

A great game by both players, it

was a shame there had to be a

loser.

Regards,

Ian Upton

Oxon, United Kingdom

A hard nut (4)

Dear Sirs,

Some months ago I got your letter

in which you asked for the complete

score ofthe glame Sulava-

Godena. The rook ending was published

twice in your magazine first

by Timman (NIC 96/7\ and later

by Sale (1/1C 976). Subsequently

6 ) NEW IN CHESS

there were three letters to the editor

inNIC9T/7 on this hard nuL

Sadly I don't have the game.

Godena has it at home, but the

problem is that everything happened

in time trouble (quickplay

finish, Formia 1994) and it is problematic

to reveal the truth.

Best Wishes,

Nenad Sulava

Nice, France

Najdof

Dear Sirs,

I was very surprised by Mr. van

Riemsdijk's article'Najdorf 's legendary

blindfold simul'in y'y'1C

98/r.

Reproducing the garnes

Najdorf's quiet and safe play has

impressed me: apparently knowing

his own limitations he kept his effort

completely under control and

did not avoid simplifications trusting

to take advantage ofthe inaccuracies

or mistakes the opponent

would make sooner or later. However,

ifthe occasion arose, he did

not hesitate to do some extra

brain-work: in game 33 with

Lienert 12.4h6 Ef7 13.695 gaining

the exchange by usingl the unprotected

position ofpawn e6 and

in game 29 with Werner the decisive

liquidation starting with

34...4c3 as indicated by the diagram

to that game.

On the other hand Najdorf also

made some mistakes, but this did

not affect his self-confidence.

Mr van Riemsdijk mentions the

losses aglainst Potter and Alvarenga.

Another overlook is the loss

of the exchange in game 16 with

Bonaudo due to 15.Ee2 enclosing

Ad3 and which is used by the opponent

with 15...c5 threatening

16...c4 as shown by the relevant

diagram.

As far as the opposition was

concerned, it seems that there

were also some novices amongst

them (games 7,8,17,31). Considering

other strange overlooks the

great number of (noisy) visitors as

shown by the first photograph is

the probable explanation for the

latter.

Another interesting thing is the

number of German first (: f161r;

names of Najdorf 's opponents.

This reminded me of my first visit

to Sao Paulo. Being collected

from Viracopos International Airport

and driven to Sao Paulo we

were passing by some villages with

real German names! My host told

me, that there were living a lot of

farmers of German extraction.

This is the obvious reason why

Eliskases and Engels had settled

down in Sao Paulo. In this context

it is perhaps interesting to recall,

that the complete German team

consisting of Eliskases, Michel, '

Englels, Becker and Reinhardt did

not return to Germany after having

won the Chess Olympiad of

Buenos Aires in 1939.

Yours sincerely,

Marius C. van Vliet

Eindhoven, The Netherlands

Please, no more

Deat Sirs,

NEW IN CHESS is fine and I like

it. It's the most expensive chess

publication I have.

But the article by Michael Ehn,

The'Pfandner' or Stakeholder in

Late Medieval Chess, was not suitable.

Itwas the only article I ever

saw in NIC that was dull and uninterestinS.

Why did you publish it?

You devoted many pages to it instead

of more games or human interest

stories that your readers

would have enjoyed.

Please, no more such articles.

Thanks,

Jon Solomon

Apo, United States

A Soliloquy

Dear Sirs,

Why did Salov resign? The game

Topalov-Salov, Wjk aan Zee L998,

is printed on page 47 of NIC 98/2.

White's last move was 57.g8W

A plausible continuation would be

57...498 58.498 b4. Now 59.cb4

9b4 is a draw of course, and after

59.c4 White even loses:59...b3!

Yours sincerely,

J.Bastiaansen

Breda, The Netherlands

Dear Sirs,

Yesterday I sent you a postcard

asking why Salov resigned in his

game against Topalov. Afterwards

I found the answer myself:

57...498 58.698 b4 59.c4 b3

60.6e7 (f6) b2 61.4d5 blA

62.Q\c3 Ac3 63.€c3 and White

wins the pawn ending (63...€a5

64.9d4 €b6 65.€d5). Sorry!

Yours sincerely,

J.Bastiaansen

Breda, The Netherlands

NEWINCHESSD 7

VishA Anand jumps at 'last

chance'to uin Linares

DInN J,qN TOT.I GBUZNNOA,N,I

The day after he had drawn his second

game with Kasparov in 24 moves Vishy

Anand could read in a SPanish

newspaper that Luis Rentero had

boldly stated that the Indian

girandmaster was not $oin$ to be

invited back in Linares. In the eyes of

the bloodthirsty technical director,

Anand's decision to call it a day in a

dead-drawn position had been

unforgivable. Anand i$nored the

statement, maintained his

concentration and confidently went on

to win the stron$est Linares

tournament ever, half a point ahead of

a superbly combative Alexey Shirov

Luis Rentero

and one full point ahead of Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.

As per tradition, 'Linares' was surrounded by mysteries and unclarities. Some of

them were solved and clarified, others wete not. Was the Supertorneo an unofficial

candidates' tournament for the new World Chess Council? No, it wasn't; or perhaps

it was. As it turned out, Shirov was rewarded for his enterprisin$ play with a match

against Kramnik in the WCC minicycle after Anand declined the invitation. Was

there a brand-new Metcedes waiting as a special bonus for the winner? No, there

certainly wasn't. And what about Anand, will he be asked back next year? Well who

knows, if he keeps playing like he is playing these days..

z

!l

l

I

8 ) NEW IN CHESS

he story is wearing a bit

thin, but it is difficult to

write about Linares without

mentioning the continuing obsession

with tournament categories

and decisive games that holds this

friendly Andalusian town in an

iron grip. Or rather, in this year,

the obsession with an allpervading

horror about draws before

move 40.

At the outset of the fifteenth Linares

tournament everything

seemed to augur well for Luis

Rentero's insatiable desire to create

historical tournaments. Cate-

Sory 27 was the highest category

ever achieved, and the seven players

who made up this impressive

sum-total were all renowned fighters.

The selection procedure had

been simple and straightforward.

The first seven players on the

world rankings were invited, excluding

Gata Kamsky, who is no

longer active, and FIDE champion

Anatoly Karpov, who ended up on

Rentero's list of 'bad people'when

he didn't participate in last year's

tournament for reasons that the

parties involved hold differing

vlews on.

Still, Rentero was not fully convinced

that these players guaranteed

uncompromising chess and a

lot of decisive games. Perhaps he

suddenly recalled the Las Palmas

super tournament, where the approximately

equal strength of the

players had considerably affected

the 'number of wins. So, at the

opening dinner all players were

kindly asked to sign a letter in

which they promised not to propose

draws before move 40. Even

Kasparov, who normally would

have huffed at such an insul! went

along with his new ally and gave

his signature.

It was a gesture which the World

Nolz {a ?,*e .

Er. {^ \?'Qo.Ja M Xv Tatnca T"(a,,.*-i o.,--e ,11

Champion may have reSretted after

Round 12, when Rentero wrote

him an open letter telling him that

he was going to be fined 500,000

pesetas, around 3,500 US dollars,

for his brief draw against Topalov.

Kasparov responded through his

second Yury Dokhoian, who explained

that in the given position

there was nothing to play for anymore,

and remained surprisingly

calm under this public attack. Perhaps

the tournament boss had informed

him privately that he saw

no other option than punishing

him too, for Kasparov's reaction

was remarkably lenient: 'Rentero

ls payrng me an enormous amount

to play here and expects me to

show my worth. It's no excuse that

I have not been feeling well all

Ir\aep6 [\e,u-

L ei .ort'1ru,J rr, ir o

g-i{ R.-f.. o {st4

gircalon \en..sb,

Le

Q'iu^d"art ,h. e*^$

, Sa.rcior.o a,? G.rrpcJa

U, Gcn urra, r.r,*(fa fg

tu lilo *.nlrg";(.,ta

df

Luis Rentero notifies the press that Garry Kasparov is fined

500,000 pesetas for his draw against Topalov in Round 12

throuSh the tournament and that

I am not prepared to go for big

crucial lines because I have trouble

recalling everything. What's

that to him? I understand his

move, it's only the form which I

think could have been different.'

On the other hand, Kasparov

had expected more clemency and

understanding from the press: 'l

don't understand their complaints.

They ask me why did I play the

Gninfeld against Topalov and not

the King's Indian? Isn't the Grtinfeld

an active opening anymore?

Okay, I could have sacrificed a

pawn, butthen I am a pawn down.

I play the strongest moves, that is

my principle, but that leaves him

the opportunity to po into a drawn

ending. What can I do?'

NEW IN CHESS ) 9

I LTNAREsI

=

z

5

o

Alexey shirov was involved in no less than eight of the total of eighteen decisive games

The only player who refused to

sign Rentero's letter outriflht was

Alexey Shirov. And he, of all People,

was accountable for no less

than 8 of the overall number of 18

decided games out of a total of 42.

Shirov lost three and won five, bY

a wide margin the highest number

of wins. Only Anand came close

with four wins (against one loss).

Svidler won three (four losses),

Kramnik two (one loss) and KasParov,

the only player to finish unbeate4,

only won one game.

As Anand puts it in the accompanying

interview, the level of his

play, with the exception of his loss

against Kasparov in Round 3, was

very high, and everyone agreed

that after his outstandin$ performance

he was the right winner. Yet,

with his sparkling, dare-devil play,

Alexey Shirov might be called the

moral winner or the 'revelation' of

the event.

Shirov demonstrated his hun$er

to play aggressively right from his

first game, even if his exaggerrated

attempt in that first game

against Anand cost him dearlY.

Having easily beaten an out-ofform

Vasily Ivanchuk in Round 2,

he showed what he had in mind

with a brilliant attackin$ game

aEainst Topalov that won him the

beauty prize. The dazzling complications

in that game not onlY confused

the computers in the Press

room, which proclaimed that White

was utterly lost, but also Nigel

Short, who acted as Peter Svidler's

surprise second. In the Press room

the EnElish Srandmaster stated

that this was a typical case of Shirov

chess, a lot of fireworks and

then overlookin$ a simPle refutation.

A3 it was, this 'refutation' hit

on another incredible move bY Shirov

which soon broke Topalov's re-

Sistance. Much to Short's relief

Shirov acknowledged after the

game that this itunner had not

been part of his calculations when

he decided to sacrifice. Nevertheless,

the Spanish number one was

still not amused by Short's criticism.

Referring to their recent

score, he sharply countered: 'lf he

wants to depict me as a Patzer,

he'd better try and start scorinPl

half a point against me.'

A further win over Svidler took

Shirov to plus two, and halfwaY

through the tournament the SPanish

number one proudlY toPPed

the table, half a point ahead of the

big favourites Anand, KasParov

and Kramnik.

10 ) NEwIN CBESS

Perhaps Shirov's play in the second

half was even more admirable,

despite the fact that in the end he

was overtaken by Vishy Anand.

When crisis struck, Shirov

straightened his back and fought

back with a vengeance. In Round

t he suffered a painful loss against

a reborn Vasily lvanchuk. A day

earlier Rentero had told Ivanchuk:

'You are the best, you only have to

show it,' words which had the desired

effect. For the first time in

the tournament Ivanchuk put on a

suit and tie and duly outplayed

Shirov with the black pieces.

That blow left Shirov stunned

but not shaken, and groggy as he

was he kept his fighting spirit. In

his next game, against Topalov,

the Bulgarian ace first got ample

opportunity to deal Shirov a decisive

blow.

position after 25...6d5

Backstage Garry Kasparov stared

at the monitor showing this position

in utter disbelief. What was

Topalov thinking about? Why

didn't he automatically push the

pawn to f6. Kasparov quickly calculated

26.f6 Af8 27.e6 dc3 (because

27...Wc3 hits on 28.4d5

Wc2 29.6c2 trdS 30.e7) 28.ef7

Af7 29.9t7 €ff 30.H,e7!, and

Black can resign. And even if

White doesn't want to gio for any

tactical complications, he has the

safe and strong 26.8fi} to turn on

the screws. Instead Topalov came

up with 26.4d2?, which allowed

Shirov to play 26...Q:b4.

Whi-ch, however, did not mean

the end of Black's trouble, as became

clear six moves later.

position after 33...4d4

Here Kasparov pointed out another

painful strike: 34.4e7!, forcing

Black to give his queen even if

this doesn't bring him much relief.

After 34.4e3 35.4d6 Ed6 36.8e3

Ee8 37.8g5 the threat trf4-h4,

with a mating attack, decides. Instead,

Topalov played 34.cd5, and

after 34...4e3 35.E{e3 Ee8

36.Wc3 gds 37.4h6 Ee5

38.trf3 BcS 39.Bal AfS 40.tre3

f6 41.8e5 WeS 42.Wa2 WdS

43.Wd5 cdl 44.9d2 a4 45.4c3

gf7 46.h4 €e6 47.€gl Shirov

produced the move of the tournament.

position aller 47.&gL

While everyone in the press room

was wondering whether Black had

real winninf chances, Shirov

lashed out with the stunning

47...9h31!, enabling the decisive

invasion ofthe black king: 48.gh3

- refusinp! the gift is useless, as

Black will take the pawn on g2

himself after 48.@f2 €f5 49.9f3

Ag2, achieving the same effect -

48...9f5 49.9f2 €e4 50.4f6 d4

51.4e7 €d3 52.4c5 @e4

53.4e7 €b3, and White resigned.

For Veselin Topalov the tournament

was a nightmare. No matter

what he tried, sooner or later his

Sames slipped through his fingers.

In hindsight he had no real explanation:

'I am just feeling helpless.

My theoretical preparation was

fine, but every time I had to calculate

I just collapsed. After beating

Chucky in the last round of the

first half I thought I might recover,

but it wasn't so. Maybe I'm just

tired. It was not only here in Linares,

it already showed in Wijk

aan Zee. After Monaco I will prepare

for this match against Kasparov.

This may be the right solution

for me at this moment. I have the

knowledge of a strong grandmaster

but I am playing like a complete

patzer. It may be useful to

have a computer on the side. At

least it will stop me from blundering.'

Fortunately Topalov also saw a

glimpse of hope and comfort: 'My

only consolation of being last is

that at least I have the same

number of victories as Kasparov.

There is a slight difference in the

lost games... I only count victories,

you know. And I only have one victory

less than Kramnik, so maybe I

shouldn't be too disappointed.'

Alexey Shirov continued his resurrection

in the next round with a

remarkable win over Kramnik,

NEW IN CHESS ) 11

who lost his way in a highly

drawish position and was gradually

outplayed. Shirov's sobering

wake-up call came in the penultimate

round, when he ran into a

piece of crafty home-work. Peter

Svidler, who was going to be free

in the last round, took leave of his

first Linares supertorneo with a

serious blow to one of Shirov's pet

lines. This loss of the leader allowed

Vishy Anand to slip into

sole first place with a longish win

over Topalov, while it allowed

Svidler to look back on his first Linares

with a feeling of modest satisfaction:

'I was absolutely sure I

was going to drop dead after my

last game. And I didn't. That's a

good sign. I can't say I am overawed,

but it was quite a feelinEl to

be playing such a tournament for

the first time. Minus one is nothing

to be specially happy about,

but it's also not something to be

especially ashamed about. My expected

score was minus two. I'm

not happy but I'm quite content

with what happened here. I can't

say I feel completely at home in

this company, but I don't feel out

of place.'

I LntAR Esl E

Wth the last round pairinEis

Kramnik (6fAnand (7) and Shirov

(6%IKasparov (6) on the program

there were still four candidates for

first place. The tension in Shirov-

Kasparov was fierce but short-

Iived. Kasparov introduced a

flashy novelty on move 9 that left

Shirov with a tricky choice: he was

either in for a highly double-edged

battle, or he could take the safe

route and repeat moves. Assessing

his chances, he opted for the latter

course. Now, if Kramnik beat Anand

he'd tie with the two of them

but take first place on tie-break.

That dream did not come true.

Kramnik emerged from the opening

with an edge, but made no

headway against Anand's composed

and accurate defence.

Which left Alexey Shirov with a

clear second place which was both

disappointing and most gratifyinS,

as he explained when we sat down

to discuss a few questions: 'Well, I

jumped to plus three and I was so

near to tournament victory. If in

that case you finish on plus two

and don't win the tournament,

this is a bit disappointing. But I

didn't feel too confident before the

tournament and after losing the

first Same I was only thinking

about how to survive. So, all in all

I am quite satisfied about what

happened.'

Alexeg Shirou:'I

wos onlA the sixth

player and I om

considered a

talented amoteur bU

Kasparou. So, where

should I get this

confidence?'

No confidence? After your plag in

Belgrade and Wijk aan Zee?

'l got some health problems, a

seriou's cough and cold, at the end

of Wijk aan Zee. And on Elo I was

only the sixth player and I am considered

a talented amateur by Kasparov.

So, where should I get this

confidence (lauEhs mischievously)?'

You still haue this reputation of

being unpredictable and unstable.

Does that bother you?

'Not so much now. It is quite

clear that I had a big setback, first

in 1994, and when I was about to

recover in 1995 I had an even bigger

setback when I finished last in

Dos Hermanas with 2 out of 9. I

understood there was some truth

in that. Now I am happy that I

came back, not just to the top ten

but to the top six or whatever.'

Haue gou prouen that you deserue

a place in the WCC cgcle?

12 ) NEW ]N CBESS

'Yes, I think so. Of course, now

Anand more or less showed his superiority

over the other players,

but I am not so sure about Kramnik.

It's true that up to Tilburg he

was playing excellent chess. You

cannot compare me with him in

that period. But since TilburEl our

results are quite comparable. I

don't think that Kramnik is that

much better than me anymore. In

this tournament I also finished

higher. So I don't think Kramnik

has more of a moral right to be invited

directly to this cycle, except

for his refusal to play in Groningen.

The rumours are that if Anand

refuses to play they want to invite

me to play Kramnik (at this

point Anand had not yet officially

announced his decision - DJtG).

Right now I believe I deserved this

match, not only here but also with

my stable results in previous

months. Actually, there are many

more players, but if I am offered

this match why should I refuse it?'

People might argue that gou'ue

neuer been uerg conuincing in

your qualification attempts and

may doubt that you can play a serious

role in this mini-cycle. What

feeling do gou haue yourselP

'I think that already in Groningen

I proved something, even if I

lost to Anand in the quarter finals.

By that point we were the two

highest rated players left. I came

up to the quarter finals and lost to

the strongest player.'

Would gou haue the feeling that

Aou were entering a world championship?

Did gou haue such a

feeling when you played in Groningen?

'Hard to tell. No, not really. The

absence of Kasparov and Kramnik

was too much to call it a world

championship. This time Anand

will probably be out. I only can

hope that one day we will reunify

and all the best players will compete.

Afier all you only have a real

chess championship if everyone

competes.'

Vladimir Kramnik:

'I liked the idea of a

match ogoinst

Anand uerq much.

The legitimocA

uould be absolute'

Obviously the first player called

on in this last round to save the

WCC the embarrassment of ;Anand's

victory was Vladimir Kramnik.

A win against his rival would

mean shared victory with Shirov,

in short an ideal result for the pr6-

motion of their WCC match.

Didn't that knowledge put extra

pressure on him?, I asked Kramnik

the day after the prize-giving.

'No, I was definitely not thinking

about the World Chess Council

when I was playing this game.

In this last round I tried as I could,

but I couldn't manage.'

Did theg put special pressure on

gou by hauing this press conference

before the tournament? You

may haue felt pressurized to show

that you were worthy o{ lhis inuitation.

'That's true. In general I felt a

little bit more pressure. This press

conference annoyed me a lot. I

came a couple of days early and we

were supposed to discuss this

world championship and my

match against Mshy. I thought

that everything would be clear

one day before the tournament. I

was looking forward to thaL It

would have been ten times easier

if everything had been decided.

I'm not looking for an excuse but I

felt nervous and tied up. I didn't

know if Anand was going to play

or not and what would happen if

he didn't. My mood went down

and it affected me. Maybe it was

easier for Vishy. He made his decision

and then he started to play

the tournament.'

The creation of the WCC mag

strengthen the rumours that you

knew all along this was going to

happen. That this uas the reason

why you didn'l play Groningen.

Is this a ntmour that can be

quenched?

'This can first of all be refuted

by simple logic. Why not play in

Groningen? If I get to the quarter

finals or semifinals I will not make

less money. If I don't get there I

can play this match. I am sure that

nothing was decided at that point.

At least I didn't know anythin!.

This is just nonsense.'

You refused to plag Groningen because

Karpou was seeded to the

{inal. Nou gou enter a championship

where Aou are seeded to the

qualification final.

'But I am not ahead of anyone. I

play a match on equal conditions.

I understand that the system is

not perfect, there are better systems,

but they are not easy to realize.

I understand what you mean,

but if I play a match against Anand

or Shirov we play under equal conditions.

But in the future it would

be better that we should get more

people involved.'

NowrNcHEss) 13

!J

z

I

o

Kaspalov, Kramnik and Svidler, the winners of Tilburg, had to settle fol less in Linares

The public may question whether

a match between you and Shirou

is the right way to find a challenger

for Kasparou;

'Yes, that is the point. It would

have been much better to have

this match between Anand and

me, because it is quite clear that

after Kasparov we are the first

players. It is a bit different if I

play a match against Shirov, even

if Shirov has been playing very

well lately. I liked the idea of a

match against Anand very much.

The legitimacy would be absolute.

This already spoils the idea a litfle

bit.'

Did this tournament haue the subconscious

role of a candidates'

tournament?

'This is what was unclear. I can

tell you that it would be an abso-

Iutely other story if everything

had been clear. I and everybody

else would have played differently.

It was a very strangie tournament

in many ways. I started quite well

actually. I won against Topalov

and had better positions against

Shirov and Ivanchuk which I

didn't mana$e to wirt. But I wasn't

very upset about that. On plus one

your situation is very shaky. The

next decisive game decides where

you go. If you win you have a great

chance to be first, but if you go

down you're not really fighting for

first. I was tied up with this situation

and found it difficult to fight.

And there was this uncertainty. I

didn't know what would happen if

I played badly and let's say Shirov

and Topalov played well and won

the tournament. Would they be

asked to play a match? Nothing was

clear. There was nothing on paper.

I understood that playing badly

would make a mueh bigger difference

than playing well, so I tried

to play solid and Iost some inspiration.

Somewhere around Round 5

14 ) NEW IN CHESS

or 6 I felt it slip away. I kept trying

but it wasn't my tournament.

Shirov was in the best situation

and he made full use of it. Let's

say he wasn't the favourite to win

the tournament. Nobody took him

too seriously. I am sure nobody

prepared specifically for him. For

Kasparov I am sure everyone had

several days of preparation as

White and several days for Black. I

am not sure they did this for Alexey.

And he had nothing to lose.

Everyone else had something to

lose. Even Svidler, if he plays very

badly, what will they think of his

first big tournament? Of course

Shirov played well, but nothing

really special. He played freely.'

Garrg Kasparou:'It

looks like I am

inuincible. No one

come euen close.'

And what about the champion

himself? Carry Kasparov had a

tough time in Linares. Right from

the beginning he was plagued by

health problems, some kind of flu,

or as he put it 'a very slow affair

that gradually tapped my

strength'. In some games his poor

physical condition made him cautious

in his opening selection,

partly taking the sting out of his

play. Yet despite his record eleven

draws he had little to be ashamed

about: 'Never was I in any danger,

only against Svidler perhaps. It

looks like I am invincible. No one

came even close. Shirov and Topalov

were happy to draw as White.'

What probably bothered Kasparov

more than his modest result,

was Anand's decision not to play

the proposed WCC match against

Kramnik. He had his own explanation:

'Now it's clear that Anand is

the second player in the world.

Brit he has to play a match against

Kramnik. He has a bad score

against Kramnik. But he feels he is

in a very safe position. So, why

should he risk this position in a

match against Kramnik? It's clear

that Anand is afraid. There are two

players he has problems with,

Kramnik and me, so why should

he take this risk?'

Kasparov's disappointment

about Anand's decision did not

dent his enthusiasm about the

new WCC project. Besides the two

matches we can expect this year,

he was proud about the Elo-list,

called the PCAIWCC rating list

which his new organization will

publish with regular updates:

'This will be the most accurate list.

There will be three people working

on this permanently and I want

them to go down to ten thousand

players.'

One of his other plans involves

the transformation of the Linares

tournament into a Masters Tournament

(called after Masters International,

the organizers of the famous

golf tournament circuit), in

which eight players, the numbers

one to six of the rating list plus

two qualifiers, will gather annually.

And what about his new title?

Does he intend to call himself

WCC World Champion as from

now? The answer is no: 'My title

will be just World Champion.

That's what I am. Like Capablanca

and Alekhine were World Champions.

They didn't need to be called

FIDE World Champions or whatever.'

NOIES BY

Viswanathan Anand

ct<,4.1-!

Alexey Shirov

Viswanathan Anand

Linares 1998 (1)

I had just come off a 20 day break

after playing in Groninglen, Lausanne

and Wijk aan Zee back lo

back. I wasn't exactly rarinpl to go,

but at least I had had a chance to

get some rest. The previous day,

the spotlight was taken by the announcement

of the formation of

the WCC and the candidates final

between Kramnik and me to decide

the challenger for Kasparov.

Eventually, this would be between

Shirov and Kramnik. Anyway, let's

go back to the game!

1.e4 cG

I had taken a Elood look at this

opening playing against Adams

and Karpov, so I felt that it was a

good surprise choice for this event.

2.d4 d5 3.e5

Alexey's preferred continuation

against the Caro, although in the

Wijk aan Zee blitz, he played

3.4c3 against Karpov.

3...4f5 4.6f3 e6 5.4e2 c5

6.4e3

6.0-0 has almost disappeared from

tournament practice.

6...cd4 7.[,d4 6e7 8.c4 6bc6

9.6c3?!

9.tsa4 is the only way to fight for

an advantage.

9...ad4 1O.Ad4 dc4 L1,.Ac4

6cG

Black has equalized.

12.4b5 Ae7 13.0-0 O-O

14.4c6 bc6 L5.o,e2 c5

16.4c3 gb6?!

Black is already slightly better after

16...9d51 17.6e3 (I7.af4

Bc4) 17...4d3 18.8e1 c4.

L7.ag3 ag6 18.9g4! EadE

19.h4

NEW IN CHESS ) 15

I Lr NAREsI

=

A bit risky to create a long-term

weakness like this, but White has

enough play to compensate - at

least in the short term. 19.f4 c4

20.ch1ab4T.

19...h6 20.h5 ah7 21,.t4

Once f4-f5 is played, White will

have a big initiative. The bishop

on c3 not only defends the pawn

on e5 and eyes 97, potentially, but

also holds together his queenside.

So Black must eliminate it.

21-...c4 22.&h2 Ab4 23.f5 ef5

24.6115 Afs 25.trf5 Ac3

26.bc3 We6 27.Eaf1Efe8

t1

I felt here that Black was slighfly

better'due to White's more exposed

king, but really the game

should end in a draw.

28.trLt4 Ed5 29.tre4 tre7

29...trc8?! 30.Ec4 Wf5?? 31.trc8

(CHECK!)

30.9f4

After 30.Ec4 Ee5 31.Ee5 We5

Black's position is clearly easier to

play.

30...8c7 31.Ec4?

A big oversight. White should be

contentwith 31.9f2 Ed3 32.88.

31...gfs!

Since 32.8c7 isn't check!

32.gfs Ec4 33.Wb1Ed8?!

33...8dc5! 34.9b8 (34.e6 Eh5

35.9g1 fe6 36.996 Ee5!)34...8c8

35.8a7 Ec3 is more straightforward.

34.9b7 trc3 35.Wa7 Ecc8

Now Black has to regroup his

rooks.

16 ) NEW rN CBESS

36.a4 tra8 37.8c7 EdcS

38.9b7 Ee8 39.BcG

39.e6 fe6 40.9b5 e5 is no improvement.

39...8ac8 40.gd7 trcd8

41.Wc7

41.9b5! Ee6 42.a5 must be met

by 42...Ea8!. After 42...8de8 43.a6

Ee5 44.8b7 Eh5 Black can't prevent

White from pushing the pawn

to a7.

41...trd5 42.a5 Ede5 43.a6

E5e7! 44.9c6 EfSl

Now White can't stop Black doubling

rooks on the a-file.

4s.€h3

45.Wc5 trd7, and White can't stop

both Ea7 or Ea8.

The Same is over.

45...8a7 46.94 Efa8 47.&h4

traG 48.Wb7 traS 49.9cG Ef8

so.gb6 trgs s1.gb3 €h8

52.Wb4 tre8 53.Wa4 trd8

54.9e4f5 55.9f5trf8

And Alexey resigned.

a tough game against Topalov I

switched to the Classical Sicilian.

6.ags e6 7.9d2 ae7 8.0-0-0

o-o 9.f3

This -came as a surprise to me,

since I couldn't remember any

games where he had played this.

Still, having played a similar idea

against Khalifman, I had some

idea what to do as Black!

9...4d410.Ud4 a6 11.h4

An interesting move, since White

rules out any tricks based on the

bishop on S5. However, it seems

that White's plan of h5 and then

94-95 is a bit slow.

11.9f6?! Af6 12.9d6 Wa5 gives

Black good compensation.

11...b512.€b1Wc7

E

H ''''''' :::::::.&:'::::::::.

A ''''''',''

We5 18.4g3 gf5 19.4d4 gh7

20.4d3 Bh8, and the queen is

safely tucked away.

L7.treL?l

17.94?! allows 17...6e4!. 17.ad4l

d5 18.e5 Be5 19.94 Ac5 20.c3 b4!

leads to a complicated position, but

at least White is still in the game.

17...e5!

Taking care of e4-e1 once and for

all.

18.4f6

Since 6c3 doesn't work, (18.4c3

d5 19.ed5 (19.AfG de4) 19...4d5+)

White inverts the order of moves,

but this, too, has its disadvantages.

18.493! d5 19.4d3 de4 20.fe4

Q:h7 27.4e7 Be7. Black will play

his knight to g5 and have all the

plav.

18...Af619.6c3 Ag5!

This is the problem. Black doesn't

have to play b4 or d5, but can first

force White to misplace his queen.

NOTES BY

Viswanathan Anand

st 28.1.1

Vasily lvanchuk

Viswanathan Anand

Linares L998 (L2l

I played this game after two consecutive

rest days. I had to play Ivanchuk,

Topalov and Kramnik in

the last three rounds, but since I

was able to rest a bit, I was feeling

in good shape for these games. Ivanchuk

had started the tournament

badly, but then he won two

consecutive games against Shirov

and Svidler and was back on a respectable

score.

1.e4 c5 2.4f3 dO 3.d4 cd4

4.6d4 6f6 5.hc3 6cG

At the start of the tournamen! I

played three Caro-Kanns, but after

13.h5

13.4f6 could have been considered

now:

A) 13...4f6 14.9d6 tra7!

(14...8a5 15.e5 Ed8 16.Wc6!)

15.8c7 Hc7 16.6e2 Ab7. I think

that Black has enough compensation

here;

B) On 13...gf6!? Black just fol-

Iows up with Bc5 and €h8, Eg8.

13...hG L4.Ah4 Ab7! 15.6e2

15.94b4, and now:

A) 16.6e2 trac8! 17.trc1 (17.9d2

Q:e4l l8.f.e4 ae4 19.4e7 Be7+)

17...e5 18.8b4 d5, with a massive

initiative;

B) 16.4f6Af6 t7.Wb4 Eab8!+.

15...8ac816.Wd2 trfd8

Black has equalized. It is still too

early for 16...d5? in view of 17.e5!

20.9d1?

20.9d3 was the only move. After

20...d5 (20...b4 2r.ad5 ads

22.ed5,when We4 and Ad3 is coming

20...8a5?! 21.8d1!) 21.4d5

(2r.ed5? b4!) 21...4d5 22.ed1 EdS

23.9b3 (23.We4 Ed4 24.Wf5 e4;

23.Wfi e4 24.We4 Ee5) 23...8d2

24.9d3 gg2 25.9e4 White has

kept his disadvantage in limits.

20...WaS 21,.6,d5

If 21.9d3 b4 22.4d5 b3!-+; if

2 1.4d3 Ec3 22.bc3 Ac8! -+.

21...4d5 22.ed5 trc2 23.@c2

9a2

NEWTNcHEss) 17

Simple - White can't do anything

about trc8.

24.t4 Ec8 25.&d2 At4

26.€e2Bb2 27.€f3 trc1

There are probably other ways, but

this move just forces resi gnati on.

So White resigned.

NO7ES BY

Viswanathan Anand

st 1_4.7

Viswanathan Anand

Veselin Topalov

Linares 1998 (13)

1.e4 c5 2.4f3 dG 3.d4 cd4

4.4d4 6f6 5.6c3 a6

Topalov used to play the Najdorf a

lot, until he discovered the Moller

variation in late 1996. However, a

year later, he seems to have made

a firm decision to return to the

Najdorf.

