April 30, 2003

ARGENTINA’S BAD ECONOMY HAS BAD EFFECT ON CHESS ELITE

AS Argentina prepares for a runoff election for a new president to lead the country out of its worst ever economic crisis, probably the last thing the candidates would like to campaign on is the idea of spending $1 million on a world chess championship match -- even in the chess-crazy capital of Buenos Aires.

In a further setback for chess unification, the Buenos Aires FIDE Championship match in June between Garry Kasparov and Ruslan Ponomariov looks to have fallen victim to the harsh realities of a bad economy. The organizer, Argentinean GM Miguel Quinteros, admitted that due to “financial reasons” the match would have to be postponed to November in order to bide time as they sought the sponsorship for the match -- and even that date could be in jeopardy if none is forthcoming. Events soon turned into a farce when Fide announced at first the match would be going ahead as planned, but soon had to backtrack on their statement in view of the news breaking in Argentinean newspapers.

Argentina’s caretaker president Eduardo Dualde, a chess addict who is a personal friend of Kasparov’s, and Mr. Quinteros met Fide President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov two weeks ago in Madrid to discuss the cash shortage. It was held in the hope that President Ilyumzhinov, who also doubles as president of the Russian region of Kalmykhia, and whose considerable largess’s during his term of office at Fide has seen him put tens of millions of dollars into chess, would yet again pick up the tab – though this time his generosity may not be so forthcoming.

Following the collapse of the country’s economy two years ago, one of the world’s former greats was all but robbed of his wealth gained from an illustrious career at the chessboard. Denmark’s Bent Larsen now lives in Buenos Aires with his Argentinean wife Marta. At the height of the crisis, he lost most his savings after they were converted overnight by the government from dollars to the almost worthless pesos in a panic measure.

Larsen played 4 times in the Candidate tournament, his closest attempt for the world title being his first Candidate Tournament in 1965, were he lost in a close battle to Mikhail Tal. In 1967 he was awarded the Chess Oscar as player of the year. During this period he was called “the tournament world champion” winning many elite events.

In 1967-68 he won 8 tournaments in a row including the Interzonal. In 1970 Larsen stood firm on insisting on playing top board for the Rest of the World ahead of Bobby Fischer (who had just came out of a self-imposed retirement), in a match against the mighty USSR. Fischer got his revenge the following year, however, when he whitewashed Larsen 6-0 in a Candidates match en route to toppling Boris Spassky.

B Larsen - J Rosito
2002 Najdorf Memorial
Grand Prix Attack
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 e6 4.Nf3 d5 5.Bb5 dxe4 6.Bxc6+ bxc6 7.Nxe4 Nf6 8.d3 c4 9.Nxf6+ Qxf6 10.dxc4 Bc5 11.Qe2 0-0 12.Qe5 Qe7 13.Bd2 Bd6 14.Qe2 Qc7 15.g3 c5 16.0-0-0 Bb7 17.Rhf1 Rab8 18.Bc3 Be7 19.Ne5 Bf6 20.h4 Rfd8 21.Qe3 Ba8 22.b3 Bg2 23.Rfe1 Ba8 24.h5 h6 25.g4 Qe7 26.Ba5 Rd4 27.Bc3 Rxf4 28.Rd7 Qe8 29.Qxf4 Bg5 30.Qxg5 hxg5 31.Rxf7 Rb7 32.Ref1 Rxf7 33.Rxf7 Qxf7 34.Nxf7 Kxf7 35.Be5 Bf3 36.Bd6 Bxg4 37.Bxc5 a6 38.Kd2 Bxh5 39.b4 Bf3 40.a4 Kf6 41.b5 axb5 42.cxb5 Ke5 43.c4 g4 44.Ke3 Bd1 45.a5 g3 46.b6, 1-0.

QUALIFIERS FOR 2004 U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP

ONE of the richest prizes in the game is that of U.S. Champion, thanks to the generosity of patron Erik Anderson and his Seattle-based America’s Foundation for Chess (AF4C).

Since taking over the ailing title in 2000, the AF4C have revitalized the “sleeping giant” with some innovative ideas -- most prominent being the increase of the prize fund to $250,000. Another novelty was the opening up of what was once a closed event with players qualifying from some of the big U.S. Opens.

In 2004, the field for the Championships will be increased to the “natural” chess figure of 64; of which only 17 players will be seeded: 7 top rated players including 2003 Champion Alexander Shabalov, 6 top rated women players including 2003 Women’s Champion Anna Hahn, the 2002 and 2003 Grand Prix winners, and the 2003 and 2004 U.S. Junior Champions. Two players will have wildcard spots as determined by the AF4C, and two will come from a new online tournament of U.S. State Champions.

43 players, with 10 spots reserved for women players, will qualify from 11 U.S. tournaments in the period April 2003 through August 2004 – these include: Foxwoods 2003 and 2004, Chicago Open 2003 and 2004, National Open 2003 and 2004, World Open 2003 and 2004, U.S. Open 2003 and 2004, and the 2003 North American Open.

The first two qualifiers from the Foxwoods Open to book their tickets for the 2004 U.S. Championships were teenage sensation Hikaru Nakamura, and old hand Serge Kudrin, who, among a group of seven, finished equal second on 5.5/7, half a point behind winner Ilya Smirin.

Top-placed qualifier Nakamura is one of a new generation of players looking to make a major breakthrough. The 2004 U.S. Championships will be the 40th anniversary of Bobby Fischer's remarkable feat of winning the crown with a perfect score of 11-0!

The teenager from White Plains, New York is the first really promising homegrown talent the U.S. has had in many years. Recently he broke one of Fischer’s records by becoming -- at 15 years, one month and 27 days -- the youngest American GM ever, and many predict he could just be a good outside tip in 2004 to be the youngest winner of the title since Fischer.

B Kreiman - H Nakamura
Foxwoods Open, (7)
King's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 Na6 7.0-0 e5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.dxe5 Nh5 11.Bg3 Nxg3 12.hxg3 dxe5 13.Qxd8 Rxd8 14.Rfd1 Be6 15.Nh2 Nb4 16.Nd5 Nc2 17.Rac1 Nd4 18.Kf1 Rd7 19.Bg4 Rad8 20.Bxe6 Nxe6 21.Ng4 Kh8 22.f3 h5 23.Nf2 Kh7 24.Ne3 Rd4 25.Ke2 h4 26.g4 Nf4+ 27.Kf1 c6 28.Nh3 Bf6 29.b3 Rd3 30.Rxd3 Rxd3 31.Re1 Rd2 32.Nxf4 exf4 33.Nf5 Bc3 34.Re2 Rd1+ 35.Kf2 Rh1 36.a3 f6 37.c5 Kh8 38.b4 Kg8 39.Rc2 h3 40.Rxc3 h2 41.Rd3 Ra1 42.Rd8+ Kf7 43.Nd6+ Ke7 44.Rh8 h1Q 45.Rxh1 Rxh1 46.Nxb7 Ra1 47.Na5 Kd7 48.Nc4 Rc1, 0-1.

FOXWOODS: SMIRIN WINS CLEAR FIRST

SOME of the largest chess tournaments in the United States are best known for the lucrative prize funds that are on offer. It is not unusual for average club players to scoop a first prize in a “class” section amounting to half a year’s salary.

However, it takes some time to adapt to the confusing features that are peculiar only to U.S. tournaments -- the need to provide your own board, pieces and clock, some mind bogglingly complex playing schedules and unusual time controls. The most bizarre aspect is that if you lose early on, you can re-enter the event and try again -- only in America!

The latest big bucks tournament took place in one of the world’s largest casinos at Foxwoods in Connecticut over the Easter weekend, where over 450 players in 8 sections were competing for what was a projected $100,000 prize fund.

Israeli GM Ilya Smirin hit the jackpot with a 6-1 outright winning score in the event, which featured 21 grandmasters in the 128-player Open section. A frequent visitor (and winner!) to the big-money U.S. events, Smirin now has a USCF rating of over 2800! Another visitor to Foxwoods was Russian WGM Alexandra Kosteniuk, dubbed the Anna Kournikova of chess, who showed that she wasn’t just a pretty face going undefeated with draws against top GMs Ildar Ibragimov, Gregory Kaidanov and Alex Yermolinsky, before succumbing to Jaan Ehlvest in the final round.

Newly crowned U.S. Champion Alexander Shabalov found the going tough from the start. In one of the shock results of the weekend, Shabolov was outplayed in the opening round by the former National High School champion John Bartholomew, 16, from Minnesota. Proving the result was no fluke for the lowly-rated 2280 Bartholomew, he followed this up with a win over IM Justin Sarkar, and in rounds three and four drew with two more championship contenders in GMs Alexander Ivanov and Sergey Kudrin, before finishing with a score of 4/7.

Final standings: 1 GM I Smirin (Israel) 6/7; 2-8 GM G Kaidanov, GM I Novikov, GM I Ibragimov, GM-elect H Nakamura, GM Y Shulman, GM S Kudrin (all USA), GM P Blatny (Czech Rep.) 5.5.

I Smirin - H Nakamura
Foxwoods Open, (5)
Sicilian Paulsen
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nf6 6.0-0 Qc7 7.Qe2 d6 8.c4 g6 9.Nc3 Bg7 10.Nf3 0-0 11.Rd1 Nbd7 12.Bf4 Ng4 13.Rac1 Nge5 14.Nxe5 Nxe5 15.Qd2 Rd8 16.Bg5 f6 17.Be3 Ng4 18.Bf4 e5 19.Nd5 Qf7 20.Bg3 Bh6 21.Qa5 Be6 22.Rc3 f5 23.exf5 gxf5 24.Be2 Bxd5 25.Qxd5 Nf6 26.Qxf7+ Kxf7 27.f3 Ke6 28.Rb3 b6 29.Bf2 Nd7 30.c5 d5 31.c6 Nf6 32.c7 Rdc8 33.Rxb6+ Kf7 34.Rc6 a5 35.Bh4, 1-0.

FM ATLANTIC AIRWAYS CUP: KIM PILGAARD TAKES FIRST

SHINING like green stones on a gray backcloth, the 18 islands that make up the Faeroe group are undeniably beautiful in a North Atlantic, buffeted-by-gales and tossed-by-sea kind of way.

They are one of those remote places that most people would have trouble spotting on a map, and they get little international press. Despite the remote reputation, they aren't that far away considering they are situated midway between Scotland and Iceland. With a population of about 15,000, Tórshavn, named for the Nordic god Thor, stakes its claim as one of the smallest capitals in Europe.

