The Miles Report

Lenk
FOR THE LAST TWO YEARS at Easter I have played the Redbus
Knockout tournament, an invitation event in England. It is a
sixteen-player tournament, with each round consisting of two normal
(potentially six-hour) games, then if the score is 1-1, two rapid games, and
if it is then 2-2, sudden death blitz. Whilst I do not dislike knock-out
events in themselves, I am not terribly fond of playing more than one
game a day, so the experience of twice having blundered away blitz games
after twelve or so hours play was sufficient to deter me from a third
attempt.
Instead I decided to play a "normal" Swiss system tournament, and where
The Miles better to do so than up a peaceful mountain in Switzerland, Lenk to be
precise. I must admit to having slight misgivings when, after already
Report having entered, I found out that it was not actually just a Swiss, since after
five rounds the four top players would play semi-finals and final, leaving
the rest to fight for fifth place. Clearly the margin for error in the early
rounds would be small and tie-break (Buchholz) would probably rear its
Tony Miles ugly head for the group on four points. Anyway, nothing ventured nothing
gained, so off up the mountain I went.
The event was not overly strong, with only seven GMs and 13 IMs. The
top seed Vladimir Tukmakov seemed likely to be my main rival. Not
having played a tournament for four months, I was slightly apprehensive,
but winning my first four games to take a clear lead soon settled my
nerves. The next day, though, is one that will live in my memory for a
long time.
At the start of play I was half a point ahead of a group of nine players,
GMs Tukmakov and Suetin of Russia, Gheorghiu of Romania, IMs Seres,
Videki, Meszaros, Dudas, all from Hungary, Berend of Luxembourg, and
the untitled German Raeber. Being the sole leader was a double-edged
advantage as it meant that I was floated down to play Tukmakov with
Black. However the upside of this was that if I could avoid defeat I might
eliminate him entirely if the other results went well. Still, he had an
excellent Buchholz, so if a couple of the other top games were drawn he
might still creep in, and in the event that I should lose the same applied to
me.
That eventuality, though, was soon excluded as I quickly got an edge from

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the opening and made an offer that could not easily be refused. Happily I
went back to bed to rest as the semi-finals would be played the same
afternoon. To tell the truth, at this point my major fear was that I might
have to play Tukmakov again, and he would be as well rested as I!
Three hours later I returned to see who my opponent would be. The
Hungarian IMs Meszaros and Videki had both joined me on 4 at the
expense of Raeber and Suetin respectively, and Gheorghiu and Dudas also
looked to be on the way to victory . Thus Tukmakov would indeed be
eliminated, and the semi-final pairings would be decided by Buchholz.
With just five minutes of the playing session remaining, only two games
were still in progress. The first was of slight interest to me as the white
player was one of my earlier opponents.
White: U.Hobuss Black: H.Riedel
White had three and a half minutes
left, his opponent two less. Anyway, it
does not require too much calculation
to see that 1.R1e5 Rg8 2.Rg7 Rg7
3.Re8 mates. Content that the game
was over I moved over to watch the
other one, which had much more
entertainment potential. It was only
when I noticed that far more moves
were being played than my expected
mate in four that I returned to discover
1.Re8? Rd8 2. Rd8 Rd8 3.Re7 Qa1! had occurred. Black's last is
particularly tricky, pinning the Bg1 to the mate on h1. Things are no
longer easy for White, especially after his choice of 4.Kh4?? Qf6 and
Black won a Rook! The remaining minute was sufficient for him to win.
I subsequently discovered that this result converted my tie-break from first
to equal second - fourth! However I had no time to think about this as the
other game concluded in a prolonged burst of shouting and arguing from
both players, the arbiter and the crowd of assembled spectators. The game
is well worth giving in as near its entirety as is possible, as for sheer
drama value it is hard to match! In defence of my role as commentator on
the chaotic finale I must thank both players, the arbiter and some of the
spectators for their first hand accounts of what happened.
I hope my readership will forgive me for not annotating in huge depth, as
that would take months! Please feel free to discuss it with Fritz and his
friends; perhaps I will return to the analysis in a subsequent column!
White: A.Habibi Black: L.Vogt
1.c4 c5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 e5 6.Nge2 Nge7 7.Rb1 0-0
8.d3 d6 9.a3 a5 10.0-0 Be6

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So far so normal. Ninety-five

players out of a hundred would now
play 11.Nd5 to prevent d5. I cannot
think of anyone else who would
come up with White's alternative
method!
11.Na4?! Rb8 12.Nec3 b6
13.Qb3?!

