www.thuvien-ebook.com

The Test of Time – Part 3

Garry Kasparov

tambao sưu tầm chuyển ebook

Mục lục

www.thuvien-ebook.com

The Test of Time – Part 3

Garry Kasparov

tambao sưu tầm chuyển ebook

Mục lục

Kasparov-Gheorghiu

Portisch-Kasparov

Kasparov-Andersson

Kasparov-Petrosian

Queen's Indian Defence

Through the Prism of Analysis

Vaiser-Kasparov

King’s Indian Defence

Vaganian-Kasparov

Grigorian-Kasparov

Graz, 1981

Sunye-Kasparov

Brazil-USSR Queen's Gambit

Klaric-Kasparov

Yugoslavia-USSR Queen's Pawn Opening

Speelman-Kasparov

England-USSR English Opening

Kasparov-Fedorowicz

USSR-USA

Queen's Indian Defence

Two Weeks in Tilburg

Kasparov-Petrosian

Kasparov-Andersson

Queen's Indian Defence

When a Photo-finish is not Demanded

Tukmakov-Kasparov

Kings Indian Defence

Skirmishes on a minefield

Kasparov-Timoshchenko

Kasparov-Dorfman

When one's fate lies in an envelope

Kasparov-Belyavsky

Kuzmin-Kasparov

Kasparov-Kupreichik

Super-Tournament in Bugojno

Ivanovic-Kasparov

Sicilian Defence

Kasparov-Najdorf

Queen's Indian Defence

Kasparov-Petrosian

Bogo-Indian Defence

Spassky-Kasparov

Sicilian Defence

Kasparov-Larsen

Kavalek-Kasparov

King's Indian Defence

Timman-Kasparov

King's Indian Defence

Postscript to a Prologue

Moscow, 1982

Kasparov-Sax

Grilnfeld Defence

Kasparov-Murey

Queen’ s Indian Defence

Kasparov-Gheorghiu

Queen’ s Indian Defence

Christiansen-Kasparov

Kings Indian Defence

Van der Wiel-Kasparov

Queen's Pawn Opening

Velimirovic- Kasparov

Caro-Kann Defence

L. Bronstein (Argentina)-Yusupov

Kasparov-Nunn (England)

Modern Benoni Defence

Alburt (USA)-Kasparov

King's Indian Defence

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqr+k+(
7+p+-+pvlp'
6p+nzp-snp+&
5+-+Nzp-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+-+-vLP+-#
2PzP-wQN+PzP"
1tR-+-mKL+R!
xabcdefghy

of time to convince myself of the hopelessness of passive defence after 13 ... NXd5 14 cXd5Ne7 15Nc3 or 13 ... Nd7 14 b4!, and to decide on the exchange sacrifice.

13        ... b5! 14 Bb6

It would probably have been better to decline the Greek gift, and, in view of Black's approaching time trouble, follow a positional course. For example: 14 Nec3 Nd4 15 Bd3 (dangerous is 15 NXf6+ BXf6 16 cXb5 aXb5 17 NXb5? Nb3*). But in this case Black has a good game. Not wishing to agree to the loss of his opening advantage, Belyavsky goes for the win of the exchange, reckoning that Black's activity will only be temporary.

14        ... Qd7 15 Nc7 Rb8 16 NXe8 QXe8

XABCDEFGHY
8-trl+q+k+(
7+-+-+pvlp'
6pvLnzp-snp+&
5+p+-zp-+-%
4-+P+P+-+$
3+-+-+P+-#
2PzP-wQN+PzP"
1tR-+-mKL+R!
xabcdefghy

Here Belyavsky thought for a long time.

* Black also has good compensation for the exchange after 17 BXb5 Bh4+! (17 . . . Nb3?! 18 Qdl NXal 19 BXe8) 18 B/2 BXf2+ 19 QXJ2 NXb5 20 NXb5 Ba6.

On closer examination it all turned out to be not so simple: White has a wide choice of continuations which seem good, but only at first sight. A detailed penetration into the maze of variations discloses Black's enormous resources. Here are a few possibilities:

(1)       17 c5. In this case, apart from thesecond exchange sacrifice 17 ... Nd7 18 Bc7d Xc5 19 BXb8 NdXb8, Black also has the unpleasant 17 . . . Rb7! (with the threat of...Bf8). After 18 QXd6 Bf8 19 Qd2 (19 QXf6?Be7, and the queen is trapped) 19 ... Be6 20Nc3 Rd7 21 Qf2 b4 his active piece play at least  compensates  for the  sacrificed  exchange.

(2)       17 Bc7 Rb7 18 BXd6 bXc4 19 Ba3 (19Nc3? Rd7 20 BXc4 Qd8 21 Rdl Ne8) 19 ...Be6 20 Nc3 Rd7 21 Qf2 Bh6 22 Rdl Nd4, witha strong attack on the white king, which is caught in the centre.

(3)       17 cXb5. I think that this is White's strongest continuation, although even here 17.. .RXb6 18 bXc6d5! gives Black counter-play. In addition, Black has an interesting possibility associated with the placing of his queen and the white king on the same file:17 ... aXb5 18 Be3 d5! 19 eXd5 Nd4 20 Nc3 (or 20 BXd4 eXd4 21 QXd4 Bf5, and the black-squared bishop is much stronger than the rook and two pawns) 20 ... b4 21 Ne4 NXd5, with active play. In an attempt to avoid all the dangers, White decides in the first instance to evacuate his king from the centre, but during this time Black wins a pawn and activates his pieces.

17 Be3?! bXc4 18 Nc3 Be6 19 Be2

The tempting 19 Nd5 would have left Black with a wide choice, e.g. 19 ... BXd5 20 eXd5 Nd4 21 BXc4 Nf5 22 0-0 e4, or 19 ... BXd5 20 eXd5 c3!? 21 bXc3 Nd4 22 Bc4 Qc8, or 19. . .NXd5!?20eXd5e421dXe6QXe6-for the rook Black has only two pawns, but his pawn avalanche in the centre and White's lack of development make the position unclear.

Even so White should have chosen the critical 19 Nd5, since 19 Be2 completely hands Black the initiative

19 ... Nd4 20 0-0 d5 21 eXd5 NXd5 22 NXd5 BXd5

The battle has clearly gone in favour of Black, who for the exchange has a pawn and the much more active pieces. Especially troublesome for White is the knight at d4, which is not easily driven from its powerful position (23 f4? NXe2+ 24 QXe2 eXf4 25 RXf4 RXb2).

23        Rf2 h5

On the first 23 moves the two players used up nearly all their time, and now each had about ten minutes left on his clock. It is this that explains the subsequent uneven play and mistakes.

24        Rcl Qe6 25 Bfl h4?!

The plan involving the advance of the h-pawn looks tempting (especially in time trouble), but 25... Nf5 was preferable, when Black retains all the advantages of his pos¬ition.

26        Rel Qc6

Here too 26 ... Nf5 should have been chosen.

27        Bh6?

It was here that White had a good opportunity to drive back the knight and obtain equal chances: 27 f4! NT5 28 fXe5 NXe3 (28 ... BXe5 29 RXf5 gXf5 30 Bd4 BXd4 31 QXd4 Qb6 32 Re8+ Kh7 33 Rh8+ Kg6 34 Rg8+ with perpetual check) 29 RXe3 (Black retains an obvious advantage after 29 QXe3 Bf8! 30 Khl Bc5 31 Qd2 BXf2 32 QXf2 h3!) 29... Bh6 30 e6! Qc5 (30.. . BXe6 31 RXe6!) 31 eXf7+ BXf7 32 Re8+ RXe8 (not 32 ... BXe8 33 QXh6 RXb2 because of 34 BXc4+) 33 QXh6 Re4 34 Qd2 with a draw. But to calculate these variations, with only four minutes for 14 moves, was certainly not easy.

27        ... Bh8 28 f4?

Now this active move leads to a catastrophe. 28 h3 was better, defending against the threat of . . . h3, although even then Black's advantage is obvious.

28        ... e4 29 Rdl Be6 30 f5

After 30 Bg5 Nf5 the black pawn advances unhindered to e3, making further resistance by White a hopeless matter. In order somehow to co-ordinate his pieces, White sacrifices a pawn, but he is unable to change the course of events.

30 ... NXf5 31 Qf4 Re8 32 Rfd2

Now the stray bishop is lost, but 32 Bg5 Qc5! could not have satisfied White.

32 ... Qc5+ 33 Khl Be5 34 Qg5 Kh7

Here the game could have been concluded, but the two players had left. ... one minute between them!

35        Rd8 RXd8 36 RXd8 Qf2

36        ... NXh6 was of course simpler.

37        Rdl NXh6

37        . .. e3 was much stronger, but the move played does not spoil anything.

38        QXe5 e3 39 Qc3

In any case there is no defence against the numerous threats, e.g. 39 h3 Nf5 40 Kh2Ng3.

39        ... h3 40 Qel Ng4

40        ... e2! would have been a more spectacular conclusion. Now the time control was

at last reached, and White resigned. Thevariation 41 Rcl Bd5 42 QXf2 eXf2 followed by the unavoidable ... Ne3 and . .. hXg2 mate is convincing enough.

Kasparov-Gheorghiu

In the position below, taking account of the neutralizing effect of opposite-coloured bishops, the Rumanian grandmaster offered a draw. But in fact the opposite-coloured bishops combined with Black's positional defects merely aggravate his difficulties.

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+q+k+(
7zpltr-+-zp-'
6-zp-+p+-zp&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-vL-+-+$
3+-+-wQ-zP-#
2PzP-+PzP-zP"
1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

Therefore, in spite of my shortness of time (roughly seven minutes for 13 moves), I decided to continue playing.

28 Qe5 Rf7

28        ... Qf7 was probably more accurate,retaining control of the c-file. In this case White has a choice between 29 RXc7 RXc730f4 with the threat of f4-f5, and the quiet 29Rc3 RXc3 30 bXc3, when he retains all the advantages of his position.

29g4

This looks risky, but in fact it is perfectly justified. By advancing his K-side pawns, White prepares the ground for transposing into an ending.

29        ... Rc6 30 f4?!

But he should not have been in a hurry with this advance, and should have preferred the modest 30 f3 followed by h2-h4-h5.

30        ... Qd7 31 h4 Qc7?!

The powerful queen/bishop battery in the centre of the board so frightens Gheorghiu, that he aims at any price for the exchange of queens, not taking into account the difficulties of the coming endgame. It was here that he should have played actively with

31        ... Qe7, reminding White that his king

has become too exposed over the last few moves. In the variation 32 RXc6 BXc6 33 g5 Rf5 34 Qe3 hXg5 35 hXg5 Qf7 Black has counter-play sufficient for a draw.

32 RXc6 QXe5 33 BXe5 BXc6 34 Rcl Bb7 35 h5

The resulting ending is much more diffi¬cult for Black than might appear at first sight. White's pieces are much more active, and he has a vice-like grip on Black's K-side. Realizing that passive waiting will lead to defeat, Gheorghiu tries to play actively before the time control.

35        ... Rf8

If Black can challenge on the c-file he will be all right, but White is on the alert!

36        Rc7 Rf7 37 Rc3!

Now 37 .. . Rf8 is met by 38 Ra3, tying the black rook to the defence of the Q-side pawns. Therefore Black decides to undermine White's pawn wedge.

37        ... Kh7 38 Kf2 g6 39 hXg6+?

This natural move, made in time trouble, loses White the greater part of his advantage. After 39 Ke3! gXh5 40 gXh5 Black's king

would have remained trapped, and his rook and bishop would have been forced to guard the white rook's invasion squares. The winning plan is simple: White places his pawns at a4 and b5 and his king at d4, after which Rc7 transposes into a won ending with opposite-coloured bishops. After 39 hXg6+? the strategically correct plan of a K-side bind proves to be an unrealizable dream.

39 ... KXg6 40 Ra3 Bc6

In this position I made a "weak move". Instead of adjourning the game and seeking ways of strengthening my position, I offered a draw, which Gheorghiu joyfully accepted. I find it difficult to explain my decision. It was probably provoked by the nervous tension during the game and especially in time trouble. But during the course of the tournament, as I observed how grandmasters seek the slightest chances in "dead drawn" positions, I constantly regretted such a hasty offer of a draw.

After 41 Rc3 Bb7 White had two roughly equivalent plans at his disposal:

(a)       42 Ke3 h5 43 gXh5+ KXh5 44 Rcl Kg6 45Rgl+Kh746Kd4Ba647Rg2!(not allowing the bishop across to the K-side — 43 e3 Be2!) followed by e2-e3, b2-b3 and a2-a4, choosing a convenient moment to invade (Rc2-c8, orBd6 and Ke5).

(b)       42Kg3h543g5Ba644e3and, exploiting the fact that the opponent is tied down (he is forced to guard the invasion squares on the c-file, to prevent the decisive transference of the white rook to h8 or g8), White can continue to improve his position by advancing his Q-side pawns. It is hard to assert that White's advantage would have been sufficient for victory, but at any rate (with not the slightest risk involved!) he should have continued playing.

Portisch-Kasparov

(See diagram overleaf). After a lively skirmish White has managed to win a pawn while maintaining a solid position. But the somewhat insecure position of the white king gives Black chances of counter-play. Therefore it is a matter of activity first and foremost!

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7+-+-+pvl-'
6-+-zp-snp+&
5+-+P+-vL-%
4-+Q+P+-+$
3+-+-+P+-#
2-wq-sN-+-zP"
1+-+-+-tRK!
xabcdefghy

26        ... Nh5! 27 Qc6

This seems strong, since it leads to new material gains, but the growing activity of the black pieces fully compensates for these losses. After the more cautious 27 Qb3, by energetic play Black can again eliminate the danger of defeat, e.g. 27 QXb3 28 NXb3 f5! 29 Nd2 Rc8!

27        ... Rb8 28 QXd6

Of the two possibilities, Portisch chooses the more risky. Now the black pieces move into threatening positions almost by force. After 28 Rbl QXbl+ 29 NXbl RXbl+ 30 Kg2 Rb2+ 31 Kfl Be5 White is of course in no danger, but the black pieces are so successful in combining defence with threats to the white king that White's winning chances are reduced to the minimum*. Portisch undoubtedly wants to achieve more.

28        ... Be5 29 Qd7

Little would have been changed by 29 Qc6 Qa3!, when the threat of... Rb2 (after the preliminary 30 ... Kg7) is pretty unpleasant.

29        ... Qd4 30 Qg4 Rb2

Now 31 Nfl is bad in view of 31 ... Qd3!, with numerous threats. White could have gone into a drawn ending, by giving up the exchange: 31 QXh5 QXgl+ 32 KXgl gXh5. But Portisch parries the first onslaught, while retaining his material advantage.

31 Rdl! Qd3 32 Qc8+ Kg7 33 Qc4 Qa3 34 Qe2

* For example, 32 Qe8+ Kgl 33 Bel Rbl+ 34 Ke2 Nf4+ 35Kd2Rb2+ 36KclNd3+ 37KdlNf2+ 38KelNd3+ 39 Kfl Rbl+! 40 Ke2 Nf4+ with perpetual check.

White has managed to defend everything (34... Nf4 is not possible because of 35 BXf4 BXf4 36 Nc4!), but after 34 ... Qa2! 35 Be3 Nf4 36 Qflf (36 Qc4? RXd2! 37 QXa2 RXdl+ 38 Bgl Bd4) 36... Rc2! his pieces would have been completely tied up. 34 ... Qa4?! 35 Rbl! Ra2 36 Be3 Realizing that the activity of his pieces is fading, in the time scramble Black finds the best chance — he switches his queen to the Reside.

36        ... Qd7! 37 Qf2

The threat of... Qh3, in itself unpleasant, appears doubly dangerous in time trouble. Therefore Portisch decides to exchange off the bishop at e5, as Black's most dangerous piece. But even after this exchange the activity of Black's pieces safeguards him against any great difficulties. 37 Qfl was hardly any more promising, e.g. 37 ... Qe7! 38 Qf2 (28 f4? Bc3 39 Qd3 BXd2 40 BXd2 RXd2!) 38... Qf6, and there appears to be no way for White to improve his position.

37        ... Qh3 38 f4?!

The immediate 38 Bd4 was more accurate. Portisch was afraid of 38 ... Ng3+ 39 Kgl Ne2+, overlooking that he had the simple reply 39 QXg3! On 38 Bd41 was intending to continue 38 ... BXd4 39 QXd4+ Kh7, when the difference in the position of the white pawn (compared with the game) does not affect the result.

38        ... Bc3 39 Bd4+ BXd4

39        ... f6 is weaker in view of 40 Qf3!

40        QXd4+ Kh7

With his last move before the time control Black withdraws his king to a safe square. After this he is obliged to force a draw, whereas 40 ... f6!? would have set White some difficult problems, e.g. 41 Qf2 Qd3 42 Rdl Qc2 43 QD NXf4! 44 d6 Ra3! 45 Qfl Rd3 and wins, or 41 Qb4 Ng3+ 42 Kgl Ne2+ 43 Khl RXd2! 44 Qe7+ Kh6 45 Qf8+ Kh5 46 Qh8+ Kg4 etc. The only move to save White is 41 Qc5! Now 41... NXf4 is not possible in view of 42 Qc7+, while 41 ... Ng3+ 42 Kgl Ne2+ 43 Khl RXd2 does not work because of

† 36 Qf2, with the threat ofBd4, is parried by the simple 36... Kg8 (37 Bd4? Qa4).

44 Rb7+ Kh6 45 Qf8+ Kh5 46 Rh7+. Therefore Black would have had to be satisfied with perpetual check.

41 Rgl!

41 Qf2 is much weaker in view of 41 ... Nf6! 42 Qf3 Qh4, when White has difficulties.

41        ... Kg8!

The most clear-cut solution. White is unable to prevent Black's drawing combination.

42        d6 RXd2! 43 QXd2 QO+ 44 Qg2 Ng3+! 44 hXg3 Qh5+ 46 Qh2 Qf3+ 47 Rg2 Qdl+

A rare perpetual check mechanism for a practical game.

Kasparov-Andersson

In the opening Black sacrificed the exchange, counting on his play on the black squares. I gradually managed to neutralize Black's activity and to seize the c-file, after which the result of the game was no longer in doubt. Black's only saving chance lay in creating threats to the white king with his queen and black-squared bishop.

XABCDEFGHY
8-tr-+l+-+(
7+ptR-+pmk-'
6p+-zp-+p+&
5+-+Pvl-wqp%
4-zP-+P+-+$
3zP-+-+-+P#
2-+-+LwQP+"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

These hopes could have been nipped in thebudby39h4!Qh6(39. . .Qd240Rlc2)40 g3. Instead of this White makes a "sound" time trouble move.

39        Rlc2 h4!

Andersson does not miss his chance, and creates a strong point at g3.

40        Bg4 Kh6

In this position the game was adjourned, and White sealed his next move. Analysis showed that to win White would have toovercome a number of technical difficulties.

41        Khl b6

Black tries to activate his rook, but White, of course, does not allow this.

42Ra7

The tempting 42 Bd7 does not give a decisive advantage. After 42 ... BXd7 43 RXd7 f6! 44 Rcc7 Rh8 45 QXb6 Qf4 46 Qgl QXe4 the activity of Black's pieces gives him good counter-chances.

42        ... Bg3 43 Qd2!

The start of a manoeuvre which, in my opinion, leads White most quickly to his goal.

43        ... Bf4 44 Qd4! Be5 45 Qgl!

Strangely enough, it is from this square that the white queen causes Black the most trouble. Since the exchange of queens is hopeless for Black, his bishop is forced to remain at e5 in anticipation of the threat of Qcl. For the same reason ... Qf4 is bad. For the moment, therefore, Black makes a useful move, removing his pawn from attack.

45 ... a5 46 Qcl! Bf4 47 Qal Be5 48 Qgl

White has given his opponent the move, and it transpires that, in spite of the abundance of possibilities, it is hard to find one which does not weaken the position.

48 ... aXb4* 49 aXb4 Bf4 50 Qal Be5 51 Qa3!

White successfully exploits the vacated a3 square.

51... Kg7 52 Rf2 Bf6 53 Qd3! Qe5 54 Be6!

After restricting to the maximum the mobility of the black pieces, White begins the decisive offensive.

54... Kg8 55 Qf3 Kg7 56 Qf4 Qd4 57 Rfl b5

Black is forced to make this move, and now his bishop at e8 is completely shut in.

58 Bg4!

58 Rc7 would have given Black the active possibility 58 ... Ra8! (59 QXd6? Be5 60 Qc5 Rail).

58 ... Rd8!

58 ... QXa7 59 QXf6+ Kg8 60 QXd6 leaves Black with no chance.

59Rc7

If now 59 ... Ra8, White can confidently

* 48...Bf4 is well met by 49 b5! (49... BXb5 50RXf7) and a3-a4, shutting in the bishop at e8.

take the d-pawn, exploiting the fact that his bishop is no longer attacked. Andersson therefore waits.

59 ... Qb2 60 Rc2! Qd4 61 Rd2 Qe5!

Throughout the adjournment session White has been aiming for the exchange of queens, and Black has avoided it. Yet here an exclamation mark is attached to a move by Black, by which he himself offers the exchange! The point is that, if he keeps the queens on, Black comes under an irresistible attack, e.g. 61 ... Qc3 62 Rd3! Qb2 (62 ... QXd3 63 QXf6+ Kg8 64 Rdl!) 63 Rdf3 Be5 64 Qg5 Ra8 65 Qe7 etc. Convinced that all other resources are exhausted, Andersson goes into the endgame.

62 QXe5 BXe5 63 Rc2 Bd7!

Black had to parry the threat of Rc8 at all costs. 63 ... Bd7 looks like a blunder, but after 64 Rc7?! BXg4 65 RfXf7+ Kh6 66 hXg4 Kg5 it is difficult for White to win.

64 Be2?!

After his error on move 39, White has had to slog away for 25 moves, overcoming a tenacious resistance. And now, when his goal is near, he again allows his resourceful opponent to complicate matters. The simple 64 BXd7 would have given a straightforward win, e.g. 64... RXd7 65 Rc8 Rb7 66 Rfcl Kf6 67 Rlc7 Rb6 68 Ra8, or 65... Ra7 66 Rb8 Ra2 67 Rbl Kf6 68 RXb5, and the b-pawn cannot be stopped.

64 ... f5! 65 Rc7 Kh6 66 Bd3 fXe4!

Much stronger than 66... f4?, after which by 67 Be2! White obtains an easily won position.

67 BXe4 Kg5 68 Bd3 Bd4 69 Rb7?

And this natural move is a mistake, after which Black gains a draw in amazing fashion. White wins a pawn, but allows Black to activate his pieces. It was essential to remove the king from the danger zone. This aim could have been achieved by a complicated ma¬noeuvre: 69 Rf3! Bb6 (since 69 ... Bf5 70 BXf5 gXf5 71 Rb7 Ra8 72 Rfl leads to a lost ending, Black is obliged to wait) 70 Rb7 Bd4 71 Kh2!! Be5+ (otherwise g2-g4) 72 Kgl! Bd4+ 73 Kfl. Then White simply picks up the b5 pawn. Convinced that I was going to win, I played routinely.

69 ... Bc3! 70 BXb5 Bf5 71 Be2 Ra8 72 b5 Ra2 73 Bf3 Rb2 74 Rb8 Bd4!

A fantastic position! White has a great material advantage, but all his winning attempts are precisely parried by Andersson.

75 Rdl Bc5 76 Kh2 Be3 77 Rel Bf2 78 Rfl Bc5 79 Re8 Bd4!

Not 79 ... RXb5 80 Be4!

80 Rdl Bf2! 81 Be2

If 81 Re2 Black interposes the check 81. . . Bg3+, and then plays . . . RXb5.

81        ... Bd7 82 Re4 Bf5 83 Re8 Bd7

Drawn. Andersson brilliantly conducted a difficult defence.

The adjournment session of this game took place the day after my dramatic encounter with Petrosian. This explains a lot. . . . I now read with a smile the commentary to the position after Black's 74th move. "A fantastic position"? "A II his winning attempts"? Did I actually make many during the remaining nine moves? Obviously I had insufficient nervous energy for a genuine battle for victory. Otherwise I would not have declined to play on in the "drawn" final position!

Kasparov-Petrosian

Queen's Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 a3 Bb7 5 Nc3 d5 6 cXd5 NXd5 7 e3 Be7 8 Bb5+ c6 9 Bd3 NXc3 10 bXc3 c5 11 0-0 0-0?!

A significant inaccuracy. Black should first have developed his knight with 11 ... Nc6, and castled only after 12 Bb2 Rc8 13 Qe2. Now White is able to provoke a weakening of the black king's pawn screen.

12 Qc2 g6 13 e4 Nc6

In a later game with Polugayevsky, Petrosian played 13 ... Qc7, but after 14 Qe2 Rd8 15 h4! Nc6 16 Be3 Bf6 17 e5 Bg7 18 h5 White's attack developed unhindered. Probably I too should have preferred 14 Be3.

14 Bh6 Re8 15 Rfdl Qc7

Perhaps Black should have parted with the exchange, since the ending after 15 ... cXd4 16 cXd4 NXd4 17 NXd4 QXd4 18 Bb5 QXe4 19 QXe4 BXe4 20 BXe8 RXe8 21 Rd7 a5 promises him good drawing chances. Black's unwillingness to go in for simplification allows White to carry out a favourable regrouping.

16 Qe2 Red8 17 Qe3!

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-tr-+k+(
7zplwq-vlp+p'
6-zpn+p+pvL&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3zP-zPLwQN+-#
2-+-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

White's position looks rather threatening. His plan is simple: to play e4-e5 and h2-h4-h5, beginning a direct attack on the king ("secondary solutions" are also possible: for example, 17 ... Rd7 is unpleasantly met by 18 Bf4! Qd8 19 Bb5). At the cost of positional concessions, Petrosian eliminates White's incipient attack.

17        ... e5 18 d5

It would not be worth dwelling on this move, had not White spent on it. ... 58 minutes! I very much wanted to exploit immediately the newly-opened a2-g8 diagonal by playing 18 Bc4, although I sensed that variations such as 18 ... eXd4 19 cXd4 cXd4 20 BXf7+ KXf7 21 Qb3+ Ke8 22 Racl Qd6! or22e5 Bc5 23 Ng5 Qe7 were extremely dubious. At any event a whole hour was spent invain, and I soon had cause to regret this.

18        ... Na5 19 c4!

The transfer of the knight to d4 is not dangerous for White, whereas the ... c4 advance would have given Black counter-play on the Q-side.

I think that 19 c4 does not deserve an exclamation mark. After 19 Ng5 c4 20 Be2 and then h2-h4 White's initiative on the K-side is more significant.

19... Nb3 20 Ra2 f6 21 h4 Bc8 22 Rbl! Nd423NXd4 cXd4 24 Qg3

The possibility of f2-f4 gives White the initiative, but to transform this advantage into something real, he has to play very energetically.

24 ... Bf8 25 Bd2 Bd6 26 Rfl Qg7

Black is prepared for f2-f4: 27 f4 Bd7 28 fXe5 BXe5 29 Bf4 Rf8 30 Raf2 Rae8 with a solid defence. Therefore White opens a second front, hoping to divert the black pieces.

27 a4!? a5 28 Rb2 Bc5 29 f4 Bd7

As was shown by Petrosian, the prophylactic 29 . . . h6! was stronger (30 h5 h5) (?).

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-tr-+k+(
7+-+l+-wqp'
6-zp-+-zpp+&
5zp-vlPzp-+-%
4P+PzpPzP-zP$
3+-+L+-wQ-#
2-tR-vL-+P+"
1+-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

Black has everything defended, and he has the right to expect from his opponent the modest 30 Ra2.

30        h5! BXa4?

Black should have taken the more dangerous pawn — 30 ... gXh5, although even in this case White retains a strong initiative after 31 Qh4 (31 ... Bg4 32 fXe5 fXe5 33 Bg5 Re8 34 Rbf2). Relying on the solidity of his position, Petrosian hopes subsequently to exploit his passed a-pawn, but White's attack develops swiftly.

31        h6 Qc7 32 f5!?

A tempting continuation, giving White a strong attack. Nevertheless 32 fXe5 was better. Although the position after 32 ... fXe5 33 Bg5 Rf8 34 Bf6 is complicated, it is unlikely that White's attack can be parried. Consider some variations (see diagram overleaf).

34... Rae8 35 Rbf2 Bd7 (35 ... Bd6 36 Rf5 Bd7 37 Rg5) 36 Kh2 Qd6 37 Qg5 a4 38 Be2!

Position after 34 Bf6 (variation):

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+-wq-+-+p'
6-zp-+-vLpzP&
5zp-vlPzp-+-%
4l+PzpP+-+$
3+-+L+-wQ-#
2-tR-+-+P+"
1+-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

d3 39 Bh5 BXf2 40 RXf2 RXf6 41 RXf6 Qe7 42 BXg6! hXg6 43 RXg6+ Kh8 44 Rg8+! RXg8 45 QXe7 d2 46 QXe5+ Kh7 47 Qd4 and wins.

34 ... Bd6 35 Rbf2 Rf7 36 c5! bXc5 (36 ... QXc5 37 BXe5 RXf2 38 RXf2 BXe5 39 QXe5 Qcl+ 40 Bfl QXh6 41 QXd4 leaves Black with no chance of saving the game) 37 Bc4 Raf8 38 BXc5!! BXe5 39 RXf7 RXf7 40 d6 BXg3 41 dXc7.

The sacrifice of the exchange also fails to save Black: 34 ... RXf6 35 RXf6 Rf8 36 RXf8+ KXf8 37 Rf2+! Kg8 38 Rf6 Bd6 39 c5! bXc5 (39 ... QXc5 40 RXg6+! hXg6 41 QXg6+ Kf8 42 Qf6+! Ke8 43 h7) 40 Bc4.

Thus 32 fXe5 should have been preferred, but at the board it was impossible to work out all the variations. Therefore I chose a more forcing continuation.

32 ... g5 33 BXg5! fXg5?

After this mistake White should have won. Only 33 ... Kf7! gave chances of a defence. White would have had to be content with a solid posiional advantage after retreating with 34 Bd2.

34 QXg5+ Kf8

34        ... Kh8? loses immediately to 35 Qf6+ Kg8 36 Rf3.

35Qf6+??

All White's preceding play demanded 35 f6! with the threat of f6-f7. After the forced 35 ... Qf7 White picks up the e5 pawn, and his advancing pawn avalanche sweeps every-thing in its path. Some fairly simple but pretty variations confirm this conclusion: 35. . . Qf7 36 QXe5 Re8 (36... Qg6 37 RXb6! QXh6 38 Qe7+!! BXe7 39 fXe7+ KXe7 40 RXh6) 37 Qg5 Qg6 38 Rf5! QXg5 (38 ... Bd7 39 QXg6 hXg6 40 Rg5 a4* 41 e5 a3 42 h7!)39      RXg5 Kf7 40 e5 Rg8 41 Rg7+ RXg7 42fXg7! Kg8 43 Rf2 Bd7 (43 ... Be8 44 Rf8+!BXf8 45 BXh7+) 44 e6 Ba4 45 d6! BXd6 46 e7!BXe7 47 Bf5! Kf7 48 BXh7+ Bf6 49 g8=Q+RXg8 50 BXg8+ KXg8 51 RXf6. The reader should not be concerned by the length of the main variation — its forcing nature significantly facilitates its calculation. Instead of this (once again in time trouble) I was tempted by another continuation.