The good news is that chess is quite popular on the islands. In 2000, a large international tournament was held there, which was won jointly by top grandmasters Alexander Grischuk and Ruslan Ponomariov. Recently the FM 2003 Atlantic Airways Cup took place in Tórshavn, running 11th-19th April.

The event, an 11 round Swiss with a 16-player field that had 5 IMs and one veteran GM in Finland’s Heikki Westerinen, also incorporated the 2003 Faeroe Championships. Danish IM Kim Pilgaard took the Atlantic Airways Cup with an undefeated final score of 9/11, and Martin Poulsen won the Faeroe Championships with 6/11. Scottish interest was served well by aspiring grandmaster IM John Shaw, who took second behind Pilgaard on 8.5/11.

After scoring his first GM norm at the Gibraltar Masters, John decided to opt out of the Scottish Championships as no GM norms were mde available, and instead accepted a prior invitation to Tórshavn as the organizers had originally intended the event would qualify as a GM norm tournament – but alas for John, as he goes on the hunt to secure two more norms to become Scotland's fourth GM, the tournament failed to deliver. Nevertheless, our hero yet again had another superb international outing with an unbeaten score and a TPR of 2516.

J Shaw H Olsen
FM Atlantic Airways Cup, (11)
Caro-Kann Defense
1.e4 c6 2.c4 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.exd5 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nxd5 6.Nf3 e6 7.Bc4 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.d4 Nc6 11.Re1 b6 12.Bd3 Bb7 13.h4 Rc8 14.Ng5 h6 15.Nh7 Re8 16.Qg4 Kh8 17.Ng5 Bxg5 18.hxg5 g6 19.gxh6 f5 20.Qg3 Kh7 21.Bf4 Qd5 22.Re2 Na5 23.Rc1 Nc4 24.Qg5 b5 25.Rce1 Qd7 26.Bxf5 gxf5 27.Rxe6 Be4 28.Qg6+ Kh8 29.Rxe8+ Rxe8 30.Bg5 Re6 31.Bf6+ Rxf6 32.Qxf6+ Kh7 33.f3 Nd2 34.fxe4, 1-0.

April 24, 2003

FIRST SATURDAY TOURNAMENT: 12 YEAR-OLD HOWELL WINS!

ONLY in the week of the English celebrating St George's Day! Just prior to Nigel Short's memorable victory in Budapest, another English chess success was achieved in the Hungarian capital as 12-year-old East Sussex wunderkind David Howell became the youngest westerner to win an International Master event – and in doing so finally achieved his first IM norm.

Playing in the April edition of Laszo Nagy's First Saturday tournament that ran 5-18 April, Howell was at his devastating best as he obliterated the field. Showing a maturity of play that belied his age, Howell scored 7.5/9 (seven wins!) and his margin of victory was such that he finished 1.5 points ahead of nearest rival (and the only player he lost to in the tournament), Hungarian top seed IM Miklos Galyas – and in doing so, the youngster almost achieved a GM performance with a TPR of 2563.

Although the Hunguest Hotels "Talent and Courage" tournament was one of the strongest Hungarian events in 75 years, Nagy's First Saturday tournaments, held in their traditional rooms of the Hungarian Chess Federation beside the Hungarian Parliament, have become world-famous and continue to be excellent opportunities for ambitious players to make their norms or achieve FIDE ratings. As the name implies, these events begin on the first Saturday of every month "with the punctuality of a Swiss watch," in Laszlo's own words.

First started in 1991, the tournament has attracted players from every country in the world who were in the hunt for a norm or a rating – even a future world championship contender! En route to becoming the world's youngest GM in 1993, Peter Leko scored a GM norm at a First Saturday tournament.

S Farago - D Howell
First Saturday, (3)
Ruy Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 Bb7 9.c3 d5 10.d3 Na5 11.Bc2 dxe4 12.dxe4 Qxd1 13.Bxd1 Bxe4 14.Nxe5 Bd6 15.Nd2 Bd5 16.b4 Rae8 17.Nef3 Rxe1+ 18.Nxe1 Re8 19.Kf1 Nc4 20.Be2 Nxd2+ 21.Bxd2 Ne4 22.Nf3 Be5 23.Ra3 c6 24.Be1 Bf6 25.axb5 axb5 26.Nd4 Nd6 27.Ra6 Bxd4 28.cxd4 Nf5 29.Bc3 g6 30.Bf3 Bc4+ 31.Kg1 Nxd4 32.Bxc6 Ne2+ 33.Kh1 Rd8, 0-1.

April 23, 2003

HUNGUEST HOTEL GRANDMASTER EVENT: SHORT VICTORIOUS!

IT only took a “short”, last round draw lasting nine moves for Nigel Short to record his biggest tournament victory of recent years, as the former world championship challenger took first place a full point ahead of Judit Polgar at the Hunguest Hotels Super Chess Tournament in Budapest.

It’s been a long road to rehabilitation for the Englishman, who became a household name in 1993 by becoming Garry Kasparov’s last, official FIDE challenger (after beating Anatoly Karpov and Jan Timman) in a world title match. Despite his valiant efforts in the match, Short suffered a huge psychological blow to his game when he lost heavily, 12.5-7.5 (and -5 after nine games) -- a result that took him many years to recover from.

Greece-based Short has become a chess globetrotter of late rather than competing in elite tournaments, which he once commented to me that he was seriously considering giving up as they were “zonking his brain.” In the past year he has played in China, the Dominican Republic, and even Iran. The outspoken columnist for the Sunday Telegraph has even turned his hand to being the match commentator last year for the Vladimir Kramnik-Deep Fritz match in Bahrain. All of which indicated a retirement of sorts from the elite tournament circuit.

Now, for the first time in his career, remarkably Short could be on the cusp of breaking the 2700 Elo barrier following his superb result in Budapest. As a player, he was always much better in match-play situations rather than tournament play; though he has in the past won some top tournaments, namely Reykjavik 1987 (ahead of Tal), Amsterdam 1988, Parnu 1996, and Pamplona 1999 -- his last victory of note up until Budapest.

Many forget that Short was once the world no.3 on the July list of 1988 behind chess superstars Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. On the latest world rankings published on April 1st, he’s No.18 with an Elo rating of 2686 -- just one-point ahead of his January 1992 high of 2685. Welcome back, Nigel!

OFFICIALLY, the Hunguest Hotels "Talent and Courage" event was staged to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the Hungarian capital. In 1873 Buda, Obuda and Pest were unified, forming Budapest. Unofficially, the event was intended as a major showcase for the homegrown talents, with one of the strongest tournaments to be held in Budapest in 75 years.

In 1928 Cuba's Jose Raul Capablanca, by far the strongest player of his day despite the title loss the year previous to Alekhine, dominated the Budapest tournament with a +5, 7/9 score to win ahead of Marshall, Kmoch and Spielman -- the five Hungarians also in the field proving to be out of their league among such august company. This time it was supposed to be the other way around, with the field being made up of some has-beens and the winner emerging from the five-strong young Hungarian Olympiad squad that so nearly snatched gold from the Russians -- specifically world title challenger Peter Leko, fresh from his Linares victory, or even world's top female player Judit Polgar.

Unfortunately for the chess-mad Budapest fans who anticipated a victory for local heroes Peter Leko or Judit Polgar, forgotten man Nigel Short, a decade after being pummeled in a bruising world championship match by Garry Kasparov, decided to reign on Hungary's parade with a superb virtuoso performance to take first place ahead of Polgar and Leko.

Their only consolation was the performance of Polgar, playing the best chess of her career, who had her second clear second place of the year. Her undefeated finish behind Anand at Corus Wijk aan Zee in January was her best-ever result and after she won her first three games in Budapest it looked like it was going to go her way.

After losing to Leko, she showed great resilience by immediately bouncing back with a spectacular win over Berkes, only to go on to lose the decisive game of the tournament to her favorite "customer" Short. Still, she added even more rating points to her career peak of 2715 and finished ahead of Leko as a bonus.

Final standing: 1 N Short (England) 6.5/9; 2 J Polgar (Hungary) 5.5; 3 P Leko (Hungary) 5; 4-6 B Gelfand (Israel), C Lutz (Germany), P Acs (Hungary) 4.5; 7-8 V Korchnoi (Switzerland), S Movsesian (Slovakia) 4; 9 F Berkes (Hungary) 3.5; 10 Z Almasi (Hungary) 3.

N Short - B Gelfand
Hunguest Hotels
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Kh1 Nc6 10.Be3 Be6 11.Qd2 a5 12.Rfd1 a4 13.Nc1 Qc8 14.f3 Rd8 15.Bb6 Rd7 16.Nd5 Bd8 17.Bxd8 Qxd8 18.Bb5 Qa5 19.c4 Qxd2 20.Rxd2 Rdd8 21.Nb6 Ra5 22.Ne2 a3 23.b3 Kf8 24.Rad1 Ke7 25.Kg1 Ne8 26.Nc3 Nc7 27.Bxc6 bxc6 28.b4 Ra7 29.c5 Ne8 30.b5 Rc7 31.g4 Kf8 32.Nba4 cxb5 33.Nxb5 Rb7 34.Nac3 Rc8 35.cxd6 Bd7 36.Rb1 Rc6 37.Kf2 f6 38.Nxa3 Rxb1 39.Naxb1 Nxd6 40.a4 Ke7 41.Nd5+ Kf7 42.Rb2 Ra6 43.Rb6 Rxb6 44.Nxb6 Bc6 45.Nc3 Nb7 46.Ke3 Ke6 47.Kd3 Na5 48.Nb5 Nb3 49.Kc4 Nd2+ 50.Kc5 Bb7 51.Nc4 Nxf3 52.Ncd6, 1-0.

J Polgar - F Berkes
Hunguest Hotels
French Defense
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Be7 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.Nf3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nd7 9.0-0-0 Be7 10.Bd3 b6 11.Neg5 h6 12.Bh7+ Kh8 13.Be4 hxg5 14.g4 Rb8 15.h4 g6 16.hxg5+ Kg7 17.Qf4 Bb7 18.Rh7+ Kxh7 19.Qh2+ Kg8 20.Rh1 Bxg5+ 21.Nxg5 Qxg5+ 22.f4 Qxf4+ 23.Qxf4 Bxe4 24.Qxe4, 1-0.

