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Chess Informant 91
Reviewed By
Prof.
Nagesh Havanur
|
 |
Book + CD
Games played between 1st June, 2004 and 30th
September, 2004
Figurine Algebraic Notation
Published by Sahovski Informator |
By an ironic coincidence, this issue of the Informant carries games from
both the Brissago and Tripoli World Championships. The Brissago Match,
played under classical time controls, was criticized for some of its
colorless draws. Yet it belongs to the great tradition of World
Championship matches from Steinitz to Kasparov. The match was
hard-fought and both the players maintained the highest standards of play.
The Tripoli World
Championship cycle held under the aegis of FIDE was marred by controversy,
be it the denial of participation to players from Israel or the deal between
FIDE and Kasparov. Players like Anand refused to play, protesting
against the privilege offered to Kasparov to play the winner of the cycle.
The FIDE time
controls have introduced an irrational and abnormal element in World
Championship cycle. When everything depends on physical stamina and
endurance, it all becomes a matter of survival of the fittest.
Khalifman, Ponomariov, and Kasimzdanov are honorable grandmasters with
some fine tournament results to their credit. But would they be
remembered by posterity as great world champions in the league of Fischer,
Karpov and Kasparov?
The following game
from Brissago is made up of the true stuff of a world championship match:
Vladimir Kramnik-Peter Leko
(B89)
Ruy Lopez Marshall attack, Brissago 2004
1.e4 e5
2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5
9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d4 Bd6 13.Re1 Qh4 14.g3 Qh3
15.Re4 g5
     
 
 
 
    
