Champions Unite to Chide Officials

April 27, 2001

Position No. 5635: White to play and win. From the game Pikula--Savic, Yugoslavia 2001.

Solution to Position No. 5634: White wins with 1 Nf6! Bxf6 2 Rxc7 Bxh4 3 Rgxg7. If 1 . . . gxf6 2 Rxc7 or 1 . . . Qf7 2 fxe5 Rxc1 3 Rxc1 gxf6 4 Bxf6+ Kg8 5 Rg1+ Kf8 6 Rg7, Black loses too much material.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

World champion Vladimir Kramnik and former champions Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov set aside their differences to release a powerful joint statement. The champions wrote, “The time-honored traditions and rules of classical chess are not to be toyed with.” They criticized the World Chess Federation for trying to accelerate games and for attempting to replace the traditional two-player world championship match with a monstrous 100-player knockout tournament.

The full text of the letter and a subsequent interview with Kramnik were posted at https://www.kasparovchess.com. In the interview, Kramnik came across as a sensible fellow with a conciliatory attitude, saying, “Personally, I am ready to cooperate with FIDE under the stipulation that this organization will change its policies.” He added, “The chess community and outsiders should know about serious problems that exist in chess.” He complained that FIDE falsely portrays its policies as overdue reforms unanimously supported by top players and challenged FIDE to conduct a vote of those players on the format of the world championship.

Kramnik also addressed FIDE’s efforts to promote chess. He said, “Chess will never be more popular than either soccer or tennis because this game is too complex.” Decrying FIDE’s neglect of “the cultural component” of chess, Kramnik said, “For most of the FIDE functionaries, chess is a mere product which should be sold at maximum profit.”

Artiom Tarasov, whose company bought the rights to market FIDE’s tournaments, seemed to confirm Kramnik’s judgment when he said, “This struggle is an ordinary market competition.” Tarasov repeated his threat to stage tournaments in conflict with those run by independent organizers who do not join FIDE’s Grand Prix, saying, “War is war.” Almost simultaneously, bumbling FIDE Executive Director Emmanuel Omuku wrote that FIDE would not make such a threat.

Tarasov’s interview and a brief statement by several grandmasters critical of Karpov are posted at https://www.gmchess.com/news/fide.

Kasparov defeated British businessman Terence Chapman, 2 1/2-1 1/2, in their charity match last weekend in London. Playing with a two-pawn handicap, Kasparov won the first and fourth games. Chapman, who appears to be master strength, won the third game convincingly. Will other stars experiment with the entertaining match format?

Kramnik and Kasparov will compete in a 25-minute tournament Saturday and Sunday in Zurich. The tournament honors Viktor Korchnoi, who celebrated his 70th birthday last month. Korchnoi, former world champion Boris Spassky and other stars will participate. For coverage, visit https://www.chessbase.com.

LOCAL NEWS

David Ayvazyan became state junior high champion Saturday in Castaic by winning the Championship section of the Southern California State Junior High Championship. Ayvazyan scored a perfect 4-0, including an upset victory over his teammate, expert Alen Melikamanian, in the final round. They led Toll Middle School of Glendale to the team title.

David Grigoryan swept the Junior Varsity (under-1,000) section, scoring 5-0. Gregory Comanor, Alex Siemons and Eric Vetter all achieved perfect 5-0 scores in the Booster (under-700) section. Meadows School of Santa Clarita took team honors in both sections.

A total of 198 students competed.

State champion Levon Altounian and IM Varuzhan Akobian shared first place in the Ventura County Open last weekend in Thousand Oaks. Each scored 3 1/2- 1/2, including a quick draw in their third-round encounter.

Carsten Hansen (a visitor from Denmark), Ron Hermansen and John Hillery tied for third place at 3-1. The surprisingly strong 24-player Open section featured 11 masters.

Sterling Conway-Jones swept the 52-player Amateur (under-1,800) section with a perfect 4-0 score. William Au and Gary Ware finished second and earned Class B honors with scores of 3 1/2- 1/2. Lisa Edmondson earned the prize for best woman with 3-1. Karl Longos, Mark Luttrull, Patrick Meherin, Arkadiy Onikul and Robert Salas shared the under-1,400 and unrated prizes at 2-2.

