Volume 141
AUGUST 2021
THE RETURN OF THE CHAMPIONS THE THREE WORLD CHAMPIONS BEFORE CARLSEN – ANAND, KRAMNIK AND KASPAROV – RECENTLY TOOK TO THE STAGE WITH VARIED SUCCESS
ANAND BEATS KRAMNIK IN AN UNUSUAL CHESS MATCH
044000 770007 9
ISSN 0007-0440
02108
NO CASTLING CHESS? JUST ASK THE KING
THE FORMER CHESS CHAMPION TURNED POLITICIAN, BUSINESSMAN, SPEAKER AND – NOW AMATEUR CHESS PLAYER – DISAPPOINTS IN ZAGREB
QUO VADIS, GARRY? RUSHING TO BECOME “THE YOUNGEST GRANDMASTER EVER”
IDENTITY, IMAGE – AND INCOME: WHAT IS A GM TITLE WORTH?
IMPRESSUM
Contents BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE Founded 1881 www.britishchessmagazine.co.uk Chairman Shaun Taulbut Director Stephen Lowe
Editors Milan Dinic and Shaun Taulbut Photo editor David Llada Prepress Specialist Milica Mitic Photography David Llada, Chess24, Shutterstock, Wikipedia Advertising Stephen Lowe Enquiries editor@britishchessmagazine.co.uk ISSN 0007-0440 © The British Chess Magazine Limited Company Limited by Shares Registered in England No 00334968 Postal correspondence: Albany House, 14 Shute End Wokingham, Berkshire RG40 1BJ Subscription support@britishchessmagazine.co.uk 12 monthly issues UK: £55 | RoW: £85 Printed in the UK: by Lavenham Press Ltd Cover photography: David Llada
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Quo vadis,Garry?
452 Rushing to become “The youngest grandmaster ever” IDENTITY, IMAGE – AND INCOME: WHAT IS A GM TITLE WORTH? By Peter O'Brien 485 inspired by Botvinnik By Grandmaster Raymond Keene OBE 488 Openings for Amateurs Concluding thoughts on the Steiner Caro-Kann By Pete Tamburro 495 Anand beats Kramnik in an unusual chess match No castling chess? Just ask The King By GM Aleksandar Colovic 504 Endgame Studies By Ian Watson 506 Problem World By Christopher Jones 507 Quotes and Queries Chess, archery, tennis: The talented Dod family By Alan Smith
August 2021
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Rushing to become “The youngest grandmaster ever” IDENTITY, IMAGE – AND INCOME:
WHAT IS A GM TITLE WORTH? By Peter O’Brien
Photo: International Chess Federation
The case of Abhimanyu Mishra has generated substantial comment, much of it expressing concern about the process by which FIDE confers titles and some of it suggesting that the title of grandmaster (and presumably other lower grade titles) be abolished altogether Identity is one of a handful of words which encapsulate much of what has happened in this century. Used in relation to countries, whether existing or hoping to exist, it covers situations of conflict and the aspirations of millions of people. Applied to cultures, it is frequently a shorthand to describe repressed ways of life. In social media, an individual creates an identity, which in turn produces followers and, in a lot of cases, leads on to money and perhaps power. When it comes to sports and games (SG), identity for the individual is mostly about being “the best”, as measured by performance. To make identity recognition simple, some activities have created scales of attainment which set the elite apart from the rest – in judo it’s good to be a black belt, in golf or tennis to win a “major”, in horse racing to train or ride the winner of a “classic”. Over time, the number of people who can boast a title (symbol of recognition) grows, and with it comes creeping devaluation. Inflate the numbers and the worth declines. University degrees have long since ceased to mark out anyone. Even a Doctorate has lost a large part of its shine. One of the reasons Bitcoin came into being was the proposition that the quantity supplied would be strictly controlled – dilution by inflation would be tamed. So, we look for special circumstances to single out somebody with a title. SG in the USA nominate “most valued player” (MVP), football in Europe singles out “golden boot” and “player of the tournament”, major tennis tournaments give accolades to “best qualifiers”. 452 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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THE ‘YOUNGEST PERSON EVER’ PHENOMENON In the middle of this year, we have been regaled with a spate of “youngest person ever” cases across a range of activities. Pogacar has just won his second Tour de France at the age of 22. Collin Morikawa, at 24, is the first golfer ever to hold two major titles at that age. In Belgium, a lad of 10 has graduated from a top university and promises to have his doctorate completed before he is a teen. And the chess world has produced Abhimanyu Mishra who, at the age of 12 years, 5 months and 24 days, has fulfilled the norms for the grandmaster title – thereby depriving Sergey Karjakin of a distinction which he held for close on 18 years, namely that of being the youngest grandmaster ever (YGE). The case of Abhimanyu Mishra has generated substantial comment, much of it expressing concern about the process by which FIDE confers titles and some of it suggesting that the title of grandmaster (and presumably other lower grade titles) be abolished altogether. An extensive recent article in “The New York Times” – given that the Mishra family lives in New Jersey, having emigrated from India when the GM was very young, the American interest is no surprise – presents a corrosive criticism of what has been happening this century. In a nutshell, it castigates the “pressure cooker” methods through which Karjakin was prepared to assume the mantle, denounces the purported $270k investment which Mishra’s family is said to have ploughed into the making of the grandmaster, and fiercely attacks what was done since autumn 2020. In that period Mishra had played in a series of tournaments in the US and had conspicuously failed to garner the required FIDE norms. With his father, he transferred to Hungary where he did obtain what was needed but in tournaments which the NYT seems to suggest were “fixed”. Crucially, the
monetary rewards accruing to the person who is the youngest grandmaster ever are spelled out in significant detail, though only using the Karjakin example. Let’s try to form some perspective on this. Plenty of fields of human endeavour are full of examples of what have usually been labelled as “child prodigies”. Mozart in music is perhaps the best known, Gauss was producing original mathematical insights when he was six, Artemisia Gentileschi composed terrific paintings before her teens - and Samuel Reshevsky was giving simultaneous exhibitions when he too was only six. While the historical record relating to the circumstances of these cases may not be complete, there appears to be little evidence that anyone questioned the exceptional performance of these people or that they were somehow the product of major investments by others dedicated to making money. What has happened over the last 100 years or so is that huge resources have been dedicated to the professional production of people who could give these performances. In dance, in music,
A recent article in the New York Times castigates the “pressure cooker” methods through which Karjakin was prepared to assume the mantle, denounces the purported $270k investment which Mishr’s family is said to have ploughed into the making of the grandmaster, and fiercely attacks what was done since autumn 2020. In that period Mishra had played in a series of tournaments in the US and had conspicuously failed to garner the required FIDE norms BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 453
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in tennis, in athletics – the list is endless – academies have been formed for this purpose, while parents have frequently placed exceptional pressure on their children to achieve iconic status. The reactions have been manifold. The world of women’s tennis offers numerous cases of player/parent conflicts, with the player often denouncing the father. Athletics (track and field) is similar. Frequently parent pressure and corruption, in various forms, have combined to create situations where results have been questioned and titles challenged (and in certain cases actually revoked).
CHESS WUNDERKINDER Chess entered the commercial world on a serious scale this century, and the real explosion has occurred in COVID time. For most of these years, Karjakin has been the youngest grandmaster ever. And he has undoubtedly been, and remains, one of the world’s absolutely top players. His match
against Carlsen for the world title was decided only in rapid games, and he has registered numerous tournament successes. In the NYT article referred to earlier, there is a suggestion that all these achievements are somehow magnified, and the monetary rewards increased, because he was the youngest grandmaster ever. Personally, I do not recall that label being used often, and am quite doubtful that he would have collected many more rewards because he was the youngest grandmaster ever. Instead, it seems more relevant to point out that chess, like many other activities, has introduced informal “classifications” to separate the elite from the rest of the GMs. The chief of those is of course “the 2700 club”. At any given time, at most a few dozen players enjoy that ranking. Carlsen has just passed the 10-year mark as world’s highest ranked player, a record. If you are in that club, you can be invited to the most lucrative tournaments. What it means for your capacity to receive
Source: Shutterstock 454 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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major sponsorships, advertising contracts and the rest is less clear. However, you can become a chess professional with a fairly decent income ensured (it has been said that a 2700 GM easily makes around £70,000 a year). Right now, “collateral cash” comes mostly through deals related to online presence. Of the elite, Nakamura appears to be the most successful in the digital dimension, venturing more into streaming than chess.
THREE QUESTIONS Back to Mishra. There are three main questions of interest, two for the chess world and one for Mishra and his entourage. The first is: does a title of GM (and by extension IM etc) continue to serve a purpose? Is it not enough to simply operate with the regular ranking of players (FIDE of course currently publishes monthly lists)? Every reader will have their own response, and most probably each response will have much in its favour. My personal view is this: the award of a title is, or should be, a recognition of excellence, and I think it is right that such a recognition should be there for a lifetime. We do not take away a Ph.D. from a person because they have switched to working in another field, a Medical Doctor remains an MD even if they cease to practise medicine, and so on. That said, there is more to the story. A person with a driving licence can have the use of that licence prohibited if the person reaches a certain age. A pilot must undergo very frequent checks to keep the licence operative. In other words, a system can keep the titles as a recognition of excellence but condition their use. A person, rightly, can put this title on their CV and it might well help them in a job application. For chess, the implication is this. If the game is to continue to reinforce the prestige it currently enjoys, it is good policy for the governing authority (FIDE) to award titles. What needs examination is the way titles are awarded. Hence the second question is: do changes need to be made to the award system? In
most activities, sports & games or otherwise, award bodies are made up of individuals who themselves have a record of highlevel achievement (that achievement need not necessarily be recent). Chess satisfies that requirement. The issue is then one of determining the criteria according to which the performance of an individual is to be judged. At present we look for: consistency, by requiring that a player perform at a high level on at least three occasions within a specified and limited time period; integrity, in the sense that the player obtains results without employing illegitimate methods (for instance, computer-aided play); and high-level performance. Current controversies centre on the definition of a high level. The question boils down to the composition of the player’s adversaries in a tournament and the way games are actually played. It has been assumed that a composition including a large number of people with the GM title is a sound indicator of the strength of the opposition, while the presence of a recognized arbiter is a sufficient guarantee that the games will be played honestly. There are, unfortunately, reasons to think that these conditions are not robust enough. Current (meaning at the time the tournament is played) ranking of players would be a better measure of the opposition’s strength than relying on the title classification. I recall a damning remark attributed to Korchnoi, noted for his caustic language. He was playing in a tournament with Edvard Gufeld, and that fine player had just played a game the result of which gave him the GM
The organization of tournaments also appears to be subject to abuse. In a number of places, tournaments seem to be advertised as ones where title norms can be obtained. That is an invitation to dubious practice BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 455
Photo: David Llada; Chess24
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They weren’t the youngest ever GMs and it didn’t hurt them: Ding Liren, Magnus Carlsen, Fabiano Caruana title. Gufeld happily rushed to Korchnoi saying “Viktor, now I am the same as you”. Inevitably, the great master from St Petersburg savagely informed Gufeld that nothing could be further from the truth. The organisation of tournaments also appears to be subject to abuse. In a number of places, tournaments seem to be advertised as ones where title norms can be obtained. That is an invitation to dubious practice. Players can be invited with the tacit understanding that they will be recompensed, not in relation to their final placing in the tournament, but with respect to the results of their games against the key people chasing norms. Side payments, in other words, will be their source of money. This kind of petty corruption goes on in countless dimensions of life, and chess in no exception. If the composition of players were selected on the ranking basis suggested earlier, perhaps even with the additional consideration that all players in the tournament were norm seekers, then 456 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
things might be cleaner. The temptation of corruption is ever present, and failsafe methods against it are always hard to create. But things can be improved. The final question relates to Mishra himself. What might he gain from the recent the youngest grandmaster ever moniker? While it’s hard to be precise, a few things seem fairly clear. In the short term, he has already had the usual round of TV appearances, articles in well-known magazines, requests from advertisers and the rest. Moneywise, these are returns. But the controversy surrounding the circumstances in which the norms were obtained has left a bad taste. It is as though the YGE were followed by a “?” Karjakin followed his achievement with years of truly outstanding performance. Carlsen, Caruana, Ding Liren and others have never been the youngest grandmaster ever yet their works have defined the chess century so far. It is the longer-run record which will decide how valuable the prestigious title is to Mishra. On that, by definition, the jury is out.
August 2021
The former chess champion turned politician, businessman, speaker and – now AMATEUR chess player – disappoints in Zagreb
QUO VADIS, GARRY?
By GM Alex Colovic / www.alexcolovic.com Photo: Grand Chess Tour Official / Lennart Ootes BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 457
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Garry Kasparov is an amateur chess player. At least that is what he repeats every time he comes back to play some chess. It is true, of course. His results clearly confirm that statement. Garry Kasparov is many things nowadays: an organiser, a businessman, an author, a public speaker, a politician. As an organiser, his brainchild, the Grand Chess Tour, foreseen as the tournament circuit of “the best of the best”, is a regular fixture in the calendar again after the cancellation of the 2020 edition due to the coronavirus pandemic. In spite of the difficult times, the organisation managed to secure a solid prize fund of $1.275 million. However, this year the circuit lost some of its glamour with the absence of crowd favourites like Carlsen (because of his upcoming world title match later in the year), Nakamura, Ding Liren and Nepomniachtchi (for the same reasons as Carlsen). To make up for it, Kasparov decided to step in and draw the crowds’ attention once more. In Zagreb, Croatia, from 5−12 July, he participated in the blitz section of the event. But how do you step into the dragons’ den when you are an amateur knight?
Relaunching kasparovchess Not so long ago Kasparov launched kasparovchess.com, a platform bearing the same name as his first one at the turn of the century. This was done in cooperation with Vivendi, a French media conglomerate that
Kasparov prepared with Peter Svidler and went over the openings that he was intending to play. The shock he experienced was exactly the same that Bobby Fischer experienced in 1992 when he was preparing for the return match with Spassky 458 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
invested 3.5 million euros and aims to offer premium content from players like Kasparov himself, Vachier Lagrave, Anish Giri, Levon Aronian, Vidit Gujrathi, Sopiko Guramishvili (Giri’s wife), Almira Skripchenko, Elizabeth Paehtz, Simon Williams, Jovanka Houska and many others. This is an ambitious business project that aims to disrupt the already established PlayMagnus Group that offers similar content. Another chess−related activity that bears Kasparov’s name is the US−based Kasparov Chess Foundation, a non−profit organisation that teaches chess in education systems around the world and helps young talent prosper, sometimes with personal coaching from Kasparov himself. Still, Kasparov’s main activities today are outside of the chess world.
Kasparov the politician, human rights activist, speaker… Kasparov is the Chairman of the Human Rights Foundation and a vocal critic of Vladimir Putin’s government in Russia. A pro−democracy activist, he is an author of several political books which heavily criticise the people running Russia. Kasparov is also a business speaker, addressing audiences around the world on topics like technology, strategy, politics and mental performance. He is also a security ambassador for Avast Software, being interested in cybersecurity, robotics, artificial intelligence and the human/machine digital future. Going back to the question above, and knowing Kasparov’s winning mentality and obsession with preparation, we can safely assume that he prepared to fight the new generation once more. Readers of BCM will recall his previous attempts (see the October issues in 2019 and 2020 for his participation in the Sinquefield events) and remember that, to put it mildly, his performance was rather disappointing. This time it was worse.
