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The Ultimate Islay Malt.

CHESS

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Deus ex machina

Raymond Keene

THE Fritz computer program, running on a Primergy K800 system, has established itself as a serious contender for the world's strongest chess program. Given that IBM's Deep Blue has not played a single game since its match against Kasparov in 1997, Fritz now seems set to lead the world in computer-chess technology. In an extraor- dinary test of strength against elite human opposition in Frankfurt in half-hour games, Fritz defeated world numbers three and five, Viswanathan Anand and Alexander Morozevich.

Anand-Fritz on Primergy K800: Computer Match, Frankfurt 2000; Dutch Defence 1 d4 f5 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 g6 4 c3 An artificial sys- tem, presumably designed to avoid the comput- er's book knowledge. 4 c4 is stronger and more natural. 4 ... Bg7 5 Qb3 Nc6 6 Nf3 d6 7 0-0 e5 8 d5 Ne7 9 c4 The upshot of White's lackadaisical handling of the opening is that he has trans- posed into a version of the King's Indian Defence where one entire move of White's c- pawn has been wasted in the efforts to bolster d5.9 ... 0-010 Rdl Ne4 11 Nc3 Nxc3 12 Qxc3 a5 13 Qc2 a4 It is difficult to believe that the mighty Anand is the conductor of the white pieces. He has committed several beginner's howlers, including shunting his queen around the board

Diagram I

in the early stages for no apparent gain. 14 Rbl f4 15 Ng5 NS 16 Ne4 Nd4 17 Qd3 Bg4 Black's initiative grows apace. This fine move forces White to compromise his pawn structure in a way that blocks in his king's bishop and also leaves a gaping hole on e3. 18 f3 Bd7 19 b3 axb3 20 axb3 Ra2 White's feeble attempt to gain some counterplay has merely resulted in a fur- ther annoying invasion of his camp by the black forces. 21 Bbl Bf5 22 Bxd4 exd4 23 g4 Bxe4 White would now prefer to capture with his queen on e4 but after 24 Qxe4 Re8 25 Qxf4 Rexe2 White is slaughtered. 24 fxe4 Qg5 (Diagram I) White is now strategically crushed. His pawn front is horribly weak and the black bishop is clearly immensely superior to its crip- pled White counterpart. 25 Ral Rxal 26 Rxal Qxg4 A desperate expedient, White gives up a pawn but there is no real counterplay. 27 Raj Qh4 28 Ral Returning from its futile expedition. White cannot allow ... Qel +. 28 ... Be5 29 h3 Qg3 30 Qxg3 fxg3 31 Rfl Ra8 After 31 ... R.xf1+ White might still be able to hold. By retaining rooks Black seals White's fate. 32 Rf3 Ral+ 33 Bfl Kg7 34 Kg2 h5 35 h4 Ra2 36 Kh3 c6 37 dxc6

Diagram 2

bxc6 38 Kg2 c5 39 Kh3 Kh6 40 Rd3 g5 41 hxg5+ KxgS 42 Rf3 Bf4 43 Rd3 Ral 44 Rf3 Rel (Diagram 2) White resigns White is in zugzwang. Movements of his rook or bishop obviously shed material while 45 Kg2 permits 45 ... Kg4 fol- lowed by ... h4 and ... h3.

At Frankfurt, Man v. Machine games were followed by two speed chess tourna- ments — the first won by Anand ahead of Kasparov and the second won by Britain's Michael Adams ahead of Ivanchuk. I will cover these events in later articles.

Ardbeg Malt Whisky Puzzle No. 35 White to play and win — first move only required. This puzzle is taken from the game Anand-Shirov. White has various strong moves including 1 Nf6 and 1 Qxe6. However, he also has a brilliant move which forces checkmate Can you see it?

Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 4 July or via e-mail to vanessa@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7242 0603. The winner will be the first cor- rect answer drawn out of a hat, and each week I shall be offering a prize of a bottle of Ardbeg Malt Whisky.

Last week's solution: Rbl Last week's winner: Mr I. Renshaw, Cornwall.