CHESS

Sheer genius

Raymond Keene

Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules;

Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these goes the refrain of the British Grenadiers. Others talk of Gata Kamsky or Lautier as the leading lights of the generation which is following the most likely young challenger to Kasparov, 22-year-old Vassily Ivan- chuk. But a prospect who should not be overlooked is the 19-year-old Latvian Alexei Shirov. Being a Latvian, he no longer has the powerful USSR Federation to support him, while his own fledgling Latvian Federation is as yet too feeble to ensure a constant flow of invitations to him to international tournaments. Lone wolf though he is, Shirov has attained an impressive rating of 2615. He has already been invited to the forthcoming Lloyds Bank Masters in London this year, and I hope to see many more appearances by him in the UK.

Here are four samples of his play, which is so daring and unconventional as almost to constitute a new approach to chess strategy. I was particularly struck by his game against Eingorn, during which Shirov conducted a middle game attack with his own king perched precariously in the cen- tre of the board. I am told by Jon Tisdall that one British Grandmaster had to be helped from the board by his friends after a recent severe defeat at Shirov's hands, such is the violence and physicality of his mode of play.

Shirov-Ernst: Gausdal 1991; Grunfeld Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Bg5 Ne4 6 cxd5 NxgS 7 Nxg5 c6 Black offer a promising gambit, but it is more in Shirov's style to sacrifice pawns than to take them. 8 e3 cxd5 9

Qf3 f6 10 Nh3 Bxh3 11 WO 15 12 g4 This move heralds a powerful attack on the `g' file. 12 . . . 0-0 13 gxf5 gxf5 14 Rgl e6 15 Net Rf6 16 Nf4 Nc6 17 Bd3 Qe7 18 Ke2 Ra18 19 Rg5 R8f7 20 Ragl Qc7 21 Rh5 Nxd4+ 22 exd4 Qxf4 23 Rxh7 Black resigned.

Shirov-Eingorn: Rilton Cup 1989; Nimzo-Indian Defence.

1 d4 e6 2 c4 Bb4+ 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 f3 This is a variation which has only recently become fashionable. It can lead to colossal complica- tions, and for that reason, if no other, it has become one of Shirov's favourites. 4 . . . d5 5 a3 Be7 6 e4 c5 7 cxd5 exd5 8 dxc5 BxcS 9 e5 Nfd7 10 QxdS 0-0 11 f4 Qb6 12 NO Bf2+ 13 Ke2 Nc5 14 b4 Rd8 15 bxc5 BxcS 16 Qe4 Qb3 17 Bd2 Rxd2+ Position after 19 . . . Qxal

18 Kxd2 Qb2+ 19 Kd3 Qxal (Diagram) 20 e6 Black must have believed that he was forcing events, the more so since White's king seems ludicrously exposed on d3. Yet now, with his own king in the thick of events, Shirov launches the decisive attack. 20 . . . fxe6 21 Ng5 g6 22 Qe5 Be7 23 Nxe6 K17 24 Qg7+ Ke8 25 Nc7+ Kd8 26 QhS+ Kd7 27 NxaS Qxa3 28 Kc2 Black resigned.

Shlrov-Renet: Match 1991; Nimzo-Indian De- fence.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 f3 d5 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 bxc3 c5 7 cxd5 NxdS 8 Qd3 cxd4 9 cxd4 Nc6 10 e4 Nb6 11 Be3 0-0 12 Be2 Qh4+ 13 g3 Qe7 14 f4 f5 15 NO fxe4 16 Qxe4 Nd5 17 Bc4 Ith8 18 0-0 Nf6 19 Qd3 Bd7 20 Rfel Qd6 21 Bd2 Rfe8 22 f5 Nd5 Position after 25 . . . Rxe8

23 fxe6 Bxe6 24 Ng5 Bg8 25 Rxe8 Rxe8 (Dia- gram) Black must have thought his position quite secure but White's next thunderbolt swiftly dispels his illusions. 26 Qxh7+ Bxh7 27 N17+ Kg8 28 Nxd6 Black resigned.

Eflmov-Shirov: Gausdal 1991; Two Knights De- fence.

1 e4 e5 2 NO Nc6 3 Bc4 Nf6 4 Ng5 Bc5 5 Bytf7+ Ke7 6 Bd5 Rf8 Anand — Beliaysky, Linares 1991 saw a different plan for Black: 6 . . . Qe8 7 d3 d6 8 Bxc6 bxc6 9 Be3 Qg6. 7 Rfl Qe8 8 Nc3 d6 9 h3 Position after 12 Nh4

Qg6 10 d3116111 NO Qxg2 12 Nh4 (Diagram) 12

+

Igl+1if1OrTKe2 Nd4+ 15 Ke3 Ng4+ 1hxg4lxf2mate.4

Qg3+ 15 Kd2 QgS+ White resigned.