Grandmaster Chess Compress

CADOGAN
GLENN FLEAR
Grandmaster
Chess
Glenn Flear
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First published 1995 by Cadogan Books plc, London House,

Parkgate Road, London SW11 4NQ
Copyright © 1995 Glenn Flear
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A CADOGAN CHESS BOOK

Chief Advisor: Garry Kasparov
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Contents
Introduction
A Brief Summary of 1993
The PCA Cycle
The FIDE Cycle
Quickplay and Novelty Tournaments
Important Round Robins
Open Tournaments 114
Women in 1994 133
National Championships 151
Team Chess 154
10 Other Significant Events 173
1994 at a Glance 190
Index of Complete Games 191

Introduction
This book is a look at modem grandmaster chess, a world of exciting

and exotic places (although not always!), weird and wonderful charac-
ters, and of course some terrific games of chess. I have detailed the
main happenings of 1994 and picked out those games that shaped the
chess year, and I hope the reader finds my selection of games and
events both representative and enjoyable. However, it is merely a se-
lection of the thousands of games and hundreds of tournaments that
make up professional chess in the 1990s, and I hope that the result is
both informative and a useful source of reference.
In recent years there has a been tremendous expansion in chess lit-
erature; there are now dozens of teaching manuals and huge theoretical
tomes on every popular opening. Such books are necessary but I per-
sonally found in my youth that the most enjoyable books to read were
games collections, or those covering tournaments and matches. Nowa-
days these are somewhat out of fashion and this collection of the best
games by the best players introduces this type of book in a modem
setting.
One possible criticism of my approach is that magazines already tell
the story of the recent past. This is true, but each periodical gears its
coverage to its readership, such as over-emphasis on domestic tourna-
ments, and I am frequently dissatisfied with the quality of their anno-
tations. I have tried to be objective in annotating games and in cover-
ing controversial events, so if the reader objects to something that I
have written then I apologize in advance.
Glenn Flear
January 1995
1 A Brief Summary of 1993
A look at 1994 naturally needs a beginning and where better to start

than 1993!
The FIDE World Championship cycle is currently a three-year af-
fair, and 1993 was the year in which the Zonals and Interzonals took
place. Boris Gelfand won the Biel Interzonal outright and Paul van der
Sterren was the shock qualifier. The top ten (including Viswanathan
Anand who scraped in at the death) joined Jan Timman and Artur
Yusupov (semi-finalists from the previous cycle) in the first round of
the FIDE Candidates matches in January (see Chapter 3).
Meanwhile the previous cycle was continuing; Nigel Short edged
out Timman 7'2-5'2 and then national adulation turned to shock and
confusion as Garry Kasparov and Short broke away from FIDE to form
the Professional Chess Association (PCA). Throughout the year there
was much speculation, rumour and bad feeling but the result of it all
was the establishment of a parallel World Championship cycle.
Kasparov beat Short 12'2-7/2 after an explosive start, followed by a
rather tame end to the match, to become the first PCA World Cham-
pion. Karpov and Timman filled the void created by FIDE’s disqualifi-
cation of the rebels and Karpov won equally convincingly by a score of
121/2-81/2.
We now had two world champions; FIDE’s Karpov, for the second
time(!), as a result of the holder relinquishing the crown, and the
PCA’s Kasparov, still widely recognized as the strongest player.
There was little general support for the rebels’ action but FIDE
chose to drop them from the international rating list, a move seen by
many as petty. At first, the PCA was almost universally viewed with
suspicion but when their own ‘alternative’ cycle (see Chapter 2) got off
the ground in December most top players participated. Further, with
the announcement that a series of PCA-run quickplay events (well
sponsored by Intel) would take place in 1994 (see Chapter 4) and the
introduction of a PCA rating list, the rebels had to be taken seriously.
Kasparov had overall a good year in 1993, winning Linares (the
world’s strongest tournament) with 1st Kasparov on 10 points, 2nd=
6 Grandmaster Chess
Anand and Karpov on 81/2, but Linares 1994 (see Chapter 5) was to be
a different story.
The Women’s World Championship final was a very one-sided af-
fair, Xie Jun demolishing Nana loseliani 8'/2-2'2. There would cer-
tainly have been more media interest if Zsuzsa Polgar had been play-
ing, but she had squandered a seemingly invincible lead in the Candi-
dates final allowing a fortunate Nana Ioseliani to win the play-off.
Judit, her younger sister, made further progress in 1994, including the
best ever result by a woman (see Chapter 5). Developments in
women'’s chess are otherwise covered in Chapter 7.
In 1993, the Junior World Champion was Mladinovic, from ‘the rest
of Yugoslavia’, and the Girls’ Champion Churtsidse of Georgia; both
came from war-weary lands. It’s hard to explain how the former Soviet
republic of only five and a half million people can produce so many of
the world’s leading female players.
Team chess (see Chapter 9) can be a lucrative source of income for
the top echelon, especially in Germany where the ‘Bundesliga’ is well
established. France has also developed team chess to the extent that
Kasparov and Karpov both participated in the league in 1993. Lyon-
Oyannax, the European Champions of 1993, were ‘French’, although
the entire team of six (Lautier, Anand, Shirov, Dorfman, Vaiser and
Sharif) could manage only one French parent between them!
The most important team event of 1993 was the World Team
Championships, held as always in Lucerne, Switzerland. The USA
surprisingly clinched first, ahead of the Ukraine with Russia only third,
but nations such as the USA and Israel have gradually been strength-
ened by the arrival of several ex-Soviet grandmasters, indeed Larry
Christiansen was the only ‘home-grown’ American.
The last major development of the year was the PCA Qualifier in
Groningen, which is the starting point of the next chapter. Throughout
the last few months of the year there was much speculation that the
event would not take place, which might have been because of genuine
teething problems or disinformation by the chess media, but when it
finally got under way it was clear that the PCA meant business.
Ironically, one year later the Greek government and FIDE had
problems seeing eye-to-eye over the financing of the intended Thessa-
loniki Olympiad and the much-maligned PCA stepped-in to save the
event. So in December 1994 the Moscow Olympiad came about (thank
you Garry!) and the political playing field has again had its goal posts
realigned. But now I'm jumping ahead; for the purposes of our story
we start with the PCA Qualifier over Christmas in Groningen.
2 The PCA Cycle
The PCA had come into being as a result of wrangling and power-
struggling between some of the world’s top names. If as 1994 ap-
proached it could get its own cycle into motion then the lay observer
could then at least see something positive coming out of all the politics
i.c. more top-quality chess.
Most of the leading grandmasters seemed to be willing to participate
in both World Championship cycles; hysterical animosity between the
two rival camps was not shared by players more naturally concerned
by prize funds. The Intel Corporation had come up with over $200,000
for the Groningen ‘Interzonal’ plus the guarantee of megabucks for the
seven qualifiers, so it was no surprise that three-quarters of the world’s
fifty-odd 2600 players were there.
Groningen in December 1993 was to be the first tournament run by
the Professional Chess Association but it bore great similarity to
FIDE’s Biel Interzonal run a few months earlier. The main difference
is that the FIDE cycle has an additional earlier stage; the regional
Z.onal tournaments which allow lesser mortals the chance to qualify.
PCA qualifier, Groningen
The qualifiers:
1 M.Adams 2630 ENG 7/11
2 V.Anand 2725 IND 7%
3 G.Kamsky 2645 USA 7
4 V.Kramnik 2710 RUS 7
5 S.Tiviakov 2635 RUS 7
6 B.Gulko 2635 USA 7
7 O.Romanishin 2615 UKR 7
Those in the world’s top ten that didn’t make it:

8 A.Shirov 2685 LAT 6%
23 E.Bareev 2660 RUS 5%
8 Grandmaster Chess
45 Kir.Georgiev 2660 BUL 41
The seven qualifiers were joined by Nigel Short for the next stage.
The Trump Tower, New York in June was the venue for the PCA
Candidates matches, quarter-finals.
PCA Candidates quarter-finals, New York (matchplay)
G.Kamsky 11===1 V.Kramnik 413-11;

V.Anand =11===1 O.Romanishin 5-2
N.Short =01===== B.Gulko 4-4
Play-off (30 mins each)
N.Short ==1= B.Gulko 2Y2-1Y
M.Adams 1100=10= S.Tiviakov 4-4
Play-off (30 mins each)
M.Adams =====] S.Tiviakov 31521
(n.b. throughout the book the reporting of match results has been
presented in standard form. Thus in Kamsky-Kramnik, Kamsky won the
first two games, then there were three draws and Kamsky won the last
game, etc.)
The United States was a home draw for two players: Kamsky, who
won the first two games, both of which were rather wild encounters,
and thereby essentially finished-off Kramnik; and Gulko, who took an
early lead against Short, only to be caught and then lose in the lottery
of the play-offs.
England’s two participants showed their prowess at half-hour chess.
Many would feel that half-an-hour for all one’s moves is an inappro-
priate way to decide such important matches but it’s certainly exciting
for the public.
Anand’s one-sided match was the only predictable result. He plays
astonishingly quickly and even won one game (on time!) after using
only 24 minutes of his allotted two hours.
So no players from the former Soviet Union (Kamsky was born in
Tatarstan in Russia but defected some years ago and is now considered
American) survived to the semi-finals. This fact alone virtually guaran-
teed Western media interest and another high profile final when Kas-
parov meets the winner of the series in 1995 for the PCA title.
When the pairings were made Kramnik had been widely tipped to
beat Kamsky and along with Anand was strongly favourite to get a
The PCA Cycle 9
chance at Kasparov. His demise at the hands of Kamsky became less

of a surprise with the benefit of hindsight; the American proving him-
self to be exceptionally good at matchplay and the only survivor in
both cycles as the year came to a close.
The Candidates semi-finals of September in Linares saw the follow-
ing matches
PCA Candidates semi-final, Linares (matchplay)
G.Kamsky 111011= N.Short 51>-1Y%;

V.Anand 111=1== M.Adams 5%2-11
English hopes of a Short-Adams final were rudely dashed as both

players were completely overwhelmed, making the latter stages of the
semi-finals almost irrelevant.
Nigel Short’s form in 1994 has been well below his best, perhaps he
needs to set new goals as financial insecurity and his career peak are
probably both behind him. He has to rediscover his enthusiasm for the
game if he is to maintain his top ten ranking.
Michael Adams also never came into his match and didn’t seem to
really have any confidence in his defence to 1 e4 (he tried four open-
ings in four games). Both he and Kramnik will go further next time
given more thorough preparation in their approach.
So will it be Kamsky or Anand? In their recent match in the FIDE
cycle (see Chapter 3) Kamsky sensationally came back from a two-
point deficit to turn the tables. Will ‘Vishy’ (Anand) be that much
tougher next time?
Game One
Michael Adams-Sergei Tiviakov
2nd match game
PCA Candidates quarter-finals, New York 1994
Michael Adams originally comes lished on the international scene,

from Truro in Cornwall, England. a base in London, with easy ac-
In his early years he certainly got cess to Heathrow Airport, became
to know the British Rail network, imperative, and he now lives a
covering the length and breadth stone-throw away from his good
of the country in his hunger for friend and second, Grandmaster
the game. Once he became estab- Julian Hodgson. This liaison has
10 Grandmaster Chess
helped both players to advance; Bronstein, Moscow 1962,

and the following game is an ex- 6 c3
ample of their meticulous re- The alternative 6 c4!? was tried
search. by another of Tiviakov’s oppo-
Having won the first game, his nents, but after 6..2f6 7 g4!?
first ever victory over Tiviakov, R2g6 8 e5 dxeS 9 DxeS Hc8 10
Michael Adams must have ap- Dc3 e6 11 Waq Wc7 12 Hel 246
proached this game with some Black had good counterplay
confidence. against White’s loose kingside;
1 e4 cS5 Oll-Tiviakov, St Petersburg 1993.
2 Hf dé6 6 .. Wbhé
3 £b5+ &Hc6 Adams and Hodgson (his sec-
I believe that 3..Rd7 is a ond) had anticipated this varia-
sounder choice. tion in their pre-match prepara-
4 00 Lgd tion. The rest of the game should
The Russian has had some suc- be a good lesson for those who
cess with this line but he must always play the same way and
already have suspected that his leave themselves open to pre-
opponent had something new pared improvements.
prepared. 7 Hal a6
5 h3! 8§ Rad Wc7
Although 5 c3, after 5...Wb6, is 9 d4 b5
similar to the game, the inclusion
of first 5 h3 £h5 and only then 6
c3 tumns out to be very important,
as we shall see. After 5 c3 Wb6
one of Tiviakov’s previous games
%
70—
175 &
»
continued as follows: 6 Kad &6

7 d4 0-0-0 8 £xc6 Wxc6 9 d5
Wa6 10 Eel e6 11 Ha3 Od7 12
24 2e7 13h3 &h5 14 c4 g5 15
£h2 g4 and Black had good play;
Ulibin-Tiviakov, Oakham 1992.
5 .. Lh5
5..8xf3 gives up the impor-
tant bishop cheaply, e.g. 6 Wxf3 White can now retreat to b3
e6 7 d3 &ge7 8 Lg5 Wd7 9 c3 a6 but, with the pin on the a4-e8 di-
10 Lad4 PNg6 118Hd2 b5 12 K2 agonal then broken, the pressure
Sfe7 13 Ke3 0-0 14 WhS d5 15 would be off.
exdS exd5 16 d4 and White has 10 Dxb5!
some advantage due to his light- An enterprising piece offer
square pressure; Larsen- which, of course, would have
The PCA Cycle 11
failed without the preparatory 5 would relish the task of defending

h3 £h5; pushing the bishop back the black position.
and therefore denying Black re- 13 .. b8
course to a defence based on 14 Wad
..8d7. After 14 bxc5 dxc5 15 Wad e6
10 .. axb$ White opens up the queenside for
11 2xb5 0-0-0 the attack but also allows Black
White threatened 12 d5 so to more space for his defence.
Black is forced to castle into open Instead, Adams is happy to allow
space. the centre to become blocked as
12 b4! his opponent then suffers from
A powerful novelty, worked being severely cramped.
out by Julian Hodgson, which 14 .. c4
essentially wins the game. 15 ds!
Less convincing is 12 Wad4 Further restricting his oppo-
when 12..5b8 13 dxc5 &xf3 14 nent.
gxf3 dxc5 15 &f4 e5 (15..Wxf4 15§ .. o6
16 RKa6+ looks immediately 16 Re3 Hfd7
drawn as Black can hardly escape 17 fc6 e6
the threat of perpetual check) 16 18 b5!
Hfdl is rather unclear; Iskov- White is less concemed with
Larsen, Copenhagen 1979. grabbing the c-pawn than carry-
12 .. 2xf3 ing out the threat of playing 19
13 exf3 b6.
18 .. exd5s
19 exd5 &bé6
After 19...2e7 White wins af-
ter 20 b6! Hxb6 21 Lxb6 Wxb6
22 Habl Wc7 23 Wa8 as there is
no defence to the threat of 24
i/// Eb7 (23..Hd7

Kxd7+ £xd7 25 Eb7).
is met by 24
/
-
20 Wb4
White must avoid 20 Wa5? in
e/
] “'.
view of 20...2xd5! etc.
- = 20 .. Le7
21 a4 16
White has sacrificed a piece for 22 a5
two pawns. Black’s kingside re- Black is totally swamped.
mains undeveloped and White 22 . Dxc6
threatens to open further lines 23 bxc6 HDHxdS
against Black’s king. Few players 24 WbS HdeS
25 R2bé6 1-0 White’s new move (12 b4) al-

After 25..We7 26 Wa6+ (26 ready gave him a winning posi-
Wxd5 also wins) 26..%b8 27 tion.
Hab1 leads to mate. I suspect that
Game Two
Viadimir Kramnik-Gata Kamsky
2nd match game
PCA Candidates quarter-finals, New York 1994
Gata Kamsky’s father, Rustam, c5 5 D3 0-06 £g2 %c6 7 0-0.

was a boxer in his youth. His 7 . cxd4!?
rather abrasive approach towards Kamsky introduces a double-
Gata’s opponents is more typical edged plan involving a timely
of the fight game than the chess ..&xc3, crippling the white
world, but despite widespread queenside pawns at the risk of
unpopularity Rustam has made problems on the dark squares. A
his son into a tough chess battler, solid alternative is 7...d6 main-
who is at home in many different taining the tension.
openings and types of positions. 8 &Hxdd We7
In this game the world’s top 9 &He2
two under-20’s fight it out with If White doesn’t wish to allow
the American Gata Kamsky suc- ...&xc3 his last chance is to play
cessfully refuting Kramnik’s ag- 9 Had(1?).
gression and taking a practically 9 .. fxc3
decisive two-nil lead. 10 bxc3 Hdas
1 &3 N6 11 RKa3 dé
2
Kramnik’s move-order leads to
il
M.
an English Opening, while

I
Jo> N
avoiding those variations follow-

N
PN
SN
NN
x\
ing 1 c4 eS.
N
-\\\
\&\
2 .. e6
R e\
3 He3 £h4
4 g3 0-0
5 292 5
JEPE
6 0-0 6
7 d4
N\
Jut
The opening can also arise via

I]2
the Nimzo-Indian Defence, e.g. 1

d4 &Xf6 2 c4 6 3 Dc3 Lb4 4 g3 This particular position has
The PCA Cycle 13
been seen before but is fairly un- pressed by the alternative 14

usual. In this variation, White has Wxd4 as 14...e5 15 Wd3 RKeb6 16
two powerful bishops but the Hxb7 Wxc4 looks comfortable
doubled c-pawns give Black a for Black. There the bishops
target for counterplay. compensate for the pawn weak-
12 Ebi nesses and the chances would be
A natural developing move more or less equal.
which had been previously sug- 14 .. Wxc4
gested by Tukmakov, who con- 15 Wd2 Wa6!
tinues his analysis thus: 12...e5 Covering the sensitive b7 and
13 De3 Keb ‘unclear’ d6 squares with gain of tempo.
He also considers 12 £d4 and 16 EXb3 Hb8
after 12...%%5 13 Wb3 Hfd7 14 Black is now ready for
Wb4 Dc5 15 Hb3 a5 16 Hxas 17...8.d7 followed by 18...8.¢6.
£d7 he again stops with the 17 42!
ubiquitous unclear assessment. Is This natural move is uncon-
White tangled-up (17 Dxb7 Had) vincing as the game continuation
or simply picking off pawns? The suggests. Interesting is 17 g4!
variation is rich in possibilities intending to switch the rook on
but probably White’s best try is b3 over to the kingside. After
12 Wd2! when the continuation 17..8d7 (17..2Dxg4? fails to 18
12..Wc7 13 Bfdl d5 14 HDe3 Wg5 &Hf6 19 g3 winning im-
dxcd 15 2d6 Wb6 16 Habl Wa6 mediately) 18 g5, or 18 Eh3 first,
17 Wb2 keeps Black rather pas- White has sufficient activity to
sive, as in Ribli-Emnst, Subotica compensate his pawn deficit.
Interzonal 1987, which was 17 .. 2d7
definitely better for White after 18 Hel
the further 17..2)d5!? 18 &xdS White now only has vague
exdS 19 L.c7 He8 20 Exd5 f.g4 threats for the sacrificed pawn
21 Wxb7. but he must act quickly before the
12 .. WeT7! American is fully deployed.
Getting off the a3-f8 diagonal 18 .. Lad
and preparing for play on the c- 19 Ef3 Hbc8
file. The intention is clear; to play
13 Hd4 Nxd4 ...Ac2 when possible.
14 cxd4!? 20 2f1 Kb5
This pawn sacrifice is enter- 21 £h3 Wad
prising but risky and was no Again preparing the invasion
doubt partially provoked by his of c2.
loss in the previous game and the 22 d5
desire to immediately strike back. Defending against the imme-
Kramnik was probably not im- diate invasion by 22 Hc3 is pos-
sible, but this abandons hope of

mounting an attack on the king-
side, and further, 22..8xc3 23 BBy
Wxc3 Wcd 24 Was b6 25 Wxa7 f?.‘l‘.éi@ %I%I/I
oy
? a0
Wxd4 26 Wc7 Ea8 leaves White
with absolutely no compensation ////
for his efforts.
22 .. Hc2
23 We3
23 Wg5 is clearly unsatisfac-
tory: 23..h6 24 Wh4 He2 25
Exe2 (25 Kbl XHxe4 wins)
25..Wd1+ and Black wins.
23 .. exd$S
Good enough is 23...e57?! as Being a rook up is fine but
White’s attack would probably Black must still parry the mate!
fail, but 24 Exf6 gxf6 25 Whé 30 4 g6
He2 26 EHcl! (rather than 26 31 Wh6 d3+
£15? Bxel+ 27 &g2 Lf1+ 28 32 Ef4 Wxf4+!
&f3 Wdl+) could still cause a The point of Black’s play; he
few awkward moments. gives his queen but now it is
24 €5 White’s king in the mating net.
Desperate but dangerous. Now, 33 Wxf4
after 24..dxe5 25 Re7 Black After 33 gxf4 Black wins by
would suffer from the opening up 33...Hgd+ 34 &h3 Hg5+ 35 &hd
of his king. However, Gata Kam- Hh5+ etc.
sky was now able to coolly calcu- 3 . Eh1
late a long forced win despite the 34 g4 hé!
tension of time trouble. Gaining time to surround the
24 ... d4 White monarch as 35 Wxh6 is
25 Wg5(D) met by 35...Hxh2+.
Now comes a real blow. 35 <h3 gs
25 .. He2! 36 Wdd d2!
White is forced to sacrifice as 37 Wxd2 Hgi
26 Hcl HxeS5 is hopeless. 38 3 b5
26 exf6 Hxel+ 0-1
27 Rfl1 Exf1+ White must give his queen to
28 &g2 HglH stop 39...&f1 mating. An exciting
29 <bh3 game which virtually finished off
Of course 29 &xgl Wdl+ 30 Kramnik’s chances of reaching
Lg2 Wfl is mate. the semi-finals.
29 .. K47+
Grandmaster Chess 15
Game Three
Viswanathan Anand-Michael Adams
1st match game
PCA Candidates semi-finals, Linares 1994
‘Vishy’ Anand, a Hindu and 8 0-0 c6

vegetarian, is a master tactician 9 Hel L15
and the quickest thinker and 10 c3 Hd7
player amongst the world elite. A By delaying this move until
popular and friendly person, he now, Black avoids anything un-
may lack the mean streak and pleasant in the opening. Anand
killer-instinct necessary, it seems, has cautiously avoided any out-
to become world champion. right attempt at refutation and
Very often the first game of a settled for a nagging edge: pres-
match between two equally- sure on the semi-open e-file and
strong opponents can set the tone better central pawn deployment.
of the whole contest. 11 D3
1 ed f6 Exchanges would ease Black’s
A surprise, but this experiment defence.
wasn’t repeated in later games. 11 .. He8
2 e5 NHds 12 &bd2
3 d4 dé
4 93 dxe5
The so-called Larsen variation
1%%
is less popular than either 4...g6
and 4...2g4. Black provokes the
knight forward in order to seek its
later exchange. /,/4/ .
3 %y
5 &xe5 g6
5..8)d7?! can be met by the
//4 // /4 y/
aggressive 6 Dxf7 xf7 7 Wh5+
Reb 8 cd. i ,,@ Mfizfi%
6 g31?
This solid move was men-
tioned by Hort in 1980 but has 12 .. A7t6?!
been largely ignored since. Black would like to break out
Anand uses the idea to channel with ...e7-e5, and if he can get
the game away from likely pre- away with it then it should be
match preparation. played. Can 12..e5!? be play-
6 .. g7 able? White should try 13 @c4
7 Kg2 0-0 (dull is 13 dxe5 DxeS 14 Hxe5
Hxe5 15 Hxe5 &xe5 16 Dcd 17..Had8 18 We2 e6 changes

Kg7 with a level position) very little; White has his bishops
13..8g4 (after 13..exd4 14 and Black’s kingside is com-
Exe8+ Wxe8 15 &d6 We6 16 promised.
DxfS WxfS 17 Hxd4 the bishop 18 We2 HDe7
pair guarantees a continuing edge Michael decides on a slightly
for White) 14 £d6?! (14 dxe5! is passive regrouping strategy rather
best when the continuation than risk 18...b5 which would
14..Dxe5 15 Dcxe5 LKxe5 16 maintain the d5 outpost at the risk
Wb3 probably forces 16...Rxf3 of further weaknesses.
conceding the bishop pair) 19 14 Nd5
14..Be6 15 Hxb7 Wb6 16 Wb3 This seems like a waste of
with interesting complications time. He should have preferred
favouring Black, e.g. 16..2xf3 19...Rad8 20 Ke3 Bd7.
17 2xf3 exd4 18 HExe6 fxe6 19 20c4
cxd4 £xd4 20 Wxb6 axb6 21 With the bishop pair against
&d6 £f8 and despite the bishop him and space becoming a prob-
pair White is tied up. So 12...eS is lem Michael has obviously lost
playable but White can still claim the opening stage. This depress-
a pull (with 14 dxeS). After the ing scenario may have put him
text move White puts a stop to off the Alekhine (for the time
Black’s natural pawn-break and being!) despite the improvement
Black is always on the defensive. at move twelve.
13 SHcd W7 20 .. De7
14 &HceS Dgd?! 21 Re3 Had$8
Adams again seeks the ex- 22 b4
change of the strong central After 22 RcS5 then 22..%c8
knight but overlooks White’s avoids an immediate invasion
next. 14...2)d7 was a better way and, as in the game, Black will
of seeking exchanges. delay or omit ..b7-b6 which
15 Hh4! weakens the a8-h1 diagonal.
This must have been underes- 22 .. 2d7
timated by Adams; White now 23 ¥R 8
gains a clearly superior game. 24 a4
15 .. Dxes The general expansion of the
16 &Hxf5 gxf5 queen’s wing is well supported
17 dxeS €6 by the bishop pair. A refinement
Snatching a pawn by is the exchange of one pair of
17..82xe5? actually loses one rooks by 24 Hadl or 24 Hedl
after 18 £xd5 cxd5 19 Wxd5 before the general queenside ad-
£g7 20 WxfS when White has a vance is implemented. This pre-
clear pawn more. Otherwise empts any counterplay that
The PCA Cycle 17
Black’s doubled rooks on the d- tween the black rooks.

file might generate. Evidently 30...28xd4 was a
24 .. Hed$ better try meeting 31 We2 by
25 a$ 31..Wd7 (intending 32..Exc4 or
White is finally threatening 26 32..8d6 followed by a later
Sxa7 which up to now could ...%\e4) although with 32 c5! and
carlier have been met by ...b7-b6. We5 to follow White keeps the
25 .. fo! better prospects.
Striking back at the centre is 31 Hfel!
Black’s best hope. Now that he is The immediate 31 £d5 is less
better organized he can afford to clear after 31..cxd5 32 Wxd4
weaken the e6-point to liberate dxc4 with some play for the ex-
his bishop. change.
26 exf6 L xf6 31 .. Wf7
27 EHabl L¢3 31...Hxc4 permits 32 We2 £d6
28 EHf1 Xa3 33 Wxe6+ g7 34 WeS+ g6 35
29 <hil Hbd1 when White has a powerful
Necessary in view of the threat attack.
29...Hxe3 30 Wxe3 £.4d4. 32 £4d5! Wg7
29 .. £d4 32..H4xd5 33 cxd5 exdS was
30 fLxd4 objectively better but 34 He5
d6 35 Bbel Ded 36 Wxa7 Wh5
37 &g2 is also hopeless.
33 He5
33 Rxe6+ was simple and
good, but the text is stronger.
33 H4xds
34 cxd5 cxd5
35 g4
Moving in for the kill. Black
loses his queen if he captures the
g-pawn.
35 .. DeT
36 Hxe6 fxg4
Black has been able to cause 37 Wh4 Hd7
some general mischief, tempo- 38 Hbel &f8
rarily distracting his opponent 39 fS 1-0
from active operations. Now he The loss of the first game was
must decide how to recapture. the beginning of a one-sided
30 H3xd4? match as the Indian grandmaster
A poor move allowing White convincingly outperformed the
to cut the communication be- Englishman.
Game Four
Gata Kamsky-Nigel Short
5th match game
PCA Candidates semi-finals, Linares 1994
For family reasons Nigel Short 3 .. £b4

has recently moved from London The Nimzo-Indian has always
to Greece. Perhaps the contro- been in his repertoire despite
versy associated with his in- flirtations with the Dutch,
volvement as a founder-member Queen’s Gambit Accepted and
of the PCA has affected him Orthodox Queen’s Gambit.
more than he anticipated. Several 4 €3 cS
previously close colleagues con- 5 K43 AT
demned his actions, and this may 6 Nge2
have affected his form. Certainly The Hiibner variation (6 &f3
the magic of his matchplay in £xc3+ 7 bxc3 d6 with ...e6-€5 to
1992-93 has not been so evident follow) has proven to be very
in the past twelve months. sound, Black gives up the bishop
Having dominated the first but stations his central pawns on
three games, Kamsky’s progress dark squares. Indeed, the closed
to the Candidates final had been centre often suits the ‘knight
temporarily halted by a loss in the pair’, so in recent years the text
fourth game. If Short was to have move has been preferred.
a chance he could not afford to 6 cxd4
lose another game. 7 exd4 ds
1 d4 A 8 c¢xd5 Hxd5
2 c4 eb 9 0-0 £dé6
3 D3 10 &ed Re7
Kamsky has a very wide reper- 11 a3
toire and is willing to play just All this has been seen at
about anything. Short, on the grandmaster level many times
other hand, used to stick to only a before. White prepares the stan-
few variations. However, in re- dard battery with his bishop on c2
cent matches, to broaden his once and queen on d3. Black can avoid
rather limited range of openings, immediate problems with ...g7-
he has tried several defences to g6, but this inevitably loosens his
the queen’s pawn. Nowadays, in control of some important dark
the computer-age, the top echelon squares.
must adapt to rapid changes in 11 0-0
opening theory to stay ahead of 12 f2¢2
their contemporaries. Compared with many isolated
The PCA Cycle 19
queen’s pawn positions the

knight on e2 is less active (than if
it were on the typical {3 square)
but White can still maintain some
early pressure by avoiding ex-
changes.
A
12 .. He8
Black
12...e5!7
could
immediately
have tried
hitting
e _
20
2
back at the centre. Instead we
have a typical isolated queen’s
pawn (IQP) game.
13 Wd3 g6
14 Lh6 b6 refinement. See also the game
15 Hadl Judit Polgar against Tiviakov
Black would like to steady (Chapter 7) for another example
things down, exchange a few of this theme; the bishop rede-
pieces and exploit the long-term ploys now that ...g7-g6 has been
weakness of the d4-isolani in the provoked.
ending. White has to use his tem- 17 .. a6
porary activity to open up Black’s After 17..9a5, 18 Ka2 keeps
king defences. the black knight out of the impor-
The alternative 15 Hacl is less tant c4 square. The bishop has
critical as this can lead to possi- annoying pressure along the a2-
ble rook exchanges on the c-file, g8 diagonal.
a course of action that would 18 2g3
generally suit the second player. Avoiding exchanges that may
Semkov-Psakhis, Erevan 1988, result from 18 £2c3 and heading
then continued 15...2b7 16 Efdl towards the Englishman’s mon-
Hc8 17 Wg3 &f6 18 Hg5 Wd6 arch.
and White’s attack failed to 18 .. @b8?
breakthrough the black defensive It’s true that the knight was
set-up. rather in the way on c6 and rede-
15 .. Lb7 ploying the beast to d7 improves
16 Hfel Hc8 (D) the scope of the queen’s rook and
17 Kb3! bishop, but it’s all too slow. Bet-
17 D2c3 a5 18 Wg3 D4 19 ter is the prophylactic 18...2h4
fa4 Kc6 20 Lb3 was certainly avoiding White’s twentieth move
very complex in the game Shirov- and even allowing further support
Psakhis, Klaipeda 1988. Black for his king by ..&ce7 and
won this encounter and Kamsky D5,
must have prepared the text as a 19 Wf3 Ee7
Defending both b7 and Hxe8+ Wxe8 28 Wxf6 Hci+ 29

(indirectly) f7, however in view &h2 Wb8+ 30 g3 concludes
of what now happens 19..£h4 neatly;
should still have been tried. c) 23...e5 24 d6 Rxed 25 HExed
20 &Hhs! HaT £xd6 26 £.g5 pins and wins.
20...gxh5? allows 21 Wg3+
winning.
21 hd! fia
Intensifying the pressure. The
pawn will later go onwards to hS,
S tat iy
support a piece on g5 or play the
role of a decoy. .
a
///’/
21 .. D716
o Ky
5
21..8xh4 has been given N
elsewhere as an improvement but
in fact White wins by force: 22
Nd6 He7 23 g3 L6 24 HHxb7
Hxb7 25 £xd5 exd5 26 Hxf6+!
(rather than 26 Wxd5? with only 23 .. Dxeq
an edge) 26..0xf6 27 Wxf6! 24 dxe6 f5
Exel+ 28 Exel Wxf6 29 He8 This 1s no defence but at least
mate. Short makes it past move 25!
22 Dhxf6+ Dxf6 25 Exd8 Exd8
23 ds! 26 Hdi 1-0
A decisive line-opening blow. Enough is enough. Black only
There are now many options but has a rook and minor piece for
no defence: the queen and the enormous e6-
a) 23..exdS 24 Dxf6+ Kxf6 pawn. White will transfer his
25 Wxf6! and White mates in queen to the al-h8 diagonal with
three; a quick mate. An excellent dis-
b) 23.59xd5 24 £xd5 £xd5 play in the handling of an IQP
25 Exd5 exd5 (25..Wxd5 26 position by Kamsky.
Df6+ etc.) 26 D6+ Lxf6 27
3 The FIDE Cycle
Since the Second World War, FIDE, the international chess federation,
has had total control over the World Championship. The events sur-
rounding the formation of the PCA have, for the first time, seen com-
petition in the form of an altemative cycle. The confused public has
the right to ask the question: What are the differences?
A few players for personal reasons have preferred not to participate
in one cycle or other (Salov, for instance, shunned the PCA Qualifier
because he doesn’t get on with Kasparov) but most top players see the
PCA cycle as an opportunity for extra eamnings and to double their
chances! FIDE organize a first stage of world-wide Zonal tournaments
which enables a few unlikely players to qualify for the Interzonal. The
PCA do not and will eventually be accused of concerning itself only
with the top echelon unless they intend to open it up.
In years gone by there used to be two or three closed Interzonal
tournaments but in 1993 a lone Swiss system event in Biel determined
the ten places in the 1993-95 FIDE World Championship. PCA’s
Groningen Qualifier was a very similar affair, as we saw in the last
chapter.
The ten qualifiers plus Timman and Yusupov, as losing semi-
finalists in the previous Candidates, received invitations for the first
round of matches in Wijk aan Zee, January 1994. Note that Nigel Short
was not invited nor was Garry Kasparov (hell hath no fury...) as they
were deemed to have defaulted such privileges.
Karpov was to join in at the semi-final stage, a significant change, as
carlier World Champions have only ever had to play one match (the
final) to retain the title (as is still the case in the PCA event).
The PCA have announced a major coup in obtaining a sponsor for
their cycle whereas FIDE have had a piecemeal approach for each
stage with varying degrees of success.
The first round of the FIDE Candidates took place in Wijk aan Zee
in the Netherlands in January:
FIDE Candidates first round, Wijk aan Zee (matchplay)
V.Anand =1101== A.Yusupov 41>-21>

B.Gelfand ===101=1 M.Adams 5-3
G.Kamsky 1011=== P.van der Sterren 4%:-2%
V.Kramnik I===1== L.Yudasin 412-21)2
V.Salov 1=11=1 A.Khalifman 5-1
J.Timman =10=1=== ].Lautier 4Y2-312
Several players managed to qualify for both the FIDE and the PCA
Candidates matches. As an aside, I imagine that the most likely way of
re-unifying the split in the chess establishment is if someone such as
Anand or Kamsky were to battle his way through and overpower both
Kasparov and Karpov! Already various challengers have complained
about the tough task of winning four matches to become world cham-
pion, but to take both crowns the challenger will have to win seven!
There were only two matches that needed all eight games: Gelfand-
Adams and Timman-Lautier. The young Comish player was elimi-
nated when Gelfand won the eighth and final game; Adams weakening
his own queenside as he desperately sought a win with Black. Gel-
fand’s extra experience in matchplay was probably the decisive factor
in an otherwise even pairing.
Michael suffers from not really being a theoretical specialist. He
gets round this by trying to ‘pick and choose’ his openings to avoid his
opponent’s preparation. His win in round five came from the c3 Sicil-
ian (fairly unusual at 2600+ level) but his loss in round four resulted
from a Queen’s Gambit Accepted which transposed to a Petroff’s De-
fence! Unfortunately it was Michael who seemed to be the more con-
fused. Further, in round six 1 d4 d6 2 e4 &)f6 3 3 d5!? was an interest-
ing idea but one with which he was unable to equalize.
Joel Lautier of France pushed Timman hard in perhaps the closest
fought of the six matches. The Queen’s Gambit Accepted featured in
three games, the first was drawn, game three was won by Lautier but
Timman won game five. Lautier adopted 1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e4 %\c6!?
on each occasion, a line frequently employed by his second, Matthew
Sadler. The only other decisive result was in the second game where
Timman, as Black, won a long struggle despite having had a very du-
bious position in the early middlegame. In the final game, Lautier
needing a win to tie the score, adjourned with winning chances in a
difficult ending. However, despite the extensive analytical efforts of
The FIDE Cycle 23
Matthew Sadler he didn’t make the best of his chances and Timman
gratefully held the draw. The other encounters went more or less as
expected.
In the summer the FIDE cycle moved to Sanghi Nagar in India,

where the locals had high hopes of their young star, Vishy Anand.
FIDE Candidates second round, Sanghi Nagar (matchplay)
B.Gelfand ==01===1 VKramnik 4%:-3"%

V.Salov 0==1==1=J.Timman 4'2-3'2
G.Kamsky ==00=11= V.Anand 4-4
Play-off
G.Kamsky 11 V.Anand 2-0
By a remarkable quirk of fate, all three second round matches all

began in favour of the eventual loser. Kramnik took an early lead in his
match against Gelfand but was pegged back to all-square in game four.
As the tension mounted after three draws he was again criticized for
the quality of his opening preparation, which cost him the eighth and
final game as a result of a schoolboy blunder. Gelfand’s nerve was
again tested in this match but he remained solid and converted the final
point to earn the right to play Karpov (who, as FIDE Champion, was
exempt until the last four). Interestingly, in November in Cap D’Agde
on the French Mediterranean, Gelfand defeated Karpov in the blitz
play-off of a mini-match. Karpov was pressing but Gelfand took his
chances to run out victor. I don’t believe that Karpov will underesti-
mate his opponent next time.
The Dutchman Timman has had a long and up and down career. By
far the veteran of the six players in Sanghi Nagar, he has over the years
produced more than his fair share of brilliant games and with his enter-
taining and provocative analyses he remains a good model player for
the young enthusiast. However, his confident approach sometimes
leads to over-optimism and he tends to be rather inconsistent, his name
frequently appearing either at the very top or the very bottom of the
tournament table. He is often drawn into playing fashionable variations
in which he introduces his own brand of novelties and exciting chess.
When on form this approach reaps dividends, but when below par...
Always self-critical, Timman would be the first to admit that his best
form has eluded him of late, and in particular in this match. In fact,
Salov’s early loss was due to the Russian overplaying his hand. After
that Salov was almost always in control.

The Spanish-based Russian Valery Salov is an out-spoken critic of
Garry Kasparov, the PCA and anyone who he judges to be in that
camp. His White openings seem benign, but he scores very well with
Black. In his youth Salov was something of a tactical theoretician, but
nowadays, although still a young man, he has moved towards a slow
manoeuvring style similar to that of the Swedish Grandmaster Ulf An-
dersson. It must be disconcerting for his opponents to see a youthful-
looking Salov steering towards unspectacular endings and then out-
playing them with the refined technique of a player many years older.
In 1994 Salov made great strides, advancing to FIDE semi-finals and
achieving an outstanding result at Tilburg. But, with his entrance into
the political arena (with open letters to the powers-that-be with sug-
gestions how to put the chess world’s problems right) will he become
distracted from his assault on the world title?
Anand seemed to be coasting to victory in his match with Kamsky,
two up with three to play. However, Kamsky again showed his great
fighting qualities to turn the Indian celebrations into mourning with an
unlikely comeback. In the play-off a demoralized Anand was a shadow
of his normal self and was dismissed easily. There is no doubt that
Kamsky will be totally focused in his forthcoming match with Salov.
A number of the players in Sanghi Nagar were dissatisfied with the
conditions arranged by the Indian authorities. With the semi-finals
scheduled to take place at the same venue, the players’ anxieties about
health, food, climate, etc., could cause some problems for FIDE. In any
case Indian support for the local hero Anand was the source of such
great interest in the second round matches: with Anand eliminated,
would there be the same enthusiasm?
Game Five
Leonid Yudasin-Vladimir Kramnik
1st match game
FIDE Candidates first round, Wijk aan Zee 1994
Both Yudasin and Kramnik were chance to equalize the match in

new to the Candidates stage of the third game but otherwise
the World Championship. Kram- Kramnik was in control. With
nik settled first and won this, White Kramnik made little head-
their opening encounter. Yudasin, way but as Black in complex
now playing under the Israeli Sicilians (such as this one) his
flag, did miss a win and the talent came to the fore.
The FIDE Cycle 25
1 e4 cS Another try is to bolster the

2 o913 AN centre with 9 c4 but this weakens
3 d4 cxd4 White’s grip on d4 and the light-
4 &OHxdd HFf6 squared bishop has less scope.
5 &3 eS Still, 9..%g6 10 Wad L£d7 11
Kramnik employed this varia- Wba Wb8 12 Le3 is then the
tion more frequently a few years critical continuation where White
ago when it was generally more has a queenside initiative.
popular. Although called by a 9 .. NDf5
variety of names modemn practi- Overprotecting the d-pawn and
tioners call it the Sveshnikov af- preparing to develop the kingside.
ter the Russian grandmaster who 10 a4 g6
did so much to develop it. This costs (yet another) tempo
6 &Hdbs d6 over the natural 10..2e7 11 £d3
7 &d5 0-0 but in that case the continua-
The main line follows 7 L£g5 tion 12 0-0 &Hh4 (preparing ...f7-
a6 8 %a3 b5 9 Hd5 when Black f5) 13 f4! may be slightly better
has active play but an inferior for White, e.g. 13..f5 14 fxe5
pawn structure. Black’s early dxe5 when 15 d6 disrupts the
...e7-€5 in the Sicilian gains time black camp, whereas 13...a6 14
and challenges directly for the a3 £5 15 Hc4 and 13...exf4 14
centre at the cost of potential £ xf4 both give White some cen-
problems on d5 and d6. tral pressure.
Yudasin’s move saves a tempo 11 Re2
but more importantly establishing In the third game 11 £d3 Lg7
a queenside majority. Black in 12 0-0 0-0 13 Wb3 Ee8 14 Hel
compensation has an extra pawn b6 15 aS! gave Yudasin a strong
on the other wing where his queenside initiative. If White can
chances of counterplay lie. obtain an advantage by force then
7 Hxds 10...g6 may just be dubious and
8 exdS5 De7 Kramnik was prudent to switch to
The other retreat 8..2b8 is 8...2b8 in the seventh game.
generally followed by 9 c4 Le7 11 .. 2.7
10 Ke2 a6 11 Hc3 0-0 12 0-0 12 00 0-0
when Black will seek activity by 13 Wb3
...f7-f5 and the redeployment of Aiming to pressurize d6. If
the knight to d7, where it will Black reacts with 13...a6 then
have influence over the important after 14 a3 with Hc4 to follow
c5 and e5 squares. This was in Black has a further weak point on
fact the course of the seventh b6.
game of this match. 13 .. Ee8
9 3 14 Wh4 ed
White was threatening to un- Intending to threaten mate with

dermine the knight with 15 g4. 18...Wg5. Black could have first
Black could have played 14..h5 forced the white queen to commit
but the text is more dynamic. herself by 17...a5 but whether this
15 Lf4 is desirable is a debatable point as
A move such as 15 g4 would Black may later regret not having
be viewed suspiciously by many the option of ...a7-a6.
grandmasters as White’s kingside 18 <hil Wgs
is seriously compromised. The 19 Hgl Lgd
cheeky 15..4e5 16 gxfS Wh4 is Kramnik reduces further the
refuted by 17 f4 when en passant white king’s support.
allows 18 Wxhd4. Black could in- 20 Rxg4 Wxgd
stead try 15...a6 16 gxf5 axb5 17 21 Edel
£xb5 Wh4 with attacking chan- After 21 Wxd6 £f3! White has
ces and the threat of perpetual problems: 22 gxf3 Wxf3+ 23 g2
check or even 15...20e7. Wxd1+ (hence the need to move
Risky would also be 15 a5 LeS this rook) or 22 Hgf1 Wf4 23 g3
16 g3 h5 followed by 17...h4. Eh5! 24 h4 Wgd with a quick
mate in either case. The best try
is 22 h3 but 22..Kh5 23 Wg3
leaves White with insufficient
compensation for the exchange.
15 Les
In this game Black exchanges
both pairs of bishops in order to
develop his attack. White’s de-
fensive pieces are eliminated one
by one and his king is gradually Inferior is 21..20f3 22 gxf3
exposed. This first exchange al- Wxf3+ 23 Hg2 Rg5 as White can
lows the rook to take up an at- play 24 Wxe4. Black can improve
tacking posture. by first displacing the white
16 £xeS HxeS queen and then forcing a draw:
17 Hadl &Hh4 21..a5 22 Wxd6 O3 23 gxf3
The FIDE Cycle 27
Wxf3+ 24 Hg2 Bg5 25 Hgl Exg2 Better than the typical draw
26 Hxg2 Wfl+ with perpetual with 22...2f3 23 gxf3 Wxf3+ 24
check. The text is an attempt to Hg2 Hg5, etc.
play for more. After 22..9f5 White is lost.
Who is better? White can cap- The best try is 23 Wb4 but after
ture on d6 but can he then still 23..Wxf2 24 Hxe4 Hae8 Black
defend his king? Is Black’s attack has a winning attack, e.g. 25 Kf4
worth a draw or even more? Dg3+ 26 hxg3 Wxg3 and there
22 Wxde6? are too many threats.
An error but the position was 23 W7
very complicated: Yudasin had obviously pinned
a) 22 9d4 can be met by his hopes on this pin. Now
22..Bh5 23 g3 O3 24 Dxf3 23..Kae8!? is interesting but
Wxf3+ 25 g2 e3! with an equal Kramnik had prepared a spec-
game; capturing on €3 is met by tacular coup de grdce.
.. Wxd5 and 26 Wxb7 is risky as 23 .. e3!
26...He8 27 fxe3 HExe3 28 Wc8+ 24 Hxed Wxe3!!
&g7 29 Eg1 He2 favours Black. Capturing the queen allows
b) 22 &xd6 is best when the mate in two by 25 fxe3 Qg3+ 26
direct attack 22..EhS 23 Hxed hxg3 Hh5 mate! A sensational
&@)f3 fails to the clever resource combination, but Yudasin pre-
24 He8+! Hxe8 25 Wxf4. Black ferred to lose more prosaically.
does best to meet 22 Hxd6 with 25 &Hd6 He7
22...a5 when White has a difficult The most efficient.
decision to make: 26 Dxf5 gxfs
bl) 23 Wxb7 Xf8 (after 27 Wdé6
23..Eh5 White can defend with If 27 fxe3 then 27...Exc7.
24 Wxf7+! obtaining four pawns 27 . WeSs
for the piece after 24..Wxf7 25 28 Wh4 Hae8
Dxf7 Sxf7 26 Hxed) allows 29 VWh4 f6
Black all the chances. 30 h3 Wxds
b2) After 23 Wd4 White can 0-1
survive to a nominally better Kasparov is on record as hav-
ending after 23..Eh5 24 Kxed ing stated that he believes that
Wxd6 (24..Wxh2+ is attractive Kramnik will be his main chal-
but unsound as 25 &xh2 Df5+ is lenger in the course of time. It’s
met by 26 Hh4 Hxhd+ 27 Wxh4 worth noting that this was his
Dxh4 28 Hxb7 and White wins first game as a ‘Candidate’
the ending) 25 Hxh4 Hxh4 26 However, Kramnik surprisingly
Wxh4 Wxd5 27 b4 but after failed to make much impact in
27..Wb3! a draw is on the cards. either cycle and his first game
22 .. HFS! was to be his best.
Game Six
Paul van der Sterren-Gata Kamsky
5th match game
Candidates first round, Wijk aan Zee 1994
Kamsky must have felt very for- ...f7-f5.