6.4e3 hg4

In Linares, he played 6...e5 in an

earlier round against Ivanchuk.

Later I was surprised to see that

he played 6...e6 against Shirov in

Monaco, so I guess he hasn't decided

on his favourite move

against 6.4e3!

7.ags h6 8.4h4 gs 9.4g3

Ag71o.Ac4

This move has hardly ever been

played, so I figured the surprise

value couldn'thurt. '

1O...hc6 11.6c6 bc6 L2.h4

In Monaco Topalov rightly met my

12.8f3 with 12...trf8!, rather than

12...0-0 13.h4 launching a kingside

attack.

12...wb6 13.4b3 ad7 14.hgs

0-0-o 1s.gd2

15.Wf3 hg5 16.0-0-0 Ae5!? 17.Eh8

(17.Ae5 6e5 18.We2 f6:) 17...8h8

18.8f7 Ag3 19.fg3 We3 20.9b1

at2 2t.Ecr (2t.Wc7 shz)

21...Q)e41.

1s...h9s 16.trh8

I LTNAREil

=

16.0-0-0

A) 16...trh1 17.8h1 Ac3 t8.bc3!

f6 19.Eh7l;

B) 16...4e5 17.4e5 6e5 18.8h8

(18.995 Wfz r-g.Bez AC4!)

18...Eh8 transposes to the note to

move 17 below;

C) 16...4c3!? 17.Wc3 (17.bc3 f6

18.f3 Be3! 19.trh8 Eh8 20.Se3

6e3 27.tr91 d5-) 17...Eh1

18.Eh1Af2-.

16...trh8 17-O-O-O

L7...o,e5

Since White's idea is f3 and Af2, I

thought that Black should get rid

of this bishop with 17...4e5!?:

A) 18.4e5 6e5 19.8g5?! Wf2

20.We7 (what else?) 20...9e41

21.Wd6 (21.trd6 trh1 22.4d1 wf4

23.9b1 Hdl 24.trd1 Adl+)

2l...Ad1 22.WeS Eh1 23.8e8

@c7 24.:8e7 €c8 is a draw;

B) The extra g-pawn after

18.4ff Ag3 19.fg3 We3 is useless;

c) 18.995 993 19.fe3 f6

(19...We3 20.8e3 6e3 21.Hel

684 22.Af7. White still has weak

g-pawns, but now they are extras!)

20.WC7 E9d8 and 21...Wf8, with

good compensation.

18.f3

Now White can play Af2 and 6a4,

and Black's king will come under

attack. However, this is still far off!

Black also has to worry about his

El5 pawn - if he plays 94, then

White kicks the knight away with

f4, otherwise Af2-e3 is unpleasant.

18...8a5 19.€b1 AfG 20.We3

20.4f2 c5.

20...€b7

Now 20...c5? runs into 21.4d5.

21.4f2 trb8

21...8a8 is another possibility, intending

Bc7 and a5.

22.93 €c8 23.We2! AgG

24.Ae1WbG 25.ha4 Bb5

25...Wb7 26.Ac4l (26.4a5 WbS),

when 26...4b2 fails to 27.4a6.

26.c4 EfbT

27.4a5??

Strong criticism for a move that

wins the queen, but nevertheless

correct. White's task would have

been much easier after 27.c5.

I saw'27.c51, but finally decided to

'simply win the queen' - a decision

that still baffles me;

A) 27...ilel 28.4e6 fe6 29.cd6+;

29.ab6 €d8 30.4a5 €e8 31.f4!+;

B) 27...Wb5 28.Wc2 (threatening

29.4c4) 28...4e6 29.4e6 fe6

30.cd6 is hopeless for BIack.

27...c51 28.4b6 gb6 29.AbG

Eb6

Here I began to have the sinking

feeling that I had made the wrong

decision on move 27 and I started

to drift.

30.trd2?

30.We3 was my original idea and

the reason why I selected 27.9a5.

Probably I should have gone for it

anyway: 30...a5 31.f4 gf4 32.9f4 a4

33.e5! I stopped here and decided

that White was winning, but when

I was thinking about 30.We3

again I wondered - what happens

18 ) NEwIN cHEss

after 33...6e5? Let's first look at

the alternatives.

A) 33...de5 34.9c5 (34.trd7!? gd7

35.8c5+-) 34...Ec6 35.tsa7+-;

B) 33...4g734.9c2+-;

C) 33...ab3 34.ef6 ba2 35.€a1+-;

D) 33...6e5! 34.fe5 Ae5 and now:

D1) 35.8d5! ab3 36.tre5 (36.ab3

f6) 36...ba2 37.€a1! (37.@a2?l

de5 38.Wc5 Ec6 39.Wa7 Ec4!)

37...de5 38.Wc5 trc6 39.8a7. Of

course, White's threat of b4-b5 is

very strong but Black has a lot of

pawns as well!;

D2) 35.9c2 Ab2 36.8f3 Aa3

37.4b3 €c7 38.Wf7 ab3. I was not

sure about this type of position.

30...4e5! 31.9h2 €c7

32.trf2 trb8!

Black has full compensation now.

White has nothing better to do

than play f4, so I just played it.

33.f4

33...trh8?

Topalov returns the favour.

33...Ct434.ef4 Ad4 (Black is going

to follow up with trh8. 34...8h8

35.fe5-Eh2 36.ed6 €d6 37.8h2

Ac6e White has more resources

with pawns on g5 and 93, so this

was a better version of the game.

However, Topalov forgot that

White could interpolate ed6 - he

didn't want to enter this ending!)

35.9g3! a5 with unclear play.

34.fe5

I took my chance immediately and

anyway there is nothing else.

34...Eh2 35.ed6 6dO 36.trh2

AcG 37.4c2 6e5

37...€e5? 38.8f2!

38.b3 af3 39.trh7 fG 40.€c1

a5

Black has an extremely good fortress,

and it is clear that White

can't make progress on the kingside.

However, White has an extra

pawn on the queenside, so the

first step is clear - get the king to

c3 and play for b4.

41.€d1€e6 42.4d3

42.&e2?? 6d4 is a big blunder.

42...&dG 43.&e2 6e5 44.€d2

Ab7 45.€c3 hc6 46.trh8?!

46.4f1! and,47.992.

46...&c7??

46...4e5!

New in Chess on Internet

http:/ / nic.net4u.nl

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book review section

47.9f1!

White will use the threat of e5 to

force Black to blockade on e5.

47...6e5 48.9,92 Ac6 49.a3

Ab7 50.trh7! €d7 51.b4 ab4

52.ab4 cb4 53.€b4 Aa6

s4.ah3!

To prise open the fifth rank.

s4...94

54...9d8 55.4e6 or 54...9d6

55.c5 loses immediately.

5s.Af1 Ab7 s6.Ag2 AaG

57.8h5! €eG

57...o,c4 58.4f1 loses material.

58.€c3 €d6 59.4f1

White spends the next few moves

looking for the right plan.

59...4b7 6O.Ad3 Ac6 61.Eh7

Ad7 62.Ae2 AeG 63.Af1Af7

64.4d3 AeG 65.trh8

When the rook gets to a8, White

should be able to advance his

passed pawn.

65...6c6 66.4c2 €c5

67.4b3! af7

67...o,el 68.trh7! 6c6 69.4a4;

67...4d7 68.4a4 winning.

68.Aa4l 6e5 69.trc8 €bG

70.c5 gb7 71.trh8 AgG

72.&d4 Af7 73.trh7 €c7

74.4b5 Af3 75.€e3 6e5

76.Ehg AgO 77.tra8 €b7

78.EaG

Topalov resigned.

In the meantime, Svidler had

beaten Shirov in a fine game, so I

was now leadinglthe tournament!

NEW IN CHESS ) 19

Viswanathan Anand

z

5

o

o

Vishy Anand welcomed his first Linares victory with pride and

contentment: 'I'm relieved that I've finally won. It's nice not to have

to come here every year and answer the 'Well, when are you $oin$ to

win it?" After the pfize-giving the happy winner answered our

questions in the small park opposite the Anibal Hotel in a lively talk

around midni$ht.

20 ) NEW TN CHESS

In January gou told your friend

Mauricio Perea, 'I'm a bit fed up

with coming fifth or skth euerg

year, this time I'm going to win.

'What I wanted to say was this,

I'm gonna forget that it's prestigious

or that it's this or that. I'm

just going to concentrate on winning

the tournament. And I think I

did that very well. I cut out all the

background noise, including this

statement of Rentero that I wasn't

goinE to be invited back. I just ignored

it. You know that every year

you come here on the first days,

everyone in the press centre is full

of adrenaline. They are going to

call it the unofficial world championship.

They're going to make it

thingis it's not. But I paid absolutely

no attention. I was probably

the most consistent player here.

Except for one game, the third

game, the level of my play was

very high.'

After two wins you lost to Kasparou

in Round 3. What did you think?

'Well, I tried not to think about

it. Actually I couldn't care less. I

just wanted to get back to some

chess. But of course it took me a

few days to recover. I had a rest

day when I was kind of out of

sorts and then I had this sloppy

draw against Chucky. At this point

I wasn't thinking about winning

this tournament. I never was. In

general I find this an irresponsible

thinS to do during a tournament

like this. It's much better to concentrate

on a game at the time

and things will take their course.

And obviously at a critical moment

you may start working on winning

the tournament.'

I had the impression gou won the

tournament as a champion. You

gradually rose to the top, purely

on strength. Did you haue this

feeling?

'Yes, certainly the last three

rounds you can see it's just going

upi notch, though I had the feeling

I was just playing chess. Okay,

when you win you suddenly see

the difference.'

'I definitelU

feel that

something

is going on'

Do we see a different Anand these

dags? You look fit, you look

happg, gou seem to be uerg comfortable

with the life you're leading.

It seems like euergthing has

fallen into place.

'I hope so. It's possible to read

the results and then assume that

everything is fine. Cause and effect.

I think that generally I've

been happy with my life for a

while. It's clear also that in the last

two years my results have gone

up. I've also been working much

harder, so there's some concrete

reasons. But okay yes, life seems

to be treatingl me well.'

When I came here and said hello

to gou, mg first thought was, he

looks strong. This is not something

I am making up now. Do

gou feel strong?

'Eh, yes. But again it's difficult

to analyze yourself. Also it's like

you're four foot tall and by the

time you're sixteen you're six foot

tall. They say, oh, you've grown,

but you don't notice this at all.

Others have to notice this. You

live with yourself every day, you

don't notice the gradual changes.

But I definitely feel that somethinE

is going on.'

At the time of the FIDE-PCA controuersy

it was gour name that

was mentioned as the possible

conciliator. After gour recent results

this role seems to suit gou

more than euer and people are

looking in your direction again.

'Maybe in some chess sense, but

it's too vague. In general these organisations

have fallen apart; the

PCA is Elone, now it's the World

Chess Council. There's this feeling

of ddji vu but every time there's a

new name. I think there are specific

problems and you know how

diplomacy works. You either have

to make a compromise or one guy

has to swallow his pride and just

jump it. Or they're not going to get

together again. This is the problem

of chess. There are some de

facto scenarios where they're unified.

Presumably if one player wins

everything. But that's not what

motivates me to go for the world

championship. It doesn't matter to

me at all. I'd be happy for chess if

it happened because I think it's

really necessary, but it's not somethinS

I'm going to get inspired by.'

Is it a role you'd be prepared to

take on?

'No, that's my point. It's such a

NEwrN CHESS ) 21

vague and indefinite role that

there's no point taking it on. If I

won this championship and the

other championship, they would

be unified de facto. Fine, I'd be

willinEl to do it that way. But as it is,

a whole bunch of people will have

to sit down and find some solution.

The FIDE board, Kasparov...'

Do gou think there can be a clean

start in chess with Kasparou or

Karpou, or do we haue to wait for

them to go?

'No, I'd hate to think it was all

about personality, but to some degree

it seems to me that one of

them has to swallow his title. Either

Karpov has to say, I'm willing

to play a match where at 12-12

Kasparov keeps it, or Kasparov

has to say we will play a match

where at l2-I2 we will play some

blitz giames. Something has to give

and the way it is nothing is giving,

so it's not going to work. But

again it's not what I live for day to

day, Kasparov and Karpov being

unified.'

There can be no denging that you

held a certain keg to a possible solution.

Yet, you'ue decided that

gou're not going to accept the inuitation

to plag a WCC match

against Kramnik. Just because of

the contract with FIDE gou

signed?

'Yes, also to be hones! at the

end of the day I have to say I do

feel some gratitrrde towards Mr

Ilyumzhinov. Not only on my part

but also for all the other players

who played in Groningen. It's

pretty clear he gave his own

money. And I think that okay, if

you sign something and whether

or not it is legally possible to get

out of it, I think I should simply

honour it.'

I rrNAREsl

=

If you haue the feeling that you're

liuing in harmony now, to use a

Smgslouian phrase, whg go for a

conflict? Is that part ofit?

'Oh yes, perfectly. Just to name

a practical problem. If at some

point they take me to court over

this, Kramnik will be sitting in

Moscow training, and I don't resent

him for that, while I will be

talking to my second one minute

and then to my lawyer on the

phone. You just can't play a match

that way.'

As people in gour entourage said,

gour not participating mag be

flushing the WCC. Do you haue

the feeling that you are flushing

it?

'lt depends on how they visualize

the whole thinEi. It depends on

what the sponsor thinks. I can

imagine it's a disappointment that

they're not going to have me. But

at some point I have to look out

for myself. I simply don't see it. It's

going out on a limb and for the

wron$ reason.'

When we discussed the FIDE

championship gou said, I don't

blame Karpou but to me he's no

World Champion. Will gou haue

the feeling that the world championship

is at stake if Kasparou

plays a match this autumn?

'My position on Kasparov has

been clear for a while. I consider

him the best player in the world.

Also for me personally, as a chess

player, he is the World Champion.

Undefeated or best player in the

world sort of captures that well.

And I don't feel called upon to resolve

any ambiguity in my head.

It's there and I can't make out exactly

what he is. He's more than

Karpov but I can't place it for you.

Well, I think I also should say that

I do respect Mr Karpov a lot. He's

an all-time great. He's simply not

the World Champion right now.

With Kasparov I have the feeling

that he's still the best player.

Somebody has to beat him and in

a chess sense the one who will

beat him I'm going to respect the

most. But I don't know, there's

two associations, too many people

and too many problems.'

Suppose you don't get a chance

to play Kasparou in, sag, the coming

four gears, and he's beaten by

someone, would gou feel that as a

gap in gour career? This missed

opportunity. Isn't he the person

gou should beat in gour life?

'Yes and no. I would like to meet

Kasparov, but not like this. I

would like it to be done calmly and

with everyone agreeing that this is

the world championship. The

stamp of officiality matters. This

organization is just created too

fast. It's just a bit out of the blue.

I'm just uncomfortable with the

thing. It's just better to wait.'

It's also a sign of confidence that

gou don't feel the urge to jump at

this occasion. You still haue time.

'Oh, absolutely. It shows a lack

of self-respect if you jump at every

opportunity. At some point you

have to take things calmly and say,

okay, this is not right. And if you

don't feel like doing it you should

just say no.'

Isn't this detached attitude also

part of gour criticism of the world

championship in general? You

are not obsessed by the world

championship.

'This is absolutely correct. I view

the world championship as a

strange institution, which has

grown over the years. It's a nice

22 ) NEw rN CHESS

historical legacy, but it's a bit

weird. And I don't feel called upon

to jump at it at any cost. I simply

feel I will do this at the right time.

It's important for my career, but

not for myself. I'd like to be World

Champion, but I understand that I

am a good player because I won

this and I won that. But I understand

that the outside world will

only recognize me as the World

Champion if I take the ultimate

step. I acknowledge that as well.

It's a competition that is really

tough. It should be good to win it.'

Every time Anand was asked

about his decision to decline the

invitation of the World Chess

Council to play a qualifying final

against Vladimir Kramnik, he referred

to the clause in the contract

he signed before the FIDE world

championship. This was certainly

his first reason, but it was not the

only one. Not unimportantly, his

trust in Luis Rentero was seriously

dented during the tournament.

Not because of Rentero's crusade

against short draws and his public

attack on Anand after his quick

draw against Kasparov, but purely

because of a promise the tournament

director did not keep.

When Rentero invited Anand

for Linares, the Indian grandmaster

was not too eager to play. Following

the exertions of Groningen,

Lausanne and Wijk aan Zee, he

hesitated between playing and

taking a welldeserved vacation.

Rentero won him over with the

suggestion that one of the sponsors

had put up a very special

prize. He could not be too specific,

but the sponsor's name was Mercedes

and the prize was a car. Anand

accepted the invitation and

thought he saw Rentero's promise

confirmed when he, just like the

other players, was driven from Madrid

to Linares in a brand-new

Mercedes. Unfortunately, once in

Linires there was no further news

about the special bonus prize and,

by the time Anand moved into the

lead he subconsciously no longer

counted on it.

When I raise the subject, Anand

reacts unpleasantly surprised. He

doesn't want to discuss the matter

and dismisses it by sugEesting that

we stick to the explanation of why

he declined to play Kramnik because

ofhis contractwith FIDE.

Anand is equally unamused

when I confront him with Kasparov's

reaction to his refusal. Kasparov

suggested that Anand was

reluctant to play the two players

that caused him the most problems.

Anand answers coolly and

without the sligfrtest hesitation:

'Well, I'm not going to answer

that. You know, they own this issue.

They can be confident I am

not going to debate this'with

them. As for the res! it is partially

true, they are two of the best players,

so it's clear that my score

against them is not as great as

against other people. So what? I

don't see it as a shock. Okay, let

them have fun and play a match.

And they can justify their legitimacy

and they can answer this to

all their critics. Since I have obviously

declined to play in it.'

After your recent results Uou are

clearlg in second place on the

world rankings. Isn't Kasparou

automatically on gour mind now?

'No, not at all. I don't see where

I am going to play him next. In a

long-term sense, yes. I've been

working very hard in the past two

years, and now it's a sign that all

the work is paying off. I definitely

want to make some big pushes.

Train really hard, do a lot of physical

training, well really kick ass, as

Loekie (van Wely) would put it.

Well, do a Loekie, so to speak. I'm

looking forward to that and if the

result of that is that at some point

I get a match with Kasparov, then

obviously I will be that much more

prepared to play. But right now

he's not on my mind at all.'

And gou're not in a hurrq.

'I'm not in a hurry. And also it

really seems to me that these guys

have to figure out something. It's

a real mess. The world championship

business is just a mess. Even

normal fans are not sure anymore

who the World Champion is.

There's confusion and it's hurting

both of them.'

Kasparou drew eleuen games here

and won only one game. Do Uou

see that as a sign that he is losing

strength?

'Well, since that one game was

against me I don't want to open

my big mouth (laughs). I think it's

best to shut up. I'm not in a position

to comment.'

Do gou neuertheless think that

the gap between the two of you

has narowed?

'I really feel I should prove this

by games and not by words. At

some point I will beat the gluy and

then I can talk about this. It

sounds a bit silly if you just lost a

minimatch against him and start

saying he is finished.'

That's not what I said.

'No, I know. In general I think the

results of rny last few months speak

better than anything I can say.'

NEw rN CHESS ) 23

NOIES BY

Alexey Shirov

st 42.1.3

Alexey Shirov

Veselin Topalov

Linares 1998 (3)

1.e4 c5 2.6fi3 eG 3.d4 cd4

4.0:d4aG

I should mention that Topalov

surprised me by choosing the

Paulsen, which explains my next

move.

5.4d3

Normally I play 5.4c3, but in Til'

burg 1997 Svidler surprised rne

with a relatively new line: 5...b5

6.Ad3 gb6 7.4b3 Wc7 and in the

end he even won the game. Not

unexpectedly, Topalov adopts the

same manoeuvre.

s...gb6 6.6b3 Uc7

Here I understood that to prove

the logic of my fifth move I should

by all means avoid putting my

knight to c3.

7.We2

7.0-0 and 7.c4 would be the other

possibilities to implement such an

idea.

7...6:1O 8.6c3 d6 9.f4 Ae7

ifM.l I

l ..... i lfir . '

.,,,,i, :,.:::::A:;8,l'

,,,^.614':ir;i;;i ,,,iiii

tr, &,

:,,,,

:: ;l!!! '!:::::"

,E

10.e5?

This move is connected with a

pawn sacrifice that looked highly

appealing to me during the game

but looks a lot less convincing

now.

10...de5 11.fe5 6ltd7 L2.At4

Ac613.OO Ade5

tffit=

And Black is slightly better. Yes,

this is the assessment I would like

to give, because, although I think

that White has some compensation

for the sacrificed p'awn, it requires

quite an effort to turn it

into a sound sacrifice.

14.trae1BbG 15.9h1

After 15.Ae3 Wd8 Black is slightlY

better.

15...4d3

During the game I was more afraid

of 15...6g6!? but it looks as if

White can get some play by continuing

16.Ae3 (16.4C3 0-0

17.9h5 6b4) 16...8c7 77.6a40'0

(77...ab4 18.Ae4 f5 19.c3!)

18.A96 hg6 19.4b6 Eb8 20.6c4

with some compensation.

16.9d3 0-O 17.9g3 €h8?!

Wth this move Black not onlY

loses a tempo, but also puts his

king in a worse position. Both

17...f6 and 17...f5 deserved serious

attention. I find it hard to saY

which of these was the best option.

So, let's have a look:

A) 17...f5 18.Ac7 EfaT 19.6a4

Ad8 20.ab6 (20.ad6? trf6)

20...Ac7 2l.Wc7 trf7 22.Q-:c8 trc7

23.8ta7 6a7l 24.6d4 Ab5!

25.Dte6 trc2 26.a41 (26.8f5 Ee8

27.Hefr h5 28.Ef8 trf8 29.trf8

€h7 is a bit better for Black)

26...ad1 27.Hdl 6,c4 28.8d7. In

this endgame White is really fighting

for survival but probably his

chances are reasonable;

B) 17...f6 18.Ac7 Ba7 19.6a4

Ad8 (19...e5!? 20.6,b6 Ae6, with a

clearly better version of the exchange

loss than in the game,

would, of course, deserve attention

too) 20.Ad8 Ad8 21.9d6! Af7

22.Wc5 tscS (22...Ub8 23.4b6

tra7 24.tre3 with compensation)

23.6bc5 e5 24.8tb6 tra7 25.c4 and

again it looks as if White maintains

nearly sufficient compensation

for the pawn.

18.Ac7 Ba7 L9.6,a4 fG

2O.AbO Wb8 2L.AgZ Wa7

22.ab6t?

A questionable decision, but

probably a correct one. The dull

draw after 22.Ab6 was not exactly

what I wanted that day.

22...e5 23.6a8 Ba8 24.trd1

tre8!

Black can not allow the exchange

of bishops. Nter 24...Ae6? 25.4d6

he would be worse.

25.4d6 ad8

26.6c51?

A highly intuitional move. I felt

that my previous play had to be

continued logically. Also, I did calculate

the variation that happened

later on in the game and I thought

that 29.Wd3 would work. Later on

I was 'accused'by nearly everyone

of not having seen 29.E{g4 when

playing 26.6tc5. I don't really understand

what is wronS about this,

since my opponent went for this

particular line and did not see

29.W94 and 31.Wf3 either.

26...bG 27.6e4dd4?t

This appears to be a serious mistake

as the forthcoming complications

are favourable for White.

Black had many interesting possibilities,

amon€ them 27...4e6r.?

28.Aa3 6d4 with unclear play.

28.4e5! hfS!

Not 28...fe5? 29.4d6 and White

wlns.

29.9g4!

fiil

24 ) NEw rN CHESS

Of course, when coming! closer to

this position I realised that both

29.Wd3? Ab7! 30.9d7 (30.9f5

Ae4 31.Wd7 Ag2 32.@el Ae7

33.4d4 Ah3 and Black wins)

30...4c6 31.Wf7 6h6 32.9h5 fe5

with a winning advantage for

Black and 29.Wc3? 9b7 would be

really bad for me. Nevertheless I

did not panic since I felt that in

such a position there must be

somethinEi. After makinEl my move

I saw the line he subsequently

went for, but almost immediately I

saw my answer.

29...8te3?

This natural move leads to big

trouble. Also bad was 29...6d6?

30.Wh5 We4 31.Ad6 A-e432.Wf7

Ad1 33-gf8 gg6 34.Ag7 gg7

35.We8 gg8 36.998 gg8 37.Ed1

and White wins, so the only real

chance was 29...fe5 30.8f5 Ae7

31.Wf3 Af5 32.Wf5 with a slight

advantage for White.

30.9h5!

30...898?

And this one just loses. The only

chance was 30...Sc6 but after

31.trd6 White is clearly better anyway,

as the following variations

show:

A) 31...9b5 32.8e1 Ag4 33.Wf7

Efe5 34.8e3 Ahs 35.9d5 Wf4

(35...9d5 36.8d5 Ag6 37.trdd3

Ac7 38.Q:f2 Ae5 39.8d2 Ef8

40.4d3 winning) 36.9d3 (36.tre1

Ac7 37.Wh5 g6) 36...Ac7 37.g3

gf5 (37...tse3 38.Se3 Ad6

39.Wb6 winning) 38.af6 gd3

39.8e8 Ae8 40.trd3 gf6 41.8c3

and White wins;

B) 31...Ag4 32.trc6 AhS 33.8e1

6c2 (33...treS 34.8e3 Ag4 35.Ed3

tre8 36.h3 Af5 37.4d6 Ee1

38.9h2 Ad3 39.8c8 winning)

34.8c2 tre5 35.trc8 Ed5 36.4c3

trd6 37.94 A96 38.trd1 Ad3

39.€g1 gg9 40.4e4 trd7 4l.af2

winninEi.

Other moves are just bad, e.g.

30...96 31.8d8 and wins, or

30...trf8 31.9f7! trg8 32.trd8 Ed8

33.4f6 trC8 34.Ae7 Eg7 35.We8

tr98 36.8e5 Eg7 37.8f8 mate.

31.9f3!

Now it's all over. Black loses material

by force.

31...4d1

If 31...4f1 32.ad6 Wa7 33.6c8

Bf7 34.Bf1wins.

32.6d6 Wa7

32...Eflfll 33.6f7 mate!

33.6c8 gdZ 34.ad6

There is no way to save the knight

and therefore Topalov resighed.

NOIES BY

Yury Dokhoian

Nt 20.5.2

Garry Kasparov

Vladimir Kramnik

Linares 1998 (13)

1-d4 af6 2.c4 eG 3.6c3 Ab4

4.8c2 O-0

Black's last move signifies a new

turn in the theoretical discussion,

begun in Tilburg in 1997. There

Kramnik preferred 4...c5 and later

he went in for a theoretically

known slightly inferior ending after

5.dc5 0-0 6.a3 Ac5 7.AB 6c6

8.495 6d4 9.4d4 Ad4 10.e3 Ba5

11.ed4 Wg5 l2.Wd2 gd2 13.9d2.

However, the text move had already

occurred in Vladimir's games, and

very recently, in his game with

Bareev from Novgorod 1997.

5.a3 Ac3 6.8c3 bG 7.4f3

Compared with the already rather

well-worn plan of 7.495 followed

by e3, f3 and 6h3, this can be considered

a fairly fresh idea.

7...4b7 8.Agsd6 9.a,d2

White's basic idea becomes clear:

control of the key e4 square and

the settinEi up of a powerful pawn

centre by B and e4, which in combination

with his two bishops will

give him a pretty strong claim to

an opening advantage. The main

drawback to White's plan is that

his development is somewhat retarded,

and so, in order to solve

his opening problems, Black must

act very energetically.

9...4bd710.f3 h6

The following day, Kramnik (evidenfly

under the influence of

Black's possible problems) reached

this position with White(!) in his

game with Anand. Anand chose

the plan of immediate pressure on

the white centre by 10...d5 11.e3

c5 and achieved a reasonable

game. However, White's play could

probably have been improved.

11.4h4 trc8

A new move in the given position,

although the idea of it is well

known: Black prepares the future

simplifying move ...Q-seL (or

...4d5), when his c7 pawn will be

defended, as well as the advance

...c5, when in the event of dc5 he

can recapture on c5 with his rook,

maintaining the X-ray on the

queen at c3. However, later a fairly

well known position is reached by

transposition of moves.

12.e4 c513.4d3 d5

Strictly speaking, only this move

can be considered an innovation.

Before this 13...cd4 l4.Wd4 2,eS

had been played, with slightly the

better chances for White.

NEw rN CHESS I 25

iiiiii E H . ii@.rijjiii

,

ii,i;;;i;,,:1, I ll

,,iifi:

,,1i,

:iiiiiii l*lr

:,:

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"'tii'111t'

i:::iii" A Ai

Eii iiiii ffi: trtr

14.ed5!

The obvious 14.e5?! is met bY

14.-8te41 15.Ad8 6c3 1'6.4e7

EfeS 17.Ad6 dc4 18.hc4 6d5

Galry Kaspalov and Yury Dokhoian

I rr NAREsI

=

19.dc5 6c5 20.AcS 6f4 27.9e4

Ae4 22.dd6 Ec5 23.6e8 Ac6

24.ad6 Ec2 with advantage to

Black.

14...ed515.0-O cd4

Black fails to equalise after

15...dc4 16.Ac4!, when White has

a slight but clear advantage.

16.9d4 6c517.4f6?!

An important moment in the

game. Garry goes in for an endgame

position, hoping later to exploit

the weakness of the doubled

pawns on the f-file. However, as

the course ofthe game shows, the

activity of the black pieces fully

compensates for this defect. Therefore

77.9f5 6e6 18.4e6 fe6

19.Efd1 deserved serious consideration,

when Black does not ap'

pear to have sufficient compensation

for the weakness of his e6

pawn and of the complex of

squares on the h2-b8 diagonal.

White's position is preferable.

17...9f6 18.9f6 gf6 19.4f5

trcd8 20.Efe1Aa6!

An important resource - Black intensifies

the pressure on the c4

pawn, and thereby prevents the

white pieces (especially the

knight) from expanding and laying

siege to the weak pawns.

27..tracL

White achieves nothinE with

2L.He7 dc4 22.6e4 6e4 23.4e4

Ed224.Ea7 Ac8.

21-...dc4

At this point Kramnik offered a

draw, but Garry decided to play

on, having in mind his 24th move.

22.Dtc4 ab3 23.trc3 ad4

24.at1,3t?

This was the continuation that

Garry had in mind when he declined

the draw. In the event of

24.Ad3 BJack would have a guaranteed

draw by repetition with

24...6b5 25.8b3 ad4, as well as

the possibility of complicated play

after 24...b5 25.6e3 b4 26.9a6

bc3 27.bc3. White has other ideas.

24...tr1e8 25.&12 Ee1 26.€e1

tre927.&d26e2

Somewhat short of time, Black

chooses the safest continuation:

after the exchange of knights (and

it is practically forced) it will be extremely

hard to approach his weak

pawns. The pseudo-active 27...tre2

28.9d3 b5?! was less good - after

29.b41 bc4 30.9d4 White would

have gained Eood winning

chances. The sharpest and most interesting

move (but one which

26 ) NEw IN CHESS

would also have denied Black the

future possibility of setting up a

drawing fortress) was 27...f5!?, trying

in the endgame to play for an

attack. In this case a balanced position

could have arisen after

28.6e3 Ed8 (28...f4?! 29.dc2 treZ

30.€d1 Ae6 31.Ab4tl 29.@el

Ee8.

ni "**"E @

.-.. l,*, iiii.*:l

28.8e3 trd8! 29.&e2 Ac4

30.€e1 €f8 31.4f5 tre8

32.tre8 €e8

Given a certain accuracy on

Black's part, White's winning

chances are very slight. The point

is that there is no way of giving

Black a second weakness on the

queenside, and with only one real

weakness (the f7 pawn), he can

successfully defend.

33.€d2 €e7 34.€e3 Ad5

35.€d4 €dG 36.4e4 AeG

37.4d3 Ac8 38.4c4 €e7

39.€e4 Ab7 4O.Ad5 Ac8

41,.@d4 Ad7 42.@c4 Ae8

43.b4

Black might have problems if

White were to succeed in completely

confining the black bishop

by b4-b5 and f4-f5, but his strong

44th move demonstrates that this

plan is unattainable. The attempt

to break through with the king on

the queenside by 43.€b4 would

not have succeeded after 43...4d7

44.4c4 Ac6 45.Ab5 AdS 46.Aa4

Ae6 (46...€d6!?).

43...4d7 44.14151

Dispelling White's last winning

hopes: after the arrival of the

pawn at f4, the weakness of its opposite

number at f5 is no longer

ti'tt.

45.4f3 €d6 46.ahs f6

47.9:dt Ac6 48.g3 Ad7

49.4c2 €e6 50.a4 gd6

51.a5€eG 52.9d4

Draw agreed.

