Round 7 21st January 2001

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST OF BAKU

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

So wrote the poet John Keats. Obviously Mr Keats has never ventured to the Corus Tournament! You see, the little Dutch hamlet of Wijk aan Zee has its own special way of deciding the “Beauty Prize”, commonly regarded as the best game of the day – it's decided by the audience.

Much like the Miss World contest where the late Eric Morley once famously quipped of his competition, “Its certainly had its fair share of knockers over the years,” the same could be said for the daily Audience Prize here at Wijk – although the only person who does the knocking is Baku’s favourite son, Garry Kasparov.

Not to be confused with a “Brilliancy Prize”, which is awarded for a game that contains a brilliant combination, the “Best Game” prize is for one that is well played throughout. Such prizes began in New York 1876 when England’s Henry Bird beat James Mason. In the past, a private chess enthusiast like Baron Rothschild, Prince Dadien of Mingrelia or Isaac Turover often gave such prizes.

Whilst a lone judge or a panel of experts universally decides the winner, here in Wijk the very large audience democratically decides it – and this is what annoys Kasparov so much. I guess he’s never really understood that the Dutch tournament is not run for the benefit of the star players: instead it’ s run for the enjoyment of a hugely appreciative Dutch chess audience that’s literally bussed in by the hundreds to witness the days play; their only duty being deciding how to raise their hands to see who gets the 500 guilder (about $250) daily prize. The spectators’ prize is a daily intermezzo in which arbitrariness and capriciousness play prominent roles. They appreciate a game with total randomness, which is why players such as Ivanchuk, Morozevich and Shirov come high on their pecking list.

Last year Garry walked out of a press conference after his final game against Polgar, after discovering the audience had just given Weird Al Morozevich his record-equalling fourth award (he now shares the title of most awards with Ivanchuk and Anand 1996 and 1999), he simply marched off to his hotel, muttering under his breath: “They [the audience] don’t understand the first thing about chess. I won this tournament by a margin of 1.5 points – and still they show no respect!”

Kramnik, controversial winner?

Well, let’s fast-forward twelve months: Again Garry is annoyed with the audience, and again he’s stormed out of a press conference due to their choice for game of the day. Our highly efficient press officer, Tom Bottema, was cock-a-hoop with delight after persuading Garry to do the press conference of the on his win over Veselin Topalov. Tom's joy soon turned to gloom as Garry upped and walked after discovering that the audience (by a 4 vote margin over Garry - I did tell Gazza he should have done a "Gore") had presented the daily award to Kramnik – who had been lost for much of his game to Ivanchuk!

In fairness, Garry did have a point, and he didn’t really think that his game should have been a candidate after Topalov’s horrific blunder. “If Chucky had won he would have been my choice of the day, but Kramnik was losing – how could they award it to him? It was random, he won because Chucky was in serious time trouble.” And with that, the winter coat, boots and furry hat was put on as he and his second, Yuri Dokhoian, trudged through the snow back to his hotel.

Kasparov’s indignation about the rather random division of the spectators’ prize may seem exaggerated. Obviously his perfectionism and his “win everything” attitude clashed with the laid-back attitude shown by some players. If you win the prize it’s a nice cash extra, if not, well who cares? On the other hand his past demand that such prizes be decided on with a greater sense of responsibility is certainly justified. No matter how you cut it, these perks of “Best Game” are often quoted in the press and they give the impression of being objective assessments.

Look on the bright side, Garry. At least you don’t have to appear in swimwear! Well, you judge for yourself – was the audience right to give it to this epic struggle between Kramnik and Ivanchuk, or Kasparov and Topalov?

Ivanchuk,V (2717) - Kramnik,V (2772)

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 Nf6 4 d3 Bc5 4 d3 and Bc5 were all the height of fashion against the Berlin in the late 90s - 1890's, that is! 5 c3 0–0 6 Bxc6 bxc6 7 Nxe5 d5 8 Bg5!?N Big Chucky improves over "Ye Olde ECO". Just for the heck of it, lets have a couple of blasts from the past: 8 0–0 dxe4 9 d4 Bd6 10 Nxc6 Qe8 11 Na5 Qb5 12 Nb3 Bg4 13 Qd2 Bxh2+ 14 Kxh2 Qxf1 15 Qf4 Bf3 16 gxf3 Qxf2+ 17 Kh1 exf3 18 Qh2 Qe1+ 0–1 Neumann,G-Anderssen,A/Berlin 1864/EXT 99; 8 Nxc6 Qe8 9 Nd4 dxe4 10 Be3 Ba6 11 dxe4 Nxe4 12 Nd2 Rb8 13 Qc2 f5 14 0–0–0 Nxd2 15 Bxd2 Qf7 16 Kb1 Bc4 17 b4 a5 18 Nc6 axb4 19 Nxb8 b3 20 axb3 Bxb3 21 Qb2 Rxb8 22 Kc1 Ra8 23 Bg5 Ra2 24 Rd8+ Bf8 25 Be7 Rxb2 26 Bxf8 Rc2+ 27 Kb1 h6 0–1 Mayet,C-Anderssen,A/Berlin 1865/EXT 99. 8 ..Re8 8 ..dxe4? 9 d4 Bd6 10 Nd2 and White's got an advantage. 9 f4! dxe4 10 d4 Bb6 11 Nd2 c5 12 dxc5 Bxc5 13 Qe2 h6!? A radical solution. Kramnik also had 13 ..Bb7 14 0–0–0 Qe7 15 Nb3 Bd6 with an even game. 14 Bh4 g5 15 fxg5 hxg5 16 Bg3 e3?!