tunate when the pairings for the 10 4Sge2 f5
first series of matches were made 11 exf5 gxf5
as Paul van der Sterren was gen- 12 0-0
erally considered by far the The Sdmisch is often associ-
weakest qualifier. However, in ated with queenside castling and
the match itself van der Sterren, a attacks on opposite wings. In the
renowned theoretician, consis- present game van der Sterren pre-
tently obtained excellent posi- fers a more cautious approach,
tions only to spoil his good work tucking his king away on hl be-
in time pressure. The final score fore commencing active opera-
may have been predictable but tions.
not the manner of it. In the fol- 12 .. a6
lowing fighting game the Dutch- A useful move in such posi-
man missed two wins. tions (preparing ...b7-b5 or sim-
1 d4 &Hf6 ply stopping White using the bS
2 c4 g6 square). The main alternative
3 &3 Lg7 12..0d7 13 Hcl &c5 looks
4 ed dé6 slightly better for White after 14
5 13 Kc4! (threatening 15 b4 and 15
The Samisch variation of the Lxc5 dxc5 16 d6+); Timman-
King’s Indian. Kasparov, Paris (25-minute
5 0-0 game) 1991.
6 Re3 es 13 <hl <h8
7 ds c6 In Brunner-Gallagher, Bemn
8 L£d3 1993, (a game in which White
Sharper is 8...b5!? with an un- needed to win for a GM norm)
balanced game. In particular 9 the natural 13...5)d7 was met by
cxb5 cxd5 10 exd5 &bd7 gives 14 L£xf5!? (compared to our
Black dynamic play for the game White is missing Ecl and
gambit pawn. Black &h8) when 14..Exf5 15
8 cxd5S gd Ef7 16 gxh5 Wha 17 &g3
9 c¢xd5 DhS o6 18 Dced Dxed 19 Dxed
White has a space advantage £h3 20 Ef2 Wxhs5 21 Hxd6 Ef6
but Black can obtain play with 22 Pe4 g6 23 We2 Ed8 24 Hdl
the typical King’s Indian counter &h8 gave Black good compensa-
The FIDE Cycle 29
tion for the pawn. preferred.
14 Hcl Dd7 _—
-
;
15 Rxfs! V/
/,Z
Van der Sterren introduces a ?Eé 2 ?/
%,
‘novelty’ although the idea is
known; Timman-Thipsay,
saloniki Olympiad 1984
Thes-
contin-
A
ued 15 Wd2 b5 16 £xf5 ExfS 17
g4 and White had the advantage.
After the text White has a more
active position than in the Brun-
ner-Gallagher game above, es-
sentially having the extra move
Hcl.
15 .. Bxf5 21 Ec¢7
16 g4 Hf8 Also promising is 21 Hc4 as
17 gxh5 Wh4 both 21...e4? 22 @xed HExd5? 23
18 &Ded aHfé6 Dxf6! and 21..WxhS 22 g3
This iSs more active than Wg6 23 HgfS win material. In
18...\xh5 as White can then the latter case Black can put up a
snatch the pawn on d6: 19 &xd6 serious defence with 23..8xf5
Hxf3? (19..%f6 is objectively 24 HExg6 K xg6.
better but Black is a pawn down 21 .. Led
for no compensation) 20 g3 After 21..%xhS White has 22
Zxf1+ 21 Wxf1 and White wins a &f7+, while the natural
piece. 21..Hxd6 is met by 22 Hgxg7
19 &Hxd6 K47 (3..Bxd5 fails to 24
The critical choice. Instead of Wxd5!) 23 h6 ExdS 24 Wglwhen
this White could try 19 &2g3, a White threatens mate in two
solid alternative. starting with 25 Hxh7+ and fin-
19 .. £h3 ishing with 26 Wg7.
20 Hgil Had$8 The wild 21..%g4 (blocking
A complicated struggle that is the g-file) is refuted by 22 fxgé
worth comparison with the Brun- fxgd 23 Hf7+ g8 24 Dh6+
ner-Gallagher encounter above. L£xh6 25 &c3 with a deadly pin
White’s chances are better here on the g-file (25..Ef1 26 Wxfl
because of the rook on the c-file 2xe3 27 Wf7+ and mate next
and indeed it seems that he has a move).
clear advantage. From this obser- The text is a desperate attempt
vation it becomes clear that to find salvation through compli-
13..2h8 was inferior and the cations.
immediate 13...4d7 should be 22 3
After 22 fxgd4 Pxgs 23 HExgd line only scratches the surface of

Wxgd 24 Df7+ Bxf7 25 Exf7 a very sharp position but Black’s
Black has 25..¥Wed4+ winning attack has to be taken seriously
back the piece with a good game. and White can’t seem to profit
22 .. £.xh5 from his extra material.
Now White meets 22..Hxd6 25 Hg3 Wf4
with 23 fxg4 maintaining a two 26 Rxd6?
pawn advantage. A natural move but one that
23 Hgxg7? overlooks Black’s resource. By
Up to this point the Dutchman playing 26 Xxb7 first, White
had performed admirably but comes out two pawns ahead after
now 23 Xcxg7! was required: 26..8xf3+ 27 Exf3 exf3 28
23...Exd6 24 Lc5 ed is then met £xd6 Wxd6 29 Wxf3.
by the beautiful 25 £xd6! Lxf3+ 26 .. Wxd6
26 Wxf3 exf3 27 £xf8 h5 (27...12 27 Exb7 Wxg3!
allows 28 Hg8+ @xg8 29 Lg7 Van der Sterren was probably
mate!) 28 Xg6 f2 29 Lg7+ ¥h7 expecting 27..82xf3+ 28 Hxf3
30 Hh6+ g8 31 HEhs+ Bf7 32 etc., when the two pawns and
Bfg+ &e7 33 Lxf6+ winning. significant simplification should
Very missable in time pressure! guarantee victory. The text must
23 .. Hxdé have been a terrible blow.
24 Rc5 28 hxgd Lxf3+
29 &gl fxdl
) ZE? 30
31
&SHxdl
Eb3!
Hxds
/// ///
%hwfi
A necessary move as 31 Ed7?

would lose to 31...e3!
31 .. Hc8
/// 32 &3 &Hxc3
/ //, / Q 33 Hxc3 Zds
/, / / 34 EHe3 gd2
/z’%@%////fi 35
36 Ea4
Hxed
b6
Hxb2
A‘.
37 <&g2 12-13
A fascinating battle. Had van
24 .. e4? der Sterren managed to convert
Kamsky had a fascinating pos- this game he would have clawed
sibility in this position; 24...23d7! back to one down and might have
when best play could be 25 put Kamsky under real pressure.
Hcxd7 Bh6 26 Wa2 Kffe! 27 g5 As it was, the American teenager
Ehg6 28 Ed8+ g7 29 Hd7+ managed to halve out to win the
taking a perpetual. Of course this match.
The FIDE Cycle 31
Game Seven
Vishwanathan Anand-Artur Yusupov
5th match game
FIDE Candidates first round, Wijk aan Zee 1994
The Russian-bom Artur Yusupov a surprise.

has been one of the most consis- § ¢3 f5
tent players over the past ten This so-called ‘Siesta’ varia-
years, during which he has regu- tion is named after a Budapest
larly appeared in the final stages sanatorium, which was in fact the
of the world championship. A venue of a 1928 tournament,
few years ago Yusupov moved to where Capablanca used the idea.
Germany and he even represented In fact Marshall had introduced
his adopted country in the Mos- the variation against the Cuban
cow Olympiad. In fact, the Tatar 19 years earlier but he already
Yusupov must have unpleasant had a certain variation of the
memories on the Russian capital Spanish named after him! (see
as when he lived there he was the next game).
shot and seriously wounded after 6 exf5 Kxf5
disturbing burglars one evening, 7 0-0 £d3
an incident which may have 8 Hel
prompted his move to the com- The complications following 8
parative safety of the West. Wb3 b5 9 Wd5 £ d4! should only
This game took place in the be entered into after some thor-
critical stage of the match in ough homework.
which Anand’s two-point lead 8 .. Ke7
had just been halved. A further 9 fLc2!
defeat for Anand at this stage The main problem with this
would have well and truly handed tactical line for Black is that
the initiative to his highly experi- White simply exchanges off the
enced opponent. bishops, avoiding complications,
and obtains the better prospects
1 e4 esS due to Black’s weaknesses on the
2 &Hf3 ZATY light squares.
3 fKbs a6 9 .. f2xc2
4 Rad deé 10 Wxc2 &f6
Yusupov has frequently used 11 d4 0-0
the ‘Open’ variation (4..f6 5 After 11...exd4 12 cxd4 0-0 13
0-0 Dxed) in his matches in re- Nc3 Lh8 White can create some
cent years and his adoption of interesting complications: 14
4...d6 during this match was quite Dg5 Dxd4 15 Wd3 h6 (15...c5
fails to 16 &dS) 16 Wxd4 hxg5s 13 Dg5 Hes

17 £xg5 Wd7 18 Ad5 Dxds 19 13...%xd5 is met not by 14
Lxe7 Bf5 (19..%xe7 is worse Wb3 because of 14..HfS, but
due to 20 Wh4+ g8 21 Exe7) rather 14 Wxe4 which w_.s after
20 £h4 with some advantage due 14...5Xf6 15 We6+ 2h8 16 HDf7+.
largely to his superior minor 14 Heb Wd7
piece; Glek-Vorotnikov, USSR As is typical in this line the
1986. light squares in general and e6 in
12 dS!? particular are a problem for the
Anand introduces a favourable second player. However, Black
tactical sequence which no one can still generate some useful
seems to have played before. This kingside counterplay after the
may be simply because the text. Less good is 14..We8 15
straightforward 12 dxe5 guaran- Dxf8 Kxf8 16 Nd2 Wg6 17 Ee3
tees an edge after 12...%xeS 13 Degd 18 PDxed! (giving the ex-
DxeS dxe5 14 DHd2 fc5 15 Db3 change back for a clear extra
L£b6 16 Ke3 when White has a pawn) 18...20xe3 19 Dxf6+ Wxf6
comfortable game and the better 20 £xe3.
structure. Not everyone would 15 &Hd2
wish to defend such a position, It is dangerous to take imme-
but players such as Hiibner and diately on f8: 15 Hxf8 Wg4 16
Yusupov have great faith in their &h1 Exf8 and 16 Ee3 Hxf8 17
defensive abilities, and a draw is Hg3 Wh5 both give Black good
a draw even if you’ve had to suf- practical compensation.
fer a little!
Tactical players might wish to
investigate 15..%g4 (instead of
the passive 15..2b6) but the
game Bannik-Estrin, USSR
Spartakiad 1963, destroyed this
move’s credibility: 16 &xc5 Wha
17 h3 Bxf2 18 Ke2 Haf8 19 £14!
H2xf4 (19..H8xf4 fails to an-
other fork 20 &£d3) 20 De6 De3
21 Hxe3 Ef2 22 He2 Hxe2 23 47
Wxe2 1-0. 72l 4 LA
L
/i
A
12 ed
Other moves are clearly infe- Black has several ways of try-
rior for Black: 12..8xd5? 13 ing to avoid drifting into a bad
Wb3, 12..20b8 13 g5 Wd7 14 game.
c4 and 12..%9a5 13 g5 Wd7 14 15 .. e3!
&a3. Yusupov plcks the best. Others
The FIDE Cycle 33
all have their downside: (the world’s strongest vegetarian)

a) 15...23d3 16 Bxe4! and after was looking for blood!
simplification White ends up with 17 .. Axe3
an extra pawn, i.e. 16...2xe4 17 18 Wxh7+ &xf8
Dxed Dxcl 18 Hxf8 Hxf8 19 19 fxel
Hxcl. There was a draw on offer (19
b) 15...EBfc8, aims to meet 16 Wh8+ &f7 20 Wxa8 Hxg2 21
c4 with 16...c6, so White should &xg2 Wgd+ with perpetual
content himself with a-small edge check) so the Indian probably felt
after 16 Dxed DxdS 17 Ddg5 that he was better at this point.
Kxg5 18 Dxgs. 19 .. He8
c) The other significant rook 19..Wg4 must have been
move 15..Bf7 can be met by 16 sorely tempting but after 20
c4. If Black then seeks complica- Wh8+ &f7 21 Wxa8 We2 22
tions by 16..4)d3 17 He2 Hxf2 Wxb7 Black has remarkably no
18 Exf2 e3 then 19 Xxf6! e2 20 way of punishing White’s mate-
Hxf7! elW+ 21 Efl We3+ 22 rialism. After the further
%h1 must favour White with two 22..Wxe3+ 23 &fl &Hd3
pieces and a rook for the second (23...2h4 is coolly met by 24 g3)
queen. 24 Wf3+ White exchanges
d) Unsatisfactory is 15...4)xd5 queens to victory.
16 Dxf8 Exf8 17 Wxed4 c6 18 20 ed
@f1 when Black has insufficient
compensation.
16 Hxe3
Anand could have contem-
plated 16 fxe3!?, when he retains
an extra pawn but yields the ini-
%%
tiative to Black, e.g. 16..Kf7 17
ed Dfgd 18 &Hf1 (not 18 Ef1? as
18...%)e3 would be embarrassing)
18...8h4 19 He2. It is of course
/ /i
V
academic to discuss whether

M &
/é /,II 7
there is enough play or not as A= ,

most players would prefer to keep
the initiative in such a sharp po- White has an extra pawn but
sition. his queenside needs some un-
16 .. Dxd5 tangling.
17 Dxf8!? 20 .. ds?!
Safer is the attempt to play 20...2f6 has been universally
positionally: 17 Hxe5 dxe5 18 recommended as giving Black
Dxf8 Hxf8 19 Hed4 but Anand enough compensation but I still
prefer White after 21 Wh8+ &e7 22 Lel 216

22 Whs. 23 Ef1 Dgd
21 45b3 dxed?! 24 KRd4
Tricky was 21...6Wgd4. After 22 White exchanges into a win-
Le3 D3+ 23 Shl Dha 24 Ef1+ ning ending after 24 h3 Hxe3 25
£.f6 25 g3! (rather than 25 Exf6+ Exf6+ &e7 26 Wxg7+ &d8 27
&e7! when White loses control Wxd7+ @xd7 28 Hc5+ Lc8 29
of events) 25...2)f3 26 h3!! (easy Hf4 but the game continuation is
to miss!) 26..Wxg3 27 Kc5+ even stronger.
&f7 28 Wh5+ g6 29 Wxf3 and 24 .. Wcé
White mops up. For the record it should be
Another try was 21..%g4 mentioned that 24...We6 survives
when White should avoid 22 longer but 25 &\c5 W7 (25...Wc6
Wh8+ &f7 23 Wh5+ &g8 24 26 £xf6 Hxf6 27 Exf6+! wins
Wxd5+?? WxdS 25 exd5 Kc5+ the black queen) 26 &xed is
when he must ditch a piece by 26 hopeless.
£e3 in order to avoid mate. Bet- 25 Qc5+ 10
ter is 22 e5! HxeS 23 Ke3! (23 After 25...&f7 White picks up
Whe+ &f7 24 Wh5+ g8 25 the knight with 26 Wh5+.
Wxe5 fails to 25...5h4) with real Anand is at home in complica-
practical problems for Black now tions as he sees variations faster
that White is fully organized. than probably anyone else in the
Either of these alternatives world and he is invariably able to
would have made a fight of it but get his opponents into time trou-
now Black is swiftly despatched. ble!
Game Eight
Vishwanathan Anand-Gata Kamsky
1st match game
FIDE Candidates second round, Sanghi Nagar 1994
This game took place amid great women’s world champion Xie
scenes in India, where Vishy Jun and Anand acting as ambas-
Anand is something of a folk sadors.
hero. The potential for chess in This encounter could easily be
the next century is enormous if judged game of the year. Hold on
the game reallly takes off in the to your hats!
most populated countries, China 1 e4 es
and India. The development of 2 o3 &6
chess in these countries would 3 Rbs ab
appear to be in good hands with 4 Rad &f6
The FIDE Cycle 35
5 00 Re7 theory doesn’t always take us this

6 Eel b5 deep into the game!
7 £b3 0-0 White has an extra pawn but
8§ 3 Black has active pteces ranged at
Allowing a dangerous gambit the white monarch, the overall
known as the Marshall Attack. consensus suggests that Black has
Anand has never been afraid of more or less enough play for his
taking on this line, which was material deficit.
introduced by the innovative 20 Ded!?
Frank Marshall in a game against The first surprise, generally 20
Capablanca (New York 1922). &f1 or 20 Wfl have been played.
Kamsky is also not one to back The text had been played only
down from a challenge. once before in a game of note;
8 . ds Anand-Kamsky, Monaco (quick-
Those seeking a quieter game play) 1994, a game in which
play 8...d6 here. Kamsky soon seized the advan-
9 exd5 HxdsS tage. Naturally, Anand has an
10 &HxeS HxeS improvement prepared and Kam-
11 ExeS ¢6 sky must have been bracing him-
12 d4 2d6 self to face his opponent’s home
13 Hel Wh4 preparation over the board.
14 g3 Wh3 20 .. Lc7
15 Re3 Lg4 The plan to pin with 20..&f5
16 Wd3 Hae8 is ineffective after 21 Rd2 Hfe8
17 &Ha2 He6 22 f3 Wg6 23 L2 threatening 24
18 ad WhS Of6+.
19 axb$s axbs 21 Rd2 Hfe8
22 Ld1!
So here it is; Anand’s new
move. Some may ask, why do top
players involve themselves in
)
%
long variations such as in this
Z
game? Is modern chess only a
game of memory and home
preparation? Well, to answer the
first question, I would say that
main lines and long variations are
frequently repeated because ex-
perience tells us that these are the
best and most reliable moves, and
These moves have all been to answer the second, I would say
played before. Standard opening far from it, and then invite the
sceptic to play through this game! Safer than the text was 25 Wf3
The previous encounter be- Wg6 26 £h3 but most ambitious,
tween these two players, with a and probably best, was 25 Wxf5!
rapidplay time-limit, continued as introducing very favourable
follows: 22 &c5? Hxel+ 23 complications. After 25..Ef8 26
Hxel Hxel+ 24 f£xel &Hf4! 25 Wh3 Wg6 White has 27 Wgd!
gxf4 Qxf4 26 h4 Rf3? (with a Hfe8 (27...Hfxf2 fails to 28 a8+
slower time limit Kamsky would Hf8 29 Hxf8+ &xf8 30 Wxe2 and
no doubt have found the forced 27.. Hexf2 to 28 We6+ ¥h8 29
win following 26...Wxh4 27 We4 Wxg6 hxgé 30 De6 H8f5 31
Wh2+ 28 &f1 Wh3+ 29 Wg2 Ba8+ &h7 32 Hg5+) 28 Has!
Re2+ 30 &gl £h2+ 31 &hl (better than 28 f3 as Black has
£f3 32 Wxf3 Wxf3+ 33 &xh2 good drawing chances in varia-
We2) 27 Kxf7+! &xf7 28 Ded tions such as 28.h6 29 &Hh3
Wgd+ 29 Hg3 g6 30 b3 K45 31 Wxgd 30 fxgd De3 31 Kxe3
c4 bxc4 32 bxc4 W3 and Black’s H8xe3 32 Ha7 fixg3! 33 hxg3
bishops gave him enough play for Bxg3+ 34 &f1 Hxb2 35 Hgl
a draw in the ending. Hgg2) 28..Hxd2? (28..Exa8 is
22 .. 2.xd1 objectively better but still not
23 Hexdl really satisfactory after 29 Wxe2
The right rook! 23 Eaxd1? loses He8 30 Wf3) 29 Hxe8+ Wxe8 30
to 23...Exed 24 Exed Wxd1+. HExd2 Wel+ 31 g2 De3+ 32
23 .. fs fxe3 Wxd2+ 33 €h3 and White is
Anand had naturally foreseen winning.
23..Hxe4? 24 Wxed (so that if This doesn’t cover all possi-
24.. Hxe4 White mates with 25 bilities, but instead of being on
Ba8+) 24..Wxdl+ 25 <&g2! the road to victory the Asian No.1
(winning, whereas 25 Exd1 Hxed found himself facing a difficult
26 Hel only gives an endgame defence after...
advantage) 25...f8 26 Wxe8+!
&xe8 27 Exdl and Black can of
course resign.
Kamsky finds the best chance
to generate some play.
24 4Ogs He2
25 Df3?
Anand was probably very
pleased with his opening (he may
even still have been following his
home preparation!), but here he
becomes complacent and over-
looks his opponent’s resource.
The FIDE Cycle 37
25 .. 8e3! some difficult problems in the

26 Ha8+ American’s camp.
Capturing on e3 fails (26 Lxe3 30 .. f4
Wxf3 27 Kg5 Hel+ and 26 fxe3 Now Kamsky had to avoid
Wxf3) and 26 He5S KxeS 27 capitulation after 30..Wxe8 31
2xe3 gives Black excellent win- Wxe2, 30..Wf3 31 Hxe3 or
ning chances after 27...&xg3! 28 30...20xf1 31 h4+.
hxg3 Dxe3 29 Wxe2 Wxe2 30 31 Wed fxg3!
fxe3 Wxe3+. Avoiding 31..2xfl 32 hd4+
26 .. f7 &h6 33 Wxe2 when White wins
27 DgS+ g6 material, and 31..Wxh2+ 32
Kamsky is forced to further &xh2 Hxfl+ 33 g2 Hxed 34
expose his king as 27..Wxg5 is Hxe4 $Hd2 35 He7 when White
refuted by 28 Wxe2! etc. has a strong initiative in the end-
28 Rxed Dxe3 ing.
32 h4+
Rather than 32 hxg3, which is
met by 32...8.xg3.
32 Wxh4
Necessary as 32..&h6 is met
simply by 33 fxe3.
. 33 Wxh4+
Chasing the king by 33 We7+
7
. AN
Vfi'z' 0.
% o R
ALY
&h5 34 W7+ $h6 35 Be6+ g6
36 Wf8+ &h5 37 W3+ g4
would only help Black.
33 . Pxh4
34 Hed+
White’s chances looks grim: Better than 34 fxe3? €h3 and
29 h4 RKxg3 30 fxg3 Wgd, 29 certainly better than 34 Hxe3??
Ra6 &xg5 30 hd+ &h6 31 HExc6+ gxf2+. Now the ending starts to
g6 32 Hxc7 W3 and even 29 He8 look drawish.
&\g4! are all hopeless. 34 &h3
29 Hf1!! 35 Hxe3 EHxb2
Now 29...2xf1 30 &xfl1 Exb2 36 Xe7 Rf4
31 h4 h6 32 &De6 probably fa- Also equal is 36...g2 37 Hxc7
vours White but... gxf1W+ 38 &xfl b4 39 cxbd
29 ... Lxg5 Bxb4 40 Hxg?.
looks difficult to cope with. 37 fxg3
How can White defend? There are still opportunities to
30 He8!! go wrong: 37 Hxg7? gxf2+ 38
Defending and now causing &hl (38 Hxf2 allows a quick
mate after 38..Hbl+ 39 Efl 47 Hc5 b3 48 Bxh5+ g4 49

Ke3+ etc.) 38..hS and White is Hb5 b2 winning for Black)
already probably lost. 43..h4 44 Exc6 Bg2+ 45 &hl
37 . Hp2+ K12 46 BExf2 Bxf2 47 &gl Hc2
38 <hi Eh2+ 48 Hc5, although White draws all
39 gl Hg2+ the same.
40 <hl Eh2+ 42 He5 Hg2+
41 gl g5 43 hi 12~V
An unusual move that is less Only a draw, but any other re-
testing than the obvious sult would have been unjust. A
41..8Rxg3! 42 Exg7 h5 43 Hg6! game involving difficult compli-
(but not 43 Xf6? Ec2 44 Hxg3+ cations, tricks and resources of
Rxg3 45 Hg6+ $h3 46 Hxc6 b4 the highest calibre.
Game Nine
Boris Gelfand-Viadimir Kramnik
4th match game
FIDE Candidates second round, Sanghi Nagar 1994
In common with Alexei Shirov 4 e3 e6

and Vassily Ivanchuk, Boris Gel- It seems as if Gelfand chose
fand has the disconcerting habit the second option. The opening
of looking away from the board, starts quietly.
staring into space as if dreaming. 5 d4 ds
Apparently this helps them focus 6 a3
their thoughts, and actually In symmetrical positions such
looking at the chessboard might as this one, Black always faces
distract them from something the tricky task of choosing the
important. However, this is not moment to deviate from simply
necessarily recommended for copying the first player. Although
ordinary mortals! there seems no immediate dan-
Kramnik had just gone ahead ger, achieving full equality can be
after winning the third game. a difficult task.
Naturally Gelfand was deter- 6 .. a6
mined to come bouncing back Playable is 6..cxd4 7 exd4
with a win. Was it time to test his Le7 but White keeps some ini-
opponent’s main openings or to tiative with 8 c5 Qe4 9 Lb5.
set new problems elsewhere? 7 b3
1 c4 cS More forcing is 7 dxcS £.xc5 8
2 93 AN b4 but Gelfand waits for his op-
3 &3 afé ponent to break the tension.
The FIDE Cycle 39
7 . cxd4 14 00
If Gelfand’s novelty on move Murky complications follow
nine proves to be strong then both 14 Lc7 Wb7 15 Wc2 96
Black should delay this capture 16 De5 Dxe5 17 dxeS De8 18
with 7..8e7 8 £b2 0-0 9 K43 £.xh7+ &h8 and 14 Ecl Ra6 15
cxd4 10 exd4 and now 10...dxc4 @c7 &Kxa3. So Gelfand naturally
or 10..b6 as recommended by castles intending to meet
ECO. 14...8.a6 with 15 @Oc7 £xd3 16
8 exdd Re7 #xa8 winning material. Black
9 oS? should probably settle for
Gelfand varies from standard 14...2)f6 15 Ec1 £d7 when he’s
theory with this move, although not doing too badly
the idea is fairly well known 14 .. HaTM
without ...a7-a6 from Black and By trying to punish White’s
b2-b3 from White. In fact this ambitious play Kramnik gets
ploy works; Kramnik fails to find rather tangled up.
a convincing route to equality. 15 &c¢7 Hb8
9 .. b6 16 b4 b7
10 cxb6 Capturing on b4 twice with
After 10 b4 bxc5 11 bxcS 16...axb4 17 axb4 S.xb4? allows
Black can try to exploit White’s 18 &a6! and 16...Bb7 fails to the
loss of tempo (7 b3 and 10 b4)by eccentric 17 a8 Wd8 18 Wc2
playing actively with 11..2e4. Hf6 19 Lc7 We8 when White
After the text White has more simply takes the a-pawn. The
pawn islands (in particular, b3 white queen’s knight is a real
and d4 may become weak) but thom in Black’s side.
Gelfand is relying on good piece 17 bxa$ WxaSs
play to retain the initiative. 18 We2
10 .. Nd7!?
Presumably 10...Wxb6 11 Had
Wa7 12 b4 intending Pad-c5 was
A1r1
% S*//
not to Kramnik’s taste. ?
11
12
Rd3
2b5!?
as %2}//%
After 12 0-0 Black eases the
pressure with
plausible 12 Had Hxb6 13 Lb5
12...8a6 and the //// 77
Y/
£d7 14 &S5 is attractively re-

futed by 14...%xd4! when Black
gets away with an extra pawn.
12 .. Wxb6
13 K14 0-0 Kramnik has serious problems
as White threatens havoc in the Habl, but this may not be enough
black camp with %xe6, e.g. and 28 Ha3 as in the game would
18..Hbc8 19 HDxe6c! fxe6 20 be more to the point. The danger-
Wxe6+ or 18...2h8 19 Dxeb fxeb ous try 27 @g4!? (instead of re-
20 £xb8 HDxb8 21 Wxe6 PDac6 capturing on bS) is safely dif-
22 Pe5. To avoid such unappetiz- fused by 27...Wb6 28 axb5 Wxd4
ing lines Kramnik tries to confuse 29 Hxf6+ Wxf6 30 Lxh7+ ¥xh7
the issue. 31 Wxb4.
18 .. eS!? 27 dxeS 2xbs
19 L2xe5 28 axbs Wxb5s
Interesting is 19 @xeS when 29 Ha3l!?
Black can try to defend with 29 Habl looks insufficient for
19...Wxc7 20 Hacl Wd6 21 &g6 an advantage after 29..Hb8 30
hxg6 22 £xd6 £.xd6.
19 .. xes 29 Wed
20 WxeS5 &cb
21 Wf4 Hbc8
Black has shed a pawn but has
liberated his position. He’s worse
but can make a fight of it.
22 Sbs Ka6
23 a4 b4
24 2f5
Gelfand opts to keep active
whereas 24 Wd2 would try to
consolidate his pawn at the risk
of going on the defensive.
24 .. Hcd8
25 Hfel White now has to sacrifice if
25 %de5! is the most dangerous he is still serious about winning.
for Black as 25..2xb5 26 axb5 30 f2xh7+ <$xh7
Wxb5 27 a7 is more than trou- 31 WfS+ Dg8
blesome and the better 25...h6 26 After 31...g6 White wins by 32
£bl Kc8 27 Ha3 26 28 Eg3 Eh3+ &g8 33 Wf6 with mate to
&h8 is defensible but unpleasant. follow.
25 .. Lf6 32 EHh3 Hfe8
26 2De5 Kkxes The text is the best try as after
Taking off a possible attacking 32..Wc2? 33 WhS 6 with 34 €6
piece but at the cost of parting White threatens mate on h8.
with the king’s main defender. 33 Wh7+?
After 26...2£xb5 White can keep This should even lose whereas
it simple with 27 axb5 Wxb5 28 33 Wh5! keeps the advantage
The FIDE Cycle 41
with every prospect of victory: In a complex position Kramnik

33...f8 34 Wgs5 Lg8 35 Hg3 g6 must find the right square for his
36 Xh3 Wc6 37 Whd &f8 when rook.
White wins back the piece with 37 .. Xd7?
38 Wxb4+ to emerge a pawn up. Evidently 37..Kxe7?? loses a
33 .. f8 rook after 38 W6+
3 Wh8+ <Pe7 After 37...Kc8! White can take
35 Wxg7 dd4? a perpetual check but has no
Both 35..Hg8 (because of 36 more. If 38 Xh4 then 38..%c6
Wf6+ de8 37 e6) and 35...&d7 and Black can wriggle out of the
(after 36 e6+ *c8 37 Hc3) lose checks so 38 WeS5+ d7 39 W5+
immediately. &c7 40 Was+ £d7 (40..&b7?
However, best is 35..Wf4! as goes down to 41 Xh5!) 41 Wf5+
White fails to break through: 36 would be best play for both sides.
Xf3? allows 36..Wxf3 37 gxf3 Another try 38 Zh6+ only risks
Hg8 and 36 e6 is defused after losing after 39..&d7! 39 Wgd+
36...d6 37 Bf3 Wd2 38 WesS+ c7.
Pc6 39 Hc3+ LbSs 40 Hecl Exeb 38 Wes+ Lcb
41 Hc5+ £ab6 or even 41..2ad 39 Eh6+ b7
42 Wal+ Wa2 43 Wd4 Hde8. If 40 Wa5s!
this is the case, Kramnik could Suddenly there is no defence:
well have won this game having 40..Hexe7 41 Wb6+ Hc8 42
earlier been a pawn down for Eh8+, 40...20c6 41 Bbl1+ 2c8 42
nothing. A good example for us Wa8+ &c7 43 Eb7+ and 40...Kc7
all in that we should ‘never give 41 Hb6+ c8 42 Exb4 are all
up hope’ and play accordingly. hopeless.
36 €6 &d6 40 .. Hdxe7
37 e7 41 Exe7+ Hxe7
42 Wb6+ 1-0
Black resigned as 42..%c8 43
-9\ 8
o &1 Y
Hh8+ &d7 44 Bd8 is mate.
An exciting scrap but hardly a
S
smooth victory. If Kramnik had
taken his chance at move 35 then
he may have gone two up, but as
it was, Gelfand equalized and
later won the match after cashing
in on an opening blunder in the
eighth game.
R B
4 Quickplay and Novelty Tournaments
In most walks of life the media has had a significant impact. Naturally,
chess has not been immune from these developments as organizers and
sponsors look for different ways to encourage more interest, and, ide-
ally, television coverage. In the past the imagination of the public has
been captured by title matches between the top Western player and the
top Russian (Fischer-Spassky and Short-Kasparov) but barring that
television companies have rarely become involved. One form of chess
that has been seen increasingly on television in recent years is quick-
play or rapidplay chess (usually with 25 or 30 minutes for each player
for all their moves).
In fact, quickplay events are becoming more popular at all levels;
they are exciting for players and spectators alike. Over the past ten
years there have been any number of blitz and rapid chess tourna-
ments, some of which have attracted the top players. Even World Blitz
(five minutes each) titles have been banded about.
The most significant (and spectator-friendly) quickplay tournament
over the past few years has been Immopar, run every November in
Paris as a sixteen player knock-out event. The top players in the world
competing in the sumptuous surroundings of the Champs-Elysées
theatre with no expense spared on visual aids and high-tech parapher-
nalia.
Intel, the PCA sponsors, have modelled their new speed chess Grand
Prix on the successful Immopar formula. Four events, in Moscow,
New York, London and Paris, with big prizes, and bonuses for the
most consistent performers. The possibility of battling with the big
guns (and earning the minimum first-round losers purse of $5000) by
succeeding in the qualifying tournament encourages interest for the
‘average’ grandmaster, an encouraging development when 75 GMs
turn up as they did in Moscow!
The Grand Prix rules included a rather controversial tie-breaking
system, which had already been tried out at Immopar. If, after the two
25-minute rapidplay games, the scores are level, then one game of blitz
is played to decide the bout. White has six minutes to Black’s five but
Quickplay and Novelty Tournaments 43
must win, Black being declared the winner in the case of a draw on the
chessboard. This was used throughout the Grand Prix, but unfortu-
nately White very rarely seems to win in practice (something like 20%
of White players were successful) and many players are unhappy about
this rule. The ‘powers that be’ naturally require a quick decision (for
reasons of scheduling, media coverage, crowd interest, etc.) but there
must be room for a rethink on this one. There has been talk of giving
White seven minutes, but as yet nothing has been decided.
Intel Grand Prix first leg, Moscow
The choice of Moscow as the first venue of the Intel Grand Prix cycle
was remarkable in itself, but even more remarkable was the fact that
the tournament would be played within the Kremlin itself. For a few
days in April the antics of the chessboard took over one of the twenti-
eth centuries centres of world statesmanship.
The Grand Prix itself was preceded by a powerful qualifying tour-
nament in which dozens of grandmasters competed.
Qualifiers
8/11 Z.Azmaiparashvili, L.Yudasin, I.Smirin, J.Ehlvest,
A.Vyzmanavin, V.Malaniuk
A Georgian, two Israelis, an Estonian, a Russian and a Ukrainian

made it to the Grand Prix proper, all of whom are products of the So-
viet school of chess. Another Russian, Bareev, surprisingly failed to
qualify as a result of his last round loss to Vyzmanavin.
The quarter-finals saw the total domination of youth over experi-
ence. Rapid chess is more a game of instinct and quick reactions than
one of erudition and carefully weighted judgements, and these qualities
are more suited to the Anand’s of this world than the Korchnoi’s.
The most remarkable incident of the whole event (and perhaps of the
Grand Prix series as a whole) occurred at the end of the semi-final
match between Vyzmanavin and Kramnik. After two draws all was to
be decided in the six minutes vs five minutes play-off. Kramnik, as
Black, had slipped into a lost ending with both players having very
little time remaining on the clock, and must have been very surprised
when his opponent offered him a draw. Of course Kramnik gratefully
accepted the gift, automatically eliminating his opponent from the
competition. In the heat of the battle, the relatively unknown Russian
had had a momentary brain-storm, believing that a draw was sufficient
for he himself to progress to the final. Students of the Russian lan-

guage could have extended their vocabulary if they had been there
when Vyzmanavin realised what a blunder his draw offer had been.
V.Anand 1 0=
I.Smirin V.Anand 1 1
V.Malaniuk
V.Malaniuk 1 =
G.Kamsky V.Anand | =
V.Ivanchuk
J.Ehlvest
N.Short =1
N.Short
Z.Azmaiparashvili V.Ivanchuk 11
VJivanchuk ===
V.Anand ===
V.Kramnik
A.Vyzmanavin 0 1 1
A.Shirov A.Vyzmanavin 1 =
V.Korchnoi
V.Korchnoi ===
M.Adams A.Vyzmanavin ===
V.Kramnik
J. Timman
G.Kasparov = 1
G.Kasparov
L.Yudasin V.Kramnik = 1
V.Kramnik 1 =
Intel Grand Prix second leg, New York
A total of 69 grandmasters participated in the New York qualification

tournament in June, which was won outright by the Russian Sergei
Tiviakov (bouncing back from his defeat by Michael Adams in the
Candidates earlier in the week) with nine others finishing equal sec-
ond. A play-off was required to determine the other five qualification
places.
Qualification tournament
8/11 S.Tiviakov
72 G. Kamsky, P.Nikolic, M.Adams, J.Ehlvest, L.Oll,

J.Speelman, A.Khalifman, I.Smirin, A.Vaiser.
Play-off (5 mins)
51%2/9 I.Smirin, A.Vaiser
5 P.Nikolic
42 M.Adams, G.Kamsky
4 L.Oll
32 A .Khalifman
2 J.Speelman
1Yz J.Ehlvest
In the heat of the Manhattan summer, Kamsky faced Kasparov in

front of his own public with a new tactic - a shaven head. Unfortu-
nately this bold decision was accompanied by a disappointing chess
effort on his part and he was eliminated.
Having qualified for the Grand Prix in the five-minute play-off, Pre-
drag Nikolic certainly confirmed that he is one of the world’s leading
blitz players by overcoming both Vyzmanvin and Adams in the tie-
break. Unfortunately for the Bosnian, he didn’t get as far as a tie-break
in his semi-final with Kasparov, going down 2-0.
Nowadays Judit Polgar is a popular invitee at some of the world’s
top events, and she was given a ‘wild-card’ to compete in New York.
No longer the ‘circus-act’ of a few years ago, she is rightly regarded as
a dangerous opponent. After her performmance here Nigel Short can
vouch for her ability to generate attacking chances out of practically
nothing.
In the top half of the draw Vladimir Kramnik demolished Joel Ben-
jamin and Judit Polgar, and then held his nerve well in a dramatic blitz
finish against the wild man of the Ukraine, Vassily Ivanchuk. The
stage was set for a dramatic finale between Kasparov and his heir ap-
parent Kramnik.
In fact the final more than lived up to everyone’s expectations. In
the first game a magnificent array of multi-sacrifices by Kasparov was
negated by counter-sacrifices and accurate defence from his resource-
ful opponent with a drawn outcome, but in the second Kramnik out-
played his mentor so totally that spectators were astonished by the
ability of the young gentle giant.
V.Kramnik 1 1
J.Benjamin V.Kramnik 1 1
J.Polgar
J.Polgar 1 1
N.Short V.Kramnik == 1
V.Ivanchuk
A.Vaiser
V.Korchnoi =1
V.Korchnoi
S.Tiviakov V.Ivanchuk 1 =
V.Ivanchuk =1
V.Kramnik 1 =
G.Kasparov
P.Nikolic = =
A.Vyzmanavin P.Nikolic 1 0=
M.Adams
M.Adams 1 1
V.Malaniuk P.Nikolic
G.Kasparov 1 1
[.Smirin
V.Anand ==1
V.Anand
G.Kamsky G.Kasparov 1 =
G.Kasparov 1 1
Intel Grand Prix third leg, London
There were to be five qualifiers for the third leg, held in

August/September. The London Lloyds Bank open played at normal
speed was deemed to be also the qualification event. A.Morozevich
912/10 and R.Mainka, clear second on 8 points, obtained two of the
coveted places. Those players finishing equal third participated in a
round robin blitz play-off:
6/8 U.Adianto, 5'2 V.Tkachiev, 4!2 R.Akesson, A.Miles, 4
T.Markowski, J.Nunn, 3 D.Norwood, 2'2 A.Yermolinsky, 2 P.Wells.
A further play-off was required to split Akesson and Miles, and
Tony Miles became another victim of the notorious PCA tie-splitting
rule; A.Miles = R.Akesson.
The history of chess took a surprising twist in the London leg of the
PCA cycle with the loss of the world No.1 Garry Kasparov to a com-
puter, followed by the defeat of positional master Predrag Nikolic to the
same inhuman, unfeeling Pentum Genius. The other games between

mortals paled into insignificance as the public came to terms with such
drama until eventually Vishy Anand gained revenge for mankind in the
semi-final by showing that despite the Pentium Genius’s ability to calcu-
late extremely accurately, it lacked endgame judgement and the ability to
plan ahead - one has just to get the right sort of position against it.
The final between Anand and Ivanchuk, who had reached that stage
after a blitz play-off with Kramnik, the New York champion, was a
real ding-dong battle. After two draws the players embarked on two
fiercely contested five-minute games. After winning the first of these
Ivanchuk only needed a draw to win the tournament, but became em-
broiled in a wild melee in which both players kings were under attack.
After getting on top Ivanchuk incredibly missed a trivial ‘mate in one’
that had been spotted by every spectator in the hall, eventually losing
on time to put the match into a final six minutes vs five “White must
win’ play-off. Fortunately for Ivanchuk, he comfortably clinched the
title in the tie-break, otherwise he would still be kicking himself now.
V.Ivanchuk =1
R.Akesson V.Jvanchuk =1
V.Tkachiev
V.Tkachiev 1 1
V.Malaniuk V.Ivanchuk ===
V.Kramnik
R.Mainka
A.Vyzmanavin 1 0 =
A.Vyzmanavin
U.Adianto V.Kramnik = 1
V.Kramnik = =
VJIvanchuk==10=
V.Anand
Pentium Genius 1 =
G.Kasparov Pentium Genius 1 1
P.Nikolic
P.Nikolic 1 0 =
N.Short Pentium Genius
V.Anand 11
A.Morozevich
V.Korchnoi 1 1
V.Korchnoi
M.Adams V.Anand 1 =
V.Anand 101
Intel Grand Prix fourth leg, Paris
The fourth and final Grand Prix held in November had many similari-
ties to the Immopar formula which had been so successful in previous
years. Many of the staff worked in both and comparisons were inevi-
table. The atmosphere was heightened by a series of nail-biting play-
offs (e.g. Vaiser won on time against Milov with only one second re-
maining on his own clock) and the calculations for the overall title.
The four main contenders were soon only two, as Ivanchuk and
Anand both lost rather tamely on the first day, and everything came
down to the semi-final clash between Kramnik and Kasparov. Kramnik
must have missed a win with the white pieces but after two draws we
had the spectacle of his eighth sudden-death play-off. Kasparov, play-
ing White and therefore obliged to win, seemed lethargic at first, but
after winning a pawn had great chances in the ending. The tension in
the hall reached fever-pitch as Kramnik was presented with an imme-
diate draw which he amazingly failed to spot and Kasparov delivered
mate with eleven seconds to spare. This missed opportunity cost the
19-year-old dear and he had to share the overall title with the PCA
World Champion. After that, the final, in which Nikolic was com-
fortably despatched, was inevitably an anti-climax.
Qualifiers
Megeve, France (coinciding with the opening of ‘The Kasparov Uni-
versity”’)
The six successful qualifiers from a field of 37 grandmasters were
V.Arbakov, J.Hjartarson, V.Tkachiev, V.Milov, I.Smirin and M.Sadler
(chosen rather controversially as the French qualifier although he is
resident in England and plays under the English flag).
G.Kasparov 1 1
V.Arbakov G.Kasparov 11
J.Hjartarson
J.Hjartarson 1 1
M.Adams G.Kasparov = =
V.Kramnik
J.Polgar
V.Kramnik ==
V.Kramnik ==
M.Sadler A.Vyzmanavin
A.Vyzmanavin = 1
G.Kasparov 1 1
P.Nikolic
A.Vaiser 11
V.Anand A.Vaiser 101
V.Milov
V.Milov 11
V.Korchnoi A.Vaiser
P.Nikolic 1 =
V.Ivanchuk
[.Smirin ==
I.Smirin
V.Tkachiev P. Nikolic ==
P.Nikolic =1
In May Intel also introduced the World Chess Express Challenge in

Munich, a blitz style tournament, again run with a preliminary qualifi-
cation stage, with some of the world’s leading players and a powerful
computer. Kasparov finished equal first with Fritz3 (run on an Intel,
Pentium processor) and lost his individual encounter with the machine.
Kasparov won the play-off comfortably but a day later, by losing a
skittles game against the machine on German television, the PCA
World Champion still had a bruised ego.
A number of the top players are not keen on playing against ma-
chines, Ivanchuk for instance, whose infamous ‘no computers please’
remark at the closing ceremony in London in front of the Intel spon-
sors certainly caused a stir. Computers are now becoming more than a
nuisance(!) and will soon be too strong for humans in quickplay but
sponsors of the powerful computers are obviously pleased to take the
big scalps. However, I can see them being withdrawn from the actual
tournaments and sidelined to exhibition matches, under pressure from
the leading players, but there again, money talks.
Intel World Chess Express Challenge, Munich
Qualifiers from group A

15/18 0O.Cvitan
12 J.Hjartarson, A.Wojtkiewicz, P.Nikolic
Qualifiers from group B

14/18 A.Chemin, M.Petursson, A.Dreev, Kir.Georgiev
Final
12Y2 G.Kasparov, Fritz 3/Pentium
12 V.Anand
11 N.Short, B.Gelfand, A.Dreev
102 Kir.Georgiev
10 V.Kramnik
81, O.Cvitan
8 P.Nikolic, G.Hertneck
7 R.Hiibner
6 A.Chernin, A.Wojtkiewicz
5 E.Lobron, J.Hjartarson
41/, M.Petursson, P.Leko
G.Kasparov won the ‘best of six’ game play-off 4-1.
During 1994 there were also several other strong rapidplay tourna-
ments:
Munich, Germany, January

812/9 A.Raetsky
Aubervilliers, France, January

11/12 O.Komneev, R.Vasquez, A.Vaiser, O.Renet, Kr.Georgiev,
A.Haik
The Parisian suburb of Aubervilliers was host to the year’s largest

two-day tournament with over 900 participants.
Eupen, Belgium, March

6'2f7 A.Khalifman, V.Jansa
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, October

