CHESS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The tense match between former U.S. champion Gata Kamsky and Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand is deadlocked at 4-4 in Las Palmas on the Canary Islands. The winner of the best-of-12-game series earns the right to challenge the world’s top player, Garry Kasparov of Russia, in the 1995 Professional Chess Assn. world championship, scheduled for September in Cologne, Germany.

Kamsky, who accurately described his play as “kind of shaky,” might easily trail by two points. He received an unexpected gift in the first game, when Anand squandered a large advantage by exceeding the time limit for the first time in his career. Anand evened the score by winning the third game. The other six games have ended in draws after careful play on both sides.

Before the match, Kasparov predicted an easy victory for Anand. So far, though, the match resembles last year’s World Chess Federation (FIDE) quarterfinal, in which Anand repeatedly outplayed Kamsky but managed to win only two games. Kamsky fought back to tie, 4-4, then won two 45-minute tiebreakers to notch an astounding upset. Can it happen again?

Zsuzsa Polgar of Hungary defeated former women’s world champion Maya Chiburdanidze of Georgia, 5 1/2-1 1/2, in St. Petersburg, Russia. Although the two had tied for first place in the Women’s Candidates tournament last year, this match proved no contest. Polgar won the third, fourth, sixth and seventh games without loss to end the best-of-10-game series early. Polgar becomes the challenger to Xie Jun of China in the next women’s world championship.

Despite the absence of Kasparov, Anand and Kamsky, the annual grandmaster tournament in Linares, Spain, boasts another impressive field, averaging more than 2650 in rating. With two rounds to go, FIDE world champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia and Vassily Ivanchuk of Ukraine lead with scores of 8-3. Alexey Shirov of Latvia is third at 7-4.