CHESS
Four of the best
Raymond Keene
Karpov–Hasparov: World Championship Moscow 1985; Sicilian Defence
I CONTINUE my review of the best in cur- rent UK chess publishing with the shortlist issued by the British Chess Federation for its Book of the Year Award. The con- tenders, plus the jury's comments, are as follows: Nunn's Chess Openings by John Nunn, Graham Burgess, John Emma and Joe Gallagher (Everyman, £19.99). This dis- tinguished team of writers set themselves the formidable task of a one-volume encyc- lopaedia in the rapidly changing world of chess theory. Using a combination of ruth- less variation selection and modern comput- er analysis they have succeeded brilliantly.
Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy by John Watson (Gambit, £19.99). The subject mat- ter is disclosed by the subtitle 'Advances since Nimzowitsch'. Watson explores with great insight the changes in chess theory and practice since the writings of the great Russian master in the early 1930s.
World Champion at the Third Attempt by Grigory Sanakoev (Gambit, £15.99). The author is hardly a household name, but any- one who can win the World Correspondence Championship, as Sanakoev has, is bound to have produced some deeply thought through and high quality chess.
The final contender of the quartet and my personal favourite to have won the laurels is The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games by Graham Burgess, Dr John Nunn and John Emms (Robinson, £9.99). There will be arguments about the choice of 100 games (what, no Morphy?) and the focus is on analysis rather than the background to the game, but this is by far the best games collection of its type. The following game is ranked by the authors as the best in the book. I actually had the privilege of watching it live in Moscow and can testify to the extraordinary tension which surrounded it.
A typical Kasparov position. After a somewhat dubious opening in which he took great risks, he is now a pawn down but has active piece play in compensation. 17 Nabl Karpov is drifting into serious trouble. Had he foreseen what was going to happen to him he would surely have seized his chance for 17 d6, though after 17 ... Qxd6 18 Bxa8 Rxa8 Black has excellent compensation for the exchange. 17 ...h6 18 Bh4134 Now that Black
has played h6 this move exiles the knight to a4. It is fascinating to see how one little pawn push on the kingside makes another one on the queenside so much more powerful. 19 Na4 Bd6 Kasparov writes that he had reached this position in his preparation. This shows how well Kasparov had got to understand Karpov's style of play. 20 Bg3 Rd 21 b3 g511 This is the first clear sign that things have gone horribly wrong for Karpov. Thanks to a small tactic, White cannot bring his knight to b2 (22 Nb2 Nxb2 23 Qxb2 g4 24 Be2 Rc2) and therefore cannot dislodge the knight from d3. Thus he cannot move either of his
rooks, nor does his queen have any squares. To have deprived most of 1Carpov's pieces of any worthwhile moves on a full board, starting from a normal-looking position is a quite incredible feat. 22 Bxd6 Qxd6 23 g3 White again plans to free his position with Is11,2 and Black must find a counter to this. 23 ...NM Now 24 Nb2 is met by the brilliant 24 ... QM! when 25 Nxd3 Bxd3 26 Qxd3 is impossible as 26 ... Ne5 wins the white queen. 24 Bg2 Q161 Black's masterplan is now complete and White is reduced to a state of complete help- lessness. 25 a3 a5 26 axb4 axb4 27 Qa2 White's contortions speak volumes about his position. Transferring his queen to a2, where it does noth- ing, just to threaten to bring a knight to d2, is humiliating — especially when Black can stamp out even this meagre idea without difficulty. 27 ...Bg6 Opening a line of attack from f6 to 12, ready to refute White's idea. 28 d6 If White does nothing, then Black has no difficulty in making progress, e.g. with an attack down the h-file. 28 ...g4 Black is not interested in the pawn as 28 ...Qxd6 29 Nd2 helps White free his position. 29 Qd2 Kg? Black is in no rush — White cannot do anything. 30 13 Karpov sees nothing better than to try to break out at the expense of weakening his king. 30 ...Qxd6 Now is a good time to take this pawn as it frees the d7-knight for active ser- vice. 31 fcg4 Qd4+ 32 Kb! NM 33 Rf4 Ne4 34 Qxd3 The knight has survived on d3 for 18 moves, during which time it has played a major role in the downfall of White's position. 34 ...N12+ 35 ftxf2 35 ICgl Nh3+ + 36 Khl Qxd3 37 Rxd3 Rel + 38 Bfl bbcf4 and White loses most of his pieces. 35 ...Bxd3 36 Rfd2 Qe3 37 Rxd3 Re! 38 Nb2 Qt2 39 Nd2 Rtill1+ The sole micro- scopic blemish on this game. 39 ...Re2 actually mates next move. 40 Nadi Rel+ White resigns
The notes to the above game are based on those from The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games.
While writing this article, I learned that the jury had rushed out their award deci- sion, giving their accolade to Watson's book. Naturally, I will be returning to this topic in due course.
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