SIMPSON'S

IN-THE•STRAND

CHESS

SIMPSON'S

IN•THE•STRAND

KKK?

Raymond Keene

WHO SHOULD be the rightful world champion — Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, or perhaps even Gata Kamsky? Famously, in 1993 Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short broke away from the jurisdic- tion of Fide, the World Chess Federation, to play their world championship match under the auspices of a new body, the Professional Chess Association (PCA). Kasparov won against Short in London almost three years ago and defended his PCA world title once again against the tal- ented Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand in New York last year.

Meanwhile, what of Fide? The soi-disant governing body, whose authority over world championships had earlier been absolute, responded to the defection of Kasparov and Short by organising its own world title match between the two players whom Short had eliminated in his progress to the championship. As a result, Anatoly Karpov defeated the Dutchman Jan Tim- man to become the 'Fide world champion'. However, as a genuine world title match, a contest between two former losers lacked a certain verisimilitude.

The second championship in this Fide cycle is now set to begin in Elista, the capi- tal of the autonomous Russian Republic of Kalmykia, on 6 June. Karpov will be defending his Fide title against grandmas- ter Gata Kamsky with a prize fund for the players of $1.6 million, $100,000 more than the prize for the 1995 Kasparov v. Anand match in New York. Kasparov unwisely asserted at that time that the size of the prize purse would indicate which rival championship would be the legitimate one. Doubtless he is now regretting that rash pronouncement.

The organisation and prize fund in Elista are down to the new and controversial Fide president, Kirsan Ilumzinov, a multi- millionaire who also doubles as the President of Kalmykia itself. In spite of the fact that Ilumzinov has managed to trump the PCA's prize pot from New York by $100,000, there can be no doubt that Kasparov is still the true champion, and will remain so even after the result of the Karpov–Kamsky match is known.

In 1975 Karpov become world champion by default, when Bobby Fischer refused to defend his title. At that time Karpov had the advantage that the former champion was a virtual recluse, who not only refused to defend the title but also dropped out of sight from any form of competitive chess. Now, however, the situation is quite differ- ent. Although both the PCA and Fide claim their championship to be the legiti- mate one, Kasparov is still active and, indeed, largely dominant when he does compete in either matches or tournaments. His top billing at the head of Fide's own ranking list tacitly acknowledges this.

If an incumbent champion declines to play at all, a successor may take over his title without meeting him in face-to-face combat, but, given Kasparov's level of activity, whoever wins from Karpov- Kamsky will not be regarded as legitimate world champion until one of them has top- pled Kasparov himself mano a mano.

That said, Karpov–Kamsky, scheduled to last 20 games and with two combatants renowned for fighting to the death in every game, will prove a fascinating battle between two grandmasters who are undoubtedly amongst the world's very best. Karpov is the favourite, with a higher rat- ing and a substantial plus score against his young challenger, but an upset cannot be ruled out. Kamsky will be just 22 when the match starts and if he wins, he will become the youngest ever Fide world champion.

The following endgame reflects what I believe to be the differential in their strength and shows Karpov at his best.

Karpov—Kamsky: Moscow 1992, Black has sacrificed a piece for two pawns and to expose the white king. In general, his compensa- tion is sufficient, and specifically, he has the threat of ...Be5+, but Karpov has foreseen a neat conclusion which nails the black king to the edge of the board. 1 f6+ Bxf6 2 Bh6+ ICzh6 3 Qxf6 Qc2 4 g5+ Kh5 5 Kg3 Qc7+ 6 Kh3 Black resigns There is no defence to Bf3 pinioning the black king.

The solution to Chess Puzzle No. 4 was 1 ...Qf1+. The winner was Mr Thomas Cox, who faxed his entry from Australia. He receives an invitation to lunch or dinner with me at Simpson's-in-the-Strand, plus a game of chess.