CHESS

Video nasty

Raymond Keene

IN LINARES, Anatoly Karpov has scored the greatest tournament triumph of his life, finishing ahead not only of Kasparov but also of every legitimate challenger for the world title over the next two years, apart from the two British grandmasters, Nigel Short and Michael Adams who were not participating. Karpov's play was extraor- dinary, comprising a wide range of playing styles. Unusually for him, vicious sacrificial attacks alternated with the python-like strangulation normally associated with the Fide champion.

Kasparov suffered not just the humilia- tion of coming out second best to his arch-rival, but also faced astounding accusations of cheating in his game against Judit Polgar. Here is the position after White's 36th move, with both players in severe time trouble:

Kasparov reached out his hand to play 36 . . . Nc5, realised that the reply 37 Bc6 would fork his queen and rook, then put the knight instead on f8, and went on to win the game. All this is perfectly legitimate. Although one must move a touched piece in international play, that piece can go to any legal square, until the player's hand has been removed from it. Once the digital grip is released, though, the move must stand. After the game the 17-year-old Polgar com- plained that Kasparov, had, in fact, let go of his knight when playing . . . Nc5 and then retracted the move. This is a serious charge, so why did she not protest at the time? Anyway, her claim was backed up by a number of onlookers (including her mother), but hotly contested by Kasparov and the arbiter, Carlos Falcon. Only a week or so later was it finally revealed, by a videotape of the game for Spanish Television, that Kasparov had indeed released his grip. It was by then too late for Polgar to claim redress. Let us see what would have happened, had Kasparov been obliged to adhere to his original intention. 36 . . . Nc5 37 Bc6 Qh4 38 g3 Qh5 39 BxeS Ng4 40 Re2 Nxh2 41 Bxf7 + Kxf7 42 Qg6+ Qxg6 43 fxg6+ Kxg6 44 Kxh2 With an easy win on material for Polgar. This would, of course, have been a sensational outcome to the game.

'After his near derailment against Polgar, Kasparov lost momentum and went down in flames to Vladimir Kramnik and Joel Lautier. Meanwhile, Karpov seemed to possess the gift of mesmerising his oppo- nents at Linares, as the following game demonstrates.

Ivanchuk — Karpov: Linares, 1994; Queen's Indian Defence.

1 d4 Nf6 2 Ni3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 g3 Ba6 5 Nbd2 Bb7 6 Bg2 c5 7 e4 cxd4 80-0 d6 9 Nxd4 Qd7 10 Rel Be7 11 Nbl White's whole opening has been artifi- cial, as this admission concerning the poor placement of his queen's knight confirms. 11 . . . Nc6 12 Nc3 Nxd4 13 Qxd4 0-0 14 b3 RfdS 15 Bb2 Rabb 16 h3 Ba8 17 g4 This advance may seem harmless enough, but the weakening of the f4 square is ultimately White's nemesis. 17 . . . h6 18 a4 a6 19 Ba3 Qc8 20 Bb2 This shuffling of pieces is a clear indication of the bankruptcy of White's ideas. 20 . . . Qc5 21 Qd2 Nd7 22 Redl Ne5 23 Net Bg5 24 Qc3 Bf6 25 Ba3 Qc7 26 Qd2

Ng6 27 Racl Be7 28 Qe3? Falling headlong into a trap of his own devising. 28 . . . Bg5 29 f4 Nxf4 30 Nxf4 e5 White resigns Evidently demoralised, Ivanchuk capitulated. In fact he could have dragged on his resistance with 31 Rfl Bxf4 32 Rxf4 exf4 33 Qxf4 with some slight compensa- tion for the loss of rook for bishop.

Kasparov — Lautier: Linares 1994; Guioco Pianissimo.

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bc4 Bc5 4 c3 Nf6 5 d3 d6 6 Bb3 h6 7 h3 a6 8 Nbd2 Be6 9 Bc2 Ba7 10 Qe2 Qe7 11 b4 d5 12 a4 b5 13 0-0 0-0 14 axb5 This exchange seems premature. 14 . . . axb5 Sud- denly unmasking the threat of . . . Bxf2+ followed by . . . Rxal. In view of this, Kasparov is goaded Into a misguided attempt to seize the initiative. 15 d4 exd4 16 e5 dxc3 An excellent piece sacrifice which grants Black a mass of pawns in compensation. 17 exf6 Qxf6 18 Nb3 Nxb4 19 Bbl d4 If one did not know the identity of the players, one might assume that it was Kasparov playing with Black. 20 Rxa7 This is already desperation since the simple 20 . . . Rxa7 21 Qe4 c2 22 Bxc2 Nxc2 23 Qxc2 Bc4 is easily winning for Black. 20 . . . c2 21 Rxa8 Tantamount to self-immolation but if 21 Bxc2 Rxa7 22 Qe4 Nxc2 transposes into the previous note while 21 Bxc2 Rxa7 22 Nbxd4 Bc4 skewers White's pieces mercilessly. 21 . . . cxbQ This position represents the spectacular triumph of Black's infantry-based strategy. 22 RxfS+ KxfS 23 Qxb5 Qxb3 24 Qb8+ Ke7 25 Qxc7+ Ke8 26 Bd2 Qd8 27 Qe5 Kf8 28 Nxd4 Nd3 29 Qe3 Qc4 White resigns Possibly the worst defeat that Kasparov has ever suffered.

Linares Tournament 1994

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4

1 Karpov • 1/4 1/4 1 1 1 1/2 1/2 1 1 1 1 1 1 11 2 Shirov 1/2 •1 0 1 0'h 1 1 1 V2 1 1'h 81/2

3 Kasparov 11 • 1 0 0 1 1 V2 1 V2 1 1 1/2 81/2 4 Bareev 0 1 0 • 1/2 1/2 Y2 1/2 1 1 0 1 1/2 1 71/2

5 Kramnik 0 0 1 1/2 • 1/2 3/2 V2 0 1/2 1/2 1 1 1 7

6 Lautier 011½½1010½01½ 7 7 Anand ½½0½½0100½1116½

8 Ka msky 1/2 0 0 1/2 1,4 1 0 • V2 V2 ih 1 V2 1 61/2

9Topalov 001/201011/2•111/2016V2 10 Ivanchuk 0 0 0 0 1/2 1 1 V2 0 * 1/2 1 1/2 1 6 11 Gelfand 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 • 0 V2 1/2 51/2

12 Illescas 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1/2 0 1 • 1 1 41/2

13 Polgar 0 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 1/2 1 V2 1/2 0" 1 4 14 Behaysky 0 1/2 1/2 0 0 1/2 0 0 0 0 1/2 0 0• 2