The human comedy of chess : a grandmaster’s chronicles 9781936490400, 1936490404

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Chess Perversions

by Hans Ree

Chessplayers tend to think that all the world plays their game, but this is not true. Millions play shogi, the Japanese form of chess, and tens or maybe even hundreds of millions play xiangqi, the Chinese form. And then there is Korean chess, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese, Burmese, Persian, Indian and Batak chess and who knows what other regional variants. Sprigs from one tree, grown apart through the centuries, but still with unmistakable family resemblances. But much bigger is the number of chess variants that have been worked out by individual inventors. There are tens of thousands of these, maybe hundreds of thousands. Only a few are known by the ordinary chessplayer. In an Amsterdam chess café I used to play a game which we called “Can I?” and which is better known as Kriegspiel, where the players see only their own pieces and not the opponent’s. Alcoholic Chess, where the pieces are bottles that have to be drunk by the player who captures them, has little to offer intellectually and is only suitable for festive evenings. A quite different case is Progressive Chess, where white starts with one move, black replies with two, white plays three, black four and so on. It is not permitted to capture the king during a move. There exists an extended opening theory of this game. Databases with many games. A magazine that follows the latest developments. In this game the superiority of the Italians is as striking as

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that of the Russians in our kind of chess. Of course, games tend to be short. An example: White Murphy-Black Fierek, Correspondence 1988 1.d4 2.d5, Nh6 (two Black moves) 3.Nc3, Nf3, Bxh6 4.Bg4, Bxf3, Bxe2, Bxd1? 5.Nb5, Bc4, Bb3, Ba4, Nxc7 mate. One can imagine that a forced win may be found in the initial position, and that will be the end of this game. Pity for Dutch GM Van der Wiel, who studied it extensively. These are relatively well known chess forms, but who is familiar with Bear Chess, Billiards Chess, Bombalot (our century gave us many chess variants in which a bomb, nuclear or other, destroys a whole area of the board), Brecht Schach (where in the revolutionary spirit of Bertolt Brecht the pieces gain or lose in power during play), or Blood-brother Chess? You can see that my knowledge is that of a slow autodidact who has finally arrived at the letter B of his reference work. The work in question is a book that appeared in 1994, The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants, by D.B. Pritchard, published by Games & Puzzles Publications. The Bible of chess perversions. A monument of scholarship. Thousands of chess variants are described here. Many more had to be left out by the author because they were not important enough. Leafing through this book one realizes that the orthodox chessplayer occupies a small corner of an immense chess universe, inhabited by strange and unknown tribes. The bear, we learn, combines the powers of the knight and the squirrel. A surge of interest among the young in Bear Chess has been reported, especially in Central Russia. Billiards Chess, also known as Reflection Chess or Snooker Chess, is also popular. Of course different aberrations can be combined. AISE (Associazione Italiana SchacchiEterodossi) has organized tournaments for Billiards Progressive Chess or Billiards Loser-wins Chess. Try your wits on the following Billiards Chess problem:

F.F.L. Alexander, 1932 White to move and mate in two The bishops can move as normal, but they can also be reflected like billiards balls on the edges of the board. E.g. the bishop on h6 can reach all the squares file:///C|/cafe/fromarchive/fromarchive.htm (2 of 4) [10/21/2004 11:19:22 AM]

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of the diagonal a3-f8 in one move. In this problem reflection is only allowed once during a move. And now comes Robert Fischer, demonstrating his Fischerandom Chess, in which the pieces are shuffled randomly on the first rank. You may have guessed from the preceding that the idea is hardly new. There have been scores of proposals for all kinds of shuffle chess. The new ingredient of Fischer may be his provision that the king will always be in-between the rooks in the initial position, and the possibility for some kind of castling in all configurations. But for the rest he is firmly based in a tradition that is quite rich, if not very respectable. As an illustration, here is a game recorded in 1903 in Brighton. First we set up the pieces. The initial position was like this: White: Father Christmas Black: St. Nicholas Brighton 1903 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.f2-f4 e5xf4 3.g2-g3 f4xg3 4.Rf1xf7 Ke8xf7 5.Qd1-h5+ Nf8-g6 6.Re1f1+ Ng8-f6 7.e4-e5 d7-d6 8.e5xf6 g7xf6 9.Bh1-d5+ Bc8-e6 10.Rf1xf6+ Kf7xf6 11.b2-b3+ Ng6-e5 12.Qh5-h6+Kf6-f7 13.Qh6xe6+ Kf7-g7 14.Qe6-f7+ Kg7-h6 15.Qf7-f6+Ne5-g6 and here Father Christmas announced mate in two (by Nf3 or Nh3 followed by Qg5 mate) Brilliantly played by Father Christmas and St. Nicholas can be forgiven for not spotting the dangers in time in these unusual circumstances. Even a great player like Paul Keres has dabbled in shuffle chess, baseline chess, randomized chess, displacement chess or whatever you call it, though in a less extreme version. In 1935 he participated in a correspondence tournament in which the white king and queen changed places in the initial position. The black king and queen stayed on their normal squares. The tournament was won by one E. Arcsin from Budapest with 10 points from 11, and Hans Mueller (an IM in orthodox chess); Paul Keres shared second place with 9.5 points. Regrettably, Pritchard, who is my source for practically everything in this article, does not give a game by Keres. White: Ancsin Black: Mueller Correspondence 1935 White with Kd1 and Qe1. 1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.e4-e5 Nb8-c6 3.Nb1-c3 d7-d5 4.f2-f4 Bc8-g4+ 5.Bf1-e2 Bg4xe2+ 6.Qe1xe2 e7-e6 7.Ng1-f3 Ng8-h6 8.0-0-0 (Castling long does not seem advisable in this form of chess) 8...Nh6-f59.d2-d3 Bf8-e7 10.Nc3-d1 0-0 11.c2-c3 Qd8-c7 12.Nd1-e3 Nf5-h4 13.Nf3xh4 Be7xh4 14.g2-g3 Bh4-e7 15.Kf1-g2 Ra8-d8 16.c3-c4 Nc6-d4 17.Qe2-f2 d5xc4 18.d3xc4 Qc7-c6+ 19.Kg2-h3 Rd8-d7 20.Bc1-d2 Nd4-f3 21.Re1-d1 f7-f6 22.Ne3-d5 Nf3xd2 23.Nd5xe7+ Rd7xe7 24.Qf2xd2 f6xe5 25.f4xe5 Qc6-e4 26.Qd2-d6 Rf8-f2 file:///C|/cafe/fromarchive/fromarchive.htm (3 of 4) [10/21/2004 11:19:22 AM]

