SIMPSON'S

IN•TIIE•STRA NI)

SIMPSON'S

IN•THE-STRA NI)

CHESS

Tireless

Raymond Keene

I LIKE to think of this column as a chroni- cle of record of all the important events in the chess sphere. Irritatingly, space con- straints have so far prevented me from giv- ing the blow-by-blow match score of Karpov's convincing match victory against Gata Kamsky in the FIDE World, Championship match. So here, with a cou- ple of weeks' delay, it finally is. It can be seen that from an early stage Karpov estab- lished a dominance against his younger opponent which proved quite sufficient in spite of Kamsky's late come-back.

Fide World Championship Final Match Score

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Karpov

1 0 42 1

/2 1 1 /2 1 Kamsky

0 1

1/2

0

1/2

0 0

1/2

0

10 11

12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Total Karpov

0 '/2

1/2 1/2

1

1/2

0

1/2 1/2 1014

Kamsky 1

1/2 1/2 1/2

0

1/2

1

1/2 1/2 71/2

Remarkably, having contested one of the most gruelling matches of modern times, characterised both by extreme fighting spir- it and the vast length of the games, Karpov travelled directly to the international tour- nament in Biel. Almost without rest he there added to his astounding record of 139 first prizes in major competitions. It is unlikely that anyone will ever topple this.

The contrast between the stamina of the 45-year-old Karpov and Kasparov, 121/2 years his younger, is also noteworthy. Kasparov's match against Anand last year in the rival PCA world title cycle stood out for its high number of short and content- less draws, yet Kasparov seemed utterly drained by what fight there was and turned in his poorest performance ever in the

Zurich tournament which followed on immediately afterwards. At the time, I per- sonally thought it was foolish for Kasparov to compete so soon after a match. In the past, newly crowned or re-crowned cham- pions have often failed in tournaments just after a win in an important match. However, Karpov's result at Biel proves that it is not only possible to play again right after a title contest, but also to play and win. Karpov's games, as usual, when he is in form, were full of elegance yet graced by a peculiar power.

Results of the Biel Final were: Karpov, 71/2; Milov, 71/2; Ehlvest, 7; Andersson, 6; Almasi, 6; Lautier, 6; Glek, 6; Portisch, 51/2; Tukmakov, 41/2; Romanishin, 31/2; Onischuk, 31/2; Miles, 3.

Karpov–Romanishin: Biel, 1996; Queen's Indian Defence.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 NO 66 4 a3 Bb7 5 Nc3 g6 A combative decision, aiming for a complicated middle game. The solid 5 ... d5 is more usual. 6 Qd3 Striving to achieve e4 at all costs. If instead 6 Qc2 then 6 ... Bxf3 7 gxf3 Nc6 quickly unbal- ances the situation. 6 ... Bg7 7 e4 d6 8 Be2 0-0 9 0-0 Nbd7 10 Qc2 c5 II d5 e5 This type of posi- tion is well known, although there are one or two differences here from standard situations. The differences are that White has lost a move with his queen while Black has already weakened his queenside with ... b6. Broadly speaking, in such positions, White attacks on the queenside with b4, while Black counters on the other wing. 12 g3 Nh5 13 Nel Ndf6 14 Ng2 Bc8 15 b4 Qd7 16 bxc5 bxc5 17 Rbl Qh3 18 Nb5 Qd7 19 Bd2 a6 20 Nc3 White's initial invasion of the Black queen's flank has tempted a weakness at b6 which can now be occupied by White's rook. 20 ... Qh3 21 Na4 Ng4 22 Bxg4 Bxg4 23 f3 From now on Black is plagued by the lack of a good square for his queen's bishop. His next move is an initial attempt to solve this problem by tactical means. 23 ... Nf6 24 Bg5 And not 24 fxg4 Nxg4 with a victorious incursion at h2 to follow. 24 ... Bd7 25 Rb6 Rab8 26 Rfbl Again Karpov avoids pre- mature annexation of material by 26 Rxb6 Bxa4 27 Qxa4 Rb2 when White is in difficulties. 26... Rxb6 27 Nxb6 Rb8 28 Rb3 A move of tremen- dous subtlety, which has implications on both sides of the board. 28 ... Ne8 29 Nel Rb7 30 Nd3 Quite unexpectedly, Black's queen is in danger of being trapped. The immediate threat is Nf2. It is fascinating to observe how the knight on b6, seemingly engaged in far flung manoeu- vres on the left flank, in fact cuts off the line of retreat for the black queen. 30 ... Qh5 31 Nxd7 Rxd7 More resilient is 31 ... Rxb3 32 Qxb3 QxgS though after 33 QbS, forcing 33 ... Qe7, Black is still badly tied up. It is obvious, though, from the text that Romanishin had not yet spot- ted Karpov's evil plan. 32 h4 With the terrible threat of g4 trapping Black's queen and if 32 ... f5 33 Nf2 decisively renewing the threat. 32 ..• Qxf3 33 Nf2 (Diagram) Position after 33 Nf2

Black resigns The horrible truth has dawned. Black's queen is trapped, for if 33 ... Qh5 once again 34 g4.