CHESS

Brilliancy

Raymond Keene

Acustom more honoured in the breach than in the observance is the award for the most brilliant game in any tourna- ment. In the late 19th century and early 20th century it was usual to give special prizes for a variety of different achieve- ments (a silver tea service for the best endgame, for example) in addition to the monetary awards to those who achieved the greatest sporting success. In recent years this practice has fallen into de- suetude, but was fortunately revived for the most recent competition sponsored by City solicitors Watson, Farley & Williams and the Corporation of London. In this case the brilliancy prize was a charcoal drawing of chess symbolism by Barry Martin, also captain of the Chelsea Arts Club chess team. This week I give the game which won the prize. I cannot believe that White's concept was absolutely correct in every tiny detail but the important consideration was the sharpness and quali- ty of the ideas from both players and their great coolness under the extreme time pressure of the last 20 moves of the game.

Wells — Conquest: Semi-Slav Defence.

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 e6 5 e3 Nbd7 6 Be L3 dxc4 7 Bxc4 b5 8 Bd3 b4 9 Na4 c5 10 e4 cxd4 11 Bb5 An inspired and original plan. 11 . . . Qa5 12 Bch Rb8 13 0-0 White is claim'ng

Position after 14 Bf4!! that his lead in development compensates for the pawn. Black calls his bluff. 13 . . . e5 14 Bf4!! (Diagram) An amazing move which gener- ates a tremendous amount of compensation for White's lost material. When I first saw this on paper I thought it had to be a misprint. 14 . . . Bd6 Probably best. Accepting the piece led to a wild debate during the commentary, when despite the best efforts of virtually all the players, no refutation could be found. 14 . . . exf4 15 e5 Nd5 16 Nxd4! Ne7 (16 . . . Be7? 17 Nb3) 17 Rel and White's lead in development and easy access to the black king give him excellent compensation for the sacri- ficed piece. 15 Bg3 Bc7 15 . . . 0-0!? was sug- gested by Suba. Then 16 Nxd4 Qc7 17 Nf5 Qxc6 18 Rcl Qxe4 (18 . . . Bc5 19 Ne7+) 19 Nxd6 Qd5 20 QxdS Nxd5 21 Rfdl offers White excellent compensation — pressure against e5, chances to invade the 7th rank and a lead in development. 19 . . . Qg.4 20 Qxg4 Nxg4 21 Rfdl also gives White full value. 19 . . . Qa8 was Watson's determined suggestion to hang onto the pawn, but the consensus was that White still had good play. 16 Rcl 0-0 17 b3 Rd8 18 Bxd7 Nxd7 19 Nxd4 Nf6 Not 19 . . exd4?? 20 Bxc7. 20 Nc6 The point. White sacrifices his queen as well. Both players were now in desperate time trouble with just two minutes each left to complete their final 19 moves. 20 . . . Rxdl 21 Rt'xdl 21 Nxa5 Rxfl + 22 Kxfl BxaS simply loses a piece. 21 . . . Qb5 22 NxbS Position after 22 Nxb8 (Diagram) For the moment White has sufficient material compensation for his queen. The ques- tion is, can his attacked pieces escape capture, while it is also worth considering whether Black. whose army is also not co-ordinated, may not, in fact, shed even more material. To complicate the issue both players have weak hack ranks. 22 . . . Bg4! 22 . . Qxb8 meets with the crushing tactic 23 Bxe5! highlighting Black's weak back rank. 23 Rxc7 Bxdl 24 RcS+ Ne8 25 Nc6 h5 25 . . . Kf8 26 NxeS! and White has full material compensation for the queen and a solid position. The knights will take up strong out- posts on the 'c' file 26. 26 h4?! 26 Rxe8+ Kh7 27 Rd8 Qxc6 28 Rxdl Qc2 29 Rel Qxa2 30 Bxe5 Qxb3 leads to a terribly unclear position where White's pieces face a stern struggle against Black's swarm of passed pawns. Nevertheless, this would have been the right way for White to play the position. 26 . . . Kh7 27 RxeS Qxc6 28 RxeS f6? 28 . . . Qc2 is forced, when Black immediately begins a counter-attack on the weak queenside pawns. In spite of having to shed a pawn or two Black will end up in a variation similar to that given in my note to 26 h4 but with the bonus that his queen's bishop is still on the board. 29 Re7 Bg4 30 f3 Be6 31 Rxa7 Kg6 32 Kh2 Bf7 33 Rc7 Qb5 34 Nc5 Qe2 35 Nd7 Kh6 36 Nxf6! Despite a hanging clock flag White is still tactically alert. 36 . . . gxf6 37 Rxf7 Qxa2 38 Rxf6 + Kg7 39 Rb6 Qxb3 40 Bd6 Black resigns Black lost on time. By now it is clear that White is winning since his armada of lesser pieces will easily round up the pawn on h4 and then collaborate to outgun the black queen.

Watson, Farley & Williams/Corporation of Lon- don International Chess Challenge 3 — 17 May.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 Ttl

1 Watson X 0 Y2 1 V2 1/2 0 1 1 V2 Y2 1 1 1 81/2

2 Khalifman 1 X 0 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1 V2 V2 1 1 0 1 81/2 3 Hodgson V21 X 0 01/211/21 V2 1 0 1 0 7

4 Hector 01/21X1001/2101101 7

5 King V2 1/2 1 0 X V2 1 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 0 0 1 7 6 Saha V2 0 V2 1 1/2 X 0 0 V2 1 V2 1 0 1 61/2

7 Byrne 1 1/2 0 1 0 1 X 1/2 1 1 V2 0 0 0 61/2

8 Larsen 0 0 1/2 1h 1/2 1 V2 X 1 Y2 1/2 1 1/2 0 61/2

9 Plaskett 0 1/2 0 0 Y2 1/2 0 0 X 1 V2 1 1 1 6 10 Sadler ½½½1000½0X½½1 1 6 11 Davies V2 0 0 0 V2 1/2 1/2 1/2 V2 Y2 X 1 1 0 5% 12 Wells 0 0 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 1/2 0 X 1 1 51/2 13Arkell 01011111/20000/C051/2

14 Conquest 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 I 0 0 1 0 1 X 5