Chess

Roulette

Raymond Keene

The way in which the deadlock between Smyslov and Htibner was eventually settled mirrored the indecisive nature of their entire struggle. After a meagre one win each plus 8 draws and 4 further draws in ex- tra time (results more appropriate to draughts than chess) qualification to the Candidates' semi-final was decided upon the spin of a roulette wheel — red for Smyslov, black for Hilbner. As might be expected, zero (green) came up, which helped nobody, but it was Smyslov, the ex- world champion, who squeezed through on the second turn. The danger of an artificial tie-split was already discussed in some detail at a meeting of the Fidel Players' Council which I summoned in Lucerne, but no one could agree on a more equitable solution. Even a series of blitz games would be better than what actually happened. And perhaps some thought should be given by Fide to Symslov's own semi-humorous proposal that if the score is even after 14 games, the match should proceed on a sudden-death

basis, but with the players having to pay their own expenses from this stage, instead of burdening the organisers with open- ended costs.

Velden: Candidates' Quarter-final Smyslov 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 7 1-Itibner 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 7

Whatever dissatisfaction there may be at the method of qualification, there can be nothing but admiration at Smyslov's overall performance at age 62 — a gerontological exploit, at this level of competition, to rank with the best of Lasker's. An appropriate coincidence is the publication of Smyslov's 125 Selected Games (Pergamon £9.95), a collection of the highest quality adorned with Smyslov's own deep notes.

To compensate for the relative lack of ac- tion at Velden, Korchnoi-Portisch was a violent piece of blood-letting.

Bad Kissingen: Candidates' Quarter-final

Korchnoi

1 'A 1 1

1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1 6 Portisch 0'/ 0 0 1/2 1/2

1/2 I 0 3

Since both Korchnoi and Kasparov slaughtered their respective opponents, we can look forward to an inspiring semi-final battle between these two.

Smyslov—Htibner: Game 4, English Opening. 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 Nc3 Nc6 4 g3 d5 5 cxd5 NxdS 6 Bg2 Nc7 7 d3 e5 8 Nd2 Bd7 9 0-0 Be7 10 Nc4 f6 11 f4 b5 12 Ne3 Rc8 13 Ned5 NxdS 14 NxdS 0-0 15 fxe5 Nxe5 16 Bf4 Nc6 17 a4 b4 18 Rd Be6 19 e4 Bd6 20 Be3 Na5 21 d4 c4 22 Nf4 Bf7 23 Qg4 Qe8 24 Reel Nb3 25 Khl Kh8 26 Qh3 Rc7 27 e5 fxe5 28 dxe5 BxeS 29 Be4 g6 30 Bxg6 Qa8 + 31 Kgl Bg8 32 Bxh7 Rxh7 33 Ng6 + Kg7 34 Qd7 + Rf7 35 Rxf7 + Bxf7 36 Nxe5 Qd5 37 Qxa7 Rh5 38 Nxf7 Qxf7 39 Bd4 + Nxd4 40 Qxd4 + Kh7 41 Qe4 + Kg7 42 Rfl Qa7 + 43 Rf2 Qc5 44 Kfl c3 45 bxc3 bxc3 46 Qe6 Qg5 47 Rf7 + Kh8 48 Qc8 + Black resigns.

Korchnoi—Portisch: Game 3, English Opening. 1 c4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nc3 Nc6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 e6 6 Ndb5 d5 7 B14 e5 8 cxd5 exf4 9 dxc6 bxc6 10 Qxd8 + KxdS 11 Nd4 Kc7 12 g3 Bc5 13 Rcl fxg3

Position after 15Nxc6

14 hxg3 Ba6 15 Nxc6 (Diagram) Bb7 16 Na4 Bxf2 + 17 Kxf2 Ne4 + 18 Kgl Bxc6 19 Bg2 Rae8 20 Rh4 f5 21 g4 f4 22 Rxc6 + Kxc6 23 Nc3 Kc5 24 Bxe4 Kd4 25 Bf3 Rb8 26 Na4 Rb4 27 Rh5 Rd8 28 b3 h6 29 Kf2 Rd6 30 Rf5 g5 31 Rf7 Key 32 Rxa7 Rd2 33 Nc5 Rbd4 34 Ra6 Rd6 35 Ra5 Black resigns.