CHESS
Takeaway
Raymond Keene
THE INDIAN GRANDMASTER Viswa- nathan Anand finally broke through in game 9 to take the lead in his match in the PCA qualifying cycle against Gata Kamsky. There had been a long previous sequence of draws but during this arid period it was always Anand who seemed to be on the verge of a win. Kamsky's normally impec- cable preparation had seriously stalled, and he was notably lacking in the energy which had characterised his sequence of match triumphs against Kramnik, Short and Salov. That said, Kamsky recovered after a disastrous start and went on to win against Anand in their Fide match last year so, in spite of his currently precarious situation, his prospects cannot, as yet, be entirely written off.
Anand—Kamsky: PCA Candidates, Las Palmas, March 1995; Ruy Lopez.
e4 e5 2 NS Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Bb7 The Zaitsev Defence in the Ruy Lopez, Karpov's favourite and one which has led to a number of fascinating clashes in championship games between Kaspar- ov and Karpov. 10 d4 Re8 11 Nbd2 Bf8 12 a4 h6 13 Bc2 exd4 14 cxd4 NM 15 Bbl Qd7 (Diagram) Position after 15 . . . Qd7 This is highly unusual. Karpov has tended to inject life into the situation here by means of 15
c5 16 d5 Nd7 followed by the risky ... f5 to explode White's pawn centre. Given • White's preponderance of mobile pawns in the middle of
the board Kamsky's treatment now seems much too slow. 16 b3 g6 17 Bb2 Bg7 18 Qcl At first sight a strange move, but it is the initial link in a plan to embarrass both black knights. The long- range intention is to proceed with Bc3 followed by Qb2, with veiled threats against the black knights on b4 and f6. 18 Rac8 19 Bc3 c5 20 d5 Qe7 21 Nfl Nh7 Already an admission of strate- gic defeat. Once the dark-squared bishops are exchanged, definite holes appear in the fortifica- tions around the black king. 22 Bxg7 Kxg7 23 Ne3 Black's bishop on b7 is locked out of play and meanwhile White threatens unpleasant tac- tics against the black king commencing with Ng4. This provokes further weaknesses in the black king's field. 23 ... h5 24 Qd2 Kg8 25 axb5 axb5 26 Ndl Na6 27 Nei b4 28 Nb5 Nc7 29 Bd3 NxbS 30 Bxb5 Red8 31 Bc4 Nf6 32 bh6 QM 33 Qg5 (Diagram) Anand's feints against the black king have caused Kamsky's queenside defences to be depleted. White now takes advantage of this to force a decisive invasion via the 'a' file. Nevertheless, if Black decides to contest the invasion on the queen's flank by means of 33 ...Nh7 34 Qf4 Ra8 then 35 Rxa8 Rxa8 36 e5 dxe5 37 Nxe5 grants White a huge attack with moves like d6 to follow, unmasking a devastating battery against Black's pawn on f7.33 ... Qg7 34 Raj Rc7 35 Ba6 Rb8 36 e5 Ne8 Abject retreat but if 36 ... dxe5 37 d6 Rd7 38 Nxe5 wins on the spot. 37 Rxb7 Rcxb7 38 Bxb7 Rxb7 39 Qd8 QI8 40 Ral Nc7 41 Qd7 Qb8 Black's defences have now collapsed for if 41 ...dxe5 42 d6 wins at once. 42 Qxd6 c4 Black stakes everything on a last desperate attempt to create a passed `b' pawn but Anand has events well under control. 43 bxe4 b3 44 Rbl b2 45 Qc5 Rb3 46 Qd4 Qb4 47 Ng5 Rc3 48 Qf4 f5 49 exf6 NxdS 50 f7+ Black resigns After 50 ...1Cf8 51 Ne6+ is decisive.
In Linares, which had been played in parallel to the first half of the Kamsky match, Ivanchuk triumphed a point ahead of Karpov. Nigel Short's performance was not one of his best but he was awarded a brilliancy prize for the following drastic miniature.
Dreev—Short: Linares, March 1995; Queen's Gambit Declined.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 Bel 5 Bf4 0-0 6 e3 c5 7 dxc5 BxcS 8 a3 Nc6 9 Rcl a6 10 cxd5 exd5 11 Bg5 Wasting a tempo but White has an ingenious ploy in mind. 11 ... d4 12 Nb5 An extraordinary move. After 12 ... axb5 13 Rxc5 White's plan is justified. 12 ... dxe3 Short sacri- fices to expose the artifical nature of White's scheme. 13 QxdS exf2+ 14 Keg Rxd8 15 Bxf6 Re8+ 16 Kdl gxf6 17 RxcS Bg4!! (Diagram) The Position after 17 ... Bg4!!
brilliant point of Black's play. After 17 axb5
18 Bxb5 Dreev would have achieved his objec- tive. 18 Nc3 Nd4 19 Bc4 If 19 Be2 Nxe2 20 Nxe2 Rad8+. 19 ... NxI3 20 Ka BfS+ A further ele- gant point. 21 Rxf5 now fails to 21 ...Nd4+. 21 Kb3 Nd2+ 22 Ka2 Be6 White resigns Black's final move was a crushing blow winning a rook.
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