The John Henderson Report: Round 9 January 25th 2000.

SCOTS, WIJK HAE

Now's the day, and now's the hour; See the front o' battle lour! See approach proud Edward's power Chains and slaverie! Scots, Wha Hae - Robert Burns

AFTER spending the best part of two weeks in Wijk aan Zee to cover the Corus Tournament, I could be forgiven for feeling just a little bit homesick - especially as I should have been in Edinburgh celebrating Burns' Night yesterday. For those that don't know, every January 25th is the night when Scotland celebrates the birthday of her national poet and songwriter, Robert Burns (1759-1796). Our Bards many songs include the traditional New Year anthem, Auld Lang Syne; and to commemorate Robert the Bruce's routing of the English during the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314, Scots, Wha Hae; with his long-list of poems including Tam O'Shanter, A Red Red Rose and To A Mouse.

I'd be celebrating right now by being at a Burns' Supper; reciting his poems, singing his songs, drinking our national drink, whisky, and eating our national delicacy, haggis - a dish made from the chopped heart, lungs, and liver of lamb or beef mixed with suet, oats, onions, herbs, and spices, cooked in a cleaned sheep's stomach.

Lputian finds the level required to play in Wijk and his lucky jacket.

However, round nine at Wijk took on its own Scottish flavour as if to make me feel less homesick on this national day. Once again Armenia's Smbat Lputian donned his lucky tartan jacket (3.5/5 with, 0/4 without - need I say anymore?), and, lo and behold, we also had two Scotch Games during the round.

The Scotch Game has a funny history involving a Scot, John Cochrane (he of the Cochrane Gambit fame), who played for the English, and a certain Garry Kasparov! Although Cochrane came from an old Scottish family, he lived in England working as a barrister and led the London team in the famous correspondence match against Edinburgh, in a six game match that lasted from 1824-28. Being the strongest player, he persuaded his team to play the unusual 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4. But when London reached a good position from the opening with it, Cochrane had to leave for India, weakening his team, allowing Edinburgh to turn the tables and win. Seeing the effectiveness of the new system, the canny Scots adopted it in the next game to defeat London, going on to win the match, 3.5-2.5, a result that gave the opening its name.

The Scotch Game, though popular at the lower level, remained pretty much unused for a very long period of time and was rarely played at top GM tournaments. That soon changed when Garry Kasparov, looking for something to "ruffle up" Anatoly Karpov during their 1990 world championship match, rehabilitated the opening that was last played in a title match in 1892 - Chigorin-Steinitz in Havana - with some fresh ideas to score 1.5/2 with it. During a press conference after he retained his title, Kasparov commented: "The Scots should make me an honorary citizen of their country after what I just did for them!"

Kasparov-Timman (9) The first scotch of the day. Kasparov won to take sole lead.

The first Scotch Game of the day came in the top board encounter between Garry Kasparov and Holland's Jan Timman. In his preparation, Jan revealed after the game that he was "half expecting a Scotch from Garry." And sure enough, the world champion didn't disappoint as he improved upon a TN that he had used against England's Michael Adams in last year's Sarajevo tournament to quickly gain a winning endgame advantage.

"I stumbled into an ending that was very difficult to keep," said Timman when he left the playing hall for the post mortem with Kasparov. "I'm sure I should have drawn," he said to Kasparov during the lengthy analysis session. But Kasparov had no trouble in refuting convincingly all of Timman's suggested improvements in the seemingly hopeless endgame. As the game went, Timman never even came close to restoring the balance and he resigned after White's 34th move. Kasparov was awarded the daily 500-guilder (250-dollar)

Kasparov and Timman analyse, no that doesn't draw either.....