11'2/16 M.Adams
102 I.Sokolov
9 N.Short, M.Stangl
812 G.Hertneck
8 W.Hug, C.Landenbergue
72 K.Bischoff, R.Hiibner, S.Kindermann
7 C.Lutz
62 V.Korchnoi
6 L.Brunner
52 A.Yusupov, L.van Wely
212 E.Lobron
There was no quickplay in Oviedo this year as the normal dates

would clash with the Olympiad. This Spanish extravaganza had cer-
tainly been the most important open quickplay event in 1993 but in the
age of the Intel Grand Prix the organizers may have to think of new
ideas for the next one, presumably to be held in December 1995.
Melody Amber, Monaco, March/April
The strongest novelty event of the year is Joop van Oosterom’s annual
‘Melody Amber’ tournament in Monaco, held in March/April. The
sponsor is a wealthy Dutch businessman who has named the tourna-
ment after his daughter. There is certainly a great deal of coverage of
the event in the chess press, but van Oosterom’s motivation as benefac-
tor is essentially personal satisfaction with this and various other chess
activities which he sponsors. The idea of getting several of the world’s
top players playing rapid blindfold chess with the ‘Fischer clock’ is
unique and quite feasible if you offer lucrative enough conditions!
The 1994 tournament consisted of two round-robins (quickplay and
blindfold) with a combined total at the end.
Quickplay
9/11 V.Anand, V.Kramnik
7 V.Ivanchuk, J.Polgar
62 G.Kamsky
5 L.Ljubojevic
41> J.Nunn, J.Piket
4 A.Karpov, V.Korchnoi
3 Zsu.Polgar
22 Y.Seirawan
Blindfold
8/11 V.Anand
7Yz V.Ivanchuk, G.Kamsky
7 V.Kramnik, Y.Seirawan
6 A.Karpov
5 L.Ljubojevic, J.Nunn
4 Zsu.Polgar
4 J.Polgar
2 V.Korchnoi, J.Piket
Combined
1722 V.Anand
16 V.Kramnik
14> V.Ivanchuk
Karpov only finished sixth overall. In fact, despite Karpov and Kas-
parov’s domination of ‘normal-speed’ chess, the World Champions
have struggled at the quicker time limits. The younger players, in gen-
eral, and the three that headed the overall Melody Amber standings, in
particular, have really emerged this year as major contenders in top
rapidplay competitions.
No games in this section, there were so many good games played

with the traditional time-limit that I have preferred to concentrate on
those.
5 Important Round Robins
Nowadays, there are so many events worldwide that I have decided to

give only the results of category XII or stronger (average strength at
least 2526) tournaments, the stronger of which are given in greater de-
tail. This book is about grandmaster chess and 2526 represents
‘average grandmaster strength’. Coverage may not be complete; the
reporting of some tournaments, particularly from Eastern Europe, can
sometimes be patchy.
Anatoly Karpov achieved one of the great results of his superb tour-
nament career at Linares but in a particularly active year he failed to
win any other strong events, e.g. Dos Hermanas, Las Palmas and
Dortmund.
On the other hand Garry Kasparov consistently finished first where
games were played with the slower-time limit, except of course for
Linares where he still obtained his expected score. Overall results sug-
gest that Kasparov is still the world’s No.1.
The other most notable round-robin achievement was by Judit Pol-
gar, who won her strongest-ever event to register a best-ever female
all-play-all performance; two games from the Madrid event can be
found in Chapter 7.
As for the chasing group of younger players Kamsky has probably
done enough to be considered the world No.3 at the time of writing.
Hastings (England), December/January, cat XII

7/9 J.Nunn
The traditional New Year event was much weaker this time due to
financial constraints.
Bonn, Godesberger (Germany), January, cat XII

6'2/9 O.Romanishin
Wijk aan Zee (A) (Netherlands), January, cat XIV

7/9 P.Nikolic
Once one of the main closed tournaments, Wijk aan Zee is now
definitely overshadowed by the sheer numbers of category XVI events

around.
Linares (Spain), February/March, cat XVIII

11/13 A Karpov
81 G.Kasparov, A.Shirov
T2 E.Bareev
7 J.Lautier, V.Kramnik
62 V.Topalov, G.Kamsky, V.Anand
6 V.Ivanchuk
51, B.Gelfand
41> M.Illescas
4 J.Polgar
2 A.Beliavsky
Although Novosibirsk was to have a higher category, the 14-player

Linares event is really the round-robin that most caught the public’s
imagination in 1994. Arguments about such-and-such being the
world’s strongest ever tournament are very subjective, and comparing
generations rarely proves very much, but without doubt, FIDE World
champion Anatoly Karpov achieved one of the best results of all time
in this tournament.
Alusta (Russia), February, cat XII

6/9 V.Malaniuk, A.Onischuk
Ter Apel, Kloster (Netherlands), March, cat XV

3/5 R.Dautov
Dos Hermanas, Seville (Spain), April/May, cat XVI

62/9 B.Gelfand
6 A.Karpov
5Y; V.Epishin
4/ V.Topalov
4 M.Illescas, J.Lautier, B.Gulko, J.Polgar
31 I.Morovic
3 M.Rivas
Leon (Spain), May, cat XII

7/9 A.Beliavsky
Important Round Robins 55
Madrid (Spain), May, cat XVI

7/9 J.Polgar
512 I.Sokolov
5 G.Kamsky, M.Illescas, A.Shirov
41/2 S.Tiviakov, V.Salov
31 J.Magem
2 P.San Segundo, E.Bareev
This was the world’s best-ever result by a female player. Of course
Judit is still young and she’s not finished yet!
Alusta (Russia), May, cat XIV

51,/9 A .Morozevich
The strongest of several closed tournaments organized in Alusta in
1994,
VSB Amsterdam (Netherlands), May, cat XVIII

4/6 G.Kasparov
31, V.Ivanchuk
21> J.Timman
2 N.Short
Lark, Las Palmas (Spain), May, cat XVII

6'2/9 G.Kamsky
6 A Karpov
52 V.Topalov, J.Lautier
4 J.Polgar
4 M.Adams, M.Illescas, .Morovic
31 A.Shirov
112 V_.Epishin
The fifth category XII or more on Spanish soil this year.
Credit Suisse, Munich (Germany), May/June, cat XVI

7%2/11 V.Ivanchuk
7 A.Beliavsky, R.Hiibner
6 E.Bareev
51, B.Gelfand, E.Lobron, P.Nikolic
5 A.Yusupov, C.Lutz, G.Hertneck
312 P.van der Sterren, J.Benjamin
Malmo (Sweden), June, cat XII

7/9 F.Hellers, C.Hansen
Jagodina (Yugoslavia), cat XII

6/9 V.Spasov
Dortmund (Germany), July, cat XVI

6'2/9 J.Piket
51 M.Adams
5 V.Epishin
4/ A.Yusupov, A.Dreev, V.Korchnoi, A. Karpov
4 J.Timman
3 C.Lutz, P.Leko
Pardubice (Czech Republic), July, cat XV

6/9 E.Bareev
Altensteig (Germany), July, cat XII

7/11 V.Zviaginsev, J.Speelman
The fourth German event to feature here.
PCA, Novgorod (Russia), August, cat XIX

7/10 G.Kasparov, V.Ivanchuk
5 V.Kramnik
4 N.Short, A.Shirov
3 E.Bareev
One of the strongest tournaments of all time (but only six players)!
Donner Memorial, Amsterdam (Netherlands), August, cat XV

51,/9 M.Adams, J.Piket, A.Yusupov
Barbarela Cup, Brno (Czech Republic), August/Sept, cat XIII

6/9 V.Epishin and A.Dreev
Credit Suisse, Horgen (Switzerland), September, cat XVI

81211 G.Kasparov
7 A.Yusupov, A.Shirov
61/2 V.Korchnoi, J.Lautier
51, B.Gelfand
5 P.Leko
‘Important Round Robins 57
42 J.Benjamin, P.Nikolic
4 A Miles, C.Lutz
3 V.Gavrikov
Jelenite (Bulgaria), September/October, cat XV

51%/9 I.Smirin, A.Khalifman, V.Epishin, V.Topalov
The strongest tournament ever held in Bulgaria and another success
for the local star Topalov.
Linares (Mexico), October/November, cat XII

9/13 M.lIllescas
The strongest closed tournament in the Americas this year.
Kasparov is the only player to come first or equal first three times in
the tournaments featured above.
Those players finishing twice at the top include Epishin, Ivanchuk
and Piket but not Karpov.
Game Ten
Anatoly Karpov-Judit Polgar
Linares 1994
Judit Polgar had an excellent year which he wins d la Karpov.

in 1994 and has now shown her- 1 ed c5
self to be capable of inflicting 2 c3
serious damage to the egos of Later in the year Karpov used
most of the world’s best. Against the same line to defeat Judit in
the ‘big two’ she has yet to im- another Spanish tournament, Dos
pose with the classical time limit, Hermanas. In fact she became so
but nearly everyone else has tired of losing against 2 c3 that
proved vulnerable. Perhaps the she even included it in her reper-
‘two K’s’ try just that little bit toire as White (see Chapter 7,
harder against the young Hungar- game 29)!
ian in order not to be the first 2 .. eb
World Champion to fall victim to 3 d4 ds
a woman! 4 exdS exds
Karpov has certainly sharpened 5 &f3 &6
his style in recent years, but this 6 KbS c4
games collection would be in- The conventional move is
complete without one game in 6..2d6 when the position is
analogous to a type of French his opponent on the dark squares.

Defence, Tarrasch variation. This 10 .. cxb3
quiet line suits Karpov who pur- 11 axb3 He7
posely avoids the type of game 12 a3 Kxes5!
that would suit Judit’s tactical A better try was 12...&xa3 al-
imagination. though, with no counterplay and
6...c4 is Judit’s attempt to vary sensitive pawns, Black will have
from such typical French-style some difficulties in the middle-
positions but it proves to be game. After 13 Exa3 0-0 14 Hd2
probably too slow, although it for instance, Black doesn’t
requires a Karpov to show us equalize after 14...c5!? because of
why! 15 dxc5 WxcS 16 b4 or 15 Hdf3.
7 @S Wheé 13 dxe5 fe6
7..2d7 is the most accurate
way to develop: 8 SLxc6 bxc6 (on
8..8xc6 the pawn structure
doesn’t lend itself to pawn breaks
and after 9 0-0 Kd6 10 Wg4 wi & . 0
White has the more active pieces 7ik -5
and a pleasant initiative) 9 0-0
£d6 10 Hel De7 is natural when
Qrx
WY
7
7Z/ ¢/ "/ ¢/ //////
White has the slightly better //

pawn structure and a timely b2-
b3 will give him an edge, as in B B i
HioY vy B
L 7 %y 7 d vy
the game.
8 RKxc6+
Simplest. Naturally 8 Wa4 Critical is 13...c5 when in order
comes into consideration but then to keep Black’s king in the centre
8...8d7 9 &xd7 &xd7 10 0-0 a6 White has to try 14 b4 c4 15 b5!?
11&xc6+ Wxc6 12 Wdl &f6 is with great play but no obvious
probably not too bad for the sec- breakthrough: 15..Wxb5 16
ond player; White has some diffi- s xe7 (16 Wh5 is also dangerous
culty in mounting an attack. but perhaps not fatal for Black
8 .. bxcé6 after 16..8e6 17 Hd2 Wd7)
9 00 £d6 16...2xe7 17 Wd4 L5 18 BExa7+
10 b3! (or 18 Whd+ &e6) 18..Hxa7 19
After the inevitable exchange Wxa7+ Wd7 20 WcS5+ &eb.
on b3 Black’s weaknesses on the 14 Wd4! AT
queenside become exposed. Op- Now 14..Wxb3? is too risky
posite-coloured bishops do not after either 15 ©d2 or the more
represent much of a drawish fac- forcing 15 Lxe7 @xe7 16 Exa7+
tor here as White can pressurize Hxa7 17 Wxa7+ £d7 18 Wcs+
Fe8 19 &Hd2 Wbs5 20 Wd6 and 21 .. h4

wins. Judit could again ditch the a-
15 WS hS pawn by 21...EKae8 22 Hxa6 Lc8
Black lacks central control, so but it all looks to no avail after 23
here she at least tries to stabilize Ha7+! (possible but more double-
the knight on f5. edged is 23 Hxc6 He2 24 Hf2
16 HDd2 fé6 Bel+ 25 &f1) 23..gb 24 Sf2
This gives access to the f7 stopping any penetration by the
square and a little breathing space rook.
in the black camp. 22 EHfal f¢8
17 exf6 gxf6 23 &2 =%
18 Kbd 24 b4 He8
Karpov could in fact win a 25 &b3 Sb7
pawn here with 18 Wxb6 axb6 19
Kc5! as 19..Eb8 fails to 20
£xb6 Exb6 21 Xa8+ and
AN
‘”///%
171w 1
19...Exal 20 Exal &f7 21 £xb6
mi /N/
Eb8 22 f2c5 Eb5 leaves Black
with no compensation, but of
course the ending would still
have to be won. One of the most
difficult dichotomies in chess is
the decision whether to keep the
B ///%/é
/’/B /’@
bind or win material but in the
process reduce the pressure.
18 .. Sf7
19 Had4 26 %as
Preparing to double or even Karpov keeps his bind. Again
switch along the fourth rank if he can win a pawn but this would
need be. Black has to find a way enable Black to liberate herself
to avoid losing the a-pawn as after 26 £a7?! Ea8 27 Kb6 Ad6!
there is a threat of 20 Hfal fol- (heading for c4) 28 &Hc5 LKc8!
lowed by 21 Xxa7. (28..8Dc4? fails to 29 &Hxb7
19 . Wxc5 Axb6 30 Exa6) when 29 Hxa6?
20 fxc5 a6 loses to 29...%)c4 30 244 Hb2 31
20...a5 simply loses the a-pawn H4a22 Hxa6! 32 Bxa6 Kxa6 33
after 21 Hfal. Hxa6 Hd3+ 34 &f1 Eel mate!
21 f3 26 .. £a8
Karpov first improves the po- 27 BHda2 Heb6
sition of his king before making 28 Ra7!
further headway on the queen- Now this idea works. Karpov
side. first putting his rook on a2 to
avoid any tactical surprises. little tighter.

28 .. Hb5?! 29 &Hb3 £b7
Bad, but the pressure was diffi- 30 g4!
cult to live with. Resistance can Switching flanks in order to fi-
be extended with 28..Kbe8 29 nally push back the knight. The
b3 B6e7 (after 29..2b7?7 30 threat of the knight coming to d4
NS H6e7 31 Hxb7 Hxb7 32 is decisive.
L.¢5! White picks up the a-pawn 30 .. hxg3+
but keeps total control) but 30 31 hxgl He8
£.¢5 (rather than 30 Exa6?! He2+ 32 g4 &\dé6
31 &f1 Eb2 and Black is out of 33 &d4d 10
the box) 30...He6 31 g4 hxg3+ 32 The rook is mated!
hxg3 £b7 33 g4 turns the screw a
Game Eleven
Anatoly Karpov-Vaselin Topalov
Linares 1994
Karpov is a real master of the 2600-rating two years ago and

type of patient game, in which he started getting invites to the top
probes away at his opponent’s events. This year he achieved a
sensitive points until they give creditable 50% in his first Linares
way, that we saw above. This has and led an inspired Bulgarian
led many ordinary chess enthusi- team that finished 5th in the
asts to classify Karpov as a tech- Moscow Olympiad. The twenty-
nical or even boring player, but year-old topped off a good year
he is also more than capable of with an individual victory over
playing in combinative style (as Kasparov that can be found in
the next game illustrates). In fact, Chapter 9.
the world No.2 is just as ready as 1 d4
anyone else to sacrifice material Karpov is equally happy play-
and play for the attack given the ing this move as he is in indulg-
right circumstances. ing in king’s pawn openings (see
Topalov has established him- game 10). This is true of most of
self in a short period of time as a the world’s top players, Nigel
world top-twenty player. Three to Short being a notable exception
four years ago he played exten- in that he exclusively plays 1 e4.
sively in opens and smaller I .. &Xf6
closed tournaments, primarily in 2 cd (W
Spain. His apprenticeship com- A move that Karpov cannot
plete, he obtained the magic have expected as the young Bul-
garian is not known as a Benoni after 12..Wb8 13 Wc2 &f6 14

player. Critical is now 3 dS, but Bfdl Hd8 15 Ded Wc7 16 K14,
both 3..b5 (Benko Gambit) and though Black has a solid enough
3...e6 (Modem Benoni) are com- position; Pekarek - Schulz, Berlin
plex openings requiring good 1988.
preparation. Therefore Karpov The text is certainly a surpris-
side-steps any special preparation ing new idea: Karpov envisages
with his next, more cautious, de- pressure on the d- and e-files with
veloping move. his rooks. In this way Topalov’s
3 9f cxd4 bishop pair is reduced to a purely
4 DHxdd €6 defensive role.
Club and weekend tournament 11 .. Dxf4
players often like to indulge in 11..%f6 is inconsistent and
the speculative 4...e5 5 &Yb5 d5!? loses time after 12 e4.
6 cxd5 Kc5, but this is rarely 12 exf4 £d7
seen at top level. 13 Wd2 Wbs
5 g3 AT Slightly awkward looking but
6 RKg2 L5 13...a6 14 Efd1 Wc7 15 Ded hits
An alternative way of striking d6 very quickly.
at the white knight is 6...Wb6!? 14 Hfel
when 7 @b5 (or 7 b3 DeS 8 The bishop on e7 is exposed to
Wc2 Wbd+ 9 A1d2 ds!) 7...d5! 8 an early fS by White, hence
fe3 Wa5+ gives Black active Black’s next.
play. I believe that Black does 14 .. g6
best to try and ‘mix-it’ early on 15 h4!
with these more combative lines, Now that ..g7-g6 has been
otherwise he usually ends up with played Karpov decides to soften
a rather passive position, as we up the black kingside.
see in the game. 15 .. a6
7 &b3 fLe7 15...hS would be far too weak-
8 &Hc3 0-0 ening.
9 0-0 dé 16 hS b5?
Black would like to liberate his Naturally seeking counterplay
position by ...d7-d5, but this is and trying to distract his oppo-
impossible in the short term as nent from any kingside ambi-
White’s whole development has tions. However, better was the
been geared to keeping Black patient 16...2d8 aiming to defend
restrained. by 17 hxg6 hxg6 18 Hadl Le8 as
10 Kf4 &h5 now ...b7-b5 will be appropriate.
11 e3!? The text allows Karpov to switch
Natural is 11 Le3 £d7 12 Ecl to combinative mode!
when White maintains an edge 17 hxgé hxgé
18 &HcS! dxc5 the game continuation: 21 Wxe6+

After 18..82e8 White has 19 g7 22 fxc6 Ha7 23 cxbS and
Nxa6! Exa6 20 cxb5 Hb6 21 White has three pawns plus an
bxc6 Exb2 22 Habl! and Black attack for the exchange.
has no compensation for the 21 Hxg6+! fxg6
Other moves lose swiftly:
Hc8 21...&f8 can be met by 22 Wh3!
when 22...fxg6 23 Wh8+ &f7 24
£d5 is already mate and after
21..%h7 22 Wh3+! &xg6 23
L ed4+ Black can avoid immediate
mate only by 23..f5 when 24
Wxf5+ &g7 25 W6+ Hf8 26
£.d5 2d6 27 Hel is crushing.
22 Web+ g7
23 fxc6 HdS
Hopeless is 23...bxc4 in view
of 24 Led! £f6 25 Wgd and in
this variation 24...\8d6 fails to 25
Wxcs.
20 Hxe6! 24 cxb5 2f6
A shock! Black’s pieces can Desperately trying to hide the
more or less cope with the threats denuded king away from the at-
on the queenside but are not well tacking pieces. Black loses mate-
placed to rescue the king. The rial after both 24...Wd6 25 Wxd6
Bulgarian had probably antici- £xd6 26 b6 and 24..axb5 25
pated 20 Rxc6 Ka7 (evidently Axbs.
20..Hc7? 21 Wxc7 Wxc7 22 25 Hed £4d4
L xa8 leaves White with far too Topalov could hardly have
much for the queen) 21 Wd3 taken on b2 as after 25...8xb2 26
Hxc6 22 cxb5 axb5 23 &xb5 ZEbl 2d4 27 b6 Xf7 28 &g5 the
Ha4! (inferior are 23...Eb7 allow- black defences are again
ing White to consolidate the extra breached.
pawn with 24 a4 and 23...c4 26 bxa6
leading to a dubious ending after If we summarize the tally,
24 Dxa7! cxd3 25 Dxc6 Wd6 26 White temporarily has four(!)
NxeT+ Wxe7 27 Hadl where pawns for the exchange. Topalov
White would have excellent will surely pick some of them off
winning chances) with active but in the meantime Karpov can
play for the pawn. move in for the kill.
20 .. Ha7 26 .. Wb6
20...fxe6 loses a tempo over The Bulgarian No.l1 must have
spent some time considering Even worse are 29..%h6

26...W¥xb2. After 27 Ed1 Ef8 the (because of 30 f5 Ed1+ 31 &h2
cheeky 28 Le8 looks strong at Hg7 32 Wh4 mate) and 29...&h7
first sight because 28..Rf6 is (30 Dg5+ etc.).
inadequate, e.g. 29 Dxf6 Wxf6 30 Wixg6+ Sf8
30 Rd7+ Exd7 31 Wxd7+ &h8 30..8g7 allows mate in three
32 a7 Wal+ 33 &g2 Wxa2 34 by 31 We8+ &h7 32 D6+ Lh6
We7 Wd5+ 35 f3 and the a-pawn 33 Whs.
wins the game for White. 31 We8+ g7
A better try is 28...Hxe8! 29 32 Wes+
Wxe8 Wxa2 30 &g2 Wg8! with 32 @xc5 is suggested by Kar-
some hope of a successful de- pov as an easier win. It’s true that
fence. 32..2d1+ 33 $h2 Wil 34 Wes5+
So the real reason for his re- &h6 35 We5+ Lh7 36 Ked+
jection of 26..Wxb2 (after 27 &h8 37 Wh5+ g8 38 WeS+
Hd1 Hf8) was probably 28 £b7! Pg7 39 De6+ L6 40 Web+ e
keeping Black tied down as 41 Wg7+ Sxe6 42 Wxa7 is win-
28...Hxb7 29 axb7 Wxb7 fails to ning but the text is in fact sim-
30 Dxc5()). plest.
27 Eai Wxa6 32 . Le8
27...8.xf2+7? would be a blun- 33 &Hfe+ Pf7
der as 28 Dxf2 defends the white
rook.
//7/
Y /
@ /M ////
;/// ///g// _
%//// »
\\\
» /// o2 27.,,4/4'
il B
em
34 Qe8+?7
It is here that Karpov compli-
28 Hxd4! cated his task as 34 £d5+ wins
Black’s best piece is elimi- easily: 34..&f8? (34..Hxd5 is
nated and his king is open to the the only move to delay the inevi-
winds. table but 35 &Hxd5 wins slowly
28 .. Hxd4 but surely) 35 We8+ g7 36
29 VWfe+ g8 WgS+ Lxf6 37 WgS is mate.
4 . Sf8 37 g2 Bgl+ 38 &h3! (38 Lxgl

34.. g7 35 DA+ g8 36 Wdi+ 39 g2 Whl+ 40 $xhl
Wg5+ leads to a forced win after stalemate!) 38..We6+, however
36...h8 37 Wh5+ g7 38 W7+ 39 %Hgd is ugly but effective;
&h6 39 Wf8+ h7 40 Df6+ White has knight and five pawns
Wxf6 41 Wxf6. for
a rook.
35 Wxc5+ Wd6 37 Rhb5 qd2
36 Wxa7 Wxf6 38 b3 Hb2
Black should have played for 39 g2 10
an unlikely draw with 36...Hd1+
Game Twelve
Viadimir Kramnik-Garry Kasparov
Linares 1994
This game was a prelude to a at avoiding the Griinfeld Defence,

rather mediocre (by his very high but Kasparov is happy to play his
standards) year for Kasparov. He favourite King’s Indian.
later suffered unexpected losses 4 .. dé
to Lautier (also at Linares, see 5 d4 0-0
game 14), Shneider (in Novem- 6 RKe2 e5
ber) and Topalov (at the Moscow 7 d5 Hbd7!?
Olympiad in December, see game This, the old-fashioned line,
34) and had rather mixed results may now see a revival as a result
in the Intel Grand Prix. of Kasparov’s interest.
Kramnik is another of the Most grandmasters prefer
‘computer generation’ who has 7...a5 when 8 £g5 h6 9 Lh4 Dab
arrived on the scene in double- 10 0-0 We8 (unpinning without
quick time. Kramnik-Kasparov weakening the pawn structure) 11
encounters invariably produce Ad2 ©Dh7 12 a3 £d7 13 hi hS
thrilling chess, no doubt with 14 f3 2h6 represents typical
added spice from the fact that play. This was how the game
Kramnik was a student of the Illescas-Gelfand proceeded one
world champion, who has tipped round later (another recent ex-
Kramnik as his eventual succes- ample is the game Shirov-
SOT. J.Polgar from Chapter 7).
1 &f3 6 8§ Rg5 hé
2 dd g6 9 Rhd4 g5
3 &He3 g7 It’s natural to chase the bishop
4 e4 but the downside is that if, and
White’s move-order is directed when, Black plays ...f7-f5 he can
no longer recapture on f5 with a 17 Ecl Hd3

pawn after White’s likely exfS. Kasparov is not one to retreat!
White can in this case lay claim The alternative 17...2)a6 18 &Hxed
to the important e4 square. Kas- £xf5 19 Dg5 Dxb4 at first sight
parov aims to remain active so looks playable but after 20 Wd2
that any light square problems a5 21 a3 a6 22 Ld3! (rather
won’t become a major factor. than 22 Wxa5? &c5 23 Wb4 Had
10 £g3 &b which favours Black) White ex-
11 h4 gd poses the light squares around the
12 Hh2 black king, e.g. 22...Wd7 23 Wc2,
More natural would seem to be etc.
12 £)d2 as, in the game continua- 18 £xd3 exd3
tion, the knight on h2 is rather out 19 f6!
of play. However, with less pres- Easy to miss. The inferior 19
sure on g4 Black can then con- Wxd3 Wf6 allows Black to solve
sider 12...f5!? 13 exf5 &df6 or all his problems and the bishops
even 12..00df6 13 HHf1 Hf4 14 will start to dominate after
&3 h5 to seek counterplay. .. xf5, etc.
12 .. Dxg3 19 .. Hxfe
13 fxg3 hS 20 Wxd3
14 0-0 fs!
Kasparov typically chooses the = 7317 XV
most aggressive course of action. !fi ) //,/ 44,4% %?’é
After 14..5f6 15 Wd2 He8 16 L
£d3 Black has a passive game
and it is unlikely that he will ever
. & &
have another chance to play the
...f7-f5 break (here 16...f57 just
u % i
loses a pawn).
Another idea is 14...8.h6!? re-
positioning the bishop on a more
active diagonal but after 15 £2d3 /%fig@_
it may again be difficult to organ-
ize the right conditions to play Kramnik is facing the bishop
..f7-£5. pair with two knights in an open
15 exfs AT position. Furthermore, his knight
16 b4!? on h2 is out of play for the pres-
The most critical. Black has a ent, but he does have a strong
good game after the slower 16 threat of &c3-e4-g5 and the safer
Bf2 2xf5 17 Df1 Kg6 18 Exf8+ king.
Wxf8 19 b4 e4. 20 .. Wrs
16 .. e4 Kasparov is intending to meet
21 Ded by 21..Hxfl+ 22 Exfl &d2 W5 27 Wxf5 Exfs 28 Hed

(instead 22 &Hxfl allows Black fails to 28...Bxd5 exploiting the
good counterplay with 22..2f5 pin on the c-file hence the need to
23 De3 £g6!?7 24 Efl We7 25 reposition the rook. After 26
DS Lxf5 26 Exf5 He8) 22... 85 &e3? White loses material to
when 23 &f6+ Wxf6 24 Hxf5 26...2h6.
hoping to win the h-pawn is too 26 .. Wfs
slow: 24.Wd4+ 25 Wxd4 Now after 26...2h6 White ex-
£ xd4+ 26 2f1 (or 26 ¥h1 EeB) pands in the centre with 27 c5
26..Xf8 27 Exf8+ &xf8 and dxc5 28 bxcs.
White’s extra pawn 1s useless. 27 Wxf5 Exf5
21 &5bs Kf5 28 oS 218!
22 Hxfs! The bishop defends well on the
Too tempting to resist! Kram- a3-f8 diagonal.
nik sacrifices the exchange for 29 el Hf6
some good outposts for his cav- 30 Ded!
alry. Sacrificing a pawn to keep the
22 .. Hxf5 initiative. Things are hotting up!
23 Hxe7 Hc8 3 .. dxc5S
24 Heb W16 31 bS £2h6?
25 onf An unfortunate move for Kas-
The obvious 25 Kfl aiming to parov when there was a good al-
exchange pieces and reduce ternative available. After
Black’s chances of counterplay, 31...He8! if Black is allowed to
is met by a clever trick: 25...Kf8! capture twice on €6 then he
26 Dxf8 Wdd+ 27 Wxd4 Lxd4+ would have no problems. So
28 &hl Hxfl+ 29 &xfl Lxf8 logical would then be 32 Hel Ef5
and White cannot improve his 33 Hdl Bf6 with a repetition.
position, despite his two pawn Was the world No.1 looking for
advantage, due to his king being more?
locked permanently out of play. White can in turn try and win
Perhaps Black is even better! with 32 &f4 when 32..£d6 33
25 .. Hes @xh5 Zh6 34 Hxd6 Hxdé 35
Not intending the counter- Nf4 He3!? (35..Ke5 is simplest
sacrifice by ...Exe6, as Black re- as 36 &f2 &f7 37 Hel? Hxel 38
mains a pawn down and would Sxel &f6 39 &d2 a6! even fa-
still have the more exposed king, vours Black.) 36 &f2 Ha3 gives
but rather the exchange of queens Black adequate counterplay. So
by ..Wf5 as the rooks then be- 31...He8 equalizes.
come more powerful. 32 Hel
26 Hdi Preparing 33 d6.
Unfortunately for Kramnik, 26 32 .. He8
33 Kes mediately is less good as 40...He7

The d-pawn is stymied (33 41 DxcS Exed 42 SHxe4 Ed4 43
d67? Efxe6 34 Exe6 Exe6 35 d7 Dcd6 Lf4+ or 41 g5 Hd4! even
Hel+ 36 <f2 Hdl wins for win for Black) 40..Xf6 41 &f3
Black) but the black h-pawn now with g3-g4-g5 to follow. White’s
catches Kramnik’s attention! pieces are beautifully placed to
3 .. He7 support his pawns. The consensus
34 HxhS Bef7 of opinion after the game was
35 <h2 fecl that Black should still lose and a
36 Hes deeper investigation seems to
36 De57! is met by 36...2f5! support this: 41..2b2 (41...c4 is
when the knights and passed inadequate due to 42 Kxc4!) 42
pawns are no match for Black’s g4 c4 43 g5 c3 (43..Hg6? 44 HHf4
rook and bishop: 37 Hxf5 Hxf5 wins) 44 gxf6 c2 45 7 KfS 46
38 &xgd (insufficient is 38 d6? Bf4! Hxf4 (also losing are
as following 38...Hxe5 39 d7 Ed5 46..c1W 47 Bxf5 and 46..HKxf7
40 d8W+ Hxd8 41 Hxd8 c4 42 47 Bxf7 c1¥ 48 HDfg5 and after
De6 Le3 it is Black who queens) chasing the white king up the
38...&f7 Black picks up the d- board Black will be mated) 47
pawn and the open position suits Dxfa g7 48 Dd3 2xf7 49 g4
him well, and after the further 39 c1W 50 Dxcl £xcl 51 g3 and
Dxc5 HExd5 40 Hxb7 La3 41 White wins the ending.
ZaS Exb5 42 &c6 a6 Black has
the dangerous plan of picking up
the white a-pawn.
M
74 ¥
36 .. Zf1
37 Hed
The g-pawn falls. Kasparov’s
/fz
//7///,
attempt to activate at all costs
was evidently too optimistic.
38
38
37
..
..
Hxgd4+ (D)
$h7?
The alternative 38...&h8 would
Hd1
76 %
Z
give the PCA World Champion a
fighting chance! For instance, 39 So with best play Kasparov
@e5? only draws after 39...Xff1 was still in trouble.
40 Dg6+ Lh7 41 Dgf8+ Lhs. 39 DeS5 He7
Better is 39 Hed4! (in order to Equally hopeless is 39...Hffl
meet 39..Hffl with 40 &h3 and 40 Hg7+ ©h6 41 DT+
White avoids mate). After (simplest) 41..Exf7 (41...&h5 42
39..Exd5 40 De5! (40 g4? im- g4+ @xh4 43 g3 mate) 42 Bxf7
Hxd5 43 g4 and White wins rou- Ofg6+ and 40.2h6 permits

tinely. mate in three by 41 Eg6+ &h8 42
40 o8+ 1-0 gd+ Exhd 43 3.
40...2h8 loses a rook after 41
Game Thirteen
Garry Kasparov-Vishwanathan Anand
Linares 1994
Meetings between the strongest- after further transpositional play.

ever Asian player and the leading 8 . Des
player in the world often generate Naturally 8.Wc7 9 &b5
sharp complications. This game would not do, and 8...e5 would be
was certainly no exception. ugly after 9 £g5 when White will
1 e4 cS play for control of dS.
2 &3 dé6 9 Qe2 RKe7
3 Hge2 10 RKe3 We7
Not the prelude to a closed 11 f4
game, just jockeying for position. If we count the superfluous
3 . AN moves, both sides have expended
4 d4 the same three tempi: for White
That’s better! one with each bishop and one
4 .. cxd4 with the knight. Black’s three
5&Hxdd HDf6 came about as the knight loses
6Sc4 two and the queen one.
In an analogous position Nigel Many opening books concen-
Short frequently tried this move trate on the theory once the stan-
against Kasparov in their 1993 dard positions are reached but
match. ignore the importance of move-
6 .. b6 orders and transpositional pos-
An early ... Wb6 has the advan- sibilities that are common in
tage of forcing the knight to re- grandmaster play. Trying to
treat but if Black intends to play channel the game away from your
the thematic ..b7-b5 he has to opponent’s pet-lines and into
again move his queen, losing your own preparation is typical of
back any temporary gain of time. top-class praxis.
7 &b3 €6 11 .. Neb
8§ Kf4!? After 11...%2c4?! White has 12
An unexpected move. One 4b5 when after 12..Wc6 13
would anticipate 8 £e3 with f2- L.xc4 Wxcd the simple 14 Wd3
f4 to follow but this in fact occurs gives Black an unpleasant choice
between consolidating the white the attack to really get underway.

centre with 14.. Wxd3 15 cxd3 Instead he could have tried
(when White threatens both the a- 15...dS based on the principle that
pawn and 16 Hc7+) or 14..Wc6 ‘an attack on the flank should be
and after 15 ?3d4 retreating with met with a counter in the centre’
the ugly 15..Wd7 (when White but its specific variations that
has the more harmonious position count. Here 16 exd5 Hd8 17
after 16 0-0). dxc6! Exdl 18 Haxdl gives
12 £13 a6 White full material compensation
13 0-0 0-0 for the queen and a positional
Leaving the king in the centre advantage in view of the strength
and starting queenside play with of the c6 pawn.
13...b5!? is interesting but not 16 g5 Nd7
recommended in beginner’s 17 kg2
books. Kasparov indicates that Moving out of the way of the
this is not advised but White must heavy pieces.
open lines immediately with 14 17 .. He8
e5 dxe5 15 fxeS Dd7 16 Kxcb 18 Hf3 Des1?
Wxc6 17 ©d4 when he has a Desperately trying to get active
strong initiative: 17.. Wc7 as 18...b5 19 axb5 axb$ fails to
(17..X5b7 is worse as 18 Wgd g6 the unlikely 20 £f1 b4 21 Hb5
19 Exf7! yields a fantastic attack) winning the d6 pawn. The prob-
18 Exf7 &xf7 19 W3+ g8 20 lem with 18...g6 19 Eh3 &8 20
&d5! when Black can only hope Wg4 £g7 is that its rather passive
for a rotten ending a pawn down and as such White is set few
after 20...2xeS5 (20...exd5? loses problems.
to 21 Wxd5+ &f8 22 He6+ and 19 Xh3 goé
White takes the queen with 20 Wed
check) 21 Dxe7+ Wxe7 22 Wxa8
Wb7 23 Wxb7 £xb7 24 Hixe6.
14 a4
A standard move to restrain
...b5-b4.
14 .. b6
15 g4!
Despite his own king becoming
exposed by this push Kasparov
goes for an immediate attack.
15 .. Hb8
The ‘magician from Madras’
gets himself organized but gives
the ‘butcher from Baku’ time for
The problem for Anand is to 21..%h7.

defend his kingside while creat- 21 Whd hS
ing some play for himself. The 22 uf3 218
text tries to keep Kasparov occu- 22...%g7, hoping for 23 £xh5?
pied elsewhere but the knights are Eh8, is refuted by first playing 23
straying away from the defence f5! exf5 24 £d4+ and only after
of his king. With the benefit of 24...%g8 then 25 £.xh5.
hindsight it seems that Black 23 Kxh5!
should try and club together his Kasparov immediately goes for
defences on the kingside first, gold. Lesser players would have
before chasing confusion on the first defended c2 and thereby al-
other wing. There are two meth- lowed their opponent a crucial
ods: extra tempo for the defence.
a) he can instead seek to de- 23 .. gxh5
fend patiently by 20... %8 21 Hfl The main alternative 23...8g7
h5 22 gxh6 ®h7 where the knight could be met by 24 £.d1 holding
on c6 is ready to come to €5 in onto an extra pawn but giving up
the case of fS by White. This may on the attack. Then 24..8Rb7
be rather passive but there is no would give Black play by hitting
immediate breakthrough for at White’s other soft target, the
White. e4 square. However, 24 2d4! is
Or he can try and provoke his more in Kasparov’s style when
opponent into a risky sacrifice 24...gxh5 proves to be inadequate
with as 25 Wxh5 £xd4+ 26 DHxd4
b) 20..hS when Kasparov Rf8 27 Wh8+ Fe7 28 W6+ d7
would have been sorely tempted 29 Hh7 is too strong. After
by 21 ExhS gxh5 22 Wxh5 &f8 24...e5 White crashes through
23 {5 and after the best defence after 25 £5:
23..8b7 24 Efl f6 Kasparov a) 25...gxh5 is again hopeless
considers the position to be un- in view of 26 Wxh5 &8 27 Wh7
clear. Its hard to disagree with @e7 28 L.xc5 bxcs 29 Wxg7 and
him at the best of times but here White is even ahead on material;
variations like 25 gxf6 (25 Wg6+ b) 25...exd4 26 Kxg6 fxgb 27
Wg7 26 gxf6 &e5) 25..Wh7 26 Wh7+ &f8 28 Rfl gxf5 29 exf5
Wg6+ &h8 27 Hxc5 bxcs 28 7 with f6 to follow and the attack is
He7 are given by him to justify too strong;
his claim. The rook sacrifice is c) 25...gxf5 is met by 26 £.xc5
fascinating but impossible to bxcS 27 g6! Ke6 (on 27..f6
fully calculate, so would Kas- White can simply play 28 f.e2
parov have played it? The alter- and not surprisingly Black has
native 21 gxh6 allows Black to difficulty meeting all the threats,
hide behind the pawn with e.g. 28..8¢e6 29 Wh7+ &f8 30
exf5) 28 gxf7+ Kxf7 29 exf5 and A good move, showing that

now my Fritz2 program prefers White can continue his attack
Black after 29...9xc2 but in fact remorselessly even in a queenless
the attack is clearly too strong middlegame. Now 31..Wxf5
following either 30 f6 &xal 31 sheds a piece after 32 Dxf5 Xed8
?xal Lxh5 32 Hg3 or 31 Hg3! 33 h7+! and 31...Wd2 loses the
&xh5 32 Wxh5 Hxb3 33 Ad5 exchange after 32 &d7+ (32 Efl
Wd7 34 fxg7 Wxg7 35 DHf6+ A8 sacrificing the knight for the at-
36 Hxg7 Pxg7 37 Dxe8+. tack is interesting but unneces-
24 Wxhs5 Lg7 sary) 32..%e7 33 b3 Wc2 34
25 Rkd4 eS Wxc2 Dxc2 35 Dxb8 as
26 f5 Dxed 35...%xal is refuted by 36 Ee3+
The only chance. Instead Black fe5 37 Dc6+ 2d7 38 Hxe5+
doesn’t last long after capturing Hxe5 39 Exe5 &xb3 40 Hf5 &e7
on d4, e.g. 26..exd4 27 Wh7+ 41 h4 with a winning ending. In-
$f8 28 f6 Deb6 29 %8+(!). stead 35..Hxb8 36 Hcl should
27 Wh7+ <<f8 win simply for White as
28 &Hxed 36...Hc8? loses to 37 Dal()).
Again immediately capturing 31 .. Wxb2
on d4 is refuted by 29 f6 so 32 Hdl
Anand must first eliminate this The simplest. White can now
most dangerous of pawns. be sure of winning the exchange
28 .. Lxf5 and of course the attack contin-
29 WxfS exd4 ues.
30 &5f6 32 .. ZeS
Still attacking, despite the 33 DA+ De?
simplification and open centre. 34 &HxeS KxeS
30 .. Wxc2 35 VWed 1-0
31 &Hxd4! This centralizing move pre-
pares 36 &)f3 and the activation
of the rooks. Now on 35..Hg8
then 36 Wb7+, or after 35...5a2
then 36 &c6+. In fact Black can
do nothing but wait for his de-
mise hence Anand’s immediate
resignation.
One doesn’t become World

Champion by talent alone. Talent
is wasted without a lot of hard
work and this can be illustrated
by the depth and incisiveness of
Kasparov’s notes. He analyses in fantastic of variations are very

great detail and even his most difficult to improve upon.
Game Fourteen
Garry Kasparov-Joel Lautier
Linares 1994
The multi-lingual Joel Lautier has totally unlikely opening.

the qualities of hard work and 3 . £cS
discipline, a good all-round edu- 4 3
cation, with a touch of flair; the Kasparov obviously hasn’t yet
product of having a French father found a way of reviving the dubi-
and a Japanese mother. Even ous Evans’ Gambit with 4 b4,
when he was only fourteen I was 4 .. 6
astonished with his detailed S d3 dé
knowledge of an opening varia- Interesting is S5...a6!? when
tion that as far as I knew he White’s queenside expansion
didn’t play! Polugayevsky, who with b2-b4 and a2-a4 can only be
is at present recovering from a achieved with loss of time. But
serious operation, was his trainer Kasparov has another scheme in
in the crucial years when he mind.
graduated from being a promising 6 2b3
junior into a potential world- A typical repositioning of the
beater. bishop to avoid its unfavourable
Some of the year’s best games exchange by ...a7-a6 and ...%a5.
are victories against one or other With the game being of a fairly
of the ‘two K’s’ To beat one of quiet nature (so far!) such a loss
them you generally have to do of time is forgivable.
something a little bit special. 6 b4 £b6 7 a4 a6 8 a5 is pre-
Here Lautier more than holds his ferred by some; White gains
own in wild complications, nor- space but if Black can success-
mally Kasparov’s domain. fully organize ...d6-d5 then the
1 e4 es white pawn chain may come un-
2 9f3 AT der pressure.
3 f2c4 6 .. hé6
Kasparov would generally be Covering g5 and preparing
expected to play 3 d4 or 3 £b5. ...5.e6. It’s worth noting that both
With modern databases it’s nec- players refrain from early castling
essary for la creme to have a as there is a danger that the oppo-
number of surprises in the locker, nent would then leave the king in
such as the introduction of this the centre and concentrate on
kingside expansion. fending the weak c3 point, when

7 h3 a6 after 15...2b6 chances are about
8 Hbd2 LKeb6 equal.
9 2c2 15 d4?
Kasparov is intent on keeping Kasparov never lacks the cour-
the tension as 9 xe6 fxe6 10 age to go in for the critical con-
Wb3 Wc8 leads nowhere for tinuation, but here his opponent’s
White, who has no way to exploit pieces are more active and the
the doubled pawns. Lautier pro- young Frenchman is not to be
poses instead 9 Ac4 as after the ruffled by such brutal means.
text Black is ready to play the This blunder could have been
freeing ...d6-d5. brought on by frustration due to
9 .. Ka7 an opening that offered nothing at
The dubious 9..d5?! would all for White.
allow a standard theme 10 @xe5! 15 .. exd4
(as is known from many 1 e4 e5 16 €5
EE // W
openings) when both 10...2xf2+
and 10..%xe5 11 d4 £d6 12
dxeS fxe5 13 &f3 give White
the better of it. /5 ? //
10 We2 We7
11
Only now
b4
does Kasparov seek %f%
54
fi’ 4
to expand on this wing as 11 &fl /
d5 12 @g3 offers no advantage. / ?/,/;

27 /
11 .. ds
12 a4
Lautier is now faced with the
awkward threat of 13 bS5, hitting
the knight and undermining the 16 .. dxc3
e5 square, hence his next move. A tempting piece sacrifice
12 .. bS! leading to fantastic complica-
13 0-0 0-0 tions.
As the action has begun on the Black had two worthwhile al-
other side of the board both play- ternatives:
ers hurry to castle as there is now a) 16...8d7! looks convincing
little chance of anyone launching for Black as 17 Hel (17 cxd4
an immediate kingside attack. fails to impress as after
14 axb$ axb$ 17..8xd4 18 Hxa8 Hxa8 19
Threatening 15...2xf2+ which Dxd4 Dxd4 20 Wd3 Wxe5 Black
is best met by 15 £b2, simply should win) 17..dxc3 18 exf6
completing development and de- Wxe2 19 Hxe2 cxd2 20 Kxd2
L£xf2+ wins; lose immediately.

b) 16..2d7 looks playable. Critical is 20 Ra3, when after
Kasparov would presumably have 21...d3 21 &xd3 Hxd3 22 L.xf8
aimed for attacking chances with (22 Wxd3 fails, according to
b3 and Wd3, etc., although I am Lautier, to the strong kingside
sceptical that he has enough for attack generated after 22..Hfd8
the pawn even here. After 17 23 Wc2 2f5 24 Wcl £xh3! 25
cxd4! Dxb4 (not 17..0xd4? as £b4 Rxg2 26 wxg2 Hd3)
following 18 @xd4 £xd4 19 22...f4 23 Wxb5 Black keeps a
Hxa8! Hxa8 20 Wd3 Black drops clear advantage with 23...2xh3+!
material) 18 £a3 c5 19 L.xb4 (19 24 ©hl (24 gxh3 is worse as
£b17 cxd4 favours Black) 24.. Wxf3 25 Exa7 £xh3 26 Wb7
19...cxb4 20 Wxb5 Xfb8 21 Wd3 Wgd+ 27 $h2 Hxa7 wins easily
&8 Black is not worse. for Black) 24..0xf2+ 25 Exf2
Including the text, Black has Zb8, as White has two defensive
three favourable continuations so tries but neither equalize: 26 Wl
it’s evident that for once Kas- £xf2 27 Wxf2 (on 27 £c51?
parov’s instinct led him down Black still maintains four pawns
with the howler 15 d4(?). for the piece) 27...2xf8! 28 &cl
17 exf6 Wxf6 &g8! keeping a clear edge or 26
18 &bl &Hxb4d Wxb8 Lxb8 27 Ha8 Wd8 and
With four pawns and good White’s position is just too loose.
pieces Lautier has more than 20 c2?!
enough for the sacrificed knight.
19 Lbl
The continuation 19 £e3 £ xe3
20 fxe3 @Dxc2 21 Wxc2 b4 would
simplify the position but not the
difficulties for White.
N \\\\\\\
\x\
\&\
R
19 d4
Activating the light-squared
bishop and embarrassing the
\
knight on b3. White has chances

with a timely Wed4 but these are
NN
) Ip',
insufficient against precise play.