NOTES BY

Yury Dokhoian

cK 8.6.7

Garry Kasparov

Viswanathan Anand

Linares 1998 (3)

1.e4 c6

Anand, who had evidently seen

how hard it is to break down the

Caro-Kann Defence, which occurred

several times in his recent

Groningen matches against Adams

and Karpov, decided to make it his

main weapon against 1ie4. To

wards the end of the tournament,

however, he switched to sharper

Sicilian lines, and successfully resolved

his opening problems in his

games with Svidler and Ivanchuk.

2.d4 d5 3.6,d2 de4 4.de4

ad7 5.ag5 agf6 6.4d3 e6

7.a1;l3 AdG 8.9e2 hG 9.6e4

6e4 1O.Ue4 Bc7 11.9g4

tr98!?

A new move, which probably was

specially saved up for the present

game. Before this only the dubi

ous 11...95?! and the more solid

11...€f8, leading to a complicated

tame, had been tried. An indirect

indication of the true worth of the

move 11...trg8 is provided by the

fact that in a later game against

Topalov, Anand nevertheless reverted

to familiar lines with

11...9f8.

L2.a,d2t2

FollowinS the game Kasparov-

Kamsky (Linares 1994) this manoeuvre

can well be called typical

for such set-ups. White's knigfrt

makes way for the queen, the manoeuvre

of which (e2-e4-C4) has

prevented Black from castling

kingside. Possibly, in the future,

someone will also want to try the

'computer' reaction to Black's last

move: 12.4h6 Af6 13.Wg5-.

L2...61613.9f3

The recurrent theme of White's

play is the battle for the key h2-b8

diagonal. Wth his last move Kasparov

keeps control of the important

f4 square, for which in the future

(after 6c4) his dark-square

bishop will aim. The game would

have taken on a different character

after 13.We2 c5 14.dc5 Ac5

15.ab3 Ad6.

13...e5!

Now 13...c5 is dangerous, as after

l4.dc4 cd4 15.4d2 White has a

strongl initiative.

14.de5 Ae5 15.6c4 Ae6

16.4d2!?

White goes in for complications.

After the natural 16.6e5 tseS

17.8e3 694 18.8e2 0-0-0 19.f3

We2 20.4e2 QteS 2l.Af4 QtcL

22.b3 oa3 the activity of the black

pieces compensates for White's

two bishops.

16...G0{?!

Black condemns himself to passive

defence. The time had come when

NEwrNcHEss) 27

it was essential to choose the critical

line: 16...4c4! (the obvious

16...Abz?! is less [ood: 17.ab2

WeS 18.We3 gb2 19.0 0 Ag4!?

(19...0 0 0 20.Wa7 trd3 21.cd3

Wdz 2z.Hfbl b5 23.a4 with a

strong attack) 20.Wg3 0-0-0 21.trfe1

with Eood compensation for the

sacrificed palvn) 17 Ac4 Ab2

18.8e3 (the trappy 18.0-0? does

not work: 18...Aa1 19.Eel AeS

[19...€f8? 20.Ab4 c5 21.8b7! Ec8

22.Ac5l 20.9f5 gd8+; 18.Eb1

also achieves nothing: 18...E9e5!

[an important nuance; after

18...0 0 0? 19.9f5 eb8 20.trb2

trge8 21.€d1 Black has insufficient

compensation for the sacrificed

materiall 19.We3 [19.9f1

0-0-0 20.9f4 Bc5 21.Wb3 Ed4l or

2I.9f7 Wc2 22.4e6 QtdT 23.Eel

trgf8+l 19...0-0-0 20.4f7 trgf8

21.We5 Ae5+) 18...We5 19.Me5

lLrffiRETl =

Ae5 20.0-0-0 000 21.4f7 trgf8

22.Ae6 *c7 with an unclear position.

17.0-0-0 6d718.8he1?!

The prophylactic 18.€b1! would

have denied Black the possibility

of exchanges on the c1-h6 diagonal

and would have maintained

unpleasant pressure on the h2-b8

diagonal. In this case 18...4f6

does not solve Black's problems,

in view of 19.Af4 6e5 20.We4

9.c4 2l.Ac4 with a clear advantage

to White.

18...E9e8?

It is hard to believe that this natural

move is the cause of Black's

later, possibly insuperable, difficulties.

It was essential to utilise

White's delay in moving his king

from c1 for simplifying combinations

on the h2-b8 and c1-h6 diagonals.

After the correct 18...4f6!

(with the idea of ...4e5) 19.4f4

(19.9f4 g5!; 19.4a5 b6 [19...4b6

20.Af5 Af5 21.Wf5 €b8 22.c3Ll

20.Ad2 l20.Ab4 6e5l 20...6c5-)

19...A95 20.995 hg5 21.8e3

ab6! (21...Wf4 22.Wf4 sf4 23.4d6

@c7 24.4:fr!) 22.ab6 Wb6 23.995

Wf2 24.trf1trdS Black would have

overcome his difficulties.

E:il

ai&

19.€b1!

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A.H

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Unexpectedly, Black's position immediately

becomes critical: by fail-

!l

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Hotel Anibal, the home of the 'Wimbledon of Chess'

28 ) NEwrN CHESS

ing to exploit his tactical chances,

he has lost the battle for the key,

in this position, h2-b8 diagonal.

19...95 20.h4l

White pursues the consistent

course of gaining control of the

key diagonal. Black is forced to

weaken his position still further.

20...4t4

Black also fails to solve his problems

by 20..9h4 (20...4f6? 2I.Aa5

bG 22.6:d6+-; 20...f6? 21.6:e5

4,eS 22.Wf6 Ad3 23.8e6 Ef8

24.Wh6 o,f2 21.Edel+-) 21.8e3

9c422.Ac4 ab6 23.4d3a.

21,.A:14 gt4 22.415!

An important move, combining

both tactical and positional ideas.

As a result (after 22...df8), in addition

to Black's pawn weaknesses

he has problems in coordinating

his pieces.

22...618

22...9d5 23.8e8 Ee8 24.994 Ed8

25.b3! gb8 26.4d7 Ed7 27.6e5

tre7 28.hd3 B 29.9f3+.

23.9h5€b8 24.4e6 Ae6

25.a41

A precise solution. With one move

White simultaneously kills two

birds: he secures for his knight the

dominating post c4, and at the

same time he opens an escape

square for his king in the event of

a possible overloading of the back

rank. After the weaker 25.9h6 b5

26.4d2 Eg8 Black would have activated

his pieces.

25...8e7 26.We5 Wc7

27.9h5 We7 28.b31 gf6

29.6e5

The white knight approaches

closer to the opponent's Pawn

weakhesses. The Sathering of the

harvest is not far off.

29...tre7 30.ag4 Ed1 31.8d1

gg7 32.f3!

A similar move to 25.a4! White attends

very carefully to the safety

of his fine knight, by securing a

post for it, this time at 94. After

completing his prophylactic work,

Kasparov decisively establishes his

pieces within the black position.

32...tre8 33.9f5 €a8 34.h5!

Fixing the weakness at h6.

34...trf8 35.trd7

Black lost on time. After 35...ts95

36.995 hgs 37.af6 the white h-

pawn is unstoppable.

NOTES BY

Vladimir Kramnik

QO 8.15

Veselin Topalov

Vladimir Kramnik

Linares 1998 (2)

1.d4 af6 2.c4 eB 3.4f3 d5

4.4c3 Ae7 5.Ag5 hG 6.4h4

0-0 7.e3 bG 8.4e2 Ab7 g.AfG

Af6 1o.cd5 ed5 11.b4 cG

L2.O-O a513.b5

13.ba5 is more usual,

played against me

1997).

as Lautier

(Belgrade

13...c514.8e1

14.trc1 6d7 15.dc5 is completely

harmless, for example: 15...6c5

16.4d4 EcS (16...Wd6 is also good

enouSh for equality) l7.Ag4 Ec7

l8.6ce2 AeS 19.93 96 20.4h3

Bd6 21.Ec2 h5, and Black has no

problems (Lutz-Van der Sterren,

Munich 1994).

14...Ee8

The only game with 14.Ee1 that I

found in my database went

14...ad7 15.4f1 Ee8 16.93 trc8

l7.trcl c4 18.4h3 Ec7 19.tre2

Ae7 20.da4 Ad6 with an acceptable

position (Epishin-Gomez, Las

Palmas 1997).

15.8c1ad716.g3 af8

:::i r\ii :i'11';; 6 :1i1"

,ttt u\: rl{,: u\.,)<l

iii! , q. :.l*: t: .4'

/( , ,!!!!!!!

A :::: ir'r".,.:E

ffi9ffi

L7.6-:,a4l

Otherwise Black achieves a good

position without difficulty: 17.dc5

bc5 18.4a4 c4 19.6c5 Wb6

(19...Ac8!?) 20.ab7 Wb7 2r.a4

a,e6, or 17.Af1 6e6 18.492 cd4!?

19.ed4 Ec8, and in view of the

weakness of the d4 pawn, it is

White who has to concern himself

with how to equalise.

L7...c4

17...cd4? 18.4d4 followed by Ac6

is clearly unacceptable.

18.af1gd6?!

A significant inaccuracy that gives

White the initiative. After

18...8c71 19.4g2 Ead8 20.Q:c3 96

Black deploys his pieces ideally

and does not stand worse.

L9.Ag2 trad8 20.h4 AeG

20...961?

21,.6c3tG

2I...6c7 was possible, soundly defending

the d5 pawn (in fact, it was

for this that I placed my queen at

d6 on move 18), but then it

seemed to me that this was too

passive. Indeed, after 22.dh2 Ac8

23.694 White has some initiative,

but in general the reserve of solidity

in Black's position is very

great.

22.a,d2

NEw lN CHESS ) 29

lf 22.h5, apart from the natural

22...95 | was also intendinEl to give

serious consideration to 22...9h5!?

23.6,d2 h4 with a sharp game.

22...4a8

The threat of 6c4 could also have

been parried by 22...Wc7. Wth

the move in the Eame I wanted to

nip this idea in the bud.

23.h5?!

The logical continuation of

White's plan was of course 23.f4!

As our joint analysis after the

game showed, in this case too

Black can maintain the dynamic

balance: 23...4C7 24.413 f5!

25.de5 (or 25.h5 g5 26.8c2 sf8)

25...Ae5!? 26.fe5 (26.de5 Wc5a a

d4\ 26...Wd7 followed by h6-h5.

But now Veselin obviously loses

the thread of the game, making a

series of moves without any sensible

plan, and is gradually outplayed.

23...9i 24.atl?l Ae7 25.94?

This merely weakens White's position,

as in any case my next moves

would have been Ag7 and E{d7.

2s...9d7 26.ag3ag7

By now I was very happy with my

position: my opponent has no active

plan (or any plan at all), and

all he can do is to passively observe

my actions.

27.a44b428.4h3 Ab7

Bringingl this bishop too into the

action. Black no longer has to

worry about the d5 pawn.

29.Wc2 Ad6!

ILTNIREE

=

Practically forcing White to spoil

his pawn formation, as 30.EId1?

Ag3 31.fC3 6h5 is completely

bad, but also 30.6ce2 Ac7 does

not bring any relief: 6is pieces are

completely paralysed, and I have

an extremely simple plan: Bd6,

Ac8, Ef8 and f5 with an attack.

30.afs af5 31.gfs

Even worse was 31.Wf5 Wf5

32.9f5 Ab4 33.tre2 @97 (r €f6,

AcS), when the f5 pawn has not

long to live.

31...4b4

The immediate 31...4c7! 32.@92

E{d6 33.Eh1 Ee7 I ...trde8 was

stronger. However, I can always revert

to this plan.

32.&g2gd6 33.f3

Black was threatening 33...4c3

34.Wc3 tre4 followed by Eh4,

picking up the h5 pawn.

33...Ee7 34.tre2 trde8

35.trce1

If 35.4d1 Topalov rightly feared

35...9f4!

3s...9f6

Very interesting was 35...9c3

36.Wc3 Bb4 37.Sc2 c3 with good

winning chances, but firstly, I was

afraid that my advantage might

not be sufficient for a win, and secondly,

for the moment I simply did

not want to give up such a strong

bishop (l feared the wrath of

grandmaster Gufeld).

36.494 ad6

Planning the possible regirouping

Ac7 and Wd6.

37.gd1ab4

37...A,c7? 38.e4! de4 39.6e4.

38.8c2 trd8

Creating a new threat: Ac8 and, it

would seem, finally breaking the

opponent's defensive lines. There

is no longer any satisfactory defence.

39.trd14c8 40.e4

This leads by force to a bad position,

but also after 40.6a2 Ede8!

41.9f2 gd6 42.HhI it is hard to

believe that White can hold on.

Besides, evidently by now my opponent

was simply tired of such a

difficult and passive defence.

40...4c3 41.e5

Or 41.€9c3 de4 42.fe4 Ab7 43.4f3

g4!, and the white pawns begin to

fall.

41...treS! 42.de5

lf 42.8e5 Ad4 wins.

42-..4e5

With a material advantage of two

bishops and a pawn against a rook

(since it is hard to perceive the

piece at 94 as being anything

other than a pawn), the win is

achieved without particular difficu1ty.

43.Ede1Ac7!

The most precise. White's threats

on the e-file are easily parried.

44.8e8

Or 44.He7 Ad7 45.We2 €g7 and

46...4d6.

44...&97 4s.trd8 ad8 46.trd1

ab7 47.14

Desperation, since 47.9h3 We5 a

Af6 does not leave White with any

illusions.

47...d4 48.4f3 d3!

In view of the variations 49.Wc4

Wb2 50.€93 AB 51.9f3 E{e2 and

49.9f2 Wf5! 5o.ab7 gg4 51.993

Wdl further resistance is pointless,

and my opponent stopped the

clocks.

I very much liked this game for its

strategic completeness.

30 ) NEW rN CHDSS

NOTES AY

Peter Svidler

sr 24.8.10

Peter Svidler

Garry KaSparov

Linares 1998 (1)

This is my game from Round 1,

and it has all the attributes'of

first-round games: unnecessary

time-troubles, mutual mistakes

and the gleneral rough feeling

which suggests that the players

are only warming up for a long

and difficult tournament.

1.e4 c5 2.4f3 dG 3.d4

No more funny business.

3...cd4 4.4d4 Af6 5.4c3 aG

6.4e2 e6 7.0-O

This tournament saw my first attempts

to play the classical

Scheveningen. I scored 1-1/z out of

2, but not really due to my wonderful

opening preparation, especially

in the game vs lvanchuk, which, I

hope, will be published, if it has to

5e, startingl from move 20.

7...4e7 8.a4 Ac6 9.4e3 O-O

LO.t4 Bc7 11.€h1 EeQ

L2.at3 trb813.g4 Ad7!?

The World Champion deviates

from his usual 13...4d4 l4.gd4

e5, which had been very popular

recently due to his efforts.

L4.ag2

14.95 is probably just the same.

14...b6 1s.95 ab7

15...4d4 would transpose to the

game D.Gurevich-Wolfl US championship,

Modesto 1995, where after

16.9d4 Ab7 17.f5 Ae5 18.Ead1

Ac6 19.f6 Af8 20.f97 Ag7 21.9d6

gd6 22.trd6 Ebc8 Black had good

compensation for the pawn.

Ef

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16.9g4

This is probably too clever to be

good. White is vaguely hinting at

17.96 hg6 18.4e6, but such things

never happen.

16.9h5 is more natural. After

16...g6 17.Wh3 Af8 18.f5 Ade5

19.fe6 6d4 20.et7 6f7 2I.Ad4

6tg5 22.We3 White won convincingly

in De Firmian-Irzhanov from

the famous match USAz

I

U

o

o

Peter Svidler and Garry Kasparov, warming up for a long and difficult tournament

NEW IN CHESS ) 31

Kazakhstan, Lucerne 1997 (see

NIC 97/8, page 22). When I mentioned

this move during the postmortem,

Garry Kimovich replied

with a smile: 'Well, there's a lot of

moves in this position.'There sure

is. Still, I think itwas stronger.

16...4f8

one of the things that 16.Wh5

prevents is 16...hd4 17.9d4 e5,

with good play for Black, but he

probably decided to wait till I

wasted one more tempo before going

for it.

L7.15

Almost the only move, since after

the planned 17.9h3 Black will

comfortably take on d4. It is important

to mention that in the

first half of the tournament my

evaluations tended to be very Pessimistic.

For instance, after having

spent half an hour on this one, I

decided that White has to play correctly

to equalize. It may not be

that far off mark, but once you've

started equalizitg, it's very hard

to stop. See the note to my 25th

move.

17...ef518.9f5

18.ef5? is only good for a laugh:

18...tre3 19.4d5 6ce5l 20.Vf4

Ad5 21.4d5 Eh3, winning.

18...ade519.4d5 gd8

Forced. Unfortunately, 19...6d4 is

met by 20.6c71 (20.4d4 Ad5

21.ed5 96 is very good for Black)

20..af1 2l.ef5 and now:

A) 2t*Ac2 22.@e2 Eec8

(22...dC4 23.9:1l HecS 24.8:a6

Ec2 25.@e3 Ea8 26.4b4 Eb2

27.ad3 trdz 28.@e4 Ed3

2 9.Ab6t) 23.da6 trc2 2 4.Hf2+;

B) 21...8ec8 22.4b7 Eb7

23.ad5t? (or 23.4a6 Ec2

24.b41?*\ 23...trc2 24.Eacl EbZ

25.8c8, with great compensation

for the pawns. The position is very

similar to the game Tseshkovsky-

PoluEiaevsky from the Riga inter-

I LTNAREsI

=

zonal in 1979. The tournament

book of this event was one of my

childhood favourites.

20.4b3

I'd much rather plaY20.6:e2, bttt

after 20...6e7! White will be

forced to take due to the cramped

position of his pieces.

20...6e7

20...Ac8 21.Wf4 Ae6 is also OK.

2L.w14 Ec8 22.6d4 hd5

22...trc5 was very tempting, but

White is doing fine after both

23.o,c3, as I wanted to play, and

23.de7 9.e7 24.c3, as suggested

by Kasparov.

23.ed5 Bd7 24.b3

24...96?l

24...a96 looks very good, but after

25.Wf2 Ah4 26.Wh4 Ee3

White has a very strong resource

(also shown by Kasparov): 27.trf4!,

and he is suddenly better - his

pressure on f7 is quite hard to

meet.

24...b5! was, therefore, almost

forced. After 25.ab5 ab5 26.8a5

(26.8a7 EaS 27.8a8 Ea8 28.S91

preparing 29.6c6) 26...Ec5

27.tra7 Hc7 (^ Ad5) 28.991!

leads to a very unclear position.

25.c4

Now White is definitely better. The

only objective problem he has is

how to penetrate. Of course, it is

important not to allow Black to

transfer his dead bishop from b7

to d7, where he will support all

kinds of counterplay, but that is

not too touEh a task. There were,

however, a few subjective problems.

One was that I was running

short of time (I had less than 20

minutes left). What was worse, I

congratulated myself on having

equalized, but since a direct plan

of improvement was quite hard to

come by, I decided that the position

probably rs equal, and had set

the goal at makinEi it to move 41,

when I would have time to think

straight again.

25...tre7 26.A,91, Ece8

27.trae1-Ag7 28.9g3

Kasparov suggested 28.8e3 as a

possible attacking plan, but

28.-Wc7 29.9h4 Ac8 seems to

parry the threat, and the bishop is

going to d7.

28...9c7

The beginning of'counterplay'. In

fact, I still don't know how White

would go about winning this position

against a passive defence. But

I was goin€ to get some help.

29.EdJ.

Killing time.

29...6d7?

In accordance with the plan.

30.Ede1?!

I rejected the correct 30.4c6! for

two reasons: firstly, I was not sure

about 30...4c6 (30...8e2 31.Ede1 is

quite bad) 31.dc6 6e5, though after

the obvious 32.9f2 trb8 33.Wd2!

6c6 (33...He6 34.4d5 Ee7

32 ) NEWIN CHESS

35.Ede1+; 33...Ed8 34.gb4t)

34.Wd6 Aa5 (34...he5 35.Sc7 Ec7

36.Ed6+) 35.8c7 Ec7 36.Ed3

Black is really suffering, and secondly,

I was under the wrong impression

that after

3O...6c5

it will gain in strength.

31.6c6

Played without hesitation.

31...Ee1!

I hadn't counted on this. The only

thing I was concerned about was

31...4c6 32.dci 6e4, but 33.8f4

Wc6 34.Ae4 (34.8e4 Ee4 35.8f7

€h8 36.8e1? Eel!! 37.9c6 trf8+)

34...8e4 35.9f7 eh8 36.9f3 d5

(36...trf8 37.8e4 We4 38.8e4 Efl

39.tre8+-) 37.cd5 Wd5 38.8e4

We4 39.8e4 Ee4 40.Ab6 Eb4

41.a5 trb3 42.trf7 is dangerous for

Black.

32.Ee1Ee133.Efe16b3

A very materialistic approach. At

first I thought that White has to

be winning, since the only piece

Black can shuffle around is his

knight. Ideas swarmed, but surprisingly,

none seemed to be fitting

the bill. Finally I settled on

the one which I thought could inflict

the most damage. And it

could, too: White is almost losinS

after it.

34.We8

34.8e3 was interesting. White's

idea is to drive the knight away

from a5, and then proceed with

the attack. Unfortunately, after

34...hc5 (34...6a5 35.8e8 Af8

36.4d4 is very dangerous) 35.E9e8

af8 36.Ah3 (36.Ad4 gd7)

36...4ffi 37.4d4 6e5! Black is in

time to stop 38.4f6.

34...4f8 3s.Ah3?

This was the point. White stops

35...4c8 and is going to play

36.9d7 and 37.6d8 or, if Black's

knight moves, Ad4-f6, with mate.

Or so I thought.

35.4d8 led to a draw: 35...4c8

(35...4c5 36.4c5 bc5 37.4h3!+-)

36.6t7 Wf7 37.8c8 6c5, and the

position is equal, since 38.4c5 bc5

39.8a6 Wf4 is risky.

35...6a5!

35...6d2 is not as good: 36.Ad4l

af3! (36...6c4 37.4f6 Ac6

38.Wc6!+-) 37.Af6 Ac6 38.dc6

d5 39.We2! ag5 (39...9f4 40.c7

EfcT 41.9f3+) 40.495 Wc6

4l.ge2l Wc4 42.Wc4 dc4 43.4b7

a5 44.@92, and White is better.

36.9d8

A sad necessity. The planned

36.4d7? 6c4 37.4d4 heS is bad

- this knight really means business.

36.4a5 ba5 37.tsd7 tsd7

(37...9b8 38.Ae6 fe6 39.We6 €h8

40.4d4 Ae7 4t.Ae7 @CT

42.Wf6:) 38.Cd7 Ae7 offers little

hope of salvation as well.

36...9d8 37.ad8

37...4a8?

This throws away the advantagle.

37...9.e71 was much stronger:

38.4b7 ab7 39.4b6, and now:

A) 39...a5 40.4c8 6c5 41.h4

(41.9c5 dc5 42.h4 h6 loses)

41...h6 42.9h6 Ah4 43.4a5 6a4,

and the pawn on h6 will eventually

fall;

B) 39...4g5 40.4c8 6c5 41.Ac5

dcl 42.9a6 Af4 43.Ab5 Ac7, with

a very difficult, if not lost, endgame

for White.

38.af1ab7

38...b5? 39.ab5 ab5 40.cb5 Ad5

4l.ge2 Ae2 42.@e2 Ae7 43.6c6

4,c6 44.bc6 Ad8 45.9f3 is at least

not worse for White.

39.4b7 ab7 40.4b6 h6 41.h4

The time-trouble is over, and after

a lengthy think Kasparov finds the

most precise way for a draw.

41...hg5 42.hg5 Ae7 43.4c7

gf8 44.€h2 €e8 45.4h3

All of White's moves are forced.

4s...Ags! 46.AdG Ae7!

47.4e5 Ac5

The white pawns are blocked. In a

few moves the bishop will escape

from his exile on b7, and the position

will become absolutely equal.

48.4f6 asl 49.eg3 AaG

s0.Af1 Ac8 51.4d3 €d7

52.€f4

Neither side can make any progress

here, so I offered a draw,

which was accepted.

NOrES BY

Peter Svidler

RL L2,6.4

Peter Svidler

Alexey Shirov

Linares 1998 (13)

1.e4 e5 2.6f3 6cG 3.4b5 a6

4.4a4 dt6 5.0-0 bs 6.4b3

Ac5 7.a4

One of the most popular positions

of last year's top tournament practice.

A lot of great players graced it

with their attention, but Alexey

Shirov was undoubtedly the most

consistent and successful. His belief

in it had grown so strong that

he almost stopped playing anything

else against 1.e4. But in Linares,

he must have been faced

with a very difficult problem - to

play or not to play his usual

7...trb8

7...9b7 was considered to be a

safer option, but Black is struggling

to hold his position there,

NDW IN CHESS

'

33

with no hope at all of a win. Since

this Iine was about the only bit of

preparation I was quite sure of,

the results of the drawing of lots

had me rather worried - I was

playing Alexey in round 13, so (I

figured) I'm not going to see it at

all- somebody else will get all the

spoils. And indeed, on mY first

day-oft in round 7, this position

occurred in Kasparov-Shirov. After

some 15 minutes of deliberation

Alexey chose 7...9b7, and after 20

moves the game was drawn - Kasparov

probably did not expect

such a betrayal. In the next round

Anand improved on that game, but

after a couple of inaccuracies

stopped short - another draw. It is

hard to describe my relief - I've

heard that Alexey does not hold a

very high opinion of my chess

abilities, so I guessed he would

probably go for a win. And so he

did.

8.c3 d6 9.d4 AbG 10.6a3

Ag411.ab5 abs12.6b5 o-o

To give some sort of assessment to

this position, I should quote Nigel

Short. When I first showed it to

him in Greece, he said: 'Check the

move order, boyo. It must be the

wrong position. You aren't telling

me Black is actually playing it, are

you?' To give it some credit, at this

session we failed to discover anything

special for White.

13.Ee1

This position saw also 13.4c2 and

13.4e3, but Black is doing relatively

fine there, especially after

the game Nijboer-Piket, Wijk aan

Zee 1998, where Jeroen answered

13.Ae3 with 13...ed4 l4.cd4 6e4l

(NICs8/2,p.40).

13...4f314.gf3 ahs

Shirov is repeating his game vs Ivanchuk

from Belgrade, where he

had no problems whatsoever. See

his notes in .|y'IC 97 /8, page 42.

I LTNAREsI E

15.9h1!

Quite a strong, even if rather obvi'

ous, novelty. Kasparov, however,

seemed to be sceptical. Durin$ the

closing ceremony he asked me a

couple of questions concerning

the game, and then remarked that

he would do a far better job as

White if he was given a chance. It

remains a mystery whether his improvement

over my play was before

or after move 15. 15.4e3 Wf6

16.9h1 ed4 17.cd4 Aa5! 18.891

Eb5 19.Aa4 trb2 20.9c6 Ab6 was

played in Ivanchuk-Shirov. Black is

completely out of danger.

15...9f6

Played very quickly aEiain. Other

moves are:

A) 15...9h4 16.4e3 ed4 17.cd4

Aa5 18.4c3, and since Black's

queen is not attacking B, White is

just a pawn up;

B) 15...ed4 16.4d4! (16.cd4?!

Wf6 17.Ae3 Aa5 miraculously

transposing to Ivanchuk-Shirov, is

exactly what Vishy did against

Piket in Monaco a few weeks later.

He went on to show a possible improvement

over lvanchuk's play:

18.Ad5!?, with unclear conse'

quences. The game was drawn)

16...4d4 (16...4d4 17.cd4 Wf6

18.Ea4+) 17.cd4 6:d4 (17...9f6

18.8a4+) 18.9d4 Eb3, and here

comes the high point of White's

idea: 19.Wd5!

16.tr91!

Wnning an important tempo.

16...4f4

16...h6 17.Ae3 is much better for

White, since his rook is on g1 and

cannot be attacked by Aa5;

16...ed4 17.gg5 We5 18.4d5+.

17.4e3

17.Eg4 is not so clear: 17...h5

18.E€3 ed4 19.Af4 (19.cd4 Ad4!

20.ad4 a,d4 2r.gt4 ab3)

19...9f4 20.cd4 Bf6.

L7...6eG

The only possible source of counterplay.

18.Ae6 fe619.trg3 €h8!

Defending against the threat of

20.p:95 gf7 21.4h6.

20.9d3

This move does not spoil anything,

but 20.8c1 was probably better,

and Black is left with almost no

counterplay at all.

2O...ed4 2L.cd4 e5 22.d5

22.Ecl? ad4 23.A,d4 ed4

24.dc7?? EbcS is to be avoided.

22...6:e7

Here I spent half an hour calculating

this position to the end, and

played'

23.AbG trb624.0:c7 Bb2

Or 24...696 25.de6 6f4 26.8e3.

25.6e6 trg8 26.&91!

Many other ideas are tempting,

but this is the best. White chases

away the enemy rook and then

goes on the offensive.

2A...a9627.Wa3

g

I.

E

ag,

& ,,4

Hii r:ii,i, lilili $

27...trb6

A very nice variation could hap-

34 ) NEw rN cHEss

pen if Black went 27...E..c21?

28.9d6 Q:f4. Here Black's initiative

is quite strong, so White returns

some of the material:

29.Wd7 6te2 (29...H9c8 30.trf1

Ae2 31.&92 ae3 32.h83 E2c3

33.f4 efL 34.6f4+-) 30.992 Ag3

31.h93 Ec3! 32.f4! (luckily, it's the

only move) 32...ef4 33.af4 Eg3

34.f93 gb2! (34...Wa1 is a big mistake:

35.696 hg6 36.Wh3 mate)

35.€8 Bc3 36.€e2 gb2 37.€d3

gb3 38.€d4 gb2 (38...9b4

39.€e5 Wb6!? (trying to discoordinate

White's pieces) 40.We7! Efb2

41.€e6 Wa1 and once again

42.496 hg6 43.9h4 mate) 39.€c5

Mc3 40.9d6 gb4 (40...9f6

41.8e6 Ed8 42.€c7+-) 41.€e6

We4 42.&f7 (what a journey!)

42...95 43.We6 Ee7 44.@f6 Wd4

45.E9e5, finally assuring the win.

28.€h1!

The point. White is perfectly coordinated

and is ready to tie up

Black completely with 29.Hag1.

28...414

During the game I was very worried

about 28...af8!?. However,

there was nothing to worry about.

I had seen the right idea: 29.8{a7!

Eb3! 30.695 h6 31.4f7 €h7, but

after 32.Eag1 (threatening to win

with 33.hd6) 32...E8! Black is

suddenly even better. However, a

closer look at the position reveals

32.Eh3!, and Black is forced to go

for 32...E8 (32...6e6 33.trh6 gh6

34.495 gh8 35.9h7 mate)

33.4e5 Bg5 34.trf3, winningi.

29.6,92r. Ae2 30.6f5!

That's what Alexey probably

missed. White has no intention of

protecting the exchange - once

Black takes on 93, the game will

be over.

30...trgb8 31.9d3 trb2

32.trf1!

Probably something \1ke 22.trg4

was winning also, but this move is

better - Black will be forced to

take on 93 quite soon.

32...Ea8

32...493 33.hg3 E2b3 34.9d1!

(34.We2 trbl with some chances)

34...trb1 35.Wb1 trbl 36.trb1 offers

no hopes.

33.8c4 Ag3 34.hg3

White is now winning easily.

34...Wd9 35.Wc1 trb3

36.992 Wf8 37.9c7

Black resigned.

NOIES BY

Vasily lvanchuk

CK 8.5

Alexey Shirov

Vaslly lvanchuk

Linares 1998 (9)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.6c3 de4

4.8te4 6d7 5.4g5 Adf6

6.4c4 e6 7.8e2 AdG

It is dangerous to capture on d4

with 7...tsd4 in view of the simple

8.41f3 gd8 9.6e5 6h6 10.4d2

followed by 11.0-0-0 with good

compensation.

8.4d2

8.41f3 h6 9.de4 6e4 10.We4

Af6 11.We2 would have led to a

typical Caro-Kann position, the

only difference being that the

bishop is not at d3, but at c4.

8...Wc7 9.0-O-O b6 10.a1f3

h6

NEw rN CHESS ) 35

A

$ 'E

Er ifi

i:iii:iir: ,,iiilt.,, ;iiiii:ii: c1l "-'

lLrn,qREsl

=

fl.4h3

It would be interesting to test the

piece sacrifice 11.h4!? Now in the

event of 11...hg5 -12.h95

trh1

13.Eh1 ads 14.8h8 6de7 (or

14...9f8 15.96! af4 r6.Af4 Af4

17.gb1rr) 15.96! af4 16.g3! ad2

I7.@d2 White obtains an attack,

while if 11...Ab7 he has 12.4f7!

gf7 fiz...Wf7 13.Ae6 We7

14.Ehe1-) 13.8e6 €f8 14.6e5!

Ae5 15.Ab4!! c5 16.dc5 and there

is no defence, despite the two extra

pieces. 11...6e7 would seem to

be best, maintaining the tension.

