CHESS
Caro can't
Raymond Keene
When Jon Speelman used the Caro- Kann to defeat Nigel Short just after the mid-point of the Foreign and Colonial Tournament at Hastings (see last week's column) it appeared that Nigel's chances for first prize had evaporated. Neverthe- less, in the closing stretch of the tourna- ment Nigel turned in a most determined performance. Bent Larsen, the three times world semi-finalist, himself resorted to the Caro-Kann in the home straight, but Nigel
won the following hard-fought struggle against him: Short — Larsen: Foreign and Colonial, Hastings 1989; Caro-Kann Defence.
I e4 c6 2 (14 d5 3 Nd2 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nf6 5 Nxf6+ pf6 Larsen's favourite variation of the Caro- Kann which he has previously used to beat Spassky and Kavalek. It unbalances the pawn structure and gives Black an open `g' file. 6 c3 BS 7 Bf4 A quiet move, not attempting a refutation of Bfack's opening. There are two Sharp methods of play for White against the ... gxf6 Caro: (a) 7 Ne2 e6 8 Ng3 Bg6 9 h4 h5 10 Be2 simply intending to win the 'h' pawn. Black can play ... Qa5 to defend the pawn, and although White has the possibility of b4 driving away the queen, Black will hope for compensa- tion from the weakening of the white queen's side and the uncoordinated state of his king's side pieces; (b) 7 Nf3 intending simply g3 and I382. This solidifies the white king's side. In the event of Black playing ... 0-0-0, the bishop can be brought into action with the pawn break b4-b5. Nigel instead opts for a restrained piece development. 7... Nd7 8 Bd3 11g6 9 Ne2 Nh6 10 0-0 e6 11 Bg3 Bd6 12 64 Black's strategy in this variation involves castling queen's side in order to exploit the open 'g' file. White's 12th and 13th moves render this course of action suicidal. 12 • • • Qc7 13 a4 Nd5 14 Qd2 Rd8 15 Rabl 0-0 16 c4 Ne7 17 Rb3 An ambitious plan to attack the black king leading to very unclear positions. 17
• • • Kg7 18 Bbl b6 Black prepares to gain counterplay with ... c5. 19 Bxd6 Qxd6 20 Rh3 Ng8 An unfortunate necessity in order to pre- vent Qh6. Black's knight on g8 is a very passive piece but, in compensation, the white rook on h3 is also awkwardly placed. 21 Ba2 Rfe8 22 Rh4 c5 23 hxc5 bxc5 24 d5 Rb8 25 Nc3 Qe5 An extremely risky decision, especially considering that Black was running very short of time.
Natural is 25 Rb4 occupying the open 'b' file and pressing against the white 'a' and 'c' pawns. 26 14 Qd4+ 27 Qxd4 cxd4 28 NI35 d3 Black's passed pawn is dangerous, but White can create two passed pawns on the 'c' and 'd' files. This is a tense moment in the game where one slip could prove fatal. Both sides were now in time Position after 30 Nc7 trouble. 29 d6 a6 30 Nc7 (Diagram) 30 ... Red8 After the game Larsen indicated the preferable alternative 30 ... Rec8 when he thought that Black might stand better, although it is obvious- ly still very complicated. After the text move the position is clearly better for White. 31 c5 Bf5 White was threatening to play 32 Bxe6 fxe6 33 Nxe6+ . 32 Bc4 Rb4 33 Bxa6 Rxa4 34 Rdl Ra5 35 Bh5 h5 Black has the long-term plan of playing Bg4 and ... Nh6-f5 to trap the white rook on h4. But with the white pawns so threatening, this
plan is too slow to bring genuine hope of salvation. 36 c6 KIS 37 d7 Ke7 38 g4 To kick away the protection of Black's passed pawn. After this the white passed pawns prove deci- sive. 38 ... Bxg4 39 Rxd3 Ral+ 40 Kf2 Nh6 41 Na6 Ra2+ 42 Kel Ral+ 43 Kd2 Rdl + 44 Kc3 Rxd3+ 45 Bxd3 The last necessary accurate move. White avoids 45 Kxd3 when, after the advance c7, Black's reply ... Rxd7 can come
with check. 45 Ra8 46 Bb5 Black resigns.
Foreign and Colonial Hastings Premier, December 1988-January 1989
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Total
!Nigel Short (Eng) XX 1/21/2 1/201/21/2 11 1/21 Ph Y2+ .9 2 Viklor Korchnoi (Switz) 1/21/2 XX 01 1/2,/21/21/2 11/2 1/21 V2+ 81/2 lion Speelman(Eng) 1/21 10 XX 1/21/2 11/2 01/2 1/21/2 1/21/2 71/2 4Vassily Smyslov (USSR) 1/21/2 1/21/2 1/21/2 XX 1/21/2 1/21/2 01/2 1+ 71/2 5Boris Gulko (USA) 00 ,/21/2 01/2 1/21/2 XX 11 1/21 11/2 7112 6Bent Larsen (D'mark) 1/20 01/2 P/2 1/21/2 00 XX 01 1/2+ 6
2Tony Kosten (Eng) 01/2 1/20 1/21/211/2 1/20 10 XX 0+ 6
8Murray Chandler (Eng) 1/2— 1/2— 'h1/20— 01/2 1/2— 1— XX 4 = win by default: = loss by default Average Fide Rating 2596, Category 14.
As can be seen, Nigel's determined revival gained him clear first prize in what was officially the highest rated tournament ever held in the UK. Not only did Nigel play some superlative and strong-willed chess at Hastings, he also wisely buried the hatchet with the great Korchnoi. There has been some tension between the Wunder- kind and the veteran in recent games. But in Nigel's speech at the closing ceremony he paid handsome public tribute to Kor- chnoi's fighting spirit. This was a generous and widely applauded gesture on the part of a player who might, having just won the tournament, have been tempted to dwell rather more on the details of his own success than the performance of the man Who had come in second.
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