Chess: A Knight’s Tour

Position No.6139: White Mates in three.

Solution to Position No.6138: A “smothered mate” is unstoppable after 1. Rg7! Unless black allows a two-move mate (…Rg8?? 2.Rg8 mate), white plays 2. Rg8+ followed by Nf7 mate.

Ask anyone even slightly familiar with chess, “Who was the best of all time?” and the name Bobby Fischer will probably arise most often. In the last several years, though, a young man from Norway has quickly and rather quietly moved onto the scene. He’s been dubbed the “new Bobby Fischer.”

Having just turned 20, he is rated No.1 in the world and has been for most of this last year. That means that he ranked above not only World Champion Viswanathan Anand but former champions Veselin Topalov and Vladimir Kramnik, three of the highest-rated players ever. Finishing the year in grand style, Magnus Carlsen won one super-grandmaster event in China ahead of Anand and Topalov and another one in London ahead of Anand and Kramnik. It may be a while before he is crowned the king of chess, though: Dissatisfied with the way the championship cycle is run, he announced he will not compete for the title. Fischer fans will recall similar behavior here regarding title aspirations.

In addition to Carlsen and the three world champions, we need to mention Armenian Levon Aronian whose high-level play led him to become one of only six players ever to break the 2800 rating level barrier. That feat was accomplished first by Garry Kasparov and later by the four superstars just mentioned.

Americans have at least two reasons to rejoice: Gata Kamsky and Hikaru Nakamura. Kamsky won the U.S. title as a teenager, competed against World Champion Anatoly Karpov for the world title, lost and then retired from chess. Since returning to the game a few years ago, he regained the title of U.S. Champion. Kamsky is one of the eight candidates who will play matches in 2011 to determine the next challenger for World Champion Anand. Meanwhile, former U.S. Champion Nakamura raised his game to supergrandmaster level. In the recent London event, he drew Anand and defeated Kramnik. Such performances have placed him in the world’s top 10 on the live rating list.

California standouts

Eighteen Californians are listed in the U.S. Chess Federation’s overall top-100 list. Way above them all is Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian, rated just behind Nakamura, Kamsky and Alexander Onischuk. This past year, he placed second in the U.S. Open Championship and seventh in the U.S. Closed. He qualifies by rating to play in next year’s closed title event again.

Fifteen of the top 100 youths (under-21) hail from the Golden State, and all but two of them are rated masters. Top-ranked is 19-year-old Samuel Shankland, the 2010 U.S. Junior Champion. Among his other titles and achievements is his having qualified to play in the closed U.S. Championship.

Game of the week

Magnus Carlsen-Veselin Topalov

3rd Pearl Spring International

Nanjing, China

Oct. 24

One of Carlsen’s two victories in this event over the former World Champion.

1. e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5(A) a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3(B) b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.axb5 axb5 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Re1 Bd7 12.c3 Ra8 13.Rxa8 Qxa8 14.d4 h6 15.Nf1 Re8 16.Ng3Qc8 17.Nh4 Bf8 18.Ng6 Na5 19.Nxf8 Rxf8(C) 20.Bc2 Re8 21.f4 Bg4 22.Qd3 exf4 23.Bxf4 Nc4 24.Bc1 c5 25.Rf1(D) cxd4 26.cxd4 Qd8 27.h3 Be6 28.b3 Qa5?! 29.Kh2(E) Nh7(F) 30.e5 g6 31.d5!! Nxe5 32.dxe6!(G) 1-0

A) For more than 500 years, the solid Ruy Lopez Opening has been a mainstay of top players. B) a conservative move avoiding the Marshal Gambit: 6. Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5!? 9.exd Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 with black having attacking chances for the pawn. C)If Nxb3?, both sides keep capturing and black loses material. D) Through relatively simple maneuvers, white has lined up all of his fighting pieces for a king assault. E) Choosing to avoid giving black counterplay by 29.bxc4 Bxc4 F) defending against Bxh6 followed by Rxf6. Carlsen wins quickly now by abandoning his queen. G) 32…Nxd3 33.exf7+ Kf8 34.fxe8+ and black is busted.