CHESS

Speeding

Raymond Keene

0 ne of the most popular ways of bringing top chess before the public has been the innovation of Speed Chess, in which games are completed in either 50 minutes or one hour of playing time. The first such match in London was the Short- Kasparov clash of 1987. Since then, tjie system has been adopted with enthusiasm by a wide variety of chess organisers. Last week, for example, no fewer than 18 games were completed over a two-day period by a team representing Young England against the famous Polgar sisters, who collectively won the gold medals for Hungary in last Year's women's Chess Olympiad in Greece. Speed chess can lead to exciting games of high quality and, as can be seen from the results chart below, draws tend to diminish at such time-controls. The Eng- land v. Hungary match was held at Lon- don's Barbican Centre, sponsored by the Young England v Young Hungary

N C21

S To

N c.... r.3 g. g. eg. .o ": ..o

o o .3

erT 7: w crq o

:a diw . 1 ,-1 -1

Adams I/2 1 1 0 11

4 1/2

Conquest

0 1/2

I 0 10

2 1/2

Norwood 0 0 0 1 10 2 Hungary Totals 4 3 2

Match Result 9-9

porcelain importers, International Bullion.

Fittingly, in spite of the more or less total absence of drawn games, the overall match result ended with honours even.

Judith Polgar — David Norwood: Young Eng- lund v Young Hungary, Barbican Centre, Lon- don, 12 November; Pirc Defence.

1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 c6 A somewhat unusual move order, the point being to answer 4 f4 with 4 . . . d5 5 e5, when White's light squares are rather weakened. Nevertheless, 'I firmly believe that 4 f4 is the correct course since White's space advantage should outweigh Black's counterplay. 4 Be3 d6 Black now feels that he can safely transpose into a normal Pirc Defence, since he will reply to 5 f4 with. . . Qb6. Even in that case 6 Qd2 Qxb2 7 Rbl constitutes a dangerous pawn sacrifice. 5 Qd2 Nd7 6 f3 b5 7 h4 h5 8 Bd3 Ngf6 9 Nge2 Nb6 10 b3 It is not clear that this precaution is necessary. White could try 10 0-0 0-0 Nc4 11 Bxc4 bxc4 12 Kbl 0-0 13 Kal with the plan of Rbl and b3 which could be very annoying for Black. A better response would be to eschew occupation of c4 and play 10 . . . b4. 10 . . . a5 11 Ndl a4 12 0-0 0-0 13 Bh6 e5 14 dxe5 dxe5 15 Bxg7 Kxg7 16 Ne3 Qe7 17 Qc3 Bd7 18 Rf2 b4 19 Qd2 axb3 20 cxb3 Rfd8 21 Qb2 Qc5 22 Nc4 Nxc4 23 Bxc4 Ra5 24 Ncl Bc8 25 Nd3 Qe7 26 Qd2 c5 27 Qg5 Re8 28 Rel Nh7 Norwood has defended well and achieved full equality. White should now recognise this fact by playing 29

Qxe7 Rxe7 30 Rc2 when the weakness of White's 'a' pawn is counterbalanced by the vulnerability of Black's pawn on c5. Avoidance of the queen exchange exposes White's king to a fierce counterattack. 29 Qe3 Qxh4 30 NxcS Qg3 31 Nd3 Ng5 32 Kfl h4 33 Nxb4 h3 34 gxh3 Bxh3+ 35 Keg RbS The decisive blow which destroys White's defences on the queen's side as well as on the king's. If now 36 Qc3 Rxb4 37 Qxb4 Rxa2+ wins. 36 Nc2 Rxa2 37 Kd2 Be6 38 Rffl Bxc4 39 bxc4 Rbb2 40 Rcl Ne6 41 Kc3 Qh4 42 f4 exf4 43 Qe2 Qg3+ 44 Rf3 Rxc2+ White resigns. After 45 Rxc2 Rxc2+ 46 Kxc2 Nd4+ all is clear.

Another speed chess event is on the horizon over 2 and 3 December when Gary Kasparov, Jon Speelman, Jan Timman Michael Adams and Zsofia Polgar, among others, compete in the Infolink European Championship. There will be a live audi- ence, and the games are due for screening on Thames TV next year. The venue for play is The Athenaeum in central London, and there are still a few places available for spectators. Anyone who wishes to come should contact Gill Thomas of Infolink on 0825 790438 check on ticket availability. Meanwhile, Pilkington Glass have, at very short notice, pulled out of sponsoring

the world championship qualifying tourna- ment final (Karpov v. Timman) which the Btitish Chess Federation had firmly announced for London in March of next year. It is a matter to which I shall be returning.