CHESS

Milk shake

Raymond Keene

AS HINDUS across the planet celebrated the miracle of the milk-sipping statues of their gods, Garry Kasparov in New York was feeling both shaken and stirred by Vishy Anand's sudden onslaught in game nine. A Hindu of the Brahmin caste, Anand had worn down Kasparov's patience with a world record-breaking series of eight consecutive draws at the start of the match. This tension appeared to leave Anand rela- tively unaffected. For Kasparov, on the other hand, accustomed to frequent victory in his games, the frustration was becoming unbearable. Nevertheless, at this moment of crisis, when his title may have hung in the balance, Kasparov struck back immedi- ately to win game ten in brilliant style, thus leaving the score tied at the halfway stage.

We left the match last week after game five. In game six, a sharp line of the Ruy Lopez led to an obscure endgame in which Kasparov had the advantage of rook for knight, while Anand had sought compensa- tion in a phalanx of passed pawns on the queen's flank. No one could understand the draw when it came, but my current view is that if anyone stood better, it was Anand, whose knight and pawns outweighed White's rook.

Kasparov—Anand: Intel World Champion- ship, 1995, Game 6; Ruy Lopez.

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Nxe4 6 d4 b5 7 Bb3 d5 8 dxe5 Be6 9 Nbd2 Nc5 10 c3 d4 11 Ng5 dxc3 12 bxc3 Qd3 13 Nxe6 fxe6 14 Nf3 0-0-0 15 Qel Nxb3 16 axb3 Kb7 17 Be3 Be7 18 Bg5 h6 19 Bxe7 Nxe7 20 Nd4 Rxd4 21 cxd4 Qxb3 22 Qe3 Qxe3 23 fxe3 Nd5 24 K12 Kb6 25 Ke2 a5 26 Rf7 a4 27 Kd2 c5 28 e4 Draw agreed.

Game seven was a non-event, yet fitted in quite well with Anand's policy of stretch- ing the champion's patience.

Anand—Kasparov: Game 7; Sicilian Defence.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be2 e6 7 0-0 Be7 8 a4 Nc6 9 Be3 0.0 10 f4 Qc7 11 Khl Re8 12 Bd3 Nb4 13 a5 Bd7 14 N13 Rac8 15 Bb6 Qb8 16 e5 dxe5 17 fxe5 Nfd5 18 Nxd5 exd5 19 Rel h6 20 c3 Nxd3 21 Qxd3 Bc5 22 QxdS Be6 23 Qd2 Bxb6 24 axb6 Rc6 25 Ra4 Rxb6 Draw.

Kasparov—Anand: Game 8; Scotch Opening.

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nxe6 bxc6 6 e5 Qe7 7 Qe2 Nd5 8 c4 Ba6 9 b3 g5 An amazing move, designed to inhibit f4, which cements White's centre. 10 Ba3 d6 11 exd6 This commits White to a sacrifice of his rook on al. 11 ...Qxe2+ 12 Bxe2 Bg7 Trapping the rook, but White's centre pawns become dangerous. 13 cxd5 Bxe2 14 Kxe2 Bxal 15 Rd 0.0-0 Black's king's rook speeds into the fray and causes White all sorts of problems. 16 Rxc6 Rhe8+ (Diagram) Faced with this annoying check Kasparov now spent 37 minutes. Jon Speelman, watching the game, said: `Kasparov is in pain.' Throughout the whole game, especially when Black played 9 ...g5, Kasparov, who at the best of times has difficulty in suppressing his emo- tions, had been giving an Olympic gold medal- winning display of squirming and grimacing. One eyewitness described Kasparov's reaction to Black's 9th move as 'a contortion I would have Position after 16 . . . Rhe8+

believed beyond the capacities of the human facial muscles'. 17 Kd3 Rd7 18 Nc3 Bxc3 19 Kxc3 Re5 A subtle idea which forces White to acquiesce in a draw. The immediate 19 ... Re2 fails to 20 Bc5 Rxa2 21 b4 Kb7 22 dxc7 Rxc7 23 Rf6 followed by d6. 20 Kc4 Instead 20 Kd4 would allow 20 ...Re2, when White's kingside pawns are indefensible since 21 Bc5 is no longer available to defend them. 20 ...Re4+ 21 Kd3 Re5 22 Kc4 This sets a trap, namely 22 ...Kb7 23 dxc7 Rxc7 24 Bd6 Rxc6+ 25 dxc6+ Kxc6 26 BxeS winning. However, rather than fall into it, Black forces the draw. 22 ... Re4+ Draw agreed.

In game nine, Anand's Fabian tactics paid off and the Chinese water torture of draws was broken with a brisk win.

Anand—Kasparov: Game 9; Sicilian Defence.

