paWhs enough to pat the Id admber one? {i NCL The Final Weekend | HAMPSTEAD Pouch and lurner282 British Chess Magazine Founded 1881 Chairman Ray Edwards Editor John Saunders Associate Editors Murray Chandler Bernard Cafferty John Ems Shop Manager Paul Harrington Leading contritnucors; lan Rogers, Matthew Sadler, John Nunn, Michael Adams, Peter Svidler, Gary Lane, Libosh Kavalel, fon Spelman, John Emms, Joe Gallagher, Jonathan Rowson, Mikhail Golubev, Julian Ken Whyld, John Beasley, David Friedgood, Steve Giddins, Etienne Bucrot, Angus Dunnington, Glenn Flear, Jon Levitt © British Chess Magazine Company Limited by Shares Registered in England, no. 334968 ‘Registered Office: 44 Baker Street London W1U 7RT Tel: 020 7486 8222 Fax: 020 7486 3355 ‘e-mail: [email protected] web: hitp://www.bemchess.cauk SUBSCRIPTION RATES (Land 2 years, 12 issues p.a.) UK Europe (Airfreight) Europe (Airmail) £39.50/ Rest of World (Airfreight) £39.00 / £74.50 (US$57.50 /USS109) £47.50/ £90.50 (USS70 / $132) Rest of World (Airmail) Payment in Sterling or US: cheque, payable to "The BCM" ‘Visa/Mastereard/Amex/Switch all welcome (give mumber and expiry date) THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE LATE NEWS BCSC ~ This year’s British Chess Solving Champi- onship was won by Jonathan Mestel for the fourth time, ahead of Colin McNab, Michael McDowell and Graham Lee. The finals were hosted by Oakham School, 483 competitars took part. The 2001/2 starter puzzle is as follows: 31 July 2001, accompanied by « der for £3 (made payable to Britis Society) and a stamped addressed envelope, te Brian ‘Stephenson, 9 Roydfield Drive, Watertho:pe, Shef- field $20 7ND. A correct solution «vill quali’y en- trants for the next postal round of the compaiition. Mark your entry “Bri Hess Magazine”. BRAIN GAMES - Brain Games Network, wt 0 or ganised last Autumn’s match yetween (Jarry Kasparoy and Vladimir Kramnik jn Londofi, has woh a contract for a ‘Man versus Machine Chal- lenge’ to be held in Bahrain in Octfber, with a mil- lion dollar prize fund. z The match will be between Brain Games world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and the gom- puter program Deep Fritz, whieh won the right to challenge Kramnik after climinai//y rival progam Deep Junior in a lengthy match in (/udaqués, Spain. Deep Fritz won a two-game tiebreaker after the ‘main match was drawn 12-12. Photo credits: 284 Cathy Rogen.The British Council EDITORIAL O° MA828427._ | What's in a name? What's ina number? No, this is not going to sellssroh of the 1960s TV drama series The Prisoner, where the main characters » own or! by their number, though the Bizarre plot oF that « see aa feemiat with the subject — te w D' » ih ‘selves with number- ing their world champions; | don’t suppose #=1¢ Sampras knows or cares whether he is the 80th, 90th or 100th Wimbledon Champion. It is of course a little different in chess, where a champion’s reign is usually measured in years and sometimes a large number of them. This means that the number of champions is small, heightening the lustre and prestige of the title, and giving the members of this exclusive club a similarity to those “limited, numbered edi- tion” artworks that one sees advertised in magazines. Everything was perfectly straightforward and universally agreed until we reached the fateful number 13, i.c. world champion Garry Kasparov. Thereafter the numbering system goes haywire. The World Chess Federation (FIDE) numbers the subsequent champions as no.14 Alexander Khalifman and no.15 Viswanathan Anand. But the breakaway Ks (Karpov, Kasparov and Kramnik) award the last of their group the number 14; this, despite the fact that the 12th world champion (Karpov) agreed to recognise numbers 14 and 15 according to the FIDE count as part of his recent settlement in the Swiss courts with that organisation. For the rest of us world champions number zero, this is all a bit academic, Meanwhile chess itself lies wounded, like Shakespeare's Mercutio, victim of a family feud in Romeo and Juliet. Like him, we say: “a plague o” both your houses”, But chess at less exalted levels is thriving. Inthe UK in the last month or so it has come in a bewildering variety of packages: traditional all-play-all (Hampstead), knock-out (Redbus), team (4NCL) and a handicap odds match (Chapman-Kasparov). We have coverage of all four events in this issue. CONTENTS 286 Chapman y Kasparov - “city suit beats Chess Champion” was how one of the London dailies headlined the odds match between Terence Chapman and Garry Kasparoy. But beneath the suit lurked a chess player of no mean repute. 292 4NCL - Beeson Gregory lost the final battle (and their 100% record), but still won the war. All the action from the British Team Championship finale in Birmingham. 314 Hampstead Masters - Jim Plaskett led the field home at this recent grandmaster tournament, while Irina Krush tried to repeat her success at Oakham. IMs Colin Crouch and Matthew Turner annotate. 324 Test Your Chess - stegen Pedersen with an old favourite. The game is one he himself lost recently. 