SIMPSON'S
IN•THE-STRAND
CHESS.v'
4NI
SIMPSON'S
IN-THE-STRAND
New talent
Raymond Keene
THE MIND Sports Olympiad, which fin- ished last week, attracted a host of world champions and grandmasters from around the world in 39 different thinking sports. Amongst the most prominent competitors were Ron King, the reigning world 8 x 8 draughts champion, Dominic O'Brien, the world memory champion, and three former world champions in the game of 10 x 10 draughts, Harm Wiersma, Anatoli Gant- varg and Guntis Valneris. This type of draughts is a game of immense fascination to which I shall return in a later column.
In the various chess sections grandmas- ters Michael Adams, Matthew Sadler, Wil- liam Watson, Stuart Conquest and Mark Hebden were the dominant figures. How- ever, in a sign of things to come, nine-year- old Gawain Jones picked up two gold medals in the junior tournaments, while 11- year-old Krishnan Chakraborty took the bronze medal in the problem-solving con- test. Perhaps the most remarkable achieve- ment by a young player was the following strategically controlled win by an eight- year-old against an experienced opponent.
Matthew Broomfield—Murugan Thiruchel- yam: Mind Sports Olympiad with Skandia, Royal Festival Hall, August 1997; English Opening.
1 c4 e5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 d3 Nge7 6 e3 0-0 7 Nge2 d6 White has selected a quiet line of the English Opening, one in which he reserves the options of a later advance either on the queenside, or in the centre. 8 0-0 Bf5 9 Rbl Qc8 10 b4 Also worth considering is 10 e4 Bh3 11 Be3, aiming for central play. 10 ...Bh3 11 b5 Bxg2 12 Kxg2 Nd8 13 d4 f5 14 dxe5 dxe5 Black's chosen method of recapture gives White some pressure but the alternative 14 ... Bxe5 15 Bb2 is very clumsy for Black. 15 Ba3 Re8 16 f4 This is a gratuitous weakening of his king's position. The simple 16 Nd5 NxdS 17 cxd5 would give White excellent play in the open c-file against Black's weak pawn on c7. 16 ...Nf7 17 Qb3 e4 (Diagram) White's position is still comfortable, Position after 17 . . . e4 but he does suffer from an incipient and self- inflicted weakness on the light squares. 18 Rbdl c6 19 Rd2 Qc7 20 Rfdl Rad8 21 Nd4 The threat to invade at e6 forces Black to capture. 21 ... Bxd4 22 Rxd4 Rxd4 23 Rxd4 Rd8 24 c5 At a stroke White converts a playable position into an inferior one. The text blocks his own bishop and positively encourages Black to create a passed pawn. Any sensible move would be quite enough for a draw. 24 ...Rxd4 25 exd4 Qd7 Instituting a blockade of the light squares which ultimately secured him an advantage. 26 Qc4 Nd5 27 NxdS cxd5 28 Qb3 Nd8 Squashing any idea of White playing c6. 29 Kf2 White should at least regroup by means of 29 Bel Ne6 30 Be3 followed by a4. 29 ...Ne6 30 Ke3 h6 31 h4 (Diagram) 31 ...g5 Black strikes at just the right moment. White's pieces are out of play on the queenside, and his king is exposed. 32 hxg5 hxg5 33 fxg5 Qd8 34 Kd2 A sign of desperation. 34 ... Nxd4 On the Position after 31 h4
surface Black has merely re-established material equilibrium. In fact, White is left with weak pawns, Black's knight has broken through to command the central light squares, and on top of this Black has two connected passed pawns in the centre. The outcome is no longer in doubt. 35 Qb2 QxgS+ 36 Kc3 Qe3+ 37 KM Qd3 38 K24 a6 39 bxa6 Qxa6+ 40 KM Nc6+ 41 Kc3 Qd3 checkmate A crisp conclusion and a remarkable achievement for an eight-year-old.
Chess masters were also in evidence in other Mind Sports Olympiad disciplines. Bruce Birchall, who used to play chess at Cambridge, won the silver medal in the creative thinking section ('What are the similarities between Princess Di and an orange?' being one question). Demis Hassabis took silver medal in the five- discipline Pentamind championship, while the former England junior Andrew Dyson won gold in the Decamentathlon which tests memory, creativity, mental calcula- tion, chess, bridge, Go, Othello, Master- mind, IQ and draughts.
The final medals total saw England with 29 gold medals, Holland with 9, Japan and the USA with 4 each and France and Barbados with 3 each. All in all, 29 coun- tries won medals.
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