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| Kasparov visit to the London Chess Centre 21st October 2003 IN THE SQUARE WITH KASPAROV by John Henderson 5 simul Games in PGN AS Rapper Eminem would have it: Guess who’s back? Back again? After my relaxing year-long Seattle sojourn, it’s back to the daily grind of writing from the tournament circuit and reporting on celeb chess visits.  And I suppose as celeb visits go, they don’t come any bigger than a major London gig with numero uno himself, Mr. Garry Kasparov esq.! Apart from playing his part in helping to promote National Chess Week in the UK, the world’s top player was in London for the third leg of his Belzberg Technologies/Chicago Board Options Exchange simultaneous, and not forgetting the little matter of plugging sales of his epic Churchillian-like tome My Great Predecessors Part 1.  It seems Belzberg/CBOE were looking for a chess savvy photographer to take all the pics of the simul evening at the plush Napoleon Suite of the Café Royal for their guests and for PR use, and I was recommended for the gig! As the official photographer, the great joy of a gig like this (apart from the free drinks and excellent food on offer) is that you get unfettered access to Kasparov – even being allowed inside the square with him during the simul!  For those unaware, Belzberg Technologies (http://www.belzberg.com) is a Canadian financial software company run by chess-mad chairman and CEO, Sid Belzberg, and his wife, Alicia. Sid’s company not only sponsored the Canadian Olympiad squad in Bled 2002, but he also took time from his busy schedule to act as the non-playing captain of the team. Belzberg's software facilitates international trading. Recognizing the increasing complexity of these transactions, Sid aimed to build an electronic backbone to aid global financial trading. He turned his curiosity into Belzberg Technologies Inc., a public company with over 100 employees providing state-of-the-art trading software for financial institutions in the United States, Canada and Europe. The Belzberg suite of trading applications combines interactive order execution and fill reports with live market quotes and analysis, and can include single-order entry, spreadsheet-based basket-trading software and arbitrage launcher. Belzberg servers, capable of processing more than 200 trades per second, provide traders with international connectivity, allowing them to execute trades on exchanges around the world from one screen. Belzberg also introduced the first-ever American options electronic communications network and electronic connectivity to the five major U.S. options exchanges. Belzberg's has a current client roster of over 125 major financial institutions, including Merrill Lynch, Morgan Stanley, ING Barings, HSBC and five major Canadian banks. CBOE, regulated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), is the creator of listed options, and the world's largest options marketplace. For additional information about the CBOE and its products, visit the CBOE website at http://www.cboe.com.  This is the third such event Kasparov has done for Belzberg/CBOE, the other two being in Chicago and New York. These events are held to promote CBOE directHyTS, which is CBOE's hybrid trading system. Belzberg creates the user interface for HyTS - basically, it's a trading system that gives access to US options, equities and futures markets from one screen. Traders and stock market people like chess, and Belzberg/CBOE uses these events in conjunction with the financially savvy Kasparov to showcase their state-of-the-art trading technology. At the last one in Chicago, held right above the CBOE’s trading floor, there was a little bit of a mix up with regard to the strength of a player taking part in the event. Kasparov really likes to have a say in matters if there is a player rated above 2000 in these events. He likes to prepare something different if he’s up against a seasoned tournament player with a strongish rating, so has to be warned well in