Kasparov,G (2851) - Timman,J (2655)
Scotch Game

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nxc6 bxc6 6 e5 Qe7 (Though it may look strange, the idea is to play ...Qe6 and ..d5.) 7 Qe2 Nd5 8 c4 Nb6 9 Nc3 Qe6 (9 ..Ba6?! 10 Qe4 Qb4 11 a3 Qb3 12 Bd3 Bxc4 13 Bc2!) 10 Qe4 Bb4 11 Bd2 Ba6 (This plan for Black was introduced into tournament praxis by the former world champion, Boris Spassky, who first used it against Ljubomir Ljubojevic in Montreal 1979.) 12 b3 Bxc3 13 Bxc3 d5 14 Qh4! (Kasparov's TN; first played by the world champion last year at the Sarajevo tournament against England's Michael Adams. 14 Qf3 dxc4 15 Be2 0–0 16 0–0 Rfe8 17 Rfe1 Rad8 18 Bf1 was the basic set-up before Kasparov's stronger plan with 14 Qh4!) 14 ..dxc4 15 Be2 Nd5 16 Bxc4!? (Kasparov's latest wrinkle in the Scotch. Against Adams, he opted for 16 Bd4. The new idea heads straight for the endgame with White having a nagging edge due to Black's problem with the queenside pawns.) 16 ..g5 (16 ..Bxc4 17 Qxc4 0–0 18 0–0 Rfe8 19 Bb2) 17 Qd4 Bxc4 18 Qxc4 Nf4 (During the post mortem, Timman thought that he might have been better keeping the queen's on by playing 18 ..f5. However, it didn't take Kasparov long to come up with the winning plan of 19 h4 g4 20 0–0! with the idea of playing Rac1, Rfe1 and Bd2.) 19 Qxe6+ Nxe6 20 0–0–0 Ke7 21 Rhe1 Rhd8 22 Rxd8 Rxd8 23 Re4!

Kasparov-Timman (9) after 23. Re4

(In reality Black's doomed. Once Kasparov engineer's a Rook and pawn ending, he'll be so much better due to all the weak Black pawns.) 23 ..Rd5 24 Kc2 c5 25 Ra4 Nd4+ 26 Bxd4 cxd4 27 Rxa7 Kd7 28 Kd3 (Now the d-pawn is a liability.) 28 ..Rxe5 29 Ra4! (The plan is simple: if 29..c5, 30 b4 and Black can't take on b4 as Rxb4 will lead to the downfall of the d-pawn.) 29 ..c5 30 b4! Ke6? (Timman later criticized this move in the post mortem, suggesting instead that 30 ..Rf5 may have led to a draw. However, after a few moves from Kasparov, it still looked as though White would carry the day: 31 f3 g4 32 fxg4 Rf2 33 bxc5 Rxg2 34 h3 Rg3+ 35 Kxd4 Rxh3 36 Kd5! A) 36 ..h5 37 Ra7+ Kd8 (37 ..Ke8 38 c6! Rd3+ 39 Kc4) 38 gxh5 Rxh5+ 39 Kc6 Rh6+ 40 Kb7; B) 36 ..Rd3+ 37 Rd4 Ra3 38 Rd2 Ra4 39 Rf2 Ke7 40 g5 Rg4 41 Rf5 Ra4 42 Kc6 Rxa2 43 Kc7) 31 Ra6+ Kf5 32 b5 Rd5 33 Rc6 c4+ 34 Kxc4 d3 (Has Kasparov missed something?) 35 Kxd5 d2 36 g4+! (No! If 36..Kxg4 37 Rc4+ Kf3 38 Rd4.) 1–0

Kasparov analyses. What do you think of that Garry?

After drawing three games in as many rounds, now was the day, and now was the hour, as Kasparov reasserted his authority in the tournament with this win. The world no.1, and the defending champion, took the sole lead after his fellow Russian, Vladimir Kramnik, was unable to keep up the pace and dropped to second place after managing only a draw with white against Holland's Jeroen Piket.

Kramnik-Piket (9) Piket more than held his own with black.

Scotch number two came in the intriguing encounter between Russia's Alexander Morozevich, who just managed to scramble home with a draw, against England's Nigel Short, who felt his opponent had badly mishandled their "Haggis Opening".

Short, who had studied the Scotch in great depth for his world title match against Kasparov in 1993 (scoring 0.5/2 against it), came up with the rarely played continuation of 6..bxc6!? Just after he played it, Kasparov came to his board, to have a look, screwed up his nose and snorted, as if he was "chalking-up" a future win against the Englishman. "It's always a mistake to play this haggis opening against an Englishman," said Short after the game. "But apart from the opening, it was quite an interesting game, actually. He was very lucky to come away with a draw in the end after I missed my chance at move 29."

Still, Short managed to maintain his life-long record of only ever losing one game against the Scotch - Kasparov in 1993!

