2nd FIDE WORLD CUP: ANAND VICTORIOUS!

IT was a case of déjà vu at the 2nd FIDE World Cup held at the Ramoji Film City in India, as defending champions Viswanathan Anand of India and Xu Yuhua of China retained their respective men’s and women’s crowns after resounding victories over Rustam Kasimdzhanov of Uzbekistan and Antoaneta Stefanova of Bulgaria.

After his shaky start following a shock second round loss to fellow countryman Krishnan Sasikirian, world number three and top seed Anand reasserted his authority in the tournament to reach the final after beating the Russian duo of Vladimir Malakhov (1.5-0.5) and Alexey Dreev (3.5-2.5 after a playoff) in the knockout stages. In the final, Anand made short work of Kasimdzhanov to take the $46,000 first prize after an easy 1.5-0.5 victory.

The victory was Anand's third major title of the year after winning the Eurotel Trophy in Prague and the Mainz Chess Classic in Mainz, Germany. He also led the World team to victory against Russia in the Match of the New Century at Moscow -- results that have gone a long way to reestablish the Indian No.1 as a powerful force to reckon with after his dip in form last year.

Yet, despite India having a strong (and youthful) squad for the forthcoming Chess Olympiad in Bled, Anand, whose inclusion would make India outside favorites for the Hamilton-Russell Cup, is still not interested in participating in the top team tournament as he does not agree with the format to the tournament.

If Anand had played along with the other players like Sasikiran and Harikrishna, India could have been a tough team to beat. Anand however, believes the format does not give a fair chance to all teams. At the last Olympiad in 2000, India, without Anand, had finished eighth -- their best performance so far in this international team tournament.

China’s dominance of the women’s game continues as defending champion Xu Yuhua won the $16,000 first prize after beating Antoaneta Stefanova, the European Women’s champion, 1.5-0.5 in a similarly one-sided final.

V Anand - R Kasimdzhanov
FIDE World Cup Final, (2)
Petroff’s Defense
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 c6 9.Qc2 Na6 10.a3 Re8 11.Nc3 Bf5 12.Re1 h6 13.c5 Bc7 14.Bd2 Ba5 15.Bf4 Bxc3 16.bxc3 Nc7 17.h3 Ne6 18.Bh2 N6g5 19.Ne5 f6 20.Ng4 Qa5 21.Ne3 Be6 22.Rac1 Nxh3+ 23.gxh3 Bxh3 24.Nc4 Qxc3 25.Qxc3 Nxc3 26.Nd6 Rxe1+ 27.Rxe1 b5 28.Re3 Bg4 29.Bf5, 1-0.

October 18, 2002

2nd FIDE WORLD CUP

JUST like football's World Cup, the 2nd FIDE World Cup tournament taking place in India at the Ramaji Film City -- a movie-making center in southern Andhra Pradesh state -- is split into four seeded qualifying groups of six players with the top two going forward to a straight knockout competition.

After a shock early setback when he was beaten by the young Indian rising star Krishnan Sasikiran, defending champion Vishy Anand took revenge on his fellow countryman as he captured the second qualifying spot in Group C ahead of Sasikiran following a dramatic final round.

While top seed Anand fought his way back into the tournament, other top stars weren't so lucky and in the $280,000 tournament. First to be shown the door was the Russian second seed Alexander Morozevich, who slumped to final place in Group D with a final score of 1/5. More shocks were soon to follow as third seed Vassily Ivanchuk, needing to win in the final round to qualify, was outplayed by Group A winner Vladimir Malakhov.

Quarterfinal qualifiers
Men:
Group A: Vladimir Malakhov (Russia) 3.5; Ye Jiangchuan (China) 3.
Group B: Alexey Dreev (Russia) 3.5; Sergei Rublevski (Russia) 3.
Group C: Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) 3.5; Viswanathan Anand (India) 3.
Group D: Alexander Belyavski (Slovenia) 3.5; Nigel Short (England) 3.5.

Women:
Group A: Svetlana Matveeva (Russia) 3.5; Li Ruofan (China) 3.
Group B: Antoneta Stefanova (Bulgaria) 4.5; Xu Yuhua (China) 3.5.
Group C: Koneru Humpy (India) 4.5; Irina Krush (USA) 3.5.
Group D: Subbaraman Meenakshi (India) 3.5; Wang Pin (China) 3.5.

V Malakhov - V Ivanchuk
FIDE World Cup, (5)
Exchange Slav
1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.cxd5 cxd5 4.d4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Bf4 Bf5 7.e3 e6 8.Qb3 Bb4 9.Bb5 0-0 10.0-0 Bxc3 11.Bxc6 Bxb2 12.Bxb7 Bxa1 13.Rxa1 Rc8 14.Bxc8 Qxc8 15.Qa3 Qb7 16.Rc1 Rc8 17.Rxc8+ Qxc8 18.Ne5 Nd7 19.Nxd7 Qxd7 20 Qa6 Bc2 21.Bb8 h5 22.Bxa7 Qa4 23.Qxa4 Bxa4 24.f3 f6 25.Kf2 Bc6 26.Ke1 Kf7 27.Kd2 Ke8 28.Kc3 Bb5 29.Kb4 Bf1 30.g3 Be2 31.f4 Kd7 32.Kc5 Bd1 33.f5 Bc2 34.fxe6+ Kxe6 35.Bb8 g5 36.Bc7 h4 37.gxh4 gxh4 38.h3 Bf5 39.a4 Bxh3 40.a5 Bf1 41.Kb6, 1-0.

October 16, 2002

2nd FIDE WORLD CUP

THERE'S no shortage of top-flight chess action around the world, as the second FIDE World Cup tournament, with a total prize fund of $280,000, gets underway in India at the Ramaji Film City, a movie-making centre in the southern Andhra Pradesh state.

Despite the absence of otherwise engaged world stars such as Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Michael Adams, Peter Leko and Ruslan Ponomariov, the 48-player field (24 in the men's section with a top prize of $46,000, and 24 in the women's section with a top prize of $16,000) includes many top names such as defending champion and top seed Viswanathan Anand of India, Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine, Alexander Morozevich of Russia and Nigel Short of England will take part in the event that was launched in China two years ago.

Praising the strong Indian contingent on the eve of the tournament, defending champion Anand said they "are doing well" and this would be a good opportunity for them to prove themselves. Local hero Anand has ruled the roost in his homeland since the early 1990s when he became one of the world's elite players, who went on in 1995 to unsuccessfully challenge Kasparov for his world title.

As early as round two, Anand's earlier comments proved prophetic as he suffered a shock defeat at the hands of the young Indian No.2, Krishnan Sasikiran.