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He took the bull by the horns and went for theoretical battles against some of the best players in the world who routinely analyse openings every single day for many hours. He summed up the shock of working on openings again when he realised that in a few minutes the engine refuted all of his opening preparation for the World Championship match in 1993 against Nigel Short Kasparov - Short in London, 1993 Source: Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis
Taking the theory (bull) by its horns As he said in the post−tournament interview, Kasparov prepared with Peter Svidler and went over the openings that he was intending to play. The shock he experienced was exactly the same one that Bobby Fischer experienced in 1992 when he was preparing for the return match with Spassky. Both great champions realised that opening theory had advanced so far that they couldn’t hope to catch it. They realised that only constant, everyday work on openings can keep one abreast with the latest innovations, let alone driving theory forward, as both champions were famous for doing. This was painful for both of them, since they had been known as the best theoreticians of their times. Bobby Fischer decided mostly to avoid the most
popular lines and only occasionally to enter theoretical battles. He was also more fortunate to be playing Spassky back in 1992, who also wasn’t very interested in debating the latest opening subtleties. Kasparov decided otherwise. He took the bull by the horns and went for theoretical battles against some of the best players in the world who routinely analyse openings every single day for many hours. He summed up the shock of working on openings again when he realised that in a few minutes the engine had refuted all of his opening preparation for the World Championship match in 1993 against Nigel Short. To illustrate the discrepancy of understanding that already exists between Kasparov and the best players today, compare Kasparov’s decision to go for the 7…£c7 line in the Najdorf, a line that he has played in the BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 459
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When it’s not working, it’s not working: Kasparov disappointed
past, and Vachier’s opinion that the line “was very playable only 10 years ago… but now it just loses by force”! As we shall see below, Kasparov lost all three games when he played this line. While the openings and his approach may have made things more difficult for Kasparov, there was a deeper problem that made Kasparov’s performance a real nightmare.
making it impossible to stay at the board and prompting resignations if only to run away from the source of torture. The whole mechanism was broken, the head remembered but couldn’t reproduce, there was no connection between the brain and the hand, no feel for the tempo and the time, broken pace and frustrating sluggishness undermining the already−shaken confidence.
Better luck next time? The best players are the most resilient players. It’s so difficult to win a game against them because they are very resourceful and fight until the last breath, posing problems at every step. In an unrecognisable transformation, undoubtedly a result of not working on chess for a long time, Kasparov the amateur lost all his fighting spirit and the ability to resist. After the first few punches, Kasparov dropped his guard and was pounded mercilessly over and over again.
In another parallel with Bobby Fischer, Kasparov confirmed that he will play in the Fischer Random event that is part of the Sinquefield events in September. Realising that time and chess have changed Fischer invented a new game, and Kasparov’s confidence that he will do better at it, when he won’t have to revise and remember theory, only confirms his predecessor’s visionary genius.
It’s written in the… I cannot imagine the awful psychological state he must have been in. A dominant World Champion, with memories of winning and triumph, producing ghastly moves that repulse him and kill his spirit, 460 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
Kasparov’s result and performance in Zagreb were humiliating and embarrassing. Every time he returns to play chess it only gets worse. In 2019 he said his wife told him
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that it was probably “a sign from above” to stop doing it, to stop the humiliation and suffering. But Kasparov is a man of strong convictions and wouldn’t mind disagreeing even with forces from above. Kasparov the politician knows that the best decisions are those that best fit the situation at hand, even if they contradict the principles he has sworn by the day before. His decisions to keep returning to the chessboard even after suffering catastrophes after disasters must have some beneficial aspects for him, but they are obviously not apparent to the general public. Now let’s take a look at the games where the amateur Knight met the dragons of today.
Kasparov and the Zagreb tournament Kasparov started the tournament with three Blacks in his first four games. He lost all of them. The first game must have had a tremendous effect on him as he was paired against Jorden van Foreest, so he was looking
forward to a good start against one of the tournament outsiders.
Jorden Van Foreest - Garry Kasparov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (1.4) 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 Kasparov stays loyal to his trusted Najdorf, a decision he will regret only a few rounds later. Disappointed with his results in the Najdorf Kasparov chose 2...e6 in the Round 8 game against Vachier. 6.¥g5 e6 7.f4 £c7
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I have more experience in politics than you! Garry Kasparov in casual a 'fist bump' with Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic
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The fateful choice. Kasparov used to play this in the 80s before switching to the Poisoned Pawn Variation with 7...£b6. However, in his preparations he decided that he couldn’t remember all the variations from one of the most complex lines in all openings, so he reverted to the move from his youth. It is worth noting that this move was Kramnik’s choice in the last game of his World Championship match with Anand, a game he needed to win in order to stay in the match. 8.¥xf6 The critical choice. Now the structure resembles the one that usually arises from the Rauzer Variation. Probably Kasparov hoped that, given the less forcing nature of the position, he could rely on his understanding of Sicilian positions to balance his inferior preparation. However, he seems to have underestimated the level of preparation of his opposition - nowadays the term "less forcing" practically doesn’t apply since at the elite level everything can be analysed in a more or less forced way. This became particularly obvious in the next two games when he decided to repeat the same choice and found his opponents armed to the teeth. 8...gxf6 9.£f3 9.f5 was Anand’s choice in the aforementioned game. After 9...£c5 10.£d3 ¤c6 11.¤b3 £e5 12.0–0–0 he was in control throughout the game and safely reached the draw that gave him the title. ½–½ (24) Anand,V (2783)-Kramnik,V (2772) Bonn m/11 2008. 9...b5 10.a3 ¤c6 11.¤xc6 After having the opportunity to prepare, Kasparov’s next two opponents, Duda and Anand, played 11.0–0–0. Perhaps it’s telling that the engine doesn’t like Black’s position at all, giving White a big advantage in the region between 0.8 and 1. 11...£xc6 12.f5 £c5 13.¥e2 In spite of likely being surprised, van Foreest follows the most frequently played moves. 462 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
13...¦a7 The alternative 13...£e5 has been played more often, but Kasparov follows an old game of Tukmakov. 14.0–0–0 £e5
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Deviating from the game from 1984, but the engine isn’t impressed. It states that White has a decisive advantage already, which translates as +1.8. The engines have become so strong that it pays to play openings that they approve of, even if it’s early on and there is a lot of human theory involved. 14...¦c7 15.¦hf1 ¦g8 was played in: ½–½ (26) Van der Wiel,J (2515)-Tukmakov,V (2550) Wijk aan Zee 1984 when White should have calmly played 16.¢b1 £e5 17.g3, a position which the engine evaluates at +2.1 for White. In other words, White is winning, though to the human eye this is difficult to grasp. In the past, this position would have been evaluated as unclear, with Black’s central pawn mass and bishop pair compensating for the unsafe king, while nowadays the engine gives clear preference to the easiness of play against a king stuck in the centre. 15.¦hf1 ¦c7 16.¢b1 h5 Preventing a possible £h5. 17.h4
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Fixing the pawn on h5 and introducing the idea of g4 to open the g-file on the kingside. White has more than one good way to play here; for example, the engine proposes £f2 with the idea of ¦d3–f3, or ¥d3 with the idea of ¤e2–d4. 17.fxe6 fxe6 18.£xf6? is what Black dreams of in these structures. After 18...£xf6 19.¦xf6 ¥g7 he has fantastic compensation thanks to the powerful darksquared bishop. 17...¥e7 18.£e3 Perhaps intending £b6, so Kasparov’s next prevents it with tempo. However, it seems that White was actually counting on this. 18...£c5?!
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18...¦b7 was a better way to prevent the queen intrusion. The rook on the b-file also aids a possible ...b4, starting the activity on the queenside.
19.£g3! With the black queen no longer controlling the g3–square White uses his own queen to threaten now an intrusion on the kingside. 19...¢f8 Preventing £g7. 20.fxe6 Opening the f-file. 20...fxe6 The natural recapture. which Kasparov played instantly. It’s difficult to call this a mistake, but White is winning almost by force now. The engine gives the unnatural 20...¥xe6 as better, the point being that White cannot take advantage of the weakened d5 and f5 squares right away in view of the pressure on the c-file in the case of the former. White is still close to winning after 21.£f4 but at least there is no immediate breakthrough. 21.£g6 Threatening ¦xf6. 21...£e5 22.¦d3 The other rook joins the attack. And just like that, without making any obvious mistakes and in only 22 moves, Kasparov was lost. This nature of the positions arising from this line in the Najdorf, namely that by playing simple moves White can obtain a winning position because the safety of the king is more important than the pair of bishops, together with the central pawn mass, is the reason why the engines (and Vachier!) think that this line is unplayable for Black. What is perhaps even more telling is how Kasparov failed to understand this, both in his preparations and during this and next game, thus repeating the line for a third time against Anand. This is a clear indication of the evolution of chess understanding and how even the best players (and Kasparov is (was?) one of the best connoisseurs of the Sicilian of all times!) fall behind over time. 22...¥d8 Covering the 7th rank, but it’s too late already. White’s attack crashes through. 23.¦g3 The threat is ¦g5. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 463
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openings, engines once again show that a development advantage and some initiative can be sufficient compensation for a full pawn. Grischuk had already played two games in this line so Kasparov was prepared. Still, it was surprising that, in spite of having a clear target in his preparation, he couldn’t find a way to pose serious problems, something that would have been unthinkable of in the past.
23...¦f7 24.¦g5!
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This is still possible thanks to the pin on the f-file. 24...£d4 25.¥xh5 Black collapses and Kasparov resigned. 1–0 Losing in 25 moves against the outsider was not how Kasparov wanted to start the tournament. He found it hard to adjust to the shock even though the next game was a relatively calm affair against Grischuk.
5.£a4+ 5.£xd4 was So’s choice. After 5...¤c6 6.£d1 exd5 7.£xd5 ¥d6 8.¥g5 ¤ge7 9.£d2 h6 10.¦d1 hxg5 11.£xd6 £b6 12.£a3 0–0 Black had compensation for the pawn in: 1–0 (59) So,W (2770)-Grischuk,A (2776) played in the Crypto Cup in May 2021. 5...¥d7 6.£xd4 exd5 7.£xd5 ¤f6 8.£b3 Deviating from the previous game by Grischuk. 8.£d1 ¥c5 9.¤f3 0–0 10.e3 ¤c6 11.¥e2 £e7 12.0–0 ¦fd8 13.£b3 ¥f5 with typical compensation for the pawn in view of free development and good central control. 1–0 (45) Ding Liren (2799)-Grischuk,A (2776) Crypto Cup 2021. 8...¤a6!
I had the impression that Grischuk showed too much respect for the player who dominated the first phase of his career. In the past, Grischuk has repeatedly voiced this respect and has never beaten Kasparov. So in spite of using the Schara-Hennig Gambit (the latest opening revelation by Grischuk, turning what was previously considered an insufficient gambit into a playable variation) against Kasparov the game quickly petered out to an equal endgame and a draw.
Garry Kasparov - Alexander Grischuk GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (2.2) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4!? The latest discovery of modern theory. As in many different lines in other 464 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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This is the move that revives the variation for Black. Previously Black played 8...¤c6, which didn’t bring enough. 9.¤f3 ¤c5 10.£d1 ¤ce4 11.e3 ¥b4 12.¥d2 ¥xc3 13.¥xc3 ¤xc3 14.bxc3
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£a5 Black’s activity now concentrates on the weak pawn on c3. Both players were playing fast, which indicates thatthey had analysed this in their preparations.
Jan-Krzysztof Duda - Garry Kasparov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (3.5) 1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥g5 e6 7.f4 £c7 8.¥xf6 gxf6 9.£f3 b5 10.a3 ¤c6 11.0–0–0 Deviating from van Foreest’s choice of 11.¤xc6. This was obviously a choice based on preparation.
15.£d4 ¦c8 16.£b4 £c5!
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11...¤xd4 12.¦xd4 ¦b8 In the next game Kasparov chose 12...£c5, but this didn’t change much in the essence of the position. 13.¥e2 ¥d7 The engine thinks White is winning after this (+1.9). Really unbelievable.
The last precise move. Black regains the pawn and an equal endgame ensues. 17.¥d3 £xc3+ 18.£xc3 ¦xc3 19.¢d2 ¦a3
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13...¥g7 14.¦hd1 0–0 is the engine’s preference that only shows how much it values king safety. It prefers to give up a clear pawn to get the king out of the centre. After 15.¦xd6 (15.£g3 ¢h8 16.£h4 is an alternative.) 15...b4 16.axb4 ¦xb4 17.¤a2 ¦b8 18.£c3 Black doesn’t seem to have compensation, but according to the engine, this is better than the game continuation! 14.f5 £c5 15.¦hd1 £e5 As in the previous game Kasparov centralises the queen on e5. This is typical for this line where White cannot chase the queen from the central position, but this doesn’t help Black much. 16.£h5
Black has easy equality and the game was drawn in 41 moves. ½–½ On the surface it seemed that Kasparov had stabilised with this uneventful draw, allowing him to get into the tournament. However, in the third round he repeated the same variation in the Najdorf against Duda.
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Now White wants to take on e6 when in view of the pin on the h5–e8 diagonal Black will be forced to recapture with the bishop, thus allowing White to jump to d5. 16...¥e7 17.fxe6 ¥xe6 18.¤d5
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Black is indeed lost, as is now visible even to the human eye. He has nothing to show for White’s superior activity and his wrecked pawn structure. 18...£xh5 19.¥xh5 Even the endgame brings no relief. The immediate threats are ¤c7xa6 and ¤xe7 followed by ¦xd6. 19...¦g8 Kasparov seeks activity, but this only speeds up the demise. 19...¥xd5 was more resilient: the oppositecoloured bishops will allow Black to prolong the game, though it’s no fun. After 20.¦xd5 ¦g8 21.¥f3 ¦g5 22.b4 White has the simple plan of ¢b2–b3, a4 etc. while all Black can do is wait passively. 20.¤c7+ Duda goes for more forcing play.
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Positionally sound. Black wants to get rid of the doubled pawns and open the game for the bishops, but this fails tactically. 24...¥f8 was more resilient, intending ...¥h6. 25.exf5 ¥g5+?? This was Kasparov’s idea, however... 25...¥xf5 26.¥xf7 is winning for White as he has won a pawn, but the game could have continued. 26.¢e2
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20.¥f3 was a good alternative, after 20...¥xd5 21.¦xd5 we have a transposition to the note to Black’s 19th move.
Here he is just lost.
20...¢d8 21.¤xa6 ¦b6 22.¤b4 ¦xg2 23.¦4d2 White has a stable knight (that can jump back to d5) with a better pawn structure while Black has nothing to show for it.
The point is that after 26.¢e2 ¥xf5 (or 26...¥d7 27.¦g1 h6 28.h4 ¥xh4 29.¦g8+ ¢c7 30.¤d5+ winning the exchange.) 27.¦d5 wins one of the bishops.
23...¦xd2 24.¢xd2 f5?! 466 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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This was another game following the same scenario as the first one – White played natural moves and manoeuvred in the centre, waiting for a chance to open the game and attack the king stuck on e8. It’s surprising that Kasparov didn’t understand the character of the play and this failure, coupled with his confidence in his own preparation, led to another loss, this time against one of his historical rivals.
Viswanathan Anand - Garry Kasparov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (4.1) Two legends: Kasparov and Anand
1.e4 c5 2.¤f3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 a6 6.¥g5 e6 7.f4 £c7 8.¥xf6 gxf6 9.£f3 b5 10.a3 ¤c6 11.0–0–0 ¤xd4 12.¦xd4 £c5 An improvement over the move 12...¦b8 that he played against Duda. Still, this doesn’t change the character of the position. 13.¦d3 ¦b8 Intending ...b4. 14.b4!
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knight on b4 from where it will control both the queenside and keep an eye on the d5– square. It’s worth noting that both players were still in their preparation here, which makes it even more difficult to understand that Kasparov thought this position was acceptable for Black. 16...¥e7 17.¥e2 h5 18.¢b1 Again we see the same scenario: White makes natural and consolidating moves, while Black’s play lacks clear perspective. 18...¥d7 19.¦hd1 h4?!
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A strong move, stopping Black’s counterplay based on ...b4. While possible in many lines, this is rarely seen in the other variations in the Najdorf because usually Black is better prepared to take advantage of this weakening of the queenside. But here Black’s position lacks dynamism to exploit White’s queenside weaknesses.
This gives access to the g4–square, so the idea £g4–g7 (similar to what we saw in the games with van Foreest) is possible.