L1,...6:e7

11...9b7 is bad because of 12.6e5,

and if 12...de7? 73.6f71 @t7

14.We6 €e8 15.Wf7 winning.

12.he5 c5

12...afs!? deserved consideration,

with the idea of 13.c3 (bad is

13.6c6? Ab7) 13...c5!, and now if

14.94 Black has 14...6d4! 15.cd4

cd4 76.f4 (16.Af4 adsl 17.493 b5

18.Ed4 0-0rc; 16...b5? 17.trd4bcl

18.trhd1!+-) 16.f4 b5 17.4a5!

Wa5 18.Ab5 €f8 19.Ed4 AbTl

with an unclear game, or 13.4c3

ad5 (13...b5 L4.g4l@) 14.4d5 cd5

15.94 6e7 16.f4 with chances for

both sides.

13.Abs &faL4.6c4

$g irfi :A

,x

)\ :. Air:

':,:::::4)'A

'i.riii

A ii'.'',)

.::A:.. B rfr::'

A:'ii,\, A ;E

,,i:Ig

:.:::::ii .gi El

z

I l g

z 6

A reborn lvanchuk crushed Shirov with the black pieces

L4...cd4?l

A risky continuation that allows

White a strong initiative. 14...Q:fS

would have led to a sharp position:

15.dc5 (15.6d6 is worse in view of

15...4d4! 16.We5 abs) 15...4d4

(15...4c5 16.4f4+) 16.8d3 Ac5

17.4f4 gb7 fi7...We7 18.b4!)

18.b4! Ab5 19.bc5 and White has

the initiative.

Therefore 14...Ab7 looks more

solid:

A) 15.dc5 Ac5 16.4f4 Wc8-

77.ad6? ad6 18.4d6 ag2!;

B) 15.4d6 Wd6 16.dc5 (16.4f4

36 ) NEW IN CHESS

gd5) 16...9c5 17.f;} 6ed5, and,

despite White's two bishops, Black

had a sound position.

15.4d6 Wd616.Af4

Not 16.4c3 e5 17.f4 9g4 18.fe5

We6! with advantage to Black.

16...9ds

16...8c5!? came into consideration,

with the idea of answering!

17.Ed4 with 17...4a6!; if 17.Ae5

af5 18.4d3 Ad7 (18...6e3 19.Af6

Adl 20.We4!) 19.9f3 he5

20.Sa8 with an unclear game.

17.4e5?l

This leads to great complications.

After the simple 17.Ed4! gd4

18.Ed1 gd1 19.9d1 White's position

is preferable, as Black's king

is badly placed and his pieces are

uncoordinated.

L7...415?t

17...Va2?! is dangerous: 18.trd4

Aa6!? (18...4b7 19.Ea4 gds

20.Ed1 gg2 zlaf4t l2t.Ea7?

696!1, but stronger is 19.Ehd1! a

20.trd8 and 20.tra4; 18...Cd7

19.9f3!) 19.9f3! Ba1 (19...6fd5

20.8a4!\ 20.@d2 Wa5 21.b4 tsbS

22.Wa8 6e8 23.tre1 and White's

chances are clearly better, but

17...€.d7l? is correct: 18.4d7

(18.c4? Ab5!; 18.Ac4 Bg2 19.4d4

[or 19.4f4 We4 20.We4 6:e4

21.8d4 Ac6 22.Eet 695 23.Ad6

€e8! and Black beats off the attackl

19...Ac6! and Black stands

well, but not 19...8h3? 20.Af6 Ef6

2l.gd7-) 18...ad7 19.Ad4 Ba2

20.9b5e.

L8.c4?l

A dubious decision. White wins

the exchange, but loses the initiative.

18.€b1 was stronger:

A) 18...Ab7 19.f3 6e3 20.9d4

6d121.8d11;

B) 18...Ad7 19.4d3! 6e3

20.4f6 ad1 2l.Ae4+;

C) 18...4d7 19.4d7 Ad7 20.94

AbS 21.We1 ae3 22.AeZ @e7

23.fe3 BB 24.ed4 Wh3 25.Efe5+;

D) 18...6e4! 19.Ad3 (or 19.f4

Ab7-) 19...4b7 20.9e4 We4

27.W e4 Ae4 22.f3 Ac6 23.Ad4:.

ra...gcs

18...9g2 19.4f4 gb7 20.8hg11

(or20.9a4and Ac2).

19.9f3

An unclear game results from

r9.6f4 €,b7 20.affi We7, or

19.b4 gb4 20.Ac6 Ad7! (the following

line can hardly be good:

20...4a6 21.Aa8 &e7 22.9f3 EcSl

23.Wb2! EcA 24.@bI Wa5 25.Af6

€f6 26.€a1 Eb4 27.Wd2 Ac4

28.4c6! covering a4) 21.Aa8 6e5

and the best may be 22.We5 Wc4

with a draw by perpetual check.

1,1It$

A#

19...9e5!

19...4d5 would have led to very

complicated play, for example

20.94 a6 21.9f5 ab5 22.trd4, or

20.6f4 g,b7 2I.94 Ec8 22.9f5

Bb5 23.6e6!€g81.

20.8a8 Wc7

Alternatr've possibilities were

20...Wc5 (a 6d6) 2I.9a6 &e7

22.Wa7 6d7 23.Ab5 6d6se and

20...4d6!? 21.Aa6 95! 22.9-c8

@97*.

By activating his rook, Black obtains

the better game.

25.9.a4 e5 26.Ehe1 @97

27.9.c2?

Now White loses a pawn; 27.€bl

was better.

27...6h4 28.trd2 trc8 29.€b1

Ec430.691Ec5

30...4c8 and if 31.93 AfS also

looks good.

31.93 Ea5 32.9d3 6lgo

33.4b3 gd6

33...4d5 34.4d5 Ad5? 35.b4!;

33...4a6 34.9c4 b5 35.Sb3! and

the rook on a5 is locked out of

plav.

34.trc2e41

The decisive breakthrough.

ffiiffi

35.9c4 6e5 36.9c7 gb4

37.Ed1 Ad5 38.Ads trds

39.fe4 6,e4 4O.a3 gbs

4L.&a2 d3 42.trcc7- d2

43.Ec2 6d3

Complete domination of the black

pieces. There is no longer any defence

against Black's numerous

threats.

44.trcd2 trc5

4 4...o,b41 is more accurate.

45.9d8 Wc4 46.b3 6c3

21.8c6

47.€a1tra5

21.9a6 &e7 22.&bl Ed8 23.9f3 A picturesque position. Especially

Aa6 24.Wa3-.

noteworthy is the route followed

21...9b8 22.W13 Ab7 by the white knigfrt: after starting

23.Wa3

at b1, it went to c3, e4, g5, h3, and

23.4c6 Ac6 24.Sc6 g5+. ended up on g1l

23...€g8 24.t3951

White resigned.

NEwINCHESS,3T

Seventh Amber Tournament Monaco

Kramnik and Shirou

Win at Cont)enient Moment

Drnr J,qN rBN GouzeNoevt

very year on the eve of the

Amber tournament the issue

arises what should be

played first, the rapid games or

the blindfold games. What brings

out the best in a player who as a

daily routine has to play one rapid

and one blindfold game against

the same opponent? When on Previous

occasions the players were

polled there was a slight preference

to beSin with the blind chess,

but gradually the advocates of

playing the rapids first gained

ground. Ard so this year, for a

change, the rounds started off

with the rapid games.

To be honest, the question had

always seemed self-evident to me.

Wasn't it desirable to get the most

enerElJ/-consuming part, the blindfold,

behind you as soon as possible?

That's what I firmly believed

until in Linares Vladimir Kramnik

explained that the only natural

choice was playing the rapids first:

'After a blindfold game I cannot play

any other game. For a blindfold

game you have to concentrate verY

hard, whereas in the rapid you can

play routine moves for a while.'

Loek van Wely agreed, but for a

different reason: 'l'm better at

rapid chess, so playing the raPid

game first gives me better chances

to score a point in the first game.

Also I have discovered that mY

blindfold is better if I've alreadY

warmed up in another game.'

Others, like Veselin ToPalov,

took a different view: 'MaYbe it's

better to have the blindfold first

because in rapid you blunder less.

In any case you don't Put Your

pieces on wrong squares. There

were so many blunders this Year,

particularly in the blindfold.'

Which was only too true. Never

before was the number of oversights

in the blindfold games so

high as this time. With one notable

exception: Vladimir Kramnik.

The Russian grandmaster suPported

his opinion with an awesome

performance that resulted in

seven wins, three draws and onlY

one loss. An achievement that easily

made him the winner of blindfold

competition.

In fact, Kramnik's overall start

was impressive. After five rounds

he was leading the field bY a 2Yz

point margin! At that point the superior

winner of last year, Vishy

Anand, was already trailing bY 4%

points. Anand came to Monaco not

knowing what to expect. Was his

Linares form Eoin$ to continue, or

was he finally going to pay the

price for the intense schedule of

the preVious months? Quite soon

he found out that particularlY the

rapids were not going his waY, and

having arrived in Monaco alone he

quickly asked his wife and his second

Elizbar Ubilava to join him.

Gradually Anand recovered some

ground and in the end he finished

fourth in the combined and even

shared second in the blindfold.

Overall, however, his play lacked

the punch that made him unstoPpable

last year.

Kramnik was still in the lead after

Round 10, but did not enter

the last round as clear favourite

for first prize. Nter a hesitant

start Vasily Ivanchuk had Picked

up a murdering pace and seemed

poised to bridge the last half point

that separated him from the

Ieader. In the last round Kramnik

faced Anand, while Ivanchuk

38 ) NEW IN CHESS

=I

o

F

o

o

The entrance of the M6tropole Palace, the traditional venue of the Amber tournaments

played Sadler. Sadler, the only

new face this year, had had a

promising start in the rapids, but

had been completely helpless in

the blind games. At the outset of

the last round he had assembled

two points, one of them thrown at

him by Anatoly Karpov. After a

slow start the FIDE champion had

been fighting back admirably, and

scored a valuable point against

Kramnik in the rapid giame of the

previous round, but blundering

his queen against Sadler put an

end to his aspirations.

Indeed, Ivanchuk won his first

game agajnst Sadler with impressively

composed positional play,

but exactly in the blindfold game

he spoiled his chances in a tragical

way that many people thought

typical of him. Unfounded aggression

ruined his position in less

than no time and stopped him

threatening Kramnik, who drew

both his games against Anand.

Nevertheless, for Kramnik these

draws were not good enough for

sole victory. It was Alexey Shirov

who crowned another sparkling

display of inventive and uncompromising

chess with a 2-0 victory

over Van Wely to catch up with

Kramnik in the combined standings.

As the Spaniard summed up

his deft finish: 'The Linares tournament

cost me so much mental

energy that I didn't feel like getting

up from my bed to go to the

airport for another tournament.

Which was actually reflected in

the beginning. I drew a lost position

against Joel (Lautier) and

then I lost. This immediately sobered

me up. You cannot lose all

the time. And round by round I

got back into my shape.'

The shared first place of the two

participants in the World Chess

Council challengers final inevitably

invited the observation that

this must be a most welcome coincidence

for the credibility of the

new organization. Certainly, but

the winners themselves felt no

wish to draw any far-reaching conclusions.

Shirov felt elated, but

that did not keep him from puttinS

his victory in perspective:

'Before the last round everyone

was convinced that Ivanchuk

would win the tournament. But

that would not have compensated

NEw rN CHEss ) 39

ffficol

l--

E

for his result in Linares. That was

a serious tournament. Of course

this tournament means something.

Today I said jokingly that if

I win the last gathe I can claim to

be the combined winner of Linares

and this. Of course it's nice to win,

but if I came third or fourth I

wouldn't be upset. These are different

things. I find it important

that I didn't miss many opportunities

here. I managed to win a couple

of nice games. Also I was accustomed

to do badly in this tournament.

I never scor.ed more than

six points in one competition. This

big step foreward is very satisfyin8.'

As usual Vladimir Kramnik didn't

feel tempted to make any empty

boasts either: 'First of all this is

not a really serious tournament.

Kramnik:'Of course

o match between me

and Anand would

still be the best thing

this Woild Chess

Council could

imagine, but it's

good that mg match

with Shirou is not

without interest

either.'

Of course there are many great

players and of course it shows

something but I don't pay so

much attention.' On the other

hand, he did draw some conclusions

concerning his forthcoming

match: 'l can say that as for me

everything was more or less clear,

but with Alexey there were still

some questions. But with his results

of the last six months, and

now this, he ha: shown that he is

in good shape. Maybe it also shows

that now he is clearly one of the

best five players in the world.

That's good for this match. Of

course a match between me and

Anand would still be the best

thing this World Chess Council

could imagline, but it's good that

my match against Shirov is not

without interest either. If it only

had been his Linaies result people

=I

o

F

o

o

Vladimir Kramnik: awesome performance in the blindfold competition

40 ) NEW TN CHESS

might not take it seriously, but

now people will start taking it seriously.'

So what did Vishy Anand think

of this combined win of Kramnik

and Shrirov. The ideal result for

the WCC?: 'It's an interesting coincidence.

When they proposed the

idea of playing this match against

Kramnik to me in Wijk aan Zee,

then Kramnik and I won the tournament.

And then when I took myself

out of contention, Shirov...

Again, it depends on the credibility

you start with. If the credibility

is high you may add this, but I

don't think anyone really cares.

Even if obviously it came at a convenient

moment for them. I think

it is also a reflection that both of

them are getting ready for the

match. I often found that my best

tournament performances were

before a big important match.

Somehow you're tuned and you're

wired. It's like in 1993, I thought it

was quite ridiculous when both

sides (FIDE and PCA) were going

into this one-upmanship, like he

beat him here and he beat him

there. It doesn't mean anything in

the end. There are other factors.

But the result doesn't hurt them,

let's put it that way.'

fight for an advantage, when after

7...96 White plays 8.e4. Normally,

also in that line Black manages to

achieve equality, but the text

- poses Black no problems at all.

7...4f5 8.4d3 ad3 9.9d3

More precise is 9.4f6 (of course,

the same idea can be realized by

8.4f6 Cf6 9.4d3), because if my

b8 knight comes to d7 I will always

take back with the knight in

case of an exchange on f6. The

bishop is not well-placed on f6 and

I will have to move it to d6 anyway.

9...abd7

Of course, the position is still

equal, but if I had to choose I

would already prefer to play with

the black pieces.

1O.O-0 O-O 11.Eab1 aS L2.ag

6-le4

I thought it was the proper time to

play this move. Also interesting

and rather typical for this position

was to play 12...a4 myself to stop

White's play on the queenside.

E.g. 13. Wc2 E{a5 with an approximately

equal position.' On the

other hand, the pawn on a4 might

become weak, so I preferred the

text.

Struck by Blindness

The typical thing about the Amber

tournaments is that the different

editions are vividly remembered

both by the outstanding games

that were played and the most blatant

blunders that ruined less fortunate

attempts at immortality. In

a couple of years' time people will

reminisce: 'Ah, 1998, wasn't that

the year when Karpov hung his

queen against Sadler after 13

moves because in his mind he was

already working on the position after

move 14?' Yes, it was, and

there were more mishaps that

blew the players' minds.

Obviously we have selected the

most impressive efforts for closer

inspection in the analysis section.

On the other hand, in these days

when television inundates us with

blooper programs, we did not want

to deny you a small selection of

the most memorable blindfold accidents

of the seventh Amber tournament.

NOTES BY

Vladimir Kramnik

QO 7L.!L.4

Predrag Nikolic

Vladimir Kramnik

Monaco blind 1998 (3)

1.d4 af6 2.c4 e6 3.af3 d5

4.8tc3 cO 5.cd5 ed5 6.495

Ae7 7.e3

The more common move is 7.Sc2,

which in fact is the only chance to

13.4e7

This is a slight mistake. I would

prefer 13.4f4. After the exchange

on e7 we have a typical position:

both Black and White have a

queen, two rooks and a pair of

knights and a familiar pawn

Topalov-Sadler,

position after 16.ef6

16...9f6? (16...9h5) 17.h96

hg6 18.tre1 f5 19.4g5 trd7

2O.Ec1 EdhT 21.4h4 Aa4

22.We2 te4 23.3.e4 gh5

24.6:95 Ae7 25.o,h7 gh7

26.Ae7 gh2 27.&t1, Ab5

28.wb5

1-0

NEW IN CHESS ) 41

I MoNAcol

=

Alexey Shirov: 'combined winner of Linares and Monaco'

structure. Actually, I already won a

couple of games with this structure.

Also there is the famous

game Portisch-Kasparov from the

World Cup in Skelleftea in 1989,

that Kasparov won. That game illustrates

the problems that White

faces very well. If Black manages

to put his knight to d6 in this

pawn structure, White has absolutely

no counterplay and Black

will start play on the kingside. So,

just to avoid my knight from getting

to d6, I would have preferred

13.Af4 and after 13...6c3 14.Wc3

the position is absolutely equal.

Now I feel that Black is already a

bit better.

13...We714.b4 b5

Of course, I cannot play 14...ab4

15.ab4 Ea3 because of the cheap

tactic I6.Ad5. I could play

14...ab4 15.ab4 b5, but I decided

to play 14...b5 immediately, as I

can always take on b4. Besides, it

should be mentioned that b5 is

also a very typical move in this position.

It is only Eiood if one of the

black knights can get to c4. If not,

Black is clearly worse. Here, I am

getting to c4 by force and the

situation is becoming quite unpleasant

for White. So perhaps

14.b4 was premature. He might

have prepared it with moves like

Efcl and 6e2 and only then b4.

15.9c2 ab4

I could have tried 15...4d6 right

away, but I was a bit worried about

16.a4. The complications may be

quite favourable for me but I saw

no reason to give White any additional

chances.

16.ab4 4d617.trb3

Here Nikolic realized that his position

was quite unpleasant. On the

text he spent about ten minutes,

but still his decision doesn't look

very fortunate. He was worried

about my playing Ea3 at some

point, but the rook on b3 is misplaced.

It is difficult to suggest another

plan as there is no real plan

for White. The only thin[ he can

do is to put his pieces on the best

defensive positions. And one day

he will have to fight for the a-file.

With the rook on b3 this is not so

easy.

17...4b6

I could have played 17...Q-:c4 immediately,

but as my knight on d7

wouldn't be too impressive I

rather went there with the other

knight. I had no complaints about

my knight on d6.

18.4e5 Efc8 19.hd3 hbc4

2O.6c5 tre8

42 ) NEW IN CHESS

I didn't want to give him any

chance to free his position. So, I

played the text, even if e4 was not

yet a real threat.

21.h3

This was not such a good move,

even if this is a bit hard to see. I

have two plans in this position.

Firstly, to double rooks on the a-

file, but I didn't believe that I

could make this plan work. I didn't

really see how I could €et a deci

sive advantage that way. Secondly,

to start an attack on the kingside.

With the pawn on h3, the plan I finally

decided on, the sacrifice on

e3, is much more effective, as the

S3-square is very weak. What is

more, after 21.h3 I understood

what I should do.

2L...9622.trc7,tra7

A double-purpose move. I still

might try to double on the a-file,

but I may also try to double rooks

on the e-file.

23.9d1h5

As I intended to play E9g5 I

wanted to take away the 94 square

from his queen. I was also hoping

to play Af5 at some point and

wanted to do this at a point when

e4 was not possible.

24.€h1ggs 2s.trbb1

He finally returns to his plan to

fight for the a-file.

tifrl

!!:=:i,l

I

I

A

;!iiil;;'it E

I iiliiiiiiii

25...trae7

And I switch to the e-file. On the

other hand it was also quite a

I

i;l:i:,::,l.li

A

$x#

€

good plan to play for the a-file

with 25... Eea8 or first 25...8a3. I

let him exchange only one pair of

rooks and after that he is unpleasafrtly

tied up. But after White had

played h3 and €hl I thought that

going for the sacrifice on e3 was

the best plan. Unfortunately, the

immediate 25...4t5 was not correct

because of 26.e4.

26.tra16f5

Now the threat 6e3 becomes very

real.

27.tra2

He has to defend the second rank.

27...dce3t

I felt that I had done everything

my position required. I did not see

any move that could further improve

it.

28.fe3 Ee3 29.trf2

This was his best chance or perhaps

even his only move, because

Black has many threats.

29...9h4

The correct way to proceed, I just

want to take all the pawns: d4 and

b4.

30.9d2

Again the only move.

30...6d431.Ecf1

His wish is of course to bring one

of his knights to the defence, but

for the moment he cannot do this.

If he moves his knight from c5

Black has always 6b3, and right

now 31.6d3 also fails to 31...9d3.

31....Afs32.trfs

Ljubojeviclvanchuk,

position after 55...trf8

s6.€gs? (56.€96!+-) s6...trg8

57.€f5 Ef8 Draw.

Shirov-Karpov,

position after 53.hg6

53...614? 54.Ef4 1-O

ll

-^r

iF,,l,.iirtA """

itiliiii

$tr

E'

atr

::jrij+lii:

AD

a

ii#

tffi

ffiii

A

ItQil

Karpov-Sadler,

position afler L2...e4

13.Ef7 ed3 O-1

NEw rN CHEss ) 43

His position.looks lost already, but

this move speeds up the defeat.

His only chance was to play 32.

€g1 and after 32...Wb4 33.4d5

he may be objectively lost, but

there still would be some practical

chances. .However, I simply play

33...€9c5 and he can take the exchange

back with 34.6f8 or

34.A:8, but it doesn't matter, he's

behind too many pawns and his

kinS is too weak.

32...$ts 33.4d1

Maybe he missed that he could not

play 33.6d3 because of 33...Wd4.

Or even more precise the immediately

winning 33...993

33...tre1 34.€g1 tr8e2

35.8c3 trd1

White resigned.

I liked this game because it was so

typical of this pawn stfucture.

White seems to have a very solid

structure,'but if he makes a few

mistakes the black initiative gets

very dangerous.

T=

Alexey Shirov

Kt 7t.7

Anatoly Karpov-

Alexey Shitov

Monaco rapid 1998 (3)

1,.d4 atB 2.c4 gG 3.4f3 Ag7

4.g3 o-0 s.Ag2 dG 6.0-o Ac6

7.4c3 a6 8.Ee1trb8 9.8b1

Again Karpov 6loes for this variation.

I had already faced it three

times against him before this Same

and I never managed to equalize

even if I almost won in Wijk an Zee

1998. So, this time I made another

attempt to save Black's honour.

9...8e8

On other occasions I tried 9...4f5,

9...b5 and 9...6a5 but all without

success.

10.d5 ha5 L1'.D'd2 c5

L2.a3l?

A new move which looks stronger

to me than 12.b3 which has been

played before.

E:.A,g4 E "'&i!,1ii,i

I f iliiiiiiii ;it f I

I fi,,t

fi

ti*'

ifiA

) < :,i.

,,: q)

n

25

i# ,a A

iiitriHw,Ej

L2...694t?

Trying to create complications.

The natural 12...b5 13.cb5 ab5

14.b4 cb4 15.trb4!? would yield

White a slight advantage.

13.Wc2 Ae5 14.b3 b5 15.h3?!

This turns out to be too slow. He

should have played 15.cb5 ab5

16.b4! cb4 l7.ab4 A\ac4 18.6c4

and I must admit that I don't like

the position after 18...bc4 very

much for Black, while 18...6c4?

just fails to 19.4b5.

15...bc4 16.bc4 Eb1 17.hcb1

Wb6! 18.hc3!

SABINE KAUFMANN

LA PART DU JEU

The World Elite of Chess PlaYers:

aClrronicle ofthe Years 1985-1997

Editions Furor, Gendve, December 1997.

134 Photographs Black and White,

Quotes and BriefTexts (in French),

144pp.,24x29 cm, Bound, Hardcover

Order Form lo:

Editionr Furor,

35 D. Avenue de Miremont,

CH- l 206 Gendve, Swilzerlond

Pleose send me ..... copies of

Lo Port du Jeu by Sobine Koufmonn.

Editions Furor, Genlve 1997.

Price per book:

Europe:

USA:

Nome:

Address

Doie- -

SFr. 90.-

Dfl. 'l 25.

us $ 60.

Garry Kasparov, Grandmaster Toumament Dofimutd 1992

plus postoge SFr. 5.-

plus posloge DFI 6.-

plus posloge US$ 8.-

Signoture

44 ) NEW tN CHESS

By tactical means White saves the

pawn which otherwise would drop

after, for example,l8.f4? 6ec4.

18...Afs!

Of course, 18...6ac4?? was impossible

due to I9.6c4 8:c420.Wa4.

L9.e4 Ad7 20.adl

After the game Karpov claimed

that this move was too passive.

The other (and probably better)

option was 20.de2l? g5 with unclear

play.

20...trb8!

I was thinking about the funny

knight sacrifice 20...[,b3r.?, but the

position after 21.9b3 E9b3

22.4b3 Aa4 23.Q:c5 dcl 24.db2

seemed quite unclear to me. Meanwhile

with the text I could already

hope for the advantage.

21,.t4?l

Played without much thinking and

probably bad. However, Black's position

is already preferable anyway,

for example 21.6,e3? loses to

27...4b3, while after 21.8e3 95

Black is better.

21,...4a41

This was, of course, the idea behind

the previous move.

22.Wa4 ad3 23.4f3

On 23.trf1 6c1 wins.

23...6e1!!

If I just took back the bishop, the

position would be unclear after

23...6-:cI 24.e5. By taking the rook

Black sacrifices some material but

penetrates with the heavy pieces.

As it turns out White has practically

no defence.

24.he18b125.Wa5?!

On 25.4e3 Ab3 26.4f3 Ad4 wins

- for Black.

25...Wc126.4f3

No better is 26.8a4 Ebl 27.Af3

Wd2 28.We8 Af8 29.9f1 gh2

and Black wins.

26...gd427.&h2l

27.€f1 Eb3 winning.

27...E,b3?

With victory within reach, Black

starts to err. The easiest way was

27...Wc4.

28.h4! tra3?

Again not the best. A relatively

forced win would be achieved after

28...&97 29.h5 ghs 30.4h5 tra3

31.9d8 Wd2 32.a92 tra2

(32...e91 33.eh3) 33.4f3 gd3

34.We7 Af6 35.9d7 Wf3 36.6de3

gh5 37.9h3 (if 37.991 Ad4 winninS)

37...9h3 38.€h3 €f8

39.6f5 Ae7.

29.9d8 €g7

30.e5??

l::u:: tr#

r.,r.i 'ir''i'r

'aii i;fiiir I

iiii:ri i' ,r.:rlif:iliiiXiii

iiiliiA i iiii i:iiiiil:

iiiiiiai aii i ffi

:l::, ': :,,! "!iiii:,, A !::::!::! 8,,7\:,

,,:4,:

,,.:::.t iiiiiit:,,,;i :,1i,ii,iii,

iffiarfii ;'i

Now it's all very easy. However, after

30.h5! threatening 31.h6 gh6

32.9f8, this would not have been

the case!

A) 30...9d2? 37.a92 trf3 32.h6

gh6 33.9f8 Ae7 (33...eh5

34.9f7 Ef1 35.9h7 gg4 36.Wg6

gB 37.9h5 ge4 38.996 is

equal) 34.Efe7 f6 35.We6 trg3

36.€93 gd1 37.9h3 ghs

38.We6 with equality was more or

less what I saw during the game

Kramnik-Piket,

position after 51.4h3

s1...€f6? (51...h5=) s2.ag2 hs

53.h3 &e5 54.4f3 &t4

55.€e2 1-O

Ljubojevic-Sadler,

position after 18.ESa1

18...€g8? t9.Ag7 (10 in 55

moves)

',,,,...,.,iii.iiiiii.',ii.i..

:,;.i',',,:,i i ii:ii:i: ,,1::,,,,, :ili::i:

A.......... ',,4, , ,I

:;..:., .Fflll r :-:!

E!i:: ',r.. :i

-

,n,

, l I.:. : : :,' ll r:::

:E[,,, (! ,:: ,:,, ,'r,r

t.

::n

,..: ii/\

Anand-Lj ubojevic,

position after 49...Ea3

NEW IN CHESS ) 45

I MoNAcol

=

50.9d2? 50.€b2+- 50...€d4

51.4f1 BaA 52.trc7 Eb4

53.a7 tra4 54.trc6 tra2

55.€e1 ad7 56.8a6 tra6

57.Aa6 AcG 58.€e2 €c5

s9.€f3 gb6 60.4f1 &a7

61.9f4 €bO 62.&fs Ae8

63.€e5 €c5 64.h4 d4

6s.Ad3 A17 66.Ae2 A96

67.h5 al7 68.€f6 ac4

69.Ad1 Af1 7O.Ac2 €c4

7L.&E7 Draw.

EO 63.3

Vasily lvanchuk

Matthew Sadler


1.c4 b6 2.d4 eB 3.4c3 Ab7

4.e4 Ab4 5.8c2 gh4 6.d5

Ac3 7.bc3 hf6 8.4d3 6aG

9.4f3 gg4 10.0-0 /Ac5 11.h3

gg6 12.aes whs 13.f4 ad3

L4.9d3 d6 1s.af3 0-o-o

16.Ae3 EheS 17.Eae1 AaG

18.4d4 ed519.ed5

z

l z

F

Staring at an empty screen that only shows the opponent's last move.

Vishy Anand during one of the blindfold games.

but the postmortem 'fritzy' analysis

established that after

B) 30...Ef3! Black would probably

maintain a decisive advantage

according to the following variations:

81) 31.4f3 gd1 32.h6 €h6

33.ad4 (33.Wf8 €h5 34.6d4

€g4! wins for Black) 33...cd4

34.We7 Be2 35.€h3 (35.€e1 d3

36.995 @97 37 .e5 de5 38.fe5 Bf3

39.d6 h6! is winning for Black)

35...9f1 36.€h2 wfz 37.9h3

Wg1! 38.g4 We3 39.€h4 Wf2

40.9h3 Wf4 and Blackwins;

82) 31.h6 €h6 32.Wf8 Ag7

33.8e7 trf4 34.9f4 Wf4 35.CC2

Wg4 36.9f1 gd1 37.9h4 ghs

38.Wf4 g5 39.9d6 f6 with a clear

advantage for Black.

30...9d2 31-.a92 Ef3 32.Me7

deS 33.h5 Wd1

White has no perpetual check,

therefore he resigned.

'Iii

A,I'

,,iiiriir.

.:.i:iii::

ii:liit

q ,,,,

r ) ::::::':':

r .r E:!:::!!!:

@);,,E,,E,,i,;

ir..

e:.ts. ts... : ":!

t;, jii,il I 'i ijl

;i; ;

,,..ii.i..

ifi'

,;,,.,t,:t A,ilr,llir, lii:iiiiiir,g

A .,\. :,,,l:,

t\ c|\ .l

l1'.S&

,,,,,:::.'. A

/)H:::':::,D

, .:!! l:,,.;,; ; :!.,,

/ \

::::

'',,i i trffi

19...9d5 20.Wc2 Ac4 21.EfS

c5 22.6tb3 tre7 23.4c1 EdeB

24.&h2 wc6 25.9f5 gd7

26.ggs ads 27.1s f6 28.993

tre3 29.trfe3 tre3 30.tre3 6e3

31.We3 gfs 32.8e8 *c7

33.8e7 gd7 34.9f8 €b7

35.a3 d5 36.€93 d4 37.cd4

cd4 38.wb4 wc7 39.€h4 wf4

40.g4wt2 O-1

46 ) NEwrN CHEss

cA 4.2.5

Vasily lvanchuk

Vladimir Kramnik


Ld4 AfG 2.c4 eG 3.4f3 d5

4.g3 Ae7 s.Ag2 0-0 6.8c2

A rather innocuous continuation

that does not promise White much

ofan advantage.

6...c5 7.0-O cd4 8.hd4 hc6

9.hc6 bc61O.b3 AaG LL.Ab2

trcaL2.6,d2d4?t

Possibly inspired by the five and a

half(!) points he gathered from his

first six blindfold glames, Kramnik

vigorously tries to take the initiative.

The drawback of this move is

that the bishop on a6 will be out

of play. Better looked 12...Wb6 fol-

Iowed by trfd8.

13.trfe1!

Less convincing was 13.6f3 c5

14.e3 de3 15.trad1 Wb6l (not

I5...ef2 16.trf2 Wb6 17.695 and

18.8f6 is a lethal threat) 16.fe3

with a level position.

13...c5 14.e3 e5 15.4f3 AdG

After 15...6d7 t6.ed4 ed4 17.We4

tre8 t8.Ah3! White stands somewhat

better.

16.trad1 Ee8 17.ed4 cd4

Perhaps still overly ambitious. After

17...ed4 White is only marginally

better.

-18.49s9619.f4!

The moment has come for White

to start an attack.

!!: ErttafE :i:: I : :i

,,; ,, ErHE,, ,.., B ,

,"t iiii:iiili ii 1f.riiii$ii'f

A... :. i 'fii |..