]
20 Exa?7
After 20 Dbxd4 Lxd4 21 Wed It’s worth remembering that it
(after 21 Hxa8 Exa8 22 Wed is very easy for the annotator, in
Black has 22...Xd8 diffusing any the quiet of his study, to criticize
white hopes) 21..2f5!, when other players when armed with
both 22 Wxa8 c2 23 £xc2 Kxal the benefit of hindsight. Over the
and 22 Wxf5 c2 23 Wxf6 Kxf6 board, if given only a few min-
utes to think, many of this game’s leave Black a pawn up but with
best moves would be almost im- few prospects of retaining either
possible to accurately calculate. the pawn or an advantage.
Using the advantage of limit- 23 Hc5 was suggested by Kas-
less time we can conclude that parov as an improvement that
20...Hxa7! is more accurate. Af- would give Black serious practi-
ter 21 Dbxd4 Hal! 22 Weds Wg6! cal difficulties. This seems to be
23 Wxg6 fxg6 24 Lxg6 (24 the case, but with accurate play
&xe6 Hxf3 25 £b2 also fails to the pair of queens(!) should en-
hold after 25...cxb2 26 gxf3 &d5 able Black to retain the better
27 Kxg6 Nc3! 28 g2 b4 and chances, but not by 23...d3 as 24
Black wins by queening both b- Wed4 Wfal 25 Hel! Wxcl 26
pawns) 24..2c4 25 Hel c5 and Wxb4 d2 27 Dxe6+ g8 28
the passed pawns plus rook Wxd2 (note that g7 is defended so
should beat the minor pieces. 28 Wf8+ leads nowhere)
Here Kasparov seizes his best 28..Wxd2 29 Hxal Wds 30
chance to create confusion with Nxc7 Wc6 31 Dxb5 Wxb5 32
unusual complications. Eel should permit White to hold.
21 Hxa8! Best is 23..Wbg6! 24 D5 Wgfs
Astonishingly allowing his op- 25 f4 Wd8! as suggested by Lau-
ponent to capture and queen at tier. Black has the advantage of
the same time! However, this was queen and three pawns for rook
the only hope in view of 21 £xc2 and knight, starts to untangle
Hxa7 22 #\bxd4 L.c4 23 We4 and himself and reatins some winning
now 23...4xc2 (one of the points chances after the further 26 £.a3
of the intermediate 20...c2, the £.c4 27 W2 £xf1 28 K.xbg Wd5
bishop can be captured) 24 xc2 29 Wxf1 Wc2.
Lxf1 25 &xfl and Black’s two 23 Wxb3
rooks plus passed pawns will Did Kasparov simply forget
overcome the ineffective minor about this move, defending the
knight?
cxb1W 24 Wb8+ e7
22 Hxf8+ &xf8 25 Wxc7+ &e8
23 Wxbs?? 26 fd2
Kasparov cracks! For the sec- On 26 Wb8+ checks will soon
ond time in one game he blun- run out after 26...\d8.
ders, this time as a result of time 26 .. Wds
pressure. 27 Wes 18!
23 £g5! is the move that im- A practical move although a
mediately comes to mind when correspondence player (not under
23..Wxfl+ 24 Wxfl hxgS 25 the stress of limited time and not
Wxbs HAS 26 Dbxdd would facing the physical presence of a
dangerous opponent!) would have Wb2 31 £xb4+ Black dare not

had time to calculate 27...%)c6!? capture on b4) 29 Kxb4 Wc4 but
28 Wxg7 Kxh3 29 Hel+ 2.6 30 Black exchanges queens and re-
2xh6 Wb4 31 Hcl Scd. There is tains the d-pawn with an eventual
always the danger in such a line win.
that you may overlook some- 28 .. Hd3!
thing, so I prefer the text move. 29 Wel Wcd
28 Hxd4? The complications have fizzled
The final error. More robust out and queen for rook is a deci-
was 28 WcS+ &g8! (28..We7? sive advantage.
throws away the advantage as 0-1
after 29 Wxe7+ @xe7 30 Dxd4
Game Fifteen
Boris Gelfand-Vladimir Epishin
Dos Hermanas 1994
Boris Gelfand, who is now firmly was the most important variation
established in the world’s top ten, against the most fashionable
had his best tournament result of Nimzo-Indian, but nowadays the
the year in this year’s Dos Her- King’s Indian and Semi-Slav
manas (the sisters) tournament in have overtaken the ‘Nimzo’ in
Spain. The Belarussian, having popularity and the ‘Classical’ 4
battled through to the FIDE Wc2 is by far the most critical
Candidates semi-final will meet anti-Nimzo line. Today 4 €3 is no
Karpov in his biggest test yet. longer ‘standard’ but more of a
Karpov lost to the American surprise sideline. How things
Gulko in this event and didn’t have changed!
quite have enough time in nine 4 .. 0-0
rounds to catch an in-form Gel- 5 RKd3 ds
fand. This was the start of a run 6 413 c5
of less impressive results for 7 00
Karpov whose excellent form of Black now has many options
the previous year or so had depending on how he releases the
seemingly come to a close. tension in the centre and develops
1 d4 &6 his queen’s knight, but the main
2 cd e6 line is probably 7..&c6 8 a3
3 &Hc3 Kb4 £xc3 9 bxc3 dxcd 10 Lxc4 W7
4 3 when White tries to activate his
Fifteen years ago, when I was bishops but Black has good
building a 1 d4 repertoire, this counterplay with the plan of an
carly ...e6-e5. Wxf3 e5 18 Ded exd4 19 exdd

7 dxc4 a5, as in Scheeren-Korchnoi,
8 Sfxcd Hbd7 Wijk aan Zee 1983. These
9 We2 a6 ‘ancient’ references clearly show
Karpov used to play 9...cxd4 that this line hasn’t recieved
10 exd4 b6, Epishin is in fact one much attention in recent years.
of his seconds and this could well 13 .. 2b7
be a line they have investigated After 13...axb5 14 axb4 the pin
together but Karpov decided not on the a-file enables White to win
to use. back the piece with interest.
10 Rd3 bS Some commentators have sug-
11 a3 £as gested 13...b3!? 14 £d6 ?d5 as a
12 b4! better method of defence intend-
The most testing move as slow ing to meet 15 2b27! with
development allows .,.2b7, etc., 15...807b6, when Black is already
with no particular problems. threatening 16...2)a4. Interesting
12 cxb4 is instead 15 e4! keeping some
chances of an advantage, e.g.
15...4c3 (not 15...225b6? due to
16 Ebl) 16 Wb2! (16 We3 Eb8
17 &c4 with a complex game is
less clear) 16..Eb8 17 a4 intend-
ing to undermine the advanced
black forces.
After the text the knight is
really en prise.
14 d6 Lxf3
15 Wxf3 RKc7
13 Dxb5!?
Theory up to now has contin-
ued 13 axb4 RLxb4 14 Dxb5
when White has the slightly su-
perior pawn structure but it’s
hard to prove a concrete edge in
practice, e.g. 14...2b7 15 Ebl (or
15 Ra3 fxa3 16 Hxa3 HdS 17
Wd2 D506 18 e4 a5 19 Bfcl &6
20 Wf4 a4 with counterplay;
Danner-Kochiev, Reggio Emilia
1979) 15...8e7 16 &Hc3 £xf3 17 It is now too late for 15...b3 as
16 Eb1 Eb8 17 Wd1 will lead to tain the material advantage of an

the loss of the b-pawn. extra central pawn. Evidently 20
Now most of us would concen- £a3 Wxd4 21 Lxf8 Exf8 leaves
trate our thoughts on either 16 White a clear exchange ahead,
@c4 or 16 Ded but Gelfand has but with all the pawns on one
an original idea in mind. wing there would be technical
16 Sb7! problems in converting the ad-
The win of a tempo enables vantage.
White to capture on b4. Both continuations keep good
16 .. We7 winning chances but 20 £.a3 has
Gelfand had of course foreseen the advantage of avoiding unnec-
16...2xh2+? (a ‘Greek gift’ that essary complications. It’s true
is gratefully accepted) 17 &xh2! that White’s minor pieces are off-
(thank you!) 17..Wc7+ 18 &gl side but this should only be a
Wc3 19 We2! Wxal 20 £b2 Wa2 temporary problem.
21 £c4 b3 22 Eal (very much 20 .. Efb8
indeed!) and with queen and mi- 21 Habl We7
nor piece for two rooks White After 21...Wa3 22 £b5 Ea7 23
would be winning. £.c6 White avoids any major dif-
The alternative 16..Wb8 17 ficulties with the wayward
axb4 Kxh2+ 18 ¥hl Kc7 19 knight.
£xa6 would still leave Black a 22 2b5
pawn light. Gelfand would like to safety
17 axb4 eS his pieces and gradually ex-
Naturally the b-pawn is off- change them off for a winning
limits for the black queen, so ending, a pawn to the good.
Epishin starts central operations However, things are rarely that
quickly before White is fully or- simple in chess!
ganized. 22 Ha3
18 Rxa6 Here there was a slightly better
Avoiding the fork by a possible option in 22...23b6, and not just
...e5-e4 and grabbing a further because it sets the trap 23 £g57?
pawn. Hxb7! and Black wins material.
18 exd4 After the more prudent 23 Rc6
19 exdd Wxh4 @cd 24 Kg5 Ka3 25 WS White
What is the difference, why remains in control, but only just!
can Black now take the pawn, He is still a long way from con-
surely he loses the exchange? As verting his extra pawn, although
so often in chess the answer is 25...0d6 now only aids White’s
‘yes, but...’ task as 26 #xd6 Wxd6 27 Exb8+
20 Re3? £xb8 28 Wc8+ introduces wel-
Gelfand prefers instead to re- come simplification.
23 Re6 Db6 best continuation could be 28

24 Hfcl Exb8+ Lxb8 29 Ded Dxe3 30
Now Gelfand is able to avoid fxe3 Dxe4 31 Kxed Lc7 32 K4S
the irritating ...%c4, the main which still gives good winning
reason why 22...20b6 should have chances despite the presence of
been preferred. opposite-coloured bishops.
249 .. hS
Creating ‘luft’ (breathing-
space) for the king, with ideas of B 7., W/
using the g4 square for aggressive %@@.
/%
purposes.
/ %
25 h3 We6!?
%g/ %
mR
A tricky move.
§\\
26
This
Hb5?!
move imperceptibly R\
/%
,N
weakens White’s own back rank.
\\
26 &c5! instead would have

speeded-up the process of reor-
ganization as Black’s best move
is probably to go back to e7. Gel- 27 Wd1”!
fand probably didn’t want to in- Now Epishin finds a way to
dulge in any risky complications significantly complicate White’s
but 26...We7 (with a clear head task, so Gelfand should have pre-
we can see that 26...Wd6 can be ferred 27 RKe4! when Black is
dealt with by 27 24! Wxf4 28 struggling: 27..%2xe4 (27...2a8
Wxa3 Wh2+ 29 &f1 and White is far too passive and gets pun-
has no concrete problems, but in ished by 28 &d6! Kf8 29 &Hf5
time trouble..) 27 %He4 and with a strong attack for White) 28
White has successfully rede- Hxc7 (28 Wxe4 also looks good)
ployed his worst placed piece. 28..80d2 (not 28..%Ha8?7 as 29
26 .. Wa2 &\c5 yields a decisive attack, e.g.
Keeping out of harm’s way, or 29...Xe8 30 He7! or 29..Xf8 30
so it seems, but straying from the Dxed DxcT 31 HHI6+1) 29 Wdl
kingside. Hibcd! (29..5dc4 30 Wxh5
The courageous 26..%)c4! is @xe3 31 fxe3 and Black has no
surprisingly difficult to refute. At compensation for his two-pawn
first sight 27 &HcS We7! 28 deficit) would then be the best
Hxc4?? looks good but 28...Kal+ chance for Black but 30 £c5 (30
leads to mate after 29 Ec1 HExcl+ £xd2 is less good as 30...Wxd2
30 £xcl1 Wel so if White cannot 31 Kbl Wxd1+ 32 Exdl Ea7 33
capture the knight on c4 then he Hxc4 would be difficult to win)
will be embarrassed on e3. His 30..Ee8 31 He7 and White will
consolidate. Material is balanced but

Gelfand instead recommends White’s pieces are poised to at-
27 Hf5 preparing a dangerous tack and his king always has a
exchange sacrifice on f6. safe haven on g2, so he retains
27 .. &Hbd5! the advantage.
A clever resource, his queen 33 .. De8
may be trapped but the game is 34 g6
far from over. A good move but 34 £d5 Ea7
28 Hce2 35 g6 was even stronger.
After 28 £d2 then 28..2d3 is 34 af6
unpleasant. 35 gxf7+ Sf8
28 .. HNe3! 36 W4
Exploiting White’s sensitive Now it is clear why 35...&xf7
back rank to obtain two rooks for was avoided.
the queen. 36 .. Ha7
29 Hxa2 Hxa2 37 Weé6 Hd8
30 V¥ Dxb5 38 2bs
31 g4 Hd6? Not 38 £h6? because of
Epishin, despite time trouble, 38...Exf7, but now if Black cap-
has staged a remarkable come- tures on f7 the combined attack
back, but with limited time it is of White’s three pieces will be
particularly difficult to cope with too strong, e.g. 38...Xxf7 39 f.c4
a rapidly changing situation on He7 40 WSS Hc7 41 Le6 e7 42
the board and here he makes a 895 b4 43 Kb3 Ef8 44 Web+
crucial imprecision. 31...2a7! &d8 45 £.f4 and Black is in total
was better when 32 2.3 hxgd 33 disarray and must lose material.
hxg4 @xg4! (rather than 38 . He7
33..2b27! 34 g5 &d7 35 Wa6 - 39 Vs 1-0
35 Wh3? fails to 35..H8xb7!- Black now lost on time but he
35...20b5 36 g6 and White keeps really had no real option but to
the initiative) 34 fxg4 HXxb7 35 transpose into the previous note
£.f3 White’s advantage would be with few chances of holding the
difficult to convert. game. A real fight; Epishin made
32 &Hxd6 L2xdé Gelfand’s task very difficult in-
33 g5 deed.
Game Sixteen
Garry Kasparov-Nigel Short
Amsterdam 1994
Now that they have met in a match for the (PCA) World
Championship title, all subse- Black’s poor light-squared bish-

quent meetings between Kas- op, so if Black seeks exchanges
parov and Short are viewed with even endings tend to be in
great interest. This game has par- White’s favour. Black does best
ticular significance as many ob- to seek counterplay on the queen-
servers wanted to know why side.
Short decided against employing 11 .. Hxd4
the French Defence in the match 12 $£xd4 bS5
(he preferred 1...e5 but without 13 Eh3
much success) and what had The immediate 13 h5 has also
Kasparov prepared in this case. It been tried.
was to be in Amsterdam six 13 .. b4
months after their London match The obvious continuation, but
that these questions could start to 13..2b7 has something to be
be addressed. said for it. After 14 hS b4 White
1 e4 eb does best to retreat to e2, as fol-
2 d4 ds lowing 15 Dad4 £xd4 16 Wxd4
3 &Hc3 oxfe Wa5 17 b3 Rc6 Black obtains
Perhaps the best move is excellent counter chances.
3..2b4. However, Kasparov’s 14 a4
most recent experiences in the As in a number of similar po-
Winawer are crushing wins over sitions White has the choice be-
the normally solid Nikolic in tween €2 and a4 for this knight.
Horgen (September) and Paris On €2 this piece heads for d4
(November). (central control) or g3 (kingside
4 €5 aHfdr pretensions). Kasparov prefers to
5 f4 c5 reduce Black’s queenside op-
6 &Of AT tions, hence the text.
7 RKe3 cxd4 14 .. £.xd4
8 Hxdd L5 15 Wxd4 f6
9 Wa2 0-0 A new idea that unfortunately
10 0-0-0 aé6 for the Englishman Kasparov had
11 h4 already foreseen in his prepara-
Pre-1990 books on the French tion for their 1993 match! As the
don’t deal with this continuation, alternatives seem to favour White
which has now become the criti- then this was certainly worth a
cal line. try:
White will press on the king- a) 15..a5 is met by the ma-
side by pushing his h-pawn noeuvre 16 &L.b5! (rather than 16
quickly or using the rook on the £.d3 which allows the immediate
third rank. Many lines of the exchange of bishops by 16...2.a6)
French are characterized by 16..Eb8 17 £d3 which gave
White plenty of time to get his don’t hold-up to scrutiny;

kingside moving before Black 18...exf5 19 Wxd5+ wins a rook
could create any threats of his and 18..Wxf5 19 Ef3 Wg4 20
own, Fogarasi-Luther, Hungary Bxf8+ xf8 21 b6 and White
1993; wins material.
b) 15...Wa$5 is also unsatisfac- 19 &bl Exf5?!
tory, as in a game from 1992 Short grabs the pawn but is
where Ketevan Arakhamia had then never able to complete his
White against Mihail Gurevich, development. The aggressive
ie. 16 b3 £b7 17 HEg3 Hfc8 18 19...45¥6!, playing for complica-
Ed2 Lc6 19 f5! and White's at- tions, may be the key to solving
tack proved to be the more sig- Black’s problems: 20 fxe6 %e4
nificant. 21 Wxds Dd2+! 22 Bxd2! Exf1+
16 Wxb4 fxeS (22..Wxd2 is inadequate as 23
Wxd2 Hxfi+ 24 Wcl Excl+ 25
&xcl £xe6 just leaves Black a
pawn down) 23 Hdl L£b7!
(23..Exd1+? 24 Wxdl £xe6 25
&cS! Kxh3 26 WdS5+ and
23.. Wxe6?? 24 Wxe6+ Lxeb 25
Hxfl fxh3 26 gxh3 win for
. /7 /7
White) 24 Wd3 Exd1+ 25 Wxdl
£xg2 (25..Wxe6 allows 26 DcS
¥/ and White exchanges off into a
Y AT,
7
comfortably won ending) 26 Eg3

£c6 27 &c5 (27 €7 Ee8 covers
everything nicely) 27..Wxh4
Is White’s centre in the process with unclear play. If this im-
of disappearing? Perhaps we provement is indeed playable
should first look at Black’s rela- then Short’s novelty 15...f6 may
tively undeveloped position and be good after all, despite Kas-
ask is it possible for White to parov giving it a “?7”
punish him? Who is better? 20 ZEf3
Do not despair! Kasparov has Kasparov had apparently pre-
all the answers! pared this line some months be-
17 Wde! \¥fe fore, intending to play 20 £e2
If Black’s e-pawn falls then so Hf7 21 Eb3!, threatening 22 Wc6
does his d-pawn, hence the text. and thus tying Black down to a
Now Kasparov unleashes his pre- passive defence after 21...Ef8 22
pared tactical thrust. g4. A remarkable example of
18 f5! Whe+ how deeply the top player goes
The immediate captures on f5 into his lines looking for the
truth. In fact, over the board he 24..Wxh3 25 Wxf8. Now with

changed his mind (a player Black totally tied down it’s time
should not be a slave to his for strong-arm action and as
homework, but use it as a tool!) usual Kasparov doesn’t shirk
preferring the text, perhaps he from sacrificing pawns!
saw 20 Hf3 as even more con- 23 4!
vincing. The more obvious break-
20 Hxf3 through, 23 f4, trying to get di-
20..Wf6 prevents the white rectly at the black king, was also
bishop from coming to h3 but good. After 23...exf4 24 Hel Df8
with Black’s queenside pieces not 25 b6 White wins material or
going anywhere White can take 23...e4 24 5! and the house of
his time: 21 Exf5 Wxfs 22 Ke2 cards collapses. The most gritty
(threatening 23 Xf1) 22..Wf7 23 defence is 23..We7 24 fxeS
Lg4 and after the black knight Wxd6 25 exd6 but Black has
moves, 24 9\b6 is decisive. great difficulties despite the ex-
21 gxf3 change of queens.
White permits his pawns to be 23 .. dxc4
broken but he has the h3 square After 23..d4 24 c5! We7 25
for his bishop. Wc7 the threat is 26 c6 and, after
21 Wf6 the knight moves, both the €5 and
There was no joy in 21...Wxh4 d4 pawns will fall.
as 22 Wxe6+ £f8 23 Wxds Hbs 24 D3
24 R.c4 would leave White in a For the record, Black has a
winning position. two-pawn advantage. However,
22 2h3 L7 he has already been suffering
from asphyxia for some time and
with the last white piece joining
the attack something vital has to
give.
24 .. We7
25 Wc6 Zb8
26 %ed
Threatening to come to both d6
and g5.
26 .. b6
Hopeless is 26...2f6 27 ©d6+
g6 28 Bgl+ Fh6 due to 29
Wxc4!, threatening 30 Wcl mat-
Ugly, but €6 must be defended ing and 30 &xc8 picking up a
and 22..2f87 23 b6 Wxf3 24 piece.
Efl allows White to mate after 27 g5+ g8
28 Wed The other e-pawn falls and all

Forking h7 and ¢5. White wins routes are open to the black king.
back the first pawn and keeps up 31 .. L.xe6
the pressure. 32 Exe6 1-0
28 .. g6 Black could have tried
29 WxeS Eb7 32...%)c4 instead of resigning but
30 Hde! Nigel obviously trusted his oppo-
This is stronger than the impa- nent to find 33 Wxc3 (33 Exe7
tient 30 Lxe6+ Lxe6 31 Wxe6+ Exb2+ 34 &cl HxeS 35 Exes
Wxe6 32 Hd8+ g7 33 Hxeb+ Hxa2 should also win for White
@h6 which would just free the but is more complicated in view
black position. After the text, the of the paucity of pawns)
e6 pawn is attacked by all the 33...20a3+ 34 &cl Wd7 35 Ec6
white pieces. Hb8 36 bxa3.
30 .. c3 Kasparov has confirmed his
The desperate 30..%a4 31 domination over Short this year
2xe6+ Lxe6 32 Hxe6 Exb2+ in registering other convincing
loses to both the cheeky 33 &al wins over him in both Moscow
and the prosaic 33 Wxb?2. and Novgorod.
31 2xe6+
Game Seventeen
Ivan Morovic-Gata Kamsky
Las Palmas 1994
The climate in the Canary Islands including this loss with White to
is pleasant all year round. This the top American player, Gata
holds true not only for holiday- Kamsky. The most important
makers but also for chessplayers success for Kamsky, this year,
as there are many interesting was the unique achievement of
tournaments in these parts. Most retaining his place in both World
are held in Las Palmas, which has Championship cycles. His first
the ambience of a Latin Ameri- place here (ahead of Karpov) was
can, rather than a Spanish, city his best round-robin result.
which could be a good reason Lautier started with four con-
why the Chilean Ivan Morovic secutive wins including one
chooses to live there. against the FIDE World Cham-
In 1993 Morovic surprised eve- pion but he was outplayed and
ryone by winning a category XVI lost comfortably to Kamsky in
in Las Palmas. This year he fin- round five. Both players have
ished with a more predictable 4/9 taken great strides forward in
1994 but, of the two, it is the tive operations. In this case

American who is generally con- 13...We8 would be normal rather
sidered as a potential World than 13...We7 14 Ebl &c5 15 b4
Champion. axb4 16 axb4 Had 17 Dxad Exad
1 & 2 {1 18 h3 and White had some advan-
2 c4 g6 tage in a recent game of Speel-
3 &3 g7 man’s against Dutch No.1 Jeroen
4 ed Piket.
Morovic uses the ‘Griinfeld- 12 h3
avoidance’ move-order but Kam- Black was threatening to win a
sky is adept at many openings piece with 12...g5 and 13...h4.
and the double-edged King’s In- After 12 f3 best is 12.. We8!
dian suits him well. intending a timely ...f7-f5 with
4 .. dé6 typical King’s Indian play rather
S d4 0-0 than 12...g57! 13 &2 5 14 exf5
6 Re2 e5 when White has the e4 square for
7 d5 as his knights.
Currently fashionable now is 8 12 . a6
£¢5 as discussed elsewhere in 13 a3 247
the book (see Shirov J.Polgar, 14 Hbl &)cS
Chapter 7, game 28) but Morovic Kamsky is aware that White
tries another idea. will play b2-b4 anyway and hur-
8 fe3 AN ries to meet this move with
9 Qg5 f6 15...% a4, in order not to have this
It’s never quite clear to me piece locked out of play.
which player gains from this se- 15 b4 axb4
quence. White loses some tempi 16 axb4 HDad
with the bishop but in a few 17 Dxad
moves the knight on g4 will be In the original game from this
obliged to recycle out of danger. variation Bareev (in Tilburg
10 Qh4 hS§ 1991) tried 17 Wc2 Hxc3 18
It was Kasparov who intro- Wxc3 g5 19 £.g3 hd4 20 Lh2 5
duced the idea of playing ...h7-hS 21 c5 g4 22 c¢6 against Kasparov,
before retreating the knight to h6. but Black’s attack proved to be
11 &Hd2 &Hh6 the stronger.
After 11..2a6 the English 17 .. Lxad
players Jonathan Speelman and 18 Wcl (D)
Dharshan Kumaran have some- 18 .. g5!
times continued 12 a3 £d7 13 Played in Kasparov-style. In-
0-0 introducing a more cautious stead 18..Ye8 seems to allow
plan in which White makes his White enough time to get fully
king safe before undertaking ac- organized: 19 f3 £.d7 20 c5 f5 21
0-0 &f7 22 exf5 gxf5 23 f4! and g3 White’s king’s rook is impris-
White took the initiative and oned by his own bishop. It would
should have won in Kumaran- be embarrassing to play such a
Shirov, Oakham 1992. position with White!
23 .. fxg4
24 Ke3
Nice bishop but what about the
king!
24 .. Wre
25 o5 Wg6
Eyeing g3 and g2.
26 Hgl A ¢}
After 26..Hac8? White has 27
Z
c6 bxc6 28 dxc6 Le6 29 Lcd and
g =7 ZARZ:
e==fsl y A
. after the exchange of this bishop
—\ C) Black’s attacking potential is
significantly reduced.
Kamsky has a reputation for 27 cxdé cxdé6
trying out Kasparov’s opening 28 W7
ideas, perhaps he is already put- White’s first aggressive stroke
ting extra effort into studying the of the game, now Kamsky tests
PCA World Champion’s games his opponent’s willingness to take
ready for their possible match! a draw.
19 g3 h4 28 .. 2c8
20 2h2 247 29 VWc3 L£d7
The bishop has little future on 30 W7 Hfds!
the queenside. No thank you!
21 3
Black was already envisaging
...g5-g4 which White restrains
with this move, whose principal
purpose is to redeploy the bishop
via gl.
= Y
21 .. f5 ///7
// ///%i Ak
Y % // 7 7
White could have considered
castling (either here or the last 7,00,
move) but he instead continues
L
with his plan. Z
22 2g1 g4 7
23 fxg4
23 Ke3 is interesting (hoping White has to be very careful
to castle) but after 23...f4 24 Kg1 about his king which will never
be truly safe in any middlegame, 34 Wc7

whereas Black’s only weakness is Hopeless are both 34 Bb3 Kal
the rather irrelevant b-pawn. and 34 hxgd Ka7! (another of
31 Wxb7 Black’s threats!).
Probably an error as Black now 34 .. Hac8
has time to really get the attack 35 Wb7 Hc2
rolling. However, the alternatives 36 Bd1 oS
all seem insufficient due to the The black pieces arrive from
centrally placed king (if one all parts of the board, honing in
mentally places the white king on on the white king.
h1 he would be okay). 37 Wa6 Wgld+
31 g3 has been suggested (to 0-1
rip open the kingside and give the White resigned as after 38 Xf2
black monarch something to 28 39 Wb6 Exd2 40 Exd2 Hxed
think about) but after 31...gxh3 Black has a decisive advantage.
32 gxh4 Wf6 White’s king is the Where did White go wrong?
only one in danger. Kasparov, in his notes to an-
31 .. £h6 other game, hints that the whole
Now the dark squares start to line with the white king left in the
creak. centre favours Black (if this
32 £xh6 really is the case white players
On 32 Wb6 Black wins with should consider Speelman’s 13
32...Bdbs. 0-0) and after playing through
32 .. Wxh6 this efficient display by Kamsky
33 Hf We3 one gets the feeling that he is
Amongst others, Black has the right!
threat of 34...Ka2,
Game Eighteen
Christopher Lutz-Boris Gelfand
Munich 1994
In Germany this year there were taken out German citizenship and
two Category XVI tournaments; plays for the German team and
Munich at the end of May and the younger generation of Hert-
Dortmund in July. Next year neck, Lobron and Lutz have
Dortmund are setting their sights gradually been catching him.
even higher, a category XVII. Perhaps motivated by the desire
Robert Hiibner was for many to reaffirm his position Hiibner, a
years the top German but now he renowned language expert,
has competition; Yusupov has started in tremendous form in
Munich and looked as if he whereas Black aims for a king-

would give the sponsors a home- side attack by pushing ...f7-f5 and
bred champion. However, by often following up with ...f5-f4
losing in the last round he al- and ...g6-g5 with his pieces sup-
lowed Ivanchuk to overhaul him, porting and urging the pawns on.
the Ukrainian putting together The next few moves illustrate
some useful tournament results in these plans well.
1994 that helped compensate 9 .. NHd7
(financially and morally) his non- Freeing the f-pawn and also
participation in the World restraining White’s typical c4-c5
Championship cycles. advance.
The best game from the event 10 Ke3
was a hard-fought draw between A provocative idea.
Christopher Lutz and Boris Gel- The main alternative method
fand (who seems to be every- for White is 10 3 f5 11 &d3 f4
where and is one of the most ac- 12 Rd2 &f6 13 ¢5 g5 14 Kcl.
tive of the top echelon). The This has some advantages over
youthful Lutz is only now becom- the game continuation; for in-
ing known outside German cir- stance, one tempo less is spent
cles but is progressing rapidly. with the bishop and the 2 square
1 d4 &6 is available for the knight, where
Lutz is yet another player who it helps restrain Black’s attack
opens with both 1 e4 and 1 d4, in based on an early ...g5-g4.
modern chess to be successful 10 .. fs5
you must be versatile. 11 3 f4
2 g6 12 22 g5
3 A3 .97 13 a4
4 ed dé A typical space-gaining, but
5 o913 0-0 time-consuming idea, that came
6 fe2 eS to the public’s attention in the
7 0-0 famous game Korchnoi-Kasparov
The normal move, although from Amsterdam 1991. Since
this year the top players seem to then this move has been played
have been mainly playing 7 d5 frequently at top level.
(of which there are several ex- 13 .. AT
amples in this book). 14 a5 =27
7 .. Neé 15 ¢51?
8 ds Ne7 Once White theoreticians
9 &el started to feel that the more
The main line. White’s plan is ‘normal’ continuation 15 b4 gave
generally to expand on, and then no advantage the positional
try to invade the queenside, gambit introduced by the text
became the critical line. The final to breakthrough against the white
word has not been said on the king he cannot hope for more
older move but Black seems to be than a draw.
at least holding his own: 15 b4 The materialistic 19 d6 is in-
D6 16 ¢5 Lf8! 17 cxd6 Lxd6 adequate after 19...c6! (covering
18 &Hd3 Bg7 19 &Hc5 HI8 20 the b5 and d5 squares) 20 Kxf7+
@b5 g4 21 £h4 h5 and Black &xf7. Black picks up the d-pawn,
was okay although she went on to thereby obtaining two pawns for
lose in Korchnoi-J.Polgar, Pam- the exchange in the type of game
plona 1990. White’s minor pieces where White’s rooks have no
seem well placed but Black has play. Furthermore, he can ma-
counterplay. noeuvre his knight to d4 so, all-
15 .. QxcS in-all, Black is better.
16 Qxc5 dxc5 19 .. £d6
17 a6?! Black prepares to open the h-
Several games have followed file. The dark-squared bishop is
17 fc4 Sh8 18 a6, when hardly active on this square but it
18...bxa6 or 18...b6 have allowed bolsters the centre in preparation
White some initiative. However, for the flank attack.
after 18...Xf6! 19 axb7 £xb7 20 Inferior is 19...fxg3 giving
Dd3 218 21 HaS £c8 22 Hxcs away his kingside space advan-
c6 23 b4 Xb8 24 Wad g4 25 fxgd tage and allowing White to free
f3 White has made progress on his game with 20 hxg3 followed
the queenside but Black has a by Del-g2-e3.
dangerous counter-attack on the 20 We2?!
other wing; D.Gurevich-Sherzer, A rather routine and unneces-
USA 1992. sary developing move. White
The text is an attempt by Lutz should already prepare the king
to juggle with the move order to flight without this waste of time.
obtain a favourable position. So 20 g2 h5 21 h3 Eh7 22 &2
17 .. b6 was more in tune with the posi-
18 ¢4 218! tion.
Sacrificing the exchange brings 20 .. hS§
any White initiative to an abrupt 21 h3 Eh7
end. Instead 18..&h87?! would 22 g2 Wr6
fall-in with White’s plans. Lutz was relieved that his op-
19 g4! ponent didn’t find 22...%g7! fol-
Shocked by the turn of events lowed by 23..9e7 with two
the German decides to seek sol- ideas: ...Wh8 and ...c7-c6 intend-
ace in a positional blockade. The ing ..%xc6-d4 (if White cap-
extra pawn on the queenside is tures) or ...b6-b5 (if he does not).
not easy to use and if Black fails The game suggests that kingside
threats need to be combined with achieved under inferior circum-

play elsewhere for Black to hope stances after 27 Hf2 when Black
to breakdown the white defences. has two promising continuations:
23 SN2 hxg4 a) 27..Xhl+ 28 Efl f3 29
24 hxgd Eh2 &xh4 (on 29 Exh1 Black wins by
25 Rel! first playing 29..9xg2+)
Worse is 25 Eh1 Wh8 26 Exh2 29...fxe2 30 HExhl gxh4 31 K.xe2
Wxh2 27 Hgl &h4 28 Ffl as and the passed h-pawn should
Black has the simple 28...Wh3 enable Black to win after
and the f3 pawn falls. So White 31..Wf4 32 &dl Ke7 as he has
has to try and live with the black too many threats on the dark
rook on the seventh. squares;
25 . Lxgd!? b) 27..2Dxg2+ 28 Hxg2 3 29
After 25...2h4 26 Ef2 Dxg2+ Zxh2 fxe2 30 fxe2 Ef8 with
necessary is the resource 27 &d2! good winning chances as Black
(27 Exg2?? loses to 27..Khl+) can meet 31 Ab5 with 31...c4(!).
when White has little to fear after 27 .. Hxe2+
27..8xg4 28 Exg2! (but not 28 28 oHfxe2
fxg4? as 28..Eh6! intending Black has a queen but White’s
29...%0h4 is very strong as if 29 pieces defend all the important
Hxg2 then 29...f3 wins due to the entry squares. The a6 pawn will
black queen being defended) now have an important role to
28...Exg2 29 Wxg2 £d7 30 Hgl. play as Black cannot forever
26 fxgd #h4 leave his rook on a8 to defend a7.
28 .. Whe?
Losing all hope of an advan-
tage and maybe even giving him-
self losing chances.
Necessary was 28..2f3+! 29
&d1 Wh6 with complex play.
Then 30 Exf3? (30 £c2 has to be
tried but now ...%)d4+ is unpleas-
ant for White) 30...Wh1+ 31 &Hgl
Wxgl+ 32 £f1 Ef8! leads to the
loss of White’s g-pawn.
29 ba2!
Given time, White can improve
Gelfand has generated strong his position in a number of ways:
threats. king to the queenside, doubling
27 Dxf4! rooks and %c3-b5. Therefore
The best way to defend is to Gelfand decides that it is high
give up the queen, but this is time to force the pace.
29 .. Hf8 that looks too risky: 37...Wxg4 38

30 4bS O3+ Nxd6 cxd6 39 Wxd6 Ef3+ 40
31 Exf3! &d2 Wbd+ and only Black can
The simplest. Instead the win) 37..Wed+ 38 &d2 Wbd+
tempting 31 2 Dd4+ 32 and the spoils are again shared.
@exd4 exd4 33 Dxa7 can be met 4 .. cxd6
by 33..d3+ preparing to intro- 35 a7 Hf8
duce the long dormant bishop Here Gelfand could have taken
into the game with wunclear a draw with 35...We3+ but he was
complications. obviously still thinking of win-
31 .. Hxf3 ning!
32 Dxa7 Wh7 36 aSW Hxa8
33 4b5 37 Hxa8+ &g7
The natural move but the alter- 38 b3
native 33 @\c3! suggested by Lutz Although many people tend to
is a good winning try. After generally prefer the pieces, in my
33..Wh2+ 34 Re2 W4+ 35 &c2 experience, an active queen plus
Ef2 (after 35...Exc3+?! Black is pawns is adequate compensation
soon struggling; 36 bxc3 Wxed+ for a rook and two minor pieces.
37 £d3 Wxds 38 Ha4!) 36 Bel! For Gelfand to actually contem-
(excellent, instead neither 36 &\c8 plate winning with the queen here
Wxgd4 37 a7 Exe2+ 38 Dxe2 is not just misplaced optimism
Wxe2+ 39 &bl Wxed+ 40 a2 but is based on exploiting the
Wxd5+, nor 36 b3 cd+! 37 looseness of White’s rook.
Lxc4 Wd2 38 HEbl Wc2+ lead 38 .. b5
anywhere for White, indeed nor 39 Ha7+
for that matter does 36 &ab5 in After 39 £xb57? Black picks
view of 36..Exe2+) 36..Wxga up the rook with 39...Wxd5+.
37 $ab5 Wc8 38 Hal! (38 a7? is 39 .. 182!
premature; 38..Wa6) and with After this move a draw would
the black queen stuck on a8 be the natural result. There did
White should win. remain one last winning try:
33 .. Wxed 39...2f6! but Gelfand judged that
34 Hxd6?! by 40 £xb5 Wbd+ 41 &3 Wd4+
A strange capture, exchanging 42 K43 c4 43 Ded+ Lg6 44
the knight for such a poor bishop. bxc4 Wxa7 45 Dxd6+ White has
34 a7 seems to guarantee a draw enough compensation for the
34. Wxc4!? (or 34.We3+ queen. My guess is that most
drawing as White can only escape players would intuitively prefer
the perpetual by losing his rook) Black.
35 a8W+ Hf8 36 Wc6 Wba+ 37 40 RKxbs Wxds+
2c2 (37 Le3?! is a winning try 41 $c2 Wed+
42 b2 52..%g7 53 Exd6 winning) 53

Keeping out of harm’s way. £.c4 and wins.
42 .. Wxgd 51 &2 Wge
43 Ha8+ De7 52 %De2 g4
4 Ha7+ 2d8 After 52..Wd5 White has 53
45 Ha6 e7 £ c4 winning the d-pawn anyway.
46 Ha7+ <f8 53 Hxd6+ g5
47 Ha8+ g7 54 KdS8
48 Ha7+ Lg6? With his rook checking from
Rather than allow a perpetual behind Black cannot find a shel-
Gelfand loses his objectivity and ter for his king.
overpresses. It has been said that 54 .. Wed+
the easiest way to win in chess is 55§ £d3 We3
to be slightly worse(!); your op- 56 Rg8+ Sh4a
ponent thinks only of winning White now took a draw as he
and therefore takes excessive underestimated 57 3!
risks! (intending 58 %ed) and if then
49 Xaé6 57..Wf2+ the simple 58 fLe2
With the black king on the leaves Black in trouble, e.g.
third rank White is able to organ- 58...g37 59 Eh8+ g5 60 Ded+.
ize his pieces and take the initia- 57 Bh8+ g5
tive. 58 Hg8+ -1
49 .. We6 A missed opportunity for Lutz
50 g3 Wds who put up one of the best de-
Following 50..e4, 51 c2! fensive displays of the year. Cu-
threatens 52 Hxed4 Wxed+ 53 riously enough both his missed
f£d3, after the further 51...e3 wins involved ‘knight to the ¢3
there follows 52 £d3+ and Black square’, at move 33 and at the
has no square, e.g. 52..%f7 (or end.
Game Nineteen
Anatoly Karpov-Victor Korchnoi
Dortmund 1994
The letter ‘K’ has great signifi- Kramnik and Kamsky who domi-
cance for chessplayers. Twenty nate.
years ago we had the Karpov- Since the ever-enthusiastic
Korchnoi era, for the last ten Korchnoi is no longer in conten-
years we have had a stream of tion for World Championship
Karpov-Kasparov matches and in honours, with his best form un-
a few years it could well be fortunately behind him, Karpov
has generated an enormous plus game in the line (12 Ed1 bS 13

score against his old rival in tour- Wc2 c4 14 0-0 0-0 15 e4 dxed 16
nament games. Recently, how- #eS Db6 with chances for both
ever, the veteran Korchnoi man- sides; Bonsch-Stohl, Brno 1993)
aged to outlast his younger oppo- but some recent games of the
nent in an energy-sapping mara- young Dutch grandmaster Loek
thon of a game. The complica- van Wely’s indicate an advantage
tions at the end are sensational! for the first player after 12 dxcS5!
1 d4 f6 bxc5 13 e4 d4 14 Hd5 £xd5 15
2 cd eb exdS Ha7 16 0-0 0-0 17 Wc6.
3 5f3 bé 8 fQxf6 Lxf6
4 a3 9 cxd$ exdS
White wants to play his knight Karpov voluntarily gives up
to c3 without being pinned by the bishop pair. This type of po-
..2b4. sition, characterized by ‘static’
4 2b7 pawns, gives Black few immedi-
5 &Hc3 ds ate chances for counterplay as his
6 Kg5 RKRe7 only pawn-break (an early ...c6-
7 Wad+ c5) tends to be self-weakening
A check aimed at disrupting unless thoroughly prepared. The
Black’s development. same pawn structure is frequently
7 c6 obtained from the QGD Tartak-
The only other worthwhile ower variation, a line that was
move here is 7..4bd7. From thoroughly tested in the Karpov-
Black’s point of view, if he can Kasparov matches of 1985 and
avoid playing ...c7-c6 then he 1987.
may be able to play ...c7-c5 in 10 g3
one go saving a tempo, and he On g2 the bishop will already
retains the possibility of recaptur- bear down on the d5 pawn in case
ing on d5 with pieces. If White Black ever risks ...c6-c5.
meets this with 8 &e5 then 10 .. 0-0
8...c5!7 is not so loosening as 11 g2 Hd7
Black has a lead in development. Now is Black’s first opportu-
Black is also happy following 8 nity to try the ubiquitous ‘freeing
cxd5 Dxd5 9 Lxe7 Wxe7 10 move’ 11...c5(1?7). After 12 0-0
Dxd5 £xd5 11 De5 a6! 12 Hc6 £c6 13 Wdl Da6 14 Wd2 He8
Wha! threatening 13...2c5 with 15 ad1l Hc7 there is no obvious
good play. way for White to punish Black’s
However, 8 £xf6! is the criti- expansion but the black centre
cal move when 8..2xf6 9 cxdS will require constant protection.
exd5 10 g3 ¢5 11 £h3 a6 worked 12 0-0 Ke7!?
out well for Black in the first It is more conventional to bide
one’s time with 12...He8 13 Xfdl In such a blocked position

g6 14 Hacl £g7 15 e3 Hf8 with knights are generally preferable
a manoeuvring type of game in to bishops. In particular the
prospect. bishop on b7 is at present a so-
13 Efd1 £51? called ‘bad’ one.
The FIDE World Champion 19 &h8
was geared up to play an early Slightly more accurate is
e2-e4 when (after ...dxe4 fol- 19..Hae8 20 Zacl Hb6 but it
lowed by &xed) he has the freer comes to virtually the same thing.
piece play. Korchnoi puts a stop White will threaten to play &d3-
to this in radical fashion at the c¢5xb7 winning the c-pawn, so
risk of weakening the €6 and e5 Black must choose between ex-
squares. changing on c5 (giving the first
14 €3 £d6 player an enormous square on d4)
15 %e2 or play to block the c-file (as in
If Korchnoi really is trying to the game).
play the opening like a Stonewall 20 Hacl &bé6
Dutch (pawns on c6, d5 and f5) 21 &HfeS Hed
he might have continued with the 22 f4
typical 15...g5 intending ...Wf6 White is well installed on e5
and ...f5-f4. There is however, and Black on the slightly less im-
always the risk that such moves portant c4 square. Karpov has an
create weaknesses in one’s own advantage if he can organize a
camp without causing any com- general liquidation on the queen-
pensating problems for his oppo- side of both a- and b-pawns
nent. (which would undermine c4) or
15 .. We7 by timing a kingside break with
16 Df4 g3-g4 (using his monster on €5).
This knight is heading for d3, a 22 .. gs!
useful posting, where it helps The only chance to introduce
control ¢5 in case Black finally some confusion into the game.
decides to lash out, but more im- 23 We2 Hg8
portantly it supports its col- 24 M2
league’s likely advance into the Alternatively 24 Wh5 Haf8 25
hole on e5. &f3 also forces concessions on
Korchnoi finds an alternative the kingside.
way of expanding on the queen- 24 .. Haf8
side. 25 &f3
16 ... as Korchnoi is obliged to again
17 &d3 b5 move one of his pawns. This is
18 Wc2 a4 sometimes a problem in chess
19 Eel because of the rule which states
that they can’t move backwards! nothing to show for his efforts.
25 .. hé
The main alternative was
25..g4 26 &fe5 h5!? 27 Ehl
@g7 28 h3 Eh8. I can’t see an /
immediate breakthrough for
White but he will always be bet-
ter in view of the miserable /% /
,%
7%
//
bishop on b7. 5 ’ /
/
7,/
26 4%feS
Karpov is very patient in such
positions and one would gener-
%/
?fy
ally expect him to find the right £
Z
Z é
plan to keep the initiative, but he
now changes his mind, so often a 32 Hxcd?!
mistake in chess! For the record, 32 &fd3!
26 .. &h7 (waiting) was stronger as 32...h5
27 b1 is met by 33 &f3 with unclear
White should play for g3-g4, play.
despite the need for heavy ma- 32 .. bxc4!
noeuvring, as Black can only wait Probably better than 32...dxc4
and see, e.g. Hel-hl, Ecl-gl, 33 fxg5 hxg5 34 e4 f4 35 e5 with
2g2-f3, h2-h3, &f2-el-d1 (or complications. This was best
alternatively put the rooks on g2 avoided as White’s pieces spring
and h2 and king on hl) and then to life.
finally g3-g4. Karpov obviously 33 Wxad XHb7
didn’t really trust such a long- Korchnoi has good play on
winded reorganization but his both wings and a space advantage
plan in the game is less convinc- for his pawn. He didn’t necessar-
ing. ily need to switch plans as the
27 .. WeS more direct 33...h5!? looks inter-
28 Wc2 *h8 esting.
29 O HeT 34 &dl h5!
30 He2 Lc8 35 2f2 f2d7
31 Hcel Hfg8 36 W2 Wg6
Karpov has not really achieved 37 &fl
much over the past few moves Black threatened to take twice
and Korchnoi is ready to push his on f4.
h-pawn. It’s no longer clear who 37 . h4
is better. Karpov decides to jus- 38 Ef2 g4
tify his last few moves by grab- 39 gl Hghs
bing a pawn as otherwise he has Karpov was more afraid of
¢ Grandmaster Chess
39...h3! 40 £f1 Bb3 and White is

totally tied down.
40 We2 h3
41 [f1 Lc7
42 b4!
Striking out for freedom. The
best practical chance as the alter-
native would have been gradual “UthE w1t
suffocation.
42 .. cxb3
. Z"//‘z /7 B] /Z E1
pd V)
After 42..Xa8 43 Wb2 Hba7 Al B

44 e4 fxed 45 He3 White sets up .
a blockade that looks hard to
break. 51 ed4!
43 b2 £d6 Again turning the tables!
4 a4 We6 51 .. fxed
Karpov has an unpleasant de- Black has no shortage of alter-
fensive task ahead of him, one natives but none are convincing;
which may have been harder after a) 51..Wxed4 52 Wxd6 win-
44...c5! (or 45...c5) as after the ning;
capture on c5, Black’s bishop b) 51..dxe4 52 Dxc4 offers
will pressurize the a7-g1 diagonal White a clear advantage, he has
right into the white camp. an extra pawn and liberated
45 Edi Ha7 pieces. Then after 52...2¢e7 53 a5
46 Hd3 &h7 (53 Wb7? £c6!) e3 54 Eb2 Black
Korchnoi is still rather hesitant is clearly struggling;
about committing himself. c) 51..Kb8 52 exd5! and the
47 Wd1 c5 complications offer White the
Finally getting the break in but better chances.
now, with the loss of the b-pawn, d) 51..8e7 52 Wxe6 Kxe6 53
Karpov obtains counter chances. exd5 2xd5 54 Lxc4 Ke4 offers
48 Exb3 Hxb3 drawing chances but two pawns
49 Wxb3l c4 is a lot of material to give Karpov
50 Wheé Ha8 in an ending!
More dynamic was 50..Ec7 52 S We7
with the plan of pushing the c- 53 &dil
pawn. This knight that so successfully
Korchnoi’s nervous play has blockaded the b-pawn is brought
allowed Karpov back into the across to handle the passed e-
game. Now Karpov takes the bull pawn.
by the horns with the thunder- 53 gb8
bolt... 54 Was £c6
55 f6
Karpov causes as much dis-
ruption as possible with his
passed pawn before Black gets
his own going.
5 .. We6
55...8b4 is met by 56 Wxd5! a
profitable desperado leading to an
excellent ending for White after
56...5.xd5 57 fxe7 fxe7 58 &c3
as White picks up at least one %
pawn,
56 &He3 Hb3
Korchnoi later considered Karpov allows one of the
56...%g6 superior as in the game, combinations of the year.
by abandoning the back rank, he 59 .. £h6!
has greater difficulties with the f- 60 f7 Lxf4!
pawn. Karpov must have overlooked
57 Wa7+ b7 this resource and, while still in
57...Eb7 58 Waé6 is no better as shock, he fails to find the best
Black is unable to defend the continuation.
kingside. 61 f8W?
58 a$ 61 f8+! leads to a likely
Threatening 59 a6 but there draw in an unlikely fashion.
was a better alternative in 58 a) 61..2g8 62 Hxe6 Lxe3+
£e2! hitting the g-pawn; after 63 &hl Hbl 64 Wb8+ &f7 65
58..BEbl+ 59 Efl Hxfl+ 60 Wc7+ &xe6 66 We5+ and White
Lxfl! (60 <xf1? fails to takes the draw by perpetual
60.. Wxf6+ 61 del Lxg3+! 62 check;
hxg3 h2 or 62 dl Wc6) b) 61..&h6 62 gxfd (after 62
60...Wc8 61 L.e2 White keeps an Nxe6? Lxe3+ 63 hl Kbl
advantage but the position is mates as White has no checks this
complex and Black is not without time) 62..Wc8 (62..Wf7!?) 63
counter chances. Wc5 Wxcs 64 OHf5+ &hS 65
58 .. £18 @g7+ drawing in original style.
59 Hf4? 61 .. Kxed+
Now 59 Sie2 is again possible 62 <<hl 2h6
as 59..Hxe3 60 Wxb7+ g6 is With rook, bishop and pawn
countered by 61 Wb8! and White for the queen Black has nominal
keeps the advantage, e.g. material equality. However, the
61..Rd6 62 Wh8 or 61..%f7 62 pair of queens are impotent com-
Wf4. pared with the black pieces
swarming in for the attack. winning) 69...Ef1+ mating.