K Sasikiran - V Anand
FIDE World Cup, (2)
Reti's Opening
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 d5 3.Bg2 c6 4.0-0 Bg4 5.d3 Nbd7 6.Nbd2 e6 7.b3 Bc5 8.Bb2 0-0 9.a3 a5 10.e4 b5 11.Qe1 Ne8 12.h3 Bh5 13.Kh1 Nc7 14.c4 dxc4 15.d4 Be7 16.bxc4 b4 17.Qe3 Na6 18.Rfc1 e5 19.g4 Bg6 20.dxe5 Re8 21.Nb3 Nac5 22.axb4 Nxb3 23.Qxb3 Bxb4 24.Qe3 h5 25.g5 Bc5 26.Bd4 Qe7 27.Rd1 a4 28.e6 Bxd4 29.Nxd4 Nf8 30.f4 Nxe6 31.f5 Nxd4 32.Qxd4 Bh7 33.h4 Red8 34.Rxa4 Rab8 35.Qa1 Rxd1+ 36.Qxd1 Qe5 37.Rb4 Ra8 38.Ra4 Rb8 39.Ra3 Qf4 40.Qe1 g6 41.f6 Kh8 42.Qg3 Qc1+ 43.Kh2 Rb1 44.Qd6 Bg8 45.Kh3 Rb8 46.Rg3 Qb2 47.c5 Rb3 48.Rxb3 Qxb3+ 49.Kh2 Qe3 50.Qf8 Qf4+ 51.Kg1 Qe3+ 52.Kf1 Qd3+ 53.Kf2, 1-0.

October 11, 2002

11th MONARCH ASSURANCE OPEN

NOW in its eleventh edition, one of the highlights of the British circuit is unquestionably the pilgrimage over to the Isle Of Man for the annual Monarch Assurance International Open, held at the Cherry Orchard Hotel in Port Erin.

In little over a decade, due to the demise of the likes of the Lloyds Bank Masters, enthusiastic local organizer Dennis Hemsley has turned what was originally a “little club tournament” into the strongest (and richest) Open tournament within the UK.

This year’s event proved to be his best yet, with the biggest turnout of GMs and IMs (and many making their first visit) so far - the 64-player field in the Open including 19 grandmasters; so many, in fact, that the accelerated pairings for the opening round included more than one all-grandmaster clash.

Out of the GM logjam that was inevitable at the top with such a strong line-up, there emerged a new “Monarch King” with Russian GM Vladimir Epishin, making his first appearance, winning the first prize of £2,000 with an unbeaten score of 7/9.

Final Standings: 1 GM V Epishin (Russia) 7/9; 2-4 GM R Dautov (Germany), GM D Fridman (Latvia), GM S Sulkis (Lithuania) 6.5; 5-9 GM A Goloshchapov (Ukraine), GM A Kogan (Israel), GM V Neverov (Ukraine), GM M Hebden (England), GM Y Shulman (Belarus) 6. Scottish scores: IM Mark Orr (Wandering Dragons) 5; Alan Grant (Cathcart) 4.5; Michael Shepherd (Bon Accord) 3.

V Epishin - B Lalic
11th Monarch Assurance Open, (6)
Queen’s Gambit Accepted
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Be7 4.Nf3 Nf6 5.Qc2 dxc4 6.e4 Nc6 7.Be3 Ng4 8.Bxc4 Nb4 9.Qe2 c5 10.a3 Nxe3 11.fxe3 Nc6 12.d5 Na5 13.Bb5+ Kf8 14.0-0 a6 15.Ba4 b5 16.Bc2 g6 17.Rad1 Qc7 18.e5 exd5 19.Nxd5 Qa7 20.Be4 Rb8 21.Qe1 Nc4 22.b3 Nb6 23.Qg3 Be6 24.Ng5 Bxg5 25.Qxg5 Nxd5 26.Bxd5 Qe7 27.Rf6 h6 28.Qxg6 Rd8 29.Rdf1 Bxd5 30.e6 Bxe6 31.Rxe6 Rd1 32.Rxe7 Rxf1+ 33.Kxf1 fxg6 34.Rc7 h5 35.Ke2 h4 36.Rxc5 Kg7 37.Rc7+ Kf6 38.Ra7 h3 39.gxh3 Kg5 40.Rxa6 Rxh3 41.Ra5 Rxh2+ 42.Kf3 Kh4 43.Rxb5 g5 44.Rb4+ Kh3 45.Rg4, 1-0.

October 4, 2002

WORLD’S TOP 10 RATED PLAYERS

IN July 1971, when the first compilation of FIDE'S International Rating
List was produced using Prof. Arpad Elo's statistical evaluation, the list contained the names of only 600 players.

By 1977 the list had expanded to 1600 as the rating threshold was reduced to 2200, and further still in the early 1990s as it was reduced to 2000. Now, in a radical step to dramatically increase their only viable source of income, the governing body is gradually decreasing the rating floor to 1000 as they foresee a Rating List in the near future containing the names of 500,000 players.

The publication of the October 1st list, which contained 42,620 names, took the first step in that process as it included for the first time players rated 1800 and above. Regardless of how many names are actually on the list, the important part will always be who is up or down in the top ten.

With the “big three” of Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand non-movers at the head of the list, the only seismic increase came from Peter Leko, whose big win at the Dortmund Candidates tournament to become the official challenger for Kramik's world title moved the young Hungarian up from 2717 to 2743 to become the World No.6. Despite Evgeny Bareev's rating jumping by 11-points due to his performance also at Dortmund, the Russian unfortunately finds himself moving down a place due to Leko's rise.

The increase in the middle order of the top ten also puts pressure on
Michael Adams's precarious World No.4 spot, as the trio of Topalov, Leko and Ponomariov, all on 2743, are within easy striking distance being just two-points behind the British No.1.

World Top Ten: 1 G Kasparov (Russia) 2838 (=); 2 V Kramnik (Russia)
2807 (=); 3 V Anand (India) 2755 (=); 4 M Adams (England) 2745 (-7); 5 V Topalov (Bulgaria) 2743 (-2); 6 P Leko (Hungary) 2743 (+26); 7 R
Ponomariov (Ukraine) 2743 (=); 8 E Bareev (Russia) 2737 (+11); 9 V
Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 2709 (-2); 10 A Morozevich (Russia) 2707 (-9).

October 3, 2002

JUDIT POLGAR

LAST month at the Russia vs. the Rest of the World match in Moscow, top female player Judit Polgar, 26, from Hungary, achieved a life-long dream by breaking down the barriers to become the first woman to beat Garry Kasparov in competitive play.

"Success in chess gives you a real high," she said shortly after her victory over the world No.1. "But creativity I like the most. There is a lot of theory in chess, but you can find some fairytale ways to play. It can be beautiful."

However the secret of Polgar's success can be traced to an experiment in her childhood, when she was "toughened up" at a very early age by taking the men on at their own game as she studiously avoided playing in all-female events -- something she continues to this day.

Polgar started playing chess when she was four-and-a-half years old.
Her father, Laszlo, was a keen chess player and he and his wife, Klara, nurtured an interest in the game in his three daughters who all went on to become exceptional talents in the game. Teachers of psychology and languages, they wanted to prove that genius could be created rather than inherited. By the age of 15, Judit, the youngest of the Polgar brood, had broken an age record held by the great Bobby Fischer for over 30 years when she became the youngest player in the world to become a grandmaster of the game.

