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SPAIN'S FINEST CAVA

SPAIN'S FINEST CAVA

Tale of two halves

Raymond Keene

THE GREAT MATCH between Kaspar- ov and Short is over. After a dubious start, in which Nigel played too impulsively and was also rocked back on his heels in the early games by the shock and force of the champion's brilliant strategy, the British representative has acquitted himself hon- ourably.

It is clear that Kasparov dominated the early games, but although Kasparov should have won Game 1 on the general run of play, how different it might have been if Nigel Short had not lost on time after he had recovered his poise from Kasparov's initial onslaught.

That said, the first part of the match was clearly Kasparov's. Indeed, the entire con- test divides neatly into two halves. Over the first ten games, Nigel played well but Kasparov played superlatively, investing every single decision with the immense dynamism and energy of which he is capable when operating at full power. During this phase, Nigel seemed incapable of scoring a direct hit, the nadir being Game 10, a brilliant performance by the English Grandmaster, involving a sacrifice of his queen, in which the win ultimately vanished through a grotesque series of time trouble blunders. Try as he might, during the first half Nigel also found it virtually impossible to survive as Black against the champion.

From Game 11 onwards all this changed. During the second half of the match, Nigel achieved an equal score, something no one else has done against Kasparov in match, play, apart from Anatoly Karpov. Short lost just one game, number 15, when his nerve gave way and he abandoned the centre in an inferior, yet tenable position, but in the very next game Short struck back decisively to score his victory.

The impression given by the final ten games was of a match between two equals. Short was clearly maturing by the minute, and perhaps the most remarkable thing about his play was the absolute absence of any feeling of demoralisation on his part. In the past, when suffering catastrophic match defeat against Fischer and Kaspar- ov, the psyches of such notables as Larsen, Taimanov, Petrosian and Miles have simp- ly collapsed. Short, in extremis, on the other hand demonstrated a will of iron over the final ten games.

It is worth remarking, that the pre-match ratings for the two would have been respectively 2815 for Kasparov and 2665 for Short. Short's actual performance rat- ing during the match was in fact, 2715, evidence that he over-achieved. Earlier this year I pointed out that Nigel Short's rating, based solely on qualifying matches, was close to 2718, and this final statistic backs up such an assertion.

Kasparov — Short: Times World Championship, London, Game 19; Ruy Lopez.

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 d6 The Steinitz Defence Deferred, not used by Short before in this match. In the latter half of the match, the strategy of ducking and weaving with his Black defences while, as White, hammering away against Karpov with Fischer's Bc4 against the Najdorf Sicilian, proved a most valuable one for Short. 5 Bxc6+ bxc6 6 d4 exd4 7 Qxd4 Nf6 8 0-0 Be7 9 e5 c5 10 Qd3 dxel5 ii Qxd8+ Bxd8 12 Nxe5 Be7 A further prominent feature of Short's defensive play in part two of the contest, was Short's willingness to accept shattered pawns, in exchange for active piece play. Interestingly, this opening is modelled on the game Smyslov- Botvinnik, World Championship Game 11, Moscow 1954. Here are the moves for purposes of comparison: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 d6 6 Bxc6+ bxe6 7 d4 exd4 8 Nxd4 c5 9 Nf3 Be7 10 Nc3 0-0 11 Rel Bb7 12 Bg5 h6 13 Bh4 Re8 14 e5 dxe5 15 Rxe5 Qxdl+ 16 Rxdl. 13 Re! 0-0 14 Bg5 Be6 15 Nd2 If 15 Nd7 Nxd7 16 Bxe7 Rfe8 17 Bg5 Bxa2! or 15 Ng4 Rab8 16 b3 Nxg4 17 Bxe7 Rfe8 18 Bxe5 Bx63! and Black is fine in both cases. 15 . . . Rfe8 16 h3 h6 17 Bh4 Rad8 18 Ndf3 g5 19 Bg3 Bd5 20 Radl Kg7 Even here the pawn raid may be possible, e.g. 20 . . Bxa2 21 b3 Rxdl 22 Rxdl 22 Rxdl Ne4. 21 c4 Bb7 22 Rxd8 Rxd8 Although this loses a pawn, it is in keeping with Short's strategy to play actively, when he has weakened pawns. The alternative is 22 . . Bxd8 23 Nd3, followed by a trade of rooks. This may be definsible, but it is no fun. 23 Nc6 Bxe6 24 Rxe7 Rdl + 25 Kla Ne4 Possible now is 26 Ne5, but Kasparov was clearly worried about counterplay generated by . . . Nd2 with the threat of. . . Nfl+. 26 Rxc7 Draw agreed Kasparov, somewhat surprisingly, offered a draw here. The position is probably in balance, but it would have been reassuring to see the crucial variations played out. For exam- ple after 26 . . . Bd7 27 Ra7 h5 28 Rxa6 h4 29 Be5+ f6 30 Nxg5 Nxg5 31 Bxf6Q Kg6 32 Be7+ Kh5 33 Bxe5 White would win, with his five pawns for a piece. The correct defencee, though difficult to see, is 26. . . Bd7 27 Ra7 h5 28 Rxa6 f6! 29 h4 g4 30 Ngl Nxg3 31 hig3 Rd2 32 Ra7 Kg6 33 Ne2 Rxe2 34 Rx117 when 34 . . . Rxb2 is a draw.

