;011attrittal I SPAIN'S FINEST CAVA CHESS 1 : oiDezmalu
SPAIN'S FINEST CAVA
THE BRITISH CHAMPIONSHIP, which was scheduled to finish last week in Dun- dee, is, paradoxically, still in progress. Two players, Michael Hennigan and Dhar- shan Kumaran, have tied for first place, so must now contest a play-off, for which the exact time and place have, as I write, not yet been determined. At 18, Kumaran is the third youngest player ever to land so high in the championship. Nigel Short tied for first place at the age of 14 in 1979, but lost out on tie-break to Bellin. In 1984 Nigel did win outright, aged 19. The record is held by Michael Adams, who took the championship title at the age of 17 in 1989. The way things are going, I would not be surprised were this record to be broken in the not so distant future.
There is, sadly, no doubting that the prolonged absence of a commercial spon- sor has undermined the validity of the championship title. Compared with the splendid field that could be present in a British Championship, including Short, Adams, Speelman, Nunn, Chandler and so on, the participation of just three grand- masters, Hodgson, Hebden and McNab, reflected the inadequate financial rewards. On the plus side, though, the field was packed with hungry young players of both sexes eager to make their mark. The competition was ferocious and the compli- cated, uncompromising nature of the bat- tles reminded me strongly of the games played in Soviet championships when wild beasts such as Bronstein, Tal and Korchnoi were stalking their prey in the 1950s and early 1960s.
There is no lack of combativeness or ideas among the younger generation of British masters and grandmasters, as the following death-defying exploit indelibly demonstrates. I am grateful to the excel- lent tournament bulletin, on which I have based a number of my comments.
British roulette
Raymond Keene
Ward — McNab: British Championship 1993; King's Indian Defence.
1 d4 d6 2 e4 Nf6 313 Normal would be 3 Nc3, but Ward likes this method in order to transpose into the Saemisch variation against the King's Indian. In that system the move c4 is integral, so it is imperative not to block the white 'c' pawn with the knight. 3 . . . g6 4 Be3 Bg7 5 c4 0-0 6 Nc3 e5 7 d5 Nh5 8 Qd2 Qh4+ 9 Kdl McNab clearly wanted to play the queen sacrifice line (9 g3 Nxg3 10 012 Nxfl 11 Qxh4 Nxe3 12 Ke2 Nxc4 13 Rcl) but Ward avoids this. The choice is a matter of taste. 9 . . . Qe7 10 Kc2 f5 Actually, I rather like this position for Black. True, he has wasted some time with his queen, but White has returned the compliment, castling by hand on the queenside. 11 Ref a5 12 Kbl Na6 13 Bd3 Bd7 abcdef gh Position after 15. . . e4 14 exf5 gx15 15 Nh3 e4 (Diagram) A classic King's Indian thrust. 16 Be2 a4 17 f4 Nf6 18 Nf2 Nc5 Black chooses a dubious method of attack- ing. According to the tournament bulletin, the plan of. . . c6 or. . . c5 and a quick. . . b5 was better. 19 h3 Ra6 20 g4 Rfa8 Black threatens. . . Nb3 but White avoids this and starts his counter- attack. 21 Rcgl Rb6 22 Nfdl Guarding against . . . a3 followed by sacrifices on b3. 22. . . a3 23 b3 fxg4 24 hxg4 Ne8 This and his next move are too slow. The time had come to burn his boats with 24 . . . Nxb3 25 axb3 Rxb3+ , seeking to confuse the situation at all costs. 25 Kc2 Qf6 This simply encourages White to attack. 26 g5 Qf7 27 Nf2 Ba4 28 Nxa4 Rxa4 29 Ng4 Rab4 30 Nh6+ Bxh6 31 gxh6+ Kf8 32 Qd4 Nxb3 At last, this looks like something dramatic. Unfortu- nately for McNab, White could safely ignore the abcdef gh Position after 33 . . . Ke7 Black attack. 33 Qh8+ Ke7 (Diagram') McNab was desperately short of time. 34 Rg7 Nxg7 35 hxg7 Nal+ 36 Rxal Rb2+ 37 Kdl Rbl + 38 Rxbl Rxbl + 39 Kd2 Black lost on time, but his position was already completely hopeless.
Last week I gave a game by co-winner Michael Hennigan. Here is a sample of the play of the 18-year-old who shared the first place with him.
Kumaran — Emms: British Championship 1993; Nimzo-Indian Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Nf3 c5 5 g3 cxd4 6 Nxd4 0-0 7 Bg2 d5 8 Qb3 Bxc3+ 9 Qxc3 e5 10 Nb3 Nc6 11 Bg5 d4 12 Qf3 a5 13 Nd2 Bg4 14 Qxg4 Nxg4 15 Bxd8 Rfxd8 16 h3 Nf6 17 Ne4 Nxe4 18 Bxe4 Ne7 19 g4 Rac8 20 b3 Rc7 21 h4 g6 22 g5 h6 23 Kd2 Kg7 24 Kd3 Rd6 25 a3 f5 26 gxf6+ Rxf6 2713 Nf5 28 Bxf5 gxf5 29 b4 Kf7 30 Rhgl b5 31 cxb5 Rc3+ 32 Kd2 Rb6 33 a4 axb4 34 Rabl e4 35 fxe4 fxe4 36 Rxb4 e3+ 37 Kdl Ra3 38 Kc2 Ra2+ 39 Kd3 Rd2+ 40 Kc4 Rb8 41 Rel Ke6 42 b6 Kd6 43 Kb5 Re8 44 a5 Re5+ 45 Ka6 Ra2 46 Rb5 Rxb5 47 Kxb5 Rb2+ 48 Ka6 Black resigns.
Leading scores from the Championship were: Michael Hennigan, Dharshan Kumaran, 81/2 points; Julian Hodgson, Keith Arkell, Chris Ward, John Emms, 71/2; Mark Hebden, Andrew Martin, 7.
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