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27.Rd1-g1 Qe4-e2 White resigned. Solution of the Billiards Chess problem. 1.Ka1. Black has only two legal replies. 1...Ke5 2.Bg7 mate. 1...e2 (the main variation) 2.Bb2 mate. The provision that only one reflection per move is allowed avoids alternative solutions. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad on Saturday, July 6, 1996. Copyright 1996 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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From the Archives... Since it came online over eight years ago, ChessCafe.com has presented literally thousands of articles, reviews, columns and the like for the enjoyment of its worldwide readership. The good news is that almost all of this high quality material remains available in the Archives. The bad news is that this great collection of chess literature is now so large and extensive – and growing each week – that it is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate it effectively. We decided that the occasional selection from the archives posted publicly online might be a welcomed addition to the regular fare.

From the Archives Hosted by Mark Donlan

Chess Mazes by Bruce Alberston

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Vienna In 1910 the famous “Wiener Schach-Klub” found new quarters, which were described in the no less famous Wiener Schachzeitung by editor Georg Marco: “On May 11 the Wiener Schach-Klub left its previous premises (on the corner of Wallnerstrasse and Kohlmarkt) and took possession of a new home in Palace Herberstein. The rooms are as spacious as they are distinguished, and with a degree of comfort befitting a society so prominent, both in character and composition, in our imperial capital. There are the large conversation and reading rooms, dining rooms for smokers and non-smokers, the ladies sitting room, the billiard room, likewise chess rooms (with sliding walls!), not to mention the sixteen huge playing rooms in addition to cloakrooms, kitchens and antechambers. All this takes up two whole stories, the entresol and the first floor of this magnificent building. The furnishings are sumptuous, but of a tastefully discreet restraint and all is a pleasure to behold. The loftiness of the rooms alone is enough to impress.” Ah, that was a chess club that deserved the name! In Cafe Central, that advertized itself as the cultural and intellectual centre of Vienna and the meeting place of the world’s chess champions, gathered the socially less prominent chessplayers and the artists. One of the chessplayers was the revolutionary Lev Trotzky, who played some games there almost daily

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between 1907 and 1914. Michael Ehn, the biographer of Ernst Grünfeld, relates the anecdote that when in 1917 news arrived of the Russian revolution, the Austrian minister of foreign affairs could not believe it and remarked: “Now come on, who is going to make a revolution there? Maybe Mr. Trotzky from Cafe Central?” It was about time to reanimate the great Viennese chess tradition. The Bank Austria Millennium Chess Festival celebrates the fact that a thousand years ago the name Ostaricchi was mentioned for the first time in an official document. This can hardly be called the Birth of a Nation, but if the birth of a word is enough reason to organize a chess festival, we can only applaud. And a magnificent festival it is. Eight Open tournaments of which the strongest one has the startling average Elo rating of more than 2500. The main event, a closed tournament of ten players, is one of the strongest of this year. As if the times of the Austrian-Hungarian double-monarchy had returned, the organisers invited three players from Budapest for the festive opening simuls, Almasi, Leko and the veteran Lilienthal. One can suppose that they had asked Lilienthal to bring his good friend and fellow-townsman Robert Fischer along with him to improve the festive mood, but such requests are notoriously difficult to fulfill. Anatoly Karpov is really a Man of Steel. Hardly had he finished his exhausting match for the world championship, when he went to Biel in Switzerland to win (first equal with the Israeli Milov) a strong tournament. Less than a week passed before we saw him in Vienna for an even stronger tournament with young lions like Kramnik, Topalov, Shirov, Gelfand and Judit Polgar, and his old rival Victor Korchnoi. TV chess host Helmut Pfleger asked Karpov what he would desire if a fairy granted him three wishes. Karpov answered that he would wish for nothing, because he wanted to succeed by his own accomplishments. The good fairy, moved by this proud answer, saw to it that Vladimir Kramnik arrived for his second round game against Karpov fifty minutes late. Kramnik lost that game. He had also lost in the first round against Shirov, a rare setback for the man who is seen by many as the crown prince of chess. Later he recovered. When Kramnik had successfully repulsed a wild attack of Korchnoi, Korchnoi angrily swept the pieces off the board, something which I had seen him doing against Karpov some years ago. A few moments later Kramnik and Korchnoi were peacefully analysing their game. For most of the tournament Karpov had been trailing the leaders by half a point, but in the final round he caught up by winning with black against Shirov. Karpov, Gelfand and Topalov shared first place with 5½ out of 9, Kramnik, Judit Polgar and Leko followed with 5 points. Karpov’s 140th tournament victory, a record that will never be equaled. Korchnoi-Topalov Vienna Millenium, 1996 [B50] file:///C|/cafe/fromarchive/fromarchive.htm (2 of 5) [8/9/2005 1:13:45 AM]