63 V¥R Lg7! 68 .. Lxe2
Now White’s pin on the sev- 69 VWxe2 Vre
enth rank is broken. 70 Wcl
64 ab Hf3! After 70 &gl, lesser players
65 Wel may have fallen for 70...\xd4+?
After 65 axb7 Exf2 66 bW 71 Wxd4 fxd4+ 72 &hl Ha7
White has a third queen but more when 73 Wxed4+! dxed is stale-
importantly Black has 66...Xxf1 mate! However 70...£h6! (as in
mate. the game) will win.
65 .. Lxab 70 .. 2h6
66 Re2 Xf7 71 Wbl Wrs
The white king is forever stuck 72 &gl Hce7
in the comer and despite both White resigned as 73..Hcl+ is
queens defending the attack rolls coming. The advantage switched
on. back and forth in a game rich in
67 WS c3! ideas and surprises which fin-
68 Wexc3 ished with a great victory for the
Equally hopeless is 68 £xa6 ever popular Korchnoi.
Wxa6 69 Wcxc3 (or 69 &gl Wa2 0-1
Game Twenty
Garry Kasparov-Viadimir Kramnik
Novgorod 1994
The six-player category XIX 3 . &xf6

event in Novgorod, Russia, did 4 d4
not involve Karpov but most of I really can’t see Kasparov
the other top players were there; playing anything else, it’s not his
Kasparov and Ivanchuk were in style to grovel around in dull
impressive form to share first sidelines.
place. 4 .. cxd4
1 ed cS 5 &xd4 €5
2 &Hc3 AN Kramnik does not hesitate to
3 Dge2 play his pet Sveshnikov; a sharp
A move order chosen by those game is in prospect.
who like to ‘play an open Sicil- 6 &HdbS dé
ian, if Black prepares himself for 7 Kg5 a6
a closed, and a closed if he pre- 8§ &a3 bS
pares himself for an open!’ as one 9 &d5 fe7
specialist assured me. 10 2xf6
White gives up the bishop pair chances in Smagin-Gorelov,

to play for control of the pivotal USSR 1982. He has a lead in de-
dS square. velopment and queenside play to
10 .. Lxf6 compensate for the d5 outpost.
11 3 0-0 14 .. gxf6
12 &He2 b8 15 Wd2 {b7
13 h4 16 R2d3 ds
Another of their recent encoun- Kramnik reacts in the centre
ters continued as follows: 13 a3 now that White has abandoned
a5 14 hd De7 15 Hce3 Dxd5 16 control of d5.
Dxd5 Ke6 17 g3 Wd7 18 £g2 17 exdS Wxds
£2d8 19 0-0 £b6 20 Wd2 and 18 0-0-0!
White kept a slight edge in Kas- Kasparov sacrifices his a-pawn
parov-Kramnik, from the Mos- and clearly puts faith in his king-
cow (PCA) quickplay a few side attack, bearing in mind that
months earlier. Kasparov could his own monarch will not be par-
have repeated this line, hoping ticularly safe on the queenside in
that his opponent had no im- the long-term. Yet again Kas-
provements ready, and playing parov demonstrates the depth of
for the same mini-advantage, but his home preparation.
he is not so naive, and was obvi- 18 .. ed
ously aware that Kramnik must 19 Re2 Wxa2!?
have had something up his Kramnik probably suspected
sleeve. that this was all home preparation
13 .. Ne’ but despite this unnerving feeling
Evidently 13...2xh4?? is sui- he bravely plays the °‘man’s
cide; 14 Wh5 g5 15 g3, etc. More move’!
reasonable is 13..8e6 when 14 Alternatives play even more
#ce3 a5 15 W3 b4 16 Lc4 has into White’s hands: 19...Wxd2+
been played before in Yurtaev- 20 Exd2 Hfd8 21 Hhdl gives a
Holmsten, Helsinki 1992, al- clear advantage to White (who
though White has a firm grip on has the d-file and better pawns)
d5 and therefore keeps some ad- and 19..We5, centralizing the
vantage. queen, is best met by 20 He3!
14 Dxf6+ threatening 21 %g4, and after
A new move. Kasparov decides 20...f5 then 21 Wd6 again gives a
to relinquish his control of d5 for superior ending.
chances against the black king- 20 Whe We6
side. Previously theory recom- 21 &d4 Wh6
mended 14 &ce3, e.g. 14..0xd5 A winning attack follows for
15 &Hxd5 L£b7 16 g3 b4 and White after 21..WeS 22 f4 exf3
Black had adequate counter 23 Kd3.
24 De6!?
A spectacular move that has
been analysed by the whole chess
/,Q// m/t world these past few months.
Whether or not the move is ob-
/ s % 1 jectively sound is only part of the
story, in terms of creativity the
/4/ /’
Nt 0. f/fi/ move deserves ‘!!’
.
w1
Y //,
//// In practical terms Kramnik has
fi%g/iy to weave his way through intri-
cate complications to survive
fi// 7 (and even gain an advantage),
and in time trouble this is not of-
22 Hh3 ten possible.
Kasparov plays the natural 24 fe6 also requires precise
move but critical is the sharp al- defence. The consensus is that
ternative 22 g4(!). Play would best play is 24...Kg6 25 Wf4 fxe6
most likely continue 22...&h8 23 (not 25..Hf8 as 26 h5 is too
DS DxfS 24 gxfs Kfd8! 25 LhS strong) when after 26 Wxb8+
when White has a strong initia- Hg8 27 Wh2 (27 Wf4 e5) 27...e5
tive, but after 25...b4! 26 c4! (not Black picks up the f-pawn with
26 Hdg1? Eg8 27 £.xf7 bxc3 28 adequate compensation for the
bxc3 Wc6 and Black has danger- exchange.
ous threats of his own, nor 26 24 ... Hgp6!
cxb4?! e3 27 Hhgl Hbc8+ 28 Best. Others fail quickly:
&bl Exdl+ 29 £xdl Led+ 30 24...HExg4 is refuted by the beau-
&a2 Hg8 and Black is not worse) tiful 25 &g5! Exg5 (on 25...fxg5
26...e3! 27 Ehgl Exd1+ 28 £xdl then 26 Wxb6 and White wins on
Hg8 29 Hxg8+ Pxg8 30 Wxe3 material) 26 hxg5S which wins
Wc6! (rather than the blunder because of mate (26..2g8 27
30...Wa5?? 31 Wg3+ winning as Wxh7+ &f8 28 Who+); 24...%g6
32 Whs+ follows or 25 h5 fxe6 26 Ed7 also mates;
30..Wxe3+?! 31 fxe3 which is and 24...fxe6 25 Wxf6+ Hg7 26
excellent for White as his king is Ed7 Ee8 (after 26...¥c5 27 Hg3
by far the quicker to enter the Black cannot defend) 27 Hg3!
fray) Black has good drawing with deadly threats.
chances. 25 W4 He8
22 .. <h8 Kramnik, in time trouble, had
23 fgd! many variations to calculate. The
With several menacing threats, first of which, 25..Hbg8, pro-
the most direct being 24 £f5. vokes a spectacular finish: 26
23 .. Hg8 hs!! Exga 27 Wxf6+ E4g7 28 h6
Wxe6 (hopeless is 28...fxe6 29

hxg7+ Hxg7 30 Eg3 &Hg6 31
Hd7) 29 hxg7+ Exg7 30 Ed8+
g8 31 Hxg8+ Lxg8 32 Wds+
Wes 33 Wxe8 mate!
The second, 25...Ka8, is better
// % B »
%,%)
/agia
but after 26 Ed6 £HdsS 27 Exb6
?xfa 28 9xf4 Bxgs 29 Bxf6
Black has an unpleasant ending
.oy ,
////A
with the inferior minor piece and
WOTISe pawns.
Thirdly, and best, is 25...2.d5! %‘% %
which defends the rook on b8,
stops White’s possible ¥d6, and synthesize the work of others and
helps fend off the attack. With add some of my own. My con-
more time Kramnik may have clusion is that White wins after
found this move and as a result 27 h5.
reduced Kasparov to the unfamil- Now after:
iar role of scrambling for the a) 27.. Wal+ 28 &c2 Wad+ 29
draw. After 25...2d5 the follow- &bl Hxgd 30 Wxfo+ g8 White
ing variation has come under has an attractive-looking move in
close scrutiny: 26 £h5 Rxe6 27 31 Wxe7?! but unfortunately this
£xg6 Dxgb (possible s fails to win, eg 31..8.c6!
27..hxg6 28 Wxf6+ g8 29 (31...b4? allows mate after 32
Wxe7 £xh3 30 gxh3 Wxf2 31 Hd8 fc6 33 Wfs+! Hxf8 34
Wxe4 when Black is slightly HExf8) 32 Hd8 because of the
better according to Kasparov, but clever saving resource
White would surely expect to 32..Wdl+! and Black is okay
draw) 28 Wxf6+ Lg8 29 Hg3 (or after 33 Hxdl Exe7. However 31
29 hS £xh3 30 Ed6 Wc5 31 hxgb Ag5! does the trick as White
hxg6 32 gxh3 e3 with winning threatens 32 h6 and 32 Wxf7+.
chances only for Black) 29...b4! Now 31..Wc4 transposes to b)
30 c4 Wc5 31 b3 Was! (the same position that also arises
(Timman’s move) with compli- from the line starting 27...Exg4).
cations favouring Black. b) 27...Exg4 28 Wxf6+ g8 29
26 Edé6 &Hds! (D) g5 Wal+ 30 &c2 Wad+ 31
The obvious move 26...Wa5 &bl Wc4 (worse are 31..8.d5?7
has been another topic for dis- 32 Exd5 winning and 31..%b3?
cussion and has provoked many 32 h6 HExg5 33 WxgS+ g6 34
conflicting analyses in the chess Wfe &f8 35 Bd7 Ee7 36 Wxe7+!
press. Giving a critical eye to @ xe7 37 Ed8 mate) with the key
various ideas has enabled me to position that can also arise from
a). Decisive is 32 h6! Hxg5 but White wins comfortably after

(32..5f5 33 Wxf5 wins) 33 28 hxg6 Dxf4 29 HExh7+ &g8 30
Wxg5+ g6 34 W6 and Black gxf7+ &f8 (or 30..&xh7 31
cannot avoid mate for long: Hxb6 Exb6 32 8% winning) 31
bl) 34..&f8 35 Ed7 Wfl+ 36 Eh8+ &xf7 32 Rxe6+ Dxe6 33
a2 £d5+ 37 b3 Lxb3+ 38 Exb6, etc.
&b2! (a side-step avoiding 38 28 hxg6 Wxdé6
&xb3 Wb1+) 38...We2+ 39 &xb3 28..Hxe6 29 Exh7+ g8 30
Wcd+ 40 &b2 We2+ 41 La3 ba+ gxf7+ transposes to 27...Exe6 of
42 cxbd He7 43 Wxe7+! (again the previous note.
this theme!) 43..2xe7 44 Hd8 29 Hxh7+ <&g8
and yes it is mate. 30 gxf7+ Dxh7
b2) 34..Wfl+ 35 a2 (35 c2 31 fxe8W
also wins) 35..Wcd4+ (for The complications have led to
35..82d5+ see bl) 36 b3 We2+ material equality, but not for long
37 a3 bd+ 38 cxb4 Lf8 39 Hd7 as the black king is under intense
He7 40 Wxe7+! (yet again) pressure.
40...)xe7 41 Ed8 mate. 31 .. Nxe6
Rather long but convincing. 32 Lff5+! g7
After the text move White 33 Wge+ Hf8
could have settled for 27 Exb6 34Wxf6+ ®e8
Nxf4 28 Dxfa Hxgd 29 Hxf6 35R2xe6
He7 30 Ee3! intending 31 g3 Now if Black does nothing
with a slight edge, and if then 36 g4 will start a decisive
30...Xxh4 White has a strong ini- advance, so Kramnik could have
tiative for the pawn after 31 Hg3. tried 35...e3 36 fxe3 Kxg2 when
However, Kasparov came up with Kasparov intended to transpose
something really rather special: into a simply winning pawn end-
27 h5! ing after 37 &7+ &d7 38 Le8+
One of the most surprising Rc7 39 Wg7+ £d8 40 Wxg2
(and best) moves of the year. Dxe8 41 Wed+ 217 42 W4+,
With so many pieces en prise 3. W8?
Kasparov brings the h-pawn into Now Kramnik had just enough
the attack! Black has several de- time to resign before his time ran
fensive tries but nothing seems to out and Kasparov could play 36
work. £.d7+.
27 .. Hxf4 1-0
Hopeless are 27..Hxgd 28 When I had to make a selection
Wxg4 as White wins the black for this book there were just so
queen, and 27...fxe6 28 hxg6 Wc7 many excellent Kasparov games
29 Wh2 when Black can resign. to choose from but this one was
Slightly more robust is 27...Exe6 top of my list. There may be
some who like to criticize such cated nature of this game, the
games ‘because the attack was notes to this particular game are
not sound’, but it should of very detailed, but they hopefully
course be remembered that chess illustrate how difficult it can be to
is not an exact science but a accurately calculate in limited
practical activity (sport if you time. Conclusions about the
like). The strongest players are worth of particular moves can
not always the most accurate but take weeks to prove and
those who set the most difficult shouldn’t distract the reader from
problems for their opponents. the most lucid conclusion of all:
Because of its very compli- this was a magnificent game.
Game Twenty-One
Vassily lvanchuk-Vladimir Kramnik
Novgorod 1994
Ivanchuk and Shirov were the the game position after move
two big names missing from the eight).
Candidates stage of the two 6 &OHdbsS dé
World Championship cycles, so 7 Kf4 es
these two players had more than 8 RKg5
most to prove in tournament play Black has played ...e7-e6-e5
during 1994. Shirov has had a but White has also lost a tempo
reasonable year but Ivanchuk has by fcl-f4-g5. The dance of the
had some major successes: first black e-pawn and white bishop
alone in both Munich and the has not resulted in any gain for
London PCA and equal first in either side.
Novgorod. As a result Ivanchuk 8 .. ab
is now the world No.5 (on the end 9 Hal bs
of September Intel world rank- 10 2xf6 gxf6
ings). His opponent in this game, 11 &dS f5
Kramnik, is still as low as ninth The Sveshnikov is one of the
but is advancing fast. most popular of all opening
1 e4 cS variations, and has been a Kram-
2 5f3 2% nik speciality off and on in his
3 d4 cxd4 limited career so far (see also
4 Hxdd H6 games S and 20).
5 &c3 e6 12 exfS Kxf5
The same opening is reached 13 3 Lg7
with one move less per player 14 &He2 e’
after 5...e5 6 )db5 d6 7 K.g5 (see This move has become popular
of late, but Black used to prefer factory then 15...£e6!? could be

14...0-0 15 &Hce3 Ke6 16 £d3 tried. Then after 16 £ xe7 (on 16
(16 g3!?) 16...f5, when White has £.e4 Black has an interesting ex-
control of d5 and hopes to use his change sacrifice 16..f5!7 17
central advantage, either to DcT+ Wxc7 18 £xa8 d5 and the
launch a kingside attack or to bishop on a8 is in great danger)
seek pressure against the a6 and 16...Wxe7 17 Wh5?! (in order to
b5 pawns. Black uses his bishop stop Black castling kingside) is
pair to obtain counterplay by countered by 17...e4! with a good
pushing his f-pawn and/or organ- game for Black. 17 &e3 (instead
izing a queenside minority attack. of 17 Wh5) looks sensible but
One of the reasons the line has Black has no obvious worries
retained great popularity is the after 17...d5, so best is 17 Ke4!
wealth of possibilities for both keeping an edge as 17...0-0-0!?
players. 18 £d5 £xd5 19 Wxds Wb7 20
15 24317 @e3 Lh6 21 Wxb7+ Sxb7 22
The idea of challenging the &\d5 maintains control of d5.
bishop on the bl-h7 diagonal is 16 Rxf5 De7
known but not in this particular 17 Vg4
position. Black doesn’t want to rush and
The main alternatives consist play 17..9xf5. The simplified
of 15 &xe7 (yielding only equal- position then favours White, who
ity after 15..8xc2! 16 Wxc2 has the better pawn structure and
Wxe7 17 £e2 0-0 18 0-0 d5; Ad- holes on d5 and f5 to infiltrate.
ams-Shirov, Chalikidiki 1993) 17 .. 0-0
and the popular 15 &ce3. After 18 ZHdil ds
the latter, numerous recent games Unsatisfactory is 18...4xf57!
have continued 15..2e6 16 g3 as 19 Wxf5 d5 20 0-0! avoids
Dxd5 17 Hxd5 0-0 18 Lg2 (in complications and prepares to lay
this line White ensures his hold stege to Black’s d-pawn; then
on d5 but Black plays on the 20..Hc8 21 Wd3 Hc5 22 b4
wings) 18..a5 19 0-0 Eb8 20 gives a strong initiative for
WhS f5 21 Eadl £h8 (or White.
21..Wd7? 22 HRd2 Wf7 23 19 &Hel d4
Wxf7+ Rxf7 making a refreshing 20 Red!
change from the main-line) 22 Ivanchuk threatens 21 £xa8
Hd2 Lf7 with mixed results for and if 20..Ha7 21 &f5 Dxf5
White (who has tried a variety of (21...20g6 22 h4 also gives White
retreats as best play has yet to be a strong attack) 22 Wxf5 Wh4 23
resolved). Hd3! Black is helpless against the
15 2xd5 threat of 24 Eh3. This explains
If the text proves to be unsatis- Kramnik’s next move which
constitutes the best practical 25 SfLxa6 Rfd8

choice. 26 Wxbs Hd2+
R
27 <g3 ed
7 E V/ o
ry / / /% fiQ.:I:
%%///////
s
%7 /fi/% @ ; %/ ., % ,////L
il Wi
B 7 f = //% "
. / / 7
20 dxe3!
With only rook and knight for White has a substantial mate-
the queen he hasn’t quite enough rial advantage (queen and two
material compensation, but if he pawns for rook and knight) but
can keep the initiative... has problems with his king. The
21 HExd8 exf2+ critical moment is at hand.
22 &xf2 Haxd$ 28 Hel!
Threatening both 23..f5 and Developing his last piece and
23...Hd7+ hence White’s next. preparing to meet 28..H8d3+
23 We2 |&) with 29 Wxd3! fLe5+! (after
24 RDb7 29...exd3 30 Hxe7 White has ex-
Naturally putting the queenside cellent winning chances in the
under pressure. However, Ivan- ending, e.g. 30..Exb2 31 Kcd+
chuk had probably underesti- 18 32 Ef7+ &e8 33 Exg7 d2 34
mated Black’s idea otherwise he £e2 bl 35 Exh7 winning) 30
may have settled for 24 £.c2 in- &h3 Exd3+ 31 Kxd3 exd3 32
tending 25 Hd1 exchanging a pair Hd1! picking up the d-pawn and
of rooks, followed by a probing winning (32...d5 is simply met
of the light squares by a2-a4, etc. by 33 g3).
24 .. Hd7! 28 .. Ng6
Sacrificing further material in Now Black really is threaten-
the battle for the initiative. ing to win with 29...K8d3+.
Instead 24...Ed6 is passive and 29 He2!
allows White to build pressure by The main point behind his
25 Bd1 Hfd8 26 Exd6 Exdé 27 previous move was this simple,
We3 7 28 el as 29 Wa7 is but effective, construction of a
threatened. shelter on f2 for the king. Instead
of the text, 29 WxfS is of course gone. Better were either

ridiculous: 29..£e5+ 30 &h3 31..K1d6 (Kramnik) or
&f4+ and White’s king will be 31..B1d2+!? 32 &gl (32 He2
battered to oblivion. repeats) 32..%g7! (M.Gurevich)
29 ... Kes5+ heading for f6, where it will sup-
Kramnik could have tried port the activation of the knight.
29...f4+?! but after 30 2f2 I can’t Black must avoid exchanging
find a convincing continuation pieces when there remain signifi-
for Black. Even 30 g4 e3 31 cant technical problems for White
g3! (31 f3!?7) looks good in getting the queenside going.
enough to obtain a winning game 32 @M1 Hxel+
as Black’s tactics don’t quite 32...37? loses immediately to
work: 33 Wb3+ &g7 34 Exdl e2+ 35
a) 31...8f8 32 Exd2 exd2 (after Lxe2.
32...9e5+ 33 &h3 exd2 34 Wd5+ 33 Sxel Hxg2
&h8 35 gxf4 White wins com- 34 2c8!
fortably) 33 Wd5+ &h8 34 Suddenly this ‘badly-placed’
Wxd2! (but not 34 gxfd?! as bishop becomes an important as-
34..Bxf4+ 35 &g3 Hd4! is un- set.
clear) 34...f3 and Black has some 4 .. f4
practical chances but should 34..9)f477 would hardly test
really be lost. Ivanchuk, who would of course
b) 31..9e5+ 32 &xf4 Nd3+ have played 35 We8+ g7 36
33 &xe3 Kh6+ 34 &f3 Ef8+ 35 Wxe5+ taking the bishop with
g4 Hxe2 36 Wxd3 Exb2 37 check.
Lc4+ h8 38 h4 gives White a 35 K{fs! £16
winning advantage. Kramnik is running short of
30 22 Hd1! reasonable moves as 35...e377
Again Kramnik makes the best drops the rook after 36 WdS+ and
of his chances. Instead 30...2f4? 35...3 36 Lxg6 e3 37 Wes+ is
fails to 31 Wxe5 Dxe2 32 L xe2 also winning comfortably for
Zxb2 33 We6+ and Black is lost. White.
Also inadequate is 30...&xh2 36 Lxed
31 Exd2 (31 g3!?) 31..Hxd2+ 32 Black could now have resigned
el e3 33 Wes+ g7 34 Wxe3 with a clear conscience.
when Black’s position is 36 .. Zxh2
prospectless. 37 a4 Nes
31 Hel X8d2+? 38 a$ f3
A time trouble error. Now after 39 a6 Zh1+
the exchange of a pair of rooks 40 42 1-0
Black cannot put up much resis- Kramnik lost on time but there
tance as his attacking chances are was no hope left.
Modem chess games are more many games decided in the ten-
combative and messy than they sion of zeitnot? 1 think that the
were a generation or so ago. answer lies in that most ambi-
Rather than defend passively in tious young pretenders put tre-
inferior positions, = modem mendous effort into their games
grandmasters prefer to sacrifice to find new ideas and difficult
material to mix it and create con- moves to test their opponents.
fusion. Here Kramnik’s queen This of course takes deep analysis
sacrifice was justified in practical at every stage of the game, a
terms but he (again!) spoilt his process that enables them to find
chances in time trouble, another sensational moves but is time-
typical feature of modem chess. consuming. One ill-considered
Why, you may ask, are so move can be fatal.
Game Twenty-Two
Evgeny Bareev-Zbynek Hracek
Pardubice 1994
Overall, the Russian grandmaster 3..2b4), and retains more fa-

Evgeny Bareev has had a disap- vourable options against both
pointing year. He did fairly well 3...c5 (the Benoni) and in some
in Linares but finished last in lines after 3...d5 (Queen’s Gam-
Novgorod and Madrid. His poor bit).
form has seen him slip from an Some players prefer to avoid
established top-ten spot in 1993 the Nimzo-Indian with 3 &f3, but
to a lowly 22nd in the September then after 3...d5 exchange varia-
Intel rankings. tions (an early cxd5 by White)
His best efforts of 1994 were are considered less favourable for
second at Tilburg and sole winner the first player. This is essentially
of a category XV in the Czech because, after an early &f3 by
Republic. I anticipate that he will White, Black usually has enough
regain ground in 1995 as he is time to develop his queen’s
probably the most underrated bishop to f5, an important step on
2600+ player at present. the road to equality.
3 ds
1 d4 &6 4 cxd5 Dxd5!?
2 c4 eb More usual is 4...exd5 and after
3 &e3 5 2g5 KeT7 6 €3 c6 (6..815?
By playing the text White indi- loses a pawn to 7 £2xf6 £.xf6 8
cates that he is not afraid of Wb3) 7 Wc2 Black has not been
meeting the Nimzo-Indian (after able to develop his bishop to f5.
If instead 7 &f3?! (which can queenside into play.

transpose from 3 &Hf3 d5 4 cxds, 13 .. b6
etc.) then Black can safely de- 14 We2
velop his queen’s bishop with
7.. 815,
5 e4 Nxe3
6 bxc3 c5 // 11
7 a3!
The routine 7 &f3 transposes
el
to the main line of the Queen’s
Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch
Defence where Black can sim-
plify with 7...cxd4 8 cxd4 £bd+
9 Ld2 £xd2+ 10 Wxd2 0-0 and
White has a fairly difficult task
proving an opening advantage.
By preventing ..2b4+ White White avoids the threatened
retains the dark-squared bishops 14...8.a6, exchanging bishops.
and thus extra attacking potential. 14 .. L.b7
7 .. fe7 Hracek, the present champion
8 &f3 0-0 of the Czech Republic, develops
9 Q2d3 cxd4 ‘naturally’ but slips into a passive
10 cxd4 AT position. Instead 14..2b87!
11 £h2 Was+ (insisting on ...&a6) could have
Hracek again aims for ex- been considered, but 15 hS h6 16
changes. Here 12 Wd2 Wxd2+ 13 #e5 makes Black’s plan look
&xd2 looks marginally better for dangerously slow.
White who can put his king on The best move was the surpris-
the e3 square, supporting his ing 14...8.¢5(!), as after 15 dxc5?
centre, and hope to use his slight Black has 15..Hxd3! grabbing
space advantage to engineer a the initiative (as 16 Wxd3?? loses
timely d4-dS, etc. However to 16...82a6). Critical is 15 d5
Bareev prefers to play for the at- &e7 as White has been forced to
tack! advance the d-pawn prematurely
12 2f1!1? Hds and its not clear that he can
13 h4 maintain his centre.
The logical follow-up to his 15 Edi 218
last move. The rook will enter the Obviously 15...2xa3?? loses to
fray by Eh3 and the h-pawn can 16 Hal so the a-pawn remains
be used to force concessions. defended by tactical means.
Black is behind in development, 16 Eh3 Hac8
hence his desire to bring his Black is now fully mobilized
but he lacks counterplay as there 20 .. d4

are no obvious targets in the Giving back the superfluous
white position. pawn for some breathing space.
17 &gl It’s hard to suggest a defence
An instructive move. Bareev against the plan of #f3-d4, Eh3-
first removes his own king from g3, We2-g4 and then eS5-e6 or
any potential checks before &#d4-f5. Hracek is probably al-
launching his attack. ready lost!
17 .. &He7 21 DHxd4 WdS
Perhaps 17..5b8!? 18 We3 22 Hg3 AT
£2a6 19 £b1 WbS, trying to keep After 22..&h8 I think that 23
White occupied, offered better Hel! (rather than 23 e6?! Xd6!
chances of a successful defence. which is less clear) is strongest,
18 hS hé first supporting the e-pawn with
ideas of Wgd4 and again &fS or
e6.
23 M5 &h8
23..We6 may have been the
original intention but then 24
Hxg7+! Kxg7 25 Wgd &8 26
Wxg7+ &e8 leaves White with
several ways to win. Perhaps the
most sadistic is 27 Wh7! with the
idea that 27..Wd5 is met by the
crushing 28 e6(!).
24 Dxhe6!
Picking off a pawn as the
White has built up a nice- knight cannot be safely captured.
looking position but how does he 24 .. We6
progress? After 24...gxh6 25 Wg4! is the
19 dS! exdS clearest (25 e6+ also wins but
20 e5 unnecessarily prolongs the
The d-pawn blocks the influ- game), e.g. 25...f6 26 ¢6 Wg5 27
ence of no less than four black £ xf6+! concludes neatly.
pieces and is in effect a hindrance After the text White can of
for the defender. Compare this course play 25 &f5, with his
position with that arising if booty intact, but who could resist
Bareev had played 19 e5? where the following line?
the bishop on b2 would be 25 OHxf7+! Wxf7
blocked out of play and Black 26 €6
would have access to the d5 White is a piece down but look
square. at the effectiveness of his army!
26 .. W4 Wxh6+ or 30..Ed6 31 e8W+, etc.

Hopeless for Black are 30 Wxh6+ Lxh6
26..We7 27 Wed and 26..Wg8 31 e7 Eds
27 h6 Dd4 28 hxg7+ fxg7 29 31...Bd6 was slightly more ro-
Wh5+. bust but after 32 £f5! Black’s
27 he! Hd4 position still collapses.
After 27..Wxh6 White has 28 32 Red 1-0
Hh3. A good example of the power
28 hxg7+ Sxg7 of two bishops directed at the
29 Wh5+ Whé opposing king. Note the impor-
29...8h6 is despatched by 30 tance of 7 a3! and 12 &fl in
e7 as Black cannot defend all of avoiding exchanges that could
the squares e8, d4 and h6, e.g. blunt the power of the attack.
30..He8 31 fxd4+ Wxd4 32
Game Twenty-Three
Garry Kasparov-Alexei Shirov
Horgen 1994
The Horgen (near Zurich) Mas- 5 4&He3 AN

ters saw Kasparov in impressive 6 Hdbs deé
form, comfortably outclassing his 7 Lf4 e5
closest rivals. Gelfand lost four I have already outlined some of
games, Shirov was effective the typical ideas in this variation
against the lower-ranking partici- elsewhere, and this is the key
pants but also lost to Lautier, a move that sets the scene; Black
game which was awarded the ‘weakens’ d5 but stakes a claim
brilliancy prize. However, the on some central dark squares.
following game involves a pro- White typically exchanges his
found exchange sacrifice, the dark-squared bishop for the
study of which is a must for seri- king’s knight in order to obtain a
ous students of chess. In fact it firm grip on d5 and then Black
seems that Shirov’s aggressive tries to use his bishop pair to play
attacking style lends itself to around White’s outpost.
brilliant games for both himself 8 Lg5 a6
and his opponent! 9 &Ha3l b5
10 &d5 Ke7
1 ed c5 11 2xf6 R2xf6
2 o913 e6 12 ¢3
3 d4 cxd4 The knight presently sidelined
4 &Hxd4 &HF6 on a3 will be centralized to e3 to
support its colleague. 15 Hce3 HA7 16 Wxad 0-0 17

12 .. £b7 Bd1 £g5 18 Wc2 95 19 &5 g6
Kasparov has certainly been 20 b4! with complications in
tested in the Sveshnikov variation which Black had to be careful to
of the Sicilian; only one month hold his own.
ecarlier in Novgorod his labours 15 .. Hd7
had paid off with an astonishing 16 Hb4!
win against Kramnik (see game An interesting new idea which
20) who castled in this position. sets difficult practical problems
Shirov, who was present there, for his opponent.
had already played this variation 16 .. NesS?!
on several previous occasions, so Not best but a move that re-
who would be first to come up quires a Kasparov to show us
with a new idea? why. After the game Shirov re-
13 D2 b8 gretted his choice and instead
At first sight a surprising re- proposed 16...Ha7, while Black
treat but Black also intends to can also consider the more con-
improve the position of his knight ventional 16...Hb8.
by coming to d7 and then either
b6 or f6 (to challenge White’s
control of d5) or even the more 2, Z
active c5 square, hitting e4.

Inferior is 13..%e7
White to favourably switch plans
allowing &k ~ 7
with 14 Hxf6+ gxf6 15 £d3 and % % %

Black has no compensation for an
inferior pawn-structure.
To2
14 a4!
The most critical continuation.
A Wikt
Less testing is the plan tried by
Anand against Nunn from this
year’s Melody Amber tournament 17 Hxb7!!
in Monaco: 14 g3 intending An astonishing exchange sac-
fce3, hd, 2h3 etc, when Black rifice that wouldn’t even have
had time to get his pieces reor- crossed the mind of the vast ma-
ganized. jority of grandmasters.
14 bxad4 17 .. Hxb7
15 Hxad 18 b4
Kasparov would have known A necessary move that severely
of Shirov’s games in this line in- restricts the black knight. In fact
cluding Zapata-Shirov, Manila the black rooks and minor pieces
Olympiad 1992, which continued have few prospects whilst White
has a bind on the light squares in 23..2d8 will observe the h-

general, and d5 in particular. pawn from afar but is likely to
Kasparov is playing for the qual- upset his own knight, which is
ity of his pieces compared with robbed of its only square(!), and
those of his adversary, but does after 24 g3 followed by 25 0-0
he have enough long-term com- Black will be in an even more
pensation for the exchange? trussed-up condition.
18 .. g5 24 &Hcb6 Ha2
19 %a3 25 0-0
Heading for c4. The white king It’s rare to see grandmasters
is not really in danger so there is castle so late in such a combative
no hurry to castle, but it is cer- opening, but White’s king has
tainly time for the Latvian mon- had few worries until now and
arch to flee because it’s necessary the extra tempo has been more
to open lines for the rooks. usefully spent reinforcing the
19 .. 0-0 bind.
20 Ded as Of course 25 &d7? fails to win
Many players would have been back material after 25...Wa7.
tempted by 20...f5?!, but after 21 25 .. Hd2
£d3 White has all the answers: 26 W¥mf3 Wa7
21...f4 22 Wg4 and Black’s f-file Preparing to finally centralize
demonstration has not helped his with ...2)d8-e6.
rook but only further compro- 27 &Hd7
mised the light squares; 21...g6
‘maintaining the tension’ is fol- 7
lowed by 22 exf5 gxf5 23 h4!
£h6 24 £.xf5! only helping to
generate an attack for White, and
wANNHTE L
% 4 Y
21..fxe4 22 fKxe4d
added tactical chances but only
Lh6 gives
B po .
for the first player.
21 R2d3 axb4
22 cxb4 Wh8
Black gives himself the option
of ...22b7-d8-e6. The ‘long’ move
22...Ha2 at least activates a piece
but Black lacks any targets after, Later analysis suggested that
say, 23 0-0 Wa8 24 Hcb6 Wa3 25 Kasparov should have played 27
sc4 Ed2 26 Wg4 with a clear £b5 when Black’s best could be
advantage for White according to the paradoxical 27..Exd5!? 28
Kasparov. Dxd5 9d8 followed by 29...5e6
23 h4 $.hé with a reasonable game (although
White’s b-pawn still enables him process allows Black to activate

to claim an edge, e.g. 29 Wg4 his remaining pieces with good
2e6 30 £d47! followed by 31 b5; play.
here the bishop cannot be taken 28 Hxf8 &xf8
as 30...¥xd7 is met by 31 £f6+). 29 bSs Wa3?!
27...Hd8 is worse because 28 White keeps good winning
L£c6! (28 De7+?! would be less chances even after the more accu-
accurate as after 28...2f8 29 £.c4 rate 29..Wd4 30 Ed1 Exd1+ 31
d5! 30 RKxd5 %d6 White's Wxdl De6 32 Wb1! Hcs5 33 L2
knights lose their harmony) keeps and the b-pawn is a menace to
Black tied up and threatens 29 Shirov.
NeT+ I8 30 £d5. Centralizing the knight is too
Another try is 27..2)d8 28 slow: 29..2e6 30 b6 Wb7 be-
DA7 De6 29 DeT+ £h8 30 Dxf8 cause of 31 Hal Hd4 32 Wh5
Wxe7 31 Dxe6 Wxe6 32 £c6 with the threat of 33 Ha7.
when Black is still on the defen- 30 WfS! eS8
sive but the presence of opposite- Capturing the rook allows a
coloured bishops guarantees rea- forced mate after 31 Wd7.
sonable drawing chances. Kas- 31 f£c4 Ec2
parov judges this as only slightly After 31..Wc5 White can
better for White. calmly capture on h7 for the same
27 .. d8? reason.
It is out of character for Alexei 32 Wxh7! Exc4
Shirov to play so passively. 33 WS+ &d7
27..Ha8! was best as 28 34 Db6+
De7+?! Ph8 29 Wxf7 is unsound The fork yields a decisive gain
after 29...Exd3 30 &8 Wa2! (the of material.
rook has to be on a8 to permit 34 .. Le7
this clever defence). Then White 35 &Hxcd WS
is worse after 31 Peg6+ hxg6 32 36 Ha1l Wd4
Dxgb+ ¥h7 33 Hf8+ Exf8! 36...Wxc4 is met by 37 Ha7+
(33...%h8 is equal) 34 Wxa2 Ed2 Pe6 38 Wes+ Hf6 39 Wxd8+,
35 Wa7 Ef7! (when I prefer etc.
Black despite the miserable 37 Ea3 Lcl
knight) or 31 Wf5 g6 32 Hfxg6+ 38 SDe3! 1-0
&g7! (Gavrikov’s move). An elegant finish. Now if
Instead 28 L.c4! (28 ATb6?! is 38...&xa3 then 39 &f5+ picks up
best met by 28...Wa3! as 29 £xa8 the queen and 38...g6 can be dealt
Hxd3 favours Black) looks the with by 39 &d5+ &d7 40 Ea8
best to me when 28..4d8 29 with a quick mate. Vintage Kas-
A5b6 Hd4! allows White to win parov.
back the exchange but in the
6 Open Tournaments
Nowadays, there are of course hundreds of international open tourna-

ments each year, particularly in Europe where the travel infrastructure
is so sophisticated. Here I have concentrated on the results of the top
36 opens with more or less a conventional (rather than rapidplay)
‘slow’ time limit. This is a subjective choice based on the number of
participating grandmasters, each star indicating ten or more GMs, e.g.
no star tournaments aren’t featured, Linares open had at least ten but
not as many as twenty, Seville twenty-odd, etc.
I don’t claim the list to be complete as the reporting of results from
some countries is poor, so I should apologize to disappointed organiz-
ers and sponsors but do suggest that they better publicize their events. I
also believe that all international opens should be classified according
to my star system and therefore be allowed to advertize as a one-star
open if the previous year they had, say, twelve GMs. This system im-
mediately indicates the approximate strength of a tournament (without
having to go into detail) and (ideally, from a personal point of view!)
may encourage organizers to invite more grandmasters to get into the
next star-category.
* Linares (Spain), January

7Y2/9 P.Svidler
The start of a good year for Peter Svidler who went on to win the
Russian championship and later represented his country in the Moscow
Olympiad.
** Seville (Spain), January

7219 K.Spraggett, M.Suba, A Miles
Kevin Spraggett is the Canadian No.1 but he now lives in Portugal
as he has a Portuguese wife. After flirting with the delights of Lewi-
sham and Sunderland (in England), Mihai Suba now lives in Palma de
Mallorca in the Spanish Ballearic islands. Tony Miles from Birming-
ham (England’s most widely-travelled player) registered excellent re-
sults all over the world in 1994.
* Geneva (Switzerland), January

7/9 I.Khenkin
Khenkin is an ex-Soviet now resident in Israel.
** Reykjavik (Iceland), February

7/9 V.Zviaginsev, H.Stefansson, E.Pigusov
At first sight, slightly surprising winners in such a strong open but
Zviaginsev represented the successful Russia II team in Moscow (on
board two) and is not yet twenty!
** Swiss Volksbank, Bern (Switzerland), February

7Y%2/9 B.Gulko
7 M.Wahls, I.Novikov, A.Sokolov, V.Milov, V.Eingorn,
K.Lerner, O.Cvitan, J.Hodgson, S.Dolmatov
A victory for experience and the favourite. The following group in-
cluded three Ukrainians, which had more than passing significance in
Bern, as there were extra prizes for teams of four from the same coun-
try.
* Cannes (France), February
7/9 O.Renet
After Lautier and Spassky, Olivier Renet is the French No.3. This
was an excellent result for the tall Parisian who became a father for the
first time shortly afterwards.
*** Cappelle la Grande (France), February

7/9 V.Chuchelov, A.Miles, G.Kuzmin, M.Hebden
The strongest French open is noted for its excellent hospitality.
Chuchelov even lost in the last round to Hebden but still won on
‘buchholz’. He is an ex-Soviet IM now playing under Belgian colours.
* Bad Worishofen (Germany), March

8/9 E.Magerramov
A big winning score for the Azerbaijani.
* Bled (Slovenia), March

72/9 M.Cebalo, I.Lempert
Away from the war zone Slovenia is starting to organize some inter-
esting tournaments. In fact the tradition for chess organization contin-
ues despite austere economic conditions in much of the former Yugo-
slavia.
** Petroff Memorial, Saint Petersburg (Russia), Feb/March

6'2/9 V.Zviaginsev, V.Akopian, G.Serper, P.Svidler, J.Ehlvest
All ex-Soviets who participated for five different teams in the Mos-
cow Olympiad! (respectively Russia II, Armenia, Uzbekistan, Russia I,
Estonia).
* Oslo (Norway), April

7/9 I.Smirin, G.Serper
Another equal first for the Uzbeki Serper. Smirin, who vies with
Yudasin as the top Israeli player, had a particularly good year in the
Inte] Grand Prix (see Chapter 4).
*** New York (USA), April

7219 J.Ehlvest, L.Oll
7/9 J.Benjamin, Y.Grunfeld, A.Ivanov, G.Kaidanov,
E.Lobron, A.Shabalov, P.Wolff
The Estonian duo picked up the mega-bucks in the first of the two
American super-tournaments.
* Ibercajo, Zaragoza (Spain), April

72/9 R.Pogorelov
At 2415 Pogorelov was the year’s lowest rated player to win a nine
round * tournament outright.
* National Open, Las Vegas (USA), April/May

51%:/6 W.Browne, G.Kaidanov, V.Akopian, J.Ehlvest,
A.Mortazavi
A career-best result for the British chess journalist Ali Mortazavi
who was born in Iran.
* Two Rivers, Passau (Germany), April

6/7 A.Kovalev, P.Schlosser, O.Vasilchenko, G.Siegel,
N.Vlassov
These last two results suggest that in an open, six or seven games
aren’t enough! The smaller the number of rounds (and the larger the
field) the more likely the smaller fry can wriggle through to the lead.
* Arnold Cup, Gausdal (Norway), April

72/9 E.Schmittdiel
The Dortmunder recently obtained the grandmaster title after many
years trying for elusive norms.
** Neptune Trophy, Cattolica (Italy), May

72/9 V.Malaniuk, A.Onischuk
A Ukrainian double-act.
* Ljubljana (Slovenia), June

72/9 E.Sveshnikov, S.Zagrebelny, P.Tregubov
Evgeny Sveshnikov is something of a living legend, having given
his name to one of the most critical lines of the Sicilian. The other two
winners are less well known, but hail from Uzbekistan and Russia re-
spectively.
**** World Open, Philadelphia, (USA), June/July

712/9 L.van Wely, A. Minasian
The strongest (non-rapidplay) open of the year is appropriately
named, as it is the only **** event in my ranking system. The Ameri-
cans finished well down the field this year enabling “Lucky Loek” van
Wely from the Netherlands and the debonair Armenian Minasian to
take the honours.
* Oberwart (Austria), July

8/9 K.Landa
Another Russian victory!
* Dresden (Germany), July

7Y2/9 K.Chernyshov
And another!!
* Benasque (Spain), July

712/9 L.Psakhis, B.Lalic
A good year for the Croat Lalic who became a father for the first
time in February 1994.
* Bismarck Open, Pardubice (Czech Republic), July

7219 M .Krasenkov, S.Kiselev
The farther east one goes, the more likely the Soviet school of chess
is to dominate.
** Biel (Switzerland), July

812/11 U.Adianto
8 A.Chermnin, U.Andersson, V.Tkachiev, L.Gutman
It was surprising to see Ulf Andersson playing in some open tour-
naments this year, after many years of almost exclusive attention to

top-level round-robins, but obviously his ‘let’s play the ending’ style
works well enough even there. Adianto had a purple patch this sum-
mer, following up this victory with a high placing (and qualification
for the London Intel Grand Prix) in London’s Lloyds Bank open one
month later.
* Leeuwarden (Netherlands), July/August

7/9 A.Kharlov, Y.Yakovich
The Russian duet finished ahead of many well-known and higher-
rated grandmasters.
* Kstovo (Russia), August

712/9 V.Loginov
Another Uzbeki success.
* Mondariz (Spain), July/August

719 G.Georgadze, V.Dimitrov
This is the young Georgadze who played in the Georgian team in
Moscow. The elder T.Georgadze (responsible for the Georgadze sys-
tem in the Modern Defence) is now inactive in chess but a successful
businessman.
* Porto San Giorgio (Italy), August

7/9 V.Malaniuk, G.Sax
Sax has dropped down the rating list and out of the limelight in re-
cent years but is still active.
* Lost Boys, Antwerp (Belgium), August

712/9 van der Sterren
In the first round Paul van der Sterren was the only grandmaster not
to win, but after that there was no stopping the mild-mannered Dutch-
man who works on the editorial staff of the highly-respected New In
Chess magazine.
* Dutch Open, Amsterdam (Netherlands), August

7219 A.Huzman
Another Ukrainian victory, the second most successful nation in
open tournaments (after Russia) in 1994.
*** Lloyds Bank, London (England), August

912/10 A .Morozevich
8 R.Mainka
T2 U.Adianto, R.Akesson, T.Markowski, A.Miles,
D.Norwood, J.Nunn, V.Tkachiev, P.Wells
The best individual performance of the year from the ‘young’ Russia
team (Moscow Olympiad) board one.
** Berlin (Germany), August

7Y2/9 G.Kuzmin, M.Wahls, V.Mikhalevski, V.Komliakov,
V.Chuchelov, O.Nikolenko,V.Eingorn, A.Kharlov
The least decisive result of the year!
* Pula (Croatia), October

7/9 V.Tukmakov
The experienced Ukrainian is particularly active in the stronger
opens.
** Cap D’Agde (France), October/November

7/9 L.Gofshtein
612 A.Nenashev, L.Oll, I.Smirin, I.Novikov, A.Vyzmanavin,
L.Psakhis, N.Rashkovsky, G.Georgadze, M.Palac
Gofshtein (yet another Israeli!) had a winning streak at the end to
overtake a fistful of heavyweight names.
* Vienna (Austria), November

72/9 S.Kindermann, P.Blatny
Kindermann is in most respects German but he has an Austrian
passport. Blatny is Czech and has made progress with good results in
several opens this year.
* Madrid (Spain), November