Short — Kasparov: Times World Championship, London, Game 20, Sicilian Defence.

1 e4 c5 2 N13 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bc4 e6 7 Bb3 b5 8 0-0 Be7 9 Qf3 Qc7 10 Qg3 0-0 11 Bh6 Ne8 12 Radl Bd7 13 a3 Varying from 13 Nf3 as played in game 18. 13 . . . Nc6 14 Nxc6 Bxc6 15 Bf4 Subtle strategy by Short. He eschews premature aggression based on 15 f4 and seeks instead to exert a measure of central dark square control. 15, . Qb7 16 Rfel a5 17 e5 Relinquishing any attempt to attack Black's pawn on d6, in exchange for freeing his pieces in the central zone. Kasparov now has to defend with great caution. 17 . . . dxe5 18 Bxe5 Bf6 19 Rd4 Rd8 19. . . Bxe5 20 Rxe5 b4 21 axb4 axb4 22 Na2 Rxa2 23 Bxa2 Qa7 is an amusing trap, but instead White recaptures with his queen on e5 on move 20, when his pieces dominate the board. 20 Rxd8 Bxd8 21 Ne2 a4 22 Ba2 b4 23

Position after 25. . . Nf6

axb4 Qxb4 24 Bc.3 Qb7 25 Nd4 Nf6 (Diagram) This is the crucial moment of the game. Short had to calculate various promising sacrificial ideas at this point, though sadly none of theta seemed to work. For example 26 Rxe6 fxe6 27 Nxe6 Qf7 28 Nxg7 Qxa2 29 Nf5+ Kf7 30 0g7+ Ke6 31 Nd4+ Kd5 when Black's king is safe and 32 Qxf8 fails to 32 . . Qbl+. Alternatively 26 Rxe6 fxe6 27 Nxe6 Bd5 28 Bxd5 Nxd5 29 Bxg7 Bh4, a deft defensive counter-stroke pointed out by Nigel Short after the game. Finally 26 Bxe6 fxe6 27 Nxe6 Qd7 28 Nxf8 Qxf8 when, however, the position is no more than level. 26 Nxc6 Qxc6 27 Rdl Be7 28 1i3 Ra8 29 Rd4 Ne8 30 Qd3 Bf6 31 Rc4 Qa6 32 Bxf6 Nxf6 33 Qd2 h6 34 Rd4 Qb6 35 ,c3 a3 36 bxa3 When playing th8si .move Nigel offered a draw which Kasparov accepted, thus wrapping up the match. Spectators were dis- appointed that White did not try the trap 36 b4 Nd5 37 c4 Nxb4 38 c5 Qxc5 39 Rxb4 when White can press for a win with his extra piece, though it is still very difficult to achieve anything with Black's powerful passed pawn on a3. Neverthe- less, a more rational defence for Black is 36 b4 Rb8 37 Qc1 Qa7, when it is next to impossible to push forward White's passed pawns on the queen's flank. As Short commented after the game, he did not relish playing on in a double- edged middlegame, when Kasparov had a giant passed pawn lodged on such an advanced square.

So ends the greatest chess extravaganza that London, indeed, the entire United Kingdom, has ever seen. For two months, with an avalanche of press coverage, wall- to-wall television on Channel Four and BBC2 (both of which featured a powerful Spectator element in the shape of myself and Dominic Lawson) and a promised deluge of books on the event (Batsford, Macmillan, Cadogan, BBC, Hodder and Stoughton) the country has literally gone 'chess crazy'. We may never see the like in our lifetime again.

Match Score First half 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 TIl

Kasparov 1 1/2

1 1 1/2 1/2 1 1/2 1½ 71/2 Short 0½ 00 1/2 1/2 0½ 0½ 21/2

Second half

11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20

Ttl

Kasparov½½½½l 0½½½½

Short 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 I 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 Final score: Kasparov 121/2 Short 71/2 5 5