N Short J Polgar
Hunguest Hotels
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Kh1 Nc6 10.Be3 Be6 11.Qd2 d5 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.Nxd5 Bxd5 14.Rfd1 Bxb3 15.axb3 Qxd2 16.Rxd2 Rad8 17.Rad1 Rxd2 18.Rxd2 Rd8 19.Bd3 g6 20.c3 a5 21.f3 h6 22.g3 Bg5 23.f4 exf4 24.gxf4 Bf6 25.Kg2 g5 26.Bc4 Re8 27.Re2 gxf4 28.Bxf4 Rxe2+ 29.Bxe2 Kg7 30.Bg4 Bg5 31.Bc7 Bd8 32.Bg3 Kg6 33.Bc8 b6 34.Kf3 f5 35.Bd7 Ne7 36.Bh4 Kf7 37.Bf2 Bc7 38.h4 h5 39.Ke2 f4 40.Kf3 Ng6 41.Bf5 Ne5+ 42.Ke4 Ng4 43.Bd4 Ne3 44.Bh3 Ng4 45.Kf5 Ne3+ 46.Kg5 Nc2 47.Bf2 Ne3 48.Kxh5 Kf6 49.Bg4 Bd6 50.Be1 Bf8 51.b4 axb4 52.cxb4 Nd5 53.b5 Bb4 54.Bxb4 Nxb4 55.Be2 Kf5 56.Kh6 Kf6 57.Kh5 Kf5 58.b3 Nd5 59.Bd3+ Ke5 60.Kg4 Nf6+ 61.Kf3 Ng8 62.h5 Nh6 63.Bg6 Ng8 64.Bc2 Nh6 65.Bd3 Ng8 66.Kg4 Nf6+ 67.Kg5 f3 68.h6 f2 69.Kg6 Nd5 70.Bc4 Ke4 71.Kf7 Ne3 72.Be2 Nf5 73.h7 Ke3 74.Bf1 Ng3 75.Bg2, 1-0.

J Polgar - P Leko
Hunguest Hotels
Sicilian Sveshnikov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bg5 a6 8.Na3 b5 9.Bxf6 gxf6 10.Nd5 f5 11.Bd3 Be6 12.Qh5 Rg8 13.g3 Rg5 14.Qd1 Bxd5 15.exd5 Ne7 16.Nxb5 Qb6 17.Na3 Qxb2 18.Nc4 Qc3+ 19.Kf1 Rd8 20.Rb1 e4 21.Be2 f4 22.Rb3 Qf6 23.gxf4 Qxf4 24.Ne3 Bg7 25.Bxa6 Nf5 26.Ng2 Qe5 27.h4 Rg6 28.Rhh3 Kf8 29.Qb1 Bf6 30.h5 Rg8 31.Be2 Nd4 32.Rbe3 Bg5 33.Qb6 Re8 34.Reg3 f5 35.Nh4 Nxe2 36.Kxe2 f4 37.Rb3 f3+ 38.Kf1 Qxd5 39.Nxf3 Qc4+ 40.Rd3 exd3 41.Qxd6+ Be7 42.Qh6+ Rg7 43.Rg3 dxc2+ 44.Kg2 Qc3, 0-1.

Acs – J Polgar
Hunguest Hotels
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f3 Qb6 7.Nb3 e6 8.g4 Nc6 9.g5 Nd7 10.h4 Qc7 11.Be3 b5 12.h5 Bb7 13.Rh3 Nb6 14.Qd2 Ne5 15.Qf2 Nec4 16.Bd4 b4 17.Nd1 d5 18.e5 Nd7 19.f4 Be7 20.Ne3 a5 21.Nd2 Nxd2 22.Qxd2 Nc5 23.g6 hxg6 24.hxg6 Rxh3 25.Bxh3 Bh4+ 26.Kf1 Ne4 27.Qd1 Bf2 28.Qg4 Bxe3 29.Bxe3 d4 30.gxf7+ Kf8 31.Qh4 Qc4+ 32.Kg1 dxe3 33.Bg4 e2, 0–1.

J Polgar – Z Almasi
Hunguest Hotels
Ruy Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0–0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0–0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.b3 Bg7 16.d5 Nb6 17.Rb1 c5 18.a4 bxa4 19.bxa4 Bc8 20.Nd2 Bd7 21.a5 Nc8 22.Ra1 Rb8 23.Bd3 Bb5 24.Nc4 Na7 25.Bg5 h6 26.Be3 Bxc4 27.Bxc4 Nb5 28.Qd3 Re7 29.Reb1 Reb7 30.Rb3 h5 31.Nf1 Ne8 32.Nd2 Qd7 33.Nf3 Bf6 34.Ng5 Qd8 35.h4 Be7 36.f4 exf4 37.Bxf4 Bf6 38.Nf3 Nbc7 39.Rxb7 Rxb7 40.Bxa6 Rb3 41.Bd2 Nxa6 42.Qxa6 Nc7 43.Qc4 Qb8 44.Qf1 Qa7 45.Qf2 Rb2 46.Qe1 Qa6 47.Rb1 Qb7 48.Rxb2 Qxb2 49.c4 Qc2 50.Bf4 Qxc4 51.Bxd6 Nb5 52.Bf4 Nc3 53.Kh2 Nxe4 54.d6 Nf2 55.Bg5 Ng4+ 56.Kg3 Qd3 57.Qe8+ Kg7 58.Bxf6+ Nxf6 59.Qe5 Qxd6 60.Qxd6 Ne4+ 61.Kf4 Nxd6 62.a6 Nb5 63.Ne5 f6 64.Nd7 c4 65.Nb6 c3 66.Ke3 Kf7 67.Kd3 Ke6 68.Na4 Kd7 69.Nxc3 Nc7 70.a7 Kc6 71.Ne4 g5 72.g4 gxh4 73.gxh5 Kb7 74.h6 Nd5 75.Nd6+ Kxa7 76.h7 Nf4+ 77.Ke4 Ng6 78.Kf5 Nh8 79.Kxf6, 1–0.

Korchnoi – J Polgar
Hunguest Hotels
Queen's Indian Defense
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.d4 e6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 g5 7.Bg3 Nh5 8.e3 Nxg3 9.fxg3 Bg7 10.Bd3 Nc6 11.0–0 Qe7 12.a3 0–0–0 13.Rc1 h5 14.c5 g4 15.cxb6 gxf3 16.bxc7 Kxc7 17.d5 Qg5 18.dxc6 Qxe3+ 19.Kh1 fxg2+ 20.Kxg2 Bxc6+ 21.Be4 Bxc3 22.Bxc6 Qd2+ 23.Kh3 h4 24.Rxc3 hxg3+ 25.Kg4 Rhg8+ 26.Kf3 dxc6 27.Qxd2 Rxd2 28.hxg3 Rxb2 29.Ke4 f5+ 30.Ke5 Rg6 31.Rh1 Re2+ 32.Kf4 Re4+ 33.Kf3 Reg4 34.Kf2 e5 35.Rf3 Kd6 36.Rh7 a6 37.Ra7 Ra4 38.Rd3+ Ke6 39.Rc3 Kd5 40.Rd7+ Rd6 41.Rf7 f4 42.Rb7 Rc4 43.Rd3+ Kc5 44.Rdb3 Rd2+ 45.Kf3 fxg3 46.Kxg3 Rdc2, 0–1.

April 15, 2003

110th SCOTTISH CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS: TWO TIE FOR FIRST

THE 110th Scottish Championships ended in a two-way tie for the national title, as defending champion GM Paul Motwani and Woman Grandmaster Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant finished equal first on 7/9.

Going into the final round, overnight leader Motwani had the benefit of a half point lead over his nearest rival. Yet, despite the advantage, Motwani found the going tough playing Anglo-Irish IM Mark Orr, who defended accurately to force a draw in the top board clash. This left the way open for lone female player Arakhamia-Grant to catch up with Motwani, and she did so by brushing aside the challenge of GM Colin McNab for the full point.

Unlike most national titles the Scottish Championships is not decided by tiebreak or by a playoff -- if the players tie, then they share the title.

For Motwani, the shared title win puts him on seventh heaven as he equaled the modern-day record of IM Roddy McKay (achieved between 1971-1988) with seven title wins in the Championship roll of honor -- still some way off the all-time record of 11 titles won during a golden 30 year period from 1932-1962 by the eminent bridge designer WA Fairhurst (not to mention the 10 titles won during the same period by his arch-rival, Dr. James Aitken).

As for Arakhamia-Grant, one of the world's top female players who now lives in Edinburgh, it's her first national title win -- and she now emulates the feats of Hungary's Judit Polgar by having the distinction of entering the record books by becoming the first woman to win the national title.

Despite a highly creditable third place with a Boys Own stuff performance, Graeme Kafka could only draw with Joe Redpath and thus fails to get the IM norm.

Final standings: 1-2 GM P Motwani, WGM K Arakhamia-Grant 7/9; 3 G Kafka 6; 4-7 IM C Pritchett, I Gourlay, J Grant, M Fraser 5; 8-12 GM C McNab, IM M Orr, A Grant, J Redpath, I Robertson 4.5; 13-14 A Burnett, J Stevenson 4; 15-17 E Spencer, S Brown, C MacDonald 3; 18 D MacArainn 1.5.

K Arakhamia - C McNab
110th Scottish Ch., (9)
Pirc Defense
1.e4 g6 2.d4 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Be3 Nf6 5.Qd2 c6 6.Nf3 Qa5 7.Bd3 Bg4 8.0-0-0 Nbd7 9.Kb1 e5 10.dxe5 dxe5 11.Bc4 0-0 12.h3 Bxf3 13.gxf3 Rfd8 14.a3 Qc7 15.Ba2 Bf8 16.Qe2 b5 17.Bg5 Be7 18.h4 Nf8 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.h5 Rd4 21.Rdg1 Rad8 22.Qe3 Qd6 23.hxg6 hxg6 24.Ne2 Rd7 25.Nxd4 exd4 26.Qd2 Qe5 27.Rg4 c5 28.Bd5 Rxd5 29.exd5 Qxd5 30.Qe2 c4 31.Qe4 Qd6 32.f4 b4 33.f5 Bg7 34.fxg6 fxg6 35.axb4, 1-0.

Fortune favored the lucky in round seven, when our hero beat Orr from an inferior position to prove that old adage that when you're on a roll, you're on a roll. Instead of 26...a4?, Orr was winning after 26...Bb5! 27.Kg3 Qe1.

G Kafka - M Orr
110th Scottish Ch., (7)
French Advanced
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Bd7 6.Be2 Nge7 7.Na3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Nf5 9.Nc2 Qb6 10.0-0 a5 11.Kh1 Nb4 12.Be3 Be7 13.g4 Nxe3 14.fxe3 0-0 15.Na3 Rac8 16.Qd2 Rc7 17.Rfc1 Rfc8 18.Rxc7 Rxc7 19.h4 Nc2 20.Nxc2 Qxb2 21.Bd3 Rxc2 22.Qxc2 Qxa1+ 23.Kg2 g6 24.h5 gxh5 25.Bxh7+ Kg7 26.gxh5 a4 27.Bd3 Bc6 28.Qf2 a3 29.Qg3+ Kf8 30.h6 Qxa2+ 31.Kh3 Qa1 32.h7 Qh1+ 33.Nh2, 1-0.

