CHESS

In a debate on chess in Parliament on 23 May, Michael Stern MP (Bristol North West) said:

There are two needs with regard to tourna- ments. First, it is necessary to restore the Hastings tournament to its traditional place as one of the world's leading tournaments. Secondly, it is necessary to find a replace- ment tournament for that previously spon- sored by the GLC as the annual Grandmas- ters' tournament. We require sponsorship. My Hon. Friend, the Member for Richmond and Barnes (Jeremy Hanley) referred to a number of sponsorships that have already taken place, including the modest efforts of my firm in sponsoring in two weeks' time the first Halpern and Woolf London open chess tournament. However, more sponsors are needed. I hope that my Hon. Friend the Under-Secretary of State will see it as one of his roles as Minister to provide every en- couragement to commercial and professional firms and companies to sponsor a sport in which this country is already successful and in which even greater successes are open to us.

I am glad to say that Foreign and Colonial have now stepped forward to sponsor Hastings, while Michael Stern's own Halpern and Woolf London Open tournament has been a great success. It was held on 7 and 8 June at the Porchester Hall, Bayswater. The combination of generous sponsorship and the organisation of the tournament by the King's Head

Cry Woolf

Raymond Keene

Chess Club attracted 334 players to this inaugural event.

In an exciting last round of the Open, GM Murray Chandler steadily ground down the one-time leader, 16-year-old Philip Rossiter, to reach 41/2 points out of 5. He was joined in first place by IM Andrew Martin, who refuted GM Jim Plaskett's speculative piece sacrifice in a cut and thrust game. Former New Zealan- der Chandler, now resident in Earl's Court, was the leading scorer in this year's West German Bundesliga and runner-up to Flear at the recent GLC Masters. London- er Andrew Martin made his IM title at Hastings in 1984 and has been a regular prizewinner in tournaments around Europe this year. Top scores were: Chand- ler, Martin 41/2/5; Crouch, Gerber, King, Pein, Pritchdtt, Rossiter 4.

Here is the crucial last round game which earned Andrew Martin £375.

J. Plaskett (Bedford) — A. Martin (Central YMCA): Sicilian Pterodactyl. 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 g6 3 c3 Bg7 4 d4 Qc7 5 dxc5 Qxc5 6 Be3 Qc7 7 Bd4 Nf6 8 e5 Nh5 9 Qd2 f6 10 Na3 Nc6 11 Nb5 Qb8 12 exf6 Nxf6 13 Be3 a6 14 Bf4 d6 15 Nxd6+?! exd6 (Diagram) 16 Bc4 (16 Bxd6?

Position after 15 . . . exd6 Ne4!) 16 . . . Ne5 17 Nxe5 dxe5 18 0-0-0 Bf5 19 Rhel Nd7 20 Qd5 Rf8 21 Bd3 R17 22 Bc4 Re7 23 Qg8+ Nf8 24 Bg5 Qc7 25 Bxe7 Bh6+ 26 Re3 Qxe7 27 Qh8 Bxe3+ 28 fxe3 Rd8 29 Bd5 Be6 30 e4 BxdS 31 exd5 Kd7 32 Rfl Kc8 33 Qg8 Nd7 34 Qe6 Qxe6 35 dxe6 Nc5 36 e7 Re8 37 Rf7 Kd7 White resigns.

Bugojno has just finished. As is the case with so many foreign super-tournaments, there was a depressingly high draw total. Curiously, the Phillips and Drew and GLC tournaments in London have all evaded this fate! Bugojio, May-June 1986

5

6 7

R Total I x 11/2

23

01/2

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V21/2 1/21 11/2

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1/21 81/2 01/2 x 1/21/2 V21/2

1/2,/2

11/2 01 11/2

7"

11/2 1/21/2 x

1/21/2 WA 1/21/2

1/21/2 1/21/2

7"

1/21/2 1/21/2

1/21/2

x 1/21/2 01/2 1/21/2 1/21

7

1/20

1/21/2

5/21/2 1/21/2 x 1/21/2 1/21/2 11/2

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01/2 01/2 Wiz 11/2

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10 1/21/2 1/21/2 1/21/2 00 x 10 6 1/20 01/2

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5"

1 Karpov 21 Ljubojevic 31, Sokolov 1

4 Portisch 5{l Spassky 6 Yusupov

7 Miles

/I Timman