More haste
Raymond Keene
There was an excellent response to Nigel Short's superb feat in qualifying to play Kasparov for the world title later this year. Last week Kasparov visited London to play 25 consulting teams of four to raise about £30,000 for the Sick Children's Trust
charity. The venue, Simpsons in the Strand, the ancient home of chess where the immortal Anderssen-Kieseritzky game was played in 1851, was swamped by the press. As a result of Short's challenge for the world crown the media interest in Kasparov's trip was staggering. Subse- quently no fewer than three British offers emerged to stage the world chess cham- pionship match: one from Manchester and two more from London, each offering at least £1,000,000, in itself a record for a British chess event. Unfortunately, Fide as usual botched the bidding process. With three bids on the table they failed, despite their claims, to consult the players properly and swiftly announced that Manchester would be the venue.
Amidst the euphoria I now give, as a
sobering reminder of the difficulties facing Nigel in his future struggle with Kasparov, Timman's best win from the Candidates Final. In a sense, Timman's other two wins were lost by Nigel. On this occasion, Timman, with his back to the wall, fully earned his point.
Timman-Short: Candidates Final, El Escorial, Game 11, 1993; Queen's Gambit Declined.
1 d4 d5 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 cxd5 exd5 5 Bg5 c6 6 Qc2 Bel 7 e3 Nbd7 8 Bd3 Nh5 9 Bxe7 Qxe7 10 Nge2 Nb6 11 0-0-0 g6 12 Kbl Ng7 13 Ng3 Bd7 14 Rd 0-0-0 15 Na4 Nxa4 16 Qxa4 Kb8 17 Rc3 b6
18 Ra3 This variation may well re-emerge in the Kasparov-Short match, since it is a particular favourite of Kasparov with White and Nigel with Black; 18 Ba6 Ne6 19 Rhcl Rhe8 20 Qb3 Qd6 21 Nfl Ka8 with unclear play was Kasparov- Andersson, Reykjavik 1988. 18 . . . Be8 19 Qc2 Rc8 20 Rcl Bd7 21 Qd2 h5 22 Rb3 Ne6 23 Rbc3 h4 24 Ne2 Qd6 25 h3 Rhd8 26 Ngl g5 27 Nf3 f6 28 R3c2 Ng7 29 Kal Bf5 30 Nel Kb7 31 Rc3 Bxd3 32 Nxd3 Nf5 33 Qc2 Ne7 34 Qa4 Ka8 35 a3 Qd7 36 Nb4 Kb7 37 Rb3 c5 According to Karpov this move is 'seeing ghosts'. He claimed that 37 . . . Ka8 should draw. However, in that case White has the annoying plan of 38 Rbc3 followed by Na6 and b4 threatening b5. In that sense, Nigel's decision to sacrifice a pawn is quite understand- able. 38 Qxd7+ Rxd7 39 dxc5 d4 40 exd4 Rxd4 41 Nd3 Nd5 42 Kbl Re8 43 cxb6 axb6 44 a4 Ka7 45 a5 bxa5 46 Rc5 Nb4 47 Rxa5 + Kb6 48 Nxb4 Rxb4 49 Raa3 Rel + 50 Kc2 Re2+ 51 Kcl Kb5 52 Rxb4+ Kxh4 53 Rf3 Rel + 54 Kd2 Rgl 55 Keg Kc4 56 Rxf6 Rxg2 57 Kfl Rh2 58 Rf3 Rhl + 59
Position after 60 . . . Rxb2
Kg2 Rbl 60 Rf5 Rxb2 (Diagram) The adjourned position. Over the course of the following evening, Jonathan Speelman, Jonathan Mestel and Bob Wade (all working in England and communicating with Nigel by fax), unearthed some remarkable defensive resources. This analysis, combined with feedback from Nigel himself, nearly succeeded in saving what appeared to be a hopeless situation. The main point is that if Black can get his king back in front of the pawns, he has very good chances to draw, even though he will by then be two pawns down. It looks as though White should be able to prevent this by keeping the black king cut off with his rook but, in fact, matters are not so simple. 61 Kf3 Rbl! 62 RxgS Rfl! 63 Rf5 Rgl 64 Rh5 Rfl!! This is the key to Black's defence and is a very hard move to find, since it is instinctive- ly very difficult to place a rook on such a short file. 65 Rxh4+ Kd5 66 Rf4 Ke5 67 Kg2 Ral 68 Rf8 Ke6 The way Black can create trouble is by checking the king from in front of the pawn. In order to do this he must first disturb the white
Position after 75 Ra4
rook. 69 h4 Ke7 70 Rf4 Ra8 71 Kh3 Rh8 72 Kg4 Rg8+ 73 Kh5 Ke6 74 Kh6 Ke5 75 Ra4 (Diagram) This is where Timman finally diverged from the English camp's analysis. 75 . . . Rg2? The decisive mistake. Speelman claims that Black may still be able to draw with 75 . . Kf6! 76 13 Rg3 77 Re4+! This is probably what Nigel had overlooked. Now White decisively improves his rook. 77 . . . Kf5 78 Re8 Rg6+ 79 Kh7 Rf6 80 Kg7 Rg6+ 81 Kh7 Rf6 82 Re7 Ra6 83 Rf7+ Ke6 84 Kg7 Ral 85 Rf6+ Black resigns.
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