Yet another body set up by Kasparov

Well, I told you last week that there would be an announcement by Gary Kasparov before the start of the Linares super-grandmaster tournament.

Yes, he did make an announcement but I could not help laughing when I learnt what it was all it. Do you what Kasparov did? He announced the formation of yet another chess organisation - the World Chess Council!

I suppose I should not have been surprised, but I was caught unawares. Clearly, I am amazed by this man's gall. How many so-called organisations has he created or helped to create in the last 12 years to promote his own ends? And how many chess professionals will fall for it again just like the way they fell for his past endeavours?

There was the Professional Chess Association and before it, the Grandmaster Association. All had the Kasparov touch in their formation, and all suffered the same Kasparov touch when they went into oblivion.

Let me go back in time. During the Dubai Chess Olympiad in 1986, Kasparov, who was already the world champion, played a big part in drumming up support for forming the Grandmaster Association.

One of its aims was to work with the World Chess Federation (Fide), but a more important objective was to provide reasonable income for the top grandmasters through the organising of a Chess World Cup grand prix.

The idea worked for several years until Kasparov had a fallout with the Grandmaster Association's president, Bessel Kok, who was at that time the chief executive of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Telecommunication (SWIFT).

Kok had his principles. He wanted everything run in a very disciplined manner diametrically opposite to Kasparov's style. With Kok's departure, the association quickly lost its standing in the chess world and it died a quiet death.

Fast forwarding to 1993: Nigel Short had some disagreements with Fide on holding the world championship match between himself and Kasparov.

Kasparov seized the opportunity to convince Short that the time was ripe for them to play their match outside Fide's jurisdiction. To give their match some credence, Kasparov formed the Professional Chess Association.

Although the Professional Chess Association did try to hold qualifying events for their version of the world championship, there were accusations that the organisation was only looking after the interests of a few elite players.

In reality, the Professional Chess Association served only the interest of Gary Kasparov. This organisation only lasted until 1995 when Kasparov played a match against Viswanathan Anand, after which it drifted into a long hibernation.

There were no more qualifying tournaments, no more so-called Professional Chess Association's version of the world chess championship matches. No wonder some people referred to Kasparov as the person who nominated himself Champion.

So there is every reason to be skeptical about Kasparov's latest project, the new World Chess Council. Will it last or suffer the same fate as its two predecessors?

At the opening ceremony of the Linares tournament, he announced that the main purpose of this new body, whose president is Luis Rentero, would be to organise a match in Seville and Linares sometime no later than October this year, when Kasparov would defend his "title".

However, at present nobody has the details on the match and how it will materialise. There is no information on Kasparov's probable opponent or how he will be chosen, although there are rumours that Vladimir Kramnik and Anand will be playing a match soon and the winner will play Kasparov.

It will be interesting to see how this alliance between Kasparov and the volatile and controversial Rentero will work out. Rentero, the owner of a supermarket chain in Spain, has been associated with the Linares super-grandmaster tournament since its inception.

He is certainly no fool when it comes to finance and business. For him to agree to be the president of Kasparov's World Chess Council, he must have seen some possible short-term benefits in it.

Anyway, back to this year's Linares tournament. This is a double round-robin event where the rate of play is two hours for the first 40 moves, then one hour for the next 20 moves, and finally 30 minutes for play-to-the-finish.

In the first round on Sunday, Vassily Ivanchuk, who was playing the black pieces against Kramnik, countered the latter's favourite Queen's Pawn Opening with the Chigorin Defence.

The game followed the opening theory for a while but after some complications provoked by Ivanchuk, Kramnik obtained a favourable ending due to a superior pawn structure and the position of his king.

However, the Ukrainian grandmaster defended very resourcefully and managed to draw a very instructive rook endgame.

Alexei Shirov, who was up against Anand, played badly in a Caro-Kann Defence and quickly obtained an inferior position. Anand was able to isolate his opponent's pawns which condemned the latter to a passive game.

Once Anand traded his queen for Shirov's two rooks, it became clear that the Indian grandmaster would soon pocket the full point. The exchange allowed Anand to capture all of Shirov's vulnerable pawns one after the other.

And in the third game of the first round, between Peter Svidler and Kasparov, the Scheveningen variation of the Sicilian Defence was played.

Kasparov's treatment of the opening was especially interesting. He avoided the usual moves ...Bf8 and ...g6, so as not to weaken his kingside too early. After that, the position appeared to be level for the remainder of the game.

Tebrau open

Players in the south of the peninsula can take part in the 10th Tebrau open chess tournament. Organised by the Rukun Tetangga Taman Sri Tebrau with assistance from the Johor Bahru Chess Club, the event will be held on Mar 22 at the Sek Men Sri Tebrau in Johor Bahru.

There are three sections in this tournament and the entry fees are RM10 for the open section, RM6 for the under-16 section and RM5 for the under-12 section. Entries close on Mar 20, and only the first 200 entries will be accepted.

For more details, contact Narayanan Krishnan (tel: 07-333-8215).

GAMES OF THE WEEK

Readers with Internet access can connect to the tournament web site at http://www.elpais.es/p/d/ajedrez3/1998/english.htm

Vladimir Kramnik - Vassily Ivanchuk

1. Nf3 Nc6 2. d4 d5 3. Bf4 Bg4 4. e3 e6 5. c4 Bb4+ 6. Nc3 Nf6 (Also playable is 6...Nge7 from which it can later go ...Ng6 and ...Nh4) 7. Rc1 O-O 8. h3 8...Bxf3 (A common theme in this opening: Black gives up the two bishops so as to free his position with ...e5) 9. Qxf3 Qe7 10. Bg5 (The only way to prevent the opening of the centre) 10... Bxc3+ 11. Rxc3 Qb4 12. Bxf6 (Otherwise Black would play 12...Ne4) 12... Qxb2 13. Rb3 Qc1+ 14. Qd1 Qxd1+ 15. Kxd1 dxc4 16. Rxb7 gxf6 17. Kd2 Rab8 18. Rxc7 Na5 19. Kc2 (19. Kc3 would probably have been countered by 19... Rb1, leaving the rook on h1 out of play) 19... Rb4 20. Rxa7 Ra4 21. Rxa5 (A necessary sacrifice) 21... Rxa5 22. Bxc4 h5 23. h4 Rc8 24. Kd3 Rxc4 (An interesting decision. As he has no chance of winning this position, Ivanchuk decides to return the exchange so as to reach a rook ending where he has a pawn less but is compensated with a tenable position) 25. Kxc4 Rxa2 26. Rf1 f5 (White's pawns are paralysed and his rook on f1 passively guards the second rank) 27. d5 Kf8 28. dxe6 fxe6 29. Kd4 Ke7 30. Ke5 Ra4 31. f3 Ra5+ (Not 31... Rxh4 which is answered by 32. Ra1, and followed by Ra7+ and Rxe6) 32. Kf4 Ra2 33. Rb1 Kf6 (If 33... Rxg2, then 34. Ke5) 34. Kg3 Re2 35. Rb3 e5 36. Rb6+ Kg7 37. Rb3 Kf6 38. Ra3 Kg6 39. Kh3 Kf6 40. g4 hxg4+ 41. fxg4 fxg4+ 42. Kxg4 Kg6 43. h5+ Kh6 44. Ra6+ Kh7 45. Ra3 Kh6 46. Kf5 e4 47. Kxe4 Kxh5 48. Kf5 Rf2+ 49. Ke6 Re2 (Holding the pawn from behind and forcing White to retrace his steps) 50. Kf5 Rf2+ 51. Ke5 Kg6 52. e4 Rb2 53. Ra7 Rb5+ 54. Ke6 Rb6+ 55. Ke7 Rb5 56. Ra6+ Kg5 57. Re6 Kf4 58. Kf6 Rh5 (58... Rh5 59. Re8 Rh6+ 60. Kg7 Rh5) 1/2-1/2

Alexei Shirov - Viswanathan Anand

1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. Nf3 e6 5. Be2 c5 6. Be3 cxd4 7. Nxd4 Ne7 8. c4 (This variation became popular after Boris Gelfand's victory over Anatoly Karpov in 1995) 8... Nbc6 9. Nc3 Nxd4 10. Bxd4 dxc4 11. Bxc4 (This is a novelty, instead of 11.Qa4+, played in Xie Jun-Chiburdanidze, Groningen 1997, and continuing 11... Nc6 12. Rd1 Bd3 13. Bxd3 cxd3 14. Be3 Bb4 15. O-O Bxc3 16. bxc3 Qd5 17. Bd4 O-O) 11... Nc6 12. Bb5 Be7 13. O-O O-O (Black's position is already very comfortable. His minor pieces are occupying good squares) 14. Bxc6 bxc6 15. Ne2 c5 16. Bc3 Qb6 17. Ng3 Bg6 18. Qg4 Rad8 19. h4 h6 20. h5 Bh7 21. f4 c4+ 22. Kh2 Bb4 23. f5 exf5 24. Nxf5 Bxf5 25. Rxf5 Bxc3 26. bxc3 Qe6 (White's pawns on c3, e5 and h5 are all isolated and vulnerable) 27. Raf1 Rfe8 28. R1f4 Rd5 29. Re4 Re7 (White is completely tied up) 30. Qf4 Rc7 31. Rxc4 Qxf5 (Exchanging the queen for the two rooks) 32. Qxf5 Rxc4 (Black now plans to double the rooks against the isolated pawns and capture them one by one) 33. Qb1 Rd8 34. Qb7 Rxc3 35. Qxa7 Rcc8 36. a4 Ra8 37. Qc7 Rdc8 38. Qb7 Re8 39. Qc6 Rac8 40. Qd7 Rcd8 41. Qc7 Rd5 42. a5 Rdxe5 43. a6 R5e7 44. Qc6 Rf8 45. Kh3 Ra7 46. g4 Rfa8 47. Kh4 Rxa6 48. Qb7 Ra5 49. Qc6 Rf8 50. Qb6 Rg5 51. Qb3 Kh8 52. Qb4 Re8 53. Qa4 Rd8 54. Qe4 f5 55. gxf5 Rf8 0-1 (White will lose all his remaining pawns)

