CHESS
City sights
Raymond Keene
Any successful tournament will con- tain an element of sporting interest, such as, will master X make his grandmaster norm or who will win first prize in the race between grandmaster Y and grandmaster Z? A successful tournament will also in- clude a large number of publishable games which will enrich the literature of chess. The recently concluded grandmaster tournament in the City of London scored on all these counts. The duel for first prize was only resolved in Larsen's favour when he drew a chaotic game against Motwani in the last round, while Wolff went down fighting against Julian Hodgson. The 22- year-old master from Boston did, though, delight his supporters by achieving the 81/2 points required to elevate him to the status of grandmaster. As far as excellence of play was concerned there was an embar- rassment of riches, as I hope this week's crop will indicate.
Hear — Hebden.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Be2 0-0 6 Nf3 e5 7 0-0 Nc6 8 d5 Ne7 9 Nd2 Ne8 Bobby Fischer used to play this variation of the King's Indian defence as Black but then it went out of favour for a long period. It is Kasparov's recent espousal of the King's Indian which has made this line respectable once again. The key strategy is a race between White's attack on the queen side and Black's counter-offensive on the opposite wing. 10 b4 f5 11 c5 Kh8 12 f3 f4 13 Nc4 h5 14 a4 This looks like the waste of a tempo. Why not 14 Ba3 at once? 14 . . . g5 15 Ba3 Rf6 16 b5 dxc5 This appears to be a major strategic concession which abandons the base of his pawn chain. Nevertheless, Black had to take some measure against the threat of White playing b6. 17 BxcS White avoids 17 Nxe5 since this would ultimately open the diagonal for Black's king's bishop. 17 . . . Rg6 18 113 Ng8 19 Qd3 Nh6 20 Nd 1 g4 After this move it becomes clear that Black has won the race. Although his centre looks exposed, White cannot organise a break- through based on d6. Meanwhile Black has gained time to open up the 'g' file for his own purposes. 21 fxg4 hxg4 22 hxg4 Nxg4 23 Nf2 Nh6 24 Rfdl Qg5 25 Bf3 b6 26 Bb4 Ng4 27 Nxg4 Bxg4 28 Kf2 Nf6 29 Rh 1 + Kg8 30 Ragl BM White has been driven into a thoroughly defensive posture. Hebden now seizes the opportunity to eliminate the less effective of his two bishops while simultaneously mobilising his last dormant piece. 31 Bxf8 RxfS 32 Qc3 Re8 33 Qd3 Bd7 34 Kfl Qg3 35 d6 Ng4 36 Qc2 cxd6 37 Bxg4 Bxg4 38 Nxd6 An ingenious last ditch defence but it is hardly surpnsing, given the overwhelming na-
Position after 29 Rh3
ture of Black's attack, that there is an elegant refutation. 38 . . . Rxd6 39 Rh3 (Diagram) The point of White's cunning defence. If now 39 . . . Bxh3 40 gxh3 winning the black queen for two rooks. Unsurprisingly, Black has a vastly stron- ger continuation. 39 . . . RedS 40 Qc4+ Be6 41 Rxg3+ fxg3 42 Qc3 Bg4 White's king is trapped and there is no good defence to . . . Rdl +. If 43 Oxg3 Rdl + 44 Kf2 Rdd2+ 45 Ke3 Re2 check- mate. White resigns.
Adams — Wolff.
1 e4 d6 2 d4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 Be3 c6 5 Qd2 b5 6 h4 Nf6 I prefer 6 . . . h5 to impede the advance of White's 'h' pawn by more radical methods. In that case White is also deprived of his coming manoeuvre to trade off Black's king's bishop, one of his most valuable pieces. 7 f3 Qc7 8 Bh6 This kind of thing is most annoying for Black who cannot castle king's side any more. For example 8 . . . 0-0 9 h5 NxhS 10 RxhS gxh5. 11 Qg5 with checkmate to follow. 8 . . . Bxh6 9 Qxh6 Be6 10 Nh3 Bxh3 Wasting a tempo but Wolff was clearly perturbed by the threat of Ng5. 11 Rxh3 Nbd7 12 0-0-0 Nb6 13 Kbl 0-0-014 Qe3 e5 15 a3 d5 This is quite out of character with the patient defence required to hold this type of position. Black should leave his 'd' pawn firmly alone and bring his king into safety with Kb8. . . Kb8 16 dxe5 Qxe5 17 f4 Qe7 18 e5 Nfd7 19 a4! Punching holes in the defences around Black's king. If now 19 . . . bxa4 20 Nxa4 Nxa4 21 Qxa7 with a terrifying attack. 19 . . . a6 20 a5 Nab 21 Nxd5! This coup demolishes Black's barricades. Wolff had probably been relying on 21 Qa7 when 21 . . . Nc7 just about holds. By reversing the order of his attacking sequence, however, White breaks through. 21 . . . cxd5 22 Qa7 Nc7 23 Rc3 Nb8 24 g3 The final link in the attacking chain. There is absolutely no defence to 25 Bh3, e.g. 24 . . . Rd7 25 Bh3 Qd8 26 RxdS when Black is helpless. Black resigns.
Adams — King. I e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 e5 6 NdbS d6 7 Nd5 Nxd5 8 exd5 Nb8 9 c4 Be7 10 Bet a6 11 Nc3 0-0 12 0-0 f5 13 a3 Nd7 14 b4 Bf6 15 Qb3 Kh8 16 Khl b6 17 13 Bg5 18 Bbl Rb8 19 Rad 1 Nf6 20 Qc2 Be3 21 Bd3 Nh5 22 g3 Bd7 23 Rdel Bd4 24 Bel b5 Giving up a pawn for active piece play. 25 Ne2 bxc4 26 Bxc4 Ba7 27 Bxa6 Nf6 28 Qb3 Qb6 29 Bc4 RfcS 30 Bg5 Ng8 31 Bd2 f4 32 Kg2 Ne7 33 gxf4 This turns out badly. Much better is 33 Nxf4. 33 . . . Ng6 34 h3 Qd8 35 f5 Nh4+ 36 Kh2 NxfS 37 f4 Qh4 38 Rcl Ne3 391W Ng4+ 40 Kg2 e4 41 Rg3 Nh6 42 Bel If 42 Be3 Bxe3 43 Rxe3 Nf5 44 Rxc4 Re8 45 Rxe8+ Rxe8 46 Rc3 Qel threatening 47 . . . Nh4+ 48 Kh2 0f2+ 49 Khl Qg2 mate. 42 Nf5 Beginning a fine combination. 43 Rxg7 No better is 43 Rgc3 Qh5. 43 . . . Ne3+ 44 Qxe3 Bxe3 45 Bxh4 Kxg7 46 Rc3 Bd2 47 Rc2 Bxb4 48 axb4 Rxb4 49 Be7 Rbxc4 50 Rxc4 Rxc4 51 Kf2 Rc5 52 Bxd6 RxdS 53 Be5+ Kg6 54 Nc3 Rd2+ 55 Ke3 Rd3+ White resigns.
The notes to the above games are based on the comments given by the players to Professor Nathan Divinsky of the Universi- ty of British Columbia, who lectured on the games during the tournament.
Final results from the Watson, Farley and Williams/City of London Corporation International were: Larsen 9/13; Wolff 81/2/13; Hodgson, King 8/13; Adams, Frias 71/2/13; Chandler, Hebden, Kosten, Wat- son 6/13; Flear 51/2/13; Levitt 5/13; Motwa- ni 41/2/13; Tisdall 31/2/13.
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