Chess at the Olympics

SO, HOW many of you remembered to log on to http://sydney.fide.com on the Internet on Sept 24 to watch the two games between Viswanathan Anand and Alexei Shirov at the Sydney Olympics?

By all accounts, it was a historic event as it marked the first time that a chessboard was officially recognised in the Olympic games village.

Although there were no medals at stake and the games were simply an exhibition, the two rapid-play games were hard fought and played till there was no life left in the positions.

The first game was a fashionable line of the Najdorf variation that will come under close scrutiny for its theoretical value. Anand, known for his speed of play, seemed to obtain an advantage on the board and the clock, but Shirov defended under pressure to reach an ending where Anand's extra bishop had no effect on the result of the game.

In the second game, Shirov played the French. Anand sacrificed a pawn but Shirov repulsed the initiative and was a full pawn to the good. In mutual time trouble, Anand won back his pawn and both players agreed to a second draw.

According to reports from Sydney, Shirov had problems coping with a 39-hour journey from Poland. He missed a connecting flight and arrived just six hours before the match. He was very jet-lagged and had trouble waking up in time for the event.

There was speculation that if chess makes it as an Olympiad event it would most likely be in the Winter Games. Salt Lake City in the United States, two years from now, would be the earliest available opportunity.

Whether it becomes a reality or not will depend on the success of negotiations between the World Chess Federation, the International Olympic Committee and the Winter Games organisers.

In the meantime, here are the two absorbing games that were played in Sydney.

Shirov vs Anand (Game 1)

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be3 e6 7. f3 b5 8. g4 h6 9. Qd2 Nbd7 10. O-O-O Bb7 11. h4 b4 12. Na4 Qa5 13. b3 Nc5 14. a3 Nxa4 15. axb4 Qc7 16. bxa4 d5 17. e5 Nd7 18. f4 Nb6 19. f5! (This variation is named after the Russian international master, Alexander Grischuk, who was the first to play this attacking move.) 19. ... Nxa4 20. fxe6 Nc3 21. exf7+ Kxf7 22. Bd3 Bxb4 23. Rdf1+ Kg8 24. Qf2 Ba3+ 25. Kd2 Ne4+ 26. Bxe4 dxe4 27. g5 (About two weeks earlier, Anand, himself using the white pieces against Boris Gelfand in the Chess World Cup tournament in Shenyang, played 27.Qf5 but could not avoid a draw after 27. ... Bb4+ 28.Kd1 Qc4 29.Ne6 Qd5+ 30.Ke2 Qc4+ 31.Kd1 Qd5+. Shirov tries a different tack.) 27. ... Bd5 28. gxh6 Bb2 29. Rb1 (After 29.Kd1 Qa5 30.Qf4 Rxh6 31.Nf5 Rh5 32.Rfg1 Kh8 33.Rg5 Rh7 34.Rxg7!, White has a crushing attack.) 29. ... Bc3+ 30. Kc1 Bxd4 31. Bxd4 e3 32. Qxe3 Bxh1 33. Rb6 Rc8? (Although Black has an extra rook, the win is not automatic. Possibly better is 33. ... Bd5, eg 34.Rg6 Rh7 35.e6 Rc8 36.c3 Qa5 37.Qg3 Qa1+ 38.Kd2 Qb2+ 39.Ke1 Qc1+ 40.Kf2 Qd2+ 41.Kg1 Qc1+ 42.Kf2 Rf8+ 43.Bf6 Rxf6+ 44.Rxf6 Rxh6 and White is losing.) 34. Qb3+ Qc4 35. hxg7 Rxh4 36. Rb8! Qxb3 37. Rxc8+ Kxg7 38. cxb3 Rxd4 39. Rc7+ 1/2-1/2 (Black's bishop cannot control the a1 promotion square, thus White ensures a draw in this position.)

Anand vs Shirov (Game 2)

1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 Bxf6 7. Nf3 O-O 8. Bc4 Nc6 9. c3 e5 10. d5 Ne7 11. Nxf6+ gxf6 12. Qd2 Kh8 13. O-O-O Bg4 14. Be2 Qd6 15. Nh4 Rg8 16. g3 Rad8 17. Bxg4 Rxg4 18. Qe2 Ra4 19. Kb1 Nxd5 20. Nf5 Qe6 21. Ne3 Rd6 22. Nxd5 Rxd5 23. a3 Raa5 24. c4 Rd4 25. Rxd4 exd4 26. Qd3 Rc5 27. Qxd4 Rxc4 28. Qd8+ Kg7 29. Rd1 Qf5+ 30. Qd3 Qxd3+ 31. Rxd3 f5 32. Rd8 a5 33. Rd5 a4 1/2-1/2

UP NEXT

Allegro finals

THE Malaysian Chess Federation will hold the finals of this year's second Bank Pertanian Malaysia allegro Grand Prix at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur this weekend.

Unlike the earlier legs which were held in the State capitals throughout the year, this final tournament will be played over two days starting tomorrow at 2pm. Players are required to register at the playing venue between 10am and noon.

