SIMPSON'S
IN-THE-STRAND
SIMPSON'S
IN
CHESS
Top notch
Raymond Keene
ON 8 DECEMBER a competition starts in Las Palmas which can lay claim to be the strongest chess tournament ever held. The participants are the top six in the world ranking list, namely Professional Chess Association world champion Gaffy Kasparov, Fid6 champion Anatoly Karpov, the Russian grandmaster Vladimir Kram- nik, Ukrainian Vassily Ivanchuk, the Indian challenger for the 1995 world cham- pionship Viswanathan Anand and the Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov. The tournament average is a breathtaking 2750 on the international scale, and just one iota short of a ground-breaking catego- ry 21.
Is Las Palmas, though, really the strongest ever tournament? Its main rival was the Avro tournament of 1938, which can also lay claim to being the strongest tournament in the history of the game. It was packed with world champions and title contenders. The Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres tied for first prize with the American Reuben Fine, but Keres was awarded the palm on tie-break. It is notable that the Avro field contained every player who held the world championship from 1921 to 1957. What is more, Avro produced a huge number of very fine games. Here, for example, is Keres's win against the Cuban genius Capablanca.
Keres—Capablanca: Avro, Holland, 1938; French Defence.
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 c5 4 exd5 exd5 5 Ngf3 Nc6 6 Bb5 Qe7+ This check can be identified as the source of Black's further troubles. Although the move gains a pawn, its retention is merely tem- porary. Hence, the correct move would have been 6 ...Bd6, fluently completying his develop- ment. 7 Be2 cxd4 8 0-0 Qc7 9 Nb3 Bd6 10 Nbxd4 a6 11 b3 Nge7 12 Bb2 0-0 13 Nxc6 bxc6 14 c4 A
powerful thrust which undermines Black's cen- tral pawn structure. Whether Black plays ... tlxc4 at some moment, or whether he simply waits for White to play cxd5 himself, Black is always in trouble. 14 ... Be6 15 Qc2 dxc4 16 Bxc4 Bxc4 Capablanca seeks salvation in his time-honoured technique of exchanges. In this case, unfortu- nately for him, the simplification merely serves to accentuate the vulnerability of Black's queen- side pawns. 17 Qxc4 Rfb8 18 h3 Rb5 19 Racl Rc8 20 Rfd1 Ng6 21 Nd4 Rb6 (Diagram) As Position after 21. . Rb6
always, Capabianca's defence has been resilient, but now he overlooks a shattering knight sacri- fice on an empty square, which brings the black position to the verge of ruin. 22 Ne6 A supreme- ly elegant stroke, which exploits the superior co- ordination of White's forces to launch a winning attack. If now 22 ...fxe6 23 Qxe6+ forks Black's king and bishop. Alternatively, if 22 ...Bh2+ 23 Kh1 fxe6 24 Qxe6+ Kh8 25 Rd7 and White wins. 22 ... Qb8 23 Ng5 Rb7 24 Qg4 Bf4 25 Rc4 Rb5 26 Nxf7 Re8 A miserable necessity, but if 26 ... Kxf7 White again wins with 27 Rd7+. 27 g3 Qc8 28 Rxf4 Qxg4 29 Rxg4 Kxf7 30 Rd7+ Re7 31 Rxe7+ Kxe7 32 Bxg7 Ra5 33 a4 Rc5 34 Rb4 Ke6 35 ICg2 h5 36 Rc4 Rxc4 37 bxc4 Kd6 38 f4 Black resigns. A wonderful tour de force by Keres against an opponent widely considered to be invincible.
Avro 1938
1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 7 7 8 8
1. Keres " 1 1/21/21121/21/2 1 1/21121/2 11121/21/2 81/2 2. Fine 0 1/2 * * 1 1/2 1 1 1 0 1 0 3/21/2 1 3/2 Viz 3. Botvinnik 3/23/2 0 3/2 * * 1 1/2 I 1/21/2 0 1/2 11/21/2 73/2 4. Alekhine 1/21/2 0 0 0 1/2 * * 1/21/2 1 1/21/2 1 1/21 7 5. Reshevsky 0 1/2 0 1 0 3/23/23/2 * * 1 3/23/23/2 11/2 7 6. Euwe 1/21/2 0 1 1/2 1 0 1/2 0 1/2 * * 0 1 1 V2 7 7. Capablanca 0 1/ 1/21/21/2 0 1/2 0 1/21/2 1 0 * * 1/2 1 6 8. Flohr 1/21/2 0 1/2 1/21/21/2 0 0 1/2 0 1/21/2 0 * * 41/2 Spectator Chess Puzzle No. 7 The above position is a variation of the game Steinitz—Chigorin, World Champion- ship, Havana 1892. Steinitz, White to play, has an immediate and crushing win. Can you spot it? I require White's first move only. Entries on a postcard, please, clearly marked 'Chess Puzzle No. 7', no later than Monday, 9 December. Entries can also be faxed to The Spectator on 0171 242 0603. The prize is an invitation to lunch or din- ner at Simpson's-in-the-Strand with me, plus a game of chess. All first-time entrants will also receive a complimentary copy of the British Chess Magazine.
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