35        ... Ke8 36 Ral

The point of White's play. Now in the event of the retreat of the bishop, White's 35th move is fully justified, but. ... the bishop is not obliged to retreat!

36        ... Qe7!!

Petrosian made this brilliant move almost without thinking. White's attack evaporates, since his rooks are tied up on the Q-side. Realizing that the ending after 37 QXe7+ KXe7 38 RXa4 Rd6 was completely unprom¬ising, I attempted to "muddy the water".

37Qe6!? Rd6!

Petrosian is again on the mark. After 37. . . QXe6 38 fXe6 Bd7 39 eXd7+ RXd7 40 Rf2 White would have managed to save the game.

38Qg8+ Qf8 39 Qg3 QXh6!

Not a trace of White's attack remains, but he could still have resisted by 40 Re2. Now 40... Bd7 gives White quite good counter-chances: 41 QXe5+ Kf7 42 Qg3 Rg8 43 Qf3, and his pawn trio cannot be underestimated. The much stronger 40 ... Bb3! with the threat of... BXc4 would have left Black with the advantage, but at any rate he would still have had to solve a number of problems. But

* 40 . . . KJ7 41 e5 RXe5 42 RXe5 KX/6 makes things more difficult for White, but even here the game cannot be saved:43Rbe2a4(43...B/544Re8;43. . .Rh844Re6+ BXe6 45 RXe6+ Kg5 46 RXg6+ Kh5 47 Kh2f, or 46 . . . Kf4 47Kf2! with mating threats) 44g4!BXg4 (44. ..a345 g5+ K/7 46 d6l BXd6 47 Rd5 a2 48 RXa2) 45 Re8 Ra7 46Re6+!BXe6 47 RXe6+ Kg5 48RXg6+ Kf4 49Rg7Ra8 50 h7.

the game went:

40RXa4?? Qcl+

This "long" move simply escaped my field of vision. Here I should have resigned….

41Kf2 QXb2+ 42 Kf3 Kf7

The fever of time trouble concluded for me with a cold shower! White resigns.

At the conclusion of the tournament I was interested to learn of the opinion that my result (2nd-4th place) was partly explained by good luck....

Through the Prism of Analysis

Moscow, 1981

In the USSR Team Championship the Azerbaidzhan team played in the second division, and so my opponents were mainly masters, who for perfectly understandable reasons normally aimed for simplification and a draw. However, all sorts of things happened... .

A good example of a sudden attack on the king is provided by the following game.

Kasparov-Yurtayev

Nimzo-Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 Bb4 4 e3 0-0 5 Bd3 d5 6 cXd5 eXd5 7 Ne2 Nbd7 8 0-0 c6 f3 c5 10 a3 cXd4 11 eXd4 Be7 12 Nf4 Nb8

XABCDEFGHY
8rsnlwq-trk+(
7zpp+-vlpzpp'
6-+-+-sn-+&
5+-+p+-+-%
4-+-zP-sN-+$
3zP-sNL+P+-#
2-zP-+-+PzP"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

13 g4!

This active pawn thrust has the aim of

seizing space and restricting the mobility of the black pieces. The best reaction to it would have been 13 ... Nc6, immediately attacking the d4 pawn. In this case I was intending to continue 14 Bc2 and Qd3, provoking a weakening of Black's K-side, after which White simply develops his Q-side (Be3, Rael) and retains an advantage in view of Black's constrained pieces. Yurtayev probably reasoned in roughly the same way, and so he did not attach any great significance to his next two moves.

13 ... Bd6?! 14 Khl Re8?!

Here too 14 ... Nc6 should have been preferred. Black probably did not care for the variation 15 g5 BXf4 16 gXf6! BXcl 17 fXg7 Re8 18 QXcl with the better game for White. For example, the following pretty variation is a possibility: 18 ... Qh4 19 NXd5 NXd4 20 Rgl(20Nc7Bh3!)20. . .NXf321 Qf4!!QXf4 22 Ne7+! RXe7 23 BXh7+, and mates. Of course, Black is not bound to allow this spectacular mate — the variation merely illustrates White's great possibilities. By moving his rook away from a possible attack (17 fXg7) Black thought that he had safely defended against g4-g5, since 15 g5 BXf4 16 BXf4 Nh5 hardly seems to present any serious danger to him. Nevertheless. . . .

15 g5! BXf4 16 BXf4 Nh5 17 BXb8!

This move excaped Black's attention. Indeed, the exchange of a good bishop for a knight standing on its initial square seems absurd. But White's f-pawn becomes mobile, and is destined to play an important part in his plans.

17 ... RXb8 18 f4 g6 19 Qf3!

While threatening f4-f5, White at the same time attacks the d5 pawn. On encountering unexpected difficulties, Yurtayev loses his head and fails to find the best defence.

19 ... b6?

This weak move solves only a partial problem — that of maintaining the d-pawn — but

not of the defence as a whole. Black should have prevented f4-f5 by 19 ... Ng7! Now the immediate 20 NXd5? runs into 20 ... Bg4!, but after 20 Bb5! (20 ... Rf8 21 NXd5 Bg4 22 Qe4!) White's advantage is undisputed.

20        f5 Rb7 21 f6!

Cutting off the stray knight for ever.

21        ... Be6 22 Rael Qd6 23 Re5 Rd8

White has managed to concentrate an enormous amount of force in the immediate vicinity of the black king. Next on the agenda is a mating attack.

24        Qe3 b5

A vain attempt to divert White's attention from the K-side.

25        Be2 b4 26 aXb4 RXb4 27 BXh5 gXh5

Black appears to   have   avoided   the immediate danger (27 g6 hXg6 28 RXh5Qf8!), but

28 g6! hXg6 29 RXe6! fXe6

Obviously not 29 ... QXe6 30 Qh6.

30 Qh6 Rb7

Here Black resigned without waiting for White's reply. The variation 31 QXg6+ Kh8 (31... Kf8 32 Rgl) 32 f7 Qf8 33 QXh5+ Kg7 34 Rgl+ Kf6 35 Qh4+ is convincing enough.

I had difficulties to contend with in the following game.

Vaiser-Kasparov

King’s Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f4 0-0 6 Nf3 c5 7 d5 e6 8 Be2 eXd5

These well known moves, made by the two players in rapid tempo, require a little commentary. The point is that, three years ago at the USSR Championship Elimination Tournament in Daugavpils, Vaiser and I played a "blitz" match. In all the games where I was Black the position after 9 cXd5 was reached. The only thing that remains in my memory is the dismal result of the opening. The three years had not been wasted, and I was now fully prepared to meet White's onslaught. But an unpleasant surprise awaited me....

9e5!

The exclamation mark here should be attributed to the field of psychology. Vaiser correctly reckoned that, of the three possible continuations — 9 eXd5, 9 cXd5 and 9 e5 —the last would be unexpected for me. Indeed, from this point Black has to work things out for himself.

9          ... Ng4?!

This move is approved of by theory, which regards it as the best reply to White's audacious 9th move. One of the reasons for this is the variation 10 h3? d4 11 Ne4 NXe5! 12 fXe5 dXe5, when Black's central pawn mass gives him the better chances. But White has available a highly promising continuation, which will probably force the evaluation of 9 ... Ng4 to be reconsidered.

10        cXd5 dXe5 11 h3 e4 12 hXg4

This capture is not even considered by the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings, which gives only 12 NXe4 Nf6 with a good game for Black.

12 ... eXf3 13 gXf3

XABCDEFGHY
8rsnlwq-trk+(
7zpp+-+pvlp'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+-+-zPP+$
3+-sN-+P+-#
2PzP-+L+-+"
1tR-vLQmK-+R!
xabcdefghy

Here I thought for a long time. At first it seemed to me that White's threats down the h-file could easily be parried, and that the insecure position of the white king would give Black good counter-chances. But on closer examination it all turned out to be not so simple: the difficulties began to pile up one on top of another, creating a veritable mountain of problems which was impossible to scale during the allotted time limit. Black's main trouble is the lack of good squares on which to develop his Q-side pieces. My pessimistic assessment is perhaps influenced by my sufferings at the board, but I would prefer to have the white pieces here.

13 ... Re8

The attempt to prevent f4-f5 (13 ... f5) would have led to a weakening of the a2-g8 diagonal, which could have cost Black dearly in the not too distant future.

14 f5!

Now the bishop will be developed at h6, confronting Black's only active piece and, what is more important, the only defender of his king—the bishop at g7. Variations such as 14... gXf5 15 Bh6 BXh6 16 RXh6 Qg5 17 Qd2! QXd2+ 18 KXd2 fXg4 19 Ne4 Nd7 20 Rahl or 14 ... Nd7 15 Bh6 Bd4 16 Qd2 and 0-0-0 give few grounds for optimism, and so I decided to attack the b2 pawn, so as somehow to deflect the mounting wave of the attack.

14        ... Qb6?

Black should have tried to exploit the pin on the e-file by 14 ... b6!? Since the immediate 15 Bh6? runs up against 15 ... BXc3+ 16 bXc3 Ba6, and after 15 Ne4 gXf5 16 gXf5 BXf5 17 Bg5 Qd7! 18 Nf6+ BXf6 19 BXf6 Qd6, in spite of the loss of his King's Indian bishop (it is successfully replaced by the white-squared bishop), Black seizes the initiative, it means that White would have had to engage in prophylaxis. For example,15Kfl, although here too 15 ... Ba6 gives Black counter-chances.

15        Bh6!

White pays no attention to his opponent's "pin-pricks" and continues to carry out his basic plan.

15 ... QXb2

I recognized the danger threatening Black, but I decided to be consistent and take the pawn, thinking: perhaps I'll be able to defend myself. ...

16BXg7KXg7

The abundance of attacking possibilities available to White is immediately apparent, but I reassured myself with the thought that by no means any move would win, and that to sense the critical moment and find that only move, the opponent would have to.... not lose his head.

17 f6+?

And here he is in too much of a hurry.... White cannot resist the temptation to advance a further assault column up to the walls of the black king's fortress. The pawn cannot be taken: 17 ... KXf6? 18 Ne4+ Kg7 19 Rbl Qe5 20 Qd2 h5 21 gXh5, and the retribution for the queen's wanderings is imminent. To leave the pawn at f6 seems even more terrible, but Black has no choice!

In such a position there was no urge for White to consider the modest 17 Rcl!, but this move would probably have given him an irresistible attack. The main threat is 18 Rc2 and Qd2 (or, in some cases, Qal).

17        ... Kg8!

The white army only needs to make a last, decisive thrust, but at this point I intuitively felt that the worst was behind, and I began to set my sights on the white king caught in the centre.

18        Qcl!

The game cannot be decided by a frontal attack, e.g. 18Ne4Nd7! (18... BXg4? 19Rbl Qe5 20 Qd2 Nd7 21 Qh6 NXf6 22 NXf6+ QXf6 23 QXh7+ Kf8 24 Qh8+, winning a piece) 19RblQe520Qd2NXf621Qh6b6!22 g5 (or 22 NXf6+ QXf6 23 QXh7+ Kf8 24 Qh8+ QXh8 25 RXh8+ Ke7 26 d6+ Kd8) 22 ... NXe4 23 QXh7+ Kf8 24 fXe4 Bd7, and White's offensive comes to a halt. Vaiser offers to go into an ending, where the opponent's lack of development and the strong pawn at f6 give White the advantage. But a surprise awaits him!

XABCDEFGHY
8rsnl+r+k+(
7zpp+-+p+p'
6-+-+-zPp+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+-+-+P+$
3+-sN-+P+-#
2Pwq-+L+-+"
1tR-wQ-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy

18 ... Qb4!

This seems suicidal, since the advance of the queen to h6 will create two deadly threats. But Black can parry them: 19 Qh6? QXc3+ 20 Kf2 Qd4+ 21 Kg3 Qe5+ 22 f4 QXf6. The exchange sacrifice 18 ... RXe2+? 19 NXe2 QXf6 would have been faint-hearted, leaving White with much the better chances after 20 Qc3! "I did not even consider the retreat of the queen. The pawn at h6, the h-file, the queen ready to advance to h6, the opponent's pieces undeveloped, White to move — and to think that with all this there shouldn't be a mate!" — Vaiser.

19Kfl?

White should have reconsidered and, rejecting his ambitious plans, agreed to an equal position. This aim could have been achieved by 19 Qd2! Nd7 20 Rbl Qd4 21 QXd4 cXd4 22 Ne4 d3! 23 BXd3 NXf6 24 Kf2 with a probable draw (24.. .NXd5?25Rb5!). By continuing to pursue the unattainable, White imperceptibly oversteps the fatal line.

19        ... Nd7 20 Bb5

This looks convincing: it appears that nothing now can prevent the white queen from occupying the cherished square. But in fact Black has no intention of defending his king, and with his next move, which threatens ... Re3, he begins a counter-offensive.

20        ... Qd4! 21 Kg2

The direct 21 Qh6 runs into 21... NXf6 22 BXe8 QXc3 23 Kg2 BXg4! 24 BXf7+ KXf7 25 fXg4 Re8, when White is defenceless.

21        ... Re3!

Much stronger than 21 ... QXf6, which gives White good counter-play after 22 Qh6 Qg7 23 Ne4!, despite being two pawns down.

22Ne2 Qe5 23 Kf2 RXe2+ 24 BXe2 NXf6

We can assess the results of White's "blitzkrieg". His attack has come to a halt, and the fact that he has won the exchange is little consolation. Black already has two pawns for it, and in addition the exposed position of the white king creates the conditions for various tactical operations. For example, after 25 Rbl the sacrifice of Black's bishop gives him an irresistible attack: 25 ... BXg4! 26 fXg4 Ne4+ 27 Kel Qg3+ 28 Kdl Re8! (29 Bb5 Qf3+ 30 Kc2 Qc3+, or 29 Rb3 Nf2+ 30 Kel Qg2!). To avoid the worst, White goes into an ending, but Black is able to win a further pawn. It should be mentioned that at this point both players were already in time trouble.

25 QXc5 BXg4 26 Qe3 QXe3+ 27 KXe3 NXd5+ 28 Kf2 Be6 29 Rabl

Now Black succeeds in exchanging knight for bishop, and White's chances of saving the game become minimal. Better chances were offered by 29 Bc4! Rc8 30 Bb3 (30 Racl? Nf4!), when Black would have had to be content with the variation 30 ... Kg7 31 Racl (31 Rhdl Rc5! is no different) 31 ... RXcl 32 RXcl Kf6, centralizing his king with good winning prospects.

29... b6 30 Rbcl Nf4 31 a3 NXe2 32 KXe2 b5 33 Rc7 a5 34 Rbl Bc4+ 35 Kf2 a4!

This "antipositional" arrangement of the pawns is justified, since after obtaining a strong point the bishop is not inferior in strength to a rook.

36 Rel Rd8 37 Re3 Rd2+ 38 Kg3 Kg7 39 f4 Rb2 40 Rc5 h5

The immediate 40 ... Rb3 is more accurate. Here the game was adjourned, but (after sealing 41 Kh4) White resigned without resuming. Although resistance was still possible, Black had two clear ways to win. The first consisted of the ... b4 breakthrough (after withdrawing the bishop to e6) followed by the exchange of the h-pawn for the white f-pawn. The three passed pawns would then have been bound to decide matters. The second, more technical, way involves exploiting the weakness of the white pawns: 41... Rb3 42Rg3 Rbl! 43 Re3Rgl 44 Rg5 (44 Rg3 Rhl-h 45 Rh3 Rfl) 44 ... Rhl-h 45 Kg3 f5!, cutting off the rook from the Q-side. The choice between these two plans is a matter of taste.

In all the games from the Team Championship where I had Black, I had to battle against closed openings. Regularly choosing the King's Indian Defence, I successfully managed to solve my opening problems. There were some interesting developments in my games with Vaganian and Grigorian, in which White fianchettoed his white-squared bishop.

Vaganian-Kasparov

1d4Nf62Nf3g6 3 6 0-0 c5 7 dXc5 dXc5 8 QXd8 RXd8 9 Ne5!?

In spite of its apparent harmlessness, the continuation chosen by Vaganian contains a fair degree of venom. The transfer of the knight to d3 will tie Black to the defence of his c-pawn and will seriously hinder the development of his Q-side, and the routine 9 ... Nfd7 is unpleasantly met by 10 NXd7! NXd7 11 Rdl. After prolonged thought I managed to find an interesting plan involving a pawn sacrifice.

9 ... Ne8!? 10 Nd3 Nd6 11 NXc5 Nc6!

For the sacrificed pawn Black has the better development, and in addition the c4 pawn is attacked. But White's next move appears to parry all the threats.

12Na3

Now nothing is achieved by 12 ... Nd4 13 Rel Bg4 14 Kfl!, when Black's initiative comes to an end, but why hurry?

12        ... Rb8!

Exploiting the fact that the white pieces are tied up, Black calmly removes his rook from the "X-ray" beam of the g2 bishop, and threatens by 13 ... Nd4 14 Rel Bg4 15 Kfl Rdc8 to win back his pawn. In defending against this threat, Vaganian at the same time tries to solve the problem of his Q-side development.

13Na4

This looks convincing enough, since at first sight White is able to develop his pieces without difficulty and to keep his extra pawn. But Black finds some latent resources. It would be interesting to try 13 Rel!? Na5 14 Bg5 Kf8, with an unclear position.

13        ... Be6 14 Bf4 Rbc8 15 Racl

After 15 BXd6 RXd6 the activity of the black pieces at least compensates for the sacrificed pawn.

15 ... Nd4 16 Rfel

Now White has managed to defend everything, and Black's activity has reached an impasse. The prosaic regaining of the pawn by 16 ... BXc4 17 NXc4 (17 BXd6? NXe2+ 18 RXe2 BXe2 19 RXc8 RXc8 20 Bf4 b5) 17 ... RXc4 leaves White with the better chances after 18 Nc3. But at this critical point, tactics come to Black's aid.

16 ... b5! 17 BXd6!

Vaganian rises to the occasion! It appears that White has nothing to fear in taking the second pawn: 17 cXb5 (not 17 NXb5? N6Xb518cXb5 NXe2+! 19 RXe2 RXcl+ 20 BXcl Rdl+21BflBh3)17...RXcll8BXcl,but it is here that the compressed spring uncoils with terrible force: 18 ... Nc4! 19Nc3 (bad is 19NXc4 NXe2+ 20 RXe2 Rdl+ 21 Bfl BXc4)19...NXa3 20bXa3Rc8!(20. . .Nc2? 21 Rdl) 21 Bd2 Nc2 22 Rel BXc3 23 RXc2 (23 BXc3 RXc3 24 Be4 Nd4) 23 ... BXd2 24 RXd2 Rcl+ 25 Bfl Bh3, and mates. This forcing variation demonstrates the enormous potential strength of Black's position. Vaganian sees through my idea, and finds away of putting out the fire.

17... RXd618 NXb5 NXb519 cXb5 RXcl 20 RXcl Rd2

The weakness of White's back rank and his pawns allows Black to restore the material balance.

21 Bf3 BXb2

Draw agreed in view of the variation 22 NXb2 RXb2 23 a4 Ra2 24 Bc6 Bb3!

Grigorian-Kasparov

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 g3 Bg7 4 Bg2 0-0 5 0-0 c5 6 d4 d6 7 Nc3 Nc6 8 dXc5

Grigorian too is unable to resist the temptation of playing a symmetric position with an extra tempo, and hence with a minimum of risk. Much more complicated play results from 8 d5 Na5 9 Nd2. But now, if he wishes to play for a win, Black has to take great risks in order to complicate the game.

8          ... dXc5 9 Be3 Be6

9          ... Qa5 looks more natural, but practice has shown that after 10 Bd2 Black has nothing better than to return the queen to d8. Such a swift curtailment of the struggle was

certainly not part of my plans.

10Qa4

10BXc5 is strongly met by 10 ... Qa5!, advantageously breaking the symmetry. But now White's extra tempo begins to tell. Thus 10 ... Qb6 is unpleasantly met by 11 Qb5! Nd7 13 Ng5. The same reply follows on 10 ... Qa5, and so Black is forced to deviate.

10        ... Nd4 11 Radl

11        BXd4 cXd4 12 Nb5 could have led to a mass extermination of the pieces after 12...Nd7, e.g. 13 NfXd4 (13 NbXd4?! Nb6! 14 NXe6 NXa4 15 NXd8 RfXd8 with the better game) 13 ... a6! 14 NXe6 aXb5 15 NXd8 RXa4 (15 ... bXa4? 16 NXb7 a3 17 Radl!) 16NXb7 bXc4 17 Radl (17 Bc6 Ra7) 17 ...Nb6 with a probable draw. True, Black can also choose another continuation, leading to more complicated play: 12 ... Bd7 13 Qb3Ne4! 14 Radl (14 NbXd4? BXd4 15 NXd4Nd2) 14 ... BXb5 15 QXb5 Nd6 16 Qb3 Qb6. Now, however, the game enters a phase of unfathomable complications.

11 ... Bd7 12 Qa3 Nc2 13 QXc5 b6

Black begins pursuing the white queen. It would be naive to think that with such limited forces he can trap the queen, but in the course of things I was hoping to gain some other advantages, compensating for White's extra pawn and better development.

14 Qg5!?

White provokes the enemy fire, hoping in the near future to exploit the weakening of Black's K-side. On the immediate 14 Qe5 Black would have done best to continue 14 ... Ng4 15 Qe4 NcXe3 15 fXe3 Rc8!, retaining compensation for the sacrificed pawn.

14 ... h6 15 Qf4!

The white queen finds the only safe passage through the minefield! The tempting 15 Qh4 (in the hope of 15 ... g5? 16 BXg5 hXg5 17NXg5 with a crushing attack) leads after 15 ... NXe3 16 fXe3 Ng4! 17 Nd5! g5 18 NXg5! (18 Qh5? e6! 19 QXg4 eXd5 20 Qh5Qc8! with the threat of. .. Bg4) 18 ... e6!! To a completely irrational position. I think that it deserves a diagram. The abundance of possibilities makes it not at all easy for White to find the correct path:

(1)19 QXg4? eXd5 20 NXf7 BXg4 21NXd8 RaXd8 22 BXd5+ Kh8, and Black's bishop is much stronger than the scattered pawns.

(2)19 NXb6 NXe3!! (now practically all the pieces are en prise) 20 NXd7! (20 NXa8 is

Position after 18 . . . e6!! (variation)

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7zp-+l+pvl-'
6-zp-+p+-zp&
5+-+N+-sN-%
4-+P+-+nwQ$
3+-+-zP-zP-#
2PzP-+P+LzP"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

weaker in view of 20 ... hXg5 21 Qe4NXg2! 22 QXg2 Qc8!, when after... Bc6 Black wins the knight and remains with an obvious advantage) 20. . .hXg5 21Qe4NXdl!(21... NXfl 22 QXa8!) 22 RXdl (not 22 NXf8? Qb6+ 23 Khl Nf2+ 24 RXf2 QXf2 or 24 e3 Rd8!, and Black wins) 22... Rc8. The resulting position is difficult to assess, but in my opinion Black's chances are better in view of the insecure position of the white king.

(3) 19 NXf7! (only this unexpected stroke enables White to maintain the balance) 19... QXh4 20 gXh4 eXd5! (the incautious 20... RXf7? loses material after 21 RXf7 KXf7 22 Rfl+) 21 BXd5 (21 NXh6+ Kh7!) 21... NXe3! 22 BXa8! NXdl (22... Bh3? 23 NXh6+) 23 RXdl Be6! (23 ... RXf7 24 Bd5 with the better chances) 24 Nd8 BXc4 25Bd5+ BXd5 26 RXd5 BXb2 with a draw.

To work out all these variations at the board was obviously impossible, but I intui¬tively sensed that I was risking less than my opponent. After 15 Qf4! Black has to play very accurately to maintain the balance.

15 ... g5 16 Qe5 Rc8!?

Black tries to maintain the tension, but White finds a way of forcing simplification and avoiding danger. Therefore I should probably have preferred 16 ... Ng4 17 Qe4 NcXe3 18 fXe3 Rc8, not allowing the exchanges which occurred in the game.

17 Nd5!

17 Bel? would have completely justified Black's last move—17... Rc5!, and the white queen is trapped!

17 ... NXd5 18 QXd5 Be6 19 Qb7!

Stronger than the plausible 19 QXd8 RfXd8 20 b3, since after 20 ... g4! 21 Nh4 NXe3 22 fXe3 Bf6! (22... b5? 23 cXb5 RXdl 24 RXdl Rc2 25 Rd8+) with the threat of...b5, Black has at least equal chances.

19 ... Qc7 20 QXc7 RXc7 21 b3

Here, on White's proposal, a draw was agreed. He should probably have played on, although after 21 ... NXe3 22 fXe3 Rfc8 23 Nd4 Bd7 Black should not lose. Also of interest is the semi-correct 22 ... b5?! 23 cXb5 Rc2 24 Rd2 Rfc8 25 Rfdl RXd2 26 RXd2 Rcl+ 27 Kf2 Bc3 28 Rd8+ Kg7 with the threat of... g4. The game could then have continued 29 h3! (29 Nd4 Bg4!) 29 ... Ba5! (29 :.. Ral? 30 Ra8! RXa2 31 b6) 30 Ra8 Bb6 31 Nd4 Ral 32 a4 Ra3, when a win for White is not apparent.

In spite of the fact that these two games ended in draws, and that very few moves were made in them, I was happy with them from the creative aspect.

Graz, 1981

The World Junior Team Championship (for players up to the age of 25) in the Austrian town of Graz was the third event of this kind. The first (in 1978) ended in a sensational victory for the English players, but in the second the Soviet team managed to gain revenge. And this time no one had any doubts about the success of the Soviet team, which was made up of top-class players (Kasparov, Psakhis, Yusupov, Dolmatov, Kochiev and Vladimirov), and would probably have been capable of contending for the medal positions even in the men's Olympiad. Before the start we thought that the main "problem" would be to decide each day on the composition of the team. But the very first round dispelled our optimistic hopes of an easy victory. While in a tenacious struggle we were defeating the Austrian team (2^1/2-1^1/2), the English defeated the Swiss 4-0. In the second round it was only with enormous difficulty that we managed to extract a 2^1/2-1^1/2 win over the Yugoslavs, whereas the English maintained the tempo and defeated the Brazilian team by a clean score. After two rounds we were in the middle of the tournament table, already three points behind the leaders. But there was no reason for depression, since there were still nine rounds to come. In the next two the Soviet team improved its play and confidently defeated the Canadians and the French by 3^1/2-1/2. But the gap was reduced by only half a point, as the English defeated the very strong Swedish and USA teams by 3^1/2-1/2 and 3-1 respectively. We had to put our faith in the individual meeting, which in fact occurred in round 5. With a lead of 2^1/2 points, the English could face the future with confidence. Even a 1^1/2-2^1/2 defeat would leave them with chances of winning the Championship. So we needed a big win. And we achieved it!

Psakhis played a powerful game against Mestel (who up till then had won all his games). Yusupov displayed fine endgame technique, outplaying Plaskett in a "dead-drawn" position. In a tenacious and com¬plicated struggle I managed to confuse Speelman and bring our team a third point. Only Dolmatov failed to exploit all the advantages of his position, and he was obliged in the adjournment session to agree to a draw. So, 3^1/2-1/2 and we went into the lead! True, in the next round we had to face another serious test, but our match with the USA team, which did not go too well for us, ended in a draw. But the English even lost to the Hungarians by l^1/2-2^1/2. By the last round we had extended our lead to 2!/2 points, and we won our final match against the West Germans (2l/2-1^1/2). On this same day England defeated Yugoslavia (3-1) and finished second, ahead of the Hungarians.

A big part in our victory was played by the friendly atmosphere which prevailed in our team throughout the tournament. The constant feeling of unity and friendly support enabled us to overcome all difficulties.

The English team made a strong impression. It is sufficient to say that they won three of the board prizes (Mestel, Plaskett and Davies), whereas our team gained a similar success on only two (Kasparov and Vladimirov). Of the other results, mention should be made of the success of the Hungarians, who managed to come ahead of a strong American team, and also the suc¬cessful performance of the French team, who for the first time finished fifth in such an event. At one time the Americans too were challenging the leaders, but a poor finish left them outside the medal places. 16-year-old Joel Benjamin played well for the USA team, and had the best result among the first reserves (including a win over Yusupov).

I was happy with my play in Graz, and was able to create a number of interesting games. The role of leader is undoubtedly an honoured one, but at critical moments a double responsibility lies on his shoulders. Therefore I had to play for ten successive rounds without being substituted, and I was rested only in the final round, when the outcome of the tournament was already practically decided.

Sunye-Kasparov

Brazil-USSR Queen's Gambit

1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 c5 3 Nc3 e6 4 e3 Nc6 5 d4 d5 6 cXd5 eXd5 7 Bb5 Bd6 8 dXc5 BXc5 9 0-0 0-0 10 b3 Bg4 11 Bb2 Rc8 12 Rcl Bd6 13 Be2 Bb8!

The weak d-pawn is not too high a price to pay for being able to deploy the forces so conveniently. On 14 Nd4 I was intending 14 ... Qd6 15 g3 Bh3.

14 Nb5 Ne4 15 Nbd4 Re8 16 h3 BXf3! 17 NXf3 Qd6 18 Qd3 Ng5 (18 ... a6!) 19 Rfdl Rcd8 20 Kfl Ne4 21 a3 a6 22 Qc2 Ba7 23 Bd3 Qe7 24 Rel Rd6 25 b4 Re6 26 b5 aXb5 27 BXb5 h6 28 Rcdl Rd8 29 Qb3 Qd6 30 a4 Bc5 31 Re2 b6 32 Kgl

If 32 BXc6 QXc6 33 Nd4, then 33 ... Qc7! 34 NXe6? Qh2 35 Reel fXe6 , or 34 Kgl Rg6.

Here the Brazilian player offered a draw (see diagram). However, I managed to find an interesting way of attacking the K-side, and so (also taking account of the fact that my opponent was somewhat short of time) I decided to play on.

32        ... Ne7!

Black's plans include transferring this knight via f5 (or g6) to h4, and his rook to g6, with pressure on the enemy king position.

33        Nd4 Rg6 34 Bd3 Qd7

Thus the first threat has appeared. The

Position after 32 Kgl:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-+k+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6-zpnwqr+-zp&
5+Lvlp+-+-%
4P+-+n+-+$
3+Q+-zPN+P#
2-vL-+RzPP+"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

most clear-cut way of parrying the attack was by 35 f3!, which after 35 ... Ng3 36 BXg6 NXe2+ 37 NXe2 NXg6 leads to a roughly equal game. But Sunye avoids the slightest weakening of his position.

