Chess
Menagerie
Raymond Keene
There was an enthusiastic and ingenious response to the Christmas Quiz. Some of the questions were a matter of knowledge (or research), but others (such as number 8) required a more open-ended ap- proach and my marking system rewarded this accordingly. The clear winner is Douglas Bryson of Glasgow, followed at some distance by Michael Beirne (Birm- ingham), J. Rosankiewicz (Greenford) and Peter Morrey (Reading). In due course, all ICL Hastings Tournament 28 Dec— 12 Jan
Vaganian Kovacevic Murei Ftacnik VKMF TMHGS FHLPL X1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 X 0 1/21 1/21/21 1 1 1 0 1 I
0 1 X 1 1/2 0 1 0 1/2 1/2 t 1 11/2
1/21/20 X1/21 1/21 0 1/21 1/21 1
TII 11 81/2 8
8 Tukmakov
½0½½X'/2½/101 1 1 1/21
71/2 Mestel 1/21/21 0 1/2X 0 1/20 1 1/21 1/21
7
Hebden 1/21/201/21/21X1/21/2001/211 61/2 Gurevich 00101/21/21/2X11/21/21/201 6 Short 0 0 1/21 1 1 1/20 X1/20 1/20 1 6 Farago 0 0 1/2 1/2 0 0 0'/:
5
Henley 0 0 0 0 0 1/2 1 11 1 X 1/2 0 1/2 5 Littlewood 0 1 0½00½½½½½X½0 41/2 Plaskett 0 0 0 0 1/2 1/2 0 1 1 0 1 1/2 X 0 41/2 Lein
001/2,0000001/21/211X
31/2
the winners will receive the book prizes donated by B.T. Batsford.
For the record, the full set of answers is: 1) In the diagrammed position 1 Qxh6! forces a neat win, since 1... Bxh6 allows 2 Nxh6+ Kh8 3 Rxf8 mate. Meanwhile, after 1 Qxh6 White threatens Qh8 + Bxh8 and Nh6 mate. 2) From Russia with Love. The game was based on Spassky -- Brons- tein, USSR Championship 1960, though in the film White's pawns on d4 and c5 were omitted. 3) Hilbner and Tal are the only players to have withdrawn after play started in Candidates' events. 4) Rantanen and Westerinen. 5) Beryl Grey, Robert Helpman and Sir Arthur Bliss. (Note that I referred to the film.) 6) Steinitz — Tchigorin, Havana 1889. 7) Leonid Brezhnev released Igor and Bella Korchnoi from the USSR. 8) Fairly well authenticated animals are: Dragon; Hedgehog; Bird's Opening (1 f4) and Bird's Defence (I e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nd4); Orang Utang (I b4); Hippopotamus; D6ry (1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Ne4), a fish; Pelikan; Colle; Worral (a monitor lizard, for which I am indebted to D. Hancock and GM Jon Speelman); Reynold's (Spenserian for fox — thanks again to Speelman); Wolf Gambit (an alter- native name for Reti: I Nf3 d5 2 c4); Cana- dian usages: Rat (1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 nc3 d6) and Pterodactyl (1 e4 g6 2 d4 Bg7 3 Nc3 c5). Stretching a point are: Ram System (Kmoch's term for the Boleslaysky Sicilian); 'Monkey's Bum' (see BCM, August 1977) and Wing Gambit (parts of animals) while Catalan and Breyer (used by donkeys!), as submitted by F.J. Findlater, were decidedly too optimistic. 9) Paul Mor- phy on Staunton. 10) Queen — Regina. 11) Penrose 10 times, ahead of Atkins 9. 12) Bel in both cases, though the Evergreen was a capture. 13) Holland, Sweden, Iceland, Philippines. 14) + 4 = 10 — 0 to Capablanca. 15) David Bronstein. 16) David Bronstein the Grandmaster was born in 1924, the year of Lenin's death. 'Bron- stein' was also Trotsky's pseudonym.
The Armenian Grandmaster, Rafael Vaganian, is too inconsistent to be a serious challenger for the world title. But, periodically, he excels himself and he has recently won the Hastings Premier by a record margin of 21/2 points.
Here is an example of Vaganian's distinc- tive blend of strategy and tactics.
Vaganian — Henley: Hastings 1982-83, Round 7; Hybrid System. 1 d4 Nc6 2 Bg51? h6 3 Bh4 g5:014 Bg3 Bg7 5 e3 Nf6 6 Nc3 d6 7 h4 Bf5?! 8 Bb5 a6 9 Ba4 e6 11) Qe2 Nd7 11 0-0-0 Qe7 12 hxg5 hxg5 13 Rxh8+ Bxh8 14 Bxc6 bxc6 15 Qf3 Nb8 16 Nge2 g4 17 Qf4 Nd7 18 Rhl 0-0-0 19 Bh4 Bf6 20 Bxf6 Qxf6 21 Ng3 Bg6 22 Nce2 Rh8 23 Rxh8+ Qxh8 24 Qxg4 Qh7 25 Nf4 Bxc2 26 Qe2 Bbl 27 e4 Bxa2 28 Qxa6 + Kd8 29 Qxa2 Qh6 30 Nge2 c5 31 Kc2 cxd4 32 Qa8 + Ke7 33 Nd5 + exd5 34 Nxd4 Qf4 35 Nf5 + Kf6 36 Qh8 + Ke6 37 Ng7 + Black resigns.
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