Round 11 26th January 2001

IT’S AN ILL WIND IN WIJK

IN a typical piece of Woody Allen-style hypochondria, I get fearful of strange pains in my head. I immediately think of the worst and suspect something nasty like a massive brain tumour. And we can’t have that, can we? After all, much like good old Woody, my brain is my second favourite organ.

Well, for the past few months or so my general health (bad as it is usually confined to a tiny smoke filled press room like one of those beagles in a research laboratory) hasn’t been in great shape since returning from the BGN match in London. I spent most of Christmas and the New Year in bed with my aching body. It was even touch and go at one stage as to whether I’d be fit enough for the demands of a wintry Wijk. Things got so bad yesterday that I had to pay an emergency visit to the nearby surgery of the tournament physician, Dr Oudvorst.

A really nice (and very competent) guy, who, believe it or not instantly diagnosed the “mysterious illness” that has so confounded my own quack back home in Edinburgh who had me on an intensive course of leeches. Without going into the gruesome details of my ailment, let’s just say that I’m now well and truly on the road to recovery thanks to Dr Oudvorst – with a little help by a massive supply of drugs he also prescribed. Let’s just say that it’s true what they say about the legendary Dutch liberal attitude towards drugs!

Talking in his surgery, he explained to me that the tournament hall (with around 1600 players inside during early January) is a perfect breeding ground for all the viruses under the microscope. Over the years he’s had to deal with the general well-being of the players, officials and journalists. Last year, if you can remember back that far, we had an outbreak of flu that nearly caused the withdrawal from the tournament of Jeroen Piket, after first hitting Jan Timman and then Vishy Anand.

Carsten Hensel

The good doctor was also called out to the hotel of Peter Leko, who hasn’t managed to shake off the dreaded lurgy (Montezuma’s Revenge to you and me) that laid him low in New Delhi. So bad was his fever, we even had a press conference with the issuing of a medical bulletin by his manager, Carsten Hensel. I suppose as journalists, Yasser Seirawan and myself speculated that we failed to ask Leko’s manager the most glaringly obvious question: “Eh, is it infectious, Carsten?”

Kramnik agreed to a short draw

Thankfully, Vladimir Kramnik took pity on poor Peter by not only agreeing to a one-hour delay in the match to let him see the good doctor again, but also agreeing a short draw to allow him to get back to his hotel bed in an effort to aid a more speedy recover. “I get nothing out of playing an opponent who is in a bad way,” said good old Vlad after the game.

Tom Fürstenberg

“A true gentleman world champion,” said Tom Fürstenberg, the Belgium businessman who was the brains behind Fidelity chess computers many moons ago. “Can you imagine someone like Kasparov being as magnanimous as that towards an ill opponent?”

For those that recognize the name, Tom was of course the main author of a recent book on the life and times of that original of chess thinkers himself, David Bronstein, entitled The Sorcerer's Apprentice. A charmer himself, Tom entertained the press room by telling us of a nice little story involving Kasparov, Bronstein and himself. One day in the October of 1997, Bronstein and Tom went to visit the press room of the Fontys Tournament in Tilburg. After a while, Kasparov walked in and, on spotting Bronstein, immediately headed towards the living legend to give him a warm welcome. However, during their conversation (which naturally was all conducted in Russian) Kasparov completely ignored poor Tom who was standing beside Bronstein throughout. After having talked a while, Kasparov insisted on Bronstein showing him some of his Endgame studies. He selected a 'simple' one with only Bishops and pawns, yet Kasparov, who looked at it for several minutes, couldn't find the solution. When he was shown the solution, Kasparov was impressed.

Bronstein then took the opportunity to tell Kasparov about their book, and showed him the German edition by Olms, which Tom had with him. Pointing towards Tom, Bronstein informed Kasparov that they had written it together, but still Kasparov was nonplused and didn’t even make eye contact with Tom, who by this stage was getting a bit annoyed at Kasparov. “I liked it very much – I have the English version,” said Kasparov, who then stood up, shook hands with Bronstein (again ignoring Tom) and departed.

