November 22, 2002

MAN vs. MACHINE, MAN vs. WOMAN, and A NEW CHESS MECCA

THE FIDE-sponsored $1 million match between Garry Kasparov and top software program Deep Junior now looks set to be moved out of Jerusalem, due to the heightened tensions and political unrest in Israel.

Originally one of the touted venues for the match was Montreal in
Canada, however now the unlikely last-minute US candidate of
Jacksonville in Florida looks set to stage the high-profile Man v Machine challenge, which is now due to start January 19th. It's also perhaps no coincidence that the match has been delayed until this date as it would allow for the attendance of the new incoming president of FIDE Commerce, Yasser Seirawan, who will be one of the leading contenders for the 2003 US Championships, which runs January 9-18 in Seattle.

It looks as if a high-powered US delegation led by former USCF president
Don Schultz (who have secured a major sponsor) is poised to turn
Jacksonville into a veritable Chess Mecca by lodging a serious last-minute bid with FIDE to host the 2004 Chess Olympiad there – and with the enthusiastic backing of Kasparov, who fully supports their plans. Should they secure the rights to the biennial team tournament, it would be the first Olympiad to be held in the Americas since the 1978 Buenos Aires Olympiad; and with it the first to be held itself in America.

Although FIDE have given a commitment to the Spanish resort of Minorca to host the 2004 Olympiad, there is mounting speculation that the required bank guarantees securing the Spanish bid have not been lodged yet in the FIDE accounts. Apart from that, there are also concerns within FIDE that the site for the proposed Minorca bid falls woefully short of their specifications for hosting an Olympiad.

However, should the Jacksonville Olympiad bid fail, they have made it clear they would re-position themselves to become the leading venue for the World Championship Unification match scheduled for November 2003, between the winners of the Kramnik-Leko and Kasparov-Ponomariov matches.

Last weekend during the Electronica Fair in Munich, Kasparov played a six-game demonstration match at the ZMD (Zentrum Mikroelektronik
Dresden) stand against the top German female player, 17-year-old
Elisabeth Paehtz. Despite having a time handicap of 16 minutes to 8, and having Kasparov on the ropes in games one and three by being a piece up in both games, the 500-point rating difference between the two proved too much for Ms. Paehtz, as Kasparov won the match with a 6:0 whitewash.

E Paehtz - G Kasparov
ZMD match, (5)
Sicilian Paulsen
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Ba7 7.Qg4 Nf6 8.Qg3 d6 9.Nc3 Nc6 10.Bd2 Ne5 11.f4 Nxd3+ 12.cxd3 0-0 13.Be3 b5 14.Bxa7 Rxa7 15.0-0 Rc7 16.Rac1 Bb7 17.a3 Qe7 18.Kh1 Rfc8 19.Nd4 Nd7 20.Rce1 Kh8 21.Qh3 Nf6 22.e5 dxe5 23.fxe5 Nd7 24.Rf4 Nf8 25.Nf3 Ng6 26.Rg4 h6 27.d4 Rxc3 28.bxc3 Rxc3 29.Rg3 Qxa3 30.Ng5 Rc1 31.Nxf7+ Kg8 32.Nxh6+ Kf8 33.Rge3 Rxe1+ 34.Rxe1 Qxh3, 0-1.

November 21, 2002

KASPAROV vs. KARPOV 3D MATCH!

THEY may be old rivals who have met more times in competitive play than any other in the history of chess, but thanks to the new medium created by X3D Technologies, Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov are set to renew their rivalry by becoming the first players to play a 3D match to be broadcast live over the Internet.

According to the sponsors at the official press launch yesterday in New York, the two-day match – to be held 19-20 December at the ABC News Building in Times Square, New York – will see the two legendary world champions playing four games (rapid time control) in “Extreme 3D,” presenting Kasparov and Karpov as though they were floating in space inside and in front of the screen.

“Chess is a contest of the mind and not of the fist, but our encounters are no less bloody than a World Heavyweight Boxing Championship,” said world number one Kasparov, who at 22 became the youngest-ever world champion when he beat Karpov in 1985. “You can rest assured that neither Karpov nor I want to lose this match.”

“I am pleased to renew my historic rivalry with Kasparov,” said Karpov, the most successful tournament player, in terms of the number of first prizes he has won, of all time. While other world titleholders tended to lapse into the easy life of an ex-champion after losing their crowns, Karpov, who became world champion in 1975 after Bobby Fischer abdicated his title, doggedly continued to chase after Kasparov despite failing to overcome his rival in five title matches.

After the 1972 Cold War encounter between Fischer and Spassky, the “perestroika pairing” between Karpov and Kasparov, respectively the 12th and 13th world champions, has become legendary – especially after the seemingly endless series of matches between the pair, as they played five world title matches between 1984 and 1990; the first of which was controversially abandoned after five-months and 36 games by then-FIDE president Florencio Campomanes, for fear the strain the match was having on the health of the players.

The two “K’s” as the Russian rivals have become affectionately known as, last met at the Linares 2001 tournament (their 173rd encounter), with the score between the two standing at Kasparov 30 wins, Karpov 20, with 123 games drawn.

Despite now being aged 51, former world champion Karpov has seen a renaissance in his play. In May, he lost in the EuroTel Trophy Final to India’s Vishy Anand, and recently he lost 2-0 to Israeli Boris Gelfand in the Final of the 5th edition of the Trophee C.C.A.S rapidplay tournament at the French seaside resort of Cap d’Agde.

A Karpov - B Gelfand
Cap d’Agde Final, (1)
English Opening
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 b6 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Bb7 5.0-0 g6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Qxd4 Bg7 8.Nc3 d6 9.Rd1 Nbd7 10.Be3 a6 11.Rac1 Rc8 12.b3 0-0 13.Qh4 Rc7 14.Bh6 Qa8 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Ne1 b5 17.Nd5 Nxd5 18.cxd5 Rxc1 19.Rxc1 Nf6 20.e4 Rc8 21.Qf4 a5 22.Qd2 b4 23.a3 Rxc1 24.Qxc1 a4 25.Nc2 Qc8 26.Qb2 bxa3 27.Nxa3 axb3 28.h3 Ba6 29.Qxb3 Qc1+ 30.Kh2 Qd2 31.f3 Nh5 32.f4 Bd3 33.Nc4 Bxc4 34.Qxc4 Qe3 35.f5 Qxg3+ 36.Kh1 Nf4 37.Qd4+ Kg8 38.Bf1 Nxh3 39.Bxh3 Qxh3+ 40.Kg1 Qg4+, 0-1.