Dan Nystrom and Chuck Smith of the Ventura County Chess Club directed the tournament. The excellent turnout can be attributed to three factors: a pleasant setting that encourages entrants to compete every year, a moderate entry fee and the dearth of conflicting tournaments.

Looking for another two-day event? The next are the San Joaquin Valley Open, May 19-20 in Fresno, and the Los Angeles County Open, June 9-10 in Monterey Park, followed by the three-day Pacific Southwest Open, June 15-17 in Los Angeles. The Memorial Day Classic, usually one of the largest local tournaments, will not be held this year because organizer Jay Blem could not rent a hotel ballroom for a reasonable price.

The April Super Sunday event, held last Sunday at Chess Palace in Los Alamitos, ended in a tie at 3 1/2-1 1/2 among Viktor Kuperman, IM Andranik Matikozian and Joe Scherzinger. Kuperman upset Matikozian. Ed Cohen took the expert prize, and Marina Asami, Harut Keshishian and Jadish Singh shared under-1,600 honors. For more information about Chess Palace tournaments, call (562) 598-5099.

The Wilshire Chess Society’s April tournament of 45-minute games will be held Sunday in Community Room C of the Westside Pavilion, Pico at Westwood in Los Angeles. Register at the site at 10:30 a.m.

The Santa Monica Bay Chess Club, which meets Monday evenings in Joslyn Park, 633 Kensington Road in Santa Monica, plans two tournaments. The club will run a three-round tournament of 30-minute games on April 30, then begin a tournament of slower games on May 7. Register at the site at 7 p.m., or call Pete Savino at (310) 827-2789 for details.

TODAY’S GAME

R. Bauer--B. Finegold, Foxwoods Open, Connecticut 2001: 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Sidestepping the main lines of the Sicilian Defense. e6 Or 3 . . . g6. 4 Bxc6 bxc6 Black’s task is to prove that his miserable QB is stronger than White’s Knight. 5 0-0 Ne7 6 Re1 Ng6 7 d4 Probably inferior to 7 d3 and 7 c3 Be7 8 d4. cxd4 8 Nxd4 Be7 9 c4 0-0 10 Nc3 c5 Opening the a8-h1 diagonal. 11 Nde2 f5! Removing another obstacle. 12 exf5 White maintains equality with 12 Nf4!? Nxf4 13 Bxf4 fxe4 14 Bd6. Rxf5 13 Ng3 Rf7 14 Nge4 Bb7 15 Be3 Rc8 Threatening to win a piece by 16 . . . d5 17 Ng3 d4. 16 Nd6? Losing. White must try 16 Qh5 Rf5 (or 16 . . . d5 17 Ng5) 17 Qh3. Bxd6 17 Qxd6 Nh4 18 f3 Nxg2! 19 Kxg2 Rxf3 20 Nd5 White is helpless against the reborn Bishop. If 20 Kg1, then 20 . . . Qh4 21 Re2 Qg4+ 22 Rg2 Rf1+ 23 Kxf1 Qxg2+ 24 Ke1 Rf8 25 Ne2 Qf1+ 26 Kd2 Qxa1 picks up material. Rf6! 21 Qe5 exd5 22 cxd5 Rg6+ 23 Kh1 Against 23 Kf2, both 23 . . . Qh4+ 24 Ke2 Rg2+ 25 Kd1 Qc4 and 23 . . . d6 24 Qe4 Qf6+ 25 Ke2 Qxb2+ 26 Bd2 Ba6+ 27 Ke3 Qa3+ are sufficient. Qf6! As 24 Qxf6 Bxd5+ makes the Bishop the hero. 24 Qe4 Or 24 Bf4 Rf8 25 Bg3 Qf3+ 26 Kg1 Bxd5--the triumph of the diagonal. Qh4!, White Resigns. White cannot stand 25 Qd3 Qg4 or 25 Bf4 Rf8 26 Rf1 Rgf6.