Morozevich-Short (9) Short missed a chance.

Morozevich,A (2748) - Short,N (2683)
Scotch Game

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 d4 exd4 4 Nxd4 Bc5 5 Nxc6 Qf6 6 Qd2 bxc6!? (An unusual way to recapture. The most common reply is 6,,dxc6, as Short used twice against Kasparov in their title match in London in 1993.) 7 Nc3 d6 8 Na4 Bb6 9 Bd3 Ne7 10 0–0 0–0 11 c3?! (A strange move that was criticized by Short after the game. "It had its points," he commented. "But what they were I don't know!") 11 ..Qg6 12 Re1 Bh3 13 Bf1 Be6 14 c4 c5 15 b3 f5 16 e5 dxe5 17 Ba3 (17 Rxe5 Nc6 18 Re1 Ba5 19 Nc3 Nd4 would have been good for Black.) 17 ..Rad8 18 Qc3 Nc6 19 Bxc5 Rfe8! (Short's pieces are now ideally placed and poised for the breakthrough.) 20 Rad1 Rd2 21 Rc1 Rd3 22 Rcd1 Rxd1 23 Rxd1 f4 24 Re1 Bf5 25 b4 h5 26 f3 Bxc5+ (26 ..e4!? 27 fxe4 Bxe4 was also a possibility.) 27 Nxc5 Nd4 28 Nb3 Kh7! (Getting out of the way of a back-rank check.) 29 c5 (29 Nxd4 exd4 30 Qd2 Re3 leaving Black in control.)

Morozevich-Short after 29. c5

29 ..Qg5? (Short misses his shot. He could have hit Morozevich with the powerful plan of 29 ..Nc2! 30 Re2 h4 31 Kf2 -getting out of the way of an ..h3 - 31 ..Kh6!! (31 ..Bd3 32 Rd2 Bxf1 33 Qxc2!) 32 Nc1 e4 33 fxe4 Bxe4 34 Kg1 Ne3 winning.) 30 Nxd4 exd4 31 Qd2 Re3 32 Rxe3 dxe3 33 Qd4 Bg6 34 g3 fxg3 35 h4 Qf5 36 Qxe3 Qf6 37 Bd3 Qxh4 38 Bxg6+ Kxg6 39 Qe8+ Kh6 ½–½

Adams demonstrates why Anand was drawing.

"It looked like a beautiful position," sighed England's Michael Adams during his press conference after his game with the Indian ace, Vishy Anand. "But somehow nothing much seemed to happen once I was a pawn up." One very good move from Anand - 24…b6! - saved the day as his knight "as if by a miracle" reached its most active square at precisely the right moment.

Adams,M (2715) - Anand,V (2769)
Giuoco Piano

1 e4 e5 2 Bc4 Nf6 3 d3 Nc6 4 Nf3 Bc5 5 c3 a6 6 Bb3 d6 7 Nbd2 0–0 8 h3 Be6 9 0–0 Ba7 10 Re1 h6 11 Nf1 Re8 12 Be3 Bxe3 13 Nxe3 d5?! (Vishy's attempt at a breakthrough is a mistake, according to Adams, who thought that 13 ..Qd7 was correct.) 14 exd5 Nxd5 15 Nxd5 Bxd5 16 d4! ("Very strong, exploiting the pin on the e-file," commented Adams.) 16 ..e4 17 Nd2 (Now its very difficult to see how Vishy can defend his e-pawn.) 17 ..f5 18 f3 e3 19 f4!

Adams-Anand (9) after 19. f4!

19..Na5 (19 ..g5? 20 Qh5!) 20 Bxd5+ Qxd5 21 Nf1 Qb5 (Adams expected 21 ..Re4 followed by doubling on the e-file to generate some compensation.) 22 Nxe3 Re4 23 Qd2 Rae8 24 b3 b6! (The move that Adams missed. It allows Anand to re-route his knight to a good position via b7 and d6.) 25 c4 Qd7 26 Nc2 Nb7 27 Rxe4 Rxe4 28 Re1 Nd6 29 Rxe4 (On reflection, perhaps Adams should have tried 29 Nb4 Qe7 30 Nd3) 29 ..Nxe4 30 Qe3 b5! 31 Nb4 a5 32 Nd5 (32 Nd3 bxc4 33 Ne5 Qb5 34 Nxc4) 32 ..b4 33 Kh2 Qd8 34 Qd3 ½–½

Whatever are we going to do about Viktor? Age finally seems to have caught up with the once revered Viktor Korchnoi as he had another bad day in the tournament when, for the second time in the tournament, he blundered in the opening to find himself resigning before the 20th move. The error allowed the Dutch champion, Predrag Nikolic, to secure his second win of the tournament.