November 20, 2002

CORSICA OPEN

INDIAN ace Vishy Anand has added a fourth world-level title to his haul for the year, after he recovered from an opening game loss in the final of the sixth edition of the Corsica Masters in Bastia, France, to edge out Russian veteran Anatoly Karpov.

Played just a week after the Cap d’Agde event also in France, the Corsica Open had a starting field of more than 350 top-ranking players; the initial stages of which is then whittled down to the 16 top players for the elite knock-out event.

And, in the last sixteen on the road to the final, Anand easily beat Javier Cornero Moreno, Artur Yusupov and Mikhail Gurevich. Meanwhile Karpov, who lost out to Boris Gelfand the week previously in the final at Cap d’Agde, beat Jurij Zezulkin, Vladislav Tkachiev and Alexei Shirov to reach his second successive final in as many weeks.

Again the tournament showed that, despite his advancing years, the former world champion is still a force to be reckoned with in the game. And indeed it was veteran Karpov who got off to the best possible start as he won the opening game of the final against Anand, who made a quick recovery to win the next game to take the match into a playoff. The next two games ended in a draw, but Anand edged out Karpov by winning the last two blitz games to take the match 4-2.

The win was Anand’s fourth world-level title of the year. Since May, he has won the Eurotel Trophy in Prague, followed by the Mainz Chess Classic, the World Cup in Hyderabad and now the Corsica Masters.

A Karpov - V Anand
6th Corsica Masters, (4.5)
Grunfeld Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.g3 d5 5.Bg2 dxc4 6.Na3 c5 7.0-0 0-0 8.Nxc4 Be6 9.b3 Nc6 10.Bb2 Bxc4 11.bxc4 Ne8 12.e3 Nd6 13.Qe2 cxd4 14.exd4 Nf5 15.d5 Bxb2 16.Qxb2 Na5 17.Rac1 b6 18.Ne5 Rc8 19.Rfd1 Rc5 20.h4 Qc7 21.Qe2 Nd6 22.Nc6 Re8 23.Re1 e5 24.h5 Nxc6 25.dxc6 e4 26.hxg6 hxg6 27.Red1 Qxc6 28.Rd4 Rce5 29.Rcd1 Nf5 30.Rd5 Qf6 31.a4 e3 32.f4 Nxg3 33.Qf3 Qxf4 34.Rxe5 Rxe5, 0-1.

A Shirov - A Karpov
6th Corsica Masters, (3.2)
Petroff's Defense
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.Qe2 Qe7 6.d3 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qxe2+ 8.Bxe2 Be7 9.0-0 c6 10.Nd4 Na6 11.Re1 Nc7 12.Bf3 Kf8 13.b4 Bd7 14.b5 d5 15.bxc6 bxc6 16.Rb1 Bd6 17.Rb7 Nfe8 18.Be3 Bc8 19.Rb3 Bd7 20.Reb1 Ke7 21.Rb7 g6 22.Nb3 Ng7 23.Na5 Nge6 24.Na4 c5 25.Nxc5 Nxc5 26.Rxc7 Bxc7 27.Bxc5+ Bd6 28.Bd4 Rhc8 29.Bxd5 Rab8 30.Re1+ Kf8 31.Nc4 Bc5 32.Be5 Re8 33.Kf1 Rbd8 34.Bf6 Rxe1+ 35.Kxe1 Re8+ 36.Be4 Bb5 37.Ne5 Re6 38.c4 Ba4 39.Bh8 f6 40.Ng4 f5, 0-1.

November 15, 2002

YASSER SEIRAWAN: CHESS POLITICIAN?

THERE was more interest in the maneuverings off the board than on it during the Bled Olympiad, as the governing body of chess met for the FIDE Congress that would formally end a bitter decade of squabbles over the rights to the world championship.

Apart from a nifty piece of political footwork from FIDE president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov that saw him craftily avoid a leadership challenge, the delegates officially ratified the "Prague Agreement" of earlier this year that sees two competing world crowns merge back into one following a reunification match in November 2003. The plan ends a feud that began in 1993 when then-world champion Garry Kasparov broke away from FIDE to "privatize" the world championship rather than defend the title under its auspices.

Returning to an old tradition before the untimely death of Alekhine in 1946 that regarded the world championship as the champion's personal property, Kasparov defended his title twice before losing it to Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. Now, much like the schism-fuelled world of Boxing, chess currently has two world champions: Kramnik and FIDE champion, Ruslan Ponomariov. Speaking to reporters at the end of the Olympiad, Kasparov was enthusiastic about the plan. "Within the last eight months, both sides have moved halfway towards each other," he said. "And I think the agreement will be implemented fully."

However before the reunification match, Kramnik will have to defend his Einstein title against Peter Leko of Hungary, and likewise Ponomariov will have to defend his FIDE title against Kasparov -- with both matches to be played next spring. The Kasparov-Ponomariov match looks set to be held in the Czech Republic under the guidance of Bessel Kok and Serge Grimaux. As yet there have been no details or venue announced for the Kramnik-Leko match; though it is believed that Bahrain, who recently successfully sponsored Kramnik's match with Deep Fritz, has already declared an interest. The winners of these two matches will then battle it out for the undisputed title.

The agreement, which was delicately mediated by American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, calls for a new biennial world championship under a new format. The new system calls for a 128-player double knockout tournament (expected to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in December 2003), which eliminates a player after two losses. The tournament will choose players for a series of traditional matches to determine the champion.

Seirawan, who generally has the backing and trust of the grassroots, the players and the officials, is also expected to take over soon as president of FIDE Commerce, the marketing company responsible for organizing all major FIDE events. He recently confirmed that he had been offered the job and had conditionally accepted the post. His plans are ambitious: In addition to a $4 million world championship, he envisions a rapid world championship, and a revival of the Grand Prix series.

Despite all the maneuverings off the board and the many meetings he's been involved in to finally broker a lasting peace deal, somehow Seirawan found the reserves to also take the individual silver medal for his performance of 6.5/9 (72.2%) on board two for the USA.

November 14, 2002

35th CHESS OLYMPIAD

Yet another “package deal” in the final round of the Bled Olympiad in Slovenia gave Russia their sixth successive Olympiad title since the break-up of the Soviet Union, as the favorites took gold and the Hamilton-Russell cup ahead of Hungary with a final tally of 38.5/56.

Needing a big last round score of 4-0 to overhaul the Russian lead, Peter Leko’s early draw on top board for Hungary in their match against China was the signal for the Russians to agree four quick draws against Yugoslavia to secure gold. Remarkably for the winner’s Russia, they didn’t exactly break sweat in their quest for gold in the final two rounds of the biennial team tournament as none of their 8 draws lasted longer then 17 moves!