What can I say?? Very little...

fortunately I am not qualified!
13...Na7
The threat of ...b5 causes a slight
adjustment in White's plans.
14.Qc2 b5 15.cb Nb5 16.Bd2 Qd7
17.Rfc1?

Somewhat over-concerned with

avoiding the exchange of his
light-squared Bishop by ...Bh3
White ambles out of a very small
frying pan into a blazing inferno.
17...Nd4! 18.ed
Even worse is 18.Qd1 Bb3 19.Qf1
Ne6 and the Na4 is lost.
18...Bb3

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Oops!! Though with the benefit of

hindsight Black might have wished
he had chosen cd regaining the
piece with advantage. Many
players, including the handler of the
white pieces would consider
resignation here, but that would
have deprived the world of an
astonishing game.
19.dc Bc2 20. Rc2 dc 21.Nc5 Qa7
22.b4

So far, so reasonable. Black has

won a Queen for two minor pieces,
but this is a very, very strange
position. Firstly one must observe
that the Bg2 is a tremendous piece;
secondly, Black seriously lacks
targets. The white d- and b-pawns
are not great, but Black has mainly
just major pieces with which to
attack them, while they are
defended by minors. Finally, on the
huge void of a queenside where the
major activity is centred White
simply has more pieces. And the fact that they are small is even an
advantage.
It is scarcely credible that Black can be in trouble, but just watch how
by - playing reasonable looking moves the - German GM is pushed
virtually off the board. Of course one can suggest that he should try e4
to activate his Bishop, or jettison an exchange somewhere, but where
exactly is far from clear to me.
22...Nf5 23.Rcb2 h6 24.Nce4 ab 25. ab Nd4 26.Nc3 Rfd8 27.Ra2
Qe7 28.Be3 Nf5 29.Nd5 Qf8 30.Rc1 h5
This only makes sense if Black is going to play Ne3 or Bh6. When he
does not, ceding g5 becomes a terrible concession.
31.Ra7 Rbc8 32.Bg5 Re8 33.Rc4 Kh8 34.Ra6

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The transformation is amazing; look

at that black Queen now! Is it worth
one piece anymore?! White's
unhurried play makes a striking
impression. Nd7 is now threatened,
and Black now may well be just
positionally lost!
34...Qg8 35.Be4 Ra8 36.Rc6
No exchanges!
36...Nd4 37.Nf6 Qf8 38.Nfd7 Qg8
39.Rb6
White is not interested in a draw by repetition!
39...Ra1 40.Kg2 Rc8
Reaching the time control. Now, perhaps sadly, the players had just
half an hour each to complete the game. With the powers that be in
FIDE so insistent on speeding up chess it is worth musing on the
creative masterpieces that may so easily be lost to posterity. Stop
wasting your time on that Mona Lisa thing, Leonardo! We need more
cartoons...
41. Bb7 R8a8
Black is beginning to need a ninth
rank to retreat to; he has pretty
much lost the eighth! Around here
the one really sour moment of the
game occurred. The Hungarian IM
Janos Dudas had played Vogt in an
earlier round. Having won his own
game he now saw that Vogt was in
some trouble. Concerned for his
precious tie-breaks, he came to
Habibi and tried to bribe him to lose
the game. Hey Leonardo, I'll give
you thirty pieces of silver to tear up
that stupid painting. Janos Dudas? Danos Judas... It is a fact of life that
such incidents invariably go unreported... something to do with libel
laws I gather. Ali Habibi deserves credit both for refusing the offer, and
reporting it. I hope you are proud of yourself Janos.
Back at the game I suspect this may be the critical moment. Having
harried the black major pieces mercilessly across the back rank White
has now trapped one. However he is suddenly reluctant to give up his
beautiful light-squared Bishop for the miserable Rook. It is at such

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moments that concrete calculation becomes important.