Missing the big chance to centralise with 16 ..Qd5! 17 Rf1 Be7 . As it is, Kramnik's choice is, as we call it in the trade, a bit "iffy". 17 Nb3! Bb6 18 Qf3 Be6 19 Rd1 White has a big advantage now. 19 ..g4 The only move: 19 ..Qe7? 20 Nc6 Qf8 21 Qxf6! 20 Qe2 20 Qf4?! Nd5 21 Qc4 c6 22 Nxc6 Qg5! 20 ..Qe7 21 Nc6 21 0–0! looks much stronger - the rooks are powerfully placed on the d and f files. 21 ..Qf8 22 Nbd4 Qc5?

22 ..Qh6! A crucial saving move - it holds the Black game together beautifully: 23 Nxe6 (23 0–0? Bc4! 24 Qxc4 e2!; 23 Be5 Ne4!) 23 ..Rxe6 24 Ne5 Qg5 and Black's over the worse, and White's got a few problems to solve. 23 Ne5 You can now see why both players - more so Chucky with just about 90 seconds left - were in a frantic time scramble. All sorts of complications now had to be calculated: 23 Be5? Bc4 24 Qxe3 Nh7! with f6 to follow, and White's in a bad way. 23 ..Nh5?? With Black's position hanging by a thread - not to mention Chucky's flag - Kramnik's serious error has one advantage - his opponent hadn't calculated it, so had to use more time on the clock! 23 ..Bxa2 at least gave Black chances 24 0–0 (24 Qxe3 Nd7 25 Qg5+ Kf8 26 0–0 Rxe5! 27 Bxe5 Nxe5 28 Kh1) 24 ..Rxe5 25 Rxf6! Re4 26 Rf4 Rxf4 27 Bxf4 Qh5! 24 Nxe6 Rxe6 25 Qxg4+ Ng7 26 Nxf7 26 Qf3!! Rf8 (26 ..Qf8 27 Nd7 Qc8 28 Be5!) 27 Nd7! and the Berlin Wall finally comes tumbling down. 26 ..Rf8 27 Ng5?

27 Nd8! Re7 28 Rd7 Rxd7 29 Qxd7 would have avoided the mess to follow. 27 ..e2 28 Rd4 Rg6 29 h4 Qf5 30 Qxf5 Nxf5 31 Bf2 Nxd4 32 cxd4 Re8 33 a3 Rc6 34 Kd2 Rf6 35 Nf3 Rg6 36 Ng5 Rd6 37 Nf3 c5 38 Re1 Ba5+ Ivanchuk’s flag fell here, though he’s now lost anyway 0–1

Kasparov,G (2849) - Topalov,V (2718)

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 e6 7 f3 b5 8 g4 h6 Just as in the Keres Attack in the Scheveningen, this move slows down White's kingside expansion. 9 Qd2 Nbd7 10 0–0–0 Bb7 11 h4 After some 10–15 years of praxis, this has become the main line in preference to 11 Bd3. 11 ..b4 12 Na4 Qa5 13 b3 Nc5 14 a3 Nxa4 15 axb4 Qc7 16 bxa4 d5 17 e5 Nd7 18 f4 Nb6