Intrigue in Fide elections

INTRIGUE IN FIDE ELECTIONS

The dust has hardly settled in the World Chess Federation's world championship cycle but already, attention is turning to the next agenda in the federation's chess calendar, the biennial Chess Olympiad and the annual Fide General Assembly in Erevan, Armenia, this September.

Already, news filtering in from Europe has it that the United States, the Russian and the German Chess Federations are jointly proposing Jaime Sunye-Neto as a candidate for the next Fide presidential elections.

Sunye-Neto, a Brazilian grandmaster, was for many years a member of the Players' Council, a body within Fide. Eighteen months ago, he was made the chairman of Fide's Committee on Assistance to Chess Developing Countries (CACDEC).

He is well-known for his organisational abilities, having organised a large number of successful events in South America. This included the American Grand Prix which consisted of a series of open tournaments around the continent with good prizes and playing conditions.

If Sunye-Neto decides to accept the nomination as a Fide presidential candidate, he will be standing against the incumbent president, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who is also the political president of the Russian autonomous republic of Kalmykia.

It is not known who will be on Sunye-Neto's presidential ticket but the same news from Europe suggests that Steve Doyle (USA), Egon Ditt (Germany) and Andrei Makarov (Russia) are already on Sunye-Neto's team.

Among this trio, Makarov stands out as a puzzle. Two years ago, though he was very much a Kasparov supporter (he still is, I am sure), he was instrumental in getting the 1994 Chess Olympiad and Fide General Assembly successfully hosted in Moscow by the Russian Chess Federation of which he is its president.

At this General Assembly, Florencio Campomanes stepped down and Ilyumzhinov was elected as the new Fide president. Makarov's reaction to Ilyumzhinov was very negative. Their relationship did not improve, instead it markedly deteriorated when Ilyumzhinov chose Elista, Kalmykia's capital city, as the venue for the Fide world chess championship match. Makarov went as far as to disclaim any responsibility for the organisation of the match, including security for the players and officials.

But suddenly, Makarov and Ilyumzhinov have made up and in Elista, they both announced that they intended to organise a unification match between Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov in Russia next year for a prize fund of not less than US$2 million (about RM5 million).

Interestingly, their proposal called for this match to be played outside the jurisdiction of both Fide and Kasparov's Professional Chess Association. This match would be considered an encounter "between the 13th and 14th Fide world champions" and the winner would be proclaimed the "Absolute World Champion."

"The match between Karpov and Kasparov is essential. Chess cannot do without it," Makarov was quoted as saying.

"We have an agreement in principle to meet for a prize fund of not less than US$2 million, and the match will take place in 1997," said Ilyumzhinov.

The Fide president also said he obtained Karpov's agreement to the match after the 45-year-old Russian retained his Fide world title. Kasparov had been approached by Makarov although a later news report said that Kasparov denied having agreed to play this match.

The Makarov puzzle does not end here. Clearly, he has a foot in both the Ilyumzhinov and the Sunye-Neto camps. Whatever happens, he cannot lose.

When asked why he supported Ilyumzhinov and was also on Sunye-Neto's ticket, he said: "Well, there is a place for the Russian Chess Federation - the largest in the world - on Sunye-Neto's ticket but I insist on this: I am Makarov and I also support Kirsan."

If this sort of comment makes Makarov look like a fence-sitter, perhaps Ilyumzhinov's explanation best sums up the situation. He said that, at the start of the Karpov-Kamsky match, he found that although all the members of the Fide Executive Council supported him, some of them were also on Sunye-Neto's list.

He said he wanted the intrigues and manoeuvres to be stopped. "Fide had been living too long on such intrigues and that brought this body to the verge of collapse. As the president of the Kalmykian Republic, I cannot take the risk of being involved in such manoeuvres.

"That is the reason why I want to be elected without mentioning who would be on my list. I do not want the federations to fight to death for one month during the Chess Olympiad," he said.

BAYVIEW RESULTS

The seventh round of the sixth Penang Bayview Chess League was played last Sunday at The City Bayview Hotel.

Chung Ling High School "A" continued to lead in Division One, inflicting a 3.5-0.5 win on Universiti Sains Malaysia. The Old Frees Association managed to beat Chung Ling High School "B" by 2.5-1.5 while Penang Free School "A" beat Pessca 4-0.

The MSSPP Juniors won their second straight match by blanketing Hewlett-Packard "1" 4-0, while Penang Free School "B" narrowly won by a 2.5-1.5 score against Penang Development Corporation.

In Division Two, Chung Ling High School "D" beat Union High School 3-1 while Penang Free School "D" whitewashed Penang Chinese Girls High School 4-0.

In other matches, Chung Ling High School "C" beat Penang Free School "C" by 3.5-0.5, and Hitachi Semiconductors beat the MSSPP Girls by 2.5-1.5. The match between Intel and St Xavier's Institution was drawn 2-2.

Standings after six rounds: Division One - CLHS "A" 23 points, OFA 20.5 points, PFS "A" 19.5 points, PFS "B" 15.5 points, PACL 12 points, USM and PDC 9.5 points each, CLHS "B" and MSSPP Juniors 9 points each, HP "1" 7 points and Pessca 5.5 points;

Division Two - PFS "D" 20 points, CLHS "D" 19 points, SXI 15.5 points, Intel 14 points, HP "2" 12.5 points, Hitachi 10 points, MSSPP Girls and Union 8.5 points, PFS "C" 6.5 points and PCGHS 6 points.

The 22 participating teams are locked in intense battle on Sundays until Aug 11. The City Bayview Hotel is the sponsor for the annual event.

The eighth round on July 28 will be played at the hotel's Revolving Restaurant on the 15th floor.

PERAK TOURNAMENT

Eleven-year-old Aaron Yee created a sensation by winning the fourth leg of the Perak rating tournament in Ipoh last week with a perfect score of six points from the six-round event which attracted 50 players.

Along the way towards winning this event, Aaron upset Deon Moh who was this year's Perak Juniors and Selangor Juniors under-12 champion. Aaron also beat Nayan Mahmud who had won the second leg in Batu Gajah two weeks ago, and also Koh Khoon Seng who was the winner of the first leg three weeks ago.

In a thrilling final-round game between the only two players with 100% scores, the in-form Aaron convincingly beat off a challenge from Mohd Hussein Jamil. Hussein had to settle for joint second to fourth placings with Ahmad Mudzafar Ramli and Bakri Abdul Karim.

In fifth position was Wan Najmudin Wan Omar with 4.5 points; while nine players shared the sixth to 14th prizes.

The final leg of the Perak rating series will be played this Monday at the Sek Men Tok Muda Abdul Aziz in Sungei Siput Utara, Perak. Interested players can register at the playing venue by 8.30am on Monday.

According to the Perak Chess Association secretary, Eddy Fong, the top 20 players on the Perak rating list would be invited to play in a tournament next month to select the Perak teams for the 1996 Merdeka team championship in Kuala Lumpur. Contact Fong (05-466-9370) for details.

Spotlight on FIDE

It has been almost a year since the infamous Moscow Chess Congress. That meeting in Russia, coinciding with the hosting of the bienniAl Chess Olympiad, was in many ways a watershed for chess.

It surprised nobody that the Florencio Campomanes, the incumbent president of the World Chess Federation (FIDE), had wanted to be reelected for another term, but were outraged over the way he went about to achieve it.

He succeeded in interpreting and altering the federation's constitutional rules to his favour, and he had helpers bully many delegates from member countries into voting for him.

Come next week on Nov 18, FIDE is set to hold its annual congress meeting in Paris. However, this meeting comes at a time when FIDE is living under the shadow of its rival organisation, the Professional Chess Association.

The PCA is enjoying unprecedented success in the wake of the immensely huge publicity and coverage of its recently concluded world title match between Gary Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand. Intel Corporation, the maker of the microchip which powers about 90 per cent of computers worldwide, sponsored the prize money to the tune of US$1.5 million (about RM3.8 million).

