Kasparov Wins Elite Tournament

March 9, 2001

Position #5628: White to play and win. From the game Staniszewski - Wyss, Cappelle la Grande 2001.

Solution to Position #5627: White wins with 1 Nf6+ Kg7 2 Qxf8+! Kxf8 3 Nxh7+ or 2 . . . Kxf6 3 Qd8+.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Deposed world champion Garry Kasparov demonstrated his old form by convincingly winning an elite tournament in Linares, Spain. Kasparov scored an undefeated 7 1/2-2 1/2 in the double round robin, which ended Tuesday.

Alexey Shirov, the Latvian grandmaster who lives in Spain, failed to challenge Kasparov for first place. Shirov has enjoyed great success in the past two years, and his personal animosity to Kasparov makes him a fan favorite. But he needed a final-round win over Judit Polgar to escape last place. Shirov, Polgar, Alexander Grischuk, Peter Leko and former world champion Anatoly Karpov all tied for second place at 4 1/2-5 1/2.

Leko (not a single win!) and Karpov turned in mediocre performances. However, Polgar (the only player to draw both games against Kasparov) exceeded expectations and 17-year-old Grischuk gave glimpses of his unlimited potential.

Since losing his world championship title to Vladimir Kramnik in November, Kasparov has outclassed super-GMs in two tournaments. It would be premature to call his loss to Kramnik a fluke, but one must wonder why other stars have not managed to capitalize on the alleged weakness (Queenless middlegames) that Kramnik revealed.

No showdown between Kasparov and his chief rivals, Kramnik and World Chess Federation champ Viswanathan Anand, is imminent. The Linares combatants next travel to a pair of 25-minute tournaments on the Mediterranean. Kasparov, Polgar and Grischuk plan to compete March 21-25 in Cannes, while Shirov, Karpov and Leko will join Kramnik and Anand for the 10th Amber tournament in Monte Carlo, March 17-29.

Yuri Shulman of Belarus leads the Charles Linklater Memorial in San Francisco with a score of 6 1/2-2 1/2. Greg Shahade of Pennsylvania is second at 6-3; GMs Alek Wojtkiewicz (Poland) and Alexander Baburin (Ireland) have 5-3 and an extra game to play. Southern Californians Levon Altounian (4 1/2-3 1/2) and Cyrus Lakdawala (3 1/2-4 1/2) still have a chance for the IM norm of 5 1/2-4 1/2.

The Seattle Chess Foundation, which ran the 2000 U.S. Championship, hosts its second major event, a U.S. versus China team match, March 14-18 in Seattle. The match consists of four rounds of play on 10 boards. China has become a power in chess, and they are favored to win this match thanks to their great superiority on the two women’s boards.

The SCF hopes to make the match an annual tradition. For more details, visit its Web site at https://www.seattlechessfoundation.org.

LOCAL NEWS

CalChess, the official organization for the chess state of Northern California, conducted its 26th annual state scholastic championship last weekend in Santa Clara. The astonishingly successful event has grown so rapidly that the turnout of 1,250 players (up from 985 in 2000) could not have been imagined only a few years ago.

Top-rated IM Vinay Bhat swept the grades K-12 Open, the most prestigious of the 12 sections, with a perfect 6-0 score. Bhat will compete for the U.S. in the match against China.

Ramon Tolentino, Simon Howard and Shafiq Al-Baqir won their sections in the Exposition Park Chess Club tournament last Sunday in Los Angeles. The club meets Sunday afternoons in the public library at 3665 S. Vermont Ave. For more information, call the library at (323) 732-0169.

Chess Academy, 1335 N. La Brea Ave., Hollywood, will host a tournament of 30-minute games at 11 a.m. Sunday, followed by a simultaneous exhibition with GM Eduard Gufeld at 3 p.m. Call Gufeld at (323) 883-0164 for details.