.iiii:iiii ttlit ,fi:i :fi

:.:::::n : :l ::::::::::

:::.:::::21 , ,: i!!!!!!!!!

A W,. ,. ,1, ,A,4,

i ':titiiiiii'tr' W

19...4c5?

And Black does not find the right

answer. After the game the players

tried hard to find an improvement.

19...9b6 is not very convincing after

for example 20.9h1 ef4

21.Ee8 EeS 22.9d4 Ac5 23.4f6

Vf6 24.6te4 WeS 25.941 Perhaps

bestwas 20-.6941? 21.4d5 Ab7.

20.9d2!

And not 20.€h1 694!

20...9b6

Now 20...494 is no longer effective

because of 21.4d5! d322.@92.

21,.tei Ab4

Again 21...d3 22.&hl 694 would

run into 23.4d5.

22.Wt2 Ae1 23.He1, d3

24.ad4 wd8

Now Ivanchuk saw that the strong

but simple 25.trf1 forces immediate

surrender, but he couldn't resist

playing a move for the gallery.

25.6t71? a,94

As 25...€f7 hits on 26.4d5.

26.Wf4 Wa5 27.trfl, trf8

28.e6 Wh5 29.9g4!

And as 29...Wg4 30.4h6 is mate,

Black resigned.

(Notes based on comments by

Alexander Sulypa)

NEW IN CHEss ) 47

Prescription for Success

Er,rzRsorH KARNAZES

American writer Mark

Twain often aptly stated,

'Sometimes a dose of

Bermuda is just urhat

the doctor ordered.' It is

difficult to imagine a

more pleasant site for an

international chess

festival. Just add the

gracious and generous

support of tournament

benefactors, Brian

Alkon, Nick Faulks, and

Nigel Freeman, and it's

easy to see why an

invitation to the

Mermaid Beach Club

Tournament is one of

the most sought after

invitations in the world

of chess.

aying claim to the'prettiest

private beach in Bermuda,'

the Mermaid Beach Club

rests high atop a cliff overlooking

the turquoise seas and pink sand

beaches of Bermuda's Warwick

Coast. Bermuda's tiny collection

of islands lies some 580 miles due

east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

It is one of the most isolated

places on earth. At its widest point

the island of Great Bermuda is

only two miles across, and the sea

can been seen from almost anywhere.

A great part of Bermuda's

charm lies in the fact that Bermudians

pride themselves as being

their own private country, separate

and apart from their Caribbean

island neighbors to the

south. Despite its close proximity

to the United States, life on Bermuda

reflects very British traditions.

Bermudan buildings constructed

mainly of local coral

stone and limestone are found in

an array ofpastel colors, strikingly

beautiful to the eye. Bermuda is

host to over two hundred species

of birds. Hibiscus, oleander, poinsettia,

Easter lilies and many

other flowering plants and trees

bloom profusely on the island.

Amidst Bermuda's inspiring natural

beauty, one senses a tranquil

and relaxed atmosphere among

the local population. Bermudians

are generally well-educated, gainfully

employed, and intolerant of

cnme.

This year's Bermuda International

Chess Festival began with

the annual Mermaid Beach Club

Invitational Event held from January

25 through February 5, 1998.

Tournament organizer Nigel Freeman

decided to replace the traditional

round-robin event with a

Scheveningen tournament with

two teams df ten playing one another.

Freeman organized a team

of ten Europeans and ten players

from North and South America to

compete in the Category XI event.

In the end, the Americas were victorious,

scoring 53% points to the

Europeans 46% points.

Freeman takes great pride in his

policy of providingl strong, young

players with opportunities for IM

and GM norms each year at the

tournament. This year was no exception.

Freeman's skill in organizingthe

event provided Brazilian

IMs Rafael Leitao and Giovanni

Vescovi with the opportunity to

make GM norms. Earning his third

and final norm in Bermuda,

eighteen-year-old Leitao joined

Henrique Mecking Jaime Sunye-

Neto, and his mentor Gilberto Milos

among the ranks of Brazilian

48 ) NEW IN CHESS

GMs. Vescovi achieved his first GM

norm with, like Leitao, a round to

spare. More GM norms should

soon be forthcoming for the talented

young player.

IM Maurice Ashley of New York

just missed achieving his final GM

norm with a tough final round

loss with the black pieces to GM

Elect Michael Bezold of GermanY.

Wth all these outstandinE Performances

by his team mates, tournament

winner GM Alexander

Shabalov had to be in top form to

capture clear first. Shabalov

launched a seven-game winning

streak, after a first round loss and

a second round draw, by defeating

Russian GM Alexander Baburin,

who currently resides in Dublin.

This was Shabalov's first win

against Baburin, the top-rated

player on the European team.

All in all, a fine time was had by

the everyone participating in the

Bermuda International Chess Festival.

Even the seasonal rain

storms could not dampen their enthusiasm.

Side events such as dinners

hosted by Nigel Freeman and

his Yorkie, Toffee, cocktail parties,

basketball games, soccer matches,

swimmingl, and backgammon provided

no shortage of excitement.

This was particularly true since

French backgammon champion

Thierry Manouck was in attendance.

On a side note, tourists are not

allowed to rent automobiles in

Bermuda. Many of the players

rented motor scooters for their

stay on the island. This year, as in

the past, there were some serious

injuries. Those who visit Bermuda

for future festivals are reminded

that motor scooters are not toys

and should be driven with great

caution. Better yet, take a taxi!

NOTES BY

Alexander Baburin

sr 33.14.4

- Alexander Shabalov

Alexander Baburin

Bermuda 1998 (3)

I was truly impressed by Alexander

Shabalov's powerful PlaY

throughout the tournament. This

game, which I lost to him in

Round 3, exemplified his stron$

play.

1.e4 c5 2.6f3 g6 3.d4 cd4

4.ad4 Ag7 5.c4 6c6 6.4e3

:i,Miii;,"::r;!;:US$,i,,

i:llV!l,','

'i{IlJ|,i:ii:ii1:

6fG 7.6c3 o,94 8.W94 ad4

9.gd1e5

I spent the morning before the

game preparing this line, which I

hoped would surprise Shabalov,

since I had never played it before.

Unfortunately for me, he was very

well prepared. He played:

10.4d3

A solid choice. In this system,

which has become quite popular

in recent years, White often plaYs

10.4b5, immediately putting Pressure

on the d4-knight.

1O...0-O 11.0-0 dG L2.a4 aG

,:,i:i2500iii:ir:iri,,;,,ii:1514r,,,;:,1: 2599

.i260Oiiii

,r,

:'

, ^FiF:::: z3ttc ll:

s.iflAqES6=nii il.i r:iiii::i$U::::iir::i,eN,,S : ;,,ijiiigS80,

9 Gofiiialliii;;;;,,,,, ; :ri,lMilii 1,1;1;;i;EN9jijii.iXii.2.41rs

:.j.ri::ri::,.;iiir:Hi:iiiiipfiiUf .,;:.iiiiiiif +;,ii

NEW rN cHEss D 49

I knew the following game:

12...4e6 13.ab5 a6 74.6d4 ed4

15,4d2 Ec8 16.8b3 Wd7 17.a5

Ec5 18.8a4 Be7 19.Efe1 EfcS

20.b3, where White was better and

won in King-Rogers, 1996. I tried

to deviate from that scenario so as

not to allow 6c3-b5.

13.a5 Ae6 L4.Wa4l

E:iii;i;:: :. ii e ii

l...... ,,!..{' ...'1.

::Al lli;,1;i ;irfiii :i1.,1,

Wii,i,,,""A.fi.I i'i,,, . ..l.

,,i.,i....' ,(AtH

'icia

.':tt::t:

D] i ia &

intr

I believe that this is a new move.

White does not rush to utilize the

dS-square, concentrating his

forces on the queenside first. After

the immediate l4.ad5, Black

eliminates this knight at once -

14...4d5. After 15.cd5 b5, Black is

fine.

14...8c8

I did not want to move this rook to

c8, as it does not allow me to play

...b6 (b5) later on. However, I

could not find any particularly

useful move instead of the text.

Perhaps, here, Black has to play

14...f5. Still, White is better after

15.ef5!? (15.4d4!? ed4 16.6d5

Ad5 17.ed5) 15...4f5 16.4b6. I

also thought of something like

14...b5, but I did not like the positions

arising after 15.ab6 (15.cb5

ab5 16.6b5 6b3 17.Ea3 Ea5

18.9b4 tra3 19.ba3 ac5)

15...9b6 16.b4, when White can

find a way to strengthen his position

further.

15.4d5 Ad516.cd5 Ec5

Played to provoke b2-b4 at some

point. That move would have

taken away the b4-square from the

white queen and would have decreased

White's chances on the

queenside. Despite long thinking

over that move, I could not find

anything better, nor can I find a

better alternative now.

17.trfc18e7 18.8c5!

Excellent judgment! White needs

to create a target on c5, as well as

to weaken the eS-pawn. After

18.b4 Ecc8, Black would have

reached his goal (the b4-square is

no longer available for the white

queen) and would have been quite

happv.

18...dc5 19.trc1 Ed8 2O.Wc4

ata21,.t4t

:::::: !!:t::

.,:': '.E.. 9"'.

i:Xi A iiti iitii"

ii:ii;ii:ip;fiiA| i; ll,,i.iii:

!n:: .it :::::! A

',8

'

,, ,'r A,,A'

The pressure from White was very

unpleasant here, and I failed to

find any counterplay, despite

spending 29 minutes thinking before

my next move. When White

eliminates both the e5 and c5

pawns, Black's knight will be

hanging in the air. This knight

looks good in the centre, but, alas,

has almost nothinS to do.

21...Wf6 22.b4 et4 23.trf1 b5

24.ab6 gb6 2s.Af4

Even better was 25.8f41, and

White should win after 25...Ah6

(also bad is 25...Ad6 26.e5 Ae5

27.bc5 or 25.,a5 26.d6\ 26.bc5

Bb8 27:d6 Af4 28.Af4.

25...9b4 26.Wa6 ab3??

A ridiculous idea conceived in

time-trouble. Black had to play

26...997, although this position

remains very difficult.

27.Ae5t

New in Chess on lnternet

http:/ / nic.net4u.nl

Which tournaments are covered live on the net?

See our events page

50 ) NEwrN CHESS

N

z

I F

N

=

The winning team of the Americas: (left to right) lppolito, Benjamin, Ashley,

Lesiege, Waitzkin, zamola, Leitao, Vescovi, Shabalov and D. Gurevich

Now, it's all over.

27...Ae7 28.Wa7 c4 29.dG

Ee8 30.gd7 gb6 31.€h1

Wd8 32.4c4!

Black resigned.

NOTES BY

Alexander Baburin

Nt 5.8

Alexander Shabalov

Michael Bezold

Bermuda 1998 (6)

L.d4 atB 2.c4 eG 3.6c3 Ab4

4.e3 c5 5.4d3 d5 6.4f3 0-O

7.0-O AbdT 8.4d2

This is a very unpretentious move;

probably White just wanted to

avoid the main streams of theory.

8...cd4 9.ed4 Ac31O.Ac3 b6?!

Allowing White to support his c-

pawn, Black is making it harder

for himself to fight for the centre,

as challenging the hanging pawns

in the future, Black might open up

diagonals for White's bishops. I

think that Black can achieve a

comfortable position here by playing

10...dc4 11.4c4 6b6 12.4d3

6bd5, as White's dark-squared

bishop is not a great piece in such

positions.

11.b3! Ab7 L2.trc1, dc4

13.bc4 Ee8 7-4.tre1- Bc7

15.h3 trac8 16.a4 a5

In this pawn formation it's very

important to challenge White's

central dominance, so perhaps

Black should have played

16...4f3!? 17.Wf3 e5 instead of

16...a5. In this line he gets to attack

White's hanging pawns.

17.tre3 hG 18.We2 ah5

19.9d2 at4 2O.Af1 tred8

21.trce1 ag6 22.Wb2

NEw rN CHEss ) 51

{

o

o

Americas'topscorer Alexander Shabalov: powerful play throughout the tburnament

Both players have been manoeuvring,

trying to exploit their advantages

- for Black it's pressure

on the hanging pawns, while for

White it's the potential pawn of

his bishop pair. Now Black decides

to speed things up:

22...4t3

I would imagine that it was really

hard to foresee the outcome of

this operation.

23.trt34h4

This is the point of Black's plan -

he is indirectly attacking the c4-

pawn.

24.trd3

I am sure that Shabalov did not

hesitate to play this move. After

24.Efe3 af5 25.E8 Black would

have a choice between 25...ad4,

repeating the position and

25...4d6, hitting the c4-pawn.

24...Wc4 25.d5 e5 26.trg3

This is more adventurous than

26.4e5 6e5 27.WeS 6:96.

26...Wds 27.9.e5 afs 28.Ed3

We6?

Black goes wrongl, but defence in

situations like this is not an easy

task. A better defence would be

28...Wc6!. Only after 29.trc3

Black's queen should go to the e-

file - 29...8e6 (but not 29.6c5?

because of 30.497!!, when White

gets a strong attack after 30...W96

31.4f6 6a4 32.Ec8 Ec8 33.We5).

Then White has full compensation

for the pawn, but Black's defence

is hard to crack.

29.wd2l

White kills two birds with one

stone - he protects the rook on

e1, threateningi 30.4g7, and pins

the d7-knight.

29...WcG 30.trd5!

All of a sudden the sleeper on f1

comes to life with devastating effect!

Now Black is helpless against

the threat of 31.4b5.

I

A

52 ) NEw rN CHESS

30...6e7 31.EdG W a4 32.9:97

6f5 33.4a1?

White had a much better move -

33.Ah6!, after which he is certainly

winning, since his last move

eliminated a very important defender

of Black's king.

33...trc2?

Returning the favour. Obviously

Black cannot take the rook -

33...ad6, because of 34.8h6 f6

35.tre7, but 33...Wc2! would give

him some chances.

34.Wd3+- Bf4 35.9c2 6d6

36.8c7

Black resigned.

The two young Brazilian stars

scored 7t/z in Bermuda, which was

a clear point above the GM-norm.

For Rafael Leitao it was his final

norm. Here are two of his games:

NOIES BY

Rafael Leitao

K\79.7.5

James Plaskett

Rafael Leitao

Bermuda 1998 (4)

L.c4 6lt6 2.atg g6 3.6c3 Ag7

4.d4 O-O 5.495 d6 6.e3

This system is very solid but gives

no problem for Black.

6...c6 7.4e2 hbdT 8.0-0 Ee8

9.Wc2 e5 10.trfd1 ed4l

11.Ed4

A slight surprise. I thought my opponent

would play the more natural

11.6d4 (11.ed4 6f8 with a

good game), and after 11...a5

Black doesn't have any problems.

The text-move starts tactical play.

L1-...6tc5L2.trad1Af5

12...4f8 is too passive.

13.9c19a5

13...4f8? runs into 74.e41 9e4 (ot

14...6ce4 15.8:e4 tre4 l6.Ee4

Ae4 77.Wf4 Afs 18.e4) 15.9f4

Cf5 16.trd6 Ad6 17.Ed6 and

White wins; 13...Wb6 14.4f6 gf6

15.8d6 Ac3 16.bc3t.

14.AfG AfG 15.trd6 Ac3

16.Wc3 9a217.Wb4

Black was threatening both

1,7 .,Q:e4 and 17 ...8:a4.

L7...6,e4 18.EGd3 a5!

19.9b3

19.9b7? Eab8 (not 19...6c5

20.Ea3!) 20.Wc6 trec8 21.Wd5

(21.8a6 6c5) Zl...trb2 22.4d2

Af6 is fatal.

19...9b3 20.trb3 6c5 21.tra3

After a more or less forced sequence

a slightly better ending for

Black has arisen. This advantage is

due to Black's queenside majority.

21-...a41

A good move, controlling the b3

square and expanding the queenside.

22.6,d4 Ad7 23.ac2

The start of a bad plan. White

should have improved his position

with 23.8. After 23.:.f5! (it is important

to hinder 24.e4) 24.&f2

Ea6 despite Black's more comfortable

position White has everything

in order.

23...4fs

I decided to gain time before

choosing a plan.

24.ad4 Ad7 25.6c2

E

,1:iii;

,.:i:ii

ii,;iiri,

I

E,

Lr'i1,L;:;t!

iiitilii,,l

|

::1,1:t;1

ifi,

. t2 ...... : D,,

.i.\:!! ,\ ::

:

,,4

E i:ll::l:@ :

t,;,r,,,r,),

I litil',tt I

ii,r;r,:,, L'::l ,.

....i,:...l::i:tiii:,

n ' .,,"

a \

&

6B&"B.'

Ll'o

': '

.,,.i.::if.iiiiiiii

C9f'

D'

Here an interesting episode took

place. My opponent made his

move and said something like 'Are

you playing for a win?' In the heat

of the battle I thought he had said

'I'm playing for a win!', therefore I

decided not to repeat moves again.

2s...€f8

25...Ha6 was more useful. If

26.D,b4 then 26...Eb6 27.4d3

affi 28.Edd3 Ae6 29.trd2 Eb4

30.c5 Eb8!, followed by 31...b6,

with a large advantage.

26.ab4&e7 27.6d3?l

Much better was 27.f3, with a level

game.

27...4b328.6cL?t

Plaskett seems to have an obsession

for my knight.

28...6c129.8c1b5

My king is closer to the centre and

my queenside pawns start to roll.

Plaskett decides to sacrifice the

exchange to eliminate my pawns.

3o.cb5 cbS 31.8c7 trec8

32.trd7 €d7 33.4b5 €e7?

I played this move immediately but

it's not the best. Correct was

33...9d6 34.93 trabS 35.4a4 Eb2,

because White can't enforce the

rook swap.

34.93 EabS

34-.trc2 35.4a4 trb2 36.trb3!

forces the exchange because

36...trd2? 37.trb7 €f8 38.4b3 is

bad for Black.

35.4a4 trb2 36.trb3! tra2

37.trb7 6d6 38.8d7 €e6

cl 1:

ET

39.trd4?

I

E l',,,,;; 1,,,,,:iiiii; I

:..,- g>,ii:,r,,,., I

iliiiii:i:t

Ai ;:A

:&a

:df

Necessary was 39.4b3, exchang-

NEW lN CHESS ) 53

ing rooks. After 39.4b3 €d7

40.4a2 9e7 an interesting ending

arises. Black will try to put his

king on e1 to attack the f2 pawn.

But White should be able to draw

by attacking Black's kingside

pawns. For example: 41.h4 h6

42.@ g2 Ec7 43.€B @ d6 44.& 94.

39...8c1 40.&e2trb2

This ending is very difficult to defend.

White must constantly watch

the f2 pawn and his bishop can

sometimes be dominated by

Black's rooks.

4L.tre4 gf6 42.h4 hO 43.Ef4

Sgz 44.4e8

Probably White can't defend passively,

so 44.94, giving room for

his pieces, should be considered.

44...trc7 45.4a4 EcS

46.4d1?

46.4e8 was necessary. Black

would have a hard time trying to

realize his material advantage:

46...f5 47.9d7 (47.e4 Ee2!)

47...9d2 48.4a4 trc3 (48...95

49.h95 hg5 50.Eb4 White should

not lose) 49.e4! : (49.€f1 trc1

50.9g2 Eel, with good winning

chances) 49...trd4 50.ef5 trfA

5t.gf4 gfl 52.9d7 €f6 53.h5 (this

endgame is drawn) 53...Ec5

54.4e8 €e7 55.A96 @d6 56.9f3,

and Black cannot make any progress.

46...9s 47.h95 hgs

Now White loses a pawn by force.

48.tr94

48.98 f5! 49.e4 (49.Aa4 g4

50.Ef4 Eb1-+) 49...fe4 50.8e3

Eb4+; 48.Ed4 Ea5-+.

48...Ed5 49.Ed4 Ed4 5o.ed4

trd2 51.4f3 trd4 52.AcG €f6

53.Sf3 €e5 54.€e3 trb4

55.4g2 trb3 56.€e2 fG

57.AcG trc3 58.Ae8

It was better to keep the bishop in

the h1-a8 diagonal, although

Black is winning anyway, viz.

58.4b7 f5r

A) 59.9f1 @d4 (59...f4? 60.9f4

gf4 61,.r'92 is a draw) 60.4a6 Ec5

(there is no escape from Black's

king penetration) 61.4b7 (61.€e2

Ee5 62.9d2 f4-+) 61...9d3

62.4a6 gd2 63.4b7 Hcl 64.@92

€e1;

B) 59.4a8 f4, and now:

81) 60.94 €d4 61.4b7 Ec2

62.@el (62.€A €c3-+) 62...trb2!

63.4c6 €d3 64.&fI @d2-+;

B.2) 60.st4 Ct4 61.9b7 €f5

62.4d5 €g4 63.4e6 @h4 64.Ad7

f3 65.9d2 tra3 66.4e6 gC5

67.9d7 gf4 68.4b5 tra2 69.Se1

Eb2l 70.4d3 (70.4c6 Eb1 71.9d2

Ef1-+) 70...€e5 77.9C6 (77.9a6

€d4-+) 71...Eb61.

58...€e4 59.9d2 Ec7 6O.Ah5

tra7 61,.A.e2

61.€e2 tra262.@fl Sd3+.

61...tra162.€c2 f5

This advance decides the game.

63.€d2 t4 64.9t4 gf4 65.Ahs

f3 66.4f7 trf1

White resigned.

NOTES BY

Alexander Baburin

QG 11.4

Rafael Leitao

Alexander Baburin

Bermuda 1998 (6)

If the reader thinks the previous

game is highly technical, examine

the following game, a quite painful

loss for me.

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dc4 3.e3 eG

4.4c4 c5 5.6f3 aG 6.0-0 af6

7.6c3 b5 8.4b3 Ab7 9.8e2

6:bd7 LO.e4 cd4 11.6d4 Ac5

12.Ae3 gb6 13.trfd1 6e5

L4.trac7.

A quiet move. More critical here is

I4.a4 6e94. Then 15.ab5 (also interesting

is 15.e5 6e3 16.fe3 6d7

17.wg4 h5 18.Wg7 0-0-0 19.Wf7

Ehg8, with complicated play, as in

the game Kortchnoi-Nikolic, Reykjavik

1988) 15...Wc7 16.g3 6e3

17.fe3 ab5 18.9b5 €e7 led to a

very unclear position in the game

Burmakin-Varga, Balatonbereny

1,992.

14...Ec8?

,i

r ''g

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1'6. +.'

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1.,,9,?l r .i..

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',.:' ,

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.:: . ilnr .: f li t'

,., Ei E ,., B.

:!!

I still don't know why I played

this. The normal 14...0-0 would

have equalized. I have noticed that

once in a while I forget to castle

and thus produce inspiringl 6iames!

AIas, in these games I am usually

on the receiving end... At any rate,

Rafael deserves great credit for his

play in this game.

15.6a4!! ba416.Aa4 &e7

I did not like to play 16...6ed1,

pinning my knight. Analysis, conducted

together with 'Fritz 5' on a

powerful enough computer (Pentium

166 with 48 Mb of RAM) confirms

my intuitive feeling

16...6ed7 cannot hold the position

in view of 17.8c5! Wc5

18.6e6. For example: 18...Ub4 (or

54 ) NEWIN CHESS

N

z

I

F

N

=

A relaxed post mortem. At the table (1. to r,) Josh Waitzkin, Maurice Ashley, Rafael Leitao and Giovanni Vescovi

18...8e7? 79.697 €f8 20.6f5;

also bad is 18...Ma5 19.ag7 gf8

20.Ad7 @97 2I.e5) 19.497 €f8

20.g.d7 &c7 21..4d4.

Analysing certain positions with a

computer can be a lot offun!

17.trc5 8c518.6b3

A

rg

g

:,j,,i :::::: l:E

'::::,, :'

::F

ijir::,,' ffi'f ,ifi:.f

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18...trhc8??

.iii tr I

At the time I could not decide,

which line was better - 18...6e4

or 18...trhc8, and as so often happens

I made a wrong choice! I saw

the following line: 18...4e4

19.6c5 6c5 20.Wc2 trc8 21.Wh7

EIb2 (also interesting is

21...Ad5!?) 22.Ebl Wc3 23.4c5

HcS 24.Hb7 Ec7, and Black is OK.

Although this variation is interesting,

White has a much better option

available - 20.Wd2!. This

idea, sugsested by Tony Miles, is

very hard to meet. It seems that

Black's best bid here is 20...4d5

21.b4 6e4 (21...6a4? is not satisfactory

for Black after 22.gbo

6b6 23.Wg5 f6 24.WET af7

25.trc1) 22.9bG 6d2 23.4c5 €f6

24.trd2, but the resultinS end'

game is extremely unpleasant for

Black. So we can state that Black

really erred badly with 14...trc8?,

while White found a great waY to

refute it (15.6a4!). Yet, during the

game I still hoped to punish White

for his'aggression'on move 15, so

I convinced myself that 18...trhc8

was the way to do it. Little did I

know what was awaiting me...

19.4c5 Ec5 20.b4!!

A devastating blow! During the

game I saw 20.Wd2, with the double

threat of 21.b4 and 21.4c5

BcS 22.Wd8 mate. In that line

Black is OK after 20...6e4. The

move Rafael played came as a

great shock to me.

20...9b4 21,.wd2

Black resigned.

NEw IN CHESS ) 55

NOIES BY

Alexander Baburin

sL 6.6.4

Alexandre Lesiege

Daniel Fridman

Bermuda 1998 (4)

1.d4 d5 2.c4 cG 3.4c3 hf6

4.hf3 e6 5.495 h6 6.Ah4 dc4

7.a4

This is an off-beat line, which

might become popular after this

game; much more common here is

7.eL.The system with 6.4h4 is noticeably

growing more fashionable

nowadays.

7...A.b4 8.e3 b5 9.ab5 cb5

LO.a,d2

This is the advantage of having

the pawn on e3 and not on e4 -

now the 8-a8 diagonal is clear and

the e4-square might be utilised by

White's pieces.

10...9b6

Black returns his extra pawn. After

the alternative - 10...Ad7,

White maintains the initiative with

11.4e2 Ac6 12.gf3, e.g.: 12...Ac3

13.bc3 95 14.493 AB 15.9f3

ad5 I6.6e4, and White has

plenty compensation for the pawn.

11.4f6 gf6 12.9f3 Ab7

13.gf6 trh7 L4.Ae2 6ld7

15.9h4

Black has caught up in developmen!

but his pawn formation is

rather compromised.

15...4e7?!

After the immediate 15...492

I BERMUpA I

=

White would also obtain a longrange

initiative: 16.trg1 Ab7 (or

16...4c6?! 17.Eg8 af8 18.6de4

9,e7 19.4f6 Af6 20.9f6 b4

21.4h5 Ab7 22.d5!, {vith a devastating

attack) 17.Eg8 af8

18.Ade4 Ae7 19.6f6 Af6 20.9f6

a6 21.4d1!? Wd8 22.8e5 Ue7

23.4b5. Perhaps Black should

have tried 15...Eg7!?

16.ghs Ae2 L7.trgL Ac6

18.4f3 Af3 19.9f3 trc8

20.tr98 af8

The alternative 20...6f8 won't

bring much relief either, as White

can throw his knights closer to the

enemy king with 21.6d5! Wd6

22.6e7 We7 23.6e4!, which yields

him a terrific attack after the further

23...f5 24.WhS gd8 25.4c5.

21,.6de4a622.Wt4&e7

22*trc6 would allow 23.d5, when

after 23...e5 24.Wf5 tre6 25.tr96

fg6 26.9e6! tre7 27.8b6 6b6

28.Ea6 Black's position collapses.

23.d5!

A signal for the final attack upon

Black's king, which is stuck in the

centre. At the same time his white

colleague feels absolutely safe.

23...tr97

If Black vacates the f7-square for

his kinS with 23...f6, White deploys

his al-rook, making it decisive

after 24.0-0-0! b4 25.de6 We6

26.Ed7ted7 27.trf8.

24.d6 €e8 25.4d5! gb7

A spectacular position could have

arisen after 25...ed5 26.We5 6e5

27.6f0 gd9 28.8f8 mate.

26.6c7 Ec7 27.tr97 Ac5

28.6l1G €d8 29.dc7 €c8

30.tr98

Black resigned.

This was a smashing victory for

White and a fitting tribute to the

fine quality of chess one can expect

from future tournaments in

Bermuda.

NOTES BY

Rafael Leitao

QP 8.2

Julian Hodgson

Rafael Leitao

Bermuda 1998 (5)

1,.d4at62.ags

Playing against Hodgson is always

a problem. You know he is going

to play this, you know it's not so

Sood but you're scared anyway. I

tried to play something different.

2...6e4 3.4f4 dS 4.e3 c5

I knew that after 4...Af5 sooner or

later my opponent would push his

pawns with f3, C4,h4 and so on, so

I decided to keep my bishop on c8.

5.4d3 cd4

I believe this is a new move. During

my preparations I found one

Hodgson glame with 5...4c6 in my

database. My idea with 5...cd4 was

simply to leave the beaten track.

6.4e4

6.ed4 96. If White doesn't take the

knigh! Black has an easy game.

6...de4 7.ed4 gG 8.4c3 Ag7

9.hge2Af5

There was no alternative. 9...Ag4

10.9d2 is giood for White while

9...f5 is a crime. After the text

Black's e4 pawn is in danger, but

it's not easy to attack it. My active

pieces seems to generate counterplay

in all lines.

10.0-o

56 ) NEw rN CHESS

10.9d2 6c6 11.0-0-0 is riskY.

Even if White wins the e4 pawn

Black has counterplay, e.g.

11...Wa5 (11...h6!?-) 12.4h6 Af6

(if White is allowed to exchan$e

the dark-squared bishop he has

the upper hand) 13.Ag5 Ag7,

with repetition of moves.

10...6c6

fr i:,::.'::

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nlr rijiiiii: I

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i,,,

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A,,AA',,,,,6 AA

E; :iiiiiiiiw:iiiiiii+trH

11.d5?

There was no need to play like

this. White should have preferred

the solid 11.4e3. After 11...0-0

12.9d2 Wd7! (12...8a5 13.4h6 -

I don't like to allow this exchange

- 13...trfd8 14.9C7 €g7 15.d5+)

13.Ead1 Efd8 the position is level.

For example: 14.4h6 (14.h3 h5-)

I4...Ah8 i5.gf4 Ad4 16.4d4 e5!

l7.gh4 ed4 18.6e4 Wc6T.

11...6e5

Black has a lot of counterplay

now. His knight on e5 and bishop

on g7 are very strong.

L2.693

Hogdson throws caution to the

wind, but it was already difficult to

suggest somethin$ calm.

L2...6c413.4b5?

The lesser evil was 13.af5 gfs

14.ab5 (14.9h5? fails to 14...4c3

15.bc3 Bd5) L4...0-0 (t4...4b2?

15.8h5-) 15.b3 6e5, although

even here Black is much better.

L3...ab2L4.6t5

This sacrifice is forced.

L4...adL Ls.6g7 €d7

16.Efd1

E.i'iiiiiir .H i:i:i::iiii irH

fiiif iitlie:$rl fi t

.,.'. ... ',1...ii....

:, ,\ ,' n :ii::i:iii: : ""::

,, ?l, ,:,:,; 4.,,,,1::,: :

......, ' li ',.'

"^ ;t'"" t:t1 21

""''" "' 4,.,,i,,,., ':2J A

tri iiiiiiiiii.E ilrili j

Quite an unusual position! White

has three pieces for the queen but

one of them is the knight on g7.

DurinS the game my opponent

and me had different evaluations

for this position. He thought he

had chances to create counterplaY,

while I thought I was completelY

winninS. My evaluation proved to

be closer to the truth.

16...Wa517.Eab1

17.c4 trac8+.

17...trac8 18.c4!? trhg8!

Very precise. After 18...trc4?

19.4a3 Eb4 20.trb4 gb4 21.Eb1

Wa3 22.trb7 €c8 23.8b8 White

draws.

19.4e5 Ec4 2O.dG

Now after 20.6a3 trb4 2l.Eb4

gb4 22.8b1 Ec8! Black wins due

to the back rank mate.

2O...eG 21,.6,a3 trb4 22.E,b4

Wb4 23.Eb1Wa3

23...Ec8 was also winning.

24.trb7 €c6 25.trc7 *d5

26.Af6 Wa2

Despite White's big material disadvantage

his knight on 87 is still

doomed.

27.h3 €dG 28.Ef7 trc8

28...e3t 29.fe3 Ec8 was even easler.

29.Ag5 e5 30.trb7 a5 31.EbG

€d7 32.Ae3 Bf7 33.4h6 e3

34.fe3 8c135.€h2 Bf2

White resigned.