At the recent European Club Championships in Greece, Polgar, the only female player in the competition, and the only female player in the top world's top 100, was in serious contention for an individual medal after turning in a remarkable performance on board two behind Vasily Ivanchuk for the third-placed Warsaw team Polonia Plus GSM, when she scored 5.5/7 (78.6%) against some of the toughest players in the world -- and by being creative.

A Motylev - J Polgar
European Club Ch., (7)
Sicilian Defense
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qb6 5.Nb3 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.Qe2 Bb4 8.Bd2 0-0 9.a3 Be7 10.0-0-0 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 exd5 13.Bc3 Be6 14.Qf3 Rac8 15.Qg3 g6 16.h4 Rfd8 17.h5 d4 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Nxd4 Nxd4 20.Rxd4 Rxc3 21.bxc3 Rxd4 22.cxd4 Qxd4 23.c3 Qc5 24.Kd2 Bg5+ 25.Kc2 Kg7 26. Bd3 Bf6 27.Rb1 Qxc3+ 28.Kd1 Bg5 29.Ke2 Bg4+ 30.Kf1 Bf4, 0-1.

October 1, 2002

EUROPEAN CLUB CHAMPIONSHIPS

IN one of the tightest finishes of recent years in the European Club
Championships, the chess world's answer to the Champions' League, Bosna Sarajevo with top GMs Michael Adams and Alexei Shirov on its top boards, took the 2002 title in Kallinthea in Greece by the narrowest of margins.

The championship took a dramatic twist in the final round as Norilsky Nikel, the defending champions from Russia, sensationally burst the bubble of the French top seeds, NAO Chess Club, who looked destined to win the title. After beating Bosna Sarajevo in a tight, 3.5-2.5 fifth round win, NAO, who were playing without world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who had just arrived in Bahrain for his $1 million man vs. machine showdown with Deep Fritz, looked odds on for their first title thanks to replacement top board Alexander Grischuk, who defeated Adams to be the only victor of the match.

Their good form ran out in the final round, which proved to be one of the most decisive encounters of the championship with five wins and only one draw, as Norilsky defeated NAO 3.5-2.5 to tie for first with Bosna on 12 match points. However, by just a half a game point, Bosna took the title with their game score of 27.5 to Norilsky's 27 points.

And, with just 11 match points, the last round disaster for NAO also allowed Polonia Plus GSM to take third as the Warsaw team had a much superior game point tally of 29.5 to NAO's 24. Despite turning in the best TPR of the championship with 2814, NAO top board Grischuk, who scored 5/7 (71.4%), was deprived of the board one individual medal by Polonia's Vasily Ivanchuk, who top-scored on board one with 4.5/6 (75%).

ONE of the top performers for newly crowned European Club Champions
Bosna Sarajevo was second board Alexei Shirov, whose unbeaten score of 5/7 (71.4%) in Kallinthea, Greece, was one of the highlights of a superb team performance.

The week also ended on a double high for Shirov, with the publication of the latest FIDE Rapid Rating List that showed the former Latvian leapfrogging bitter enemy Garry Kasparov to head the new list. Although Shirov, Kasparov and Michael Adams are all tied at the top on a rating of 279, Shirov nominally takes the No.1 spot due to having played more Rapid games.

Since the start of the year, Shirov has scored 33/49 in rapid games in strong events, such as Monaco, Dubai, Prague, Dortmund (tie-breaks), Villarrobledo and Russia vs. ROW in Moscow, against an average opposition of 2654 for a 2782 performance. And, were it not for the fact that the organizers in Villarrbledo -- ironically his best result of all in his new homeland -- had omitted to send in the results of the popular Spanish tournament, Shirov would have had outright first on his own.

In stark contrast, Kasparov lost 9 points on the new list mainly due to his uncharacteristically poor performance at the recent Russia vs. Rest of the World match, which turned out to be one of his worst results ever in the game.

Top ten Rapid list: 1 A Shirov (Spain) 279; 2 G Kasparov (Russia) 279; 3 M Adams (England) 279; 4 V Anand (India) 278; 5 V Topalov (Bulgaria) 277; 6 B Gelfand (Israel) 277; 7 P Leko (Hungary) 275; 8 A Morozevich (Russia) 274; 9 V Ivanchuk (Ukraine) 274; 10 V Tkachiev (France) 273.

A Grischuk - M Adams
European Club Ch., (5)
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.Bf4 dxc4 15.Bxc4 Bd6 16.Rxe8+ Qxe8 17.Ng5 Bg6 18.Bxd6 cxd6 19.h4 Qe7 20.Qg4 h6 21.Nh3 Qe4 22.Qg3 Na5 23.Ba2 Qd3 24.Rf1 Qxg3 25.fxg3 Rc8 26.h5 Bd3 27.Bxf7+ Kf8 28.Rf2 Ke7 29.Bd5 Rf8 30.Nf4 Bh7 31.Ba2 Kd7 32.Ne6 Rxf2 33.Kxf2 Bg8 34.Nf8+ Ke8 35.Bxg8 Kxf8 36.Bd5 Ke7 37.Ke3 Kf6 38.Kf4 Nc6 39.Bxc6 bxc6 40.c4 Ke6 41.g4 Kf6 42.g5+ hxg5+ 43.Kg4, 1-0.

M Adams - E Bareev
European Club Ch., (3)
French Defense
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nd2 c5 4.exd5 Qxd5 5.dxc5 Bxc5 6.Ngf3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qc6 8.Qe2 Nbd7 9.Nb3 a6 10.a4 Bd6 11.0-0 Qc7 12.a5 0-0 13.Re1 e5 14.Nbd2 h6 15.b3 Re8 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Qxe4 Nc5 18.Qh4 Be6 19.Nd2 Rad8 20.h3 Bf5 21.Ra2 Bg6 22.Nf1 Qc6 23.Ne3 Be7 24.Qg3 Ne4 25.Qf3 Bc5 26.Ra4 Bd4 27.Nd1 Rd6 28.Be3 Bxe3 29.Qxe3 Nd2 30.Qc3 Be4 31.Ne3 Red8 (31…Bxg2!) 32.Ng4 Bxg2 33.Nxe5 Nf3+ 34.Qxf3 Bxf3 35.Bxf7+ Kh7 36.Nxc6 Rxc6 37.Rf4 Bd1 38.Re7 b6 39.axb6 Rxb6 40.Rc7 Rd2 41.c3 a5 42.h4 h5 43.Rc5 Rd3 44.Bd5 Kh6 45.Rf8 Rg6+ 46.Kf1 Rg4 47.Rh8+ Kg6 48.Rc6+ Kf5 49.Rxh5+,1-0.