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1. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 2. c2-c4 Bc8-g4 3. e2-e4 c7-c5 4. Nb1-c3 Bg4xf3 5. Qd1xf3 Nb8-c6 6. d2-d3 g7-g6 7. g2-g3 Bf8-g7 8. Bf1-g2 e7-e6 9. 0-0 Ng8- e7 10. Bc1e3 0-0 11. Qf3-e2 Ra8-b8 12. Qe2-d2 Nc6-d4 13. Kg1-h1 Ne7-c6 14. f2-f4 f7f5 15. Ra1-e1 Qd8-a5 16. Be3-g1 Kg8-h8 17. h2-h3 a7-a6 18. g3-g4 Rb8-e8 19. Bg1-h2 Qa5-d8 20. e4xf5 g6xf5 21. g4xf5 Nd4xf5 22. Nc3-e4 Nc6-d4 23. Qd2-d1 Nf5-h4 24. Rf1-g1 Nd4-f5 25. Ne4-g5 Bg7-d4 It is difficult to say if Black’s last move was incautious (as reported on the Internet site www.tasc.nl by the man on the spot Eric van der Schilden) or a farsighted provocation. Probably the first. Topalov is a player who sees a lot, but Korchnoi’s next sacrifices were difficult to foresee. Korchnoi will remain a rook down with no apparent follow-up to his attack. 26. Ng5xh7 Kh8xh7 He will need his bishop for the defence, therefore 26...Bxg1 27. Rxg1 is bad for Black. 27. Qd1-h5+ Kh7-g8 28. Bg2-e4+ Bd4-g7 After 28...Ng7 29. Bh7+ Kh8 30. Qh6 Rf7 31. Bg6+ Kg8 32. Qh7+ Kf8 33. Qh8+ White wins a piece back and keeps a decisive attack. 29. Rg1xg7+ Kg8xg7 Or 29...Nxg7 30. Bh7+, more or less like in the previous variation. 30. Re1-g1+ Kg7-f6 Black has steered clear of some dangerous rocks and now he is a rook up while white’s attack seems to have petered out. 31. Bh2-g3!

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But it has not. Both 31...Nxg3+ 32. Rxg3 and 31...Rh8 32. Bxh4+ are unacceptable for Black. 31...Nh4-g6 32 Bg3-e1 This seems to threaten 33. Bc3+, but a more relevant line is 32...Rg8 33. Bxf5 exf5 34. Rxg6+ Rxg6 35. Bh4+. 32...Kf6-e7 33. Rg1xg6 Ke7-d7 34. Qh5-g4 Kd7-c8 Safety at last. Korchnoi’s fantastic action has brought him two bishops and pawn against rook and knight. Material equivalence more or less, though I think that Black has slightly the better chances because of the weakness of White’s king’s wing. Unfortunately the game comes to a premature end because Korchnoi now blunders. 35. Rg6xe6 Re8xe6 36. Be4xf5 Rf8xf5 37. Qg4xf5 Qd8-d7 White resigned; he loses a piece or his queen. Topalov has been winning one tournament after another this year, but even he seems to take a nap sometimes. Look how roughly he was handled by young Peter Leko. Topalov-Leko Vienna Millenium, 1996 [B13] 1. e2-e4 c7-c6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. e4xd5 c6xd5 4. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1- c3 Nb8c6 6. Bc1-g5 Bc8-e6 7. a2-a3 Qd8-d7 8. Bg5xf6 g7xf6 9. g2-g3 0-0-0 10. Bf1g2 Be6-g4 11. f2-f3 Bg4-e6 12. c4-c5 Be6-f5 13. b2-b4 e7-e5 14. Ng1-e2 Qd7e6 15. d4xe5

15...d5-d4 16. Nc3-e4 d4-d3 17. Ne2-f4 d3d2+ 18. Ke1-f2 Qe6-c4 19. Bg2-h3 Bf5xh3 20. Nf4xh3 Qc4-d4+ 21. Kf2-g2 Nc6xe5 22. Qd1-b3 Ne5-c4 23. Rh1-d1 f6-f5 24. Ne4-g5 Rd8-d7 25. f3-f4 Bf8-g7 26. Nh3f2 Qd4-d5+ 27. Ng5-f3 Bg7xa1 28. Rd1xa1 Rh8-e8 White resigned.

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From the Archives... Since it came online many years ago, ChessCafe.com has presented literally thousands of articles, reviews, columns and the like for the enjoyment of its worldwide readership. The good news is that almost all of this high quality material remains available in the Archives. The bad news is that this great collection of chess literature is now so large and extensive – and growing each week – that it is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate it effectively. We decided that the occasional selection from the archives posted publicly online might be a welcomed addition to the regular fare.

From the Archives Hosted by Mark Donlan

Chess Mazes by Bruce Alberston

Watch for an item to be posted online periodically throughout each month. We will update the ChessCafe home page whenever there has been a “new” item posted here. We hope you enjoy From the Archives...

Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Fortunate Anand According to the report in Mark Crowther’s Internet magazine The Week in Chess, Anand said he felt ecstatic after winning the PCA rapid chess tournament in Geneva. It had been some time since he had won one of these Grand Prix rapids; it had been some time since he had defeated Kasparov. “Now I can retire from chess,” Anand was quoted. One is reminded of Tartakower who apparently never showed such bliss as when he had won a lost game by a blunder of his opponent. Indeed, for every chessplayer it is just the normal state of affairs when he wins by his own merit, but winning completely undeservedly by plain luck reflects the benevolence of the gods. Anand had been lucky. In the final decisive blitz game he had been outplayed by Kasparov, who then, in a situation where almost every reasonable move would have been winning, made a blunder which cost him his queen. I doubt if Anand really felt such strong emotions after winning the tournament. Games quickly played are quickly forgotten. For the players, one of the attractions of a rapid tournament is the shallowness of the emotions involved. When you lose a game in a traditional tournament, you lose at least a night’s sleep. But then, at PCA events the players are contractually obliged to be economical with the truth. Kasparov was asked at a press conference if rapid chess could be a threat to traditional chess. Good question, now that the PCA

