CHESS
Tuning up
Raymond Keene
As the world championship approaches Fide has published its mid-year rating list. The top ten men are: Kasparov (USSR) 2740; Karpov (USSR) 2705; Yusu- pov (USSR) 2660; Korchnoi (Switzerland) 2650; Hilbner (W. Germany), Sokolov (USSR), Spassky (France), and Timman (Holland) 2620; Short (England) 2615 and Portisch (Hungary) 2605.
Various striking facts emerge from this list. First of all, that Kasparov, at the age of 23, has achieved the second highest personal rating in the history of the game. Secondly, the tremendous gap between Kasparov, Karpov and the rest, and third, that Nigel Short, the youngest player in the top ten, is now challenging for the very heights of the list.
Even though Karpov's triumph at Bugo- jno has not yet been included in Fide's calculations, that result would have made no difference to the published figures. John Nunn tells me that the latest ratings give Kasparov a 75 per cent chance of outright victory in the championship, with 10 per cent prospect of a draw and 15 per cent to Karpov. Of course, mere statistics cannot give a true picture and most Grand- masters are predicting a much closer strug- gle, with Kasparov very slightly the favourite.
In the run-up to the championship great activity is developing amongst organisa- tions and groups seeking to promote chess. This is hardly surprising since July and August are certain to be the most fertile period for the game in London for the past 130 years.
First and foremost amongst them is the British Chess Federation which is, inter alia, now publishing its own glossy weekly magazine, Newsflash, edited by journalist and International Master David Goodman. It will carry up-to-the-minute inside in- formation on the exciting current world title clash, plus regular features, interviews and in-depth analysis of major tourna- ments and matches in this country and abroad. There is a special introductory offer of £12 for an annual subscription. To take advantage of this and for any other information, the contact address is: News- flash Magazine, Peterborough Software (UK) Ltd, Thorpe Park, Peterborough PE3 6BR.
The two TV information services Ceefax (pages 268 and 269) and Oracle (page 537) have also been upgrading the level and quantity of their coverage. This is most welcome, but there is still a long way to go before the quality of their diagrams im- proves to an acceptable standard. With a world championship at long last in Lon- don, it is no longer satisfactory to use letters to denote the pieces when excellent computer graphics already exist which can represent chess positions far more clearly and aesthetically.
Here is a game demonstrating the excel- lent form of the challenger.
Karpov Timman: Bugojno 1986; King's
Indian / Grunfeld.
1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 0-0 5 d4 c6 6 Nc3 d5 7 cxd5 cxd5 8 Ne5 e6 9 Bg5 Qb6 10 Qd2 Nfd7 11 Nf3 Nc6 12 Rdl Nf6 13 0-0 Bd7 14 Bxf6 Bxf6 15 e4 Qa5 15 . . . dxe4 16 Nxe4 Bg7 17 Nc5 Rad8! looks much better. Now Karpov seizes the initiative. 16 Rfel Rad8 17 Qf4 Bg7 18 exd5 exd5 19 Ne5 Be6 20 a3 Qb6 21 b4 a5 22 b5 Ne7 23 Bfl Qd6 24 Na4 Bc8 Timman cannot grab the pawn, viz: 24 . . . Qxa3 25 Nc5 Bc8 (25 . . . b6 26 Ral Qb2 27 Rebl Qc3 28 Na4 Qc7 29 Nxg6!) 26 Ral! Qb2 (or 26 . . Qb4) 27 Rebl Qc3 28 Rbcl Qb2 (. . .0b4) 29 Rabl Qa3 30 Qd2 with the threat of Rc3. 25 Qc1 RfeS 26 Qc5 Nf5 27 Qxd6 Rxd6 28 f4 g5 29 Bh3 gxf4 30 gxf4 Nh4 31 Bxc8 Rxc8 32 Rcl Re8 33 Kf2 Rf6 34 Nd3 Rxel 35 Rc8+ Bf8 36 Kxel Kg7 37 Rb8 Nf3+ 38 Kdl Nxd4 39 Rxb7 Bxa3 40 b6 Rg6 41 Ne5 Rf6 42 Rd7 Nc6 43 b7 Nb8 44 Rd8 Rxf4 45 Nc3 Bel 46 RxbS Bd6 47 Re8 Rb4 48 Nf3 Rxb7 49 Rd8 Bb4 Black seems to have drawing chances, but Karpov is remorseless. 50 Nxd5 a4 51 Nxb4 Rxb4 52 Ra8 Kg6 53 Ke2 f6 54 Ra5 h5 55 Ke3 h4 56 Nd4 Rc4 57 Kd3 Rb4 58 Kc3 11131 59 Rxa4 Rfl 60 Kc4 Kg5 61 Ra3 Rf2 62 Kd5 Kg4 63 h3+ K14 64 Ke6 Rd2 65 Nf5 Kg5 66 Rf3 Rat 67 Ne7 Ra6+ 68 Kf7 Ra5 69 Rxf6 Ra3 70 Rf5+ Black resigns (70 . . . Kh6 71 Ng8+ Kh7 72 Rh5 mate).
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