CHESS
Gladiators
Raymond Keene
he annual tournament in Linares (Andalucia, Southern Spain) is one of the highlights in the calendar. The line-up is always impressive and the tally of decisive games, considering the exalted level of the competitors, is always surprisingly high. This year, the tournament was category 16 on the World Chess Foundation scale. Conventional wisdom would indicate that this would betoken a margin of drawn games considerably in excess of 50 per cent. In fact, the quota of draws has been minimal. The secret lies in an ingenious incentive scheme devised by the chief organiser, Senor Luis Rentero, who has the habit of offering substantial financial rewards for players whose games last lon- ger than 40 moves. In some cases Rentero offers ad hoc prizes for decisive games against a particular opponent, e.g. Kaspar- ov. The effect in virtually eliminating drawn games has been dramatic. Rentero reminds me of a Roman emperor, promis- ing largesse to his favourite gladiators if they can dispatch their opponents with more than usually bloodthirsty effects.
As I write, Kasparov shares the lead with the young Soviet star Gelfand, with Salov hot on their heels.
Beliavsky-Short: Nitrizo-Indian Defence.
1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 13 A combative system which turned out to be extremely popu- lar at Linares. 4 . . . d5 In a later round Gelfand-Short continued 4 . . . c5 5 d5 b5 6 e4 bxc4 7 Bxc4 exd5 8 Bxd5 Nxd5 9 Qxd5 when White had greater control of the centre. 5 a3 Bxc3+ The classical approach. The alternative is 5. . . Be7 6 e4 when Kasparov-Ljubojevic, from Linares, went 6 . . . dxc4 7 Bxe4 c5 8 dxc5 Qxdl + 9 Kxdl Bxc5 with an eventual draw while Beliavsky-Spassky, from the same round, varied from the above with 6. . . c5 7 cxd5 exd5 8 e5 N1d7 9 Nxd5 cxd4 10 Nxe7 Qxe7 when White tried the promising gambit 11 f4 f6 12 Nf3 fxe5 13 Bc4. 6 bxc3 b6 7 exd5 exd5 8 e3 0-09 8d3 c5 10 Ne2 Ba6 11 0-0 Re8 12 Ng3 Qc8 13 Bxa6 Nxa6 14 Qd3 Qb7 15 Ra2 This formation is known from a famous game between Botvinnik and Capablanca played in Holland in 1938. It has been accepted since then that White has the advantage since he can force through the central advance e4. Over the next few moves Nigel defends ingeniously to prevent this thrust for as long as possible. 15. . . Re6 16 Re2 Rae8 17 Rfel h5 18 Qf5 g6 19 Qf4 Qd7 20 Bh2 cxd4 21 cxd4 Rc6 22 e4 At last it comes but Black has had time to organise his defences. In particular the latent pressure against White's pawn on d4 has obliged White's bishop to assume a defensive posture. 22 . . . Nc7 23 Nfl a5 24 h3 Kg7 25 g4 hxg4 26 Position after 29. . . Ng8.
hxg4 Ne6 27 Qe3 Rh8 28 Ng3 Kf8 29 e5 Ng8 (Diagram) White still has the advantage but he must proceed with caution. There is much to be said for 30 Rd l to eliminate one of Black's most active pieces or even the sharper 30 a4 permit- ting 30 . . . Rc4 in the interests of allowing Ba3+ . The move chosen by White is actually a severe error since Black's forceful reply leaves the white `g' pawn without adequate defence. 30 f4 Ng7! 31 QM Nh6 32 Rh2 48 33 f5 gxf5 34 g5 Ng4 35 Rxh8+ Kxh8 36 Ne2 Rc2 37 Qb3 Qc6 38 Bc3 Ne3 39 Kf2 f4 40 Rhl + Kg8 41 Rh6 Qc8 White resigns There is no defence to the threat of . . Qg4 and if 42 Qxb6 then 42 . . . Rxe2+ 43 Kace2 Qg4+ ultimately leads to checkmate.
Ivanchuk – Kasparov: Sicilian Defence.
1 e4 c5 2 NO d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bg5 e6 7 f4 Qb6 S Qd2 Qxb2 The Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian. It was a favourite of Bobby Fischer and one of the most cut-throat variations available. Many erudite volumes have been devoted to its complexities. 9 Rbl Qa3 10 f5 Nc6 11 fxe6 fxe6 12 Nxc6 bxc6 13 Be2 Be7 14 0-0 0-0 15 Rb3 Qc5+ 16 Be3 Qe5 17 Bf4 Qc5+ 18 Khl 18 Be3 would lead to a draw by repetition. This would however have been quite contrary to the Linares fighting spirit and would also have been an admission that White's opening play lacked bite. 18. . . Ng4 19 h3 If 19 Bxg4 then 19. . e5 regains the piece in view of the 'f' file pin. 19 . . . e5 20 Na4 Qa7 21 8c4+ Kh8 22 hxg4 exf4 23 Nb6 d.5! Believe it or not, this is Kasparov's improvement on a previous game (Spraggett-Sokolov, Candidates match, St. John 1988) where Black had played 23 . . • Rb8 and went on to lose. 24 exd5 cxd5 25 Bxd5 Rb8 26 Nxc8 Rbxc8 27 Rh3 Qb6 28 Rel Bg5 29 Re6 Qd8 30 c4 Rb8 31 Qd3 Bh4 32 Be4 Qg5 33 Position after 34. . .
Bxh7 It is difficult to say whose king is the more exposed. 33. . . Rfd8 34 Qc2 13 (Diagram) This thrust, by ensuring the penetration of Black's rook to d2, gains material. 35 Rx13 Rd2 36 Qe4 If 36 Qf5 Rdl + 37 Kh2 Oct with a devastating attack. 36 . . . Rdl+ 37 Kh2 Eel This wins a bishop. If now Black tries to execute the same attack as in the previous note by means of 37
. . Qc1 then 38 Re8+ Rxe8 39 Qxe8+ may well give perpetual check. 38 Qf5 Rxe6 39 Qxe6 Kidt7 40 Qe4+ g6 41 Rh3 The last chance would be 41 Rf7+ though it is by no means clear that this would save the game. After the text, though, Black can swiftly evade the checks and White has to recognise that the game is up. 41 . . . Kg7 42 Qd4+ Kg8 43 Qe4 Qf6 White resigns An extraordinarily difficult game.
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