As he departed, Bronstein turned round to his co-author, and mentioned to him that he had the impression that Kasparov had something against him. “What was it?”, demanded Tom. But Bronstein couldn’t say – Kasparov wouldn’t tell him. So he immediately jumped up and gave chase to Kasparov and tapped him on the shoulder in the car park. When he turned around, he asked if what Bronstein had said was true. “Yes,” Kasparov said, “Your face reminds me of something unpleasant but I don't remember what it is!” Starting to laugh, Tom then suddenly remembered that he could refresh the then world champions mind, by reminding him of the fact that in 1987, during one of the SWIFT Tournaments he had told him that he was an impolite young man and that he did not accept that kind of behavior from such a young man, regardless of the fact whether that young man happened to be the world chess champion! “Yes,” said Kasparov. “That's it! Now I remember again!”

And now, as they say in America, “A word from our sponsors...” I’ve been a bit lax during this tournament in promoting the good services of our sponsor for the site, the London Chess Center. Perhaps the fact that the owner, Malcom Pein, has just come into the press room and threatened not to pay me this month unless I mention them, has heavily influenced me here. However, if you were looking for something to spend your hard-earned cash on, I would whole-heartedly recommend Tom Fürstenberg and David Bronstein’s highly entertaining and original book, The Sorcerer's Apprentice. A great read from two of the good guys of the game.

And talking about adverts, guess who will be appearing tomorrow in a major $5m TV commercial during the Super Bowl XXXV clash in Florida (if the presidential election between Bush and Gore is anything to go by, we’ll probably get the result of this by about March!) between the New York Giants’ and the Baltimore Ravens? Step forward Garry Kasparov! He’ll be following in the Moon-walking footsteps of Michael “I’m Bad! I’m Bad!” Jackson as he accepts the Pepsi Challenge by taking on one of their vending machines in a chess match.

Before arriving in Wijk aan Zee, Garry spent two days shooting the advert in Los Angeles. We’re reliably informed from our Tinsel town mole that our man was a hit with the director, Joe Pytka, who described him as a “natural” in front of the camera. Don’t know about that, Joe, since learning of this I’ve been trying to get our man to pose with a can of Pepsi for the good readers of TWIC, to no avail. Doing all his own stunts (!?!), the gist of the advert involves our hero losing a game to a Pepsi vending machine. Why Garry, didn’t you realize that things go better with Coke?

If anything, the longer Garry’s game went on against Jan Timman, the more it looked as if Jan would be the next to be visited by Dr Oudvorst as the Dutch stalwart seemed to get more and more tired until eventually he literally collapsed over the board – the position that is, not poor old Jan!

Kasparov,G (2849) - Timman,J (2629) A29

1 c4! Kasparov thought for a few minutes before playing this. As he explained in the press conference after the game, "I wanted to find a way that would at least keep the queen's on the board!" 1 ..e5 2 Nc3 Nf6 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 g3 d5 5 cxd5 Nxd5 6 Bg2 Nb6 7 0–0 Be7 8 Rb1 0–0 8 ..a5 is usually played here to prevent White's next move. 9 b4! As Kasparov explains: "Exchanging a wing pawn for the center pawn has to be good for me". 9 ..Nxb4 10 Nxe5 c6 11 a3 N4d5 12 Nxd5 cxd5 12 ..Nxd5 13 Qc2! 13 a4 Bf6 14 d4

Kasparov considered the two other alternatives (the second of which I though looked better for White - but who am I to judge?), but didn't quite like the "smell" of either: 14 a5 Bxe5 15 axb6 axb6 16 Qb3 Be6 17 Qxb6 Qxb6 18 Rxb6 Ra7; 14 Nd3!? Bf5 15 a5 Nc4 16 Rb5 Be4 17 Nf4 Bxg2 18 Kxg2 Nxa5 19 Ba3 Re8 20 Qa4 b6 (20 ..Nc4 21 Rxd5 b5 22 Rxb5 Nxa3 23 Qxa3 Qxd2 24 Rb7!?) 21 Rxd5 Qc7 22 Rc1!? 14 ..Bf5 15 Rb5 a6 16 Rb2 Rc8 17 Bf4? "A serious mistake," readily admitted Kasparov, who couldn't explain why he hadn't played what he originally intended, i.e. 17 g4 Be4 (17 ..Bxe5!? 18 dxe5 Bd7 (18 ..Bxg4? 19 Qd4!) 19 a5 Nc4!?) 18 f3 Bg6 19 Nxg6 hxg6 20 e3 Re8 21 f4 Nc4 22 Rb3 with a good game. 17 ..Bxe5 18 Bxe5 Re8!

