Chess
Waiting game
Raymond Keene
The uproar surrounding the fiasco of the
Candidates' semi-final, has, ironically, created more publicity than if the matches had actually been played. Both Kasparov and Smyslov have been defaulted (the latter on somewhat flimsy grounds) so, officiallY' Korchnoi now meets Ribli in the final, and the winner plays Karpov. I imagine, in fact, that the Fide leadership would like to al.' range the Korchnoi-Ribli match as quickly as possible, so as to present the coming Manila Congress with a fail accompli. There are, however, a series of obstacles on the way. First of all, the Hungarian Chess Federation may not be willing for Ribli to appear to profit from the Soviet discom' fiture, while if Korchnoi becomes the challenger without further play, I doubt that Karpov will agree to face him. There would, in any case, be little world interest in a fourth Korchnoi-Karpov match. What- ever happens now, the real decision will be taken at the Fide Congress at the start of October, where I shall be representing the BCF.
In the course of a series of rather well- informed articles in the Times, Richard Owen, its Moscow correspondent, has suggested that the Soviet Union might even go so far, after Manila, as to form its alga `World Federation', consisting of the Soviet bloc and the Third World. That is certainly possible, but I doubt if the lines of battle would be so neatly drawn. Cam' pomanes, the Fide President, enjoys great support amongst chess-developing coup' tries, while many Western federations might join with the Russians, since Kor- chnoi obviously lacks credibility as world champion without the evidence of match victories against Kasparov and Karpov. Greece and Iceland have already voiced public support for the USSR view, and the potential influence which could be exerted by the Soviet diplomatic service should net be underestimated.
Since the General Assembly of Fide has absolute power to reverse or endorse all previous steps, there is little point in further speculation. We must wait until the Assembly convenes to know the fate of the matches and possibly of Fide itself.
This week's game is from the Grievesoli Grant British Championship at Southport where, with three rounds to go, Mestel led with 6' /8.
Mestel — Cox: French Defence, MacCutcheon Variation.
1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 Nf6 More popular is 3 Bb4. 4 BgS 11b4 5 e5 h6 6 13d2 WO 7 bxc3 Ne4 8 Qg4 g6 9 Bd3 Nxd2 10 Kxd2 c5 11 Nf3 Nc6 12 Qf4 Bd7 I would prefer 12 ... Qe7 or 12 • • • Qa5. 13 Rohl Qc7 Giving away the f6 square without ainin tangible counterplay, but both 13 • • b6g andg 13 ... Rb8 would rule out ... 0-0-0, 14 Qf6! Rg8 15 h4 Rc8 Finally renouncing the plan of Q-side castling. 16 h5 g5 17 Qxh6 Position after 19 Qf6! exd4 18 cxd4 g4 Qf6! (Diagram) This piece
sacrifice ensures the promotion of White's h pawn. lo
- • • • gxf3 20 h6 Ne7 21 hi Qc3 + 22 Ke3 Black resigns.
After losing to the unknown Hartmann, KarPov has finally moved into the lead in the GM tournament at Hanover, while
Fedorowicz has 7/7 in the US Open, ahead
of Korchnoi 61/2. These two still have to Play,
The draw for the 2nd Cliequers £200 prize will be made openly at Chequers Café, 18 Chalk Farm Road, London NW1, on ,PridaY 19 August at 12.30 p.m. All spec- tators are welcome.
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