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SPAIN'S FINEST CAVA
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SPAIN'S FINEST CAVA
Timeo Danaos
Raymond Keene
IN THE PAST FEW DAYS Fide, the ail- ing governing body for world chess, has suf- fered a series of body blows, all stemming from its relationship with its hitherto major backer, the Greek government.
Two years ago the Fide headquarters was lured to Athens — et dona ferentes — by the promise of major sponsorship and attractive grants. This now appears to have fallen through. In a series of press releases, Fide has announced that the Greek gov- ernment is withholding 375,000 Swiss francs of grant which have been due to Fide for over a year and is ignoring all offi- cial requests for reimbursement.
Accordingly, Fide's president Florencio Campomanes has announced that it will break all ties with the Greek government and will be removing its headquarters and secretariat from Athens. Simultaneously, Fide has announced that the chess Olympiad (the international championship for teams), which has been held bi-annually since 1950, scheduled for December in Thessaloniki, has been cancelled as a result of the dramatic breakdown in relations with the Greeks. Also cancelled are the Fide annual congress and the Fide election for a new president.
Chess federations worldwide who had stayed loyal to Fide in its clash with the breakaway Professional Chess Association have been thrown into confusion by the lat- est developments. The English team for the Olympiad had consisted of six grand- masters, Adams, Nunn, Speelman, Miles, Hodgson and Norwood. All of these had cleared their calendars for the December event. It will be difficult to assemble them all together in one place if the dates of the Olympiad are now thrown into uncertainty.
Experienced Campo-watchers believe that it may be possible to put an entirely different construction on this strange turn of events. Although Campomanes had announced his retirement as Fide presi- dent, it is well-known that he detests the front runner for this post, the Greek Georgios Makropoulos. The break with Greece may be the last act of an outgoing incumbent desperate to discredit a hated rival. It may even be that the government grant and the Olympiad funding are all in place. This is a story we shall follow with interest in this column.
Meanwhile, the PCA is having troubles of its own, namely an inability to control the unruly elements in the entourage of its competitors. In the PCA World Champion- ship semi-finals in Linares, Spain, Michael Adams got off to a disastrous start against Anand, scoring just half a point from his first four games. Nigel Short did scarcely better against Gata Kamsky, losing the first three, but then winning number four. Kamsky's father Rustam, an ex-boxer, reacted by threatening to kill Short in full public view in the restaurant of the Anibal hotel in Linares, where the matches are taking place. Kamsky senior had to be physically pulled away from Short by his son's seconds Federowicz and Dzindzhi- hashvili. Short very sensibly called the police to deal with this menace and Rustam Kamsky was taken in for question- ing, when he admitted that he had threat- ened to kill Nigel.
The Kamskys have been putting intolera- ble pressure on Short from the start, mak- ing outrageous demands about the arrangements on stage and accusing Nigel to his face of being a cheat. The PCA should react to this latest outbreak of yob- bish behaviour on the part of the Kamskys by banning Kamsky pere from the city and its environs. Failing that, Kamsky should be defaulted. The Kamskys have a history of intimidating behaviour against oppo- nents and Nigel is the first one to have dealt with it properly.
Short–Kamsky: World Championship semi- finals, Linares, 1944; Game 4, Ruy Lopez.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Bc5 4 c3 N16 5 d4 exd4 6 e5 Ne4 7 cxd4 Bb4+ 8 Nbd2 0-0 9 0-0 d5 10 Qa4 Bxd2 11 Nxd2 Bd7 12i3 a6 13 Bxc6 Bxc6 14 Qa3 Nxd2 15 Bxd2 Bb5 The position looks balanced and with opposite bishops on the board a draw does not seem unlikely. Nevertheless, White's dark square control, combined with some pres- sure in the 'c' file, might give him a slight edge- 16 Rfel Qh4 17 Qe3 Rac8 18 Racl b6? (Diagram) Underestimating White's next move. He should play 18 ... Rfe8. 19 e6 fxe6 20 Qxe6+ Kh8 21 QxdS Rfd8 22 Qe4 Qxe4 23 Rxe4 Rd7 24 Bf4 Kg8 This ending is hard to win but Nigel's technique is excellent. 25 Rc3 c5 26 dxc5 RxcS 27 RxcS bxc5 28 KO Kf7 29 Be3 Rd5 30 h4 h5 31 Bg5 Rd4 32 Re7+ Kg8 33 Kg3 Rd7 34 Re5 c4 35 Bf4 g6 36 Re6 Kf7 37 Rb6 Rd5 38 Bg5 Rd7 39 Bf6 Rc7 40 Bc3 Rc6 41 Rb7+ Ke6 42 Kf4 Ba4 43 Raj Bc2 44 g4 hxg4 45 fxg4 BO 46 Kg5 Bc2 47 Rg7 Kd5 48 Bf6 Ke6 49 Rxg6 A final sacrifice ensures the promotion of one of White's pawns; 49 ... Rc5+ 50 Kh6 c3 51 bxc3 Bxg6 52 Kxgo Ra5 53 h5 Rxa2 54 h6 Rh2 55 g5 Black resigns.
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