CHESS

Dutch courage

Raymond Keene

Jan Timman put up a brave fight against Anatoly Karpov in the final of the qual- ifying series to decide who will meet Kasparov for the world title later this year. Sadly, though, for those who wanted to see some variation in the seemingly intermin- able K—K struggle for global supremacy Timman was outclassed in every depart- ment. As could be seen from the hopeless tangle of his preparation from game one (see Spectator, 17 March) Timman's open- ings were clearly inadequate at such a level. In middle game complications, as we shall observe in the two games which follow, the Dutchman kept missing his way, while in game four he even lost after he had achieved a favourable endgame. Karpov was hardly stretched at all and I am sure that he has revealed none of the secrets which he would prefer to keep back for his decider against Kasparov.

Candidates Final, Kuala Lumpur Total Karpov 1 1/2 1/2 1

1/2 1/2 1/2

1 1 61/2 Timman 0t/ 1/2 0

1/2 1/2 1/2

0

0 21/2

Timman — Karpov: Candidates Final; Ruy Lopez.

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Rel b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 Bb7 10 d4 Re8 11 Nbd2 Bf8 12 a4 Qd7 Karpov played 12 . . . h6 in games one and five of the present match. 13 axb5 axb5 14 RxaS Bxa8 Here Black must avoid a diabolical trap. Ivanchuk — Portisch from Linares continued with the apparently natural

14 . . . Rxa8 but after 15 Ng5 Nd8 16 Ndf3 c5 17 dxe5 dxe5 18 Qxd7 Nxd7 White won a vital pawn with 19 Nxf7 since 19 . . . Nxf7 fails to the Interpolation 20 Be6! followed by Nxe5 or Ng5.

15 d5 Ne7 The fifth game of the 1985 world championship match between Kasparov and Karpov went 15 . . . Na5 16 Bat c6. 16 Nfl h6 17 Ng3 c6 18 dxc6 Bxc6 19 Nh2 d5 20 Nh5 Nxe4 21 Ng4 Qf5 (Diagram). At this crucial moment

Position after 21 . . . Qf5 Timman misses a likely win. He has to grasp the nettle with 22 Rxe4 Qxe4 23 Nhf6+ gxf6 24 Nxfb+ forking Black's king and queen. The best defence resides in 22 . . . dxe4 23 Ng3 Qc8 but after 24 Nxe5 it is doubtful whether Black can survive the attack, e.g. 24 . . . Rd8 25 Qh5 or 24 . . . Kh7 25 Nxf7 Ng8 26 Qh5 Nf6 27 Qh4 with numerous threats including Bxh6, and if 27 . . . Bd5 28 Bxd5 and Nxe4. Alternatively,

25 . . . Qd7 26 Qh5 Bd5 27 Ne5 Qd8 28 Bxd5 Nxd5 29 Bxh6 Rxe5 30 Bg5+ Kg8 31 Bxd8 Rxh5 32 Nxh5 wins, or 25 . . . Nf5 26 Ng5+ hxg5 27 NxfS g6 28 Nd6 Bxd6 29 Qxd6 Qd7 30 Qc5 with excellent chances for White. 22 f3? Nxc3 23 bxc3 QxhS 24 RxeS Qh4 25 Be3 Ng6 Most of White's pressure has evaporated and he must now fight for the draw. 26 Bf2 Qd8 27 Rxe8 Qxe8 28 Bxd5 h5 28 . . . Nf4! might win for Black. 29 Ne3 Nf4 30 Bxc6 Qxc6 31 Bg3 Ne6 32 Nd5 Qc4 33 Qd2 Qb3 34 Kh2 Qbl 35 Qel Qxel 36 Bxel Bd6+ 37

Bg3 Bc5 38 Bel Kf8 39 g4 hxg4 40 fxg4 Ke8 41 Kg2 Kd7 42 Bg3 Kc6 43 Nb4+ Bxb4 Draw agreed.

Karpov — Timman: Candidates Final; Queen's Indian Defence.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Ba6 5 b3 d5 6 Bg2 dxc4 7 Ne5 Bb4+ 8 Kfl Nfd7 9 Nxc4 Karpov serenely sidesteps what must have been intense preparation by Timman's team. Instead of this quiet recapture White could seize the gauntlet with 9 Bxa8 Nxe5 or 9 Nxd7 Nxd7 10 Bxa8 Qxa8 but in both cases Black has clear compensation for the loss of the exchange. 9 . . . c6 10 Bb2 0-0 11 Nbd2 b5 12 Ne3 Bbl 13 Qc2 Qb6 14 NO N16 15 Ne5 Bel 16 N3g4 Nxg4 17 Nxg4 Nd7 18 BO RacS 19 Rdl a5 Commencing a misguided plan. Black should forget the queen side and strike out on the opposite wing with 19 . . . f5. 20 Qe4 Rc7 21 Kg2 With time trouble approaching (half an hour for each player for the last twenty moves) Timman simply loses his nerve. The coming pawn sacrifice is quite unnecessary, indeed it actually improves White's position. 21 . . . a4 22 bxa4 Ra8 23 axb5 cxb5 24 Qbl Bxf3+ 25 exf3 h5 The following wild lunges with the 'h' pawn are evidence that Timman has lost control. 26 Ne3 h4 27 d5 Bc5 28 Rhel e5 29 Ng4 Rca7 30 Nxe5 Nxe5 31 RxeS Rxa2 32 d6 h3+ 33 Kxh3 Bxd6 34 Rh5 This spells the end. Timman has no defence against the devastation of his kingside pawns. 34 . . . Qxf2 35 Qh7+ Kf8 36 Qxg7+ Ke8 37 Rh8+ Kd7 38 Qxf7+ Black resigns.

Commencing Thursday 12 April for seven consecutive weeks Thames TV will be screening, late night, the Infolink Euro- pean Speed Chess Championship. Garry Kasparov, Jon Speelman, Michael Adams, Jan Timman, Zsofia Polgar, Johann Hjar- tarson, Miguel Illescas and 16-year-old Joel Lautier, who has just qualified as the world's youngest grandmaster, will all be discussing their games.