Nations and Continents Compete in Team Matches

Sept. 28, 2001

Position No. 5657: White to play and win. From the game Xu Yuhua-Ioseliani, Batumi 2001.

Solution to Position No. 5656: Black removes the guard by 1 ... Bf7 2 Qf5 g6 3 Qf3 Bd5 4 Qe2 Bc4 5 Qf3 Bg7 6 Qxc6 Rxg4 or 6 Qxf8+ Qxf8 7 Re8 Rxg4, winning a piece.

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

The Chinese Chess Federation, which promised to test its strength against the world’s best, hosted a team match against chess superpower Russia in Shanghai. The Russians won by a greater margin, 411/2-301/2, than expected. Nevertheless, the result confirmed China’s status as a leading chess nation, partly because China used the match to introduce lesser-known players to international competition.

The Russian men’s team lacked stars Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov, yet still won comfortably, 211/2-141/2. Less predictable were the battles among women and juniors, categories in which China excels. The Russian women managed a 9-9 tie and the Russian juniors won, 11-7. In both cases, the Chinese did not field their highest-rated lineup.

China edged the U.S., 21-19, in a similar match in Seattle in March. In that match, the Chinese juniors, who scored 6-2, provided the winning margin.

Former world champion Kasparov scored an impressive 11-1 victory to help Europe win a team match of 25-minute games against Asia. The fairly close score of 58-46 conceals two mismatches. The European men clobbered the Asian men, 471/2-241/2, while the Asian women overwhelmed the European women, 211/2-101/2. The match took place Sept. 17-20 in Batumi, Republic of Georgia.

Kasparov swept his two-game matches against grandmasters Ian Rogers (Australia), Dao Thien Hai (Vietnam), Evgeny Vladimirov (Kazakhstan) and Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan) but yielded one draw apiece to Utut Adianto (Indonesia) and Ye Jiangchuan (China).

The match between world champion Kramnik and the computer program Fritz has been postponed. BrainGames Network, which had planned to start the eight-game match in the Persian Gulf country of Bahrain on Oct. 14, announced that the match would be rescheduled for early 2002.

LOCAL NEWS

The Joshua Tree Chess Fest, a four-round tournament of 45-minute games, takes place Oct. 6 in Faith Lutheran Church, 6336 Hallee Road, Joshua Tree. For details, call Mark Muller at (760) 830-6506 (days) or at (760) 367-2311 (evenings).

A three-round tournament of 60-minute games will be held Oct. 6 in La Purisima Parish Hall, 219 W. Olive Ave., Lompoc. The tournament includes an Open section, Under-1500 section and scholastic sections for students in grades K-5 and K-9. For full information, call Barbara McCaleb at (805) 544-0717. Registration at the site closes at 8:40 a.m.

The South Bay Premiere Scholastic tournament, held Saturday in Gardena, attracted a good turnout of 114 players. Stephan Airapetian, Michael Ambartsoumian and Eugene Ivanov tied for first place in the Championship (grades K-12) section. Kevin Siu (5-0 in grades K-8) and Haroutyun Dzhabrabayan (5-0 in grades K-3) swept their sections.

The Wilshire Chess Society conducted a three-section tournament Sunday at the Westside Pavilion in Los Angeles. Ron Frasco won his section, brothers Max and Julian Landaw tied for first place in another section, and Konstantin Kavutskiy, Emerson Lamery and Max Lemkin shared first place in a third. Call Michael Jeffreys at (310) 473-6291 for details of the next Wilshire Chess Society event, scheduled for Oct. 28.

Mark Rosenberg and Diana Durham will conduct a Siamese chess tournament for students in grades K-12 on Sunday. The tournament will be held in the chess park on the beach, about 200 yards south of the Santa Monica Pier. Register at the site before 10:30 a.m.

The Santa Monica Bay Chess Club will begin a five-round tournament on Monday in Joslyn Park, 633 Kensington Road, Santa Monica. For information, call Pete Savino at (310) 827-2789.