A Shirov - A Volokitin
European Club Ch., (2)
Pirc Defense
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.f4 Nf6 5.Nf3 0-0 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.e5 dxe5 8.fxe5 Nh5 9.Be3 Bg4 10.Be2 f6 11.exf6 exf6 12.0-0 Qd7 13.d5 Ne7 14.Ne5 fxe5 15.Rxf8+ Rxf8 16.Bxg4 Qe8 17.Bxa7 Nc8 18.Bc5 Nd6 19.Bxh5 gxh5 20.Bxd6 cxd6 21.Ne4 Rf4 22.Qd3 Qg6 23.Re1 h4 24.h3 Bh6 25.c4 b6 26.b4 Rf7 27.a4 Bf4 28.a5 bxa5 29.bxa5 Ra7 30.Qb3 Ra8 31.a6 Rf8 32.a7 Qf7 33.Qb8 Bg3 34.Ra1, 1-0.

September 27, 2002

THE DEATH AND THE ART OF EDUARD GUFELD

ONE of the most colorful -- and controversial -- characters of the chess scene, GM Eduard Gufeld, died aged 66 from complications following a massive stroke on Monday afternoon, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles.

Eduard Gufeld was born in the Ukraine on 19 March 1936 but moved to America after the break-up of the Soviet Union in the mid-1990s. A very combative and romantic player over the board, during his peak years in the 1950s and '60s, Gufeld proved to be a dangerous opponent with memorable wins to his name against top players and world champions such as Tal, Spassky, Smyslov, Korchnoi and Bronstein.

However, this romantic and dangerous style he had developed at the board often proved to be a liability and he never made it to the elite Soviet inner-circle of top players. Instead, Gufeld concentrated on writing and nurturing female talents in the game, such as Maya Chiburdanidze, who under his guidance went on to become the Women's World Champion in 1978. As a Soviet chess coach, Gufeld was the trainer of the all-powerful Soviet team that dominated the Chess Olympiad in the 1970s and '80s.

Many allegations -- never denied and never properly proven -- were made against Gufeld that he was in fact an informant for the KGB, who would report back to his masters on the conduct of chess players; often a bad report would lead to them seeing their privileges being revoked.

THE ART OF EDUARD GUFELD

Gufeld was also a prolific writer on the game, and had more than a 100 titles to his name. Gufeld regarded chess as a true art form, and his most recent publication was a book for Batsford's entitled “The Search For Mona Lisa.” The theme is Gufeld's pursuit of a masterpiece, his Mona Lisa. He reckoned he'd painted it with today's game with Bagirov as the model, from their encounter at the USSR Championships in 1973 -- a game which, according to Bagirov, Gufeld "bought furniture for his entire flat" from the many fees he received for annotating their game in various magazines.

FOR many, the game of chess can be divided into three components --namely sport, science and art. However for Eduard "Eddie" Gufeld, chess was always an art form. "He was motivated always by a love of the art of chess, the beauty of the game, "commented American master and close friend Anthony Saidy on hearing the sad news of his death.

During his tenure as Chairman of the FIDE Commission on Chess Art, Eddie was instrumental in reviving the brilliancy prize in top tournaments. It was his contention that the real winner wasn't necessarily the player who would grind out a no risks first place but, the one who played the most beautiful game. This was something Eddie could easily relate to -- he was an erratic player who was capable of beating the world's elite in dazzling style one day, only to blunder to a mere master the next.

A prolific writer, Gufeld had many witty anecdotes from his travels and adventures in chess -- and mainly at his own expense. One story goes that Gufeld had never met world champion Mikhail Botvinnik (who was the paradigm of chess as science), and then one day he saw the great man looking at him whilst he was playing -- as Eddie would only too regularly do -- a risky looking sacrifice. Botvinnik turned and whispered something to fellow Soviet giant Efim Geller. "What did he say?" eagerly asked Gufeld after the game. "Who is this yobbo?" replied Geller.

He participated in eight ultra-strong USSR Championships, his highest placing coming in 1963 when, amongst a field of Soviet giants that included Spassky, Stein, Bronstein, Geller, Polugayevsky, Korchnoi and Taimanov, he scored 11/19 to take seventh place. Playing in his first USSR Championships at Tbilisi whilst still doing his army service in 1959, Gufeld played what can only be described as a Tal-like sacrificial game against the great Mikhail Tal himself -- a shock result from the closing rounds that deprived the "Riga Magician" of a hat-trick of Championship gold medals.

E Gufeld - M Tal
USSR Ch., 1959
Exchange Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.d3 Nd7 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.Nc4 Bf6 9.Qe2 c5 10.Bd2 0-0 11.g4 b5 12.Ne3 g6 13.h4 Nb8 14.0-0-0 Nc6 15.Rdg1 Be6 16.Kb1 Nb4 17.Bxb4 cxb4 18.g5 Bg7 19.Ng4 f5 20.gxf6 Bxg4 21.Rxg4 Qxf6 22.Rh3 a5 23.h5 Ra6 24.hxg6 hxg6 25.Rg2 b3 26.axb3 a4 27.Nh4 axb3 28.Rxg6 Rfa8 29.cxb3 Qf7 30.Rxg7+ Kxg7 31.Nf5+ Kg8 32.Qg4+ Rg6 33.Ne7+ Kg7 34.Nxg6 Qxb3 35.Nxe5+ Kf6 36.Qg6+ Kxe5 37.d4+, 1-0.

V Bagirov - E Gufeld
USSR Ch, 1973
King's Indian Defense
1.d4 g6 2.c4 Bg7 3.Nc3 d6 4.e4 Nf6 5.f3 0-0 6.Be3 Nc6 7.Nge2 Rb8 8.Qd2 a6 9.Bh6 b5 10.h4 e5 11.Bxg7 Kxg7 12.h5 Kh8 13.Nd5 bxc4 14.hxg6 fxg6 15.Qh6 Nh5 16.g4 Rxb2 17.gxh5 g5 18.Rg1 g4 19.0-0-0 Rxa2 20.Nef4 exf4 21.Nxf4 Rxf4 22.Qxf4 c3 23.Bc4 Ra3 24.fxg4 Nb4 25.Kb1 Be6 26.Bxe6 Nd3 27.Qf7 Qb8+ 28.Bb3 Rxb3+ 29.Kc2 Nb4+ 30.Kxb3 Nd5+ 31.Kc2 Qb2+ 32.Kd3 Qb5+, 0-1.

September 25, 2002

THE EUROPEAN CLUB CUP

THE chess world's answer to the Champions League, the European Club Cup competition, takes place all this week in the sunny Mediterranean resort of Kallinthea in Greece, as 45 top club teams battle it out for the title.

Played over seven rounds with six-board teams, many of the world's top players compete in what is regarded as the strongest gathering of club sides in the chess calendar. Despite the absence of world champion Vladimir Kramnik, who is finalizing his preparations for next month's $1 million man vs. machine showdown in Bahrain against Deep Fritz, NAO Chess Club, the French champions sponsored by the Syrian-born billionaires Madame Nahed Ojjeh, nevertheless remain top seeds with an impressive line up that includes Svidler, Grischuk, Lautier, Bacrot, Fressinet, Nataf and Horvath.

