CHESS
Short through
Raymond Keene
Nigel Short has done it in a cliff- hanging finale from the Manila interzonal.
Playing Black in the final round against one of the Soviet Union's strongest grand- masters, Short, with the disadvantage of the black pieces, absolutely had to win in order to reach the charmed circle of the eleven qualifiers for the Candidates match- es. His opponent, on the other hand, required just a draw to guarantee his own qualification. Employing psychological techniques reminiscent of Emanuel Lasker Nigel rose magnificently to the occasion and won a game which most grandmasters would have abandoned as drawn. Here is that historic encounter.
Mikhail Gurevich (USSR) — Nigel Short (Eng- land); Manila Interzonal, 13th and final round; French Defence.
1 d4 e6 2 e4 Gurevich is not known as a king's pawn player. Needing, however, just a draw from this final game in order to qualify, the Soviet grandmaster was probably quite pleased at the prospect of transposing", to a French Defence, where he could employ the notoriously equalising exchange variation. 2 . . . d5 3 exd5 The point of Gurevich's opening, but 3 Nd2, as favoured by Karpov, is a safer way to avoid the complexities of the Winawer Variation: 3 Nc3 Bb4 etc. 3 . . . exd5 4 NO Bg4 5 h3 Bh5 6 Bet Bd6 7 Ne5 Bxe2 8 Qxe2 Ne7 9 0-0 A computer would doubtless have considered the pawn raid 9 Qb5+ Nd7 10 Nxd7 Qxd7 11 Qxb7. This would, though, be a foolhardy course for a player who is desperate for half a point. 9 . . . 0-0 10 Bf4 ReS 11 Qg4 BxeS A remarkably profound exchange. It might appear that the white bishop which now arrives on e5 would be a most powerful threatening unit, but in the further course of the game Short succeeds in reducing it to almost complete impotence. 12 BxeS Ng6 13 Bg3 Nd7 14 Nd2 Nf6 15 Qf3 c6 16 Qb3 Short's next move reveals supreme self- confidence in his ability to outplay his Soviet opponent in a simplified situation. It also shows great insight into the peculiar psychology of this particular game. Gurevich must have been expecting something aggressive such as 16 . . . Qa5 17 c3 Qa6, seeking to dominate the central light squares. Indeed, this would not have been an unreasonable continuation for Black. Gurevich must have breathed a sigh of relief when Short proffered the trade of queens.
16 . . . Qb6 17 Qxb6 axb6 The doubled pawns, far from debilitating Black's queen's wing, imbue his pawn mass there with a special dynamism. 18 a3 Ne4! Another move in the style of his 16th. It would appear that Short is playing into White's hands by suggesting a further swap of pieces, and that the haven of the draw would be brought closer by such an operation. This is not so, and with the benefit of hindsight it can be said that White should have avoided the ex- change and even permitted the fracturing of his own king-side pawns by means of 19 Nf3 Nxg3 20 fxg3, when a draw is still the most likely result. In fact, it would be better for Black to leave his strong knight in situ on e4 and restrict the operation of White's pieces with 19 NT3 f6! 19 Nxe4 Rxe4 20 Rfdl b5 Black's pawns on the queen's wing ominously begin to move forwards though, as yet, they do not represent a serious danger to White. 21 Kfl f6 22 f3 Re6 23 Rel K17 24 Rxe6 Kxe6 25 Rel+ Kd7 26 Keg Gurevich's strategy appears to have triumphed. It is almost inconceivable that White can lose such a simple position. Nevertheless, in the style of Karpov and Petrosian Short continues to find ways to prod White's bishop into passivity and to im- prove the possibilities of his own minor piece. The ultimate objective is a shock attack with the wedge of black pawns on the left flank. 26 . . . h5 27 Kd3 h4 28 Bh2 Ne7 29 Bf4 A better defence might be 29 Bgl Nf5 30 Bf2 keeping the bishop firmly trained on the c5 square. Just how important this factor is will soon be revealed. 29 . . . Nf5 30 Bd2 b6 31 Re2 Less supine
Position after 36 . . . Rxb4
perhaps is 31 Bb4 obliging Black to play 31 . . . Rc8 if he wishes to get in . . . c5. The text puts no obstacles in Black's path of achiev- ing his desired advance. 31 . . . c5 32 Be3 b4! If now 33 dxc5 bxa3 34 bxa3 Rxa3+ 35 c3 Nxe3 and Black wins an important pawn. 33 axb4 c4+ A fine pawn sacrifice which is instrumental in transforming White's bishop into a most res- tricted piece. If now 34 Kd2 then 34 . . . Ral invades powerfully with the threat of . . . Ng3 tying White in knots. 34 Kc3 Nd6 35 Ref Ra4 36 Kd2 Rxb4 (Diagram) White now commits the decisive error. After the passive 37 Rbl White is uncomfortable but still has chances to defend. By seeking illusory activity Gurevich permits Black's army of queen-side pawns to assume decisive significance. 37 Ral Rxb2 38 Ra7+ Ke6 39 Rxg7 b5 40 Bf2 b4 41 Kcl c3 42 Bxh4 Nf5 White resigns If 43 Rh7 Nxd4 wins or if 43 Rg4 Ne3 wins. A splendidly conceived win against a powerful opponent (in fact the world's number 8) when it truly mattered.
The full list of qualifiers from Manila for the Candidates matches is: Ivanchuk and Gelfand (both USSR) who each scored 9/13: Short and Anand (India) 81/2/13: Korchnoi (Switzerland), Sax (Hungary), Hubner (W. Germany), Nikolic (Yugosla- via), Dolmatov, Yudasin and Dreev (all USSR) 8/13. They will be joined in the Candidates by Timman (Holland), Yusu- pov (USSR), our own Jon Speelman and the loser of this year's Kasparov — Karpov match. It should be noted that England has more players in the Candidates than any other country except the Soviet Union.
Of the other British or ex-British repre- sentatives in Manila, Michael Adams could have qualified had he won in the last round against Nikolic. Sadly, though, after de- clining several draws Michael went down fighting. Tony Miles, once top board for England but playing under the US flag in the Philippines, was well placed with three rounds to go but then fell apart, scoring just one draw from his concluding three games. Finally, Murray Chandler sorted well with a win against Ivanchuk but thereafter nothing would go right for him and he ended near the bottom of the table.
Previous page