Hungary, who took silver with 37.5 points (thanks largely to the wonderful performance of Judit Polgar, who played in the men’s section [on board two below Peter Leko, who had a rock-solid 6/11] and had the best score on her team with 8.5/12 and a performance rating of 2745), would probably have also taken four early draws but the Chinese needed a big score to keep their own medal hopes alive. Their attempts to win backfired and China went down 3-1. Armenia won the bronze with 34 points after a powerful 3-1 victory over Georgia, who had entered the round a half-point ahead of China and a full point ahead of Armenia.

Meanwhile, over in the women’s competition, Georgia, who held what looked like an unassailable 3 point lead over arch-rivals China after the tenth round, somehow managed to not only squander their lead but with it any hopes of a medal as they fell apart with four consecutive defeats.

Sadly for the Georgians, who at one stage had Edinburgh-based Ketevan Arakhamia-Grant top-scoring for them on 5/5, the collapse allowed defending champions China, with a final tally of 29.5/42, to take gold and the Vera Menchik cup ahead of Russia in second on 29, with Poland winning the bronze on 28.

SPEAKING after leading the Russians to victory in the Bled Olympiad, Garry Kasparov, who played in many of the USSR teams that dominated the tournament with 18 titles won in the golden period between 1952 through to 1990, said the result "Shows that Russian chess isn't in decline," referring to Russia's recent loss in September to "The Rest of the World".

During that Soviet hegemony of the game (broken only for a brief period during the Bobby Fischer revolution of the early 1970s), many great players notched-up a phenomenal haul of gold medals at the Olympiad -- and the recent win for Russia, who took over the Soviet mantle following their break-up in 1990, places Kasparov among the elite Olympiad performers.

Soviet giants of the game such as Mikhail Botvinnik and Boris Spassky won six gold medals. Garry Kasparov (3 with the USSR and 4 with Russia) now joins Paul Keres and Efim Geller with seven gold medals, while the great Mikhail Tal has a grand tally of eight.

However, the top performer was the most frequent Soviet player of his day, Tigran Petrosian, who still holds the Olympiad record with nine gold medals. In ten Olympiads from 1958 to 1978, the former World Champion also won prizes for the highest score six times, and in the process made an invaluable contribution for his team with a score of +79 =50 -1 for the ten events.

Despite Kasparov's stellar performance of 7.5/9 (a TPR of 2938) on board one for Russia, remarkably he didn't win the individual gold for his superb score. That honor went to the lowly rated Zimbabwean top board Robert Gwaze -- thanks mainly to the low place his team occupied throughout the competition -- who turned in a perfect score of 9/9!

DRUG TESTING AT THE 35th CHESS OLYMPIAD

One of the most controversial decisions in chess of recent years has been FIDE’S absurd policy on the insistence that players allow themselves to be tested for drugs, in the misguided attempt to get chess accepted at the Olympic Games – a notion recently discounted by the Olympic Executive Committee itself. Despite much opposition and ridicule from many quarters, testing nevertheless began in earnest during the second half of the tournament by collecting samples from six randomly selected players immediately after their games.

FIDE has dropped plans for monetary penalties of up to $100,000 for positive results, or for refusing the test, and it is unclear what penalties, if any, would be imposed. The rules provide for a ban of up to two years, said English WGM Dr. Jana Bellin, who is in charge of the testing program for FIDE, the governing body of world chess.

The list of banned and restricted substances includes caffeine but Bellin said that any fear is “Unfounded – the permitted level is quite high.” Despite the restriction, the organizers provide coffee for the players. Decaffeinated coffee was promised before the tournament but has yet to appear.

Bellin has so far declined to discuss the effect any of the banned or restricted substances on chess performance. “It’s not about enhancing performance,” Bellin explained. “It’s about clean play, the Olympic ideal and providing a good example to the younger players.”

Unluckily one of the first to be randomly tested was Scottish Champion Paul Motwani – and no wonder when you see his performance of 6.5/10. Fortunately for Scotland, there were no repetitions of Argentina 1978 and the early return home of Willie Johnston as Paul was given the all clear – the only substance to be found from his test being traces of Horlicks!

GAMES FROM THE 35th CHESS OLYMPIAD

C McNab - K Guseinov
Bled Olympiad, (14)
English Opening
1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 Bg7 3.g3 c5 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.Nf3 e6 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nb5 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.Nbxd4 Nge7 10.0-0 0-0 11.Be3 Re8 12.Rc1 Bg4 13.h3 Bxf3 14.Bxf3 Ne5 15.b3 Nxf3+ 16.Nxf3 Nf5 17.Bf4 Qa5 18.Rc7 Re7 19.Rxe7 Nxe7 20.a4 Nc6 21.Qd3 d4 22.Rc1 Re8 23.Qb5 Qb6 24.Kf1 Re7 25.Qxb6 axb6 26.b4 h6 27.b5 Na5 28.Nd2 Re6 29.Rc8+ Kh7 30.h4 Bf6 31.Nc4 Nxc4 32.Rxc4 g5 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Bc7 Kg6 35.g4 Bg7 36.Ke1 f5 37.Kd2 fxg4 38.Bg3 Kf5 39.Kd3 Re7 40.Rc7 Rxc7 41.Bxc7 Be5 42.Bxb6 g3 43.fxg3 Bxg3 44.a5, 1-0.

N Agababean - K Arakhamia
Bled Olympiad, (4)
King's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Bf4 Bg7 4.e3 d6 5.h3 Nbd7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 Qe8 8.c4 e5 9.Bh2 Ne4 10.Nbd2 Nxd2 11.Qxd2 e4 12.Ne1 Qe7 13.Nc2 Nf6 14.Na3 a6 15.b4 Rd8 16.Rac1 h5 17.c5 d5 18.b5 axb5 19.Nxb5 Ne8 20.Ra1 h4 21.a4 Bh6 22.a5 g5 23.Rfc1 c6 24.Nd6 Nxd6 25.cxd6 Qd7 26.f3 exf3 27.Bxf3 Re8 28.Rc3 Qe6 29.Raa3 Qg6 30.Qb2 g4 31.hxg4 Bxg4 32.d7 Bxf3 33.dxe8=Q+ Rxe8 34.Kf1 Be4 35.Qf2 Re6 36.Be5 Qg4 37.Ra2 Qd1+ 38.Qe1 Bd3+ 39.Kf2 Bxe3+, 0-1.