Consider: 42.Ba8 Qa8 (this looks like Black's idea, but...) 43.Ne4! and
the threat of Rb8 decides. 43...Qa2 (say) 44.Rb8 Kh7 45.N7f6 mating.
So 42.Ba8 Ra8 43.Ne4! is still strong. If 43...f5 44.Nef6 and I dont
believe Black can survive.
Personally, though, I share White's reluctance to part with his Bishop.
The move that appeals to me is 42.Nf6 Qd8 (where else?) 43.Ncd7 with
horrendous threats. One possibility is 43...Ne6 44.Re6! fe 45 Ne5
and Black has to give back
everything to stave off mate. White
instead falls between two stools.
42.Bd5 Qe8 43.Rb7 R1a7 44.Nf6
Qd8 45.Ncd7 Rb7 46.Bb7 Ne6

The move that saves Black's skin.

White can no longer maintain his
grip.
47.h4 Ng5 48. hg Bf6 49.gf Kh7
50.Ba8 Qa8 51.Re4
Objectively the position must now
be drawn, but it is the best thing
Black has seen for several hours,
and with White running desperately
short of time he at least decides to
keep rolling the dice.
51...Qc6 52.Ne5 Qf6 53.f4 Qe6 54.Nf3 Qb3 55.Re3 Qb4 56.d4 Qb2
57.Kf1 Qc1 58.Kf2 Qc2 59.Re2 Qc4 60.Rd2
Attempts to reconstruct the precise game score from here proved
hopeless, but sometime later the following position was reached:

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Lothar Vogt explained to me that he

had been desperately trying to get
his King in front of the d-pawn. So
here he picked it up and froze,
realizing that ...Ke7 allows Re2 .
Hence he had no alternative but to
play
1...Kg7, but after 2.d6 Qb4 3.Nf3
Qb6 4.Kg2 he was reduced to the
awful 4...Qd8 when after 5.d7

I believe White's position is

winning again.
However Habibi had barely a
minute left, and Vogt not much
more. Chaos continued. Eventually
something like this position arose:

With both sides having just a few

seconds left Black was checking
randomly and White moving his King.
Clearly White could draw easily even
without his Knight, whilst Black could
capture on d2 or d7 if he wished.
Hence Habibi, not unreasonably,
offered a draw . However, in the
melee, he did not do so in the correct
fashion.
Anyway, Vogt ignored the offer and
continued playing. Some moves later
(between two and ten according to whose account) Vogt shrugged and
said "Draw". Habibi, though, annoyed that his own offer had been rejected
said "No"! Whereupon Vogt's flag fell!! (Had he just captured on d2 and
d7 there would be no argument, but he didn't!!)
The arbiter, Robert Sporri, told me that he interpreted Vogt's utterance of "
Draw" as a claim by him which he granted and awarded a draw (not an

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unreasonable decision I feel!). But Vogt admitted to me that this was not
his intention at all!!
Anyway, back at the rest of the tournament, five players had 4/5.
Gheorghiu had the best Buchholz - 15- and Messrs. Dudas, Meszaros,
Videki and I all had 14! The second tie-break was Buchholz of Buchholz,
which frankly I do not even understand, but anyway, the computer
whirred and duly produced the standings of 1. Gheorghiu, 2. Videki, 3.
Dudas, 4. Meszaros and 5. Miles!! Had White won the above epic the
farsighted Mr. Dudas would have been eliminated.
The rest of the event was something of an anticlimax. All but one of the
playoffs were drawn and decided on rapid or blitz games, with Gheorghiu
blundering a piece in a winning position to lose the final to Videki. Dudas
took his 900 pieces of Swiss silver for third place and I was left with the
dubious consolation of seeing a results table showing me with 6/7, a score
matched only by Videki, a better (Now!! - Irony of ironies) Buchholz, and
the great triumph of fifth place! Next year I think I will play bridge
instead!
Copyright 2001 Tony Miles. All rights reserved.

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