14...£a7 15.f5 a5 16.¤a2! A fine move: in the case of ...axb4, White wants to plant a
19...¦c8 was better. After 20.fxe6 ¥xe6 (20...fxe6? 21.¦xd6! ¥xd6 22.£xf6 ¦h7 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 467
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23.¦xd6 wins for White as Black’s position is too full of holes and his king is lacking pawn shelter.) 21.¦c3 White is better, but Black can certainly hold on. 20.bxa5 Not bad, liberating the b4–square for the knight. Anand is famous for his play with knights, so no surprise that he paid more attention to the well-being of the knight on the rim. 20.£g4! ¢f8 21.¦h3! was an immediate way to take advantage of Black’s 19th move. 20...£xa5 21.¤b4 ¦c8 22.£g4
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Only after improving the position of the knight does Anand switch his attention to the £g4 idea. 22.¦xd6! was very strong. 22...¥xd6 23.¦xd6 £c7 24.£d3 Black is paralysed while White can improve with £d4, attacking the pawn on f6 and forcing ...e5, after which he will have access to the d5– square. Still, this is not very obvious in a blitz game. 22...¢f8 23.fxe6? This is premature and loses all of the advantage he had. 23.¦h3 was simple and strong. Black still suffers from lack of counterplay. 23...¥xe6 Of course not 23...fxe6? 24.e5! when Black’s position is ripped open. 24.£f3 Things are unclear now. 468 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
24...¦c5 25.£e3 Anand has played two consolidating moves in a row and Kasparov loses his patience. 25...f5? Seeking activity has always been Kasparov’s forte, but here he misses a strong possibility for his opponent. He should have followed suit with 25...¢g7 and after 26.¤d5 ¥xd5 27.exd5 £c7 the position remains sharp with mutual chances as both kings are far from ideally defended. 26.¥f3?
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But Anand also misses it!
26.¦xd6! was devastating. After 26...¥xd6 27.¦xd6 £c7 28.e5 all White’s pieces are on great squares while Black’s dispersed army cannot coordinate for successful defence. 26...fxe4? This only activates White’s bishop. 26...¥f6! was much more in the spirit of the previous move, activating the dormant bishop. The position is a mess: for example, 27.exf5 (27.¦xd6 ¦c3 28.¦6d3 £xa3! gives Black excellent counterplay.) 27...¥xf5 28.¦b3 £c7 when anything can happen, especially in a blitz game. 27.¥xe4 ¦c4? A blunder, allowing the rook to be attacked after White’s next move. 27...¦hh5! allowed Black to stay in the game, maintaining the tension in an unclear position.
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While watching the live transmission of the games I noticed that Kasparov often lost on time, but in spite of his clock showing 0.00 he would still continue to play moves on the board. This happened in both games against Anand (and also with some other players) and when prompted that he lost on time he would never offer his hand but would just get up from his chair and walk away 28.¥d5!
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Now White is winning as Black cannot take the bishop on d5. 28...¥f6 The point is that 28...¥xd5 29.¤xd5 £d8 30.¦f1 is hopeless for Black.
29.¥xc4 bxc4 30.¦xd6 Black is lost, but here Kasparov lost on time. 1–0 The players of the older generation were less clinical than the younger generation and Kasparov finally got a fighting position against his old rival, who may still have remembered the psychological trauma from their previous encounters. Yet in spite of this, the more professional of the two was more successful in keeping his level in a tense situation, while Kasparov collapsed. While watching the live transmission of the games I noticed that Kasparov often lost on time, but in spite of his clock showing 0.00 he would still continue to play moves BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 469
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on the board. This happened in both games against Anand (and also with some other players) and when prompted that he had lost on time he would never offer his hand but would just get up from his chair and walk away. I found this disrespectful, but quite indicative of the internal state of disgust Kasparov must have felt for his play. It is curious that Kasparov lost only once in his career in the Najdorf with 6.¥g5: in the Olympiad in 1980 he messed up his theory and lost to Bulgarian GM Krum Georgiev (and it was again in the line with 7…£c7!). After three losses in four games, all of them in the Najdorf, Kasparov was broken. He lost all his fighting spirit, an unexpected psychological reaction by one of the greatest fighters of all chess history. This led to more losses on time and harrowing blunders.
Garry Kasparov – Anton Korobov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (5.5)
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Kasparov chose an innocuous line against Black’s Queen’s Gambit Declined and he obtained a complex middlegame with mutual chances. 14.£c2 ¤xg3? In blitz it’s easy to miss the refutation of this exchange. 14...g6, as preparation for ...¤xg3, was preferable. 15.hxg3? The automatic recapture. 470 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
With more time available and in better shape Kasparov would have undoubtedly found 15.¥xh7+! ¢h8 16.fxg3 with an almost winning position. The point is that Black cannot trap the bishop on h7 with 16...g6? because White has (16...¦xe3 is better, but after 17.¥f5, followed by ¤e5, White has a huge advantage.) 17.¥xg6 (or 17.¤e5!) 17... fxg6 18.£xg6 (or 18.¤e5 again.) 18...¦e7 19.¤g5 with a winning attack. 15...¤f6 Now the position is balanced again. What is now curious is how from this perfectly safe position Kasparov managed to allow a mating attack in literally a few moves. 16.¤e5 £e7 17.b4?! A typical plan for White in these structures is to play b5 (with or without the supporting a4) and plant a knight on c6. However, here it is too slow as Black is well positioned for strong counterplay on the kingside. Similarly to the game with Anand (the move 25...f5?), Kasparov’s prophylactic thinking fails him. White should have started play in the centre and the kingside instead. With 17.f3! he takes away the e4–square from the black knight. After 17...c5 18.g4, with £f2 next, White would have kept Black at bay and would have expanded on the kingside for some easier play. 17...¤e4 18.b5? Consistent, but bad. 18.g4, with the idea of f3, was better, making sure White gets rid of the annoying knight on e4. 18...axb5 19.¥xb5 ¦ec8 20.¤c6 £g5
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White accomplished his plan, but it achieved nothing, while at the same time he removed the knight from e5, thus opening the h2–b8 diagonal for the bishop on d6. Just one look at White’s abandoned kingside is more than enough for serious concerns. 21.a4 Postponing the decision what to do on the kingside for one more move. 21...h5 22.£e2? It was high time to admit the mistake and return to e5 with 22.¤e5! Black is still better after 22...£h6 23.¤f3 c6 24.¥d3 ¥a6 exchanging the passive bishop and leaving White with a passive one on b2, but at least White is not getting mated here. 22...h4 Now Black’s attack is very serious. 23.gxh4? Kasparov shows a complete lack of resilience, not even trying to resist. 23.g4 would have made it more difficult for Black. 23...£xh4 Now the attack crashes through. 24.g3 £g5 25.¦c2 ¦e8 26.¢g2 ¦e6
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When Kasparov loses in just seven moves! If being outplayed in the middlegames wasn’t enough, the next game produced an opening catastrophe.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov Garry Kasparov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (6.2) 1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 Kasparov carefully chose his openings in the tournament. Against Mamedyarov he reverts to the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, an opening he prepared for his World Championship match against Kramnik and one that he used on more than one occassion after that match. His strategy was to confront the aggressive Mamedyarov with one of the most solid openings. 3.e3 e5
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The most direct way to take advantage of White’s move-order.
Here Kasparov lost on time, but he’s dead lost as he has no defence against Black’s many threats of ...¤xg3, ...¦h6(g6) etc.
4.¤f3 The alternative, and the main move, is 4.¥xc4. 4...exd4 5.¥xc4 ¤f6??
26...¤xg3 also wins, with the typical idea 27.fxg3 £xg3+ 28.¢h1 ¦e4 0–1 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 471
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Garry Kasparov – Anish Giri GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (7.4)
Horrendous. Kasparov played an automatic move and is immediately lost. Best is 5...¥b4, which gives Black a satisfactory position. 6.£b3! The attack on f7 is difficult to parry. 6...£e7 7.0–0 White is winning as Black cannot develop while White threatens to open the e-file or to play ¤g5. And here, to the amazement of the audience, Kasparov simply resigned! 1–0 This was by far Kasparov’s lowest point. Losing in seven moves is unthinkable for any half-decent player, let alone a former World Champion. Nothing was working any more, a complete collapse of the whole system. Kasparov stopped believing that he cannot lose even when the positions were promising. Against Giri, he obtained a good position from the English Opening, yet he allowed Giri’s unsound sacrificial attack to succeed.
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White is winning here; he only needs to stay calm. 31.a5?? Kasparov ignores Black’s threats again a failure of his prophylactic thinking. The simple 31.g3 prevents the opening of the g-file and should see White neutralise Black’s threats. For example 31...h2+ 32.£xh2 £g7 threatening ...¦h8. 33.£f2 ¦h8 34.¥e4 and White defends successfully. 31...¦g8 Now Black is winning. But the game still contains one last detail. 32.¥f1 hxg2
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Here Kasparov lost on time.
32...¥xg2 was cleaner, as the game move allowed White an accidental chance to 472 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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muddy the waters. After 32...hxg2 White could have tried the imaginative 33.¥c4!?, the idea of which is to win a tempo for the move axb6. Black is still winning, though after 33...£h3 (33...¥xc4? leads to a draw after 34.axb6 £h3 35.bxc7+ ¢xc7 36.£b6+ ¢d6 37.¦bd1+ ¥d3 38.¦e6+! ¢xe6 39.£xc6+ ¢f7 40.£d5+ ¢g7 41.£xd3 £xd3 42.¦xd3 ¢f6 with a drawn rook endgame.) 34.¥xd5 £h1+ 35.¢f2 he has to find the only winning move 35...£h2! 0–1
sure that the g-file remains closed and the g-pawn marches to promotion. 45...¦g2 46.gxh5 d2 47.¢xe4 1–0 Another heartbreak for Kasparov, who showed some signs of better play, but was again undone by a blunder at the end, one of the same type of mistake as those in his other games. The final game of the day was another debacle.
In the next game, he outplayed Vachier right out of the opening and was winning as early as move nine (!), but he couldn’t wrap it up – a stark contrast between the resilience of one of the world’s best players and Kasparov’s own play. In the end, another disaster struck.
Maxime Vachier Lagrave Garry Kasparov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (8.3)
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The position is a draw, as White’s activity and the passed g-pawn compensate for Black’s connected passed pawns. But, still trying to win, Kasparov misses his opponent’s trick.
Garry Kasparov – Ian Nepomniachtchi GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (9.3) 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 After qualifying for the title match Nepomniachtchi drastically changed his repertoire. He started to test e6– systems against 1.d4, replacing his trusted Grunfeld, and against 1.e4 he tried other openings apart from his usual Najdorf. 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.¤f3 This move-order was brought to the limelight in the mid-80s when Kasparov used it to great effect against Karpov’s Nimzo-Indian. 4...d5 Karpov never transposed to the Ragozin, an opening that wasn’t very popular back then. Today, however, it has proven to be of excellent quality. 5.cxd5 exd5 6.¥f4 The latest wrinkle. In his youth Kasparov played the usual 6.¥g5, but putting the bishop on f4 has recently been employed by several strong players, including Carlsen, Aronian and Nakamura. 6...¤e4 In Round 13 Anand chose 6...c6.
44...¦e2?? 44...¦g3 45.¢xe4 ¦xg2 46.¢xd3 h4 was the simplest drawing line.
7.¦c1 ¤d7 A rare move, compared to 7...£e7, that has been played by Aronian, and 7...¤c6, that has been played by Giri and Ding Liren.
45.g4! A typical combinational motif on the theme of interference. White makes
8.e3 The alternative is 8.¤d2, immediately attacking the knight on e4. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 473
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8...g5 A typical way for Black in the Ragozin, harassing the bishop once its retreat to d2 has been severed. 9.¥g3
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9.¥e5 was somewhat more precise, either winning a tempo in case Black castles, or provoking ...f6 before retreating to g3. 9...f6 (9...0–0 10.¥d3 is a complex middlegame where both sides have their chances.) 10.¥g3 h5 11.h4 ¤xg3 12.fxg3 £e7 13.£d2 with ¥d3 and either 0–0 or ¢f2 next. The pawn on f6 hinders the knight on d7, preventing its transfer to e4 via that square. 9...h5 10.£b3?
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This lands White in trouble.
10.h4 was necessary. 10...¤xg3 11.fxg3 gxh4 12.gxh4 c6 with ...¤f6 next gives Black easy play, though White is not worse after 13.¥d3 ¤f6 14.0–0 as he has at his 474 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
The champion and the candidate, galaxies apart: Kasparov vs Nepomniachtchi
disposal the e5 and g5 squares for his knight and the open f-file. 10...¥xc3+ 11.bxc3 c6 Defending the pawn on d5 and threatening ...h4. White is under tremendous pressure now, with the question of how to solve the problem of the troubled bishop on g3. 12.¤d2?
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An elementary blunder, missing a double attack two moves later. That a player of Kasparov’s calibre misses simple tactics like this one is quite telling of his state of mind. 12.h4 was necessary, though after 12...¤xg3 13.fxg3 g4 14.¤g5 £c7 Black is better thanks to his better structure.
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12...¤xd2 13.¢xd2 h4 14.¥d6 14.¥e5 doesn’t help much as, even though White avoids losing a pawn, he ends up with a bad position with his king stuck in the centre after 14...¤xe5 15.dxe5 £c7 16.f4 ¥f5 with ...0–0–0 next. 14...£f6 Here it is - a double attack on the bishop on d6 and the pawn on f2. The game is practically over because Black also manages to get his knight to e4 very quickly. 15.¥a3 £xf2+ 16.¥e2 ¤f6 With the knight on e4 Black will have a dominant position in addition to the extra pawn. 17.£b4 ¤e4+ 18.¢d1 c5
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Garry Kasparov – Jorden Van Foreest GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (10.4) 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.d4 Kasparov doesn’t want to risk the Berlin Defence and sticks to one of his favourite openings, the Scotch. 3...exd4 4.¤xd4 ¤f6 Currently this is more popular than 4...¥c5. 5.¤xc6 bxc6 6.e5 £e7 7.£e2 ¤d5 8.c4 £b4+ A rare choice, compared to the two mainstream moves 8...¤b6 and 8...¥a6. It’s difficult to say whether Black had expected the Scotch and prepared this line (though he soon ends up worse, so it’s not clear what exactly he prepared), or whether he just improvised. 9.¤d2 ¤f4 10.£e3 ¤g6 11.¥d3 ¥c5 was played by Korchnoi and the engine prefers it compared to the game move. 11...£b6 12.¤f3 Probably 12.£g3 is better. 12...¥b4+ 13.¢f1 with unclear play in: ½–½ (35) Kristjansson,S (2432)-Kortschnoj,V (2642) Reykjavik 2003 12.£g3 0–0 13.0–0 d6 14.¤b3!
Disgusted with everything, Kasparov decided to resign and end the day. After 18...c5 19.dxc5 0–0 Black is easily winning with simple moves like ...¥f5, ...£xg2 and so on. 0–1 This was probably the worst day of Kasparov’s whole career. Unfortunately, the next one wasn’t much better. It started brightly, though, with a win over van Foreest.
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A fine move. Kasparov shows his innate sense for dynamism. He sacrifices a pawn for the pair of bishops and the initiative. 14...¤xe5? A tactical mistake, but the refutation wasn’t easy to spot, especially in a blitz game. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 475
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14...dxe5 was better, though White keeps a solid advantage after 15.¥d2 £b6 16.h4! ¤f4 17.¤xc5 £xc5 18.¥xf4 exf4 19.£xf4 when Black has no compensation for the doubled pawns on the queenside. 15.a3?! This keeps the advantage, but there were better options! 15.¥d2! £b6 16.¥a5! forcing the queen away from b6 so that the bishop on c5 would lack extra protection. 16...£a6 17.¥c3 was a nice manoeuvre, pinpointing the looseness of the knight on e5 and the bishop on c5 and the weakness of the g7–square. White wins a piece after 17...£b6 (or 17...¥b6 18.¥xe5 dxe5 19.c5 with a double attack on the queen and the bishop on b6.) 18.¤xc5 £xc5 19.b4 £b6 20.c5 £b8 21.f4, winning the pinned knight in view of the mate on g7. 15...£b6 16.¤xc5 £xc5 17.¥e3 £a5 18.b4 £a4 19.¥d4 White has fine compensation here, but he’s not winning. 19...f6 The only move, shutting the long diagonal. 20.¥xe5?
