SIMPSON'S
IN-THE-STRAND
SIMPSON'S
IN-THE-STRAND
CHESS
Katabasis
Raymond Keene
THE ELITE tournament at Dos Hermanas in Spain has resulted in a fine performance by two young players, one of whom has already challenged Kasparov and the other being a likely future contender. Vladimir Kramnik, who was joint first with Viswa- nathan Anand, has evidently matured and is now capable of producing a satisfying blend of strategic depth and tactical alert- ness which enables him to beat even the greatest.
His best game was undoubtedly his victo- ry against Fide champion Anatoly Karpov, a clash in which a couple of errors by Karpov led to a retreat of truly Xenophon- like proportions.
Kramnik—Karpov: Dos Hermanas 1997; Nimzo-Indian Defence by transposition.
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3 6 Qxc3 b6 7 b4 Bb7 8 Bb2 d6 9 e3 Nbd7 10 d4 Ne4 11 Qb3 a5 12 Be2 axb4 13 axb4 Rxal+ 14 Bxal Ndf6 It is strange that Karpov, an expert in this line, deliberately entangles his knights, and leaves the piece on e4 without a secure method of retreat. Instead 14 ...Ng5 15 d5 Nxf3+ 16 Bxf3 e5 17 e4 Qg5 18 0-0 f5 19 exf5 Qxf5 20 Bb2 and only now 20 ...Nf6 led to equal chances for Black in the game Georgiev-Cebalo, San Bern- ardino 1988. 15 0-0 Qd7 16 b5 Ra8 17 Bb2 c6 Another move that is quite uncharacteristic of Karpov. For the sake of short-term mobility for his queen and bishop, he voluntarily weakens his pawns on b6 and d6. 18 bxc6 Qxc6 (Diagram) 19 Ra White has gradually been gearing up for the manoeuvre Nel followed by f3, which would seriously compromise Black's knight on e4. In view of this, Karpov has to inaugurate a full- scale retreat. 19 ...Nd7 20 Nel Qa4 Karpov has a knack of escaping from inferior positions, often by seeking exchanges. Here, though, the trade of queens does little to dissipate White's advantage. The twin pluses of the bishop pair and a mobile central pawn roller manifest them- selves even after queens have vanished from the board. 21 Qxa4 Rxa4 22 13 Nef6 23 Bdl Ra2 24 Nd3 K18 25 Bb3 After this move what had been a retreat turns into a rout. 25 ...Ra8 26 e4 Nb8 27 c5 It is tempting to play quietly and ultimately manoeuvre against Black's vulnerable pawns on d6 and b6. The text, however, is an inspired solu- tion. Although it eradicates Black's weaknesses, the energy developed by White's forces, even in a simplified situation, soon turns out to be deci- sive. 27 ... bxc5 28 dxc5 dxc5 29 NxcS Bc8 Karp- ov seems obsessed in this game with retreating his pieces to the back rank. Here 29 ... Bc6 might have been better. 30 e5 Ne8 (Diagram) Instead 30 ... Nd5 would have been the final chance. Now, Karpov's pieces have ended up in a spectacular huddle on his own first rank. His near-voluntary decision to return most of his pieces to their starting squares is about to lead to a humiliation of colossal proportions. 31 Ba4 Position after 30 . Ne8 Nc7 If instead 31 ... Ra7 32 Rdl. 32 Ba3 Kg8 33 Ne4 Rxa4 34 Rxc7 Ba6 35 Nc5 Black resigns The coup de grace. After 35 ... Rxa3 36 Nxa6 the two threats of Nxb8 and Rc8 mate combine to gain White an extra piece.
Final Crosstable, Dos Hermanas
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
1. Anand * 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1 1/21/2 6 2. Kramnik 1/2 * 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 I/2 1 I/2 1 6 3. Salov 0 1/2 * 1/2 1 1 1/21/2 0 1 5 4. Karpov 1/2 0 1/2 * 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1 1/2 5 5. Topalov 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 * 1/2 1/21/2 1 1 5 6. Gelfand 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 * I/2 1/2 1 1/2 41/2 7. Shirov 0 1/2 1/2 0 I/2 1/2 * 1 1 41/2 8. Polgar 0 0 1/21/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 * 1 1 41/2 9. Short 1/2 1/2 1 0 0 0 0 0* 1 3 10. Illescas 1/2 0 0 1/2 0 1/2 0 0 0 * 11/2 1 represents a win, 112 a draw and 0 a loss.
Chess Puzzle No. 9 The winner of Chess Puzzle No. 9 is J. Gill of Warlingham, Surrey. The solution was 1 c8/R Ra4 2 Kb3 threatening the rook and mate with Rcl. Note that 1 c8/Q allows a draw after 1 . . . Rc4+ 2 Qxc4 stalemate.
Previous page
