Chess
Five Miles run
Paul Lamford
It was inopportune for Tony Miles to achieve the best result of his chess career and, perhaps, even the best result ever by an Englishman while the focus of attention of the chess public was directed towards the world championship in Moscow. Miles has just won an all-Grandmaster (Category 14) tournament at Tilburg, Holland, by a margin of 11/2 points. Of course, it is easier to win tournaments when Karpov is not playing but don't forget that at the pre- vious two tournaments at Tilburg, Karpov won by the minimum margin of half a point whereas Miles's lead of 11/2 points gives him a rating performance for this tourna- ment better than either Karpov or Kas- parov.
Interpolis Tournament, Tilburg 1984
I 2 3
4 5 6 7
8 9 10 11 12 Total
I Miles X
1/2 14
YI 1/2 1/2 1
1 1/2
2 Beliaysky 1/2 3 Htibner 1/2
X 14 1/2 X 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 014 4 1/2 1/2 14 1 1
V2 1
1 1/2
1 1/2
61/2 61/2
4 Ribli 1/2
1/2 1/2
X 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2
1 1 1/2
61/2 5 Tukmakov 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 X
1/2 1/2 14 1/2 1/2 14
1
61/2 6 Ljubojevie 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 X 1
1/2 14
1/2 1 1/2
6 7 Portisch 0
1 1/2 1/21/
0 X
1/2 Y2
0 1
1
51/2 8 Timman 0
1/2 1/2
0 1/2
14 1/2
X 1
1/2 1/2 1
51/2
9 Andersson 14 112 0 14 1/2
1/2 1/2 0 X
1/2 1/2 1
10 Smys1ov 0
14 0
0 1/2
14 1 1h 1/2
X 1
0 41/2 11 Sosonko 0
0 14
012 0 0
1/2 14
0 X I 3
12 Van der Win! 0
0 lh 1/2 0 1/2 0 0 0 1 0 X 21/2
Miles started with four draws. Then a spurt of five wins left the result in no doubt. Here is how he disposed of his old bete noire Jan Timman.
Miles-Timman: Interpolis, Tilburg 1984: English Opening. 1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 g3 d5 5 cxd5 Nxd5 6 Bg2 Nb6 7 0-0 Bel 8 a3 Be6 9 d3 0-0 10 b4 f6 11 Ne4 Qd7 12 Bbl a6 13 Qc2 Bh3 14 Nc5 Bxc5 15 Bxh3 Qxh3 16 Qb3+ Kh8 17 bxc5 Nd7 18 d4 RabS 19 dxe5 Ndxe5 20 NxeS fxe5 21 Radl Rf6 22 f4 Rxf4 23 Rxf4 exf4 24 Qf7 Rg8 25 Rfl Qg4 26 Rxf4 Qg5 27 Kg2 QxcS (Diagram) After cut and Position after 27 . . . Qxc5 thrust play White clearly has a dangerous initiative for his sacrificed pawn. The obvious 28 Rg4 allows Black to defend by 28 . . . Ne5. Miles found an insidious, but lethal, alternative. 28 Re4 Threatening 29 Re8 or, more crudely, 29 Qxg7+ followed by mate. 28 . . . Qf8 29 Qh5 Now the threat is 30 Rh4. 29 . . . Ne7 Hoping to defend by 30 . . Qf5. 30 Qg5 Ng6 30 . . Nc6 was a better try but after 31 Rh4 White should win. 31 Qxg6 Black resigns since 31 . . . hxg6 allows a picturesque mate 32 Rh4. Miles's final
Q sacrifice was spectacular but it was his earlier choice of accurate forceful moves which shows the mark of a top Grandmaster in form.
After a turbulent start, the match in Moscow has settled down with a spate of draws. When Kasparov is White, few fireworks are exploding, but Karpov is generally trying hard with the White pieces and Game 13 was no exception. In the end, however, Kasparov managed to steer for the calmer waters of an ending in which he was able to neutralise White's slight initia- tive. This was Kasparov's fourth draw in a row and he seems to have averted immedi- ate catastrophe in the match — or is it just a lull before the final storm?
Karpov-Kasparov: Game 13, 15 October, En- glish Opening.
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 b6 3 g3 c5 4 Bg2 B137 5 0-0 g6 6 Nc3 Varying from 6 b3 of Game 11 which appeared in last week's column. 6 . . . Bg7 7 d4 More ambitious than 7 d3 0-0 8 e4 Nc6 9 Bg5 with a Botvinnik type set-up. 7 . . . cxd4 8 Ndx4 Bxg 2 9 Kxg2 0-0 This can lead to extremely sharp play. The old line was 9 . . . Qc8 10 b3 Qb7+ 11 f3 d5 12 cxd5 Nxd5 13 Nxd5 Qxd5 14 Be3 with a small advantage for White in Polugaievsky- Spassky, Manila 1976. 10 e4 Qc7 Or 10 . . . Na6 11 b3 Nc5 12 f3 and White was a fraction better in Keene-Ljubojevic, Nice Olympiad 1974. 11 b3 Nxe4 A tactical shot which leads to great complications. 12 Nxe4 Qe5 13 Qf3 Qxd4 14 Ba3 14 Be3? Qe5 15 Radl Qc7 16 Bf4 Qc6 allows Black to keep the pawn safely. 14 . . . Nc6 15 Radl Qe5 16 Rxd7 Qa5 Up to this point the game has been following Keene-Adorjan at the European team championship in Plovdiv 1983 at which both Karpov and Kasparov were present. That game continued: 16 . . . Rad8 17 Rfdl Rxd7 18 Rxd7 Rd8 and was drawn in 23 moves. 16 . . . Qa5 was discussed in the post. mortem but considered too dangerous. 17 Bxe7! Not 17 b4? Nxb4 18 Rxe7 Nc2 followed by . . . Nd4. 17 . . . Ne5 18 Qdl! 18 Rd5? fails to 18 . . . Nxf3 19 Rxa5 Rfe8 20 Rd5 Nxh2 which is fine for Black. 18 . . . Nxd7 19 Qxd7 Qxa2! Sensibly returning the exchange. After 19 . . . Rfb8 White has a pleasant choice between 20 Nf6+ or 20 Nd6 both of which are perilous for Black. 20 BxfB RxfS 21 Rel Maybe 21 Qd3 defending the `13' pawn retained a small edge. 21 . . . Qxb3 22 Nd6 Qc3 23 Re7 Qf6 24 Ne4 Still trying for the win; 24 Ne8 Qd4 25 Nd6 0f6 draws. 24 . . Qd4 25 Qxd4 Bxd4 26 Rd7 Bg7 27 Rxa7 h6! The draw is now clear. 28 Rb7 Bd4 29 Rd7 BC 30 h4 f5 31 Nd2 Rf6 32 Rc7 Re6 33 Nf3 Bf6 Draw agreed. A splendidly hard-fought and exciting game from which both players emerged with great credit.
Previous page