291 Spot The Continuation 327 News in Brief 306 Redbus Knockout Tournament 330 Quotes and Queries 308 Reviews and New Books 331 Problem World 311 Chess Questions Answered 334 Forthcoming EventsTHE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINETHE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 285 ANC Final We 4NCL Final Weekend. Top Left: Scotland's 14-year-old Louise MacNab had an auspicious debut, drawing with Sheila Jackson. Top right: Andrew Mack defeated Grandmaster Mc- Donald in round nine. Bottom: Adams and Russian Grandmaster Svidler share a joke.286 THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE CHAPMAN - KASPAROV Eke CHAPMAN is by no means the first British businessman to have left his mark on the world chess stage; one only has to recall the significant part played by financier Jim Slater in saving the legendary 1972 Fischer-Spassky from an imminent still-birth. But the originality of concept and clockwork organisation brought to bear on his April odds match with world number one Garry Kasparov put it up amongst the most publicity-rich and best-run chess events ever staged in the UK. Chapman himself deserves a large vote of thanks for his personal input and assiduous preparation, Itis one thing for a wealthy man to pour cash and resources into a project to ful- fila personal dream, but quite another to make sure he was sufficiently ‘match-fit’ to give his illustrious opponent a decent game. This he did by engaging the services of three of Eng- land’s top players — Julian Hodgson, John Nunn and Jon Speelman — and working hard over a period of months to ensure that he was ready for the chess experience of a lifetime. Kasparov's part in the show was equally important, and he played it superbly. This was not the head-shaking, self-doubting shadow of a champion we had seen only a few months previously in London; he was back to his extrovert, pugnacious but media-friendly best, and determined not to let himself down. The third key factor in the success of the match was the venue. Simpsons-in-the Strand was an utterly perfect place to hold an odds match, being the Victorian chess salon par excel- lence, and the place where many such handicap games were played. It still proudly displays its chess memorabilia and décor, inside and out, and only the most insensitive chess player could fail to feel a sense of history in such surroundings. After the match both players took the trouble to pay graceful homage to it. Beforehand there was a general divergence in opinions as to the outcome. Kasparov's stated view was that he was going to have a big problem and was not favourite to win; but by far the majority of third-party punditry felt that Chapman could be facing a wipe-out. The truth was that nobody knew for sure as handicap matches have not been played for many de~ cades. Kasparov’s view could be interpreted as a hedge against disaster — if he was whipped, at least he could say “I told you so”; whereas most chess pundits could not see past Kasparov's prodigious feats at simultaneous play, his intimidating presence at the board, and his sheer tactical virtuosity: two pawns may be two pawns, but Kasparov is Kasparov. The pawns were not the only handicap: Chapman's time limit was 90 minutes for all the moves while Kasparov was only allocated 60 minutes. The first game was a good fight, with Chapman holding his own until the end when he got his king caught ina mating net. The only sign of his being overawed lay in the slowness of his play. This fault was rectified in game two and, after drifting slightly in the middlegame, Chapman hit upon a good plan and stuck to it, hiding his king on the queenside and building an impenetrable wall of pawns across the board. Kasparov ran out of winning tries and agreed a draw. Thus encouraged, Chapman performed heroically in game three, taking full advantage of a rare Kasparov blunder (losing a third pawn) and picking his way expertly through a minefield of tactical shots that the world’s number one laid in his trail. This squared the match at 1-114, thus fully justifying the handicap margin selected. Perhaps it was a case of “mission accomplished” for Chapman, as he subsided rather limply in the last game and presented Kasparov with the point he needed to win the match by 24-1'4. One hears a lot in business negotiations about “win-win situations”, but it is rare toTHE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 287 encounter them in the realms of sporting endeavour. This match seems to have been an ex- ample. At the’post-match press conference, a relaxed Kasparov appeared to be relieved and delighted with his performance. He was full of praise for the match organisers and his oppo- nent, whom he conceded to be the “better businessman” of the two of them, citing the tough handicap which he had been talked into conceding. There were subtle references to another recent match played in London, with a clear inference that this one was the better organised and more enjoyable, It had restored his faith in playing chess in London. Asked about his op- ponent's playing strength, he felt that it had varied from game to game but that at his best he was about 2350 to 2400, ‘Terence Chapman quipped that he was also “quite positive” about his opponent’s strength asa chess player. He was delighted to haye scored a win against him, which he would regard as his own “immortal game” (having been played at the same venue as the Anderssen-Kieseritzky original). Relations between the two players were obviously very good, and at the party later, Chapman made Kasparov a present of a chessboard, formerly owned by many-time British Ladies’ Champion Rowena Bruce, on which many of the great champions such as Capablanca and Alekhine had signed their names. It only remains to say: superb event, let’s have some more, please. Game 1 19...2e7 20 g3 &b2 21 Badl Bxa2 22 QTerence Chapman. Ed2 BhaS 23 92 c524 hd bS25hS HEB Garry Kasparov 26 Sf3 B8a3 27 &e4 Kxb3 28 Aci? Remove Black's a- and h-pawns 1 DEB d5 2 d4 c63 3 265 4 24 AdTS 3 Wh6 6 b3 Dgié 7 £.d3 g6 8 We2 e6 9 ®bd2 DhS 10 0-0 Axes 11 ext4 We7 12 Des Axd3 13 Wrd3 ‘White has opted for a safe and solid open- ing structure. 13...g5 14 fxg5 DveS 15 dxes WreS 16 es Wes 17 Wad Ysa YZ, Z 7 18 Axd4?! Kasparov thought 18 cxd4 was better. 18....2.a3 19 De2 “A good, tricky move Kasparov. A mistake. 28 Ec? is more resilient. Chap- man’s clock handling in this game was not good; by this stage he was 15 minutes behind Kasparov. 28...Had+ 29 f4 Sxcl 30 Hxel &g7 31 h6+ h7 32 dhs eo loc eel lec eee ee Kasparov admitted he had underestimated the menace of White’s kingside pawns at this stage, and played his next move to throw his opponent off the scent. 