SIMPSON'S
IN-THE-STRAND
KASPAROV'S performances in the two super-tournaments at Las Palmas and Linares must rank amongst the very finest in the history of chess. Preliminary calcula- tions indicate that together these two tour- nament victories will have catapulted his rating to a new world record of 2820 on the international scale. If one considers that 2500 is grandmaster level and 2700 indi- cates a likely candidate for the world cham- pionship then Kasparov is all the more remarkable in that he is the only player since the system was introduced ever to have smashed the 2800 barrier.
Kasparov achieves his astonishing effects by a mixture of extreme openings erudition and fearless resolve in entering and pursu- ing the most hideous complications. The rewards are obvious: many victories where other strong players would have been con- tent with draws. Naturally, though, such extremism invites the occasional loss. What is surprising is that, given the immense risks he runs, Kasparov loses so few games. At Las Palmas and Linares, playing exclu- sively against the world's elite, Kasparov lost just one game, a frightful battle on the edge of a cliff in which he finally missed his footing. This game, however, shows the mental terror anyone must go through before landing a decisive hit on Kasparov.
Ivanchuk—Kasparov: Linares, Spain 1997; King's Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 As usual, Kasparov resorts to his favourite King's Indian Defence. This is a double-edged line, in which Black surrenders much of the central territory to White's pawns in order to engineer undermining blows on the flank. 5 f3 0-0 6 Bg5 Ivanchuk's choice, 5 f3, constitutes the popular Saemisch Variation and 6 Bg5 has been in the ascendant steadily over the past few years as a less hack-
Homer's nod
Raymond Keene
neyed alternative to the standard 6 Be3. 6 ...a6 7 Qd2 c5 8 d5 b5 Kasparov brooks no half-mea- sures. White's system, with its secure defence of the pawn on e4, is expressly designed to prevent Black breaking out with ...b5. Kasparov, howev- er, ignores conventional wisdom and plays ...b5 anyway, even though it costs him a pawn. 9 cxb5 Nhd7 10 a4 Qa5 11 Nge2 Nb6 12 Ncl axb5 13 BxbS Ba6 14 N1a2 Bxb5 15 axb5 Nh5 This move is an attempt to improve on the game Dreev- Sokolov, Nussloch 1996, in which Black played the more passive 15 ...Rfe8, unwilling to shed his `e7' pawn into the bargain. Kasparov's choice is far more active and prepares the thrust ... f5, heaping more fuel onto the flames. If now 16 Bxe7 Rfe8 17 Bxd6 Nc4 with a decisive gain of material, while 17 Bg5 fails to 17 ...Nc4 18 Qc2 Nxb2 19 Qxb2 Bxc3+ with further decisive mate- rial gains. 16 Rbl The point of this is to break the pin against the `a2' knight which was evident in the previous note. 16 ...Bd4 It is important to nail White's king down in the centre, hence, with this move, Black prevents 0-0. 17 Bh6 Rfe8 18 b3 Lending extra protection to his knight on a2 whilst simultaneously ruling out the dangerous sortie ... Nc4. 18 ... e6 19 dxe6 Rxe6 20 Be3 It is imperative to castle his king into safety but now Black can rupture the central zone. 20 ...Bxe3 21 Qxe3 d5 22 b4 A bold move, but Black's threats, including d4, were becoming alarm- ing. 22 ... Qa3 23 bxc5 Nc4 24 Qd4 Nf4 The board is in flames. White is two connected passed pawns ahead but is also in imminent dan- ger of being trampled to death by the black knights. It appears that White cannot castle, but appearances are deceptive and Ivanchuk's next move, which Kasparov had probably overlooked, wins the game for him. 25 0-0 Qxa2 (Diagram) Seemingly decisive for if 26 Nxa2 Ne2+ 27 IChl Nxd4 and Black must win. However, White has an amazing resource. 26 Rf2 White calmly decides to stay a piece down, relying on the Position after 25 . . . Qxa2 strength of his passed pawns. Apart from the high drama on the board, the rest of the game was also conducted in a furious time scramble. 26 ...Qa3 27 Nxd5 If 27 exd5 Rea 28 Qxc4 Rxc3 29 Qxf4 Qxc5 when Black has some prospects of survival due to his pin against the white rook on f2. 27 ...Qd3 28 Qxd3 Nxd3 29 Rc2 Na3 Forking White's rooks but himself falling into a deadly pin. In any case, White's two connected passed pawns are more than a match for Black's extra knight. 30 Rat Nxc5 If 30 ...Nxbl 31 Rxa8 +. 31 Rbal f5 Not that it matters, but this overlooks a fork on c7 which compounds Black's disaster. 32 Nc7 Re5 33 Nxa8 NxbS 34 exf5 gxf5 35 Nb6 Nc3 36 Rc2 Black lost on time.
Linares Final Crosstable
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
1. Kasparov * 1 1 1 1 1 1/2 0 1 1/2 1 1/2 81/2 2. Kramnik 0 * 1/2 1 1 1/21/2 1 1/2 1 1/2 1 71/2 3. Adams 0 1/2 * 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/21/2 1 1 1/2 61/2 4. Topalov 0 0 1/2 * 1/21/2 1 1 1 1 0 1 61/2 5. Polgar 0 0 1/21/2 * 0 1/2 1 1 1 1/2 1 6 6. Anand 0 1/21/21/2 1 * 1/21/2 0 1 1/21/2 51/2 7. Gelfand 1/21/2 0 0 1/21/2 * 1/2 1 1/21/21/2 5 8. Ivanchuk 1 0 1/2 0 0 1/21/2 * 1/2 0 1 1 5 9. Nikolic 0 1/21/2 0 0 1 0 1/2 * 1/2 1 1/2 41/2 10. Dreev 1/2 0 0 0 0 0 1/2 1 1/2 * 1/2 1 4 11. Shirov 0 1/2 0 1 1/21/21/2 0 0 1/2 * 0 31/2 12. Piket 1/2 0 1/2 0 0 1/21/2 0 1/2 0 1 * 31/2 1 represents a win, 1/2 a draw and 0 a loss
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