CHESS
The rivals
Raymond Keene GARRY KASPAROV has been notably absent from mainstream tournament play for almost a year. Now, however, he has re- entered the lists for the powerful competi- tion at Wijk aan Zee in Holland. Amongst his rivals are such luminaries as Vassily Ivanchuk, Vladimir Kramnik, Veselin Topalov and Alexei Shirov, but most signif- icant of all is the presence of the Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. Anand has dominated tournaments over the past year, securing numerous first prizes. It is his personal duel with Kasparov upon which the attention of the chess world will be focussed. This week I give two wins by the rivals from the early rounds.
Anand—Piket: Wijk aan Zee 1999; Ruy Lopez 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Rel b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Na5 So far a main line Ruy Lopez, played thousands of times in master chess. The text though is a little out of fashion, having been popular several decades ago. Nowadays 9 ... Bb7 is the most popular choice. 10 Bc2 c5 11 d4 Nd7 12 Nbd2 cxd4 13 cxd4 Nc6 14 Nb3 a5 Black starts a counter-action on the queenside, hoping to harass White's knight. 15 Bd3 Ba6 16 d5 Nb4 17 Bfl a4 (Diagram) 18 Nbd4 A startling concept relying on the fact that Blacks knight on b4 is without an escape route. 18 ... exd4 19 a3 Nxd5 Amazingly, up to this point the game is still the- ory. Lau—Toshkov, Skien 1979, continued 19 ... Nc2 20 Qxc2 Bf6 21 Bf4 Rc8 22 Qd2 Nc5 23 Radl when White's healthier pawn structure gave him the better prospects. 20 exd5 Bf6 21 Nxd4 Nc5 22 Nc6 Qb6 23 Bf4 Rfe8 24 Qc2 Rather than hunt pawns with 24 Bxd6, White decides to protect his own queenside pawns whilst also contesting possession of the 'e' file. 24 ... Nb3 25 Rad1 Qc7 26 Re4 Rxe4 27 Qxe4 Bxb2 28 Ref The battle has changed to a war of movement. Anand has abandoned his defence of his queenside pawns but now threatens the queen sacrifice 29 Qe8 +. 28 Qd7 29 Qb4 Bf6 30 Bxd6 h6 31 Bd3 Re8 32 Rxe8+ QxeS 33 Be7 Clearing the path for his passed pawn to advance. 33 ... Bb2 34 Qe4 g6 35 Bb4 Qxe4 36 Bxe4 Bf6 37 d6 Bc8 38 Bd3 Bd7 39 Nb8 Be6 40 Bxb5 Nd4 41 Bxa4 Black resigns Apart from being two pawns up White's passed 'cl' pawn is also unstoppable.
Kasparov—Van Wely: Wijk aan Zee 1999; Sicilian Defence
e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 NdbS d6 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Nd5 Be7 This is all well known and constitutes one of the more dynamic counter-attacking systems for Black in the popular Sicilian Defence. The strategic hall- mark of the position is that Black abandons the central light squares to occupation by White's forces but hopes to profit from the off-side posi- tion of White's knight on a3. This is actually his king's knight and it has expended four moves to reach a most unprepossessing square. 10 Bxf6 Bxf6 11 c3 Bg5 12 Nc2 0-013 a4 bxa4 14 Rxa4 a5 15 Bb5 Bb7 16 Nce3 Bxe3 17 Nxe3 Ne7 Black's plan for counterplay emerges. In the further course of the game he will combine ideas of ... Qb6, hoping to exploit the loose position of White's pieces in the 'b' file, whilst also prepar- ing the possibilities of breakthroughs based on either ... d5 or ... f5. It takes great skill on Kasparov's part to restrict these initiatives. 18 0- 0
Rb8 19 Qd3 Qb6 20 Bc4 Bc6 And not 20 ... Qxb2 on account of 21 Rbl trapping Black's queen. 21 Ra2 Rfd8 22 b3 Qc5 23 Rfal Ra8 24 h4 h6 25 h5 Bb7 26 Rd1 Bc6 27 Rdal Bb7 28 Bd5 After a period of manoeuvring, during which Kasparov could make little progress, he now resolves to radically alter the structure of the situation in the centre. 28 ... BxdS 29 exd5 Rdc8 30 b4 Here one might have expected the consolidating 30 c4, but Kasparov treats the position more sharply. 30 ... Qxc3 31 Qxc3 Rxc3 32 RxaS Rb8 33 Raj 108 34 Rd7 Even with reduced forces Kasparov keeps his attacking chances alive. Black cannot now capture on b4 since he would immediately be cut down by Rd8 checkmate. 34 ... Nc8 35 Rd8+ Ke7 36 Rg8 Rxb4 (Diagram) 37 Ra8 The attack continues in preference to the materialistic 37 Rxg7. 37 ... Kd7 38 Rxg7 Rcl+ 39 Kh2 Rf4 40 Ng4 Ne7 41 Ra7+ Ke8 42 g3 Rf5 43 Rh7 Kf8 If 43 Rxh5+ 44 Kg2 with the dual threats of Rh8+ and Nf6+, but the text loses at once. 44 Ra8+ Black resigns After the early rounds at Wijk ann Zee, Anand captured the lead with Kasparov in hot pursuit. Their game is scheduled towards the end of the event.
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