32...b4 33 exb4 33 £5! forces 33...exf5 and then 34 Bxd5 Bb2 35 BxfS Bh2+ 36 ded bxc34 37 def}THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE Garry KTHE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE go 38 Exc5 £5 39 gxf6 Bao holds for Black. 33...Exg3 34bxe5? Blundering into a mating net. 34 BxcS Bxb4 35 Biz is equal. 34...Exf4 35 Eh2 £6 36 gxf6 Ext6 37 Gh4 Bg8 0-1 Game 2 » OGarry Kasparov @ Terence Chapman Remove White's a- and d-pawns 1e4 Dc6 “Without a central pawn, it’s death” was Kasparov's melodramatic opinion of the pawn handicap in this game. 2 g3 06 3 2g2 Dfe 4 f4 dd 5 e5 Dd76 DMB Le5 7 3 a6 8 Abd2 De7 9 b4 Qa7 10 Ad4 &xd4 The headphone commentary team - which at this moment consisted of Jonathan Rowson, Julian Hodgson and Jon Speelman, with fleet- ing visits from John Nunn - here preferred 10...c5 with a view to recapturing on ¢5 with the knight and then playing S27 and 0-0. U1 exdd AES 12 AB Abs The commentary team thought this position would elicit some “serious snorting” from Kasparoy. Jon Speelman used a vivid mixed metaphor to express his view: “The kitchen sink may be appearing over the horizon soon”. 13 Qfl 2d7 14 243 One opinion here was that Kasparov should have played 14 g4 and aimed to castle. 14...2b5 15 Qb1 Acd 16 Lf2 b6 17 Wh3 We7 Played quickly. Chapman's clock handling improved markedly in the second game. 18 Hel Ec8 19 Hdl 8 The last two black moves were greeted by a short silence from the commentary team; that meant they didn’t like them. Black is showing signs of planlessness. 20 g4 Dhd 21 £5 “The [dilemma] that plagued me after he made an inaccuracy was to make the best move or attempt to provoke another mistake.” 21...2xf3 22 Wxf3 h5 289 n groaned, like the soothsayer in Up . “This is the end!” he wailed. 23 25? John Nunn sounded an optimistic note: “It would be best if he teleported his king to b7!”. Either he is a doctor of telepathy, or a more re- liable soothsayer than Hodgson, because that is pretty well what came about. Later Kasparov regretted not playing 23 fxe6! which leads to great complications. 23...2e8! 24 We3 a7 25 Bgl kc6 26 £6 gxf6 27 gxf6 WIS 28 Hg7 White has a huge space advantage, but lacks a target on which to bite. 28...h4 29 2.d3 &b7 30 2£4 In walked Doctor Nunn again, and opined: “He should play....2a8”, At that very instant there appeared on the monitor the move... 30...2a8 saSpooky, 31 h3 We8 32 2e2 Wi8 33 Wh3 a7 34 We3 a8 4% “A contest of respectable quality, an inter- esting game by any standards. It shows he's not a patzer, and that he understands Nimzowitsch” (Kasparov) Game 3. OTerence Chapman ~ @ Garry Kasparov Remove Black’s a- and b-pawns Led 2b72 d3 63 DI3 d64 g3 26 5 Lg? 227 60-0 De7 7 Ac3 0-08 2e3 h69 h4 Dd7 10 Wd2 Gh7 11 fel Wes 12 a4 £513.262? 13...Ae5! was Kasparov's move of prefer- ence, giving 14 exf5 S.xg2 15 fxg6+ D7xg6 16 @xg2 c5 as one example of how it could get difficult for White. 14 exfS &xg? 14...@xf5 15 @xe6! for a three-pawn ad- vantage; 14..exf5 is even worse after 15 S&xh6! and the knight on 7 is en prise. 15 fxg6+ DAxg6 16 dxg2 c5 17 Ade2 Preferring to keep his knight back for the defence of the kingside. 17...d5 18 h5 De5 18...Dxh5 19 Zhl d4 20 Bxh5 dxe3 21 ‘Wxe3 leaves White comfortably cruising after exchanges. 19 d4 “This I missed. Now the game is over” (Kasparov) 19... Zegd 20 Wd3+ Sg8 21 Wes 21 Dt4 keeps a tighter rein on the position. 21,0€5 “Hoping for a blunder!” admitted Kasparov, but his wish was not granted, 22 &xhé! Cashing in a piece for some more pawns and active play. 22,..xh6 23 dxeS Dd7 Kasparov might have tried 23...Ha6 to make things complicated. 24 Ded Chapman’s grip on squares in the e5-h8 sector of the board makes Kasparov's task THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE impossible. He tries a desperation sacrifice. ee 25 gxf4 DEB 26 We3 KS 27 h3. 27 xd was better, but Chapman probably feared complications. 27...We6 28 Ab5 Ed8 29 a5 White hits on a clear-cut plan, though Kasparov points out the strength of 29 \c7! followed by e6. 29...WAT 30 a6 De6 31 del! Kasparov called this a “machine move”. Chapman shows admirable sang froid in a po- sition which would make strong men nervous. 31...A\xf4 32 Wg4 Dh6 33 hd Wh7 34 a7 Bgs 34...Ha8 gave better swindling chances, ac- cording to Kasparoy. 35 a8 2 xe54 36 wefl Mp4 37 Wxgd 1-0 v Game 4 Kasparov - Chapman ba tase a eon SoA Aa “a 2 x ail” We 2 Z Z Zy a a 19... Db8? The press room were discussing the merits of 19.,,.2¢8 when this blunder was played. 20 Dxd6 Wxd6 21 &xb7 Ac6? Probably depressed by the previous mis- take, and perhaps still elated after his win in game three, Chapman makes another mistake. 21...2d7 was better. 22 g6! fxgo 23 Wxc5 Wxd3?? It’s not over after 23...Wxc5 24 Bxc5 De7 25 sta6 although White has wiped out the ma- terial handicap. i 24 &xe6 1-0THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 291 SPOT THE CONTINUATION The player to move wins in all cases. The last one is not obvious, and starts with an inebtrusive move. Solutions on page 319. MORADIABADI - HAKKI ~ SZIEBERTH - AMIN SHEREMETIEVA - COSMA. Tehran 2001 Egypt 2001 Romania 2001 ex ek £ & bb Ae aad a f | ee ‘hoa a | (6 as Aw a wanve A Ala a Ww Re AOA ea & | ABD B& & By ® la erowe 1) Black to play 2) White to play 3) Black to play HENNIGAN - SHORT YURENOK - A.CAST KEKLIDZE - KOUNTZ ~ 4NCL 2001 ANCL 2001 ' Germany 2001 +28) [2 figs 7 £ie w ag ag Was a aa a4 as a a Wad ad a & & a a A HAR Wa aw BA a A wy OA RA ARAURAAA ARUBA Wore ae & nA 4) Black to play 5) White to play 6) White to play KASPAROV - KORCHNOI vy STISIS - LUNDVIK LIE - HENDRIKSEN Zurich 2001 Israel 2001 s Oslo 2001 aE ex anwea & aa ek a aZ ZuBa A458) [A waw Daa Mo ef &b zz Ba A Aa A& & & & & BA & ABABA a a © Wee 2 2 (A Owe RAE 7) White to play 8) White to play 9) Black to play22 ‘THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 4NCL - MAY WEEKEND Coverage of the final weekend of the 4NCL (British Team Championship) season Division 1, 2000/1 - Final Table Team Pi W/D/L | Gpt Mp Beeson Gregory | 11/10/ 0) 1 | 66 | 20 (Slough — oo oli 63 | 20 Wood Green