CHESS
Old fox
Raymond Keene
Behind every great player there is a great second, or at least a supporter who boosts the champion's morale. Before the days of Soviet domination of world chess this used not to be the case, but once Botvinnik's methods of iron discipline, scientific approach and the treatment of chess as a tough sport were accepted as the norm, the role of the second became paramount. This was especially true in the realms of opening theory and adjournment analysis in the practical struggle. A second also functioned as a backbone-stiffener in a general sense whenever a psychological crisis was reached.
In Botvinnik's own commentaries one consistently sees references to Flohr, Keres or Geller propounding this or that key line in Botvinnik's adjourned games. Karpov is indelibly associated with Furman and Zait- sev as his assistants, while Nikitin made a name for himself as Kasparov's trainer. Even the legendary lone wolf Bobby Fis- cher was supported by Colonel Ed Edmondson, a weak player but a master diplomat who kept the temperamental Fischer on track right up to the moment when he won the world championship.
A vital element in Nigel Short's forth- coming assault on the world championship will be his second, the veteran Czech/US grandmaster Lubosh Kavalek. In former times Nigel was assisted by John Nunn, but somehow their relationship did not quite seem to gel. Nunn is a brilliant analyst but lacked the qualities of maturity and experi- ence which are necessary to guide a player to the very top. Under the tutelage of Kavalek, up to 1968 a member of the successful Czech team, until his defection to the US, Short has become a deeper and richer strategist and has also been able to cope more readily with setbacks. The relationship between the two blossomed into full fruition last year with Nigel's victories in the Candidates cycle against Speelman and Gelfand and his tournament successes in Amsterdam and Tilburg. That Kavalek is a brilliant player in his own right can be seen from the following game, one of my all-time favourites.
Gheorghiu — Kavalek: Amsterdam 1969; King's Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 Be3 Position after 8, . . Re8
Nc6 7 Nge2 Rb8 8 Qd2 Re8 (Diagram) In the 1960s and early 1970s White invariably sought to maintain a space advantage in the centre in this variation of the Saemisch King's Indian. To that end manoeuvres such as Ne2 — cl — b3 combined with Rdl were common to shore up White's central bastions. Nowadays, all this is rightly regarded as an over-refinement. White players tend to prefer a blunt plan involving castling queenside followed by a vigorous ad- vance of White's g and h pawns in order to come directly to grips with the black king. 9 Rdl At the time, a state of the art concept introduced by Petrosian, the world champion no less. In those days much analysis was also devoted to varia- tions such as 9 Ncl e5 10 Nb3 exd4 11 Nxd4 d5 12 cxd5 Nxd5 13 Nxd5 Nxd4 14 Bxd4 Qxd5 15 Bxg7 Qxd2+ 16 ICxd2 Kag7 with equality. Alternatively 9 Ncl e5 10 d5 Nd4 11 Nb3 c5 12 dxc6 bxc6 13 Nxd4 exd4 14 Bxd4 d5 15 cxd5 cxd5 16 e5 Nh5 17 Bb5 Rxe5+ 18 Bxe5 Bxe5 with immense compensation for Black for a trifling material investment. 9 . . . a6 10 Ncl e5 11 dxe5 If!! d5 Nd4 12 N1e2 c5 13 dxc6 bxc6 14 Nxd4 exd4 15 Bxd4 d5 16 cxd5 cxd5 17 e5 Nh5 18 Be2 Qh4+ 19 Bf2 Qb4 with active counterplay for Black. 11 . . . Nxe5 12 Be2 After this game 12 b3 came into fashion! 12 . . . 135! This sacrificial thrust releases all of the energy stored in the black position while White's development is still in its infancy. 13 cxb5 axb5 14 Bxb5 Or 14 Nxb5 Nx13+ 15 gxf3 Nxe4 16 fxe4 Qh4+ 17 Bf2 Oxe4
Position after 14 . . . Nxe4!
with a powerful attack. 14. . . Nxe4! (Diagram) So far Black has just sacrificed one pawn in the interests of liberating his pieces. The text move bombards White with a hail of piece sacrifices while his king is still stuck in the centre. 15 fite4 Rxb5 16 Nxb5 Nc4 17 Qf2 17 Qd3! was White's last chance to make a fight of it. 17 . . . Rxe4 18 0-0 Nxe3 19 Qxf7+ Kh8 20 Qxc7 Qxc7 21 Nxc7 Nxd1 22 Rxdl After the storm has passed White is simply ground down by the power of Black's bishops. 'These pieces show up to superb advan- tage on an open board. 22. . . Bd4+ 23 Kfl Bg4 24 Rd2 Be3 25 Rc2 Rd4 White resigns A wonderful display of imaginative !pyrotechnics and a classic exposition of Black's dynamic counterplay in the King's Indian Defence.
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