a ` ti Rd b e The U Itimate Islay Malt.
CHESS
Piket's strike
Raymond Keene
A SIGN of things to come is a recently concluded tournament held on Garry Kasparov's website. This was a knockout event featuring Kasparov himself (who spectacularly failed to win) plus a number of other leading grandmasters. The results were as follows.
Round One: Svidler beat de Firmian; Adams beat Gulko; Piket beat Seirawan; Van Wely beat Sokolov; Morozevich beat Milos; Kasparov beat Barua; Short beat Adianto; Deep Junior beat Illescas.
Round Two: Kasparov beat Van Wely; Svidler beat Short; Piket beat Morozevich; Adams beat Deep Junior by default.
Semi-Final: Kasparov beat Adams; Piket beat Svidler.
Final: Piket beat Kasparov.
This must have been a particularly galling result for the world champion, his first failure for some time. In the game which eliminated him he employed a well- known pawn sacrifice which is considered sufficient for equality. However, things gradually slid downhill and Piket tri- umphed in an endgame which would nor- mally be considered drawish.
Piket-Kasparov: Kasparov Chess Grand Prix 2000; English Opening 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c5 In the semi-final, Piket rapidly overwhelmed Svidler from a similar opening vari- ation: 2 ...g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 h4 Nf6 6 d4 Bg7 7 e4 0:0 8 Be2 c5 9 d5 e6 10 h5 Nxh5 11 g4 Nf6 12 Bg5 Qb6 13 Bxf6 Bxf6 14 Qd2 Bg7 15 0-0- Nd7 16 g5 c4 17 Rh2 Reg 18 d6 Rd8 19 Qf4 Qa5 and now for the conclusion see this week's puzzle. 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 g3 Ne6 6 Bg2 Nc7 Black would like to control the centre with ... e5 but that loses material to the cunning tactic NxeS. As a preliminary, Black must move his vulnerable units away from the central light squares. 7 d3 e5 8 0-0 Be7 9 Nd2 Bd7 Black must prevent Bxc6+, ruining his pawn structure. 10 Nc4 0-0 A well known pawn sacrifice. The alternative 10 ... f6 11 f4 cedes White a clear initiative. 11 Bxe6 Bxc6 12 NxeS Be8 For his pawn Black has freedom of action and the bishop pair. This position is usually regarded as level. 13 Qb3 Bf6 14 Ng4 Bd4 An ambitious idea whereby Kasparov seeks to improve on various games (e.g. Ribli—Chandler, Lugano 1985) where Black had tried 14 ... Bc6 and conformably held the draw. 15 e3 I see noth- ing particularly wrong with the further pawn grab 15 Qxb7 but Piket had clearly decided to adopt safety-first tactics having already pocketed one pawn. 15 ... Bxc3 16 Qxc3 b6 1713 With this move White begins to reconstruct his light square defences. 17 ... Bb5 18 Nf2 Qd7 19 e4 Ne6 20 Be3 a5 21 Radl Rat% 22 Rd2 Qc6 23 Re! Qb7 24 a3 Nd4 25 Kg2 Rc8 26 Rbl Rfd8 27 Bxd4 Rxd4 28 b4 By judicious consolidation and careful exchange, White is gradually beginning to make his extra material tell. Kasparov's vacilla- tion with his queen on moves 22 and 23 has not assisted his cause. 28 axb4 29 axb4 Qd7 30 bxc5 bxc5 31 Rbb2 h6 32 Ra2 Kh7 33 Ra5 Rd8 34 QxcS Bxd3 35 Rxd3 Rxd3 36 Nxd3 Qxd3 37 Ra2 Qb3 38 Qc2 This position ought to be a draw since all the pawns are on the same side of the board. There is not even a pressing need for Black to trade queens. He could, for example, stay active with 38 ... Qe3. 38 Qxc2+ 39 Rxc2 hS Although this ending ought to be a draw, it requires delicate handling. I believe that Black should save the move ... h5 until White himself has played h4. As played, Black unnecessarily weakens his pawn structure. 40 f4 g6 41 e5 Rd3 42 Kh3 Re3 43 Kh4 As a result of Black's unneces- sary pawn moves the white king has a free path to advance. 43 ...Kg7 Possibly a better defence is 43
Kh6 44 Rc7 Re2 45 h3 and now the clever 45
Re4 threatening ... g5 checkmate. After 46 Rc6 Black temporises with 46 ... Ra4 when it is difficult for White to break through. 44 Kg5 Rel 45 Rc7 Re2 46 Re7 Ra2 If 46 ... Rel 47 e6 Rxe6 48 Rxe6 fxe6 49 h3 Kf7 50 Kh6 when the king and pawn ending is a win for White. 47 f5 If instead 47 e6 Black can resist with 47 ... Ra5+ 47 ... [47415 48 e6 h4 49 11)&7+ Kg8 50 Kf6 Black resigns Ardbeg Malt Whisky Puzzle No. 18 White to play and win — first move only. Piket-Svidler, the game which enabled Jeroen Piket to qualify for the final. How does he force a decisive breakthrough?
Answers to me at The Spectator by Tuesday 7 March or via e-mail to vanessa@spectator.co.uk or by fax on 020 7242 0603. The winner will be the first cor- rect answer drawn out of a hat, and each week I shall be offering a prize of a bottle of Ardbeg Malt Whisky.
Last week's solution: Nxg6+
Last week's winner. Tim Watkin, London.
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