CHESS
Royal game
Raymond Keene
ONE of the great opening highways of the 19th century was the King's Gambit, the Romantic opening par excellence. White sacrifices a pawn on move two and com- promises the safety of his king. In return, though, White swiftly focuses his attack on the vulnerable square f7, the only point in the black camp defended solely by the king.
As chess science advanced, the King's Gambit fell into disuse. Although Spassky, Fischer and recently Nigel Short have risked it, it was hardly meat and drink to great technicians such as Botvinnik, Smyslov and Karpov, or even for the mod- em Romantics such as Kasparov. However, a new book, The King's Gambit, by Neil McDonald (Batsford, £14.99), shows what a dangerous shock weapon the venerable King's Gambit can still be. What it lacks in objective soundness, it makes up for in psy- chological terror. In this week's game grandmaster Michael Adams, co-British champion and gold medallist in the Mind Sports Olympiad, succumbs to the gambit's tactical power.
Fedorov—Adams: European Team Challenge, Pula 1997; King's Gambit.
1 e4 e5 2 f4 exf4 3 Nf3 g5 4 d4 This is known as the Rosentreter Gambit. White commits, with this move, to sacrificing material. 4 ...g4 5 Bxf4!? The alternative was 5 Ne5 Qh4+ 6 g3 fxg3 7 Qxg4 Qxg4!, when after 8 Nxg4 d5 9 Ne3 dxe4 10 hxg3 Nc6 11 Bb5 Bd7 White has some compensation for the pawn, since Black's struc- ture on the kingside is dislocated. 5 gxf3 6 Qxf3 d6?! Critical is 6 ...d5! 7 exd5 Nf6 8 Bb5+ c6 9 Be5 Bg7 10 dxc6 bxc6 11 Bxc6+ Nxc6 12 Qxc6+ Bd7 13 Qf3 0-0 14 0-0 Ne8. Play could continue 15 Bxg7 Nxg7 16 c3 Qb6, when in the middlegame the black bishop could prove more valuable than the three white pawns. 7 Ne3 Nc6 8 Bc4 White is planning 0-0 to start an attack aimed principally at f7, so Adams forces the
exchange of queens. If 8 Nxd4 9 Bxf7+ Kxf7 10 Qh5+ Kg7 11 0-0-0, attacking the knight,
with the idea of 12 Rd3. Then 11 Ne6? 12 Be5+ would be awkward for Black, while 11 ...Nc6 12 e5! keeps up the initiative. 8 ...Qh4+!? 9 Bg3 Qf6 10 Qxf6 Nxf6 11 0-0 Nxd4? Despite the exchange of queens, White still maintains a dangerous initiative. Black therefore returns the piece and submits to a worse endgame. The critical variation, though, is 11 ...Be7 12 e5 dxe5 13 dxe5 Na5!. The point then is that 14 exf6 is answered by 14 ... Bc5+ ! and then 15 ...Nxc4. White can maintain the pressure with 14 Bxf7+ Kxf7 15 Ne4, but the position is by no means clear. 12 Rxf6 Be6 13 Bd3? Of course he avoids strengthening Black's pawn structure with 13 Bxe6? fxe6. However, according to Fedorov 13 Nd5 was better, when White has a clear advantage after 13 ...0-0-0 14 c3 Nc6 15 Rafl. 13 ...Bg7 14 Rffl Nc6 15 Nd5 0- 0-0 Black could have equalised with 15 ...Bxb2l, e.g. 16 Nxc7+ Kd7 17 Nxa8 Bxal 18 Nb6+ axb6 19 Rxal. 16 c3 h5 17 Bh4! (Diagram) This fixes the h-pawn on a vulnerable square and eyes f6. It is now apparent that White has a clear advan- tage. The black f7- and h5-pawns are split and exposed and the weakness of the f6-square is more important than White's own hole on e5. 17 ...Rde8 18 Bc2 Be5 Although e5 is a good square for any black piece, 18 ... Ne5 would have been more natural, planning ...c7-c6. Instead Adams intends to utilise the g-file for his rooks, which only leads to a further worsening of his chances. 19 RC Rhg8 20 g3 Rg4 21 Ne3 Rg7 22 Nf5 Rh7 23 a3 a6 24 Rdl b5 A bid for counter- play on the queenside. 25 Nd4 Na5 26 a4 c5 27 NE3 Kc7 28 axb5 axb5 29 Bd3 Nc4 30 Ral Rb8 31 Ra7+ Rb7 32 Rxb7+ Kxb7 33 b3 Na5 34 NxeS White adds the two bishops to his other positional advantages. The e5-pawn will be fatal- ly weak. 34 ... dxe5 35 Bxb5 Nxb3 36 Bf6 c4 37 BxeS h4 38 Be8 h3 39 Rf4 Rh5 40 Bg7 Nc5 41 Bxf7 Rh7 42 Bd4 Rxf7 43 Bxc5 Kc6 44 Rxf7 Bxf7 Position after 44 . Bxf7 (Diagram) Black has defended tenaciously and forced play into an opposite-coloured bishop endgame. However, White now wins with some accurate play. 45 Bd4 Bg6 46 e5 Kd5 47 Kf2 Ke4 48 e6 Kd5 49 e7 Ke6 50 Bc5 Kd5 51 Bb4 Ke4 52 Ba5! Bf7 53 Bc7 Now all is ready to advance the g-pawn. Black's blockade crumbles. 53 ...Kd3 54 g4 Kxc3 55 Ke3 Kb4 56 Kd4 Kb5 57 Key Kc6 58 Kf6 Be8 59 Be5 Black resigns The g-pawn marches through. Even if Black could somehow take the e- and g-pawns for his bishop, White would ultimately win with the bishop and 'right'
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