CHESS
Confrontation
Raymond Keene
Based on the evidence of recent sal- voes from both sides, the gulf between Fide (the World Chess Federation) and the Grandmaster Association appears to be widening. The Association was set up after the Dubai Fide elections last year to ensure representation of top players' interests in the councils of the world body. In an interview for the Tilly issue of the interna- tional magazine New in Chess, Besse! Kok, the Brussels Maecenas behind the Grand- masters, stated: 'I cannot stop saying that a lot of things must change in Fide. That's obvious . . . There are certainly competent people in Fide, but what I have seen in Dubai frightened me off.'
Meanwhile, the Fide executive council, the ruling body's highest committee, has reacted negatively to the Grandmasters' demand for joint control of the world championship. In his latest pronouncement to member federations, Florencio Campo- manes, the controversial Fide president, reacted angrily to their claim, stating that it `flagrantly flouts the basic principle that decisions of the General Assembly are supreme and had to be rejected forthwith.'
The Grandmasters have now gone on the promotional offensive, organising edu- cational trips by their members to coun- tries in need of assistance. Timman and Ljubojevic have just completed such a goodwill tour to Thailand and Japan.
Due to pressure of work, England's John Nunn has, unfortunately, withdrawn from the board. His place has been taken by the great Dane, Bent Larsen, an outspoken critic of Fide. Many (including Kasparov) believed that the forthright Scandinavian would have made the most effective oppo- nent to Campomanes in last year's Fide presidential election.
Despite his now veteran status, Larsen still displays a formidable playing strength, as is evidenced by two games from this year's SWIFT tournament:
Larsen-Torre: Bishop's Opening.
1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 c6 4 Nf3 Be7 5 0-0 d6 6 Rel 0-0 7 Nbd2 Nbd7 8 a3 h6 9 Ba2 Re8 10 Nfl Nf8 11 Ng3 Be6 12 Bxe6 Nxe6 13 d4 Qc7 14 c4 Nh7 15 d5 NegS 16 Nf5 Nxf3+ 17 Qxf3 Rh8 18 Be3 c5 19 Racl Bg5 20 h4 Bxe3 21 Rxe3 Rac8 22 b4 Qd8 23 Qg3 Rg8 24 f4 f6 25 b5 Qd7 26 fxe5 fxe5 27 Qg6 RcdS 28 Rg3 Nf8 29 Qh5 Nh7 30 Rd Rdf8 31 Rg6 Rf6 32 Rxf6 Nxf6 33 Qg6 Rf8 34 g4 NeS 35 g5 Qf7 36 Qxf7 Rxf7 37 g6 Rd7 38 Rfl Kg8 39 a4 h5 40 Kf2 Nf6 41 Ke3 Kf8 42 a5 Rd8 43 Kd3 Rd7 44 a6 b6 45 Rgl Ng4 46 Rxg4 hxg4 47 Ke3 Rd8 48 Kf2 Kg8 49 Kg3 Rd7 50 Kxg4 Kfli 51 Kg5 Kg8 52 h5 Kh8 53 h6 gxh6+ 54 Nxh6 Kg7 55 Nf5+ Kf8 56 Kf6 Black resigns.
Larsen-Timman: Reti's Opening.
1 c4 Nf6 2 g3 c6 3 Nf3 d5 4 b3 Bg4 5 Bg2 e6 60-0 Bd6 7 Bbl 0-0 8 Na3 Nbd7 9 d3 a5 10 Nc2 a4 11 b4 Bxf3 12 Bxf3 dxc4 13 dxc4 Be5 14 BxeS NxeS 15 Ne3 Qxdl 16 Rfxdl RfdS 17 Bg2 Kf8 18 h3 g5 19 Kill h5 20 Kel h4 21 gxh4 gxh4 22 b5 Rxdl+ 23 Rxdl Ra5 24 Rd8+ Kg7 25 f4 Ned7 26 bxc6 bxc6 27 Bxc6 Nc5 28 Ra8 Rxa8 29 BxaS Nfe4 30 Bxe4
Nxe4 31 Ng2 Nc3 32 Kd2 Nxa2 33 Nxh4 Kf6 34 Nf3 Nb4 35 Kc3 a3 36 Ne5 Kf5 37 Nd3 Nc6 38 c5 f6 39 e3 e5 40 fxe5 fxe5 41 Nfl e4 42 Kb3 Nb4 43 Kxa3 Nc2+ 44 Kb3 Nxe3 45 Kc3 Kf4 46 c6 NP 46 c7 Nd6 48 Kc2 e3 49 Ng4 Ke4 50 h4 Kd5 41 h5 Kc6 52 c8=Q+ NxcS 53 h6 e2 54 Kd2 Black resigns.
Outstanding as Larsen's contribution to the Grandmaster Association is likely to be, there is now a serious imbalance on their board of directors, which comprises: two USSR representatives, Kasparov and Karpov, one each from Yugoslavia and Hungary (Ljubojevic and Portisch) plus Seirawan (USA), Timman (Holland) and Larsen (Denmark). With John Nunn's withdrawal it is essential that a British
representative now be co-opted. After recent British successes in the Interzonals and with our impressive record of top-level event organisation, it is ludicrous that there is no British presence. It is time for the GMA leadership to invite one of Nigel to jinhoort, Jon Speelman and Murray Chandler Hjartarson (Iceland) and Salov (USSR) have qualified from the Szirak Interzonal. John Nunn has tied with Portisch (Hun- gary) for the third qualifying spot and they must now play a match of six games, which will begin on 26 September in Budapest- After eight rounds in the British cham- pionship at Swansea the leading scores are: Short 71/2; Pritchett, Speelman and Con- quest 6; and 6a;MHesotdegLsoPnlas5v2kett, Adams, Gal- lagher
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