16.Qf1 TN
Of
course not 16.Bxg5? Qf5
16...Qh5
17.Nd2 Bf5 18.f3 Nf6
Not
18...Bxe4? 19.fxe4 Ne3 20.Qf3 Qxf3 (20...Ng4 21.Nf1+-)
21.Nxf3 ±
In an
interview published in NIC Magazine (2004/8) Kramnik claimed that he
and his seconds had analysed this very line some hours before the
game by a curious coincidence.
19.Re1
Rae8 20.Rxe8 Rxe8 21.a4 Qg6!
Here the
Kramnik team first checked 22.Ne4 and thought White is slightly
better. Then they hit on the move in the game.
22.axb5
Leko had
been taken by surprise by Kramnik’s TN (16.Qf1) and had to figure
out everything over the board. By this time he had only 19
minutes on the clock, so Kramnik decided to mount psychological
pressure on him by playing fast.
22… Bd3
23.Qf2?
Playing with
fire. White has to take a draw by repetition of
moves with 23.Qd1 Be2 24.Qc2 Bd3=. But Kramnik is still
following home preparation.
23...Re2!
24.Qxe2
The other
alternative - 24.bxa6 Rxf2 25.Kxf2 Qh5 - fails in spectacular
fashion. Now 26.Nf1 (26.Kg2 g4-+) Ne4+ 27.Ke3 (27.fxe4 Qe2+
28.Kg1 Qxf1#) 27...Bxf1 28.a7 Qxh2 29.a8Q+ Kg7-+ . Or
26.Kg1 26...Bxg3! 27.hxg3 Qh3 28.a7 Qxg3+ 29.Kh1 g4 30.a8Q+ Kg7
31.Qb7 Qe1+ 32.Kg2 gxf3+ 33.Nxf3 Qf1+ 34.Kg3 Nh5+ 35.Kh4 Qh1+ 36.Kg4
Qg2+ 37.Kxh5 Qh3+ 38.Nh4 Be2+ 39.Kg5 Qg4#
24...Bxe2
25.bxa6
25...Qd3!!
Leko
discovered this move over the board, with time running out on the
clock. Kramnik had foreseen it, but thought that he would have
at least perpetual check.
26.Kf2
26.a7 Qe3+
27.Kg2 Bxf3+! 28.Nxf3 Qe2+ 29.Kg1 Ng4!! 30.a8Q+ Kg7 31.Qxc6 Qf2+
32.Kh1 Qf1+ 33.Ng1 Nf2#
26...Bxf3
27.Nxf3 Ne4+ 28.Ke1 Nxc3!
Not
28...Nxg3? bailing out White with 29.Bd1.
29.bxc3
Qxc3+ 30.Kf2 Qxa1 31.a7
31.Bxg5
fails to 31…Qxa6.
31...h6!
32.h4 g4 0-1
Final Position
This pearl of
Brissago is a wonderful contribution to the treasure house of chess and
deservedly won the Best Game Award from among nearly 500 games of this
volume.
Apart from the rival
World Championships at Brissago and Tripoli, the present volume also
includes games from the Armenia vs Rest of the World match. The
Armenian team, led by Kasparov, was comprised of Leko, Gelfand, Akopian,
Vaganian and Lputian. The ROW team, led by Anand, also had a
formidable line-up with Adams, Svidler, Bacrot, Van Wely and Vallejo Pons.
The Match ended in a narrow victory for the ROW team with the score of
18½-17½.
There are also
selected games from important tournaments like Biel (won by Morozevich),
Dortmund (won by Anand) and Pune (won by Nispeanu and Kasimzdanov).
Besides, one can also find games from the National Championships of France
and Ukraine. However, the present practice of publishing game fragments
should be discontinued as the reader is at a loss to know the remaining
course of the game.
There are
theoretical novelties galore in this volume of Informant. The
following game was a contender for the Best TN and, unfortunately, did not
make it to the charts.
Tejas Bakre-Beata Kadziolka
Sicilian Dragon, Pardubice 2004(B78)
1.e4 c5
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6
9.Bc4 Bd7 10.0-0-0 Rc8 11.Bb3 Nxd4 12.Bxd4 b5
13.Bxa7?!
13.Nd5 Nxd5
14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.exd5 a5 16.a3 b4 17.axb4 axb4 18.Qxb4 is the litmus
test for assessing this line.
13...b4
14.Nd5 Nxd5 15.exd5 Qa5 16.Bd4
I wonder
how Black would have responded to 16.Qf2 or 16.Qe3. Now comes
a thunderbolt.
16...Rxc2+!! 17.Bxc2
17.Kxc2
Bf5+-+; But 17.Qxc2 Rc8 18.Qxc8+ Bxc8 is unclear.
17...Qxa2
18.Qf2?!
Several
other alternatives also lose:
I . 18.Qxb4?
Bh6+ 19.Rd2 Qa1+ 20.Bb1 Bf5-+;
II. 18.Bxg7?
Qa1+ 19.Bb1 Rc8+ 20.Bc3 Bf5-+;
III. 18.b3?
Rc8 19.Bxg7 (19.Qf2 Bxd4 20.Rxd4 Qa1+ 21.Kd2 Rxc2+!!)
19...Bf5 20.Bb2 Qxb3-+;
There is
only one line which keeps White alive: 18.Qe3!? Rc8 19.Kd2
Rxc2+!! 20.Kxc2 Qc4+ 21.Kd2 Bxd4 22.Qxe7 Bb5 and Black has
initiative.
18...Rc8
19.Kd2 Rxc2+ 20.Kxc2 Qc4+ 21.Kd2
21.Bc3? Bf5+
21...Bxd4
22.Qe2 Bc3+!!
23.Ke3
23.bxc3??
Qxc3#
23...Qc5+
24.Ke4 Bf5+ 25.Kf4 e5+ 26.Kg5 f6+ 27.Kh4
27.Kxf6 e4+
28.Ke7 Qc7+ 29.Ke8 Qd7#
27...g5+
0-1
Final Position
28.Kh5 Bg6+
29.Kh6.Qc8 +29.Kg4 h5+! ( and not 29...Qc8+? suggested by Ms
Kadziolka in her notes to the game, as it fails to 30.Kg3)
30.Kg3 h4+ 31.Kg4 Qc8#
The present volume
also offers a profile of Peter Leko, with 15 complete games, 16 theoretical
novelties, 18 combinations and 18 endings.
Besides
the regular sections on middle-game combinations and endings, it also
carries a feature on studies, selected and edited by Yochanan Afek.
There are nine prizewinners from recent composing tourneys by
eminent composers like Akobia, Bazlov and Gurgenidze.
Older fans of the
Georgian composer may be a bit disappointed by the relative simplicity of
design in the following study. But the study has its surprise element.
D. Gurgenidze
1St Prize Probleemblad 2002
White to move and win
1.
Ke7+ K h7 2. Rh8+ Kg6 3.Rg8+Kh7 4.Rg7+! Kh6 5.f8=Q e1=Q+ 6.Kd7 Qd2+
7.Kc8!
Not 7.Kc7?
Qa5 8.Qb8 Qe5 9.Rc7 Kg5
7…Rc1+
8.Kb8 Qh2+ 9. Rg3+ 1-0.
The
CD edition carries the same contents as the book and the choice between the
two is a matter of individual taste.
Recommended.
From the
Publisher's website:
Chess
Informant 91
contains 495 annotated games and
501 variations.
More information about this particular edition is shown in the tables
below.
|
events held between
|
June 1st, 2004 and
September 30th, 2004
|
|
events covered
|
Paks, Armenia – Rest
of the World (m), Tripoli, Kasimdzhanov – Mi. Adams (m), Nederland (ch),
Taiyuan, Biel, Dortmund, Russia – China (m), France (ch), Ukraine (ch),
Pune, Magyarorszag – Deutschland (m), Kramnik – Leko (m), etc. |
|
contributors
|
G.
Kasparov, V. Anand, Kramnik, Leko, Mi. Adams, Svidler, R. Ponomariov,
Ivanchuk, Grischuk, Sutovsky, Nisipeanu, N. Short, J. Lautier, Van Wely,
Vallejo Pons, Krasenkow, Bologan, Sasikiran, I. Sokolov, A. Beliavsky,
And. Volokitin, Kasimdzhanov, Rublevsky, L. Dominguez, Vescovi, M.
Gurevich, Bruzon, Iordachescu, Berkes, P. Eljanov, Ki. Georgiev, Dautov,
Kobalia, Alex. Fedorov, Tiviakov, Gyimesi, Korchnoi, J. Timman, Zhang
Zhong, Sergey Karjakin, and many others. |
|
trademark sections
|
The
voting for the ten best games and the ten most important theoretical
novelties from Chess Informant 90,
theoretical survey in ECO format, the most interesting recent
combinations, endings and studies, tournament standings and crosstables,
and the best of Peter Leko’s creative output. |
Index of all Reviews
|
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