Chess
World firsts
Raymond Keene
Gary Kasparov, whose interrupted campaign for the world title was reviv- ed by the intervention of Acorn Computer, has Justified the faith of his supporters by eaPturing top place in the 1 January world ranking list. Kasparov has emerged at 2710 (unprecedented for a 20-year-old) ahead of World champion Karpov himself, now 2700. Also for the first time, two English players (Mlles 2610 and Nunn 2600) have reached the 2600 barrier and both should now be givulg serious thought to qualifying for the next Candidates' tournament.
Before returning to Baku after his semi- mai win, Kasparov found time to give a ten board clock simul against leading juniors at Acorn's showrooms in Henrietta Street. It Was a unique event in that all ten games were played not on standard chessboards, but on Acorn computer screens, while the Strength of the opposition, reflected by the
juniors' excellent score, led Kasparov to describe it to me as 'probably the strongest simul in the history of the game'. Individual results were: wins for Kasparov against Peter Wells, Theresa Needham, Neil Dickenson and Stuart Rachels; draws with David Norwood, Gavin Crawley, Ian Thomas and Jonathan Levitt, while Stuart Conquest and Neil Bradbury both won. Overall, 6-4 to Kasparov.
For some reason, this remarkable display has aroused hostility in various quarters. One prior criticism, that the team we selected would perform badly, was demolished by the outcome. Another claim, that Kasparov was annoyed by the necessity of having to compete on computers, was not in evidence while I was in attendance.
When I had dinner with Gary afterwards, his main concern was hunger (he devoured two steaks) plus pride in achieving a world first — a computer simul against ten op- ponents of near master strength.
Here is Neil Bradbury's win for the juniors:
Kasparov — Bradbury: Nimzo-lndian Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 a3 Bxc3 + 5 bxc3 0-0 6 f3 d5 7 cxd5 exd5 8 e3 Bf5 9 Net Re8 10 Nf4 c5 11 g4 Bxg4 An imaginative sacrifice, which en- sures a prolonged initiative. 12 fxg4 Ne4 13 h4 Nc6 14 Bg2 Nxc3 15 Qd3 cxd4 16 0-0 Qxh4 17
exd4 Ne4 18 Be3 RadS 19 Rabl Nf6 20 Rf3 Qxg4 21 Rxb7 Na5 22 Rxa7 Nc4 23 NxdS NxdS 24 Bf2 Nd6 25 Rg3 Qf5 26 QxfS Nx15 27 Rb3 Nf4 28 Rb7 Nd6 29 Rd7 Nxg2 30 Kxg2 Rxd7 31 Rxd7 Ne4 32 Bel? A blunder, but White is clearly struggling. 32... Nf6 White resigns.
And here, to end with, is the conclusion of Kasparov's best win:
White: Kasparov — Black: Rachels.
Play continued from this position: 36 Qxc5! A Q sacrifice, for just one R, which, however, has the effect of mobilising White's centre pawns. 36... dxc5 37 d6 Qa7 38 e7 Qd7 39 Nd5 Qxd6 40 e8 = Q + Rxe8 41 Rxe8 + Kh7 42 Nc3 Now that White has two Rooks, his task is to penetrate with them and attack the Black K. 42... Qf6 43 Rdel Qd4 44 R8e6 Qd8 45 Rdl Qb8 46 Rd2 a5 47 Re7 Qf8 48 Rb7 Qf6 49 Rd2 a5 50 Re8 + Bf8 51 Nd5 and Black resigned. After 5I...Nxd5 52 Bcd5 + Kh8 53 Rf7 Qxb2 + 54 Kh3 wins easily.
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