advance as to whether he’ll allow that player to play. The trouble was, at the last one he didn’t realise until after he’d started playing the strength of the player. All was amicably resolved on the evening however with the game being re-started and Kasparov opting for a different approach to the game. This time, everything was well sorted in advance with Kasparov even agreeing to allow strong County player Jonathan Wilson (2303) to play – but only after a quick preview of his game on ChessBase the day before! There is a relaxed format for these simuls, and the protocol established with Kasparov is for a card placed beside each board with the player’s full name and estimated rating. When he came face to face with his first opponent, he picked up the card and took a double take before showing me the card with a broad smile on his face: his first opponent was a certain Paul Kepes! There but for one letter further in the alphabet was someone who would be making an appearance in volume two of his book!  As the evening progressed, there were one or two who gave Kasparov a few things to worry about. Not surprisingly, the last to finish was Jonathan Wilson, who had the “honour” of the clock being put on him by match official Malcolm Pein near the end of the evening. He was now one and one with Kasparov, with each now having 10 minutes on the clock to finish the game. Of course, by now his resistance had been well and truly broken down by Kasparov, and he was struggling on a pawn down in a bad rook and pawn ending. With his clock now ticking - and not to mention the fearsome sight of GK now standing over our hero – he opted for resignation on move 57 in a hopeless position after just over three hours of play. Kasparov,G (2830) - Wilson,J (2303) [D32] Belzberg Simul London, 1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 c5 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 e3 e6 5 d4 d5 6 cxd5 exd5 7 Bb5 Bd6 8 0–0 0–0 9 dxc5 Bxc5 10 b3 a6?! (This move has a bad reputation in the Tarrasch - much better is the immediate Bg4. The problem with the line played is the further weakening of the queenside pawns.) 11 Bxc6 bxc6 12 Bb2 Bd6 13 Rc1 Bg4 14 Ne2 Bxf3 15 gxf3 Rc8 16 Qd3! Nd7 17 Ng3 (The immediate capture leaves the Queen somewhat short of squares: 17 Qxa6 Nc5!) 17 ..Be5 18 Ba3 Re8 19 f4 Bf6 20 Rc2 Qa5 21 Bc1 g6 22 Rd1 h5 23 Bd2 Qb5 24 Bc3 Qxd3 25 Rxd3 Bxc3 26 Rcxc3 Kf8 27 Rd4 h4 28 Ne2 Nf6 (Much better is 28 ..Ke7! Kasparov's advantage is slight - but after this further inaccuracy, he now ruthlessly exploits the Black pawn weaknesses on a6, c6, d5 and h4. Very instructive play of Master vs. Amateur.) 29 Rc5 Nd7 30 Ra5 Ra8 31 Kg2 Ke7 32 Rda4 Nb8 33 e4!  33 ..dxe4 (33 ..Kf6 34 Nc3!} 34 Rxe4+ Kd7 35 Rxe8 Kxe8 36 Nd4 Ke7 37 Nf3 Kd6 38 Ne5 Ra7 39 Nc4+ Ke6 40 Kh3 Nd7 41 Kxh4 c5 42 f3! (A very useful waiting move. Black is totally tied down awaiting the kill.) 42 ..Kd5 43 Kg5 Nf8 (43 ..Ke6 44 Ne3 , and eventually there will be an f5 breakthrough.) 44 f5 gxf5 45 Ne3+ Kc6 46 Nxf5 Ne6+ 47 Kf6 Nd4 48 h4 (The h-pawn is a runner.) 48 ..Nxf5 49 Kxf5 Kb6 50 Ra4 Rd7 51 Kf6 Rd4 52 Rc4 ( (I suppose we can all dream that Kasparov would fall for 52 Rxd4?)] 52 ..Rd2 53 h5 Rf2 ( 53 ..Rh2 54 Kg5 Rg2+ 55 Rg4 only leads to something similar.) 54 Rh4 Rxf3+ 55 Ke7 (And White simply uses the pawn on f7 for protection.) 55 ..Re3+ 56 Kf8 1–0  Sid Belzberg also gave Kasparov a mini fright on the night in a tense struggle between the two friends. He looked to be holding his own in a Grunfeld only to lose the thread of the game at a crucial juncture and blundered badly. Kasparov,G - Belzberg,S [D78] Belzberg Simul London 1 d4 Nf6 2 Nf3 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 0–0 5 0–0 d5 6 Ne5 c6 7 c4 Be6 8 cxd5 Bxd5 9 Bh3 Nfd7 ( 9 ..c5 10 dxc5 Ne4 11 Nd3 Na6 12 Be3 Bc6 13 Qc2 Bd4 14 Bxd4 Qxd4 15 Bg2 Rac8 16 Nc3 Nxc3 17 bxc3 Qf6 ½–½ Speelman,J-Kasparov,G/Reykjavik 1988/CBM 10 (17) 10 Nxd7 Nxd7 11 Nc3 Bc4?! (Black seeks to hold onto his bishop. Much better is simply bolstering d5: 11 ..Nb6! 