SIMPSON'S
IN-THE-STRAND
SIMPSON'S
IN •T HE•STRAND
CHESS
Rois fainéants
Raymond Keene
DURING THE PERIOD of Soviet domi- nation of world chess from 1948, when Botvinnik won the title, till 1972, when Boris Spassky relinquished it to Bobby Fischer, the Soviet world champions devel- oped positively Merovinginian tendencies. Much like those French kings from the Dark Ages who were famous for doing nothing, the Soviet champions either restricted their appearances in the interna- tional arena between title bouts or, when they did emerge to do battle, often pro- duced quite feeble results.
If chess lovers had expected a change when Bobby Fischer became world cham- pion, they were in for a shock. Fischer's utter lack of activity made the previous performances of the Soviet world champi- ons look like an endless Roman triumph. Fischer did not play a single game of seri- ous chess in his three years as champion, so the succeeding era, led by Karpov and Kasparov proved a boon to enthusiasts around the planet. Both of them were active and successful, that is, until quite recently. No-one can fault Karpov's record but Kasparov, over the past eight months or so, has failed to win a single tournament or match outright against humans, apart from one blitz event in Paris. More omi- nously, Kasparov has ducked out of two of the most important competitions. Kasparov left the field in Dortmund entirely to the younger generation, while at Novgorod, with Ivanchuk, Short, Kramnik and Topalov in the lists, Kasparov's name is yet again not to be seen. Dortmund was a remarkable success for Kramnik and Anand, both of whom went through the strongest tournament ever to be held on German soil without losing a game. Dortmund, Final Crosstable 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total Kramnik
1/2 1/2
1 1
1 1/2
1 1
1/2
7 Maud I/2
1/2 1 1/2 1/2 1
1 1 1 7
Gelfand 1/2 1/2 • 1/2 I/2 1 1/2 1/2 1
1
6 Polgar 0
0 1/2
• 1 I/2 1
0 1 112 41/2
Adams 0
1/2 1/2
0 *
1/2 1 1/2 1/2
1
41/2
Shirov 0 I/2 0
112 1/2 • 1/2
1 0 1 4
Topalov 1/2
0 IA 0 0
I/2
1/2 1
1 4 Hubner 0
0 1/2 1 1/2 0 1/2 • 1/2 1/2 31/2
Lobron 0 0 I)
0 1/2
1 0
1/2 21/2 Leko 1/2
0 0
1/2 0
0 0
1/2 1/2
*
2 Anand, although able to achieve little against Kasparov's Sicilian defence last year, arrived in Dortmund furnished, with some new ideas as the following win demonstrates.
Anand—Polgar:; Dortmund, July 1996; Sicilian Defence 1 e4 e.5 2 Ne3 d6 3 NB a6 4 d4 otd4 5 Nxd4 Nf6 6 Bet e6 7 0-0 Nbd7 8 f4 1,5 9 Bf3 Bbl 10 e5
11 Nxf3 dxe5 12 fxe5 Ng4 13 Qe2 b4 14 Na4 KM Black has chosen one of the sharpest variations of the Sicilian Defence. At the cost of develop- ment, Polgar has targeted White's weak pawn at e5 and also prepared rapid pressure in Black's traditional territory, the c-file. 15 Bf4 Qa5 16 63 Qb5 17 Rael 6518 Qd2 Ne5 19 Nb2 Rd8 20 Qe2 Qxe2 21 Rxe2 Black has emerged from the open- ing, and her policy of retarded development, more or less unscathed. Now was the time to mobilise the kingside with 21 ... Be7. The move
chosen allows White to release the latent energy in his position. 21 ... IS 22 exf6 gaD 23 Bd2 a5 24 Nc4 e5 25 h3 Nb6 (Diagram)
Position after 25 h3 Nh6
If White were to do nothing Black could consoli- date with ... Nf7 when her central pawns would guarantee some counterplay. White could now consider 26 NxaS, but Anand finds something even stronger. 26 Nfxe5 fxe5 27 RxeS+ If now 27
Be7 28 Rfel threatens both Rxe7+ and Rxe5 so Black must flee with her king. 27 ... Kd7 28 Rd5+ KcS 29 RxfS A beautiful further sacrifice. 29... RdxfS 30 RxcS+ Kb8 31 that5 h4 32 RbS+ KO 33 Bxb4 Re8 34 Bd6+ Kd7 35 Rb7+ Ke6 36 Be5 Black resigns Apart from having four extra pawns for the sacrificed exchange White now wins back further material. If Black's attacked rook on h8 moves to either g8 or f8 then 37 Rb6+ picks off Black's knight.
Here is a sample of the incisive play of the co-winner.
Hubner—Kramnik: Dortmund, July 1996; Sicilian Defence 1 e4 c5 2 ND d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 NI6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bg5 e6 7 Qd2 a6 8 0-0-0 h6 9 Be3 Be7 10 f4 Nxd4 11 Bxd4 b5 12 Bd3 b413 Ne2 Qa5 14 KM e5 15 Be3 0-0 16 Rhel Rb8 17 Net Rd8 18 Bal Rb7 19 Bgl Bg4 20 Nb3 Qa4 21 Rcl exf4 22 Qxf4
Be6 23 Bd4 Rb5 24 Qd2 Ng4 25 c4 bxc3 26 bxc3 Rxb3+ 27 axb3 Bxb3 White resigns
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