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Kasparov is impatient and releases the tension too quickly. 20.¥e4 ¥d7 21.¦ae1 was more to the point, keeping the pair of bishops and maintaining the pressure. 20.¥b1!? is the engine’s suggestion with the idea f4. 20...¥d7 21.f4 ¤g6 22.h4, again with good compensation. 476 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
20...fxe5 21.f4 ¥f5!
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Black is fine now as he exchanges the light pieces and the position simplifies. 22.fxe5 ¥xd3 23.£xd3 dxe5 24.£d7 White’s activity is sufficient compensation for the pawn, but not for more. 24...£b3? Black rushes to activate the queen, but gives up the pawn on c6. The problem is that White’s queen on c6 is very influential, so it would have been better not to let her come to that square. 24...a5 would have led to more simplifications. 24...h6 was also a good option, opening an always necessary luft. 25.£xc6 £e3+ 26.¢h1 ¢h8 Black’s queen doesn’t do much on e3, while he has lost the extra pawn and is now left with a worse structure. 27.¦fe1 £c3 28.£xc7 ¦ac8? 28...e4 was better, at least activatingf the passed pawn. 29.h3 e3 30.£g3 is much better for White, who is now a pawn up, but the game continues. 29.£xa7 ¦xc4 30.h3 Now White has a safe king and two connected passed pawns. He is winning, but as usual Kasparov had little time on the clock. 30...¦cf4 31.£c5 £b2 32.£xe5 £b3 Blundering a small tactic, but both players missed it.
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32...£f2 33.£c3 should win for White slowly but surely.
White will be a rook up so Black resigned. 1–0
33.£e3 33.£xf4 wins on the spot. After 33...¦xf4 34.¦e8+ £g8 35.¦xg8+ ¢xg8 36.b5, with two connected passed pawns,the rest is elementary. 33...£c4 34.¦ac1 £f7 35.£g3 h6 36.b5 £d5 37.a4?
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Typical blitz, putting a pawn on a controlled square. Something like 37.¦c7 was considerably better. 37...¦xa4 38.¦b1 ¦f5? 38...¦af4 would have been more resilient; now, with only one pawn more, things would not have been automatic. 39.b6 ¦g5 40.b7! Finally combination to win the game.
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It turned out that this was Kasparov’s only win in the tournament. What’s worse, it also had a detrimental effect on Kasparov’s state of mind, making him over-optimistic in his belief that now things are back to “normal” and that he can play his usual chess on his usual level. That this wasn’t the case became immediately apparent in the next game.
Alexander Grischuk - Garry Kasparov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (11.2) 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 d5 Going for the Grunfeld against Grischuk, Kasparov shows ambitions. 4.cxd5 ¤xd5 5.e4 ¤xc3 6.bxc3 ¥g7 7.¤f3 c5 8.h3 This move was resurrected by Kramnik against Kasparov in Wijk aan Zee in 2000. 8...0–0 9.¥e2 cxd4 The path approved by modern theory. More than 2 decades ago Kasparov went for 9...b5 10.¥e3 ¥b7 but didn’t equalise after 11.£d3 ½–½ (37) Kramnik,V (2758)- Garry Kasparov (2851) Wijk aan Zee 2000
40...£xb7 41.£xg5
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10.cxd4 ¤c6 11.¥e3 f5! Black counterattacks against White’s centre in typical Grunfeld fashion. 12.¥c4+ ¢h8 13.0–0 fxe4 This is more dynamic than the alternative 13...f4. Here it is Black who sacrifices material for compensation. After 13...f4 White sacrifices a pawn for compensation after 14.¥d2 ¤xd4 15.¥c3. 14.¤g5 ¤xd4 15.¤f7+ ¦xf7 16.¥xf7 £d6 17.¦e1 ¥xh3?? BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 477
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Still, Kasparov continued in a determined manner. He outplayed Duda and was on his way to victory when the wheels came off again.
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Garry Kasparov - Jan-Krzysztof Duda GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (12.5)
Even more over-optimistic after managing to get his preparation in, but, forgetting it in this moment, Kasparov throws the game with a gross miscalculation. 17...¥d7 was what he mentioned as what he looked at, with great play after ...e5, ...¥c6 and so on. 18.¥xd4 ¥xd4 19.¦xe4 With this simple operation Grischuk remains a full rook up as both Black’s bishops are hanging. 19...e5 20.gxh3 ¦f8 21.¦xd4 Returning some material to defuse any danger. 21...exd4 22.¥c4 A piece will suffice.
White is winning here as it’s clear that the far-advanced pawns should carry the day. 26.¥c4? Kasparov said he couldn’t explain why he touched the bishop. The move isn’t that bad, as it keeps the advantage, but it does break the momentum. 26.£b3! would have emphasised the problem of the knight on the rim. Now White can safely continue with ¥c4, with the b2–square under control.
22...£f4 23.£e2 £g5+ 24.£g4
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26...¤b2! Of course, the hopeless knight is now exchanged for the bishop and this is a major achievement for Black. Objectively, White is still close to winning, but the trend has shifted in Black’s favour, as he has made progress while White has worsened his chances.
1–0
27.¦c1 ¤xc4 28.¦xc4 f5 29.¤e2 Instead of focusing on his own pawn mass White must now pay attention to Black’s. He is still in control though. 29...h6 With the idea of ...g5.
This was Grischuk’s first victory over Kasparov. 478 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
30.h3?
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This is a half-measure.
30.h4 was better, as it both opens a luft for the king and it stops Black’s advance with ...g5. 30...g5 31.¦c2 If you compare the moves from the beginning of the analysis you will notice that White has only moved backwards. The position is dynamically balanced now, but White should be careful. 31...¦de8 Threatening ...f4. 32.¤d4??
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It’s inexplicable that Kasparov again completely ignores his opponent’s idea. This time it’s even more difficult to understand as the threat of ...f4 is so obvious. 32.g3 Stops ...f4 and keeps the game unclear. 32...¥e5 33.¤g1 with ¦cf2 next
keeps Black’s pawns at bay, though it’s clear that, with all his pieces defending against Black’s advance, White cannot hope to help his own pawns. 32...f4 33.£d2 f3 Black crashes through now and Kasparov lost on time here. 0–1 You can notice from the analysis of the games that the key reason for Kasparov’s mistakes was his ignoring of his opponent’s ideas. This is very strange because Kasparov was a very strong prophylactic player, having learned the trade from none other than Karpov. His prophylaxis was different than Karpov’s, being more dynamic in its essence, but he always paid careful attention to his opponent. It’s difficult to say why this feature of his play was absent in Zagreb. Next came the game against Anand, the only player from the field over whom Kasparov could claim psychological dominance. However, the game showed that no amount of psychology can help you if you make bad moves.
The analysis of the games in Zagreb show that the key reason for Kasparov’s mistakes was his ignoring of his opponent’s ideas. This is very strange because Kasparov was a very strong prophylactic player, having learned the trade from none other than Karpov BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 479
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Garry Kasparov - Viswanathan Anand GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (13.1)
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Another Ragozin has led to a Carlsbad structure where White can start play against Black’s king. 13.g4! This is a good move - Kasparov’s feel for dynamics was still present during the game, but it’s curious that afterwards, he criticised this decision, undoubtedly because the bad result has clouded his judgement and made him see every decision he took look bad. 13...¥xg4 14.¦g1 ¥e6 15.£c2?
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Only this spoils White’s promising attack. 15.£d1! was necessary. Now after 15...¤g7 16.¥xg7 ¢xg7 17.£h5 White’s attack is very dangerous. Black has to play the only move 17...¦g8 to 480 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
defend against the threat of a sacrifice on g6. 18.¥xg6! but White can still sacrifice! (18.f4 is equally promising.) 18...fxg6 19.¤xg6 looks tremendous for White, but the engine says it’s equal. A sample line is 19...¤d7 20.0–0–0 ¥xc3 21.bxc3 £a5 22.¢b2 £b5+ 23.¢a1 £a5 with a repetition. 15...¤d7 Black has finished development and targets the strong bishop on e5. Objectively, White has no compensation, but in practice things may look scary for Black. Kasparov lunges forward: 16.¥xg6 fxg6 17.¤xg6 ¤xe5 18.¤xf8+ ¢xf8 19.dxe5 White has got a pawn and a rook for two pieces and weakened Black’s king but has lost all his attacking pieces in the process. 19...£c7 Anand solidifies his kingside by bringing the queen to f7. 19...d4 was a more dynamic reply. 20.a3 ¥xc3+ 21.bxc3 dxe3 22.0–0–0 exf2 23.¦gf1 ¢g8, with a winning position for Black as White’s king is also far from safe. 20.f4 £f7 21.0–0–0 ¥f5 22.£b3 a5 23.¤e2 Transferring the knight to d4. 23...¤g7 Anand brings the knight back from the rim and strengthens his control over the e6 and f5 squares, thus avoiding the danger of White’s central pawns advancing. 24.¤d4 ¥c5? A tactical mistake that went unnoticed by both players. 24...¥e4! 25.f5 looks like a failure of the ...¤g7 move as now the pawns have moved forward, but in fact Black can play 25...£e7! with the threat of ...£c5 - when suddenly it’s White’s king who is in danger. 26.f6 £c5+ 27.¤c2 ¤f5 involves the knight in the attack and Black is winning. 25.¦g3?
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6...¤a6 7.£d2 e5 8.d5 £e8 9.¥d1 White prepares the development of the knight to e2 and the defence of the pawn on e4 by ¥c2.
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9...¤h5 This is less common than 9...¤c5, 9...c6 or 9...¥d7. 10.¤ge2 White covers the f4–square. 10.¥xh5 doubles Black’s h-pawns, but gives him the pair of bishops. After 10... gxh5 11.¤f3 f5 Black has the typical KID counterplay.
Missing the chance.
10...f5 11.f3 ¥d7 12.a3 fxe4? 25.¦xg7! would have allowed White to draw the game. 25...¢xg7 26.¤xf5+ £xf5 27.£xb7+ Now White wins the rook on a8 and saves the game. 27...¢h6 28.£xc6+ ¢h5 29.£xa8 ¥xe3+ 30.¦d2 ¥xd2+ 31.¢xd2 £xf4+ leads to a perpetual check. 25...¥xd4 26.exd4 Kasparov lost on time here, but White is lost anyway. 26.exd4 ¢e8 with ...¥g6, ...¤f5 or ...¤e6 next establishes an eternal blockade on the light squares and it’s a matter of time before Black consolidates and moves forward. 0–1 The next game was similar to the 7-move loss to Mamedyarov. At one point Kasparov just gave up, stopped fighting and resigned in a worse, but still not lost, position.
Anton Korobov - Garry Kasparov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (14.5) 1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 g6 3.¤c3 ¥g7 Always nice to see one of the best players of the King’s Indian employing his old weapon. 4.e4 d6 5.¥e2 0–0 6.¥g5 The Averbakh System is Korobov’s main choice against the KID. Kasparov was obviously prepared.
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An inexplicable strategical mistake by Kasparov, giving White undisputed control over the e4–square. If a lesser player made this move it could be easily said that he didn’t understand the King’s Indian, but Kasparov? 12...¤f4 was a normal KID move, sacrificing a pawn to open the long diagonal. 13.0–0 (Accepting the pawn gives Black great play after 13.¤xf4 exf4 14.¥xf4 ¤c5) 13...h6! Black forces the exchange of White’s dark-squared bishop. 14.¤xf4 (or 14.¥xf4 exf4 15.¤xf4 g5 16.¤d3 fxe4 17.¤xe4 ¥d4+ 18.¤df2 £e5 with excellent compensation thanks to the domination on the dark squares.) 14...hxg5 15.¤d3 £e7 Not 15...fxe4?, which would transpose to the game. (15...¤c5!? is an interesting alternative. After 16.¤xc5 dxc5 17.£xg5 f4, Black has compensation for the pawn BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 481
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in view of the open h−file and the pair of bishops, even though the position is closed as White’s lack of control over the dark squares make it difficult for him to open the game on the queenside.) 16.b4 c6 with an unclear position; 12...f4!?, with the idea of exchanging the dark-squared bishops, leads to a complex middlegame after 13.¥h4 ¥f6 14.¥f2 £e7 15.b4 ¥h4 16.g3 ¥g5. 13.¤xe4 Now White dominates as Black cannot challenge White’s control over the e4–square. 13...¤f4 14.0–0 h6? Another mistake that wrecks Black’s kingside structure.
Without the strength of his will and character, the drive to win and dominate, he ceased to be the player he was. Apart from not working on chess regularly, this was the impact of the repeated losses – just remember Taimanov and Larsen: when they started losing they couldn’t stop the bleeding. The next round, Kasparov obtained a good position with attacking chances, a position he always thrived in. But even getting “his” positions wasn’t enough.
Garry Kasparov Shakhriyar Mamedyarov GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (15.2)
14...¥f5 was better, maintaining a playable, if worse, position. 15.¤xf4! hxg5 16.¤d3 ¥f5 17.¦e1
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White of course has a dominating position, but he still needs to play a lot of moves to convert his advantage. Kasparov understood he was worse and decided to give up and resigned. A shocking decision. As Steinitz used to say, "chess is not for timid souls", and Fischer’s "you have to have the fighting spirit" seems to have been forgotten by the great successor.
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19.¢h1? Uncharacteristically slow. Kasparov misjudges the dynamics (something that never happened in the past!) and makes a slow move when direct action was needed. 19.g4! was necessary. 19...b4 20.¤a4 £d6 21.g5 ¤6d7 22.£f2 leads to a messy position where White has good attacking chances. 19...b4! Black starts his queenside activity first.
1–0
20.¤a4 £b5 21.¥xf6 gxf6 The sharper recapture, but objectively the inferior one.
Losing the fighting spirit and giving up at the first sight of difficulty provided a clear indication that Kasparov had lost everything that made him the best at the time.
21...¥xf6 was better. Black was reluctant to allow the knight back into the game, but after 22.¤c5 ¥c8 23.¥xc8 ¦xc8,in spite of the pretty position of White’s knights,
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he lost his attacking potential - while Black can improve his position by exchanging at least one knight (by ...¤e6) and then continuing his queenside advance.
23.¤f2 was better: at least White is not materially worse now. He can later hope to open the g-file after ¦g1 and g4. 23...¢g7!
22.¤g4?!
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At first sight, it appears that the knight exerts more pressure on the kingside from g4, but Black has enough pieces around the king.
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Preparing ...¤g6 and ...¦h8. White loses a piece now as both knights are hanging and there is no attack to show for it. 24.¦f3 £xa4 25.¦h3 ¤g6 26.¦xh5 ¦h8 White is a clear piece down for nothing.
22.¤f3, with the idea of ¤h4 and £e2, was more to the point.
0–1
22...h5 23.£e2? White abandons the knight on a4 and plays for an attack that is easily defused.
What is surprising is that Kasparov couldn’t create any serious threats from a promising
‘I loved you as a chess player, but you are wrong in your politics.’ In 2005, following his venture into politics, Garry Kasparov was hit by a chess set during an event with activists. The former World Number One called it a 'politically motivated attack'. The man who attacked Kasparov with a wooden chessboard said: ‘I loved you as a chess player, but you are wrong in your politics.’
