CHESS
Rusticated
Raymond Keene
GATA AND RUSTAM are out. One of the most eccentric and voluble double acts in the history of chess has been seen off from their hoped-for challenge to Kasparov by the Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. Kamsky (Gata) had started his match against Anand as the favourite. He had slaughtered Kramnik, Salov and Short in earlier matches, and even squeaked home against Anand him- self in their Fide match last year. But en route Gata's father Rustam had made ene- mies. There were allegations of death threats against opponents and punch-ups with seconds. Accordingly, the PCA passed a strict code of conduct before the Anand–Kamsky match began. While much of this seemed sensible, concerning dress code and so on, certain items were clearly directed ad hominem, and the man in ques- tion was Kamskypere, namely Rustam.
One of these measures involved the PCA arrogating to itself the far-reaching and possibly illegal power to ban delegation members from the city in which the match was being held if behaviour did not come up to scratch. Perhaps as a result of this Rustam was not his normal ebullient self in Las Palmas and Gata too seemed subdued, playing way below his normal form. It is possible that drawing the sting from his father may have exerted a Samsonish knock-on depilatory effect on Gata too. It is also possible, though, that the strain of competing successfully in two parallel cycles, that of the PCA and Fide, eventual- ly told on Kamsky. There is no doubt that it is far more important to stay in the PCA cycle and challenge Kasparov than it is to remain in the Fide cycle and meet Karpov. In that sense, Anand's loss to Kamsky in the Fide cycle last year may have proved to be a hidden boon.
In the match itself, Anand won with rela- tive ease. As we have seen, Kamsky's sole victory came when Anand froze in game one in a winning position and lost on time. In general, Kamsky proved helpless with Black, while as White he could not pene- trate Anand's Grunfeld Defence. Anand now goes on to challenge Kasparov for the PCA title in Cologne over September and October in a match where the reward for the loser alone is half a million dollars. Here is Anand's final win in Las Palmas.
Anand–Kamsky: PCA Candidates, Las Palmas, March 1995; Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 NO d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 e6 7 Bet Bel 8 f4 Nc6 9 Qd2 Nxd4 10 Qxd4 0-0 11 0-0-0 Qa5 12 Qb6 A move dictated as much by match strategy as by the objective needs of the position. The trade of queens, which is now unavoidable, leaves White with a tiny edge and no prospect of losing. 12 ... Qxb6 13 Bxb6 Ne8 14 e5 d5 15 f5 Bd7 16 Bg4 (Diagram) A powerful move. If now 16 ... exf5 abcdef g Position after 16 Bg4 17 Bf3 with a small but clear advantage, since White will recapture Black's d5 pawn. Mean- while, if 16 ... Rc8 17 fxe6 fxe6 18 Nxd5 wins a crucial pawn or 16 ... Rc8 17 fxe6 Bxe6 18 Bf3 with intolerable pressure against the black posi- tion. Kamsky's solution to these difficulties is amazing. 16 ...Bc8 A horrible move, after which Black must be lost. It is easy to criticise but I am not at all sure whether Black has a decent alter- native. 17 Rhfl a5 18 Na4 f6 19 fxe6 fke5 20 Nc3 The upshot of Black's attempt to break out is that White has created a giant passed pawn on e6 while Black is saddled with a number of pawn weaknesses in the centre of the board. 20 ... Bg5+ 21 Kbl Nf6 (Diagram) White could now Position after 21 ... Nf6 play the simple 22 Bh3, maintaining contact with his pawn on e6. Anand finds something sharper, though, which exploits the captivity of Black's army on the queen's flank. 22 Nxd5 Nxg4 23 RxIS+ KxfS 24 Nc7 Ra6 If 24 ... Rb8 25 Ba7. 25 BcS+ 148 26 Nxa6 Bxe6 If 26 ...bxa6 27 e7 Kf7 28 Rd8 wins. 27 Nc7 Bf5 28 h3 Nf6 29 g4 Be4 30 Ne6 Bh4 31 g5 Nd5 32 Rfl h6 33 gxh6 gxh6 White has won a clear exchange and maintains the initiative. Since Kamsky habitually plays on to the bitter end the remaining moves can be passed over without comment. 34 Rffi+ Kh7 35 Bd6 NM 36 BxeS Bxc2+ 37 Kcl Be4 38 Nf4 38
Nd3 + 39 Nxd3 Bxd3 40 Rh8+ Kg6 41 Bf4 Bg5 42 BxgS KxgS 43 Kd2 Bb5 44 Ra8 Ba6 45 Rc8 Kh4 46 Rc5 a4 47 Ra5 h5 48 Ke3 Bfl 49 Rxa4+ Kxh3 50 K12 Black resigns.
When I first joined The Spectator in 1977, Charles Seaton enthusiastically took on the
task of editing my weekly copy. Perhaps he had not realised that the articles would be coming from all over the planet, often with extremely tight deadlines. In one world championship match, which finished unex- pectedly early, Charles virtually had to write the article himself based on a couple of grunts from me on a telephone line from St Petersburg. His diligence was extraordi- nary and I thought he would go on forever.
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