NEWTNCHEss) 57

My First Real Endgame Study

Alrxpy SHrnov

For many chess players

endgame studies are an

acquired taste. Often it

takes instructive

examples inspired by

actual games to win

them over. At least, that

is the impression we

have gotten from the

readers' reactions

usually triggered by Jan

Timman's endgame

studies. Alexey Shirov

had never tried his hand

at this specialty until in

Wijk aan Zeehe played

a flawed but inspiring

game against, of all

people, Jan Timman.

ormally speaking, the

Same that I won against

Jan Timman at the 60th

Hoogovens tour.nament in Wijk

aan Zee would not merit annotation

for the pages of New in

Chess. A dull endgame appeared

right after the opening followed

by a lot of errors from both players.

However, there is one aspect

that really fascinated me, an intriguing

opportunity that Timman

missed on his 50th (and, for that

matter, also on his 46th) move. Until

long after the game I couldn't

believe that there is no win for

White in a rook ending in which

he is two pawns up, but I have

gradually come to admit that this

conclusion is a fact. In one position

I found a studyJike draw for

Black. Since I have never composed

anything in the field of endgame

studies (unlike my opponent

in this game), I would like to present

that fragment of this game as

my first real study. You will find it

in my annotations to Black's 50th

move. But first a little bit about

the moves that led up to that position.

RG 2,2

Alexey Shirov

Jan Timman

Wijk aan Zee 1998 (10)

1.e4 e5 2.ol13 6lt6 3.d4 6e4

4.4d3 6c6!?

Yes, I was a witness when this

move first occurred in the game

Timman(lfMurey in the French

league in Strasbourg 1993. Being

involved in the same match

(Belfort-Auxerre, I believe) I almost

fell from my chair (I was playing

right at the next table) when I

saw it being played. It's probably

the funniest and greatest opening

idea I've ever seen. No wonder it

was found by a creative player of

the level of Yaacov Murey from Israel.

But OK, over the past five

years the theory of 4...4c6 has

moved on, so I'd better explain

something about the present game.

5.6e5 6e5 6.4e4 d5 7.de5

de4 8.Wd8 €d8 9.hc3 Ab4!

This seems a bit better than

9...4f5 10.Ae3 which occurred in

Leko-Timman, Ubeda 1997.

10.ags

I think this is a new move, although

I am not sure.

10...€eB 11.0{-0 Ae4 L2.trd4

Ac3 13.bc3 h6! 14.tre4

All this I analyzed some months

ago with my trainer, Estonian GM

Mikhail Rychagov, when we decided

that, although the endgame

is probably drawn, it's still worth a

try, as White doesn't risk anything.

I was really amazed when I

heard the rumour (well, maybe, it

was only a rumour after all) that

Timman claimed afterwards that

he had been better in the game.

58 D NEW IN CHESS

14...9h3!

Yes, we also looked at this amusing

but strong move. White would

keep a slight edge after 14...4f5

15.H,h4 or 14...4e6 15.9e3.

1s.gh3 hgs16.Eg1! trh3

16...trh5 17.h4!

17.tr9s €f8

17...96 18.e6 trh2 19.8f4!t.

18.tre94 Ee8!

I think this is the best defence.

White would be slightly better after

18...96 19.e6!, but 18...trh7!?

deserves attention.

19.trg7 tre5 2O.ECa €e7

2L.trc4c5?l

This already gives White some

practical chances. 2L...9 d7 22.8f4

Ee7 seemed a safe way to draw.

22.trba trf3 23.Eb7 €d6?

Now Black gets into real trouble.

After 23...€f6 24.8a4 Ef2 25.Eaa7

€96 his counterplay would probably

be sufficient to save the game.

24.E,a4trt2?

This forcibly leads to a'simply'lost

rook endgame. However, 24...tre2

(which Jan sugglested afterwards)

doesn't seem very promising either,

although White has to find

the accurate 25.@b2l (25.tra6?

gd5 26.trd7 *c4 27.tra4 @b5

28.Eda7 trc3 is indeed a draw)

25...8ft2 26.€b3!+ Ec2 27.8a6

€d5 28.9d7 €e5 29.8e7 €d5

30.c4 winning.

25.8a6 €d5 26.trd7 €e4

The only move, since 26...*c4

loses to 27.Ea4l €b5 28.trda7 Ee1

29.@b2 €c6 30.c4 @d6 31.84a6

@e532.He7.

27.tra4 €e3 28.Ed3 €e2

29.trd2 €f1 30.trf2 &t12 3t.trt4

€e3 32.Ef7 a5 33.Ea7?

My head completely stopped functioning

at this moment. The best

way to win was, I think, 33.8h7

€e4 34.8h4 €d5 35.c4 €c6

36.€b2, but 33.8d7 trhs 34.Ed3

€e4 35.h3 also looks good

enough.

33...6e4 34.8a5 €d5+

35.tra4 Ee3!

I missed this move, after which

White can retain only two extra

pawns. Still, I thouEht this was

more than enough, in no way

imagining all the hidden surprises

this endgame contains.

36.trh4 Ec3 37.&b2 trf3

38.trh8 trf7

:j:i

:il

ffi

Nosrercre

OnreNr

Isr^NEUL

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Time-limit: two hours for 40 moves plus 30 minutes for the rest in one game.

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DottT ruiss thp*ain t

NEw rN CHESS ) 59

39.a4?

I think that after 39.h4 I would,

objectively, still be winning. After

the text I am no longer sure about

anything.

39...trf4 40.a5 trb4 41.€c1

tra4 42.trh5 €cG 43.a6 €b6

44.trh6 &a7 45.@b2trt4??

Yes, 45...trb4 46.€c3 Ef4 would

probably lead to a draw. More

about comparable positions later.

46.9b3??

Returning the favour. 46.c3! tr94

47.9b3 trf4 48.h4 Hg4 49.h5 trh4

50.c4 would win very comfortably.

46...trb4 47.€c3 Ef4 48.h4

tr94 49.h5 Eh4

Only here I really started thinking

again and realised that we had

reached a position of mutual

Zugzwangl If Black were to move

now, he could resign. But it's

White's turn and he can do nothing!

For the moment I decided to

make a move and then see what

happened.

50.9b2 trh3??

So, now the game is really over.

But what would have been the

case after 50...8b4?

'fi'

D

i:fi::

E:: ::::::::

:.E', . ;::::

E,A;iii:

tr

A

I analysed this endgame over and

over and I am almost sure that

White cannot win this position.

Let's look at a few tries before

turning to the most fascinating

one:

A) 51.€a3 trc4 52.Hc6 (52.c3

Ec3 53.€a4 c4 54.€b5 Ec1

55.trh7 €a8 56.h6 c3 57.&c4 c2

I ENDGAME I=

58.€c3 Eal 59.€c2 Ea6:)

52...trc2 53.@a4 c4 54.hG trh2

55.9b4 Eh4 56.E96 €b8:;

B) 51.€c1 trh4!! 52.€d2l (52.c3

Eh2! 53.eb1 c4 54:€c1 trh1!

55.€c2 (55.eb2 trh3:) 55...trh2

56.9d1 Eh3 57.€d2 trd3 58.€c2

Eds (58...trh3? 59.€b2+-)

59.€b2 tra5:) 52...trd4 53.€e3!

(in my opinion White's only real

chance, but now he has to give up

the c-pawn again) 53...trc4 54.trc6

trc2 55.h6.

,i, ::

: !r:!!: l:l

dib,., !,,

/1 :. H

':

.i-

ta::.

So now we have reached the position

which I consider to be my

study with the stipulation 'Black

to play and draw'. So, those who

want to solve it, please stop reading

now and try to delve into the

mysteries of this position yourself.

For the less patient readers I will

continue, starting with the wrong

solution firs! of course: (Instead,

Black has to find a rook manoeuvre

to get the same position as in

last variation but with his rook on

c1 instead of c2, which makes all

the difference!)

B1) 55...trh2? 56.@f4 c4 57.9C5

tr92 58.€f6 trh2 59.&97 tr92

60.eh8. Now Black has two options

but neither of them works,

e.g.: 60...8c2 (60...tr94 61.€h7!

(61.h7? €b8 62.Ec5 €a7 63.Ec8

9a6 64.tr98 trh4 65.E95 c3

66.8c5 Eh3 67.&97 tr93 68.Sh6

trh3=) 61...€b8 (61...trh4 62.@96

trC4 63.€h5+-) 62.H96 Ed4

63.€s8 Ed8 64.9f7 c3 65.h7 Ed7

66.€98 c2 67.trc6 trd8 68.997

Ed7 69.€96+-)61.h7 c3 62.8c8!!

ga6 63.9g7 tr92 64.9f6 Eh2

65.h89 Eh8 66.Eh8 €b5 67.8c8

€b4 68.9e5 €b3 69.€d4 c2

70.€d3+-;

82) 55...trc4! 56.€8 trh4 57.€93

Eh1 58.9f4 c4 59.995 Eg1

60.€f6 Hf1 67.@e7 trg1 62.9h8

trcll (62...tr94? loses to 63.9h7!)

63.h7 c3 64.8c8 (64.trg6 trd1=)

64...c21

I think it's easy to see now that

White cannot win, e.g.: 65.@97

Eg166.gf6 Eh1, etc.

So, the real initial position of my

endgame study is:

0riginal

:60D

iti lEi iiiiiliiii :.,ii;:iiil

@.,....1 !!!!,::: : :: ,..

White to play and draw

The reader already knows that the

solution is 1.Ec5, because 1.8h7

loses. I cannot be especially proud

of this study taken from a practical

example. But don't forget that

this is my first real study, and it

gave me a lot of aesthetic pleasure

to make it. Hopefully one day I'll

compose something better.

Now I just have to finish my story

aboutthe game.

51.c4! trh2 52.€a3

Now Black gets into Zugzwang

after

52...trh4 53.€b3

and nothing can prevent the white

king from coming to b5 anymore.

So Timman resigned.

60 ) NEwrN CHESS

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65 grandmasters. The

1998 New York Open

will be remembered as

the Great Armenian

Victory. Three

Armenian grandmasters

took the first three

prizes. First place was

claimed by Artashes

Minasian, who finished

with a breathtaking six

out of six!

he New York Open is without

any doubt America's

showpiece chess tournament.

In a class by itself. Simply

the best. This year's edition

boasted a record 65 grandmasters,

with 29 having Elos over 25751

With just slightly over 800 players

(six sections) a total of 42 nations

were represented. The total prizefund

was a guaranteed $175,000,

with the top section havinpi a first

prize of $14,000.

The New York Open is also

known as 'Cuchi's Tournament',

because for almost two decades

runningl New York businessman

Jose Cuchi has made it his purpose

in life to run a premier class

chess tournament that would do

any New Yorker proud. There is

ample proofthat he has succeeded

in doing exactly that. Over the

years the New York Open has distributed

close to $2,000,000 in

prnes.

Cuchi has ensembled a first-rate

team to help him smoothly pull off

his tournament and he personally

guarantees from his own pocket to

make good any losses that might

result from a low turnout. And let

it be known that sometimes he

does lose money.

Officially three companies were

listed as sponsors. The first is

Cuchi's own Heraldica Imports,

the second is Air Europa (which

flew in many players from Madrid)

and the third is Lladro USA, which

provided a very nifty porcelain

chess set and inlaid board to be

given to the winner of the Open

section (estimated value $ 2,000).

To the average European chess

player .the big American open

chess tournament is an outlandish

affair. Paradoxical. Mercenary.

Even absurd. But no one can deny

its popularity. It is no exaggeration

to say that the American system

would definitely not work in

Europe. Brin€in$ your own board,

pieces, and clock is compulsory.

Few would be willing to pay entries

of a minimum of $230, or accept

to play up to four rated games

in one day (!). Prizes of up to

$ 6,000 for players less than 1600

Elo (is there even such an animal!?)

is unthinkable! And the whole concept

ofre-entry is sacrilege.

But America is the land of

dreams where anything is accepted

to be possible. And in

chess, well, palzers can (and do)

make more prize-money than

worl d-famous grandmasters..

62 ) NEW IN CHESS

Sometimes tournaments of more

than 1200 players have been known

to have taken place. The average

American chess player loves it and

would not change it for the world!

The New York Open is held over a

weekJong period, with the open

(in which the grandmasters must

play) starting on a Monday, and

the other sections up in full swing

by Wednesday, the lieu being the

elegant New Yorker Hotel, just

next to the famous Madison

Square Garden. All the sections fit

comfortably into just two floors of

the hotel. The top sections take

place in large ballrooms, with very

high ceilings and fancy chandeliers

providing near-perfect lighting.

Cold drinking water is provided.

Very competent arbiters enforce

the no noise rule.

Once the games are over the

players head off to an area outside

the ballrooms where they can analyze

their games amidst a noisy

crowd of onlookers, hustlers, kibitzers,

panhandlers, and who knows

what else! Someone tried to sell

me a copy of Life Magazine with

Fischer on the cover (dated back

more than a quarter century). I saw

another person with a huge tattoo

of a chess board on his right arm

take on all comers in blitz. Elsewhere

were notices on the wall of

people looking to rent rooms... the

whole atmosphere beingl more like

abazar than a world famous chess

tournament. This activity would go

on into the early hours, day after

day, long after the end ofthe games,

and sometimes people would even

forget to go and get some sleep!

It is important to understand the

basic raison d'€tre behind the big

American open chess tournament:

MONEY.

Big CASH prizes, to players of

EVERY level of skill, attract LOTS

of players willing to pay BIG entries.

The organizerc spruce this

situation up by gluaranteeing the

prizes (so they become the sponsor)

and, in the case of the New

York Open, attracting as many famous

grandmasters as possible to

give the whole tournament (which

would otherwise seem more like a

huge convention of chess nuts or

worse) credibility and world stature.

The Open Section offers some

$40,000 in prizes, with each of the

next five sections (under 2400, under

2200, etc., to under 1600) offering

approximately $20,000 in

prizes. The first prize in the

under-1800 section is a cool

$8000. On top of these prizes

there is also a consolation prize

fund of $40,000 open to any

player from any section who

scores 5% points or more (with a

minimum guaranteed prize of

$230, that is, your entry back).

And if that isn't enough to 6let

even your 5lrandmother to show

up and try her hand for the big

bucks, most big American opens

offer the right to the players to reenter:

that is, if a player starts

badly and feels that he no longer

has a chance for one of the big

prizes he may withdraw and reenter!

And at the great price of

only $120 each time he re-enters.

This has led in the past to some

humorous situations where the

same players met more than once

in the same tournament! (Say...

didn't I beat you the day before

yesterday?!?)

For those who work or have

commitments that don't enable

them to play a regular schedule,

an elaborate system ofbyes as well

as something called a multiple accelerated

pairing schedule has

been invented to allow them to

catch up to those who play a regular

schedule by, in an extreme

case, having to play four games (!)

in one day.

If that isn't enough

to get euen Uour

grandmother to

show up and trg her

hand for the big

bucks, most big

American opens

offer the right to

re-enter.

And this system not only works

but it thrives in America! There

are a number of orglanizers who

even make big bucks when the entries

turn out to be more than

what is paid out. But Cuchi stands

apart from that group, because he

is not interested in making a profit

as much as putting on a classy

event! And that costs money that

would otherwise be profit.

This year Cuchi tried to get as

many grandmasters in the top 100

list to participate as he could.

While he could not afford to pay

honorariums, he offered to subsidize

each GM their travel expenses

(up to $400) and offered accommodation

at the New Yorker Hotel

in double occupancy rooms. And

considering that 65 grandmasters

from all over the world showed

up... the reader can guess the rest.

NEW IN CHESS ) 63

income, if not reduced, then certainly

limited by the exigencies

and conditions that might quite

naturally be placed by the potential

sponsors. For example, if IBM

were to sponsor a big American

open tournament, they probably

would want to see the chief organizer

receive a salary rather than

the open-ended'l take all the profits

home' system that is in place in

America today.

=

F

o

=

The venue of the 1998 New York Open, the New Yorker Hotel.

ln the backglround the Empire State Building

But the American system is not

without its critics nor without embarrassing

problems and shortcomings.

In fact, some American

grandmasters even go so far as to

boycott these big tournaments on

the principle that chess professionalism

is being eroded by what they

perceive as the often greedy and

mercenary attitudes being fostered

by both the organizers and

the average player. Others feel

that if foreign glrandmasters receive

some help to play in these

tournaments, then the same

should be offered to any American

grandmaster. Still others feel that

creating a dependency on big entry

fees to pay all the costs of running

a tournament actually discourages

future organizers from

seeking independent sponsorship

for their tournaments.

The idea behind this is that several

professional organizers in the

USA, who actually live very comfortably

off the profits of these big

tournaments, would see their own

Is it intelligent that tournaments

should be organized awarding

relatively weak players big cash

prizes? Or is itjust good business?

And does this really promote chess

in the long run? What other sport

does this? Can you imagine the

tennis world operating with a system

like this? Or the golf world?

To some it seems that the big-time

American organizer is trying to

turn chess into a variation of

bingo, where it is noi skill that is

rewarded but mere participation.

The typical response of the organizer

and, it seems, the averagie

player who participates with the

sole aim of winning a big cash

prize, is that the Prandmaster

shouldn't really complain too

much because it is precisely by attracting

large numbers of relatively

weak players (who are willing

to pay big entry fees) that the

big cash prizes offered in the Open

Section can actually be guaranteed.

In other words, it is the surplus

of profit from the class sections

that float upward to pay the

grandmasters' prizes.

While there is no denying that

there is some Iogic to this, in practice

it very often happens that it is

simply not true. In this year's New

York Open the Open Section almost

paid for itself. And there are

numerous examples on record

64 ) NEw rN CHESS

where instead of profits floating

upward they actually sink downward

to pay the prizes in sections

with too few participants!

Someone with no knowledge of

the finesses of the big American

open chess tournament giving a

cursory gilance to the two-page advertisement

of the New York Open

(or any other typical big American

swiss advertisement for that matter)

vrould most probably be taken

in by the large prize fund

($175,000) and especially by the

first prize ($14,000) guaranteed in

the Open Section, and would

probably think that the typical

grandmaster stands to make some

really good money. However, the

truth of the situation can only be

discerned after a very careful

study of all the fine print.

The total prize-fund of the combined

sections of the New York

Open is $175,000. The 65 grandmasters

(I may be mistaken, but I

assume a minimum rating of 2400)

fight for a prize-find totallinEi not

more than $35,650. (I don't count

the consolation prizes because

any grandmaster who wins a prize

must pay his entry, and this effectively

renders the consolation

prize more a book-keepinEl device

than a real prize as far as any

plrandmaster is concerned.)

That is roughly twenty per cent of

the entire giuaranteed prize-fund!

Not very much! Especially considering,that

the media attention and

the PR value of the typical big

open American tournament lies

precisely in the large number of

grandmasters participating. In the

1998 New York Open, with only

twenty prizes for any of the 65

grandmasters to shoot for, the

odds are not great for any grandmaster

to have a good chance of

winninEi a prize, let alone one of

any significant value. This year the

grandmaster contingent was particularly

strong with several

firandmasters with Elos approaching2700l

Someone was overheard

as saying that the Open Section

was 'too competitive.' As one

grandmaster jokingly put it, 'In

the big American swiss tournament

the average grandmaster

plays for the sheer pleasure of

playinS, and the amateur plays for

the money!' There is more than a

girain of truth in this, especially

taking into account that the first

prize in sections two to five is

Iarger than second prize in the

Open Section!

So, about 80 per cent of the

guaranteed prize-fund finds its

way into the pockets of the nongrandmaster

or what can be referred

to as the average player.

Players who, for the most parl are

club players or Sunday afternoon

players... and this is what makes

the whole big American open

chess tournaments so successful.

Someone referred to it as a very

democratic way to organize chess

tournaments. It may very well be

true!

There is a particularly troublesome

downside to this: CHEAT-

ING. It is very tempting to play in

a class tournament where the players

don't really know what they

are doing and that offers prizes of

up to $9,000. Since the onset of

the big-prize class tournaments organizers

have had to deal with

very elaborate, varied and at times

ingenious efforts on the part of

some players who felt that those

big prizes should be theirs! In the

mid-to-late eighties sandbagging

was the principal weapon used in

the class sections. Players would

o2:::::",,

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NEW lN CHESS ) 65

enter small weekend tournaments

months before and try to lose all

of their games in an effort to lower

their rating sufficienfly so as to be

able to enter a really BIG open

tournament and win a section

with a ratinpl cutoff much lower

than their real strength. Hundreds

of players tried this, many succeeded,

until the organizers set up

rules against sandbagging, and devised

means to prevent it.

It should be borne in mind that,

at the beginning, sandbagging was

not considered to be wrong, and

many thougiht it a very clever way

to make easy money. Money that

was perhaps rurongly being won by

some very weak players, a type of

Robin Hood attitude: 'Take from

the rich and give to the needy.' A

good friend of rnine from Montreal

told me of one of his more humourous

experiences with a sandbagging

attempt: once a month he

would play in a weekend tournament

that his club would organize.

His plan was to lose all his games,

lower his rating as much as possi

ble, and attempt to win some big

city class tournament that offered

good prizes some eight to ten

months later. He would usually

lose the first couple of games very

easily, almost effortlessly. But then

after that it became increasingly

difficult to lose because with each

loss he would inevitably be paired

against weaker opponents. But

with a bit of determination and

'skill' he normally managed to

continue to lose until finally in

one tournament he found himself

in a situation, with one round to

go, he had to play this guy who

was playing in his first tournament.

Like himsell he had lost all

of his games up to that point! After

about five or six moves my

friend put his queen en prise to

I NHw YoRKI

=

his opponent's pawn, but unfortunately

his opponent was not up to

realizi.ngthis. So my friend left his

q:.reen en prise for several more

moves in the hope ihat his error

might be 'discovered'by his opponent.

In vain. He became a little

frustrated and for a moment or

two forgot himself and started to

take a few well-protected pieces

with his queen... all the while his

opponent seemingly unaware that

he had the right to recapture the

unprotected queenl After a while

my friend reglained his composure

and once more set about his task:

to lose. And he seemed to be making

progress, albeit a very subtle

type of progress, when the idea entered

his mind that perhaps the

simplest way to lose this particular

game was for him to avail himself

of the right of resigning. Unfortunately,

no sooner had this brilliant

idea struck him than his opponent

himself extended his hand and resigned!

He said that he had to

meet his wife and couldn't be late!!

I know of euen one

person who dged his

hair o neu) colour,

deueloped a limp,

and an Australian

accent to boot.

When sandbaggiing appeared to be

on the way out other means were

'invented'. Stories of people playing

under false names, or other

people's names (in one case, of

someone who had died several

months before) became quite common

in the North-American chess

community. I know of even one

person who dyed his hair a new

colour, developed a limp, and an

Australian accent to boot. But

with the passage of years and the

gaining of experience the organizers

began to recognize the culprits

and devised increasingly effective

means to prevent them from succeeding.

A number ofyears ago a case of

cheating received a fair amount of

publicity: hi-tech cheatinE (see

New in Chess 93/6, pp.82-85). A

relatively weak player won a big

prize in a strong section. Upon investigation

(confirming the by

then many suspicions) it was

found that the player in question

had achieved a type of electronic

communication with a friend of

his up in a hotel room, linking him

with a computer and what not! It

was not him who was playing but

the duo of his friend and the computer.

Of course, he was not given

his priZe.

Other stories are known, and have

appeared in numerous chess publications

throughout the world.

From what I could detect in the

'98 New York Open, by walking

around when not playing, and

from the grapevine, there were no

incidents in any of the class sections.

But, I have to be honest and

express my surprise with the high

quality of play exhibited by a

number of players in some of the

lower sections...

The fight for the honours (and the

big bucks) was very intense at this

year's edition of the New York

Open. This was obvious from the

very beginning!. Bareev, for instance,

with an Elo of 2675, could

do no better than three points from

66 ) NEw IN CHosS

his first five games! And as the

readers can see from the final results,

great players such as Khalifman

(2660) and Yermolinslcy (2660)

could only achieve 5% points.

The tournament had the unusual

characteristic that the first four

games were played at a rate of two

games a day for two days, and

then the next five games at one

game a day, with the last glame beginning

at the ungodly hour of

nine o'clock in the morning! (The

previous four games all started at

5 p.m.)

Though the organizers apologized

for the early start of the last

game - to enable out oftowners to

start their return to their homes

the same day - it takes away from

a great tournament when the players

have to decide the tournament

at a time when they are usually

sleeping! However, on the other

hand, in Europe in both open and

closed tournaments this early

start to the last round is becoming

the trendy thing to do.

Is there any sense to talk of favourites

in nine-round superopens?

I don't think so. The difference

between a 2650 grandmaster

and a 2550 one is most often just

on paper, and certainly when it all

gets down to il one game, anything

can happen between two

good players who both want to

win. And in such tournaments the

differepce between a draw and a

loss is not really a half point but

more, because the players are so

closely packed (often thirty or

more players will be only half a

point apart) that only by winning

and separating yourself from the

pack can you have any chances to

win the tournament or win a glood

prne.

A rather curious characteristic of

this tournament, pointed out by

more than one astute observer, is

that the highest boards (boards

1-8) had much higher winloss

percentages than the middle of

the tournament, which saw an unusually

high percentage of draws

each round. This can explain why

some of the highest rated players

were never really in contention for

the first prizes: they got bogged

down in draws. The final winner,

Artashes Minasian won his last six

games, a really incredible feat considering

the opposition.

Another curious feature of the

tournament is that Black scored

better percentages than he usually

does, especially in the French and

Sicilian defences!

Mikhail Gurevich scored a very

reasonable 6% points, but tied

with thirteen others(!) in fifth position.

His game against the tournament

winner in Round 8 must

have been a big disappointment

especially since he had ths white

pieces, and was playin€ one of his

favourite openings. But in a sharp

position Minasian was able to show

why he won six games in a row.

Mikhail Gurevich

Artashes Minasian

New York open 1998 (8)

Position after 20...Ef8

Gurevich had just penetrated with

his rook to the seventh rank, and

rather than defend passively with

20...b5 Black played 20...trf8.

White must hav e realized now that

if he took the b-pawn then after

...6f4 and ...tr86 he would be subjected

to a very unpleasan! possibly

winning attack. So he tried to

bolster his kingside defences:

21.f3 6f4 22.trf2 tr,E6 23.€f1, but

now Minasian played the very subtle

23...4h5 (planning to invade

with ...E9h2) and Gurevich could

find nothing better than 24.f4 afL

25.Wb7 Wel 26.87d2. But after

26...a5 Black is in possession of a

clear advantage, which in subsequent

play Gurevich was not able

to shake.

This was perhaps the key game in

deciding first place, and in the last

round Minasian had the always

pleasant opportunity of handling

the white pieces. This game,

against Kiril Georgiev, he also

won. The Armenian party was

completed by last-round wins by

Smbat Lputian and Vladimir

Akopian, which took them to second

and third place respectively.

The final success of the Armenian

players surprised a lot of people,

but those who play over their

games will quickly come to the

conclusion that the Armenians

played the most uncompromising

chess, definitely the only way to

achieve a good result in these big

open swiss tournaments.

Vladimir Epishin also scored an

excellent 7 points. However, his final

result was a little lucky, as in

his last round game with Ehlvest

he was given a very nice present

when his opponent lost his head in

the sudden-death time-control and

hungl a piece in a not inferior position.

NEwrN CHESS ) 67

Vladimir Epishin

Jaan Ehlvest


61...Ec3 62.&92 €hG 63.6c6

ad6 64.4d4 ag3 6s.afs €hs

66.4g3 €h6 67.h5 1-O

But the reader should appreciate

that to achieve high positions in

these super opens it is not enough

to be a very stron6i player, you also

need a bit of luck!

My congratulations to the winners,

and I am sure that they will

all be back nextyearl

NOTES Av

Kevin Spraggett

st 10.1.2

llya Smirin

Kiril Georgiev


1,.e4 cS 2.4f3 d6 3.d4 cd4

4.2,d4 6f6 5.4c3 a6 6.Ae2

g6!?

Kiril avoids his opponent's favourite

systems against 6...e6 or 6...e5.

7.e4t?

This has been seen increasingly often

in recent years. A game of Anand's

(against Short Amsterdam

1996) instantly comes to mind.

7...h6

Kiril has played this before in an

1997 game versus Tseshkovsky.

Although he won, he suffered after

the opening. Smirin was undoubt-

I NEw YoRK I

=

edly expecting to improve on

White's play...;7...492 8.g5 afdT

9.h4 hc6 10.4e3 and Black has

not been doing so well here, as can

be verified in the garfles Sune Berg

Hansen-Stangl, Lippstadt 1997,

and Ye-Zhu Chen, Beijing 1997.

8.h4 e5

8...b5?! 9.AB e5 10.6b3 Ae6

11.a4 is how the Anand-Short

game from 1996 went, with Anand

eventually winning. The game was

fully annotated by Anand on page

22 of NIC96/3.

9.6b3 Ae6 LO.t4l?

Anand, in his Informant annotations,

sugglests 10.trg1 and considers

White to be slightly better.

LO...el4L1,.ad4

E rn, {:U&. .,E

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ir,::i:i: :A, i:ii .'r:: .ir

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Ei , Wi$ iii,i:,,XE

11...9b6!

Georgiev improves on his game

with Tseshkovsky, which went

11...Wa5 72.4f4 6c6 13.6e6 fe6

14.9d2 0-0-0 15.0-0-0 6e5 16.951.

L2.6eB

Here Smirin thought for a long

time. There is probably no better

move for White. The black queen

on b6 impedes the development of

the white bishop on c1. I think

that White should go back and

take a look at Anand's suggestion

of 10.E91.

L2...te613.4c4 e5

Although the white squares are

weak, the extra pawn on f4 looks

very strong. If Black can develop

his pieces, he will not have any difficulty

winning.

L4.adst? hdS 15.8d5 6c6!

Black is not afraid ofthe dark!

16.Wf7 €d817.c3

17.Wf6 €c7 18.Wh8 Wb4 19.4d2

Bc4, and White's position comes

apart at the seams.

L7...Ae718.gg6

RegaininS material equality, but

now all of Black's pieces are developed.

18...€c7 19.€f1traf8

And White finds himself busted...

2O.b4 €bB 21.9e6 d5!

22.g.b3

22.Ad5 Ef6 23.9d7 Ed8; 22.8d5

trd8 23.We6 Ed1 24.&C2 f3

25.@h2Wf2.

22...de4 23.a4 e3 24.b5 ab5

25.ab5 WbS 26.4c4 trf6

Simplest. Smirin resigned.

Moral of the story: don't blindly

follow others people's glames.

NOIES BY

Kevin Spraggett

FR.3.4.4

Vasik Rajlich

Smbat Lputian


1.e4 eG 2.d4 d5 3.e5

In recent years this move has been

causing headaches for the black

side. In this tournament the black

pieces struck back and did very

well. This game is important because

it shows a new idea for

Black.

3...c54.c3 AcG 5.6f3 gb6!?

Everything has been played here.

Lputian has a 'weakness' for this

move...

6.4e2

Later in the tournament, against

Movsesian, Lputian had to face

6.a3!? There followed 6...4h6!?

(anyway!) 7.b4 cd4 8.cd4 hf5

9.4e3!? f6! 10.b5 6e5 11.de5 he3

12.fe3 We3 13.We2 (13.4e2 AcS)

68 ) NEW rN cHEss

o

f

6

=o

Armenian triumvirate: Vladimir Akopian, Artashes Minasian and Smbat Lputian

13...Wc1 14.9d1 We3 15.We2

Wc1 16.Wd1, and the game was

drawn!? This has also happened in

a large number of other giames, includin

g Romanishin-Lputi an, Yerevan

1988.

6...4h6!?

Apparently all the rage these days.

7.4h6 gh6

7...Wb2?l 8.4e3 Ba1 9.Wc2.

8.9d2 Ag7 9.0-O 0-O 10.6a3

Ad711.Ac2 Eac8!

This is a new move, and a new

idea. Previous play has only seen

activity along the fline: 11...cd4

l2.cd4 f6 13.ef6 Ef6 14.b4! Eaf8

15.b5 6e7 16.6e5+ as in Topalov-

Bareev, Novgorod 1997.

Lputian's idea is more flexible and

keeps White guessing just how

Black will try to activate his two

bishops.

L2.b4

Is this the best? White tries to follow

the previous games. 12.6e3!?

cd4 13.cd4 Wb4!? or 73...f6 74.ef6

Ef6 15.494 with attacking chances.

L2...cb4L3.cb4 deTl

.. Er . :;rr:: Go ji:::

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, A:::

'. q \tt'

A,,,, hWA A.A

#:' !::!!!!:!!! * l! i::'

,,,,,E,H

tr

Black has found counterplay on

the queenside. The theoretical importance

of the game having been

established, what follows is a typical

demonstration of outplaying a

weaker player. It is very pleasing -

especially for French players.

L4.a4 BcTl 15.Efc1 9c3

16.9d14g617.tra3

'll

17.g3!? keeps the knight out.

17...Wc7 18.6fe1 f6! 19.ef6

EfG 2o.ad3 2lt4 21,.de3??

2r.6f4Hf422.93? Hd4l

21...8c1

White resigned.

