CHESS
Dutch courage
Raymond Keene
Much as a British audience would like to see Nigel Short or Jon Speelman chal- lenge Gary Kasparov in 1990, two formid- able obstacles lie in their path. One, of course, is the former champion, Anatoly Karpov; the other is the Dutch Grandmas- ter Jan Timman. Now rated third in the world rankings with an Elo of 2675 (behind only Kasparov at 2750 and Karpov 2715) Timman is evidently approaching a lifetime peak in his form.
Timman, born 1951, is a cogent demon- stration of the theory that Western players in general reach chessboard maturity more slowly than their Soviet counterparts. This phenomenon may be due to the state- subsidised army of trainers and coaches which support young Russians, or it may be that Soviet hopefuls know a career in chess awaits them if they make the grade. Until very recently such assurances were not available to potential Western Grand- masters.
Timman has over the years developed a powerful blend of deep theoretical know- ledge, great courage and a direct classical style. This has netted him individual wins against the greatest, recently com- plemented by a series of outstanding vic- tories in matches (his lateAt victims being Ljubojevic and Salov) and tournaments, such as Tilburg 1987 and Linares which finished on Monday (7 March) where the final scores were: Timman 81/2/11; Beliav- sky 7; Yusupov 61/2; Ljubojevic and Chandler 6; Nunn, Illescas, Georgiev, Portisch 51/2; Hjartarson 4; Nikolic 31/2 and Chiburdanidze 21/2. The tournament was category 15. Timman's margin of victory was tremendous while the poor showing of Hjartarson and Chiburdanidze, the women's world champion, is ominous.
On the evidence of Linares Timman is on the crest of a wave which may well carry him through to a title match. Typical of his style is this win against a top Soviet from Linares: Timman — Beliavsky: Ruy Lopez, Exchange Variation.
1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Bxc6 dxc6 50-0 An old favourite of Bobby Fischer, now virtually discarded. Timman tries to breathe new life into it probably trying to avoid the fashionable Marshall or Karpov/Zaitsev Variations, both doing well for Black in the main line. 5 . . . f6 6 d4 Bg4 7 c3 More dynamic than the customary 7 dxe5. 7. . . Qd7 8 h3 Bxf3 9 Qxf3 cxd4 10 cxd4 Qxd4 Acceptance of White's gambit looks dangerous, but Beliavsky hopes to blunt White's initiative by returning the pawn at an appropri- ate moment. 11 Rdl Qc4 12 Bf4 Bd6 13 Bxd6 cxd6 14 Rxd6 Nh6 15 Na3 Qb4 16 Radl 0-0 17 R1d2 Nf7 18 R6d4 Qc5 19 Nc4 Rad8 20 Qdl! A fine move, retaining his advantage by emphasis- ing his grip on the 'd' file.20 . . . Rxd4 21 Rxd4 Qe7 22 Na5 Rd8 23 b4 To fix Black's queen's side pawns as a collective weakness. 23 . . . Kf8 24 a3 Ke8 25 Rxd8+ Nxd8 26 Qd4 Qd7 27 Qe3 Nf7 28 f4 h6 29 Nb3 Qdl+ Black might do better to play possum. The text merely gives the illusion of counterplay. 30 Kh2 Nd6 31 Na5 Qc2 White's initiative persists even in the queen plus knight endgame. Black's king is not totally safe and in addition White can immediately create a passed 'e' pawn. 32 e5 Nf5 33 Q13 fxe5 34 fxe5 Nd4 35 Qg4 Qfl 36 Nxb7 Kf7 If 36. . . Ne2 37 Nd6+ is even more deadly. 37 Nd6+ Kg8 38 Ne8 Nf5 39 Nf6+ KM 40 Ne4 Qfl 41 Qf3 Qxf3 42 gxf3 Nd4 43 Kg3 Nc2 Adjourned and Black resigns. This may seem premature, but the endgame after 44 Nd6 Kg8 45 Nc4 Kf7 46 Kf4 Ke6 47 Ke4 g5 48 Na5! is ultimately hopeless. A convincing win against the second prizewinner in the tournament.
A key test for Karpov, Timman and Short will be the Euwe Memorial, to be held in Amsterdam from 17 to 19 March. The fourth participant will be Ljubojevic. This will be a double-round event, a real indication of whose chances will be super- ior in what remains of the world title cycle.
Another win by Timman, this time against the women's world champion: Chiburdanidze — Timman:Catalan Opening.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 g3 d5 Be7 S Nf3 0-0 6 0-0 c6 7 Qc2 b6 8 Nbd2 Bb7 9e4 Na6 10 exd5 cxd5 11 b3 Rc8 12 Bb2 NM 13 Qc3 dxc4 14 bxc4 Ned 15 Nb3 Ne4 16 Qd3 Nd6 17 a3 Ba6 18 Rfcl Bf6 19 Nfd2 Rc7 20 Ne4 Nxe4 21 Qxe4 Ne7 22 Bfl Bb7 23 Qf4 Nf5 24 Rdl Bg5 25 Qe5 Bf6 26 Qf4 Ba6 27 d5 Bxb2 28 dxe6 Qe7 29 Ra2 Nxg3 30 hxg3 fxe6 31 Qe4 Bb7 32 Qe3 Rf3 and White resigns.
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