CHESS
Fisherman's tale
Raymond Keene
Although Jon Speelman set the field ablaze in the first few rounds of the Brussels World Cup, his challenge faded towards the middle and it was John Nunn Who produced the tremendous English success. The Doctor, as he is widely known, began slowly but, a key point in tournaments of this strength, he avoided loss for round after round. In the home straight he turned into a killing machine, disposing of Sax, Tal and Beliavsky in rapid succession.
Sadly, Nunn was to lose his only game in the final round when a loss to Ljubojevic deprived him of a share of second prize. Still, shared third place in this company is extremely impressive and entails not just a gain of 15 rating points, but also a purse of $10,000.
The final scores were: Karpov 11; Salov 10; Ljubojevic, Nunn and Beliavsky 91/2; Andersson and Portisch 9; Speelman 81/2; Sokolov 8; Tal, Nikolic, Timman and Seirawan 71/2; Nogueiras 7; Korchnoi 61/2; Sax 6; Winants 21/2.
Karpov's result was superlative. Even his draw in the last round against Anders- son was a great struggle in which Karpov came very close to winning, though a quick draw would have been quite sufficient to ensure his undivided first prize.
This week's game is one of those that got away. Had Nunn won he might well have kept pace with Karpov. Nunn — Korchnoi: Sicilian Defence. 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bc4 e6 7 Be3 Be7 8 Qe2 Nxd4 This exchange constitutes an unusual method of playing against White's chosen line, known as the Velimirovic Attack. More normal moves are 8. . . Qc7 or 8 . . . 0-0. 9 Bxd4 Bd7 10 0-0-0 Qa5 11 Nb5 0-0 A natural move but one which proves extremely dangerous. A superior alternative, suggested by Korchnoi after the game, is 11 . . . Bxb5 12 Bxb5+ Kf8 when Black threatens. . . a6 or. . . Qxa2 or even. . . Nxe4. However, not everyone would care to forfeit castling when facing an attacking demon like John Nunn. 12 Nxd6 Bc6 If 12 . . . Bxd6 White has the pleasant choice between 13 e5 or 13 Bxf6 Bf4+ 14 Kb! gxf6 15 Rxd7. 13 e5 Nd5 14 Bb3 b5 15 Rh!! Qc7 16 f4 White surrenders material in the interests of starting an attack. This is probably better than 16 Nxb5 Nf4 17 Nxc7 Nxe2+ 18 Kbl Nxd4 19 Rxd4 Rab8 when in spite of White's two extra pawns his position lacks coordination. 16 . . . Bxd6 17 exd6 Qxd6 18 f5 Qxh2 Suddenly Korchnoi is a pawn ahead though he has to face fearsome pressure from White's raking bishops. Incidentally, one has to admire the sheer guts of Korchnoi's decision to grab what looks like a very hot pawn on h2. 19 Kbl Rfe8 20 f6 g6 White's pawn on f6 now provides the prere- quisite for a mating attack based on the g7 sqare and the 'h' file. Unfortunately, Nunn now misses the most effectiVe path which is 21 0d2 with the brutal threat of Rh1; for example, 21 Qd2 Rad8 22 Bxd5 Rxd5 23 Rh! Rxd4 24 Qxd4 and White wins. 21 Be5 Qh5 22 Qxh5? White's next move looks murderous but amazingly Korchnoi suc- ceeds in defending his shattered king's position after the exchange of queens. Correct and still winning is 22 0d2 Qxe5 23 Bxd5 to be followed by 0h6. 22 . . . gxh5 23 Rd3 Rad8 24 Rg3+ Kh8 25 Rg7 Rd7 26 Rhl Ne3 27 a4 bxa4 White's 27th move was intended to make room for his king against back rank mates, but the same goal could have been achieved by the more prudent 27 a3. As the game proceeds White's error costs him his light-squared bishop. 28 Rxh5 Rdl + 29 Ka2 axb3 30 cxb3 Be4 31 Rxf7 This move contains the very neat trap 32 Rf8+ Rxf8 33 17 discovered checkmate. Korchnoi naturally sees through this devilish trick. 31 . . . Kg8 32 Rc7 Kf8 33 Rg5 Bbl+ 34 Ka3 Bg6 35 b4 Rd5 36 Bf4 Rxg5 37 Bxg5 Ng4 38 Rxa7 e5 39 b5 A piece ahead but in desperate time trouble. Korchnoi is now the one who throws away the win. Intent on pushing his own passed pawn Korchnoi forgets that White's 'b' pawn can also become danger- ous. The right move is 39 . . . Rb8. Instead Korchnoi played 39 . . . e4? 40 b6 e3 41 b7? A typical time trouble error committed ironically one move after the time control. Probably John Nunn did not realise that he had already made the necessary 40 moves. 41 . . . Be4? Incredible. Korchnoi throws the game back again. The Obvious course is to carry on pushing his own passed pawn now that it has advanced so far. Hence, 41 . . . e2 42 Bd2 Nxf6 followed by . . . Nd7 defending b8 wins easily. 42 Ra4 The threat is 43 Rxe4 so White, miraculously, regains his piece. 42. . . Bxb7 43 Rxg4 e2 44 Bh6+ Kf7 45 Bd2 Kxf6 Draw agreed. A game full of mistakes but typical of the acute tactical complexities of modern top level chess.
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