ui |to} 0 | 1 61%] 20 Guildford-aDC | 11/7 | 1 | 3 | 56%] 15 Barbican 4NCL1| 11 | 5 | 2 | 4 [Thistle Wh. Rose | 11| 4 | 2| 5 Beeson Gregory2| 11 | 4 | | 6 | [Midland Mon’s | 11 | 3 | 1 | 7 | Barbican 4NCL 2] 11 | 3 0/8 Richmond [3 [0,8 Poisoned Pawns: Wy 2p} sy |S.Wales Dragons | 11 | 1 | 0 [1 ROUND NINE Saturday 5th May SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER Leaders Beeson Gregory I were paired with Barbican 4NCL II in round nine, a team known to have a nasty bite when cor- nered, The second teamers tried to confuse their opponents by fielding players called Rogers and Hodgson in their team. Beeson Gregory had players of the same names, only with the prefix of ‘grandmaster’. The top four boards were all won well within the first session by the Beeson Gregory team, and boards five and six followed soon after. That made the score 6-0 to “The BeeGees” but their string of hits dried up when Neil McDonald went wildly astray against Andrew Mack. After having a won position, McDonald swapped off down to a rook and pawns ending that might have been superficially promising but turned out to be just plain lost. Mack’s tenacious defence and cool endgame technique were thus rewarded with a grandmaster scalp. Barbi- can 4NCL II achieved their second consolation game point when Christine Flear went astray in another rook and pawns ending, though it might have been tenable a few moves before the end. But 6-2 was a good enough score for Beeson’s purposes, in their battle to keep the game points topped up before the big battle with Wood Green on the Monday. Meanwhile Wood Green lined up against Beeson’s second team and were prepared to unfurl one of the secret weapons that they would be pointing at Beeson’s first team on the last day. Not a surprise, this time: as last year it was Alexander Morozevich, once again wearing his Armani suit (well, if you've only got one suit in your wardrobe, make it a good one). At this stage Beeson had not attached any nuclear watheads to their top team, hence the second team had a mere two grandmasters plus only three for- mer British Champions (pathetic effort, re ally). Both grandmasters were duly gunned down, McShane losing to Morozevich in a game where the Russian’s sole aim was to blow a hole through the black position to the king; and Norwood, having been ina hospi- tal bed a few days before, was treated in a way a convalescent should not be treated by an unusually carnivorous Speelman, Short was also ina desperate hurry to get his game over with (was there something good on the television that afternoon?) and polished off Hennigan in 25 moves with the black pieces (for the finish, see this month's Spot The Continuation). Emms and Ward also won for Wood Green, and it was left to three members of the Walsall Kipping club (two Bellins and an Anderton) to score three con- solation draws for Beeson TI. The third monster team thirsting forTHE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 293, \ ROUND 9 Wood Green 6-174 Beeson Gre Il Barbican 11 2-6 feeson Gre ‘TA Guildford-ADC] AMorozevieh 1-0 L.MeShane RPallisee O-L J.Nunn 0-1 S.Conquest NShort 1-0 M.Ffennigan SDishman 0-1 S:Hodgson 0-1 DGomally Spelman 1-0 DNorwond G.Kenworthy 0-1 M.Hebslen 0-1 Rowson ABaburin 4% R.Beltin URogers 0-1 LRogers 0-1 J.Plaskett JuEmms 1-0. J,Richardson SShikeroy 0-1 M.Chandise YoY CBaker ‘MiTumer 'i-!s D.Anderton John Hodgson 9-1 J.Gallagher 0-1 RLWebb Ward 1-0 Wade AMack 1-0 NMeDonule 0-1 N.Povah ‘Siluckson ¥i-! J.Bellin RKicran 1-0 GFlear 0-1 M.Yurenok ‘Slough 6-2 Midland Mon’s | Poisoned Pawns 3-5 White Rose 3-5 Barbican | KSpraggett 4% NPert JShaw 4H HHunt MBezold i! J.Patker AKosien 1-0 ALedger SMannion 0-1 AMatros GWall 4% BKelly PWells 0-1 S,Williams D.Bryson Yi-!6 KArkell Milleidenfeld 4-15 C.Crouch ASummereale 1-0 D.Ledger S.Swanon 1-0 A.Dunnington R.Bates 4-!6 S.Knott SHouska Y-% RPert M.Devereaux 0-1 CDunworh | .Hinks-Edwards 4-14 A.Webster CMeNeb 1-0 R.Eames AcHadzimanolts ¥i-!4 PGaysoo L.Webb 4 MiFerguson GBuekley 1-0 S.Ledger APSmith 0-1 M.PTownsend |MThirvehelvam 0-1 A.Collinson ‘MirHouska 1-0. Default SComnolly YH S.Barrett MBuckley 0-1 N.Regan blood in the afternoon was Slough, playing thrice champions (but shadows of their for- mer selves) Midland Monarchs. In the pri- meval swamp that is the 4NCL, the Slough dinosaur is more of a grinder than a thumper, preferring to wear the opposition down slowly than go for the swift kill; be- sides which, what else is there to do in Bir- mingham on a Saturday aftemoon? The Slough win came easily enough with a de- fault win, plus easy canters for Summerscale and McNab, the only blot on the landscape being Peter Wells” loss on. time to Simon Williams in a cut and thrust game of two halves. Guildford-ADC rank number four in the hierarchy and it was their turn to take on back-markers South Wales Dragons. It would be inexact to trot out the cliché “they made no mistake”, as Chris Baker missed a chance for a big advantage against Peter Richmond. But that is only a slight inexacti- tude: had Baker won, Guildford would have taken the match 8-0. It was a massacre. Richmond were another side in the relegation positions, and they needed to get some sort of result against Barbican 4NCLI. They made a better fist of things than the Dragons, but could still not win a game in losing the match 3-5. German IM Michael Bezold drew with Jonathan Parker on top board. Gavin Wall had two bishops for rook and pawn against Brian Kelly but could not tum it to his advantage. Heidenfeld seemed to have a slight plus against Crouch but nothing came of it. The losses came on the two bottom boards, where Thiruchelvam was outplayed by Collinson, and Natasha Regan beat Melanie Buckley in a scrappy encounter. The match always likely to be the closest of the day was Poisoned Pawns versus This- tle Birmingham White Rose. If Poisoned Pawns could win, they would have a real chance of escaping the drop, while the Roses would be in