On the other hand, FIDE had been unable to find sponsors for its own world title match between Anatoly Karpov and Gata Kamsky. Even the women's world championship match between Xie Jun and Zsuzsa Polgar is suffering the same lack of sponsorship support.

Moreover, the Interzonal tournament, an integral part of any world championship cycle which qualifies people to the Candidates level, has been postponed to next year.

Another piece of bad news for FIDE is that its assets have been whittled down considerably. While not exactly living on a hand-to-mouth existence, FIDE is actually looking to the PCA to honour its pledge to make a financial contribution to FIDE as part of the FIDE-PCA deal to reunite the two titles.

These, then, are some of the major issues which the delegates attending the 66th Congress in Paris next week are expecting solutions from the FIDE president.

But these issues themselves actually pale when compared with the controversy of how Paris itself was chosen as the venue of this Congress.

In 1993, at the Curitiba Congress in South America, FIDE gave the option of hosting the 66th Congress jointly to the chess federations of the Czech Republic and Slovakia, with the French Chess Federation given the second option should the Czech and Slovak chess federations withdraw.

At the Moscow Congress last year, it was confirmed that the 66th Congress would be jointly hosted in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but the option given to France was not mentioned.

Then, earlier this year when it became clear that the Czech and Slovak chess federations had withdrawn from organising the event, FIDE suddenly awarded the 66th Congress to the Qatar Chess Federation.

This decision did not go down well with the member national chess federations, least of all the French. They felt something was greatly amiss with FIDE for not abiding by its decision to give the option to France.

The French Chess Federation began a world-wide campaign to garner support from the other national chess federations and at the beginning of September, the French had obtained letters from at least 60 countries - more than a third of the FIDE membership - urging FIDE to convene an Extraordinary General Assembly in France on Nov 8 to discuss the question of the 66th Congress.

Initially, FIDE was quite adamant that the Congress would proceed in Doha, Qatar's capital. Campomanes said last year's Moscow Congress had not mentioned nor granted the option to France and in the absence of this option, he was exercising his prerogative to determine that Qatar would host the Congress.

Nevertheless, France declared to the chess world that it was ready to organise the Extraordinary General Assembly in Paris on Nov 8 whether FIDE agreed to it or not.

Then, in early October, FIDE issued a statement saying that the French had withdrawn its request for the extraordinary general assembly. At the same time too, Qatar withdrew its confirmed bid for the 66th Congress "in the principle of keeping FIDE united."

The statement said Campomanes had consulted with members of the FIDE presidential board on the next course of action and the board had decided on a new bidding process for the Congress which would be from Nov 18 to 25.

And finally, on receipt of the payment of the bidding fee from the French Chess Federation, FIDE awarded the organising of the Congress to France and it would be held in Paris.

NATIONAL CLOSED CHAMPIONSHIP

It's official! The Malaysian Chess Federation has announced that this year's national closed championship will be played from Nov 28 to Dec 3 at the Kuala Lumpur Parkroyal.

This will be a nine-round event with the men's champion receiving the Datuk Hussein Onn challenge trophy and the women's champion receiving the Dato Sabbaruddin Chik trophy.

In addition, KL Parkroyal - the sponsor - will give trophies for the most promising under-18 male and female players.

As before, each of the MCF-affiliated chess associations will be eligible to select a maximum of four official representatives for the men's section and two players for the women's section.

The national champions of the past 11 years, the current national schoolboy and schoolgirl champions as well as local players who are listed in the FIDE rating list are given direct entry into the competition.

Readers interested in this competition and who would like to be selected to play should contact their respective chess associations immediately since the MCF have fixed Nov 25 as the closing date of entries.

For more information, contact Abdul Hamid Majid (03-421-9576), Ibrahim Abu Bakar (03-5595442) or Ibrahim Yaacob (03-636-3082) after 6pm.

The results of the men's section are traditionally used as a criterion for choosing players for various international chess tournaments. The main event that comes to mind is the biennial Chess Olympiad which is scheduled for next year.

UKM TOURNAMENT

In conjunction with the 25th anniversary celebration of the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, a three-day tournament will be held on campus from Nov 24.

The tournament will be separated into four categories: open, under-16, under-12 and veterans. Each section shall be played over seven rounds and each player shall use a one-hour time control per game.

Prizes for the open section are RM1,200 and a trophy for the winner, RM700 and a souvenir for the second-placed, and RM400 and a souvenir for the third-placed. There are altogether 10 prizes.

The two youth sections will also have 10 prizes each. For the under-16 section, the winner will receive RM400 and a trophy, second shall get RM250, and third RM200. The winner of the under-12 section will get RM350 and a trophy, second RM200 and third RM150.

For the veteran's open section, only players above the age of 40 can participate. The prizes range from RM200 for the winner to RM70 for the fifth-placed.

Entry fees are RM30 for the open and veteran's sections, and RM10 for the under-16 and under-12 sections. Outstation players can arrange for accommodation within the UKM campus at RM5 per day for a dormitory stay, or RM40 and RM70 for the single and double air-conditioned rooms.

For further details or registration, contact UKM's Rosli Mohd Ali or Hj Idris Fakih Mokhtar (03-829-2422, 03-829-2423) or Ibrahim Yaacob (03-636-3082).

FOUR-DAY CHESS FEST

A four-day chess fest will be held at the Tapak ASPO 95, Universiti Malaya from next Thursday. On the first day, a six-round Rapid-30 tournament shall be held for players under the age of 20. Twenty prizes are on offer: 10 for under-20 players and the remainder for those under 12 years old. The first prize for the two age-groups are RM150 and RM100 respectively. Entry fee is RM5 per person.

There is no event on Friday but on the following day, an open tournament will be arranged. This is again over six rounds with the best player set to receive RM250. There are nine other cash prizes and in addition, prizes will be given to the best under-16 and under-12 girl players. Entry fees are RM5 for under-16 participants and RM10 for all others. A similar tournament will be held on Nov 18.

 

High hopes

Now that the dust has settled in the Professional Chess Association's world championship match between Gary Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand, a big question remains over the proposed reunification match between the champions of the PCA and the World Chess Federation (FIDE): will it take place?

When this question was posed to Kasparov at the World Trade Center in New York where the PCA match was played, he replied:

"I can't add anything concrete now but we shall stick with our word to make a financial contribution to help FIDE survive during this very difficult time."

But he claimed that the reunification match was being hindered by Anatoly Karpov and Gata Kamsky who would not sign an agreement to have this match. Karpov and Kamsky are due to play for the FIDE world championship title but the dates have not been finalised due to a lack of bids for the match.

Kasparov said the PCA had proven that it was the only organisation capable of staging a proper world championship match.

"This is the first privately-organised world championship event. We had huge media coverage and great success with the public. Today we can announce that the era of professional chess has started. This is the first time a match was really open to the public. It was also without any political agenda.

"In essence, it was a pure chess event."

At about the same time that Kasparov was speaking in New York, the British Broadcasting Corporation aired a panel discussion on the PCA match. The panelists included Karpov, FIDE president Florencio Campomanes and grandmaster Daniel King who was linked to the BBC studio via satellite from the States.

When Campomanes was asked how he was going to bring FIDE and the PCA together, the FIDE president claimed: "But we have already! In Moscow, the Congress had signed a declaration of unity with the PCA and we are now working out the agreement that will make possible the play between the winner of this match and the winner of the Karpov-Kamsky match. The two winners will get to play next year when we get to sign a reasonable agreement with the PCA."

But when Campomanes was pressed into indicating when the FIDE match itself could take place, he was unable to give a firm commitment. His replies were general to the point of being evasive.

Pronouncements like "if you ask me when it will be, only the event will tell us" or "we never have anything sure until the final moment when you have everything put down on paper" or "no amount of statements and announcements on your part or my part will make any difference to when the match actually takes place" do not convey the feeling that Campomanes is in full control of the situation at FIDE.

Indeed, despite the FIDE president saying that he had taken every possible measure to have a Karpov-Kamsky match, Karpov himself interjected that there were good chances to play the match in three Russian cities - St Petersburg being one of them - but these were blocked by Russian Chess Federation president Andrei Makarov who was also a member of the FIDE presidential board.

At this point, King said that the PCA had formulated a contract and sent it to Campomanes for FIDE and the two potential challengers - Kamsky and Karpov - to sign that they were in agreement with the PCA proposals.

He added that the PCA was prepared to organise the match next year, sponsors were already lined up, and the PCA is ready with a very generous offer to support FIDE financially.

In effect, this would mean the PCA buying off the world championship rights from FIDE and will be giving FIDE a very decent financial settlement in return.

However, Campomanes was very insistent that there would be a Karpov-Kamsky match. When pressed further by John Snow, the BBC presenter, Campomanes said curtly:

"Mr Snow, you have never been in FIDE. You don't know that things materialise only when they do materialise. The fact is, why should you be privy to what we do? The fact is that we will have the match and I have assured Mr Karpov and Mr Kamsky that we will have the match."

TURBULENT PAST

It was 10 years ago that controversy erupted over the stopping of the first world championship match between Anatoly Karpov and Gary Kasparov by the FIDE president, Florencio Campomanes, after the match had dragged on for four months.