729 E.Ubilava
The Georgian grandmaster is resident in Spain and is Anand’s
trainer.
The countries that hosted the most star tournaments were as follows:
6 Spain
4 Germany
3 USA, Switzerland, France
The most successful countries were (giving one point for an outright
victory, half for a two-way tie, a third for a three-way, etc.) as follows:
1st Russia
2nd Ukraine
3rd Israel
4th Uzbekistan
Sth Germany
The ex-Soviet players obtained about three-quarters of the first
places in this year’s star opens, a remarkably high percentage.
Game Twenty-Four
Anthony Miles-Nino Kirov
Cappelle la Grande 1994
Tony Miles has been both very 1 d4 ds

active and very successful in 2 c4 c6
opens throughout the world over 3 Hf3 &6
the past couple of decades and 4 &HcA3 dxc4
has shown even renewed enthusi- 5 a4
asm this year. His style is flexible The main line of the Slav De-
and he adapts well to different fence. The text move deters ...b7-
circumstances. I would summa- b5 and enables White to win back
rize his qualities as: the c-pawn. The drawback is the
a) he avoids lines where his weakening of the b4 square.
opponent will feel comfortable; 5 .. Kf5
b) he picks the appropriate type 6 &Des
of position depending upon the Most common is 6 e3, intend-
style of his opponent; ing to capture on c4 with the
and ¢) he has an iron will to bishop, when play typically con-
win. tinues as follows: 6...e6 7 f.xc4
These are the necessary quali- £.b4 8 0-0 ©bd7 when Black has
ties to win opens. active piece play and access to b4
Miles often uses offbeat open- but White has potential in the
ings and ideas to destabilize his centre with a well-timed e3-e4,
opponents (a few years ago he etc.
won with Black against Karpov 6 .. Hbd7
after meeting 1 e4 with 1...a6) but 7 SHxcd Hb6?!
he quite frequently switches to The Bulgarian has in fact
positional grinding mode as here played this suspect move before
in our main game. and is evidently not keen on en-
tering the normal variations fol- This was in fact successfully

lowing 7..Wc7 8 g3 e5 9 dxeS played by Kozul against Kirov in
2xeS 10 L4 Hfd7. Novi Sad 1992: 14...%0c5 15 Wc2
8 &Qes a5 e5? (too slow; 15..Whd+ 16 g3
The two most active practitio- Wf6 is playable) 16 £e3 Lf7 17
ners of this line are father and 2d1 Wbe (17..9f6 18 Hb5!) 18
son, Nino Kirov and Kiro Ninov 2bs! Hc8 19 HEd6! £b3 20 W3
(Bulgarians and Icelanders and Black resigned.
change surnames to a derivative 14 Lc5
of their fathers Christian name!) The exchange of dark-squared
Here they used to play 8...e6 but bishops would seem to take the
there is always the danger of a sting out of the position, but if we
timely a-pawn advance, for in- concentrate on the respective
stance 9 a5!? £bd7 10 a6 desta- pawn structures, Black has three
bilizing the Black queenside pawn islands (against White’s
pawns. two) and the solid structure e4,
9 f3 f3, g2 keeps Black’s bishop out
In a more recent game 9 g3 e6 of play. Miles therefore happily
10 g2 £b4 11 0-0 0-0 12 e3 h6 accepts simplification because he
13 We2 2h7 14 Edl gave White is able to maintain a structural
a pleasant edge in Kramnik advantage.
Short, Novgorod 1994. 15 R{xc§ HxcS
9 .. oHta7 16 KRc4 Wxd1+
10 SHxd7 17 <oxd1!
10 &)d3!? makes sense, keep- The king is well-placed on c2,
ing the tension. Miles instead covering the queenside.
plays to restrict the bishop on f8. 17 .. Hd8+
10 .. Hxd7 18 2¢2 Le7
11 ed Lg6 19 Hhdl eS
12 d5!1?
After a routine move like 12
Ke3 Black can play 12...e6 fol-
lowed by the comfortable devel-
opment of the king’s bishop. Af-
ter the text, Black can move his
/%
e-pawn only at the cost of obtain-
ing an isolated pawn.
12 eS
13 dxe6 fxeb
14 Re3
The move that first catches the
eye is 14 Wb3, hitting two pawns.
White would like to probe the 29 Hdé+ A7

black pawn structure by putting 30 SHhe+ g7
pressure on e5 and aS, and this 31 Hgd Ko7
can be best achieved by bringing 32 h4!
his knight to the c4 square hitting Bringing up the reserves.
both weak pawns and some other 32 .. 18
sensitive squares, b6 and d6. After 32..h5 33 &Of2! (on 33
Miles now goes about achieving 9e3 the combative 33...b5 keeps
this plan in a single-minded man- White out of c4) 32...2f7 34 £)d3
ner. g7 35 &bl! and Black is in
20 Hxd8 zugzwang: 35..&f7 allows the
The text liberates the d1 square simplifying 36 Exd7+! Exd7 37
ready for the manoeuvre &c3-d1- @Dxe5+ and 35..c5 fails to 36
e3-c4, but Miles keeps one pair of @b2! coming to c4 (this is why
rooks as this enhances his win- the king side-stepped to b1 rather
ning chances. than b2). Otherwise 35...b5 36
20 .. Hxds axbS cxb5 37 Ed5 allows White
21 &Hd1! £f7 to win at least a pawn.
22 He3 Leb6 Another plan (after 32...h5) is
23 fxe6 Fxeb to play &gd-f2-h3-g5 with un-
24 &4 pleasant threats.
Now that the black rook has to 33 hS! Fe7
take up a passive role Miles takes After 33..gxh5 then 34 Hh6
control of the d-file. heading for f5. With the knight
24 ... Ha8 on this square Black’s three iso-
25 b3 &Hd7 lated kingside pawns are all in
26 Edi danger.
Kirov covers all the weak
points except one (the d6é square)
but one chink is all that Miles
needs to get inside the Bulgar-
ian’s armour.
26 .. Ha7
Not 26...g67 as 27 Ed6+ Fe7
28 Hxd7+! wins a piece after
28...xd7 29 Db6+.
27 &dé b6
Again 27...g67 is not possible:
28 Dc8 Ha8 29 Hde+ &f7 30
Hxd7+ @e8 31 £b6 winning.
28 o5 g6 Has Kirov finally been able to
Hanging on for dear life! force Miles’s pieces to retreat?
34 hxg6! then win he must time a knight

It seems not! sally on the queenside, e.g.
34 .. Lxd6 44..&f6 45 &£d3 g5 46 Hc3
Hopeless is 34...hxg6 after 35 2f6 47 HA6!? Dd4 48 Hcd
Hxg6, etc. Dxf3 49 Dxb6 DgS 50 Ded
35 gxh7 Hc8 Dxed+ 51 c2 Dxg3 52 Dxas
36 Dh6 c5 53 @b7 and the a-pawn yields
There are two threats: 37 &g8 a decisive advantage for the first
followed by queening and varia- player.
tions based on 37 h8¥ Hxh8 38 39 . Dxed?
&f7+; Black cannot defend This wins back the lost pawn
against both. but is too slow.
36 .. &Hfe 40 fxed &f6
The best practical chance. 41 &c3
37 h8¥W Hxh8 1-0
38 &1+ eb Now that the time control has
39 &Hxh8 been reached Kirov -calculated
The combination has resulted that further resistance was hope-
in the winning of a pawn, quite less, e.g. 41...2g7 42 b4! axbd+
enough to win in the long term in 43 &xb4 &£xh8 44 a5 bxaS+ 45
such an ending. A logical con- Pxas g7 46 Lb6 6 47 xcb
tinuation such as 39..%5h5 40 g5 48 &d6 2f4 49 &d5 and
D\g6 &f6 41 Hha D4 42 Bd2 White wins. A fine example of
g5 43 g3 De6 44 HF5 allows top grandmaster technique.
White to consolidate. In order to
Game Twenty-Five
Sergel Tiviakov-Gyozo Forintos
Porto San Giorgio 1994
The next game entails a clash of has the reputation of being a

generations. Tiviakov, one of the rather drawish opening. It’s true
best of the new generation with that if White is not in fighting
recent experience of the PCA mood then this isn’t the most ag-
Candidates, against Forintos, who gressive way of seeking to com-
was a leading member of the plicate the game.
Hungarian team before his Gyozo Forintos (who is inci-
younger opponent was even born. dentally the father-in-law of
1 e4 es English grandmaster Tony Kos-
2 &9f3 &fe ten) resides in Budapest, Hun-
The Petroff Defence, which gary. Apart from his experiences
over the board and as Hungary’s Murey’s idea is that after 6 £d3
captain he has written several then 6...e4 enables Black to win
books, the most notable being on back his piece without any prob-
the Petroff Defence! lems. Critical is 6 £g5 Wd6
3 d4 (Murey played the less active
One of the reasons that the Pet- 6...Wd7 against Timman) 7 dxe5!
roff is not in the repertoire of (7 £.d3 e4 8 &Hc3 exd3 9 0-0 a6
many attacking players is the 10 Wxd3 f6 has been shown to
continuation 3 &xe5 d6 4 Hf3 only yield equal chances)
Dxe4 5 We2 We7 6 d3 D6 with 7..Wbd+ 8 Hc3 dxed4 9 a3 Was
a symmetrical position and dull and now following either 10 &d2
equality. or 10 £d4 Black has to be very
3 . xed careful.
4 Ld3 &c6!? 6 Lxh7!?
This astounding move cannot Grabbing a pawn but permit-
be found in any of the traditional ting the veteran Hungarian a
books on the Petroff. I was there strong initiative.
when Jacob Murey unleashed it 6 .. Exh7
against Timman in a French 7 dxe5 Rg4
League game, Strasbourg 1993. 8
K2f4 Wd7
He was so proud of his remark- Black has adequate compensa-
able novelty that he was inviting tion due to his bishop pair, free
people to look at his board whilst piece play and the semi-open h-
Timman was deep in thought, file. The question arises as to how
contemplating the consequences and where the white king will
of his temporary piece sacrifice! seek a safe haven.
Unfortunately (for the eccentric 9 Hbd2 WS
genius Murey) Timman kept his 10 $£g3 0-0-0
cool and steered the game into a 11 00
favourable ending which he won. White has little choice. Despite
Despite the result, yet another of the risks on the kingside there is
Murey’s ideas had found its way no other way of developing satis-
onto the chess scene. During factorily.
tournaments, Murey ‘who 11 .. Lc5
breathes, eats and sleeps chess’, 12 a3 £b6
can be found analysing chess 13 b4 Whs
non-stop for hours with anyone at Forintos, for all his activity,
any hour! He 1is in effect, has yet to achieve anything con-
‘married’ to chess, the love of his crete for the pawn. However most
life! players, given the choice, would
5§ Qxe4 d5 prefer to play with the black
The principal point behind pieces as the initiative persists.
tive despite the simplifying ex-

changes.
9K 18 &Hxgd Kxf3
22X
1x itk
1% 19 Exf3
Tiviakov could equally have
y f&}%/ _,,//@ ///A played 19 Wxf3 but not 19
D B )
w I e
Hxh5? Lxdl1 20 Exd1 Exh5 and
Black has an extra piece. The
Hungarian finally wins back the
|1Al gambit pawn.
19 .. Wxh2+
BT R 20 &Ml g6
A cautious move, defending
14 Hel?! the f7 pawn and controlling the f5
Evidently not 14 h3?? due to square. Black has the better mi-
14...£.xh3 15 gxh3 Wxh3 16 Hh2 nor piece and the safer king.
Wxg3+ and mates. However, I 21 Ed3
prefer 14 c3! to the text, prevent- White has two reasonable al-
ing 14...d4 because of 15 c4 and ternatives: 21 e6, opening lines
stopping the black knight coming for the white rooks, and 21 Xf4!?,
to the d4 square. This move also intending 22 Wf3, which (with
prepares queenside expansion the inevitable benefit of hind-
with a3-a4-a5 and Wb3 or Wa4. sight) may well be tougher to
14 .. &Hd4 crack.
15 a4 a6 21 .. Whd
16 Ha3 22 HxdS
Defending along the third rank. After 22 ¢3 Black can pin with
16 .. Ofs 22..
W c4! intending to double on
17 o5f1 the h-file and 23 e6?! fxe6 24
White cannot preserve his Hxe6 Ef8 then leaves Black with
bishop and hope for a comfort- a strong attack. The plan with e5-
able life: 17 Lf4 g5! 18 fixg5 e6 is less effective when White’s
Eg8 19 £f4 (19 h4?? loses im- rook has already left the f-file.
mediately to 19.. Exg5) 19...2h3 22 .. Wed+
20 g3 (20 £g3? fails to 23 Ed3 Hxd3
20..9xg3 21 hxg3 fLxg2! 22 24 Wxd3 Wxh4
h4 Wxh4! 23 gxh4 Hxhd) 25 e6”!
20..2g4 and the attack is fero- Following 25 Hdi &b8 26
cious. We4 Black does best to keep the
17 .. Dxg3 queens, as 26..Eh4 27 Wxb4
The simplest, winning back the Exb4 is unclear after 28 Ed7. So
pawn and retaining some initia- best is 26..Wc5! keeping the
pressure up. 26 .. Wxg3!

25 W4 Now either capture allows
26 He2? mate in one.
27 He3 Ehl+
White’s last hope was
27...58.xe377? in view of 28 fxg3.
28 De2 Wpd+
0-1
After 29 Ef3 Wxe6+ White
must shed further material.
"
I have an opinion that grand-
2
DY
masters of all strengths have a
certain responsibility to partici-
pate in at least one open tourna-
ment a year. This gives lesser
players the opportunity to play,
An error but the alternative 26 and create upsets against, the top
Wf3 enables Black to win a pawn stars. Playing mixed opposition
by 26...Wxf3 27 gxf3 Eh2! as 28 in a competitive environment is
He2 (neither 28 exf7 Hxf2+ 29 actually a healthy training exer-
&gl Exf3+ 30 g2 Exf7 nor 28 cise, even for the world’s leading
e7 Hxf2+ 29 dgi He2+ 30 &fl players, so my idea isn’t quite so
Exel+ 31 &xel €d7 give any balmy! Perhaps one day it will be
hope) 28...fxe6 29 &gl Eh4 30 an obligation for the top echelon,
Hxe6 Hxad4 31 Exg6 Hcd gives who in this way would be made
the second player a winning to give something back to the
ending. chess world!
Game Twenty-Six
Alexander Morozevich-Margeir Petursson
London (Lloyds Bank) 1994
The best open tournament per- tournament victories in 1994 and

formance of the year was selection as first board for young
achieved by the young Russian Russia (in the Moscow Olym-
Alexander Morozevich, who piad) suggest that he is no flash-
achieved an astonishing 2900+ in-the-pan. His opponent in this
result in London. At the time, the game is an experienced lawyer
17-year-old’s outstanding victory from the country where there is
in the final Lloyds Bank surprised the biggest concentration of
the world, but in fact a string of grandmasters, Iceland (six for a
population of 200,000). he maintains the advantage in the

1 e4 (] centre: 10 gxf3 e5 11 d5 &d4 12
2 4913 AN Le3 g6 13 f4 and White success-
3 £b5 dé fully undermines the knight
4 00 247 (Kotronias-Kuijf, Wijk aan Zee
This move is more trustworthy 1992). Instead of 10...e5 Black
than the 4..2g4 that was unsuc- could try 10..dS5 intending 11
cessfully employed by Tiviakov Nc3 (11 e5 Dd7 12 e6!? is inter-
against Adams (see Chapter 2). esting) 11...e6 12 £.g5 dxe4.
5 Hel &\f6 10 e5 Ng8
6 3 a6 11 Re3 e6
Putting the question to the 12 a3
bishop now that Black has Taking away the b4 square
avoided any question of doubled from Black and preparing a later
pawns. space-gaining advance b2-b4.
7 Kfl Petursson has achieved a type of
The best move as the two main French Defence position with his
alternatives are less testing: the light-squared bishop outside the
other retreat 7 a4 c4!? 8 d4 pawn chain but he suffers from a
cxd3 9 £g5 e6 10 Wxd3 De5 11 distinct disadvantage in space.
DxeS Lxad 12 HDc4d Lc6 13 12 .. NgeT
&bd2 b5 yields equal chances, as 13 &Hbd2 DS
in Bronstein-Timman, USSR 14 K43 fKe7
1979, and 7 £xc6 Lxc6 8 d4!? The blunder 14...%)fxd4? loses
Sxed 9 Lg5 is a speculative a piece to 15 Rxd4 Hxd4 16
gambit that no longer causes Wad+ when 16...%c6 is met by
problems. The safest Black de- 17 Wxg4.
fence is then 9...£d5 10 Hbd2 e6 15 Wbi Wa7
11 c4 Kxf3 12 Wxf3 cxd4 13 Keeping the tension by over-
Wxb7 Wc8 and White has ade- protecting the f5 square. Instead,
quate play, but after 14 Wb6 (14 capturing the bishop on €3, now
Wf3 Le7 15 &b3 h6 and it was or later, fails to solve Black’s
White who was fighting for problems: he exchanges off
equality in Pedersen-Sher, Farum White’s least effective bishop,
1993) 14..Wc5 15 Wb7 Wcs it is enables White to consolidate the
dead equal; Timoschenko- centre (after the reply fxe3) and
Kupreichik, Ashkabad 1978. White has attacking potential on
7 .. Lg4 the semi-open f-file and bl-h7
8§ d4 cxd4 diagonal.
9 cxd4 ds 16 b4 £h5
After 9..£xf3 White’s pawn White would like to play #d2-
structure is slightly damaged but b3-cS but if the queen’s knight
moves then Black would be able semi-open file.

to break-up the white pawn 19 .. Hac8
structure with ... xf3. Therefore, 20 g4 Dxe3
White should first play 17 h3! 21 fxe3 Lg6
toying with the idea of g2-g4 and 22 f%xg6 hxg6
stopping his opponent from 23 4b3
kingside castling, e.g. 17...0-0? Now the idea behind 17 a2
18 g4! &Hxe3 and White wins a becomes clear: the rook will ar-
pawn with the intermediate 19 rive quickly on the kingside via
£ xh7+ &h8 20 fxe3. After 17 h3 the second rank.
White is better, as it’s hard to 23 . a7
find a reasonable plan for Black. If 23...a57 24 b5 a4? 25 bxc6
wins as the queen is attacked, so
% K A4 % i Tl
first 23..Wc7!? intending 24...a5
is worth considering. Another
idea is to play 23...b6 first of all,
3D
7, = %
stopping the white knight block-
ing the c-file as in the game, then
24 h4 Da7 25 g5 (25 a4!? Dc6
. 26 Zh2 9xb4 27 g5 is an alter-
native method of pursuing the
7 %fifi attack) 25..2b5
Black counter
26 Eh2
chances
gives
but
White’s attack remains danger-
ous.
17 Ea2?! 24 Hes!
Not the most precise, but the Blocking the c-file.
idea behind Morozevich’s alter- 24 .. W6
native plan will become apparent Unappetizing is 24...&xc57! 25
later. bxc5 as Black exchanges off his
17 .. 0-0 best defensive piece and opens
18 h3 the b-file for White’s use.
Too late in the sense that Black 25 a4
feels much more comfortable af- Keeping the knight out of ac-
ter he has succeeded in castling. tion. Now Black’s counterplay
18 .. $h8! comes too slowly and without the
19 En1 help of the sidelined knight.
A paradoxical undeveloping 25 .. b6
move. Morozevich is in fact pre- 26 d3
paring g2-g4 when after Black A more sensible move than
captures on e3 (and White retakes taking the a-pawn, which would
with fxe3) the rook will be on a leave the knight trapped out of
play. In any case, the queenside is mate.

a distraction, the young Russian 31 &Hxh5 Wc6
is really interested in attacking 32 of6+!
the Icelander’s king, Natural and strong as Black
26 .. S8 can hardly play 32...gxf6 as after
27 hd Wd7 33 gxf6 his king is fatally de-
28 g5 Be3 nuded.
32 2.x16
33 gxf6 goé
34 Ec2
A novel way of building a
bridge, e.g. 34..Hc3 35 Wcl
Hxc2 36 Wh6 mating. The most
//:I:?’
75, / testing defence is 34..Wxad4 (in
/ . order to meet 35 Wcl with
35..Wa3) when White should
[ ] continue with 35 Hg2! as the
threat to capture on g6 is very
strong. Black can struggle on
with 35...Hc8 36 Hxg6+! &f8 37
29 hS! Zh6 Le8 38 Eh8+ d7 39 HExc8
Petursson’s had prepared to ANxc8 (39..&xc8? 40 Wcl+ picks
meet 29 Eh2 by 29..¥Wxad4 30 up the rook) 40 Wh7 and the loss
9Hf4 Hxe3, when Black arrives of the f-pawn spells the end for
quickly and it is no longer clear Black.
that White has time to pursue the 34 Wd7?
attack. The text is more incisive. Losing immediately.
29 .. gxh5S 35 Wl 1-0
30 &f4 Hxe3 Black resigned as the rook on
Obviously after 30...g6? White e3 is attacked and dare not move
has 31 &xg6 leading to a swift because of 36 Wh6 mating.
Game Twenty-Seven
Julian Hodgson-Ferdinand Hellers
Leeuwarden 1994
Julian Hodgson has made enor- rather lazy, and now that he
mous strides in the past few years works harder at the game his
and has established himself in the FIDE rating has risen sharply. He
England Olympiad team. He was used to play exclusively offbeat
always considered talented but openings but now switches more
often to mainstream variations. Black; Hodgson-Salov, Wijk aan

As White he is best known for his Zee 1993,
success in revitalizing the hith- 3 ds
erto dull Trompowsky into a dan- 4 f£3 Hf6
gerous weapon. 5 &c3
Ferdinand Hellers was a rising Similar to the game is 5 e4
star in the mid-eighties but sig- when after 5...dxe4 6 Hc3 exf3 7
nificantly reduced his chess- Dxf3 g6 8 fcd Kg7 9 We2 0-0
playing activities due to his 10 0-0-0 c6 11 d5 cxdS 12 Hxd5
studies and has now sought em- &xd5 13 Exd5 White has a
ployment outside of chess. Scan- strong initiative for the pawn.
dinavia is relatively expensive -5 . c5
which makes the task of being a 6 ed!
professional chess-player particu- The most energetic continua-
larly difficult. tion, exploiting his lead in devel-
1 d4 D6 opment to open the centre
2 RKgs Ded quickly.
3
214 6 .. dxed
Julian promoted the outlandish Here 6...cxd4! 7 Wxd4 &c6 8
3 h4!? for a while, a move Kb5 2d7! 9 £xc6 Lxc6 10 e5
scorned by many commentators, @d7 11 0-0-0 e6 represents a
but one which gamered him nu- more solid method of defence.
merous points. Typical after 3 h4 7 dS
is 3...c5!? 4 d5 g6 5 Wd3 Wa5+ 6 A real gambit as Julian expects
Nd2 Hxg5 7hxg5 £g7 8 c3d69 to remain a pawn down until well
e4 $d7 10 a4 Eb8 11 Hcs WcT into the middlegame. However,
12 f4 and White has a space ad- he hopes that his advantage in
vantage as well as the semi-open development will permit his ac-
h-file, as in the last of three(!) tive army to use the open lines to
victories by Julian over the strong create inroads into the black
English international master John camp. The position on the board
Emms. is analogous to a Blackmar-
The reason Julian gave up on 3 Diemer gambit (1 d4 d5 2 &c3
h4 was probably his unfortunate Nf6 3 e4 dxed 4 f3 c5 5 d5) ex-
experience at the hands of Salov: cept that White has the extra
3..d5 4 Dd2 &f5 5 Dxed Lxed move Rcl-f4 which enables him
6 f3 h6! (Black already has a to envisage speedy queenside
comfortable game) 7 fxe4 hxg5 8 castling.
Wd3 e6 9 Wb5+?! &c6 10 Wxb7 7 . exf3
b4 11 W5+ Wd7 12 Wb7 Wcs 8 &Oxf3 g6
13 Wb5+ Wd7 14 Wb7 Wcs 15 9 &HbsS Nab
Wb5+ c6 with advantage to 10 We2!?
piece with 12 c4.

12 dxe6 Wxe6
Natural is 12..2xe6 but 13
Nd6+ Lxd6 14 Exd6 Was 15
We5 wins for White. Black is
_ éif’i//@ // already struggling to defend.
7 13 Wd2 Le7
7,7
/j////M
7
After 13..2d7 14 L5 Ed8 15
£.c4! Black’s defences collapse.
14 Hel ed
\
L //., Hellers must have underesti-

mated the following combination,
which keeps the black king ma-
A dangerous move. More natu- rooned in the centre.
ral, but slower to make contact is 15 Exed! Wxed
10 Sc4 as 10..Rg7 11 We2 0-0 16 &d6+ Kxdé
allows Black to develop more or 17 Wxdé
less harmoniously. In this case, Black’s only problem is that it
White still has irritating pressure is illegal to castle in this position!
for the pawn. White threatens 18 2b5+
10 .. e6? hence Black’s next trying to re-
Losing his sense of danger! strict the white king’s bishop, as
The Swedish tactician could have otherwise 17..8d7 loses the
tried 10...2g7 when after 11 d6 queen after 18 Lxa6 bxa6 19
&dS! (rather than 11..Re6?! 12 Hel.
dxe7 Wxe7 13 £d6 which looks 17 c4
unpleasant for Black) I can’t find
a convincing continuation for
B /
White. Instead of 11 d6, Julian 7
should misplace his opponent’s
king with 11 &d6+! f8 12
% % /, %
Nxc8 Exc8 13 0-0-0; White has
nothing concrete but Black has 5%// i@/%
A
i"
//7//Tom
the awkward task of trying to
‘castle by hand’ on the kingside.
Perhaps he should then continue
with 13...2%8!? to resist the ad-
vance of White’s d-pawn.
The text only open lines for his
T /M
opponent’s attack. 18 Rxcd!
11 0-0-0 b6 Julian isn’t counting material,
After 11...%xd5 White wins a
helpless king. was noted for playing attacks of

18 .. Wxcd similar ferocity, didn’t bother to
19 RKg5 W7 wait for 21...fxe6 22 Wxe6+ &f8
After 19...We6 the game comes 23 2h6+ Wg7 24 Wf6+ e 25
to an abrupt end: 20 Wd8 mate! S£xg7 before resigning. The at-
20 Hel+ Re6 tack was irresistible after the im-
21 Exe6+! 1-0 prudent 10...e6.
Hellers, who is in his youth
7 Women in 1994
The Women’s Olympiad is covered in Chapter 9 covering team events

and although Judit Polgar’s rise and rise is mentioned elsewhere, two
games from her record-breaking success in Madrid can be found be-
low.
The most important non-championship event was held in embargo-
hit Belgrade. Despite the dire economic situation in the former Yugo-
slavia their enthusiasm for hosting important tournaments is not dimin-
ished. Some players choose not to participate in view of the volatile
political situation but some of the world’s elite are tempted to play de-
spite frowns from some quarters.
Belgrade (Yugoslavia), March

6Y2/9 A.Galliamova
512 A.Maric, S.Matveeva
41/ I.Madl, N.Bojkovic, Peng Zhaoqin, A.Sofieva
4 A.Botsari
31 A.Stefanova
2 K.Arakhamia
Even stronger was the van Oosterom-inspired match between the

world’s elite of yesteryear and the premier women. Xie Jun rather im-
pressively scored as well as Judit Polgar, but Arakhamia seemed to be
out of form this year, perhaps affected by problems at home in Geor-
gia.
Women vs Veterans, Monte Carlo (Monaco), June

Women 37
7'2 Xie Jun and J.Polgar, 7 Zsu.Polgar, 6'2 N.Ioseliani, 5!/
M.Chiburdanidze, 3 K.Arakhamia
Veterans 35
8 V.Smyslov, 7!~ V.Hort, 6 B.Spassky, 5!z L.Portisch, 4!/2 B.Ivkov,
312 B.Larsen
Merlo, April/May
P.Cramling (4) v C.Amura (2)
A training match for the Argentinian Amura went rather as ex-
pected.
Candidates final, Tilburg (Netherlands), November

10%2/16 M.Chiburdanidze, Zsu.Polgar
812 P.Cramling
8 A.Galliamova, A.Maric
T2 Peng Zhaogin
7 C.Foisor, N.Ioseliani
S K.Arakhamia
The most important event in the women’s calendar was the Tilburg
Candidates tournament. This double-round nine-player all-play-all was
a real test of endurance, but in the end there was no doubt about the
qualifiers for the Candidates final, Maia Chiburdanidze and Zsusza
Polgar finishing well clear of the chasing pack. These two will now
play a match to decide the challenger to Xie Jun for the World Cham-
pionship.
Game Twenty-Eight
Alexei Shirov-Judit Polgar
Madrid 1994
No female player had ever come 3 &c3 L7

close to winning a category XVI 4 e4 dé
event before, so Judit Polgar’s 5 fRe2 0-0
outright victory in Madrid (see 6 &Of3 es
Chapter 5 for the full result) was 7 dS
all the more notable. Here is Judit The most common move is 7
in great form, introducing a new 0-0, when Black’s most active
idea and then outplaying Shirov reply is 7..&c6. Kramnik has
with the black pieces. been playing the text move re-
Judit was the only woman cently, intending to follow-up
playing in the ‘mixed’ Olympiad, with the annoying pin 8 K.g5.
where she was top board for 7 as$
Hungary. Kasparov preferred the tradi-
1 d4 6 tional 7..4bd7 recently in his
2 c4 g6 game against Kramnik from Li-
Women in 1994 135
nares (see Chapter 5, game 12). Judit’s idea is to use the queen
Judit plays the more modemn line to maintain a dark-square pres-
as she had an interesting idea ence after the exchange of bish-
prepared. ops.
8 f£g5 hé 18 RKxel Wxe3
9 Lhd Hab
10 0-0 WeS
Unpinning the knight without
/:I'./ %/1/
/,
playing the weakening ...g7-g5.
11 &Hd2 Hh7
\\\
12 a3
\\\w‘
N
In many lines of the King’s
\\
Indian White tries to expand with
b2-b4 and c4-c5, but in this
variation the plan is often delayed
in order to first negate any black
activity on the kingside.
12 .. Ld7
13 hi 19 47
A few years ago Garry Kas- The Latvian typically looks for
parov showed the downside of 13 tactical play but in the process
b3 (avoiding any ...a5-a4 ideas, creates strategic problems for
fixing the queenside), which im- himself. More logical is 19 Kael
perceptibly weakens the long di- Wg5 20 Wb2 preparing to push
agonal: 13..f5! 14 exf5 gxf5 15 the b-pawn. Note that then 20...f5
£h5 Wc8 16 27 He8 17 £xe8 21 exf5 gxf5 22 b4 axb4 23 axb4
Wxe8 18 £h4 e4 with excellent @xb4? fails to 24 f4 cutting the
play for the exchange; Yusupov - communication between the
Kasparov, Barcelona 1989. queen and the d2 knight. Black
13 .. hS could instead try 23...c5 but 24
The alternative method of acti- dxc6 bxc6 25 c5! favours White.
vating the ‘King’s Indian’ bishop. The opening up of the whole
14 3 Lh6 board leaves the black king de-
15 b3 Wb8 void of cover.
Judit’s new idea, which is A better plan is introduced by
reminiscent of a game of Rubin- 20..2c5 (rather than let the
stein’s in which Black also em- knight be locked out of play,
ployed the ... W d8-b8-a7 manoeu- Black prepares to exchange it) 21
vre to take the initiative on the b4 axbd 22 axb4 Dad 23 PDxad
queenside. Hxad4 and Black has a reasonable
16 Wc2 Le3 game. The critical 24 ¢5 Hfa8 25
17 K2 Wa7 L£.c4 We7 looks unclear; White
has gained space but Black is not 27..2xb4 then 28 Wbl wins
without counterplay. back the pawn.
19 .. exf4 26 gxh3
20 Hael WS Too passive would be 26 g37!
21 Wel as the presence of the pawn on h3
After 21 Wb2 Black would would allow additional mating
compete for the long diagonal possibilities.
with 21...Wd4. 26 .. £xh3
21 Wd4 27 Hgl Wheé
22 Exf4 Hae8 On 27...f5? the open lines are
23 Bff1 dangerous only for Black’s king
The rook is rather exposed on after 28 @\h4.
f4. Despite the fact that her 28 Hg3 g7
knights are away from the action
Black has long-term pressure
against the e4 pawn, and because
it requires constant attention, it’s
difficult for White to get going on
the queenside.
/
éza
23 .. Wg7
24 VW2 / 7
On 24 Wb2 Black can even 4
play 24..%\c5 threatening the e-
pawn in view of the pin on the
long diagonal.
249 .. h4?!
Not a bad plan, but Black Judit hopes for play on the h-
should first prepare to double file.
rooks on the e-file with 24...Ee7, 29 Wb2
keeping White occupied in the A natural move, aiming for
defence of e4. Black can then both b3-b4 and tricks on the di-
push her h-pawn or play ...&)c5 or agonal, but this proves to be too
..)g5 depending on circum- slow. Interesting is 29 &Ad1!?
stances. Judit looks for a tactical Df6 30 D2 Lc8 and Black will
solution where patience was more proceed with ...Xh8 with either
appropriate! So best was ...&Xc5 or ...22h5, when the bishop
24.. He7. is evicted but the other black
25 Of3 h3!? pieces come to life.
Complicating the struggle. Shirov could have introduced
Now the patient(!) 25...Wh6 can complications with 29 Hegl
be met by 26 b4! (with counter- (playing for tricks against g6).
play) 26...axb4 27 axb4 and if However, after 29..Xh8 30 eS
Women in 1994 137
dxe5 31 £d3 D8 32 Dg5 2d7 permits 35...&f8 anyway.

33 Dxf7 &xf7 34 Lxg6+ Black 34 .. Sf8
refutes the attack with 34...2xg6! 35 Dga
35 Hxg6 Wxh2+! 36 Wxh2 The text avoids the loss of the
Hxh2+ 37 &xh2 Eh8+ and wins. e-pawn but leaves White with
29 .. &f6 static weaknesses. Instead 35 Ef1
30 b4 axb4 (looking for play on the f-file)
31 axbhd4 allows 35..9xb4! (35..Wxe3 is
The black knight on a6 is de- well met by 36 Wxf6). Shirov
prived the use of the c¢5 square, was probably not attracted by 35
but is not really out of play as Df1 Wh4 36 &gl Eh7 when the
White must now constantly de- e-pawn is attacked and 37 Wbl
fend the b4 pawn. (37 €57 dxe5 38 Hxe5 allows the
31 . Lg4 demolition of the queenside by
32 Hd1Y? 38...Wxc4) is rather passive. Per-
Black’s hold on the dark haps 37...2)d7 intending ...2e5 is
squares will increase after the the best way of keeping up the
exchange of her bishop for the pressure.
white knight. So perhaps 32 &Hd4 35 . Hxgd
should have been tried. Instead 36 fLxgd Vg7
Shirov sacrifices the e-pawn for 37 WR?
tricky play. The exchange of queens is fatal
32 .. Kxf3+ for White: 37 Wxg7+ &xg7 38
32...Hxed4 was in fact possible. Zb3 5 39 2f3 He5 and ...Khe8
After 33 &f2 Lxf3+ 34 Hxf3 wins material. However White
Hf4 35 Hf1t (35 Dga? loses can try to defend with 37 Wd2
spectacularly to 35..Hxgd4 36 WeS 38 ©gl. Black has no im-
Hxf6? Wxh2+! and mate follows) mediate breakthrough and if
looks dangerous, but it safely dif- White can stop the knight from
fused by 35...Kxf3 36 £xf3 Whd participating then it will be tough
37 Dg4 Re8. Judit prefers to to progress.
keep the initiative, fully aware 37 #xb4! (D)
that if Shirov offers you a pawn Now is a good moment to grab
you should be naturally suspi- the pawn. It has been twenty-
cious! eight moves since this knight
33 Qoxf3 Xh8 moved but its role in holding the
34 HDel queenside has been crucial and
A crude threat allowing Black now this piece will win the game
to release the pin. 34 He2 was for the Hungarian star.
possible but 34..Wh4! (34...Ee5 38 Hb1?
is met by 35 c5) threatens the I'm surprised that Shirov
rook and after, say, 35 gl didn’t try 38 Re6! as it was his
only hope. Black must find with tremendous complications)

when 39 Hxg6 Wxg6 40 Hgl
wins the queen but after
40.. Wxgl+ 41 Wxgl+ &f8 Black
should win comfortably enough,
e.g. 42 W2 Bh7 43 &f5 Bg7 44
7//// Wd2 Ha8 45 Wc3
N2+ 47 ©h2 Ha2.
Hd3 46 h4
38 a6
39 Exb7 &HcS
40 Hxc7 Hxed
Black wins the exchange, and
with his king totally open to the
winds Shirov decided to call it a
38...&g8! (38..%e7 allows a day.
dangerous piece sacrifice: 39 e5! 0-1
fxe6 40 exd6+ &xd6 41 dxe6
Game Twenty-Nine
Judit Polgar-Sergei Tiviakov
Madrid 1994
Standard isolated queen’s pawn 2 c3

(IQP) positions can arise from Judit has previously suffered
several openings. These positions on the black side of this variation
are often difficult to evaluate as (see Karpov-J.Polgar, Chapter 5,
White has a potentially weak game 10), so she decides to ven-
pawn compensated by an active ture it with White. One of the
piece deployment. In general, the opening developments of the year
early stage favours White who was how fashionable the text has
has attacking chances whereas become at the top level, as it used
quiet endings are Black’s domain. to be seen only in games from
Here we see a tense middlegame open tournaments.
in which Black is left under con- 2 ds
stant nagging pressure, despite 3 exdS Wxds
having full development. Judit 4 d4 o6
Polgar handles the white pieces 5 &3 e6
with skill and imagination, de- 6 Lfe2
veloping her attack slowly but This, the main line, leads us
surely! into an IQP game. 6 Ya3!?, with
1 e4 cS ideas of @\b5, tends to lead to a
Women in 1994 139
different type of position. 15 h3

6 cxd4 Cautious indeed! This avoids
7 «cxdd 6 any problems with ..&h5, ex-
8 00 Le7 changing the bishop, and makes a
9 43 Wd6 bolt-hole for the king.
It’s generally a matter of taste 15 .. b6
whether the queen retreats to d6 As ...a7-a6 has been played the
or d8. The text is perhaps more Russian should have seriously
provocative. considered 15...b5 as the tactical
10 4&b5 Wds line 16 &xb5 axb5 17 Exc6 Hxa2
11 Rf4 Hds 18 Wb3 is well met by 18...Wd5.
12 Rg3 a6 The text more or less loses a
Judit (playing Black) against tempo.
Lautier in Linares 1994 preferred 16 a3 £2b7
12...0-0 first and only after 13 17 £d3 Hc8
Sc4 did she play 13..a6. She 18 2bl b5
soon drifted into a poor position:; Quite!
14 Rxd5 exdS (14...axb5 15 Ked 19 Wd3
b4 may offer better chance of
equality) 15 &c7 Ha7 16 Wb3 5 73 T g
£d6 17 Lxd6 Wxd6 18 Wb6 and ]-9-—3-5>1
Black was tangled up.
It’s surprising how many top
grandmasters are willing to play
the same opening with both col-
ours, whereas lesser players tend
to have strong opinions on
whether a variation is ‘good’ or
‘bad’ and consequently are only
willing to play a line with one
colour.
13 &He3 0-0 White has finally engineered
White seems ill-prepared to her battery. The idea is to force
organize the thematic battery ...g7-g6, which weakens the dark
(Wd3 and &blor £c2) but Judit, squares around the black king.
in her own time, arranges it any- 19 @as
way. Seeking counterplay.
14 Hcl &Xf6 20 &Hes el
A cautious retreat. 14..Dxc3 21 He2
seems natural but Tiviakov pre- Slightly clumsy-looking but
fers to keep this knight for the the rook will come to the e-file
defence of the kingside. where it will defend b2 from a
more active square. There is still at least two pieces.

latent pressure on the diagonal 27 Dxd5 exdS
and sooner or later Black will be An ugly positional move but
obliged to play ...g7-g6. Tiviakov had probably seen that
21 .. &dé the natural 27..8xd5 fails tacti-
Aiming to play 21...&5 hitting cally after 28 £xd5 exd5 29
d4 and g3 or even 21..%de4, Wb3! Hc4 (the best chance is
hence White’s next move. 29...82.xe5 30 dxe5 Dc4 31 Kd4
22 f3 g6 Wh4 but the threats on the dark
Inevitably if Black tries to play squares give White a clear advan-
for tactics without this move he tage) White has 30 @xf7! leading
has problems: 22..9f5 23 £f2 to a better ending after 30...Kxe2
#hS5 is best met by 24 Ze2! 31 xd8 Bxel+ 32 £xel L xd4+
(threatening 25 g4) rather than 24 33 22 Lxf2+ 34 2xf2 Axds.
g4 Of4 25 Wd2 because of 28 Wd1! as
25..8g5. Naturally 23..4d5 Hoping for play with ..£a6
(instead of 23...&)h5) is punished but this never materializes.
by 24 @xd5 £xdS 25 g4. 29 h4!
23 /f2 He8 Judit has an excellent sense of
24 Ra2 the attack and likes very much to
The bishop now switches back push her h-pawn (see game
to a more useful diagonal. Before thirty)!
combinations appear its impor- 29 .. Wc7!
tant to improve the position of Oblivious to the danger, the
inactive pieces. young Russian starts to drift. Ei-
24 .. RS ther the consistent 29...b4 or the
25 He2 287 careful 29...2f8 were better.
26 Hfel 30 hS Ncd?
Judit has patiently built-up her
position. Tiviakov has all his
pieces in play but cannot fully
combat the persistent pressure.
For another IQP game with a
similar theme see Kamsky-Short,
Chapter 2, game four.
26 Nd5?!
Probably a mistake as from
now White’s initiative becomes
clear. After 26..4)d7 interesting
would be 27 Dxf7 Dxf7 28 L xeb
Hxe6 29 Hxe6 HDf8 when rook
and two central pawns are worth A tactical error as the rook on
Women in 1994 141
e8 is inadequately defended. piece. Black’s pieces do not con-

31 he! £xh6 tribute to the defence of his king.
The alternatives were all 5 . a7
equally miserable: 31..8h8 al- 36 He7 Wh6
lows mate after 32 Hxc4 Exe2 33 36...Wc6 loses in more or less
Wxe2 dxc4 34 We8+ and both the same way: 37 fxc4 dxc4 38
31...2f8 32 Dgd Hxe2 33 Wxe2 WesS+ g8 39 Le3 Wd5 40 Wf6
and 31..8xeS 32 dxe5 leave Ed8 41 £h6 with mate to follow.
Black chronically weak on the 37 f2xc4 bxcd
dark squares around the king. 38 Wes+ g8
32 g4 Hxe2 39 fe3 f6
33 Oxh6+ g7 40 Wr4
34 Hxe2 Or 40 Wh2 h5 41 Wg3 g5
Also good was 34 &f5+ forc- (41..f5 42 We5) 42 Lxg5 and
ing doubled (and weak) pawns. mate again follows shortly.
However, Judit senses that mate 40 .. *f8
is near! 41 Hxh7 De8
34 .. &xh6 42 Whé 1-0
35 Wel A model example of patiently
Intending 36 He7. The natural building up before launching the
35...2d8 fails to 36 Wcl+ g7 attack.
37 b3 exploiting the pin to win a
Game Thirty
Xie Jun-Lajos Portisch
Women vs Veterans, Monaco 1994
This chapter would not be com- hotel room during tourna-

plete without a game from the ments(!), has been one of the top
World Champion. In the players in the world for over
‘veterans’ against ‘women’ thirty years. Only recently did he
match in Monaco she achieved an slip below the 2600 barrier for
excellent score for the women’s the first time.
team, including this victory over 1 ed c5
Portisch. In the middlegame 2 &f3 e6
complications the veteran Hun- 3 d4 cxd4
garian was no match for the 4 Hxd4d a6
young Chinese star, who is at 5 f£d3 AT
present consistently increasing 6 &Hxc6 bxcbd
her rating. Portisch, who is noted 7 00 We7!?
for practising his singing in his An unusual move in this posi-
tion; in which Black usually re- 18 Hxd8 £xd8

acts immediately in the centre The more natural 18..Hxd8?!
with 7...d5. Then, after 8 c4 &6, allows 19 f5! e5 20 Zel! (20
White has a choice between 9 &d5?! is not really any good af-
&\d2 keeping the tension or 9 ter 20...2xd5 21 cxd5 Wxds 22
cxd5 cxd5 10 exd5 opening up Zdl Wc6 23 Exd8+ £xd8 24
the position. Kxe5 h6 with easy equality) and
8 f4 ds White has annoying pressure on
9 c4 the e-pawn, which has become
The thematic way of undermin- dislocated from the rest of the
ing the centre, but White has the chain. If the knight on f6 moves
extra move f2-f4 and Black Wc7, then White occupies e4 and d5
compared with the normal posi- and if the pawn is pushed then
tion. White blockades with &c3-d1-e3.
9 dxed 19 4&di Le7!?
10 SLxed &Ff6 A critical stage. White is better
11 fc2 after the rash 19..%e4 20 Wg4
11 £f3 would probably lead to (20 Eel?! is well met by 20...f5)
the exchange of this piece after 20...5)6 21 Wh3 De4 22 Eel but
the logical plan of ...&b7, ..R¢e7, Portisch could completely equal-
...0-0 and ...c6-c5. ize with 19..4d7! (intending
11 .. Ke7 20...5.16) as 20 f5 216 21 £xf6
12 &Hc3 0-0 (21 Rcl 2d4) Dxf6 22 fxe6
13 We2 He8 Hxe6 gives Black no problems at
14 <hil ¢S all.
Both sides complete their re- 20 %e3 a7
spective developments independ- 21 Sgd
ently. Black has a comfortable Now ...2f6 is prevented and
game and the new idea 7..6dc7 White retains the more active
has paid off. pieces.
15 b3 £.b7 21 .. fé6
16 kb2 W6 Portisch was aiming for this
17Hadl EHad8 move; cutting out any ideas of
With the white pawn on 4, so ?e5 by White and reducing the
useful in many Sicilian varia- effect of the bishop on b2. Ar-
tions, the World Champion has a guably 21...f6 is a concession as
problem with her g2 square. Por- now both e6 and h7 are sensitive
tisch’s next few moves suggest points but Portisch’s idea is to
that he may already be seeking defend everything with a knight
the initiative; if White’s activity on f8 and further hit f4 with his
is negated then f4 may become a bishop on d6. If Xie Jun’s king-
serious weakness. side ambitions come to nought
Women in 1994 143
then it may be difficult to protect but after 28 f£xe5 Wxe5 29

this pawn as even ...%)g6 then Whe+ &f7 30 Kg6+ Sxg6 31
becomes an option. Wxe8+ &h7 she would be mated
22 Hf3 2.d6 as the back rank is too weak.
23 2 Wc7 25 fxh7+!
Not a bad move but unfortu- A novel way of introducing the
nately preparing an oversight! ‘Greek gift’ sacrifice. Here the
Better was the immediate tactical weakness of the rook on
23..0M8 24 Ded (24 Ked leads e8 allows the combination.
nowhere: 24..Wc7 25 RKxb7 25 .. HNxh7
Wxb7 26 Ded Ke7 27 Kd3 Dgb 26 WhS Sf8
28 W3 Wc7 29 g3 Bd8) 24...8e7 Naturally 26...2)8 is met by 27
25 Eg3 &h8 although 26 Wh5 Wxe8.
keeps some pressure. 27 Wxh7 Wf7
24 Hh3 DI8? 27..8xf4 is the main alterna-
tive seeking material parity. The
obvious 28 £xf6? gxf6 29 Wh8+
s &e7 30 Eh7+ is frustrated by
30..2d6! 31 Hxc7 £xg2+! 32
| &xg2 Exh8) and 29 Wgb is even
worse after 29...Wg7. White does
in fact have a spectacular refuta-
tion in 28 Wg6! Wf7 29 Zh8+
&e7 and only now 30 Lxf6+!
gxf6 31 Eh7 with a win.
28 Ra3!
Rather than defend the sickly f-
pawn Xie Jun prefers to keep
With hindsight we can con- Black tied to the isolated c-pawn.
clude that 24...h6! was absolutely 28 es!
necessary. Then 25 f5! is best A good practical try; Black
when after 25..2e5 the ambi- must liberate his pieces and seek
tious 26 ficl! keeps some vague complications before White gets
attacking chances (26 Rxe5 is her pieces totally organized.
only equal after 26...6Wxe5). 29 Wd3 (D)
Many players would be tempted 29 .. exfd4?
by the more direct 25 Wgd? but Portisch doesn’t give up with-
after 25..5xf4 26 Wg6 White out a fight, and he gives a piece
fails to deliver the knock-out for tactical play against the white
blow, e.g. 26...&f8! 27 Wh7 De5 back rank. Unfortunately this
and as a result Black takes con- fails so 29..&g8! was better
trol. White can win the exchange (avoiding the possibility of 30
Xh8+) and White cannot then 31..Hxh8 is crushed by 32

take as 30 Wxd6? loses to 30 Wxd6+ &e8 33 Wb8+ mating or
...exf4 (see the next note). winning the black queen.
32 Wxed+ <d7
33 Wb7+ K7
Another try was 33...%e6!? 34
Bxe8+ Wxe8 35 Lxc5! (35 Wxg7
&f5 looks too dangerous and
White is virtually obliged to bail
out with a perpetual) 35...8.xc5
36 Wd5+ 2e7 37 Wxc5+ when
/;/fl Black can avoid the exchange of
queens by 37...%f7. White has a
%/%
difficult technical win after 38
W2 followed by 39 h3 and the
queenside pawns will roll.
After 29...2g8! perhaps 30 f5!, 34 Hxe8 Wxe8
taking the opportunity to close 35 Lxcs!
the centre, is best as 30 fxe5?! Surprisingly there is now noth-
Hxe5 31 Ee3 Wh5 is dangerous. ing to be gained against White’s
30 Xh8+! back rank.
Quite rightly continuing her & We2
own attack. 36 Lb6! Wdi+
30 Wxd6+ is obvious but bad, 37 RLgl a5
e.g. 30..%g8 when Black wins 38 5
after both 31 Wdl Wg6 32 Zf3 White has tucked his king
Wc2! 33 Wfl Wd2 34 &d3 (34 away in an impenetrable box and
Bd3 Bel 35 &gl We2) 34...2xf3 she now pushes her pawns at will.
35 gxf3 He2 or 31 £Hd3 Wg6 32 38 .. Wa2
Rf3 2xf3 33 gxf3 He2. These 39 a3l g5
lines could have arisen from 40 b4 axb4
29...2g8! 30 Wxd6? exf4!, etc. 41 axh4 1-0
30 .. de7 After 41...g4 42 b5 Black can-
31 Ded! RKxed not counter the threat of bé6.
Black has no choice as
Game Thirty-One
Alisa Maric-Zsuzsa Polgar
Women’'s Candidates final, Tilburg 1994
The Women’s World Champion- ship cycle reached the Candidates