danger if they slipped up. The top board game between John Shaw and Harriet Hunt was drawn in 38 moves; given that the England women’s number one had only arrived in England three hours before2 204 ‘THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE Polioned Pawns 2-6 Guildford-ADC | __Slough 6-14 SW Dragons Barbican I 245% Beeson Gr. II JShaw 10 D.Gomually | ASumnmerseale 1-0. J.Cooper SParker 1.0 1Mestel D.Bryson 0-1 S.Conguest PWells 44 S.Zeidler BKelly 0-1 D.Narwood SMannion 0-1 LPiaskert D.Kumaran 1-0 Moris A.Webster O-1 M.Hennigan ‘AHadzimanolis 0-1 1Rowson A Kosten SKnolt 0-1 N.McDonald SSwanson 44 C.Baker K-Spraggott Crouch 64 Bellin MDevercaux 0-1 N-Pavah ‘©MeNab M.Ferguson 4 L.Cooper Adarley el R.Webb G Buckley RePalliser SH J.Richardvon S.Connolly 1-05 M-Yureeok S.Lalie RKiecan 0-1 Bellin [Midland Mon’s 24-54 White Rose Beeson Grit 62 Richmond | Barbican I 34S Wood Green Net 1444 A-Matros M.Adams 1-0 M.Bezold ACollinson 14-14 1Spectman AlLedger 0-1 K Arkell LRogers 1-0 G.Wall J.Rogers Ye%s A.Baburin SwWilliams 4 H.tfunt J.Nuna Yee MHeidenfeld SDishman 0-1 J.Emms Eames ¥-' CDunworth MHebden 1-0 RBates APluog OL M.Tumer Naylor 0-1 P.Gayson M.Chandler 44 ‘THinks-Faw'ds| SShikerov 1-0 C.Ward Diledger 1-0 S.Baret Gallagher 4% L.Webbd ‘MTwyble 4 AMartin SLedger 0-1 GJones, LMeShine 1-0 M.Thinwchelam) —C-Dunean 0-1 P.Littlewood ScTidmen 0-1 L.Burnest Clear 4% MBuckley LMacNab }4-15. SJackson the appointed start time after eleven rounds —_ via the internet — gradually ground down and a play-off the previous day in the Euro- - Mannion. White Rose emerged as 5-3 win- pean Women’s Championship, this was a _ ners, which more ot less assured them of re- good result for her. Shaw won a pawn but taining their first division status as well as may have missed his best chance as Huntre- sealing Poisoned Pawns’ fate. sponded with some sharp play to restore the balance. It was first blood to Poisoned ROUND TEN Pawns when Angus Dunnington, after re- Sunday 6th May jecting a draw offer and building up a won position, made a ghastly blunder losing a SVIDLER ON THE HOOF piece for nothing. Paul Townsend squared things for White At some point on Saturday evening (or it Rose, beating off a speculative sacrifice could have been Sunday moming), the BCM from Andrew Smith, and the league’s Editor found himsclf being bodily manhan- founder Chris Dunworth similarly resisteda dled out of the foyer of the hotel by Wood sacrificial attack launched by Max Green’s team manager, Brian Smith. For Devereaux. Of the remaining games, Poi- one terrible moment the fear crossed my soned Pawns held the upper hand in mind that I was about to suffer the fate Gayson-Hadzimanolis and Bryson-Arkell, meted out to John Henderson at the whereas White Rose had the advantage in Kasparov-Kramnik match last autumn. Was Matros-Mannion. As it turned out, the Poi- it something I had written about Brian’s soned Pawns players were unable to realise team? Then it occurred to me that that the their advantages whereas Alexander Matros genial Mr Smith is both temperamentally ~a 31-year-old IM from Kazakhstan, who _ and vertically unsuited to being a bouncer. currently lives in Sweden and was recruited All it turned out to be was that he was.THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 295 \ ROUND 11 White Rose 44 Barbican! (Guildford-ADC2¥-5%, Slough Wood Green 53 Beeson Gri Arkell Yi J.Parker SConquest Ya! A.Summerseale NShon 6 M.Adams ‘AMatros Yi B.Kelly JRowson 14-4 PWells AMorozevich 1-0 PSvidler H.Hlunt Y's M.Fergusen J Plaskett 2 K.Spraggett ABaburin 44%. LRogers C.Dunworth +1 S.Knott D.Gormally 0-1 A.Kosten JSpeelman =! J.Nunn PGayson 4 $.Dishman Baker Y% D.-Kumaran Ward 15-44 J. Hodgson S.Bamett 14 A-Webster NPovah 0-1 C.MeNab M.Tumer 5 M.Hebden Giones ¥e¥s R Palliser DMason ¥¥s J.Houska J.Emms ¥e!5 ‘LMcShane J.Bumett 1-0 Ellea Walker MYurenok 0-1 G.Buckley KArakhamia 1-0 H Richards Beeson Gr. 5-3 Midland Mon’s | SW Drayons 34s Poisoned Pawns | __Richmond 52% Barbican II MChandler 4-14 N.Pert J.Cooper 0-1 JShaw M.Bezold 1-0. ACollinson D.Norwood Y's A.Ledger Moris 0-1 $.Mannion G.Wall 0-1 C.Crouch AGallgher 1-0 $.Williams S Zeidler 0-1 D.Bryson Mueidenfeld 4% A Ploeg M.Hennigan 0-1 R.Eames ‘JSaunders 1-0 A. Hadrimanolis RBates 0-1 LRogers JMestel 1.0. J.Naylor David James 1-0 $.Swanson | T.Hinks-Edwards 1-0 C-Duncan NMeDonald 4 D.Ledger ASpice 1.0. APSmith L.Webb 1.0. SShikeroy Bellin % RPert PRichmond 0-1 M,Devereaux _|M.Thiruchelvam 1-0 A.Lewis J.Bellin 1-0 $Tidman | ACast Yo'4 $.Connolly ‘MBuckley 1-0 Default especially eager for me to meet someone at previous scason where Barbican 4NCL I the hotel's reception desk. This transpiredto had beaten Wood Green and more or less be none other than three-times Russian — ended their championship hopes. On this oc- champion and BCM annotator Peter Svidler, _ casion Wood Green came through to win, but Slightly nonplussed at being frogmarched — once again their aspirations had been dented, into the presence of the mighty grandmaster, __ this time by the margin of victory which was. and amidst some brief and meaningless — only 5-3. But this wasn’t on a par with the di- small talk, completely failed to askhim the __ saster of 1999/2000; had they won 8-0 in this key question: “Who are you going to play round, they would still have needed a 6-2-win for?” I soon regretted that dereliction of — against Beeson Gregory I in the last round, journalistic duty as it later became impo: which would have been a very tall order. ble to elicit the information from any of the | Emms, Turner and Littlewood all won for top team managers, who seem to make ita | Wood Green, with their one set-back being point of principle to keep their wildcards — Chris Ward's calamitous loss to a previously close to their chests. unknown Bulgarian player, Stefan Shikerov. T was none the wiser when the Sunday _ Elsewhere there were meritorious draws for teamsheets were posted as Mr Svidler’s