They'll be chased all the way by second seeds and favorites in the absences of Kramnik, Bosna Sarajevo, who have an equally impressive line up of Adams, Shirov, Sokolov, Georgiev, Movsessian and Radjabov. Money talks in this competition with many of the players being hired guns, and last year's Russian champions, Norilsky Nikel, find themselves slightly weakened as some of their players sought better deals elsewhere. Despite this, Norilsky are third seeds and have amongst their squad Bareev, Dreev, Malakhov, Svjagincev, Rustemov and Dolmatov.

There are two English clubs (Barbican 4NCL and Bristol), one from Wales (Cardiff), two from Ireland (Bray and Crumlin) and none from Scotland. The British teams are non-professional and aren't likely to win the tournament.

B Kantsler - J Lautier
European Club Cup, (1)
Nimzo-Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.Nf3 c5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.a3 Bxc3 9.bxc3 Qc7 10.h3 dxc4 11.Bxc4 e5 12.Ba2 Bf5 13.Nh4 Bd7 14.d5 Na5 15.c4 Ne4 16.Bb2 Rae8 17.f4 Qb6 18.Rb1 Qh6 19.Qe1 exf4 20.Rxf4 b6 21.Nf5 Bxf5 22.Rxf5 Nd6 23.Rf4 Qxf4 24.exf4 Rxe1+ 25.Rxe1 Naxc4 26.Bc1 Na5 27.Re7 Nab7 28.Bb2 Re8 29.Rd7 f6 30.Kf2 Kf8 31.Bb1 h6 32.g4 Re7 33.Rxe7 Kxe7 34.Kf3 Nc4 35.Bc1 Nbd6 36.h4 b5 37.Ke2 Nb6 38.Be3 Nxd5 39.Bxc5 Nc3+ 40.Kd3 Nxb1 41.Kc2 Nxa3+ 42.Bxa3 Ke6 43.f5+ Ke5 44.Kd3 a5, 0-1.

September 20, 2002

KASPAROV vs. DEEP JUNIOR MATCH POSTPONED!

AFTER weeks of indecision, the plug has finally been pulled on next month's $1 million match-up in Jerusalem between former world chess champion Garry Kasparov and the Israeli-programmed world computer champion Deep Junior.

"We regret the delay, but all of the parties involved have agreed that there was not enough time to give such a prestigious event the required presentation," said FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov who is also the match sponsor. The match, which was to be Kasparov's first encounter in public with a computer since his historic loss in 1997 to IBM's Deep Blue, has now been tentatively rescheduled for December 1. "I've waited five years for my revenge, so what is two more months?" added Kasparov -- though no doubt through gritted teeth at the embarrassment of having to postpone.

Curiously the match, which was intended as a "spoiler" and set to start the day before next month's $1 million "Brains in Bahrain" showdown between Kasparov's nemesis Vladimir Kramnik and Junior's arch-rival Deep Fritz, had the opposite effect of simply giving the Bahrain match a much higher-profile as the media focused their attention on man vs. machine encounters.

September 19, 2002

IMRE KONIG MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT

STEEPED in history and tradition, over the years the Mechanic Institute Chess Club in San Francisco has become regarded as one of the finest clubs in the USA.

Formerly known as the Mercantile Library, the club was formed in 1854 and is thus the oldest chess meeting place in America. Among the great masters who have given exhibitions and lectures at the institute are Johannes Zukertort, Harry Pillsbury, Dr. Emmanuel Lasker, Geza Maroczy, Frank Marshall, Jose Raul Capablanca, Dr. Alexander Alekhine, Dr. Max Euwe and Svetozar Gligoric.

Recently the club paid tribute to former member Imre Konig (1901-1992), with a memorial tournament held on the tenth anniversary of his death with sponsorship bequest from his estate. The ten-player category 12 tournament (average Elo 2538 -- thus making it the strongest round robin chess tournament held in the United States in the 21st century) was an interesting international mix that also combined youth and experience.

Despite losing twice, IM Varizhan Akobian, 17, from Glendale,
California, the 2002 Samford Scholarship award winner, made all the running in the tournament with some energetic play to take first place a half point ahead of the field. Not only did Akobian take first, but his winning score of 5.5/9 also gave him his second GM norm to add to the one he recently got during his equal first at the 2002 World Open in Philadelphia.

Final standings: 1 IM V Akobian (USA) 5.5/9; 2-5 IM H Nakamura (USA), GM S Atalik (BIH), GM A Baburin (Ireland), GM N De Firmian (USA) 5; 6-7 GM A Yermolinsky (USA), GM A Wojtkiewicz (Poland) 4.5; 8-9 GM J Fedorowicz (USA), GM Y Shulman (Belarus) 4; GM W Browne (USA) 2.5

V Akobian - W Browne
Imre Konig Memorial, (7)
Queen's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.e3 b6 4.Bd3 Bb7 5.0-0 c5 6.c4 Be7 7.Nc3 cxd4 8.exd4 d5 9.b3 Nc6 10.Be3 Rc8 11.Rc1 0-0 12.Qd2 Nb4 13.Be2 Ne4 14.Qb2 a6 15.a3 Nc6 16.Rfd1 Nxc3 17.Rxc3 Qd6 18.c5 bxc5 19.dxc5 Qb8 20.Qb1 h6 21.b4 e5 22.Rxd5 Nd4 23.Nxd4 Bxd5 24.Nf5 Rfe8 25.Bxa6 Rc6 26.Bc4 Bxc4 27.Rxc4 Bg5 28.Qe4 Ra6 29.h4 Bxe3 30.Qxe3 Qa8 31.Rg4 Rg6 32.Qg3 Kh7 33.h5 Rxg4 34.Qxg4 Rg8 35.Nd6 g6 36.Qf3 Qxf3 37.gxf3 gxh5+ 38.Kh2 Rd8 39.b5 Kg6, 1-0.

H Nakamura - V Akobian
Imre Konig Memorial, (6)
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 Nd5 9.Bd3 Nxe3 10.fxe3 Bd6 11.e4 e5 12.dxe5 Bc5 13.Bc4 Qe7 14.Qd2 0-0 15.0-0-0 c6 16.Rhf1 b5 17.Bb3 a5 18.a3 a4 19.Ba2 b4 20.axb4 a3 21.b3 Bxb4 22.c3 Ba5 23.b4 Bc7 24.Nd4 Qxe5 25.Nxc6 Qe8 26.Nd4 Bg4 27.Rde1 Be5 28.h3 Be6 29.Nxe6 fxe6 30.Rf5 Bf6 31.Kb1 Kh8 32.Rf3 Be5 33.Rd1 Qc6 34.Rd3 Rac8 35.c4 Qb6 36.c5 Rxc5 37.Rxa3 Rcc8 38.Rd3 Kh7 39.Rb3 Rf2 40.Qd3 Rxg2, 0-1.

