CHESS
Prodigious
Raymond Keene
So often future stars. definitively announce their presence by scoring a not- able result against the world champion in a simultaneous display, in which the stronger player takes on a number of lesser oppo- nents at the same time. At the age of 14 Botvinnik defeated Capablanca in such an exhibition while Kasparov, aged 12, came close to beating Karpov, though the boy went on to lose from a winning position.
Nearer home, Michael Adams (also when 12), who comes from Truro in Cornwall, drew attention to himself by holding Kasparov to a draw at the London Docklands Satellite Simul in 1984. Now Michael, currently the world's youngest International Master, has gone one better by scoring the sole win in Kasparov's ambitious worldwide simultaneous display via computer link last Sunday, 14 Febru- ary. Kasparov, playing from Cannes, de- feated 80 master-strength opponents based respectively in Berlin, Paris, Los Angeles, Rome, Tokyo, St John (New Brunswick), Sydney and Geneva. The Moscow player drew, so the result was an overall triumph for the champion by the score of 81/2-11/2 in this highly unusual event.
Here is Michael's win. If he can do this at the age of 16, what are the chances for greater things against Kasparov in a head- to-head in perhaps ten years' time?
Kasparov — Adams: Bogolyubov Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Bb4+ 4 Nbd2 b6 5 e3 Bb7 6 Bd3 0-0 7 0-0 d5 8 a3 Be7 9 b4 Nbd7 10 cxd5. This move is rather passive, particularly for a player of Kasparov's fiery temperament. It is more promising to continue with 10 Qc2 or 10 c5 gaining space on the Queen's side. 10 . . . exd5 11 Rbl a6 12 Ne5 Bd6 13 f4 Ne4 14 Nxe4 dxe4 15 Nxd7 And this is extraordinarily anti-thematic. After he has gone to such lengths to establish a Knight outpost on e5, what is the point of exchanging it without a fight? Surely, 15 Bc4 is the correct move here introducing incipient pressure against f7 and above all refusing to relinquish the Knight. 15 . . . Qxd7 16 Bc4 Be7 17 Bd2 Bd5 18 Rcl This is also dubious. White should capture on d5 before Black can consoli- date with . . . c6 so that at least White can have a modest target on the open 'c' file. As Kasparov has played it, he ultimately contracts a weak point on c4 which Adams expertly exploits. 18 . . . c6 19 Qb3 Rfc8 20 Rc2 b5 After this, Black's domination of the light squares ensures him a substantial edge. 21 Bxd5 cxd5 22 RxcS RxcS 23 Ral Introducing a mistaken plan. Admittedly, after 23 Rcl Rcl 24 Rxc4 or 23 Rcl Rxcl + 24 Bxcl Qc6 White would be suffering. In both cases, however, he should be able to hold a draw. Instead, Kasparov seeks illusory activity but his refusal to challenge Black's pressure in the `c' file rapidly leaves him helpless. 23 . . . Rc4 24 a4 g6 25 h3 Kg7 26 axb5 axb5 27 Ra6 Bh4 28 Kh2 Qc8 29 Ra7 Qc6 30 Qdl Rc2 As Kasparov beats a retreat Adams methodically
Adams Kasparov
Position after 35 f5
increases his control of critical terrain. 31 Qg4 Bf6 32 Qdl Rb2 33 Bel Qc4 Black is poised for the decisive infiltration. 34 Qg4 Qfl 35 f5 g5! Adams avoids the diabolical pitfall 35 . . . Qxel 36 fxg6 hxg6 37 Qe6 when it is impossible to defend f7. 36 Qg3 h5 37 Bc3 Rc2 White resigns for there is no effective antidote to . . . Rcl. A mature tour de force by Adams.
Der Spiegel recently published results of an IQ test taken by Kasparov. Readers may care to test their powers on three questions he failed (Answers in a later article): 84 81 88 14 12 18 9 ? 11 7 9 40 74 1526 ?
3) If DGJ + JAE + BHF = DDAB and FxC = GA, what is A ?
J G Fide, displaying characteristic confusion, has now, changed the quarter-finals pair- ings for the world championship that were given in this column last week. They are now Karpov v. Hjartarson and Yusupov v. Spraggett. The rest remain the same.
Bulletins from the Candidates' tourna- ment in St John are now available at a cost of £23 (including postage) and can be ordered from Martin Lowery, World Chess Festival, do The Hilton Hotel, St John, New Brunswick, Canada. They contain all the games from the Candidates' matches and the play-offs, plus most of the games from the two well-attended international opens. There are also some notes by Grandmasters Suba, Ermenkov and Sham- kovich, the last of whom I omitted to credit for the notes to Short v. Sax given in this column two weeks ago.
Previous page