Collinson, Rogers, Twyble and the name did not appear. Neither did that of his 14-year-old Scottish junior Lo MacNab compatriot Morozevich, who had played on who held the experienced England interna- the Saturday but now presumably did not _ tional Sheila Jackson. want to endanger his enormous rating by This was the closest of the afternoon's taking on the Barbican 4NCL I] top board, _ matches. Once again the severest punish- who turned out to be 2404-rated Adam ment was meted out to South Wales Collinson. He faced Jon Speelman ina re- Dragons, though their haul of 11 game peat of the pairing at the fateful match ofthe points against Slough might have been} iN 296 considered a let-off in the circumstances. Once again Peter Richmond spared Welsh blushes, this time with a splendid win against Graeme Buckley, and Sven Zeidler held off Peter Wells for a draw. But of course it meant that relegation was now a mathematical certainty for the Dragons. Poisoned Pawns also ended the day as certainties for next year’s Division Two. They managed two game points against Guildford-ADC, with the bright spot being John Shaw’s win against Danny Gormally on top board; this was a remarkable turn- around after the English IM had been a pawn up for nothing. What should have been a close match on paper — Midland Monarchs versus Thistle Birmingham White Rose — was won by a big score by White Rose. Nevertheless it was not an entirely comfortable victory. Andrew Ledger’s exotic three-piece sacrifice to ex- pose Keith Arkell’s king in the middle of the board didn’t quite come off. John Naylor was wiping Peter Gayson from the board be- fore making a dreadful losing blunder. But a steady win from Jim Burnett and a remark- ably mature effort from 13-year-old Gawain Jones to beat Steve Ledger saw them through. Richmond's chances of getting any match points from Beeson Gregory I were never very good, and they got a whole lot worse when the name of the world’s number four rated player appeared at the top of their opponent's line-up. Mickey Adams, who had appeared for Slough some seasons ago, played one of those apparently effortless games where his opponent's position seems to implode, to beat Michael Bezold. Three other “BeeGees” won in similarly smooth fashion, and a 6-2 margin was sufficient to ensure that their last round opponents would require an improbable landslide the next day. The beefed-up Beeson first team was also bad news for Barbican 4NCL 1, who found themselves up against a reinforced Beeson THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE Gregory II. This did not daunt their top board Jonathan Parker, who dispatched Jon- athan Mestel in only 18 moves, but the next three were swept away in an avalanche to- wards the end of the session. Norwood com- bined his banking and chess skills, first salting away a pawn and then temporarily investing a bishop to ensure a gilt-edged dividend. Ferguson looked like he might win for Barbican but failed to do so; this was counterbalanced by Richardson's failure to finish off Palliser, while Jana Bellin was in her best form to beat Rosalind Kieran on the bottom board. ROUND ELEVEN Monday 7th May MONDAY MONDAY As usual, the league season ended with what is virtually a “cup final” — but one that decides nothing. This became patently obvi- ous when it transpired that Peter Svidler was duc to line up for Beeson Gregory I and not for their opponents, Wood Green. Mathe- matically, Wood Green could still win the championship, but the chances of doing so by scoring 74/8 against a team leading off with Adams and Svidler, and boasting the likes Hodgson and Hebden on the lower boards, were very slim indeed. The match as played was something of an anti-climax, with only two definite results. ‘The two necessary half points to ensure Beeson Gregory’s championship victory came as Nunn drew with Spelman, and Rogers drew with Baburin, in both cases truncating what might have been interesting games. Short-Adams was a Ruy Lopez which was agreed drawn as Black had achieved an equilibrium in a earefully-played middlegame. Emms-McShane was another steadily played draw. Hebden gave up a pawn to drive home his d-pawn against Turner, but the Yorkshire IM — who has recently been appointed to the post of Head of Chess atTHE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 297 Millfield Schools — held his ground. Heb- den’s consolation lay in achieving the Divi- sion One “Big Hitter” award for the season with a princely 914/11. Heather Richards be- gan positively against Ketevan Arakhamia but soon found her pieces too awkwardly placed to respond to the Georgian woman grandmaster’s counterplay. The main entertainment of the match was provided by the two Russians, paired against each other on board two. The cir- cumstances of their being in the country were subtly different. Morozevich was very much the hired hand, there to do a job. As it happened Svidler was going to be in Bir- mingham that weekend anyway. His Rus- sian girlfriend is doing a three-year degree course at a Midlands university and he was. in town to see her. Perhaps this put him in a slightly more carefree frame of mind, as he blithely shed a pawn in the early middlegame. Morozevich later cashed it in for a monster d-pawn and a subtle queenside assault, Hodgson tried to limit the margin of his team’s defeat by attempting to win an op- posite bishop ending: to no avail, so Wood Green won 5-3 and thus ended Beeson Greg- ory’s 100% record for the season. For Wood Green, victory over the cham- pions was probably small consolation for finding themselves with nothing in the tro- phy cabinet yet again. This time they did not even achieve second place, as Slough came up on the rails to beat them on game points. They beat Guildford-ADC 5'4-2'4, a fine score against a team that matched them closely on ratings in the top half but fell sig- nificantly short of them in the lower half. Of the three big sides in the league, Slough are the most cohesive, a true team in the sport- ing sense, having been carefully assembled by Nigel Johnson and Tony Miles over a number of years. On this occasion Summerscale, Wells and Spraggett_per- formed a holding operation on the top three boards against Guildford’s grandmasters, while Kosten and McNab delivered typical 4NCL Leading Scorers - Division 1 (Qualification: minimum 6 games, 70%) | 1 Susan Lalie (Stough) 89 88.9. 