For a very long time after that infamous incident, Kasparov remained very critical of Campomanes's decision and this was despite him having wrested the crown from Karpov in another match in 1986.

However by 1992, Campomanes and Kasparov seemed to have become the best of pals. At the closing ceremony of the Manila Chess Olympiad that year, Kasparov was almost singing the praises of FIDE and Campomanes.

But from behind that happy mask emerged Kasparov's true colours. The storm broke again when Kasparov and Nigel Short led a move to play their 1993 title match outside FIDE's jurisdiction. The two players formed the Professional Chess Association to organise the match in London for US$1.7 million (RM4.2 million.

Not to be outdone, FIDE announced their replacement world championship match between Karpov and Jan Timman in Holland and Oman, with an even bigger prize money. But Holland later could not raise their share of the money while Oman withdrew their sponsorship at the final minute.

It was left to Jakarta to save Campomanes' face by staging the FIDE world championship match but FIDE had to fork out the prize monies from its own coffer.

Then last year, FIDE was left in a quandry when the Greek Chess Federation aborted their attempt to hold the biennial Chess Olympiad. Then Andrei Makarov, president of the Russian Chess Federation, offered to host the Chess Olympiad in Moscow, an offer FIDE could not resist. However, Makarov was a Kasparov supporter and it became clear that the money for the Olympiad came from the PCA. In return, FIDE had to agree to allow Kasparov and Short, then under a FIDE blacklist, to play for their respective teams.

At the Chess Olympiad and Congress, Kasparov and Campomanes were suddenly the thickest of friends again. Kasparov campaigned vigorously for Campomanes' reelection when it became clear that the latter was facing a concerted effort to have him removed.

Procedures and rules for the FIDE elections were changed or interpreted at the Congress to Campomanes' favour and Makarov himself was seen to intimidate the delegates from the central Asian countries (the republics making up the former Soviet Union) to ensure they voted to Makarov's orders.

In return for this support, Makarov was elected as one of FIDE's deputy presidents. A declaration was then made at the Congress to reunify the FIDE and PCA world championship titles into one. It was a triumph for Kasparov and his supporters.

And where did this leave Karpov? Out in the cold. He could not even book himself into the Cosmos Hotel where the Chess Olympiad was being held and where all the players stayed. In short, he was persona non grata at the Olympiad.

According to the PCA-FIDE joint declaration to reunify the two chess titles, both organisations would play to complete their own championship cycles this year and the winners would then play a reunification match next year.

The PCA world championship match has now concluded but not the FIDE version. The problem was in finding a sponsor for the Karpov-Kamsky match which until today, no sponsor has been found.

But the latest heard from the grapevine was that Kamsky has been talking to some Argentine sponsors.

 

High tension chess

The Professional Chess Association's world championship match in New York, sponsored by Intel Corporation, is over. After more than four weeks of high tension chess, Gary Kasparov retains his title with a comfortable victory over Viswanathan Anand.

In the process, Kasparov became richer by US$1 million (RM2.5 million) while Anand's portion of the prize money was US$0.5 million (RM1.25 million).

The match was actually decided over a spate of six games: Anand won the ninth game but it was nothing compared to Kasparov's four wins in the 10th, 11th, 13th and 14th games.

The 13th game of the match was a letdown for Anand's fans; faced with a must-win situation, Anand turned in what must possibly be one of his most disastrous efforts. He played like a complete patzer and his king was caught in the centre of the board with Kasparov's queen and rooks bearing down on him.

Viswanathan Anand - Gary Kasparov, Game 13

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.Qd2 Nc6 8.f3 O-O 9.Bc4 Bd7 10.h4 h5 11.Bb3 Rc8 12.Nxc6

(Anand is by nature a sharp player who revels in attacking play, pressurising his opponent into time trouble. In this match, however, Anand seems to have kept his attacking abilities at home. What we have seen from him so far is a change to positional play. The Anand of the past would not have hesitated to go for a sharper line like 12 0-0-0 Ne5 13 Bg5 Rc5 14 g4, et cetera.)

12...bxc6 13.Bh6 c5 14.Bc4

(The alternative is 14 Bxg7 Kxg7 15 Qe2 Qc7 16 Bc4 Rb8 17 0-0-0 when it is debatable whether Black's queen is better on the c7-square or the b6-square, as in the game).

14... Qb6 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.b3?!

(The American grandmaster, Yasser Seirawan, was taken aback by this move. He was sufficiently moved to ask, rather rudely, "What kind of preparation is this?" After 16 0-0-0 Rb8 17 b3 Qa5 18 Kb2 Rb4!? 19 Nd5 Nxd5 20 exd5, he says White has an advantage.)

16... Be6!

(The initiative has passed to Black, eg 17 Bxe6 fxe6 18 0-0-0 c4 with a strong queenside attack, or 17 Na4 Qc6 18 Bxe6 fxe6 19 c4 Nxe4 20 fxe4 Qxe4+ 21 Qe2 Qf4 with advantage.)

17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 e5! 19.dxe6?

(Totally unexpected of Anand who now opens up the game for Kasparov's heavy pieces while his own king remains uncastled. Kasparov, in his post-mortem comments, said the position was roughly equal after 19 0-0-0 Qb4.)

19... d5 20.Be2

(Of course, 20 Bxd5 loses to 20...Rfd8 21 c4 fxe6.)

20... c4!

(A nice move, better than either 20...Qxe6 or 20...fxe6. According to Kasparov, this was the first time in his life he had prevented castling twice with one move (20...c4) because now it was impossible for White to castle on the kingside while queenside castling would be a very unattractive prospect for him.)

21.c3?

(Kasparov thought that Anand had to play 21 Rd1 but White would still have an uphill task in defending this position after 21...Re8 22 exf7+ Kxf7 or 21...c3 22 Qd4 fxe6. Anand played 21 c3 with the idea of 22 Qd4, but Kasparov called 21 c3 the decisive mistake.)

21... Rce8! 22.bxc4 Rxe6 23.Kf1

(Kasparov said he expected 23 cxd5 when he had planned 23...Re5 24 Kf1 Nxd5 25 Qd4 Qf6, limiting White's king to the back rank, eg 26 Kf2? Nxc3! 27 Qxc3? Rxe2+ which wins White's queen.)

23... Rfe8 24.Bd3 dxc4 25.Bxc4 Ne4 0-1

(Black wins after 25 fxe4 Rf6+ 26 Ke1 Rxe4+ 27 Be2 Qf2+ 28 Kd1 Rxe2 29 Qxe2 Rd6+.)

Later when Kasparov was asked what he would do if he had been down by two points in the match, he said there was already nothing to be done.

"No one can help when a player is down by two points. Probably it will be time to play chess. What else can you do?"

The following day, the 14th game saw a dramatic, full-bodied struggle which featured a swing of fortunes from one player to the other. Amid great tension, the game ended in hectic time-trouble in which Kasparov won.

In the game, Anand surprised Kasparov by wheeling out the Centre Counter Game. Although Kasparov had an initial advantage, a series of poor moves gave Anand the edge. At one stage, the spectators became so excited that the two players could hear the commotion through their supposedly sound-proof glass enclosure.

Gary Kasparov - Viswanathan Anand, Game 14

1.e4 d5

(A desperate choice of opening. Obviously, Anand had been unable to find an antidote to Kasparov's attacking play had he chosen 1...c5 again. Anyway, 1...d5 had never been played against Kasparov before.)

2.exd5 Qxd5 3.Nc3 Qa5 4.d4 Nf6 5.Nf3 c6 6.Ne5 Be6 7.Bd3 Nbd7 8.f4 g6 9.O-O Bg7 10.Kh1

(White has compensation for the sacrificed pawn after 10 f5 gxf5 11 Bxf5 Nxe5 12 Bxe6 fxe6 13 dxe5 Qxe5 14 Bf4 Qc5+ 15 Kh1.)

10... Bf5! 11.Bc4?

(The first of Kasparov's misguided Bishop moves. According to Seirawan, he had to change his strategy with 11 Bxf5 gxf5 12 Qd3 e6 13 b3, intending Ne5-c4 and Bc1-a3.)

11... e6 12.Be2 h5 13.Be3 Rd8 14.Bg1 O-O 15.Bf3 Nd5

(The commentators preferred 15...c5! to undermine the e5-knight's support. If 16 Bxb7? cxd4 17 Qxd4 Nxe5 18 Qxe5 Nd5 and Black has the advantage. After 15...c5, White's best continuation is 16 Qe2 cxd4 17 Bxd4 Qb4.)

16.Nxd5

(Kasparov offered a draw here, which Anand declined. Later, Kasparov said that his offer was made for purely psychological reasons. He wanted to see Anand's frame of mind; whether he would consider it. Kasparov felt that it was a test of Anand's desire to fight and that he had expected an instantaneous "no" but instead, Anand thought about it for some time.)

16...exd5 17.Bf2 Qc7 18.Rc1 f6 19.Nd3 Rfe8

(Dissatisfied with the position, Kasparov shook his head several times. A win for Anand in this game would give him some fighting chances in the match. Still, Kasparov played his next move quickly. By this time, both players were beginning to get short of time.)