Photo: www.thechessdrum.net
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attacking position, something that would have been unthinkable before. Way too late, Kasparov changed his approach in the last three games. It is strange that he misjudged his abilities and thought that he had good chances in dynamic play against the best players in the world. While that had been his forte in the past, the first few rounds clearly showed three things: that he’d lost the feeling for that type of play, that his calculations were not on the required level for that type of play and that the modern players are simply better than him in an open fight. Instead of quickly realising this and readjusting, he persisted and the results, together with his psychological state only got worse. So finally he went for dry and solid play and, not surprisingly, this went well. He drew a worse position against Giri by making solid moves and dramatically decreasing the chances for a blunder. Then he put pressure in a dry position on Vachier when the last accident happened.
In the final round, Kasparov played a solid positional game against Nepomniachtchi and drew comfortably, without any risk. The last three rounds showed that the main culprit for the disaster was Kasparov’s approach. If he had played solidly from the beginning, obtaining positions where the risk of miscalculating was low, nothing of this would have happened. I can understand his desire to get to a fully−fledged fight against the best players in the world, but this turned out to be a gross misjudgement with a heavy psychological impact. Kasparov confirmed that he will play in Saint Louis in the Fischer Random event. Will we ever see him play “normal” chess again? Who knows. But in case we do, I’d really like to see him learn his lessons from Zagreb and show that, as he could adapt to Karpov after losing 5−0, he can also adapt to the challenges of the young generation!
Garry Kasparov – Maxime Vachier Lagrave GCT Blitz Croatia 2021 Zagreb CRO (17.3)
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CROATIA FINAL STANDINGS
43.¢e3 In this completely dead−drawn rook endgame Kasparov forgot about the clock one last time and in spite of having 13 seconds left let his time run out. 0–1
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GTC Points 1 GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 13 10 2 GM Viswanathan Anand 3 GM Anish Giri 8 T-4 GM Ian Nepomniachtchi 6.5 T-4 GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda 6.5 6 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 5 7 GM Alexander Grischuk 4 8 GM Anton Korobov 3 9 GM CKasparov/Saric 2 10 GM Jorden Van Foreest 1 Name
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INSPIRED BY BOTVINNIK By Grandmaster Raymond Keene OBE I have frequently advocated the adoption of a hero, whose games one can follow to improve one’s own results. The idea first came to me formally in 1983 but I had been instinctively aware of the concept from my early years. My particular favourites were Réti, Nimzowitsch, Petrosian and Botvinnik. What impressed me most about Botvinnik was his espousal relatively late in his career of the Black defensive systems based on 1…g6. Botvinnik scored notable victories with what had been accepted as a respectable new defence in the 1960s against such opponents as Gipslis, Yanofsky, Kuijpers, Medina, Matulovic, Tolush, Unzicker and Matanovic. Imagine my surprise when I first encountered the educationalist and inventor of the technique of Mind Mapping, Tony Buzan. Tony (with whom I went on to write several books and organise many World Memory Championships) had quite independently developed his theory of The Mastermind Group. This can be defined as a cluster of people whom one finds inspirational and whose ideas and thoughts one can interrogate when in need of solutions. Tony’s principal Mastermind Group was, of course, not confined to chess players and consisted principally of Muhammad Ali, Albert Einstein, Salvador Dali and William Shakespeare, a formidable range of talents. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 485
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This month, two games of mine from a Commonwealth championship which were definitely inspired by Botvinnik.
Greg Hjorth - Raymond Keene [B06]
Black has maintained material equality on the queenside while on the other wing his h−pawn is a constant menace to White’s king.
2nd Commonwealth-ch Hong Kong HKG (11), 03.1984
19.£c4 ¥xb5 20.¦xb5 If 20.£xa2 ¥xe2 21.¦f2 and now Black can sacrifice on e4, g4 or f3.
1.e4 g6 2.d4 ¥g7 3.¤c3 d6 4.¥g5 ¤c6 In Botvinnik’s early experimental games he also evinced a predilection for ...¤c6 in front of his c pawn.
20...¦a3 21.¥g5 £d7 21...£c8! preventing ¦b7 is more accurate.
5.¥b5 ¥d7 6.¤ge2 h6 7.¥e3 ¤f6 8.f3 e5 9.¥xc6 ¥xc6 10.d5 ¥d7 11.£d2 b5!
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The point of this is to make White declare which side he will castle. Probably White should prefer the simple 12 O−O. Instead... 12.b4 !? Not much doubt now. White will have to castle kingside. 12...a5 13.bxa5 ¦xa5 14.¦b1 h5 15.£d3 0–0 16.0–0 h4 17.¤xb5 h3 18.g4 ¦xa2
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22.¦b7 ¦c8 23.¥xf6? White is nervous of a sacrifice on g4 and thus eliminates Black’s knight. Better is 23 ¤c3 ¤xg4 24.£b5! £xb5 25.¤xb5 ¦a4 26 fxg4 ¦xe4. Black is, of course, not committed to sacrificing a piece on move 23. 23...¥xf6 White is nervous of a sacrifice on g4 and thus eliminates Black’s knight. Better is 23.¤c3 ¤xg4 24.£b5! £xb5 25.¤xb5 ¦a4 26 fxg4 ¦xe4. Black is, of course, not committed to sacrificing a piece on move 23. 24.¤c3 ¥g5 Here Black’s dark−squared bishop is too strong. 25.¢f2 £e7 26.¤b5 ¦e3 27.¦e1
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Now come two deadly quiet moves: 27...£f6!!
28.¦xe3 £f4 ! There is no defence, e.g. 29.¦e2 £xh2+ 30.¢f1 £h1+ 31.Kf2 £g2+ 32.¢e1 £g1 mate, or 29.¦a3 £d2+ 30.£e2 ¥h4+ wins.
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the f−file and playing ...g6-g5-g4.
29.£f1 £xh2+ ! 30.¢e1 ¥xe3 0–1
Manuel Aaron - Raymond Keene [B06] 2nd Commonwealth-ch Hong Kong HKG (2), 03.1984 1.e4 g6 2.d4 ¥g7 3.¤c3 d6 4.¥e3 a6 5.a4 Not the most aggressive move. More testing is 5.£d2 ¤d7 6.¤f3 b5 7.a4 b4 8.¤e2 ¤gf6 9.¤g3 h5! with interesting complications (Hort − Keene, Dortmund 1982). 5...¤f6 6.f3 ¤c6 Once again we see the patent Botvinnik knight development, even blocking Black’s own c pawn. 7.¥c4 0–0 8.¤ge2 e5 9.£d2 exd4 10.¤xd4 ¤xd4 11.¥xd4 ¥e6
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The most efficient way of equalising. During this game I had a vague mental picture of a resemblance between this and a game Furman − Petrosian, USSR Championship, Moscow 1969. When I checked the reference, I discovered this was not so far out, namely: 1.d4 g6 2.e4 ¥g7 3.¤f3 d6 4.c3 ¤f6 5.¤bd2 O−O 6.¥e2 ¤c6 7.O−O ¤d7 8.a4 e5 9.dxe5 ¤cxe5 10.¤xe5 ¤xe5 11.¤c4 ¦e8 12.¤e3 a5 13.f3 ¤d7 14.£c2 ¤c5 15.¦d1 ¥e6 16.¥c4 £h4 17.¥xe6 fxe6. Black later won by doubling rooks on
The educational consultant and inventor of mind maps, Tony Buzan
12.¥xe6 fxe6 13.0–0 £d7 14.¦fd1 ?! White should play 14.¦ad1!, keeping the king’s rook on the f−file for defensive purposes. 14...¦ad8 15.£e2 ¤h5 16.¥xg7 £xg7 17.£c4 £f7 18.¦d2 ¤f4 19.¦ad1 g5!
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To transfer a knight to e5; in addition Black launches a kingside "minority attack". 20.¢h1 ¤g6 21.a5 ¤e5 22.£e2 £h5 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 487
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Suddenly White realises he is on the defensive and retreats all of his pieces to defend his kingside. 23.¦f1 ¦f6 24.¦dd1 ¦df8 25.¤b1 To play ¤d2, but there is no time. 25...g4 26.fxg4 ¤xg4 27.h3 ¦f2! 27...¤f2+ 28.¦xf2! £xe2 29.¦xe2 ¦f1+ achieves much less. 28.£d3
Concluding thoughts on the Steiner Caro-Kann By Pete Tamburro; ptamburro@aol.com
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Or 28 £c4 d5!
28...¦8f3 ! If 29.gxf3 £xh3+ or 29.£c4 ¦xh3+. Finally, 29.£xf3 ¦xf3 30.¦xf3 ¤f2+ x−rays all of White’s pieces, leaving Black queen for rook ahead. Black cannot, of course, play 28...¦xf1+ 29.¦xf1 ¤f2+? 30.¦xf2 ¦xf2 31.£g3+ and White wins. 0–1 The influence of Botvinnik is to be seen in the early combination of …g6 and …¤c6. However, as demonstrated by my note to Black’s 11th move, the spirit of Petrosian also acted as a powerful source of inspiration. Starting a minority attack in front of one’s own king is fairly revolutionary and it helped to have the mandate of the great former world champion as a template.
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Openings for Amateurs
Here we are finishing the review of the Steiner system of the Caro−Kann. It has, however, been brought to our attention by Mr John Ashworth that one chapter - part Two - was missing from the articles we published. The BCM Editorial team would like to apologise to the readers. In this issue we will include the “missing” part Two, alongside the - final - part Six. Hopefully, you will have enjoyed reading our articles on the Steiner system of the Caro−Kann (and − judging by comments we received you have). Starting from the next issue, we will have a new topic!
Part II: The Steiner Caro- Kann We are looking at a system advocated by Endre Steiner (and also played by his brother, Lajos): 1.e4 c6 2. c4. It is a line that attacking players like because of the open lines, and one which amateurs of all strengths should try because the moves are very natural and easy to understand. I was looking through an old BCM series on the openings by “Eze” (a remarkable series for amateurs − Dr. O.L. Telling was his real name. He was a buddy of Alekhine), when I found the columnist calling it “the freak move”. Happily, Kolty did not feel the same way and ran the Steiner series. He even added a game that is immensely instructive for Caro− Kann and Queen’s Gambit players because of the isolated queen pawn position that arises in the £xd5 lines. We saw what
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happened when Black played £a5 when chased from d5. Now we’ll study a game from back then that brilliantly handled a £d8 retreat. There is a lot to learn all the way through, and some disciplined thinking lessons are ahead as well.
Hans Kmoch - Jr Rubinstein [D26] Vienna, 1932 1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.cxd5 £xd5 5.¤c3 £d8
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Why people play this in the Scandinavian also puzzles me, but it is better than £a5 because against an IQP attack, as we saw, the queen is needed back home. 6.d4 Sometimes, my students will play ¤f3 or ¥c4 or something else, and I get nervous. Play the pawn out or you may end up with an e5 move stopping you from doing that. 6...¤f6 7.¥c4 XIIIIIIIIY
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Quite good is 7.¤f3 because there is no worry about the bishop pin: 7...¥g4 8.¥b5+ ¤bd7 9.h3 ¥xf3 10.£xf3± However, the played move is very revealing about Kmoch. He aims right at f7, encouraging e6 with two advantages as a result: the blocking in of Black’s queen bishop and the setting up of possible sacrifices on e6, which are not unknown in this type of position. This is a stylistic preference. 7...e6 A good reason not to play the other knight out without e6 comes from this possibility: 7...¤c6 8.¤f3 ¥g4. I can’t begin to tell you in how many openings I see this foolish move played. Thus, it’s worth being aware of. 9.d5 ¤e5 10.¤xe5 ¥xd1 11.¥b5+ ¤d7 12.¥xd7+ £xd7 13.¤xd7 ¢xd7 14.¢xd1 with a whole piece up. (A. Becker, annotating). These days, one should not be surprised by Black playing 7...g6. Becker gives 8.£b3 but the chess engine likes (8.£a4+ ¥d7 9.£b3 e6 10.d5 and White has a nice initiative.) 8.¤f3 Now, you really don’t have to worry about the pin! 8...¥e7 9.0–0 0–0 A typical IQP position that chess players should know how to handle and how to plan for. I spent time on it in Openings for Amateurs - Next Steps because it keeps popping up. These games are an addendum to the book. Note how free White’s position is and how easy it is to place pieces. The unmoved bishop can find several homes and the queen can go to e2 or even c2 or d3, depending on how things go. The rooks have two set-up choices: e1 and d1 or d1 and c1, which happens in the game. 10.£e2 ¤c6 11.¦d1 ¤b4 A typical black manoeuvre to form a blockade on d5 because a d5 thrust by White often appears with great effect as in SpasskyAvtonomov, 1949 and Szabo-Unzicker, 1954 (both in my book). BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 489
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Considering the sequel, Black might have been well advised to play the other knight there: 11...¤d5.
14...¤xc3? Black embarks on what he feels is a series of exchanges to lessen the number of white pieces in the game, thus relieving the pressure on the defence.
12.¥g5 Getting the last minor piece out. 15.bxc3! 12...¦e8?! As Black, you have to know the IQP knight is headed to e5, so you have to be alert to possible sacrifices on f7. Better to get something going on the queenside. 13.¦ac1
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This is an ideal set-up for White. He has completed his development, and Black still hasn’t quite got his defensive plan together. Black has lots to think about: does the bishop go to d7 or b7? Which knight goes to d5? Where does the queen go? What two spots should the rooks be on? Yes, it’s only a slight edge, but so are main line Ruy Lopezes after 13 moves. 13...¤bd5 Now, it doesn’t seem to matter which knight goes to d5 because of White’s reply. 13...¤fd5 14.¥d2!! How I love this move! Black’s position is cramped. Why help him out with exchanges? You should not exchange unless it’s to your advantage. And the ¤b4 move has also wasted time so the backward bishop move doesn’t hurt at all. We know Kmoch would have played that. See move 16! Same reasoning. 14.¤e5 An excellent outpost, especially because there is no knight on d7 or c6 to challenge it. 490 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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You can lose your opening advantage and initiative by recapturing with the rook, hoping to slide it over for the kingside attack. Now, Black can exchange with effect: 15.¦xc3 ¤d5 16.¥xd5 exd5 17.¥xe7 ¦xe7 and it’s equal. Oh, watch that pin on the knight! 15...¤d5 16.¥d2!! I’m so glad this got to be played in the game. 16...¥d6 The black counterplay will be on the ¤e5 outpost. 17.£h5 £c7 18.¥d3
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I tell my students that alarm bells should go off in their heads when a castled position
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front has no pieces in front and you have pieces with easy access to the kingside. 18...g6 What if 18...h6? There are several lines here that also provide an opportunity for students of the game to practise their analytical skills. Set the clock at 30 minutes and see what you come up with. No peeking! 19.£g4 (19.¥xh6 gxh6 20.c4 ¤f6 21.£xh6 ¥xe5 22.dxe5 £xe5 23.h3 ¥d7 24.¦e1 £h5 25.¥h7+ ¢h8 26.£xf6+) 19...¥xe5 (19...¤f6 20.£g3) 20.dxe5 £xe5 21.¥xh6 f5 22.£g5 £f6 23.¥b5 ¦e7 24.£xf6 ¤xf6 25.¦d8+ ¢f7 26.¥e3; And then you have to figure out the endgame advantage after 18...¤f6 19.£g5 b6 20.¦e1 ¥b7 21.£h4 £d8 22.¤g4 ¤e4 23.£xd8 ¦axd8 24.¥xe4 ¥xe4 25.¦xe4 f5 26.¤h6+ gxh6 27.¦h4. 19.£h4! If you use this as a teaching game, have the student, who may very well choose £h5 as the move, explain what happens if g6. When they are at the board, they have to figure that out before they go playing £h5. £h4 is a pawn sacrifice, and they had better see how the cost of a pawn is worth it. 19...¥d7 Black is still trying to complete his development on move 19. The irony of this move is that with the rook on e8 and the queen blocked from defending f7, what do you think is going to happen? Why didn’t Rubinstein win the pawn he spent so much time setting up to attack? 19...¥xe5 20.dxe5 £xe5 21.c4 ¤e7 22.¥c3 ¤f5 23.¥xf5 £xf5 24.¦d8+– (Or the flashy 24.£e7+–) 20.c4 When you push a pawn, there has to be a reason that you should be willing to describe to a large audience of chess players. It can’t be, "I wanted to chase the knight." That’s not a plan. That’s a one-move wonder. What’s the plan here?