P Motwani - A Gattea
Bled Olympiad, (13)
Sicilian Rossolimo
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nd4 4.Nf3 e6 5.0-0 a6 6.Bd3 Ne7 7.Nxd4 cxd4 8.Ne2 d5 9.exd5 Qxd5 10.c3 dxc3 11.dxc3 Nc6 12.Nf4 Qd8 13.Qe2 Be7 14.Be3 0-0 15.Rad1 Qc7 16.Bc2 b5 17.Qg4 Bd8 18.Qg3 Ne7 19.Rd2 e5 20.Rfd1 Bf5 21.Nh5 Bg6 22.Rd7 Qb8 23.Qg4 Nc6 24.R1d6 Qc8 25.Bxg6 hxg6 26.Rxg6, 1-0.

G Kasparov - M Krasenkow
Bled Olympiad, (7)
Open Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Be7 10.c3 Nc5 11.Bc2 Bg4 12.Re1 0-0 13.Nb3 Ne4 14.Bf4 Re8 15.h3 Bh5 16.a4 bxa4 17.Rxa4 Bf8 18.Nbd4 Nxe5 19.Bxe5 Rxe5 20.g4 Qf6 21.Nc6 Rg5 22.Bxe4 dxe4 23.Nxg5 Qxg5 24.Raxe4, 1-0.

Y Seirawan - J Rowson
Bled Olympiad, (9)
Queen's Gambit Accepted
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.b3 b6 8.dxc5 Qxd1 9.Rxd1 Bxc5 10.Bb2 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Be2 Ke7 13.Ne1 Bd5 14.Nd3 Bd6 15.f3 Nc5 16.Nb4 Bb7 17.Nc4 Bc7 18.Nd3 Nxd3 19.Rxd3 Rhd8 20.Ba3+ Ke8 21.Bd6 Bb8 22.Bxb8 Raxb8 23.Nd6+ Rxd6 24.Rxd6 Nd5 25.Rc1 Ke7 26.Rxd5 exd5 27.Rc7+ Kf6 28.b4 Bc8 29.a4 Ke6 30.Ra7 b5 31.axb5 axb5 32.f4 g6 33.Kf2 h5 34.Ke1 Bd7 35.Kd2 Kd6 36.Bd3 h4 37.Ra5 Bc6 38.Kc3 Rb7 39.Ra6 Rb8 40.Kd4 f5 41.Be2 Re8 42.Bxb5, 1-0.

C Lutz - G Kasparov
Bled Olympiad, (11)
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.a4 Nc6 8.Be3 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bd3 Nb4 13.a5 Bd7 14.Nf3 Rac8 15.Qe1 Bc6 16.Bd4 Nd7 17.Qg3 Bf6 18.Bxf6 Nxf6 19.Nd4 Red8 20.Qh4 Nxd3 21.cxd3 Qe7 22.h3 Be8 23.Rfc1 Nd5 24.Qxe7 Nxe7 25.Kg1 e5 26.Nde2 f5 27.exf5 Nxf5 28.Nd5 Rc5 29.Nb6 Bb5 30.fxe5 Rxe5 31.Nf4 Nd4 32.Rc8 Rxc8 33.Nxc8 Bc6 34.Rf1 Re8 35.Na7 Bd7 36.Nd5 h5 37.Nb6 Bf5 38.Kh2 g5 39.Rc1 g4 40.hxg4 hxg4 41.Nac8 g3+ 42.Kh1 Re6, 0-1.

A Khalifman - Zhang Zhong
Bled Olympiad, (10)
Queen's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb7 6.Bg2 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 a5 8.0-0 0-0 9.Qc2 d6 10.Nc3 Nbd7 11.Rfe1 Bxc3 12.Bxc3 Be4 13.Qc1 a4 14.b4 Qe7 15.Bf1 c5 16.Qe3 h6 17.Rac1 cxd4 18.Bxd4 e5 19.Bb2 Qe6 20.Nd2 Bb7 21.Qd3 a3 22.Ba1 d5 23.cxd5 Qxd5 24.e4 Qxa2 25.Nc4 Bxe4 26.Rxe4 Nxe4 27.Qxe4 Rac8 28.Bd3 Nf6 29.Qxe5 Rcd8 30.Qf5 Rd5 31.Qf3 b5 32.Nxa3 Ra8 33.Bxf6 Qxa3 34.Rd1 Qa2 35.Qg4 g6 36.Kg2 h5 37.Qf4 Ra6 38.Qb8+, 1-0.

P Motwani - B Gulko
Bled Olympiad, (9)
English Opening
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 b6 3.g3 Bb7 4.Bg2 c5 5.0-0 g6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Re1 d5 8.d4 dxc4 9.Qa4+ Nbd7 10.dxc5 Qc8 11.Be3 0-0 12.Qxc4 Nxc5 13.Rac1 Nce4 14.Qb3 Qe8 15.Nb5 Nd5 16.Nc7 Nxc7 17.Rxc7 Nd6 18.Bg5 e6 19.Qb4 Bxf3 20.Bxf3 Qb5 21.Qxd6 Qxg5 22.Bxa8 Be5 23.Qe7 Qxe7 24.Rxe7 Rxa8 25.b3 a5 26.Rd1 a4 27.Rdd7 axb3 28.axb3 Rf8 29.Rd3 Rb8 30.Ra7, 1-0.

J Alvarez - J Rowson
Bled Olympiad, (8)
Nimzo-Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.cxd5 Qxd5 9.0-0 Qh5 10.Be3 0-0 11.Nf4 Qxd1 12.Rfxd1 Ne7 13.Bc4 Nf5 14.Nd3 Bd6 15.Bf4 Bxf4 16.Nxf4 Rd8 17.d5 e5 18.Nd3 e4 19.Nb4 Nd6 20.Be2 Bg4 21.f3 exf3 22.gxf3 Bf5 23.Rac1 Rac8 24.Nc2 Bxc2 25.Rxc2 Kf8 26.Kf2 Re8 27.Rcd2 Re5 28.Rd4 Rce8 29.Bd3 Rh5 30.h4 Ree5 31.f4 Re8 32.Nb5 Nxb5 33.Bxb5 Re4 34.Bc4 Rxh4 35.Rxe4 Nxe4+ 36.Kf3 Nd6 37.Bb3 Rh2 38.Rc1 Ke7 39.Ba4 Kd8 40.Rc2 Rxc2 41.Bxc2 Ke7 42.Ke3 f5 43.Kd4 b6 44.Ke5 Nc4+ 45.Kd4 Nd6 46.Ke5 g6 47.b4 Nf7+ 48.Kd4 h5 49.Bd3 h4 50.Bf1 Kd6 51.Bh3 Nh6 52.a3 Ng4 53.Bg2 Nf6 54.Kc4 h3 55.Bf3 a6 56.Kd4 h2, 0-1.