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has completely dropped its infra-structure for the world championship but happily continues with the frivolous rapid events, which apparently are more attractive to its sponsors. No threat at all, said Kasparov. The real threat to long games, according to him, were the computers. One wonders why, but Kasparov never lets a chance pass by to emphasize the power and greatness of computers. Years ago, before he organized them, he fulminated against rapid chess events as the doom of real chess. His press conferences are not aimed at those with a memory span of more than one year. Such pedants would have raised an eyebrow when they heard at the same press conference that people like Karpov, Kamsky, Shirov and Salov are absent from these PCA events, not because their relations with Kasparov are not the best, but because they are not good enough in rapid chess. Pedants would remember that the only time when there were official FIDE rapid chess championships, it was Karpov who first became champion of Europe and then of the world. I always feel somewhat guilty when I show rapid games. The chess lover expects a nutritious meal and what he gets is fast food. But I have to admit, I myself always feel curious to see these games. Don’t take them too seriously. Think how they appear to the spectators on the spot. Pieces go by swiftly on big and bright computer screens. In the headphones commentators, like excited sports reporters, breathlessly stumble from one surprise to another. Quite attractive indeed. The cheerful attacking play of Judit Polgar is tailor-made for such events. In Geneva she first eliminated Epishin and then Bareev. In the semi-finals she met Kasparov, who proved too much for her. Polgar - Epishin, Game/25 1 e2-e4 c7-c6 2 d2-d4 d7-d5 3 Nb1-c3 d5xe4 4 Nc3xe4 Nb8-d7 5 Bf1-c4 Ng8f6 6 Ne4-g5 e7-e6 7 Qd1-e2 Nd7-b6 8 Bc4-b3 h7-h6 9 Ng5-f3 c6-c5 10 Bc1f4 Bf8-d6 11 Bf4-g3 Qd8-c7 12 d4xc5 Qc7xc5 13 0-0-0 Bd6xg3 14 h2xg3 Bc8d7 15 Rh1-h4 Ra8-c8 16 Nf3-e5 Bd7-b5 17 Qe2-e1 0-0 Judit Polgar did not think much of black’s last four moves and after the game she said that castling was the final and decisive mistake. Easily said, but it is difficult to indicate a good move for black at this stage. If castling is not satisfactory, he is in a bad state. 18 Ng1-f3 Nb6-d5 19 Kc1-b1 Bb5-c6 20 Qe1-d2 Rf8-e8 21 Rd1-h1 Qc5-f8 22 g3-g4 This plays itself. “One does not have such an easy game very often at this level,” Judit happily said after the game. She had used only half of her time. 22...Nf6-e4 23 Qd2-e1 Ne4-d6 24 g4-g5 Nd6-f5 25 g5xh6 Nf5xh4 26 h6-h7+ Kg8-h8 After 26 Kxh7 27 Rxh4+ Kg8 28 Qh1 there will be mate.

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27 Nf3xh4 Now a terrible check at g6 is threatened. 27...Nd5-f4 28 Qe1-b4 And this is the attractive culmination of white’s attack. After 28...Qxb4 mate will follow by 29 Nhg6+ fxg6 30 Nf7. 28...g7-g5 His knight has to stay to protect g6, so black is forced to weaken the diagonal leading to his king. 29 Qb4-d4 Kh8-g7 Hoping for 30 Nd7+ e5. 30 Nh4-f5+ e6xf5 31 h7-h8Q+ Qf8xh8 32 Ne5xf7+ Black resigned. The final match was bitter for Kasparov. In the first game, having black, he strategically outplayed Anand. Work done, one thought, because it seemed unlikely that Kasparov would lose with white when a draw would be sufficient. But he did, mishandling an endgame which he could have drawn easily. So it was 1-1 and there had to be two blitz games (5 minutes each) to decide the winner. The first one was an exciting draw and then came the decisive gamelet. Anand – Kasparov, Game/5 1 e2-e4 c7-c5 2 Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3 d2-d4 c5xd4 4 Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5 Nb1-c3 a7a6 6 Bc1-e3 Nf6-g4 7 Be3-g5 h7-h6 8 Bg5-h4 g7-g5 9 Bh4-g3 Bf8-g7 10 Bf1e2 h6-h5 Kasparov had already had this position twice in this tournament, against Topalov and against Anand. 11 Be2xg4 Bc8xg4 12 f2-f3 Bg4-d7 13 Bg3-f2 Nb8-c6 14 Qd1-d2 Nc6-e5 15 00 g5- g4 16 f3-f4 Ne5-c4 17 Qd2-e2 Ra8-c8 18 b2-b3 Nc4-a3 19 Nc3-d5 e7-e6 20 Nd5-b4 Qd8-a5 21 Qe2-e1 h5-h4 22 Bf2-e3 h4-h3 23 g2-g3 Na3-b5 24 Ra1-d1 Nb5-c3 25 Nb4-d3 Qa5-c7 26 Rd1-c1 Nc3xe4 27 f4-f5 e6-e5 28 f5-f6 Ne4xf6 29 Nd4-f5 Bd7xf5 30 Rf1xf5 Qc7-c6 31 Qe1-e2 Qc6-e4 32 Rf5-f2 Nf6-d5 33 Rc1-e1

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Again Kasparov has outplayed Anand with black He is two pawns up, has an iron grip on white’s king’s wing and finds himself in the comfortable position where practically every reasonable move, like for instance 33 0-0, wins the game. He strives for a winning endgame, which could have been reached with 33 Nxe3. 33…Qe4xe3? But not this way. 34 Qe2xg4 Uh oh, horrible are the consequences of one moment’s inattentiveness. Black’s rook and queen are attacked. Gasping and grimacing Kasparov bravely went on to make the best of it. 34...0-0 35 Re1xe3 Nd5xe3 36 Qg4xh3 Ne3xc2 37 Qh3-d7 Nc2-d4 38 Qd7xb7 a6-a5 39 Kg1-g2 Rc8-c3 40 Nd3-b2 Nd4-c2 41 Nb2-c4 d6-d5 42 Nc4-d6 Nc4-e3+ 43 Kg2-h3 f7-f5 And after his downfall black has come a long way to almost recover He is threatening 44 Rf6 and Rh6 mate, but it does not suffice. 44 Qb7-d7 f5-f4 45 Qd7-e6+ Kg8-h7 46 Nd6-f7 Rf8xf7 47 Qe6xf7 Rc3-c6 One last threat. 48 g3xf4 Rc6-f6 49 Qf7-c7 e5-e4 50 f4-f5 d5-d4 51 Qc7-e7 Rf6-h6+ 52 Kh3g3 Ne3-d1 53 Rf2-f4 e4-e3 54 Rf4-g4 Black resigned. All in all, an impressive blitz game.

