CHESS : INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Garry Kasparov took the suspense out of his defense of his world championship title by winning two more games against Viswanathan Anand last week in New York. With his victories Monday and Tuesday and quick draws Thursday and Friday, Kasparov has taken an overwhelming 9 1/2-6 1/2 lead in the best-of-20-game match.

What a puzzling match! Who could have predicted the strange sequence of draws, or Anand’s collapse after scoring the first win of the match? Two of Anand’s four losses came after he declined Kasparov’s draw offers. With a little luck, Anand might have made the match much closer.

LOCAL NEWS

The Los Angeles Open in Buena Park last weekend ended dramatically as top-rated Walter Browne, the six-time U.S. champion, tried to save an endgame with King and Rook against the King, Rook and Bishop of Georgian grandmaster Eduard Gufeld, the second-ranked entrant. If the defender can avoid mate or loss of his Rook for 50 moves, he can claim a draw. In most cases, perfect play leads to a draw; in practice, the defender often succumbs. Browne lasted 32 moves before Gufeld administered checkmate and claimed first prize.

Gufeld scored 4 1/2- 1/2, yielding a draw only to Omar Cartagena in the second round. Czech GM Pavel Blatny, winner of the 1995 New York Open, took second prize at 4-1. Cartagena, Reynaldo del Pilar, and IMs Marc Leski, Larry Remlinger and Enrico Sevillano tied for third at 3 1/2-1 1/2. The powerful field featured three GMs and six IMs.

Sam Hamilton and Bill Richards scored 4-1 to top the under-2200 section. Other class winners were George R. Balares and Wency Ripalda, 4 1/2- 1/2 in the under-2000 section; Michael Mills, 4 1/2- 1/2 in the under-1800 section; Eric Ballenger and Alan Compton, 4 1/2- 1/2 in the under-1600 section; Noel Dizon, 5-0 in the under-1400 section; and Manolito Ferrer and Bob Gruspe, 4 1/2- 1/2 in the unrated section.

The turnout of 220 players was a mild disappointment for the sponsoring Continental Chess Assn. Director Steve Immitt suffered another loss. His laptop computer, containing all the pairings and results, was stolen while he was busy settling a last-round dispute. The directing team worked into the wee hours of Monday and managed to piece together a complete record of the tournament.