The winners of the various State legs will get free and automatic entry into the finals but all other participants will be charged entry fees which are RM10 for players under 12 years old, RM15 for women, players under 18 years old and staff of Bank Pertanian, and RM20 for all others.

The event will consist of nine rounds. Four will be played tomorrow and the remaining rounds on Sunday. The prize money totals RM2,600 and the winner will get RM500. The second to 10th prizes range from RM300 to RM80. There are minor cash prizes for the best veteran, woman, Bank Pertanian staff, under-16 and under-12 players.

Entry forms are available from the Riverside Restaurant, at the PWTC, Bank Pertanian headquarters building in Jalan Lebuh Pasar, Kuala Lumpur. For more information or to register, call Ibrahim Bakar ( 03-5519 8451), Ibrahim Yaacob ( 03-636 3082) or Hamid Majid ( 03-4021 9576).

Good prizes for Taiping

The UMNO Youth movements of Salak Baru and Bukit Gantang in Perak will jointly host an open chess tournament at Sekolah Menengah Tengku Menteri Changkat Jering in Taiping on Oct 15 beginning 8am.

This event, for the Dato' Panglima Bukit Gantang Wahab trophy, will be played over seven Swiss rounds and run by the Perak International Chess Association (PICA).

The prizes are very attractive for a one-day event. The first prize is RM1,000; the second, RM800; the third, RM700; the fourth, RM600; the fifth, RM500; the sixth RM400; the seventh, RM300; the eighth, RM200; the ninth, RM100 and the 10th, RM50.

There are also trophies for the best veteran, woman, under-16 and under-12 players. The five best Umno players will also be given trophies.

Entry fees are RM10 for children under 12, RM15 for women and members of Umno or Pica, and RM20 for other participants.

For details call Mohd Rodi Nordin ( 05-241 1861, 019-570 8083), Fadil Salaudin ( 05-854 4502) or W.K. Wong ( 05-366 1692).

Swiss chess fest

The annual chess festival in Biel last month was again the highlight of the Swiss chess calendar. It is now in its 28th edition and as usual, the financial obligations for this year's festival were largely met by sponsorship from Credit Suisse, one of Switzerland's largest banks.

Several hundreds of players would normally take part in the festival's many attractions which range from the main billing, a Category 15 grandmaster tournament, to the side shows like blitz tournaments for officials and journalists.

Russia's Alexey Dreev won the premier grandmaster tournament by scoring nine points from 13 games. In the second place was Latvian Alexei Shirov who now plays under the Spanish flag. Shirov obtained eight points. Indonesia's Utut Adianto and Byelorus' Boris Gelfand each scored 7.5 points.

Some readers may remember Vladislav Tkachiev who played as the second reserve for the Kazakhstan team in the 1993 Asian team chess championship in Kuala Lumpur. He is now a strong grandmaster with a 2605 rating, and in Biel both he and Russia's Vadim Zvjaginsev each scored seven points.

Near the bottom of the table was Jan Timman. It was a most uncharacteristic position for a player who was once involved in a world championship title match. In Biel, he made gross oversights and lost quickly in several games.

In the Credit Suisse Masters open tournament, Germany's Igor Glek was the winner with 8.5 points from 11 Swiss rounds. He ended up in front of players like Sergey Smagin, Yuri Razuvaev, Vladimir Tukmakov and Boris Avrukh who each obtained eight points.

An interesting twist to this festival was a special tournament between two teams of 12 players - one representing Team Europe and the other Team Swiss/French. This event used the Scheveningen system which paired players from one team exclusively to players from the other team. Thus, players from the same team do not meet one another across the board.

Team Europe comprised a grandmaster, two women grandmasters and nine international masters while Team Switzerland/France had three Fide masters and nine untitled or unrated players.

Thus the Team Switzerland/France players, playing against the titled and rated players in Team Europe, would have real chances of picking up rating or title norms. Unfortunately, none qualified for any norm. The final scores were 91.5 points for Team Europe and 52.5 points for Team Switzerland/ France.

CHESS LEAGUE ENDS

In the final round of the Penang Bayview Chess League last Sunday, Chung Ling High School A completed their domination of the tournament when they beat the MSSPP Juniors by an emphatic 3.5 - 0.5 score. They ended the 11-week event undefeated and were deserving winners of the City Bayview challenge trophy.

There was a tense fight between Penang Free School A and the Old Frees Association. The schoolboys drew the match 2-2 to finish second in Division One.

In other first division matches, the Pessca team was also held to a 2-2 draw by Penang Free School B, while Universiti Sains Malaysia beat Penang Development Corporation by 3.5 - 0.5. Chung Ling high School B beat Hitachi Semiconductors 3-1.

In Division Two, Chung Ling High School swept the first two positions. Their C team beat Union High School 4-0 while their D team finished strongly with a 3-1 score against Penang Free School C.

Dynacraft beat the Penang Chinese Girls High School 3-1, while Bank Bumiputra and the MSSPP Girls were given walkovers on all four boards by their opponents, Mara Taiping and National Semiconductors respectively, which had withdrawn from the tournament.