This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad on Saturday, September 7, 1996. Copyright 1996 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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From the Archives... Since it came online many years ago, ChessCafe.com has presented literally thousands of articles, reviews, columns and the like for the enjoyment of its worldwide readership. The good news is that almost all of this high quality material remains available in the Archives. The bad news is that this great collection of chess literature is now so large and extensive – and growing each week – that it is becoming increasingly difficult to navigate it effectively. We decided that the occasional selection from the archives posted publicly online might be a welcomed addition to the regular fare.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Bert Enklaar On Thursday, October 3 Dutch IM Bert Enklaar died, at the age of 52. In an old notebook I found the first game that I played against him, in 1959, when he was fifteen years old, I fourteen. My school beat his school 4-2, I proudly wrote at the time. Our game was a draw. I had added some pedantic notes which, as I see now, were not in complete accordance with the truth. Some more games between us are there, and in other notebooks which have disappeared somehow I must have written down dozens of our games, played in scholastic events, in the chess club for youngsters The Black Foal and in friendly training matches. There were years when I met Bert Enklaar almost every day. We attended the same lectures in mathematics, then went to the coffeehouse opposite the zoo where we talked about the sense and meaning of mathematics, literature and chess. According to my memory, conversations with him were often about sense and meaning, but it seems likely that most time was spent on down to earth subjects like the King’s Indian or the Fajarowicz variation of the Budapest gambit which he loved for many years with little recompense. After that we went to our lectures again or more often straight to the chess cafe on Leidseplein. Once or twice a week we met at our chess club. In 1963 both of us joined the Dutch team for the first time. We went to Birmingham for a match against England and at a London railway station we discovered that Kennedy

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From the Archives

had been shot. Bert was gravely shocked and I found that strange. We made our debut in the Dutch Championship at the same time, in The Hague 1965, and we gained the same number of points. Some people had difficulties keeping us apart and it happened more than once that I talked to a chessplayer and after some time discovered that he thought I was Bert Enklaar. Suddenly he gave up chess, radically and apparently forever. He found chess too frivolous and harmful to the soul. He was a serious man, which however did not exclude a humorous tone of conversation, and I now remember an occasion where he, model of gentleness, grinningly called me “La vache qui rit,” the laughing cow, after a well-known brand of cheese spread. The remark seemed painfully to the point at the time, though I can’t remember why. He gave away all his chess books and to divide the loot his friends organized a blitz tournament which we called the Bert Enklaar Memorial. A few years later he was back in the chess world. We intended to return his chess books to him, whether or not we really did this, I am not quite sure. His period of absence had done him good. In 1972 he won the masters tournament in Wijk aan Zee tied with Ribli, with the wonderful score of 12 out of 15, two points ahead of the field. Again he played in the Dutch championship and in the magazine of the Dutch chess federation the reporter wrote about an “excellent first appearance,” having forgotten that Enklaar had already been there in 1965. He played in the Olympiad in Skopje 1972; next year he was the most succesful Dutch player in the grandmaster group in Wijk aan Zee, he was awarded the IM title and in the Dutch Championship of 1973 he shared first place with Sosonko and Zuidema. Sosonko won the play-off and became champion. Enklaar was a member of the Dutch team that gained a fine fifth place in the Olympiad of Nice 1974, and around that time he may have thought about becoming a professional chessplayer, but he did not make that fateful decision and became a teacher of mathematics instead. At the end of the seventies he started to withdraw from the chess world again, not radically this time, but gradually. He kept on playing chess, but no big tournaments anymore, only games for his club and small events which took one or two days. He said he liked to play chess, but not in the fanatical way of his past. He wanted to play for fun, so that he was in control of chess and not chess in control of him. There was a year that he only played draughts, quite fanatically according to Paul van der Sterren who knew him well, but draughts must have been less powerful and threatening. In his last few years, when he had been declared incurably ill, he took up chess as a passion again. He analysed openings, bought a computer with a database of games, and played wherever he could, in the internal competition of three different clubs and in tournaments in the Netherlands and abroad. His last tournament was the Lost Boys tournament in Antwerp, in August this year. A few days after that he started to compete in the Donner Memorial in Amsterdam, but the pain and exhaustion which he had unfailingly kept hidden to his opponents, had become such that he was forced to resign from the file:///C|/cafe/fromarchive/fromarchive.htm (2 of 4) [2/17/2006 11:38:45 PM]

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tournament after one round. Ljubojevic,Ljubomir (2550) - Enklaar,Bertus (2410) Wijk aan Zee (12) 1973 [A01] 1 b2-b3 Ng8-f6 2 Bc1-b2 e7-e6 3 e2-e3 Bf8-e7 4 f2-f4 0-0 5 Ng1-f3 c7-c5 6 Bf1-d3 b7-b6 7 Nf3-g5 h7-h6 8 Qd1-f3 Nb8-c6 9 h2-h4 Original and aggressive play by White, but it will take quite some time before his attack will become really threatening. 9 Bc8-b7 10 Rh1-h3 Ra8-b8 11 Qf3-e2 d7d5 12 Nb1-a3 Nc6-b4 13 Rh3-g3 a7-a6 14 0-0-0 b6-b5 15 Rd1-h1 d5-d4 After 15...c4 White still has 16 Bh7+. 16 e3-e4 c5-c4 17 b3xc4 Nb4xa2+ 18 Kc1d1 Be7xa3 19 Bb2xa3 It has become obvious that Black’s attack has made more progress than White’s and now there is an unpleasant surprise for White. 19...Bb7xe4 20 c4xb5 After 20 Bxe4 bxc4 (threatening mate) 21 Qxc4 Rb1+ 22 Ke2 Rxh1 Black remains material up, because Ng5 and Be4 are en prise. 20...Be4xd3 21 Qe2xd3 Rb8xb5 22 Ba3xf8 This will lose quickly. With 22 Ke2 White could have saved his material, though Black is still better after 22...Nb4. 22...Rb5-b1+ 23 Kd1-e2 Rb1xh1 24 Bf8-a3 h6xg5 25 h4xg5 Nf6-h5 26 Rg3f3 With a piece down White could have resigned, but he probably lacked the time to make such a considered decision. 26...Qd8-d5 27 Ke2-f2 g7-g6 28 g2-g3 Rh1-h2+ 29 Kf2-e1 e6-e5 30 c2-c4 Qd5-a5 31 Rf3-f2 Rh2xf2 32 Ke1xf2 e5-e4 33 Qd3-b3 Qa5xd2+ 34 Kf2-g1 e4-e3 White resigned. Ljubojevic,Ljubomir (2595) - Enklaar,Bertus F (2390) file:///C|/cafe/fromarchive/fromarchive.htm (3 of 4) [2/17/2006 11:38:45 PM]