2 Mark Hebden (Beeson) OWI 86.4 3 Jim Burnett (White Rose) 36 83.3 4 Stuart Conquest (Guildford) 9/11 81.8 | Colin MeNab (Slough) WL 818 | 6 Ian Rogers (Beeson) SMT 186 | Jon Speelman (Wood Green) 5!4/7 78.6 | 8 Joe Gallagher (Beeson) 19 778 9 John Emms (Wood Green) BALL 77.3 Aaron Summerscale (Slough) 8/4/11 77.3 11 Jonathan Mestel (Beeson) 68 75.0 Tony Miles (Slough) 68 75.0 ) Jon Levitt (Wood Green) 4Y/6 75.0 Glenn Flear (Beeson) 46 75.0 | Jovanka Houska (Slough) 44/6 75.0 |16 Murray Chandler (Beeson) 8/11. 72.7 |17 Jonathan Rowson (Guildford) 64/9 72.2 | 18 Luke MeShane (Beeson) ST LA Tony Kosten (Slough) 57 LA 20. Richard Webb (Guildford) 7/10 70.0 wins with the white picces. Buckley also cashed in his 300 rating point differential on the bottom board to ensure a comfortable win. Thistle Birmingham White Rose versus Barbican 4NCL I was a meaningless match in terms of the championship or relegation. White Rose had had an excellent weekend, winning two matches to banish any fears of demotion, while Barbican I found them- selves in a mid-table desert where they could neither overtake, nor be overtaken by, other sides. Understandably three boards decided to award themselves the Bank Holiday afternoon off. The top two boards for White Rose, Arkell and Matros, man- aged to save draws against Parker and Kelly, but Knott overcame Dunworth on board four. Webster was a tad fortunate to get off with a draw against Barrett on board six, and for the second time in the weekend Burnett performed the job of seeing off the woman298 THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE player on the bottom board to secure a 4-4 draw. With their new, supercharged team, Beeson Gregory I might have been ex- pecting a big win against Midland Mon- archs. They did win, but only by 5-3, with Michael Hennigan succumbing to a mighty assault launched by Bob Eames. Now to the battle for the wooden spoon: Poisoned Pawns versus South Wales Dragons, which the chief arbiter had thoughtfully placed nearest the top match, so that both relegated teams could bid fare- well to first division status in style. It was merely a question of whether South Wales Dragons could win to overtake the PPs. In the event they couldn’t, as three Scottish Olympiad players beat three Welsh equiva- ents on the top three boards, though Wales triumphed over Scotland, Ireland and even Greece on other boards. Only one English- man played in the match, and his point was enough to give victory to the Poisoned Pawns. Finally, Division One always offers up one really exciting relegation battle which goes down to the last pawn. This year was no exception. Things had not seemed partic- ularly propitious beforehand, as Richmond needed a prodigious 6-2 win to overtake their opponents, Barbican 4NCL 1, on game points. But it was soon apparent that Richmond were going to be piling up the points; the only question remained — would they get enough? Richmond got off to the worst possible start — namely, a default. They had no female players available on the day, so started a point down. Anyone who has ever played team chess will recognise the psychological effect that a default has on other members of a team. This phenomenon was in evidence here as the players playing in close proxim- ity to the empty board all made rather a mess of things and lost. Board three was fairly even throughout but Collinson slipped up against Bezold, and at one point Wall and Bates were one pawn and two pawns up against Crouch and Rogers respectively. It seemed that Richmond were not only going to get their target but exceed it. As it turned out, just a half point between Wall and Bates would have sufficed to keep them up and send Barbican II down. Yet Gavin Wall’s pawn advantage was never a telling one and Crouch restored material equality. The game then went into a difficult but drawable king and pawn ending, where Wall offered a draw with his 39th move. But the move was a disastrous one, costing him a tempo and, soon after, the game. This left Rogers-Bates, Black’s posses- sion of the two extra pawns, it must said, ‘was rather fortuitous. Rogers had built up an overwhelming attack which he had squan- dered gratuitously in the middlegame. Nev- ertheless vestiges of the failed attack remained and Bates” bishop was tied up while Rogers’ queen and knight rampaged across the board. Eventually, by inches, White was able to keep checking the ex- posed black king, and capture enough pawns to go into credit. He then went on to win by more or less conventional means, though it took 91 moves in all. This was an heroic achievement for Jonathan Rogers, which kept his team up, banished poor Rich- mond to Division Two and provided fitting and traditional finale to the 4NCL season. THE GAMES Round 9 CiAlexander Morozevich (Wood Green) MLuke McShane (Beeson Gregory H) Sicilian B31 Le4c52 AS Ac6 3 QbS 640-0 2975 3 Di6 6 d4 Morozevich goes in for a known but slightly obscure pawn sacrifice line. 6..0xd4 7 exdd Axed 8 d5 Ad6 9 Da3 a6 10 Wad a7 10...DeS 11 Axes LxeS 12 Bel £f6 13THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE 299 Bh6 ALS 14. we axbS {5 DxbS d6 16 Bact was played by the new Russian champion Motyley against Lemmers at Rotterdam 1998. He won in 50 moves. 11 2.3 0-0 12 Rel bS 13 Wh4 2b7 14 26 £6 Switch on your materialist computer soft- ware at this point and it will play 14...Sxb2 and claim Black is winning. It is certainly dif- ficult to find any concrete refutation, but one imagines that the force would be with Morozevich in this position. 