Chess
Harry's game
Raymond Keene
Although it is outstanding perform- ances by young players which normal- ly attract the headlines (such as Michael Adams's draw with Kasparov, or Nigel Short's latest exploits) it should not be forgotten tht experience can also prove a mighty weapon. Smyslov's qualification for the world championship Candidates' final, at the age of 63, is a case in point, as is the victory of 64-year-old Cherepk&, in the Grandmaster tournament at Leningrad last month. Now I can further report that the Times correspondent, IM Harry Golom- bek (born 1911) has made a most welcome return to competitive chess and shared first place in the Grieveson Grant British veter- ans' championship at Brighton. That in itself is not so remarkable, since on known form he dwarfed most of his rivals — what was outstanding, though, was the quality of his play, which still displayed the vigour and brilliance of his best days. In evidence I cite this imaginative win against his co-champion.
P. C. Hoad — H. Golombek: Brighton, August 1984; English Opening.
1 c4 An ironic start, in that Harry's favourite opening has always been the English. 1 . . . Nf6
2 Nc3 d5 3 cxd5 Nxd5 4 g3 Nxc3 5 bxc3 g6 6 Bg2 Bg7 7 Rbl c6 To blunt the power of White's B along the hl-a8 diagonal. 8 h4!? An ambitious advance. More sedate is 8 Nf3 0-0 9 0-0 Nd7 10 c4 e5 11 d3 as in the game Olafsson-Golombek, Hasting 1955-56. The problem with 8 h4 is that it slightly weakens White's own K-side, though Black also has to make concessions to prevent h5. 8 . . . h5 9 Nf3 Nd7 10 0-0 Nb6 11 Qc2 0-0 12 c4 Qc7 13 d3 e5 14 a4 White makes his strategy clear — push the 'a' pawn to drive away Black's N, and then build up pressure with his major pieces in the 'b' file against Black's b7 pawn. 14 . . . Bf5 15 Ng5 Rad8 16 Qb3 Bc8 17 Be3 f6 Introducing a sharp, but risky, idea. 18 Ne4 Strong here is 18 c5 Na8 (18 . . fxg5? 19 axb6 wins) 19 c5+ Kh8 20 Ne6 Bxe6 21 Qxe6 with the B-pair and enduring pressure. 18 . . . f5 19 Ng5 14 20 Bc5 But this is over-ambitious. White should content himself with 20 Bxb6 Qxb6 (20 . . . axb6 21 c5+) 21 Qxb6 axb6 22 Be4! followed by Rxb6 and a5-a6, undermining Black's 0-side. 20 . . . Rf6 21 a5 Na8 22 Ne4 Rh 23 Bxa7 Qxa5 24 Ral Qc7 25 c5 Kh8 26 Nd6 Re7 27 Be4 Kh7 28 Rabl He should play 28 Rfbl! White's choice leaves his a7 B unprotected, which Golombek is quick to exploit. 28 . . . b5! 29 Rat Be6 30 Qc2 Bd5!! Setting a brilliant trap. 31 Bxd5 cxd5 32 NxbS Looks crushing, but Golombek's next move reveals his concept as a Position after 43 . . . (20 cunning decoy sacrifice. 32 . . . Qd7! Attacking b5 and h3 simultaneously. White either has to lose a piece, or permit invasion of his King's fortifications. 33 c6 Qh3 34 Rfbl Trying to make a flight route for his K, but he rapidly perceives that his R is needed for defence on the T file. If, however, 34 c7 Rc8 when 35 Nd6 fails to . • • Rcxc7. 34 . . . fxg3 35 fxg3 Qxg3+ 36 Khl Cutting off White's B from K-side defence. 37. Rfl Qh3+ 38 Kgl Bh6 39 R13 Be3+ 40 Rxe-1 Qxe3+ 41 Khl Rf8 42 c7 Rf2 43 c8=Q Q83 (Diagram) 'White resigns. Even with two Queens, White's far-flung legions are powerless
• to prevent mate on h2.
The world championship match starts in Moscow on 10 September. Also appearing that day is David Spanier's Total Chess (Secker and Warburg, £9.95), extracts from which on chess and Russians, women and computers have already stirred con- troversy in the Times. Other key chapteis cover chess and madness and the politics of the game (my favourite). David's enter- taining style is well-known to Spectator readers and his book provides invaluable background to the title struggle without overburdening readers with complex analysis or variations.
The British championship bulletins men- tioned last week are available at £3.25 from ,Richard O'Brien, 48 Tierney Rd., London $W2.
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