Well, as they say down at the ChessBase factory in Hamburg, "So far so theory!" It can't be all that bad for Topalov - he's been following the Kasparov recipe for Black against no-less an opponent than, eh, Topalov! - So, as Topalov sat back safe in the knowledge that after the 'Great One' had played either 19 a5 or 19 f5 - which is the standard moves here - he had everything all under control. Wrong! 19 Rh3!N 19 a5 Nc4 20 Qc3 Qe7 21 Bxc4 dxc4 22 Bd2 Bxh1 23 Rxh1 Qb7 24 Rd1 Be7 25 Qf3 0–0–0 26 Qc6+ Qxc6 27 Nxc6 Rd7 28 Nxe7+ Rxe7 29 Re1 h5 30 g5 Kb7 31 Be3 Rd7 32 Bc5 Kc6 33 Bd6 f6 34 gxf6 gxf6 35 Rg1 f5 36 Kd2 Kd5 37 Ke3 Rhh7 38 Bf8 Rhf7 39 Bh6 Rh7 40 Rg6 Rb7 41 Bf8 Rhf7 42 Bd6 Rg7 43 Rg5 Rbf7 44 c3 Kc6 45 Kf3 Kb5 46 Bc5 Ka4 47 Bd4 Rd7 48 Ke3 Kb3 49 Ke2 Rxg5 50 fxg5 Rxd4 51 cxd4 c3 52 g6 c2 53 g7 c1Q 54 g8Q Qc4+ 55 Ke3 Kc3 56 Qd8 Qd3+ 57 Kf4 Qd2+ 58 Kf3 Qd1+ 59 Ke3 Qg1+ 60 Ke2 Qg2+ 61 Ke3 f4+ 0–1 Topalov,V-Kasparov,G/Linares 1999/CBM 70; 19 f5 Nxa4 20 fxe6 Nc3 21 exf7+ Kxf7 22 Bd3 Bxb4 23 Rdf1+ Kg8 24 Qf2 Ba3+ 25 Kd2 Ne4+ 26 Bxe4 dxe4 27 g5 Bd5 28 gxh6 Bb2 29 Rb1 Bc3+ 30 Kc1 Bxd4 31 Bxd4 e3 32 Qxe3 Bxh1 33 Rb6 Rc8 34 Qb3+ Qc4 35 hxg7 Rxh4 36 Rb8 Qxb3 37 Rxc8+ Kxg7 38 cxb3 Rxd4 39 Rc7+ 1/2–1/2 Shirov,A-Anand,V/Sydney Olympics 2000/TWIC 307. 19 ..Nc4 20 Qc3 Rc8 21 Bd2 Be7 22 Be1 Rb8 23 f5 Bc8 24 Bxc4 dxc4 25 Qf3 Bd7 26 fxe6 fxe6 27 g5 hxg5 28 hxg5 Rxh3 29 Qxh3 Qxe5 30 Qh5+ Kf8 31 Nf3 Qe3+ 32 Kb2 Be8?

Post Mortem discussion

As Kasparov once commented after his famous victory over Topalov at Wijk 1999, "It takes two to tango!". We were just getting to the "interesting" part when Topalov losses his footing on the dance floor with a gross blunder. Perhaps if the correct defence - and follow up by Kasparov - had been played, then yes, this game would have been my favourite for the Audience Prize. The beauty of it all came out in the wash of the post mortem. Enjoy! 32 ..Bxa4! 33 Bc3 (33 Qh8+? Kf7 34 Qxb8 Qxf3 35 Rd4 Qe2 36 Qf4+ (36 Bd2 e5!) 36 ..Bf6 37 gxf6 Qxc2+ 38 Ka1 e5 39 Rxc4 exf4 40 Rxc2 Bxc2 41 fxg7 Kxg7 and Black has good winning chances.)

33 ..Rxb4+! (Both players spent much of the post mortem analysing what looked the more aesthetic continuation of 33 ..Bxb4. However, it does, of course, lead to a forced mate! Haven't you spotted it yet? OK, I'll show it to you then: 33 ..Bxb4? 34 Qh8+ Ke7 (34 ..Kf7 35 g6+ Kxg6 36 Qxg7+ Kf5 37 Nh4+ Kf4 (37 ..Ke4 38 Qe5#) 38 Rf1+ wins) 35 Qxg7+ Ke8 36 Qg6+ Ke7 37 Bf6+! Kf8 38 Qh6+ Kf7 39 Qh7+ Ke8 40 Qh5+ Kf8 41 Qh8+ Kf7 42 g6+! spotted by Topalov 42 ..Kxg6 43 Qg7+ Kf5 44 Nh4+ Ke4 45 Qg4+ Qf4 46 Qxe6+ Qe5+ 47 Qxe5#) 34 Bxb4 Bxb4 35 Qh8+ Kf7 36 g6+ Kf6! (36 ..Kxg6 37 Nh4+) 37 Qh4+ Kxg6 38 Rg1+ Kf7 39 Qxc4! An important move, without which Kasparov was doomed. 39 ..Qa3+ 40 Kb1 Bc3 41 Ng5+ Ke8 42 Qxe6+ Kd8 43 Qg8+ Kd7! (43 ..Kc7? 44 Ne6+! seems to win) 44 Rd1+ Kc6 45 Qd5+ Kb6 46 Qd6+ Qxd6 47 Rxd6+ and, despite the lack of material on the board, Topalov is going to be hard-pushed to defend this. 33 Qh8+ Kf7 34 Bc3 1–0

The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of TWIC, Chess & Bridge Ltd or the London Chess Center.

You can contact John Henderson at: jbhthescots@cableinet.co.uk