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Lost Boys (7), 1996 [A33] 1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.g3 Ne5 7.e4 Bb4 8.Qe2 0–0 9.f4 Nc6 10.Nxc6 dxc6 11.e5 Bxc3+ 12.bxc3 Qa5 13.exf6 Qxc3+ 14.Kf2 Qd4+ 15.Kf3 Qxa1 16.Bb2 Qxa2 17.Qc2 Qa5 18.g4 g6 19.h4 c5 20.Bc3 Qc7 21.Kg3 Bd7 22.h5 Be8 23.Be5 Qd7 24.Qh2 Qd1 25.Be2 Qb3+ 26.Kf2 g5 27.fxg5 Bc6 28.Rc1 Rfd8 29.g6 Rd2 30.Qf4 Rad8 31.Bc3 e5 32.Qh6 This was an even more violent game than that of 23 years earlier. White had missed a win a few moves ago. Now he is threatening a mate against which there is no defence, only a counter-attack. 32...Rxe2+ 33.Kg3? White was in a terrible time trouble. During the post mortem the players reached the conclusion that after 33 Kf1! Rd1+ 34 Kxe2 Qxc4+ 35 Kxd1 Bf3+ the game would have ended a draw by perpetual check. 33…Rg2+ 34.Kh4 Rxg4+ 35.Kxg4 Qxc4+ 36.Kg3 Rd3+ 37.Kf2 Qh4+ 38.Ke2 Qe4+ 39.Kf2 Rf3+ White resigned.

This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad on Saturday, October 12, 1996. Copyright 1996 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree HERMIT OF GENEVA The English chess writer Edward Winter has this in common with God, that his existence can only be deduced from his works. Nobody has ever seen him. There are no photographs of him. He has an address in Geneva and he answers his mail, but intrepid seekers for biographical information get a curt reply that tells them that only matters of chess can be discussed. Because Winter has clearly shown for more than fifteen years that his heart is with the old masters, more than with modern chess, his image is that of a very old man, but this is denied by those to whom it has been imparted by word of mouth that he has been seen in the flesh as recent as the seventies, in the form of an English schoolboy, and that even the notation of a chess game of his has been preserved. In the English magazine "Chess" Winter is always referred to as The Omniscient. Winter is a just but stern supervisor of chess literature. Every chess writer in the English language knows: when he makes a mistake in a date, overlooks a mate in an analysis, or sins against the King's English, he will be flogged by Winter, whose eyes see everything. In 1982 Winter started the magazine "Chess Notes," born from the realization that chess literature is a garbage bin of made-up anecdotes, conjectures that pose as facts and mistakes that are given eternal life by the laziness of thoughtless plagiarists. "Chess Notes" would be a forum for serious investigators. And that it was for eight years. Then suddenly Winter closed down his magazine because his correspondents had not been as arduous as he had wished. A few years later he continued his labours of purification on his own in a column that is published in several chess magazines. This year a collection of Winter's critical chess notes was published by Cardogan, London: "Chess Explorations, A Pot-Pourri from the Journal Chess Notes." It is a rich album of games, brilliant, edifying or at least curious, chess trivia, scourging book reviews and deep investigations. "What song the Sirens sang, or what name Achilles assumed when he hid himself among women, though puzzling questions, are not beyond all conjecture." Those words of Thomas Browne could have been the motto for this book, were it not that the word conjecture is anathema to Winter. An example how things went in the good days when the magazine "Chess Notes" was with us: Winter spots in the Yugoslav magazine "Sahovski Glasnik" a story about a match that Capablanca was supposed to have played in 1922 against the German billiards champion Erich Hagenlocher. In chess

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Capablanca gave odds of a rook, in billiards he got odds of 75 points, out of 100 to make. Result 1-1, both players won their own game. Winter tells the story in his magazine. This was 1983. During the next years several articles are devoted to this subject. Reader's letters are published which make it clear that the whole story is a hoax. We come to know who originated this story, when and where. Who really played the supposed Capablanca game. The details of the career of the German billiards champion, whose name turns out to be Hagenlacher. In 1989, six years after his first report, Winter can write: "Slowly but surely all the key facts about this matter now seem to have come out." Case closed, or almost. Sometimes, to our surprise, a classical chess anecdote turns out to be true: the match between the university of Cambridge and the madhouse of Bedlam really was won by Bedlam. Winter gives the details and we do not doubt anymore. No sin is insignificant to Winter, a printing error lets him grip his whip. But often his corrections are important. Reuben Fine has written that Bogolyubov, the Russian that lived in Germany, had some of his colleagues sent to concentration camps when the Nazis came to power. A casual remark, without any corroboration. Winter shows that this terrible accusation is indeed without any foundation. And then the small errors and examples of carelessness of Fine that Winter earlier indicated, are seen in a different light. When Fine is so careless in matters of chess technique, he may have been careless when he defamed Bogolyubov. Nobody is spared, but one man is singled out for Winter's attacks: English GM Raymond Keene. Keene as an organiser, a chess politician, a journalist, a chess writer. Found defective in all respects. Careless mistakes, outright lies, by the dozen, by the hundred, according to Winter. Says Keene one year exactly the opposite of what he has said a few years before, blissfully thinking that no reader will remember, Winter proves him wrong. Alas, probably Winter is right. He has been called a pedant, humourless often, but seldom or maybe never he has been proved to be wrong. And now and then it seems to me that his sense of humour may be healthier than is commonly acknowledged. In his book he gives the following diagram. White: Kf2, Ne3 Black: Kh2, Ps:f4, g5, h3 Now followed 1 Ng4+ Kh1 2 Kf1 f3 3 Kf2 h2 4 Kf1 f2 5 Nxf2 mate. It is a standard manoevre, seen in many endgame books. Why is this diagram with its trivial sequel thought worthy of inclusion in his book? The moves are the final part of a game Janowsky-Keene, New York 1917. Quite another Keene, a certain Lester Keene. But Winter must have relished the opportunity to write: "The consternation of Keene can well be imagined when Janowsky forced a checkmate in five moves." By far not all Winter's chess notes are meant polemically. He is a file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans05.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:55 PM]