P Motwani - C Pritchett
110th Scottish Ch., (5)
English Hedgehog
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b6 3.Bg2 Bb7 4.0-0 e6 5.c4 c5 6.Nc3 Be7 7.Re1 d6 8.e4 a6 9.d4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 Qc7 11.Be3 0-0 12.Rc1 Nbd7 13.f4 Rfe8 14.g4 g6 15.g5 Nh5 16.Nde2 f5 17.exf5 gxf5 18.Nd5 exd5 19.Bxd5+ Bxd5 20.Qxd5+ Kh8 21.Bd4+ Ng7 22.Ng3 Ne5 23.fxe5 dxe5 24.Bxe5 Qc5+ 25.Kg2 Qxd5+ 26.cxd5 Bxg5 27. Rc6, 1-0.

G Kafka - M Fraser
110th Scottish Ch., (4)
Advanced French
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 Bd7 7.Be2 c4 8.Nbd2 Na5 9.g3 f6 10.0-0 Nh6 11.Re1 Nf7 12.Bf1 0-0-0 13.Bh3 f5 14.Qe2 Re8 15.Nf1 Nb3 16.Rb1 Nxc1 17.Rexc1 g5 18.Bg2 g4 19.N3d2 Bh6 20.Ne3 Bxe3 21.Qxe3 Qc6 22.b3 b5 23.bxc4 bxc4 24.Rb4 Qa6 25.Rcb1 Bc6 26.Qe2 Nd8 27.Qe3 h6 28.f3 gxf3 29.Qxf3 Qxa3 30.Rb8+ Kc7 31.Nxc4 dxc4 32.Qxc6+, 1-0.

Orr soon finds himself being rocked after Fraser's stunning rook sacrifice after 17.Rxh6!!, from which there is no defense: 17...Bxh6 18.Qg6+ Bg7 19.Ng5 is mating.

M Fraser - M Orr
110th Scottish Ch., (3)
Caro-Kann Defense
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 g6 4.h3 Bg7 5.Nf3 Nh6 6.e5 0-0 7.Bf4 f6 8.Qd2 g5 9.Be3 Nf5 10.0-0-0 Nxe3 11.Qxe3 Bf5 12.g4 Bg6 13.h4 h6 14.hxg5 fxg5 15.Bd3 Bxd3 16.Qxd3 e6 17.Rxh6 Rxf3 18.Qg6 Kf8 19.Rdh1 Qd7 20.Rh8+ Bxh8 21.Rxh8+ Ke7 22.Qg7+, 1-0.

In the game, taking on c2 with the bishop may have been better – but nevertheless just as dangerous: 14...Bxc2 15.f5 Re8 16.Nf4 Bd6 17.Ne6 Bd3 18.Rf2 and this isn't the sort of position you would like to defend as black against Motwani.

P Motwani - J Redpath
110th Scottish Ch., (1)
Prybil System
1.d4 d6 2.e4 Nf6 3.Nc3 c6 4.f4 Qa5 5.e5 Ne4 6.Qf3 d5 7.Bd3 Na6 8.Nge2 f5 9.exf6 exf6 10.Bxe4 dxe4 11.Qxe4+ Kf7 12.0-0 Bf5 13.Qf3 Nb4 14.g4 Nxc2 15.gxf5 Nxa1 16.Bd2 Nb3 17.axb3 Qxf5 18.Ng3 Qc2 19.Nce4 Qxb2 20.Ng5+ fxg5 21.fxg5+ Ke8 22.Qe2+ Be7 23.Nf5, 1-0.

Game analysis: Instead of the dubious 16...Nd4, Black could have maintained an advantage with 16...Be2 17.Re1 Nd4! 18.a4 Bd6 19.d3 c6 20.Be3 Bh5. In a complicated position, White misses his chance to unravel with the better chances: 22.Nxf5! Rf6 23.d4 exd4 24.Qd3 Raf8 25.Nh4 Qe1 26.Nf3 Qf2 27.Bg5 and white's much better.

C McNab - I Robertson
110th Scottish Ch., (1)
English Opening
1.c4 Nc6 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 Bb4 5.Qc2 d6 6.h3 0-0 7.Ne2 d5 8.e5 d4 9.exf6 d3 10.Qb1 dxe2 11.Bxe2 Qxf6 12.0-0 e5 13.Bd3 Bxh3 14.Bxh7+ Kh8 15.Be4 Bg4 16.Nh2 Nd4 17.Nxg4 Ne2+ 18.Kh1 Ng3+ 19.fxg3 Qxf1+ 20.Kh2 f5 21.Ne3 Qf2 22.Bxf5 Bc5 23.Bg6 Rad8 24.d4 Rxd4 25.Nf5 Rg4 26.Bh5 Rxf5 27.Bxg4 Qg1+ 28.Kh3 Qh1mate, 0-1.

March 31, 2003

12th AMBER TOURNAMENT: ANAND VICTORIOUS!

WITH a decisive final round blindfold win over nearest rival Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria, India's Vishy Anand extended his lead at the top for a decisive victory ahead of the field in the 12th Amber Tournament in Monte Carlo.

Anand, who beat Topalov 1.5-0.5 for a final tally of 14.5/22, took the title a full point ahead of Peter Leko of Hungary and defending champion Alexander Morozevich of Russia. This was Anand's third victory at the Amber tournament, his others being in 1994 and 1997.

However, unlike Anand's last victory here in 1997, when he dominated the event to take all three titles (Rapid, Blindfold and Combined), the Indian ace only won the champion's crown this year -- the first time in the history of this unique event, the only one in the chess world that combines the disciplines of Rapid and Blindfold, that the overall winner hasn't also taken one of the individual titles. The winner of the Rapid event was Evgeny Bareev of Russia on 8/11; a half point ahead of Anand and Leko. In the Blindfold event, world champion Vladimir Kramnik took the title on 8/11, a full point ahead of Morozevich.

Maecenas Mr JJ Van Oosterom, a wealthy Dutch chess enthusiast who is also one of the world's leading correspondence grandmasters, sponsors this annual tournament held in Monte Carlo to celebrate the birthday of his daughter, Melody Amber. The prize fund for the event is $193,250 with awards for the best scores in each section and overall.

Combined standings: 1 V Anand (India) 14.5/22; 2-3 P Leko (Hungary), A Morozevich (Russia) 13.5; 4-5 V Kramnik (Russia), V Topalov (Bulgaria) 13; 6 B Gelfand (Israel) 12; 7 A Shirov (Spain); 8 E Bareev (Russia) 11; 9 Z Almasi (Hungary) 9.5; 10 V Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 9; 11 L Van Wely (Netherlands) 8; 12 L Ljubojevic, (Yugoslavia) 3.5.

BLINDFOLD chess, in moderation, has been recommended by many sources as a method for improving a player’s analytical powers. However, this was not the medical advice in the former USSR, where in 1930 it was banned as a health hazard.

This could have something to do with the fact that two of the greatest blindfold exponents from the first half of the last century, Pillsbury and Alekhine, died rather young and supposedly suffered great headaches after these “séances” -- although it is well-documented that Pillsbury died from syphilis, Alekhine through alcohol abuse. Such is the life of a chess master!

The earliest blindfold performance dates back as far as 1265 when the Saracen expert, Buzecca, dazzled the courts around Europe with his feats of playing one or two games blindfold. It took until 1774 before Philidor attempted the same feat, despite being begged by his friend Diderot, who pleaded in public for him not to risk his sanity in such a dangerous pursuit!

At the Amber tournament in Monaco, the players are aided during the blindfold games, as they sit facing a computer screen and make their moves on a computer with a mouse on a board with no pieces; eliminating the possibility of illegal moves. While this may lack the 19th century mystique of the master sitting with his back to the crowd with a silk scarf tied over his eyes, it’s thought to be more comfortable.

Vladimir Kramnik and Veselin Topalov, despite the handicap of being unable to physically see the board, produced in round two perhaps one of the greatest blindfold games of all-time. In the final position, black cannot prevent mate: if 39...Be7 40.fxe7+ Ke8 41.Kd6 while 39...hxg5 is met by 40.Ra7.

V Kramnik - V Topalov
Amber Blindfold, (2)
Sicilian Scheveningen
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.f4 a6 8.Qf3 Qc7 9.0-0-0 Bd7 10.Nb3 Rc8 11.Kb1 b5 12.Bd3 Nb4 13.g4 Bc6 14.g5 Nd7 15.Qf2 g6 16.Rhf1 Bg7 17.f5 Ne5 18.Bb6 Qd7 19.Be2 Qb7 20.Na5 Qb8 21.f6 Bf8 22.a3 Nxc2 23.Kxc2 Bxe4+ 24.Kb3 Ba8 25.Ba7 Qc7 26.Qb6 Qxb6 27.Bxb6 h6 28.Nxb5 Kd7 29.Bd4 Bd5+ 30.Ka4 axb5+ 31.Bxb5+ Bc6 32.Bxe5 Bxb5+ 33.Kxb5 Rc5+ 34.Kb6 Rxe5 35.Rc1 Rxa5 36.Rc7+ Kd8 37.Rfc1 Rc5 38.R1xc5 dxc5 39.Kc6, 1-0.

P Leko A Shirov
Amber Rapid, (2)
French Defense
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nf3 Be7 7.Nxf6+ Bxf6 8.h4 0-0 9.Bd3 c5 10.Qe2 cxd4 11.Qe4 g6 12.0-0-0 e5 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Bb5 Rd8 15.Rhe1 Kg7 16.h5 Re8 17.Rxd4 Re7 18.Qe3 gxh5 19.Rh4 Qh6 20.Qxh6+ Kxh6 21.g4 Kg7 22.Rxh5 f6 23.g5 f5 24.Bxd7 Bxd7 25.Rxe5 Rae8 26.Rxe7+ Rxe7 27.Kd2 Bc6 28.Nh4 Rd7+ 29.Kc1 f4 30.c4 Be4 31.Rh6 Rc7 32.b3 b5 33.Re6 Bd3 34.Kd2 bxc4 35.bxc4 Bxc4 36.Nf5+ Kf8 37.Rf6+ Rf7 38.Rxf7+ Bxf7 39.a3 Ba2 40.Ke2 Bb1 41.Nd4 Ke7 42.Kf3 Kd6 43.Kxf4 Kc5, 1-0.