35Khl?! Nf5! 36 NXe4?

And this is a serious mistake, after which Black's advantage becomes appreciable. It was essential to eliminate the black cavalry by NXf5 QXf5 37 BXe4 QXe4 38 f3, when Black has only a minimal advantage.

36        ... dXe4 37 Red2 Nh4!

Only here did Sunye notice that, in the event of the prepared 38 Nf3, an unpleasant surprise awaited him: 38 ... eXf3! 39 RXd7 fXg2+ 40 Kgl Nf3 mate! Another knight move 38 Nf5 leads to the win of the exchange, but after 38 ... QXf5 39 RXd8+ Kh7 how is White to defend his king? That only leaves. . . .

38 Ne6 QXd2 39 RXd2 RXd2 40 Nf4 Rg5 41 Kgl

Here I had to seal my move, and the unexpectedness of it served as an overture to the most beautiful combination that I have ever created on the chess board.

41        ...M3+!42Kfl

The other king move will be considered below.

42        ... BXe3!! (see diagram) 43 fXe3

The acceptance of the sacrifice is forced,

since after 43 Ne2 White is mated: 43 ... Nh2+ 44 Kel RXg2 45 QXe3 ND+ 46 Kfl

Position after 42 . . . BXe3!!

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6-zp-+-+-zp&
5+-+-+-tr-%
4P+-+psN-+$
3+Q+-vln+P#
2-vL-tr-zPP+"
1+-+-+K+-!
xabcdefghy

Rg1!! 47 NXgl Rdl+.

43        ... RdXg2! 44 Qc3!

The only defence. The natural 44 QXb6 loses immediately: 44 ... Rh2 45 Ne2 Rgg2. But now in this case White has perpetual check at c8 and f5.

44        ... Rh2 45 Ne2 Kh7!

Renewing the threat of ... Rgg2. Sunye prevents it in a primitive way, and overlooks an unusual mating construction.

46 Qc8?! Rhl+ 47 Kf2 Nd2!

White resigns. After 48 Ng3 Rh2+ 49 Kel Nf3+ 50 Kfl RXb2 it is pointless to play on.

A more stubborn resistance could have been offered by 46 Qb4J, maintaining control over d2. But in this case too Black has a win, although not such an obvious one: 46 ... f5! 47 Qb5 (47 Qf8 Rhl+ 48 Kf2 Nd2! etc.) 47... f4! 48 Qb4 Nd2+! 49 QXd2 (49 Kel f3! 50 KXd2 RXe2+ 51 Kc3 RXe3+ 52 Kd4 f2, and the f-pawn queens) 49 ... Rhl+ 50 Kf2 f3!, and it is easy to see that mate or enormous loss of material for White is inevitable. Let us now return to the position after 41            ... Nf3+. What would have happened if White had moved his king the other way —42    Khl ? In this case I had prepared another combination: 42 ... BXe3!! 43 fXe3 RdXg2!! 44NXg2Rg3!

A fantastic position! (see diagram). In spite of White's enormous material advantage, he cannot defend against the mate. I have yet to meet anything similar in a practical game.

It also does not help White to decline the

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+p+-+pzp-'
6-+-+-+-zp&
5+-+-+-+-%
4P+-+p+-+$
3+Q+-zPntrP#
2-vL-+-+N+"
1+-+-+-+K!
xabcdefghy

sacrifice — 43 Ne6. I was intending to continue 43 ... RXf2, and if 44 gXf3 Rfl+ 45 Kh2 eXf3! 46 NXg5 (46 QXe3 Rg2 mate) 46 ... Bf4 mate!

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+pzp-'
6-zp-+-+-zp&
5+-+-+-sN-%
4P+-+-vl-+$
3+Q+-+p+P#
2-vL-+-+-mK"
1+-+-+r+-!
xabcdefghy

Again a mating finish! With its unusual beauty, this game appealed to me more than any of the others that I played in Graz.

Klaric-Kasparov

Yugoslavia-USSR Queen's Pawn Opening

1 d4 Nf62 c3 g6 3 Bg5 Bg7 4 Nd2 0-05 e4 d6 6f4!?

After 6 Ngf3 a familiar theoretical position would have been reached. But now, if White should succeed in playing Ngf3 and Bc4, he will stand well, so Black must immediately attack the centre.

6 ... c5 7 dXc5 dXc5 8 Bc4

An inaccuracy. 8 Ngf3 followed by 9 Be2 is stronger.

8 ... Nc6 9 Ngf3 Na5 10 Be2 Ng4! 11 Nfl Qb6 12 Qcl c4 13 Bh4 e5!?

A positional sacrifice of a pawn.

14 h3 Nf6 15 BXf6 QXf6 16 fXe5

An important moment. On 16 NXe51 was intending to continue 16 ... g5! 17 NXc4 gXf4 18 NXa5 Qh4+ 19 Kdl Qd8+ 20 Kc2 QXa5 21 QXf4 Be6! In spite of being two pawns down, Black has excellent chances.

16        ... Qe7

There would have been a complicated struggle after 16. . .Qb6!? 17Ne3Bh6 18Bd5 BXcl 19 NXb6 BXb2 20 NXa8 BXal 21 Kd2.

17Qf4

The tempting 17 Ne3 would have led to difficulties for White after 17 ... Be6 18 Nd5 BXd5 19 eXd5 BXe5.

17        ... Nc6 18 Ne3 NXe5 19 NXc4?

19 Nd5 Qd6 20 0-0-0 was better, completing his development.

19 ... NXf3+ 20 BXf3 Be6 21 Ne3 Qc5! 22Nc2

22 0-0 is unexpectedly met by 22 ... g5!, when White loses a piece.

22 ... Rad8* 23 Qe3 Qb5 24 Nb4 Bc4

Now the king cannot escape from the centre - 25 Be2 BXe2 26 QXe2 Qc5, and 27 Qf2? fails to 27 ... BXc3+!

25        a4 Qe5 26 Kf2

26        Be2 is bad-26.. .Bh6!27QXh6Qg3+.

But how is Black to continue his attack?

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-tr-trk+(
7zpp+-+pvlp'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+-wq-+-%
4P+l+P+-+$
3+-zP-wQL+P#
2-zP-+-mKP+"
1tR-+-+-+R!
xabcdefghy

* More energetic is 22 . . . Be5! 23 Qe3 Bg3+ 24 Kdl (24 Kfl Qb5+) 24 ... Rfd8+ 25 Nd4 (25 Kcl QXe3+ 26NXe3Bf4)25. . . Be5, when White's position cannot be defended.

26 ... Bf6!f 27 Rhdl Be7

Now  there  is  no  satisfactory  defence against . . . Bc5.

28Nc2

28 Nd5 is decisively met by 28 ... Bh4+! 29   Kgl BXd5, when White loses a piece!

This is not so: White can regain his piece by 30Qc5!, and after missing good chances on

moves 22 and 26, Black still has to demonstrate his advantage. After 30 . . . Be7 31 Qa5 b6 32RXd5 Qf41 he is able to do this: 33 QXa7 RXd5 34 eXd5 (34 QXel is more tenacious, although 34 . . . Rd2 leaves Black with real winning chances) 34... Bc5+ 35KM Bd636Kgl Qe3+ 37 Khl (37 Kfl Bc5) 37 .. . Re8!, or 33 Qb5 Bc5+!34 Khl RXd535eXd5Bd636 Kgl Qe3+ 37Khl Qe5 38Kgl Re8! But the correct 31 Qb5! would probably have led to a draw. It follows that the exclamation mark to 26. . . Bf6 should be replaced by a question mark!

28 ... RXdl 29 RXdl Bb3 30 Qd3

Or 30 Qe2 Bc5+ and 31 ... Qh2.

30 ... Qc5+! 31 Kel Bh4+ 32 Kd2 Rd8 33 Nd4 BXdl and Black won.

Speelman-Kasparov

England-USSR English Opening

1Nf3Nf6 2C4c5 3Nc3e64g3b6 5Bg2Bb7 6 0-0 Be7 7 b3 0-0 8 Bb2 d6 9 e3 Nbd710 d4 a6 11 Rcl

Smyslov, in the Match-Tournament of USSR Teams (1981), and Smejkal, in the Moscow International Tournament (1981), continued against me 11 Qe2, with approximate equality after 11 ... Ne4. The move made by the English player is less good, since it allows Black to carry out an interesting counter-blow.

11 ... b5!

At first sight it appears (see diagram) that White can win a pawn by 12 dXc5 NXc5 13 cXb5 aXb5 14 NXb5, intending to meet 14  ... RXa2 with 15 BXf6, seemingly forcing 15 ... gXf6. But 15 ... BXf6! changes the situation in Black's favour: 16 QXd6 NXb3

† 26 ... f5l is very strong, e.g. 27 eXf5 QXe3+ 28 KXe3 a5! 29 Na2 (29 Nc2 Bh6+) 29 . . . Rd3+, or 27 Rhel f4 28 QXa7 (28 Qcl Qc5+) 28... Ra8 29 Qb6 Rf6 30 Qd4 QXd4 31 cXd4 Rb6, with a crushing attack.

Position after 11 . . . b5!

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-trk+(
7+l+nvlpzpp'
6p+-zppsn-+&
5+pzp-+-+-%
4-+PzP-+-+$
3+PsN-zPNzP-#
2PvL-+-zPLzP"
1+-tRQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

17 Rcdl QXd6 18 NXd6 BXf3 Nd2, or 16 NXd6Ba6 17RXc5Be2! 18 Qbl Rb2 winning the exchange. If White does not do anything, after .. . bXc4 and . . . cXd4 the slight weakness of the central white pawns will promise Black a good game.

12 d5 eXd5 13 NXd5 NXd5 14 cXd5 Bf6!

The exchange of bishops favours Black, since the e4-e5 breakthrough is hindered, and in addition his counter-play on the Q-side is made easier.

15BXf6 NXf6

The advantages of this capture are obvious - the knight exerts pressure on the centre, but its drawbacks are less so — White will prepare e4-e5, and in this case the knight is better placed at d7 (from where, incidentally, it can also be transferred to the Q-side). 15 ... QXf6! was preferable, when on the long diagonal the queen could have supported the pawn offensive .. . a5,.. . b4 and ... a4.

16Nh4 a5 17 e4 Re8 18 Rel g6

The direct 18 . . . a4 runs into 19 e5! RXe5 20 RXe5 dXe5 21 RXc5 with advantage to White. For example, on 21... e4 he has the important resource 22 Nf5!, when the capture on d5 is impossible.

Black prevents the opponent from bringing his knight into play via f5.

19Qd2 b4

Here 19 ... a4 is bad because of 20 b4.

20a3

The natural development of events would have been 20 f4 Nd7 21 Rcdl a4 22 Nf3 aXb3 23 aXb3 Qb6 or 23 ... Ra3 with double-edged play. The English player takes a debatable decision: wishing to suppress Black's activity, he advances a pawn on the side where the opponent is stronger.

20 ... bXa3 21 Ral Qe7!

Now 22 RXa3? is met by 22 ... NXd5. Although weak, the a3 pawn remains alive in certain variations, and can become dangerous. For example, 22 e5 is refuted by 22 ... a4! 23 eXf6 QXel+ followed by... aXb3 and

. . . a2.

This variation is incorrect. After 22 e5? a4? 23 eXf6 QXel+ 24 RXel RXel+ 25 QXel aXb3 26 Nf5!! it is White who wins: 26. . . a2 27Nh6+ Kh8 28 7VX/7+ Kg8 29 Nh6+ Kh8 30Qe7al=Q+31Bfl,or26. . .gXf527Qe3a2 28 Qh6 al=Q+ 29 Bfl QXf6 30 QXf6. The

simple 22 . . . dXe5 23 d6 Qd7 was quite adequate, whereas in the event of 22f4 a4 23 e5 the queen could indeed have been sacrificed —23 ... aXb3 24 eXf6 QXel+ etc.

22 h3

Preparing 23 Re3 (with the idea of 24 RXa3), White safeguards himself against... Ng4 and vacates h2 for his king.

22        ... Qe5

Creating the threat of 23 ... Qb2, but the main idea lies in the next move. White is forced to take the a3 pawn, and is able to do this, since, with the queen at e5,23 ... NXd5 is bad because of 24 Nf3.

23RXa3 Qd4! 24 QXd4 cXd4

Another passed pawn — this time on the d-file! True, it too is weak, but it causes a certain confusion in the opponent's ranks. Also important is that White finds it difficult to bring his bishop and knight into play — they are tied down by Black's central pressure.

25Ra4

With a simple calculation: 25 ... BXd5 26 RXd4 Rab8 28 Ral, but 25 Rdl NXe4 26 RXd4 Nc5 27 b4 aXb4 28 RXa8 RXa8 29 RXb4 was sounder - after 29 ... Kf8 Black has the advantage (the weakness of the d5 pawn), but White's drawing chances are very considerable.

25        ... d3 26 Rdl?!

26        Rd4 BXd5 27 RXd3 appears to lead to a position from the previous note, but the fact that the rook is not at d4 is important. After 27 ... Rab8 28 Ral BXb3 29 RXa5 NXe4 the regaining of the pawn — 30 BXe4 RXe4 — involves a risk: 31 RXd6 Be6! 32 Kg2 Re2 33 Ra3 Rbb2 34 Rf3 h5, when in spite of the material equality it is not easy to draw. It is possible that if he avoids playing 30 BXe4 White retains quite good defensive chances.

26        ... Nd7!

The d-pawn proves to be very hardy: 27 RXd3? Nc5!

27b4 aXb4 28 RXb4 Nc5 29 Nf3 Ra2

It is doubtful whether 29 ... RXe4 30 RXe4 NXe4 31 Nel Nc3 32 RXd3 Ral 33 RXc3 RXel+ 34 Kh2 Rdl is any stronger- in this ending Black has merely slight winning chances.

30 e5! dXe5 31 Rcl Rc2

Black is obliged to go into an ending with "four against three" on one side of the board.

32 RXc2 dXc2 33 Rc4 Nb3 34 RXc2 BXd5 35 Rc7 e4 36 Nel Nd4 37 Rd7 Re5 38 Nd3?

Clever, but insufficient. With his rook at c7 White should have played 37 Nc2, not fearing 37 ... Nf3+: after 38 BXf3 eXf339 Ne3, 40 g4 and Kh2-g3 White draws easily*. Even here it was not too late to return — 38 Rc7.

38 ... eXd3 39 BXd5

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+R+p+p'
6-+-+-+p+&
5+-+Ltr-+-%
4-+-sn-+-+$
3+-+p+-zPP#
2-+-+-zP-+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

Thus Black has yet another passed pawn —

* 37Nc2 is best met by37...Ne6 38Rd7 Rd8 39RXd8+ NXd8, still with some hopes of success.

his third! The question is what to do with it.

39        ... Kf8!

White was counting on 39... d2 40 BXf7+ and 41 RXd4. But now 40 BXf7 is met by 40... Re4!, when the d-pawn can be stopped only at the cost of a piece.

40        Bc4 d2 41 RXd4 Rel+ 42 Kg2 dl=Q 43 RXdl RXdl

Winning with the extra exchange does not present any serious difficulty.

44 h4 Rcl 45 Bd5 Rc5 46 Bb3 Ke7 47 Ba2 h6 48 Bb3 Rc7 49 Ba2 Kd6 50 Kh3 Ke5 51 Kg4 Ra7 52 Bb3 Rb7 53 Bdl Rb2 54 KB Kd4 55 Be2 Rb3+ 56 Kg2 Kc3 57 Bf3 Rb5 58 Bc6 Rc5 59 Be8 Rc7 60 Kfl Kd2 61 Ba4 Rcl+ 62 Kg2 Kel 63 Bb3 Rc7 64 14 Ke2 65 Bd5 Ke3 66 Ba8 16 67 Kgl Rg7! 68 Kg2 g5 69 hXg5 hXg5 70 fXg5 RXg5

White resigns.

Kasparov-Fedorowicz

USSR-USA

Queen's Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 a3 c5 5 d5 Ba6 6 Qc2 eXd5 7 cXd5 g6

More accurate than 7. . . d6 8 Nc3 Nbd7, as in the game Kasparov-Browne (1979), in which after 9 Bf4! Be7 10 g3 0-0 11 Bg2 Re8 12 0-0 White gained the better chances.

8 Nc3 Bg7 9 g3 0-0 10 Bg2 d6 11 0-0 Re8 12 Rel Qc7

An important finesse: usually the queen is deployed at e7, where it merely gets in Black's way after White adopts the set-up e2-e4, h2-h3 and Bf4.

13Bf4

Perhaps here too I should have carried out the standard plan with e2-e4, but I thought that I could try to exploit immediately the position of the black queen: now normal development is made more difficult, since

13        ... Nbd7 is met by the highly unpleasant 14Qa4.

13 ... Nh5

This move to the side of the board does not look very pretty, but now the e4-e5 break through is hindered to the maximum extent, whereas Black's counter-play on the Q-side is very much a reality:. . . c4 and. . . Nd7-c5, or ... Bb7, ... a6 and ... b5.

14 Bd2 Nd7

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+r+k+(
7zp-wqn+pvlp'
6lzp-zp-+p+&
5+-zpP+-+n%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zP-sN-+NzP-#
2-zPQvLPzPLzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

Now White has to decide on a specific plan of action. Of course, by the typical manoeuvre 15 a4 he can restrain his opponent's offensive, but after 15 . .. c4 there is no clear way to develop his initiative. After considerable thought White decides to carry out an original plan, which in general does not follow logically from his preceding play.

15Qa4 Bb7 16 Qh4

Such a transference of the queen is usually associated with an attack on the king. Here, for the moment, there is not even any expectation of an attack, and with the board full of pieces it seems unjustified for the queen to take up a forward position. Nevertheless, there is some justification for the queen manoeuvre: to strengthen his Q-side offensive, Black will have to transfer there a number of pieces, after which the preconditions may arise for an attack on the black king.

16        ... a6 17 Racl b5 18 b4

In this way White halts his opponent's offensive.

18 ... Qd8

18 ... Nb6 19 g4 Nf6 20 e4 Nc4 21 Bg5 or 21 Bh6 would have led to precisely that which I had in mind: Black has a great advantage on the Q-side, but White has play against the king. The situation would have been sharp and completely unclear. Fedoro-wicz evidently did not like the white queen being at h4, and he straightforwardly tries to drive it away. The following forcing play demands great accuracy.

19Bg5

On 19 Ne4 Black had prepared not 19 ... QXh4? 20 NXh4, but 19 ... RXe4! 20 QXe4 Nhf6 and . . . BXd5 with excellent compensation for the exchange.

19 ... f6

19        ... Bf6 is unfavourable because of 20 BXf6, when 20 ... QXf6 21 Ne4! is now very strong, while if 20 ... NhXf6 White's plan is completely justified: after 21 e4 it is difficult for Black to defend his king.

20Bd2 f5

In this way Black takes control of the e4 square and intends to transfer his knight from h5 to the centre. For the moment White is not able to exploit the weakening of the e6 square.

21        Bg5 Qb6?

21        ... Bf6! was correct, maintaining approximate  equality,  e.g.  22 e4 (22 BXf6

QXf6) 22 ... cXb4 23 aXb4 Rc8.

22        e4 cXb4

Also after 22 ... h6 23 Bd2 (23 eXf5!?) 23 ... Bf6 24 Qh3 Black's position is on the point of collapse.

23aXb4 Rac8

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+r+k+(
7+l+n+-vlp'
6pwq-zp-+p+&
5+p+P+pvLn%
4-zP-+P+-wQ$
3+-sN-+NzP-#
2-+-+-zPLzP"
1+-tR-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

The critical position. Both sides have achieved what they have been aiming for, obtaining maximum activity on "their own" parts of the board. At this point the shaky position of the knight at c3 and the weakness of White's centre alarmed me, and so I decided to repeat moves.

24 Be3? Qd8 25 Bg5 Qb6?

This move was made quickly, and it became clear that my opponent did not object to a draw. As before 25 ... Bf6 was essential, but it was extremely difficult to anticipate the further course of events. After some thought I discovered that the position con¬tained the opportunity for a combinational attack.

26 eXf5!

In giving up a piece White does not appear to achieve any immediate gains in return. But it is here that the slight defects in Black's set-up begin to tell: his queen, bishop at b7 and knight at h5 are badly placed, and his king's protection is weakened. It proves impossible to resist the attack by the opponent's superior forces.

26 ... RXel+ 27 RXel BXc3

Of course, not 27... RXc3, if only because of 28 Bd8 Bf6 29 Re8+ Kf7 30 Re7+ Kg8 31 RXd7 with a decisive advantage.

28 Re7 Rc4

It is very difficult to find a defence. For example, the natural withdrawal of the d7 knight to f8 or f6 runs into 29 Be3!, when the

black queen is trapped - 29... Qd8 30 RXb7 does not count. The counter-attacking attempt 28 ... Bf6 29 RXd7 Rc2 is parried by 30 g4! (defending f2), while 29 ... Rcl+ is most simply met by 30 BXcl BXh4 31 Be3, regaining the queen.

29 Qh3!

A simple and strong reply: the queen waits in ambush. Its transference to the K-side has been crowned with complete success!

29        ... Bc8

Again, if the knight moves from d7, Be3 is decisive.

30 fXg6 Ndf6

30        ... hXg6 31 Qe6+ leads to an immediate debacle.

31 BXf6 NXf6 32 gXh7+ Kf8

32        ... Kh8 can be met by 33 Qh6, and if 33 ... QXf2+ 34 Khl. In fact, I was intending

to reply 33 Nh4, again with inevitable mate, but a more spectacular one: 33 ... RXh4 34 QXc8+, or 33 ... BXh3 34 Ng6 mate.

33        h8=Q+ KXe7 34 Qg7+

Black resigns. Of course, the two queens easily deal with his king.

Two Weeks in Tilburg

Apart from the World Champion and the Challenger to his title, nearly all the world's leading players gathered in the small Dutch town of Tilburg for the fifth traditional tournament there. One of the favourites was the Dutchman Jan Timman, who always plays well on his "home ground". There was an impressive-looking quartet of Soviet players: USSR Champion Aleksander Belyavsky, Ex-World Champions Boris Spassky and Tigran Petrosian, and the author of these lines. In general, any of the twelve grandmasters was capable of battling for first place.

At the start the lead was rather surprisingly seized by Ulf Andersson — Xk out of three. Playing in his unhurried, outwardly unpretentious manner, the Swedish grandmaster managed to lull the vigilance of Miles and Portisch. But then Andersson contented himself with draws, and two defeats at the finish threw him back into the middle of the tournament table. Timman gradually played himself in, and an important game was Timman-Kasparov from the fourth round, which the Dutch grandmaster conducted strongly and precisely. Almost imperceptibly, Belyavsky crept up on the leaders.

His tremendous concentration and self-determination at the board enabled him to catch Timman by the ninth round. But in this round disappointment awaited the leaders: both had to resign for the first time in the tournament. Timman lost to Sosonko, and Belyavsky to Portisch, after which the leaders were joined by Petrosian, the only participant who had not suffered the bitterness of defeat. In my game with him I was close to victory, but again, as in the Moscow tournament, defence triumphed.

Kasparov-Petrosian

XABCDEFGHY
8-trr+-+-+(
7mkpvlnwq-zp-'
6p+p+p+p+&
5+-+n+pzP-%
4P+NzP-zP-+$
3+R+QzP-+P#
2-+RvL-+L+"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

After sacrificing a pawn in the opening, I have been able to restrict the black pieces severely. In addition, it is obvious that the black king is badly placed. Now, for example, a4-a5 is threatened, and it is not clear how the threat of Rcb2 and Qbl can be parried. Realizing the hopelessness of passive defence, Petrosian decides on a desperate step.

30        ... b5

At first sight this looks all right, but White has a strong rejoinder.

31        aXb5 cXb5 32 Ra2!

Now the knight is immune (32 ... bXc4? 33 RXa6+!), and it appears that the collapse of the black position is inevitable.

32        ... Kb7!!?

The two exclamation marks are for the boldness with which the black king goes to meet the danger, and the question mark is there because it is probably not the strongest move. The majority of players would probably have preferred 32... Bd6, but then after 33 RXb5 RXb5 34 NXd6 QXd6 35 QXb5 White regains his pawn with an obvious advantage. But 32 ... Kb7 had an unexpected psychological effect on me. Sensing that there was an imminent win, I became nervous.

33        Bb4?

Strangely enough, this natural move, increasing the tension, proves to be a serious mistake. The mainstay of Black's position is his knight at d5, and it was essential to begin a battle against it. 33 Na3! was correct. Now 33 ... N7b6 loses to 34 NXb5! aXb5 35 QXb5, e.g. 35 ... Rd8 (35 ... Ra8 36 BXd5+ eXd5 37 QXd5+) 36 Bb4! Qe8 37 Qa6+ Kc6 38 Bc5 Kd7 (38 ... Ra8 39 RXb6+) 39 Bfl! Therefore on 33 Na3! Black is forced to reply 33 ... Bb6, but in this case the white knight unexpectedly changes course, exploiting the fact that the co-ordination of the black pieces has been disrupted — 34 Nc2! And although after 34 ... Ra8 35 Nb4 Qd6 Black is able to defend all his weaknesses, a central break¬through opens up the position to White's decisive advantage: 36 e4! fXe4 37 QXe4, and Black has no defence (37 ... Ra7 38 QXg6 BXd4+ 39 Khl N7b6 40 f5!).

As is apparent from these variations, the win was by no means so simple as might appear at first sight, and finding it demanded a deep penetration into the position. After the insipid move played, Black is able to hold his defensive lines.

33        ... Qe8!

From here the queen indirectly defends the b5 pawn. 33 ... Qd8? would have been much weaker in view of 34 e4! fXe4 35 QXe4 with irresistible threats: 35 ... Qe8 36 QXd5+! eXd5 37 BXd5+ Ka7 38 RXa6+! KXa6 39 Ra3+ Ba5 40 RXa5 mate.

34        Bd6

The white bishop heads towards its doom, but in general this move does not spoil anything, since 34 Ba5 Qe7! also does not produce any result.

34        ... Ra8 35 Qbl

Realizing that the win has been missed, White simply places his pieces in attacking positions, hoping to land an unexpected combinational blow. I have to admit that, while I had considered in passing Black's 32nd move, his next reply threw me into utter confusion.

35        ... Kc6!!

The king itself takes a step towards the white army! But after this paradoxical move White's position immediately loses its attractiveness, and he now has to concern himself over how to withdraw his entangled pieces without losing material. Alas, staggered by my opponent's fantastic defence, I failed to find the best continuation and lost within a few moves, whereas there was still a way to save the game: 36 BXc7 bXc4 (36 ... KXc7 37Nb2Kd8 38 Qel with compensation for the pawn) 37 Rb7 RXc7 38 RXa6+ RXa6 39 Qb5+ Kd6 40 QXa6+ Ke7 (40 ... Rc6? 41 Qa3+) 41 BXd5 RXb7 42 BXb7 (42 QXe6+? Kd8 43 QXe8+ KXe8 44 BXb7 c3, and the pawn queens) 42... Qb8 43 Kf2 with a drawn ending.

36Rba3? bXc4 37 RXa6+ RXa6 38 RXa6+Bb6 39 Bc5 Qd8 40 Qal

Nothing is changed by 40 Qb4 Ra8! 41 Qa4+ Kb7 etc.

40 ... NXc5 41 dXc5 KXc5 42 Ra4,

and White resigns. This game did much to determine the tournament positions of the two players.

The last round proved decisive as regards the top placings. After Petrosian had agreed a quick draw with Ljubojevic, the fate of the first place was decided in the Belyavsky-Timman game. After employing an improvement in a very sharp variation of the Sicilian Defence, Belyavsky won the game and with it the tournament.

Regarding my comparative failure, I can definitely say: I was greatly let down by my inability to realize an advantage. This deficiency was typical of my games with Petrosian, Spassky, Portisch and Larsen, where in four winning positions I managed to gain only two draws! In spite of my poor result, I also had some creative achievements, among which all three of my wins could be included. Here is one of them.

Kasparov-Andersson

Queen's Indian Defence

1d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 a3 Bb7 5 Nc3 Ne4

The Swedish grandmaster's favourite continuation in the Queen's Indian Defence with 4 a3. In my opinion, 5 ... d5 is more promising.

6 NXe4 BXe4 7 Nd2!

The most energetic continuation.

7          ... Bg6?!

A new move, but hardly good. On 7 ... Bb7 Black was probably afraid of 8 e4. After the withdrawal of the bishop from the long diagonal, White changes his plan.

8 g3! Nc6?!

A continuation of the same fanciful course. The normal 8 .. . c6 9 Bg2 d5 10 0-0 Be7 11 e4 would merely have given White slightly the better chances.

9 e3 a6

Black still tries to engage in a battle for the centre, although he should have been thinking about developing his K-side pieces.

10 b4!

10 b3 was also good, but I decided to provoke Black into playing actively.

10 ... b5 11 cXb5 aXb5 12 Bb2 Na7

At this point Ulf assessed his position quite optimistically. Indeed, after . . . d5 Black will have nothing to fear. But from now on to the end of the game, Black does not receive a respite.

13 h4!

A weakening of Black's K-side must be provoked.

13        ... h6

Better defensive chances were offered by 13 ... h5.

14        d5! eXd5 15 Bg2 c6 16 0-0

This is the position for which White was aiming. The development of the black pieces is made difficult, and the threat of opening up the game by e3-e4 essentially cannot be parried (although 16 . . . f5 prevents this, it creates irreparable weaknesses in Black's position). Andersson tries to castle artificially, but in doing so he catastrophically weakens his white squares.

16 ... f6 17 Rel!

The immediate 17 e4 is weaker because of 17 ... dXe4 18 BXe4 Bf7!

17... Be7 18 Qg4 Kf719 h5 Bh7 20 e4 dXe4 21 BXe4 BXe4 22 NXe4

White has fully mobilized his forces, whereas the black pieces continue to huddle together on the back two ranks. It is obvious that the outcome of the game is decided.

22        ... Nc8

The black king is not destined to find shelter. 22 ... Rf8 is decisively met by 23 Radl d5 24 NXf6!, and 22... Re8 by 23 Qg6+ Kf8 24 g4, when there is no defence against Ng3-f5.

23        Radl Ra7

Black has somehow defended his weaknesses, but with a simple combination White destroys the defensive fortifications (see diagram overleaf).

24        NXf6! gXf6

24        ... BXf6 loses immediately to 25 Qg6+ Kf8 26 BXf6 gXf6 27 Re6!

25        Qg6+ Kf8 26 Bel! d5 27 Rd4!

The most clear-cut way to win. Black would have gained a few chances after 27 BXh6+ RXh6 28 QXh6+ Kg8! 29 Rd4 Bf8.

27 ... Nd6 28 Rg4 Nf7 29 BXh6+! Ke8

Or 29 ... NXh6 30 Qg7+ Ke8 31 QXh8+

Position after 23 . . . Ra7:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+nwq-+-tr(
7tr-+pvlkzp-'
6-+p+-zp-zp&
5+p+-+-+P%
4-zP-+N+Q+$
3zP-+-+-zP-#
2-vL-+-zP-+"
1+-+RtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

Kd7 32 QXh6.