September 18, 2002

THE ICELANDIC CHAMPIONSHIP

MENTION "Iceland" to a chess-player and immediately you'll conjure up images of the famous Reykjavik 1972 encounter between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.

The country has literally been chess crazy ever since that fateful Cold-War encounter exactly thirty-years ago. Whilst there are several stronger chess nations, the number of chess grandmasters in Iceland per capita of population even dwarfs that of the former USSR and currently Russia. From a population of just over 275,000, they boast no fewer than nine grandmasters of the game; one of which, their first, Fridrik Olafsson, is now the speaker of the Icelandic parliament.

Chess is held in such high esteem in the country that it's put on a level with the performing arts and sports, with all professional chess players receiving a government state pension to subsidize their earnings. Such is their quirkiness for the game that when an opinion poll was commissioned a few years ago on which celebrity Icelanders would most like to spend an evening with, they shunned Madonna in preference for English Grandmaster Nigel Short!

The Icelandic Championships recently ended in Seltjarnarnes, with last year's joint winner, Hannes Stefansson, going one better this time round. Not only did he win with a score of 9/11, but for most of the tournament it was only a question of whether he would "do a Fischer" by scoring 100%. After getting off to an unbelievable start of 8/8, Stefansson was brought back down to earth in the ninth round when he lost to last year's other co-winner, Helgi Gretarsson. He then drew his final two rounds to take the title one-point clear of the field.

H Stefansson - S Bjornsson
Icelandic Ch., (4)
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 Bb7 10.d4 Re8 11.Nbd2 Bf8 12.d5 Ne7 13.Nf1 h6 14.N3h2 c6 15.dxc6 Bxc6 16.Qf3 d5 17.Ng4 Qd6 18.exd5 Nexd5 19.Rd1 e4 20.Nxf6+ Qxf6 21.Qxf6 Nxf6 22.Bf4 Rad8 23.Ne3 Rd7 24.a4 Rxd1+ 25.Bxd1 Nd7 26.axb5 axb5 27.Ra6 Bb7 28.Ra7 Bc8 29.Be2 b4 30.Bb5 bxc3 31.bxc3 Rd8 32.Ra8 Nb6 33.Rb8 Bd6 34.Bxd6 Rxd6 35.c4, 1-0.

September 13, 2002

RUSSIA VS. THE REST OF THE WORLD

GEOPOLITICS looks to have played a decisive role in the final outcome of the "Match of the New Century" held at the Kremlin Palace in Moscow, as the Rest of the World trounced Russia 52-48 for a historic win.

In similar events in 1970 and 1984, teams from the Soviet Union narrowly defeated the Rest of the World, and many predicted this event would be a similar win for Russia, who started strong favorites with Kasparov, Kramnik, and Karpov among their line up for an average rating of 2708 (2717 over the top ten boards), as opposed to 2695 (2699 top 10).

However, by playing the match for the first time as the Russian Federation rather than the Soviet Union, the Russians found the going much tougher -- mainly due to the opposition team being bolstered by former players from the Soviet Union!

All but four players on the Rest of the World team -- Anand, Leko, Short and Polgar -- came from the former Soviet Union. "If it had been the former Soviet Union against the Rest of the World, the Soviets would have won," claimed Alexei Shirov, an ethnic Russian from Latvia who now plays under the Spanish flag.

Wins in the last two rounds gave Shirov a final score of 7/10 to turn in the best individual score of the match. That, along with solid 6/10 performances by the Ukrainian duo of Ruslan Ponomariov, Vassily Ivanchuk and Israel's Boris Gelfand, guided the Rest of the World team to a somewhat easy victory.

Individual scores
Rest of the World 52/100: Shirov 7/10, Gelfand, Ivanchuk, Ponomariov all
6/10, Anand 5/9, Leko 5.5/10, Radjabov 5/10, Azmaiparashvili 2/4, Smirin 4/9, Akopian 1/3, Short 2.5/8, Judit Polgar 2/7.

Russia 48/100: Bareev, Morozevich both 6/10, Karpov, Svidler both 5/9, Grischuk 5.5/10, Dreev 4.5/8, Rublevsky 3/6, Kramnik 4/9, Kasparov 4/10, Khalifman 3.5/9, Motylev 1/6, Zviaginsev 0.5/4.

[EDITOR’S NOTE: This was the worst result Kasparov has ever had (one win, three losses, and six draws), but the fact that the games were “quick” (25 minutes) makes this far less eye-opening than it would be if a classical time control had been used. His losses were to Vassily Ivanchuk, Judit Polgar, and Vladimir Akopian (in only 25 moves!).]

A Shirov - P Svidler
Russia vs. Rest of the World, (10)
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 e6 7.f3 b5 8.g4 h6 9.Qd2 Nbd7 10.0-0-0 Bb7 11.h4 b4 12.Na4 Qa5 13.b3 Rc8 14.Kb1 Nc5 15.Nxc5 dxc5 16.Ne2 Bc6 17.Ng3 Nd7 18.f4 Be7 19.Bd3 Nb6 20.Qf2 Na8 21.g5 Nc7 22.Nh5 Nb5 23.Bxb5 axb5 24.Nxg7+ Kf8 25.Nxe6+ fxe6 26.f5 Ke8 27.fxe6, 1-0.

J Polgar - G Kasparov
Russia vs. Rest of the World, (5)
Berlin Defense
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.d4 Nd6 6.Bxc6 dxc6 7.dxe5 Nf5 8.Qxd8+ Kxd8 9.Nc3 h6 10.Rd1+ Ke8 11.h3 Be7 12.Ne2 Nh4 13.Nxh4 Bxh4 14.Be3 Bf5 15.Nd4 Bh7 16.g4 Be7 17.Kg2 h5 18.Nf5 Bf8 19.Kf3 Bg6 20.Rd2 hxg4+ 21.hxg4 Rh3+ 22.Kg2 Rh7 23.Kg3 f6 24.Bf4 Bxf5 25.gxf5 fxe5 26.Re1 Bd6 27.Bxe5 Kd7 28.c4 c5 29.Bxd6 cxd6 30.Re6 Rah8 31.Rexd6+ Kc8 32.R2d5 Rh3+ 33.Kg2 Rh2+ 34.Kf3 R2h3+ 35.Ke4 b6 36.Rc6+ Kb8 37.Rd7 Rh2 38.Ke3 Rf8 39.Rcc7 Rxf5 40.Rb7+ Kc8 41.Rdc7+ Kd8 42.Rxg7 Kc8, 1-0.