C Esplana - S Mannion
Bled Olympiad, (7)
Italian Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 a6 6.Bb3 Ba7 7.0-0 d6 8.Be3
0-0 9.Nbd2 Ne7 10.h3 Ng6 11.Re1 h6 12.Nf1 Re8 13.Ng3 Be6 14.Bxa7 Rxa7 15.d4 Ra8 16.Bxe6 Rxe6 17.Qb3 Rb8 18.Rad1 Qf8 19.Nd2 Nf4 20.d5 Ree8 21.Nc4 g6 22.Kh2 Qe7 23.Nf1 Qd7 24.Qc2 Kg7 25.Nce3 Nh7 26.Nd2 Rf8 27.Rg1 Rbe8 28.g4 h5 29.Nf3 Rh8 30.Kg3 Nf6 31.Rh1 Rh7 32.Rh2 h4+ 33.Nxh4 Reh8 34.Nhf5+ gxf5 35.Nxf5+ Qxf5, 0-1.

J Polgar - S Mamedyarov
Bled Olympiad, (4)
Open Lopez
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.Ng5 Bd5 12.Nxf7 Kxf7 13.Qf3+ Ke6 14.Qg4+ Kf7 15.Qf5+ Ke7 16.e6 Bxe6 17.Re1 Qd6 18.Bxe6 Nxe6 19.Ne4 Qe5 20.Bg5+ Kd7 21.Nc5+ Bxc5 22.Qf7+ Kd6 23.Be7+ Kd5, 1-0.

K Sasikiran - G Kasparov
Bled Olympiad, (3)
Slav Defense
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 c6 4.Nc3 a6 5.c5 Nbd7 6.Bf4 Nh5 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bd2 Qc7 9.e4 dxe4 10.Nxe4 Ndf6 11.Nc3 Be6 12.Ne5 g6 13.Qf3 Rd8 14.Be3 Ng7 15.Bc4 Bxc4 16.Nxc4 Ne6 17.0-0 Bg7 18.Rfd1 0-0 19.Rac1 Nd5 20.Nxd5 Rxd5 21.Nb6 Nxd4 22.Qg4 h5 23.Nxd5 cxd5 24.Qg5 Ne2+ 25.Kf1 Nxc1 26.Rxc1 e5 27.b3 Re8 28.Bd2 Qc6 29.Qe3 d4 30.Qe2 e4 31.Bf4 Qf6 32.Bd6 Bh6 33.Rd1 Re6 34.Kg1 d3 35.Qf1 e3 36.fxe3 Bxe3+ 37.Kh1 Qxf1+ 38.Rxf1 d2, 0-1.

E Bacrot - P Motwani
Bled Olympiad, (2)
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 Ke8 10.h3 a5 11.Ne4 h5 12.h4 Be6 13.Re1 Bb4 14.Bd2 Bxd2 15.Nexd2 Rd8 16.Rad1 Ke7 17.Nb3 Rxd1 18.Rxd1 b6 19.Nbd4 Nxd4 20.Nxd4 Bd7 21.f3 c5 22.Ne2 Bf5 23.Nf4 Bxc2 24.Nd5+ Ke6 25.Nxc7+ Kxe5 26.Rd5+ Kf6 27.Rd6+ Ke5 28.Rxb6 Rd8 29.Rc6 Bb1 30.Rxc5+ Kd6 31.Na6 a4 32.Rxh5 Bxa2 33.Ra5 Bb3 34.Nc5 Rb8 35.Nxa4 Bc2 36.Nc3 Rxb2 37.Rd5+ Ke6 38.Rd2 g6 39.Kf2, 1-0.

November 5, 2002

TEN GREATEST RIVALRIES IN SPORT

Today's Observer newspaper (one of the top UK Sunday papers), in its accompanying Sport Monthly magazine (no. 33), features a list of the ten greatest rivalries in the history of sport.

Here they are in ascending order of importance... no. 10 Alex Higgins versus Rest of World (OK, I can hear you all wondering, "Eh? Who is he?" Well, he's a controversial snooker player -- usually the worse for drink. Snooker? ... for heaven's sake, it's a bit like pool or billiards, go look it up on Google) ... no. 9 Usova and Zhulin versus Grischuk and Platov (no, don't get carried away, that's not the chess connection yet. This is not the 2702-rated chess-playing Alexander Grischuk, but a female Russian ice dancer who was caught by rival skater Usova having a cocktail with Usova's husband) ... no. 8 Prost vs. Senna (you all know these two, right?) ... no. 7 America vs. Europe (that's golf and the Ryder Cup -- remember, we won recently!) ... no. 6 Navratilova vs. Evert (tennis) .... no. 5 Robinson vs. La Motta (boxing's Sugar Ray and Jake, later immortalized in the film Raging Bull) ... no. 4 Celtic vs. Rangers (Glasgow's two great soccer teams -- you've never lived until you experience the electric atmosphere generated when these two teams play in Glasgow -- it's basically religious warfare without the violence) ... no. 3 Borg vs. McEnroe (tennis again) ... no. 2 India vs. Pakistan (cricket -- heard of that? If not, it's another one for Google) ... and now, the numero uno ... Muhammed Ali vs. Joe Frazier? Barcelona vs. Real Madrid? Coe vs. Ovett? A pair of baseball/basketball/gridiron teams? (Don't be silly, this is a British article) ... no, no. 1 is FISCHER vs. SPASSKY!! If that isn't recognition for chess as a sport, I don't know what is. Well done, Sport Monthly!

Sport Monthly's editor, Matt Tench, and his sidekick, Jamie Jackson, described Fischer-Spassky as the "ultimate sporting metaphor" and drew attention to the importance of its timing. "The virulently anti-communist Richard Nixon was in the White House, Brezhnev in the Kremlin and the arms race was in full flow" and then went on to describe the threat to Soviet chess dominance posed by the "deeply eccentric 29-year-old from Chicago".

October 26, 2002

SHOCK IN ESSENT!

IN the Netherlands they seem to have a knack for knowing how to organize top-ranking events, and the annual Essent tournament in Hoogeveen is no different.

Hoogeveen is famed for its Glass Museum, and the players in the top Crown tournament use glass pieces created by artist Cees Van Olst, and styled in the familiar Staunton pattern. Every October the Dutch town in the province of Drenthe is the center of a lively glass festival, called GLAS-IN, and Van Olst is also responsible each year for designing and creating a new trophy: a special commissioned glass chess set that is presented to the winner.