The simple move that Kasparov had missed. Suddenly all of Black's pieces are very active, forcing White onto the defensive. 19 e3 Re7 After 19 ..f6!? Kasparov intended 20 Bf4 g5 21 g4! Bd7 22 Bg3 with play - White will need to sac the a-pawn, but should get in return enough play on the weakened Black Kingside. 20 g4 Be4 21 f3 Nc4 22 Re2 Bg6 23 h4! For the first time Kasparov started to feel "optimistic" about his chances. Certainly his position by now was starting to take some kind of shape. 23 ..f6 24 Bf4 Qd7 25 Rfe1 Rc6 26 h5 Bf7 27 e4 dxe4 28 Rxe4 Rxe4 29 Rxe4 Here Kasparov wanted to take with the pawn, but discovered that his king becomes a bit "loose" with accurate play from Black: 29 fxe4 Nb2! 30 Qd2 Qxg4 31 Qxb2 Qxf4 32 Qxb7 Re6! 29 ..Bd5 30 Re2 Rc8?

30 ..h6 or 30 ..Re6 was to be preferred. As it is, Timman looks as if he's just lost the thread to the game with a series of weak moves. Kasparov noted that it was obvious to him that Timman by now was "tiring" - and therefore turned down a draw offer from his opponent just a few moves later. 31 h6 g5 32 Bg3 Re8 33 Qe1 Rxe2 34 Qxe2 Kf8 35 Qd3 Nb6? 35 ..b5! was better - and would have probably led to that draw. Black's pieces are rock-solid. 36 a5 Nc4 37 Bf1 Qe7 38 Qc3 Qe3+ 39 Qxe3 Nxe3 40 Bd3 Nc4 41 Be1 Kg8 42 Kf2 b5? By now Timman's only hope was something like: 42 ..b6 43 axb6 Nxb6 44 Ba5 (44 Bxa6 Bc4 45 Bxc4+ Nxc4) 44 ..Bc4 45 Bf5 Nd5 with, admitted Kasparov, "some" drawing chances. 43 Bb4 Nb2 44 Bf5 Bc4 45 Ke3 Bd5 46 Bc8 Nc4+ 47 Ke2 1–0

Life’s so much healthier in the “Dutch Open”. In “Linares”, however, poor old Alexei Shirov went down with what could only be described as a “brainstorm” against Vassily Ivanchuk.

Ivanchuk,V (2717) - Shirov,A (2718) [B90]

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 Ng4 The Kasparov Variation, devised by the 'Great One' many yonks ago when he wanted to ruffle up opponents like Nigel Short and Mickey Adams who had opted for a nice quiet life for themselves with the non-theoretical English Attack. Times have changed – Short now bemoans (as only Nigel can!) the fact that there's more main line theory on this than just about any other Sicilian line. 7 Bg5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 Bg3 Bg7 10 h3 Nf6 10 ..Ne5 is universally accepted as the best. The text, however, was seen for the first time last year at the same tournament in the crucial last-round encounter between Kasparov and Polgar. 11 Bc4 Qb6 12 0–0 Nxe4?

For the life of me, I can't work out Shirov's logic here – this is known to be suicidal! Kasparov is quoted as saying he'd spent "too many hours - and aspirins! - trying to solve the Black position". 12 ..0–0 was Kasparov-Polgar, Corus 2000, where it was agreed that Black's game was OK, though Kasparov simply outplayed his opponent to win. This move, however, was roundly condemned by no less an authority than Mr Kasparov himself, who during the post mortem to the Polgar game was easily throwing all the White pieces around the board to embarrass the Black king. Big Chucky does likewise! 13 Nxe4 Qxd4 14 Nxd6+!