V Anand - V Topalov
Amber Blindfold, (11)
Sicilian Sveshnikov
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.c4 Be7 10.Bd3 0-0 11.0-0 Bd7 12.a4 f5 13.c5 Bxb5 14.axb5 e4 15.c6 Nd7 16.Be2 Ne5 17.f4 exf3 18.gxf3 Bf6 19.Kh1 b6 20.Ra2 Qc7 21.f4 Ng6 22.b3 Ne7 23.Bc4 Rae8 24.Re1 Nc8 25.Rae2 Rxe2 26.Rxe2 Qf7 27.Re6 Re8 28.Qe2 Kf8 29.Ba3 Rxe6 30.dxe6 Qe7 31.Bd5 g6 32.Qc2 Qc7 33.Bb2 Qg7 34.Bxf6 Qxf6 35.c7 Qd4 36.Bb7 Qxf4 37.Qc4 Qf2 38.Bxc8 Qe1+ 39.Kg2 Qd2+ 40.Kf3 d5 41.Qf4 Qc3+ 42.Kg2 Qc2+ 43.Kh3, 1-0.

A Shirov - B Gelfand
Amber Blindfold, (10)
Petroff's Defense
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.0-0 Be7 8.c4 Nb4 9.Be2 0-0 10.Nc3 Bf5 11.a3 Nxc3 12.bxc3 Nc6 13.Re1 Re8 14.cxd5 Qxd5 15.Bf4 Rac8 16.Qa4 Bd7 17.Rab1 Qf5 18.Bg3 Bf8 19.Rb5 Qf6 20.Rxb7 Nd8 21.Qxd7 Nxb7 22.Be5 Qd8 23.Qg4 Nd6 24.h4 Rb8 25.c4 f6 26.c5 fxe5 27.cxd6 cxd6 28.dxe5 Be7 29.Bd3 Rf8 30.Qh5 g6 31.Bxg6 hxg6 32.Qxg6+ Kh8 33.Re4 Rxf3 34.Qh6+ Kg8 35.Rg4+, 1-0.

Kramnik missed his chance to salvage a half point from his blindfold encounter with Morozevich: 36 Rxb7! Qxb7 37 Ne7+ Bxe7 38 fxe7 Re8 39 Nf6+ Rxf6 40 Qxf6 Qd5 should draw.

V Kramnik - A Morozevich
Amber Blindfold, (8)
French Tarrasch
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 Be7 8.dxc5 0-0 9.Qd2 Nxc5 10.a3 b6 11.Bb5 Bb7 12.0-0 Rc8 13.Rad1 Qc7 14.Qe1 Rfd8 15.Bxc6 Bxc6 16.Nd4 g6 17.Bf2 Bf8 18.Bh4 Re8 19.Kh1 a6 20.Bf6 Nd7 21.Qh4 Nxf6 22.exf6 Qd8 23.f5 exf5 24.Nxf5 Re6 25.Nd4 Rd6 26.Qf4 b5 27.Rde1 Bb7 28.Re3 Qb6 29.Nce2 a5 30.Ng3 b4 31.axb4 axb4 32.Nh5 Qd8 33.Nf5 d4 34.Re7 Rb6 35.Rfe1 Qd5 36.R1e2 Qxf5 37.Qxf5 gxf5, 0-1.

L Ljubojevic - A Morozevich
Amber Blindfold, (4)
Chigorin Defense
1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6 3.cxd5 Qxd5 4.e3 e5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Nf6 8.c4 Qd6 9.d5 Ne7 10.Qb1 0-0 11.e4 Nd7 12.Bb4 Nc5 13.Nf3 b6 14.Qb2 f5 15.Qxe5 Nd3+ 16.Bxd3 Qxb4+ 17.Nd2 Ng6 18.Qd4 c5 19.dxc6 Nf4 20.e5 Qb2 21.Qxf4 Qxa1+ 22.Bb1 Re8 23.0-0 Qxe5 24.Qxe5 Rxe5 25.Nf3 Rc5 26.Re1 Ba6 27.Ne5 g6 28.Bc2 Re8 29.f4 Bxc4 30.Ra1 Rexe5 31.fxe5 Rxc6 32.Ba4 b5 33.Bb3 Kf7 34.Rd1 Ke6 35.Rd8 a5 36.Re8+ Kd5 37.Rb8 Kxe5 38.Kf2 Kd4 39.Rb7 h6 40.Bd1 b4 41.Ra7 Rc5 42.Rd7+ Kc3 43.Rd6 Rd5, 0-1.

March 26, 2003

DOS HERMANAS INTERNET TOURNAMENT: POTKIN WINS

WORLD number one Garry Kasparov once remarked a few years ago that, "chess is the perfect medium for the Internet." He was proved right as chess fans around the world now watch in the thousands live, online coverage of big tournaments such as Linares and Wijk aan Zee.

Sometimes the GMs don't even have to leave the confines of their homes to earn a living thanks to the growth of Internet chess. With a total prize fund of 4,850 euros, players can opt for events such as the IV Internet Chess Tournament Ciudad de Dos Hermanas, hosted by the Internet Chess Club (ICC), held 14-22 March.

This online event, sponsored by the Spanish city of Dos Hermanas and now in its fourth year, proved popular as ever -- 1,117 players (from 75 countries) entering to play online, among them 67 Grandmasters and 103 International Masters.

Eventually the field was whittled down to 32 top players who met in the knockout finals over the weekend. Russian GM Vladimir Potkin (whose playing handle on the ICC is "PORTER") won through to the best of two game final to play Argentinean GM Pablo Zarnicki. In final, Potkin defeated Zarnicki 2-0 to take the first prize of 1500 euro (with the runner up taking 750 euro). Top placed British player was GM Luke McShane, who lost out 1.5-0.5 in the quarterfinals to the beaten finalist.

1 GM V Potkin (Russia); 2 GM P Zarnicki (Argentina); 3-4 GM V Golod (Israel), IM R Reinaldo (Spain); 5-8 GM K Sakaev (Russia), GM L McShane (England), GM C Bauer (France), IM C Balogh (Hungary).

V Potkin - P Zarnicki
Dos Hermanas ICC, (5.1)
Sicilian Sozin
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bc4 Qb6 7.Nb3 e6 8.Bf4 Ne5 9.Be2 Bd7 10.Qd2 Be7 11.0-0-0 0-0 12.g4 Bc6 13.f3 Rfd8 14.Be3 Qc7 15.g5 Ne8 16.f4 Nd7 17.Nd4 Nc5 18.Bf3 Rac8 19.h4 d5 20.exd5 exd5 21.Bg4 Rb8 22.h5 Nd6 23.g6 Nc4 24.Qe1 Re8 25.h6 hxg6 26.Ndb5 Bxb5 27.Nxb5 Qb6 28.Bd4 Bf6 29.Qc3 Re3 30.Bxf6 Rxc3 31.Bxc3 Qxb5 32.hxg7 f6 33.Rh8+ Kxg7 34.Rxb8 Qa6 35.Kb1 Ne3 36.Re1 Ne4 37.Bc8 Ng2 38.Rxb7+ Qxb7 39.Bxb7 Nxc3+ 40.bxc3 Nxe1 41.Bxd5 g5 42.Kc1, 1-0.

L McShane - P Zarnicki
Dos Hermanas ICC, (3.2)
French Tarrasch
1.d4 e6 2.e4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 Qb6 8.a3 a5 9.b3 Be7 10.h4 0-0 11.Bd3 f5 12.Be3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Bxa3 14.g4 Bb4+ 15.Kf1 fxg4 16.Ng5 Ndxe5 17.Bxh7+ Kh8 18.Kg2 Nd7 19.h5 Nf6 20.Qd3 Ne7 21.h6 Bd7 22.Bf2 gxh6 23.Rxh6 Bb5 24.Bg8+ Kg7 25.Rh7+ Kxg8 26.Qc2 Rac8 27.Qb1 Nf5 28.Rh1 Qc6 29.Ra2 Qc1, 0-1.

KORCHNOI: STILL GOING STRONG

YESTERDAY, one of the games indefatigable veterans, Viktor Korchnoi, celebrated his 72nd birthday -- and incredibly still shows no sign of slowing down despite his advancing years.

Born in 1931, he survived the Siege of Leningrad to make a winning debut with his first USSR Junior Championship title in 1947, but only rose to prominence with the first of his four victories in the ultra-strong Soviet Championship in 1960.

A veteran of six Candidates cycles (against the likes of Reshevsky, Tal, Geller, Karpov, Mecking, Petrosian, Polugavesky and Spassky) and an unsuccessful challenger in two world championship matches against Karpov, Korchnoi is one of the few players in modern history whose results actually improved after his 40th birthday. He's played in over 150 elite international tournaments throughout his illustrious career, winning or sharing over 40 of them spanning five different decades from the 1950s through to the 1990s.

Even at 72, Korchnoi has not lost any of his appetite for the game that he once described as "his life". Though he has yet to win a major in the new millennium, the cunning old fox (or, as Nigel Short would have it, "the cantankerous old git"), who is ranked world number 43, came very close to doing so recently during the Hrokurinn Festival in Reykjavik. After beating the top seed and world number five Michael Adams, he was in devastating form losing only one game in the category 15 tournament to finish equal second behind winner Alexei Shirov, on a score of 6/9.

V Korchnoi - E Bacrot
Hrokurinn Festival, (9)
Slav Defense
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 c6 3.d4 d5 4.Qc2 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bf5 6.g3 e6 7.Bg2 Nbd7 8.Nc3 Be7 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Nd2 Bg6 11.Nc4 Qxb3 12.axb3 Nd5 13.0-0 f5 14.Na5 0-0-0 15.Bxd5 exd5 16.Bf4 Nb8 17.Rfc1 Bd6 18.Nxd5 Bxf4 19.Nxf4 Rxd4 20.Nc4 Bf7 21.Rxa7 Bxc4 22.Rxc4 Rd1+ 23.Kg2 Re8 24.Rc2 Kc7 25.Ra5 g6 26.Nd5+ Kc8 27.Ne3 Rd4 28.Ra4 Red8 29.Rxd4 Rxd4 30.Nc4 Rd1 31.Rd2 Rb1 32.b4 b5 33.Ne5 Kc7 34.h4 Kb6 35.Kf3 Na6 36.Nd7+ Kc7 37.Nf8 Nxb4 38.Nxh7 Nd5 39.Nf8 Nb6 40.Nxg6 Nc4 41.Rc2 Nxb2 42.Ne5 b4 43.Rxc6+ Kb7 44.h5, 1-0.