The players that make up the field for this intimate four-player double-round robin are always selected for "interesting contrast." Defending champion Judit Polgar from Hungary is the strongest female player in the world against a field of men: Dutch No.1 Loek Van Wely is the local hero battling against the foreigners; Russia's Alexander Khalifman the former FIDE world champion; and the newly-crowned World Junior champion Peter Acs, 21, from Hungary.

Despite being by far the lowest rated player in the field, and the handicap of getting off to a poor start of 1/3, the surprise winner of the tournament was Acs. The young Hungarian stormed back in the second half of the tournament as he "chopped" his way through the opposition to win all three games to take first place with a final score of 4/6, a clear point ahead of Polgar and Khalifman on 3, with Van Wely in fourth with 2.

The strong nine-round open running alongside the Crown event also produced a young winner in the shape of 16-year-old Evgeny Alekseev of Russia with 7/9 ahead of three "old hands" Semen Dvoirys, Vlastimil Hort, Ian Rogers, and Dennis De Vreugt on 6.5. Despite his youth and only being an IM in a field with so many veteran GMs, Alekseev was in fact the top-rated player in the field; losing only one game to Friso Nijboer but, like Acs, finished with a burst of three successive wins to take first.

A Khalifman - P Acs
Essent Crown, (4)
Semi-Slav Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 dxc4 7.e4 g5 8.Bg3 b5 9.Be2 Bb7 10.h4 g4 11.Ne5 Rg8 12.Nxg4 Nxg4 13.Bxg4 Nd7 14.0-0 Nf6 15.Be2 Qb6 16.a4 Bb4 17.Be5 Nd7 18.Bf4 Rd8 19.Be3 c5 20.axb5 Nf6 21.dxc5 Bxc5 22.Bxc5 Qxc5 23.Qc2 Rd4 24.Bf3 Rd3 25.Qe2 Rg3 26.Na4 Qd4 27.Rfd1 Bxe4 28.Bxe4 Nxe4 29.Nc3 Nd2 30.b6 Rxg2+ 31.Kxg2 Qg7+ 32.Kh2 Nf3+ 33.Qxf3 Rxf3 34.Rg1 Rxf2+ 35.Kh1 Qd4, 0-1.

L Van Wely - P Acs
Essent Crown, (6)
Nimzo Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Nge2 Re8 8.0-0 Bd6 9.a3 Ng4 10.h3 Nh2 11.Re1 Nf3+ 12.gxf3 Qg5+ 13.Kh1 Qh4 14.Nf4 Bxh3 15.Ncxd5 Re6 16.Nxe6 Bf5+ 17.Kg1 Qh2+ 18.Kf1 Bg3, 0-1.

October 22, 2002

KRAMNIK vs. DEEP FRITZ: Final Results!

THE Brains in Bahrain showdown between Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz fizzled out with two peaceful (and relatively short) draws as the match finished in a 4-4 tie, with two wins apiece. Speaking on the eve of the final game, Kramnik said: "A few years ago, if I had been playing a chess program, I would have had a really big advantage, but not today, not now."

The deciding game turned into something of an anti-climax by being the shortest of the match, a 21-move draw. Kramnik was unable to make any progress against Fritz's ultra-solid defense. In the end, the result was a tremendous achievement for the German software specialists ChessBase and Team Fritz, particularly after starting out with only half a point from the first three games.

In the latest battle between man and machine, Kramnik may have fared better than his predecessor as World Champion Garry Kasparov -- who was defeated by the supercomputer Deep Blue in 1997 -- but must realize that he blew a golden opportunity after squandering a 3-1 lead. Looking as if he was cruising to the $1 million prize halfway through the match, the turning point for the World Champion came in games 5 and 6, both of which he lost to let the computer back in the match.

Deep Fritz - V Kramnik
Brains in Bahrain, (7)
Queen's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3 c5 10.Rd1 d6 11.b3 Bf6 12.Bb2 Qe7 13.Qc2 Nc6 14.e4 e5 15.d5 Nd4 16.Bxd4 cxd4 17.Bh3 g6 18.a4 a5 19.Rab1 Ba6 20.Re1 Kh8 21.Kg2 Bg7 22.Qd3 Rae8 23.Nd2 Bh6 24.f4 Qc7 25.Rf1 Kg8 26.Rbe1 Qd8 27.Kg1 Bb7 28.Re2 Ba6, draw.

Kramnik,V - Deep Fritz
Brains in Bahrain (8)
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.Bg5 Be7 6.e3 0–0 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.0–0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 Nd5 10.Bxe7 Qxe7 11.Rc1 Nxc3 12.Rxc3 e5 13.Bb3 exd4 14.exd4 Nf6 15.Re1 Qd6 16.h3 Bf5 17.Rce3 Rae8 18.Re5 Bg6 19.a3 Qd8 20.Rxe8 Nxe8 21.Qd2, draw.

KRAMNIK vs. DEEP FRITZ: Game Six

THE stage is now set for a dramatic finale to the $1 million Brains in Bahrain showdown between Vladimir Kramnik and Deep Fritz, as the computer sensationally won its second successive game against the world champion in a thrilling game to tie the eight-game match at 3-3.

Instead of playing for a small advantage from the early middlegame, Kramnik opted for a stunning piece sacrifice with what at first sight looked like a seemingly deadly attack on Fritz's king. Just as the world champion was closing in for the kill, he suddenly noticed what Fritz had seen many moves earlier -- a superb defensive resource that only a cold, calculating machine like Fritz, that can analyze 3.5 million moves a second, could only find.

Kramnik had planned to “finish off Fritz” with 27 Qe6+ Nf6 28 f4. However, what the world champion had missed was the stunning retort 28...Bh4!!, a move that dramatically turns the tables as 29 gxh4 Qg8+! 30 Qxg8 Rxg8+ 31 Kh2 c3 leaves White defending a hopeless ending. Although he saw it just in time, Kramnik was stunned by the discovery and, after wasting 42 minutes for his 17th move as he had wrongly calculated all the complications from the knight sacrifice, he was left facing a losing position with just 15 minutes on his clock, so resigned.

"It had the potential to be the best game I have ever played in my life," Kramnik ruefully observed after the game. "I'm not depressed. When you play such a wonderful game you can't be. It could have gone either way. Fritz played such great defense. I think I can still win the match."