20.b3 Nb6 21.a4 Nc8 22.c4 Qf7 23.a5 Bf8?

(Best is 23...Nd6! 24 a6 Ne4 25 axb7 Qxb7 with advantage to Black.)

24.cxd5 cxd5 25.Bh4

(At this point, Kasparov left the board after his 25th move and returned without his jacket for the first time in the match. The crowd roared, recognising that the Champion was feeling the intensity of the position.)

25... Nd6 26.a6!

(Despite his inferior position, Kasparov has successfully managed to generate queenside counterplay.)

26... b6 27.Ne5?!

(Even as both players were approaching the time control for the first session of play, Kasparov decided to go for complications. He later described this move as not inspired but it was still the best in the circumstances. He was referring not only to the position on the board but also the score in the match, the time pressure and his assessment that without 27 Ne5 he would just have to sit and wait for Anand.)

27... Qe6

(At this point, Anand should have played 27...fxe5 28 fxe5 Ne4 29 Bxd8 Rxd8 30 g4 hxg4 31 Bxg4 when he might have some winning chances. Kasparov called 27...Qe6 a serious mistake, even though it looked so natural.) 28.g4

(This move provoked another roar from the crowd, which realised that the battle was now at full pitch. The noise could be heard in the players' booth, and Kasparov later said, "The moment I played 28 g4, we both realised that there was a huge crowd and that we didn't have any protection (from the noise)." Observers said the crowd on Tuesday might have been the smallest in the match so far, but the excitement on the board helped make it the loudest.)

28... hxg4 29.Nxg4

(For the first time in the game, Kasparov had some counterplay for a change. Until then, he and Anand had been under the impression that White had a tough position and would have to struggle long to hold the draw but after 29 Nxg4, Kasparov and Anand looked at each other, both realising that it was a turning point in the game.)

29...Bg7 30.Rc7 Ne4 31.Ne3 Bh3

(If 31...Ng3+ 32 Bxg3 Qxe3 33 Re1 would have won several pawns.)

32.Rg1 g5

(The crowd roared again, thinking of 33 fxg5 fxg5 34 Bxg5? Nf2 mate. Kasparov dramatically rose from his chair and extended his arms from his sides, lifting them twice in succession to his shoulders. Tension filled the air and the commentators instantly asked the audience to be quiet, as it was now obvious the players could hear them and were disturbed by the noise. The audience showed its appreciation of the situation by its immediate silence.)

33.Bg4 Bxg4 34.Qxg4 Qxg4 35.Rxg4 Nd6?

(The final error. Black had to try 35...Rc8.)

36.Bf2 Nb5 37.Rb7 Re4 38.f5 Rxg4 39.Nxg4 Rc8 40.Rd7 Rc2 41.Rxd5

(With the time control reached, Anand now realised how hopeless his position was. If now 41...Nc3, 42 Rd8+ Kf7 43 Rd7+ Kf8 44 Rc7 wins.) 1-0

When Kasparov met the journalists after the game, he did not seem to be very happy for someone who had just achieved an almost insurmountable lead in the match. He said what had happened was a very sad accident. The crowd had not seemed to be aware that the booth was not perfectly sound-proof.

Kasparov thought that the noise was a bigger shock for Anand, because after having had a comfortable position, the challenger ended up having to defend many weaknesses and was short on time. After the game, Anand complained to Kasparov that it was unfair to play under such conditions, and Kasparov agreed.

Kasparov talked of how he had gone into the game with very strange feelings of wanting to win but also wanting to play quietly because he knew that a draw would have been to his advantage. He attributed his early lacklustre play partly to his conflicting feelings.

In contrast to the 13th and 14th games, the next two games were tame affairs. The two players were affected by a breakdown in the air-conditioning system at the match venue which delayed the start of the 15th game by two hours and they subsequently agreed to an early draw. Likewise, the 16th game ended peacefully only after about an hour's play.

Viswanathan Anand - Gary Kasparov, Game 15

1.e4 c5, 2.Nf3 d6, 3.d4 cxd4, 4.Nxd4 Nf6, 5.Nc3 g6, 6.Be3 Bg7, 7.f3 O-O, 8.Qd2 Nc6, 9.g4 Be6, 10.0-0-0 Nxd4, 11.Bxd4 Qa5, 12.Kb1 (Sharper is 13 a3 Rfc8 14 h4 Rab8 14 h5 b5 15 hxg6 hxg6 16 Qg5) 12...Rfc8, 13.a3 Rab8, 14.Nd5 Qxd2, 15.Rxd2 Nxd5, 16.Bxg7 Ne3 1/2-1/2 (The position is level after 17 Bd4 Nxf1 18 Rxf1 a5)

Gary Kasparov - Viswanathan Anand, Game 16

1.e4 c5, 2.Nf3 d6, 3.d4 cxd4, 4.Nxd4 Nf6, 5.Nc3 a6, 6.Be2 e6, 7.0-0 Be7, 8.a4 Nc6, 9.Be3 0-0, 10.f4 Qc7, 11.Kh1 Re8, 12.Bd3 Nb4, 13.a5 Bd7, 14.Nf3 Rac8, 15.Bb6 Qb8, 16.Bd4 Bc6, 17.Qd2 Nxd3, 18.cxd3 Nd7, 19.Bg1 Qc7, 20.Nd4 1/2-1/2

COMING EVENTS

The one-day Kepong juniors open chess tournament, organised by the Parent-Teacher Association of the SRJK(C) Kepong Dua in Kuala Lumpur will be played over six rounds on Oct 22 at the school.

There will be three categories in this tournament - under-10, under-12 and under-16 - and cash prizes will be awarded to the top three winners in each category.

Entry fees are RM5 for pupils of the school and RM8 for other players. Interested players can call Mrs F L Wong (03-636-4197) after 3pm or Total Chess (03-757-4606) during office hours.

Meanwhile, readers are reminded that the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge & Chess Club will organise the second USM national open tournament in Penang from Dec 1 to 3.

This three-day event will be held over eight rounds using a time control of 1* hours each per player for each game. Ten prizes totalling RM3,250 are lined up for the participants and the winner will receive a RM1,000 cash prize.

Entry fees are RM20 for students and RM30 for the public. To register, contact Ms Chew Siew Imm (04-657-7253) after 8pm.

Entries will close officially on Oct 20, and anyone registering after this date can expect some late fees to be imposed.

 

High drama in New York

The latest news received through the Internet on Wednesday morning was that Gary Kasparov has won the 14th game of his US$1.5 million (RM3.75 million) world chess championship match with Viswanathan Anand in New York.

This result, coupled with a crushing 13th round victory one day earlier, means that Kasparov has taken a commanding 8.5-5.5 lead in the best-of-20-games match series and is set to retain his Professional Chess Association world title. He needs only two more points to take the winner's purse of US$1 million (RM2.5 million).

The Indian grandmaster's form seems to have collapsed and he is putting up little resistance this week. If Kasparov keeps piling up the pressure, who knows, the match may even set a premature conclusion this weekend!

What an dramatic change in the course of events. As reported last week, Viswanathan Anand was the first to draw blood when he won the ninth game of the match at New York's World Trade Center.

But the euphoria in his camp was short-lived. There was little time for him to savour the win. In the 10th game, Kasparov uncorked a gem and won an almost flawlessly played game to bring the match back to an even keel.

Worse was to come for Anand. Kasparov won the 11th game when Anand fell into a very obvious trap. For the first time, the defending champion had taken the lead in the match.

Viswanathan Anand - Gary Kasparov, Game 9

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be2 e6 7.O-O Be7 8.a4 Nc6 9.Be3 0-0 10.f4 Qc7 11.Kh1 Re8 12.Bf3

(In previous games, Anand had chosen 12 Bd3 but now, 12 Bf3 is played to direct his bishop at Black's queenside.)

12...Bd7 13.Nb3 Na5 14.Nxa5 Qxa5 15.Qd3! Rad8 16.Rfd1 Bc6 17.b4!

(Although it looks very strong and natural, this move is forced or else Black will play ...d6-d5 with strong counter play in the centre. The excitement level among the spectators rose instantly when this move was played.)

17...Qc7 18.b5 Bd7 19.Rab1 axb5 20.Nxb5 Bxb5 21.Qxb5 Ra8

(According to US grandmaster Yasser Seirawan, Kasparov's worried expression betrayed his lack of confidence in his position. White's active pieces are superb compensation for his slight structural weaknesses. If 21...Qxc2?, Black's queen is trapped after 22 Rfc1 Qa2 23 Ra1.)

22.c4 e5

(Or else White will play e4-e5 himself.)

23.Bb6 Qc8 24.fxe5 dxe5 25.a5 Bf8?

(Seirawan said Black has a good drawing chance after 25...Bd8! 26 Qxe8+ Nxe8 27 Rxd8 Qxd8 28 Bxd8 Rxd8 29 Rxb7 Ra8!, etc.)

26.h3 Qe6 27.Rd5!

