CHESS
Alekhinesque
Raymond Keene
Kasparov has equalised the match by obliterating Karpov in a game played in the style of Kasparov's hero, Alekhine: Kasparov — Karpov: Game 11, 1 October; Nimzo-Indian Defence. 1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Nf3 0-0 5 Bg5 c5 6 e3 exd4 7 exd4 h6 8 Bh4 d5 9 Rd dxc4 10 Bxc4 Nc6 11 0-0 Be7 12 Rel b6 13 a3 Bb7 14 Bg3 Rc8 15 Bat Bd6 16 d5 NxdS 17 NxdS Bxg3 18 hxg3 exd5 19 BxdS Qf6 White has more freedom of action, but can he win? 20 Qa4 RfdS 21 MI Rd7 22 Qg4 Rcd8? 23 Qxd7!! Rxd7 24 Re8+ Kh7 25 Be4+ Black resigns (25 . . . g6 26 Rxd7 Ba6 27 Bxc6 Qxc6 28 Rxf7 mate).
The combination is highly reminiscent of Alekhine — Colle (Paris 1925):
White: Kgl; Qc6; Rcl; Rel; P. a4, d5, f2, g3, h2 Black: Kg8; Qg5; Rd8; Rd7; P. a7, b6, f7, g7, g6.
1 Qxd7!! Rxd7 2 Re8+ Kh7 3 RccS Rd8 4 Rexd8 Black resigns.
In a world championship match the feeling in the playing hall is predominantly one of great tension. In contrast, all the live action' goes on in the press room, where rival groups of Grandmasters try to outshine each other in impromptu inge- nious analysis.
Other habitual denizens of the analysis room are New York Times correspondent Robert Byrne and Argentine Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf. Grandmasters such as Byrne and Najdorf globetrot from event to event — for them the world is just one big chess analysis room.
This week I try to recapture some of this rough and tumble press room atmosphere with further comments from the front based on a report by David Goodman. Kasparov-Karpov: Game 9, 26-27 September; Ruy Lopez. 'So, the two continue their Ruy Lopez dispute from game 5. The regular analysis team at the match: Taimanov, Averbakh, Gufeld, Polu- gaievsky, were joined by Timoshenko (Kaspar- ov camp) for the first half of the session and by Vasyukov (Karpov camp) for the second half. Kasparov's 19 b3 indicated he wanted to start a war of attrition with slow and quiet manoeuvr- ing. Polugaievsky and Vasyukov tried to show that Black was equal during the quiet stage, but eventually had to concede that White stood better. The grandmaster room was packed out. Karpov defended well and at adjournment many thought he stood better and one or two thought Karpov might even win.'
1 e4 e5 2 NO 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 1318 12 a4 h6 12 . . . 0d7 would have transposed back into game 5, but Karpov obviously feared an improvement. 13 Bc2 13 d5, Nb8 14 c4 c6 15 axb5 axb5 16 Rxa8 Bxa8 17 dxc6 was a Kasparov-Dorfman game from a previous Soviet championship but Black was OK, so Kasparov deployed his bishop to d3 to exert pressure on b5. 13 . . . Nb8 14 Bd3 c6 15 Nfl Nbd7 Ng3 Qc7 17 Bd2 g6 The Grandmasters were examining 17 . . . d5 but 18 . . . exd5 NxdS 19 axb5 axb5 20 Rxa8 Bxa8 21 Bf5 looks good. 18 Qcl Kh7 19 b3 Bg7 20 Qc2 Nf8 21 Be3 Ne6 22 Radl Rac8 23 Bfl Bf8 24 Rd2 Qb8 25 Qbl Ba8 26 b4 Bb7 27 axb5 The longest wait for a capture in all the games the two Ks have played together— perhaps even a record for world title matches. 27 . . . axb5 28 Redl Qc7 29 Rcl The Grandmasters thought 29 c4 would guarantee White the initiative — it's hard for Black to put together a good counter-plan. 29 . . . Bg7 30 Rcdl 30 c4 or 30 dxe5 followed by c4 looks more dangerous. 30 . . . Rcd8 31 dxe5 dxe5 32 RxdS RxdS 33 Rxd8 Nxd8 34 c4 After so much simplification, 34 c4 is not so effective. 34 . . . bxc4 35 Bxc4 Ne8 Maybe 35 . . . Bc8 to e6. 36 Qa2 Nd6 37 Bb3 Nb5 38 h4 Play finally livened up after 38 h4 opening operations on the K-side, but Black's 38 . . . Nd4 greatly improved Karpov's position. Of . Nd4 Bronstein (challenger in 1951) said; In such positions, Black dreams of making this move.' 39 Bxd4 exd4 40 h5 Qe7 Now Kasparov played the sharpest possible reply still in the first session. 41 Qd2 c5 42 Qc2 Karpov now sealed 42 . . . cxb4.
'In the second session, the first moves came fast, but after the great surprise move 45 e5! Karpov sank deep into thought for 28 minutes. In the press room Dorfman and Timoshenko appeared cool and unbothered, but were obviously pleased to have out-analysed the Karpov camp. One other idea is 45 Qb5 Bc6 46 Qa5 Nb7 47 Qb6 Qc5: unclear. When asked what would happen after 45 e5, Dorfman just smiled and said: "Wait and see". It also bowled over the GMs in the press centre, but they were eventually able to predict the final position on their boards before it was reached on the stage. Kasparov spent only three minutes on the whole of the second session and spent almost the same amount of time at the hoard, preferring to walk around or go backstage. He only remained seated after 53 Kg2, obviously expecting a draw, and after a few minutes the hands came up simultaneously.' 43 hxg6+ fxg6 44 Qc4 h5 45 e5! One other possibility was 45 Nxd4 Bxe4 46 Nxe4 Qxe4 47 Ne6. But e5 is obviously the very best and Karpov eventually found the correct reply. If 45 . . . h4 then 46 Nh5! is very good: 46 . . . Bxf3 47 Qg8+ Kh6 48 Nxg7 Qxg7 49 Qxd8. 45 . . . Bxf3 46 gxf3 BxeS 47 f4!! Sacrificing a third pawn. If 47 . . . Bg7 then 48 f5 g5 49 Qg8+ Kh6 50 f6 Qxf6 51 Bc2. 47 . . . Bxf4 48 Qg8+ Kh6 49 Bc2 Qg7 If 49 . . . Qf6 then 50 Ne4. 50 Qxd8 Bxg3 51 fxg3 Qe5 52 QIB+ Kg5 53 Kg2 Draw agreed.
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