March 20, 2003

OXFORD vs. CAMBRIDGE

THE opulent surroundings of the RAC Club in Pall Mall, London, played host last weekend to the cerebral equivalent of the Boat Race, as Oxford and Cambridge met up for the 121st Varsity Chess Match.

First contested in 1873 at the City of London Chess Club, chess luminaries such as Howard Staunton and Wilhelm Steinitz encouraged and supported the fixture in its early days by attending the annual match between the two famous universities -- which is now firmly established in the record books as the oldest traditional fixture in the chess world.

Former alumni from Varsity Match of the past have included Kingsley Martin, who went on to become editor of the New Statesman, astronomer Fred Hoyle, and polymath Jacob Bronowski. This year, it was the turn of former old boys Barry Martin and Henry Mutkin to keep the tradition going by generously agreeing to sponsor the event.

The "glittering prize" this year went again to the Light Blues of Cambridge, led by Scottish IM Eddie Dearing (Peterhouse College) on top board, who easily retained the Margaret Pugh Gold Cup with an emphatic 6.5-1.5 victory over Oxford. Cambridge now leads the historic series by a margin of 54 wins to Oxford's 49, with 18 matches drawn. David Hodge (Trinity College) completed the rout for Cambridge by winning the best game prize for his victory on board five over Oxford's Erik Tonning (Lincoln College).

It's now been five years since Oxford last won the Varsity Match; however next year they look to be firm favorites to do so with a dramatic strengthening of their squad. Not only will they be acquiring the services of top GM Luke McShane, they will also have at their disposal Eddie Dearing, who is defecting from Cambridge to continue his legal studies at the rival university.

Oxford 1.5-6.5 Cambridge 1 IM R Palliser (Worcester) draw IM E Dearing (Peterhouse); 2 B Merim (Wadham) draw WGM H Hunt (St John's); 3 A Bigg (Jesus) 0-1 J Vigus (Clare); 4 K Ozeren (Balliol) 0-1 J Conlon (Christ's); 5 E Tonning (Lincoln) 0-1 D Hodge (Trinity); 6 H Meyer (Lincoln) 0-1 D Garner (Peterhouse); 7 M Buckley (St. Hilda's) draw A Domnick (St John's); 8 D Gunlycke (Merton) 0-1 P Wallden (St John's)

D Hodge - E Tonning
121st Varsity Match, (Bd.5)
French Tarrasch
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.Ndf3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Qb6 9.a3 a5 10.b3 Be7 11.h4 f6 12.Bd3 Nf8 13.h5 Bd7 14.Ne2 0-0-0 15.Rb1 Rg8 16.b4 axb4 17.Bd2 Qa5 18.axb4 Bxb4 19.0-0 Bxd2 20.Nxd2 Be8 21.Nb3 Qa7 22.Nc5 b6 23.Na4 Nd7 24.Bb5 Kb7 25.Bxc6+ Kxc6 26.Qc2+ Kb7 27.Rfc1 Kb8 28.Qc6 Nc5 29.Rxb6+ Nb7 30.Qc7+ Ka8 31.Qc8+, 1-0.

March 17, 2003

BUNRATTY CONGRESS: JOHN NUNN TAKES THE TITLE

TOP o' the mornin' to you! And with today being St. Patrick's Day, I thought this would be an ideal opportunity to look at one of two international tournaments held in Ireland, the Bunratty Congress.

Bunratty is situated near Limerick in the west of Ireland (some 200km from Dublin), and each year enjoys a "friendly" chess rivalry with Kilkenny for the title of Ireland's top tournament. A mere ten years ago, the thought of a grandmaster visiting Ireland to play in a weekender was unheard of. Ireland's top players had to pack their bags and travel to foreign lands to get the opportunity to play titled players. Now things have changed -- the Kilkenny Congress and the Bunratty Chess Festival regularly provide this opportunity to Ireland's elite.

This year the Bunratty Congress, held 21-23 February at the Fitzpatrick Hotel in the shadows of Bunratty Castle, set a record for chess tournaments in the Emerald Isles -- with 317 players competing in four different sections. While most of the field was Irish, there were visitors from the UK, Netherlands, Spain, Slovakia, U.S. and Austria.

Three GMs headed the pack in the Masters Section: Dr John Nunn -- former British Champion and multi-Olympiad gold medallist, three-time U.S. Champion Joel Benjamin, and Irish No.1 Alexander Baburin, originally from Russia. In a tense struggle, the Masters ended in a five-way tie on 4.5/6 between IM Brian Kelly, GM John Nunn, Dr Yuri Rochev, GM Alexander Baburin and Lorin D'Costa, each receiving 350 euros.

The Irish eyes were smiling as last year's winner, Brian Kelly, defeated top seed John Nunn in convincing style in round four and looked set to retain his title. Unfortunately the luck of the Irish ran out, as Nunn got his revenge in the five-way blitz playoff to win the title and the Tipperary Crystal trophy.

B Kelly-J Nunn
Bunratty Masters, (4)
English Opening
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nf3 d6 6.0-0 Nc6 7.d3 a6 8.Rb1 b5 9.Ne5 dxe5 10.Bxc6 Rb8 11.cxb5 axb5 12.b4 Bh3 13.Re1 Qd6 14.Bf3 c5 15.a4 bxa4 16.b5 Rfc8 17.Qxa4 c4 18.dxc4 Qd4 19.Nd5 e4 20.Nxe7+ Kh8 21.Nxc8 exf3 22.Qa7 Ne4 23.exf3 Qc3 24.Qe3 Rxc8 25.fxe4 Qc2 26.Ba3 Rxc4 27.b6 Bd4 28.Qe2 Bg4 29.Qxc2 Rxc2 30.Rf1, 1-0.

March 14, 2003

ANIBAL OPEN: FIVE TIE FOR FIRST

MY 60 Memorable Years would have been an ideal title for a follow-up book to Bobby Fischer's timeless classic, My 60 Memorable Games, but alas a combination of paranoia, hubris, and hatred, forcing him into a self-imposed early retirement, proved to be the unraveling of the game’s most revered icon.

However, on the final day of Linares (March 9th), as Garry Kasparov paid his own little personal tribute to his favorite player with a Fischer-like rant aimed towards the journalists and the organizers during the prize giving ceremony, the chess world was again abuzz with reminiscences of the most charismatic and enigmatic player in the history of the game, as Fischer celebrated his 60th birthday.

Fischer’s achievements were staggering: in his time he was the youngest U.S. master (fourteen), the world’s youngest grandmaster, and the youngest candidate for the world championship (fifteen). Asked to explain his sudden emergence on the world stage at such a young age, the precocious youngster simply shrugged his shoulders and said, “I just got good.”

No longer welcome in the U.S. after being indicted by the Treasury Department for breaking a UN sanction when he came out of retirement in 1992 to play a $5 million match in war-torn Yugoslavia with his old foe Boris Spassky, Fischer now lives in his adopted Japanese home of Tokyo.

This year there was a strong 126-player field for the Anibal Open that ran alongside the Linares elite tournament. Among the field (by a strange coincidence as “Gentleman” Jim Plaskett would have it) was 15-year-old Japanese-born Hikaru Nakamura, who only last month broke Fischer's 44-year record of being America's youngest grandmaster. Nakamura, who moved to America with his U.S.-born mother as a young child, was up amongst the leading group in the Anibal Open before losing out in spectacular style in the penultimate round to joint winner Ernesto Inarkiev of Russia.

The leading final scores at the Anibal Open were: 1-5 A Korobov (Ukraine), E Inarkiev (Russia), A Kharlov (Russia), S Del Rio Angelis (Spain), A Delchev (Bulgaria) 7.5/10; 6-10 A Beliavsky (Slovenia), S Vasquez (Chile), V Kotronias (Cyprus), E Najer (Russia), E Gleizerov (Russia) 7.

H Nakamura - E Inarkiev
10th Anibal Open, (9)
King's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.b4 a5 10.Ba3 b6 11.bxa5 Nh5 12.Re1 f5 13.Nd2 Nf6 14.Bd3 Bh6 15.Nb3 Kh8 16.f3 bxa5 17.Nd2 c5 18.Nb5 a4 19.Bb2 f4 20.Nf1 g5 21.g4 Ng6 22.Nd2 Rf7 23.Kf2 Bf8 24.h3 h5 25.Rh1 Rh7 26.Be2 Be7 27.Qc2 Kg7 28.Rhg1 hxg4 29.hxg4 Rh2+ 30.Ke1 Qh8 31.Qd3 Qh4+ 32.Kd1 Qf2 33.Rf1 Qg2 34.Re1 Nh4 35.Na3 Bd7 36.Rb1 Rh8 37.Bc3 Bc8 38.Rb8 Qf2 39.Rf1 Qg3 40.Kc1 Nxg4 41.fxg4 Rxe2 42.Qxe2 Bxg4 43.Nf3 Rxb8 44.Be1 Bxf3 45.Qd3 Be2, 0-1.

March 13, 2003

OBITUARY: LUDEK PACHMAN DIES AT 78

LUDEK Pachman, one of post-war Czechoslovakia’s strongest and yet controversial grandmasters, who gained worldwide recognition as an unlikely political activist during the Soviet invasion of his homeland in 1968, died last Thursday in the German city of Passau, aged 78.

Born on May 11, 1924 in the small Czech town of Bela pod Bezdezem, Pachman went on to become one of the leading players of his generation. He honed his chess skills in Prague during World War II under the expert tutelage of world champion Alexander Alekhine, going on to become a seven-time Czech champion and a prolific chess author and journalist.

Despite being a devout communist from his youth, Pachman became a cause célèbre of Alexander Dubcek’s ill-fated Prague Spring, when he suddenly turned into a fierce critic of the communist regime. During this turbulent period in Czech history, he was thrust into the limelight by editing an underground edition of Rudé právo, the former communist newspaper that was taken over by its staff following the Soviet invasion, where previous his only title was that of chess correspondent.

On his subsequent capture, he was imprisoned several times and described in graphic details in his 1975 Faber and Faber biography, “Checkmate in Prague”, how he drew international attention to his plight by intentionally jumping head first from his prison bed to cause permanent head and spinal injuries.

He was released from prison due to health reasons in late 1970, only to find himself deprived of his livelihood by apparatchiks who had taken control of the Czech Chess Federation. Rather than being a thorn in their side as a political martyr, in 1972 the authorities allowed Pachman to emigrate to the west, and he eventually settled in West Germany after being turned down by his first choice of Holland. In Germany, he soon became know as a political activist, with strong anti-communist views, who would make frequent appearances on political TV shows.

Later that same year of his release to the west, he returned once again to the chess arena with an invitation to Britain to compete in the Islington Open, where, again amongst the media spotlight, in the opening round he faced one of England’s top juniors, Jon Speelman.