12 Re1 e5 13 dxe5 Bxe5 14 Bh6 Re8 15 Nxd5 Qxd5 16 Qxd5 ½–½ Gallus,G-Heinsohn,M/Germany 1992/EXT 97-B ) 12 b3 Ba6 13 Bb2 e5  14 d5! cxd5 15 Qxd5 Nf6 16 Qxd8 (16 Qxe5? Re8 17 Qf4 Nd5 18 Qc1 Nxc3 19 Bxc3 Bxe2 20 Re1 Qd3 and Black is a little better.) 16 ..Rfxd8 17 Rfd1 b6 18 e4 Bb7?! (The Bishop was needed to prevent Nb5. 18 ..h5! with the idea of Ng4 was the best plan for the draw.) 19 f3 h5 20 Nb5 Rxd1+ 21 Rxd1 Ne8 22 a4 a6 23 Na3 Bf8 24 Nc4 Bc5+ 25 Kg2 f6? (A serious blunder as the relentless pressure starts to toll. Black's best hope was to further complicate matters with 25 ..g5!? and the idea of g4.) 26 Be6+ Kh8 27 Nxe5! Bxe4 28 Nf7+ 1–0  Another such unfortunate was former city financier Nick Faulks, who retired a few years ago to the tax haven of Bermuda to spend more quality time with his money. Nick has a rating of around 2025, and plays for Bermuda in the Olympiad. In a complicated position, Nick finally succumbed to the pressures and lost. Kasparov,G - Faulks,N Belzberg Simul London 1 c4 e5 2 g3 Nf6 3 Bg2 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 Nc3 Nb6 6 Nf3 Nc6 7 0–0 Be7 8 Rb1 a5 9 d3 0–0 10 Be3 Be6 (10 ..Bg4 has a better reputation than the text.) 11 Bxb6 cxb6 12 Qa4 f6 (The only option seen here is the more aggressive f5 - I think Black simply got mixed up with a similar idea in this line. 12 ..f5 13 Rfd1 Bf6 14 e3 Qe7 15 d4 e4 16 Nd2 Nb4 17 Bf1 Rac8 18 a3 Nd5 19 Rdc1 Rfd8 20 Bc4 Qf7 21 Nxd5 Bxd5 22 Qb5 Rc6 23 Rc3 f4 24 Bxd5 Rxd5 25 Rxc6 bxc6 26 Qxc6 fxe3 27 fxe3 Bg5 28 Re1 Rd8 29 Qxe4 Re8 30 Qd3 Qe6 31 e4 Qg4 32 Nf3 Bh6 33 Qc4+ 1–0 Stefansson,H-Bjornsson,T/ISL-ch 1993) 13 Rfd1 Qe8 (Also worth a punt was the solid option of 13 ..Nd4!? 14 e3 b5 15 Nxb5 Nxb5 16 Qxb5 Bxa2 17 Ra1 Bf7) 14 e3 Qf7 (For reasons that will soon become clear, the best option was the exchange of Queens with 14 ..Nb4 15 Qxe8 Raxe8 16 a3 Nc6) 15 d4 exd4 16 exd4 Nb4  17 d5! (Ouch!) 17 ..Bf5 (17 ..Nxd5? 18 Nxd5 Bxd5 19 Ng5!) 18 d6 Bxd6 19 Rxd6 Bxb1 20 Nxb1 Qxa2? (A blunder in a difficult position. The exchange of Queens make White's task much easier. Black's best was trying to survive with 20 ..b5 21 Qxb5 Qxa2 22 Nfd2 Rae8 [22 ..Qxb2 23 Bxb7 Rab8 24 Rb6!] 23 Rd7 Qxb2 24 Qxa5) 21 Qxa2+ Nxa2 22 Nfd2! (The rest is now academic.) 22 ..Nb4 23 Rxb6 Rac8 24 Bxb7 Rc2 25 b3 Rd8 26 Rb5 Rdxd2 27 Nxd2 Rxd2 28 Rxa5 Rb2 29 Rb5 Nd3 30 f4 Rb1+ 31 Kg2 Rb2+ 32 Kf3 Ne1+ 33 Ke4 Rxh2 34 Bd5+ Kf8 35 Bc4 g6 36 Rb7 Rg2 37 Rxh7 Rxg3 38 Rf7+ Ke8 39 Rxf6 g5 40 Kf5 1–0 By the end of the evening, Kasparov had made a huge killing in the market with a determined 24-0 scoreline. The next morning, we all headed to The London Chess & Bridge Centre in Euston Road for a Kasparov book signing session. I arrived at the shop by around 9.30am to find a large queue waiting patiently for the doors to open at 10.00am. A few months ago, there was a similar scene as GK did a signing session at the main Manhattan branch of Barnes & Noble – and the top book shop were totally taken by surprise when they almost ran out of supplies!  It was a similar story at the London Chess & Bridge Centre – they almost ran out of their supply of 500 copies!  Owner Malcolm Pein was on hand to greet the first customer warmly by his credit card. As the doors opened, his staff was rushed off their feet just coping with the demand. In the shop, the scenes were almost like the publication of the latest Harry Potter book – though not so much J.K. Rawling, more like G.K. rolling in it - as the cash register and credit card machine both came under enormous strain.  By the time Kasparov finally arrived at the shop at 10.30am, he was also “stunned” to see the queue was still well outside the shop and down to the bottom of the street! He soon fought his way through the cheering crowds to make his way to his seat, where for the next two hours he patiently autographed each copy and happily posed for photographs with each buyer. Even an hour into his two hour signing session, the queue was still reaching outside the shop! |
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