CHESS

Adams' apple

Raymond Keene

Michael Adams has proved once

again how effective he has become by winning the British Championship with a late and confident surge. The 17-year-old from Truro has now taken first prize in no less than three consecutive tournaments, during which he has not only gained the Grandmaster title but also avoided losing a single game. It will be remembered that Adams began his triumphal run with the Granada tournament in Preston in June, then won the Icklicki event in London in July, before going on to add the British Championship to his spoils. Not even Nigel Short could boast such achievements at that age.

Is it really possible that a player younger than 17 could ever become British cham- pion? It is difficult to imagine that Adams' new age record will ever be broken. Still, when one examines some of the games in the junior sections at Plymouth, there is some remarkable chess being played. I now give one of Michael's more specula- tive efforts from the championship, plus a game won by a player who is barely five years old!

Adams-Coleman: British Championship, Ply- mouth, August 1989; Sicilian Defence.

1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 e5 4 Bc4 d6 5 d3 Be7 6 Ng5 Bold, but unduly risky, since Black's 7th move permits him to escape with an extra piece. 6... BxgS 7 Qh5 Bel Now, although White's queen can invade the black position, the bishop on e7 shields the black king from checkmate. 8 Qxf7+ Kd7 9 Qxg7 Nf6 10 0-0 h5 11 a3 Rh7 12 Qg5 Qh8 13 b4 Nd4 14 Qd2 h4 (Diagram) Here, and on subsequent moves, Black wastes far too much time in counter-attack, when he should be seeking to develop his slumbering queen's side forces. 15 f4 exf4 16 Rxf4 Nh5 17 R12 Bf6 18 Nd5

Position after 14... h4

Be5 19 c3 Ne6 20 bxc5 Qg7 21 Bb5+ KdS 22 d4 Now White has definitively gained the upper hand. 22... Nf6 Hoping to confuse the issue with 23 dxe5 Nxe4, but Adams does not oblige. 23 Nxf6 Bxf6 24 cxd6 a6 25 Bd3 Nxd4 26 cxd4 Bxd4 27 Bbl Bxf2+ 28 Qxf2 Qf7 29 Bf6+ Ke8 30 e5 Rh6 31 Qd2 Rh5 32 Qc2 Be6 33 Bg6 Black resigns.

George Hassapis-Murad: Plymouth, August 1989, Queen's Pawn Opening.

1 d4 d5 2 Bg5 Nf6 3 Nf3 Bg4 4 h3 Bh5 5 e3 c5 6 Bb5+ Nbd7 7 0-0 e6 8 Ne5 An incredible conception for a five-year-old. I doubt if it is sound, but it is certainly enterprising. 8... Bxd1 9 Nxd7 Qc7 Black should evidently prefer... Qa5. 10 Nxf6+ Kd8 11 Nxd5+ Kc8 .12 Nxc7 Kxc7 13 Rxdl f6 14 Bf4+ Kc8 15 Bh2 a6 16 Bc4 Kd7 17 dxc5+ The third discovered check in this game. 17... Kc8 18 Be6 mate.

Some weeks there is simply too much that needs reporting. David Norwood tied for second place at Portsmouth, and his score was sufficient to make him a Grand-

master. At 21, he is now our second youngest GM to Adams. In Puerto Rico, 15-year-old Matthew Sadler, whose win at Toulon I mentioned two weeks ago, won the silver medal for England in the under- 16 group, while in Amsterdam Jon Speel- man turned in a solid performance to share second with Korchnoi, behind Beliaysky. Even more significant, perhaps, is the result of Judit Polgar in the Amsterdam 13'

group. She did not win, but her tie for third was enough for her first GM norm. Asto- nishing, when one considers that she is only 13, and had to surmount the psycholo- gical blow of finishing last in her previous outing at Salamanca.

Finally, the Skelleftea leg of the GMA World Cup is now under way. In case you have never heard of Skelleftea, it is in sunny Sweden. Kasparov and Karpov drew i a stirring battle (their 131st!) in round two,

while Nigel Short won a fine strategic game against Tal in round one. The most alarm- ing game, however, has been Kasparov's brisk demolition of the great Korchnoi,

currently number five on the world ranking list.

Kasparov-Korchnoi: English Opening.

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 c5 3 Nf3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4

6 Bb5+ NSc6 7 d4 cxd4 8 a3 dxc3 9 Qxd8+ KxdS 10 axb4 cxb2 11 Bxb2 f6 Black has won a pawn, but even in the position without queens, his king remains exposed to attack. 11... e6 looks better than 11... f6, since Black is never given the chance to play ... e5. 12 e5 Bg4 13 Bxc6 bxc6 14 Nd4 fxe5 15 Nxc6+ Kc7 16 NxeS Bh5 17 0-0 Be8 18 Rfcl+ Kb7 19 Nc4 e5 20 BxeS h5 21 Na5+ Kb6 22 Bc7+ Ka6 23 Nc6+ Black resigns. 23...

Kb7 24 Nd8+ Kc8 25 Ba5+ Kd7 26 Rc7+ is humiliating.