L Pachman - J Speelman
Islington Open, (1) 1972
King’s Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Bg5 d6 5.e3 0-0 6.Be2 c5 7.Nf3 h6 8.Bh4 Qa5 9.0-0 g5 10.Bg3 Nh5 11.Rc1 Nxg3 12.hxg3 Nd7 13.a3 Nf6 14.Nd2 Bf5 15.d5e6 16.e4 Bh7 17.Re1 Rae8 18.Bd3 Qd8 19.Qc2 exd5 20.cxd5 Ng4 21.Rf1 Ne5 22.Bb5 Re7 23.Rce1 a6 24.Be2 g4 25.f4 gxf3 26.gxf3 f5 27.f4 Nd7 28.Bd3 Bd4+ 29.Kg2 Nf6 30.exf5 Ng4 31.Nd1 Qe8 32.Nf3 Rxe1 33.Rxe1 Qh5 34.Nh4, 1-0.

March 12, 2003

CAPPELLE la GRANDE: BURMAKIN TAKES FIRST ON TIEBREAK

THE legendary New York Open, with its record prize funds, may only be a distant memory, but the legacy of big-bucks Swisses continues – most notably last month's record-breaking $150,000 Aeroflot Open in Moscow.

This was followed by the unlikely little Dunkirk suburb of Cappelle la Grande, which in late February traditionally plays host to the largest open event on the tournament circuit. This year Cappelle attracted a field of 608 (down from a high of 702 in 2001) competing in the 19th Open, comprising of 80 GM's and 50 IM's.

With such a strong line-up, inevitably an outright winner proves elusive. And indeed there was a seven-way tie for first on 7/9, with Vladimir Burmakin of Russia taking the title on tiebreak. There was also a five-strong Scottish delegation competing, led by Kilmarnock's John Shaw looking for his second successive GM norm.

After his good fortune in the final round last month at Gibraltar where a mishap gifted him the norm, John found the opposition at Cappelle in the final rounds not in such a generous mood as “Gentleman” Jim Plaskett proved to be. After being outplayed by former winner Suat Atalik in the penultimate round, John let slip a golden opportunity from a favourable position in the final round that would have secured him another norm.

Final Standings: 1-7 GM V Burmakin (Russia), GM E Rozentalis (Lithuania), GM P Schlosser (Germany), GM A Areshchenko (Ukraine), IM J Geller (Russia), IM D Bocharov (Russia), GM E Miroshniche (Ukraine) 7/9. Scottish scores: GM Colin McNab 6, IM John Shaw 5.5, Paul Roberts 5.5, Tim Upton 5 and IM Douglas Bryson 4.

S Atalik - J Shaw
Cappelle la Grande, (8)
Reti's Opening
1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.0-0 Bf5 5.c4 e6 6.cxd5 cxd5 7.Qb3 Qc8 8.d3 Be7 9.Nd4 Bg6 10.Bf4 Nc6 11.Rc1 Qd7 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.Nd2 Bh5 14.e4 0-0 15.e5 Rfb8 16.Qc2 Ne8 17.Qxc6 Qxc6 18.Rxc6 Rxb2 19.Nb3 Bd8 20.Bc1 Re2 21.Be3 Bb6 22.Bf1 Rb2 23.Bxb6 axb6 24.Rxb6 Rbxa2 25.Rxa2 Rxa2 26.Rb8 Kf8 27.d4 Rb2 28.Bb5 f6 29.Nc5 Bf3 30.Nxe6+ Ke7 31.Rxe8+ Kf7 32.Nd8+ Kg6 33.Bd3+ f5 34.Rf8 Rd2 35.Ne6 Rd1+ 36.Bf1 Kh6 37.Nf4 g5 38.Rf6+ Kg7 39.Ne6+, 1-0.

March 11, 2003

LINARES: KRAMNIK & LEKO TIE FOR FIRST

ALL good things must come to an end, and for Garry Kasparov at Linares it proved be the end (and a bitter one at that) of his remarkable four-year winning-streak at elite tournaments as the world number one finished behind Peter Leko and Vladimir Kramnik.

In a remarkable turnaround in his game (and his health due to the false and tasteless rumors of his death in a car crash last year!), Leko, who in the past has been dubbed one of the most boring players on the circuit due to his many draws, again produced the best fighting chess of the tournament to deservedly take the title on tiebreak (decided by the fewest draws) ahead of Kramnik, who was the only unbeaten player among the field.

In the last round, Leko expertly neutralized Kramnik's advantage in their game to hold the draw for his first Linares title as the two Einstein World Championship contestants finished equal first on a plus two score of 7/12. Coupled with his victory last year at the Dortmund Candidates, Leko now looks to be a formidable force to reckon with, and the forthcoming world title clash between Kramnik and Leko now looks to be an intriguing contest with two of the toughest players in the world going head to head.

Einstein TV, who have already outlined their plans to FIDE, are reported to be making a statement next month as to the full details of the upcoming Kramnik-Leko match; the winner of which is set to play the victor of the FIDE Buenos Aires showdown between Kasparov and Ponomariov in a unification match set for November.

For world number one Kasparov, as age catches up with him as he fast approaches 40, it was the end of a record-breaking ten consecutive elite tournament victories stretching from Wijk aan Zee 1999 through to Linares 2002. As expected, Kasparov fought to the bitter end in an interesting tussle with old foe Vishy Anand, who avoided all the complications to hold the draw. The main difference in the scores between Kasparov, Leko and Kramnik proved to be Kasparov dropping 1.5 points to Baku teenager Teimour Radjabov, who finished at the foot of the table at his first Linares.

According to reports on the Spanish website "Jaque", it seems that the press really knows how to kick a man when he's down -- despite the Herculean efforts in the past of his ten elite tournament victories.

Radjabov was controversially awarded (in a vote decided by journalists) the tournament's “beauty prize” for his win against Kasparov – anything but the best game of the tournament. While the Baku teenager -- with his proud mother videotaping the proceedings -- was being handed the prize, an enraged Kasparov stormed up to the microphone and said, "I don't believe that this was the best game of the tournament. It has been selected only because it was the only game that I lost and I consider this to be a public insult and humiliation."

While everyone looked on in shock, Kasparov went after a group of journalists and worked his rage up to shouting level. "This is the worst insult you have ever done to me in my life! It is an insult to me and to chess! You consider yourselves chess journalists? If you think this was the most beautiful game of Linares, you are doing a great deal of damage to chess with your reports and articles. Radjabov was completely lost in that game!"

IN one of the biggest upsets in the history of the game, 15-year-old Teimour Radjabov sensationally defeated Garry Kasparov in round two at Linares, to become the youngest person to beat a world No.1 in tournament praxis.

Kasparov is regarded as "Mr. Linares" due to his dominance at the top Spanish tournament. Since his debut in 1990, Kasparov won eight titles in twelve appearances. A defeat at Linares is rare for Kasparov, and indeed his last loss was back in 1997 to Vassily Ivanchuk -- a record of 62 Linares games in a row without defeat until today's game.

And, to add insult to injury, Radjabov also comes from Kasparov's hometown of Baku in Azerbijan – Kasparov even attending school with his father, Boris. Radjabov’s talent for the game shone through from a very early age. By 10 he beat Viktor Korchnoi in a simultaneous display and by the time he was 11 Kasparov himself predicted he had the "right stuff" to one day become world champion. One apocryphal tale has it that after presenting prizes at a junior competition a few years ago, Kasparov spent time on stage talking to the young wunderkind, who afterwards told friends "I saw the fear in his eyes".

He'd stopped attending school by 12 to devote his life to chess, and now spends upwards of seven hours a day studying the game, and by 14, he attained the coveted title of grandmaster. Although Radjabov never had the accolade of being the world's youngest grandmaster, he does have the distinction of being the youngest player to get into the world's top 100. The nearest comparison to Radjabov's achievement is that of Sammy Reshevsky, Bobby Fischer, and Arturo Pomar. At 15 Fischer drew with Tal in the 1958 Portoroz Interzonal and then went on to beat Larsen in the same event. He was 16 before he added victories against Smyslov and Keres; and 18 before the American genius finally got wins against the world's top two players Tal and Petrosian.

Final Standings: 1-2 P Leko (Hungary), V Kramnik (Russia) +2 (7/12); 3-4 V Anand (India), G Kasparov (Russia) +1 (6.5); 5 R Ponomariov (Ukraine) -1 (5.5); 6 F Vallejo Pons (Spain) -2 (5); 7 T Radjabov (Azerbaijan) - 3 (4.5).

V Kramnik - P Leko
Linares, (14)
Sicilian Defense
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.Bc4 d6 5.d3 Be7 6.0-0 Nf6 7.Ng5 0-0 8.f4 exf4 9.Bxf4 h6 10.Nf3 Be6 11.Nd5 Bxd5 12.exd5 Na5 13.Nh4 Nxc4 14.dxc4 Nxd5 15.Qxd5 Bxh4 16.Rad1 b6 17.Bxd6 Be7 18.Be5 Bg5 19.Bd6 Be7 20.Bf4 Bf6 21.c3 Qxd5 22.cxd5 Rad8 23.Bxh6 Bxc3 24.bxc3 gxh6 25.Rfe1 Rd7 26.c4 a6 27.a4 b5 28.axb5 axb5 29.cxb5 Rb8 30.d6 Rxb5 31.Re7 Rbb7 32.Rxd7 Rxd7 33.Kf2 Kg7 34.Kf3 Kf6 35.Rd5, draw.

The McCutcheon variation, one of the most complex lines in chess praxis today, is named after the Pittsburgh amateur John Lindsay McCutcheon, who first played it against Steinitz during a simultaneous display at New York in 1885. The (full) point to Leko's game-ending, dazzling queen sacrifice is that if 32…Qxf8, then after 33 Nb5 there is no way to prevent the threat of Nd6+ followed by c7+ and c8=(Q) mating.

P Leko - T Radjabov
Linares, (8)
French McCutcheon
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.e5 h6 6.Bd2 Bxc3 7.bxc3 Ne4 8.Qg4 g6 9.Bd3 Nxd2 10.Kxd2 c5 11.h4 Bd7 12.h5 g5 13.f4 Nc6 14.fxg5 Qa5 15.dxc5 d4 16.Nf3 0-0-0 17.Rab1 dxc3+ 18.Ke2 Rhg8 19.Qe4 Qc7 20.g4 Ne7 21.Bb5 hxg5 22.Rb3 Nd5 23.Rhb1 Bc6 24.Bxc6 Qxc6 25.Nd4 Qa6+ 26.Ke1 Rd7 27.c6 Rc7 28.Rxb7 Rxb7 29.Rxb7 Nb6 30.Qh7 Rf8 31.Qg7 Qa3 32.Qxf8, 1-0.