A Shirov - V Kramnik
Russia vs. Rest of the World, (3)
Caro-Kann Defense
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Bf5 5.Ng3 Bg6 6.h4 h6 7.Nf3 Nd7 8.h5 Bh7 9.Bd3 Bxd3 10.Qxd3 e6 11.Bf4 Ngf6 12.0-0-0 Be7 13.Kb1 0-0 14.Ne4 Nxe4 15.Qxe4 Nf6 16.Qe2 Qd5 17.Ne5 Qe4 18.Qxe4 Nxe4 19.Rhe1 Nf6 20.g4 Rfd8 21.f3 Rac8 22.c3 Kf8 23.Kc2 Nd5 24.Bc1 c5 25.dxc5 Rxc5 26.f4 b5 27.a3 Kg8 28.g5 hxg5 29.fxg5 b4 30.Nd3 Rcc8 31.axb4 Bxb4 32.Bd2 Be7 33.Ra1 Rc7 34.g6 fxg6 35.hxg6 Rcd7 36.Rxe6 Bf6 37.Rd1 Nc7 38.Re3 Nd5 39.Rh3 Ne7 40.Rg1 Rd6 41.Rg2 a5 42.Nc5 Rb6 43.Bf4 Rb5 44.Ne4 Rf5 45.Bd6, 1-0
.
V Ivanchuk - G Kasparov
Russia vs. R.O.W, (1)
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Rg1 g6 7.g4 Bg7 8.Be3 Nc6 9.f3 e5 10.Nxc6 bxc6 11.Qd2 Be6 12.0-0-0 Bf8 13.Na4 h5 14.h3 Nd7 15.Qc3 hxg4 16.hxg4 d5 17.Qxc6 d4 18.Bd2 Rc8 19.Qb7 Rb8 20.Qxa6 Ra8 21.Qb5 Bxa2 22.Bc4 Bxc4 23.Qxc4 Qf6 24.g5 Qd6 25.Kb1 Rh3 26.Rgf1 Be7 27.b3 Qa3 28.Bc1 Qb4 29.Qxb4 Bxb4 30.f4 Rh4 31.Rh1 Rxh1 32.Rxh1 Ke7 33.f5 Ra6 34.Rh7 Nc5 35.Bd2 Rxa4 36.fxg6 Bxd2 37.bxa4 Nxe4, 1-0.

V Akopian - G Kasparov
Russia vs. Rest of the World, (8)
Sicilian Rossolimo
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 e6 4.0-0 Nge7 5.b3 a6 6.Bxc6 Nxc6 7.Bb2 b5 8.c4 bxc4 9.bxc4 Rb8 10.Bc3 d6 11.Na3 e5 12.Nc2 Be7 13.Ne3 0-0 14.d3 Qe8 15.Rb1 Rxb1 16.Qxb1 Bd8 17.Nd2 g6 18.Nd5 f5 19.exf5 gxf5 20.f4 Rf7 21.Qe1 Rg7 22.Nf3 Qg6 23.g3 Rf7 24.fxe5 f4 25.exd6 fxg3, 1-0 (26.Qe8+ Rf8 27.Qxf8+! Kxf8 28.Ne5+).

T Radjabov - V Zvjaginsev
Russia vs. Rest of the World, (10)
Reti Opening
1.Nf3 e6 2.b3 Nf6 3.Bb2 d5 4.e3 Nbd7 5.d4 Bb4+ 6.Nbd2 Ne4 7.c4 Qf6 8.Qe2 dxc4 9.bxc4 0-0 10.Rg1 b5 11.cxb5 a6 12.a3 Ba5 13.0-0-0 Nxd2 14.Nxd2 Bb7 15.Nb3 axb5 16.Qc2 c6 17.Bd3 h6 18.g4 Bc7 19.d5 Be5 20.dxe6 Bxb2+ 21.Qxb2 fxe6 22.f4 Qe7 23.g5 h5 24.Qc2 Qxa3+ 25.Kd2 Qb4+ 26.Ke2 Kh8 27.Rg3 Ra3 28.Rh3 Rxb3 29.Rxh5+ Kg8 30.Bh7+ Kf7 31.Rxd7+ Ke8 32.Rd4 Qa3 33.Qd2 Bc8 34.Bg6+ Ke7 35.Rh7 Rg8 36.Rd8 Rxe3+ 37.Kf2 Rf3+ 38.Kg2, 1-0.

September 9, 2002

FISCHER!

ON the 30th anniversary week of his momentous world championship victory over Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer continues to make the news in the USA -- despite the fact it's been ten-years since he last played.

In a recent edition of Entertainment Weekly, the showbiz magazine mentions an impending project with Woody Harrelson of Cheers fame playing the lead role of Bobby. It's one of those "still in pre-production" films, but Harrelson -- who physically resembles Fischer during his peak years and is also an avid chess player -- supposedly is keen to do it.

In 1992, Fischer briefly came out of retirement to play old foe Spassky in the notorious "rematch" in war-torn Yugoslavia that broke an embargo imposed by the US government. It was a move that didn't go down well in Washington D.C., and Fischer ended up being outlawed in his own country -- he has never returned for fear of being imprisoned.

Fischer is virtually a recluse these days apart from the odd outburst or two on radio -- most notably one from last year that "congratulated" the 9-11 terrorist attacks on his own country. Recently the USCF have made threatening noises about expunging the erratic genius from the record books because of these remarks.

These days Fischer is to be found in Japan, where apparently for the last year he's been heavily involved in the design of a revolutionary new chess clock for Fischer Random Chess, a version of the game he created in an effort to cut out the growing influence of chess databases.

Meanwhile in Washington D.C., chess life goes on and there was a seven-way tie for first on 4/5 in the Atlantic Open recently held there among GMs Igor Novikov, Ildar Ibragimov, Leonid G Yudasin, Alek Wojtkiewicz, Alexander Ivanov, Pavel Blehm and IM Rashid Ziatdinov.

A Sherzer - I Novikov
Atlantic Open, (3)
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.f4 e5 7.Nf3 Nbd7 8.a4 Be7 9.Bd3 0-0 10.0-0 exf4 11.Kh1 Nc5 12.Bxf4 Bg4 13.Qe1 Bh5 14.Nd4 Bg6 15.Bd2 Qd7 16.Nf5 Bd8 17.Qg3 d5 18.exd5 Re8 19.Rae1 Bc7 20.Qf3 Nxd3 21.cxd3 Rxe1 22.Bxe1 Re8 23.Bh4 Re5 24.Nxg7 Ng4 25.Ne6 Rf5 26.Nxc7 Rxf3 27.gxf3 Ne3 28.Re1 Qh3, 0-1.

September 5, 2002

BACROT WINS FRENCH CHAMPIONSHIP

FRENCH prodigy Etienne Bacrot was just 4-years-old when he first saw a chessboard. "I just sat down, looked and understood," he once commented.

At 7, he scored his first tournament victory, and by 10 he was winning junior internationals in Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Bacrot was destined for greater things, and by March 1997, he became the youngest Grandmaster in chess history at the age of 14 years and 2 months. Immediately his coach, Iosif Dorfman, a former trainer of Garry Kasparov, boldly proclaimed that his pupil was born "to bury Kasparov."