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be2 e6 7 0-0 Be7 8 a4 Nc6 9 Be3 0-0 10 f4 Qc7 11 Khl Re8 12 Bf3 A slight variation from his earli- er White games. In game one he chose 12 Qd2 while 12 Bd3 was his move in games three, five and seven. 12 ...11(17 13 Nb3 Na5 14 Nxa5 Qxa5 15 Qd3 Rad8 16 Rfdl Bc6 17 b4 A striking move, driving back the black queen, but also exposing White slightly down the 'c' file. Black cannot, of course, capture with 17 ... Qxb4 18 Rdbl. Qa5 19 Bb6. 17 ... Qc7 18 b5 Bd7 19 Rabl A logical and forceful move which, surprisingly, is also an innovation. White evidently wishes to augment his pressure in the 'b' file and this seems to be the way to do it. In contrast, the known move 19 Ne2 seems to have nothing to do with the posi- tion. 19 ... axb5 If Black tries to crudely empha- sise his counterplay in the 'c' file with 19 ... Rc8 20 Rb3 Qc4 then 21 Qxc4 Rxc4 22 e5 shreds Black's position. 20 NxbS BxbS The alternative is 20 ... Qa5 but after the game Anand gave this variation: 21 Nxd6 Bxa4 22 Bb6 Rxd6 23 Bxa5 Rxd3 24 cxd3 Bxdl 25 Rxdl with the better end- ing for White. In view of that, Black's 20th move cannot be criticised. 21 Qxb5 Ra8 22 c4 e5 From now on White's bishop on f3 is beginning to look powerless, tied as it is to the defence of the pawn on e4. The next, and crucial, segment of the game revolves around Anand's attempts to res- urrect his light-squared bishop. 23 Bb6 Qc8 24 fxe5 dxe5 25 a5 Bf8 26 h3 Qe6 27 Rd5 (Diagram) Amazingly, this is actually a defensive move.

Black is threatening Rac8 followed by ... Qc6 with full consolidation. The text keeps White's chances alive by threatening to double rooks in the 'd' file as well as tying Black to the defence of his own pawn on c5. When making this move

Position after 27 Rd5

Anand hardly considered that Kasparov would accept the sacrifice, yet accept he did. 27 ...Nxd5? Anand pinpointed this as 'the losing move'. The world champion spent a mere seven minutes over this fateful decision, after which White's king's bishop is permitted to re-enter the fray with a vengeance. Anand said that Black should have played passively with 27 ...Rac8, when, according to the challenger, White is only 'slightly better'. After the immediate capture, Kasparov is swiftly overrun. 28 exd5 Qg6 29 c5 e4 30 Be2 Re5 31 Qd7 Rg5 32 Rgl e3 33 d6 Rg3 34 Qxb7 Qe6 35 Kh2 Black resigns.

Game ten revealed Kasparov's two main strengths: profound openings preparation combined with an almost mystical feel for the initiative.

Kasparov—Anand: Game 10; Ruy Lopez.

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Nxe4 6 d4 b5 7 Bb3 d5 8 dxe5 Be6 9 Nbd2 Nc5 10 c3 d4 11 Ng5 dxc3 12 Nxe6 fxe6 13 bxc3 Qd3 14 Bc2 Qxc3 15 Nb3 This move offers a rook, and it clearly shocked Anand, who now used up 45 minutes of his two hours' thinking time. 15 ... Nxb3 16 Bxb3 (Diagram) This is the crucial posi- Position after 16 Bxb3

tion. Can Black snatch the rook? After the game Kasparov showed these brilliant variations: (a) 16 ... Qxal 17 Qh5+ Kd7 18 Bxe6+ Kxe6 19 Qg4+ Kf7 20 Qf3+ Ke6 21 Qxc6+ Bd6 22 exd6 Qe5 23 Bd2. In this position Black's king is so exposed that Rel is a threat he cannot success- fully parry; (b) 16 ... Qxal 17 Qh5+ g6 18 Qf3 Nd8. Most players would now be happy with 19 Qxa8, clearly granting a serious initiative to White, but Kasparov preferred in his analysis the more precise 19 Qf6 Rg8 20 Bg5 Qd4 21 Rdl and White wins.

16 ... Nd4 17 Qg4 Qxal 18 Bxe6 Rd8 19 Bh6 Qc3 20 Bxg7 Qd3 21 Bxh8 Qg6 22 Bf6 Be7 23 Bxe7 Qxg4 24 Bxg4 Kxe7 25 Rcl c6 26 f4 a5 27 K12 a4 28 Ke3 b4 29 Bdl a3 30 g4 Rd5 31 Rc4 c5 32 Ke4 Rd8 33 RxcS Ne6 34 Rd5 Rc8 35 f5 Rc4+ 36 Ke3 Nc5 37 g5 Rcl 38 Rd6 Black resigns.