Exiting the tournament hall, Korchnoi claimed Black "was totally lost" when he committed his blunder, but Nikolic did not concur. "You know, Viktor is not the best of losers," he said. "In fact, White was maybe just a tiny bit better. We weren't even out of the opening when he blundered badly with 18. Bd2 and resigned one move on."

Korchnoi-Nikolic (9) Korchnoi's 18th move was a dreadful blunder.

18 Bd2?? Bf5 19 e4 Nxe4 0-1 If 20 Bxe4 Qxd4+.

Armenia's Smbat Lputian had his fair share of luck against Holland's Loek van Wely. But then again, he did have his lucky tartan jacket on to save him!

The Armenian was forced to trade his Queen for a Rook, Knight and a pawn and on the verge of resignation when the hapless van Wely unexpectedly stumbled, allowing him back into the game.

Van Wely-Lputian (9) White to play his 32nd move.

"I should have played 32 Qd6! here," van Wely explained. "After 32 ... Rxe3, I would have won a piece with 33 Qb4; after 32 ... Nd2 I would have been a piece up with 33 Qc6 Re7 34 Qc2; and after 32 ... Na5, I would have won with 33 Qxa6 Nc4 34 Qxb5. I played 32 Qc7??, however, and got no more than a draw."

Polgar-Leko (9) an interesting draw in the Sicilian.

Round 9 (January 25, 2000)

Kasparov, Gary         -  Timman, Jan H          1-0   36  C45  Scottish
Kramnik, Vladimir      -  Piket, Jeroen          1/2   39  E91  Kings indian
Adams, Michael         -  Anand, Viswanathan     1/2   34  C54  Italian game
Morozevich, Alexander  -  Short, Nigel D         1/2   39  C45  Scottish
Polgar, Judit          -  Leko, Peter            1/2   34  B33  Sicilian
Korchnoi, Viktor       -  Nikolic, Predrag       0-1   19  A13  English; 1.c4
Van Wely, Loek         -  Lputian, Smbat G       1/2   43  D37  Queen's gambit


Corus Wijk aan Zee NED (NED), 15-30 i 2000                cat. XVIII (2697)
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                                     1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 
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 1 Kasparov, Gary         g RUS 2851 * . . = = = 1 . 1 = = . 1 1  6.5  2845
 2 Kramnik, Vladimir      g RUS 2758 . * = = = 1 = = = 1 1 . . .  6.0  2813
 3 Leko, Peter            g HUN 2725 . = * = = . = 1 = = 1 = . .  5.5  2765
 4 Anand, Viswanathan     g IND 2769 = = = * . = . 1 = . . = 1 =  5.5  2782
 5 Piket, Jeroen          g NED 2633 = = = . * = = 0 1 . 1 . . =  5.0  2749
 6 Adams, Michael         g ENG 2715 = 0 . = = * = . . 1 . = = 1  5.0  2754
 7 Morozevich, Alexander  g RUS 2748 0 = = . = = * . . = . 1 = 1  5.0  2746
 8 Nikolic, Predrag       g BIH 2659 . = 0 0 1 . . * = = = = 1 .  4.5  2682
 9 Timman, Jan H          g NED 2655 0 = = = 0 . . = * . 1 = = .  4.0  2658
10 Short, Nigel D         g ENG 2683 = 0 = . . 0 = = . * . 1 = =  4.0  2670
11 Lputian, Smbat G       g ARM 2605 = 0 0 . 0 . . = 0 . * 1 1 =  3.5  2613
12 Polgar, Judit          g HUN 2658 . . = = . = 0 = = 0 0 * . =  3.0  2564
13 Korchnoi, Viktor       g SUI 2659 0 . . 0 . = = 0 = = 0 . * 1  3.0  2578
14 Van Wely, Loek         g NED 2646 0 . . = = 0 0 . . = = = 0 *  2.5  2536
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