Chess
Stormy petrel
Raymond Keene
Baguio I was sitting in the Pines Hotel in Baguio having coffee with that stormy petrel of the chess world Ms Petra Leeuwerik when a waiter came up and announced that a Mr Rasputin wished to talk to her. Ms Leeuwerik reassured me by explaining that Rasputin was merely the code name for one Lun, the head of the local parapsychologists (not to be confused with the Ananda Marga gurus, though I would pardon you if you d. id). This Lun in fact scarcely deserves the illustrious sobriquet Rasputin. He is coif ossally dull and 1 would have thought the Wild Bore was a better description. In game twenty-one Karpov went in for a premature attack which Korchnoi refuted, winning a pawn. He shed this advantage by careless play but Karpov reciprocated and K. orchnoi was able to adjourn with a tangible plus. Despite difficulties with our adjournment analysis Korchnoi was able to capitalise this advantage, thus reducing his deficit in the match to 4-2. After Karpov resigned Korchnoi announced enigmatically to assembled journalists: 'Lord forgive them: they know not what they do.' This was presumably a reference to Soviet adjournment analysis which was for the first time substantially inferior to our own.
In the twenty-second game Karpov outplayed Korchnoi completely. By sealing a simple capture on move 42 (after the time control) he could have ensured the win. But by playing five more unnecessary, and weak, moves in the first session he allowed Korchnoi to escape with a draw. Another lucky escape for Korchnoi.
In the twenty-third game Korchnoi patiently built up an advantage but Karpov's defence was first-class. By the end of the first session it was clear Korchnoi could not win and a draw was agreed. This time the method adopted was that Korchnoi ostentatiously wrote on his score sheet and signed it, whereupon Karpov did likewise. An interesting situation would have arisen if Karpov had chosen to play on!
P-Q4 4 P-Q4 B-K2 5 B-B4 Korchoi reverts to the variation he hed played in the ninth game, partly out of devilry because in the Soviet chess magazine 64 Tal had described it as innocuous! 5 .
006 P-K3 P-B4 7 QPxP BxP 8 Q-B2 N-B3 9 R-Q1 Q-R4 10 P-QR3 R-K1 Varying from 10... B-K2 played in the ninth game 11 N-Q2 P4(4 12 B-N5 N-Q5 The point of Black's tenth move. It seems that Karpov was persuaded to play contrary to his own cautious style by his more adventurous seconds Tal and Zaitsev. But there is no real basis for such violence and Korchnoi falls back in good Steinitzian order. 13 Q-Nl. Karpov now stopped moving instantly and the Russians all scampered off to the press room to analyse. They had evidently been expecting Korchnoi to take the piece, but 13 PxN PxPch 14 N-K2 is clearly disastrous for White while 13 PicN PxPch 14 B-K2 PxN 15 N-N3 Q-N3 16 NxB QxN 17 BxN QxB does not accomplish anything for White 13 . . . B-B4 14 B-Q3 P-K5 15 B-B2 It is possible the cynical 15 B-B1 may refute Black's conception entirely, but Korchnoi was worried it might be going slightly too far on the Steinitzian path. 15 . . . NxBch 16 QxN Q-R3 A decent chance to get counterplant for a pawn. Otherwise he risks the wreck of his position. 17 BitN QxB 18 N-N3 B-Q3 19 RxP R-K4 20 N-Q4 R-QB1 21 RxR? A careless move which loses the extra pawn. Correct was 21 NxB 21 . . QxR 22 NxB QiiN (B4)23 0-0 RxP 24 R-Q1 Q-K4? A plausible blunder which Karpov played after only a few minutes' thought. Best was24 . . . B-K2 25 Q-N3 Q-Bl and Black has little to fear 25 P-KN3 P-QR3 26 Q-N3 P-QN4 27 P-QR4 Now Black cannot satisfactorily defend his queen side 27. . . R-Ns 28 Q-Q5 QxQ 29 RxQ B-B! 30 PiLP P-QR4 31 R-Q8 RxP (N7)32 11-118 P-B4 33 RxP B-N5 34 R-R8ch K-B2 35 N-R4 R-N8ch 36 K-N2 B-Q3 37 R-R7ch K-B3 38 P-N6 B-NI 39 R-R8 Panno suggested the ingenious 39
R-B7 imprisoning the bishop. This may be more expeditious e.g. 39 BxR 40 PxB R-B8 41 N-N6 and wins 39 . • . B-K4 40 N-B5 B-Q3 41 P-N7 K-K2 42 R-KN8 B-K4 43 P-B4 The sealed move, the point of which is to free the White king and
open up_ Q3 for the White knight. 48 Thal e.p.ch 44 KxP K-B2 45 R-B8. We had been analysing the adjourned position until the last hour. Stean suggested the knight sacrifice 45 R-O8 K-K2 46 R-O7ch K-K1 47 P-K4 R-N4 48 PicP RxN 49 RxP but 49 ... P-R3 refutes this idea since White needs KN5 for his rook, while the rook endings with the extra pawn are drawn. An hour before the second session Korchnoi abandoned the whole unsound idea and we frantically started analysing the text move 45 . . . K-K2 46 P-R3 a subtle trap which the Russians missed 46 . . . P-R4? Correct was 46 ... R-N4. After the text the Soviet delegation left the playing hall tearing out their hair. 47 R-KN8 K-B2 48 R-Q8 P-N4. The point of the trap is that 48 K-K2 loses to 49 R-Q7ch K-Kl 50 R-05 etc 49 P-N4; A very good move. 49 N-Q7 wins a piece but probably not the game. 49 . . RPxPch 50 PxP K-K2 51 R-KN8 PaPch If 51 . B-Q3 52 N-R6 RxP 53 R-N7 ch etc 52 KxP K-B2 53 R-B8 B-Q3 54 P-K4 R-N8ch 55 K-B5 P-N5 56 P-K5 R-118ch 57 K-K4 R-K8ch 58 K-Q5 R-Q8ch 59 N-Q3 An aesthetic piece sacrifice with which to finish the game. 59 . . . RaNch 50 K-B4.The Chief Arbiter was now hovering with a white queen in his hand, ready for korchnoi's expected pawn promotion. The challenger smiled and asked him to have a rook, knight and bishop ready as well in case he decided to underpromote. Karpov took the hint and resigned.
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