4.4

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SPAM'S FINEST CAVA

CHESS

c.opttAII

SPAIN'S FINEST CAVA

In flames

Raymond Keene

FOR THE PAST eight weeks I have concentrated on the real world cham- pionship match, the one in London played between Kasparov and Short. Stumbling along in the background has been the Fide (World Chess Federation) cardboard cut- out version between Jan Timman of Hol- land and the former world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia. That match started much as it was to continue with the stage set spectacularly bursting into flames during the opening speeches before the first game in Zwolle. In spite of the fact that a Dutch hero was participating, the Dutch portion had to be divided up between three Dutch cities and not one single guilder was raised in prize money. At the halfway stage the Fide contest suffered a Chernobyl-style melt- down when Oman withdrew from holding the second half. There was an embarras- sing hiatus while Campomanes, the Fide president, tried to hawk his secondhand chess match around the globe. Finally, Jakarta took the bait, though it is still unclear whether there is any prize money at stake, even though the match has finished, or simply the empty title of Fide champion. The games from Holland, although hardly worthy of a world championship contest, did at least exhibit some points of interest. At least, that was until Timman realised that the Omanis had withdrawn, when game 11 ended as a draw after just a few moves with no pieces having been exchanged. Clearly, at that moment, the players had gone on strike. In contrast, the games in Jakarta, though hard fought were, frankly, an embarrassment. They were literally full of errors that even club standard players would have avoided. The first decisive game in Jakarta seemed to show Timman in brain-damaged form, a syndrome persisting in game 15.

Karpov — Timman: Fide World Championship, Indonesia; Game 14, Queen's Gambit Vienna Variation.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 e4 Bb4 6

Bg5 c5 7 Bxc4 cxd4 8 Nxd4 Bxc3 + 9 bxc3 0a5 10 Nb5 Nxe4 11 Bf4? A new move and a bad one. 11 Qd4 led to a quick draw in Game 8. 11 . . . 0-0 12 0-0 Nd7 13 Nc7 e5 14 Nxa8 exf4 15 Bd5 Nd16 Black could win with 15 . . . Nef6 16 Bf3 Ne5 17 Re Qxc3 or 17 Qd6 Nxf3 + 18 gxf3 Bh3.

16 Bxe4 Nxe4 17 13 (Diagram) 17 .Nxc3?? Black could still win with 17 . . Rd8., e.g. 18 Qe2 Qc5+ 19 Khl Ng3+ 20 hici3 Qh5+ 21 Kgl fxg3 or 18 Qe 1 Qc5+ 19 Khl N16 when White's errant knight on a8 is trapped and Black will win on material. 18 Qd6 Now White's knight escapes. 18. . . Nd5 19 Racl Be6 20 Nc7 Nxc7 21 Qxc7 Qxc7 22 Rxc7 Bd5 23 Rc5 Be6 24 Rc7 Bd5 25 Rc5 Be6 26 Ra5 a6 27 Rbl Rc8 28 h4 Rc7 29 Rb4 Bc4 30 Raa4 Be6 31 Rb6 h6 32 a3 g5 33 Rab4 a5 34 Ra4 gxh4 35 Rxf4 h3 36 gxh3 Bxh3 37 Ra4 Rc3 38 Rxb7 Rxf3 39 Rxa5 Be6 40 Rb1 h5 41 Rg5+ K18 42 Ral h4 43 a4 f6 44 Rg2 Bd5 45 Rd2 Be4 46 a5 Rh3 47 Ra4 Bc6 48 Rc4 Rhl + 49 K12 Bb5 50 Rc7 Ke8 51 Rd5 Rbl 52 Rh5 Kd8 53 Ra7 Black resigns. Demoralised by his defeat in the pre- vious game, Timman handled Game 15 like a beginner.

Timman — Karpov: Fide World Championship, Indonesia; Game 15, Nimzo-Indian Defence.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 Qc2 0-05 a3 Bxc3+ 6 Qxc3 b6 7 Bg5 c5 8 dxc5 bxc5 9 e3 Nc6 10 Nh3?? A dreadful move, which allows White's king to be displaced for no compensation. He has to play 10 Bd3. 10 . . . h6 11 Bh4 g5 12 Bg3 Ne4 13 Qc2 Qa5+ 14 Ke2 15 1513 Nxg3+ 16 hxg3

Position after 19b3

Rb8 17 N12 Ba6 18 Nd3 d5 19 b3 (Diagram) 19 . . Rxh3 This sacrifice is decisive. 20 Qxb3 dxc4 21 Qa2 cxd3+ 22 Kfl Rf6 23 Rcl Kg7 24 f4 c4 25 Qb2 e5 26 fxg5 hxg5 27 Rc3 Qb6 28 Qxb6 axb6 29 Rh5 Ne7 30 Bxd3 cxd3 31 Rc7 Re6 32 Kel Bb5 33 g4 Kg6 34 Rh8 f4 White resigns.

Just as it seemed that Karpov was about to triumph over Timman by the same score by which Kasparov had beaten Short (1214- 71/2) the former champion stumbled at the final hurdle and allowed the Dutchman to prolong his resistance. Strangely, both games that Karpov has lost in this match have been with the white pieces. In this, case a hasty attempt to vacuum all the pieces from the board and secure a quick draw evidently backfired.

Karpov — Tlmman: Fide World Championship, Indonesia; Game 20, English Opening.

1 Nf3 c5 2 c4 Nc6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 e6 6 a3 Nxd4 7 Qxd4 b6 8 Bf4 Bc5 9 Qd2 0-0 10 Rdl Bb7 11 8d6 Bxd6 12 Qxd6 Rc8 13 e3 Re8 14 13 Rc6 15 Qd4 Ba6 16 Ne4 Nxe4 17 Qxe4 Qc7 18 Bd3 g6 19 b3 d5 20 cxd5 Bxd3 21 Qxd3 exd5 22 1(12 Rc3 23 Qxd5 Rcxe3 24 Rd2 Qe7 25 Kg3 Rxb3 26 a4 Rb4 27 Rd4 Rxd4 28 Qxd4 Qg5+ 29 Kh3 Re2 30 Rgl Qh5+ 31 Kg3 Qg5+ 32 Kh3 Rd2 33 Qc3 Ra2 34 Qd4 h6 35 Qc4 Qh5+ 36 Kg3 Qe5+ 37 Kh3 Rd2 38 Qh4 Qf5+ 39 Kg3 g5 40 Qxh6 Qf4+ White resigns.

Final Score Zwolle Arnhem

Amsterdam

Karpov

1 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 I 1/2 1/2

1/2 1

1/2 1/2

Timman

0 1 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 0 1/2 I/2

Jakarta

Karpov

1/2 1

1 1 1/2 ½ lh

0

1/2

121/2 Timman 1/2 0 0 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1 1/2

81/2