(Offering the Exchange. Anand later said 27 Rd5 was necessary because the attack on the e5-pawn stopped Black's pieces from moving around. The move was more to prevent ...Rec8 and ...Qc6 if Anand pushes his pawn to c5.)

27...Nxd5??

(Instead of the better 27...g6, Kasparov grabs the rook. But it becomes immediately clear that he has badly miscalculated. White's bishops and central pawns now dominate the game.)

28.exd5 Qg6 29.c5 e4

(Afterwards, Anand told the 2000-odd audience at the World Trade Center: "After 29 c5, I knew I was going to win or he was was going to have to do something drastic. Maybe 28...Qf5 was better, but he would still be worse anyway. Perhaps he should have played 27...Rec8.")

30.Be2 Re5 31.Qd7!

(A crusher, combining both attack and defence. White's d5-pawn is defended while he also guards his kingside and attacks the b7-pawn.)

31...Rg5 32.Rg1 e3 33.d6 Rg3 34.Qb7 Qe6

(One last threat: 35...Rxh3+ followed by checkmate on the next move, but White parries it.)

35.Kh2 1-0

(After 35...Qe8, 36.Qxa8 leaves Black with nothing. The first victory of the match brought Anand a standing ovation.)

When Anand addressed the audience after the game, IM Maurice Ashley asked: "Was 27 Rd5 a dare?"

Anand laughed a little. "It was so pathetically obvious, it was hardly a dare, more of a beg."

A day after the ninth game, the 10th game was played. It was a triumph for home preparation. Kasparov played a stunning idea which launched a series of sacrifices. Anand was swept away in a tide of complications and his legendary speed of play, which had earned him the nickname "Speed King", deserted him completely.

On the other hand, Kasparov moved quickly and would then retire to his dressing room, leaving his opponent deep in thought. When Anand would finally move, Kasparov would briefly reappear and make his reply within seconds. Kasparov only used about five minutes for his first 24 moves!

The best Anand could do was simplify to a lost ending a pawn down. Kasparov then slowed his game and showed excellent endgame technique to win the point and equal the match.

Gary Kasparov - Viswanathan Anand, Game 10

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.Nbd2 Nc5 10.c3 d4 11.Ng5 dxc3 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.bxc3 Qd3

(Until this position, both the players have been following the first 13 moves of the eighth game of the match. Kasparov now reveals a fantastic novelty which comes from home preparation.)

14.Bc2!! Qxc3

(Seirawan: "Like a leaf in a strong wind, Anand will soon be carried off in a whirlwind of complications. He cannot decline the sacrifice as 14...Qd7 (14...Qd5? 15 Qh5+ g6 16 Bxg6+ wins) 15 Qh5+ Qf7 16 Qe2 is very strong for White." Observers said Kasparov went to his dressing room and returned only when Anand made his reply.)

15.Nb3!

(When Kasparov returned, he wrote Anand's move down on his scoresheet, instantly played 15 Nb3 and again went back to his room without delay. This was his second consecutive surprising move, and his second quick departure to the dressing room.)

15...Nxb3

(It is hard to see Black surviving for long, eg 15...Rd8 16 Bd2 Qxe5 (16...Rxd2 17 Nxd2 Nxe5 18 Ne4 Nxe4 19 Bxe4 Bd6 20 Rc1 which is good for White.) 17 Re1 Qd5 18 Qg4 etc. White has used only three minutes on his clock whereas Black, his difficulty showing on his face and clock, has used 69 minutes to think this far into the game.)

16...Nd4

(Or 16...Qxa1 17 Qh5+ g6 18 Qf3 Nd8 19 Qf6 Rg8 20 Bg5 Qb2 21 Bxe6 when White wins back material with a continuing attack.)

17.Qg4!

(When Kasparov returned, he recorded Anand's move, played his own, hit the clock, wrote down his move and immediately went back to his dressing room. There was no hesitation in any of his actions.)

17...Qxa1

(As Kasparov demonstrates in this game, capturing the rook on this move is wrong too but then, other tries are equally bad: 17...Nxb3 18 Qxe6+ Be7 19 Bg5 Qb4 20 axb3 winning, or 17...O-O-O 18 Bxe6+ Kb8 19 Bg5 Re8 20 Rac1 with a better development.)

18.Bxe6!

(Kasparov again emerged from his room, made his move quickly and disappeared. To the spectators, Kasparov's 18 Bxe6 was surprising (it traps the black king in the centre and threatens 19 Bd7+ Kf7 20 e6+ Kg8 21 Bh6 Qb2 22 e7, winning), for the same reason many of his moves in this game did. Each time, the audience would see a new position after Anand's move, but before they could think about it at any length, Kasparov would immediately make his reply. Anand was under an incredible psychological pressure: every time he made a decision, he was almost instantly confronted with another problem!)

18...Rd8 19.Bh6!

(Kasparov plonked this move down on the chessboard like a hammer blow. It is much better than 19 Bg5. After 19 Bh6, White threatens 20 Bxg7 Bxg7 21 Qh5+ and 22.Qf7 mate!)

19...Qc3 20.Bxg7 Qd3 21.Bxh8 Qg6 22.Bf6

(Up to here, Kasparov has still used only five minutes on his clock but Anand had used almost 90 minutes. Kasparov had anticipated Anand's line of defence and worked out the entire game until this position in his home analysis. In the post-mortem, GM Nick De Firmian quickly mentioned how little time Kasparov had taken to play his first 21 moves and he answered: "Yes, it took two minutes at the board but forty hours to analyse beforehand!")

22...Be7 23.Bxe7 Qxg4 24.Bxg4 Kxe7 25.Rc1 c6 26.f4! a5 27.Kf2 a4 28.Ke3 b4 29.Bd1 a3 30.g4 Rd5 31.Rc4 c5 32.Ke4 Rd8 33.Rxc5 Ne6 34.Rd5 Rc8

(If 34...Rxd5 35 Kxd5 Nxf4+ 36 Kc4 Ke6 37 Kxb4 Kxe5 38 Kxa3, White's two extra pawns will be enough to win.)

35.f5 Rc4+ 36.Ke3 Nc5 37.g5 Rc1 38.Rd6 1-0

Kasparov told his supporters that after the eighth game, the idea of 14 Bc2 came to him and it gripped him for the next 48 hours. The number of sacrificial options were staggering: a pawn, a rook, a bishop, in fact whatever was necessary to keep the attack rolling.

"Unfortunately, I cannot show you all the lines. The position after 15 Nb3 was immensely complicated and I am sure Anand will spend the next 48 hours analysing it. White is sacrificing a rook in so many variations. I checked it extremely carefully. It's difficult to sacrifice something without concrete threats, but when you start to analyse things, you see what is happening.

"Of course, the opponent has great difficulty analysing, too. In particular, 19 Bh6 was very easy to miss. Black's position was extremely dangerous.

"Still, if White did not play the right moves, he's dead. When you play a Rook down, you must play very precisely and after Bh6, Black cannot restore the cooperation of his pieces.

"One line which is easy to find is 15...Nxb3 16 Bxb3 Qxa1 17 Qh5+ Kd7 18 Bxe6+ Kxe6 19 Qg4+, and Black has nowhere to escape. He must keep his king on the light squares to avoid a check by White's c1-bishop which would win Black's queen. So, 19...Kf7 20 Qf3+ Ke6 21 Qxc6+ Bd6 22 exd6 Qe5.

"For a moment, it looks like Black has managed to do something but after Bd2, White's rook comes into the game. The game will be over soon, believe me.

"Having found this during the weekend influenced my poor performance (in the ninth game) yesterday. I played awfully in the opening and of course, Nxd5 was suicide. I couldn't wait to play with the white pieces and I forgot that he would be playing White first this week!"

For Anand who had been blown away by Kasparov's home preparation, the one-day break before the 11th game must have been spent soul-searching. But it offered little respite.

He returned to the chessboard on Friday, hoping to gain something with the white pieces, but Kasparov surprised Anand with the choice of the Sicilian Dragon - something he has never played before in his career.

Viswanathan Anand - Gary Kasparov, Game 11

1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6

(Seirawan: "Following his victory in the ninth game, Anand had hoped to force Kasparov to switch his defences and chase him into a well-laid ambush. Anand couldn't have dreamt that Kasparov's second-line defence would be the Dragon. "Kasparov's choice, however, is brilliant. The Dragon is an ultra-sharp defence with both players risking defeat in the most heavily analysed variations. Kasparov expected Anand to be unprepared and to adopt a quiet continuation. In that case, Black can usually achieve a balanced position and an easy draw - another opening success for Kasparov.")

6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 Bd7 10. O-O-O Ne5 11. Bb3 Rc8 12. h4 h5 13. Kb1

(Seirawan again: "A disappointment. Anand backs away from the most harrowing lines. 13 Bg5 Rc5 14 g4 hxg4 15 f4 Nc4 etc, leads to far more excitement. This quiet move leads to balanced play, therefore Kasparov's opening gamble pays off.")