NOTES BY

Kevin Spraggett

SD 9.2

Alexander Shabalov

Artashes Minasian


This Eiame was important for deciding

the leadership of the tournament.

L.e4d5l?

Something of a surprise for Shabalov.

This opening is becoming

more and more popular. Every

now and then it gets sent back to

NDW IN CHESS

'

69

the repair shop because of some

move order problem, but it just as

quickly bounces back!

2.edS 9d5

The well-known Portuguese Variation

2...6f6 3.d4 Ag4l? has a history

all of its own. In recent

months it has been suffering...

3.6c3 Ba5

I remember a discussion I had

with Miles about this variation,

and he mentioned to me that

3...9d6 is a lot better than most

GMs think. Perhaps this is something

to try in the future.

4.93t?

The 'Day Variation', as it is known

in Canadian circles. I have played

it on occasions myself. The idea is

to leave the queen in the cold, and

hopefully out of play. It is also a

good variation to avoid the 'theory'.

4...4f6 s.ag2 c6 6.4f3 afsr?

A provocative move, allowing

White to later attack it with either

6d4 or ah4. 6...994 7.h3 Ahs

8.0-0 e6 9.d3 Ad6, is unclear.

7.b41?

Shabalov strikes.

7...8c7

7...9b4 8.8b1 hands the initiative

to White.

8.0-0 e6 9.trb14e7 10.b5 0-O

fl.d3 abdT!?

11...4d5! seems stronger.

12.bc6 bc6 L3.6d4 AgC

14.Be1Ads15.ads

This looks good, but Black finds a

way to keep the game muddy.

15.6e4r.?, and now c4 might be

very embarrassinS for Black at a

later stage.

15...cd516.h3 Af6!?

An ingienious idea. One of the

characteristics that I have noticed

about the Armenian players is

their catlike ability of always landing

on their feet in complex,

difficult-to-judge positi ons.

16...4h5 17.6e6 (17.4d5!?)

I NEw-l'oRKl E

17...fe6 18.8e6 Ef7 19.4d5 was

one of the ideas of Shabalov's.

L7.6b5 Wc2 18.4a3 Wa2

19.h94 EfcS

--

Black has only two pawns for the

bishop, but White has problems

co-ordinating his army.

2O.Wa5

20.Wd2!? gd2 27.9d2 6c5

(27...de5 22.C5) 22.95 Ae7

(22...4d4 23.ab5) 23.d4 de4.

20...6c5 21.95 Ae5 22.9:e3

Ad3 23.trfd1 Ac3 24.WaG

6b425.Wa4 a5 26.Eb3

Something seems to have not

quite worked in White's position.

26...o,c2t

26...4e5!?

27.trcl, he3 28.fe3 gd2

29.8c2 Be3 30.€h2 We5

Black has succeeded in winningl

some material, while at the same

time keeping the white pieces disorganized.

31.gg4Ab4 32.tre2

At this point Shabalov must keep

the pieces on, of course, hoping

that he will be able to muster up

some desperate attack. Simplifying

just eases Black's work.

32...9dG 33.Abs Bb6 34.6a3

Ec3! 35.8c3 Ac3 36.8f3 Ec8

37.trc2 trc7 38.4f1 Ad4

39.6c4 Bb4 4o.trd2 trc4

White resigned.

A very messy game, characteristic

of the type of uncompromising

play one finds in the big USA

money rounds.

NOIES BY

Kevin Spraggett

cK 4.LO

John Fedorowicz

Julio Granda Zuniga


1.e4 cG 2.d4 d5 3.e5

Being a Caro-Kann player mysell I

have to admit that this variation -

like the Advance Variation against

the French - is a headache for

Black.

3...afs4.af3

And this variation of Short's in

particular has caused many a

Black player sleepless nights.

4...eG 5.4e2 6d7

This variation seems to have superseded

the attempts involvingl

c5, to get a hold on the centre.

6.0-0 h6!?

This flexible move is highly

popular. Perhaps Black will pull

back his bishop, perhaps he will

play 0-0-0 and 95, perhaps he will

simply wait and see.

7.4e3

I don't like this. It is not clear what

the bishop does. I've seen some

games where White has achieved

good results with plans involving

b3 and Aa3. Also, the 'geometric'

7.a3!?, followed by the same strategy

as Black, is interesting. If

7...Wc7 (7-6e7 8.Abd2) 8.c4

0-0-0 9.b4.

7...4h7

Now Black intends 6-te7-f5xe3,

showing that Ae3 is too early.

8.4d3!?

Oh this is not so unreasonable.

But it leads to an uninteresting position

for White. I prefer c4, Q-:c3,

a3, Ecl, deciding only then

whether or not to exchange bishops,

e.g. 8.c41? dc4 9.4c4 6e7

10.6c3 6b6 11.4b3 or 11.4d3.

8...4d3 9.9d3 6e7 1O.6c3

4lt5l1,.o,e29.e7 L2.Ad2

70 I NEw rN cHEss

White has a problem findingi a

E!,ood plan. Is there a good plan

available? I think that perhaps

White should play 12.6g3!? and

offer a draw after 72...de313.fe3. '

L2...95!?

Black intends to play 0{-0 soon

enough and roll up on the kingside.

'Simple Chess!', someone

once told me, 'is the way Capablanca

became World Champion.'

L3.94

Taking the bull by the horns.

L3...a9714.8!? af8

14...8c7 15.c4 0-0-0 16.cd5 ed5

17.Eac1 €b8 18.4g3 is unclear.

15.6e1

15.h3!? ag6 l6.dh2;15.c4 Wd7.

15...hs 16.m ag6 L7.a,e2

gb6!?

The idea of this interesting move

is to prevent f4. Alternatives

abound: 17..@d7l?; 17...Wd7!?;

17 ...h9418.hg4 6h4; t7 ...Wc7 .

L8.a4

Perhaps 18.Ae3!? and then Wd2.

18...c5

18...a6!? 19.a5 Ba7, followed by

0-0-0 and playing along the hJine.

19.a5 9c7 20.c3 hg4 21-.h94

f5!?

An excellent move, but certainly

not the only good one. 21...0-0-0!?

22.a6 b6, and White has little active

play, while Black doubles

along the h-line.

22.141

John is famous for his coldbloodedness.

However, it is proba-

bly already too late...

22...9t4 23.o,et4 at4 24.olt4

GGO

and White is left with a wide open

kingside.

2s.696

What else?

25...trhg8 26.aG bG 27.3:e3

trd7l28.o,e7 Ee7 29.dc5 bcS

30.gbsahs! 31.Ea4

31.8c5 89432.@t2aC3.

31...c4 32.bc4 trg4 33.9f2

Be534.Wc6 €d835.cd5

35.8a8 €d7 36.EIa7 €e8.

3s...trg2! 36.€g2 wg3

37.€h1gh3 38.€91trg7

White resigned.

A nice game for players who like

the Caro-Kann!

NOTES BY

lan Rogers

RL 1.4

Vladimir Akopian

lan Rogers


1.e4 e5 2.6f3 6c6 3.4b5

Ac5

Akopian is only an occasional 1.e4

player, so it seemed sensible to try

to baffle him with a less than

usual system; one which, I hoped,

Akopian would be too young to

know anything about. It is now

more than three decades since

'real'players such as Spassky and

Fischer made the Cordel Defence

part of their repertoire but, with

...4c5 systems in the Spanish all

the rage, it is high time that

3...4c5 regained at least a slight

respectability.

4.c3 f5 5.4c6!?

Accordinpl to ECO, this is a reasonable

way of transposing to the

main line 5.d4 fe4 6.4c6 dc6

7.6e5 Ad6 8.Wh5 96 9.8e2

which, if the theoreticians are to

be trusted, should yield White an

edge. However in my opinion

5.4c6 gives Black too many options

to be a serious try for an advantage.

5...dcG 6.he5 tsh4!?

ECO gives only 6....4d6 7.d4 and

refers the reader back to the main

line. Yet even here Black can vary

with 7...Ae5 8.de5 Wdl 9.€d1 fe4

when Black's e-pawn is not as

weak as it looks (e.g. 10.6d2 Af5

11.8e1 0-0-0) and the endgame

should be tenable for Black.

7.0-O

I was expecting the more exciting

7.d4WeA 8.9d2!? (neither 8.4e3?

tsg2 nor 8.9f1 af6 offer much for

White) when 8...Ae7! 9.Wh5 g6

10.4g6 af6 11.Wh6 (11.9h3?

f4-+) 1I..6-t9412.9h5 Af6 leads

to a curious draw by repetition.

Black can try to play for more with

11...9g2!? but this merely creates

a total mess after I2.6e7 Q-:e4

13.€c2 Bhl (or 13...€e7 14.4e3)

14.9g7 trf8 15.We5.

7...fe4 8.d4 ed3

8...4d6 9.We2 leads to a perfectly

respectable position, very similar

to some of the 5.d4 main lines but

again Black wished to 'punish'

Akopian's unusual move-order.

9.93!

An unpleasant surprise. 9.6d3

Ad6 10.g3 Wg4 would be very

comfortable for Black but now

Black's queen is forced to an awkward

square.

NEWINCHESS) 71

;

F

o

>

'Large ballrooms, with very high ceilings, and fancy chandeliels'

9...9h310.4d3 ag4!

E,,r,,.

.i. :::::ii: I

lll:: ..GP

ittl:;fil :riir',,

itiiiil: f iiiiiilr

.:.r:::: lI|::: :.,..

iiiiji i iiiiii l:

tt::ll: ';:ut

^

..::::::::

t,,::':: ) t:t rr \ .,::1,::,1

f] a}. ,i

al.f--l' ':::,1

itriA.H,Wiirli::i'

* g

,A

iitirr

iiir,l,ri

Aiii,

,l] tll ,:U,,E

g

With his king still in the centre,

Black needs to develop fast and a

small tactical trick makes,this possible.

10...4d6 11.4f4 (or

11.4f4!?) would be more problematic.

74.at4) until one sees 13...0-01,

when 14.6d6 Af3 15.4f4 Ef4l

wins. So White must weaken his

kingside before playing 8:e4, guaranteeing

Black sufficient counterplav.

13...4f5 L4.de4

After the game Akopian thought

lhat 14.6f2 Ac5 15.We5 was a

better try but Black then has

15...4f2 16.trf2 0-0-0! when

77.We7 leads to disaster after

17...8he8 18.Wh4 Ee1 19.4f1

trddl 20.9h3 Ah3 21.4d2 Ea1

22.Ael trel when White is tied in

knots and must lose the endgame.

L4...Ae415.fe4 A96

Here, having rejected my inclina-

11.We1 6-te7t t2.6d2 tion to try the bizarre 15...0-0-0

I2.6:c5?? AB is not a serious op- 16.e5 Aa3 (17.We2!), I began feeltion.

ing confident that Black's prob-

12...4d6 13.f3

lems were over, analysing both

13.4e4 looks more attractive (in- 16.e5 Ae7 and 16.495 h6 as givtending

to meet 13...A8 with in[ White nothing. So it came as

something of a shock when, analysing

after the game, Akopian

mentioned the possibility of

16.8f5!?, threatening to trap

Black's queen with 17.afz.

Akopian correctly rejected 16.Ef5

because of 16...0-0-0 17.6,f2 Ag3l

when 18.h93 gg3 19.9f1 Ah4

20.E95 gh2 followed by ...Ehf8 is

far too risky for White, while

18.4h3 Ael 19.495 allows

19...trd3.

In the cool light of the next day,

I realised that 16.Ef5 could also be

answered with the simple

16...4h4. Now, since 77.We2 0:f5

l8.af2 aC3 is too tricky for

White's own good, the rook must

retreat and after 77.E.,f2 ag6

White has gained precisely nothing.

16.4f4 O-O 17.4d6 cd6

and the draw was agreed on

Black's offer, dropping both

72 ) NEw lN CHESS

players about 20 places down the

tournament standings. However

with the four rooks about to be

exchanged on the f-file there was

little to play for.

The Last Round

The Armenians hit home

NOIES BY

Artashes Minasian

st 44.1.5

Artashes Minasian

Kiril Georgiev


1.e4 c5 2.d3 Ac6 3.93 g6

4.492 gg7 s.f4 d6 6.4f3 af6

7.0-O O-O 8.h3

This variation is generally played

with 8.c3 followed by h3, Ee1 etc.

But on this occasion I decided to

manage without c3.

8...trb8

I think that this move loses a

tempo. Instead Black should have

played 8...b5 immediately and attacked

on the queenside.

9.94 b51O.f5

This game was played in the last

round and I would even have been

satisfied with a draw. I think that

the opening chosen and such open

play came as a surprise to Georglev.

10...b411.We1

I want to place the queen at h4,

where it will participate in the attack.

L1,...ad712.8h4 eG

Black should have played I2...4d4

13.4d4 (13.4c5 h6 14.6:f3 6e2)

13...4d4, although here too White

has the advantage.

13.agsf6

Now the black bishop is blocked in

for ever.

14.4e3 6de5 15.4e5 he5

L6.ad2a5L7.h,c48-:lf7

A very important point in the

game. Black should have blocked

the situation by 17...4c4 18.dc4

95 19.993 e5, when his position

is hard to breech, althouEih here

too White has the advantage. But

for Black to take first place only a

win would suffice, and so he deliberately

went in for a very bad position.

18.9g3 trb7

19.4c5 was threatened.

L9.tr12tre7 20.tra17,a4

This move loses, although it is already

difficult to suggest anything

better. If 20...ef5 2t.9fr gf5 White

can even give up the exchange -

22.Hf5 9,f5 23.Ef5 with a great advantage.

21-.95

iA lBi@ls

ii,,tai , ii A I

,ii]:]ti lia i I :-';

;iiifii ii iiiiiiiiiiia i

f ..1..6.".. A.......t..,,,,,,i.l

....,,., fllA'A A

A,A..A:1,.. 'fl,Q. 1.

21-...e1522.et5t95

There is nothing else.

23.tG Ee3 24.2,e3 AhG

25.4d5 tre8 26.dc4 Ae6

27.Wg2Af8 28.tre1

It was still possible to go wron6i:

28.He2 AdS 29.He8 Ag2 30.Ed8

af1.

28...4d5 29.8e8 Be8 3O.Bd5

9c8 31.€g2 94 32.h4 We8

33.9e4Wd7 34.tre2a3

rf 34...d5 35.4b6.

35.ba3 ba3 36.9d5 gd8

37.tre6 gb8 38.4e3 gb2

39.8a8 h5

39...Wc1 40.8e8 Wd2 41.€f1 Wcl

42.*e2.

40.Ee8 gf6 41.trf8 €g7

42.We8Wf343.9g1

Black resigned. After 43...9g3

44.692there are no more checks.

QP 8.5

Smbat Lputian

Vadim Milov


1.d4 af6 2.4g5 6e4 3.4f4 c5

4.f3 af6 5.dS dG 6.e4 e5

7.de6 fe6 8.6c3 AcG 9.9d2

Ae7 10.0-O-O e5 11.4g5 Ae6

12.4f6 gf6 13.ads gd7

L4.de7 €e7 L5.6,e2 ad4

16.4c3 b5 t7.6,dS Ads

18.ed5 b4 L9.14 a5 2o.fe5

de5 21,.9.c4 h5 22.trhf1 Eaf8

23.wd3

23...994 24.c3 bc3 25.bc3

e4 26.trtet gg5 27.trd2 afs

28.d0 gd8 29.We4 1-O

NOTES BY

Vladimir Akopian

QP 7.76.7

Vladimir Akopian

Suat Atalik


This game was played in the last

round and was quite important as

regards the tournament situation.

NEw rN CHESS I 73

= F

o

=

The last-round game that decided the fight for the big bucks

It is partly this, and also a desire

to get away from forcing variations,

that explains the choice of

opening.

Ld4 af6 2.4g5 c5

In an earlier game with Lputian

from the same tournament Atalik

played 2...c6.

3.AfG gf6 4.d5 WbO 5.Bc1f5

6.93 ag7 7.c3 h5

As far as I am aware, this aggressive

move, after which the play

takes a rather unusual turn, had

occurred only once before, in the

game Moser-Kraschl (Austria

1995), which went 8.6f3 e6 9.492

d6 10.0-0 Af6 11.de6 fe6 72.e4 fe4

13.8f4 €e7 14.6h4 and White

soon won.

The usual continuation is 7...d6.

8.h4

Intending 6h3-f4.

8...9h6 9.e3 d6 10.8c2 Aa6

11.Efla4

11.Ab5 gf8 72.a4 o,c7 13.4c4 e6

would have led to unclear play,

while after 11.Aa6 ba6 I2.Wa4

Ad7 13.Wa6 0-0 Black has compensation

for the pawn.

L1-...g.d7

Not 11...€f8 on account of 12.4a6

ba6 13.Wc6 trb8 14.8c7 and

wlns.

12.9b3

12.4b5 0-0-0 13.4a3 came into

consideration.

L2...6c7

This pawn sacrifice is practically

forced, as Black has an unpromisinpi

position after 12...4c8 13.4b5

€f8 14.4a6 ba6 15.6h3.

13.9b7 Ec814.Ah3

Here I hesitated for a long time

over the move played and l4.a4l?,

when a possible continuation is

14...00 15.4b5 Ab5 16.ab5 f4!

t7.gf4 Wg6 18.6e2 Wc2 19.6d2

E9b2 20.Eb1 Wa2 with an unclear

game.

14...0-0

14...4d5, intending 15.Wd5 Ac6

16.8f5 e6, did not work because

of 15.4b5!

L5.at4 e516.de6 te6 L7.Ae2

e518.hh5

If 18.4d5 ads 19.9d7 €h8 with

compensation.

74 ) NEW IN CHESS

18...4h8!

The immediate 18...d5 is weaker,

as after the possible continuation

79.697 @97 20.ad2 Ac6 21.8a7

d4 22.0-0! de3 23.Q:c4 Black's initiative

comes to an end.

19.c4!

Not 19.6d2 d5 with a powerful initiative.

19...d5!

If 19...8fd8 20.dc3 Ae8, then

2I.94f9422.d93.

20.cd5 gd6 21.9b3

Nter 21.6d2 Eb8 22.6c4 trb7

23.4d6 trb2 Black has a strong

initiative in the ending, for example:

24.Atc4 Ec2 25.4d3 Ec3

26.@d2 e4 etc.

21...trb8 22.Wc26d5

22...Wb6 23.b3 e4 24.6c3 Wb4

25.8c1 Ord5 does not work because

of 26.4c4.

23.4c3

23...6c3

Here Black had an interesting possibility:

23...6b4.

Now White cannot play 24.Wb3

9.e6 25.4c4 6d3, while in the

event of 24.Wd2 Wdz 25.@d2

EfdS Black has a powerful initiative.

After 24.8d1 Sdl 25.8d1 6c2

(not 25...4c6 26.0-0) White has a

choice:

A) 26.@f1 Ac6 27.Hgl trb2

28.94 f4 29.ef4 ef4 and now he

cannot play either 30.Ed6 Ae3, or

30.4c4 gh7 31.4d3 €h6 32.4c2

trc2 33.Ed6 @h7 34.8c6 B

35.4d1 trd8, when in both cases

Black wins;

B) 26.ed2 6d4! (not 26...trb2

27.*cl, winning), and now not

27.ed4 cd4 28.4b5 6oth 28.Sc1

Efc8 and 28.4c4 €h7 29.€c1 [or

29.6e2 Hb2 30.€e1 Ec8l 29...4e8

are bad for White) 28...4b5

29.4b5 trbs 30.b3 €h7, but 27.b3

with an unclear game.

And, finally, there is 24.9c4 *h7

25.We2, with a position that is

practically impossible tO evaluate.

24.bc3 Ac6 25.0-0

25.Ed1 came into consideration.

25...9d5 26.f3 c4 27.trad1-

Wc5 28.Sh2 Ae8

At this point we were both beginning

to run short of time. Instead

of the move played, 28...Eb7 came

into consideration. Now there

commences forcinS play, in which

White's material advantage begins

to play a major role.

29.f4e4t 3O.g4!Se3

Not 30...4h5 31.gh5 We3 32.Ac4

gh7 33.trd7 and 34.892, winnlng.

31.4c4 gh7 32.6,g9 Ac3

33.4b3 abs34.gf2!

36.Ef1 Ed8 37.trf2 trd3 was bad,

while 34.Efe1 would have led to a

draw after 34...4e1 35.Wc7 €h8

36.8e5 €h7 37.We7 €h8.

34...W12 3s.trf2 e3 36.trc2

36...8bc8?

This loses. The only chance was

36...4d2, and now:

A) 37.6f5 Ae2! 38.8c7 €h8

39.Eg1 Ag4 40.894 e2! and, as

the following variations demonstrate,

there is no win: 4l.ag3

(41.8c6 Eb6; 41.8:e7 trb6)

41...9f41. (41...e1W fails to

42.9c2!) 42.tre7 (42.trc5 trb7)

42...Hfe8! (42...8be8 43.Hf4 and

42...9e3 43.€93 EbeS 44.tr9e4

both lose) 43.Hgg7 Ag3! 44.@93

e1B 45.8e1 €g7 with a draw;

B) 37.Ec7 eh8 38.c5 Efd8!

(38...Ebd8 loses to 39.96 Ed7

40.trd7 Cd7 41.4h5) 39.96 Ed7

40.8d7 gd7 41.4h5 trb3! 42.ab3

e2 43.Hd2 (43.trg1 Ac3) 43...e1W

44.Hd7 Wh4 45.€92 with a draw;

C) 37.95! Ebd8 38.a4! with good

winning chances.

37.4e6!

This strong move decides the outcome.

37...trc7

Or 37...4a4 38.4c8 Ac2 39.8c1

Ec8 40.Ec2 fg4 47.8:e2 and wins.

38.trdc1! e2 39.6,e2 Ae2

Maintaining the intensity of the 40.4f5 trfs 41.gf5

struggle. 34.4f5 trfs 35.gf5 Af1 Black resigned

NEwINCHESSD 75

Anotlrer Boost for

Indian Cltess

Report and game notes by MANUEL AInONI

When Viswanathan

Anand is not around, it

is usually grandmasters

from othet countries

who win tournaments in

India. No longer!

No longer are the

Indians found lumped

and dumped together at

the bottom of the score

table. The Indian

Independence Golden

Jubilee Grandmaster

Chess Tournament held

at Calicut from March 4

to 15 turned out to be a

big success from the

Indian point of view.

Manuel Aaton saw

Abhijit Kunte claim first

pfize and score his

second GM norm in the

process.

alicut is on the southwestern

coast of India looking

at the fuabian Sea. Calicut

has gained prominence in the

chess world because a number of

national and international chess

tournaments have been held there.

It is the home town of Mr Ummer

Koya, the Secretary of the All India

Chess Federation. When the

World Junior Boys & Girls Championships

were held at Calicut in

1993, one South American junior

had bought her ticket for Calcutta

which is on the other side of India.

The last time a GM event was

held in India was two years ago.

Then, Tony Miles took first prize

and Adianto second. Wth his surprise

win in Calicut, 21-year-old International

Master Abhijit Kunte

also achieved the Grandmaster

norm which was 71/z points in this

five-nation, twelve-player, FIDE

CateSory 10 Tournament.

Only Kunte achieved the Grandmaster

norm. Nobody else, not

even the five GMs in the fray made

it! What augurs well for both India

and Bangladesh is that besides

Kunte two others came close to

making norms. Ziaur Rahman (23)

of Dhaka and Krishnan Sasikiran

(I7) ol Chennai were in with

chances of making norms till the

penultimate round. Remarkably,

all these three - Kunte, Zia and

Sasikiran, who finished 1-2-3, were

the younglest in this tournament

where the average age was 30.

On his way to his greatest tournament

triumph, Kunte played

like a seasoned grandmaster, playing

sensibly all the time. He always

consolidated his position before

going for something more. No

half-baked offensives for Kunte.

He lost only one game, against

Lanka Ravi in the seventh round.

That was an inspired game by Ravi

which was 'played like Kasparov',

according to Adianto. Even after

that defeat, Kunte kept his lead

which he had taken the previous

76 ) NEWIN CHESS

round and kept it till the very end.

For Kunte, chewing up Grandmasters

was as easy as taking candy

from kids. But while he thrived

against the grandmasters he did

poorly aflainst the six International

Masters! A 90o/o score

against GMs and only 50% against

IMs is quite strange! It should be

the otherway roundl

Kunte's prize was a magnificent

trophy and $ 2,000 besides the GM

norm. His earlier norm from the

Asian Junior Championship which

he won at Jaipur last October is

counted as a 9-game Swiss norm.

Kunte now needs one last GM.

lM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh

had a good tournament.

Helped by a large slice of luck in

the last round against IM Murugan,

he finished clear second. But

he was half a point short of the

GM norm. This is the fifth time

that this Social Anthropology student

from Dhaka University has

been narrowly missing the norm.

Very few GM tournaments are held

in Asia and its players suffer from

lack of opportunities to participate

in title tournaments.

The Chennai (Madras) school

boy K. Sasikiran was playing very

well and appeared to be heading

for a norm when in the seventh

round Konguvel spectacularly demolished

his Sicilian. This was Sasikiran's

only defeat. After Kunte,

Sasikiran appears to be the next

Indian in line for the GM title.

The highest rated player in the

event was Indonesia's Utut Adianto.

He had a very poor tournament

losing four games. But his heart

was always light and cheerful. He

made a lot of friends, not points.

When he lost to Kunte in Round 4,

and to Konguvel in the last round,

he said, 'Today, I see all Indians

with big smile. I like to see people

For Abhijit Kunte chewing up grandmasters was as easy

as taking candy fiom kids.

smiling!' Viktor Komliakov from

Moldova led after the fifth round

with 4 points. But incredibly, in the

remaining six rounds he scored

only one point. Amazingly, that

one point was from Barua who

had saved many lost games against

other players in this tournament!

Grandmaster Leonid Yurtaev

was the more stable of the two

former Soviet players in the field.

He made the mistake of underestimating

Kunte in the eighth round,

declined a draw offer and went on

to lose. Yurtaev, 38, became a GM

only three years ago. Till the Soviet

Union broke up he was unable

to travel abroad and make tifle

norms. Before coming to Calicut,

both Komliakov and Yurtaev had

played in the Goodricke Open at

Calcutta and passed the two interveningl

weeks coaching Calcutta

youngsters. Both blamed their

poor show on lack of facilities for

relaxation in India. 'One and half

months, too long in India!' said

Yurtaev. Komliakov and Yurtaev

z

o

{

l

z

*

NEW IN CHESS

'

77

I cALrcur l=

told me that Sasikiran should not

wear his cap when playing. From

the time I know him, Sasikiran has

always been wearing a cap. 'lt is

not according to FIDE's dress

reglulations!' said Yurtaev who visited

several shops tryingl, unsuccessfully,

to buy a cap to wear

when playing against Sasikiran.

Barua beat only fellow Indians

Lanka Ravi and Murugan. His only

loss was to the luckless Komliakov.

He drew against the remaining

eight players. Barua was

in difficulties in several games but

was able to salvaSe half points. His

most thrilling escape was against

Ziaur Rahman in the seventh

round. Barua had the equivalent

of a bishop for Zia's queen. After

inventive play and a little help

from Zia, Barua demonstrated

that sometimes even such narrow

squeaks happen, underscoring

once again why during the past 20

years he has been known as the

Houdini of Indian chess.

27.tre3 Wa1 28.€h2 Ef8

29.Be2Wc1

Black is better thanks to his active

queen and the possibility to play

f7-f5.

30.trb4 trab8 31.We1We1

Black had no other choice as

31...Wc2 would lose the queen af-

Ler32.tre2 gd3 33.Ed2.

32.tre1 a5 33.8b3 f5 34.f3

EfcS

It was better to play 34...€97 improving

the position of the king

for the ending and keeping White

guessinfl as to his plans.

35.8a1a4 36.trb4 &97 37.94

€fG 38.h4 €e7 39.g5 gd7

Simpler was 47.&92 gB 48.Eh6

winning.

47...trt3 48.€e5 e3 49.8e6

trd8 so.sf6

A better idea was 50.trb1 defending

Black's queenin6l square.

50...f4

Better was 50...8d5 51.tre7 €b6

52.8h7 Eb5 though White is still

better.

51.d6 trf1 52.&e7 tr98

53.trd4 f3 54.8e3 f2 55.trf3

tre1 56.€f7 tree8 57.trdf4

€c8 58.€fG

58.8f2 gd7 also wins for White

though he must watch over the

threat of Eef8 mate. After 59.€f6

the white king can work its way

back to 94 as in the game.

58...€d7

RL 12.6.6

Abhijlt Kunte

Leonid Yurtaev

Calicut 1998

1.e4 e5 2.6f3 6cG 3.4b5 aG

4.9.a4 af6 5.0-O b5 6.4b3

Ac5 7.c3 dG 8.d4 Ab6 9.h3

O{ 1O.Ee1 Ab7 11.a4 6a5

L2.Ac2 tre8 13.Abd2 c5

14.d5 c4 15.4f1 od7

16.43h2 Ac5 17.4e3 Ac8

18.493 g6L9.ag4

Better chances were offered by

19.ab5 abS 20.8f3 Ea7 2l.ag4.

19...4g4 2o.gg4 6ab3

21,.tra3 o,a4 22.9:b3 cb3

23.4b6 6bG 24.Eb3 6c4

The game is equal because of the

strange situation of the rook on

b3.

25.at1, Wa5 26.he3 6e3

Somewhere around here Kunte

proposed, or rather, whispered a

draw offer. According to spectators,

Yurtaev growled a harsh,

"NO!',

40.€g3 trf841.ef5gf5

lf Al...trts? 42.Haa4.

42.b3 Efc8 43.ba4 Ec3

44.abS €c7 45.EaG

45.b6 Eb6 46.tra7 €b8 47.8b6

@a7 48.8d6 e4 49.Eh6 EB

50.€g2 Ed3 51.8h7 gb6 52.Ef7

trd5 53.96 and White should win.

45...€b7

Black would rather give up his d6

pawn than allow the exchange of

his rook on c3 through 46...8c6.

His counterplay is going to be

based on the Ec3 and his planned

e5-e4.

46,EdBe447.@t4

59.€f5?

He should capture the f2 pawn

now, as it is extremely dangerous.

Fortunately for Kunte, Yurtaev

also did not see how he could win.

In all probability he was only looking

for a draw, not a win!

59...trb8

59...Egf8 60.994 Ef4 6l.Ef4 Ee4l

62.8e4 f1ts 63.8e7 €d6 64.9h7

We2 65.@f4 Be5 66.€g4 We4

and the queen picks up the rook.

60.gg4

Now everything is right for White.

60...trb5 61,.tr12 h6 62.trf7

€cG 63.8c2 €bO 64.d7 Eb4

65.trf4

Black resigned.

78 ) NEwrN CHEss

st 24.8.9

Dibyendu Barua

Krishnamoorthy Murugan

Calicut 1998

1.e4 c5 2.0:t3 O:cG 3.d4 cd4

4.ad4 6f6 5.hc3 d6 6.4e2

eG 7.0-O Ae7 8.4e3 O-O 9.f4

Wc7 10.€h1 aG 11.a4 tre8

12.4f3 ad7 13.4b3 b6 14.g4

Ac8 15.95 6d7 L6.Ag2 Ab7

L7.Wd2 Af8 18.Ead1 EadS

19.9f2 a,b420.trd2

lf 20.f5 ef5 21.Wf5 Q:eS 22.Q-:d4

and White is better.

20...96? 2L.9.d4 6,cG 22.A:16

af6 23.gf6 ab4 24.9h4 d5

25.f5 ef5

No better is 25...de4 26.fCO hgo

27.Qte4 trd2 28.6bd2 Wc2

29.6e5 gez 30.@92 gd2 31.trf2

Wd5 32.trf3 Wd2 33.€h3 and

White wins.

26.ef5 Ee5 27.6d4 EdeS

v0 14.10

Krishnan Sasikiran

Ziaur Rahman

Calicut 1998

1.d4 d5 2.c4 6tc6

The Chigorin Defence is used as a

surprise by many. Sensibly, Sasikiran

decides not to go into the

main line with 3.cd5.

3.hc3 dc4 4.hf3 6f6 5.e4

ag4 6.4e3 e6 7.4c4 ab4

8.9d3 O-O 9.4d2 e5 10.d5

Aa5 11.f3 Ad7 L2.a3 6tc4

13.ab4

13.6c4 Ad6 l4.ad6 cd6 15.0-0

We7 16.Eac1 trfc8 when White is

slightly better.

13...6e3 14.We3 aG 15.6c4

abs

15...8e8 was better. But it was very

tempting to sacrifice a pawn with

the white king still in the centre.

16.4e5!

It takes a lot of understanding and

courage to capture such a pawn in

the middle of the board, specially

when the king remains uncastled

in the centre. But Sasikiran is

28.6e6!! tr5e6 29.fe6 Ee6

30.Ee1Bd6 31.tre6 fe6

31...8e6 32.8e2 is clearly better

for White.

