CHESS
Fresh blood
Raymond Keene
THE ANNUAL MATCH, sponsored by The Spectator and supported by the Brain Trust Charity, between the House of Lords and the House of Commons took place at the Royal Automobile Club, London in mid-May. It was fascinating to observe the changes that had overtaken this traditional contest after the last general election. Whereas there used to be a predominance of Tory MPs in the Commons side, there were now none. Another notable fact was that this year the standard of play, in par- ticular at the level of openings erudition, had dramatically improved. The outstand- ing game was that from the second round won by Lord Hardinge of Penshurst.
The overall score favoured the Commons, although they were assisted by one former MP and Commons team cap- tain, Michael Stern, and an official from the German embassy, Hans Wrede, who stepped in to fill the breach when two Commons members failed to appear. The scores were as follows:
Round I Lord Hardinge Dr Evan Harris MP 0-1 Lord Winston Nick Palmer MP 1-0 Lord Rennell Dafydd Wigley MP 0-1 Lord Kilbracken David Kidney MP 1-0 Marquess of Bath John Heppell MP 1-0 Lord Gage William Thompson MP 0-1 James Valiance Hans Wrede 0-1 White Round 2 Lord Hardinge Dr Evan Harris MP 1-0 Lord Winston Nick Palmer MP 1-0 Lord Rennell Hans Wrede 0-1 Lord Kilbracken David Kidney MP 0-1 Marquess of Bath John Heppell MP 0-1 Lord Gage William Thompson MP 1-0 James Valiance Michael Stern 0-1 White
Lord Hardinge–Dr Evan Harris: Lords v. Commons, 1998; Modern Defence.
1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 Bg5 Bg7 More subtle is 4 ... Nbd7 5 f4 h6 6 Bh4 N115 7 Qd2 Nxf4 8 Qxf4 g5 offering a pawn for dark-square coun- terplay. 5 f4 Nbd7 6 Nf3 The immediate 6 e5 is even stronger. 6 ...0-0 7 e5 Ne8 8 Bc4 c5 This is too risky. 8 ... c6 is stronger, planning ... d5. 9 Nd5 Qa5+ 10 c3 Here even the violent 10 b4 is possible. 10 ...e6 11 Ne7+ Kh8 12 0-0 Black's position has been so thoroughly invaded that the brutal 12 h4 would also be very strong. 12 ...d5 13 Bd3 16 (Diagram) Black is trying to escape
from his straitjacket but White's next brilliant move blows his defences away. 14 Nh4! fxg5 15 fxg5 After this, Black has no defence to a sacri- fice on g6. 15 ...Nxe5 16 dxe5 c4 17 Nhxg6+ hxg6 18 Nxg6+ Kg8 Black resigns White wins by means of 19 Ne7+ Kh8 20 Qh5 +.
Lord Hardinge is well known in the chess world as Julian Hardinge, formerly playing for Trinity College, Cambridge and Brighton. Here is a game he won against the ten-times British champion, Jonathan Penrose.
Hardinge—Penrose: London 1984; Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 NL3 e6 3 c3 Nf6 4 e5 Nd5 5 Be2 d6 6 d4 cxd4 7 cxd4 dxe5 8 dxe5 Bel 9 0-0 0-0 10 Bd3 Nd7 11 Nbd2 NcS 12 Bbl Bd7 13 Ne4 Nxe4 14 Bxe4 Bch 15 Nd4 Qb6 16 Qg4 Rfe8 (Diagram) Position after 16 . . . Rfe8 Black had to cope with the fearful threat of B116 while 16 ... Qxd4 loses the queen to 17 Bxh74'. 17 Nxe6 Now this sacrifice wins by force. 17 • • • fxe6 18 Qxe6 + Kh8 19 Qh3 Nf6 20 Bf5 Be4 21 exf6 BxfS 22 fxg7+ Kxg7 23 Qxf5 Bf6 24 Be3 Qb4 25 Bh6+ Black resigns.
The festivities were concluded by Sion Simon, associate editor of The Spectator. He saw resonances in the backstabbing and treachery associated with politics, and 111 the arcane traps and subterfuges character- ising chess. The evening was ably organised by Henry Mutkin, of the RAC, who also put together the Oxford v. Cambridge Varsity match at the Club which I reported on earlier this year.
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