Final Position from Game 6

ADDENDUM: New analysis has now come to light on what may have been a premature resignation from Kramnik in game 6. From the diagram position above, where Kramnik resigned, the jury is still out on whether he could have held on with: 35 Rxa6 b2 36 Ra7+ Kg6 37 Rd7 Nc3 (or 37...Rc1 38 Rd6+! Nf6 39 Rdd1 b1=Q 40 Rxc1) 38 Rd2 b1=Q 39 Rxb1 Nxb1 40 Rb2 all of which is hard to win -- though no doubt the computer would have had a go.

V Kramnik - Deep Fritz
Brains in Bahrain, (6)
Queen's Indian Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.a4 Bf6 14.e4 c5 15.exd5 cxd4 16.Bb4 Re8 17.Ne4 exd5 18.Nd6 dxc4 19.Nxf7 Kxf7 20.Bd5+ Kg6 21.Qg4+ Bg5 22.Be4+ Rxe4 23.Qxe4+ Kh6 24.h4 Bf6 25.Bd2+ g5 26.hxg5+ Bxg5 27.Qh4+ Kg6 28.Qe4+ Kg7 29.Bxg5 Qxg5 30.Rfe1 cxb3 31.Qxd4+ Nf6 32.a5 Qd5 33.Qxd5 Nxd5 34.axb6 axb6, 0-1.

KRAMNIK vs. DEEP FRITZ: Game Five

THAT great human trait of being capable of making the most obvious of mistakes led to the downfall of World Champion Vladimir Kramnik in game five of his Brains in Bahrain match with Deep Fritz, as he lost his first-ever competitive game to a computer.

No such man vs. machine challenge has taken place since 1997, when Garry Kasparov made a similar mistake in the deciding game of his six-game match in New York with IBM's Deep Blue to become the first World Champion to lose a match to a computer.

For Deep Fritz, the German-developed software program from the ChessBase stable, the win went some way to healing its wounded pride as it beat Kramnik in just 35 moves to keep the $1 million eight-game series alive at 3-2 in favor of mankind.

In its best game of the match so far, Deep Fritz had Kramnik under constant pressure as he tried to equalize with the super-solid Lasker Defense. With just 15 minutes on his clock to make six more moves, Kramnik tried to avoid going into the defense of a difficult (though by no means lost) endgame -- only to make the worst blunder of his career as he lost a piece and resigned almost immediately.

During the press conference after the game, Kramnik explained that he had seen the deadly check (35 Ne7+) when he had first analyzed the line he went down, then went on to analyze other possibilities only to forget about the fatal check when he came back to the line, wryly observing "That's the difference between humans and computers: humans have blackouts."

Deep Fritz - V Kramnik
Brains in Bahrain, (5)
Lasker Defense
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.cxd5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 exd5 11.Qb3 Rd8 12.c4 dxc4 13.Bxc4 Nc6 14.Be2 b6 15.0-0 Bb7 16.Rfc1 Rac8 17.Qa4 Na5 18.Rc3 c5 19.Rac1 cxd4 20.Nxd4 Rxc3 21.Rxc3 Rc8 22.Rxc8+ Bxc8 23.h3 g6 24.Bf3 Bd7 25.Qc2 Qc5 26.Qe4 Qc1+ 27.Kh2 Qc7+ 28.g3 Nc4 29.Be2 Ne5 30.Bb5 Bxb5 31.Nxb5 Qc5 32.Nxa7 Qa5 33.Kg2 Qxa2 34.Nc8 Qc4 35.Ne7+, 1-0.

KRAMNIK vs. DEEP FRITZ: Game Four

IDEALLY timed as Vladimir Kramnik takes on Deep Fritz in Bahrain, top
IBM programmer and founding father of Deep Blue, Fen-hsiung Hsu, finally lifts the lid on the historic defeat of Garry Kasparov with a revealing new book.

“Beyond Deep Blue” (Princeton University Press, priced £19.95) charts the rise and rise of the legendary software program, culminating in the controversial 1997 showdown with Kasparov in New York and the former World Champion’s angry tirade against IBM in the aftermath of the match.

Like a latter-day Paul Morphy mystery, Deep Blue became the first computer to beat a reigning world champion in a match and then disappeared, dismantled after negotiations for a rematch with Kasparov fell apart amid the acrimony. “At the end of the day,” commented an IBM public relations manager at the time, “IBM’s business is not in the chess computing software business.”

IBM may have invested an estimated $2-3 million on developing the project, but their shrewd move on retiring at the top meant that, as a company, they would always be associated with a world-beating chess supercomputer -- not to mention the media hype surrounding IBM and the little matter of an overnight rise in their stocks of nearly $250 million after beating Kasparov!

Despite a glitch of a 15 minute computer crash for Deep Fritz in its Brains in Bahrain showdown with Kramnik, ironically the computer played its best chess of the match so far to easily draw game four; Kramnik now leads 3-1 in the eight-game match, the winner of which will win $1 million.

V Kramnik - Deep Fritz
Brains in Bahrain, (4)
Tarrasch Defense
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.g3 Nc6 6.Bg2 Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Nc3 0-0 9.Bg5 cxd4 10.Nxd4 h6 11.Bf4 Bg4 12.h3 Be6 13.Rc1 Re8 14.Nxe6 fxe6 15.e4 d4 16.e5 dxc3 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.bxc3 Qxd1 19.Rfxd1 Rad8 20.Be3 Rxd1+ 21.Rxd1 Bxc3 22.Rd7 Rb8 23.Bxc6 bxc6 24.Rxa7 Rb2 25.Ra6 Bd2 26.Rxc6 Bxe3 27.fxe3 Kf7 28.a4 Ra2 29.Rc4 Kf6 30.Kf1 g5 31.h4 h5 32.hxg5+ Kxg5 33.Ke1 e5 34.Kf1 Kf5 35.Rh4 Kg6 36.Re4 Kf5 37.Rh4 Kg5 38.Kg1 Kg6 39.g4 hxg4 40.Rxg4+ Kf5 41.Rc4, draw.

KRAMNIK vs. DEEP FRITZ: Game Three

IT looks as if the plug has been pulled on the successor to Deep Blue, as world champion Vladimir Kramnik wins his second successive game against Deep Fritz to take a 2.5-0.5 lead in their eight-game, $1 million Brains in Bahrain showdown.

Kramnik, who beat Garry Kasparov two years ago in London to become World Champion, looks to have learned from Kasparov's bitter experience of facing Deep Blue by having a number of crucial conditions in his favor before playing the computer.

When Kasparov faced Deep Blue in 1997, he not only had never seen the program play, but during the match IBM was allowed to constantly change its playing style. One of Kramnik's main pre-match conditions was that he was allowed to experiment with the actual playing program in the run up to the match, a decision that looks as if it has stacked the cards heavily in the favor of the World Champion by the ease in which he has found its weaknesses.