Because of the withdrawals, all of Mara's and NS' scores against the other teams in the second division were excluded from the final tally of points.

According to the regulations, PDC and Hitachi will be relegated next year while their place will be taken by Hewlett-Packard and Bank Bumiputra which were third and fourth in their division.

This is because the rules of the competition disallow organisations from having more than two teams in each division. Thus, although the Chung Ling High School C and D teams came tops in the second division, they were unable to be promoted because the school already had their A and B teams in the first division.

The final standings:

Division One - CLHS A 32.5 points, PFS A 27.5 points, OFA 26.5 points, Persatuan Alumni Chung Ling 22.5 points, USM 22 points, Pessca 21.5 points, CLHS B 20.5 points, MSSPP Jrs 15 points, PFS B 13.5 points, PDC 11.5 points and Hitachi 7 points.

Division Two - CLHS C 28.5 points, CLHS D 20.5 points, HP 18 points, BBMB and MSSPP Girls 17 points each, PFS C 13 points, Dynacraft 12.5 points, Union 11.5 points and PCGHS 6 points.

BAYAN BARU OPEN

Readers who have submitted their entries for the Bayan Baru open tournament this Sunday are reminded that they have to be at the Residents' Association of Bayan Baru's clubhouse by 8.30am to confirm their participation.

A maximum of 64 players will be accepted for the tournament and I believe there may a few vacant places remaining. Anyone who have yet to register with the organisers may still have a chance to play if they turn up early at the tournament hall on Sunday.

This one-day tournament, now in its 10th year, is organised by the Residents' Association with technical assistance from the Penang Chess Association.

This is a seven-round event played along Rapid-30 chess rules and the winners will not receive cash but rather prizes in kind donated by various sponsors.

The entry fees are RM5 for members of either the Residents' Association or the Penang Chess Association. This rate also applies to players who are under the age of 18. All other participants will have to pay RM8.

GAMES OF THE WEEK

This week's games are taken from the Biel chess festival in Switzerland.

Alexei Shirov - Vladislav Tkachiev
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 10. Be3 f5 11. f3 f4 12. Bf2 g5 13. a4 a6 14. a5 Rf6 15. g4 fxg3 16. hxg3 h5 17. Ng2 Rh6 18. Ne3 Nf6 19. Kg2 Bd7 20. b4 Qe8 21. c5 Qg6 22. cxd6 cxd6 23. Nc4 g4 24. Nb6 gxf3+ 25. Bxf3 Rf8 26. Nxd7 Nxd7 27. Rh1 Nf6 28. Qe2 h4 29. Rh3 Rc8 30. Qd2 hxg3 0.5-0.5

Utut Adianto - Boris Gelfand
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1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. g3 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. Nf3 d6 6. O-O Nc6 7. Nc3 a6 8. h3 Bd7 9. e4 e5 10. d5 Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Qxd4 Qc8 13. h4 b5 14. cxb5 axb5 15. Qb4 Ng4 16. Bf4 Re8 17. Rac1 Qb8 18. Bh3 Qb6 19. Bxg4 Bxg4 20. Qxb5 Reb8 21. Qxb6 Rxb6 22. b3 c5 23. dxc6 Rxc6 24. Nd5 Rxc1 25. Rxc1 Rxa2 26. Kg2 Bd4 27. Be3 Bxe3 28. Nxe3 Be6 29. Rb1 Bd7 30. g4 Bb5 31. Kg3 Bd3 32. Rd1 Bxe4 33. Rxd6 Rb2 34. Rb6 Kg7 35. g5 h6 36. b4 hxg5 37. hxg5 Kf8 38. f3 Bd3 39. Kf4 Ke8 40. Ke5 Re2 41. Kd4 Bb1 42. b5 Rf2 43. Rb8+ Kd7 44. Rb7+ Ke6 45. Rb6+ Kd7 46. Rf6 Rd2+ 47. Kc5 Ba2 48. Nc4 Rg2 49. Rxf7+ Ke6 50. Rf4 Rxg5+ 51. Kc6 Bb3 52. Re4+ Kf6 53. Ne3 Be6 54. b6 Bc8 55. Nd5+ Kg7 56. Nb4 Rg1 57. Rc4 Re1 58. Kc7 Re8 59. Re4 Rf8 60. Nc6 Ba6 61. Re3 Kh6 62. Ra3 Rf7+ 63. Kd6 Rf6+ 64. Ke7 Rxc6 65. Rxa6 Kh7 66. Kd8 Kh6 67. Ke7 Kh7 68. Kd7 Rf6 69. b7 Rxa6 70. b8=Q Ra5 71. Ke6 Rf5 72. Qg3 Kg7 73. Qg4 Rf6+ 74. Ke5 Rf7 75. Ke4 Kh7 76. Qc8 Kg7 77. Ke3 Rf8 78. Qc3+ Kh7 79. Kf2 Rf5 80. Kg3 Rg5+ 81. Kf4 Rf5+ 82. Kg4 Rf7 83. Qe5 1-0