13. ... Nc4 14. Bxc4 Rxc4 15. Nde2 b5 16. Bh6 Qa5 17. Bxg7 Kxg7 18. Nf4 Rfc8 19. Ncd5 Qxd2

(Kasparov now offers Anand a draw as White's advantage is so minimal that his chances of winning are negligible. Anand thought about it for four minutes and for the first time in the match, declined the offer.)

20. Rxd2 Nxd5 21. Nxd5 Kf8 22. Re1 Rb8 23. b3 Rc5 24. Nf4 Rbc8 25. Kb2 a5 26. a3 Kg7

(This is a critical moment. Anand now plays a combination that goes terribly wrong for him.)

27. Nd5 Be6 28. b4?

Later, Kasparov confided that while in his dressing room he was watching the monitors and could hardly breathe when he realised that Anand was reaching for his b-pawn. Kasparov expected 28 Nxe7 Re8 29 Nd5 Bxd5 30 b4 axb4 31 axb4 Rc4 32 Rxd5 Rxb4+ 33 Kc1 f5 which should be sufficient to draw the game. GM Margeir Petursson, analysing the game in the Internet Chess Club, discovered that if White attempted to win the exchange by 28 b4 axb4 29 axb4 Rc4 30 Nb6, he would instead lose the game. In the World Trade Center, GM Ilya Gurevich made the same observation and quickly added that Anand would, of course, not fall into such a trap. However, after surprisingly little thought, Anand did play into this line.)

28. ... axb4 29. axb4? Rc4 30. Nb6? Rxb4+ 31. Ka3

(Anand thought that because both of Black's rooks were under threat, he could win the exchange but he completely missed Kasparov's rejoinder.)

31...Rxc2!! 0-1

(After 32 Rxc2 Rb3+ 33 Ka2 Re3+ 34 Kb2 Rxe1, Black will get back his rook and with two extra pawns too. With a shake of his head Anand resigned immediately.)

At the press conference after the game, Kasparov was bubbling. He had been down a point just two games ago but had completely reversed the situation. He was critical of Anand's play, stating, "If you want to play to win as White, you have to play g2-g4 at some point, otherwise I think it's a dead draw."

Kasparov said he had never played the Dragon in serious competition. The only time the Dragon had been played in Championship matches was between Mikhail Botvinnik and Vassily Smyslov in the 50's, when the theory on it was still young.

He said his choice of the Dragon must have been unpleasant for Anand after the previous games. "This game was much different from the first five times that Anand had played as White. If he plays solidly in this variation, he cannot hope to have any winning chances."

Kasparov felt that the match would still be complicated but the results of the previous two games had changed not only the score and the course of events. He added that there were still nine games to go but he also joked, "Maybe the first nine games served a good purpose; he lost respect for me."

Gary Kasparov - Viswanathan Anand, Game 12

1. e4 e5, 2. Nf3 Nc6, 3. Bb5 a6, 4. Ba4 Nf6, 5. 0-0 b5, 6. Bb3 Bc5, 7. a4 Bb7, 8. d3 d6, 9. Nc3 b4, 10. Nd5 Na5, 11. Nxf6+ Qxf6, 12. Ba2 h6, 13. c3 bxc3, 14. bxc3 0-0, 15. Be3 Rad8, 16. Rb1 Bc8, 17. Qe2 Be6, 18. h3 Bxa2, 19. Qxa2 Bxe3, 20. fxe3 Qe6, 21. Qxe6 fxe6, 22. Rb4 Rb8, 23. Rfb1 Nc6, 24. Rb7 Rbc8, 25. Kf2 Rf7, 26. Ke2 Rcf8, 27. d4 g5, 28. Kd3 Rg7, 29. d5 exd5, 30. exd5 g4, 31. dxc6 e4+, 32. Kxe4 gxf3, 33. gxf3 Re7+, 34. Kd4 Rxf3, 35. e4 Rxh3, 36. Rxc7 Rxc7, 37. Rb8+ Kf7, 38. Rb7 Re7, 39. c7 Rxc7, 40. Rxc7+ Ke6, 41. Ra7 h5, 42. Rxa6 Rh1, 43. Ra8 h4 1/2-1/2

SIGN UP FOR SELAYANG JUNIORS

The Selayang Mall Shopping Centre will be the venue for the one-day Selayang juniors open chess tournament in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday.

This event, organised jointly by Selayang Mall Sdn Bhd and Total Chess, will be played in three sections: under-10, under-12 and under-16. Ten prizes will be given away for each section.

Whiz Kid Sdn Bhd is sponsoring the main prizes and these include a computer dictionary LC9200 worth about RM900, a computer disctionary LC250 worth about RM800 and a computer organiser worth about RM400 for each section. The other prizes are computer games software and discount vouchers.

Entry fee is RM12 per player, and lunch will be provided for all participants.

Entries close today at 5pm. Interested readers can call Cecilia or Rebecca at the Selayang Mall Shopping Centre (03-616-4588/03-616-9430) or Joseph (03-757-4606).

 

Anand in the lead

 

The great hope of Asian chess

THE GREAT HOPE OF ASIAN CHESS

For decades, world championship chess has been dominated by the West. Ever since the late Mikhail Botvinnik won the title in 1948, the world chess champion has always been a man from behind the Iron Curtain.

Well...almost always, actually. In 1972, the American Bobby Fischer challenged the Soviet hold on the title and he wrested the title from Boris Spassky in a match that mesmerised the world.

Will history be repeated? Right now in New York, at the observation deck of the World Trade Center, the Professional Chess Association's world champion, Gary Kasparov, is being challenged by Viswanathan Anand.

To many people from the West, Anand is the fourth non-Soviet/Russian player to challenge for the world crown. Apart from Fischer, regular readers of this column will remember that Kasparov played Nigel Short in London while the World Chess Federation's Anatoly Karpov played Jan Timman in Amsterdam and Jakarta three years ago.

However, to chess players from this region, "Vishy" Anand is the first Great Hope of Asian chess. Never before has Asia produced a player of such calibre and on Anand's shoulders rest the expectations of millions of Asian chess players.

In Anand's native India, chess interest is at an all-time high, and elsewhere across the Asian continent, there is fervour and excitement because of the bout.

Who is Vishy Anand? For the uninitiated, Anand was born in India on Dec 11 1969. His father is a retired rail station manager. In 1987, Anand became the world junior chess champion and people began taking notice of him when he began winning tournaments in Europe against established Western players.

When I first met Anand in Genting Highlands in 1989, he was an easy-going and mild-mannered player who proclaimed to me that he had little ambition for the world crown but yes, if given the opportunity he would want to play Kasparov one day.

When I next saw him, it was three years later in Manila. Anand's confidence had increased tremendously as by then he was already accepted by the leading grandmasters as one of the top players of his generation. He had already played Kasparov several times so his early ambitions had been realised many times over.

Anand is not only India's strongest-ever player but he is now ranked second in the world by the Professional Chess Association.

Adored by millions in India, Anand is still easy going, witty and warm. However, he still makes chess players nervous as they discover that Anand's friendly exterior hides a razor-sharp mind with the knack for setting cunning traps.

He is such a rapid chess player that he frequently unsettles his opponents and draws surprise and admiration from spectators. This rare ability means he is virtually never in time-trouble which is a big advantage in top-level chess when grandmasters play for high stakes against the clock.

In 1994, at the London leg of the Intel Grand Prix speed chess event, Anand gained notoriety for knocking out Chess Genius, the Pentium processor-based PC which had itself already eliminated Gary Kasparov in the first round of the contest. After beating t he machine, Anand said in relief: "I used to watch The Terminator and feel sorry for the machine -- but not any more."

Anand reached the pinnacle of the Intel World Chess Championship Final with ease by sweeping aside highly rated opposition including English grandmaster Michael Adams and Gata Kamsky of the United States.

Earlier this year he knocked Kasparov out of the Moscow leg of the Intel world chess Grand Prix. There are many people who believe that Anand is peaking at the right time and they believe he has a good chance to create an upset in New York.

The Intel world chess championships final at the World Trade Center has all the ingredients of being the most exciting chess match this decade.

CAN ANAND PULL IT OFF?

Can India's Viswananthan Anand create an upset victory over the Professional Chess Association's world champion, Gary Kasparov? Let me try to put a few observations in the right perspective. Firstly, the points to Anand's advantage.

When Anand lost a narrow match to Anatoly Karpov in the last World Chess Federation cycle, he began a run of tournament successes that suggested that he was ready to take the World Number One spot from Kasparov.

However, his confidence deserted him for a couple of years. But in spite of all this he remains comfortably placed as one of the top five players in the world. He has used this time to rebuild his style and rhythm of play in order to progress.

How good is Anand now? In the last year, he has played very little: just one high-level tournament in Riga where he finished second to Kasparov, even losing on the black side of an Evan's Gambit. Then he put in a sterling performance to beat Gata Kamsky i n the final of the Intel world championship qualifying matches and a couple of rapidplay events.

He looks strong, confident and extremely well prepared. If, as suggested, he is more naturally gifted than Kasparov, Anand might actually be a better player than Kasparov.