30Bg7

Black  resigns:   the  h-pawn  cannot  be stopped.

When a Photo-finish is not Demanded

Writing about such a tense, uncompromising tournament as the 49th USSR Championship (Premier League) is no easy matter. Especially for a player who was successfully able to endure all the changes of fortune in a sustained tournament struggle. It has to be said that USSR Championships have always provided a large and diverse amount of material for study. It is here that new paths have been laid, fashionable opening set-ups refuted, and genuine masterpieces created, even today arousing the admiration of chess enthusiasts.

And yet, in my opinion, the 49th Championship will leave a more striking impression in chess history than the majority of its predecessors. It was not just a matter of the high number of games with a decisive result, more than fifty per cent, which in itself is unusual for a tournament of such standard, but the extreme fierceness of the  struggle, which lasted right to the last day of the tournament. In my opinion, each participant played at least one game which could be numbered among his creative achievements. To describe the entire course of the tournament is simply not possible, so I will dwell only on the gripping pursuit race for first place, in which my rival was the most "Eastern" Soviet grandmaster, my fellow student team member Lyev Psakhis (Krasnoyarsk).

It would seem to me that before the Championship our chances were not rated very highly. Only six weeks before this I performed weakly at the international tournament in Tilburg, while Psakhis arrived in Frunze as 1980 USSR Champion. Very few had succeeded in winning the gold medal two years in succession (only Keres, Tal and Polugayevsky), and hence such an achievement could be regarded as an indication of

very high class, which the majority of the competitors before the tournament (and during it!) for some reason thought Psakhis was lacking. But before this tournament Lyev had done an enormous amount of work (in particular, he had included 1 d4 in his repertoire), and with a display of even, confident play, he managed to go the whole distance without any stumbles. His brilliant result - Wi out of 17 (+9 =7 -1) will undoubtedly force many to reconsider their attitude to the young player from Krasnoyarsk and to acknowledge the emergence of another outstanding grandmaster in the ranks of Soviet chess.

For me the tournament took a more tense course. After gaining a spectacular win in the first round over Gavrikov, in the second I unjustifiably played for complications in my game with Psakhis and suffered a deserved defeat. This failure sobered me up: I played the next few games in a more restrained manner, resorting to tactics only when the position demanded it. To my surprise, I discovered that I had managed to repeat an unusual record held by Viktor Kupreichik — five wins in a row! This, and also my final success in the tournament, was greatly helped by an avoidance of time trouble — a terrible enemy, which had pursued me for a whole year. Six out of seven was a splendid start, but alongside was Psakhis, ready at any moment to "go past on the bend".

I played the next four rounds beneath all criticism: 1^1/2 points (three draws and one defeat) against opponents who were not doing very well in the Championship — and I found myself half a point ahead of. ... Romanishin. But Psakhis was now leading by a full point, and was confidently heading for his second gold medal. Pulling myself together just in time and in doing so gaining three wins, I entered the finishing straight in the lead. But the distance separating me from my pursuer was very slight (half a point), and in addition our opponents were not the ones I would have liked. Psakhis had to play Kupreichik, Gulko and Agzamov, while I faced Romanishin, Sveshnikov and Tukmakov. The next two rounds fully confirmed my fears — Psakhis crushed his opponents in excellent style, whereas my games ended in draws, despite all my efforts to achieve success.

And so, the last round. .. . There were now few who doubted that Psakhis would win. And indeed, there was every reason for this: a lead of half a point, the white pieces against Agzamov, and also... .my opponent. I myself found it hard to believe that with Black I could defeat such an experienced tournament fighter as Tukmakov, who, on top of everything else, would be satisfied with a draw, which would give him the bronze medal and a place in the 1982 Premier League. In this situation Psakhis took a highly committing decision — to play for a win against Agzamov. Even apart from the tournament situation before the last round, it had to be admitted that Psakhis's chances of success against Agzamov were higher than mine against Tukmakov. But the last round has its own laws.. . .

For a long time fortunes fluctuated in the Psakhis-Agzamov game. At one point it even seemed that Lyev was close to victory, but the opponent managed to beat off his attack, retaining an extra pawn. Here Psakhis began peace negotiations, having decided not to let go of the bird in the hand, but he unexpectedly received a refusal. Now the pressure was on Psakhis, as he endeavoured to escape from the threatening danger. In the end a draw was agreed on Agzamov's proposal in a fairly complicated position, where Black's extra pawn was compensated by White's extra minutes. But by this point the game of the other contender for victory had already concluded.

Tukmakov-Kasparov

Kings Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6

In my present-day repertoire the King's Indian Defence does not occupy the most prominent place, but at this critical moment I decided to revert to an old, well-tried weapon.

3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 Be2 0-0 6 Bg5

The system chosen by Tukmakov does not promise White a great deal, but it has the advantage that it sharply restricts Black's active possiblities. Realizing that simplification, resulting in equal chances, cannot satisfy me, Tukmakov expects Black to deviate from the well-trodden paths.

6 ... c5 7 d5 b5?!

Objectively this pawn sacrifice only deserves a question mark, but the probability of complications is increased, and that is worth an exclamation mark!

8cXb5 a6 9 a4!

Undoubtedly the strongest continuation, casting doubts on Black's gambit play. In Tilburg (1981) against Spassky I had this position with the opposite colour. The Ex-World Champion played badly — 9 ... Qa5?, and after 10 Bd2! Nbd7 11 Ra3! White's advantage became undisputed. The continuation chosen by Black in the present game enables him to obtain lively piece play.

9          ... h6 10 Bd2

After 10 Bf4 g5! 11 Bd2 e6 12 dXe6 BXe6 White has difficulties over the development of his king's knight.

10        ... e6 11 dXe6 BXe6 12 Nf3 aXb5 13BXb5

White cannot maintain a strong pawn at b5, since after 13 aXb5? Bb3! 14 Qcl RXal 15 QXal Qe7! the e4 pawn is doomed.

13        ... Na6 14 0-0 Nc7

14        ... Nb4 is tempting, but after 15 Be3! White prevents .. . d5 and gains an obvious advantage.

15Rel

15        Be2 would have retained both bishops, but would have allowed Black very comfortably to advance . . . d5. But even after 15 Be2 d5 16 eXd5 NfXd5 17 NXd5 NXd5 Black hasonly slight compensation for the pawn — not more. By 15 Rel White tries for more, but in doing so he allows his opponent the advantage of the two bishops. Here, for the first time, it occurred to me that the draw, which suited White  in the  purely  competitive sense, had already ceased to be the guiding line for him.

15 ... NXb5 16 NXb5

And after this optimistic move my suppositions grew into certainty. Yes, Tukmakov had indeed been seized by the fervour of the struggle, and, wishing to punish the opponent for his reckless play in the opening, he forgot about the competitive aim facing him in this last round. Meanwhile, 16 aXb5 would have paved the way for numerous exchanges and.... that cherished third place. Strictly speaking, it was from this point that the game began....

16 ... d5 17 eXd5 NXd5 18 Ne5!

For the moment White is on the mark. The plausible 18 Qc2 would have allowed the black bishops to exert terrible pressure on the Q-side after 18 ... Nb4! 19 BXb4 cXb4.

18        ... Re8 19 Rcl

It is hard to condemn this natural move, bringing another piece into play and creating a threat to the c5 pawn, but it is in fact the cause of White's subsequent difficulties. Dynamic positions of this type demand correct and bold decisions on every move, and an alternation of strong and "solid" moves does not produce good results. The dynamics of the situation demanded the energetic 19 Nc4!, threatening an invasion at d6 and consolidating White's advantage. Now, however, Black is able to activate his pieces to the maximum extent.

19        ... Bf5!

Beginning from this point Black employs the tactics of "intense pressurizing". By attacking one of White's pieces on each move, I forced him to proceed along a narrow, tortuous path, on which the slightest inaccuracy could prove fatal.

20Nc6

This expedition is practically forced, since 20 Nc4 would have allowed Black to create unpleasant threats, e.g. 20 ... RXel+ 21 BXel Nf4! 22 QXd8+ RXd8, while after 20 f4 g5! 21 Qh5 Re7 a position is reached where White's extra pawn does not play any part. 20 Ba5 sharply changes the character of the play, but the complications lead to a better ending for Black: 20... RXa5 21 Nc6 RXel+ 22 QXel Qg5! 23 NXa5 (23 h4? Qg4 24 B Qf4 25 NXa5 Be5 26 g3 QXD 27 QXe5 Ne3) 23...Nf4 24 g3 Ne2+ (24 ... Qg4 does not work because of 25 f3 QXf3 26 gXf4 Be4 27 Qd2) 25 QXe2 QXcl+ 26 Kg2 Be6! (26 ... BXb2? 27 Nb3) 27 b3 Qbl!, and the activity of Black's pieces outweighs his minimal material deficit.

The move chosen by White seems good enough, since after 20 ... Qb6 21 Na5! RXel+ 22 QXel he manages to retain his extra pawn while parrying all the threats. But is it really befitting for the black queen to assume the role of defender of the c5 pawn?!

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wqr+k+(
7+-+-+pvl-'
6-+N+-+pzp&
5+Nzpn+l+-%
4P+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-zP-vL-zPPzP"
1+-tRQtR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

20        ... Qd7!

By sacrificing a second pawn, Black diverts the white rook, after which a highly significant defect in White's position is unexpectedly revealed — the weakness of his back rank.

21RXc5 RXel+ 22 QXel

Forced: after 22 BXel Re8! the threat of . . . Nf4 can hardly be parried (e.g. 23 g3 Nf4!, while after 23 Ba5 the black knight changes course — 23 ... Nb4!, and White stands badly).

22        ... Re8 23 Qcl

After 23 Qfl Black's next move would have gained greatly in strength.

23        ... Nb6!

Not a moment's respite! All that White lacks is an escape square for his king, but he will not be allowed this tempo right to the end of the game.

24        b3

White has to waste time on the defence of

his a4 pawn, since if the black knight were to reach this square it would cause confusion in the ranks of the white pieces.

24 ... Re2

Black's idea begins to take shape — White's pieces are bunched together on the Q-side, and his king is already viewing with alarm the black pieces operating alongside its residence. True, for this inconvenience White has imposing compensation in the form of two connected passed pawns.

Now White is at the crossroads: to where should he move his bishop? 25 Be3 obviously does not work because of 25 ... Bb2! 26 Qfl Bd3 27 Qdl BXb5!, but which of the other squares should he choose: c3 or a5? "As far away from trouble as possible" — Tukmakov decided, "besides, the knight will be attacked". But in irrational positions of this type, outwardly logical decisions are not always correct.

It is difficult to say how the game would have developed after 25 Bc3. For example, there could have followed 25 ... Rc2 26 Qel Be4!, with complications which do not allow a precise evaluation.

Let us nevertheless try and analyse the result¬ing complications, in order to assess the correctness of 20. . . Qdl. After 25. . . Rc2 26 Qel Be4 27Ncd4!Qg4 28g3Qh3 (28. . .Nd5 29f3! Nf4 30 QXe4!M3+ 31 Kfl) 29 QXe4Rcl+ 30 Qel! RXel+ 31 BXel Black is faced with a depressing struggle for a draw. Thus the attack on g2 proves incorrect. The alternative is 25. .. Rc2 26 Qel BXc3 27 NXc3 (27 RXc3? RXc3 loses a piece) 27. . . Qe6!Now the weakness of White's back rank obliges him to be cautious.28          Ne5? loses to 28. . . Nd7! 29 Rc8+ Kh7 30 Nf3 Ne5 31 NXe5 QXe5l as does 28 Qal? to 28... Qd6!29 b4 Qd2. After 28 Qe3 Black can force a draw: 28 . . . Nd7 29 Rc4 (29 Ne7+? QXe7; 29 Nd4? QXe3 30 Rc8+ Nf8) 29... Nb6 (29 ... Bd3?l 30 Nd4! QXe3 31 Rc8+) 30 Rc5 Nd7.

The critical position arises after 28 Qfl Bd3 29Qdl (or28 Qdl Bg4!29 Qfl Be2 30 Qel Bd3

31 Qdl). Finding the correct path here is not easy: 29... Qf6! (29... Nd7? 30 Nd4; 29...Qd6? 30 Ne4) 30 Qel Qd6! (the pressurizing continues; weaker alternatives are 30. . Nd7? 31Nd5!, or 30...QXf2+? 31 QXf2 Rcl+ 32Qel RXel+3 3Kf2, or 30... Qe6 31Qe3!Nd7 32Nd4!) 31 b4 NXa4! (31... Nd7? leads to adifficult position after 32 Nb5! BXb5 33 RXc2BXc6 34 b5) 32 NXa4 Re2 (White is now apiece up, but one threat follows another!) 33Qcl (33 Qc3? loses to 33 . .. Qf4, while if 33Qfl then 33... Rd2 34 Qel Re2) 33...Qf6 34 Qfl (34/3? Qh4) 34... Rd2 35 Qel Re2f with arepetition of moves.

It can be considered (if of course, there are no mistakes in this analysis) that after 25 Bc3 the activity of Black's pieces balances the opponent's material advantage.

25Ba5

After this move I sensed that Tukmakov was not fully aware of the danger threatening him. At first sight White does indeed have everything in order: the black knight is hanging, and 25 ... Bb2 26 Qfl Bd3 runs into 27 Nb4! But the enormous energy stored up in the black pieces is only just beginning to break out.

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+q+pvlp'
6-snN+-+p+&
5vLNtR-+l+-%
4N+-+-+-+$
3+N+-+-+-#
2-+-+rzPPzP"
1+-wQ-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

25 ... Be4!

The knight is immune: after 26 BXb6? Qg4 27 Qfl Rel! White is mated! Now, when Black's threats have become so clear, White should have considered 26 Qfl, bringing the queen over to the defence. On this I would have continued 26 ... Rb2 27 BXb6 BXc6 (27 ... BXg2 leads only to a draw), retaining good compensation for the sacrificed pawns. But Tukmakov is attracted by the idea of

bringing into play his pieces which are grouped together on the Q-side.

26        Ne5 Qe7!

Attacking fresh targets.

27        Nd4?

This natural move substantially eased my task, both at the board, and in my commentary. It may seem strange, but White's position is now probably indefensible, and so for the first time I can definitely attach a question mark to a move by my opponent. In spite of all the criticisms of White's play, the position was still unclear, but only in the event of 27 Qfl! If he wishes, Black can force a spectacular draw: 27... Ra2 (27... Rb2? 28 BXb6 BXe5 29 RXe5! QXe5 30 Bd4, win¬ning) 28 BXb6 BXe5 29 Nc3 BXh2+ 30 KXh2 Qh4+ 31 Kgl BXg2 32 KXg2 Qg4+, with perpetual check. In any other game such a draw would have brought enormous creative satisfaction, but that day I took such risks only in order to avoid a draw! Fortunately, Tukmakov relieved me of the necessity to seek some illusory chances in variations such as 29 ... BXc3 30 RXc3 Qf6 31 Ba5! (31 Re3? Ral 31 Rel Bd3!) 31 ... Qg5 32 f3 (32 Bb4? Ral!; 32 Re3!?), and if 32 ... QXa5, then 33 Rc8+ Kg7 34 fXe4. Moving the knight to the centre not only fails to solve White's problems, but even aggravates his position, since at d4 the knight comes under various attacks.

27        ... Ra2 28 BXb6

There is nothing better. 28 Ndc6 is met by 28 ... QXc5!, and 28 Ndf3 by 28 ... BXf3.

28        ... BXe5 29 Qe3?

And now, when the danger is clearly apparent, and when the black pieces have seized all the key positions, Tukmakov loses his head. The mass of threats and shortage of time provoke an "inexplicable" blunder, which loses the game in one move. To be fair, it should be pointed out that the best defence, 29 Qel! (29 QXh6 QXc5), would merely have enabled White to prolong the resistance. Black's simplest continuation would have been 29 ... Qd6! 30 Ne2 (bad is 30 Rc8+ Kh7 31 Bc5 BXh2+ 32 Khl Qf4) 30 ... BXh2+ (30 ... Ral? 31 Rel) 31 Khl Be5, maintaining a very strong attack.

Here a correction is necessary: after 32 Nc3! Qf633RXe5! (33 QXe4?Ral+ 34Nbl Qh4+!) 33 ... QXe5 34 Kgl! (34 f3? Qh5+ 35 Kgl RXg2+!) 34... Rc2 35NXe4 Qf4 (or 35... f5 36 Qe3! QXe4 37 QXh6 with a probable draw)

36        g3 (36 Nc3? Rcl 37 Ndl Qd6) 36... Rcl 37 Nf6+! Kg7 38 Ne8+ Kg8 (38 . . . Kf8 39 Bc5+; 38 ... Kh8 39 Bd4+) 39 Nf6+ White forces a draw. 29. . . BXh2+ (instead of 29. . .Qd6) leads to the same result: 30KXh2 Qh4+31 Kgl Qg4 32 g3 (it would seem that 32 Nf3 is also sufficient: 32 . . . BXf3 33 Qe8+ Kg7 34 Qe5+Kh 7 35 Qg3 QXg3 36fXg3 RXg2+ 37Kfl RXg3 38 Kf2 Rh3 39 a5) 32... Qh3 33 Rc8+! Kh734Nf3BXf3 35Rh8+KXh836Qe8+Kg7 37 Bd4+f6 38 Qe7+.

Black does indeed have a strong attack after 29 ... Qf6! 30 Ne2! Ral 31 Rcl Qg5 32 g3 (32 Qfl RXcl 33 NXcl Qf4) 32 . . . Qg4! 33 Nd4! Qh3! 34 f3 Ra2 35 Nc2 BXf3 36 Qf2 Be4.

29 ... QXc5!

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-vL-+-+pzp&
5+-wq-vl-+-%
4P+-sNl+-+$
3+P+-wQ-+-#
2r+-+-zPPzP"
1+-+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

This diagram will always shine for me with the brilliance of the USSR Champion's gold medal! Some 15 minutes after the finish of this game, the Psakhis-Agzamov game also con¬cluded. The result was that the two leaders, who had been exchanging places throughout the tournament, crossed the finishing line together. Usually in such situations a tie-breaking system comes into force (number of wins, or Sonneborn-Berger score), but this was a happy instance where both were victorious!

Skirmishes on a minefield

In the 13th and 14th rounds of the Frunze Championship, I joined the theoretical discussion currently being held in the Botvinnik Variation of the Slav Defence. For both games my opponents, grandmasters Timosh-chenko and Dorfman, had prepared an improvement in a lengthy forcing variation, and Dorfman, moreover, was able to take account of his predecessor's dismal experience. However, both the course taken by the games, and their results, were identical. But before describing these "twin" games, I should like to make a slight digression.

The classical approach to chess, which assigned Black the role of the defending side in the opening, set him the immediate task of equalizing. But progressive chess thinking was unable to reconcile itself to such an approach to the problems of the opening. There are now a number of systems in which Black encroaches upon White's privilege in the opening— the right to the obtaining of an advantage. The first research in this direction was undertaken by Botvinnik. Mikhail Moiseevich often went in for rejected continuations, relying on his profound analysis and subtle understanding of the resulting situations. A number of brilliant victories were achieved by him in such "unfavourable" systems, and one of these rightly bears the name of its creator. Even among the modern, highly complex counter-attacking variations, the Botvinnik Variation is noted for its sharpness, and the intricacy of the resulting positions. For a long time the abundance of possible dangers frightened White away from it, but in recent years the theory of the variation has taken great strides. After convincing himself that he achieves no real gains by declining the challenge thrown down by Black, White has renewed his attempts to refute it.

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 e6 5 Bg5 dXc4 6 e4 b5 7 e5 h6 8 Bh4 g5 9 NXg5 hXg5 10 BXg5 Nbd7

The initial position of the variation. The disturbance of the equilibrium on all (!) parts

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqkvl-tr(
7zp-+n+p+-'
6-+p+psn-+&
5+p+-zP-vL-%
4-+pzP-+-+$
3+-sN-+-+-#
2PzP-+-zPPzP"
1tR-+QmKL+R!
xabcdefghy

of the board promises a gripping struggle. White's searches for an advantage are associated with 11 eXf6 and 11 g3. For a long time the latter was considered stronger, but the game Polugayevsky-Torre from the 1981 Moscow International Tournament shook this evaluation. After it the two moves are regarded as equivalent, since in both cases Black can if he wishes take play into one and the same position.

11 eXf6 Bb7 12 g3 c5 13 d5 Qb6

13        ... Nb6 used to be regarded as the main move, but it disappeared from practice after the aforementioned game, which went 14 dXe6! QXdl+ 15 RXdl BXhl 16 e7 a617 h4!!Bh6 18 f4, and the armada of white pawns proved stronger than the rook.

14Bg2 0-0-0 15 0-0 b4 15 Na4

Where should the queen move to? In a game Razuvayev-Vaiser (played in May, 1981) Black gave a poor answer to this ques¬tion- 16... Qa6?, and after 17 a3! b3 18Nc3 Nb6 19 Qg4 NXd5 20 NXd5 BXd5 21 BXd5 RXd5 22 Rfdl! he was faced with insoluble problems. But just a few days later in the same tournament (the USSR Team Championship) Timoshchenko found the correct path — 16 ... Qb5! His dismayed opponent, Zaichik, was unable to find his way in the unfamiliar situation, and quickly ended up in a bad position. The debate flared up with new strength in the USSR Championship 1st League (October, 1981). Dorfman against Kharitonov confidently made his first 16 moves with Black, but White's strong reply forced him to think for a long time.

16        ... Qb5! 17 a3!

By opening up the game on the Q-side, White emphasizes the insecure position of the black king. Dorfman did not react in the best way — 17 ... eXd5 — and after 18 aXb4 cXb4 19 Be3! he avoided difficulties only thanks to the inaccurate play of his opponent. The ball was again in Black's court! It was taken up by the Sveshnikov-Timoshchenko "tandem", and their joint efforts produced the move

17        ... Nb8

which was employed a few rounds later in the game Anikayev-Sveshnikov. But the latter was unlucky — the innovation did not have the desired effect. At the board Anikayev found the moves which were later to be considered the best.

18aXb4 cXb4 19 Be3 BXd5  20 BXd5 RXd5 21 Qe2 Nc6 22 Rfcl

XABCDEFGHY
8-+k+-vl-tr(
7zp-+-+p+-'
6-+n+pzP-+&
5+q+r+-+-%
4Nzpp+-+-+$
3+-+-vL-zP-#
2-zP-+QzP-zP"
1tR-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

The critical position for the assessment of 17.. .Nb8. Sveshnikov played badly —22... Kb7, and Anikayev accurately exploited his opponent's mistake: 23 RXc4 Na5 24 b3! with an obvious advantage (24 . . . NXb3 is bad because of 25 Nc3! bXc3 26 RXa7+ Kb8 27 RXf7 with an irresistible attack). But even this failure did not perturb those seeking the truth. The most interesting was just beginning. Black's reply was not long in coming. At the finish of the same 1st League Timoshchenko employed yet another innovation! After 22 .. . c3!? his opponent, Rashkovsky,

sank into thought and. ... by a bold piece sacrifice placed Black in a difficult position! - 23 QXb5 RXbS 24 NXc3! bXc3 25 RXc3 Kd7 (25 ... Kb7 26 Racl) 26 Ra6 Nd8 27 RXa7+ Ke8 28 Rc8. Although Black managed to save a half-point in this game (Rashkovsky was hindered by severe time trouble), it became clear that 22 . . . c3 could not rehabilitate the variation. But all these events merely served as a prologue... .

And so, 15th December, Frunze, the stage of the Sports Palace.

Kasparov-Timoshchenko

After a thorough study of the position reached after move 28 in the Rashkovsky-Timoshchenko game, I came to the con¬clusion that White has good winning chances. Therefore Timoshchenko's rapid play in the opening surprised me. Happy that the analysis I had done would not be wasted, I made my moves with equal rapidity. And within 20 minutes after the start of the round, when on the remaining boards the pieces were only just beginning to come into contact, in our game the position in the previous diagram had already been reached. But Black's very next move dispelled my dreams of a win by my prepared analysis.

22 ... Na5

The strength of such an innovation is that it forces the opponent to spend time on psychological regrouping, and any player knows how hard it is to switch from well-prepared analysis to specific spontaneous play. However, often the proximity of danger will help him to mobilize all his inner resources.

My first impressions about the resulting position were unfavourable. The variation 23 BXa7 Kb7 24 Nb6 c3! demonstrates best of all the advantages of Black's position. Could it be that White's overall strategic course was unsound? Certainly not! But to refute Black's risky play, energetic measures are needed. All Black's positional gains have been obtained at the expense of a serious weakening of his king's defences, whereas the white pieces are already in the vicinity of its residence. So forward, into the attack!

These reasonings, which are so logical, took me 53 minutes at the board.

In fact, it is unlikely that more than half a minute was spent on "these logical reasonings", but some variations had to be calculated. . . .

23        b3! c3

White has a virtually irresistible attack after 23 ... NXb3 24 RXc4+ Kd7 25 Nc3! bXc3 26 RXa7+ Kd8 27 RXc3!, when the queen is immune because of mate in three moves. But now White is obliged to sacrifice a piece, without having any forced solution to the position.

24NXc3 bXc3 25 RXc3+ Kd7

25        ... Kb7? is bad in view of 26 Qc2 Bd6 27 b4! with decisive threats (27 ... Nc6 28

RXc6!). Therefore the black king makes for the centre under the cover of its army.

26Qc2 Bd6 27 Rcl Qb7

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tr(
7zpq+k+p+-'
6-+-vlpzP-+&
5sn-+r+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+PtR-vL-zP-#
2-+Q+-zP-zP"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

White's attack appears to have reached an impasse, since the tripling of heavy pieces on the c-flle has not brought any tangible gain. In addition, by the defensive move 27 ... Qb7 Black has created the terrible threat of . . . RXh2! But again, as on move 23, White's initiative is supported by the b-pawn.

28 b4!

This indirectly parries the threat of 28 ... RXh2, which is decisively met by 29 Qa4+! (29 ... Kd8 30 Rc8+; 29 ... Rb5 30 KXh2). This latent resource was evidently overlooked by Timoshchenko in his analysis, since after 28 b4! he thought for some 25 4 minutes. Now the cunning 28 ... Rb5 does not help because of 29 bXa5 RXh2 30 Rc6!, foicing a won ending: 30 ... Rbh5 31 a6! Rhl+ 32 Kg2 RXcl 33 aXb7 RXc2 34 RXd6+! Kc7 35 Rd7+ Kb8 36 Bf4+ e5 37 g4! etc.

28        ... QXb4!

Played without prejudice. Black lets it be known that in itself the check at c7 will not cause him any trouble. Indeed, after 29 Rc7+? BXc7 30 QXc7+ Ke8 31 Bc5 Qb7 32 QXa5 White's initiative does not compensate for the missing exchange.

In comparison with the possible earlier variation 27 ... Qb4 28 Rc7+! BXc7 29 QXc7+ Ke830Bc5Qb731 QXa5±, here the absence of the b3 pawn tells.

29        Rbl Qg4

The forcing play has come to an end. White's next move will decide whether he is able to create new threats, or whether Black will emerge unscathed. Here I thought for a long time, thereby "acknowledging" that the attack was being conducted intuitively.

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tr(
7zp-+k+p+-'
6-+-vlpzP-+&
5sn-+r+-+-%
4-+-+-+q+$
3+-tR-vL-zP-#
2-+Q+-zP-zP"
1+R+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

It is not possible to extract any immediate gains from the position, e.g. 30 Bf4 BXf4 31 Qa4+ Kd6 32 Rel (32 Qb4+ Ke5!) 32 ... e5! 33 Qb4+ Ke6 34 Qe7+ Kf5, or 30 ft Qf5! (the careless 30 ... Qh3? allows White to conclude the game by a pretty combination: 31 Rb7+H NXb7 32 Qa4+ Kd8 33 Bb6+!, mating) 31 Qa4+ Kd8 32 Rbcl QXf6, and the black king escapes from the pursuit. As is apparent from this last variation, Black need not fear the queen check at a4, as long as his king can calmly retreat to d8. This means.. . . that on the elimination of the a7 pawn, which deprives his bishop of the b6 square, White can (and must!) use that precious tempo, which is so often lacking for complete happiness!

30 BXa7!!

This paradoxical decision proved to be the optimum one. Now the threat of 31 f3 has become deadly. But Black has acquired a tempo, which Timoshchenko decided to use to prepare a shelter for his king.

By this time I had a little more than twenty minutes left on my clock, whereas Timoshchenko had used less than forty.

30        ... e5 31 Qa2!

It unexpectedly transpires that Black is unable to solve a very simple problem—what to do with his d5 rook? Here Timoshchenko thought for more than an hour, but lengthy consideration does not always raise the quality of a move. ...

31        ... Rdl+

Not the best decision, since now the knight at a5 is hanging. True, 31. . . Qh3 does not save Black, in view of 32 f3! Ke6 33 Rb5! (33 Rdl? QXh2+!), nor does 31 . . . Ke6 because of 32 ft Qf5 33 Rdl e4 34 fXe4 QXe4 35Re3. White would have been caused the

greatest problems by 31... Qf5! Now 32 Rel (32 QXd5? QXbl+ 33 Kg2 Qb7) is ineffective in view of 32 ... Ke6, while the "brilliant" 32 Rb7+ allows Black to parry the attack after 32 ... NXb7 33 QXd5 Qbl+ (33 ... Nd8? 34 Rd3 QXf6 35 Bb8 Rh6 36 BXd6 QXd6 37 Qb5+) 34 Kg2 Nd8 35 Rb3 Qf5! (but not 35. .. Qc2? 36 Rb6! Qc7 37 Qb5+ Ke6 38 Bb8) 36 Rb6 Qh3+ 37 Kft e4+! 38 Ke3 Qh6+ etc.

Correct is 32 ft!!, eliminating Black's main defensive resource, . . . e4, after which it is unlikely that he can save the game, e.g. 32... Ra8 (32 ... e4? 33 Qa4+ Ke6 34 fXe4) 33 Rbcl! RXa7 34 QXd5 QXf6 35 Ra3! At any rate, 31 ... Qf5 would have been the best practical chance. The exchange of rooks leads by force to a hopeless position.

In Timoshchenko's opinion, White also wins after 32 Rel Ke6 33 Rdl e4 34 J3!, e.g. 34... BXg3 35 hXg3 Rhl+ 36 KXhl Qh3+ 37 Kgl

QXg3+ 38Kfl Qh3+ 39 Ke2 Qg2+ 40Bf2, or 35... Qh5 36 QXd5+ QXd5 37RXd5 KXd5 38 Rc5+.

32 RXdl QXdl+ 33 Kg2 Qh5

All the same the knight cannot be saved, so Black tries to confuse matters.

34 Qa4+!

34 h4? is much weaker in view of 34 ... Nc6!

34        ... Ke6 35 h4!

