Born again
Raymond Keene
After 94 days of fruitless effort, Kaspar- ov has finally landed his first direct hit in his match with Kasparov. Their contest has set up a number of world records — the greatest number of draws in total, the longest series of consecutive draws, the longest in terms of days and with Kaspar- ov's victory in game 32 it looks as if another record is ready to fall. Up to now, the 34 games of Alekhine-Capablanca 1927 represented the most extended match of all time. In the past Kasparov has always gained fresh energy and drive from his wins, so it seems to me unlikely that the match will terminate in the next two games. Of .course, I could be wrong. However, Kasparov's overall position, trailing 1-5, must be hopeless, but we could well be within sight of a modest Kasparov revival. One thing is clear from this match; no Western sponsor could possible support this kind of unlimited struggle in the future. Fide will have to go back to a world championship format restricted to 24 or 30 games. In view of the length of the match the Fide Congress in Salonika has already decreed that the loser from Moscow will jump straight into the Candidates' semi- final. Accordingly Boris Spassky, the cele- brated former world champion, will take up the free place created in the 16-man Candidates' tournament.
Kasparov-Karpov: Game 32, 13 December; Queen's Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 Nc3 Bbl 5 a3 d5 6 cxd5 Nxd5 7 Qc2 Nd7? An inexplicable blunder, after which Black is already struggling. Correct is 7 . . . Nxc3, while 7 . . . c5 is playable. Perhaps after 31 games Karpov was tired. 8 Nxd5 exd5 9 Bg5 f6 The miserable alternatives to this horrid weakening move are 9 . . . Qc8 or 9 . . .
Bel 10 Bxe7 Kxe7. 10 Bf4 c5 11 g3 Amazingly Black's position is critical. His de- velopment lags and his entire structure, especial- ly the e6 square, exhibits grave signs of instabil- ity. White's formation on the other hand is well mobilised and extremely aggressive. All of this can be traced back to Black s strange blunder on move 7. 11 . . . g6 12 h4 Qe7 13 Bg2 Bg7 14 h5 f5 15 Qd2 A cunning introduction to a fine
manoeuvre to activate his QR. 15 . . . Bf6 16 Rc1 Rc8 17 Rc3 Rc6 18 Re3 Re6 19 Rxe6 Qxe6 20 Ng5 Qe7 21- dxc5 Karpov's defence in a near- hopeless situation has been characteristically tenacious. In order to make progress White must now win a pawn which, however, allows Black counterplay. 21 . . . NxcS 22 hg d4 If 22 . . . hxg6 23 Rxh8+ Bxh8 24 Bxd5 wins. 23 g7!
Position after 23g7!
(Diagram) A brilliant riposte. All other moves permit Black to consolidate, e.g. 23 Bxb7 Qxb7 24 f3 hxg6. Of course not 24 Rxh7? Rxh7 followed by . . 0a1 mate. 23 . . . Bxg7 24 Bxb7 Qxb7 25 f3 Qd5 Overestimating his chances. 25 . . . h6 26 Nh3 must be a better try. 26 Rxh7 Rxh7 27 Nxh7 Qb3 If 27 . . . d3 28 b4. 28 Bd6 Ne6 29 Ng5 Bh6 30 Bf4 Bxg5 31 Bxg5 NxgS 32 QxgS White has a big advantage in the Q and P ending. 32 . . . Qxb2 33 QxfS Qcl + 34 Kf2 Qe3+ 35 Kfl Qcl + 36 Kg2 Qxa3.37 Qh5+ Kd7 38 Qg4+ Kc6 39 Qxd4 b5 40 g4 b4 41 g5 The sealed move and Black resigns without resump- tion. There are many ways to win, e.g. 41 . . b3 42 g6 b2 43 Qc4+ Kd6 44 g7 b1=Q 45 g8=Q and Black will be rapidly mated. A strange game where neither player managed to castle!
After this game the announcement that Friday 15 December was a rest day because the hall had been booked by the Soviet Academy of Sciences fuelled speculation that this had been done to give Karpov a 'free' rest day. However these rumours were allayed when it was confirmed that
the booking was made a year in advance and the match had been expected to finish by now!
What about a chess computer for Christ- mas? I have had the opportunity to become closely associated with the latest models during a recent simultaneous display at Blackwell's bookshop in Oxford. As al- ways Fidelity programmes are excellent. The Sensory 12 and Elegance appear to have made a quantum leap in appearance
with a soft board, an especially attractive feature. In resourcefulness of play, the
program I met was certainly a match for most of the human opponents I faced that day. They are currently on offer at £398 for the Sensory 12 and £248 for the Elegance. SciSys machines are always outstanding and have been backed by no less than Kasparov. The latest is the Turbostar which will be available for Christmas at £199.99. Finally the strongest program available is almost certainly the Novag Super Constellation which performed so well in the 1984 Commonwealth cham- pionship. It is priced at £299.95. The
choice really depends on the strength of electronic opposition required. All these machines are available from Competence on 0491-34663.
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