CHESS

Short and sweet

Raymond Keene

Nigel Short has produced what can claim to be the greatest result ever by an Englishman in chess, a share of first prize in the Euwe Memorial Vereenigde Spaar- bank tournament in Amsterdam, ahead of both Gary Kasparov, the reigning world champion, and Anatoly Karpov, his peren- nial challenger. No English grandmaster has ever bested these two before in one and the same event, and the result is a giant leap forwards for Nigel in his quest to become world champion.

Nigel's play was distinguished by tremendous fighting spirit, as in the game against Ljubojevic, allied with a new-found solidity which enabled him to go through this category 16 event without the loss of a single game. Finally, there seemed to be a new dimension to Nigel's opening prepara- tion, as evinced by his subtle defence in the crucial last round game against Karpov which brought him the draw required to share the laurels. Nigel's win against Ljubojevic is one of the most brilliant I have seen in recent years.

Karpov — Short: Vereenigde Spaarbank Tournament, May 1991; Queen's Gambit De- clined.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 Bel 5 Bg5 h6 6 Bh4 0-0 7 e3 b6 8 Be2 Bbl 9 Bxf6 Bxf6 10 cxd5 exd5 11 b4 c6 12 0-0 Re8 13 Qb3 a5 14 a3 Nd7 15 b5 Karpov seems to have emerged from the opening with substantial pressure against

Vereenigde Spaarbank Tournament, Hol- land May 1991

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Td

1 Short X V2 1/2 V2 V2 1 1 1h 1 1/2 6 2 Salov Y2 X V2 V2 1 V2 1 1h 1/2 1 6

3 Kasparov 1/2 1/2 X V2 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 V251/2

4 Karpov V2 1/2 V2 X Y2 V2 1 1 1/2 V251/2 5 Korchnol 1/2 0 O 1/2 X V2 1 V2 V2 1 41/2 6 lljartarson 0 1/2 V2 V2 1/2 X 0 1/2 1 4 7 Timman 0 0 V2 0 0 1 X 'h 1 1 4 8 Gurevich V2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 V2 V2 X 0l 31/2 9 Ljubojevic 0 1/2 0 V2 1/2 0 0 1 X 1/2 3 10 Van der Wiel 1/2 0 V2 1/2 0 V2 0 1/2 V2 X 3

Black's pawns on the queenside and in the centre. Nevertheless, Nigel's next few moves show that he has everything under control. 15 . . . c5 16 Nxd5 Bxd4!! Exploiting the pin in the `e' file to regain his pawn, but the real merit of this move lies in the fact that Black has correctly seen that this exposed bishop can be left under attack for several moves and is ultimately immune to capture. 17 Radl Ne5 18 Nxe5 BxdS 19 Nc4 Qg5 20 g3 Qf5 21 Rfel Qe4 22 Position after 22 . . . Qxe3+!!

f3 Qxe3+!! (Diagram) The final justification of the complicated manoeuvre begun on move 16. By sacrificing the exchange in this spectacular fashion Short finally demonstrates equality. 23 Qxe3 Rxe3 24 Nxe3 Bxe3+ 25 Kfl Bd4 26 Rxd4 Since Black's bishops dominate the board there is really nothing better than this sacrifice which acquiesces in a drawn endgame. 26 . . . cxd4 27 Rdl Rc8 28 Rxd4 Rc5 29 f4 Kf8 30 Bd3 Ke7 Draw agreed.

Short — Ljubojevic: Vereenigde Spaarbank Tournament, May 1991; Caro-Kann Defence. 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 A favourite of Nimzowitsch and a move which has brought Short tremendous success in recent tournaments. 3 . Bf5 4 Nt3 e6 5 Be2 c5 6 0-0 Ne7 7 c3 Nec6 8 Be3 Nd7 9 a3 c4 10 Nbd2 b5 11 Nel h5 12 g3 Bh3 This move admits that Black will have to trade off his queen's bishop for White's knight. Perhaps it would have been better to maintain the bishop on the h7 — bl diagonal and then ultimately flee with the black king to the relative safety of the queen's flank by means of . . . Nb6

and . . . Kd7. 13 Ng2 g6 13 . . . h4 deserved consideration here. 14 Rel Bxg2 15 Kxg2 Rb8 16 h3 a5 17 Nf3 Bel 18 Qd2 Nb6 19 Ng5 M8 20 g4 The battle lines have been clearly drawn. White plans to advance on the king's flank while Black is massing his forces for a queenside break- through. However, in this race between the two attacks Black is severely handicapped by the presence of his king in the firing line of White's aggression. For this reason, White's own attack soon gathers decisive momentum while Black's offensive remains stillborn. 20 . . . hxg4 21 hxg4 Kg7 22 Rhl Qd7 23 Bf4 This, in conjunction with Nigel's next move, forms the tremendously subtle introduction to a direct blitz against the black king. 23 . . . Rbf8 24 Qe3 Qd8 25 Nh7!! A brilliant sacrificial irruption to seize control of the 'h' file with gain of tempo. 25 . . . Rxh7 26 Rxh7+ Kxh7 27 Ithl+ Kg8 28 Qh3 Bh4 The only Position after 29 Bh6!

way to block the 'h' file. 29 Bh6! (Diagram) And not 29 g5? Kg7 30 Qxh4 when Rh8 repels the boarders. 29 . . . g5 After 29 . . . Re8 White has a sensational win with 30 g5 (this is now okay, since Black cannot get a rook to the h-file) 30 . . . BxgS 31 14!! Bh4 32 Bg5 and Black can resign. 30 f4 gxf4 31 Bdl Bringing round the reserves for the final onslaught, a manoeuvre which drives Black into some desperate sacri- fices. 31 . . . Nd7 32 Bc2 Ndxe5 33 dxe5 Nxe5 34 BxfS f3+ 35 Kfl Qg5 36 Qxh4 An alternative is 36 Bh6 Qxh6 37 g5 Qxg5 38 Rgl winning Black's queen, but there is absolutely nothing wrong with the text, since Black only gets a couple of harmless checks. 36 . . . Qcl+ 37 Qel Qxel+ Black had probably intended 37 . . Qxc2 only too late noticing the startling refutation 38 Rh8+ Kxh8 39 Qxe5 + mating. 38 Kxel KxfS 39 g5 Kg7 40 Kf2 f5 41 Rel Nd3+ 42 Bxd3 cxd3 43 Kxf3 Black resigns Black resigns as he is hopelessly behind on material.