Now it is all over. After 35 ... e4 36 QXe4+ Qe5 37 Qg4+ Qf5 38 Re3+ Be5 39 Qe2! White's threats are irresistible, and Black is forced to part with his knight, remaining two pawns down with a bad position.

It is interesting to note that, whereas at move 30 White was short of time, now the roles were reversed: Black was in time trouble, while White still had 15 whole minutes on his clock!

35        ... Qe2 36 QXa5 Ra8

First 36 ... Qe4+ is more tenacious.

37 Qa4!

The pursuit of the black king is resumed with renewed strength.

37 ... KXf6 38 Qd7 Kg7 39 Rf3 Qc4 40 QXd6 RXa7 41 QXe5+ Kh7 42 Rf5

In search of a shelter, the black king has crossed the entire board under fire by the white pieces. There is nowhere further to run, and so Black gives one last "spite" check.

42 ... Qc6+ 43 Kh2

Black resigns.

The game had concluded, but the passions aroused by it did not die down. Was the piece sacrifice correct? Where could Black have played more strongly? These questions con¬cerned nearly all the participants in the Championship. In the arguments which flared up immediately after the conclusion of the round, the voice of Sveshnikov was heard louder than others. The variations demon¬strated by him appeared convincing enough, and in the end the grandmaster consultation decided that 30 . . . e5 should be regarded as the decisive mistake, whereas 30 ... Be5 would have enabled Black to parry the attack. All my attempts to refute this were unsuccessful, and Sveshnikov publicly declared that in his meeting with me in round 16 he was ready to try and vindicate the position after 30 ... Be5. Knowing how the Chelyabinsk grandmaster sticks to his principles in opening debates, there could be no doubt that he would keep his promise.

On returning to my hotel, for a long time I was unable to go to sleep. Thoughts about the game just played would not leave me in peace. Surely White's entire plan wasn't just a bluff? Finally I couldn't contain myself, and I sat down to analyse. Only by two o'clock in the morning did I find peace. My analysis showed irrefutably that 30 ... Be5 did not save Black. It only remained to wait for the 16th round, but life decreed otherwise. . . .

Specators who arrived late for the start of the 14th round looked with astonishment at one of the demonstration boards.

Kasparov-Dorfman

Only about forty minutes had been required by the players in this game to make thirty moves and take play into a highly complex middlegame. It is not hard to guess that the position on the board was the following.

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-tr(
7vL-+k+p+-'
6-+-vlpzP-+&
5sn-+r+-+-%
4-+-+-+q+$
3+-tR-+-zP-#
2-+Q+-zP-zP"
1+R+-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

Both players had aimed for it, and each was convinced that he would win the point without any particular difficulty. But Dorfman had taken Sveshnikov's word for it, and had not found the time to delve deeply into the position, whereas my confidence in success was based on a detailed analysis. Dorfman quickly played

30        ... Be5

but White's rejoinder came as a surprise to him.

31        Rc5!

Sveshnikov had considered 31 B to be obligatory, which allows Black to parry the attack by 31 ... Bd4+!, e.g. 32 Khl QXg3 33 Qa4+ Kd8 34 Rb8+ QXb8 35 BXb8 BXc3, or 32 BXd4 QXd4+ 33 Khl Kd6! etc. The move played is directed in the first instance at exchanging the d5 rook — the chief defender of the black king.

31        ... RXc5

Things end dismally for Black after, for example, 31 ... Ra8: 32 RXa5! RXa5 33 Rb7+ Ke8 34 Re7+ Kf8 35 Qh7 with inevitable mate.

32        BXc5!

This quiet move is the crux of White's idea. The pseudo-active 32 QXc5? was a false trail: 32 ... Nc6! 33 Rb7+ Bc7 34 Bb6 Rc8, and there is no way to strengthen the attack. After 32 BXc5 Black has no defence. Here are the variations of my night-time analysis: 32...Rc8? 33 Qd2+; 32...Qc4 33 Qd2+ Kc6 34 Rb6+! KXc5 35 QXa5+ Kd4 36 Rb4; 32. . . Rb8 33 Rdl+ Ke8 34 f4!, regaining the piece in view of the threat of Qa4+; 32 ... Bc7 33 Qd3+ Kc8  34 Rb4! Qf5 35 Qa6+ and 36 Rd4+.

Dorfman spent one hour five minutes (!) in search of a saving loophole, but it was already too late!

32 ... Nc6 33 Qd3+ Kc8

The attempt to block the d-file is hopeless:

33        ... Nd4 (33 ... Bd4 34 Rb7+ Ke8 35 Qb5) 34  Rdl Rh4 35 Qb5+ Kc8 36 Qa6+ Kc7 37 Bb6+! After 33 ... Kc8 White could have obtained by force a won queen ending: 34 Qa6+ Kd7 35 Rb7+ Bc7 36 RXc7+! KXc7 37 Qb6+ Kc8! 38 QXc6+ Kb8 39 Qb6+ Kc8 40 Qa6+ Kc7 41 Bb6+ Kc6 42 Bd4+! Kd7 (42 ... Kd5 43 Qb5+ Ke4 44 B+!) 43 Qa4+! Kc8 44 Qa8+ and 45 QXh8. But he has the possiblity of concluding the game by a direct attack.

34Rdl Nb8

If 34 ... Rd8, White wins by 35 Qa6+.

35 Rcl!

Emphasizing the helplessness of the black

XABCDEFGHY
8-snk+-+-tr(
7+-+-+p+-'
6-+-+pzP-+&
5+-vL-vl-+-%
4-+-+-+q+$
3+-+Q+-zP-#
2-+-+-zP-zP"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

pieces, which are unable to help their king. The expiatory sacrifice made by Black merely delays the end slightly.

35 ... Qa4 36 Bd6+ Nc6 37 BXe5 Rd8 38 Qbl!

Renewing the mating threats.

38 ... Rd5 39 Qb8+ Kd7 40 Qc7+ Ke8 41 QXc6+ QXc6 41 RXc6 RXe5 43 Rc8+

Black resigns. After 43 ... Kd7 44 Rf8 he loses a third pawn.

After this game everyone awaited with interest the 16th round, and the Kasparov-Sveshnikov game. But the Chelyabinsk grandmaster deviated as early as the fifth move (5 ... h6), thus tacitly acknowledging the rightfulness of White's victories in the preceding games. But knowing Sveshnikov, one can confidently assume that in the near future he will endeavour to join the discussion.

Such catastrophes will undoubtedly reduce the number of the variation's supporters, but the question of whether White has finally managed to neutralize the "minefields" in the Botvinnik Variation, or whether new explosions will be heard, signifying its rebirth, remains open, in my opinion.

A "new explosion" resounded a year and a half later in my game with Ex- World Champion Mikhail Tal (p. 148).

When one's fate lies in an envelope

After the ninth round the situation among the leaders had become extremely confused. Although formally the race was being led by Romanishin and Kupreichik, the potential leaders remained Psakhis and me. We both had four points out of five, with four (!) unfinished games.

The playing on of several games on the same evening is difficult for a number of understandable reasons. Firstly, the quality of the player's adjournment analysis is reduced, since his thoughts are "scattered", and it is only with enormous difficulty that he is able to concentrate on any one position. Secondly, during the 15 minutes allowed as a break between games, it is very difficult for him to switch off from his recent experi¬ences, and again tune himself up for a struggle. My task was slightly simplified by Dolmatov, who resigned without resuming, but three adjournments remained — with Belyavsky, Kuzmin and Kupreichik. Each of these, in its own way, was difficult to analyse. In all three it was my opponent who had sealed. Naturally, a mistake is possible when sealing a move, but my trainer A. Nikitin and I had of course to take all possibilities into account. By the start of the adjournment session, in spite of a sleepless night, we still had a number of unanswered questions. There was only one factor about which there were no doubts: each of my opponents had a very strong continuation, which would cause me maximum difficulty in achieving my task (to win against the Lvov grandmaster and to draw the other two games).

The first game to be resumed was the most pleasant one for me — against Belyavsky.

Kasparov-Belyavsky

(See diagram) White's two bishops give him quite real winning chances. Black has to concern himself over parrying the threat of b2-b4 with a decisive opening of lines on the Q-side. Belyavsky spent 40 minutes (!) on his sealed move. What might he have chosen? We first analysed 43 ... Bb4. Now the direct 44 BXb4+ aXb4 45 Kd2 Nd6 46 Rcl leaves Black with some hopes of saving the game after 46 ... Rc5! 47 RXc5 bXc5 48 Kd3 Ke7 49 a5 Kd7 50 a6 c4+! 51 Kc2! (51 BXc4 Kc6) 51... Nc8 52 BXc4Kc6 53 Kb3 Kc5. A more

Adjourned position:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-mk-+(
7+-+-+nzp-'
6-zp-vl-zp-+&
5zp-+Lzp-+-%
4P+-+P+-zP$
3+-vLK+P+-#
2-zP-+-+-+"
1+R+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

clear-cut way to win is by 45 Rgl! Nd6 46 Rg2!, aiming for the exchange on c2 and tyingthe black king to the g7 pawn. Now after 46 ... Rc5 47 h5! Black is in zugzwang and is forced to disrupt his ideal set-up: 47... Nf7 48 Rc2 RXc2 49 KXc2 Ng5 50 Kb3 NXB 51 KXb4, or 47 ... Ra5 48 Rc2! RXa4 49 Rc6 Ne8 50 RXb6. In both cases the result of the game is not in doubt.

Black is also not helped by the pawn sacrifice 45 ... g5!? 46 BXf7 KXf7 47 hXg5, since in the rook ending too his downfall is caused by his pawn weaknesses: 47 ... b3 48 gXf6 KXf6 (48 ... Rc2 49 f4! KXf6 50 f5 RXb2 51 Rg6+ Kf7 52 RXb6 Ra2 53 Rb4! b2 54 Kc2) 49 Rg2! Rcl 50 Rg8 Rc2 51 Rb8 RXb2 52 RXb6+ Kg5 53 Kc4 Rc2+ 54 KXb3 Rf2 55 a5 RXB+ 56 Ka4 Re3 57 Rb4 and wins.

Black achieves nothing by passive waiting, and the attempt to set up a "fortress" fails after 44 b4 RXc3+ 45 KXc3 BXb4+ 46 Kd3 Nd6, since White breaks through on the g-file, using his h-pawn as a battering-ram.

"Everything is clear in this position" we decided, when suddenly a seditious thought occurred to me: cannot Black play actively with 43 ... g5? At first sight this move merely presents White with new targets to attack, but its main advantage is that the black knight acquires mobility. It is tempting to create a passed pawn immediately with 44 h5, but then how can White break through after 44 ... Bb4 ? For a long time it appeared that 44 T&A ^ould win, but after 44 ... gXh4 (44... Rc7 is weaker due to 45 BXf7 RXf7 46 Kc4 Rh7 47 h5) 45 RXh4 Kg7! 46 f4 (Black's defences are impregnable after 46 Rg4+ Ng5! 47 f4 RXc3+ 48 bXc3 eXf4) 46 ... eXf4 (in this situation the exchange sacrifice would be over-hasty: 46... RXc3+ 47 bXc3 eXf4 48 BXf7! KXf7 49 Rh5! Ke6 50 Rf5 followed by Kc4-b5, and White destroys Black's defences) 47 Rg4+ Kf8 48 BXf6 Rc7! Black can defend. And although 49 BXf7 KXf7 (49 ... RXf7? 50 e5) 50 Bd4 still leaves some hopes, it became clear that other measures were required. The super-energetic 44 b4!? was even considered, but here too Black is able to create counter-play: 44 ... aXb4 45 BXb4 gXh4 46 BXd6+ NXd6 47 RXb6 Ke7. As a result I had to reconcile myself to the fact that after the strongest sealed move there was no definite win, and switch to a search for "simply" promising continuations. We deemed 44 BXf7! to be best - White parts with the pride of his position, but gives Black incurable pawn weaknesses: 44 ... KXf7 45 hXg5 fXg5. In spite of the limited amount of material, there is hope of success: 46 Rgl Kg6 47 Bd2 Be7 48 Be3 Rc6 49 Rcl! Now the bishop ending is lost for Black: 49 ... RXcl? 50 BXcl Bc5 51 Kc4 Kh5 52   Bd2! (with the threat of BXa5) 52 ... Bd4 53  b3 Kh4 54 Kd5. But in the rook ending it is not so clear: 49 ... Bc5! 50 BXc5 bXc5 51 Rc3! (stronger than 51 Kc4 Rb6 52 Rc2 Rb4+ 53 KXc5 RXa4 54 Kb5 Ra2) 51.. . Rb6 52 b3, and White should probably win, but only "probably"! There are too few men left on the board.

It will be readily appreciated why I watched the arbiter with such anxiety as he opened the envelope. Had Belyavsky managed to find his one chance? At this moment the arbiter reproduced Black's sealed move on the board.

43 ... Nh8

I inwardly rejoiced, but soon my thoughts began working in the new direction. In devoting our main attention to 43 ... Bb4 and 43 ... g5!, we had merely ascertained in our analysis that after 43 ... Nh8 44 h5 the

b2-b4 breakthrough could not be averted. This analysis now had to be continued over the board.

44 h5 Nf7

Now the knight has obtained the chance of coming into play via g5, but the loss of two tempi is bound to have its effect.

45 b4 aXb4 46 BXb4 Rd8 47 BXd6+?!

White makes his task more difficult. The

immediate 47 Kc4 was simpler, e.g. 47 ... Ng5 48 Kb5 NXf3 49 KXb6 Rb8+ 50 Bb7, or 47 ... BXb4 48 RXb4 Nd6+ 49 Kb3 Nc8 50 Be6. But now on the way to victory White has to avoid several pitfalls.

47 ... RXd6 48 Kc4 Ng5 49 Rb3!

I almost gave in to the temptation of immediately eliminating the b6 pawn, without paying attention to Black's counter-play. Indeed, the variation 49 Kb5? NXf3 50 Ka6 Ke7 51 RXb6 f5! 52 RXd6 KXd6 63 Kb6 fXe4 54 a5 (54 BXe4 Nd2) looks attractive, but it was here that White could have fallen into a trap. After 54 ... KXd5!! 55 a6 e3 56 a7 e2 a8=Q+ Kd4 it is White who has to seek perpetual check!

49 ... Ke7

49        ... Nh3 proves harmless in view of 50 Kb5 Nf4 51 Bc4!, when there is no defence

against Ka6.

50        Kb5 f5! 51 Ka6 f4

Black's counter-play is very real, and it appears that White cannot break through, since at first sight the loss of the f3 pawn has unpleasant consequences for him — the f4 pawn is too close to the queening square. But White nevertheless allows this pawn to complete its career, since he has precisely calculated that, with the new balance of forces, everything will be decided by the turn to move, and it will be his!

52 Kb7! Rh6 53 RXb6 RXb6+ 54 KXb6 NXf3 55 a5 Nd2

The knight is forced to occupy this unfortunate position, otherwise the bishop is able to stop Black's passed pawn: 55 ... Nd4 56 a6 f3 57 a7 f2 58 Bc4.

56 a6 f3 57 a7 f2 58 a8=Q fl=Q

The situation on the board has changed out of all recognition. It may seem that the

XABCDEFGHY
8Q+-+-+-+(
7+-+-mk-zp-'
6-mK-+-+-+&
5+-+Lzp-+P%
4-+-+P+-+$
3+-+-+-+-#
2-+-sn-+-+"
1+-+-+q+-!
xabcdefghy

presence of the queens should allow Black to count on a draw, but right to the end of the game he does not receive a respite. Exploiting the differences in the placing of the minor pieces and the fact that it is his turn to move, White creates irresistible mating threats.

59 Kc7!

The hasty 59 Qa3+? Kf6 60 Qd6+ Kg5 61 QXe5+ Kh4 would have allowed the black king to escape.

59        ... Qcl+

The only defence against the mate. If 59 ... Qf8, then 60 Qa3+ Ke8 61 Qa4+ Ke7 62 Qd7+ Kf6 63 Qf5+ Ke7 64 Qe6 mate.

60        Bc6 NXe4

60        ... Qc3 fails to save the game due to 61 Qe8+ Kf6 62 Qg6+ Ke7 63 QXg7+ Ke6 64 Kd8!, renewing the threat of mate. After the forced 64 ... Qa5+ 65 Ke8 Kd6 66 Qf6+ Kc5 67 QXe5+ Kb6 68 QXa5+ the h-pawn queens.

61Qe8+ Kf6 62 Qg6+ Ke7 63 QXg7+

The knight will not run away, and so White also picks up an important pawn with check.

63 ... Ke6 64 Qg4+ Kf7 65 Qg6+!

Black would still have had some illusory chances after 65 QXe4 Qg5. But since now 65 ... Ke7 66 QXe4 Qg5 67 Qg6! is completely hopeless, Black retreats his king closer to the h8 square, but there it meets with its immediate downfall.

65 ... Kf8 66 h6!

The only way to avoid the mating threats is by 66 ... Ke7, but then after 67 h7 the appearance of a new white queen cannot be prevented. Black resigns.

The unusually concerted actions of the small number of white pieces, as though welded into a single, well regulated mechanism, arouse admiration! It was undoubtedly very pleasant to gain a win in such style over a top-class grandmaster, but my emotions were granted only 15 minutes, after which I was faced with resuming a rather cheerless position against Kuzmin.

Kuzmin-Kasparov

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+-mk(
7+-tr-+-zp-'
6-+qsN-zp-+&
5+-zPRsn-zp-%
4-+-+Q+-+$
3+-+-+-+P#
2-+-+-+P+"
1+-+R+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

Material is again equal, and on a brief glance at the position it might seem that here too there is equilibrium. But this is not so. The outside passed pawn and the powerful knight at d6, cutting off the black queen from the K-side, give White the advantage. And the presence of the queens, together with White's great manoeuvring freedom, allow him to mount an attack on the king, whereas the black pieces, tied to the blockade of the c-pawn, cannot easily come to the aid of their monarch. In addition, the weakness of the eighth rank forces Black to watch very carefully for various possible leaps by the white knight. Thus on 42 Nb5 Black is saved only by 42 ... Rd7!, but not 42 ... Rcc8? because of 43 Na7! Another difficulty in the analysis of such a position is that White is not obliged to hurry, but can manoeuvre about, awaiting a convenient moment to switch to a determined offensive.

On the basis of this, the most unpleasant move for Black was 42 Khl!, eliminating the possibility in certain variations of the c5 pawn being taken with check. In this case Black would probably have had to continue 42... Rf8, renouncing any counter-play. But with his sealed move Kuzmin decided to force events.

42Nc4

Forcing the knight at e5 — the mainstay of Black's position — to abandon its post. But now, after the knight has moved from d6, Black is able to restore the disrupted co¬ordination of his pieces. In the event of another knight move — 42 Nf5 — Black was intending to carry out an interesting regrouping: 42. . .Ra4!?43Qe2g6!44Nd6Rf4! followed by ... Re7 and ... Kg7, when it is not clear what White can undertake.

42        ... NH 43 h4

Kuzmin hurries to break up the black king's defences, but at the same time the white king too is deprived of its secure pawn screen.

Exploiting the fact that Black cannot allow the exchange of knights, White should have returned - 43 Nd6 (43 . . . Ne5 44 Khl).

43        ... Re8 44 Qf3

The incautious 44 Qg6 Qe6 45 hXg5?! would have allowed Black to switch to a counter-attack: 45 ... Qg4 46 Nd6?! NXd6 47 RXd6 (47 cXd6 Re2!) 47 ... Rce7 etc.

44        ... Qe6 45 Nd6

Sensing that his activity on the K-side has reached an impasse, White forces the exchange of knights, pinning all his hopes on the c-pawn.

45        ... g4!

An important interposition. Now after 46 Qf4 Qe3+! 47 QXe3 RXe3 Black is able to avoid the main danger, and so White is forced to lose a tempo and retreat his queen to a less active position.

46        Qf2 Ra8

Black naturally avoids exchanging on d6, which would allow the white pawn to reach the finishing straight.

47NXf7+ RXf7 48 Rd6 Qe5 49 R6d5

White dare not allow ... g3 — his king would feel too uncomfortable.

49        ... Qe6 50 Qf4

In the heavy piece ending the c-pawn is a powerful force, since after the exchange of knights it has become more difficult to blockade it. But Black has gained the possibility of activating his pieces, which proves more important and makes a draw the most probable result.

50        ... Re7!

By threatening to exchange queens, Black provokes the white king into moving to h2.

51Kh2 Ra3!

Reminding White that for a heavy piece battle his king is not altogether securely covered, whereas the black king can hide at n (52 Rh5+? Kg8 53 Rd8+ Kf7).

52R5d3

To defend against. . . g3+, White removes his control from the 5th rank, and, what is most important, from e5. It is unlikely that 52 Rld3 Ral! was any better, when he has to reckon with threats on the back rank.

52        ... Ra2!

With every exchange the strength of the c-pawn would be increased, e.g. 52 ... RXd3? 53 RXd3 Qe5? 54 QXe5 RXe5 55 Rc3! with a decisive advantage. After 52 ... Ra2! Black's activity prevents the opponent from using his main trump. Thus neither 53 Rcl nor 53 Rc3 is possible because of 53 ... RXg2+! 54 KXg2 Qe2+. Kuzmin decides to cover his g2 pawn securely, but in doing so he shuts his rook out of play.

53Rg3 f5

Now Black's achievements are clearly seen — White's passed pawn has not yet moved, whereas Black's counter-play looks highly promising.

54Rd6 Qe5

Black offers the exchange, reckoning that after 55 QXe5 RXe5 56 c6 (56 Rc3 f4!) 56 ... Rc2 White will find it difficult to co-ordinate his pieces.

55Qc4

The plausible 55 Qg5 runs into the pretty 55 ... RXg2+! 56 KXg2 Qe2+ 57 Kgl (57 Khl?Qfl+)57. . .Qel+58Kh2Re2+59Rg2 RXg2+ 60 KXg2 Qe2+ with perpetual check.

55        ... Re2

The passive 55... Ra8 would have allowed White to seize the initiative: 56 Rd5! Qf6 57 Qf4! (57 ... QXh4+? 58 Rh3).

56Rd8+ Re8 57 RXe8+ QXe8 58 c6

The c-pawn has advanced, but Black is already prepared for this.

58 ... Re4

Draw agreed. 59 Qd5! Qe7 60 c7! QXc7 61 QXf5 Rf4 is practically forced. An attempt by White to play for a win involves considerable risk, e.g. 59 Qc3?! Qe6! 60 c7 Rc4 61 Qd2 Kh7! etc.

Thus two of the adjourned games had concluded successfully, but there was still another unpleasant test to be faced.

Kasparov-Kupreichik

XABCDEFGHY
8-+R+-+-+(
7+-+-+pmkp'
6-+-+p+p+&
5zp-+-+-+-%
4P+-+-+-+$
3+n+-+-+-#
2-+-+-zPPzP"
1+r+LmK-+-!
xabcdefghy

There are very few pieces left on the board, and it appears that White's pawn deficit puts him under a serious threat of defeat. But by exploiting the awkward placing of the black pieces, White is able to regain the pawn (a5). Unfortunately, we were unable to devote sufficient time to this adjourned game, and in the main we studied only 42 ... Rcl, which leads by force after 43 RXcl NXcl 44 Kd2 Na2 45 Bb3 Nb4 46 Kc3 Kf6 47 Kc4 Ke5 48 Kb5 Kd6 49 KXa5 Kc5 to a position in which at first sight the dismal placing of the white king gives Black real winning chances. Nevertheless we managed to find a more or less acceptable defence.

But in our haste we were unable to decide just how dangerous for White the move 42 ... Kf6 was. In this case White's direct attempts to regain the pawn are opposed by Black with tactical tricks. For example, 43 Rc3 Ncl! (43 ... Nd4 44 Rc5) 44 Kd2 Na2 45 Rc5 Rb2+ 46 Ke3 (46 Kel? Nb4) 46 ... Nb4, and now 47 RXa5? is not possible due to 47 ... Nd5+ 48 KG Nc3, when the white bishop unexpectedly finds itself trapped. In our analysis the black knight's agility began to fill me with almost superstitious horror, but on a close examination all Black's threats disappeared. All that is needed is to cut off the knight from the centre — 47 Bf3!, and on 47 ... Nc2+ to boldly step into a discovered check - 48 Kd2! (48 Kd3? Ne 1+ 49 Ke3 Rb3+ 50 Ke2 NXD 51 gXO Rb4! 52 RXa5 Rh4 with an easy win), and it is easy to see that none of the possible knight moves gives Black any joy: 48 ... Na3+ (48 ... Nd4+? 49 Kc3) 49 Kel! Rbl+ 50 Bdl, or 48 ... Nal+ 49 Kel Nb3? 50 Rb5.1 can now calmly describe the virtues and drawbacks of this or that move, but during the adjournment I was rather afraid of 42 ... Kf6, not without reason fearing unpleasant surprises from such a clever tactician as Kupreichik.

But it all turned out to be much more simple. After thinking for about half an hour over his sealed move, Kupreichik did not risk going in for the intricacies of 42 ... Kf6, and preferred 42 ... Rcl. After making seven forced moves (they are given above) at blitz speed, the players reached the following position:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6-+-+p+p+&
5mK-mk-+-+-%
4Psn-+-+-+$
3+L+-+-+-#
2-+-+-zPPzP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

Black's plan is simple: exploiting the unenviable position of the white king, he will try to realize his numerical majority on the K-side, by transforming it into a passed pawn.

50 f4!

This paralyzes Black's K-side, and forces him to open slightly the cage enclosing the white king.

50        ... Nd5

Or 50 ... h6 51 g3 g5 52 f5! etc.

51Ka6!

The main thing is activity! 51 g3 Nc7! would have allowed Black to create a passed pawn by . . . f6 and . . . e5, while keeping the white king locked up. Now in the event of 51... NXf4 52 a5! Kc6 (52 ... Kb4? 53 Kb6!, and White even wins) 53 Ba4+ Kc7 54 Be8 f5 55 g3! (not Kb5? in view of 55 ... NXg2! 56 Bc6 Ne3 57 a6 Kb8 58 Kb6 Nc4+) 55 . .. Nd5 56 Kb5 the a-pawn guarantees White against defeat. Therefore Black intends first to elimi

nate White's dangerous passed pawn, but in doing this his pieces move away from the K-side.

51        ... Kb4 52 Bdl

52        BXd5? leads to a lost queen ending after 52... eXd5 53 Kb6 d4 54 a5 d3 55 a6 d2 56 a7 dl=Q 57 a8=Q Qd4+.

52 ... Ne3

Here too the capture of the f4 pawn does not bring Black any advantage, e.g. 52 ... NXf4 53 a5! Nd5 54 BB f5 55 Kb7! KXa5 56 Kc6, and the significant difference in the placing of the kings reduces to naught Black's material advantage. Things are not essentially changed by the more cunning 52 ... Nc3 53 Bf3 NXa4 54 Kb7, when the white king again succeeds in breaking through to Black's K-side pawns. True, if he were to lose his vigilance, White could fall into a well-concealed trap: 52 ... Nc3 53 Bc2?!NXa4 54BXa4?KXa455Kb6g5!!(only a draw results from 55 ... Kb4 56 Kc6 Kc4 57Kd6 Kd4 58 Ke7 f5 59 KXe6 Ke4 60 Kf6 KXf4 61 Kg7) 56 g3 (56 fXg5 Kb4 57 Kc6 Kc4 58Kd6 Kd4 is equally bad) 56 ... gXf4 57 gXf4 Kb4 58 Kc6 Kc4 59 Kd6 Kd4 60 Ke7 f5! 61 KXe6 Ke4, and Black wins.

53 Bf3 KXa4 54 Kb6 Kb4 55 Kc6 Kc4 56 Kd6

56 Kd7 was probably more precise, but the move played also does not spoil anything.

56        ... Nd5

Now White gains a draw without any particular difficulty, whereas 56 ... Nf5+ would have forced him to be careful.

57        Ke5 Kd3

After 57 ... Kc5 58 g4! and f4-f5 mass pawn exchanges are inevitable.

58        BXd5!

This looks dangerous, since now the black king is the first to break through to the K-side pawns, but the white king too succeeds in doing its "dirty" work in time.

58 ... eXd5 59 KXd5 Ke3 60 Ke5

Draw agreed. The variations 60 ... f5 61 Kf6 KXf4 62 Kg7 or 60 .. . Kf2 61 Kf6 KXg2

62        KXf7 KXh2 63 Kf7 confirm the timeliness of this decision.

The results of the adjournment session were a pleasant surprise for me and my trainer — the maximum task had after all been achieved! The successful completion of these adjourned games allowed me for the first time to become sole leader of the tournament.

Super-Tournament in Bugojno

Until recently the name Bugojno meant little, even to an inhabitant of Yugoslavia, but, since 1978, this little town has attracted the attention of the entire chess world. The present tournament was the third in number. In the first, victory was shared by Karpov and Spassky, while in the second (1980) the World Champion managed to overtake Larsen right at the finish. Both tournaments produced a hard struggle, and therefore uncompromising play was also expected of the participants in the 1982 event. And it has to be said that these expectations were not betrayed— in each round there were interesting games, and it was only at the finish, when competitive considerations began to take the upper hand, that some short draws occurred. In this respect the Bugojno tournament was a pleasant exception to the series of super-tournaments which have become popular in recent times.

The even strength of the participants suggested that there would be a hard battle for first place. Of the foreign players, the main contenders for victory were reckoned to be Jan Timman and Bent Larsen, who in the past have to their credit a number of memorable tournament victories. But a particular battle for the top prize did not in fact occur. The rapid tempo set by me from the start proved too much for my opponents.

In the first round I met Svetozar Gligoric, played the opening experimentally, and failed to gain an advantage. But then my opponent went wrong, after which I was able as though to stalemate his pieces.

Kasparov-Gligoric

Queen s Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 NB b6 4 a3 c5 5 d5 Ba6 6 Qc2 eXd5 7 cXd5 g6 8 Bf4 d6 9 Nc3 Bg7 10 Qa4+ Qd7 11 BXd6 QXa4 12 NXa4 NXd5 13 0-0-0 Ne7 14 e4 BXfl 15 RhXfl Nbc6 16 Nc3 Rd8? (16 ... BXc3!) 17 Nb5 Rd7 18 Bf4 RXdl+ 19 RXdl 0-0 20 Rd7 Ra8 21 Bd6 Nc8 22 Nc7 Rb8 23 Na6 Ra8 24 Bf4 N8e7 25 Bd6 Nc8 26 Bg3 N8e7 27 Bh4 Bf8 28 Bf6 Rd8 29 Rc7 Re8

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+rvlk+(
7zp-tR-snp+p'
6Nzpn+-vLp+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4-+-+P+-+$
3zP-+-+N+-#
2-zP-+-zPPzP"
1+-mK-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

30 g4 Bg7 31 g5 Bf8 32 Kc2 Rc8 33 Rb7 Nd4+ 34 NXd4 cXd4+ 35 Kd3 Nc6 36 f4Bd637 e5 Bf8 38 b4 Nd8 39 BXd8 RXd8 40 RXa7 h6 41 h4 h5 42 Nc7

Black resigns.