I remember this from the post mortem the year before – and it was subsequently published in one of the ChessBase Magazines that covered the tournament! I can only think that Shirov must have blown a fuse. 14 ..exd6 15 Qe2+ Be6 The alternatives are far worse: 15 ..Be5 16 Rad1 Qc5 17 Rd5 Qc7 18 Rxe5+! dxe5 19 Bxe5!; 15 ..Kf8 16 Rad1 Qf6 (16 ..Qxb2 17 Rfe1! Be5 18 Rxd6!!) 17 Rxd6 Qe7 18 Qd2 and, in both cases, with a screaming attack. 16 Bxe6 0–0 16 ..fxe6? 17 Qxe6+ Kd8 18 Rad1! and it doesn't take much imagination for you to work out the rest! 17 Rad1 Qf6 17 ..Qxb2? 18 Rb1 Qa3 (18 ..Qd4 19 Rfd1!) 19 Rxb7! fxe6 20 Qxe6+ Kh8 21 Rxg7! Kxg7 22 Bxd6 soon wins. 18 Bd5 Nc6 19 c3

Black's position has stabalised somewhat, but White now has all the positional advantages: bishop pair, better rooks and good pawn structure. Big Chucky now has a field day in this position. 19 ..Rad8 20 Rfe1 Qg6 21 a4 Kh7 22 Bxc6 bxc6 23 Qxa6 d5 24 a5 f5 25 Be5 Ra8 26 Qb6 Rf7 27 b4 f4 28 f3 h5 29 Qf2 Bh6 30 Bd4 g4 31 hxg4 hxg4 32 fxg4 f3 32 ..Qxg4 33 Qf3! Qg5 (33 ..Qg6 34 Qd3!) 34 Re6! 33 gxf3 Raf8 34 Kg2! Cool, very cool - and all in desperate time trouble! Big Chucky calmly gives up the queen for two rooks to usher home the a-pawn. 34 ..Rxf3 35 Qxf3 Rxf3 36 Kxf3 Qc2 37 a6 Qh2 38 Be5 Qa2 39 Ra1 Qc2 40 a7 Qd3+ 41 Kf2 1–0

The Spectators’ Prize for the round went to Alexander Fedorov, who unleashed the Dragon on England’s Mickey Adams. I asked Mickey how he felt after the game. “Sick as a parrot, John. Sick as a parrot.” Hmmm, it must be infectious.

Win of the day by Alexei Fedorov

Adams,M (2746) - Fedorov,A (2575) [B76]

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 g6 6 Be3 Bg7 7 f3 Nc6 8 Qd2 0–0 9 0–0–0 d5 10 exd5 Nxd5 11 Nxc6 bxc6 12 Nxd5

The main line is, of course, 12 Bd4 e5 (12 ..Bxd4 13 Qxd4 Qc7 14 Bc4 Nb6 15 Be2 Be6 16 Qc5 Rfb8 17 g3 Qb7 18 b3 Nd5 19 Rd4 Nxc3 20 Qxc3 a5 21 h4 h6 22 Ra4 Qb6 23 h5 g5 24 f4 Qf2 25 fxg5 hxg5 26 Bf3 Qxg3 27 h6 f6 28 Re1 Qd6 29 Rae4 Bf5 30 Rxe7 a4 31 Qc4+ Kh8 32 Qf7 Rg8 33 Re8 Qf4+ 34 Kb1 Bxc2+ 35 Kxc2 axb3+ 36 Kc3 Raxe8 37 Rxe8 Qxf3+ 38 Kb4 Qf4+ 39 Kxb3 Qf3+ 40 Kb4 c5+ 41 Kb5 Qd3+ 42 Kb6 Qb1+ 43 Kc6 Qh1+ 44 Kc7 Qh2+ ½–½ Shirov,A-Fedorov,A/Wijk aan Zee 2001. ) 13 Bc5 Be6 14 Bxf8 Qxf8 15 Nxd5 cxd5 16 Kb1 Rb8 17 c3 d4 18 c4 Rb4 19 b3 a5 20 Bd3 a4 21 Kc2 axb3+ 22 axb3 Bh6 23 Qe2 Rb8 24 Rb1 Be3 25 Qe1 Qa3 26 g4 Bd7 27 Kd1 Bc6 28 Qe2 Rxb3 29 Rxb3 Qc1# 0–1 Kurenkov,N-Slizhevsky,A/Nizhnij Novgorod 1999/EXT 2000. 12 ..cxd5 13 Qxd5 Qc7! 14 Qc5 Taking the rook invariably leads to a draw: 14 Qxa8 Bf5 15 Qxf8+ Kxf8 16 Bd3 Qb8 17 c3 Be6 18 a3 a5= 14 ..Qb8