true chess lover and much of his material is there only for it's beauty. Like the next game. Both players thought this the best game they had ever played. Winter quotes a saying about spectacular moves that look like typographical errors and of course he uses the opportunity to enquire who was the originator of this saying. As so often, he had to supply the answer himself, in a later issue of "Chess Notes:" it was Napier, mainly known from Lasker-Napier. White: Kg2, Qc2, Ra1, Rf1, Ne2, Bc3, Bd3, Ps: a3, b2, c4, d4, e4, g3, g4, h4 Black: Kg8, Qh6, Re8, Rf8, Bb7, Nc6, Nf7, Ps: a7, b6, c7, d7, e6, f5, h7 White: Purdy Black: Crowl, Correspondence 1934/35. 19...Nc6-e5 20 d4xe5 f5xe4 21 Bd3xe4 Qh6-g6 22 Rf1-f5 Bb7xe4+ 23 Qc2xe4 e6xf5 24 g4xf5 Nf7-d6 25 Qe4-d5+ Qg6-f7 26 e5xd6 Re8xe2+ 27 Kg2-f3 Re2-e6 28 g3-g4 h7-h5 29 d6xc7 h5xg4+ 30 Kf3xg4 Re6-c6 31 Ra1-g1 Kg8-h7 32 Qd5xf7+ Rf8xf7 33 Rg1-e1 Rc6xc4+ 34 Kg4-g5 Rc4-c5 35 Re1-e5 Rf7-g7+ 36 Kg5-h5 Rc5-c6 37 f5-f6 Rc6xf6 38 Re5-g5 Rf6-h6+ 39 Kh5-g4 Rg7xg5+ 40 Kg4xg5 Rh6-c6 41 Bc3-e5 d7-d5 42 Kg5-f5 b6-b5 43 b2-b4 a7-a6 44 Kf5-f4 Kh7-g6 45 h4-h5+ Kg6xh5 46 Kf4-e3 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" on Saturday, November 16, 1996. Copyright 1996 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree The SUPERTOURNAMENT First Round Six geniuses in the supertournament, was the headline I saw in one of the local papers of Las Palmas, the main city of the Canary Islands. Indeed. Gary Kasparov, Anatoli Karpov, Vasily Ivanchuk, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik. The cream of the chess world. Gata Kamsky should be among them, but after his candidates match last year against Anand they do not want to see him here anymore. In some places where the hoofprint of father Rustam Kamsky has been, there are no chess events at all afterwards. Fortunately for the organisers Kamsky dropped to seventh place on the interim FIDE list, so that they can still say that they have the six best players of the world. The strongest tournament in history, as they claim, it may be not, but anyway it fills a painful gap. Now that there is no structured cycle for the world championship, this tournament gives us a chance to see who is best. "Who wins this tournament can call himself the world's best player for the moment," said Kasparov before it began, a sign that he took it very seriously. He arrived here a week early and Karpov has been in the seaside resort Maspalomas, on the other end of the island Gran Canaria, for two weeks. All the players took seconds with them, some of them a whole team of helpers. Kasparov was the only one who won in the first round. A bit lucky maybe, Topalov could have drawn, but on the other hand Kasparov did wonders with his small advantage in the rook ending, while Topalov underestimated the dangers. Ivanchuk had prepared well for his encounter with Karpov. At the opening ceremony the day before, as soon as he had received his drawing number he ran away, so that in the photographs there are only five players instead of six. He did not wait for the car with driver that the organisers had put at his disposal, but jumped into the first taxi he saw. "To the hotel!" he exclaimed. Which hotel? the driver asked. But the name or location Ivanchuk did not know. At least, such is the story as told to me by the head of Anand's delegation. It reminds one of Akiba Rubinstein, about whom it has been told that once he arrived in The Hague by train, boarded the first streetcar he saw and said to the driver: "Bring me to my friend Oskam." Ivanchuk almost won, even though he was black. Kramnik had to thread carefully through a minefield after Anand had sprung a novelty on him in a sharp Sicilian. When Kramnik had not exploded after twenty moves, a draw was agreed. When the four other players had already long gone, Kasparov and Karpov were still seen together on the stage. A spy told me that