The statement may have sounded good in the glare of the media hype that naturally followed, but these were words that were to come back and haunt both Dorfman and Bacrot. After setting the record, Bacrot struggled with his game and never quite lived up to his earlier promise, some even speculating that he was “burnt out” due to the pressures placed on him by being so young.

Now fast approaching 20, Bacrot may not have the “right stuff” to take on and bury elite players of the caliber of Kasparov, but back home he’s nearing one of his earlier goals: becoming the French No.1. During the recent French Championships held at Val d'Isère (19th-31st August), Bacrot led for most of the tournament before being caught in the final round by French No.1 Joel Lautier, as both finished in equal first on 7.5/11.

In the ensuing rapid playoff, Bacrot beat Lautier 1.5-0.5 to win his fourth consecutive championship title - and ominously closing the rating gap between the two even further.

E Bacrot -- L Fressinet
French Ch., (3)
Semi-Slav Defense
1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.Bg5 dxc4 6.e4 b5 7.e5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 9.Nxg5 hxg5 10.Bxg5 Nbd7 11.g3 Rg8 12.h4 Rxg5 13.hxg5 Nd5 14.g6 fxg6 15.Qg4 Qe7 16.Bg2 Kd8 17.Bxd5 cxd5 18.Qxg6 Rb8 19.Rh7 Qe8 20.Qxe8+ Kxe8 21.f4 b4 22.Ne2 Ba6 23.g4 c3 24.b3 Bd3 25.f5 Rb6 26.Nf4 Be4 27.Ke2 Be7 28.Rh8+ Kf7 29.fxe6+ Rxe6 30.Rf1 Ra6 31.e6+ Kg7 32.Re8 Rxa2+ 33.Ke3 Bg5 34.exd7 Rd2 35.Rxe4 dxe4 36.Kxe4 Be7 37.Nd5 Bg5 38.Nf6, 1-0.

September 4, 2002

ILLYUMZHINOV CHALLENGED

THE world chess body Fide has faced a tide of troubles in recent years.
The latest in a long list being the recent setback from the International Olympic Committee who stopped dead in the water any attempts to have chess recognized as a sport.

While the move from the IOC must have come as something of a personal setback for the governing body's president, Kirsan Illyumzhinov, as it seemed to be his personal hobby-horse, he at least had comfort in the fact that after the historic Prague Agreement in May, he looked as if he was finally delivering on chess unity -- something that he vowed to do on taking office in 1996.

However, not everyone has been happy with all the shenanigans in Fide since he came to office, the continual grumblings finally boiling over to a fully-fledged election being called for the top jobs in Fide at the 73rd Fide congress which will be held during the forthcoming Chess Olympiad in Bled in November.

Respected Singaporean chess administrator Ignatius Leong will openly challenge Kirsan for the Fide presidency, his ticket having a strong international flavor with Morten Sand (Norway) as Deputy President, Lin
Feng (China) as Vice President, Jean-Claude Loubatiere (France) as
General Secretary, and Venezuela's Uvencio Blanco as Treasurer.

In the past, there have been allegations of threats and intimidation being used by some to discourage challengers to Kirsan -- most notably Ignatious Leong himself! A former Fide employee, Leong had a serious disagreement with Kirsan during the elections held in Yerevan, Armenia in 1996, which led to his fleeing the Chess Olympiad there and seeking refuge in the American embassy.

M Taimanov - S Zhukhovitsky
Botvinnik Memorial, (4)
English Opening
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.g3 d6 4.Bg2 g6 5.e3 Bg7 6.Nge2 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.d3 Ne8 9.Bd2 f5 10.f4 Nef6 11.b4 Re8 12.h3 a5 13.a3 axb4 14.axb4 Rxa1 15.Qxa1 e4 16.Qb1 Nb6 17.Rc1 c6 18.b5 d5 19.bxc6 bxc6 20.c5 Nbd7 21.d4 Ba6 22.Bf1 Qc7 23.Na2 Ra8 24.Nb4 Bb5 25.Qb2 h5 26.Ra1 Qb7 27.Nc2 Rxa1 28.Qxa1 Qa6 29.Qxa6 Bxa6 30.Nb4 Bb5 31.Nc1 Kf7 32.Bxb5 cxb5 33.Nca2, 1-0.

September 2, 2002

BOTVINNIK MEMORIAL

THE player who started the Soviet hegemony in chess, Mikhail Botvinnik
(1911-1995), following the untimely death of Alexander Alekhine in 1946,
become the first official FIDE world champion.

Credited with founding the Soviet School of Chess, Botvinnik played every world champion of the 20th century, and was world champion himself from 1948 to 1962 apart from two short breaks when he was defeated first by Vasily Smyslov in 1957, and then by Mikhail Tal in 1959.

He was the first player to win the world title three times -- but alas this was mainly due to a quirk of the rules where the defeated champion would automatically be guaranteed a rematch the year after his defeat. When he lost to Tigran Petrosian in 1962, FIDE stepped in to abolish the unfair rematch rule and Botvinnik took no further part in the world championship.

Late last year the chess world celebrated what would have been Botvinnink's 90th birthday, and to commemorate the occasion the FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov hosted in Elista, the capital of the Autonomous Russian Republic of Kalmykia where he also serves as the country's president, a memorial event composed of former opponents and pupils of Botvinnik. 67 year-old Janis Klovans of Latvia, a former World Veterans Champion, and living-legend 79 year-old Svetozar Gligoric from Yugoslavia got the better of Botvinnik's countryman and came equal first on 6/9.

S Gligoric - A Nikitin
Botvinnik Memorial
Dutch Stonewall
1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.Nf3 d5 5.c4 c6 6.0-0 Bd6 7.b3 Qe7 8.Bb2 0-0 9.Nbd2 b6 10.Ne5 Bb7 11.Rc1 Na6 12.Ndf3 Rac8 13.e3 Ne4 14.Qe2 Rfd8 15.Nd3 Nb4 16.Nxb4 Bxb4 17.Ne5 Bd6 18.f3 Nf6 19.Rc2 c5 20.Rd1 Ba6 21.Bf1 dxc4 22.Nxc4 cxd4 23.exd4 Nd5 24.Qf2 Bb8 25.Re1 b5 26.Ne5 Rxc2 27.Qxc2 Rc8 28.Qd2 Qb4 29.Qxb4 Nxb4 30.Nd3 Nxd3 31.Bxd3 Kf7 32.d5 exd5 33.Bxf5 Rd8 34.Be6+ Kf8 35.Bd4 Bb7 36.f4 Bd6 37.f5 a6 38.Rc1 Re8 39.g4 Re7 40.h4 Rc7 41.Rxc7 Bxc7 42.g5 Bd6 43.h5 h6 44.f6 gxf6 45.gxh6 Be5 46.Bc5+ Ke8 47.Bf5 Kf7 48.h7 Kg7 49.h6+, 1-0.

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