CHESS
Bête blanche
Raymond Keene
After their draw in the first game in New York Kasparov utterly blew Karpov away in game 2. Kasparov's success was heavily based on very superior White opening preparation. Indeed, Kasparov has now won his last four White games against Karpov in a row. These were the 24th and final game from Seville in 1987, two games from the Optiebeurs tourna- ment in Amsterdam in May 1988, and the game which follows. After this shattering defeat Karpov took the first of his time- outs. Game 3, when completed on Tues-
day, was drawn after 53 moves.
Kasparov Karpov: World Championship Fin- al; Game 2.
Ie4e52Nf3Ne63Hb5a64Ba4Nf65O-0Be76 Rel ,b5 7 Bh3 (16 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Bb7 10 d4 Re8 Several unscrupulously craven opponents of Karpov have played 11 Ng5 Rf8 12 Nf3 inviting a draw here. Naturally Kasparov has no truck with this supine course. 11 Nbd2 Bf8 Move order is important here. If Black plays the immediate 11 • -,h6 White has time for 12 Nfl to be followed by Ng3„ repositioning the white queen's knight on an ideal attacking square. By playing 11 . . Bf8 before 12 . h6 Black prevents White from playing 12 Nfl since . . . exd4 would then leave White's e4 pawn defenceless. 12 a4 h6 13 Bc2 exd4 With this move Black cedes his opponent a dangerous majority of pawns in the centre. The advantage of the central trade, though, resides in the excellent outpost square on b4 which now becomes aVailable to Black's knight. Driven to bl as a consequence of the knight intrusion, there is a danger for White's king's bishop that it will never again play an active part in the game. In fact, much of the middle game struggle will now revolve around White's attempt to liberate this bishop for the attack and Black's strategy of confining it. 14 exd4 NM 15-Bbl bxa4 This move is strategically suspect but Karpov has good experiences with it. The difficulties, from Black's point of view, are that he remains with weak pawns on the 'a' and 'c' files and he does little to disturb White's mass of pawns in the
centre. Karpov has also played 15 . c5, and this may well .turn out to be the better move. 16 16(M a5 17 Rai Ra6 18 Nh2 In Timman Karpov (Candidates final played earlier this year) Timman blundered with 18'Nh4? and after
18 . . . Nxe4! 19 Nxe4 Bxe4 20 Bxe4 d5 21 Rae3 Rae6 22 Bg6 Qh4, Karpov went on to win. This was particularly embarrassing for. Timman as this analysis had been published in New in Chess magazine, of which he is the editor! 18 • . g6 19 f3! The fruit of some brilliant opening analy- sis. It takes real insight to appreciate that the key to this position and the pivot of White's advantage is over-protection of the pawn on e4. After this Black is strangely lacking in pawn breaks. If he plays . . c5 White can advan- tageously seal up the centre with d5..Converse- ly, if Black ever plays . . d5 first then the reply e5 hits the black knight and opens up a beautiful attacking path for the white bishop on 131. 19 f3 is a huge improvement on moves previously played such as 19 e5, 19 Ng4 or 19 f4. 19 . . . Qd7 Karpov played this after just 10 minutes thought, not a great investment of thinking time when up against a novelty of this venom. After the incautious queen move Black suddenly gets into all sorts of trouble. Much more natural is 19 . . . Bg7 20 Nc4 Qa8 angling for . . . d5. This may well form the topic of future debates. 20 Nc4 Qb5 21 Rc3 Bc8 Passive, but Black is lacking a plan. If here (or on the next move) 21 . . d5 22 Na3 Qb6 23 e5 grants White an automatic attack. 22 Be3 Kh7 This also may not be the best, but it is hard to see how Black can improve his position. 23 Qcl A fine multi-purpose move, increasing pressure in the 'c' file while also eyeing the black king. If Black now responds to the threat Na3 with 23 . . Qb7 then 24 Nxa5 Rxa5 25 Rxc7 followed by Rxf7+ is extraordi- narily dangerous. 23 . . . c6 24 Ng4 Ng8 A Steinittian retreat, intending to drive White back in the near future with . . . h5. With hindsight we can say that 24 . . . Bxg4 might have been better but after 25 hxg4 combined with Kf2 and Rhl, White has a very dangerous attack. Karpov probably saw White's following sacrifice but believed, not unreasonably, that he could defend against it. 25 Bxh6!! (Diagram) A brilliant coup, seizing his moment when Black's forces are scattered at the edge of the board. This move demonstrates Kasparov's superb feel for the initiative. Of course, it would have been possible to increase the pressure with 25 Bf4, and the existence of this attractive and safe alternative makes Kasparov's sacrifice that much more praiseworthy. 25 . . . Bxh6 Evident- ly if 25 . . . Nxh6 26 Nf6+ 26 Nxh6 Nxh6 27 Nxd6 Qb6 28 Nxe8 Qxd4+ This pawn grab swiftly grants White use of the resultant open 'd' file. Although it would have meant renouncing some material 28 . . . Qd8 might have offered more resistance. 29 KM Qd8 30 Rdl QxeS 31 Qg5 Until I saw this move I suspected that Kasparov's attack might be somewhat specula- tive. Even now, Yasser Seirawan in the New York press room was prepared to wager on Black's chances, but subsequent analysis has demonstrated absolutely no Black defence to the White attack initiated by f4-f5. 31 . . . Ra7 32 Rd8 Qe6 33 14 Ba6 A last-ditch defence might be 33 . . f5, just to halt the onrush of White's 'f' pawn. Karpov, though, probably didn't give it a second glance since it immediately invites White's bishop to participate in the attack. 34 f5 Qe7 35 Qd2 The threat is Qd4. If 35 . . Nd5 36 Rh8+ Kxh8 37 Qxh6+ Kg8 38 exd5 Qel+ 39 Kh2 Qxbl 40 f6 forcing checkmate. 35 . . Qe5
36 Qf2 An excellent move which destroys Black's blockade on e5 by threatening both 37 Qxa7 and 37 Rc5. If now for example 36 . . . Rc7 37 Rc5 Qe7 38 Qd4 Ng8 39 ReS Qf6 40 Rxg8 Kxg8 41 Re8+ Kg7 42 Rg8+ wins easily (a variation shown by Jon Speelman) 36 . . . Qe7 37 Qd4 Ng8 38 e5 Nd5 39 fxg6+ fxg6 40 Rxc6 QxdS 41 Qxa7+ Nde7 42 Rxa6 Qdl + 43 Qgl Qd2 44 Qfl Black resigns The rest is total slaughter. Position after 25 Bxho!!
Previous page