20...¤b4 20...¤e7 21.¤g4! The threat on f6 is brutal. 21...h5 22.¤f6+ ¢g7 23.¤xh5+ gxh5 24.£g5+ ¤g6 25.£h6+ ¢g8 26.¥xg6 fxg6 27.£xg6+ ¢h8 28.£xh5+ ¢g8 29.£g6+ ¢h8 30.¦c3 e5 31.£f6+ is now mate in 5. Except for the eventual decisive rook lift, the white moves are checks and captures: concrete moves that can be calculated. If you are going to play openings that lead to this type of attack, you have to discipline your mind to working it through. 21.¥xb4 ¥xb4
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22.¤xf7! Very nice and very obvious to people familiar with the theme. Most chess players would play this without hesitation, but how many would calculate all the way to the end of the game, as I’m sure Kmoch did, and how many would look at the variation on move 25? That has to be part of the training in this type of opening. 22...¢xf7 23.£xh7+ ¢f6 24.£xg6+ ¢e7 25.£g5+ ¢f8 25...¢d6 26.£e5+ ¢c6 27.£b5+ ¢d6 28.£xb4+ ¢c6 29.¥e4# 26.£f6+ ¢g8 27.¥h7+! In reality, this is a vacating move for the rook lift. You have to get the big guns into the game after you’ve sacrificed two pieces to expose the king. 27...¢xh7 30.¦xg4
28.¦d3
e5
29.¦g3
¥g4
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1...e6 2.¤c3 d5 3.d4 c6 4.e4 dxe4 5.¤xe4 ¥b4+
1–0
A very instructive game by Kmoch, who later moved to the United States and ended up as a popular annotator for Chess Review. We learn three important things from this game: how to set up an isolated pawn position and plan an attack; how we must learn to go deep with concrete vacations to make sure out tactics are sound rather than just intuitive; and that £xd5 is not the best idea.
Part VI: 1.e4 c6 2.c4 Caro-Kann with 2...e6 We now come to the last chapter of the Steiner Caro-Kann. As has happened before, we get in through the back door. This time, we enter through the SemiSlav and will look at a very lively line popularised by the ever-inventive Frank Marshall. You will see that you don’t have to opt for this pawn sacrifice line and can head toward lines we’ve already covered.
Etienne Bacrot – Valerij Filippov [D31] Moscow, 2005 1.c4 The more normal way of entering this is 1.e4 c6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 d5, but, rather than go to our game line, White can rather comfortably detour to la ine we’ve looked at earlier: 4.exd5 exd5 (4...cxd5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.¥b5+) 5.d4 492 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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6.¥d2 Marshall defeated Teichmann (match, 1902) with 6.¤c3 c5 7.a3 ¥a5 8.¤f3 (8.¤ge2!?) 8...cxd4?! (8...¤f6=) 9.£xd4 £xd4 10.¤xd4 ¥xc3+ 11.bxc3 a6 12.¥f4 f6 13.¥d6 e5 14.¤c2 (14.¤b3) 14...¤e7 15.¤e3 ¤bc6 16.¤d5 ¤xd5 17.cxd5 ¤e7 18.c4 ¥f5 19.¥e2 ¢d7 20.¥b4 a5 21.¥xe7 ¢xe7 22.0–0 (22.¢d2²) 22...b6 23.f4 exf4 24.¦xf4 ¥g6 25.¦a2 ¢d6 26.¦b2 ¦ab8 27.¦f3 ¥h5 28.¦fb3 ¥xe2 29.¦xe2 ¢c5 (29...¦hc8) 30.¦e4 ¦hd8 31.¦b5+ ¢d6 32.¦e6+ ¢c7 33.¦c6+ 1–0. It’s interesting to note that Marshall had no compunctions about going into an endgame. He also played his endgames very actively- one of the lesser-known qualities of his play. 6...£xd4 7.¥xb4 £xe4+ 8.¥e2
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Playable and quite unnerving for both sides is 8.¤e2 ¤a6 9.¥f8 ¤e7 10.¥xg7 ¤b4 11.£d6 ¤d3+ (11...¤c2+ 12.¢d2
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¤xa1 13.¥xh8 £c2+ 14.¢e1 £b1+ 15.£d1 ¤c2+ 16.¢d2 £xd1+ 17.¢xd1 ¤b4 18.¤c3²) 12.¢d2 ¤f5 13.£xd3 £xd3+ 14.¢xd3 ¤xg7= 8...¤a6 This is a key position, as Black has three other choices as well: 8...¤h6 9.¤f3 ¤a6 10.¥d6 f6 11.0–0 ¤f7 12.¦e1° and White has compensation for the pawn. That a3–f8 diagonal is controlled by White, keeping the king in the centre for now. The rook has now moved to indirectly threaten both queen and king. The black pawn on e6 is vulnerable, and the black queen has to figure out where to go with the discovered attack threatened. In Marshall-Schlechter, Monte Carlo, 1902, Black tried what looked like a commonsense approach to dealing with the dark square diagonal, but it came to grief when Marshall started threatening on the kingside and then, again, headed for a queen exchange and a winning endgame. 8...¤d7 9.¤f3 c5 10.¥c3 ¤gf6 11.£d6 £c6 12.£g3 0–0 13.¦d1 ¤h5 14.£h4 g6 15.¦xd7 £xd7 16.g4 £d8 17.gxh5 £xh4 18.¤xh4 e5 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.¦g1 ¦e8 21.¤f3 f6 22.¦xg6+ ¢f7 23.¦g3 ¥d7 24.¤d2 ¦h8 25.¤e4 b6 26.¦f3 f5 27.¥xe5 ¦h4 28.¤d6+; Frowned upon is the greedy 8...£xg2 9.¥f3 £g6 10.¤e2 and, even though Black is two pawns up, White’s lead in development is significant with all sorts of possibilities threatening: Qd6 or Rg1 or even queenside castling after a queen move. Of course, if you are not comfortable being down in material in exchange for a good initiative, then this is not for you. It’s for more aggressive spirits who are also tactically sharp. Either way, the two Marshall games are excellent games to play over to learn something about that style. 9.¥d6 White can also try 9.¥a5 ¥d7 10.¤f3 ¤f6 11.£d6 £f5 12.¤e5 £xf2+ 13.¢xf2 ¤e4+ 14.¢e3 ¤xd6 15.¦ad1 ¤f5+ 16.¢f2 ¤c5 17.g4 ¤e7 18.¥b4 f6 19.¥xc5 fxe5 20.¢e3° and there you are in an endgame again, two pawns down, but you have an aggressive king, the two bishops and two easily activated rooks. Black’s two-
pawn edge is doubled, the bishop and knight don’t have much choice of squares and the king is awkwardly placed. 9...f6 With the hopes of playing e5 and getting the king to f7. Eating the g2 pawn will really get Black indigestion after 9...£xg2 10.£d2! £xh1 11.0–0–0! and Black is completely lost. A good home study assignment would be to figure out what you would do against any black moves here. 10.¤f3 ¥d7 Black can try 10...¤h6 and, again, the person who will win here will be the player comfortable with compensation in return for the initiative or the solid defensive player ready for anything and maintaining a calm demeanour. 11.b4 ¤f5 12.a4 c5 13.b5 ¤b4 14.0–0° 11.0–0 0–0–0 This underestimates White’s attacking chances on the queenside, but equally depressing is 11...¤e7 12.¦e1 ¤f5 13.¥f1+–, although it’s hard to suggest a good move here. Black has to vary earlier. 12.¥d3 £g4 13.c5 e5
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14.h3! I love this move! While most would want to get going on the queenside right away, White bumps the queen off the rank where it prevents b4. It’s little details like this that we also have to learn from GMs. 14...£e6 15.£a4 ¤c7 16.¥c4 16.£xa7 ¥e8 17.¦ad1 ¦xd6 18.cxd6 ¤d5 19.£a8+ ¢d7 20.£xb7+ ¢xd6 21.£xg7 BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 493
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16...£f5 17.£a5 ¤e8 18.¥f7
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Black Resigned.
doesn’t help you if you’re not "in harmony" with the ideas of the lines. It’s a pawn sacrifice line that we presented here. You can see the sub−themes at work: the strong presence on the a3-f8 diagonal, the lead in development, the harassment of the black queen, quick castling, keeping the black king in the centre, developing an attack against a castled king. As we conclude, please remember the types of game we used in the whole series. They were games that didn’t try to win right away or "bust" the Caro. They were games that efficiently put white pieces on good squares in a coordinated team effort to keep decent pressure on the somewhat more cramped black position.
1-0 The threats on a7, c7 and e8 are just too much. We presented this series to give you a more "open game" approach to dealing with the Caro−Kann. Some of you may opt for the Panov−Botvinnik attack, as we mentioned much earlier in the series. Even within the lines, there are choices you have to make involving style and comfort for you. Theory
For Caro players, this should have been an eye−opening warning that preciseness in defence is going to be required and familiarity with this line is a must. By the way, American Chess Magazine has come out with an issue devoted to Marshall and his play in addition to displaying artifacts from the Marshall Chess Club "vault”. It’s a very special issue and a real collector’s item.
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August 2021
ANAND BEATS KRAMNIK IN AN UNUSUAL CHESS MATCH
No castling chess? Just ask The King By GM Aleksandar Colovic / www.alexcolovic.com Photo: Sparkassen Chess Trophy Official When asked of his opinion about the Saemisch Variation in the King’s Indian, KID expert Edouard Gufeld wittily replied: “Just ask the knight on g1!” I think that something similar can be said about No Castling Chess, only this time the question should be addressed to His Majesty.
new pieces. Undoubtedly the great Cuban based his impressions on his own experience, but the loss to Alekhine and the emergence of the new generation that brought new ideas convinced the Cuban to change his opinion and already in the 30s he merely smiled when reminded of his earlier idea.
It is curious that some players who have reached the absolute peak come to the same conclusion, namely that the current version of chess needs changes.
The second one was Fischer. The best theoretician in his prime, Fischer knew everything. But 20 years after winning the title, while preparing to play Spassky again, Fischer was shocked to see how much chess (for example he didn’t know that two bishops win against a lone knight) and opening theory had evolved. He understood that he couldn’t absorb everything that had happened in those 20 years and went on to invent a new game only four years after the match with Spassky. The book Shall We Play Fischerrandom by Svetozar Gligoric was written at the request of Fischer, explaining the rules of the new game. In 2019, in the first FIDE World Championship, Wesley So defeated Magnus Carlsen 13.5−2.5 and is the first World Champion in Fischer Random.
Reinventing chess There are three World Champions who have followed this path. The first one was Capablanca. He was the only one who proposed changes to the rules while he was a World Champion. The invincible Cuban thought that chess was played out, that technique was so high that it had become very difficult to win a game. So he proposed widening the chessboard and even adding
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The new game caught on and is still very popular, though it has to be said that it is more popular with the elite than with the other players. This is not surprising, as the main idea of Fischer Random is to avoid theory and the trodden paths and the elite players are the ones who spend all of their time analysing and memorising opening theory. It is curious to follow the evolution of Garry Kasparov. Back in 2001, still number one in the world, he said “…if people do not want to do any work then it is better to start the game from a random position.” In 2018, he said something different, “Random chess lets me enjoy myself and get publicity for chess without having to disrupt my life for months of preparation.” It is clear that applying his own logic he doesn’t want to do any work himself, so he has definitely fallen into the Fischer Random camp, as has been noted elsewhere in this issue.
Fixing the Fischer Random
to enjoy the game until a more familiar position is reached later in the game. He also noted a certain lack of aesthetic quality compared to traditional chess, again mainly in the starting position. In his opinion, No Castling Chess solves these problems. However, in the humble opinion of yours truly, it does add a definitely uncomfortable element of playing with a king stuck in the centre. There is a definite psychological discomfort playing with this “shortcoming” of the chess position, as the advice of getting the king to safety is so deeply rooted in our chess understanding. Kramnik said that after a while he got used to it and even stopped considering castling as a move, but I wonder whether others would learn so fast.
Does No Castling Chess have a future? The main reason for trying to break away from traditional chess was the same for Capablanca, Fischer and Kramnik. From the pinnacle of chess understanding and performance, which they clearly saw leading to unexciting draws, they were seeking a new way to make the games interesting.
The third champion is Kramnik. The inventor of the Berlin Defence and many other opening concepts that shaped the development of modern chess also felt the need to change the rules. The difference from the previous champions is that he came to this idea shortly after retirement. He wasn’t forced to prepare for a match like Fischer in 1992 and play catch up with the modern theory, nor had he any reason to feel invincible like Capablanca and seek ways to avoid the death of chess by draws. As one of the best−prepared players of all time, Kramnik knew that a lot of games among the elite are pure preparation - not until the last move, but until a position where neither player can make a mistake any more. So he looked for ways to make the game more exciting. He was given access to AlphaZero to explore different chess variants and eventually arrived at No Castling Chess.
This is what happened in Dortmund, Kramnik’s old backyard, where he has won a record 10 times. From 14 to 18 July, the first official No Castling match took place between Kramnik and Anand.
Kramnik saw certain deficiencies with Fischer Random, namely the non−traditional starting positions, which make it difficult for both professional and amateur players
There could not have been a more mouth− watering match−up, seeing the old rivals battle it out once again. However, the match produced little excitement among the chess public. This is
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Capablanca’s ideas were abandoned, Fischer’s idea was accepted. What will happen to Kramnik’s idea? Kramnik has the good fortune to be in a position where he has access to influential people with resources. Depending how serious he is about his idea, he can use his position to convince sponsors to pour money into No Castling events.
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not surprising: the chess world is a conservative place and I don’t remember any novelty being accepted before being rejected first. Kramnik’s goal to produce exciting games was accomplished. The four-game match saw that the champions tackle each other in complex games with a lot of tactical chances. As it turned out, only the first game of the match was decisive, but this was only because Anand failed to convert winning positions in games three and four. Perhaps it’s better that it ended up as it did – humiliating the inventor of the game in its first outing would have been embarrassing!
Viswanathan Anand – Vladimir Kramnik NC World Masters 2021 Dortmund GER (1.1)
White pre-empts Black’s plan by going for the same one himself! He doesn’t wait for Black to move the bishop from f8 in order to win a tempo with dxc5 but speeds up his development. An additional point for White is that he can already use his rook from a1, while Black finds it difficult to make use of either of his rooks. We can also notice that fast development in order to compensate for a king in the centre is more important than a tempo. 6...¥xc5 7.a3 ¤c6 8.b4 ¥a7 9.¥b2 The rook from a1 can already join the game via the c1–square. 9...h5 A typical move in this type of chess the rook is activated on its initial square by moving the pawn in front of him.
1.c4 It is interesting to note that all games started with this move.
10.£c2 h4 11.¦d1 ¢f8 12.¦g1 White prepares g4 or g3, so he removes the rook from the corner where it would prevent him from recapturing with the h-pawn.
1...c5 2.¤f3 e6 3.e3 d5 4.d4 ¤f6 5.¤c3 We have a Tarrasch Defence on the board, with White having played the modest e3.
12...¤e7 13.g4 hxg3 14.hxg3 ¥d7 15.g4 The rook on g1 comes in handy to support the g-pawn.
5...a6 Instead of the more common 5...¤c6, Black prepares ...dxc4 followed by ...b5 and ...¥b7. It’s interesting to note that, with the kings being unable to leave the centre quickly, both players aim for quick development of the other pieces even at the expense of a tempo, as White shows with his next move.
15...£c7 16.g5 ¤e8 17.£d3
6.dxc5!
