CHESS
Coffee-house
Raymond Keene
or years there has been no centre for chess enthusiasts in London where they can play chess all day, consult books or magazines, or meet the masters. A century ago, Simpson's in the Strand provided such a home for chess. Indeed, the immortal game between Anderssen and Kieseritsky was just a coffee-house, offhand game, Played on Simpson's premises.
Now, it seems, this black hole in the capital's chess life is about to be filled, with the opening of the English Chess Association/Granada Chess Centre, at 58 St John's Hill, two minutes' walk from Clapham Junction. The Centre, officially opened by world champion Gary Kasparov on 4 May, will be available for lectures, seminars, blitz chess, matches, tourna- ments and casual visitors, from noon to 8-00 pm each day. These opening times may, of course, vary in future, depending on demand.
Julian Simpole, the ECA General Secretary, will be in attendance during Opening hours, while it is also anticipated that there will be an extensive library available in due course supervised by the national chess coach, Bob Wade. Every- one is welcome to attend, and if there are any inquiries, ring Julian Simpole on 0273 558483 for further information.
The following game might appear to be a Prime example of coffee-house chess. In fact, it was one of the games which decided the top prizes in the recently concluded World Cup in Barcelona.
Ljubojevic — Hjartarson: Barcelona World Cup, April; Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e6 6 g4 The Keres Attack, one of White's most violent options against the Scheveningen Varia- tion of the Sicilian. 6. . . Nc6 7 g5 Nd7 8 Rgl A novel system of attack which has the effect of confusing Black's defence. 8 . . . Be7 9 Rg3 0-0 10 Be3 a6 11 Qe2 Nxd4 12 Bxd4 Re8 This move and Black's next constitute a hopelessly dilatory method of defence. It would even be better to accept weaknesses in his own camp and play 12 . . . e5, which would, at least block the centre somewhat. 13 Qh5 Nf8 14 0-0-0 b5 15 Rdd3 b4 Ljubojevic thought long and hard over his next move. After the game he explained that he thought he could win on the spot with the complicated sacrifice 16 Bxg7. However, with first prize at stake (or, as it turned out, a share of first prize with Kasparov) the Yugoslav Grand- master wanted to win without taking any kind of risk. 16 Rdf3 e5 17 Qxf7+ Kh8 18 Bb6! If now 18 . Qxb6 19 Qxe8 wins. Perhaps Black's best chance now is the curious-looking move 18 . . . Be6, though it still looks quite dreadful. 18. . . Bxg5+ 19 Kbl Qe7 20 Nd5 Qicf7 21 Rid7 Ne6 22 Bc4 h6 23 Rd3 Rb8 24 Ba7 White's position is absolutely overwhelming, but from here on he starts to fumble. After 24 Nc7 Nxc7 25 Bxc7 Black can resign. 24. . . Rb7 25 Rxb7 Bxb7 26 Nxb4 Bf4 27 Rxd6 Ng5 28 Bxa6 Nxe4 29 Rd7 More accurate is 29 Rd3. 29 . . . Bxa6 30 Nxa6 Bxh2 31 Nc7 Rg8 32 a4 Bgl 33 a5 h5 The concluding phase of the game, played in time trouble, sees a race to queen between White's 'a' pawn and Black's 'h' pawn. 34 a6 h4 35 Re7 Again inaccurate. 35 Rd3 is stronger. 35. . . h3 36 Rxe5 With the threat of Rh5 mate. 36. . . g5 37 Bd4 Nd2+ As Nigel Short pointed out after the game Black should play 37. . . Kh7 with real chances of holding the draw. 38 Kcl NO At this point Ljubojevic banged out the move 39 Rh6 and screamed 'mate'. This would indeed be true, were the move legal, which it obviously is not. The stern figure of Arbiter Geurt Gijssen hove into view with a disapproving grimace on his face. Ljubojevic replaced the offending rook on e5. Fortunately for him, there is no other penalty for making an illegal move than having, if possible, to move the touched piece. Some Grandmasters, such as Bent Larsen, believe that an illegal move should result in immediate forfeit. There used to be a rule that an illegal move obliged the offender to move his king instead. Were such a rule in force now, it would have been fatal to Ljubojevic's cause. As it was, Ljubojevic could play 39 Rxg5 dis+ when the game continued 39. . . Nxd4 40 Rxg8 + Kxg8 41 a7 h2 42 a8=Q+ Kf7 43 Qd5+ and Black resigned.
Both Nigel Short and Jon Speelman have been active in charitable causes. Last Sunday Short played 33 opponents, raising more than 0,000 for The Medical Founda- tion, which cares for victims of torture. Jon Speelman's simultaneous display for the Fight For Sight charity will be screened by Thames TV late night on 15 May.
Previous page