V Kramnik - R Ponomariov
Linares, (9)
Ruy Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3
0-0 9.h3 Na5 10.Bc2 c5 11.d4 Nd7 12.Kh1 Bb7 13.d5 f5 14.exf5 Nc4 15.Nbd2 Nxd2 16.Qxd2 Nf6 17.Ng5 Bxd5 18.f4 Qc7 19.Ne6 Bxe6 20.fxe6 Nh5 21.Qd5 Rad8 22.f5 Ng3+ 23.Kh2 Nxf5 24.Rf1 Nh4 25.Bg5 Ng6 26.h4 Nf4 27.Bxf4 exf4 28.g3 f3 29.Rxf3 Rxf3 30.Qxf3 Rf8 31.Qd3 g6 32.Rf1 Qc8 33.Rxf8+, draw.

V Kramnik - T Radjabov
Linares, (6)
French Defense
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Qd2 0-0 10.0-0-0 a6 11.Qf2 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 Qc7 13.Bd3 b5 14.Qh4 h6 15.Ne2 f6 16.Qg4 Bxd4 17.Nxd4 Nc5 18.Qg6 Nxd3+ 19.Rxd3 Qc4 20.Rhd1 Ra7 21.Kb1 Qc7 22.f5 Qb6 23.Rh3 fxe5 24.Rxh6 Rf6 25.Qe8+ Rf8 26.Rh8+ Kxh8 27.Qxf8+ Kh7 28.Nf3 Qc7 29.fxe6 e4 30.Ng5+ Kh6 31.h4 Kh5 32.Qf5 g6 33.g4+ Kxh4 34.Rh1+ Kg3 35.Rg1+ Kh4 36.Qf6, 1-0.

R Ponomariov - V Kramnik
Linares, (2)
Sicilian Rossolimo
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.h3 Bg7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Nd7 8.Be3 e5 9.Qd2 h6 10.0-0 Qe7 11.a3 Nf8 12.b4 Ne6 13.Na4 b6 14.Nh2 f5 15.f3 f4 16.Bf2 h5 17.bxc5 b5 18.Nb2 g5 19.d4 exd4 20.Nd3 Nxc5 21.Nxc5 Qxc5 22.Rfd1 Be6 23.Qb4 Qb6 24.a4 c5 25.Qxb5+ Qxb5 26.axb5 Kf7 27.Ra5 Rhb8 28.Nf1 Be5 29.Rda1 d3 30.Rxa7+ Kf6 31.Rxa8 Rxa8 32.Rxa8 dxc2 33.Rf8+ Kg6 34.Re8 Kf7 35.Rf8+ Kg6 36.Re8 Bc4 37.Rxe5 c1=Q 38.Rxc5 Qxf1+ 39.Kh2 Qxf2 40.Rxc4 g4, 0-1.

G Kasparov - T Radjabov
Linares, (2)
French Defense
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.f4 c5 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.Be3 a6 8.Qd2 b5 9.a3 Qb6 10.Ne2 c4 11.g4 h5 12.gxh5 Rxh5 13.Ng3 Rh8 14.f5 exf5 15.Nxf5 Nf6 16.Ng3 Ng4 17.Bf4 Be6 18.c3 Be7 19.Ng5 0-0-0 20.Nxe6 fxe6 21.Be2 Ngxe5 22.Qe3 Nd7 23.Qxe6 Bh4 24.Qg4 g5 25.Bd2 Rde8 26.0-0-0 Na5 27.Rdf1 Nb3+ 28.Kd1 Bxg3 29.Rf7 Rd8 30.Bxg5 Qg6 31.Qf5 Qxf5 32.Rxf5 Rdf8 33.Rxf8+ Nxf8 34.Bf3 Bh4 35.Be3 Nd7 36.Bxd5 Re8 37.Bh6 Ndc5 38.Bf7 Re7 39.Bh5 Nd3, 0-1.

T Radjabov - P Leko
Linares, (1)
Queen's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.Nc3 Bb7 5.a3 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.Qc2 Nxc3 8.bxc3 Be7 9.e4 0-0 10.Bd3 c5 11.0-0 Qc8 12.Qa2 Rd8 13.Rd1 Ba6 14.Bxa6 Nxa6 15.Qe2 Qb7 16.h4 Nc7 17.h5 h6 18.Ne5 Ne8 19.Bb2 Nf6 20.Re1 b5 21.Rad1 cxd4 22.cxd4 b4 23.a4 Rac8 24.Rd3 Rc7 25.d5 exd5 26.exd5 Rxd5 27.Nxf7 Rxd3 28.Nxh6+ Kf8 29.Qxd3 Qd5 30.Qg3 Bd6 31.Qh3 Qxh5 32.Qxh5 Nxh5 33.Nf5 Bf4 34.Re4 Bd2 35.Nd4 Kf7 36.Re2 Bc1 37.Nb5 Nf4 38.Re4 Rc2 39.Nd6+ Kg6 40.Bxc1 Rxc1+ 41.Kh2 Nd5 42.Nb5 b3 43.Re6+ Kh7 44.Re2 Rc2 45.Re1 b2 46.Rb1 a6, 0-1.

F Vallejo Pons - P Leko
Linares, (12)
English Opening
1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nf6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb4 6.Bc4 Nd3+ 7.Ke2 Nf4+ 8.Kf1 Ne6 9.b4 g6 10.bxc5 Bg7 11.Bxe6 Bxe6 12.d4 Nc6 13.Be3 Bc4+ 14.Kg1 Qa5 15.Rc1 0-0-0 16.Nb1 Qa6 17.d5 f5 18.Rxc4 Qxc4 19.Nbd2 Qxa2 20.dxc6 bxc6 21.g3 Rd3 22.Kg2 fxe4 23.Ng5 Rf8 24.Ngxe4 Be5 25.Re1 h5 26.h4 Rfd8 27.Qb1 Qxb1 28.Rxb1 Bc7 29.Nc4 R8d5 30.Ra1 Kb7 31.Ra4 Rd7 32.Ng5 R3d5 33.Ne6 Rf5 34.Nd4 Rf6 35.Rb4+ Ka6 36.Rb1 Rd5 37.Nc2 Rd7 38.Nb4+ Kb5 39.Nd2 Ka4 40.Ne4 Re6 41.Nc3+ Ka5 42.Nc2 Ka6 43.Nd4, 1-0.

March 7th, 2003

EDDA RAPIDPLAY: M GUREVICH WINS IN ICELAND

THERE'S one thing everyone knows about chess and Iceland. In 1972 Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky fought out what turned literally into a USA vs. USSR cold war battle of the mind in Reykjavik, which conveniently was strategically placed in-between the two superpowers.

The enormous worldwide interest created by this epic encounter led to a chess explosion, especially in Iceland. Over the years, many chess fans would make the pilgrimage to the Icelandic Chess Federation's headquarters in Reykjavik just to see the hallowed shrine of the original table and chess set used in that epic 1972 encounter.

Last year on Icelandic TV, when Nigel Short and Hannes Stefansson played a six-game match using for the first time since 1972 "that" original table and chess set from the world championship match (sacrilege, some would say), the nation's Parliamentary Speaker, Fridrik Olafsson, announced, "Things are really happening in Icelandic chess again." And if anyone should know, then it is 68-year-old Olafsson, who in the late 1950s became Iceland's first grandmaster of chess, going on to become a Candidate for the world crown -- and for an all but brief period the President of FIDE.

Immediately following the Hrokurinn Chess Festival, most of the competitors moved across the capital city to the Reykjavik City Theatre, where a few days later they were joined by more of the world's top elite for another new exciting event: the Edda Rapidplay, sponsored by Iceland's largest publishing house with a prize fund of $30,000. In conjunction with the Hrokruinn Chess Club, Edda is also involved in a major scheme to take chess into schools in Iceland.

The tournament was decided by a swashbuckling final round encounter between Hrokruinn Festival winner Alexei Shirov and the Belgium champion Mikhail Gurevich. With an unbeaten score of 8/9, Gurevich won the $10,000 first prize by beating Shirov to deprive the Latvian (who plays under the Spanish flag) of an Icelandic double.

Final standings: 1 GM M Gurevich (Belgium) 8/9; 2-3 GM I Sokolov (Holland), GM E Sutovsky (Israel) 7; 4-12 GM J Lautier (France), GM A Shirov (Spain), GM M Adams (England), L Van Wely (Holland), GM P Nikolic, (Bosnia), GM J Ehlvest (Estonia), GM E Bacrot (France), GM V Bologan (Moldavia), GM J Votava (Czech Rep) 6.5.

A Shirov - M Gurevich
Edda Rapidplay, (9)
French Defense
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 dxe4 5.Nxe4 Nbd7 6.Nxf6+ Nxf6 7.Nf3 h6 8.Be3 a6 9.Bd3 b6 10.Qe2 Bb7 11.0-0-0 Qd5 12.Kb1 b5 13.Ne5 Bd6 14.c4 bxc4 15.Bxc4 Qa5 16.Rhg1 Rb8 17.Ka1 Bxe5 18.dxe5 Qxe5 19.f4 Qa5 20.Bd4 0-0 21.g4 Ne4 22.g5 hxg5 23.Bd3 Bd5 24.Bb1 Rb4 25.a3 Rb3 26.Rd3 Rxd3 27.Qxd3 Rb8 28.Bxg7 Kxg7 29.Qd4+ Kf8 30.Bxe4 Qb5 31.Bxd5 exd5 32.Re1 c5 33.Qd2 d4 34.f5 f6 35.b3 c4 36.b4 c3 37.Qf2 Qd3 38.Re6 Qd1+, 0-1.

March 6, 2003

REYKJAVIK: SHIROV DOMINATES!

MENTION "Reykjavik" in chess circles and immediately you'll conjure up starry-eyed memories of the 1972 world championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, the saga of which captivated the world as it thrust the game for the first time into the media spotlight.

The enormous worldwide interest created by that epic cold war battle of the mind indirectly led to a global growth in chess -- particularly in Iceland itself. Whilst there are several stronger chess nations overall, the champion per capita is tiny Iceland, which from a population of just over 278,000 can boast no fewer than nine grandmasters.

By far the strongest club in the country is the Hrokurinn Chess Club based in downtown Reykjavik, which surprisingly was only formed four years ago. The club has now won every domestic title in this short space of time, and through a high-profile chess festival staged in the grandiose setting of the Reykjavik Art Museum, they aim