TODAY’S GAME

GM Khalifman (Russia)-GM Peng Xiaomin (China), Russia vs. China Match, Shanghai 2001: 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 d4 0-0 6 Be2 e5 7 0-0 Nc6 8 d5 Ne7 9 b4 The Bayonet Attack, a very fashionable line against the King’s Indian Defense. Nh5 10 Re1 To answer 10 ... Nf4 by 11 Bf1. f5 11 Ng5 Nf6 12 f3 Ne8 13 c5 a5?! Dubious strategy, as White welcomes a Queenside battle. Often Black saddles White with a vulnerable pawn at e6 by 13 ... h6 14 Ne6 Bxe6 15 dxe6 c6. 14 cxd6 Qxd6 15 Nb5 Qb6+ 16 Kh1 Nd6 Very uncomfortable is 16 ... axb4?! 17 Qb3 Nd6 18 Be3 Qa5 19 Bc5! Rd8 20 Bxb4 Qb6 21 a4. 17 bxa5 Rxa5 18 Nxd6 cxd6 19 Bd2 Ra8 20 Rb1 Qa7 21 Bc4 White has a clear advantage. He controls much of the Queenside, while Black has failed to create Kingside counterplay. Bd7 22 Be3 Qb8 23 Ne6 Rc8 24 Qd3 f4 25 Bg1 Ra4?! Inadequate, but passive defense should lose to Re1-e2-b2xb7. 26 Bb5! Bxb5 27 Qxb5 Rxa2 28 Qd7 Bf6 If 28 ... Re8 29 Rxb7 Qc8, simply 30 Qxc8 wins a piece. 29 Rxb7 Qa8 30 Nxf4! White’s Queenside pressure has transformed into a mating attack. White foresees 30 ... exf4 31 Qe6+ Kg7 32 Bd4! Qxb7 33 Qxf6+ Kh6 34 Qh4 mate. Bh4 Against 30 ... Kg7, most effective is 31 Ne6+ Kf7 32 f4! exf4 33 Nxf4 or 32 ... Rcc2 33 fxe5 dxe5 34 Rf1, with decisive threats. 31 Nd3 As 31 ... Bxe1 32 Qe6+ leads to mate. Qa3 Black gets no relief from 31 ... Re8 32 Reb1. 32 Qe6+, Black Resigns. White will gain material by 32 ... Kf8 33 Rxe7 Bxe7 34 Qxc8+ or 32 ... Kg7 33 Rxe7+ Bxe7 34 Qxe7+! Kh8 (34 ... Kh6 35 Be3+) 35 Qf6+ Kg8 36 Qe6+.

GM Kasparov (Russia)-GM Vladimirov (Kazakhstan), Europe vs. Asia Match, Batumi 2001: 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0-0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0-0 8 a4 The Anti-Marshall. Kasparov has scored very well with this lightly regarded variation of the Ruy Lopez. Bb7 9 d3 d6 10 Nbd2 Na5 Black has also tried 10 ... Re8 11 Nf1 h6 and 10 ... Nd7 11 c3 Nc5. 11 Ba2 c5 12 Nf1 Re8 13 Ne3 g6 Kasparov-Leko, Linares 2001, continued 13 ... h6 14 Bd2 c4!? 15 Bc3 Qb6 16 Nd2, probably favoring White. 14 Bd2 b4 Safest, although 14 ... Bc8 15 axb5 axb5 16 Ng5 Rf8 should hold too. 15 Ng5 Rf8 The first of a series of forced moves. White refutes 15 ... d5?? by 16 exd5 Nxd5 17 Nxf7! Kxf7 18 Qf3+ Ke6 19 Nxd5 Bxd5 20 Rxe5+! Kxe5 21 Bxd5, recovering the Rook. 16 Ng4 Threatening 17 Nh6+. Black must avoid 16 ... Kg7?? 17 Bxf7! Rxf7? 18 Ne6+. Nxg4 17 Qxg4 Bc8! The Bishop belongs on e6. 18 Qh4 h5 19 Qg3 Kg7 Parrying the threat of 20 Nxf7. 20 Bd5 Rb8 21 h4 Qd7 With 21 ... Bxg5! 22 Bxg5 f6 23 Bd2 Qe7 and soon ... Bc8-e6, Black constructs a fortress. 22 Qe3! Bb7?? Only 22 ... Bxg5 23 Qxg5 Rh8 survives. Then 24 f4 f6 25 Qg3 Qg4 26 Qf2 Be6 offers excellent drawing chances. 23 Nh7! Clearing a path to h6. The faulty 23 Nxf7?? permits 23