SIMPS ON ' S IN-THE-STRAND n e kt i
CHESS
SIMPSON'S IN-THE-STRAND
Natural selection
Raymond Keene
KIRSAN Ilumzinov, the President of the autonomous Russian Republic of Kal- mykia, has now been president of Fide, the World Chess Federation, for over a year. A colourful and ingenious politician, he has the wealth and ambition to promote chess in grandiose fashion. Unfortunately, he has, as yet, failed to resolve the split between Fide, whose champion is Anatoly Karpov, and the Professional Chess Associ- ation (PCA), whose champion is Kasparov. As a result, there is no clear cycle in the chess world at the moment by which aspir- ing challengers can qualify to play a world championship match. This situation is unsatisfactory.
Meanwhile, Kasparov and Karpov have taken the law into their own hands and are likely to play a match with a $2 million prize fund in September this year. The probable venue is Las Palmas and the match will be outside the auspices of both Fide and the PCA. In the modern world, privatising the world championship like this is not unacceptable, but I repeat that Ilumzinov should be working quietly in the background to establish a new and credible qualifying event, once the respective and rival claims on the world title of Kasparov and Karpov have been cleared up.
Instead of this, llumzinov has announced a megalomaniac plan to hold a multi-player knockout tournament over several weeks in Kalmykia in December 1997 with a $5 mil- lion prize fund, the winner to be declared `world champion'. Although this scheme may line the pockets of some of the world's best players, it is hardly likely to attract either Kasparov or Karpov. The design of Ilumzinov's projected event is simply too informal, compared with the rigours of the traditional 20 or 24 games which have been standard in world championship contests. If neither Kasparov nor Karpov appears, the world at large will not recognise the winner in Kalmykia as champion.
The correct course would be to select the top ten players in the world, with the exclu- sion of the winner from the Kasparov- Karpov match. The field would be chosen on ELO rating average over the past cou- ple of years, and that elite band would con- duct a double-round tournament against each other. No one could possibly object to the winner of that gruelling contest being declared challenger. Ilumzinov has both the will and resources to implement this overwhelmingly fair solution, and he should do so, abandoning in the process his ramshackle notion of a mass knockout.
This week's game is taken from the 1948 world championship match tournament, when the death of Alexander Alekhine, as champion, made a similar reorganisation of the title structure necessary.
Euwe—Keres: World Championship Match Tournament, 1948; Ruy Lopez.
1e4e52Nf3Nc63Bb5a64Ba4d65c3The popular choice nowadays is 5 0-0, though Keres
once beat Alekhine with 5 c4. 5 ...f5 The risky Siesta Variation, in fact invented by the US grandmaster Frank Marshall but also employed by Capablanca to crush Reti in a famous game. 6 exf5 BxfS 7 d4 This allows Black to create a dan- gerous wedge in the centre. Modern theory prefers 7 0-0 Bd3 8 Rel followed by Re3 to dis- lodge the intrusive bishop. 7 ...e4 8 Ng5 d5 9 f3 e3 A bold pawn sacrifice to clear the 'e' file. If now 10 Bxe3 h6 11 Nh3 Bxh3 shattering Whites pawns. Euwe decides to surround Black's 'e' pawn in less damaging circumstances. 10 f4 Bd6 11 Qf3 Qf6 12 Qxe3+ Nge7 13 Bxc6+ An unnec- essary exchange which surrenders the bishop pair and strengthens Black's centre. Better would have been 13 0-0 0-0 14 Nf3. 13 ...bxe6 14 0-0 0-0 15 Nd2 Once again 15 Nf3 is preferable, with the plan of planting the knight on e5 to dis- guise the general weaknesses in the white camp. After the slower text Black whips up a fierce ini- tiative. 15 ...Ng6 16 g3 Rae8 17 Qf2 Bd3 18 Rel Rxel + 19 Qxel (Diagram) Although White is a
Position after 19 Qexl pawn ahead, his development is feeble and his fortifications dilapidated. Keres now launches the decisive sacrifice. 19 ... Bxf4 This demolishes White's bastions, for if 20 0e6+ Qxe6 21 Nxe6 Be3+ 22 Kh1 Rf1+ 23 Nxf1 Be4 checkmate. 20 gxf4 Nxf4 21 Ndf3 Ne2+ 22 Kg2 h6 23 Qd2 Of5 24 Qe3 hxg5 25 Bd2 Be4 White resigns.
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