Proverbs 29:18
Raymond Keene
LATER this year in London Nigel Short and Gary Kasparov will contest a match for the world crown under the auspices of the Professional Chess Association. As is well known, they have broken away from Fide, the World Chess Federation, to set up their own organisation, embodying their own particular vision of how chess should be structured around the planet in the future. Ever since 1978, I have observed Fide at close hand, first as a part of it, latterly as one of the governing body's most severe critics. There will doubtless be many excel- lent opinions from well qualified people as to how the PCA should develop its vision. This week, though, I would like to offer my own suggestions as to how the PCA might operate in the period to come.
The first and most important plank is for the championship match between Kaspar- ov and Short to be organised in a splendid and impressive fashion. The chess world has been split between those expressing loyalty to Fide and those who are enthu- siastic for the new regime. Ideally, the coming match should help to heal the wounds and unite top chessplayers behind the new vision of what is possible. As an important part of this, the opportunities for promoting the game and bringing chess to an entirely new audience should be at the forefront.
Next, Kasparov, Short and their advisers must turn their thoughts to the establish- ment of a new qualifying cycle to regularise PCA Championship challenges. The ex- isting Fide cycle is already underway. Zonal tournaments have been held around the world (including the one for the British Isles in Dublin which finished last week) and the next stage will be the Biel Inter- zonal to be held in the summer. Under no circumstances should the PCA interfere with, or even give the appearance of nullifying the results of the Fide zonals or interzonals. It would, however, be advis- able for the PCA to be able to offer the qualifiers the opportunity to compete in the PCA's own Candidates competition. This would take the form either of a top tournament, or series of qualifying match- es, with the ultimate goal of challenging the winner of the Kasparov-Short match.
For the next cycle the PCA will have to work out an entire qualifying system from scratch. One idea, which would satisfy both the elitist and the populist tendency, would be to organise a giant competition, open to everyone, from which qualifiers would join strong grandmasters in a 100 player interzonal. The winners from this, plus the loser of the previous championship match, would then contest either an elite tournament or knockout matches to decide the world championship challenger. This whole pattern would then be repeated for the future, probably on a biennial basis. Additionally, a most attractive new feature would be the introduction of a frequently updated ranking list for the top players. This could be published monthly (rather than twice a year, as with the Fide rating list) and could attract commercial spon- sorship, as well as being a regular focus of attention for the public and the press.
Furthermore, the PCA's vision must not just focus narrowly on the financial in- terests of the top grandmasters. There is also tremendous scope for charitable work involving chess. This would involve bring- ing chess into schools worldwide, convinc- ing governments of the educational value of the game, setting up specialist chess
educational establishments (such as the Kasparov/Botvinnik schools) and teaching the benefits of chess to the physically and mentally handicapped. The canvas is glob- al and the opportunities are glorious.
Adams — Sadler: Fide Zonal, Dublin 1993; Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bc4 This was a favourite of Bobby Fischer and has recently been adopted by Kasparov, for example in his game against Gelfand, which I gave in this column on 20 March. 6 . . . e6 7 Bb3 b5 8 0-0 Bb7 9 Rel Nbd7 10 Bg5 Qb6 This is an attempt to improve on the game Fischer — Rubinetti from the Palma de Mallorca Interzon- al of 1970, which had gone 10 . . . h6 11 Bh4 Nc5 12 Bd5! exd5 13 exd5+ Kd7 14 b4 Na4 15 Nxa4 bxa4 16 c4 Kc8 17 Qxa4 with two pawns and a fierce attack for the sacrificed bishop. 11 a4 b4 12 Nd5 Exactly the same sacrificial attacking motif as in the Fischer game, but here White's onslaught is accelerated by the fact that it is most difficult for Black to retain his extra material. 12 . . . exd5 13 exd5+ Ne5 In any case 13 . . . Kd8 looks better. 14 a5 Qc5 15 Be3 Qc8 16 Ba4+ Ke7 16 . . . Kd8 should still be tried. 17 f4 Nxd5 18 fxe5 dxe5 19 Qh5 f6 20 Bf2 g6 21 RxeS+ If 21 . . . fxe5 22 QxeS+ wins the rook on h8. 21 . . . Kf7 Position after 24 Nf5+ 22 Qf3 Nc7 23 Qb3+ Kg7 24 Nf5+ (Diagram) This final sacrifice demolishes the flimsy barri- cades defending the black king. 24 . . . gxf5 25 Qg3+ Kf7 26 Bb3+ Nd5 27 RxdS Black resigns 27 . . . BxdS 28 Bxd5+ Ke8 29 Rel+ leads to a total massacre.
Previous page