If Anand starts the match confidently and plays his best, then Kasparov might be in for a torrid time indeed. Howvever, his career record against Kasparov is spoilt by a surfeit of games with the black pieces. Speed, rhythm of play, good memory and excellent feel are the keys to Anand's play.

Now, when considering Anand's negative points, we have to look at his inexperience in playing world championship matches. If it is a big disadvantage to him, he will need to overcome this quickly and avoid the disasters that befell Vassily Smyslov in 1954 and Nigel Short in 1992. (Both these players made abysmal scores in the first games of their matches against Mikhail Botvinnik and Kasparov respectively.)

Questions have been asked of Anand's abilities in the endgame and his capacity to blunder. He was written off as a nervous player after his first loss to Kamsky in the FIDE cycle.

However, this is an over-simplification. Anand can be as ruthless as any other player. When the going gets tough Anand will have to be at his most competitive to see it through. World champions need to have this quality, and even if Anand believes he is t he best in the world he will have to tough out the inevitable setbacks in this match.

The final and obvious point is that conversely, we don't know what progress Anand has made in the last year. In the end, he may just turn out to be a worse player than Kasparov.

FOLLOWING THE GAME

For readers with Internet access who wish to follow the games live from New York, point your web browser (Netscape 1.1n or 1.2n are preferred for accessing the World Wide Web) to either http://www.xculture.de/sport/wcc95live or http://www.intel.com/intel/ chess/index.html.

The first URL (Uniform Resource Locator) is a sports web site in Germany which carries on-going analysis by the strong Fritz3 chess program, while the second URL belongs to microchip giant Intel who are using this opportunity to advertise their own web site.

The world championship games are played four times weekly. The only problem is that the games begin at 3pm New York time, so if you want to catch them live you will have to be awake at 3am on Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings.

TIME FOR SECOND USM OPEN

Encouraged by the good response to last year's USM national open chess tournament, the Universiti Sains Malaysia's Bridge & Chess Club will organise a second tournament this year at their campus from Dec 1-3.

This event will be held over three days and eight rounds of 1.5 hours each per player for each game. Ten prizes have been lined up for the participants and the winner will receive a RM1,000 prize.

The second prize is worth RM750, the third prize RM500, the fourth prize RM300 and the fifth prize RM200. The sixth to 10th prizes will be RM100 each. In addition, trophies will be given to the three best players in the university.

The tournament is open to all school, university and college students as well as members of the public.

The fee for students is RM20 and RM30 for the public. Accommodation for outstation participants can also be arranged within the university campus at a rate of RM2.50 per day for students and RM5 per day for the public. Foreign participants can expect free accommodation from the organisers.

To register for the tournament, contact Ms Chew Siew Imm (tel: 04-657-7253 after 8pm), or write to the Organising Committee, 2nd USM national open chess tournament 1995, Kelab Bridge dan Catur, Pusat Mahasiswa, 11800 USM, Penang. Entries will close on Oct 20.

JUNIORS IN SELAYANG

The new Selayang Mall Shopping Centre in Kepong will be the venue for a one-day Selayang juniors open chess tournament scheduled for Oct 8.

This event, organised by Selayang Mall Sdn Bhd with technical support from Total Chess, will have three categories - under-10, under-12 and under-16. Ten prizes will be awarded in each category.

Whiz Kid Sdn Bhd is sponsoring the main prizes for the tournament which are computer dictionaries worth about RM900 and a computer organiser worth about RM400. The other prizes include computer games software and discount vouchers. The entry fee will be R M12 per player (inclusive of lunch).

The closing date for entries is Oct 6 at 5pm. All registration and enquiries can be directed to Cecilia or Rebecca at the Selayang Mall Shopping Centre (tel: 03-616-4588 and 03-616-9430) or Toh (tel: 03-757-4606).

GAMES OF THE WEEK: NECK AND NECK

The Professional Chess Association's world chess championship match between Gary Kasparov and Viswanathan Anand is in full swing and here are the first four games from the match. The first player to win 10* points in the 20-game match will be declared winner. In the event of a tie at 10-10, Kasparov will retain his title.

Just before 3pm on Sept 11, the two players walked towards their sound-proof playing booth on the Observation Deck of the World Trade Centre. New York Mayor Guliani stood between them and made a ceremonial first move 1 c4 for Anand. Later, Anand thought the better of it and chose 1 e4. After 27...h6, Kasparov offered the draw which was instantaneously accepted by Anand.

V Anand - G Kasparov, Game 1

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. a4 Nc6 8. O-O Be7 9. Be3 O-O 10. f4 Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Qd2 Bd7 13. Rad1 Rad8 14. Nb3 Bc8 15. Bf3 b6 16. Qf2 Nd7 17. Nd4 Bb7 18. Bh5 Rf8 19. Qg3 Nxd4 20. Bxd4 Bf6 21. Be2 e5 22. fxe5 Bxe5 23 . Qf2 Nc5 24. Bf3 Rfe8 25. h3 a5 26. b3 Bc6 27. Rfe1 h6 0.5-0.5

The second game of the match was drawn after 27 moves when Kasparov offered to split the point with Anand. The PCA champion had about eight minutes remaining on his clock compared to about 21 minutes for Anand when the draw was agreed.

G Kasparov - V Anand, Game 2

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. cxd5 Qxd5 6. e3 c5 7. Bd2 Bxc3 8. Bxc3 cxd4 9. Bxd4 Nc6 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Ne2 Bd7 12. a3 Qe5 13. Nc3 f5 14. O-O-O O-O-O 15. g3 Kb8 16. Be2 (This move was played after thinking for more than 40 minutes) 16...Ne7 1 7. Qd3 Qc7 18. Qd6 Bc6 19. Qxc7+ Kxc7 20. Rhe1 Rxd1+ 21. Rxd1 Rd8 22. Rxd8 Kxd8 23. Kd2 Nc8 24. Kd3 Nd6 25. Kd4 b6 26. b4 Ke7 27. f4 h6 28. a4 f6 29. a5 Bd7 0.5-0.5

The third game was the most exciting so far in the match. Again, the draw was offered by Kasparov.

V Anand - G Kasparov, Game 3

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Be2 e6 7. O-O Be7 8. a4 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O 10. f4 Qc7 11. Kh1 Re8 12. Bd3 Nb4 13. a5 Bd7 14. Nf3 Bc6 15. Bb6 Qc8

Kasparov varies from 15...Qd7 which was played between Eric Lobron and Kevin Spraggett 10 years ago. That game ended in a victory for White after complicated play. By playing 15... Qc8, Kasparov reserved the d7 square for his Knight.

16. Qe1 Nd7 17. Bd4 Nc5 18. Qg3

The threat is checkmate on g7, but this is easily parried by Black.

18. ... f6 19. e5

When Anand made this move, the excitement level on the Observation Deck rose instantly. During the post-mortem of the game, Kasparov admitted that the situation had been very dangerous for him. He had believed that 18...f6 was tenable, but he changed his opinion after 19 e5. The reply 19...dxe5 would have been inadequate because of 20 Bxh7+, leaving no defense for Black, eg 20...Kxh7 21 fxe5 f5 22 Bxc5 Bxc5 23 Ng5+ which gives White a vicious attack.

19. ... Rf8 20. Bxc5

Kasparov said 20 exf6 Bxf6 21 Bxh7+ was very dangerous for him (eg 21...Kxh7 22 Ng5+ Bxg5 23 fxg5 Kg6 24 Rf6+! gxf6 25 gxf6+ Kh5 26 Qh3+ Kg5 27 Rf1 e5 28 Be3+ Kg6 29 Qh6+ Kf7 30 Qg7+ Ke8 31 Qe7 mate), and that he felt great relief when Anand played 20 Bxc5.

20. ... dxc5 White gets the better position after 20...Nxd3 21 exd3 Nxc5 22 dxe4 Rf7 or 21 Bxd6 Bxd6 22 exd3 Nxb2. Although White has the better position, Black's drawing resources were sufficient.

21. Bc4 Bd5 22. Nxd5 exd5 23. Bb3 c4 24. Ba4 Nc6 25. c3 fxe5 26. Nxe5 Nxe5 27. fxe5 Qe6 28. Bc2 Rxf1+ 29. Rxf1 Rf8 30. Rxf8+ Bxf8 31. Qf4 g6 32. Bd1 Qf7 33. Qd4 Qf1+ 34. Qg1 Qxg1+ 35. Kxg1 Kf7 36. Bg4 b6

0.5-0.5

The fourth game was drawn after Anand accepted Kasparov's offer. The inability of Kasparov to take an early lead in the match must be seen as a small psychological victory for Anand.

G Kasparov - V Anand, Game 4

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. g3 O-O 5. Bg2 d5 6. Qb3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d3 h6 9. e3 Re8 10. a3 dxc4 11. dxc4 Bxc3 12. Qxc3 e5 13. b4 e4 14. Nd2 Qe7 15. b5 Ne5 16. Nxe4 Nf3+ 17. Bxf3 Nxe4 18. Bxe4 Qxe4 19. f3 Qe7 20. e4 Be6 21. Be3 0.5-0.5