Chess
Turning point
Raymond Keene
A fter Korchnoi's win in the first game .ILagainst Kasparov, the young Russian seemed unable to display his full powers. In fact, he was reduced to agreeing early draws with White and suffering agonies of defence with Black. Then in Game 6, Kasparov broke his run to score his first full point, though it came in an ending where Korchnoi had first stood better and then missed several chances to draw. Here is the concluding phase:
Korchnol — Kasparov: Game 6.
59 ... Kf5: The only move to give any winning chances. The point is to restrict the movement of White's K. 60 Ke7 Rd5 I would have thought that 60 ... Rg6 is a cleaner kill. 61 Rd3 K14 62 Ke6 Rg5 63 d5? White can probably draw with 63 Rd 1. 63 ... Rg6 + 64 Ke7 g2 65 Rdl Ke5 66 d6 Re6 + 67 Kd7 Rxd6 + 68 Rxd6 gl = Q This en- ding is trivially won for Black. 69 Re6 + K15 70 Rd6 Qa7 + Kd8 Ke5 72 Rg6 Qa5 + 73 Kd7 Qa4+ 74 Ke7 Qh4 + 75 Kf8 Qd8 + 76 Kf7 Kf5 77 Rh6 Qd7 White resigns.
So far the match has been a war of attri- tion rather than a blitzkrieg, but after Kor- chnoi's loss in game 6 he appeared demoralised. In game 7 Kasparov establish- ed a dominating position after just 16 moves and Korchnoi could have resigned by move 23. I am sure now that Kasparov's youthful energy will be the decisive factor in the second phase of the contest. The score is now 4-3 in Kasparov's favour but happily relations remain cordial. Games open and close with a handshake, virtually un- precedented for Korchnoi's matches with Soviet Grandmasters.
Surprisingly, the best chess in either match has been produced by the 62-year- old Smyslov, who now leads Ribli by the score of 41/2-21/2. Here is his most outstan- ding game.
Smyslov — Ribli: Game 5, Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch.
1 d4 So far, every single game has opened with 1 d4! 1 Nf6 2 Nf3 e6 3 c4 d5 4 Nc3 c5 5 cxd5 Nxd5 6 e3 Nc6 7 Bd3 11e7 8 0-0 0-0 9 a3 cxd4 10 exd4 1116 11 Qc2 h6 A decision with serious con- sequences. I would prefer 11 g6, absolutely blocking the bl-h7 diagonal. 12 Rdl Qb6 13 Bc4 Rd8 If 13 ... Nxd4 14 Nxd4 Bxd4 15 Na4. 14 Ne2 Bd7 15 Qe4 Nce7 16 Bd3 Ba4? This looks like a serious error. Safe is 16 ... Ng6, while simply 16 ... Bb5 has the same effect as the text without driving the White KR to the superior square el . 17 Qh7+ Kf8 18 Re! Bb5 19 Bxb5 Qxb5 20 Ng3 Ng6 21 Ne5: A strong move which cuts Black's lines of communication. 21 ... Nde7 22 Bxh6 Inaugurating a fantastic attack, but the level-headed 22 Nh5, as proposed by Smyslov's second, Averbakh, may be even stronger. 22 ... Nxe5 IT 22 ... Bxe5 23 Rxe5! 23 Nh5! Another powerful attack. 23 ... Nf3 + 24 gxf3' Nf5 25 Nx16 Nxh6 25 gxh6 is also met by 26 d51 26 d5 Qxb2 27 Qh8 + Introducing a final elegant combination which picks up Black's Q. 27 ... Ke7 28 Rxe6 + fxe6 29 Qxg7 + Nf7 30 d6+ Winning Black's Q. 30 . Rxd6 31 Nd5 + Rxd5 32 Qxb2 b6 33 Qb4 + K16 34 Re! Rh8 35 h4 Rhd8 36 Re4 Nd6 37 Qc3 + e5? Allowing a lovely conclusion. He must move the K. 38 Rxe5 Rxe5 39 14 Nf7 40 fxe5 + Ke6 41 Qc4 + Black resigns.
Chequers £500 Competition No. 5 (Week 5)
In Smyslov-Ribli above what would have happened if Black had played 26 .. . gxf6 instead of 26 .. Qxb2? All you have to do is jot down a brief main line on a postcard and send it to Chequers Competition No. 5 (Week 5), The Spectator, 56 Doughty Si, London WC1N 2LL. The first correct answer to reach me scores 10 points, then 7, 3 and I. Postmark to decide rather than time of arrival. After our 6th week, points will be totalled, with the prize of £500 going to the highest scorer.
Games in the Acorn Computer World Chess Semi-Final are played every day star- ting 4.00pm at the Great Eastern Hotel.
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