32.6e2 6cG 33.f7l €g7

34.6t41Ae7 35.trf2!!

Very rapidly White has orSanised

his forces into an efficient attacking

unit.

35...he5

If 35...4h4 36.6e6 €h6 37.f89

wlns.

36.8e7!!

If 36...We7, 37.4e6! winning.

Black resigned.

Krishnan Sasikiran wearing his traditional cap

z

{

l

z

:

NEW IN CHESS ) 79

I cArrcur l=

good in calculating variations

depth.

16...treS L7.t4We7 18.Wd4

n

E :.!!:,!!!!! :rr:rr,,:: E .:l:l::,:,. GOl''r:::,..

::!:::!!!! !!!!!!:!:!! E::rrr:'r.: E fli:i:rrl

-

+iilil M l. I

li.,....,, i,.:'ii .A iii..i:

iiliiiiiAili.iA iri,:iiiii

u& A .:!!!

:E!! U

::::" l\. :" : .::::

.tL:l

....:....:, ,:,A

E' r $: ,iE

18...6e4?!

18...4h5 was better.

19.We4 fG 2O.Ab5 ab5

2L.tra8 tra8 22.0-O feS 23.fe5

h6 24.h3 Ee8 25.tre1 Wg5

26.e6 We7 27.We5! gb4

28.trc1! tre7 29.trc7 Ec7

3O.Wc7 gd4 31.6h2 gds

32.9b8 €h7 33.e7

Black resigned.

EO L7,L3

Zialrr Rahman

Dibyendu Barua

Calicut 1998

1.c4 e5 2.6,:c3 6cG 3.93 g6

4.492 agZ S.ee d6 6.age2

h5 7.d4 h4 8.d5 h3 9.4f3

6ce7 10.e4 f5 11.4g5 AfG

L2.wd2 b6 13.trg1 a5

14.0-O-O Aa6 15.Wd3 Wd7

16.9b10-0-o

It is natural to avoid castling on

the kinflside where his pawns have

all gone far from home. But after

16...0-0 17.ef5 Ac4 18.8c4 Bf5

the chances are about level.

17.4f6 Af6 Le.g4 €b8:

19.6c1 Ah4 2o.trdf1 trdf8

21.Ad1We8?

Better was 27...fe4 22.Q:e4 c6

23.dc6 (23.Aa4 ad5!) 23...Wc6

24.9d6 gd6 25.ad6 Afz 26.trht

Ac5 with excellent prospects for

Black.

80 I NEwrN CHESS

22.13 tg4 23.Aa4 Wc8

24.tr9495 25.ab5ab7

White has excellent attackingi

prospects against Black's castled

position.

26.9d1 trh6 27.a,d3 trhf6

2B.trggt g4 29.t4 g3 30.h93

h2 31.trh1 Ag3 32.b4 ab4

33.4b4 tr1434.tr14tr14

Stronger was 34...ef4 35.Wa4 Wd8

and Black could hold White's attack

on the queenside.

35.Wa4 WfB 36.c5 dc5

37.hc6

37...6c6?

Capturing with the bishop was

better: 37...4c6 38.dc6 Ef3

39.8a6 (39.4d1 Bh6) 39...8c8

40.Wa3 We6. The trouble with

37...6cG is that strangely, the

bishop on b7 becomes a liability

and takes up room the king needs

badly.

38.dc6 Aa8 39.4c4!!

A winning square vacation. White

is threatening the deadly 40.4b5.

39...9dG 4O.Ab5 WcG

41.4d5 gbs 42.gbs ads

43.8e8 €bz 44.ed5 trd4

45.BcG €b8 46.€c2 Al4

47.a4 Ec4 48.€b3 trb4

49.€c3 e4 50.gf6 AdG

51.Ea1 &a7 52.9h8 Af4

53.trf14e3 54.9d8

Not 54.Sh2?? Ad4 55.@c2 trb2

winning. Faced with little tricks

like these, White is gradually beingl

unnerved.

54...4d4 55.€c2 Ae5

Now Black has a glimmer of hope

with the pawn on h2 preventin5i

the white rook from active play.

Also the peculiar position of the

white king along the first and second

ranks makes Black's task a

wee bit easier.

56.We7 trb2 57.€c1 trt2l

58.tre1 Ee2 59.trf1 trt2

60.tre1 Ee2 61.trh1 Af4

62.eb1

If 62.@d1?? Ed2 63.Se1 Ed5!!

and White's win has almost disappeared!

62...e3 63.We4 tr12 64.do

This leads to a draw straightaway.

64.a5 b5 65.8e8 Eg2 66.Mb5

trgl 67.@a2 Eh1 68.Wc5 €a6

69.8c6 €a5 The only move, since

if 69...9a7? 70.a6! Eal 71.€a1

h1W 72.€a2 Bg2 73.€b3 and

White wins.

The stubborn defence that Black

has patiently put up finally gets its

reward. White could still hope to

win after 64.Eel e2 65.€c2 Ef1

66.We2 h1g 67. Efl.

64...cd6 65.We7 @a6 66.8e6

€a7 67.9d7 €b8 68.gd8

Drawn.

NEwTNCHESS) 81

Money

Matters

HANS REE

{

o Uoo

o

The story goes that in

the days when

newspapers wefe

type-set the headline

'Farmers Moaning

Again'was always kept

at the ready because it

was needed practically

every day. This would

probably also hold true

for the headline

'Chessplayers in

Financial Straits,' be it

today or a century ago.

his February Evgeny Sveshnikov

played in the Open at

Nova Corica, Slovenia. His

games were published in the tournament

bulletin but his name was

not; instead it simply said 'GM,

2595.' Sveshnikov wished to remarn

anonymous.

He was makingl a protest; it was

unfair that his games were on the

Internet and in the commercial databases

without his receiving any

renumeration for them. In the

Swiss magazine Die Schachwoche

he was quoted as saying: 'The

situation of the Russian GM's is

bad enough as it is, and as for mysell

I don't know what I'm €oinE

to live on in my old age. Four Russian

grandmasters have already

committed suicide because of

their appallin g financi al situation!'

Of course the games he'd played

at Nova Gorica did appear on the

Internet and in the databases under

his own name. But Sveshnikov had

made his point. There's a lot of

money in circulation in chess, probably

more than ever before, but that

doesn't mean the average chess professional

is in good financial shape.

Would copyright on chess games

be a help? FIDE has announced

plans to claim a copyright. A remarkable

undertaking considering

that it has been abundantly

clear many a time in the past that

no legal copyright of chess games

exists. And even if it did it would

belong'not to FIDE but to the

players themselves, unless of

course chess players are seen as

FIDE employees. One can only

conclude that FIDE sees the relationship

between itself and the

players as one between employer

and employee.

If FIDE really did take legal action

against a database firm or a

chess journal, it would certainly

lose the case. So why threaten to

do so? The answer is, evidently,

that the threat is stronger than

the execution. A small business

could be ruined by a court case,

even if it won. So the owner would

come to some sort of agreement

and pay up. A modest FIDE tax as

protection against legal terrorist

action. But is a large organization

free to threaten a small firm with

legal action, in the knowledge that

82 ) llsw lll CHoss

the case won't be brought to court

because the firm can't afford the

legal costs, the threat being simply

a form of blackmail? I'm no lawyer

but I can imagine that there are

countries where a threat of this

kind is in itself ille€al, and where

firms could sue for compensation.

Interesting times for lawyers are in

the offing.

Apart from the le€al niceties

there is the question of whether it

would be a Sood and fair thing for

chess players to be paid for having

their games published. I think it

would be, providing FIDE keeps

its hands off. But how much would

it actually amount to? For top players

whose games are published all

over the world it would certainly

be an interesting source of income.

But those who can no

longer live on chess, won't be able

to live on royalties either. If I, for

example, really did have copyright

how much in royalties would I be

able to claim for my Sames in

Nicbase or Chessbase? To begin

with, I'd have to share it with thousands

of others - including the

heirs of dead chess players. Of the

World Champions only Steinitz's

games would,no longer fall under

copyright he's been dead too

long. I'd probably decide not to

bother in the end. But, who

knows, maybe I've 6iot my sums

wrong.

o

o

{

o

Evgeny Sveshnikov

Anyway, who were those four

Russian players who, according to

Sveshnikov, had been driven'to

suicide by poverty? It was a dramatic

but no! apparently, an unduly

shocking statement, for it received

hardly any follow-up in ttre

chess press. Ian Rogers, in his

chess feature in the Australian

newspaper the Canberra Times,

was the only one to mention some

names of former Soviet Union

chess players who he thought had

committed suicide, though

whether or not their deaths were

caused by poverty he didn't know,

and it would of course be very difficult

to verify. Perhaps poverty

alone is seldom enough to precipitate

suicide. But any hwnan misery

is harder to bear when the suf:

ferer is poverty-stricken as well.

Recently, in a long open letter

to Ilyumzhinov and the FIDE

copyrights commission, published

in the Russian magazine 64,

Sveshnikov was more specific. He

named Vitolins, Utemov, Lomaya,

Kalatozishvili and Ilivitsky, the IM

who in Griteborg 1955 almoit

qualified as a World Championship

Candidate. All of them, the

first four recently, Ilivitsky some

years ago, had been driven to suicide

by poverty according to

Sveshnikov. One can certainly

agree with Sveshnikov that the

chess world should work out a

way to help such sad cases.

A LIFE OF OBSCURITY

IS A HAPPY LIFE

I've just been reading John S. Hilbert's

Nap[er, the Forgotten

Chessmaster, Caissa Editions,

1997. The chess career of William

Ewart Napier was a short one and

he played in few international

tournaments. Coburg, 1904 was

not one of them, yet nevertheless

Hilbert tells us that the three players

who jointly won this tournament,

Bardeleben, Swiderski and

Schlechter, each came to a sad

end. Bardeleben and Swiderski

committed suicide and Schlechter

died shortly after the First World

War of poverty and exhaustion.

The poverty of chess players is an

important theme in the book for

the very reason that Napier

evaded it by leaving the chess fraternity

at the age of 25, to begin

what was to be a prosperous career

with an insurance company.

For most chess players today

the English/American master

Napier is remembered only for the

one game: Lasker-NapieS Cambridge

Sorings, 1904. Napier

wrote later: 'This is, I think, my

best €ame and certainly the one I

NEWIN CHESS ) 83

most enjoyed playing.' He must

have been a pleasant character to

be able to look back with such

pleasure on a lost game. But it's

difficult to write a heroic life of

one who got more out of defeat

than victory, and who withdrew

from the fight at such an early age

as well. There are many nice

games in this book. Hilbert certainly

succeeds in showing that

Napier was not just a one game

man. He was an attractive attacking

player with a keen eye for positional

play who won brilliancy

prizes, and occasionally defeated

the strongest players. But what

I HAN-Riil E

Hilbert can't do anything about is

the fact that to the reader of today

Napier's chess career lacks dramatic

interest. Who cares whether

he wins or loses, yoir think, he'll

soon be an insurance man and live

happily ever after, taking in the

odd interesting chess event such

asNewYorh 1924.

During the years that he was active

in chess Napier wrote hundreds

of chess columns for the

Pittsburgh Despatch. From the

quotations piven he seems to have

been concise, to the poin! and

sometimes witty. Hilbert also includes

an article Napier wrote in

1939 for the English nragazine

Chess. His style, now flowery and

rhetorical, is at least twenty kilos

heavier. A writer as well as a chess

player might well have been lost to

lnsurance.

Hilbert's book also gives many

potted biographies of the chess

players Napier came into contact

with. Amonfl them is that of the

American chess player James Mortimer

(1833-1911), who Napier

said was his best friend. Mortimer

seems to have been an interesting

man: diplomat journalist chess

player, playwright and friend of

the French Imperial family. He was

the staunch editor of the London

Figaro which he had also founded,

who went to prison rather than divulge

the name of one of his contributors

accused of slander. He

tied with Skipworth for last place

(three points, 26 games) at the

grand tournament of London in

1883, where Zukertort celebrated

his greatest triumph. Hooper and

Whyld's The Oxford Companion

to Chess gives some of Mortimer's

biographical details and also the

entry, MORTIMER DEFENCE: 'a weak

reply to the SPANISH oPENING, perhaps

leading to the simple

MORTIMER TRAP.' He died of pneumonia

while reporting on the

1911 Tournament at San Sebastian.

No great chess player, but

wouldn't I love to read his biographv.

TUCRATIVECHAOS

Nigel Short's column in the Sundag

Telegraph of t2 April was also

mostly about money. It will come

as no surprise to those who read

what Dominic Lawson had to say

about Anthony Miles and Nigel

Short in his book The Inner

Game, that one of the first things

he did when he became editor of

this English Sunday newspaper

was to change the chess correspondent

- Miles out Short in.

And it has to be said that Short

writes a nice column. In the one of

12 April he describes the chaos in

a chess community that has two

World Champions, each of whom

have great difficulty in passing

themselves off as the legitimate

title-holder. He admits that he

himself played a large part in

bringing about this chaotic state

of affairs, but he doesn't feel

guilty. Because surely if Kasparov

and he hadn't withdrawn from

FIDE in 1993, Ilyumzhinov

wouldn't have spent millions of

dollars restoring FIDE's credibility,

would he?

Probably no! we have to admit.

What in 1993 seemed like a piece of

egotism is thus, retroactively, made

out to have been a deed for the

common good, many chess players

having been able to profit by it. Although

I'm not in the least sure

that the turbulent developments

instigated in 1993 will, in the long

run, prove beneficial to chess, I'll

end my rather sad observations on

the financial plight of the players

on this comforting note.

84 ) Nsw r:l Curss

Hanging

attacking

pieces in the

Griinfeld

{

o

J,q.N Tttr,ttr.tAN

n Montreal 1979, I had a typi-

I cal Crtinfeld battle as Black

I against Spassky. It started as

follows:

Gr 5.9.2

Boris Spassky

Jan Timman

Montreal 7979 (72)

1,.d4 olt6 2.c4 gG 3.6c3 d5

4.cd5 6d5 5.e4 Ac3 6.bc3

Ag7 7.4c4 c5 8.4e2 o-o

9.O-0 AcG 1O.Ae3 Ag4 L1,.13

ha5 12.4d5 Adz 13.Ags

Abs14.Eb1Aa6 15.f4

And now I declded to leave out the

intermediate 15...h6 on the intuition

that this was too dangerous.

The post-mortem proved me right:

15...h6 16.9h4 gd7 17.f5 ef'

18.493! e6 19.6h51 would yield

White a dangerous attack.

19...Afl is followed by 20.4f6,

while 19...f6 is met by the sensational

20.trf5!

After 20...ed5 21.9f6 9.t6 22.6t6

Ef6 23.Ef6 Wg7 24.e5 White is

calling the shots.

)\ q)

I played

1s...9d7

whereupon Spassky continued

16.f5 gfs 17.trf3

After a long fight a draw was

agreed - for the rest of the game,

see my book The Art of Chess

Analgsis.

Instead of 17.8f3, Spassky could

also have tried 17 .693, again with

the point 17...e6 18.6h5 f6 19.Ef5

The situation is even more spectacular

now, with three white attacking

pieces en prlse, This is

not, incidentally, the reason why

the attack has no chance of success

here. The difference is that

the black h-pawn is still on its

original square, which enables

Black to play 19...ed5 20.4f6 Af6

2I.atG EfG 22.8f6 de4, afier

which White's attack peters out.

NEw rN CHESS ) 85

Why did I delve so deeply into this

old game fragment? The answer is

that it jumped in my mind when I

saw a very recent Grtinfeld game

from the Linares tournament. It

also contains a situation in which

three white attacking pieces are

under attack after White had

launched a blitz aElainst his opponent's

king.

This spectacular game typifies the

kind of play of those players in the

tournament. For Svidler, because

it once more shows his problems

as Black compared to his confident

play as White. For Topalov,

because the seed of the agglressive

approach that has made him famous

was there, except that as so

often of late, he failed at the last

hurdle.

Gt 4.7.4

Veselin Topalov

Peter Svidler

Linares 1998 (4)

1.d4 af6 2.c4 gG 3.6c3 d5

4.cd5 hdS 5.e4 6c3 6.bc3

Agz z.AbE

Topalov played this three times in

Linares, scoring only one point.

But it could have been 21/2, because

against Shirov, as later in

this game, he had a winning position.

7...c6 8.4a4 O-O

The dynamic approach with 8...b5,

followed by 9...b4 in order to attack

the white centre at once, has

gone out of fashion for some reason.

9.6e2 c5

Shirov went for the alternative

plan with 9...4d7 10.0-0 e5 here

without clearly equalizing. "fhe

text takes the game into classical

exchange variation waters, with

the only difference that the white

king's bishop is on a4 instead of

c4. The advantage for White is

that Black cannot attack the

bishop with 6c6-a5, with tempo,

later. But in some oth'er respects

the a4 bishop is not so well placed.

White cannot put his bishop on

the stron6i d3-square now, from

where it would both control

square c4 and cover e4.

10.0-0 6c611.4e3 Aa5

The typical Grtinfeld manoeuvre,

also without the bishop under attack.

12.trb1

Another typical move. Svidler now

thought for nearly an hour, even

though this position had occurred

in earlier practice. Later in the

tournament Topalov played 12.dc5

against Kasparov here, after which

Black kept the balance with

12...6c4.

L2...6c4

Played, as so often, after a long

think: Black cannot find the correct

solution to the positional

problem. When White has taken

away his queen's bishop, the

knight is somewhat lost on c4. In

itsell c4 is a strong square for

Black, but only if he can hang on

to it lonS-term - for which his

pieces lack sufficient development.

Some alternatives were:

A) 12...cd4. This early release of

the tension cannot be recommended.

In a relatively old game

Dautov-Labunsky, USSR 1989,

White was better after 13.cd4 b6

14.d5 e6 15.4d2!;

B) 12...b6. The normal move

every experienced Gninfeld player

would have played without much

thought. That White can win a

pawn with 13.dc5 shouldn't

frighten Black. It is one of the

strategical characteristics of the

Grtinfeld that Black can allow captures

on c5 and b6, as this gives

White weak a and c-pawns, which

will find themselves under considerable

pressure, because Black

controls these two halfopen files.

But this is not yet a concrete justification.

After 13.dc5 Black continues

with 13...4a6. Now Topalov's

post-mortem suggestion,

14.cb6, is not impressive in view of

14...9d1 15.4d1 ab6, with excellent

piece play for Black.

The move Svidler was afraid of

was 14.4b5, to neutralize the

pressure along the a6-f1 diagonal.

On the other hand, Black gets

square c4. The critical variation

continues with 14...4b5 15.trb5

6c4 16.495 Wc7! (stronger than

Svidler's alternatives 16...h6,

16...9d1 and 16...f6, which latter

not very positional move is his

main line) 17.9b3 6a5 18.Ua3.

So far Svidler, who assesses White

to be slightly better. But Black

puts a spanner in the works with

18...We5, solvinp all his positional

problems. I assume that Kasparov

wanted to play this when he went

for this line against Topalov. Another

critical variation is 19.6d4

We4 (not 19...8g5 in view of

followed by 23.f4) 20.cb6 ab6

27.We7 Efd3!, with sufficient

counterplay.

13.ags

The perfect square for the bishop

for the moment.

86 ) NEw rN CHESS

i:il[i: @

ll

ili$ri

13...h6

Now Black gets into big trouble.

Svidler, in his comments in Schach

notes that 13...Wc7 was probably

better, showing an interesting and

sharp variation. After 14.8d3 Black

can aim for tactical complications

with 14...6a3 15.Eb2 Wa5. Both

white bishops are attacked, the

queen's bishop indirectly. After the

forced 16.4d1 cd4 I7.Ae7 tre8

189b4 gbs 19.4c2! (19.Wb5 Ab5

20.4a4 yields nothing in view of

20...4d7, and now 21.c4 is not

glood because of 21...d3) 19...dc3

White has the following choice:

A) 20.trb3. Svidler's suggestion.

He continues 20...Wd3 21.9d3

trdB 22.o,f4 Ed3 23.4ffi 6b5, assessing

it as unclear. I believe

Black has the stronSbr trumps

here. The passed pawn is very

strong, and the combination of

bishop pair and dominant knight

makes life difficult for White;

B) 20.4c3. This sober continuation

is far stronger. Black has to

swap queens, after which the

black knight remains sidelined after

20...Wd3 21.4d3. Black's problem

is that after 21...4e6 22.997

@97 23.trb7 he cannot take on a2

in view of 24.Ea1.

14.4h4 b6

Bad timing, as pointed play by

White now yields him a decisive

advantage. But Svidler rightly says

that in other cases White would

also be better.

15.AcG trb816.Ads!

Well played. Now Black has no decent

way to maintain his position.

16...4a617.9d3 b5

Sad necessity.

L8.a4

Typically Topalov. He goes for the

sharpest approach, although the

simple 18.dc5 was also enough to

cause his opponent insurmountable

difficulties.

18...cd419.6d4

19...4d4

A terrible decision for a Grrinfeld

player, but there was no alternative.

As Svidler says: "Against the

grain but absolutely forced.'

2O.cd4

A strange slip. Usually it's a matter

of routine to keep the pawn centre

d4-e4 intact after swapping on d4,

but here it was obvious that

20.Wd4 would have 6liven White's

queen absolute dominance. Black

can hardly fight back. After 20...e5

both 21.4f7 and 21.Wa7 are suffi

cient while an attempt to confuse

matters with 20...6a3 is most easily

refuted with 21.trbcl ba4

22.trfd7, as indicated by Svidler.

A Topolov in top form would not

have hesitated. On the other hand

we should be happy with this less

effective text-move; otherwise the

m agnificent complications unfoldinS

after a few moves would never

have seen the light of day.

20...4d6

Now Black has the possibility of

building some kind of defensive

line.

21.trfc1trb6

Svidler also cooperates in the

coming show piece, although he

may not have been aware of it

here. Instead of the articifial text,

Black had the possibility of defending

with 21...4b7, as Topalov

indicated during the post-mortem.

Svidler then gives the variation

22.9b7 Eb7 23.ab5 Wd7 24.f3

(against the threatened 24...W94)

24...4b5 25.d5, concludinS that

White's advantage is undeniable.

A correct assessment, but we have

to note that 25.9.e7! instead of

25.d5 wins at once. This means

that he must replace 24...6b5?

with 24...trfb8, as the white b-

pawn is going to be lost anyway.

Ar interesting question then is

whether White's indisputable advantage

is decisive! I think it is.

The white bishop is far stronger

than the knight, the central dominance

counts for much more than

the poor black a-pawn, and finally,

Black's king position is badly

weakened. If I am correc! this

would mean that the artificial

text-move is Black's best practical

chance, as White will have to play

quite energetically to refute it,

and, as we will see, to calculate accurately

as well.

22.a5

A committal advance in itself, but

Topalov has an attractive option

in mind.

22...Eb8 23.8c6

From now till the end, the game is

a thrilling fight a series of complications,

combinations and counter-combinations.

23...4b7

The only move. The other bishop

retreat, 23...4c8, would be eleganfly

refuted with 24.Ed6l Wd6 25.493.

NEW IN CHESS ) 87

24.e5

Opens the way to the delicate

point 96.

24...6f5

Black must stop the white queen

from landing on g6 at any price.

2s.tr96

The point of move 22. The black

king's fortress is pulled down, but

Black keeps his cool.

2s...€h8

An incredible position.

With his rook and both bishops attacked,

White cannot deal the fi

nal blow. He is facing a difficult

choice.

26.g:t7

This very surprising capture gets a

question mark from Svidler. Some

alternatives were:

A) 26.9f5. The least dangerous

continuation for Black. After

26...f9627.WC6 Wd5 all White has

is a draw through perpetual check.

He can still try 28.9h6 gg8

29.9g6 €h8 30.Ae7, but then

30...We4! is enough to combine

both attack and counterattack.

B) 26.894. A sober continuation.

White takes two of the three

pieces to safety. After 26...Wd5

27.8f5 Black must try to launch a

counterattack against 92 with

27...H98. Play then continues almost

by force as follows: 28.f3

(White has to close the long diagonal)

28...trg4 29.994 trg8 30.9f4

€h7, and now:

81) 31.Eb2. Indicated by Svidler.

White covers the g-pawn, at the

same time nippin€ the black

queen's intended sortie to a2 in

the bud. The drawback is that f3

remains uncovered. After 31...W8

32.9f3 AB 33.4e7 a6 it is almost

impossible for White to win the

endgame, as Black can blockade

the position by putting his rook

on c6 and his bishop on d5;

82) 31.493!. This looks much

stronger to me. White protects the

g-file, putting paid to Black's attacking

chances. White is planning

32.h4 in order to vacate h2 for his

king and possibly to advance the

pawn further in order to take the

crucial 96 square away from the

enemy rook.

The black king's lack of safety is a

constant factor. As in many other

lines, the question remains

whether the black b-pawn can become

dangerous.

The critical conl"inuation is

31...8a2, when White can aim for

a successful transaction without

any risk: swapping the black b-

pawn for his own backward d-

pawn: this is done as follows:

32.9f5 gh8 33.trb5 Wa1 34.Eb1

gd4 35.9h1 Ad5 (35...Wd5 runs

into 36.Eff4 and 37.h4) 36.e6 f6,

and now White can go for an endgame

with 37.Wf4, with far better

winning chances than in B1;

C) 26.4f6. Svidler calls this remarkable

check 'the safest and

best move.' The idea is to play

27.4f7 only in resonse to 26...ef6,

when Black has two possibilities:

CI) 27...Wd7. Given an exclamation

mark by Svidler, who giives

the following interesting! line:

28.e6 Wd5 29.9h3 €h7 30.8f6

6h4! (the best attempt) 31.9d3!

Efe4 32.8e4 Ae4 33.8e1, concluding

that White is clearly better.

But is he not simply winningi? It

seems to me that 33...992 is

forced, leading by force to an endgame

with rooks and bishops in

which White is not only a pawn

up, but also keeps the initiative:

34.e7,df3 35.tr8 AA 36.ef8W

trf8 37.8e7, and now it's important

for White to have the further

intermediate check 40.tre5 after

37...&87 38.4d5 €f6 39.8e6 €f5,

which leads to a rook ending with

two extra pawns. The same will

happen after 37...a6 38.8a7;

C2) 27...trf7. After this Svidler

indicates 28.Wf5 gf8 29.9h5

Eh7 30.trf6, with a winning plus.

But he is overlooking an important

defensive move, viz. 29...9.e41.

After 30.Eh6 Eh7 31.trh7 Ah7

White's attack stalls, leaving

White with a massive kingside

pawn majority against a passed b-

pawn which will soon become dangerous.

This means that 29.9h5,

giving the black bishop square e4,

is wrong. But otherwise the white

attack has no teeth either, e.g.:

29.e6 trgT 30.Eg7 (30.Eh6 ge8

88 t NEwrN cHEss

yields Black a dangerous counterattack)30...897

31.d5 Ed8 32.Eb5

Aa8, with a dynamic balance.

Which leads me to the conclusion

that only Variation B had offered

White winning chances.

And the text-move? My analyses

will show that, contrary to what

Svidler says, it does not at all

throw away White's advantage.

Wth a bit of courage I would even

award the move a !, but this depends

on the soundness of two long

variations which will come up soon.

26...trt7 27.eG

The point of the previous move,

which forces the black rook back

again.

27...trtB 28.493

Not only attackinEi the b8 rook,

but more to the point, threatening

a devastating check on e5.

28...€h7

Removing the devastating check

and forcing the white rook to a

less dominant square.

29.tr94

29... Ec8

Now Black is hopelessly lost again.

He should have grabbed the

chance to continue the battle for

the initiative. His only chance was

29...h5! in order to force the white

rook to a less favourable square.

This leaves White two possibilities:

A) 30.trb5. Given a I by Svidler.

The main line continues as follows:

30...Wc8 31.8c5! (31.h3 is

met by 31...tsc1 32.@h2 gg2l

(Svidler), and Black wins)

31...Aa6! 32.We4, and now Black

can force a draw with 32...9b7 or

go for the win with 32...h94. But

even then 33.4b8 gb8 34.Ef5

Efs 35.9f5 €h6 36.h3! makes a

draw the mostly likely outcome;

B) 30.895. The critical continuation.

Svidler notes that he

had assessed the ending after

30...9d4 31.9d4 (31.8Ie2 is met

strongly by 31...We4) 31...4d4

32.4b8 Eb8 totally wrongly over

the board. At second thoughts he

had come to the conclusion that

Black would be slightly better after

33.8h5 €96, pointing out the

bottom-rank problem if White

takes twice on b5. Black then

LOST BOYS CHESS TOURNAMENT ANTWERP 1.998

3'l.ldy-9 August L998

OPEN TOURNAMENT

A-group, B-group and C-grouP

The prizefund is more than l million Belgian francs

Zuiderpershuis, Waalse Kaai L4 2000 in Antwerp, Belgium

Information:

Lost Boys Chess Tournament Antwerp '98

Claudius Prinsenlaan 146

4818 CP Breda/The Netherlands

Tel: 00. 31 -75 -51,4.77.74

Fax: 00. 31-76 -520.22.82

Nrw rr cHoss I 89

takes the rook to c8 or d8, so that

White cannot take on b7.

What makes the variations so hard

to assess is the constant presence

of the black passed pawn, which

quickly neutralizes the handful of

extra white pawns on the kingside.

And if White is not careful, the black

bishop and knight could actually

strike up an unpleasant alliance.

But White has a measured way to

keep the initiative, starting with

33.h4!. Now the bottom-rank problems

are gone, so that Black's first

priority now is to hang on to his b-

pawn.

Black has the following two alternatives:

B1) 33...a6 34.tre1!. With the

threat of mating on h6 or h8 with

35.Eee5, followed by 36.8h5 €g6

37.8eg5. Black has no satisfactory

way to prevent this mating ne! as

witness:

B11) 34...E98. Forcing a rook

swap. But it doesn't provide relief

after 35.8h5 ec6 36.895 eh7

37.trg8 eg8 38.8d1! Ae6 39.8d7,

and Black is in insurmountable

trouble;

B12) 34...4c8. By attackinS e6,

Black avoids the mating net.

White now continues 35.trh5 gg7

36.trg5 gh7 (36...9f6 runs into

37.trg8) 37.Ed5! Ae6 38.Ede5 b4

39.8e6 Ae6 40.8e6 b3 (after

40...Hb7, 41.8b6) 4I.He7 @96

42.Eet b2 43.Eb1 gfs 44.€f1

@e4 45.@e2, and wins;

82) 33...4c6!. Clearly the best

continuation. Now that Black can

withdraw his bishop to e8, it is

pointless for White to €o for the

mating net, so he has to try and tie

the black pieces together. The following

moves are more or less

forced: 34.Eh5 9g6 35.trc5 trd8

36.8b4 Ae8 37.h5 gf6 38.94 €e6

39.f4, and the white pawn front advances

dangerously, while the

black b-pawn is held in check.

White clearly has the better

chances. This is typically Svidler.

His over-the-board assessment was

correc! but in the calm of the

post-mortem he had started to underestimate

the problems of the

black position.

3O.Ae5

Now Black is powerless a$ainst

the threatened check on 97.

30...Ec5

The only way to cause confusion.

Black has to attack the dominant

white bishop.

3L.8g7

Good enough in these circumstances

as well, but as Svidler

rightly indicates, 31.8e1 was better,

because Black would have

been bound hand and foot. With

time-trouble just around the corner

you can still worry about

31...Wa5, but then 32.€f1 is the

simplest reply. Black has no

chance whatever to fish in troubled

waters.

It seems to me that a prophylactic

giant like Karpov, who always calculates

carefully what his opponent

might still get up to, might

have played like this. Topalov is a

flamboyant player after all, who

doesn't mind continuing the tactical

duel for a few more moves.

31...€h8 32.dc5

The point of the previous move.

After 32...Wd3, 33.893 decides.

32...a97 33.9g6 trf6

Otherwise he will be mated very

soon.

34.AfG ef6 3s.gh6 €g8

36.Ee1

Here the tension and time-trouble

show themselves very clearly indeed.

After 36.Wg6 the win would

have played itself.

36...4e6

It seems unlikely, but Topalov's

battle fervour must have blinded

him for this simple turn. White is

still winning, however, even though

great accuracy is required now.

37.h4a97 38.9f4!

With 39.Wd6 as its main threat.

38...9d53e.9g3?

Only now does White let victory

slip out of his fingers. He should

have played 39.EI94! in order to

bring 40.8d1 into the position.

Svidler gives the following forced

line: 39...Sc5 40.Wg6 gf8 41.h5

wf7 42.Wf7 gt7 43.h6 afs 44.h7

€97 45.94, winning.

39...€f7

Now White suddenly has nothing

left. If he still plays 40.W94,40...4c6

is enough, because 41.8d1 can

then be simply metwith 41...Wc5.

4o.Bc7 €gG 41.9g3

The perpetual check escape.

&t7 42.\8c7

Draw.

A wonderful fight, harrowing for

one player, encouraging for his opponent.

90 ) NEWIN CHEss

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