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White prepares cxd5 and ¤e2, so he removes the queen from the c-file. 17.¤e2!? was immediately possible. White doesn’t want to take on d5, he wants to play ¤f4 from where the knight is exerting pressure both on the centre and on Black’s kingside. Trying to prevent this transfer by BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 497
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17...¤g6 is nicely met with 18.¤f4! ¤xf4 19.¥e5! £c8 20.¥xf4 when Black is in a bad shape, practically playing without a rook. 17...¥c6 18.cxd5 exd5 19.¤e2
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Now we have an IQP position, with the only peculiarity being the unusual placement of both kings. This is probably what Kramnik had in mind when exploring No Castling Chess - the difference from traditional chess is not as striking as in Fischer Random, where you can get too many unusual factors. 19...¥b5 Black decides to become active and sacrifices the pawn on d5. 20.£b1 ¤g6 21.¤c3 ¥xf1 22.¦xf1 ¦d8 22...d4!? was a better practical try. After 23.¤xd4 ¥xd4 24.¦xd4 ¤d6 the knight on e8 comes to life with threats like ...¤c4. White is still better though, for example after 25.¤e4. 23.¦xd5 ¦xd5 24.¤xd5 £d7
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The idea of Black’s counterplay is based on the intrusion of his queen on the kingside, aided by his control over the h-file. But the classical principle that in order to succeed on the flank you must have good control over the centre is applicable in No Castling Chess as well! 25.¤c3 This isn’t bad at all. 25.£e4 was even more to the point: White’s centralisation deals easily with Black’s play. The fine tactical point is that 25...¤d6 is met by 26.¤e5!, forcing favourable simplification after 26...¤xe4 27.¤xd7+ ¢e8 28.¤e5 - with what should be a winning endgame for White. 25...¦h3 26.£e4 ¤d6 27.£d5 All White’s pieces are on safe spots and his centralised queen effectively fends off any black attempts. Black’s next move is a clear indication that he has no way forward. 27...¢g8 28.¤e4 This forces the exchange of one pair of knights and improves the position of the knight from c3 - in two jumps it gets to d6! 28...¦xf3 29.¤xd6 £h3 Black has finally created a threat to sacrifice on e3, but this is easily parried with White’s next move. 30.¤c4 £g2 31.£d8+
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Anand finds a cute two-move manoeuvre, bringing his queen from the dominant central square on d5 to the corner on a8. The idea to trap the bishop on a7 is trivial,
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but easy to miss in an open position with a lot of tactics.. 31...¢h7 32.£a8 The bishop has no squares. Black’s only chance is to use the absence of White’s queen from the centre and sacrifice something to destroy the pawn shelter around White’s king, but Anand had correctly seen that he can keep it under control. 32...¤f4 32...¦f4!? was perhaps a more imaginative idea. The point is that 33.exf4 ¤xf4 creates nasty threats like ...¤d3, ...£e4 and ...¥xf2, though even here White should win after 34.¤d2 (or 34.£xa7 £e4+ 35.£e3 ¤g2+ 36.¢d2 ¤xe3 37.¤xe3 with a decisive material advantage for White.) 34...¥xf2+ 35.¦xf2 ¤d3+ 36.¢e2 ¤xf2 37.£d8 ¤e4+ 38.¢d1 £xg5 39.£xg5 ¤xg5 40.¢e2 when White should win as Black’s two connected passed pawns are still on their initial squares. 33.£xa7 ¤d3+ 34.¢e2 ¤xf2 This looks scary, but Anand was in good form in Dortmund - he had already seen that his next move keeps everything under control. 35.¦g1! A beautiful move. Black’s queen must leave the rook on f3 unprotected, thus allowing further simplifications. 35...£xg1 36.£d4 White centralises his queen with tempo, threatening mate on g7. The queen made quite a pirouette: d5–d8–a8–a7–d4. 36...£xg5 37.¢xf3
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Black has a single pawn for the piece and the rest was a matter of simple technique for Anand, who won on move 66. 1–0 The second game was the tamest of all, with an equal endgame arising soon after the opening. Kramnik has called Anand as the best player with knights in history. The third game confirmed this characterisation, with Kramnik having a lot of luck to avoid a new defeat.
Viswanathan Anand - Vladimir Kramnik NC World Masters 2021 Dortmund GER (3.1)
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White is better here as his knights have good squares to jump to (d5, f5) while Black’s bishops are very passive. 24.¤d4 ¦e5 25.¢e2 Connecting the rooks. 25...¥g6 Black decides to exchange one pair of light pieces, but now we get a typical good knight vs. bad bishop position. 26.£xg6 £xd4 27.¤d5 The knight on d5 is dominating the position, especially in comparison with the poor bishop on g7. White is winning now. 27...¦h6 28.£c2 £h4 29.¦cf1 g4 Black must try to stir up some trouble BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 499
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before White consolidates by doubling on the f-file.
37.¦f4 ¦he6 38.¦hf1 with a winning advantage to White.
30.¦f2 Defending the g2–pawn in advance, for example after a possible ...£g3.
36...bxc4 37.bxc4 ¦e4 38.¢d3 gxh3 39.gxh3 ¦h4 40.¤f4?
30...¢g8 31.¦f5?!
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A strange decision by Anand, particularly as he could have played this on the previous move. Still, White keeps the advantage nevertheless. 31.£d3 was a normal, consolidating move. 31...£g3 32.¢f1 with the idea of untangling further with ¦f4 and so on. 31...£g3 31...gxh3 is the engine’s preference. After 32.¦xh3 £g4+ 33.¢e1 £g6 34.¦hf3 h4 White is still better, but Black can hope to improve his position by exchanging the h-pawn, pushing it to h3 and opening the h-file for his rook. 32.¢f1 ¢h8 33.£f2 A good decision. White exchanges Black’s only active piece and the endgame is hopeless for Black as he has no counterplay. 33...£xf2+ 34.¦xf2 f5 Finally opening the bishop, but it only looks down an empty diagonal. 35.¢e2 b5 36.¦hf1 36.h4 is the engine’s preference. It wants to play g3 and fix Black’s pawns on f5 and h5. 36...g3 500 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
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Anand voluntarily removes the knight from the dominating position and allows it to be exchanged for the useless bishop. His idea is to trap the rook on h4, but that rook will also require one white rook to remain on f3, defending the pawns on f4 and h3. 40.¦f3 was natural and strong. All Black’s pawns are weak and it won’t take long before he starts to lose material. White’s immediate threats are ¦b1 and ¤e7. 40...¢h7 41.¦b1 ¦e6 42.¦b7 Black’s position falls apart as he has no defence against ¤e7xf5. In the case of 42...¦he4 43.¦xf5 ¢h6 44.¦ff7 White has won a pawn and his attack continues. 40...¥e5 41.¦f3 ¥xf4 42.exf4 ¦e6 43.¢d4 White is still much better, but, in a rook endgame, Black has significantly increased his chances of saving the game. 43...¦e5?! It was better to centralise the king with 43...¢g7 44.¢d5 ¢f6. 44.¦g1 The immediate 44.¦d1 was also possible. 44...¢h7 45.¦d1 ¦e4+ 46.¢d5 ¦hxf4 47.¦xf4 ¦xf4 48.¦c1!
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White is winning again as his centralised king and the rook from behind aid the march of the c-pawn. 48...¢g6 49.¢xd6 ¦d4+ 50.¢c7? This misses the win. Admittedly, it wasn’t easy to understand that the king had to go to c8 and not to c7! 50.¢e5?! looks natural, but avoiding the checks by putting the king on d5 doesn’t work. After 50...¦e4+ 51.¢d5 ¢f6! 52.c5 ¢e7 Black is in time to stop the c-pawn.;
After 52.c6 f2 White cannot advance further and this saves the game for Black. 53.¢b6 ¦b4+ 54.¢xa5 runs into 54...¦c4! 52...¦d3 This is also possible. 52...¦f4 rook behind the pawn was an alternative. 53.c6 ¢g5 54.¢b6 ¦f8 55.c7 ¢f4 56.¢xa5 h4! ensures enough counterplay for equality as the pawn on h3 is closer to the black king after White sacrifices the rook for the f-pawn. 53.c6 ¢g5 The king rushes to support the f-pawn. 54.¦c1 Preventing ...¦c3. 54...¢h4 55.¢b6 ¦d8 56.c7 ¦f8 57.c8£ ¦xc8 58.¦xc8 ¢xh3 Black’s pawns are far enough advanced to make sure that White doesn’t have the time to capture on a5 and start pushing his a-pawn. 59.¦f8 ¢g2 60.¦g8+ ¢h3 61.¦f8 ½–½
50.¢e6! ¦e4+ 51.¢d7 On the way to c8 White also prevents the black king from approaching. 51...¦d4+ 52.¢c8 f4 53.c5 f3 54.c6 f2 In the analogous line in the game the king on c7 was in the way so the pawn couldn’t advance further. Here it can, so White wins. 55.c7! ¦c4 56.¦f1 ¦c2 57.a4 ¢g5 58.¢b7 ¦b2+ 59.¢c6 ¦c2+ 60.¢b6 ¦b2+ 61.¢xa5 when the passed a-pawn will decide the game.
In the last game Kramnik was in a mustwin situation to tie the score. He again allowed Anand to obtain a pair of knights and the prancing ponies proved difficult to tame.
50...f4 51.c5 f3 52.¦f1
NC World Masters 2021 Dortmund GER (4.1)
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Vladimir Kramnik - Viswanathan Anand
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The position is balanced, but Anand must have felt comfortable with the knights having good options. 16.¥c2?! Kramnik transfers the bishop to b3, but it’s not easily apparent why it is better there. 16.£d2, with the idea of ¥e2 and £d4, is the engine’s more harmonious suggestion. After 16...¦c8 17.¥e2 b5 play remains unclear. 16...£b6 17.¥b3 ¦ad8 18.¦d4?! As if feeling compelled to demonstrate that the new version of chess inevitably leads to creative chess, Kramnik embarks on a weird manoeuvre, doubling the rooks on the h-file! 18.£d2, with the idea of £d4, was more conventional and safer, but it’s not clear how White can create winning chances. 18...¤c6 19.¦dh4 Following up on the idea. Undoubtedly original, but objectively not very good. 19...¤e5
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Anand keeps it safe.
19...g5 was the critical way to address the position of the rook on h4. I wonder what Kramnik would have done here. 20.¦4h2 looks creative enough. Black is better, but White’s position is weird as compensation. (20.¦xh5 ¤xh5 21.¦xh5 ¤e5 doesn’t 502 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
promise White much, though it’s probably easier to play than the more creative putting of the rook on h2.) 20...¤a5 21.¥d1 ¤c4 22.¥b3 ¤a5 would be a cynical way for Black to force a repetition and a draw, thus winning the match. 20.g4 Kramnik tries to justify the placement of his rooks on the h-file, but this doesn’t work tactically. 20...¤exg4 Again going for the safer option. 20...g5! would have forced White to sacrifice an exchange, but after 21.¦xh5 ¤xh5 22.gxh5 ¦h6 he doesn’t seem to have compensation. 21.¦xh5 ¦xh5 22.¦xh5 ¤xe3!
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Anand and his knights! You can be sure they will cause some damage! 22...¤xh5 was possible, with a spectacular line after 23.£xg4 ¦h8 24.£h4+ ¢d7 25.g4 d4!, and now White has 26.exd4 £xd4 27.£h1! unpinning and threatening £xb7. 27...£xg4 28.£xb7+ ¢d6 29.¤e4+ ¢e5 30.£c7+ ¢xe4 31.¥c2+ ¢d5 32.¥b3+ ¢e4 leads to a most curious perpetual check! 23.¦g5! Both players show good tactical control. 23.fxe3? ¤xh5 24.£xh5 £xe3+ 25.¤e2 ¢d6 is difficult for White as
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he cannot coordinate his pieces and his king is in constant need of protection. 23...d4 24.¦xg7+ ¢f8 25.¦g6 dxc3 26.£f3!
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26.¦xf6+? ¢g7 27.¦f3 c2! gives Black a dangeour attack. The line is very interesting: 28.¦g3+ ¢f6 29.£f3+ ¤f5 30.¥xc2 £d4! threatening ...£d2. 31.¥d3 £xb2 threatening ...¦c8 or ...¦h8. Note how the knight on f5 safely defends the king standing solo in front of all White’s pieces! 32.£f4 White creates threats of his own, £g5 being the immediate one. 32...£a1+ 33.¢e2 £xa2+ 34.¢f1 £a1+ 35.¢e2 £b2+ 36.¢d1 (36.¢f1 £d4! centralises the queen, thus insuring against problems to his own king. Black is a pawn up and should be winning, though the position remains sharp.) 36...¦h8 37.¦h3 the only way to prevent mate. 37...¦xh3 38.gxh3 £e5 Black is a pawn up with good winning chances, but White can fight. 26...£d4! Threatening mate on d2. Both Black’s knights are hanging, but for now they are on the board and they perform important tasks. White manages to eliminate both in his next 3 moves, but he is still fighting to survive.
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The threat of promotion forces White to part with his rook and seek a perpetual check. 31.£g4+ ¢xf7 32.£xe6+ ¢g7 33.£e7+ ¢h8 34.£f6+ ¢h7 35.£f7+ ¢h8 36.£h5+ ¢g7 37.£g5+ ¢h7 38.£h5+ ¢g7 39.£f7+ ¢h8 40.£h5+ ½–½ Practically perfect play by both players in the last 20 moves of the game! This exciting game was an appropriate finish to this experimental match. It is difficult to say whether No Castling Chess has a future. The match between the former World Champions led to exciting games, but a match between legends is easy to organise and sponsor. Finding sponsors for No Castling open tournaments is a different matter altogether. If we take Fischer Random as an example, since it has been around for much longer than No Castling Chess, we can probably expect some elite events or matches organised for the entertainment of the rich, while the masses would just continue playing the good, old, traditional chess. And there is nothing wrong with that.
27.¦xf6+ ¢g7 28.¦f7+ ¢g8 29.fxe3 £d2+ 30.¢f1 cxb2
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Endgame Studies by Ian Watson ian@irwatson.uk
1
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2
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Pacific Ocean Ty 1968
3 4 win
draw
XIIIIIIIIY 9K+-+-+N+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+p+-+k0 9-zP-+-+-+0 9+-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+Q+-+-+0 9+Pzp-zp-mk-0 9-+-+-zpPzp0 9zp-zP-zp-+K0 9P+-+-+-+0 9+-+-zP-zP-0 9-+-zp-+L+0 9+q+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy
Ukrainian Problemist 2016
Milescu−100 Ty 2012
win
draw
P. Arestov
504 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
S. Didukh
August 2021
Challenging! Four studies, by four of the leading study composers of the 21st century. In the last few months, I’ve introduced you to three such composers, including the current World Champion of study composition and the second and third−placed composers in the latest World Championship. The four composers of this month’s studies are also serious challengers for the title of World Champion. All have composed many studies and often won study−composition tournaments. Their compositions are frequently of the very highest quality. Many of their works would be tough solving, but not so the first three here. Richard Becker, from the USA, often composes highly complex studies, but here is one of his that shows elegance in simplicity. Yuri Bazlov’s study was composed early in his solving career − well before Sergei Didukh was born! They are Russian and Ukrainian, respectively and Pavel Arestov is also Russian. All four are among the leading study composers of the 21st century. Becker’s, Bazlov’s and Arestov’s studies here aren’t difficult solving, but the Didukh study will challenge your skills. The first three are all verifiable by using the 6− and 7−man databases. It’s fortunate those databases exist, because I first wrote this column using an older Arestov study, from 1986; when I database−tested it, I found that it has a dual, an alternative White move that also works. No way to check the Didukh like that; although Stockfish/Houdini seem to think it’s okay, that’s not definitive proof. Recently some work has been done on making 8−man databases, but it’s a colossal task which may take decades to complete, even with increases in chip speeds and memory sizes. Didukh’s has 18 men… It ends in stalemate but to get there you will have to navigate through 21 moves replete with queen sacrifices by both White and Black. It’s challenging, but so satisfying if you succeed. The solutions are given on page 509.
