CHESS

British champion Jon Speelman has become a man to watch over the past year. Freed from worries concerning his health, Speelman's play has experienced a tremendous upswing. Always a difficult player to defeat, he has recently developed a deadly cutting edge as well.

In their own way, Speelman's recent results have been every bit as impressive as Nigel Short's. He has won the British title for the past two years, tied for first prize at Hastings (with Larsen, Chandler and Lpu- tian) and at Beersheva (with Korchnoi).

He won a personal medal at the Dubai Olympics and dominated the Praxis Zonal. Players who win their Zonal and then the Interzonal often go on to challenge for the title.

In the coming weeks Jon begins the hat-trick defence of his title in the Klein-

wort Grieveson British Championship at Swansea, while on 17 August he will be One of the hot favourites in the BIS British Speed Championship at London's Park Lane Hotel. The BIS Championship will

be filmed by Thames TV for transmission later this year on Channel 4. There are a number of free tickets available to watch this first hand -- apply to The Ticket Unit,

Thames TV, 149 Tottenham Court Road, London Wl.

Here are some of Jon's wins from the Subotica Interzonal:

Ernst (Sweden) — Speelman: King's Indian Defence. i e4 g6 2 d4 d6 3 c4 e5 4 d5 a5 5 Nc3 Nd7 6 Be3 Bg7 7 h4 Ngf6 8 g4 Nc5 913 h5 10 g5 Nfd7 11 Qd2 0.0 12 0-0-0 Nb6 13 Nh3 Bd7 14 Nt2 Nba4 15 Nxa4 Bxa4 16 Rel Qe7 17 Nd3 b6 18 Bh3 Bd7 19 Regi llxh3 20 Rxh3 Qd7 21 Rh2 Qa4 22 b3 Qa3+ 23 Kbl a4 24 Bxc5 bxc5 25 Qc3 f6 26 gxf6 Rxf6

Prime specimen

Raymond Keene

27 Rg3 axb3 28 axb3 Bh6 29 Qb2 Qxb2+ 30 Kxb2 Be3 31 Kbl Rb8 32 Kc2 Kh7 33 Rhg2 Ra8 34 Rh3 Ra2+ 35 Nb2 Bd4 36 Kbl Ra3 47 Kc2 Ral 38 Rd2 Rfl 39 Nd3 R6xf3 40 Rxf3 Rxf3 41 b4 cxb4 42 Nxb4 Rc3+ 43 Kdl Rxc4 44 Nc6 Bb6 45 Re2 Rc3 46 Rg2 Rd3+ 47 Kcl Rf3 48 Kdl Rfl+ 49 Ke2 Rf4 50 Kd3 Rxh4 51 Ne7 Rg4 52 Rxg4 hxg4 53 Ke2 Kh6 54 Kfl Kg5 55 Ng8 Kf4 56 Nf6 Kf3 White resigns.

Speelman — Ribli (Hungary): Queen's Gambit Slay.

1 d4 d5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 c4 c6 4 Nc3 e6 5 e3 Nbd7 6 Bd3 dxc4 7 Bxc4 b5 8 Bd3 a6 9 e4 c5 10 e5 cxd4 11 Nxb5 Ng4 12 Qa4 Ngxe5 13 NxeS NxeS 14 Nd6+ Ke7 15 Nxc8+ RxcS 16 Bsa6 Ra8 17 Qb5 Qd5 18 Qxd5 exd5 19 Bb5 Kf6 20 0-0 Bb4 211314 Rhc8 22 a4 Nc4 23 Rad! Nxb2 24 Rxd4 Bc3 25 RxdS h6 26 Rd6+ Ke7 27 Rd7+ Kf8 28 Ra 1 Bf6 29 g3 Kg8 30 Ra3 Rc5 31 Rh7 Bd4 32 Be3 Bxe3

33 Rxe3 Nxa4 34 Ra3 Black resigns. After 34 .. Nb6 35 Rxa8+ NxaS 36 Rb8+ Kh7 37 Bd3+ wins a piece.

Hamed (Egypt) — Speelman: Sicilian Defence. 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Nc3 d6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 Nf6 6 Bg5 Bd7 7 Nb3 e6 8 f4 a6 9 Qd3 h6 10 Bh4 g511 fxg5 Ng4 12 Qd2 NgeS 13 Be2 b5 14 0-0-0 Be7 15 Kbl hxg5 16 Bg3 Qb6 17 Rdfl Rb8 1,8 Bf2 Qb7 19 Nd4 Nxd4 20 Qxd4 b4 21 Ndl Bc6 22 Bg3 Bxe4 23 Bxe5 dxe5 24 QxeS 0-0 25 Bf3 Bxf3 26 Rxf3 Qb5 27 Qe4 Rb6 28 g4 Rd6 29 Rh3 f5 30 gxf5 Qxf5 31 Qg2 Rfd8 32 Ne3 Qe5 33 Rd R6d7

34 Ng4 Qf4 35 N12 Rd2 36 Rf3 Qe5 37 Qg4 Bf6 38 Qxb4 Rb8 39 QxbS+ Qxb8 40 Rxf6 Kg7 41 Rf3 Qb7 42 Ne4 Qxe4 White resigns.

Speelman — Zapata (Colombia): King's Indian Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 d6 3 Nc3 Nbd7 4 NO g6 5 e4 e5 6 d5 a5 7 Bd3 Bg7 8 Bc2 0-0 9 Bg5 h6 10 Be3 Qe7 11 h3 Nh5 12 g3 Nc5 13 Nd2 Bd7 14 Nb3 Na4 15 Nxa4 Bxa4 16 Qd2 Kh7 17 Bdl Nf6 18 lif3 b6 19 Ncl Bd7 20 Net Ng8 21 g4 Bf6 22 h4 Qd8 23 0-0-0 Bel 24 Ng3 f6 25 Be2 Qc8 26 f3 Rf7 27 Kbl Bf8 28 Rdgl Kh8 29 g5 h5 30 f4 exf4 31 Bxf4 Qe8 32

Position after 34 . . . f5 Be3 Bg7 33 Bd4 Qe7 34 Qdl f5 (Diagram) 35 Bxh5 Bxd4 36 Qxd4+ Kh7 Black resigns. 37 Bxg6+ Kxg6 38 h5 + will win easily.

I was surprised to see Leonard Barden in the Guardian dismissing Subotica as a 'pale shadow of such events as the 1958 Inter- zonal at Portorozh'. Indeed, Portorozh, with Tal, Fischer, Gligoric, Petrosian and Benko, is usually regarded as the apogee of the Interzonals. As an illustration, though, of the strength of the Interzonal where Short and Speelman achieved their splen- did victory, it is interesting to compare the relative Elo ratings of Portorozh and Sub- otica. According.to the statistical method devised by Professor Nathan Divinsky of the University of British Colombia, Portor- ozh rated retrospectively (it was held be- fore Elo ratings were introduced) would have averaged 2535, the middle range of Fide category 12. Subotica was, in fact, 2520, not far behind at the top end of category 11. So, credit where credit's due, please.