Chess
Past glories
Raymond Keene
Hastings is over, and, as so often in the past, a Soviet Grandmaster has taken top honours. Final scores were: Svesh- nikov (USSR) 9/13; Benjamin, Fedorowicz (both US), Djuric (Yugoslavia) and Plas- kett (England) 8; Flear (England) 71/2; Gutman (Israel), Kupreichik (USSR) 61/2; Abramovic (Yugoslavia) 6; Farago (Hun- gary) 51/2; Watson (England) 5; Martin (England), Ravikumar (India) 41/2; Hebert (Canada) 4. As can be seen, it was a worthy event and there were many in- teresting games, but the glamour and strength of many former Premiers were distinctly lacking. Without a commercial sponsor, the organising committee had to rely on a rescue operation from the local council, but the funds were insufficient to guarantee a truly great tournament. Hast- ings is synonymous with chess — it has a marvellous tradition and its fame has even reached the pop charts via the medium of the Tim Rice/Abba song 'Night in Bang- kok' from their Chess musical. A more vigorous organisation, allied with a regular sponsor, could easily restore Hastings to its former glories, but given their reduced means this year I find it difficult to compre- hend why a mere four English Masters
were present. In lean times, surely it would have made more sense to invite a far greater number of promising UK players. Such a measure would have reduced costs and given more of our young players some valuable experience.
Usually the games between Russians at Hastings end in peaceful draws. This time, Sveshnikov inflicted a savage defeat on his out-of-form compatriot.
Sveshnikov-Kupreichik: Hastings 1984-85; Scotch Gambit. 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Bc4 Bc5 5 c3 dxe3.? Perhaps Kupreichik confused variations in Ins mind, Theory recommends 5 . . . d3 or 5 . • Nf6. 6 Bxf7+ Kxf7 7 Qd5+ Kf8 8 QxcS+ d6 9 Qc4! He wants c3 for his QN; 9 . . . cxb2 10 Bxb2 is a highly dangerous gambit. 9 . . . Bg4 10 Nxc3 Bxf3 11 gxf3 Qf6 12 f4 Qf7 13 Qb5 Of course, White does not acquiesce in exchange of queens. 13 . . . Nd4 14 Qd3 Ne6 15 f5 Nc5 16 Qa Qc4 17 Be3 Nf6 He could have tried . . Nd3+ just to displace White's K. Now White has things all his own way. 18 0-0-0 ReS 19 f3 Ncd7 20 Rd4 Qc6 21 Kbl Re7 22 Qe2 Ne5 23 Bg5 Qc5 24 Rhdl Nc6 25 Rc4 Qe5 26 Nd5 Rr. Black has trouble with both his K and Q. In particular, with Black's K stuck on f8, the Black KR is also boxed in and virtually useless. 27 Bf4 Qe8 28 Nxc7! The decisive combination — hardly unex- pected, given the relative co-ordination of the opposing forces. 28 . . . Rxc7 29 Bxd6+ Re7 30 e5 Nd7 31 f4 h5 32 Qd3 Rh6 33 Bxe7+ Kxe7 34 Qa3+ Kf7 35 e6+ Absolutely crushing. Black could now have resigned. 35 . . . Rxe6 36 fxe6+ Qxe6 37 Qd3 Nf6 38 f5 Qe5 39 Rc2 Kg8 40 Ref Qc5 41 b3 Kh7 42 Rg2 Ne5 43 Qc2 Qe3 44 Relgt Neg4 and Black resigned during the adjourn- ment.
The September meeting of the British Chess Federation management board re- commended that seminars be organised to accompany major tournaments. Accor- dingly, from 22 to 24 February, during the Commonwealth Championship, lectures, simultaneous displays and tuition will be available at the players' official residence, the Great Eastern Hotel. Grandmasters and International Masters will be involved, and the whole package will cost £80, including full board and lodging at the hotel; alternatively, £20 for all sessions and Saturday lunch, but without accommoda- tion. Bookings to Arnot Wilson, Great Eastern Hotel, Liverpool St., London EC2.
The Commonwealth Championship it- self will take place from 16 to 26 February at the London Docklands Museum in the LDDC Enterprise Zone, next to the venue of the USSR-Rest of the World match last summer. This will be the third cham- pionship in the series, all of which have been sponsored by Novag Industries, Hong Kong, who manufacture the Super- Constellation chess computer. It is hoped that several Novag computers will also be competing in the championship. The tournament will be the strongest so far, with four of the Grandmaster members of the silver medal winning English Olympic team in contention. Spectators are wel- come and inquiries can be directed to the press officer, John Tisdall, on (01) 992 3580.
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