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 505
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Problem World by Christopher Jones cjajones1@yahoo.co.uk Grandmaster of Chess Composition
Solutions are given on page 510
1
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+LsnK+-+0 9+p+-+pzp-0 9-tRN+Nmkr+0 9+R+-+-+-0 9-+P+PvL-+0 9+-wqrsn-+-0 9-wQ-+-+-+0 9vl-+-+-+-0 xiiiiiiiiy Michael Lipton (Brighton)
2
XIIIIIIIIY 9-vlr+-+-+0 9zp-+R+-+-0 9-+N+-+-vL0 9zp-mkp+p+-0 9-+-zpl+-mK0 9+Q+-zp-snp0 9-+psN-+-+0 9+-+-+-+q0 xiiiiiiiiy Leonid Makaronez (Israel)
3 4 Mate in 2
Mate in 3
Original
ORIGINAL
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-+-+-+0 9+-+-vl-+-0 9-+lsN-zp-+0 9+-+k+-+-0 9-+-zp-+pzp0 9+-zP-+-zP-0 9-+-+-zP-vL0 9mK-+-+-+n0 xiiiiiiiiy Jozef Lozek (Slovakia)
XIIIIIIIIY 9-+-vl-+-+0 9+-zp-+-+-0 9-+-zp-+-+0 9+-+P+-+-0 9-sn-zP-+-zp0 9+-zpksn-+K0 9-+-+-+ptR0 9+-trltrq+L0 xiiiiiiiiy Vidadi Zamanov (Azerbaijan) and Christopher Jones (Bristol)
Helpmate in 3 (b) h1=white knight
Helpmate in 3.5 - 2 solutions
Original
Original, after Boris Shorokhov
506 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
QUOTES AND QUERIES
August 2021
CHESS, ARCHERY, TENNIS:
THE TALENTED DOD FAMILY By Alan Smith 6199 The The Giuoco Piano is not played out. Just look at Dubov’s innovative treatment of the opening against Karjakin in the Russian Championship of 2020! William Dod (1867−1954) and his younger brother Anthony were regular members of the Liverpool Chess Club first team in the 1890s. Both went on to represent Cheshire and Lancashire. Anthony Dod had a short career during which he defeated Amos Burn on equal terms (Q&Q 5968, August 2011 has the game score) and won the championships of Liverpool, Lancashire and the NCCU. William won the A Shield of the Liverpool CC three times 1891−1893. Here are two of his games.
Daniel Powell - William Dod Liverpool CC 1893 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤f6 3.¤c3 ¤c6 4.¥c4 ¤xe4 5.¥xf7+ Kxf7 6.¤xe4 ¥e7 7.¤fg5+ ¢e8 8.¤f3 d5 9.¤g3 ¥e6 10.d3 ¢d7 11.c3 £f8 12.£a4 ¥d6 13.¤g5 h5 14.¤xe6 ¢xe6 15.¥e3 £f6 16.0-0-0 ¦ab8 17.¦he1 ¢d7 18.c4 d4 19.¤e4 £g6 20.¥g5 a6 21.h4 b5 22.£c2 ¤b4 23.£b1 c5 24.a3 ¤c6 25.£c2 b4 26.axb4 ¦xb4 27.¥d2 ¦b6 28.Kb1 ¦hb8 29.¥c1 a5 30.¤xd6 ¢xd6 31.f4 a4 32.fxe5+ ¢e6 33.£e2 33.£xa4 £xg2 34.¦d2 was a better try. 33...a3 34.¦d2 ¦a6 35.£f3 ¤b4 36.¦ee2 ¢e7 37.¦d1 axb2 38.¦xb2 ¦ba8 39.¦f2 ¦a1+ 40.¢b2 ¤xd3+! 41.¦xd3 ¦8a2+ 42.¢b3 £b6#
Lottie Dod, with brothers Tony and William
The second game features a defender who does not seem to have been familiar with the Greek Gift sacrifice.
William Dod - J. L. Whiteley Liverpool - Glasgow 1893 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.¤c3 ¤f6 4.¥g5 ¥e7 5.¥xf6 Pioneered by Anderssen. 5...¥xf6 6.e5 6.¤f3 leaves Black unsure which follow up White has in mind.
0-1 6...¥e7 7.¥d3 c5 Lasker suggested 7...g6. Liverpool Weekly Mercury, 22nd April 1893 8.£g4 0-0 “In this variation of the French BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 507
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Black should not castle on the kingside." Nicholas Miniati. 9.dxc5 ¥xc5 10.¤f3 ¤c6 11.¥xh7+ ¢h8 11...¢xh7 12.£h5+ ¢g8 13.¤g5 ¦e8 14.£xf7+ ¢h8 15.£h5+ ¢g8 16.£h7+ ¢f8 17.£h8+ ¢e7 18.£xg7#. 12.£h5 g6 13.¥xg6+ ¢g7 14.£h7# Manchester Weekly Times, 15th December 1893 William’s best result was probably his victory over the 1894 Scottish champion Walter Cook Spens in the 1900 LiverpoolGlasgow match. William also helped James Cairns defeat Emanuel Lasker in an 1895 consultation game. Today he is best remembered for a nonchess achievement. He entered the men’s double York archery section at the London 1908 Olympics and won the gold medal. Both brothers were outshone by their sister Charlotte (known as Lottie) who won five ladies singles titles at Wimbledon between 1887 and 1893, then an archery silver medal at the London Olympics of 1908. 6204 Anthony Dod won the Lancashire Championship in 1902, then the Northern Counties Championship in 1903. He defended the title successfully in 1904, when he defeated Henry Brown Lund of Stockport in the final. Here is his win in a replayed semi final.
Walter Atkinson - Anthony Dod NCCU Championship 1904 1.e4 e5 2.¤f3 ¤c6 3.¥b5 a6 4.¥a4 ¤f6 5.0-0 ¤xe4 6.d4 b5 7.¥b3 d5 8.dxe5 ¥e6 9.c3 ¥c5 This is sharper than 9...¥e7. 10.£e2 £d7 11.¥c2 0-0 12.¥xe4? Grabbing the pawn leaves him woefully weak on the light squares. 12.¤bd2 was correct. 508 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
Lottie won five ladies singles titles at Wimbledon between 1887 and 1893
12...dxe4 13.£xe4 f6 14.exf6 ¥f5 15.£h4 ¦xf6 16.¥g5 ¦g6 17.£f4 h6 18.¥h4 ¦f8 19.¤e5 ¦xg2+! A nasty surprise. 20.¢xg2 ¥h3+ 21.¢g1 ¦xf4 22.¤xd7 ¦xh4 23.¢h1 23.¤xc5 ¦g4+ 24.¢h1 ¥g2+ 25.¢g1 ¥f3# 23...¥xd7 24.¤d2 ¤e5 25.f3 ¥h3 26.¦fe1 ¤d3 27.b4 ¥b6 There was a case for 27...¤xe1, but Dod’s choice is more artistic. 28.¦e8+ ¢f7 29.¦b8 ¦f4 30.a4 ¦f5 31.axb5 ¦g5 0-1 Black threatens two mates, white can only prevent one at a time. Yorkshire Weekly Post, 13th February 1904
August 2021
Solutions to Endgames
(See page 504)
Becker
Didukh
1.¢a6 ¢d6 2.¢xa7 ¢c6 3.¢b8 ¢d7 4.h6 and wins after e.g. 4…¢d8 5.d3 ¢d7 6.¢b7 ¢d6 7.¢c8 ¢e7 8.¢c7.
1.¥f3 £f1 2.£g4 d1£ 3.¥xd1 £h1+ 4.£h4 £xd1+ 5.g4 £b1 6.e4 £xb7 7.£g5 hxg5 8.c6 £b5 9.axb5 a4 10.b6 a3 11.b7 a2 12.b8£ a1£ 13.£b1 £a8 14.£b8 £a2 15.£b2 £g8 16.£b8 £h8+ 17.£xh8+ ¢xh8 18.g7+ ¢h7 19.g8£+ ¢xg8 20.¢g6 ¢f8 21.¢f5 ¢f7 stalemate.
1.¢a6 is attractive, but why can’t White capture straight away? Because of 1.¢xa7? h6 2.¢b8 ¢d8 3.¢b7 ¢d7 4.¢b6 ¢d6 5.¢b7 ¢d7 6.¢b8 ¢d8 7.d3 ¢d7 8.¢b7 ¢d6 9.¢c8 ¢d5 10.¢d7 ¢d4 11.¢e6 ¢xd3 12.¢f5 ¢d4 13.¢g6 ¢e5 14.¢h6 ¢f6 draws. In the main line, if 1…h6 we get: 1…h6 2.¢xa7 ¢e6 3.¢b8 ¢d7 4.¢b7 ¢d6 5.¢c8 wins. If Black plays …h6 a move later in the main line, we get 2…h6 3.¢b6 ¢d5 4.¢c7. If Black plays instead 2…¢c7 then 3.h6 wins, and if he plays 2…¢c5 there is 3.h6 ¢d4 4.¢b6 ¢d3 5.¢c5 ¢xd2 6.¢d4 ¢c2 7.¢e5. Also in the main line, 3.h6? ¢c7 4.¢a8 ¢c8 5.¢a7 ¢c7 6.¢a6 ¢c6 7.¢a5 ¢c5 8.¢a4 ¢c4 9.¢a3 ¢d3.
£g5 is a homage to the same move in Mitrofanov’s classic 1967 study; Didukh has succeeded in composing a completely different study but with that famous coup appearing on move seven as it did in the 1967 study. Notice also that black queens visit all four corner squares. 1.¢h4? d1£ 2.b8£ £h5+ 3.¢xh5 £xg6+ 4.¢h4 £g5+ 5.¢h3 £xg6 mate. After 1.¥f3, 1…£h1+ 2.¥xh1 d1£+ 3.¢h4 £xh1+ 4.¢g4 e6 5.£d7+ ¢xg6 6.£e8+ draws.
Bazlov 1.¦f1 ¤g3+ 2.¢g2 ¤xf1 3.e7 ¤e3+ 4.¢f3 a1£ 5.e8£ £h1+ 6.¢f4 ¤d5+ 7.¢e5 £e1+ 8.¢f5 £xe8 stalemate. Crystally clear−cut; I probably don’t even need to mention the line 7.¢f5? £f3+ 8.¢e6 ¤c7+.
Arestov 1.¤f6 d2 2.¤e4 d1¤ 3.b4 ¤b2 4.b5 ¤c4 5.¤d2 ¤xd2 6.b6 ¤c4 7.b7 ¤b6+ 8.¢b8 ¤d7+ 9.¢c8 wins. Of course you didn’t play 9.¢c7? ¤c5. Black alternatives on moves 4 and 5 fail: 4…¤a4 5.¢b7 ¢g4 6.¢c6 ¢f4 7.¤c5 and 5…¤d6 6.b6 ¢g4 7.¤e4 are winning. BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 509
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Solutions to Problems This month’s originals In Michael’s 2−mover you will find that there are two similar, and similarly strongly threatening, possibilities. Your challenge is to work out which narrowly fails (there is just one successful defence, so this is a try) and which is the key move. If you’ve looked at other 3−movers by our distinguished Israeli contributor in Problem World you’ll know that they are tough but rewarding solving, with a number of clever and unique sequences stemming from the key move, so, if you are trying to solve this, it may not go amiss if I say that the key move has a coincidental feature of which I only became aware in putting this column together … As I often say of Leonid’s problems, though, if the prospect of trying to solve is daunting, do read on and enjoy the skill with which the problem is assembled. The last two problems are helpmates - Black plays first and collaborates in his own demise. In Jozef’s 3−mover, you are looking for a BWBWBW# sequence from the diagram position; then change the colour of the knight at h1 and you have to find a different BWBWBW sequence. In the last problem, the sequences are a ‘half−move’ longer; they have an introductory white move. It is a pleasure to welcome Vidadi to Problem World. He and I acknowledge a fine forerunner by the Russian expert Boris Shorokhov that has some similarities with our concoction.
A choice of two strong moves
A tricky 3-mover
In Michael’s 2−mover placing a knight at d4 will threaten a number of mates. If we play 1.¤cd4 the threats are 2.¥e5, 2.¤xd8 and 2.e5. There are three prominent defences that each defeat two of the threats but fail to the third: 1…¦xd4 2.¥e5; 1…£xd4 2.¤xd8; and 1…¤xe6 2.e5. (Note that after …£xd4 the black queen is pinned and so neutralises the defence of d8 by the black rook at d3. The interception effect of moving a white piece to the square that intersects the line d3−d8 and the line from b2 to e5 and f6 is one more commonly seen when the black officers involved are rook and bishop, and then described as a Nowotny interference; when, as here, one of the black officers is instead the queen, we refer to it instead as an English Nowotny.) In fact, there is a successful defence to 1.¤cd4 - 1…¤c6!. So our attention turns to 1.¤ed4. This is indeed the key; after 1…¦xd4 or 1…¤xc6 the successful threatened mate is 2.e5 and after 1…£xd4 it’s 2.¤xd8. (English Nowotny again.) Note, for completeness, that 1…¤xc4 is met by 2.¦f5.
The coincidental feature to which I referred in the introduction is that Leonid’s 3−mover has the same key move as Michael’s 2−mover, albeit this time capturing a pawn 1.¤xd4!. The threat is 2.¤e6+ ¢c6 3.£b7. Against 1…¥c7 we have 2.£c3+ ¢b6 3.£c6. There is an equivalent variation that exemplifies the so−called Grimshaw theme, 1…¦c7, after which the square whose control Black has lost is not c6 but this time e5, so that we have 2.£b5+ ¢d4 3.¥g7. (Note the composer’s skill in arranging matters so that …¥c7 and …¦c7 do both defend against White’s threat.) Two other variations to note - 1…£b1 2.¤xe4+ and 3.¦d5 (2…¢xd4 3.£xd5); and 1…¢xd4 2.¦xd5+ ¥xd5 3.£xe3. Wide−ranging play, as is customary in Leonid’s constructions.
510 | BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE
Two nicely connected solutions It turns out, delightfully, that the twinning device, changing the colour of the knight at h1, is extremely thematic in Jozef’s witty problem. For in each solution this knight must move from h1 to c5, employing the identical route. As a black knight it goes
August 2021
(See page 506)
there in order to prevent the black king from being able to escape to that square; as a white knight it goes there because it is the square from which mate must be administered. A very clever and amusing construction! The (a) solution is 1.¤xg3 (remember, this is the black knight, moving first) f4 2.¤e4 f5 3.¤c5 c4; and the (b) solution is 1.hxg3 ¤xg3 (Black’s first move has obligingly provided a black pawn to be captured by the white knight!) 2.¢e6 ¤3e4 3.¥d5 ¤c5.
A more typically thematic helpmate In the second helpmate, the relationship between the two solutions is not the unusual and witty one demonstrated by Jozef, but is instead the kind of thematic relationship more frequently espoused by helpmate composers, in which things that happen on diagonal lines in one solution happen on orthogonal ones
in the other, and vice versa. The solver’s eye may be drawn to the arrangement of the white rook and white bishop. If it were not for the black pawn on g2 we should expect to see 1…¥g2 to allow 2.¢c2 and 1…¦g2 to allow 2.¢e4, and we should recognise this as yet another of this month’s instances of mutual interferences. In fact, these are the moves played (as co−author of this concoction, I can testify that there would be a multitude of cooks [unintended extra ‘solutions’] if the white officers had freedom to roam beyond g2 on the first move, so we need that pawn at g2). This device enables the composers to show some nice matching elements (notably ‘switchbacks’ [‘there−and−back−again’ moves] on the 2nd and 3rd white moves) as well as some dissimilarities that may or may not agreeably spice up the solving process - 1…¥xg2 2.¢c2 ¦h1 3.£c4 ¦h2 4.£b3 ¥e4; and 1…¦xg2 2.¢e4 ¢h2 3.¤d3 ¢h3 4.£f5+ ¦g4.
Hardinge Simpole is delighted to announce the publication of
Fifty Shades of Ray Chess in the year of the Coronavirus Pandemic
Raymond D. Keene With an Introduction by CJ de Mooi
BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE | 511
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