Chess
Red brick road
Raymond Keene
Thanks to what the Guardian has des- cribed as the 'initiative and vision' of the London Docklands Development Cor- poration (notably Eddie Oliver, Rupert Chetwynd and John Groser) London chess enthusiasts still have the opportunity to see the critical final round of the great USSR — hest of the World match. As I write, it looks as if the Russians will be leading by a single point after completion of all adjourn- ed games from round 2, so all is set for a tense and close conclusion on Friday. If you want to see it for yourself, take the tube to Mile End, then the Dockland Clipper, or special chess bus, down the red brick road of Millharbour, right to the door of the Northern and Shell Building. Play starts at 3 P.m. and in true gladiatorial fashion will continue to a finish, without adjournment.
The best game so far was played by Viktor Korchnoi who, in 1970 in the first USSR-ROW match, played on the Soviet team. Of course, in 1976 he switched allegance in dramatic fashion and is now representing the international side on third board.
Korchnoi (ROW) — Polugaievsky (USSR): Lon- don Docklands, June 1984; Reti Opening.
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 g3 d5 3 Bg2 c6 4 0-0 Bf5 Polugaiev- sky has always shown a fondness for this development of the Black QB against Reti's sedate opening. The danger is that after an even- tual e4 by White, the B may be shut out of action on g6 or h7. 5d3 h6 6 c4 Good alternatives here, both of which aim to achieve e4 in more direct fashion, are: 6 Nbd2 e6 7 Qel followed by e4, or 6 b3 e6 7 Bbl be7 8 e3 followed by Qe2 and then e4. Korchnoi prefers to preface central opera- tions with pressure against Black's Q-side.
6 ... e6 7 Be3!? An interesting development for the B, the point being to prevent ... Qb6.
7 ... Be7 8 Qb3 Qc8 So Black has to defend b7 with a more passive move. 9Nc3 0-0 10 Racl A highly significant placing of his QR vis-a-vis Black's Q, which later bears fruit. 10 ... Bh7 11 cxd5 exd5 12 Ne5 Bd6 If 12 ... Nbd7 to challenge the White N, 13 13h3 is annoying.13 Bd4 Bc7 Not 13 ... c5? 14 NxdS exploiting the pin on the `c' file. 14 e4 At last. 14 ... dxe4 15 dxe4 Na6 16 Nc4 Nd7 He cannot permit Bxf6 shattering his K-side pawns. 17 a4 Depriving Black of possible counterplay by ... b5. 17 ... Nac5 18 Qa3 Ne6 19 Be3 After various adventures, the B assumes a normal post.
19 ... Nb6 It looks as if Black is gradually free- ing himself, but now Korchnoi unleashes an ar- tistic positional combination, exploiting the seemingly dormant relationship between his QR and iilaa's Q on c8. 20 Nd512 Nxc4 Or 20 ... cxd5 21 exd5 Ng5 22 Nxb6 axb6 23 d6 and Black's Q-wing is destroyed. 21 Rxc4 21 Ne7 + is pointless, since White's Q is also en prise. 21 ... Qd8 Once again, 21 ... cxd5 22 exd5 followed by d6 leads to disaster. 12 Nac7 Qxc7 23 b4 Qe7 Korchnoi's combination has netted the B-pair in an open position, with the possibility of increasing his advantage by pawn advances on both flanks. To complicate Black's defence, Polugaievsky was in serious time trouble. 24 Qc3 RfdS 25 f4 f6 26 b5 cxb5 27 axb5 Rd7 Black could probably defend better hereabouts, but with so little time for thought, the practical pro- blems were insuperable. 28 Rc8 + Rxc8 29. Qxc8 + NfS 30 Qc4 + Qe6 31 Qxe6 + Nxe6 32 Bxa7 Collecting a pawn for no compensation. 32 ... Nd4 33 Bh3 Ne2+ He is forced into this contortion. 33 ... Rd8 34 Bb6 Rd6 35 Bc7 does not improve matters. 34 Kf2 Rd2 35 Ke3 Rb2 36 Be6 + Kh8 37 Rdl g5 38 Rd8 + Kg7 39 Bc5 gx14 + 40 gxf4 and in playing 40 ... Bg6 Black lost on time (41 Bf8 + Kh7 42 Rd7 Kh8 43 Bg7 + is one way to win).
Other famous names in action on Friday include world champion Anatoly Karpov, in London for the third time in six months, title challenger Gary Kasparov, and Grand- masters Timman, Larsen, Nunn, Miles and Andersson.
On Sunday Kasparov is playing a satellite simultaneous match against ten juniors, five in London and five in New York. The venue is the International House by Tower Bridge. The match starts at 4 p.m., and spectators are welcome (admission free).
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