TODAY’S GAMES

GM Kasparov (Russia) - GM Karpov (Russia), Linares 2001: 1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 The Caro-Kann Defense, a longtime Karpov favorite. 3 e5 The Advance variation, a first for Kasparov. Bf5 4 Nc3 e6 5 g4 Bg6 6 Nge2 Ne7 Alternatives include 6 . . . c5 and 6 . . . f6. 7 Nf4 c5 8 dxc5 Nd7 Another sharp line begins 8 . . . Nec6 9 h4 Qc7. 9 h4 Nxe5 10 Bg2 Harmless is 10 Bb5+ N7c6 11 Qe2 a6. h5 11 Qe2 N7c6 12 Nxg6 Nxg6 13 Bg5! Pre-game preparation! In Shirov - Karpov, Monaco 2000, White got no advantage from 13 Nxd5 Bxc5 14 Bg5 Nge7 15 Qb5f6 16 Qxc5 Nxd5 17 0-0-0 Qe7 18 Qb5 0-0-0. Be7 14 gxh5 Nf8?! Surprised, Karpov reacts too defensively. Neither 14 . . . Bxg5? 15 hxg6 Rxh4 17 Rxh4 Bxh4 18 Bxd5 nor 14 . . . Nxh4?! 15 Bxh4 Bxh4 16 Bxd5 is comfortable for Black, but 14 . . . Nge5 15 f4 Nd7 improves. 15 Nb5! Inviting 15 . . . f6? 16 Bf4 e5 17 Bxd5! exf4 18 Nd6+ Kd7 19 0-0-0, with deadly threats on the d-file. Nd7 16 h6! Now White anticipates 16 . . . gxh6? 17 Nd6+ Kf8 18 Qh5 Nde5 19 Bxh6+ Kg8 20 Rg1. Nxc5! Best. Against 17 hxg7?! Rg8 18 Bf4, Black fights back with 18 . . . Rxg7! 19 Nc7+ Kf8 20 Nxa8 Rxg2 21 Nc7 Ne4. 17 Bf4! Kf8 Less dangerous than 17 . . . Rc8 18 hxg7 Rg8 19 0-0-0 Rxg7 20 Bxd5!? exd5 21 Nd6+ Kf8 22 Nxc8 Qxc8 23 Bh6. 18 hxg7+ Kxg7 19 0-0-0 Kf8 Shipov suggested 19 . . . Qa5 20 Kb1 Rag8. 20 Kb1 Preparing c2-c4. a6 21 Nc7! Rc8 22 Bxd5! exd5 23 Rxd5 Qxc7 Forced. White refutes 23 . . . Nd7 neatly with 24 Rh5! Bf6 25 Bd6+ Ne7 26 Nd5 Rg8 27 Re1. Nor does 24 . . . Rxh5 25 Qxh5 Bb4 save Black, because 26 Qh6+ Ke7 27 Re1+! Nce5 (not 27 . . . Bxe1 28 Bd6 mate) 28 Rxe5+ Nxe5 29 Bg5+ Kd7 30 Bxd8 wins material. 24 Bxc7 Rxc7 Karpov has defended resourcefully to obtain three pieces, which often compensate for a Queen. However, Kasparov manages to maintain the initiative, thanks to Black’s exposed King. 25 Rf5! Aiming at f7 while preventing . . . Nc5-e6. Rd7 Not 25 . . . Nd4?? 26 Qe5 Nxf5 27 Qxh8 mate. But 25 . . . Bd6!? 26 Rd1 Re7 27 Qf3 Be5 may offer a little hope. 26 c3 f6 Ugly, but Black could not stand 26 . . . Rh6?! 27 Qf3! Rh7 (or 27 . . . f6 28 Qe3) 28 Rxc5 Bxc5 28 Qf5. 27 Rg1! Nd8 If 27 . . . Rxh4, White picks up material by 28 Rxc5! Bxc5 29 Qe6 Rf7 30 Qc8+ Ke7 31 Qxb7+. 28 Qg4 Thinking of both 29 Qg7+ and 29 Rxc5. If 28 . . . Nce6, then 29 Rh5 breaks through. Ke8 29 Rh5 Rf8 30 Rxc5! Bxc5 31 Qh5+, Black Resigns. An apparently flawless performance by Kasparov against his great rival.

GM Dvoirys (Russia) - GM Naumkin (Russia), Cappelle la Grande 2001: 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 The Advance variation against the French Defense. c5 4 c3 Nc6 5 Nf3 Bd7 Instead of the customary 5 . . . Qb6. 6 Be2 f6 7 0-0 fxe5 8 Nxe5 Nxe5 9 dxe5 Qc7 10 c4 Inviting the greedy 10 . . . Qxe5? 11 Re1. Ne7 11 Nc3 Qxe5 Still risky. Either 11 . . . d4 or 11 . . . 0-0-0 12 cxd5 exd5 13 Nxd5 Qxe5 should hold. 12 Re1 0-0-0 13 Bg4 Qf6?! 14 Nb5! As 14 . . . Bxb5? 15 Rxe6 sets up a lethal discovery. a6 15 Nd6+ Kc7 16 Qb3! Kxd6 After 16 . . . Bc6 17 Rxe6 Qh4 18 h3! dxc4 19 Qc2, Black must cede the exchange by 19 . . . Rxd6 20 Rxd6 to stop the threats of 20 g3 and 20 Bf4. 17 Qb6+ Nc6 18 cxd5 Kxd5 Losing prettily. No better is 18 . . . exd5, as 19 b4! cxb4 20 Be3 d4 21 Bxd4 Qxd4 22 Rad1 rips open a path to Black’s King. 19 Bg5! Qxg5 20 Rad1 Nd4 21 Bxe6+, Black Resigns.