CHESS

Lloyds Latts

Raymond Keene

Afew weeks ago I eulogised the games of 19-year-old Latvian grandmaster Alexei Shirov. Since then Shirov has amply justified the accolade by a convincing win from the Biel tournament where, amongst others, he completely outclassed our own Michael Adams, and then scored a superb outright victory at the 15th Lloyds Bank Masters held in the latter half of August at London's Cumberland Hotel. It is not just Shirov's results that impress but also the superb fighting quality of his games which should make him a world title contender in the next cycle.

The final scores at Biel were: Alexei Shirov 91/2/14, Evgeny Bareev 8I/2, Ulf Anderssen and Joel Lautier 71/2, Larry Christiansen 7, Michael Adams 6, Viktor Gavrikov 51/2, Zdenko Kozul 41/2.

Here is one of Shirov's two wins against Adams. It is significant that he wins so quickly and with black.

Adams — Shirov: Biel 1991; Sicilian Defence.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Bc4 Bg7 7 0-0 0-0 8 h3 Nc6 9 Be3 Nxe4 10 Bxf7+ Kxf7 11 Nxe4 Nxd4 12 Bxd4 e5 13 Be3 d5 14 Ng3 Kg8 15 c3 Be6 16 Ne2 g5 17 Qd2 h6 18 h4 gx114 19 Bxh6 Qf6 20 Bg5 Qg6 21 Bich4 Rf5 2214 Qg4 23 Bg5 Raf8 24 Rf2 d4 25 cxd4 exf4 26 thcf4 Bc4 27 Be3 Rxf2 28 Bxf2 Bxe2 0-1.

Lloyds Bank Masters final scores were: Alexei Shirov (Latvia) 8/10, Michael Adams (England), Edwin Kengis and Alex Shabalow (both Latvia) 71/2. Among those on 7 points were GM Bagirov (Latvia), Murray Chandler and Jon Speelman (both England).

One thought that occurs to me as the Soviet empire breaks up is that with the

demise of the USSR as a national team, England might become by default the world's number one chess nation. With the recrudescence of Latvia as a chess entity I am, however, beginning to have second thoughts about the kind of damage that individual Soviet republics could inflict over the chessboard. it should not be forgotten that Latvia boasts past alumni such as Nimzowitsch and Tal amongst its canon of greats.

Shirov — Leko: Lloyds Bank Masters, London 1991; Grunfeld Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Bg5 Ne4 5 Bf4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 dxc4 7 e4 c5 8 Bxc4 Bg7 9 Ne2 Nc6 10 d5 Na5 11 Bd3 0-012 Bg5 Qc7 130-0 e5 14 c4 b6 15 Bd2 Nb7 16 a4 Bd7 17 a5 Nd6 18 Nc3 15 19 Re! 14 20 Qb3 h5 21 Rebl Rab8 22 axb6 axb6 23 Ra6 b5 24 Nxb5 Bxb5 25 cxb5 c4 26 Qb4 Nxb5 27 Qxc4 Qxc4 28 Bxc4 Nd4 29 Rxb8 Rxb8 30 h4 Kh7 31 Ba5 Rc8 32 d6 Rxc4 33 d7 Ne2+ 34 Kf1 Rd4 35 d8Q Rxd8 36 Bxd8 Nd4 37 0 Black resigns.

Leko is only 11 years old and from the resistance he offers in this game it is clear that he has a promising future.

Shirov — Ernst: Lloyds Bank Masters, London 1991; Grunfeld Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Bc4 c5 8 Ne2 Nc6 9 Be3 0-0 10 Re! cxd4 11 cxd4 Qa5+ 12 Kit Bd7 13 h4 Rfc8 14 h5 Nd8 15 0 Bb5 15 . . . b5? 16 Bb3 Rxcl 17 Bxcl 0b6? 18 hxg6 hxg6 19 Qe 1!! (19 Bh6 Bxh6 20 Rxh6 Of6!) 19 . . .Rc8 20 Bg5 was better for White in Shirov — Kozul from the Biel tourna-

ment. 16 Bxb5 Qxb5 17 Kf2 Rxcl 18 Qxcl Ne6 19

Position after 21. . . Rd8

Qb1 Qa6 20 hxg6 hxg6 21 e5 Rd8 {Diagram) 22 a41! This improves on 22 Qe4 Qxa2 23 Qh4 K18 24 Rdl Nxe5! 25 Rd2 Qa5 26 Qh7 g5 27 Ng3 0b6 with a clear advantage for Black, Shirov — I. Gurevich, World Junior 1990. 22 . . . Na5 23 Qe4 Rc8 24 Bh6 Bh8 25 Bg5 Qe6 26 Qh4 Black resigns. Notes based on comments by Shirov.

Finally the game in which Shirov put paid to Speelman's hopes of winning the tournament.

Shirov Speehnan: Lloyds Bank Masters, London 1991; Hungarian Defence. 1 d4 d6 2 e4 Nf6 3 Bd3 e5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Be7 6 d5 Nb8 7 c4 0-08 Nc3 Nbd7 9 Bc2 Nh5 10 h3 c6 11 Nxe5 Nxe5 12 Qxh5 Nxc4 13 0-0 Re8 14 Rdl Bf6 15 Qe2 Nb6 16 dxc6 bxc6 17 Qd3 g6 18 Qxd6 Qxd6 19 Rxd6 Be5 20 Rdl 15 21 Bb3+ Be6 22 exf5 gxf5 23 Be3 Nc4 24 Bxc4 Bxc4 25 Bd4 Bc7 26 b3 Bf7 27 Kit f4 28 f3 Bg6 29 Racl Re7 30 Bc5 Re6 31 Rd7 Be5 32 Re! Bf5 33 Na4 Ree8 34 Rxa7 Bd3+ 35 Kf2 Rad8 36 Nb6 Bf6 37 Rxe8+ Rxe8 38 Ra8 Bd8 39 Kg! K17 40 Ra7+ Kg6 41 Bf2 Rel+ 42 Bxel Bxb6+ 43 Bf2 Bxa7 44 Bxa7 Kf5 45 Bc5 Bbl 46 a4 Bc2 47 a5 Bd3 48 Bd6 h5 49 h4 Ba6 50 Kf2 Bb5 51 b4 Ba6 52 g3 fxg3+ 53 Bxg3 Ke6 54 Ke3 Kd5 55 K14 c5 56 bxc5 Kxc5 57 Kg5 11e2 5814 Kd6 59 15+ Ke7 60 16+ Black resigns.