It has to be said that in the initial stage of the tournament — the first four rounds — I was successful in not only the competitive sense (3^1/2 points), but also the creative. Here, for example, is my interesting draw from the second round, where much remained behind the scenes.

Ivanovic-Kasparov

Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cXd4 4 NXd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Bc4 e6 7 Qe2 Be7 8 a4 Nc6 9 Be3 0-0 10 0-0

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwq-trk+(
7+p+-vlpzpp'
6p+nzppsn-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4P+LsNP+-+$
3+-sN-vL-+-#
2-zPP+QzPPzP"
1tR-+-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

10 ... d5

By this sort of freeing advance Black usually seizes the initiative. The Yugoslav player finds an interesting solution.

11 Rfdl!

After 11 eXd5 eXd5 12 Bb3 Bb4 Black has much the better game.

11        ... Bd6 12 eXd5

Now it all rather quickly ends in a draw. 12 Bg5 would have led to more complicated play, although here too Black's chances are not worse, e.g. 12 ... NXd4 13 RXd4 Qb6 14 BXf6 gXf6 15 Qg4+ Kh8 16 eXd5. In this position he can choose between 16 ... e5 17 Qh4 with a draw and 16 ... QXb2, winning a piece, but in the latter case White has chances of an attack.

12        ... eXd5 13 NXd5 NXd5 14 BXd5 BXh2+ 15 KXh2 QXd5 16 c4 Qe4 17 NXc6

bXc6 18 Rd4 Qe5+ 19 Kgl

Drawn.

And in my game with the Argentinian grandmaster Najdorf I was able to carry out an interesting idea.

Kasparov-Najdorf

Queen's Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 a3 Bb7 5 Nc3 d5 6 cXd5 NXd5 7 e3 Be7 8 Bb5+ c6 9 Bd3 NXc3 10 bXc3 c5 11 0-0 Nc6 12 e4 0-0 13 Be3 cXd4 14 cXd4 Rc8 15 Qe2 Na5 16 Rfel Qd6

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-trk+(
7zpl+-vlpzpp'
6-zp-wqp+-+&
5sn-+-+-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3zP-+LvLN+-#
2-+-+QzPPzP"
1tR-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

I managed to exploit the advanced position of the black queen for an attack on the K-side. To do this, the two central pawns had to be sacrificed.

17 d5 eXd5 18 e5 Qe6 19 Nd4 QXe5 20 Nf5

The bishops' diagonals are open and the knight has been brought up, and yet Black's position is fairly solid.

20 ... Bf6

20        ... Bc5 is bad because of 21 Qh5, when against the threat of Ne7+ there is no satis

factory defence. At first sight 20 ... Nc4 seems to work, but then the quiet 21 Qfl! decides the game.

Fairy-tales! After 20 . . . Nc4 21 Qfl the simple 21 . . . Bd6! leaves White in a bad way (22 ft Qf6 23 Bd4 Bc5, or 22 g3 NXe3). Little better is 21 Bd4 QXe2 22 RXe2 Bc523BXg7Rfe8. Perhaps the only saving possibility is 21 Qh5 g6 22 Bd4 QXd4 (22...gXh5 23NXe7+) 23NXd4 gXh5 24 RXe7 Nd6 25 Nf5 NXf5 26RXb7Nd4 27 RXa7 - the weakness of Black's pawns will probably prevent him from winning. One is led to the conclusion that, instead of the frivolous sacrifice of two pawns, White should have chosen the "routine" 17 h4.

21Qg4

The threat is Bd4. The most natural reply is 21 ... Rfe8, and then 22 Bd2 QXal 23 RXal BXal, when 24 NXg7 does not work because of 24 ... BXg7 25 Bh6 Rcl+ 26 Bfl RXfl+! 27 KXfl Ba6+, and Black gives mate. Therefore (instead of 24 NXg7) 24 h4! is stronger (renewing the threat of NXg7). Incidentally, 24 Nh6+ is not very good in view of 24 . . . Kf8 25 Bb4+ Rc5 - Black gives up the exchange, but White's attack peters out. But after 24 h4 he retains strong threats.

Black could also have defended by 21 ... Qc3, when White would have continued 22 Ne7+! BXe7 (bad is 22 ... Kh8 23 BXh7 Rc4 24Be4!, mating) 23 Bd4 QXd4 24 QXd4 Bf6 25            Qg4 BXal 26 RXal. Black has rook, knightand two pawns for the queen. I think that White's chances are preferable, but the most likely outcome is a draw.

But Najdorf played a weak move:

21        ... Rce8? 22 Bd2 QXal

Or 22... Qc7 23 Nh6+ Kh8 24 RXe8 RXe8 25 Qf5 Re4 26 BXe4 dXe4 27 Rcl Nc4 28 Bg5 with a decisive advantage.

23e RXal BXal

Here the combination mentioned above now works.

24 NXg7! BXg7

Or 24... Bc8 25 Ne6+ Kh8 26 Qf5, mating.

25Bh6

Black resigns.

In my opinion, the decisive games in the battle for first place were those from the sixth and seventh rounds against Ex-World Champions Petrosian and Spassky. As the reader will be aware, up till then the games with Petrosian had gone badly for me, but on this occasion I managed to break the unpleasant tradition. Right from the opening I was able to gain a great advantage.

Kasparov-Petrosian

Bogo-Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 Bb4+ 4 Bd2 Qe7 5 g3 BXd2+ 6 QXd2 0-0 7 Bg2 d5 8 0-0 dXc4 9 Na3 c5 10 dXc5 QXc5 11 Racl Nc6 12 NXc4 Qe7? 13 Nfe5 NXe5 14 NXe5

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7zpp+-wqpzpp'
6-+-+psn-+&
5+-+-sN-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2PzP-wQPzPLzP"
1+-tR-+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

Evaluating this position is not at all difficult — the difference in the placing of the pieces is too great. But the realization of the advantage is made difficult by the absence of weaknesses in Black's position. If he can manage to develop his pieces without any particular damage, White's initiative will be neutralized. To do this he must drive the knight at e5 from its dominating position.

14 ... Nd5 15 Rfdl Nb6 16 Qa5!

Restraining Black's Q-side, and preventing 16 ... f6 in view of 17 Nc4 NXc4 18 RXc4 with a decisive invasion.

16 ... g6 17 Rd3!

With his last move Black tried to prepare the exchange of a pair of rooks, but White forestalls this attempt: 17 ... Rd8 18 Qc5! QXc5 19 RXd8+ Qf8 20 RXf8+ KXf8 21 Rc7, with a crushing position.

17        ... Nd5 18 e4!

It is a pity for White to block the diagonal of his own bishop, but now it is more important to drive the black knight from its excellent post.

18        ... Nb6

Forced, in order to cover c7. The attempt to gain some freedom by tactical means did not work - 18 ... Qb4? 19 RXd5.

19Bfl!

An unobtrusive, but very important move. In such a situation the main thing is not to allow the opponent to free himself. Black was intending to play 19. . .f6,andafter20Nc4to exploit the undefended state of the rook at d3: 20... NXc4 21 RXc4 b6 22 Qc3 Ba6. The prophylactic 19 Bfl! prevents this possibility.

19        ... Re8

It is hard to call this move a mistake, but at any rate Black's best chance was to sacrifice a pawn by 19 ... f6 20Nc4 Bd7, although even then White should gradually win after 21 NXb6 aXb6 22 QXb6 Bc6 23 a3.

20        Rddl!

White has fully co-ordinated all his pieces, and Black can only passively observe his op¬ponent's preparations.

20        ... Rf8

There is nothing else, since it is no longer possible to buy off the opponent with a pawn sacrifice: 20... f6 21 Nc4 Bd7 22 NXb6 aXb6 23 QXb6 Bc6 24 Bb5! BXb5 25 QXb5 with a straightforward win. Now Black can only hope for a miracle, or. ... the inexperience and haste of his opponent. On the experience of our previous meetings, the latter seemed more probable, but the lessons received from Petrosian in Moscow and Tilburg had taught me a great deal.

21        a3!

Insignificant moves such as this demonstrate to the opponent just how helpless he is.

21 ... Kg7 22 b3

White, with unhurried haste, approaches his goal. It is obvious that the advance of the pawn to a5 will spell the end of Black's resistance, but what can he do?

22 ... Kg8 23 a4 Rd8

Even without this oversight the game would not have lasted long.

24 Qc5!

The variation 24 ... QXc5 (24 ... Qe8 25 Ng4!) 25 RXd8+ Qf8 26 RXf8+ KXf8 27 Rc7 does not require any commentary. Black resigns.

My game with Spassky took a very tense course.

Spassky-Kasparov

Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 e6 3 g3 d5 4 eXd5 eXd5 5 Bg2 Nf6

5          ... d4 is premature in view of the inter position 6 Qe2+, after which the knight will

occupy one of the central squares e4 or d5.

6          Nge2 d4 7 Ne4 NXe4 8 BXe4 Nd7

8... Nc6 followed by... Bd6 and. . . 0-0 is also acceptable.

9 0-0 Nf6 10 Bg2 Bd6

Black has deployed his pieces well. If 11 d3 then 11... 0-0, and he has simply the better chances — he has more space for manoeuvring. Therefore Spassky immediately starts to undermine Black's pawn centre.

11c3!

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-+-vl-sn-+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4-+-zp-+-+$
3+-zP-+-zP-#
2PzP-zPNzPLzP"
1tR-vLQ+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

11        ... d3!?

Quieter play would have resulted from

11 ... 0-0 12 cXd4 cXd4 13 d3 (less good is 13 NXd4 BXg3) 13 ... Re8.

12        Nf4 0-0

Of course, not 12 ... BXf4? because of 13 Qa4+ Bd7 14 Rel+! Kf8 15 QXf4.

13        NXd3 BXg3 14 fXg3!

This is stronger than 14 hXg3 — the white rook comes into play on the f-file. 14 NXc5? is bad - 14 ... BXh2+ 15 KXh2 Ng4+, and Black's attack can hardly be parried.

14        ... QXd3 15 Qf3

An interesting position — Black has blockaded his opponent's Q-side, but if White should manage to free himself his two bishops may have an important say. Black must play energetically, and so 15 ... Rd8 does not work in view of 16 QXd3 RXd3 17 Rel followed by Bfl, when White stands better.

15        ... QXG 16 BXf3

On 16 RXO Black plays 16. .. Be6 with the better chances.

16        ... Bh3 17 BXb7!

Spassky too is fighting for an advantage.

17        ... Rae8 18 Bg2

Not 18 Rdl because of 18 ... Bg4 19 Rfl Be2 20 Rel Bd3.

18              ... BXg2 19 KXg2 Re2+ 20 Rf2 Rfe8

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+r+k+(
7zp-+-+pzpp'
6-+-+-sn-+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-zP-+-zP-#
2PzP-zPrtRKzP"
1tR-vL-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

White is a pawn up, but for the moment his two Q-side pieces are out of play. True, there is little material left on the board, and it is extremely difficult for Black to exploit his lead in development. Especially since Spassky now makes a very strong move.

21 b3!

An excellent solution, and the only correct one in this position. 21 d4 is bad — 21 ... cXd4 22 cXd4 Rel, and the "paralysis" of White's Q-side is bound to tell. The idea of the move in the game is to abandon the K-side to its fate, but to develop the Q-side. For example: 21 ... h5 22 Ba3 Ng4 23 RXe2 RXe2+ 24 KB etc. (White's plans include BXc5Xa7), or 21 ... h5 22 Ba3 RXG+ 23 KXf2 Ne4+ 24 Kg2 NXd2 25 BXc5 Re2+ 26 Bf2 Ne4 27 KB RXf2+ 28 KXe4 RXh2 - and in my opinion White still stands better.

21 ... RXf2+ 22 KXf2 Ng4+ 23 Kg2 f5!

23        ... Rel is tempting, and if 24 Bb2 Re2+ 25 KB RXd2. But then 26 Ba3 NXh2+ 27 Ke4 is very strong — White's active pieces constitute a formidable force.

24        h3 Ne5 25 d4

With his pawn at d2, White of course cannot allow the knight in at d3.

25        ... cXd4 26 cXd4

26        Bd2 is interesting, returning the pawn but developing the bishop after 26 ... dXc3

27        BXc3 with the better chances. But Black would have had a draw — 26 ... Nd3 27 Kf3 Ne5+ 28 Kf4 Nd3+, since 29 KXf5 is not possible in view of 29 ... Re2. A double-edged position would have resulted after 27 Kf 1 - 27 . . . dXc3 28 BXc3 Re3 29 Bd4 RXg3 30 BXa7 RXh3.

26        ... Nd3

The activity of Black's knight saves him, since 27 Ba3 is not possible due to 27 ... Nel+ and 28 ... Nc2.

27Bg5

27        Bf4 can be adequately met by 27 ... NXf4+ 28 gXf4 Re4.

27 ... h6 28 Rdl hXg5 29 RXd3 Re2+ 30 KB RXa2 31 d5 Kf7 32 d6 Ke8

Drawn.

The sequel could have been 33 Re3+ Kd7 34 Re7+ KXd6 35 RXg7 Rb2 36 RXg5 Ke6.

After gaining one and a half points in these two games, I felt that I had good chances of first place. In rounds 8 and 9 I managed to win against Larsen and Kavalek, and my lead over my nearest rival — Polugayevsky -reached one and a half points.

Kasparov-Larsen

In the diagram position it is hard to imagine the coming combinational complications, and one would expect that after a manoeuvring struggle the game will end in a draw. However, I managed to find an interesting possibility.

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+-+k+(
7zpp+q+-zpp'
6n+-zp-snl+&
5+-+Pzp-+-%
4PzP-+-+-+$
3+Q+-sN-sNP#
2-+-+LzPP+"
1+-tR-+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

25 Rc6!

An audacious move, the virtue of which is that it does not spoil anything! Incidentally, it has a positional basis: 25 ... Bf7 26 Bg4! NXg4 27 RXc8+ QXc8 28 hXg4 with an appreciable advantage for White (28 ... Qcl+ 29 Kh2 Qd2? 30 Qc4!). But if Black had simply ignored the impudent rook and improved the placing of his pieces (25 ... Nc7), the game would again have taken an even course. However, Larsen is not one of those who takes the opponent at his word, and so, after thinking for 20 minutes out of his remaining 25, he resolutely removed the white rook from the board.

25        ... bXc6?

Now White's idea is justified.

26 dXc6+ Qf7 27 Bc4 d5 28 NXd5 Kh8

28        ... Kf8, with the idea of giving up the queen in a favourable version, runs into an

elegant refutation: 29 Nb6! RXc6 30 BXf7 BXf7 31 Qa3!, when the discovered check is

decisive, or  29 ... aXb6 30 BXf7 BXf7 31Qd3!

29 Nb6! Qc7 30 NXc8 QXc8 31 b5!

This move was underestimated by Larsen.

He for some reason reckoned only with 31BXa6 QXa6, which would have allowed him to stop the passed pawns. But White has no reason to exchange his strong bishop.

31 ... Nc5 32 Qa3 Nce4

The knight cannot be maintained at c5 — 32 ... Qf8 33 c7! Nfd7 34 Be6!

33 Qe7 NXg3

Now 34 fXg3 would have won without any particular difficulty. Unfortunately, at this moment my attention was diverted by Black's flag, which was still holding up only by some kind of miracle, and, thinking that all roads would lead to Rome, I decided to play brilliantly.

34 c7 Bf5

Now White could have chosen between 35 Qd8+ Ne8 36 Bf7 and the more elegant 36 b6! aXb6 37 Ba6!, with an instant win in both cases. I do not recall what I was thinking about, but suddenly I mechanically picked up the black knight.

35 fXg3? h5!

Larsen promptly makes use of the chance offered — now the variations given in the previous note do not work, since the black king has acquired the h7 square. After con¬vincing myself that it was impossible to win the game immediately, I decided simply to advance my pawns.

36 a5 e4 37 b6 aXb6 38 aXb6 Kh7

It isn't possible to blockade the pawns: 38 ... Qb7 39 Qc5 Bc8 40 Bb5! e3 (otherwise Bc6) 41 QXe3, and White must win.

39 Qc5 Bd7

Here Black's flag finally fell, but all the same after 40 Qa5 the white pawns cannot be stopped.

Kavalek-Kasparov

King's Indian Defence

1d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5Nf3 0-0 6 h3 e5 7 d5

One of the most insidious systems of play against the King's Indian Defence, devised by Vladimir Makogonov. The main idea of it is that the immediate preparation of. . . f5 runs into an energetic counter: 7 ... Nh5 8 Nh2! (this looks fanciful, but it has a sound basis — why should the Nh2 stand any worse than the Nh5?) 8 .. . Qe8 9 Be2 Nf4 10 Bf3 f5 11 g3! Only this pawn sacrifice casts doubts on Black's play, whereas 11 h4? allowed him to develop furious activity in the 1973 game Kavalek-Quinteros: 11 ... Na6 12 g3 Nc5!! 13 gXf4 eXf4, and White had to resort to extreme measures (14 e5!) to avoid an immediate debacle.

After 11 g3! NXh3 12 Bg2 neither 12 ... fXe4 13 Be3 Bf5 14 Ng4 (Bagirov-Vukic, 1976) nor 12 ... f4 13 NO g5 14 BXh3 BXh3 15 RXh3 g4 16 Rhl gXfi 17 QXfi (Vizhmanavin-Chiburdanidze, 1981) helps Black to solve his problems.

However, Black is not obliged to hurry with . . . f5.

7          ... Na6 8 Be3

White is prepared to meet 8... Nc5 by the standard 9 Nd2, but a surprise awaits him.

8          ... Nh5!

Noticing the not altogether happy position of the bishop at e3 in the variations with . . . Nh5 and ... f5, Black reverts to this plan.

9Nh2 Qe8 10 Be2 Nf4 11 Bf3 f5

Now it is obvious that the inclusion of... Na6 and Be3 has favoured Black, if only for the reason that 12 g3 does not work (12 ... NXh3 13 Bg2 f4). The development of the knight at a6 has other positive aspects, too, but about that a little later.

12h4 Qe7 13 g3

In expectation of 13 ... Nh3 14 Rfl f4 15 Bel, when there appears to be no way for Black to develop his initiative, and his knight remains in an offside position. The idea of leaving the knight en prise may seem audacious, but a more intent study of the position reveals its similarity with the aforementioned Kavalek-Quinteros game. White was probably reassured by the fact that here the c5 square is under the observation of the bishop at e3, but there is another way to reach d3... .

13        ... Nb4! (see diagram)

The knight at f4 is immune: 14 gXf4 fXe4! (14 ... eXf4? 15 BXf4 fXe4 16 Bg5!) 15 fXe5 (15 NXe4 eXf4 16 Bd2 Nd3+ 17 Ke2 Nc5, regaining the piece) 15 ... Nd3+ 16 Ke2 RXB! 17 NXO Bg4 18 NXe4 NXe5, and the game cannot be saved. Kavalek was evi-

Position after 13 . . . Nb4!

XABCDEFGHY
8r+l+-trk+(
7zppzp-wq-vlp'
6-+-zp-+p+&
5+-+Pzpp+-%
4-snP+-sn-zP$
3+-sN-vLLzP-#
2PzP-+-zP-sN"
1tR-+QmK-+R!
xabcdefghy

dently dismayed by such an unexpected turn of events, and he made a serious mistake.

14 Qb3?

This is boldness, bordering on suicide. Whether it was good or bad, he should have castled. Black would have replied 14 ... g5!, continuing to increase the tension in the vicinity of the white king. The position after 14 0-0 g5! is not easy to evaluate objectively, but in my opinion Black has good prospects in the coming battle.

14        ... Nfd3+

Such a situation by the 14th move is not often seen: the black cavalry, after by-pass¬ing the opponent's advanced centre on the flanks, has begun to pursue the white king.

15 Ke2 f4 16 Bd2

When playing Black in such a position, the main thing is not to lose one's head in the face of the mass of tempting continuations. The simple 16 ... a5, for example, was possible, but intuition suggested to me that more energetic measures were demanded.

16...fXg3?!

Black confuses the road signs, and sets out on a bumpy road which should have led by force to a draw. In the spirit of the preceding play was the resolute 16 ... NXf2! 17 KXf2 Nd3+18Kg2(18Ke2Nc519Qc2fXg3 20Nfl Qf6) 18 ... fXg3 19 KXg3 Rf4!, when the entire black army takes part in the decisive offensive, e.g. 20 Ng4 h5! 21 Ne3 (21 Nfi RXB+! 22 KXfi Qf6+ 23 Ke2 NXf2 with inevitable mate) 21 . . . Bf6! 22 Ng2 BXh4+ 23 RXh4 Qg5+, or 20 BXf4 eXf4+ 21 Kg2 QXh4 22 Rhfl Bh3+ 23 Khl BXfl 24 RXfl Nf2+ 25 RXf2 QXf2 26 QXb7 Rf8, and the win is not far off. That is how this game, which was begun so well, should have been concluded!

'The win is not far off" is too strong an expression: 27Ne2!g5 28 QXc7 (28 Qb3 Qh4!, and the pawns advance) 28. . .g4!29BXg4f3 30 NXf3 (30 BXf3 Be5!) 30... QXe2 (30... RXJ3? 31 BXf3 QXJ3+ 32 Kgl QXe2 33 Qc8+ with perpetual check) 31 QXd6 Qfl+! 32 Ngl QXc4, and Black still has good winning chances.

17 fXg3 RXB! 18 NXB Bg4 19 Rafl Rf8

The critical position for evaluating the course taken by Black. At first sight things appear to be going splendidly for him: apart from the direct. . . Qf7, he is also threatening the double exchange on f3 followed by the invasion of the black queen. But a more careful study of the position reveals that the threat of. . . Qf7 is not deadly if the d2 square is vacated for the white king, and meanwhile the black cavalry has become bogged down in enemy territory. The main thing now for White is to cover the f2 square, thus defending against the second threat. This aim is served by 20 Ndl and 20 Be3. In the game White chose the more tempting continuation, but it proved to be incorrect.

20 Ndl?

As already mentioned, it is important to vacate the d2 square. This demand is met by 20 Be3!, when Black would have had to find the only continuation to maintain the balance — 20... Bh6! (much weaker is 20... Qf7? 21 a3! BXf3+ 22 Kd2 Qd7 23 Rhgl, or 20 .. . Qd7 21 a3 BXB+ 22 RXB Qg4 23 Rfl RXB 24 RXB Nel 25 KXel QXB 26 Kd2!). Now 21 a3? is bad because of 21... RXB 22 RXB BXB+ 23 KXB Qf6+ 24 Ke2 BXe3 25 Rfl Ncl+, or 24 Kg2 BXe3 25 Rfl Nel+! After 21 BXh6 RXB 22 RXB BXB+ 23 KXB Qf6+ 24 Kg2 Qf2+ 25 Kh3 QB 26 Rh2 (26 Kh2 Qf2+) it appears that Black's attack peters out, but 26 ... g5! 27 BXg5 Qfl+ 28 Kg4 (28 Rg2? Nf2+ 29 Kh2 Qhl mate) 28 ...h5+! 29 KXh5 QB+ 30 Kh6 (not 30 g4? in view of mate in two moves) 30 ... Qf8+ 31 Kh5 QB+ leads to perpetual check.

It may seem strange that after 20 Be3! Black has nothing better, but that is the way things are: the efficiency of his pieces is very much reduced (for the sake of comparison, the position after 16 ... NXf2! should be recalled).

20 ... Qf7!

A strong reply: the black knight is immune, whereas White's is doomed.

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7zppzp-+qvlp'
6-+-zp-+p+&
5+-+Pzp-+-%
4-snP+P+lzP$
3+Q+n+NzP-#
2PzP-vLK+-+"
1+-+N+R+R!
xabcdefghy

21 Be3 BXB+ 22 Kd2 Qd7 23 Rhgl

23 a3 is more tenacious, but it would not have essentially changed anything: after 23 .. . BXhl 24 RXhl a5 25 aXb4 NXb4 Black's extra pawn plus the exposed position of the white king assure him of a win.

23 ... Qh3 24 a3 BXe4! 25 RXf8+ BXf8 26 aXb4 Qh2+ 27 Kc3 Ncl!

An elegant finish. White resigns.

After winning this game, I rather prematurely thought that I was assured of an easy time of it in the tournament. But after a quick draw with Polugayevsky, I was faced with a game as Black against Timman, which could have been that very fly in the ointment which spoils the impression of any success. After playing the opening frivolously, by move 15 I was already in an unenviable position.

Timman-Kasparov

King's Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 Be3 Nc6 7 Nge2 a6 8 Qd2 Rb8 9 h4 b5?! 10 h5 e5 11 d5 Na5 12 Ng3 bXc4? 13 0-0-0 Nd7 14 hXg6 fXg6 15 Nbl

XABCDEFGHY
8-trlwq-trk+(
7+-zpn+-vlp'
6p+-zp-+p+&
5sn-+Pzp-+-%
4-+p+P+-+$
3+-+-vLPsN-#
2PzP-wQ-+P+"
1+NmKR+L+R!
xabcdefghy

Here 15... Nb7 16 BXc4 Nbc5 was normal and, although it would have left Black under positional pressure, he could still have hoped for a successful defence. But I was still in an optimistic frame of mind, and I confidently played

15        ... Rb5?,

hoping successfully to confuse matters after 16 Na3 Nc5! 17 BXc4 (17 Kbl? c3! 18 QXc3 Na4) 17 ... Rb3!? 18 BXc5 RXa3 19 BXa3 NXc4 20 Qel (20 Qc3? NXa3 21 QXa3 Qg5+) 20 ... NXa3 21 bXa3. In this variation the exposed position of the white king does indeed give Black counter-chances.

16 b4!

An elegant reply, which dispels Black's illusions. 16 ... Nb7 17 BXc4 is obviously hopeless, so Black decides on a desperate step — the sacrifice of a rook.

16 ... cXb3 17 BXb5 c5

It is absurd to say that Black is on the verge of defeat — he has already crossed this verge! The simple 18 Be2 would have left White a rook up in a relatively quiet situation — what more can one ask of a position!? But from this moment an important part is played by the psychological undercurrent — at every move White expects his opponent to capitulate, whereas Black displays resourcefulness in balancing over the abyss.

18 dXc6?! aXb5

Here Timman  sank into thought.  On closer inspection the obvious 19 cXd7 turned out to be not so clear: 19 ... Nc4 20 dXc8=Q QXc8 21 Qd5+ Rf7, and Black's small army unexpectedly creates some very real threats. However, the simple elimination of the dangerous b-pawn — 21 aXb3! would have left White with an advantage sufficient to win after 21 ... NXd2+ 22 KXd2. But when you are a rook up, it is not so easy to part with your queen!

19 Qd5+? Rf7

Not 19 ... Kh8? 20 RXh7+!, mating.

20aXb3

Now Black is only the exchange down, and that is a success!

20        ... Nf8!

Preparing ... Be6 and covering the king. Now 21 QXb5 is unpleasantly met by 21... NXc6!, so the queen takes a different pawn.

21QXd6 Qe8

The situation has sharpened: Black has managed to co-ordinate his pieces, and the insecure position of the white king is beginning to tell. White should probably have reconciled himself to the fact that a quick win was not possible, and continued 22 Kb2, retaining an obvious advantage after 22 ... NXc6 23 Ne2. But, on encountering unexpected resistance, Timman began to grow nervous.. ..

22 Qd8 QXc6+ 23 Kb2

It again appears that crude force will triumph (bad is 23 ... NXb3 24 Qd5!, or 23 ... Qa6 24 Rd6 Nc6 25 RXc6! QXc6 26 Rcl), but Black manages to find new re¬sources.

23        ... Qa8! 24 Rcl

Hoping for 24 ... Nc6 25 RXc6.

24        ...Nc4+!25bXc4Rd7!

An important interposition — it has to be determined which way the white queen will

go.

26 Qe8

Logical, since on 26 Qb6 Black has the dangerous 26 ... Rb7, while after 26 Qh4 the queen is out of play. Besides, White has something else in mind.. . . This becomes clear within a couple of moves.

26 ... bXc4 27 Nc3 Qc6!!

But this clearly was not part of White's plans. His calculation was based on 27 ... Qb7+ 28 Kal Qa6+ 29 Na2 Rd3 30 RXh7!, when Black has no defence, e.g. 30 ... RXe3 (30 ... KXh7 31 Qf7) 31 RXg7+ KXg7 32 Qe7+ Kg8 33 Nh5! gXh5 34 Qg5+ and QXe3. But after the move played, White must inevitably lose his queen (Black threatens .. . Rd2+ or ... Rb7+).

When Black's last move was made on the board, Timman went pale — he only needed a single glance to understand the irreparable nature of what had happened. However, he made the following move almost immediately — White has only one acceptable reply.

28 Kc2 Rd2+

Here, to the surprise of the spectators, a draw was agreed on my proposal. It should be said that after 29 KXd2 QXe8 30 Nd5 Black's position does not give any great grounds for optimism. As for Timman, the shock caused by such a sudden turn of events was too much for him. In the final position (29 KXd2 QXe8 30 Nd5) the following variation is possible: 30 . .. Be6 31 RXc4 BXd5 32 eXd5 Qb5 33 Rc5 Qb2+ 34 Rc2 Qb4+ 35 Ke2 Qb5+ 36 Kf2 QXd5 with a probable draw.

This miraculous escape essentially decided the battle for first place, and a draw in the next round with Hubner put me out of reach of my rivals.

Postscript to a Prologue

Moscow, 1982

.... The conference hall of the "Sport" Hotel is deserted. No longer on the walls are the demonstration boards — silent witnesses to an interesting, uncompromising, and at times tragic struggle in the Moscow Interzonal Tournament. Now this tournament is history, and, after resting a little following the race, we can calmly try to evaluate the events which occurred.

The Moscow Interzonal was the last of three such events, organized to determine six participants in the Candidates Matches. Not surprisingly, there was no lack of forecasts. Moreover, the formula for compiling the forecasts was extremely simple: compare the tables of the interzonals already completed, add two or three superficial factors, and — deduce a "regularity" applicable to the coming tournament.

The height of this "forecasting" was the determination of the two candidates in any interzonal tournament held under the present system (14 players fighting for two places): one favourite plus one of those not listed at the start as a likely candidate. On paper these computations looked convincing, but Caissa had probably not managed to read Soviet Sport, and so decided otherwise. . . .

It seems to me that the Moscow Interzonal was the most fighting tournament of the three. I anticipate an objection: can objectivity be expected of one of the tournament winners in comparing all the interzonals as a whole?

But, firstly, the number of games with decisive results in the Moscow Tournament was the highest (54-9% against 50-6% and 46-2% in Las Palmas and Toluca respectively). Secondly, before the last round in Moscow there were no less than five (!) real contenders for the second Candidate's place. And finally, for counting the number of "grandmaster" draws in the Moscow Tournament the fingers on one hand would suffice. . . . These arguments look quite convincing, but I would advise those who genuinely love and understand chess to make a careful study of the games. There were creative successes for almost all the participants

in the tournament. I think that the spectators who managed to obtain tickets were not once disappointed — there were gripping encounters in every round.