I've got fond memories of this line. In the summer of 1996, I had to annotate for Chess Monthly a couple of games in this line that I witnessed at first hand, from one of Mickey's best friends, the one and only Julian "Grandmaster of Disaster" Hodgson: 14 ..Qb7 15 Qa3 Qc7 16 Kb1 Rb8 17 Bc1 Bf5 18 Bd3 Rxb2+ 19 Bxb2 Rb8 20 Qb3 Be6 21 c4 Rxb3 22 axb3 a5 23 Bxg7 Kxg7 24 Kc2 a4 25 Ra1 axb3+ 26 Kxb3 Qb8+ 27 Kc2 Qb4 28 g3 Bxc4 29 Bxc4 Qxc4+ 30 Kd2 ½–½ Rowson,J-Hodgson,J/East Kilbride 1996/EXT 2001. 15 Qa3 15 b3 Bf5 (15 ..a5!) 16 Bd3 Rc8 17 Qa5 Rc3 18 Bxf5 Rxe3 19 Be4 Qf4 20 Bxa8 Rxb3+? (Incredulously, the most strikingly obvious discovered check is actually the losing move! Hodgson could have got his chance for glory against one of the top boys at his peak (as big Chucky was then) by playing: 20 ..Rd3+! 21 Kb1 Qd4 22 Qd8+ Qxd8 23 Rxd3 Qxa8 24 Rhd1 Qc6 25 Rd8+ Bf8 26 Rb8 Qc7 27 Rdd8 Qxh2 28 Rxf8+ Kg7 and Black can claim some advantage due to the kingside pawns.) 21 Rd2 Rb8 22 Bd5 Bh6 23 Rhd1 Qd4 24 c3 Qd3 25 Bb3 Rd8 26 c4! e5 27 c5 e4 28 fxe4 1–0 Ivanchuk,V-Hodgson,J/Amsterdam 1996/CBM 55. 15 ..Be6 16 Ba6 Qe5 17 g3 Rad8 18 Bf4

White really has to be careful here - there are many pitfalls just waiting: 18 Bc5 Bxa2 19 Bxe7?? Bh6+!! 0–1 Neels,I-Hautot,S/Vielsalm 1997/EXT 2001. 18 ..Qf6 19 Rhe1 Bf5 It's your fairly typical sort of Dragon affair: White has the material, and in compensation, Black's hoping he'll get something for the active pieces aimed at the White king. But let's be realistic here: White has no structural damage so should hope to convert his material advantage for a win. However (there's always a "however" in the Dragon!)... 20 Rxd8 Rxd8 21 c3?! 21 Bc4 was much better according to Adams, who had missed Fedorov’s next move 21 ..Qb6 22 Be3 Bh6! 23 f4 Qc6! The threats are many and simple, the most obvious being Qe4 with an unstoppable mate! 24 Bd2 24 Qxe7? Rd7! 25 Qe8+ Bf8 26 Bd4 Qa4 27 Re2 Rxd4! 28 cxd4 Qxa6! winning. 24 ..Qd5

Just look how badly all the White pieces are now – so bad in fact, Fedorov missed the quicker and more decisive win: 24 ..Rd6! 25 Bf1 Qd5 26 Re2 Qd3! 25 Re2 e5! 26 Qa4 exf4 27 gxf4? Perhaps the defining moment. Maybe White can salvage something with 27 Re8+!? Rxe8 28 Qxe8+ Kg7!? (28 ..Bf8 29 Bxf4 Qxa2 30 Bd3! Qa1+ 31 Kc2 Bxd3+ 32 Kxd3 Qb1+ 33 Kc4 Qxb2 34 Bh6 Qa2+ 35 Kd3 Qd5+ 36 Kc2 this isn't going to be easy for Black. When he goes about trying to escape with Qc5, Qe7, f6 and Kf7, White will have probably have played Qa1 threatening to take on f8 and then a7 drawing.) 29 Be2! Be6 (29 ..Qxa2? 30 Qe5+=) 30 Qa4 Qe5 and Black should have an advantage he can convert for a win in the ending - but it won't be easy. 27 ..Bxf4! 28 Re8+ 28 Bxf4?? Qh1+ 29 Re1 Qxe1+ 30 Qd1 Rxd1# 28 ..Kg7! 29 Qxf4 29 Rxd8 Bxd2+ 30 Kd1 Qxd8! 29 ..Rxe8 30 Bc4 Qh1+ 31 Bf1 Kg8 0–1

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