CHESS
Lloyds List
Raymond Keene
The premier open tournament in the United Kingdom is, without a doubt, the annual Lloyds Bank Masters. It is run by the organisational duo of Leonard Barden and Stewart Reuben who have selected the Swiss system as the optimum method of bringing together more than 200 competi- tors from around the world in a way which still leads to a meaningful result. In ess- ence, the Swiss system means that players on the same score meet each round. Thus the winner evidently has to face a consis- tently tough field.
When 1 won the Lloyds Bank Masters in 1981 the opposition included former world champion Vassily Smyslov, the US Grand- master Yasser Seirawan and British Grandmaster Tony Miles. Since then, the organisers have, if anything, succeeded in increasing the calibre of the event. For this year's tournament no fewer than three members of the silver medal winning English Olympic team were present (Speelman, Nunn and Chandler) and the foreign challenge was spearheaded by Grandmasters Fedorowicz, Smagin, Ro- gers, Rashkovsky and Naumkin. Neverthe- less, Lloyds Bank threw up a new star in the shape of Stuart Conquest, a young player formerly of Hastings, now living in Bristol, who will doubtless soon join the serried ranks of English GMs.
Position after 30. . . Qc7 Adams — Conquest: Lloyds Bank Masters 1990; Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bg5 e6 7 Qd2 Be7 8 0-0-0 0-0 9 Nb3 Qb6 10 f3 Rd8 11 Be3 Qc7 12 Qi2 Nd7 13 h4 a6 14 h5 b5 15 g4 Nce5 16 Rgl b4 17 Na4 Rb8 18 f4 Nc4 19 Ba7 Ra8 20 Bd4 Bb7 21 g5 e5 22 fxe5 dxe5 23 g6 Nf6 24 gxf7+ Kh8 25 h6 g6 26 Bxc4 exd4 27 Nac5 Bxe4 28 Ne6 Qxc4 29 Nxd8 Rxd830 Rxd4 Qc7 (Diagram) 31 Qh2 Qc8 If 31 . . . Qxh2 32 Rxd8+ Bxd8 33 f8/O+ Ng8 34 0g7 mate. 32 Rel Rxd4 33 Nxd4 Q18 34 Qe5 Qxh6 + 35 Kbl Qh4 36 Rxe4 Qxe4 37 Qxf6+ Black resigns.
Conquest — Hodgson: Lloyds Bank Masters 1990; Benko Gambit.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 cxb5 a6 5 f3 axb5 6 e4 Qa5+ 7 Bd2 b4 8 Na3 Ba6 9 Nc4 Bxc4 10 Bxc4 d6 11 Qe2 g6 12 f4 Bh6 13 Nh3 0-0 140-0 Nfd7 15 e5 dxe5 16 fxe5 Bxd2 17 Qxd2 Nxe5 18 Qh6 Ng4 19 Qg5 f5 20 N14 Kh8 21 R13 Rf6 22 Rh3 Qb6 23
Position after 23. . . Qd6 Rel Qd6 (Diagram) 24 Rxe7 Qxe7 25 Nxg6+ Rxg6 26 Qxe7 Rg7 27 Qf8+ Rg8 28 Qxf5 Rg7 29 Rxh7+ Rxh7 30 Qft3+ Black resigns.
The final result from Lloyds Bank Mas- ters was: 8/10 Conquest (winner on tie- break), Sturua, Adams; 71/2/10 Kaidanov, Suba, Nunn, Levitt, Gallagher.
Meanwhile, in round nine of the categ- ory 16 tournament at Tilburg, Short over- powered Gata Kamsky, the former Soviet teenager, who had been running away with the tournament. In the next round Nigel crushed Boris Gelfand to move second on his own with 6 points. Kamsky leads with 7 points, having recovered to beat Ivanchuk. Here is the cruncher against Kamsky: Short — Kamsky: Tilburg, 10 September 1990; Caro-Kann Defence.
1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bf5 4 c3 e6 5 Be2 Be7 6 Nf3 g5 7 0-0 h5 Looks aggressive but these far-flung kingside pawns ultimately prove to be a source of weakness. 8 Be3 Nd7 9 a4 g4 10 Nel Bg5 11 Nd3 Nh6 12 Nd2 h4 13 Qc1 Rg8 14 Nb3 Bxd3 15 Bxd3 a5 16 f4 This thrust exposes Black's backward pawn on 17 and the prospective weakling on h4. 16 . . . gxf3 17 Rx13 b6 18 Bxg5 Qxg5 19 Qxg5 Rxg5 20 Rh3 Ke7 21 Rxh4 Ng4 22 Rel Rag8 23 g3 c5 The rest is, of course, a matter of technique for White, but Short's crystal-clear handling of his advantage is never- theless a pleasure to watch. 24 Nd2 c4 25 Bc2 f5 26 exf6 + Ngxf6 27 Nf3 Rh5 28 Rxh5 Nxh5 29 Kf2 Kd6 30 Ne5 Ndf6 31 Bd1 Ng7 32 g4 Rb8 33 Bf3 b5 34 axb5 Rxb5 35 Re2 a4 36 h4 a3 37 bxa3 Rh3 38 Rc2 Rxa3 39 h5 Nh7 40 Kg3 Ke7 41 Rb2 Rb3 42 Ra2 Rb7 43 Kf4 Ne8 44 g5 Nd6 45 g6 N16 46 h6 Kf8 47 Ra8+ Nde8 48 Ng4 Nxg4 49 Bxg4 Re7 50 Ke5 Black resigns.
This splendid finish by Nigel Short came with black against Nikolic:
31 . . . Rxe6 32 dxe6 Bc6 33 0c3 Ng5+ 34 Kgl Qh6 35 f4 Qhl + 36 Kf2 Qh2+ White resigns since 37 Kc 1 Nf3+ is fatal.
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