CHESS

Gold standard

Raymond Keene

The landscape of British chess should never be the same again. For a month the two greatest and most exciting players since Bobby Fischer have fought a fierce duel in the centre of London and in so doing they have broken the barrier of chess as a spectator activity.

Behind the scenes, as a whole series of D-days approached (opening ceremony, first game, first time-out, press conferences by Campomanes, final game, closing cere- mony. . .) it looked to me like chaos. Ensconced in the Organisers' Office with eight phones ringing simultaneously, queues of journalists, collectors, staff trying to force their way through, plus frequent visits from senior Soviet officials ('when will you transfer the prize fund; what about that demonstration; extra security is needed . . .$) it seemed to me that disaster could strike at any moment. But as the championship progressed it became clear that the whole public and official perspective of chess was changing in front of our eyes.

In the few weeks before the players sat down to face each other a host of com- panies approached us to support the GLC's main funding. British Airways provided air tickets; the Times took care of the Com- mentary Room; Mme Palmer-Becret, the owner of Kasparov's town house, plied us with champagne for the official functions. Eventually, the catalogue of sponsors filled the entire stage backdrop at the Park Lane Hotel.

For two years I had been trying to persuade Channel 4 to launch regular chess programmes. Again just weeks before the match commenced, Thames TV agreed to produce three weekly programmes, with repeats, covering every single game in London and Leningrad. Audience figures for that midnight spot quadrupled. This in addition to the regular BBC2 feature.

Recognition also came from Mrs Thatch- er who declared the proceedings open; George Walden, Minister for Higher Education who made the first move; while former PM James Callaghan wound up the festivities. It was clear that chess was being seen partly as a way of speaking to the Russians, of trying to understand them not just a game with international reso- nance. And more than one guest drew attention to the tremendous educational potential of chess, its ability to inculcate mental discipline and aid in mathematical and computer studies.

The audience figures astounded me. We had legitimate room for 400 in the Park Lane Ballroom plus another 200 in the lecture hall. We were regularly inundated with over 1,000 spectators who queued patiently in the rain for tickets. A further 1,000 were accredited as journalists and officials. The key to the unprecedented public interest was the electronic display system devised by Intelligent Chess Soft- ware. Towering on scaffolding on each side of the two Ks were giant screens, linked to their chessboard by computer. As soon as a move was played, up it flashed onto the screen and onto a further 28 monitors sited around the building. It will be interesting to see how this aspect of communicating with the public is handled in Leningrad. For a brief period it seemed that the Soviet organisers wanted to transfer this British technology to Leningrad, but, ultimately, logistical problems defeated the scheme.

What of player relations? Much has been written of the terrible off-board rivalry between Kasparov and Karpov, but they certainly kept it under wraps in London in a way which did credit to them and their country. They behaved with great polite- ness to each other, were tremendously courteous and generous with their praise of the organisation and they also co-operated with the press to an extent unknown for many years. They both felt it their duty to promote chess and they turned this duty into a pleasure unthinkable in the days when Fischer, Spassky and Korchnoi were struggling for the supreme title. As popular international ambassadors for the USSR, with their donation of the GLC's £600,000 prize fund to Chernobyl victims, they can hardly be bettered.

But they did not leave London entirely empty-handed. Save and Prosper promised £10,000 for the most brilliant game and in the event this was shared for their drawn game 11. The prize was handed over in the form of Victorian gold sovereigns, which might well set a trend for future British events. It was charming to see Karpov politely inquire of his great rival over the board whether he thought the sovereigns were genuine antiques, or modern replicas.

On the day of departure, 31 August, I participated in a curious Azerbaijani cus- tom. Klara Kasparova, Gary's mother, asked us all to sit in silence for a few seconds before the group left for the trip to Leningrad. Apparently, this is to ensure a safe and happy journey. They then de- parted for Leningrad, where I shall be rejoining the match and from where my next report will come.

After the London leg the score looks like this:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Total

Kasparov 1/2 V2 1/2 1 0X12 1/2 1'12 1/2 1/2 1/2 61/2 Karpov 1/2 1' 0 1 1/2 Y2 0 1/2 1/2 1/2 1/2 51/2 I have not yet published Karpov's win from the London section, so here it is: Karpov: Kasparov: Game 5, Granfeld De- fence.

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 NO d5 Kasparov's new love which had brought him painless draws in games 1 and 3. 4 Bf4 Bg7 5 e3 c5 6 dxc5 Qa5 7 Rd Ne4 In later games Kasparov was to try 7 . dxc4. The text was introduced by Fischer, but he too lost when he tried this over-aggressive move against Petrosian. 8 cxd5 Nxc3 9 Qd2 The pin ensures that White regains his material. 9 Qxa2 10 bxc3 Qxd2+ Original but dubious. Nevertheless, 10 . . . Qa5 11 Bc4 Nd7 12 Nf3 0-0 13 Be5l is also in White's favour. 11 Kxd2 Nd7 12 Bb5 0-0 13 Bxd7 Bxd7 14 e4 f5 Black has lost a pawn, but White's front 'c' pawn is hard to hold. 15 e5 e6 In retrospect 15 . . . Rac8 must be stronger. Kasparov had apparently pre- pared this variation, but his homework had been defective. 16 c4 RfcS 17 c6! A neat way to create a passed pawn. 17 . . . bxc6 18 d6 c5 Played after two minutes thought, but 17 . . g5 must be an improvement. 19 h4 h6 20 Nh3! An excellent move. Black cannot now introduce his KB into the game and meanwhile White threatens to besiege Black's pawn on c5. 20 . . . a5 21 f3 a4 22 Rhel a3 23 Nf2 a2 Black's 'a' pawn looks threatening, but in fact it is weak and cut off from its own army. 24 Nd3 Ra3 25 Ral. g5 26 hxg5 hxg5 27 Bxg5 Kf7 This goes down without a fight. The last chance is 27 . . . Rcb8 though 28 Ke2 seems to refute it. 28 Bf4 Rb8 29 Recl Bc6 30 Rc3 Ra5 31 Rc2 Rba8 32 Ncl Black resigns.

Apart from being Spectator chess corres- pondent, Ray Keene was Chairman of the World Championship Organising Com- mittee.