Women in 1994 145
stage this year. Two players rather stuck for a constructive

dominated and will play a match plan.
to determine Xie Jun’s chal- 6 .. fé
lenger. Zsuzsa Polgar (Judit’s 7 b3 We7
eldest sister) and Maia Chibur- 8 a4 as!
danidze (the previous World A good move stopping White
Champion), showing a return to gaining space with the further a4-
good form, were very convincing a5 and even aS-a6. Black can
qualifiers. Here is a game from sometimes profit from the hole
each, firstly Zsuzsa who is gen- on b4.
erally considered the second 9 a3 £xa3
strongest woman in the world 10 &%Hxa3 0-0
(after her sister) at the moment. 11 Wbl
1 d4 ds White has a positional threat of
2 c4 c6 playing 12 cxd5 and Black cannot
3 4913 e6 retake with the desired e-pawn
Zsuzsa employs a type of because the f-pawn would be
Semi-Slav which I think should hanging. In some Stonewall posi-
be called the ‘Triangle Defence’ tions Black is happy to take back
4 €3 with the c-pawn if she can be
One of the typical ideas is that quick on the queenside. Here
after the natural 4 &c3 Black can White has &b5 and Hcl and
capture on c4 and obtain certain would take the initiative, and this
concessions from White if she explains why the Yugoslav pre-
wishes to win back the pawn. 4 ferred the bl square to c2 for her
g3, hoping for a type of Catalan, queen, so as not to be exposed
and 4 Wc2 are also good moves along the c-file.
here. 11 .. Ded
4 f5!? 12 Wb2 Hd7
Switching to a Stonewall 13 D2
Dutch set-up now that White Here the plan of getting this
cannot develop her queen’s knight to d3 to exert influence on
bishop outside the pawn chain. c3, e5 and f4 is too slow. More to
5 RKd3 Kd6 the point was 13 Hael b6 14
6 0-0 fxed fxed 15 &d2 followed by
A slightly committal move. f2-£3.
The plan of 6 &c3 followed by 13 .. b6
Wc2, b3, £b2, 0-0-0, and h3 14 Efcl
followed by g4 was more ag- White’s moves at this point are
gressive. In fact Alisa Maric very unconvincing.
plays to exchange the dark- 14 .. 2.b7
squared bishops but after that is 15 &f1
Grandmaster Chess
23 Hf1 cxd4
Maric manages to hold onto
~] the sensitive f2 point just in time
but now she has to face further
\
%, A , 4 z,
threats as Zsuzsa brings up the
reserves.
N
NN
I~ o
i =N\
24 SHxd4
\\\¥
=RAN
After 24 Wxd4 then 24...%e5 is
N\
N
'
even stronger.
o
24 .. DeS!
\\\\\\\\\ N
ES
25 &Heb6
KON\
N\
¢
15 .. f4!
After 15..c5 White would be
happy to play 16 a3 eyeing b5.
Zsuzsa immediately plays for the
initiative on the kingside as her
opponent has been rather lacklus-
tre with her manoeuvring.
16 Hel c5
17 cxdS exd$
18 exf4?!
The active moves 18 £b5 and
18 Had1 put more pressure on the The best chance. At least by
black centre. The text only helps grabbing material the defender
Black’s attack to get rolling. can sometimes stave off an attack
18 .. Exf4 by offering back something.
19 &Hd2? 25 .. Hgq?
White has a difficult position Going for glory Zsuzsa loses
but she could have limited the her objectivity. Correct was
damage by 19 Hadl. Black is to 25...9)f3+! transposing to a good
be preferred after 19..Haf8 20 ending after the following forced
dxc5 bxc5 21 De3 d4 22 fcd+ sequence: 26 &hl Eh4 27 h3
&h8 23 Nd5 £xd5 24 L£xdS Whe 28 Wxg7+ (the only move)
@\df6 but by exchanging some 28..Wxg7 29 %Hixg7 xg7 30
pieces the defence is eased con- gxf3 Hxf3 31 &g2 Hfxh3 32
siderably. Zg1. White can put up some re-
19 W6 sistance but should lose.
20 Dxed dxed 26 xi8?
21 Lc4+ Sh8 Over the board it is almost im-
22 RHe2 Ef3 possible to decide between the
Women in 1994 147
three possible defences. Unfortu- tonishing move that may turn the
nately for Maric she chose a los- tables. After 26...exf3
ing one. (26..Dxf3+ 27 &hl Wh4 is
Also inferior is 26 h3 but not countered by 28 We5!! and the
because of the tempting other attacking try 26..Kf7 27
26...Hxg2+7! which only leads to Hd2 Hxf3+ 28 Fhl &Hxd2 29
a draw after 27 &xg2 Wf3+ 28 Hxf6 e3 soon runs out of steam:
@h2 e3 29 fxe3 Wxfl 30 Dxf8 30 h3 Hxg2 31 Exf7 Ef2+ 32
Whi+ 31 &g3 Wf3+ Instead, Zxb7 and wins) 27 Exe5 f2+ 28
critical is the line 26...2f3+! 27 Wxf2! £xg2 29 Wxg2 Exg2+ 30
&hl Wh6 28 Hxf8 Wf4 29 g3 &xg2 Wgb+ favours White be-
Wheé 30 &g2 g5 31 Ehl! e3+ cause of 31 Hg5! when 31...Exfl
32 &f1 fxhl. Black has a strong 32 £xf1 h6 is met by 33 £d3.
attack but the game is not yet In mutual time trouble the de-
won: 33 hxgd4?? loses immedi- fender has to be the most accurate
ately to 33..£2g2+! but 33 hd because one mistake and it is
Wc6 34 Bxe3 Wg2+ 35 De2 Ded mate!
36 el Hxg3 (36..Wgl+ leads 26 ... 93+
nowhere after 37 Lfl1 Lg2 38 27 &hl Wf4
We2) 37 Bxg3d Hxg3 38 Wd4 Now the attack crashes
may survive. Also 33 Hxe3 through.
Wxh3+ 34 el looks playable. 28 g3 Whé
So after 26 h3 by very accurate Just as good is the pretty
play White can keep in the game. 28...Xh4.
Best is however 26 f3!! an as- 0-1
Game Thirty-Two
Maia Chiburdanidze-Alisa Maric
Women's Candidates final, Tilburg 1994
Maia Chiburdanidze, the ebul- tion, Maia was able to lead the
lient ex-World Champion, has proud Georgian team to gold in
seemingly overcome a period of the Moscow Olympiad including
mixed results and is again show- an excellent personal perform-
ing the determination necessary ance.
to win back the title. She has 1 c4 es
shown great interest in Georgian This variation of the English
culture and even been involved in opening is analogous to a Sicilian
politics. Despite the distractions Defence with reversed colours.
and uncertainties of a civil war 2 g3 &6
and disastrous economic situa- 3 2g2 ds
Ambitiously taking on a re- 15 &bS Nds

versed “open” Sicilian. After 15...2xc4 White can re-
4 cxd5 HxdS capture with either pawn but
5 93 AT Maia would have certainly played
6 0-0 b6 16 bxc4 and retained excellent
7 b3 2e7 piece play. Note how effective
More accurate is 7..82d6 to White’s minor pieces are.
follow 8 £b2 with 8...We7 9 d3 On 15...£.d57? 16 Dxc7 Kxg2
0-0 and ... g4. The text necessi- 17 &Hxe8 £.xf1 18 Hxf6+, or 18
tates 8...f6, a move that Black can &xbb6 etc., leads to a gain in ma-
do without. terial.
8§ A2h2 f6 16 ed!
9 &3 0-0 Well-judged! White seemingly
10 Hcl f5 weakens her own pawn structure
Played only two moves after but Maia decides it is time to hit
having played 8...f6! Of course back. The black centre doesn’t
aggressive intentions are com- collapse immediately but needs
mendable but what about the de- plenty of attention to keep it de-
velopment of the queenside? Al- fended.
isa soon suffers from this impor- 16 .. HNde7
tant loss of tempo. 17 W2 Hgb
11 d3 Leb6 18 He3
12 Hd2 216 Forcing a decision about the f5
13 a3 pawn. If now 18..f4 then 19
White intends to expand on the &\d5! with tremendous play.
queenside with 14 b4 which Note that the squares d3 and d4
Black immediately avoids. cannot be attacked by Black, so
In this type of position (an 16 e4 wasn’t weakening but a
open Sicilian with reverse col- positive way of attacking the
ours) it is much harder for Black centre.
to obtain kingside attacking 18 .. fxed
chances using the e5, f5 pawns 19 dxed d4
(than for the first player with col- Otherwise the Georgian would
ours reversed) and if White have followed-up with 20 Hfdl
grasps the initiative they will be- and 21 &\d5.
come targets rather than trumps. Maric takes her chance to re-
13 .. as lease the threats against her c7
14 &4 pawn as 20 Wxc7?? allows
Black has more space but 20...2e2+.
White’s pieces are bearing down 20 Hxd4 exdd
on the Yugoslav centre. 21 &\dS fe5
14 .. He8 After 21..8xdS 22 exds it is
Women in 1994 149
hard to see how both ¢7 and d4 bishop and h-pawn against lone
will last for long, and if 22...d3? king is a draw if Black can get to
then naturally 23 Lxf6. the corner square).
22 Rfd1 Grandmasters prefer to keep
the initiative rather than hand it
over to their opponent for a small
material gain.
/ 22 .. c6
23 He3 Qf6
Black’s most active try
23...Wb6 is met by 24 Hc4.
‘&I?\%
24 of5
“”f The remnant of the centre (the
i?% d4 pawn) is certainly having a
\
hard time!
& 24 .. Wb6
Finally threatening something.
One can note the success of The b3 pawn at least enables
White’s strategy simply in re- Maric to keep on level terms
garding the harmony of the white materially but the queen soon
pieces and the difficulty Black finds herself a long way from the
has in repulsing the pressure. black king. If instead 24...Lxf5
Chiburdanidze had the option 25 exf5 9e7 White wins a clear
here of chasing a pawn by 22 pawn after 26 Qxd4 Lxd4 27
Axc7 Ec8 (22...d3 is simply met Wca+ $h8 28 Hxd4.
by 23 %xe6 Hxe6 24 Wd2) 23 25 &Hxdd Kxd4
Dxe6 Hxc2 24 Hxd8 Exb2 25 26 HExd4 Wxb3
@xb7 Exb3 26 Dxa5 Exa3 27
#c4 Ha2. She would have seen ’ 7
that she could emerge with an / L
)/
\\\\
extra pawn but that it allows

N
// // %
\\\
\\
drawing chances, either because

B \\
of opposite-coloured
after 28 %xe5 HxeS5 because of
bishops or z%
/
"a
Black’s active pieces and the ad-

vanced d-pawn. An experienced /
\\\‘\
\\\\\\
grandmaster such as Maia

//
E\D\\ \E\\
\D\\\D\\\
Chiburdanidze also probably took

into account the fact that h8 is a %/
dark square and so her bishop is
known as the ‘wrong’ bishop The ending after 27 Wxb3
(because the ending of king, 2xb3 28 Bd7 Ee7 favours White
because of the bishop pair but the White can first take the a-pawn
ex-World Champion had pre- and then try and mate.
pared a nasty surprise! 34 Hgs
27 Ed7!' Re7
Hopeless is 27..Wxc2 28
Bxg7+ &f8 29 Exc2 as Black is a
pawn down and has an exposed
king.
28 Hxe7 HxeT
29 Wd2!
The black pieces are awk-
wardly placed to defend g7. Of
course the ending gives an edge
but a mating attack gives so much
more pleasure!
29 .. &h8
30 Wd4 Hg8 A good position to illustrate
31 h4! pressure on the long diagonal!
White’s intention is clear. Now KY: S 2g6
Black rushes back to defend the 35 hS Wds
home front. 36 he6! 1-0
31 .o L7 A pretty finish. Obviously
32 Hc5 ¥Wbe 36..Wxg5 37 hxg7+ Hxg7 38
33 Wc3 Wxg7 is mate and on 36...Wf8 37
Unpinning with gain of time f4! would be more sadistic than
and winning a pawn by force. taking the exchange with 37
33 .. a4? hxg7+, etc.
33...1h6 had to be played when
8 National Championships
This is simply a roll-call of national championship winners. Nowadays

most national championships seem to be disappointingly short of their
top players, probably due to financial reasons or prior commitments;
grandmaster involvement is often limited.
The Russian, USA and Israeli championships were the strongest in
view of the high numbers of ex-Soviet participants.
Australia, December/January
812/11 J.P.Wallace
Filettino, Italy, January

9/11 M.Godena, B.Belotti
Hyderabad, India, January

13'2/19 P.Thipsay
Rosario, Argentina, February

7/9 H.Spangenberg
Tivat, Yugoslavia
72[12 M.Vukic, B.Ivanovic, D.Kosic
Lithuania
10/13 S.Sulskis
Bulgaria
91>/13 A .Delchev
Usti nad Labem, Czech Republic

8/11 Z.Hracek, V.Jansa
(Hracek won the play-off match)
Amsterdam, the Netherlands, June

811/11 J.Piket
Minsk, Belarussia, June

9/11 J.Schulman
Lucerne, Switzerland, July

7/11 L.Brunner, B.Zuger
(Brunner won the play-off 1'/42-1/2)
Aalborg, Denmark, July

612/9 C.Hansen, L.B.Hansen
(Curt Hansen won the play-off 3-1)
Haparanda, Sweden
10/13 R.Wessman
Norwich, Great Britain, August
9/11 W.Watson
Because of financial limitations only three grandmasters partici-
pated.
Chambery, France, August

11/15 M.Santo-Roman, M. Apicella
The title was decided by two 20 minute games; 2-0 to Santo-Roman.
Iceland
812/11 H.Stefansson, H.Olafsson, J.Hjartarson
Hamilton, Canada, September

11215 K.Spraggett
Elista, Russia, September/October

8/11 P.Svidler
This result earned the young Leningrad player the honour of playing
in the gold-medal winning Russian team in the Moscow Olympiad.
Israel, October
9/11 L.Yudasin
National Championships 153
Portugal, October
10/11 L.Galego
USA, October
912/13 B.Gulko
By an impressive one and a half point margin in a strong (category
XIII) round-robin with only Kamsky missing amongst the top active
players.
Germany, November
7/9 P.Enders
Bucharest, Romania, November

91/13 M.Marin
9 Team Chess
Chess is really an individual game, one against one. The very nature of
the game means that ‘team chess’ is really a rather artificial invention,
and in fact it represents only a small part of the chess activity of most
grandmasters.
National Team Championships
Whereas local leagues are essentially social affairs, grandmasters play

in national leagues mainly as imported mercenaries. Most countries do
have a cup and a league (sometimes with several divisions), but the
number of places available for foreigners is usually limited to one or
two per team and only the top clubs can afford to pay top stars. So the
degree of professionalism is limited but enables pros, leading amateurs
and juniors to compete side-by-side with a common interest. Interest-
ing is the compulsory inclusion of at least one female player (France,
UK) or two (former Yugoslav countries), which must be a positive step
for women'’s chess.
Many players worldwide feel a strong bond with their club and en-
joy the camaraderie and excitement involved, but there are unfortu-
nately very few non-championship tournaments for teams, even at
amateur level. This is in area that future sponsors could investigate,
particularly if they are looking for new ideas.
Sponsorship is the key. Building a successful team usually takes
several years and requires a faithful sponsor. To win their respective
leagues all these clubs have had to court the favour of enough of the
top domestic players plus some foreign grandmasters and this can be
expensive.
Austria - Inter Schweppes, Salzburg

Belgium - Rochade Eupen
British Isles - Invicta Knights, Maidstone
France - Lyon-Oyannax
Team Chess 155
Germany - SG Cologne-Porz
Hungary - Honved Budapest
Netherlands - De Variant Breda
Romania - R.A.T. Bucharest
Spain - Goya, Las Palmas
Switzerland - Allschwil
Yugoslavia - Insa, Belgrade
European Club Cup
As many as 57 teams took part in the European Club Cup: seven

groups of eight and the previous winners Lyon-Oyannax. Each group
played a three-day (usually knock-out) tournament to find one qualifier
for the grand final weekend, which was held in Lyon.
Some of the qualification rounds enjoyed less than full participation
due to the tremendous cost of sending seven people (six players and a
captain/substitute) to the far end of Europe and paying them a fee as
well. Not all teams could convince their sponsors of the benefits.
Here are some of the details of the venues and the top two (or final-
ists) for each group.
Eupen (Belgium) Reykjavik 3-3 Bayern Munchen (Germany)

Pula (Croatia) Donbass 4%2-1Y2 Zalaegerseg (Hungary)
Strasbourg (France) Sarajevo 4-2 Breda (Netherlands)
Budapest (Hungary) Honved 3'2-2%: Djakovo (Croatia)
Asiago (Italy) Novosibirsk 4-2 Clichy (France)
Gorzow (Poland) 1st Kaise Vilnius
Calarasi (Romania) 1st Beersheva, 2nd Riga (Latvia)
Thirty-five grandmasters were present for the finals in Lyon, a good
indication of the importance of this competition.
Novotronika Lugansk
Donbass (Ukraine) 52-12 Reykjavik (Iceland)
Beersheva (Israel) 312-2 Novosibirsk (Russia)
Honved Budapest (Hungary) 3-3 Sarajevo (Bosnia)
Kaise Vilnius (Lithuania) 1Y2-4%2 Lyon-Oyannax (France)
Lyon Oyannax 3-3 Beersheva
Novotronika 1Y2-4%2 Sarajevo
(Kasparov surprisingly lost to A.Shneider, a Ukrainian grandmaster
who is approximately 180th in the world rankings.)
The Final
Sarajevo, Bosnia 3-3 Lyon-Oyannax, France

G.Kasparov I/ - 12 J.Lautier
I.Sokolov 1-0 V.Anand
Pr.Nikolic 0-1 E.Bareev
Z.Azmaiparashvili Y2 -2 J.Dorfman
B.Kurajica 1-0 A.Vaiser
E.Dizdarevic 0-1 M.Sharif
Both teams advanced during the weekend by winning a match on

board count, an indication of how even in strength were the group
winners. The final further enforced that view.
There was talk of organizing a quickplay play-off between the
teams, as according to the rules board count shouldn’t be used to de-
cide the final. An agreement couldn’t be reached and so the title is
shared in 1994. (Sarajevo would have been sole champions on board
count.)
Moscow Olympiad
The best known, and for many, the most important event in the 1994
chess calendar was the Moscow Olympiad. A grand total of 124 teams
participated in the ‘mixed’ event and 81 in the women’s. The mixed is
often incorrectly known as the ‘men’s’, but in fact it is open to women,
although Judit Polgar, the Hungarian top board, was the only member
of the fairer sex to take part in this event.
There was a significant increase in the number of teams entered this
time, but this was entirely due to the large number of ex-Soviet, ex-
Yugoslav and ex-Czechoslovak splinter states: fifteen, five and two
respectively in both the mixed and women’s except for the absence of
a women’s team from Tajikistan.
Several different teams held the lead at various stages of the main
event (Yugoslavia, Netherlands, Bosnia, England and Russia II), but it
was the favourites, Russia I, led by Garry Kasparov, that had the best
second week and finally won. Kasparov and his team looked out of
sorts at first but fourteen rounds permits the occasional setback. War-
torn Bosnia-Herzegovina earned the silver medal despite relying al-
most entirely on their top four boards. Russia, the host country, were
entitled to two teams and the second team was a junior squad that
Team Chess 157
pipped England for third place on buchholz. There was talk before the
event that the FIDE World Champion, Anatoly Karpov, would head
the ‘second team’ with Salov, etc., but as it was, Kasparov and Maka-
rov (who organized the FIDE Olympiad) scuppered any chance of the
participation of an alternative (pro-Karpov) team.
One remarkable event was the re-election of Florencio Campomanes
as FIDE President after some bizarre behind the scenes activity to
change the electoral rules. Makarov, the Russian lawyer, politician and
head of the pro-Kasparov pro-PCA Russian Chess Federation (the al-
ternative RCF is pro-Karpov and headed by Bebchuk but has financial
problems), and Bachar Kouatly the French-Lebanese grandmaster
(who was the main alternative to another Campomanes term) were of-
fered positions in the next Campomanes administration. In the world
of chess politics shifting alliances and unconvincing democracy is the
norm. Kasparov, who only a year ago was public enemy No.l in
FIDE’s eyes, has now has been accepted back as the main power-
broker. Karpov, the official FIDE World Champion has been rather
sidelined.
If Campomanes and Kasparov are again friends does this mean an
eventual reunification of the two World Championship cycles, and if
so, what does Karpov make of that?
Mixed
1 Russial 372
(Kasparov, Kramnik, Bareev, Dreev, Tiviakov, Svidler)
2 Bosnia 35
(P.Nikolic, I.Sokolov, Kurajica, Dizdarevic, N.Nikolic, Milovanovic)
3 Russia Il (young Russia) 3412
(Morozevich, Zviaginsev, Ulibin, Rublevsky, Sakaev, Yemelin)
4 England 341/
(Short, Adams, Speelman, Nunn, Miles, Hodgson)
5 Bulgaria 34 (Topalov, etc.)
6 Netherlands 34 (Timman, etc.)
7 USA 34 (Gulko, etc.)
8 Belarussia 331/ (Gelfand, etc.)
9 China 3312 (Ye Rongguang, etc.)
10 Georgia 331 (Azmaiparashvili, etc.)
11 Hungary 331 (J.Polgar, etc.)
12 Ukraine 331/, (Ivanchuk, etc.)
The teams are of six players, four of whom participate in each par-
ticular match. Both events are fourteen rounds long. Board Prizes are
awarded to those players scoring the best percentages. Only three of
the winners were of grandmaster strength as it is easier to score high
percentages playing for lesser teams against weaker opposition. The
gold medal winners were
Campora 7'/2/9
=
Davila 10!2/13
N
Arlandi 7'/2/9
Seirawan 8142/10
Didishko 9/11 and Williams 6/7 (after a protest and only 26
W
hours later!)
6 Kelly 5/7
Women
1 Georgia 32 (Chiburdanidze, Ioseliani, Arakhamia, Gurieli)

2 Hungary 31 (Zsu.Polgar, Zso.Polgar, Madl, Csonkics)
3 China 27 (Xie Jun, Peng Zhaoqin, Qin Kanying, Zhu Chen)
4 Romania 27 (C.Foisor, Radu, Peptan, Nutu-Gajic)
5 Ukraine 25 (Galliamova-Ivanchuk, etc.)
6 England 24'2 (S.Lalic, etc.)
7 Estonia 24'2 (Tsiganova, etc.)
8 Germany 24> (Kachiani-Gersinska, etc.)
Amongst the female board gold medal-winners there is only one

familiar name:
Zhitsova 10'2/13
Zso.Polgar 121-2/14
W=
Hernandez 8/2/9
Sedina 10'4/12
S
In the women'’s event the teams are of four, three playing each time.
There was little suspense in this contest as Georgia comfortably out-
paced, Hungary who scored indifferently on board three. Third seed
China never competed for first but always seemed a reasonable bet for
the bronze which they earned on tie-break over an in-form Romania.
Team Chess 159
Game Thirty-Three
Eduard Rosentalis-Predrag Nikolic
Lithuania-Bosnia, Moscow Olympiad 1994
At the Novi Sad Olympiad in Nikolic tends to stick closely to

1990, no-one could have envis- a fairly narrow repertoire and the
aged that only four years later French Defence would have been
there would be so many splinter anticipated by Rosentalis.
states emanating from Eastern 2 d4 ds
Europe. This game was played by 3 &Haz a6!?
representatives of two of them: Black prepares for 4...c5 with-
Eduard Rosentalis from Lithua- out allowing an early £b5. Al-
nia, the country that most chal- though this move spends a tempo
lenged for independence from the ...a7-a6 can be useful in other
then USSR, and Predrag Nikolic ways: allowing the retreat ...&c5-
from Bosnia, where a clash of a7 or even preparing ...b7-bS.
ideologies and cultures has had 4 Dgf3 5
tragic consequences. This was in 5 dxc5 Lxc5
fact a second Olympiad (in recent 6 £2d3 De7
times) for both, but neither 7 00 ANbc6
achieved particularly dramatic 8§ ¢3 0-0
results in Manila. Here, Lithuania 9 We2
finished in an unremarkable 24th In a game against Topalov ear-
position, but the surprise team of lier this year, Kotronias preferred
the ‘mixed’ Olympiad was Bos- c2 for his queen. The game con-
nia, pleasing many neutrals by tinued 9 Wc2 h6 10 Hel Ka7 11
achieving the silver medal. The b3 e5 12 exd5 Wxd5 13 Le3
top four boards, who played vir- £.xe3 14 Hxe3 Wd6 15 Eael f6
tually all the games, had repre- 16 h3 and Black’s kingside pawn
sentatives from all three ethnic structure looks ugly but White
communities, something that the could not prove any advantage.
politicians could leamn from. 9 .. g6
These two players have calm 10 &b3 dxed
placid personalities, but whereas Avoiding the pitfalls of having
Nikolic plays in a style true to his an isolated queen’s pawn but
nature, Rosentalis is willing to conceding ground in the centre.
take risks for the attack. Overall, Kholmov-Dolmatov, Vol-
Nikolic was impressive on board gadonsk 1983 suggested that
one but he did lose the following Black fails to equalize by
brilliancy in round four. 10...8d6 11 Kg5 Wc7 12 exds
1 e4 e6 exd5 13 h3 &f4 14 Lxf4 Kxfa
15 Radl RKe6 16 HDbd4. The really give White enough for the
bishop pair is not so effective in piece.
this position and White has the 17 .. Des
initiative due to his central bind. Inadequate is 17..8xg5 18
11 fxed Rd6 £xg5 DeS5 in view of 19 Lxd8
12 Sfe3 We7 winning material.
13 Eadl Hd8 18 Whd L2xc5
14 Wc4! 19 Qd4! RKe8
Directed against the liberation Despite the extra piece, Black
of Black’s queen’s bishop as is strangely helpless against
14...b57? fails to 15 Wxc6 and White’s slow but powerful build-
14...€5 to 15 &g5 We7 16 Lxgb6 up. His problem stems from the
hxg6 17 Wh4. fact that his knight on e5 cannot
14 Kd7 move, else White crashes through
Rosentalis now exploits his with a capture on e6. For in-
opponent’s passive opening by stance, after 19..£b5 20 EHfel
immediately switching to an at- (the impatient 20 Wh7+ &f8 21
tack against the king. Wh8+ is not appropriate:
15 Sixg6! hxgb 21..&e7 22 Wxg7 f.xd4 23 cxd4
16 Hg5 Ke7 Hg8 24 Wxe5 Wxe5 25 dxes
17 &cS! £xf1) 20...2xd4 21 cxd4 &c6 22
Wh7+ &f8 23 Hxe6! Black is
defenceless.
20 EHfel Bds
21 f4 Ead8
Black has to give back the
piece. He dare not do otherwise:
21..8xd4+ 22 cxd4 &b
(22...Exd4?? fails to 23 Hxd4
Wc5 24 fxe5 and 22..4)d7 again
wy - veY loses to 23 Wh7+ &f8 24 Exe6!
as 24..9f6 25 Wh8+ &Hg8 26
(=P
%% = Hh7 is mate) 23 Wh7+ $f8 24

Zxe6! fxe6 25 Wh8+! &e7 26
Introducing a clever piece sac- Wxg7+ £d8 27 @xe6+ mating.
rifice, distracting Black’s dark- 22 fxeS X8d7
squared bishop away from his The text is a tacit admission of
king. The more direct 17 Wh4 defeat, but does give his king a
Rxg5 18 Kxg5 f6 (possible is flight square in some lines. Un-
18..Xf8!? 19 Hd3 f6 20 Eh3 fortunately for the Bosnian No.1,
Rf71) 19 Kxf6 gxf6 20 Wxf6 22..Exe5 exposes the e6 square
fLe8 21 Wxe6+ RKf7 doesn’t to a tactical blow after 23 Wh7+
Team Chess 161
&f8 24 Hxe6+! when both cap- 25...Wxb2 26 Ef1 Wb6 loses in

tures lose: the same way as the game.
a) 24..fxe6?7 25 Wh8+ e’ 26 Efl Hcd7
25..2f7 26 Bfl+ &7 27 27 Hefd Hxd4
Wxg7+, etc.) 26 Wxg7+ Kf7 27 White to play and mate in six!
Wxe5 winning easily; and
b) 24..Hxe6 25 Wxg7+ Re7
26 Wf6+! 2d7 27 Exeb6 fxe6 28
LKxc5+ @c8 when White comes /,/
out two clear pawns ahead.
23 &hl!
%/
%///2/
An excellent preparatory move
emphasizing the hopelessness of // w
Black’s defensive task. The crude %//// /,
23 Hf1? is less clear in view of
aié f/
<
23...Hxe5! 24 Wh7+ $f8 25

Whe+ Pe7 26 Wxg7 &d8! (the
point behind 22...28d7).
23 .. fxd4 28 Wh7+ <f8
24 cxd4 Wb6 29 Wh8+ Pe7
25 Eeq 30 Exf7+ <&d8
Holding onto the d-pawn long 31 Wxe8+! 1-0
enough to prepare the decisive Black resigned rather than al-
doubling of his rooks on the f- lowing 31..&xe8 32 Ef8+ Xe7
file. 33 17 mate.
25 Hc7
Game Thirty-Four
Vaselin Topalov-Garry Kasparov
Bulgaria-Russia |, Moscow Olympiad 1994
The next game is one that will and cramped environment. Was
live on in people’s memories he distracted by this and his pen-
long after the details of the chant for politicking? However,
Olympiad are forgotten. Kaspa- he recovered from this loss with
rov is brutally mated in 31 excellent form in the second half
moves! of the event as Russia I moved
The conditions of play were into overdrive to take the gold.
not ideal in Moscow and Kas- Topalov is one of the world’s
parov had a poor first week most improved players; on the
whilst he adjusted to the noisy July 1st 1992 FIDE list he was
2520 (approximately 230th) nesses but the crucial question

whereas on the July Ist 1994 list, revolves around the fate of the d6
two years later, he was 2645 (a pawn. Kasparov’s main problem
top twenty spot). is what to do with this liability, as
1 e4 ...R2.g7 preparing to castle is met
The young Bulgarian -either by the awkward Rxd6, winning a
opens with the text move or with pawn and keeping the black king
1 c4. In Linares, ten months ear- in the centre.
lier, 1 c4 led to a King’s Indian 12 .. Le6
Defence in their individual en- Preparing general liquidation
counter. with ...d6-d5.
1 .. cS 13 Hf1
2 9f3 dé White cannot seriously envis-
3 d4 cxd4 age castling kingside and he
4 Hxdd DF6 therefore decides to centralize the
5 &Oc3 a6 rook.
6 fLe3 e6 13 .. Hc8
7 g4 14 h3 Whe!?
Vaselin is clearly in the mood Kasparov rejects the simple
for a sharp game. equality on offer after 14...d5 15
7 . hé exdS Dxd5 16 Dxd5 Wxds 17
8§ f4!1? AT WxdS or 16..£xd5 17 £f3 and
9 Re2 e tries for more.
Kasparov correctly reacts ac- 15 Wd2 2877
tively in the centre before White The pawn-grabbing 15...Wxb2
fully organizes his kingside play. gives White a strong initiative
10 &f5 after 16 Ebl Wa3 17 Ef3. To-
The alternative 10 &xc6 bxc6 palov instead suggests 15...5)d7!
11 fxe5 can be met by the shot when he even prefers Black after
11..2Dxg4! (11...dxe5 12 Wxd8+ 16 0-0-0 HdeS 17 a3 Pa5. In-
&xd8 13 0-0-0+ c7 is also stead 16 £f5!? is tempting but
playable) when the complications inadequate after 16..2de5 17
following 12 £xg4 Wh4+ 13 &2 Nxd6+ Lxd6 18 Wxd6 Wxb2
Wxgd 14 exd6 Wg2 15 Hgl eg. 19 fxe5 Dxe5 20 Wxes
Wxh2 are rather unclear. Wxal+ 21 £d2 Wxc3+ 22 Wxc3
10 .. g6 Hxc3 23 2xc3 Lxa2.
11 OHg3 exfd 16 £xdé6
12 2xf4 Kasparov has given the d-pawn
As both kings are still in the and cannot get his king to safety.
centre, such an open position He must try to act quickly before
lends itself to tactical play. Each White can consolidate and make
side has various pawn weak- use of the extra pawn.
Team Chess 163
19...Wxal+ 20 &2 Wb2 21 Ebl

Wxb1 22 Hxb1 Hd8 with enough
for the queen) with the important
difference that following
19..Wxal+ 20 &2 Wb2 21 bl
Wxbl 22 &xbl Ed8 can now be
met by the spectacular 20 Wf4!
winning, as 20...£xf4 21 &6 is
mate!
Kasparov is now forced to take
z
refuge a dubious ending.
19 Xbil Wxc3
After 19..%9c4 20 Exb2 Hxd2
16 .. Dxgd?! 21 £xe6 fxe6 22 &xd2 Kxc3+
Spectacular but not sound. To- 23 &cl L£xb2+ 24 £xb2 Black
palov again suggests 16...2d7 has adequate material but has
just to free the dark-squared little play for the rooks which are
bishop, but after 17 &f5! &xf5 dominated by the active white
18 exf5 &b4 19 fxg6 fxgé 20 pieces.
Wf4 White’s attack gets there 20 Wxc3 Hxc3
first. 21 Sfxe6 fxe6
17 Sfxgd 22 Hxb7
There is no great merit in not General simplification has not
taking on g4 as 17 Ha4 is met by eased the plight of the black king
17..We3 (or even 17..Wd4 18 stuck in the centre. The extra
Wxd4 Dxd4 19 hxgd Dxc2+ 20 pawn is not really a factor as
&f2 Hxal 21 Hxal Hc2) 18 hxgd Black has insurmountable prob-
Wxd2+ 19 &xd2 Hd8 and Black lems in bringing his king’s rook
is better. into play.
17 .. Wxb2 22 .. ed
18 e5? After 22...Bxg3 23 Hxg7 Exh3
The Bulgarian complicates his White doesn’t play 24 Rxe5?
task as 18 @ge2! seems to win because of 24..He3+ with draw-
after either 18.Wxal+ 19 2f2 ing chances nor with 24 £f2??
Wb2 20 Bb1 or 18..50d4 19 Hbl (threatening 25 KLxe5 and 25
Axc2+ 20 dl. Ebl) due to 24..Hf3+ when
18 .. Dxes Black is better, but rather 24 Ef4
Again taking the rook leads to with many threats. White must
the loss of Black’s queen. The surely be winning.
other capture on €5, 18...&xe5, is 23 Kb4 Hel+
best met by the active 19 @ge4! 24 HDe2 f£es
(rather than 19 &ge2?! due to 25 Eff7
&f2! Exh3 (30..He5 31 Exe8+,

etc.) 31 &f4 mating. The coun-
terattack 26..2g3+ falls short
after 27 &f1. So it looks as if the
position in the last diagram is
/ already lost for Kasparov.
26 Hd4!
As the knight cannot be taken
(because of 27 EBfe7+ &d8 28
/@'%/ Hb8 mate) this fourth piece con-
tributes to a mating net around
Kasparov’s king.
26 .. He3+
Can Black defend? 27 @11 Hedq
25 Hxh3? 28 Hfe7+ &d8
After this, surely not. Possible 29 &6+ 1-0
was 25...2.d6 but 26 Eg7! seems Rather than allow mate by
clearly winning to me, e.g. 29...%c8 30 Da7+ wd8 31 Ebd7
26..2f8 27 Hgc7! Kxbd+ 28 Kasparov resigned.
Exbd4 Hd6 29 Eb8+ He8 30
Game Thirty-Five
Rune Djurhuus-Alexei Yermolinsky
Norway-USA, Moscow Olympiad 1994
The United States team was generates many transpositional

struggling way down the field for possibilities and can be a good
much of the event, but they man- way to play against those players
aged to put in an impressive spurt who specialize in forcing main
in the latter part to finish a rather line openings.
undeserved seventh. Yermolinsky 3 . ds
was one of four ex-Soviets in the 4 cd c5
six-man team that was expected 5 &Hc3 a6!?
to be more competitive for the The symmetrical 5..&\c6 is
medal placings. usual but the American tries to
1 d4 6 make his opponent show his
2 H13 e6 hand. The text is a multi-purpose
3 e3 move preparing a timely ...dxc4
The Norwegian has shown a followed by ...b7-b5, avoiding the
liking for this system before. This pin with £b5 and often allowing
apparently quiet continuation the dark-squared bishop to drop
Team Chess 165
back to a7 (see move 13). exd4 Kxd4 when Black has the
6 cxd5 exd5 initiative after:
7 fe2 £.d6 a) 19 213 Hes! 20 £xb7 b8
8dxc§ fLxcs (or even 20..£xf2+ 21 &f1 Eb8)
Black accepts an isolated pawn 21 RKed Degd; and
but hopes to get active piece de- b) 19 £c4 Wgd 20 h3 Wf4.
ployment in compensation. If this is the case, and if the
9 00 0-0 plan introduced by the text is un-
10 Wd3!? convincing, then White should
More conventional is 10 b3 settle for 16 h3 d4 17 exd4 Dxd4
#c6 11 £b2 Ka7 12 Hcl Wd6 18 Hxd4 Lxd4 19 Kf3 with
13 Wc2 Ed8 14 Efdl as in Spa- equal chances.
sov-Ftacnik, Maita Olympiad
1980. Judging such positions
comes down to a matter of taste
and each player has his own
feelings about the strengths and
weaknesses of isolated pawns.
Here Black was probably not too
unhappy about his opening.
10 .. AN
11 Xdi 26
White’s tenth virtually forces
this move. Aggression with
11..b4? 12 Wd2 Kf5 13 a3
@ c2 14 Ha2 is misplaced and 16 .. L.g4!
would be soon regretted. 17 257!
12 b3 We7 Djurhuus persists with his plan
13 2b2 Ra7 but pawn weaknesses on the
14 Eacl Eac8 kingside turn out to be more sig-
15 WWb1 (D) nificant than the bishop pair. 17
Completing the manoeuvre £e2 is playable but it is very
started by 10 Wd3. hard to bring yourself to play
15 .. Hfds such a move!
I think that Black has achieved 17 2xf3
equality as none of White’s con- 18 gxf3 Hc7
tinuations seem to offer anything. 19 <&hil
16 K43 Natural seems 19 &e2 aiming
Also ambitious is 16 Zg5!? for control of the d4 square. Then
but this is well met by 16...d4 17 19..2e5 20 fxe5 Wxe5 21 f4!
Nxe6 Wxe6! (not 17...dxc3? 18 We7 22 Exc7 Wxc7 23 Hcl We7
@xd8 cxb2 19 xc6 winning) 18 24 Wd3 looks satisfactory for
White, however 19...2xe3! 20 has retreated in total disarray.

fxe3 Wxed+ 21 <&ft Wxf3+ 26 Hcdl
would give Black plenty of
pawns and obvious
chances for the piece.
19
attacking
.. 26
L
1%2 /f
20 Kd3 Hcd7
/f/
21 Qe2
To obtain an advantage White ///a //%
needs only to play 22 Wal fol-
lowed by 23 &d4. Alas, it is of
course Black to move.
/
21 .. d4!
’//:./
’ 4‘
22 e4
Simplifying into a miserable
ending with 22 Dxd4 Dxd4 23 If instead 26 Wal then the
£xd4 Rxd4 24 exd4 Hxd4 25 same combination works as in the
£.f1 is not really an option, while game. Otherwise 26 £xe5 WxeS
after 22 Wal Black has all the 27 $h3 Hxh3 28 Lxh3 £b8 of-
play after 22...4\h5. fers White no hope.
22 .. AT 26 .. Dxf3!
23 oHgl White’s whole structure caves
A sign that things have gone in. The Norwegian couldn’t see
sour, but 23 g2 Dh5 24 f4 any point in continuing with 27
Dxfa+! 25 Hxf4 Wgs5+ is no Dxf3 Wxed 28 L£g2 Hxg2 29
better. &xg2 (or 29 &g5 Wc6 30 Hcl
23 .. &Hhs Wd5 and wins) 29...Wg4+ 30 $f1
24 wf1 a4 Wxf3 31 &gl Bd5, etc.
25 Hd2 d3! 0-1
The black pieces are perfectly A smooth performance by the
placed whereas the white army 1993 co-American Champion.
Game Thirty-Six
Predrag Nikolic-Jan Timman
Bosnia-Netherlands, Moscow Olympiad 1994
The Dutch team were sole leaders ance. Jan Timman, who was the
of the tournament at one stage top non-Soviet player for many
and had a fairly good Olympiad years, has had a slightly below
overall. Only a 3'2-12 loss to par year and here his brave ef-
England marred their perform- forts to take on Nikolic in one of
Team Chess 167
the Bosnian’s pet lines were to no well countered by the active con-
avail. tinuation 10...dxc4 11 bxcd Qb6
1 d4 &f6 12 g4!? (less risky is 12 %a3)
2 o4 g6 12..Dxc4! 13 gxfS &Hxb2 14
3 o9f3 2g7 Dxb2 Wxd4 15 Wxd4 Kxd4 16
4 g3 fxe4 Kxb2 17 Hd2 Kxal 18
Nikolic frequently fianchettoes Hxal (P.Nikolic-I1.Sokolov, Bel-
this bishop. It is generally con- grade 1991) with dynamic equal-
sidered as White’s most solid ity.
variation against the King’s In- 9 .. 4\d7
dian/Griinfeld Defence. 10 We2 Wa5s
4 .. 0-0 In yet another of Nikolic’s
5 fKg2 6 games in this line, 10...a5 11 £h4
6 090 ds 2.6 12 £3 d6 13 c5 bS5 14 a4
7 b3 &7 15 f4 gave Smirin, as Black,
Games one and three from the a seriously constricted game.
Karpov-Kasparov, World Cham- 11 Hcl Hfe8
pionship match, Seville 1987, 12 &Hc3
tested the main alternative 7 cxd5 True to his nature Nikolic
cxd5 8 De5 e6 9 N3 Hfd7 10 f4 chooses the most solid continua-
D6 11 Ke3 Hb6. The game tion. 12 £h4!? is ineffective after
starts from a symmetrical posi- 12..%e6 13 f3 5)f6 14 Kf1 g5!
tion but within only a few moves 15 Dg2 K15 when it is the white
the position becomes quite tense. pieces that have been displaced.
7 .. Ded 12 .. Hxe3
8 RKb2 K15 13 RKxc3 Waé
9 3 14 K{f1!
Nikolic has recently showed a Threatening to simplify with
preference for this simple move advantage, e.g. 14...Hac8 15 cxd5
as earlier attempts to immediately Wxe2 16 Kxe2 cxd5 17 £b4 in-
undermine the Black minor tending the awkward &b5.
pieces are not convincing: 9 %c3 14 .. dxc4
can be met by 9...dxc4 10 bxc4 Bad is 14...e5? 15 cxd5 Wxe2
c5!? and 9 ©h4 by 9...dxc4 10 16 Rxe2 e4 17 dxc6! (17 ©Dhd
Dxf5 gxf5 11 Kxed fxed 12 bxcd only gives an edge) 17...exf3 18
cS 13 &d2 (Malaniuk-Marin- cxd7 fxe2 19 dxe8W+ Hxe8 20
kovic, Vmjacka Banja 1991) £.b4 and White will win.
when 13..cxd4! 14 Hxed Hc6 15 e4
may even be slightly preferable Expanding in the centre now
for Black. that Black’s d-pawn has quit its
Critical is 9 &e5 Dd7 10 HHd3 defensive post.
preparing g4 and f3, but this is 15 .. Lg4
16 h3 The impatient 23...c5 just loses

Taking the bishop pair. a pawn after 24 £b5 Wc7
16 .. £xf3 (24...cxd4 25 Wc6 He7 26 Wcs
17
Wxf3 6 Wxc8 27 Exc8+ LKf8 28 £xd4
With the text Timman admits will cost Black his b-pawn) 25
that his opening has not really £xd7 Wxd7 26 dxc5 bxcS 27
been a success as White main- Hxcs.
tains a solid edge. Even worse is 24 Ec2 Wa8
17...b5 18 a4! cxb3 19 axb5 Wb7 Gaining time for the defence of
20 fLc4 e6 21 bxc6 Wxc6 22 c6.
£xb3 with a clear advantage as 25 R2b2 Hc8
the two bishops support the cen- 26 g2
tral majority, and furthermore A cautious move typical of
Black’s a-pawn is weak. Nikolic. His philosophy can be
18 ad! ¥b6 summarized as ‘when in doubt
improve your worst placed
piece’ The queen is defended
and he avoids checks on the
eighth rank.
,&: { 26 .. bS
% 7wiw w
Finally Timman can activate
his knight which now heads for
d5 via b6.
fgj //%,
/% //? 27
28
Kd3
Red
&h6
oHds
29 h4! @b4
. X /%gg The white rook has to leave the
c-file and Black can now prepare
19 al! counterplay with a timely ...c6-
Forcing Black to retreat as c5, but Nikolic has earned
19...\'xb3 20 Hcb1 Wc2 21 Eb2 enough time to start thinking
loses the queen. about Timman’s hitherto ne-
19 .. Wds glected king!
20 fxc4d bS 30 He2 Wa7
Timman is fighting for space. 31 hSY(D)
Otherwise after 21 b4 White Slowly but surely the attack
could retreat along the a2-g8 di- gains momentum.
agonal and stop any ideas of ...c6- 31 .. cS5?!
cS. It looks as if Black doesn’t
21 axb6 axb6 have enough time for this move.
22 €5 Exal Objectively best is 31...23d5! but
23 fKxal 2h6 staying passive is not a pleasant
Team Chess 169
decision to make. Then 32 hxg6 there was no concrete reason for

