CHESS
Gata melata
Raymond Keene
GATA KAMSKY, in spite of his setback against Anand in the PCA Qualifying Final, continues to be one of the most suc- cessful condottieri on the battlefields of international chess. In the Seville tourna- ment, which finished last week, and which had the distinction of being the highest- ranked this year, Kamsky seemed to lead a charmed life. After a very slow start he eventually swept to the fore with wins against both his main rivals, Karpov and Adams, beating the latter with Black in a tense final round. Kamsky's win against Karpov was lent added piquancy since it comes as a foretaste of their separate match for the Fide World Championship. That will probably be held early next year, although the venue has not yet been fixed. The winner, of course, will face either Kasparov or Anand for the grand reunifi- cation final between Fide and the PCA towards the end of 1996.
Kamsky—Karpov: Seville, April 1995; Caro- Kann Defence.
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 eS For many years this move was held to be inferior. Nimzowitsch lost with it in a famous game against Capablanca at New York 1927 while Mikhail Tal was further respon- sible for the decline in the variation's reputation when he used it to little effect in his 1961 title match against Botvinnik. The recent revival of 3 e5 has been largely due to the efforts of Nigel Short. It is now all the rage and Karpov has lost twice against it in the past year, against Gulko and Gelfand. 3 ...Bf5 4 Nf3 e6 5 Be2 c5 6 Be3 Nd7 7 c4 dxc4 8 0-0 a6 9 Bxc4 Ne7 10 Nc3 b5 11 Bd3 c4 12 Bc2 Rc8 I feel that Karpov spends too much time in early queenside manoeuvres in this game. It would have been safer to unravel his pieces and develop with 12 ...Nb6. 13 Rel b4 14 Ne4 Nd5 15 Bg5 Qa5 16 Nh4 Bxe4 17 Bxe4 g6 18 Qg4 Bg7 19 f4 Qb6 20 Khl Qc6 A curious self- pin but if 20 ... Qxd4 21 Radl Ne3 22 Qxe6+ fxe6 23 Rxd4 with advantage. 21 f5 N7b6 If 21 ...gxf5 22 Bxf5 exf5 23 Nxf5 with a massive attack. 22 Bf6 White is desperate to open lines for his attack but the cramping 22 f6 also deserves strong consideration. 22 ... Bxf6 23 exf6 Kd8 24 fxg6 hxg6 25 Bxg6 (Diagram) If now 25 Position after 25 Bxg6 fxg6 26 Nxg6 with threats of f7 and Rxe6. Black's best defence is 25 ... Rg8. Karpov plays more passively and soon his position is a lost one. 25 ...Rc7 26 Be4 Kc8 27 Nf3 Nxf6 28 Qg7 Nxe4 29 Qxh8+ Kb7 30 Qh4 Nd6 31 Racl a5 32 Qg5 Nd5 33 h4 Kamsky adopts a high-risk strate- gy of hurling forward one of his major assets, the passed 'h' pawn. The problem is that it may get cut off, and it is likely that the less turbulent 33 Ne5, followed by a build-up of pressure against Black's 'f pawn would have been the more accu- rate course. Both players were in terrible time trouble hereabouts. 33 ...Rc8 34 h5 Rh8 35 Kgl Rh7 36 h6 Qc7 37 Nd2 Qb6 38 Qg4 Black lost on time After 38 ... Rxh6 39 Nxc4 White should win on material.
Shirov—Karpov: Seville, April 1995; Centre Game.
1 e4 e5 2 d4 exd4 3 Qxd4 Nc6 4 Qe3 The Centre Game is a shock weapon which is often success- ful against lesser fry. However, against the great masters it has been notably unsuccessful on those rare occasions on which it has been brought out of the closet. Blackburne tried it against Lasker once, Mieses risked it against both Capablanca and Alekhine, while Tartak-
ower employed it against Reshevsky. In each case, White was blown away. In this game Shirov joins that list of unfortunate predecessors. The problem with White's position is that in seeking to manoeuvre White's queen into an early attacking location, White may simply lose time and find his most powerful piece being pushed from pillar to post. 4 ...Nf6 5 Nc3 Bb4 6 Bd2 0-0 7 0-0-0 Re8 8 Qg3 d6 It is possible to take the gambit pawn on e4. Mieses–Capablanca, Berlin 1913, continued 8 ... Nxe4 9 Nxe4 Rxe4 10 Bf4 when White enjoyed some initiative for his pawn. Typically, Karpov avoids complications in the opening, preferring to render things more complex in the middlegame. 9 f3 Ne5 10 h4 Kh8 This is Karpov's improvement on 10 ... c6 which led to a quick victory for White in Morozevich- Hebden, London Lloyds Bank 1994. 11 Nh3 Nh5 12 Qh2 c6 13 a3 Ba5 14 Be2 White wants to play g4 but the immediate 14 g4 fails to 14 ... Nxf3, hence White's decision to protect the f3 pawn. Shirov has, though, overlooked a devastating counterploy. Better is 14 Ng5 threatening g4 (since f3 is now protected) as well as setting the trap 14 ...h6 15 QxeS dxe5 16 Nxf7+. 14 Bxh3 15 Qxh3 (Diagram) Shirov must have Position after 15 axh3
been feeling quite pleased with himself, but Karpov's next move dispels all illusions. 15 ...Bxc3I 16 bxc3 Horrible but forced. The sad truth has dawned on White that the move he wanted to play, 16 Bxc3, loses at once to 16 ...Nf4. 16 ...Nf6 17 c4 Qb6 18 f4 Ned7 19 Bd3 Nc5 20 e5 Na4 With White's king's fortress shat- tered Karpov is now able to wrap things up. 21 Bb4 dxe5 22 c5 Qc7 23 Bc4 a5 White resigns White's position has dissolved spectacularly.
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