But the main thing, nevertheless, was the fierceness of the struggle, which was maintained literally right up to the concluding moments of the last round. To convey with absolute authenticity the electric atmosphere on the stage and round about it is impossible, but I will endeavour to reveal the drama of the situation in sketches of individual episodes.

.... The Cuban grandmaster Guilermo Garcia just cannot cope with his nervous cough. After all, his goal is so dazzlingly close, and he need only hold his ground, only avoid losing! The Cuban feverishly stubs out one cigarette after another, realizing that fate may never again grant him such a chance.

.... Aleksander Belyavsky slowly stands up from his board. From his face one can guess that he is still trying to understand where his extra rook got to in his game with Van der Wiel, and why the white king came under a mating attack?! Yes, had Belyavsky won that game he would have been in a po-ition to battle for first place, but the vexing defeat has thrust him back amongst his rivals. For the moment no one imagines that Belyavsky's most severe tests are to come — first an exhausting 8-hour adjournment with Andersson, then one in the morning with Rodriguez, during which the Lvov grandmaster blunders away a piece in a won po-ition, and draws only by a miracle. And after all this, composed and imperturbable as always, he comes onto the stage for the last round to engage Gheorghiu in battle with Black. Belyavsky wins. He wins contrary to all forecasts and to "common sense", and this victory is the deserved reward for the Lvov grandmaster's courage!

.... Yefim Geller glances anxiously at his clock. The merciless advance of the minute hand threatens to cancel out the four full-weight victories gained at the finish by the celebrated Soviet grandmaster. Unfortunately, that is in fact what happens: skilfully exploiting the veteran's time trouble mistakes, Sax forces him to lay down his arms.

.... Mikhail Tal looks in astonishment at his opponent — when will the latter begin, at last, to make some mistakes? But Quinteros is imperturbable, on this day he plays with inspiration, and it is the Ex-World Champion who is forced to abandon his dreams of victory and find the only moves to save the game. Tal very much needed that victory!

.... Ulf Andersson conducts splendidly his game from the 9th round. Victory appears to be close, but I manage to balance on the edge of the abyss. Suddenly something imperceptible changes on the face of the Swedish grandmaster. The spectators continue to see White's two extra pawns, but I have noticed Ulf s dismay. Black has acquired certain threats, for the parrying of which the ultra-cautious Swede requires time, and he has so little left! Ulf s indecision is aggravated by my offer of a draw. In the end the sight of the threateningly rising flag resolves all hesitation, and Andersson signs the scoresheet. In effect, this signature symbolized his abandonment of any further battle in the tournament. Although the draw maintained the status quo of the two players, they approached the concluding four games in different psychological frames of mind. At the finish I avoided losing any points (four wins!) whereas Ulf drew all his games.

Yes, points in an interzonal are not granted easily. Often ability to play well proves insufficient on its own, and therefore in my preparations, apart from purely chess problems, I devoted considerable attention to the development of a tournament strategy. But on my part it would not be very sincere to maintain that everything had been planned beforehand: wins at the finish, and draws in the middle of the tournament. It is certainly not possible to make provision for everything. But, taking account of the short distance, particular attention was given to the problem of not losing, and hence of avoiding risk as far as possible. This by no means signified the avoidance of a struggle in any of the games. On the contrary, in each round I endeavoured to engage the opponent in battle, but if the game did not turn out well (as, for example, against Garcia), I did not try to swim against the tide, but offered a draw. It was very important to retain sufficient strength for the finish. After all, every defeat acts too exhaustingly on the nervous system. This makes Belyavsky's result even more worthy of respect, since he managed to finish in the first two in spite of three defeats.

The tournament strategy I employed was criticized by the sports journalists. On the pages of the newspapers I was reproached for excessive caution, for smothering the creative side of my game in favour of the competitive result, and so on. This was contrasted with my play in other tournaments, where, being prepared to take risks, I sacrificed pawns and pieces. Indeed, it is pleasant for spectators to watch gripping encounters with sacrifices. But, firstly, there were sacrifices (it is sufficient to recall the games with Tal and Belyavsky), and, secondly, it is naive to demand of the participants in such a cruel elimination event that they create masterpieces. Therefore, in my opinion, the question of creative success or failure in a tournament can be considered only in the competitive interpretation. In Moscow I managed to play a number of interesting games.

Kasparov-Sax

Grilnfeld Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cXd5 NXd5 5 e4 NXc3 6 bXc3 Bg7 7 Bc4

Earlier I regularly employed the system with 7 Nf3, but Sax— a fervent supporter of the Grlinfeld Defence — is well familiar with the subtleties of this opening, and, of course, with the latest developments. Therefore it was decided to choose not the most fashionable continuation.

7 ... 0-0 8 Be3 b6

This is dubious, since it does not assist Black's main strategic problem in the opening— the undermining of the white centre by ... c5.

9 h4 Bb7

Perhaps the most precise move order. In a game with Knaak (1979) Sax played 9 ...Nc6, and after 10 h5 Na5 11 hXg6! it transpired that 11 ... NXc4 was bad because of 12 Qh5! fXg6 13 QXh7+ Kf7 14 Nf3 with a virtually irresistible attack. Black had to reply 11 ... hXg6, but after 12 Bd3 he was in difficulties.

10 Qf3 Qd7 11 Ne2 h5

Forced — otherwise h4-h5, and it is not apparent how Black can defend. But now a different question arises: how is White going to attack?

12 Bg5!

White begins a regrouping of his forces, the aim of which is to link up his black-squared bishop, knight and queen to the attack.

12 ... Nc6 13 Nf4 e6

On 13 ... Na5 White has the decisive 14 NXg6.

14 Rdl Na5 15 Bd3 e5!

Immediately breaking up the threatening pair of white pawns in the centre. The natural 15 . . . c5 would have lost almost by force: 16 NXh5! gXh5 17 Bf6 BXf6 18 QXf6 Qd8 19 Qh6, and against the threats of e4-e5 and Rh3 there is no satisfactory defence.

15        ... Qc6 is also insufficient: White can simply play 16 Bbl, and 16 ... Ba6 is not dangerous — his king remains in the centre, and his king's rook can come into play via h3, e.g. 17 Rh3 Qc4 18 Rg3, and Black has only a harmless check at fl. Incidentally, at this point Black could have won a piece by 15...f6, but after 16 NXg6 fXg5 17 QXh5 Qf718 f3! White maintains a very strong attack almost "for free".

16 dXe5 BXe5 17 0-0

At first sight (see diagram) White stands worse (his once threatening centre has been broken up). But this would be a superficial evaluation. White's main advantage is that his pieces, situated close to the black king, can at any moment begin a direct attack. Black has a specific difficulty— it is not easy for him to decide where to place his queen. If, for example, 17 ... Qa4, then 18 g4— lines are opened, and there is nothing to defend the black king. It is natural, therefore, that Sax should aim to keep his queen as close as possible to the K-side.

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7zplzpq+p+-'
6-zp-+-+p+&
5sn-+-vl-vLp%
4-+-+PsN-zP$
3+-zPL+Q+-#
2P+-+-zPP+"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

17 ... Qg4 18 Qe3 Rfe8 19 Be2

Now Sax is forced to give up his black-squared bishop, since 19 ... Qc8 20 Nd5 BXd5 21 RXd5 is totally bad for him- White has the two bishops and excellent prospects.

19 ... BXf4 20 BXf4 Nc4?

The critical point. Black could have taken a pawn here with 20. . . QXh4, but after 21 e5 he would have condemned himself to a difficult defence: White controls the black squares, he has a firm hold on the initiative, and the position is much easier for him to play. Sax, of course, realized this and conceived an interesting combination, which, to his misfortune, met with a far from obvious refutation.

21 BXc4 RXe4 22 f3! QXf4

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-+k+(
7zplzp-+p+-'
6-zp-+-+p+&
5+-+-+-+p%
4-+L+rwq-zP$
3+-zP-wQP+-#
2P+-+-+P+"
1+-+R+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

23BXf7+!Kg7 24Qd3!

Now the weakness of the g6 pawn forces Black to go into an ending. But there too the active placing of White's pieces, together with the precarious state of the enemy king, gives him excellent winning chances.

24 ... Qe3+ 25 QXe3 RXe3 26 Rd7 Kh6 27 RXc7 Ba6 28 Rdl Bd3 29 Rd2

The white king is ready to take part in the play. The rest is simple.

29.. .Bf530Kf2Re531Rd5RXd532BXd5 Rd8 33 c4 b5 34 Ke3 a5 35 Kf4 Bbl

This loses immediately, but 35... bXc4 36 BXc4 Rd4+ 37 Ke5! also fails to save the game. Then 37 ... RXh4 is bad because of 38 f4, when against Bg8 with the threat of Rh7 there is no defence (38. ..Bbl39Bg8g5 40 f5 g4 41 Kf6).

36 g4 hXg4 37 fXg4

Black resigns.

Of note are the following two games, which are similar not only in content, but also in length. First of all, from round 3.

Kasparov-Murey

Queen’ s Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 Nc3 Bb7 5 a3 d5 6 cXd5 NXd5 7 Qc2!?

This move opens a new page in this variation. In contrast to the usual 7 e3 (and within a few moves e3-e4), White intends to play e2-e4 in one go, and at c2 the queen hardly stands any worse than at dl.

7          ... c5

Of course, the white centre is rather weak, but nevertheless Black should not delay the development of his K-side. Christiansen against Portisch (1982) adopted a different move order- 7.. . Be7 8 e4NXc3 9 bXc3 0-0 10Bd3 c5, but even then White was able to deploy his forces more harmoniously after 11 0-0 cXd4 12 cXd4Nc6 13 Bb2Rc8 14Qe2.

8 e4 NXc3 9 bXc3 Nc6* 10 Bb2!

The d4 pawn is securely defended, and the

* The interest in 7 Qc2 quickly declined when, a month and a half after the Interzonal Tournament, at the Olympiad in Lucerne, Black succeeded in revealing the disadvantage of the white queen's new position: 9 ... Nd7! 10 Bd3 Qc7! with the intention ofll... cXd4 12 cXd4 QXc2. White is forced to lose time, and both 11 Qd2 g612 0-0Bg7 (Kasparov-Sosonko) and 11 Qbl g612 0-0 Bg7 (Hort-Miles) give Black a comfortable position.

rook is ready to take up an attacking position at dl.

10        ... Rc8?

Black is not able to exploit the opposition of queen and rook, and the loss of a tempo costs him dearly. He should have transposed into the Portisch-Christiansen game by 10 ... Be7.

11Rdl

Emphasizing the illusory nature of Black's threats. A move ago Black was dreaming of attacking, but now he has to solve an unpleasant problem — how to defend against d4-d5 together with Bb5+.

11        ... cXd4 12 cXd4 a6

Optimistic knight moves lead to a swift catastrophe, e.g. 12 ... NXd4? 13 Qa4+, or

12        ... Ne5 13 Bb5+ Bc6 14 dXe5!, or 12 ...Nb4 13 Qa4+ Bc6 14 Qb3.

After 12 . . . a6 White has the possibility of immediately beginning forcing play by 13 d5!? The interesting complications in the following variation favour White: 13 ... Nb4 14 Qa4+ b5 15 BXb5+ aXb5 16 QXb5+ Qd7 17 QXd7KXd7 18 dXe6++ KXe6 19Nd4+! Ke5 20 0-0!, and the black king is in trouble (20. . .Na621Nc6++!Kf422Bcl+!KXe423 Rfel+ Kf5 24 Rd5+ Kg6 25 Rg5+Kf6 26 f4! Bc5+ 27 Kfl, or 24 ... Kf6 25 Bb2+Kg6 26 Ne5+ Kf6 27 Rd7 etc.). This is all very pretty, but the black knight only needs to change course — 13 ... Ne5 — and the position becomes less clear: 14 Qb3 (14 Qa4+ b5 15 BXb5+? aXb5 16 QXb5+ Qd7) 14 ... NXf3+ 15 gXB eXd5. Therefore White consistently continues to carry out his plan.

13 Qd2!

(See diagram) Now Black is deprived of the counter-play associated with the position of the white queen on the c-flle, and the d4 pawn threatens to advance by force to d7. The breakthrough can be averted only by 13... Ne7, but how pitiful Black's position then looks!

13 ... Na5

Realizing that the strategic battle has been lost, Black tries to find some tactical resources, but it is too late — the chess truth is on White's side!

Position after 13 Qd2!:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+rwqkvl-tr(
7+l+-+pzpp'
6pzpn+p+-+&
5+-+-+-+-%
4-+-zPP+-+$
3zP-+-+N+-#
2-vL-wQ-zPPzP"
1+-+RmKL+R!
xabcdefghy

14 d5! eXd5

14        ... Nc4 is hardly any better. After 15 BXc4 RXc4 White has a pleasant choice between 16 0-0 and 16 Qe2.

15 eXd5 Bd6

Black continues his development, but now his K-side is taken apart. The plausible 15... Qe7+ 16 Be2 Nc4 is refuted by 17 d6!, and after the forced 17 ... NXd6 (other captures leave Black a piece down) 18 0-0 the only question which remains unclear is the number of moves that the game will last. The most tenacious was probably 15 ... f6, in order to blockade the passed pawn after 16 d6 with 16 ... Qd7.

16 BXg7 Qe7+ 17 Be2 Rg8 18 Qh6!

The bishop is by no means obliged to retreat, and the invasion of the rook at c2 merely plays into White's hands (18 ... Rc2 19 Nd4).

18 ... f5 19 Bf6 Qf8

The exchange sacrifice 19 ... Rg6 would not have greatly prolonged Black's resist¬ance. The simplest then is 20 QXg6+hXg6 21 BXe7 KXe7 22 h4! BXa3 23 h5.

20 QXh7 Qf7

After 20 ... RXg2 White has the quickly decisive 21 Ne5!

21 QXf5 Rg6 22 Qe4 Kf8 23 Ng5 RXg5 24 Bg5Re8 25 Bh6+ Kg8 26 Qg4+

Black resigns.

White's victory looked so convincing that the repetition of this opening variation by

any of the participants seemed improbable. Nevertheless. . . .

Kasparov-Gheorghiu

Queen’ s Indian Defence

1d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 NO b6 4 Nc3 Bb7 5 a3 d5 6 cXd5 NXd5 7 Qc2 c5 8 e4 NXc3 9 bXc3

Victory in this game would ensure my success in the tournament, so I anxiously watched my opponent as he confidently repeated the first eight moves of the previous game. What did he have in mind?

9 ... Be7

Gheorghiu had prepared a cocktail of the plans employed by Christiansen and Murey, but the following strong rejoinder revealed the drawbacks to it.

10Bb5+!Bc6 11 Bd3

The position of the bishop at c6 will provide the motif for various combinations.

11        ... Nd7 12 0-0 h6?!

On 12 ... 0-0 Gheorghiu was afraid of 13 d5, but the loss of a tempo in such a situation is an impermissible luxury.

13 Rdl!

White could have continued quietly with 13 a4 0-0 14 Qe2 with the advantage, but I thought that the slight disharmony in the placing of the black pieces could be exploited by more energetic means. The immediate 13 d5 eXd5 14 eXd5 BXd5 15 Rdl was tempting, but to me the consequences of the following exchange sacrifice were not so clear: 15 ... Be616Be4(16Bf5BXf5 17QXf5Qc8!) 16... Rc8 17 Bf4 0-0 18 Bb7 Bf6.

13        ... Qc7?!

Black does not sense the imminent danger. Certainly, the position after 13 ... 0-014 d5 eXd5 15 eXd5 Bb7 16 c4 gives Black few grounds for optimism, but he should have gone in for it. 13 ... cXd4, on the other hand, is met by the unexpected 14 NXd4, when after 14... Qc7 15NXc6QXc6 16Qe2! the pin on the a4-e8 diagonal may prove fatal.

14 d5 eXd5 15 eXd5 BXd5 16 Bb5

Now 16... Bc6 looks the most natural, but after 17 Bf4! Qb7 18 BXc6 QXc6 19 Rel! Black faces a difficult defence. Although formally he is a pawn up, in essence he is playing a whole rook down. In this case the game could have developed as follows: 19. .. Kf8 20 Radl Re8 21 Qf5 Nf6 22 Ne5 Qc8 23 Nd7+! NXd7 24 QXd7 QXd7 25 RXd7 g5 26 RdXe7! RXe7 27 Bd6 and wins. This variation is not essential, but it gives a good illustration of White's possibilities.

16 ... a6

Black was very much relying on this move - 17 BXd7+ QXd7 18 c4 Be4!

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+k+-tr(
7+-wqnvlpzp-'
6pzp-+-+-zp&
5+Lzpl+-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3zP-zP-+N+-#
2-+Q+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLR+-mK-!
xabcdefghy

17 Bf4!

Forcing Black to throw caution to the winds and bring his king out into the centre of the board, since 17 ... Qb7 18 BXd7+ QXd7 19 c4 Qg4 20 RXd5 QXf4 21 Rel is even less acceptable (e.g. 21 ... Ra7 22 Ne5 Rc7 23 Ng6! fXg6 24 QXg6+ Qf7 25 Rd8+!). 17 ... QXf4 18 BXd7+ KXd7 19 RXd5+ Kc7?

It is perhaps only to this move that a question mark can be attached with complete certainty. White would have had the most difficulty in realizing his advantage after 19 ... Kc8, planning .. . Ra7-c7.

20 Rel! Bd6

After 20 ... Rhe8 21 Rde5 Qf6 22 Qe4 Black loses a piece, while 20 ... Bf6 21 Re4 leads to a piquant situation — the queen is trapped in mid-board!

21        Rf5 Qc4 22 Re4!

Even in such a position it is not too late to make a mistake - 22 Nd2? Rhe8!

22        ... Qb5 23 RXf7+ Kb8 24 Re6 Rd8 25 c4 Qc6

If 25 ... Qa5 White wins by 26 Qe4 Ra7 27 RXd6!

26 Ne5 Qc8 27 Qbl!

Not the only way, but the most elegant one (27 ... b5 28 cXb5). Black resigns. This win is particularly precious to me, because it secured my place in the Candidates! My encounter in the seventh round with the USA Champion took a tense course.

Christiansen-Kasparov

Kings Indian Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 Bg7 4 e4 d6 5 f4 0-0 6Nf3

The choice of variation is evidence of the American player's aggressive intentions.

6 ... c5 7 d5 e6 8 dXe6

In exchanging his strong d5 pawn, White hopes to exploit his superior control over the central squares and the activity of the e4+f4 pawn pair.

8          ... fXe6

The natural 8 ... BXf6 leaves White with an easier game: 9 Bd3 Nc6 10 f5 Bd7 11 0-0. Therefore I chose a dynamic and little-studied continuation.

9 Bd3 Nc6 10 0-0 Nd4!

Black immediately exploits the main advantage of his position — his control of d4. The variation 11 NXd4 cXd4 12 Ne2 e5 cannot satisfy White, but he should have tackled the centralized knight by 11 Ne2. The fanciful manoeuvre undertaken by Christiansen allows Black to seize the initiative.

11 Ng5?! e5!

After 11 ... h6 12 NB! the weakness of Black's K-side may prove perceptible.

12 f5

Consistent, but 12 fXf5 would have been more cautious.

12 ... h6 13 Nh3

Christiansen made this move without any particular thought, but meanwhile the consequences of the piece sacrifice 13 fXg6 hXg5 were not at all clear. Thus, for example, the plausible 14 ... Ne6 allows White to obtain a highly promising attack: 15 BXf6 RXf6 16 Qh5 Nf8 (16 ... Nf4 17 Qh7+ Kf8 18g3NXd3 19Nd5!) 17Nd5RXfl+ 18RXfl Be6 19 Be2! Qd7 20 Qg5!, and it is hard for Black to find a defence against the advance of the h-pawn. Therefore I was intending to continue 14 ... Be6, and after 15 Nd5 (15 h4 Qd7!) 15 ... BXd5 16 eXd5 to deploy my forces with the help of a pawn sacrifice:16           ... e4! 17 BXe4 Qe7 18 Bd3 Rae8.

Returning the knight to its former post by 13 Nf3 proves unsuccessful. After 13 ... gXf5 14 eXf5 NXf5 15 NXe5 dXe5 16 BXf5 Qd4+! Black's advantage is undisputed (17 Khl BXf5 18 RXf5 Ng4!).

13 ... gXf5 14 eXf5 b5!

A flank blow, with the aim of gaining pre-dominace in the centre. Now White has to make a choice. He cannot reinforce his c4 pawn — 15 b3 b4!, and the knight has no normal square to move to. He also doesn't want to accept the pawn sacrifice — 15 cXb5 d5. Even so, he should have taken the pawn, only with the knight. 15 NXb5 would have enabled him to maintain approximate equality: after 15 ... NXb5 16 cXb5 d5 the absence of the knight from d4 makes the advance of the black pawns less dangerous, while after 15 . . . e4 16 Be2 NXf5 the knight in seclusion at h3 has the chance to come into play. But Christiansen, disillusioned with the strategic course of the game, tries to solve his problems by tactical means.

15 Be3? bXc4 16 BXc4+ Kh8!

Black avoids a transparent trap— 16. . .d5?

17        NXd5 NXd5 18 BXd4 cXd4 19 Qb3, but how can White now counter the advance . .. d5, which threatens to break up his position? The f5 pawn is also attacked.

17        BXd4 cXd4 18 Nd5

(See diagram) Black's positional advantage is undisputed, although the play remains fairly complicated. Positions of this type demand clear-cut, specific action, with the aim of disclosing as quickly as possible the drawbacks of the opponent's set-up. Now

18        ... NXd5 19 BXd5 Rb8 or the immediate 18 ... Rb8 looks quite good, but Black has a more energetic continuation.

18        ... Ba6!

Black gives up the advantage of the two bishops for the sake of enabling his knight to occupy a dominating post at e3. But how

Position after 18 Nd5:

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-wq-tr-mk(
7zp-+-+-vl-'
6-+-zp-sn-zp&
5+-+NzpP+-%
4-+Lzp-+-+$
3+-+-+-+N#
2PzP-+-+PzP"
1tR-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

then will White be able to oppose the black pawns? The American grandmaster prefers to sacrifice the exchange, and to seek chances in a tactical skirmish.

19 NXf6 BXc4 20 Nh5 BXfl 21 Qg4! Qd7! 22RXfl

It may seem that White has achieved a great deal — his threats on the K-side look dangerous. But the swift advance of the d4 pawn puts everything in its place.

22        ... d3! 23 Qf3 23 Qe4 runs into the resolute 23 ... d5! 24 QXd3 e4, but White should have preferred 23 Nf2 d2 24 Ne4 RXf5 25 RXf5 dl=Q+ 26 QXdl QXf5 27 NXd6 Qg6 28 NXg7 KXg7 29 h3, when he has chances of saving the game.

23        ... d2!

The audacious pawn deprives White of the chance to play actively, e.g. 24 f6 BXf6! 25 NXf6 Qg7, regaining the pinned knight.

24        g4 Rac8!

25        f6 is again impossible — 25 ... BXf6 26 NXf6 Qg7 27 g5! Rcl 28 Kf2 Qg6!, and loss of material is inevitable.

25 Qd3 Qa4 26 Nf2 Qd4!

Not the only way to win, but from the practical viewpoint the most clear-cut. The exchange of queens removes all White's hopes associated with the insecure position of the black king.

27 QXd4 eXd4

Outwardly the tripled pawns have a pitiful appearance, but this is one of those cases where the strength of the pawns is determined by their degree of advancement. As before, the main role continues to be played by the pawn at d2.

28 Nf4 Rfe8 29 Ne6 Rcl 30 Ndl Bf6!

More tempting continuations would merely have complicated things, e.g. 30 ... d3? 31 Kf2 Rb8 32 b3 Rb4 33 Ke3!

31Kf2 Bg5

After31. . .Bh4+?32Ke2Bel33Rf3Rec8 34 Rd3! the d2 pawn is halted, and the black

bishop is out of play.

32 Ke2 Rc5! 33 Kd3 Re5 34 NXg5 hXg5

Playing for brilliancy would not have turned out well: in the variation 34 ... Rel?

35 Nf7+ Kg8 36 Rf2 RXdl 37 NXd6 White could have avoided all dangers.

35Rf2

35 KXd2 would not have essentially changed things. Then the black rook performs a "staircase" - 35 ... Re4! 36 h3 Rf4 37 Rgl Rf3! - and White is virtually stalemated.

35        ... Re4 36 h3?

36        Rg2 would have prolonged the resistance.

36        ... Re3+!

A little combination which wins a pawn. The rook is of course immune (37 NXe3 dXe3 38 Rfl e2).

37        KXd4

And now comes the finest hour of the d2 pawn, which 15 moves ago appeared to be doomed.

37 ... R8e4+! 38 Kd5 Re2 39 Rf3 Rel 40 f6

40 Rd3 is decisively met by 40. . .RXdl! 41 KXe4 Rel+.

40 ... Rf4

Here Christiansen took the envelope to adjourn the game, but after a little thought he extended his hand and congratulated me on winning.

Van der Wiel-Kasparov

Queen's Pawn Opening

1 d4 Nf6 2 Bg5 Ne4 3 Bf4 c5 4 d5 Qb6

An unusual opening. The knight in the centre is very insecure, and Black is obliged to seek active continuations. Now, of course, 5 b3 is bad because of 5 ... Qf6. The move that suggests itself is 5 Qcl; I must admit that the one made by Van der Wiel surprised me.

5 Bcl

Black has played energetically, but after the normal continuation 5. . . d6 6 D Nf6 7 e4 the centre is seized by his opponent. There¬fore the undermining . . . e6 is necessary.

5 ... e6 6 f3 Qa5+

It is useful to have the pawn move from c2 to c3 — here it takes away the square for the knight, and the d3 square is weakened. And, most important, after 6... Nf6 7 c4 things go too smoothly for White.

7 c3 Nf6 8 e4 d6

8          ... eXd5 is well met by 9 e5.

9 Na3* eXd5 10 eXd5 Be7 11 Nc4 Qd8

Thus, after each making three moves, the black queen and the white bishop have returned to their initial squares. The position is roughly level, but here Van der Wiel begins playing strangely.

12 Ne3 0-0 13 Ne2 Re8 14 g4?

White intends to cramp his opponent after Bg2, 0-0 and g4-g5. Black is indeed short of space, and also the "interests" of his knights intersect at d7.

For some 40 minutes I was unable to find the correct move, although I consoled myself with the fact that as yet I had not done anything bad. But about White the same cannot be said. . . .

14 ... Nfd7!

XABCDEFGHY
8rsnlwqr+k+(
7zpp+nvlpzpp'
6-+-zp-+-+&
5+-zpP+-+-%
4-+-+-+P+$
3+-zP-sNP+-#
2PzP-+N+-zP"
1tR-vLQmKL+R!
xabcdefghy

15Ng3

Continuing  his  aggressive  course,  but Black too does not intend to stand still.

15 ... Bg5 16 Kf2 Ne5

Black has splendid play, about which not long ago he could not even dream. On 17 h4 he has 17 ... BXe3+ 18 BXe3 Qf6, when although 19. . .NXg4+ is a beginner's threat, even a grandmaster finds it difficult to parry.

17 Bb5 Bd7 18 BXd7 NbXd7 19 Nef5 c4!

The white knights look well placed, but Black's are much more effective: he threat¬ens 20. . .Nd3+.On20BXg5QXg5 21NXd6 there can follow 21... Nd3+ 22 Kg2 Nf4+ 23 Kf2 Nc5! 24 NXe8 RXe8, when I am confident that things are hopeless for White.

20 Nh5? Nd3+ 21 Kg3 BXcl 22 RXcl g6

It can be assumed that Van der Wiel was reckoning on 23 Qd2 gXf5 24 Qh6, but here it is not obligatory to capture towards the centre: 23 ... gXh5! 24 Qh6 Qf6, and it's all over. White resigns.

Velimirovic- Kasparov

Caro-Kann Defence

The fighting mood before this game was created by Velimirovic, who declared that in this, the last round, he would try to inflict a defeat on the tournament winner. The problem of choice of opening was easily decided: the eager musketeer was invited to try and breach the bastions of the Caro-Kann Defence.

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bf5 4 Nc3

A popular plan: on 4. . . e6 White launches an attack on the K-side with 5 g4 Bg6 6 Nge2, followed by Nf4 and h2-h4. But a surprise awaits him.

4          ... Qb6!?

Since White is intending to throw forward his g2 pawn, let this take place in a more favourable situation for Black.

5 g4 Bd7

Now the advance of the h-pawn loses its point, and White must prepare the way for

* I have seen this position only once more — in the game Vizhmanavin-Elvest (USSR Championship Premier League, 1984). Vizhmanavin came up with 9 Bd2!?, and after the crucial but risky 9 ... Qb6 10 c4 QXb2 11 Nc3 Qb6 12 f4 he seized the initiative. Black would have been satisfied with 9... eXd5 10 c4 Qcl 11 cXd5g6, transposing into a reasonable version of the Modern Benoni, but 10 eXd5 and 11 c4 is stronger, when White has a spatial advantage with normal development.

his f-pawn. New researches will possibly show that 5 ... Bc8 is more precise (in view of the action now taken by Velimirovic).

New "researches" — a game Sveshnikov-Donchenko (1983) — confirmed an ancient truth: in the opening it is important to develop the pieces quickly. After 5 ... Bc8 6 Bg2 e6 7 Nge2 c5 8 dXc5 BXc5 9 0-0 Bdl (9 . . . Ne7 10Na4) 10 Nft Qc711 Rel Ne712 Nh5 White had an obvious advantage. On the other hand, the cause of Black's failure was perhaps his excessively "ancient"play — 6. . . e6 and 7... c5 (6 . . . Na6l?9 6 ... g6!?).

6 Na4 Qc7 7 Nc5 e6 8 NXd7 NXd7 9 f4 c5 10 c3 Ne7 11 Nf3

It is not without reason that White has wasted time on the exchange of the d7 bishop — this has facilitated the f4-f5 breakthrough.

11        ... h5

A committing, but necessary decision. Black assists the opening of the position, in order that all his pieces should be able to take part in the battle.

12        f5* hXg4 13 fXe6 gXf3 14 eXd7+ QXd7 15 QXf3 cXd4 16 cXd4

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+kvl-tr(
7zpp+qsnpzp-'
6-+-+-+-+&
5+-+pzP-+-%
4-+-zP-+-+$
3+-+-+Q+-#
2PzP-+-+-zP"
1tR-vL-mKL+R!
xabcdefghy

Black is happy with the outcome of the opening, but the potential strength of the white bishops must not be under-estimated.

16 ... Nc6

Black was looking to the future with great

* 12 gXh5 should probably have been played, to answer 12 ... RXh5? with 13 dXc5 and Nd4-b5. Black would have replied 12 . . . Nf5, with an unclear position.

optimism, and so he did not go into a promising ending - 16 ... Nf5!? 17 Bh3 RXh3 18 QXh3 NXd4 19 QXd7+ KXd7 20 0-0 Ke6.