15 2xg7 @xg7 16 Badd Dac8 17 Ac2 ENT 18 ed White finally gets round to defending the d-pawn. But it is attack he is really interested in. 18...Acd6 19 Dd4 Hes 20 Wh3 Lc8 21 Abi Bc7 22 t4 Ws One of Black’s problems is that he cannot do much in this position, but has to shuffle around on the back rank. 23 Bet WaT 24 Phi 24...067 Setting a little trap. but also weakening the pawn structure. 25 £5! The big push commences. 25 dxe6?! dxe6 26 F\xc6+ Hxe6 27 Wxe6 Ze7! wouldn't be Morozevich’s style. 25.05 If for example 25...exf5 then 26 @dxf5+1 gextS 27 Dxt5+ xfs 28 Wal’ attacking both 47 and £6. 26 Fxg6 hxg6 27 WES £5 28 Zexf5+ gxf5 29 DxfS+ DxfS 30 Wks With a vast number of threats. There is nothiiig left to say. 30...d6 31 Wg6+ tf8 32 Wxd6+ Kee7 33 xt7+ Gxt7 34 BEl+ dog 35 Wy6+ 1-0 Vv Round 9 A.Ledger - Kosten (Midland Mon’s - Slough) j i DD a 41 967 ‘al! S2f7 42 g4 leaves Black perilously short of moves. If 42...e4!? then 43 d4!? is one possibility. 41....g8+ 42 @h7?2 42 xh6?? is also a blunder because of 42...26 winning instantly. Note that one of the points of the suggested move 41 Zal! is that it encourages the ¢7 took to move and al- low Hixd6+ in this position. 42 df5! Bf8-+ 43 e4 would take us back to a position where ‘White can gain a tempo with Hal again. 42...218+ 43 xh6 Hag?! 0-1 A sickening shock for White. It is mate in two moves Round 10 v DMichael Adams (Beeson Gregory 1) Michael Bezold (Richmond) Pire BO6 Led g62d4 2273 Ac3 d64 2e3 a6 5 f4 bS 6 2d3 G77 ALB Ad7 8 e5 c5 This advance seems very natural but weak- ens the d6 pawn. 8...c69 a4 b4 10 Ded Ab6 11 G2 a5 12 BbS+ IB 13 Wer De7 14 0-0300 ‘THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE was Morozevich-Azmaiparashvili, Bugojno 1999, drawn in 41 moves. 9 Bed Tt seems surprising to exchange pieces in this way but White has an cye to a possible e6 advance and wants to step up the pressure on d6 with his knight. 9 0-0 cxd4 10 &xd4 dxes 11 fxe5 and Black tried a tactic in De Vilder-Jonker, Dieren 1997; 1. xeS 12 Axe5 AxeS but after 13 AxbS+ axbS 14 Wrxd8+ Exd8 15 DxeS White held a slight ‘edge and went on to win. 9 Sxed 6... WeT isa possibility. 10 Axed exdd 11 Axd4 dxeS 12 freS Abo The only Way to stem the coming advance is 12...2\€8 but then White would be tempted to try 13 QeS and Black’s position looks shaky. 13 e6 AF6 14 We2 WaS+ 15 c3 0-016 Degs ‘The tangle on the kingside now looks insol- uble. Black tries to stir things up on the queenside. 16...b4 17 0-0 bxc3 18 &xc3 Wh5 19 ext7+ Axt7 20 Wes WeS+ 21 Phi Wd 22 Hael Ka7? Not 22...Wixe6? 23 Dxe6 Hfc8 24 Axg7 x7 25 Exe7 and more material will be lost.; 22..{Db5 had to be played, when White still has some work to do to finish off. 23 W3! 1-0 Quietly decisive. If 23..Wb8 24 Wxbs Exb8 25 Dxt7 &xt7 26 DeS+and Deb wins. Round 10 (Jonathan Parker (Barbican 1) Jonathan Mestel (Beeson Gregory ID) King’s Indian E70 1d42f6 2 c4 263 Dc3 297 4 e4 0-05 14 5 6 dxe5 A Four Pawns Attack with a difference: White hopes to exploit Black’s omission of ..d6, 6.26?! This is optimistic. White can hang onto his pawn, and he so chooses. 6...Ha5 7 2d3 Aa6 8 e5 De8 9 DFS “xcs and White allowed the knight to capture on d3 with 10 0-0 in Clausen-Facobsen, Denmark 1993, Black won in 32 moves. 7 e5 De8 8 Le3 dG 8...f6 looks like the only viable way to make a-game of it 9 exd6 exdé 10 c5 Why not? Black’s play has been disastrous. 10...8.5 11 exd6 Dyb4 12 Bel Was 13 Wa2 Hc8 14 Af3 Dc2+ 15 Bxe2 Lx? 16 7 £d8 17 Wxe2 Zxd7 18 2b5 1-0 Round 10s OGraeme Buckley (Slough) MPeter Richmond (SW Dragons) Slav D31 1 dd d52c4 c63 Af3 e6 4 Ac3 dxed 5 e3 bs ‘This is a rare line of the Queen's Gambit where Black can grab the proffered pawn and try to hang onto it. I's risky, of course. 6 a4 Qb4 7 Ld2 Vb7 8 axbS Lxc3 9THE BRITISH CHESS MAGAZINE, 301 2xc3 exb5 10 b3 a5 11 bxe4 b4 12 2b2 D6 13 &.d3 Abd7 14 0-0 0-0 15 Adz Another way to play this variation is 15 Bel Des 16 Dd? Dxd2 17 Wxd2 eS 18 4 e4 19 Xe2 £6 as in Lalic-Conquest, at the Redbus Knockout 2001, won by White in 46 moves. 15...We7 Black triumphed with the immediate 15...e5 in Nimzo &-Deep Fritz, Cadaques 2001, As played, Black is content to prepare it. 16 {4 White didn’t get very far with 16 e4 ¢5 17 d5 @c5 18 &c2 Zfd7 in Pons-Pons Morro, Mallorca 2000. 16.04 17 e4 17 Bxa47? WG threatening mate and the rook; 17 Hb1 Bfd& 18 We2 Rab& 19 e4 Ac8 20 Ef3 Qa8 21 Mg3 a3 22 Ral soonendedina draw in Van der Werf-C.Hansen, Reykjavik 1996, 17...03 18 Qe ay eo 1 a ein @ OAR A Swe se | 18...b6 A new move. It seems logical to try and work the knight round to c3. Also reasonable is 18...Wd6 19 dS De5 20 @c2 Woé 21 Shi exdS 22 cxd5 Kfe8, draw agreed, Toth-Santiago, Sao Paulo 2000; 18...1/b6 19 5 Dxc5 20 Ac4 We7 21 dxc5 Sxe4 22 Le3 RFd8 23 Ado Sxd6 24 cxd6 We3 25 22?! Wd4+ 26 Shi was Jahnel-David, Germany 1998, Black lost but had he played 26... Wxd3! followed by ...Wh3 he would have been win- ning. However, 25 d7 might have been an im- provement for White. 18...26b8 19 5 De8 20 “HA a £5 exfS 21 BxfS AFB 22 Ab3 worked out well for White in Egiazarian-Getmanchuk, Mos- cow 1995, 19 e5 Wa8 20 @h1?! 20 Hf2! is better as, if 20... Wxd4? 21 Db3 Wc 22 exf6 Hfd8 White can now batten down the hatches with 23 Rd2; if 20 d5 @fxd5 21 exd5 Wxd5 22 @\f3 Bds. 20... Wxdd 21 Ab3 We3 22 ext Nfd8 23 Wed 26 White has now burnt his boats, and the rest of the game is a question of whether he can de- liver mate on g7. 24 We5 Exd3 25 AcS Wxal 26 Axd3 ds 26...63 27 DeS Wa2 28 c5 Ads 29 Dd7 c3! wins for Black. 27 Db? This poses a few problems for Black. 27 BDe5 Wadd 28 Axb7 a2! wins for Black. 27 Des Wa2 28 Hg1 We? and if 29 Who Wxg2+! mates, 27 @xb4 We3 28 2xa3 Wxa3 29 Who Sxg2+ 30 dexe2 Wh2+ 31 ZA Wxf6 wins for Black. 2747 28 Kd &d5 8...Lb8 29 Dd3 b3 30 £5 b2 31 fre bIW also wins for Black. 29 Ad3 29 exd5 axb2 30 dxe6 bxclW 31 exf7+ ENB and it is all over. peers 30 exdS Exd5 31 Wg3 Des 32 e3 _ oo wen DD 32...Hxd3! A very tidy and satisfying finish.