(or 32 Wg4 &g7! 33 Hel Wa2! the king move. Grandmasters
frustrating White’s plans for the know, however, that as soon as
attack) 32..hxg6 33 Wgd4 g7 the tactics start counter checks
(33...Wd77! is too defensive, es- can spoil all the good work, so it
pecially as White can play 34 is typical of GM chess to see such
Hel &g7 35 BEh1 Eh8 36 Wh3 ‘time outs’ for an unexpected
g8 37 Xal) 34 Ec2 Wd7 might side-step with the king.
be tenable. After 33...&g7 then 34 d5 with
a crushing attack and on 33...Hc7
then 34 Lxg6 fxg6 35 Wxg6+
L.g7 36 Wxe6+ Ef7 37 d5; White
has excellent compensation for
the piece, perhaps after 37...Wb7
Black is alive but White is a
strong favourite.
34 2xg6!
%fi,,/ 2, //A%?/fié,/ Crashing through as 34...fxg6
A //gB 35 Wxe6+ costs Black his rook.
34 .. c3
35 fLed+ 2f8
Equally hopeless is 35..8.g7
32 hxgé hxgé 36 RKcl &f8 (36..Wxd4? 37
33 VWed c4 £h7+ and the queen is lost) 37
On 33..We7 34 dxc5 (34 d5!7) ds5 etc.
34..Hxc5 35 Lxg6 fxg6 36 36 Whd4 2.g7
Wxb4 Black doesn’t have 37 f{xc3 1-0
36...Hcl ‘check’ as Nikolic has As 37..Hxc3 allows mate by
already removed his king to g2. 38 Wd8 Black is two pawns
One just never knows when a down. Therefore Timman re-
variation will depend on a safe signed.
king, for instance at move 26
Game Thirty-Seven
Cruz-Yasser Seirawan
Peru-USA, Moscow Olympiad 1994
What is the difference between a captain in Moscow, once ex-

grandmaster and a lesser master? plained to me his view that the
Murray Chandler, himself a difference is not dramatic. How-
grandmaster and the English team ever, the stronger player has a
very small superiority in each 32 Hd7 Ef8 33 Wd4 bS 34 axbs

aspect of the game. Of course, in Wxb5 35 c4 W1+ 36 Sg2
an individual encounter it’s not
always possible to prove that one
is superior to one’s opponent, but
on other occasions, such as this
one, patience is necessary and
only late into the game does the
grandmaster’s talent get a chance
to shine through.
Yasser Seirawan is one of the %
few top American’s with no links
to the ex-USSR. His immediate
family is from Syria and England. //%fi%
7/
He was the top US player for
many years but is more active in
chess journalism and less in Yasser heads for the ending.
practical play these days. Playing Instead, attempts to win with
on a lower board this time he 36...a4 will more than likely re-
scored heavily, including this bound after 37 Za7! (rather than
beautiful endgame win out of 37 ¢5?! a3 38 Ha7 a2 39 c6 h6 40
nothing. c7 &h7 41 Wad Hc8 or in this 39
The early stages of the game Wad Wcl 40 Ha5 Wc3 41 Wxa2
reflected an even tussle and Wxe5 when White has some
analysis of the first thirty-five problems) 37..Wc2 38 c5 and it
moves would not add to our ap- is White who has the winning
preciation of this endgame mas- chances.
terpiece, so I have exclusively 37 Wxd3 exd3
concentrated on the latter stages 38 Hxd3 HcS8
of the game. 39 <f3 g5!
1 d4 &6 2 213 €6 3 c4 b6 4 g3 Why this move? Black wishes
Kb7 5 £2g2 ¢6 6 0-0 d5 7 Dc3 to free his rook from the defence
Hbd7 8 cxd5 cxd5 9 L4 a6 10 of the back rank, naturally, but he
Hci1 Hc8 11 Wb3 Le7 12 Rfdl uses his g-pawn to restrain the
0-0 13 a4 SHhS 14 Rd2 £d6 15 white kingside.
Za2 We7 16 £b4 Dhf6 17 Des 40 Hc3 ad
£xb4 18 Dxd7 Hxd7 19 Dxbd 41 Le3 a3
a5 20 Hd3 L£a6 21 e3 Hcd 22 42 Sd4?
21 Hfc8 23 Hc3 Hxc3 24 bxc3 The Peruvian didn’t want the
L4 25 Wh2 Wd6 26 DeS DxeS irritating defensive task that 42
27 dxe5 ¥Wb8 28 &xcd Hxcd 29 Hxa3 Exc4 43 h3 hS would have
Hd4 Bc5 30 e4 dxed 31 Wd2 Hc8 presented. But this would almost
Team Chess 171
certainly have been drawn, given at the black pawns.

enough patience!
42 .. Ha8
43 Hcl g4!
Definitively fixing the white
kingside.
4 Hal >f8
45 Ha2 Le7
46 &c3 Has
47 <&bh4 Hxe5
Now 48 Hxa3 would lose a
pawn after 48...He2.
48 <&xal Has+!
Cruz was probably anticipating
48..Xh5 49 &b4 Hxh2 50 &b5 52 .. es
and the c-pawn gives adequate 53 &d3 f5
counterplay. 54 &c3 ed!
Most players would be sur- Taking away the d3 square
prised by the text, surely he can’t from the white king who must
play the pure king and pawn now defend his c-pawn from c3
ending, hasn’t White an outside and b3.
passed pawn? At this point Sei- 55 <b3 hé6!
rawan calculated the rest of the An important tempo loss so
game with great accuracy and that his intended breakthrough
saw that in fact it is Black who takes place with the white king
wins by one tempo. A demon- on the inferior b3.
stration of the depth that a top- 56 &3 hS
level player, given the right cir- 57 <b3 4!
cumstances, is able to analyse. The moment of truth! Inferior
49 b3 Hxa2 is 57... h4? 58 gxh4 f4 59 h5 e3
50 <xa2 (D) 60 fxe3 3 61 h6 f2 62 h7 f1W 63
50 .. &d6 h8W Wxc4+ with a certain draw.
51 <b3 Dc5 58 gxf4
52 &3 Black queens after 58 &c3 e3
Matertal is equal and White 59 fxe3 fxg3 60 hxg3 h4, etc.
has the so-called outside passed 58 .. e3!
pawn. However Black can ad- 59 fxel h4
vance his kingside majority with- 60 f5
out hindrance as White, with no White is too far away to stop
pawn moves, can only wait with Black queening with one of the h-
his king. Note that White has no or g-pawns. So now the question
time to jettison his c-pawn to get arises as to how quick the white
pawns are. hxg3 63 c5+ ®d7 64 f6 g2 65

60 .. *d6! c6+! also enables White to save
The cleverest stage of the the game.
game, which had to be foreseen at 0-1
least as early as move 48. Not White resigned as he could see
60... g3 61 hxg3 hxg3 62 f6 &d6 no improvement on 62 ¢5 xf5
(62...g27 63 f7 g1 W 64 f8W+ fa- 63 c6 Le6 64 2c5 g3 65 hxg3
vours White) 63 c5+ Leb 64 c6 h3! 66 &b6 h2 67 c7 &d7 68
g2 65 c7 gl¥W 66 c8¥W+ and b7 and Black queens with
White queens in time to make a check 68..h1W+. A magnificent
draw. display of endgame and analyti-
61 b4 es! cal technique.
Again 61...g3 fails as 62 hxg3
10 Other Significant Events
Not every chess tournament fits neatly into the previous chapter head-
ings, so here are the odds and ends that I think deserve a mention.
They consist mainly of unusual formats, non-championship matches
and knock-out events.
The strongest knock-out tournament, that is, at the traditional time
limit is Tilburg (Interpolis) in the Netherlands. A two-game mini-
match is followed, if necessary, by a series of more rapid games played
in pairs. The tie-breaks, however, use the so-called ‘Fischer clock’ (20
minutes plus 10 seconds per move per player, and if that doesn’t de-
cide then two games at 10 minutes plus 10 seconds, etc.). For most
players, who have little or no experience with the clock, it is hard to
visualize how this compares with ordinary quickplay but a 30-move
game would give each player 20 plus five minutes and a 60-move
game 20 plus ten. The big advantage of the Fischer clock is that in a
long game a player can better exercise his skill as some precious time
is still available. This compares favourably with typical rapidplay
chess which sometimes degenerates into instantaneous blitz play!
The first round saw 112 of the world’s finest players start the tour-
nament. The victors were joined by eight seeded players in the second
round.
The problem for the sponsors has been the almost total domination
by the Soviet school of chess. The last sixteen consisted of fourteen ex-
Soviets and two East Europeans. This tends to dampen the enthusiasm
of the Western media!
Next year Tilburg will be changing the formula of the event and I
suspect that this may be the reason. Knock-out chess is excellent for
quickplays of the highest calibre because of television and spectator
interest but not ideal for a long drawn-out event with the conventional
time-limit. There are complications for hotels, visas, travel arrange-
ments, clashes with other events and inevitably not many of the 120
participants are still there at the closing ceremony! For ‘cup-style’
competitions to be successful there really need to be side events, as in
Wijk aan Zee 1993 and again in 1995. The Dutch experiment with
knock-outs is not yet finished.

Throughout Tilburg 1994 Salov remained unbeaten despite poor
health at the start at the event. His semi-final opponent, Ivanchuk, re-
quired extra time to advance at the expense of Smyslov, Azmai-
parashvili and Khalifman. So it was not surprising that another quick-
play play-off was required to decide the encounter, but Ivanchuk’s
quickplay run was brought to an end by the eventual tournament win-
ner.
In the other half of the draw, Bareev was another specialist at edging
out his early opponents in the play-offs, but took his chances in the
semi-final against Karpov, winning 1'2-2. Karpov lost one embarrass-
ing quickplay game to Kurajica in the second round, but after scraping
through he scored an impressive 6/6 before his sudden loss of form
against Bareev.
4th round 5th round Semi-Final Final
V.Salov 1 =
G.Serper V.Salov 1 =
V.Akopian
V.Akopian 1 =
E.Pigusov V.Salov==(1=)
V.Ivanchuk
V.Ivanchuk 1 0 (=1)
Z.Azmaiparashvili
VIvanchuk==(1011)
A.Khalifman 1 = A.Khalifman
L.Yudasin
V.Salov 1=
E.Bareev
A.Karpov 1 1
A.Shabalov A.Karpov 11
Kir.Georgiev
1.Sokolov
Kir.Georgiev==(10=1)
A Karpov
A.Dreev 1 = E.Bareev 1 =
Z.Almasi
A.Dreev
V.Tukmakov E.Bareev 1 =
E.Bareev==(1=)
By now in good health and good form it was the Spanish-based Sa-
Other Significant Events 175
lov, who won a double-edged Réti Opening in the first game of the
final, which together with a draw in the second game, was enough to
take the first prize of 100,000 guilders.
Non-Championship Matches
Some of the leading players have shown interest in playing training

matches. There are different factors involved in preparing for one op-
ponent over several games, and this is seen as useful in the process of
graduating from being a successful tournament player to Candidate
standard. It is not surprising then that it is the younger generation (with
little experience in, but great hopes for, future involvement in the can-
didates matches) who indulge in these exhibition matches. The main
ones of the year were as follows:
Aruba (Netherlands Antilles), February

J.Piket 4'2-3'/» L.Polugayevsky
Las Palmas (Spain), February

A.Karpov 5-1 I.Morovic
Oslo (Norway), March

M.Adams 2-2 S.Agdestein
Monte Carlo (Monaco), April

J.Piket 6-2 L.Ljubojevic
Buenos Aires (Argentina), October (25-minute)

A Karpov 3-1 H.Spangenberg
Ubeda (Spain), November

A Karpov 4-2 ] Lautier
Alcobendas (Spain), November

V.Topalov 4-2 M.Illescas
The following events feature the next generation of grandmasters!
World Junior Championships (under 20), Brazil, September

912/13 H.Gretarsson (Iceland)
9 Zso.Polgar (Hungary)
812 G.Vescovi (Brazil), N.Mariano (Philippines),
D.Kumaran (England), H.Spangenberg (Argentina),
C.Gabriel (Germany)
European Junior Championships (under 18), Chania (Greece),

November
Boys: 7/9 R.Kempinski
Girls: 612/9 M.Grabics
Sponsors sometimes look for something different. Here teams are

invited (or contrived) to generate extra interest to individual perform-
ances.
Glendale (USA), May

USA 10-10 Armenia
The Hague (Netherlands), May

Humans 114-114 Computers
Best scorers: 5142/6 L.Christiansen, J.Nunn
Boston (USA), October (25-minute)

Humans 29'/2-18!2 Computers
Best Score: 61/2/8 J.Benjamin
Buenos Aires (Argentina), April

Rest of the World 56-44 Argentina
Best Scorers: ROW 712/10 S.Conquest
Argentina 7'2/10 D.Campora
The Argentinian metropolis of Buenos Aires is definitely the main

chess centre in the southern hemisphere, the legendary Argentinian
grandmaster Miguel Najdorf has seen to that. The main event there this
year was dedicated to Lev Polugayevsky who is recovering from a
brain operation and wasn’t quite fit enough to play himself.
Sicilian theme tournament, Buenos Aires (Argentina), October

9/14 V.Salov
81 V.Anand
7 V.Ivanchuk, J.Polgar
6 G.Kamsky, A Karpov
6 A.Shirov
5% L.Ljubojevic
Cap d’Agde (France), October

4/5 B.Gelfand
3 M.Adams (5/6), B.Alterman (3'/2), H. Hamdouchi (3),
Xie Jun (4)
214 J.Lautier (1'/2/2), C.Lutz (1)
1%2 V.Topalov (1/2), P.Leko (1)
1 M.Apicella
Scores in brackets are quickplay play-off scores for final placings.
A ten-player, five-round, swiss of ‘Young Masters’, the winner to

play match against Karpov.
B.Gelfand 0l==(11) A.Karpov

Karpov was doing most of the pressing in this mini-match against
the slightly fortunate winner.
Game Thirty-Eight
Anatoly Karpov-Kiril Georgiev
Tilburg 1994
Kiril Georgiev recently ceded the 5 £g5 hé

first board of the Bulgarian team 6 %£ha 00
to the rising star Vaselin Topalov, 7 €3 b6
but has maintained a steady Tartakower’s Defence, in
2600+ rating ensuring himself a which Black aims to fianchetto
top thirty world ranking. In the his queen’s bishop, the problem
late-eighties he was particularly piece in the Orthodox variation.
renowned for his prowess in blitz The drawback of the line is an
and quickplay chess. imperceptible weakening of
1 d4 &6 Black’s light squares on the
2 c4 eb queenside.
3 4&f3 ds 8 RKe2 b7
Georgiev heads for the Ortho- 9 Lxfé
dox Queen’s Gambit Declined, To the uninitiated, a surprising
one of Black’s most solid de- move: three moves earlier White
fences to the queen’s pawn. replied to 5..h6 with 6 £h4 and
4 D3 Le7 now he changes his mind and
exchanges on f6 after all! White’s plans of significance: playing for

strategy is in fact to give the e4, when (after ...dxe4) Black’s
game a static pawn structure bishop on b7 sits passively be-
whereupon his opponent’s bish- hind the backward pawn on ¢6, or
ops have a limited role, and he alternatively, he can advance on
commits himself to this game- the queenside with b4-b5 or a2-
plan only now that his opponent a4-a5 to expose weaknesses.
has chosen to move his b-pawn,
as the Black queenside can be
pressurized.
9 .. 2.xf6
10 cxd5 exdS
11 b4!
Hoping to restrain any ideas of
queenside expansion by Black.
11 .. c6
This is cautious but more pas-
sive than the critical move
11...c5(!17) whereby Black im-
mediately tries to break open the
game for his bishops. Karpov 14 Hfel
himself preferred 11...c5 in sev- An example of White playing
eral encounters with Kasparov in solely on the queenside was 14 a4
the marathon World Champion- Zfe8 15 a5 Had8 16 axb6 axb6
ship match in Moscow 1984/5. 17 Ha7 Wb8 18 Ea2 b5 (cutting
Their 42nd game continued 12 out b4-bS by White at the cost of
bxc5 bxc5 13 Bbl Rc6 14 0-0 being lumbered with sterile
Hd7 15 &bS Wc7 16 We2 Hfcs, pawns) 19 el Le7 20 Hd3
Black has a potential weakness £d6 21 g3 &b6 22 Lf3 £c8 23
on d5 that offers White slightly Zfal 215 24 &c5; Nikolic-Short,
the better chances. Manila Interzonal 1990. White
After the text, the battle goes has fine-looking pieces but its not
through a quiet phase as both clear that he can engineer a
camps organize their weaponry. breakthrough. Black, as so typical
12 0-0 Wdé6 of this line, must be patient.
13 Wb3 Hd7 Another queenside-oriented
If Black can organize the ...c6- plan is, ‘after due preparation’, to
c5 advance, he liberates his play b4-b5 to loosen Black’s grip
pieces at the cost of an inferior on the d5 square. If Black ignores
pawn structure. More typically, White’s b5, then after the further
from the diagram position, Black bxc6 the d5 pawn is isolated and
sits and waits. White then has two will require constant defence.
White then creates further prob- e4!? dxe4 20 &xed as here Black
lems in the black camp by ad- doesn’t have a satisfactory square
vancing his a-pawn to fracture the for his queen on the kingside:
remaining black queenside 20...Wf4 21 g3 is unpleasant as is
pawns. 20..Wg6 21 £d43 again hounding
Bearing this in mind, Black the queen.
tends to arrange his pieces in or- 19 .. g6?!
der to meet White’s bS advance Played in order to redeploy the
with the by-passing ...c6-c5. king’s bishop to the more active
White therefore builds-up latent g7 square. However, 19...Kaa8,
pressure on the d5 pawn (such as linking rooks was more prudent,
doubling on the d-file) to meet the text is apparently self-
any ideas of ...c6-c5 with the ex- weakening as Karpov is able to
change dxcS followed by captur- show.
ing the dS pawn. 20 e4! dxed
14 .. Le7 21 SHxed VW4
15 Habl a$s 22 fc4
Black gains some breathing White already takes up a
space, not waiting for White to threatening stance and combina-
take total control. tions based on the weak light
16 bxa$s HExas squares €8, f7 and g6 are in the
17 a4! air.
The white pawns on a4 and d4 22 .. Rg7
shepherd the pawns on b6 and c6 White has a wide choice
into passivity. White’s isolated a- against 22...c5(7):
pawn is well defended and less of a) 23 d5 as in the game.
a defensive chore than Black’s b) 23 Hg3?! Exel+ 24 Hxel
couplet. &h7! (better than 24..8xf3 25
17 .. He8 Wxg6+ etc.) 25 d5 Df6 26 Wb3
18 fl1 Wd6 with counterplay, as White
Karpov has already had this is tied down to the d5-pawn.
position before, when his oppo- c) 23 &f67!+ is not convincing
nent chose to exchange his infe- as 23.. Wxf6! (23..%xf6? is bad
rior bishop with 18..8a6, but after 24 Wxg6+ &h8 25 Wxf7)
after 19 £xa6 HExa6 20 e4 dxed 24 Hxe8 Lxf3 25 gxf3 cxd4 26
21 Dxed Wg6 22 He3 Hb8 23 £.b5 @e5 gives the second player
Ac3 £d6 24 Wca his c6 pawn strong counterplay.
came under pressure; Karpov d) 23 Peg5! introduces com-
Bonsch, Baden-Baden 1992. plications that seem to leave
18 .. K18 Black in a sorry state: 23...Hxel+
19 We2 24 Hxel hxg5 25 Wxg6+ <h8
Interesting is the immediate 19 (worse is 25..8g7 due to 26
Pxg5) 26 Whs+ g7 27 Dxgs when after 28... Wxh3 White forks

W5 28 £d3! (28 £xf7?! is infe- with 29 @eg5 winning material
rior as after 28...cxd4 29 De6+ by threatening both the queen and
&f6 30 Wxf5+ Hxf5 31 RKe8 the rook on e8.
£b4 32 Dxd4 Lxel 33 Dxf5 28 deé! Ef8
fLc6 Black is favourite) The text is natural but not sat-
28..Wxd3 29 Wxf7+ <<h8 isfactory. A better chance was
(29...%h6 30 He6+ 2xg5 31 hd+ 28..Exed! 29 Lxf7+ &h7 30
wins) 30 Wxd7 with more than Hxed S8xed 31 Hxed Df8!
adequate compensation with three (31..45f6 loses to 32 Kxg6+!
pawns and the attack for the &xg6 33 He7 ¥h7 34 Wf7 and
piece. White wins easily) 32 h4! (rather
23 He2 cS than 32 De57! Lxe5! 33 Hxes
With two minor pieces tied Wxd6 and Black holds firm)
down to defending the queenside, 32..Wxd6 33 &g2! with the
the Bulgarian cannot just sit there positional threat of h4-hS loosen-
while White turns the screw ever ing the Black king’s protective
tighter. Black’s queen bishop cover. White keeps an edge de-
gains in influence but Karpov spite the simplifications.
now has a passed d-pawn.
24 d5 Haa8
25 Hbel EHad8
Exchanges suit Black so
25...%e5!? should be considered.
However, this leaves the b6
square without its natural de-
fender: 26 Dxe5 Exe5 (after
26..8xe5 27 g3 WfS 28 Wb3
threatens 29 Wxb6 and 29 £d6)
27 Wb3 Hae8 28 f3! wins mate-
rial as 28...f5 is refuted by 29 g3.
26 Wb3
The direct threat of 27 a5 is Karpov certainly goes for his
easily parried but the mounting combinations against Bulgarians
pressure against f7 is not so eas- (see game 11, Karpov-Topalov,
ily met. Linares 1994)! Here the break-
26 .. 2a8 through is equally spectacular.
27 g3 29 fxf7+!
Black’s most active piece is Chess books tend to describe
forced to retreat. such a move as a ‘bolt from the
27 .. Wh8 blue’!
On 27..Wg4? then 28 h3! 29 .. Hxf7
30 Segs! hxg5 attractive than 32 &xf7? because

31 Dxgs of 32..5f6 when 33 &e5+ can
Once a beginner has played be met by 33...8d5.
only a few games of chess he 32 .. Wxdé
learns that in the opening the f7 This loses immediately but the
square is the ‘Achilles’ heel’ of alternatives offered no salvation:
the black position. Karpov made a) 32...Hxe8 33 Wxf7+ &h8 34
no direct threats against the Hxe8+ winning.
square until the 28th move but his b) 32..Wb7 (with a serious
rook sacrifice hinges on Black’s counter threat!) is refuted by 33
difficulties in its defence. Wxf7+ &h8 34 Hled4 forcing
31 .. Edfs 34..Wxed 35 Dxed Lxed 36
Hopeless is 31..Wxd6 32 Wxd7 and wins.
Wxf7+ &h8 33 Be7 W6 34 c) 32..c4 33 Wxc4 De5 34
Hxd7 Ef8 in view of 35 Wxg7+! Hixes! Wb7 35 Wxf7+! Wxf7 36
Wxg7 36 Exg7 &xg7 37 De6+ Nxf7 &xf7 37 B5e7+ $f6 38 d7
g8 38 Nxf8 Lxf8 39 He6 win- and queens.
ning easily. 33 Wxf7+ <h8
32 e8! 34 Deb 1-0
Stronger and certainly more Mate on g7 is unavoidable.
Game Thirty-Nine
Vladimir Akopian-lgor Khenkin
Tilburg 1994
Igor Khenkin is one of a new Akopian is a hard man to pre-

generation of émigrés from the pare for due to his wide opening
ex-Soviet Union who now live in repertoire. He would generally
Israel. He is fairly active on the play 3 d4 here, although he has in
European circuit and was the sole fact played the text before.
winner in the Geneva open last 3 . a6
January. Akopian is one of the Khenkin prefers to avoid the
top two Armenians (with Va- simplifying 4 K2b5+. Instead,
ganian) and had a couple of equal Vaiser continued 3...d6 in a 1993
firsts in strong internationals in encounter with Akopian, when 4
1994. He was eighteenth on the £b5+ Rd7 5 £xd7+ Dxd7 6 0-0
Intel (end of September 1994) 2gf6 7 Eel £e7 8 b2 0-09 c4
ranking list. a6 10 d4 cxd4 11 Hxd4 Wc7 12
1 e4 cS5 el HEfe8 13 Wd2 yielded a
2 of3 e6 slight space advantage for White
3 b3 although Black’s position re-
mained rock solid. There is nothing immediate for

4 {b2 AN White but the black queenside
5 c4 pieces cannot contribute to the
An unusual position has arisen, defence of the other wing.
White still retains the option of 10 .. hxg6
keeping the game closed or 11 %Hxgé6 EHg8
playing an early d4. 12 Whs 7
5 . fé6 13 14!
Building a barricade along the White must act swiftly as
long diagonal at the risk of up- slower plans allow 13..9e7 sig-
setting the harmony of his own nificantly easing the defensive
development. More conservative task.
was 5..d6 intending ..&f6, 13 .. exf4
...&e7 and ...0-0. 14 &Hc3 Res
6 Re2 & h6 Playable is 14...%e7 but after
7 00 es 15 Dxe7 Lxe7 16 DS d6 17
Putting the final bricks in the Bxf4 Re6 18 Hafl L£xd5 19
wall, now White must break up Wxd5 Hg6 20 Wxb7 White has
the structure before the cement fantastic play for the piece.
dries!
8§ &Ohd! L2d6 = K 770k
Black is certainly coming up A
N
with an eccentric series of devel-

oping moves, this one is directed
A\N
N\
N
at restraining White’s pro-

grammed f2-f4.
9 Rh5+ g6
=\
e
TR
AR
NN
TG
Everything is held together by

the dark-squared bishop, the key
to Black’s defence.
15 Exf4!!
Aiming to blast open Black’s
king at all costs. At first sight it’s
A
o ‘e
difficult to believe that this

audacious sacrifice can be sound
10 Lxg6+! but in a practical game the de-
The Armenian ‘goes for gold’ fence is hard to handle.
15§ .. Lxf4 @)f6+, winning the queen and

There are two other tries but continuing the attack.
the text is best: b) 17...%cxe5 18 &xeS fxe5 19
a) 15...d6 but White keeps up gf1 Efg8 20 Hxf7! Exf7 21
the pressure e.g. 16 Hafl Ke6 17 Wxe5+ We7 22 Dxe7 Exe7 23
Dxe5 Dcxe5 18 Hxfe Wd7 19 WxcS (or 23 Wh8+ &f7 24 e5)
NdS LxdS 20 exdS g5 21 Whe with a complicated game where
Hgd 22 Wh7 0-0-0 23 Exf7), etc. White probably retains the advan-
b) 15...Hxg6!? (eliminating a tage.
White attacker) deserves atten- 17 &Hdxf4 dé6
tion, but after 16 Wxg6 the de- 18 Hfl
fence 16..2e7 is unsatisfactory
as following 17 Wg7 2.xf4 18
Ad5 Dxd5 19 exdS Ke5 20 d6!
White crashes through. No better 1
/%f
is 16...58xf4 due to 17 &HdS with
threats of mate and general
%%//4
butchery, e.g. 17..&f8 18 Lxf6
/ wa @” .
§\
Wxf6 19 Hxf6 KeS (19..De7
goes down to 20 Hh7+ Pe8 21
Wg7 etc) 20 Wg8+ &e7 21
@\d5+ and it is all over.
16 &ds!
Black has an extra rook and
im e
piece but the storm clouds are White has mobilized his whole
gathering! army. Can Black defend?
16 .. #ce5! 18 .. Hg7?
Giving back some material to Tempting is 18...2g4? but af-
try and get developed. ter 19 Wh7 Bxg6 20 Hxg6 (the
Critical is the alternative threat is 21 &xe5 and then 22
16...Re5 (after 16..2g5 17 h4 Wg8+) Black has nothing better
the defences to the f6 square are than 20..2e6 losing a tempo
breached) when after 17 f£xe5 over the variation below.
there are two ways to recapture: Best is 18..Hxg6! 19 &xgb
a) 17...fxe5 works well against £e6 20 Wh7 b5!? with unclear
18 Hf1? because of 18..Wg5! complications. White is always a
exchanging queens, but instead piece down but should pick up
Akopian intended 18 h4! (it’s the weak f6 pawn with enough
amazing that despite being so material compensation.
much material down he can take 19 Rxe5 fxes
his time) and there is no defence After the other capture
to the follow up 19 Hfl and 20 (19...dxeS) then 20 &d5 followed
by capturing on {6 is decisive. the comer although Akopian be-

20 &dS $d7?! lieves that White is winning after
More robust is 20..Wg5 21 24...58.d7 25 Eg8!, etc.
Wxg5 Dxg5 22 Efg+ &d7 when 21 WIS+ De8
White (with 23 &b+ c6 24 Following 21...&c6, the rou-
% xa8) wins back a rook leaving tine 22 Hge7+ forces the win of
him two pawns ahead. Black can Black’s queen.
struggle on in view of the oppos- 22 &5f6+ 1-0
ing knight temporarily stuck in
Game Forty
Hicham Hamdouchi-Joel Lautier
Cap d’Agde 1994
Hicham Hamdouchi, the top Af- call the game a Schevenigen.

rican player of all time, is tempo- 7 282 &6
rarily resident in Montpellier, 8 0-0 Re7
France where he is completing 9 Re3 0-0
his studies. He was the second 10 f4
African player to be awarded the Another plan is to play 10 We2
grandmaster title (the first was and 11 Hadl before committing
Slim Bouaziz of Tunisia) and any pawns.
showed good form on top board 10 .. deé
for Morocco in the recent Mos- 11 <$h1!? Hbs
cow Olympiad. 12 a4
1 ed c5 A prophylactic move as Black
2 o913 e6 was ready to play 12..&%xd4 13
3 d4 cxd4 Dxd4 bs.
4 &Hxdd Hc6 12 .. He8
5 &Hc3 W7 This precise position is known
6 g3 but not that common. One recent
Hicham regularly adopts this example was 13 We2 £47 14
safe method of developing the b3 Das5 15 ga!? (15 Hxas
king’s bishop to avoid any nasty WxaS 16 g4 £c6 17 g5 is more
surprises in the Sicilian Defence. conventional, and offers equally
6 a6 good chances for an attack)
Black’s move-order is very 15..2xb3 16 cxb3 Kc6 17 g5
flexible; we have reverted to the @d7 18 b4! and White took the
so-called Paulsen variation but initiative on both wings in To-
after the moves that follow most palov-Lautier, Las Palmas 1994.
commentators would probably White has a potentially weak
pawn structure so if Black can White smashes through with 17

ride out the storm he has good Exf7! &xf7 18 Wh5+ Sf8 19
prospects in an ending. Bf1+ &f6 20 exf6 £xf6 21 Kes
12...Xd8!? could be better. The Wa7 22 Qxf6 gxf6 23 Hxf6+
rook has a role to play on e8 if g7 24 Ef1 and the attack is de-
White intends putting his queen cisive. Lautier dare not take the
on €2 but Hamdouchi’s next pawn by 16...xe5?! as 17 Wh5
makes the text look out of place. g6 (hopeless is 17...5.d6 as 18
13 eS! Ded Dg6 19 Hg5 wins quickly)
An inspired pawn sacrifice to 18 Exf7! &xf7 19 Wxh7 &e5 20
take the leading French player Wh5+ yields a winning attack.
(who is known for the quality of
his preparation) out of the book
and set some unexpected prob-
lems.
13 Sxd4
Joel had a difficult choice.
White has strong attacking
chances for the pawn after the
critical 13...dxe5, e.g. 14 fxe5 (14
/’/%g%
@¥xc6 is possible, settling for an
edge after 14...bxc6 15 fxe5 &d5
// / . i/
16 £d4) 14...9xe5 15 K14 Dfd7 //¢/
16 h4 (stopping 16...g5 releasing
the pin) which is unpleasant for The fianchetto of the light-
Black who has great difficulty squared bishop is often consid-
completing his development. ered to be not that testing. How-
14 K{xd4 NdA7 ever, Hamdouchi uses this plan to
15 Wed dxe5 first slow Black’s queenside play,
After 15...26 16 exd6?! fxd6 before launching an attack that is
17 @ed? 5! Black wins, so 16 just as dangerous as in the more
%ed4 heading towards Black’s direct lines. Here Lautier has
weakened kingside should be been unable to get his queenside
tried. Closing the centre with going and his king is inade-
15...d57! is met with 16 Eael quately defended.
followed by a quick f4-f5 giving 17 &DdS! exdS
White a strong attack, Black 18 Exf7!
should really try to open lines so The Moroccan shows no re-
that White’s king will also feel spect for Lautier’s king!
insecure. 18 .. £18?
16 fxeS L5 Weak is 18..g6 as after 19
The best chance. After 16...b6? £.xd5 Black has no moves, but
the best defence is undoubtedly Tripling on the f-file and

18...2xf7(!). It seems suicidal to avoiding any counter tactics
allow his king to be battered by against the queen on the exposed
the remaining white pieces but g4 square. The threat is 22 e6
there is a hidden resource that fe 23 Exf6! gxf6 24 Lxf6+
might have eamed him a draw! winning the house.
Following 18..&xf7 then play 21 Ke7
continues 19 £xd5+ &e7
(19..2f8 is best met by 20
Wf4+! when he should transpose
with 20..%e7! rather than
20...9)6 21 exf6 Wxf4 22 Lxc5+
and wins) 20 Wg5+ &f6 21
exf6+ gxf6! (losing is 21..&d7 %y
<
due to 22 Wxg7+ &d8 23 Wxc7+
Dxc7 24 f7 Le6 25 Ke5+ Kd6
26 fxe8+ Hxe8 27 Sxd6+
&xd6 28 Lxe6 HExe6 29 Hdl+
c6 30 Bd2) 22 L.xf6+ 2d7 23
Bd1!? (drawing is 23 Wf5+ £d6
24 W4+ 2d7 25 W5+ 2d6 26 The combinations are not yet
Wfd4+) 23..Wd6! 24 &f3 &c7! finished!
and White cannot take the queen 22 Hxg7! <xg7
because of mate in two (25 Exd6 Equally hopeless is 22...Xf8 as
Bel+ 26 &g2 Hgl mate). I 23 Wxf8+! Wxf8 24 Exf8+ Lxg7
showed Hicham my analysis, (24...2.xf8 allows mate in one) 25
claiming that Black could draw, Eg8+ &h6 26 Le3+ mates.
but next day the amiable Moroc- 23 W7+ &hé
can came up with 24 b4! (instead The comer offers no salvation;
of 24 2£37) which seems to en- 23...2h8 24 e6+ Df6 25 Hxf6!
able White to keep an advantage. Wxds5+ 26 Ef3+ Wxd4 27 Wxe8+
Having missed 18..&xf7!, from &g7 28 Wxe7+ and White again
here on Lautier has no chance. wins.
19 £xd5 <h8 24 h4!
20 Hafl Its always nice to finish off a
Look at the power of the white cascade of sacrifices with a ‘quiet
pieces! In fact he only has a small move’ although the threat of 25
material deficit (two pawns for a Ke3+ can hardly be called
piece) so its no surprise that the ‘quiet’! Naturally enough
black position is indefensible. 24...8xh4 25 Ke3+ Lg5 fails to
20 .. Wds 26 ¥g2! Lxe3 27 HEh1+ g5 28
21 Wn3! Wh5 mate.
24 .. L5 Zf5+ g4 29 Ef7+ and mates.

White could try for a flashy 28 Re3+ b5
mate with 25 @g2 but there is no There is evidently nowhere to
need, as by ‘cashing in’ he has a hide; 28...%g7 29 We7+ &h8 30
simply winning position. Wd8+ g7 31 Wg8+, etc.
25 hxg5+ Wxgs 29 Wh3+ 1-0
26 Wxe8 Wxg3 Lautier’s recent progress has
27 We6+ Wg6 been impressive but he still loses
For the record 27..&g7 loses too many one-sided games with
to 28 Xf7+ and 27..&g5 to 28 Black.
Game Forty-One
Boris Gulko-Smbat Lputian
Glendale 1994
Boris Gulko was the celebrated exdS 5 L.g5, whereas in the game
victim of a human rights scandal if he wishes to play a type of ex-
in the 1980s that aged him prema- change variation then he has to be
turely, but has maintained a stan- content to develop his bishop on
dard of play that was good f4,
enough to qualify for the 1994 4 cxdS
PCA Candidates. He won the After 4 &f3 &f6 Black has
strong Bern open in February and transposed to a typical Orthodox
was recently ranked a close third Queen’s Gambit where White has
in the US (behind Kamsky and been obliged to play the less
Kaidanov) and thirty-three testing move &f3. The most ac-
worldwide (in the Intel 30th tive continuation being 1 d4 d5 2
September ranking list). He has a cd e6 3 D3 Df6 4 Kg5.
rare positive score against Kas- 4 exd5
parov and would probably have 5 214 c6
established himself in the world 6 e3
top ten if his freedom hadn’t been The diagonal bl-h7 has more
severely restricted by the Soviet than passing significance; if
authorities. White can establish himself with
1 c4 eb £f1-d3 then Black has lost con-
2 De3 ds trol of f5, the best square for his
3 d4 Ke7!? own bishop. Control of the di-
The Armenian uses a move or- agonal aids White in pursuing a
der that forces White to show his number of plans such as HEbl in-
hand. After the standard 3...5)6 tending the so-called minority
White has the option of 4 cxd5 attack with b2-b4-bS.
6 .. 215 1985. The text avoids the White

7 g4! incursion into b7 but weakens the
A move popularized by Bot- c6 square.
vinnik that immediately chal- 10 &5Hf3 Re7
lenges the bishop. 11 Des
7 feb For his pawn White has the
The alternative 7..8g6 is better development.
challenged most effectively by 11 .. f6
the aggressive 8 h4! h5 (8...52.xh4 12 g5 Dfd7
9 Wb3 is similar, but even more The Armenian is intent on
favourable than in the game as evicting the knight that is holding
the bishop on g6 doesn’t directly up the development of his
support the centre) 9 g5 £d6 10 queenside.
Nge2 De7 11 Lxd6 Wxd6 12 13 gé6!
&f4 with ideas of taking the h- As is necessary in gambit play,
pawn with £f1-e2, etc. White ‘strikes while the iron is
8 h4!? hot’
Inferior is 8 h3 h5 9 Wf3?! &6 K S @xes
10 2.d3 hxgd4 11 hxgd Exhl 12 14 Qxe5 LKf6!
Wxhl Hxgd! 13 Wh8+ &d7 14 The inferior 14...fxg6?! allows
Wxg7 as 14..Wb6 15 Ebl a6 his opponent to win back the
proved to be better for Black in pawn and maintain the initiative
Flear-Ubilava, Elgoibar 1994. 8 with 15 2xg7 Hg8 16 Exh7 and
£d3 is the consistent positional Black’s king would in this case
move, taking the important b1-h7 be a long way from a secure
diagonal, but with the sharp text shelter.
Gulko shows that he is in aggres- 15 Exh7
sive mood and plays for more.
8 .. £xh4
The books tend to consider this
pawn-grab as risky and prefer
8..4)d7 9 h5 Wb6 where White
establishes a space preponderance
on the kingside but Black pre-
pares his ...c6-c5 counter in the
centre.
9 Wh3 b6
Black has to be careful to avoid
9..g5 10 £h2 2xgd?! 11 Wxb7
We7 12 Wxa8 Wxe3+ 13 Ke2
Wxf2+ 14 £d2 and White is Lputian temporarily gives back
winning; Vaiser-Diaz, Havana the pawn, but with his next move
aims to rapidly deploy the rest of We8 22 Dxed Lxcd 23 Wxca+

his army. We6 24 Nd6+ e7 25 Wfl! as it
15 . 0-0! allows the opening of too many
Not a question of ‘castling into lines near the black king.
it’, more giving the king an active 21 Eel aHnd7
role in tripping up the Ameri- Finally getting the knight into
can’s attack. White’s heavy artil- play but its rather late!
lery is too distant to support the 22 exd5 2xdS
rather lonely rook on h7. The other recapture, 22...cxd3,
16 2g3 is dismissed by 23 Exe6! &xe6
Weaker is 16 £d3?! as after 24 9xdS when 24..Wxd5 is met
16..8xe5 17 gxf7+ Exf7 18 by 25 f£h3+ winning the queen
dxe5 Kf5 Black wins a pawn and and 24... Wg5+ by 25 £f4 etc., so
White’s initiative offers inade- Black is unable to avoid a disas-
quate compensation, e.g. 19 £xf5 trous discovered check.
Exf5 20 HEh2 Exe5 21 0-0-0 47 23 Hxd5 cxd5
22 Hdh1 &f7. 24 Rg2
16 .. fxg6 White picks up the d5 pawn
17 Eh2 17 and continues the attack.
Seeking a more secure shelter 24 .. Hc8+
and defending both the extra 25 b1 He8
pawn on g6 as well as the bishop 26 fxdS+ &f8
on e6. The immediate 17..2d7 27 Ehl WS+
could have been considered. 28 &al
18 0-0-0 Eh8? Material is equal but not the
A shame! Smbat Lputian had position; White threatens 29
skilfully calmed Gulko’s attack- f£d6+ LKe7 30 Eh8 mate and
ing postures but now wastes time Black is therefore obliged to
challenging for the h-file, which (again!) centralize his king where
has ceased to be important. it faces a brutal treatment at the
Completing development by hands of the white army.
18...40d7 intending ..2e7 and 28 .. e7
...&)d7-f6 would construct a rock- 29 Wa3l+ &d8
solid defence. 30 Wdeé
19 Exh8 Wxh$8 Threatening both 31 Xcl fol-
20 ed! lowed by 32 Ec8+ and 33 Wc7
The second phase commences, mate and 31 Wc7+ &e7 32 Hel+.
White again leads in development 30 .. | We2
and he aims to get at Black’s 31 Lc6 WS
monarch. 32 W7+ De7
20 .. Whs 33 fd6+ 1-0
Dangerous is 20...dxe4 21 £.c4 After 33...%f7 34 &xd7 wins.
1994 at a Glance
The key events of the year were:
1. Kamsky and Anand win through to the PCA Candidates final.
2. Kamsky (again!), Gelfand and Salov are the survivors in the FIDE
cycle and join Karpov in the semi-finals.
3. Karpov’s Linares result is hailed as the world’s best ever tournament

performance.
4. Judit Polgar is confirmed as the strongest-ever female player as a

result of her elevated rating and remarkable victory in Madrid.
5. Other notable achievements: Leko becomes the world's youngest-

ever grandmaster, and Hamdouchi the strongest-ever African player.
6. Kramnik and Kasparov share the inaugural Intel Grand Prix quick-
play crown.
7. The best computers make further progress in rapid chess; even Kas-
parov loses on more than one occasion (Fritz 3/ Pentium in Munich
and Pentium Genius in London).
8. Zsusza Polgar will play Maia Chiburdanidze for the right to chal-
lenge Xie Jun for the Women's World Championship after they fin-
ished first and second respectively in the Tilburg Candidates.
9. Kasparov's Russian team take Olympiad gold, and in the women's

event Georgia outpace favourites Hungary.
10. The PCA and FIDE settle their differences in Moscow in Decem-
ber, where Campomanes is elected FIDE President for another term.
Index of Complete Games
Numbers refer to game numbers.
Adams, M 1,3,8 Kramnik, V 2,5,9,12,

Akopian, V 39 20,21
Anand, V 3,7,13 Lautier, J 14, 40
Bareev, E 22 Lputian, S 41
Chiburdanidze, M 32 Lutz, C 18
Cruz 37 Maric, A 31, 32
Djurhuus, R 35 Miles, A 24
Epishin, V 15 Morozevich, A 26
Forintos, G 25 Morovic, I 17
Gelfand, B 9,15, 18 Nikolic, P 33, 36.
Georgiev, Kir 38 Petursson, M 26
Gulko, B 41 Polgar, J 10, 28, 29
Hamdouchi, H 40 Polgar, Zsu 31
Hellers, F 27 Portisch, L 30
Hodgson, J 27 Rosentalis, E 33
Hracek, Z 22 Seirawan, Y 37
Ivanchuk, V 21 Shirov, A 23,28
Kamsky, G 2,4,6,8,17 Short, N 4, 16
Karpov, A 10, 11, 19, Timman, J 36
38 Tiviakov, S 1,25,29
Kasparov, G 12, 13, 14, Topalov, V 11, 34
16, 20, 23, van der Sterren, P 6
34 Xie Jun 30
Khenkin, I 39 Yermolinsky, A 35
Kirov, N 24 Yudasin, L 5
Korchnoi, V 19 Yusupov, A 7
Grandmaster
CHESS
The past year has been an eventful one in the chess world, with
elimination matches for two rival World Championships, one of
the strongest tournaments of all time in Linares, Spain, and
hundreds of other events around the world. In this book
Grandmaster Glenn Flear reveals the key personalities and
performances of the chess year, and annotates the best games
from tournaments and matches in Europe and America.
Glenn Flear became a grandmaster in 1987, following his

outstanding victory in the London 1986 tournament, ahead of
such illustrious names as Nigel Shart lohn Nunn, Boris Spassky
'and in the 1985 World
the 1986 Olympiad in
S success in open
urope.
Huba
ISBN 1-85744-100-1
9 "781857"441000

Grandmaster Chess Compress

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CADOGAN

First published 1995 by Cadogan Books plc, London House,

Copyright © 1995 Glenn Flear

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

ISBN 1 85744 100 1

Cover photographs by Mark Huba

A CADOGAN CHESS BOOK

For a complete catalogue of CADOGAN CHESS books please write

A Brief Summary of 1993

The PCA Cycle

The FIDE Cycle

Quickplay and Novelty Tournaments

Important Round Robins

Open Tournaments 114

Women in 1994 133

National Championships 151

Team Chess 154

10 Other Significant Events 173

1994 at a Glance 190

Index of Complete Games 191

This book is a look at modem grandmaster chess, a world of exciting

A look at 1994 naturally needs a beginning and where better to start

PCA qualifier, Groningen

Those in the world’s top ten that didn’t make it:

45 Kir.Georgiev 2660 BUL 41

PCA Candidates quarter-finals, New York (matchplay)

G.Kamsky 11===1 V.Kramnik 413-11;

chance at Kasparov. His demise at the hands of Kamsky became less

PCA Candidates semi-final, Linares (matchplay)

G.Kamsky 111011= N.Short 51>-1Y%;

English hopes of a Short-Adams final were rudely dashed as both

Michael Adams originally comes lished on the international scene,

helped both players to advance; Bronstein, Moscow 1962,

continued as follows: 6 Kad &6

failed without the preparatory 5 would relish the task of defending

i/// Eb7 (23..Hd7

25 R2bé6 1-0 White’s new move (12 b4) al-

Gata Kamsky’s father, Rustam, c5 5 D3 0-06 £g2 %c6 7 0-0.

an English Opening, while

avoiding those variations follow-

The opening can also arise via

the Nimzo-Indian Defence, e.g. 1

been seen before but is fairly un- pressed by the alternative 14

sible, but this abandons hope of

‘Vishy’ Anand, a Hindu and 8 0-0 c6

Hxe5 15 Hxe5 &xe5 16 Dcd 17..Had8 18 We2 e6 changes

Black’s doubled rooks on the d- tween the black rooks.

For family reasons Nigel Short 3 .. £b4

queen’s pawn positions the

Defending both b7 and Hxe8+ Wxe8 28 Wxf6 Hci+ 29

FIDE Candidates first round, Wijk aan Zee (matchplay)

V.Anand =1101== A.Yusupov 41>-21>

In the summer the FIDE cycle moved to Sanghi Nagar in India,

FIDE Candidates second round, Sanghi Nagar (matchplay)

B.Gelfand ==01===1 VKramnik 4%:-3"%

By a remarkable quirk of fate, all three second round matches all

that Salov was almost always in control.

Both Yudasin and Kramnik were chance to equalize the match in

1 e4 cS Another try is to bolster the

White was threatening to un- Intending to threaten mate with

Kamsky must have felt very for- ...f7-f5.

After 22 fxgd4 Pxgs 23 HExgd line only scratches the surface of

A necessary move as 31 Ed7?