17 Be3 Bb4+ 18 Kf2 Rh4?

Black's hopes of success are associated with the fact that the opponent's king does not have a safe shelter. After 18... 0-0-0 and the inevitable opening of lines (. . . f6) White would have been faced with difficult problems. Instead of this Black tries to strengthen his position by creating pressure on the d4 pawn, and commits an oversight.

19 Rdl Rc8

Black saw that his planned 19 ... 0-0-0 20 Bg5 NXd4 did not work because of 21 RXd4 RXd4 22 Bh3, and did not bother to analyse in detail the exchange sacrifice 20... Rdh8 21 BXh4 RXh4 with the possible continuation 22 Bg2 g5! 23 QXd5 Qf5+ 24 Kgl Qc2f. The decision to leave his king in the centre, thereby depriving himself of his main advantage (i.e. more secure king position), is of course risky, but it seemed to me that White's game would not be easy.

20 Rgl!

A brilliant reply. White avoids a trap — 20 Bg2? NXe5! 21 dXe5 Rc2+ 22 Kfl (22 Kg3 Rg4+!) 22 ... Qb5+ 23 Kgl Re4! with a very strong attack — and, by giving up a pawn, achieves full co-ordination of all his pieces.

20        ... RXh2+ 21 Rg2 RXg2+

21        ... Rh3 is strongly met by 22 Qf4.

22 KXg2 Nd8 23 Bd3 Ne6 24 Rfl!

Beginning to create concrete threats — 25 Bb5.

24        ... a6 25 Qh5

Now 26 RXf7 is threatened.

25        ... g6 26 Qh8+ Nf8 27 Kg3!

After depriving Black of his last chance of active play, White retains the possibility of strengthening his position by Bh6 and Be2-g4 (see diagram overleaf).

27 ... Be7?

The drawback to Black's position is its

† 22 Rgl! (instead of 22 Bg2) would have cast doubts on this idea. Now 22... NXd4? 23 RXd4 Bc5 does not work because of 24Kg3!BXd425KXh4 Qe7+ 26Rg5, and the loss of time on 22 ... g6 may cost Black dearly after 23 Rg3 with the idea of Bh3 and Rg4.

Position after 27 Kg3!:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+r+ksn-wQ(
7+p+q+p+-'
6p+-+-+p+&
5+-+pzP-+-%
4-vl-zP-+-+$
3+-+LvL-mK-#
2PzP-+-+-+"
1+-+-+R+-!
xabcdefghy

passivity, but it would have been perfectly well defensible after the best move, 27 ... Rc6, parrying once and for all the threat of BXg6, e.g. 28 Bh6 (28 a3 Be7 29 Rf2 followed by Be2-g4 is probably stronger) 28 ... Be7 29 Qg8Qe630Rf6?BXf631QXf8+Kd732eXf6 Qel+ 33 Kg2 RXf6, with a winning counterattack.

28 Qg8?

Short of time, Velimirovic passes over the favourable opportunity 28 BXg6! fXg6 29 Bh6. The threat of 30 RXf8+ (even on 29 ... Qb5-30RXf8+!Kd7 31e6+KXe6 32Qe5+ Kd7 33 RXc8 Bd6 34 Rd8+) would have forced Black to return the piece by 29. . .Kd8 30 BXf8 Kc7 31 Qh6! (but not 31 Rcl+ Kb6 32 RXc8 QXc8 33 Bg7 Qc2, or 31 Qg7? RXf8 32 RXf8 Bh4+) 31 ... Re8!, and to seek a draw in positions such as 32 Bg7 (32 BXe7 RXe7) 32 ... Qe6 etc.

White wants to win without sacrificing — 28... Qe6 29 Bh6 with the possible variation 29... Rc7? (29... Rc6) 30 BXf8 BXf8 31 Rf6 Qe7 32 BXg6 fXg6 33 Re6. However, 28 Qg8? not only throws away White's advantage, but even ruins his game.

28        ... Qe6

Here Velimirovic was about to reach out for his bishop at e3, when he suddenly saw that 29 Bh6 would be met by the murderous advance of the black f-pawn. He used up almost all his time, and, leaving himself with one minute, continued the game, essentially hoping only for a chance mistake by his opponent.

29 Qh8 f5!

The loss of two tempi is bound to have its consequences, and Black's natural reply immediately consolidates his advantage. There is no point in explaining the remaining time-trouble part of the game.

30 Qh3?! Qf7 31 Qhl Ne6! 32 QXd5Rd833 Qhl NXd4 34 Qh8+ Bf8 35 Bg5 Rc8 36 e6? NXe6 37 Rel Kd7 38 Qh4 Bd6+ 39 Kf2 NXg5 40 QXg5 Qh7

Here the time scramble ended, and White resigned.

The roar of chess battles has ceased in the Swiss resort town of Lucerne. The Olympiad has once again confirmed the undisputed superiority of the Soviet Chess School — its lead over the second prize winner was very considerable. But the nature of the struggle and its tension are determined not only by bare figures. A particular role is played by seemingly imperceptible factors (in the first instance, the underlying psychology), and, moreover, in team events their role is significantly increased. In order to explain my thinking, I am obliged to make a slight digression.

In their competitive significance, the World Chess Olympiads are inferior only to Matches for the World Championship, but until recently they did not arouse any great interest. The point was that the winners could be named before the start of the event, with one hundred per cent certainty. The only question was how far the USSR would finish ahead of the second team. But then in 1978 in Buenos Aires the Hungarians managed to break this tradition and become Olympic Champions. At the time this failure by the Soviet side (the first since 1952!) was judged to be an unpleasant surprise, but nothing more. The grounds for this not very realistic assessment were the absence from the team of World Champion Anatoly Karpov, who at that time had only just completed the gruelling match in Baguio, and also the switch to the Swiss System, which increased the role of chance during the tournament. But time showed that this failure of the team was no accident. The many years of victories by Soviet players in the international arena had so convinced everyone of the invincibility of our position, that even the minimal success in the four-round match with the Rest of the World team in 1970 (20^1/2-19^1/2) was considered by many to be a comparative failure. The significant rejuvenation of chess in recent years had thrown forward a number of strong foreign grandmasters, and so it was quite natural that there should emerge a number of teams, the players in which decided seriously to contend for victory with the Soviet team. The most imposing was the Hungarian team, whose youth was led by the highly experienced Lajos Portisch. Even so, in my opinion, even in Buenos Aires our team was stronger than the Hungarians, but excessive self-confidence is never a good thing. . . .

In spite of this wounding defeat, the general mood before the next Olympiad in Malta differed little from the previous one. No one had any doubts about the victory of the team, which on this occasion was supposedly represented by its strongest players, and also the lessons of the previous Olympiad had ostensibly been learned. But the overall result, in spite of the fact that victory was extracted, did not appear very reassuring. To be trying to catch up throughout the tournament (only at the finish, at the cost of enormous efforts, was the Hungarian team caught) and to obtain the gold medals thanks to a minute difference in Buchholz scores — was this really what was expected of the USSR team in Malta?

I was a participant in the Malta events. I can verify that the Hungarians played at least as well as we did, but fortune was not on their side. I will never forget how the best players in the world crowded round the Greece-Scotland match, in which the fate of the Olympiad was in fact decided! It was then that I learned that Olympic gold can have a bitter after-taste. . . .

It will now be understandable why such great importance was attached to the Olympiad in Lucerne. Would the Soviet players be able to demonstrate their supremacy, or had the times of the hegemony of one chess power irreversibly passed — this is the question that everyone was asking before the start of the tournament. It must be said that the USSR team was faced with a far from simple problem — that of regaining the lost psychological advantage. And this had to be done in the face of sharply growing com¬petition, when many felt that they could well contend with the Soviet team. Who in fact were the main contenders before the start?

The strongest was undoubtedly the USSR team, which included the leading players in the world, headed by the World Champion. The average rating of its four main players — Karpov, Kasparov, Polugayevsky and Belyavsky — was the enormous number 2651; tournaments of this category simply do not exist! And its reserves (however, in the Olympiad such a division is arbitrary) Tal and Yusupov could have comprised the striking force of any team. The next teams on the rating list, USA, Hungary, England, Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia, looked roughly equivalent, although the general opinion was that only the Hungarians and the Americans constituted a real challenge to us. Moreover, whereas the Hungarians were relying mainly on their leaders, Portisch and Ribli, the Americans were pinning their hopes on the even composition of their team, which consisted of six strong grandmasters (Brown, Seirawan, Alburt, Kavalek, Christiansen and Tarjan).

I do not see any point in dwelling in the reversals of fortune in each round, but I will endeavour to describe the key factors which affected the course of the entire tournament, and also to pick out some of the nuances typical of this competition.

The central event was the unreserved victory of the Soviet team, who finished 6V2 (!) points ahead of the second prize-winners — the Czech team. Such a brilliant success can be explained by many factors, but in my opinion the source of our success (and also our previous failures) should be sought in the frame of mind of the team. In spite of the highly individual nature of the game, in Olympiads it is often the team-spirit factor which acquires decisive significance. And in Lucerne we were able to achieve a desirable fusion — a quiet confidence in our powers with mutual help for the team. And if to this one adds the successful play of all the team members, such a result in the Olympiad turns out to be quite logical. Even so, one should not go to the other extreme and assume that the Olympiad was an easy stroll — certain of our matches took a very difficult course. But I would emphasize the main thing: not once did the fate of this important tournament depend on any one single game.

Of particular importance were the third and fourth round games with USA and Yugoslavia. The victories which we gained in a hard struggle (3-1 and 2^1/2-1/2) enabled us confidently to take first place in the table, after which we were always in the lead. Incidentally, the fate of these matches was decided on the resumption, thanks to the superior quality of our adjournment analysis. In this case we were helped by the severity of the tournament schedule — adjourned games were resumed two hours after the finish of the round. Not a lot can be found during such a short interval of time, but we managed to discover resources which our opponents had not even considered. In this way a number of "extra" half-points were gained.

In the middle of the tournament, when the leading teams began meeting, the speed of our progress was reduced. But everyone dropped points, so that our lead was maintained. Decisive in the battle for first place was our match with the Hungarians, who had started badly. Then, it is true, they improved their position, and by the time of our meeting they were only a point behind. The Hungarians only needed to play successfully in this match, and who knows. . . . But the miracle did not occur. Against wins by Karpov and Belyavsky our opponents were able to reply only with a victory by Csom (over Yusupov), and I with Black was able to parry Ribli's onslaught.

But in the next few matches there was no holding our team – 3^1/2-1/2 4-0, 4-0, 3^1/2-1/2 - these were the results of our meetings with some pretty strong teams: England, Switzerland, Argentina and Rumania. The Soviet grandmasters succeeded with everything — positional squeezes, swift attacks, and subtle endgames. In a word, in these rounds literally everything happened, and, of course, we had some good fortune. Here, as proof, are two revealing examples.

L. Bronstein (Argentina)-Yusupov

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7+k+-+-+-'
6p+-+-+-zp&
5zP-+p+-zpl%
4-zp-sN-+-+$
3+P+p+P+-#
2-zP-+-zP-zP"
1+-+-mK-+-!
xabcdefghy

There is only one possible evaluation of this position — White has an obvious advantage. But when Igor Zaitsev asked me my opinion, my reply seemed strange to him. Indeed, in the sentence "Artur obviously stands worse, but I think he is intending to win" there is little logic, but no one could even imagine how close it was to the truth. This is how the game continued:

35Kd2

This does not spoil anything, but 35 f4! gXf4 36 Ne6 was stronger, when Black faces a difficult struggle for a draw.

35 ... Bg6 36 f4 gXf4 37 Ne6

37 f3 also looks good, but White was in time trouble, and had no time to choose.

37        ... f3 38 Nd4?

But this mistake radically changes the nature of the game. In spite of all the inaccuracies committed, 38 Nc5+ would still have retained White his advantage.

38        ... Be4 39 Ke3 Kc7 40 NXf3??

The advantage, of course, is now on the side of Black, but why lose so quickly?

40 ... BXf3 41 KXf3

and without waiting for the obvious 41 ... d4, White resigned. After the round Artur admitted: "I realized that I stood worse, but I couldn't help thinking that I would win the game". I looked triumphantly at Zaitsev. . . .

In the next round Caissa smiled equally kindly on Mikhail Tal.

Schneider (Sweden)-Tal

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-trk+(
7+-+R+Nvl-'
6p+r+-+pzp&
5+-+-+-+-%
4P+-+p+-+$
3+-+-+-+Q#
2-zPq+-+PzP"
1+-+-+R+K!
xabcdefghy

With his last move, 29... Kh8-g8, Tal imprudently avoided repeating the position (29 ... Kh7 30 Ng5+), assuming that White's threats were not dangerous because of the weakness of his back rank. For example, 30 NXh6+ BXh6 31 RXf8+ KXf8 32 QXh6+ Ke8, and Black wins. But White had the possibility of a combination, the main role in which would have been assigned to his queen — it should have been sacrificed: 30 QXh6!! The queen is immune due to mate in two moves, and there is also a mating finish after 30 ... RXf7 31 Rd8+, or 30 ... Rf6 (or 30 ... Qe2) 31 Qh8+!! BXh8 32 Nh6 mate! The only defence is 30 ... g5, but then too after 31 QXg5 White's threats are irresistible.

At this point my attention was attracted by Ulf Andersson (our game had already ended in a draw), who, discarding his customary restraint, was excitedly explaining something to his team colleagues. One could understand him — victory for Schneider could be a double sensation: the Swede himself would be the hero of the Olympiad, and his team would gain a victory over the USSR! Scores of eyes tensely followed this game, but the Swede, not noticing anything going on around him, continued to think about his move. Suddenly he cast an anxious glance at his rising flag and quickly played

30 g3??,

missing the chance to inscribe his name in the golden treasury of chess. And the fact that the victim could have been the great magician of chess combinations would have significantly raised the prestige of the game.

30        ... h5!

Hinting to White about the missed possibility. Schneider had probably already realized his mistake, and, dismayed, he lost without a fight. However, the advantage is now with Black.

31Ng5 QXb2 32 Ne6 RXfl+ 33 QXfl Bf6 34 Rd8+ Kf7 35 Ng5+ Ke7 36 NXe4 KXd8

White resigns.

"Fortune favours the strong, and the very strong are very fortunate" — this is how Aleksander Roshal, the press attache of our delegation, reacted to these wins. But nevertheless they were exceptions. As a rule, the victories by the Soviet grandmasters were creative successes.

Here are a few examples of my own play.

Kasparov-Nunn (England)

Modern Benoni Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3!

The exclamation mark is for the underlying psychology of this move. Nunn is well known for his attachment to the Modern Benoni, an opening on which he has even written an extensive monograph. Therefore, reckoning that on his next move Nunn would play . . . c5,1 made a move which, in the event of this, leaves White with a wider choice of continuations.

3...c5 4d5 eXd5 5cXd5 d6 6 e4 g6 7 f4 Bg7 8 Bb5+

It was White's desire to choose this attacking system that explains his third move.

8          ... Nfd7 9 a4!

In my opinion this is stronger than the more usual 9 Bd3, since the bishop retains the option of retreating to any square along the a6-fl diagonal, and a2-a4 is in any case part of White's plan.

9          ... Na6

9          ...   0-0   is   more   natural,   but   my opponent, who has made a deep study of the

ideas of this opening, decided to save a tempo by not castling.

10        Nf3 Nb4 11 0-0 a6?

It was not yet too late to castle, but then after 11... 0-0 12 Re 1! a6 13 Bf 1 it is not easy for Black to create counter-play. Outwardly, Nunn's idea looks attractive: after both 12 Bc4 0-0 13 Khl Nb6! 14 Be2 Bg4 and 12 Be2 0-0 13 Be3 Nf6 Black manages to overcome his difficulties. But White's next move dis¬closes the drawbacks to Black's set-up.

12BXd7+!BXd7 13 f5!

Black's pieces are out of it (especially the knight at b4, which occupies an impregnable, but useless position), whereas White's can come into play without the slightest hindrance. Let us turn from general reasoning to specific variations: 13 ... gXf5 14 Bg5 f6 15 Bf4 Qc7 16 Nd2! 0-0-0 (16 . . . Nd3 17 BXd6! QXd6 18 Nc4) 17 Nc4, or 14 ... Bf6 15 Bf4 0-0! (15 ... Qe7 16 e5!) 16 e5! (16 BXd6? BXa4) 16 ... dXe5 17 NXe5, and things are difficult for Black. The attempt to bring the b4 knight into play also suffers a fiasco: 13... c4 14 Bg5 (Nunn also considered the simple 14        Be3 to be pretty unpleasant) 14 ... Qb6+ 15 Khl Nd3 16 f6 Bf8 17 a5! Nf2+ 18 RXf2 QXf2 19 Na4!, and White's numerical superiority on the significant part of the battlefield is bound to decide the outcome.

13 ... 0-0

To avoid the worst, Black decides to remove his king from the centre, but White's pressure does not weaken.

14        Bg5 f6

After 14 ... Bf6 15 Qd2 Black has no way of opposing White's crude build-up on the K-side. True, there was also an attempt to change the course of events by tactical means - 14 ... Bd4+? 15 Khl (but not 15 QXd4 cXd4 16 BXd8 dXc3 17 bXc3 NXd5) 15 ... f6, but then too the simple 16 Bh6 Re8 17 Rcl! retains for White an enormous positional advantage.

15 Bf4 gXf5?

This attempt somehow to complicate the game leads to catastrophe. Defending the position after 15 ... Qe7 was certainly not a pleasant occupation, but that is how Black should have continued. White would have had a choice between the quiet 16 Rel, retaining all the advantages of his position, and the more pretentious 16 fXg6 hXg6 17 Nh4 Kh7 18 Bg3, when it is not easy for Black to defend the numerous weaknesses in his position.

16 BXd6 BXa4

Black was pinning his hopes on this counter-blow, but no sort of trickery can repair his positional defects. Things were not essentially changed by 16 ... Re8 17 BXc5 fXe4 18 Nd4 Nd3 19 NXe4!, when the outcome of the game is not in doubt.

17 RXa4 QXd6

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+p+-+-vlp'
6p+-wq-zp-+&
5+-zpP+p+-%
4Rsn-+P+-+$
3+-sN-+N+-#
2-zP-+-+PzP"
1+-+Q+RmK-!
xabcdefghy

18 Nh4!

The knight triumphantly establishes itself at f5, where its value is immediately increased several times over.

18 ... fXe4 19 Nf5 Qd7

Or 19 ... Qe5 20 Qg4 Rf7 21 Nh6+.

20        NXe4 Kh8

Defending against the threat of Qg4, which is decisive after 20 ... Rae8, e.g. 21 Qg4 Kh8 (21 . . . RXe4 22 Nh6+!) 22 NXc5. But now misfortune strikes from the other side.

21        NXc5

Black resigns.

The variation 21. . . QXd5 22 QXd5 NXd5 23 Ne6 does not require any commentary.

Alburt (USA)-Kasparov

King's Indian Defence

1 c4 g6 2 d4 Bg7  3Nc3M6 4e4 d6 5 Be2 0-0 6 Bg5 Nbd7

Earlier, against the same opponent, I had managed to win the opening duel (and with it the game) in the problematic variation 6 ... c5 7 d5 h6 8 Bf4 e6. However, it transpired that White's play could be improved, and so on this occasion I took the play along different lines. But here too an innovation awaited me!

7 Qcl!?

This seemingly artificial move has a logical justification. The point is that after the "normal" 7 Qd2 e5 8 d5 Nc5 White's difficulties over the defence of his e4 pawn force him into playing the unaesthetic 9 f3 or 9 Bf3. But now all his problems can be solved by the simple 9 b4. And if Black should spend time on preparing a secure post for his knight — 7      . . . e5 8 d5 a5, then too the position of the queen at cl has its advantages: after 9 Nf3 Nc5 the white knight can occupy the vacant d2 square. For more than an hour I pondered over the virtues and drawbacks of 7 Qcl, and finally decided to act in the spirit of the Benko Gambit.

7          ... c5

It would be good to prepare the Q-side play by 7 ... a6, but then White has time to carry out the favourable exchange of the black-squared bishops: 8 Nf3 c5 9 Bh6.

8 d5 b5!?

I made a similar pawn sacrifice in the last round of the 49th USSR Championship, when the tournament situation obliged me to play only for a win. In principle, the correctness of such a sacrifice is always dubious, but the inclusion of the moves Qcl and . . . Nbd7 undoubtedly favours Black.

9 cXb5 a6 10 a4

Today this method of play is regarded as the strongest against all varieties of the Benko Gambit. By reinforcing his b5 pawn, White restricts Black's counter-play on the Q-side.

10        ... Qa5 11 Bd2 aXb5!

After 11 ... Qb4?! 12 f3 the queen risks being lost.

12 NXb5!

Much stronger than 12 BXb5 Ba6!, when Black's initiative begins to assume real pro¬portions. Here is a possible variation: 13 Nge2 Qb4! 14 f3 Ne5 15 0-0 Nc4, and it is not easy for Wrhite to counter the pressure which has unexpectedly arisen.

12        ... Qb6 13 Qc2?!

But this move, in spite of its obvious nature, has to be criticized. As the further course of the game will show, the rook at al should not have been left undefended, and White should have restricted himself to the modest 13 Qbl or even played 13 f3. But he is hoping to develop his pieces harmoniously, without making any positional concessions.

13        ... Ba6 14 Nf3?

Had White evaluated correctly the consequences of Black's planned combination, he would have delayed his K-side development and made the prophylactic rook move 14 Ra3. In this case Black could either have tried to exploit his lead in development by 14 ... c4!?, or carried out the undermining ... e6, immediately or after preparation (14 ... Rfe8).

(See diagram) 14 ... BXb5!

Successfully avoiding the temptation to exploit the same motif in a different way. Although 14 ... NXe4? 15 QXe4 BXb5 16 BXb5 QXb5 17 aXb5 RXal+ 18 Ke2 RXhl leads to a material situation favouring Black, after 19 QXe7 the strong b5 pawn gives

Position after 14 Nf3?:

XABCDEFGHY
8r+-+-trk+(
7+-+nzppvlp'
6lwq-zp-snp+&
5+NzpP+-+-%
4P+-+P+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2-zPQvLLzPPzP"
1tR-+-mK-+R!
xabcdefghy

White an obvious advantage. True, at first I thought that Black could force a draw by 19 ... Nf6 20 b6! Rbl (20 ... Re8 21 QXe8+ NXe8 22 b7) 21 b4! NXd5 22 QXf8+? BXf8 23 b7 Nf4+ 24 Ke3 Nd5+, when 25 Ke4 is not possible because of 25 ... NXb4! 26 b8=Q d5+, winning the newly-born queen. But the simple 22 Qe4! dispelled all my illusions.

15 BXb5 QXb5 16 aXb5 RXalH- 17 Bel NXe4!

After the fall of this pawn the fate of the d5 pawn is also decided. Over-estimating the strength of the b5 pawn would have led to the loss of the initiative: 17 ... Rb8 18 0-0 RXb5 19 Bd2!, and White consolidates his position while retaining a material advantage.

18 0-0 Nef6

Formally the material advantage is on White's side, but the weakness of the pawns at b2, b5 and d5, as well as the great mobility of the black pieces, especially the knights which have comfortable posts available to them, enables preference to be given to Black's position.

19 b4!

The best resource: at the cost of the d5 pawn (which is in any case doomed) White breaks up Black's pawn group in the centre, and raises the value of the b5 pawn in the coming struggle.

19 ... NXd5 20 Bd2

Perhaps White should first have exchanged on c5.

20        ... Rfa8

Here too I had to overcome the temptation of a brilliant variation: 20... RXfl+ 21 KXfl cXb4 22 Qc6 b3!! 23 QXd5 b2 24 Qa2 Nb6! 25 Ba5 (otherwise . . . Ra8 is decisive) 25 ... Ra8 26 Nd2 Bc3, and wins. Alas, all this brilliancy is shattered by the simple 22 Qb3!

21        bXc5?!

White should have prepared a secure shelter for his king by 21 g3. It is true that Black would have retained the initiative after 21. . . Rla2! 22 Qe4 e6, but to convert it into something tangible would not have been easy.

21 ... RXfl+ 22 KXfl Ral+! 23 Ke2

23 Bel would have disrupted the co-ordination of the white pieces, but the position of the king in the centre also gives Black additional possibilities.

23 ... NXc5 24 Qc4 e6

The difference in the activity of the white and black pieces is obvious. White cannot wait passively: after .. . Bf6 and . . . Kg7 the fate of the b5 pawn will be decided, and with it the game. In addition, Black is threatening by 25 ... Ra4 to restrict the queen's actions still further. Activating it by "therapeutic" means does not succeed (25 Qh4 Bf6 26 Bg5 Ra4!), and so White decides on extreme measures.

25 b6!?

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+-+-+pvlp'
6-zP-zpp+p+&
5+-snn+-+-%
4-+Q+-+-+$
3+-+-+N+-#
2-+-vLKzPPzP"
1tr-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

A move which has many virtues (it activates the queen and disrupts the coordination of the black pieces), but also a highly significant drawback — the material

advantage now switches to Black. The plans for the two sides are definitely decided: Black will try to advance his central pawns, while White will combine the battle against them with attempts to create threats to the black king.

Probably White should not have parted with his pawn. He could have tried 25g3 Bf6 26Nel! Ra4 27Qc2 Ra3 28 Ng2 followed by Ne3 or Nf4.

25        ... NXb6

It was tempting to maintain the harmony in the placing of the cavalry, and to entrust the elimination of the b6 pawn to the rook. But it was 25 ... Rbl? that would have allowed White to achieve his aim — that of activating his pieces to the maximum. After 26 Qa2! RXb6 27 Qa8+ Bf8 28 Bh6 Nd7 29 BXf8 (29 Qd8? Rb8! 30 QXd7 BXh6, and the d6 pawn is immune: 31 QXd6? Rb2+ 32 Kfl Rbl+ 33 Ke2 Nc3+, winning the queen) 29 . . . NXf8 30 Ng5! it is unlikely that Black can disentangle himself without losing something, e.g. 30 . . . h6 31 Nh7! KXh7 32 QXf8, or 30 ... Nf6 31 Qd8 Rb2+ 32 Kel N6d7 33 Qe7. The following counter-attacking attempt also fails: 30 ... Rb2+ (30 ... Nf4+ 31 Ke3!) 31 Kel (31 KB? Nf6 32 Qd8 Rb5! 33 h4 h6!) 31 . . . Bf4 32 NXh7 Nd3+ 33 Kdl NXf2+ 34 Kel Nd3+ 35 Kdl KXh7 36 QXf8, and to all appearances Black is unable to exploit his minimal advantage.

26 Qb5 Nbd7 27 Be3 Bf8! 28 Nd4?!

With pieces alone Black's position cannot be broken up - 28 h4!?

28 ... Ra2+ 29 Kfl Ral+ 30 Ke2 e5!

The question, as to which pawn should be advanced first, is answered at first sight in a strange way. But this "strange" decision has a logical explanation: it will later be easier to play ... d5, since this square can be controlled by only two of White's pieces.

31 Nc6 Ra2+ 32 Kfl Ral+ 33 Ke2 Ra2+ 34 Kfl Ra6

34        ... Ne6 also looks good, but Black consistently puts his idea into practice.

35        BXc5

In the event of 35 Nd8? d5! 36 BXc5 NXc5 37 Qe8 Rf6 the e5 pawn is immune: 38 QXe5? RXO+! 39 Kgl Ne4! 40 QXd5 Rf5, and wins.

35        ... NXc5?

A mistake, which is even more unforgivable for the reason that in a similar situation on move 22 Black followed the correct path. The interposition 35 ... Ral+! would have made White's defence more difficult, in view of the unfortunate position of his king.

36 g3!

Now the king acquires a shelter. During the next few moves (until the adjournment) the position hardly changes: White is forced to wait, and Black is short of time.

36... Ral+ 37 Kg2 Ne6 38 Qb8 Rdl 39 Qb2 Rd5 40 Qb8 Rc5 40 ... Rd2 or 40 ... Kg7 is preferable, but Black cannot resist the temptation to set a trap (a fairly transparent one).

XABCDEFGHY
8-wQ-+-vlk+(
7+-+-+p+p'
6-+Nzpn+p+&
5+-tr-zp-+-%
4-+-+-+-+$
3+-+-+-zP-#
2-+-+-zPKzP"
1+-+-+-+-!
xabcdefghy

41 Ne7+

The sealed move. 41 Nb4 would have allowed Black to restrict White's possibilities - 41 ... Nc7!, e.g. 42 Nd3 Rc3 43 Nb4 Rb3!, and the exchange of knights is unavoidable. In general an exchange of minor pieces favours Black, since after it White is forced to passively await the end. It is another matter that such an exchange is not easy to provoke. The position is a "practical" one, and in demonstrating their case the players are helped not so much by analysis, as by their resourcefulness during play. However, in a brief joint analysis with Yusupov and Makarichev, I was able to find a few promising ideas.

41 ... Kg7 42 Nc8

The only move. The d6 pawn is immune (after 42 QXd6? h5! there is no defence against 43 ... Kh7! and 44 ... Rc7, winning the knight), and, as already stated, White should avoid an exchange of minor pieces.

42        ... Rd5 43 Qa8!

The struggle revolves around the ... d5 advance. At first sight 43 Qb7 would also not have essentially changed things, but then Black would have been able to carry out his plan with the help of a tactical ruse: 43 ... Rd2 44 Nb6 d5!, and the weakness of White's f2 pawn is his downfall (45 NXd5 Bc5, or 45 Nd7Nc5 46Qb4RXf2+!).

43        ... Rd2 44 Nb6 Nc5

The impatient 44 ... d5? would have allowed White to force a draw: 45 Qa5! Rb2 46 NXd5 Bc5 47 Ne3!

45 Nc4 Rd4 46 Ne3 Be7 47 h4?!

White over-estimates the danger of 47 ... Bg5, and allows the fixing of the K-side pawns, which gives the black knight (in the future) an excellent post at g4.

47 ... h5 48 Nd5 Bd8!

Again tactical nuances help the overall strategic idea! Black is ready to carry out a plan worked out in analysis — the transfer of his knight to f6(e.g.49 Qc6 Ne4 50 Qa8 Nf6!).

49 Kf3?!

White's thoughts are aimed at parrying the . . . Ne4-f6 manoeuvre, but, in spite of the limited amount of material remaining, he must be extremely cautious about bringing his king out into the centre! 49 Ne3 was better.

49 ... Ne6!

Creating a new positional threat of ... Nc7! The continuing of the earlier plan would have encountered a refutation: 49 ... Ne4 50 QXd8 Nd2+ 51 Ke2 RXd5 52 g4! (for the sake of this breakthrough White agreed to the unfavourable exchange) 52 ... hXg4 53 h5! Nf3 54 hXg6, and the open position of the black king gives White good drawing chances.

50  Qc6

After 50 Kg2 Black picks up the h4 pawn (50 ... BXh4! 51 Kh4 RXd5).

(See diagram after.. Rd2

One of those…..s (bản gốc ở đoạn này mất một chữ không đoán được) where Black wishes his