CHESS
French attack
Raymond Keene
Who will succeed the duopoly of Gary Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov? Ob- vious contenders include our own Michael Adams, at 18 the youngest ever British champion, Vassily Ivanchuk and Boris Gelfand from the USSR, the 16-year-old Soviet émigré Gata Kamsky, now residing in New York, and on the distaff side, the Hungarian prodigy Judit Polgar. One should also not forget the 17-year-old French boy Joel Lautier who has just qualified for the interzonal stage of the world championship by a brilliant victory in one of the West European qualifying tournaments in Lyon.
Lautier is fast gaining superhero status in France where he has received the amazing total of £200,000 in sponsorship to further his career. What impresses me most about Lautier is the superb elegance of his attacking style, as evinced by the two games which follow.
Lauder — Piket: Cannes 1990; King's Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 Be3 Nc6 7 Nge2 a6 8 Qd2 Re8 9 h4 135 10 0-0-0 135 The scene has been set. This is one of the most typical variations, highly susceptible to intense openings analysis. Both sides castle on opposite wings and the attack against the enemy king assumes far greater significance than any mate- rial considerations. 11 Nd5 bxc4 12 Nxf6+ Bxf6 13 g4 hxg4 14 h5 g5 14 . . . gxf3 would be excessively greedy. For his three pawns White would obtain a tremendous attack after 15 Nf4 g5 16 Nd5 following up with moves such as Bxc4 or Rdgl. 15 BxgS e5 And here if 15 . . . gxf3 White has the simple 16 Bxf6 exf6 17 Qh6 followed by Rgl + . 16 Bxf6 Qxf6 17 fxg4 exd4 18 g5 Qf3 19 g6!! (Diagram) A quite unexpected yet Position after 19 g6!!
fully correct and brilliant sacrifice to strip away the final vestiges of defence around the denuded black king. If Black snaps at the bait with
19 . . . Qxhl White continues 20 Qh6 with the following possibilities: 20 . . . Qf3 21 Nf4 Qe3+ 22 Kbl fxg6 (If 22 . . . Qxe4+ 23 Bd3 wins) 23 Qxg6+ Kf8 24 016+ Kg8 25 Bxc4+ and wins. Alternatively 20 . . . fxg6 21 Qxg6+ Kf8 22 Qf6+ Kg8 23 Ng3 Qh2 24 bxc4 + Be6 and now either 25 Bxe6+ or even 25 h6 and White triumphs. 19 . fxg6 20 Nxd4 The white rook on hl is indirectly defended because of Bxc4+.
20 . . . Nxd4 21 Qxd4 Rxe4 22 Qd5+ Kg7 23 h6+ Kh7 24 Bg2 A further gambit in a game which is replete with brilliantpointS. Black cannot play 24 . . .QXg2 since 25 Qf7+ would force mate. The peculiar configuration of forces on the long diagonal means that White now wins
material. 24 Qf4+ 25 Kbl c6 A necessary diversion so that Black can play . . . Bf5 with- out succumbing to the deadly Qf7+ . 26 Qxc6 Bf5 27 Kal Raj 28 Rhfl Qe5 29 Bxe4 Bxe4 30 Qxd6 Qxd6 31 Rxd6 Kxh6 32 Rcl This ensures a win in the endgame. For example 32 . . . Re 33 Rd4 Bd3 34 Rxd3 or 32 . . . Bd3 33 b3! 32 . . . Bf3 33 Rxc4 Kh5 34 Rf6 Re7 35 b4 Bb7 36 Rf8 g5 37 RhS+ Kg6 38 Rg8+ Kf6 39 Rc5 Re4 40 Rb8 Re7 41 Rf8+ Kg7 42 Rff5 Rel + 43 Kb2 Re2+ 44 Kb3 Re3+ 45 Ka4 Bf3 46 Rxg5 + Kf6 47 RcfS+ Ke6 48 Rxf3 Rxf3 49 Rg6+ Black resigns.
Lautier — Piket: Lyon Zonal 1990; Nimzo. Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 11134 4 Qc2 Under Kasparov's tutelage this variation of the Nimzo- Indian, popular in the 1930s, is experiencing a resurgence. 4 . . . 0-0 5 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 b6 Bg5 B137 8 Nh3 Also possible is 8 f3 h6 9 Bh4 d5 10 cxd5 exd5 11 e3 Re8 which was fine for Black in Gulko - Chandler, Hastings 1989-90. 8 . . . d6 9 f3 Nbd7 10 e4 c5 11 Be2 h6 12 Be3 Rc8 13 0-0 Ba6 14 Rfel White has obtained what might be termed an ideal position from his chosen opening. He has a flexible position with no obvious weaknesses, greater control of space and the bishop pair. In fact, this is just the kind of thing Black should be seeking to avoid in the Nimzo=lndian. 14 . . . Re8 15 Bfl Qc7 16 Radl Qb8 17 Nf2 cxd4 18 Qxd4 Ne5 19 b3 RedS 20 Qb2 Rd7 21 Bd4 b5 Black loses his patience and tries to break by force out of the straitjacket which White's strategy has imposed. Nevertheless, Lautier is alert with a tactical refutation of Black's plans. 22 c5! RxcS 23 14! Piket had probably been expecting 23 Bxc5 dxc5 when Black has compensation for his lost material. Instead Lautier concentrates his fire on a direct attack against the black king. 23 Ng6 24 Bxf6 gxf6 25 Ng4 After this coup it is clear that Black's position cannot stand the pressure. 25 . . . Rdc7 26 Nxf6+ Kf8 27 Rxd6 Qc8 If 27 . . . Rc2 28 Qxc2 Rxc2 29 Nd7+ Ke7 30 Nxb8 Rxd6 31 Nxa6 and wins. 28 Redl Ke7 29 Qd4 e5 30 fxe5 NxeS 31 b4 Black resigns.
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