This has allowed Kramnik to prepare extensively for his match-up with Deep Fritz. "Probably one day computers will be stronger than the best human player," said Kramnik on the eve of the match. "But I believe we have time, 10 to 15 years, in which to compete."

Deep Fritz - V Kramnik
Brains in Bahrain, (3)
Scotch Game
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Bc5 5.Nxc6 Qf6 6.Qd2 dxc6 7.Nc3 Ne7 8.Qf4 Be6 9.Qxf6 gxf6 10.Na4 Bb4+ 11.c3 Bd6 12.Be3 b6 13.f4 0-0-0 14.Kf2 c5 15.c4 Nc6 16.Nc3 f5 17.e5 Bf8 18.b3 Nb4 19.a3 Nc2 20.Rc1 Nxe3 21.Kxe3 Bg7 22.Nd5 c6 23.Nf6 Bxf6 24.exf6 Rhe8 25.Kf3 Rd2 26.h3 Bd7 27.g3 Re6 28.Rb1 Rxf6 29.Be2 Re6 30.Rhe1 Kc7 31.Bf1 b5 32.Rec1 Kb6 33.b4 cxb4 34.axb4 Re4 35.Rd1 Rxd1 36.Rxd1 Be6 37.Bd3 Rd4 38.Be2 Rxd1 39.c5+ Kb7 40.Bxd1 a5 41.bxa5 Ka6 42.Ke3 Kxa5 43.Kd4 b4 44.g4 fxg4 45.hxg4 b3 46.Kc3 Ka4 47.Kb2 f6 48.Bf3 Kb5 49.g5 f5 50.Kc3 Kxc5 51.Be2, 0-1.

KRAMNIK vs. DEEP FRITZ: Game Two

WORLD chess champion Vladimir Kramnik took full advantage of a typical computer-like mistake in the opening from Deep Fritz to win game two of their eight-game, $1 million "Brains in Bahrain" man vs. machine showdown in Bahrain.

In the game, Deep Fritz came up with the bizarre-looking 12…Bf8??, returning the bishop to its original square -- a puzzling move that even the lowliest human player would never consider. However it all made perfect sense for the computer, as it thought that Kramnik's best was to retreat his knight, then it would repeat its move too, settling for a draw. Of course, Kramnik had no intention of repeating and Fritz's move was expertly exposed for the terrible blunder it was.

Fritz soon fought back into the game and shocked Kramnik with some typical computer tactics that very nearly saved the day. In the press conference afterwards he admitted that he never imagined 27…Bc4+! and the ensuing tactics that followed. "Only a computer would find and play something like that," Kramnik said, "I was completely shocked."

After a long think, Kramnik found his way through the myriad complications to go one up in the eight-game match after finding an ingenious way of transposing down into a won rook and pawn ending.

V Kramnik - Deep Fritz
Brains in Bahrain, (2)
Queen's Gambit Accepted
1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 a6 7.dxc5 Qxd1 8.Rxd1 Bxc5 9.Kf1 b5 10.Be2 Bb7 11.Nbd2 Nbd7 12.Nb3 Bf8 13.a4 b4 14.Nfd2 Bd5 15.f3 Bd6 16.g3 e5 17.e4 Be6 18.Nc4 Bc7 19.Be3 a5 20.Nc5 Nxc5 21.Bxc5 Nd7 22.Nd6+ Kf8 23.Bf2 Bxd6 24.Rxd6 Ke7 25.Rad1 Rhc8 26.Bb5 Nc5 27.Bc6 Bc4+ 28.Ke1 Nd3+ 29.R1xd3 Bxd3 30.Bc5 Bc4 31.Rd4+ Kf6 32.Rxc4 Rxc6 33.Be7+ Kxe7 34.Rxc6 Kd7 35.Rc5 f6 36.Kd2 Kd6 37.Rd5+ Kc6 38.Kd3 g6 39.Kc4 g5 40.h3 h6 41.h4 gxh4 42.gxh4 Ra7 43.h5 Ra8 44.Rc5+ Kb6 45.Rb5+ Kc6 46.Rd5 Kc7 47.Kb5 b3 48.Rd3 Ra7 49.Rxb3 Rb7+ 50.Kc4 Ra7 51.Rb5 Ra8 52.Kd5 Ra6 53.Rc5+ Kd7 54.b3 Rd6+ 55.Kc4 Rd4+ 56.Kc3 Rd1 57.Rd5+, 1-0.

KRAMNIK vs. DEEP FRITZ: Game One

IN 1997 when IBM's Deep Blue supercomputer reduced Garry Kasparov to a gibbering wreck by becoming the first computer to beat a World Champion in a match, many felt that the game was up for the carbon-based grandmasters.

Despite the fact that there have been great developments in computer technology and the chess-playing software since "that" historic defeat five years ago in New York, the silicon take-over of chess never really materialized.

Now a new World Champion, Vladimir Kramnik, has a chance to defend mankind's honor as he goes face-to-interface with Deep Fritz, a much more powerful chess-playing software program than Deep Blue. The eight-game, $1 million "Brains in Bahrain" man vs. machine challenge started Friday at the Bahrain Mindsports Center in Manama, the capital of Bahrain.

"Kramnik is one of the most unpleasant possible opponents for us because he is so solid," commented Team Fritz head Frederic Friedel on the eve of the match. "He takes the game into positions where strategy is more important than tactics."

Many regard Kasparov as a human computer by the way he calculates all the tactics at the board -- a style of play that isn't really effective against a computer. When he faced his human nemesis in their title match in London two years ago, Kramnik's clever ploy of continually frustrating Kasparov by adopting the Berlin Defense was hailed as a masterful stroke as the world No.1 fell apart psychologically, much in the same manner as he did against Deep Blue.

Now, if the first game against Deep Fritz is anything to go by, it looks as if Kramnik is adopting the same plan as he easily contained the computer in the opening game of the match by once again showing that it is difficult to breach his "Berlin Wall".

Deep Fritz - V Kramnik
Brains in Bahrain, (1)
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.b3 Ke8 11.Bb2 Be7 12.Rad1 a5 13.a4 h5 14.Ne2 Be6 15.c4 Rd8 16.h3 b6 17.Nfd4 Nxd4 18.Nxd4 c5 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Rxd8+ Kxd8 21.Bc1 Kc8 22.Rd1 Rd8 23.Rxd8+ Kxd8 24.g4 g6 25.h4 hxg4 26.Bg5 Bxg5 27.hxg5 Ke8 28.Kg2, draw.

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