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Karpov explained that Kasparov should never have won his game, and that Kasparov made it clear that Karpov should have lost, or at least suffered longer. They maybe rivals, enemies sometimes, but they are bound together like Siamese twins. Diagram: White: Kh1, Rc1, Re1; pawns: a4, b2, d5, h2 Black: Kh8, Rb8, Rf4, Nd6; pawns: a5, c4, e4, h7 White: Topalov Black: Kasparov. Here white could make a draw by 38 Nb5 Nxb5 39 axb5 Rxb5 40 Rxc4, though he will be a pawn behind. Topalov afterwards said that he wanted more, but as he can hardly have hoped for a win here, it probably meant that he wanted a draw with equal material. He did not realize the dangers in the position. Played was: 38 Re1-e2 Kh8-g7 39 Rc1-e1 Rb8-b4 Defending his pawn e4. After 40 Nxe4 Nxe4 41 Rxe4 Rxe4 42 Rxe4 black wins with 42...c3. 40 Nc3-b5 Nd6xb5 41 axb5 Kg7-f7 42 d5-d6 Kf7-e6 43 Re2-d2 Ke6-d7 44 Re1-g1 Rf4-f7 45 Rg1-e1 a5-a4 After 45...Rf6 46 Rxe4 Rxd6 white has a draw with 47 Rc2. 46 Re1-e3 Rf7-g7 47 Re3xe4 He thinks he finally can take it, but he should have waited. 47...a4-a3! 48 Re3-e7+ Rg7xe7 49 d6xe7+ Kd7xe7 50 b2xa3 Rb4-b1+ 51 Kh1-g2 c4-c3 52 Rd2-e2+ Forced, but now black can support his pawn with the king. 52...Ke7-d6 53 Kg2-f3 Kd6-d5 54 a3-a4 Kd5-d4 55 a4-a5 Rb1xb5 56 a5-a6 Rb5-a5 57 Re2-e4+ Kd4-d5 58 Re4-e3 c3-c2 59 Re3-c3 Ra5-c5 White resigned because of 60 Rxc5+ Kxc5 61 a7 c1Q 62 a8Q Qh1+. Second Round Three draws. Now and also on later days the Canarian journalists were complaining about the high percentage of draws. The players comments were to the effect that even God cannot win a drawn position against a supergrandmaster. The most interesting game was Kramnik-Topalov, a heroic fight. Kramnik got an overwhelming position after the opening, a King's Indian, but only gained a miserable pawn . Still he had good winning chances. After sixty moves the instrument that they call here the "guillotine" came into effect: the players get an extra half hour for the rest of the game. At move eighty, with two minutes left, Kramnik gave up his winning attempts. But even in the late endgame the computer Fritz had spotted a win for him, and I think the thing is right. Diagram: White: Kf4, Re5, Ne4, Bg5; pawns: f3, h4 Black: Kf8, Re2, Nd4, Bg2; pawn: g6 White: Kramnik Black: Topalov. Here, after more then six hours of play, white missed his last chance. Strong would have been 66 Bh6+ Kf7 (after 66...Kg8 67 Re7 black is in a mating net) 67 Rd5. Now both 68 Rxd4 and 68 Rd7+ are threatened, so forced is 67...Ne6+ 68 Kg3 and now again mate is threatened and also the win of a piece by 69 Nf2 Bf1 70 Rd1. Black is forced to sacrifice an exchange with 68...Rxe4 69 fxe4 Bxe4 but in the long run this will not help him. Kramnik however played 66 Bg5-e7+ instead of 66 Bh6+ and fourteen moves later a draw was agreed.

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Third Round Kasparov and Kramnik gave a draw in a position rich in possibilities after 19 moves. Topalov-Karpov agreed to a draw after 27 moves, which was quite justified by the position, but earlier in the game Topalov had had a strong bind. Anand won a fine game against Ivanchuk, sacrificing an exchange right after the opening. The consequences could not be calculated, but Anand followed the iron logic often invoked by Euwe: I have white, I made no mistake, so I should have some advantage. If I do not sacrifice there is no advantage at all, so sacrifice I must, come what may. White: Anand Black: Ivanchuk 1 e2-e4 e7-e5 2 Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3 Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4 Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5 0-0 Bf8-c5 6 Nf3xe5 Nc6xe5 7 d2-d4 Nf6xe4 8 Rf1-e1 Bc5-e7 9 Re1xe4 Ne5-g6 10 c2-c4 0-0 11 Nb1-c3 d7-d6 Usually 11...c6 is played, to prevent white's next move. 12 Nc3-d5 Be7-h4 13 Qd1-h5 c7-c6 Diagram 14 Re4xh4 So sacrifice he must, come what may. 14...Qd8xh4 14...Nxh4 15 Bg5 f6 16 Bxh4 cxd5 17 Qxd5+ Kh8 18 Bg3 is not attractive for black and maybe white has even better. 15 Qh5xh4 Ng6xh4 16 Nd5-b6 Ra8-b8 17 Bc1-f4 Nh4-f5 18 d4-d5 Rf8-e8 Active counterplay, but it fails. The test of white's sacrifice could have been the humble 18...cxd5 19 cxd5 Rd8 19 Kg1-f1 h7-h6 Anand thought 19...f6 20 h3 Re5 a better defence. 20 h2-h3 Re8-e4 21 Bf5-h2 c6xd5 22 g2-g4 Re4xc4 No choice. After 22...dxc4 there follows 23 Bc2 and white wins. 23 Nb6xc4 d5xc4 24 Ra1-e1 Bc8-e6 25 g4xf5 Be6xf5 26 Bh2xd6 Bf5xh3+ 27 Kf1-g1 Rb8-d8 28 Re1-e8+ Rd8xe8 29 Ba4xe8 Material equality, but white's bishops control the board. Probably black has no saving chances anymore. 29...Bh3-e6 30 a2-a4 g7-g5 31 a4-a5 Kg8-g7 32 Be8-a4 Kg7-g6 33 Ba4-d1 Be6-d5 34 Bd1-c2+ Kg6-f6 35 Bd6-c7 Kf6-e6 36 Bc2-h7 Bd5-f3 37 Kg1-h2 Ke6-d5 38 Bh7-c2 Bf3-e4 39 Bc2-d1 Kd5-d4 40 Bd1-e2 Be4-d3 41 Bc7-b6+ Kd4-d5 42 Be2-d1 f7-f5 43 Kh2-g3 Kd5-e5 44 Bb6-c5 Ke5-f6 45 Bd1-h5 f5-f4+ 46 Kg3-h2 Black resigned as he can not protect all his pawns. Fourth Round The highlight of the round was the game between the two leaders, Kasparov-Anand, which Kasparov should have won. After 63 moves of trouble Anand saved a draw. Kramnik and Karpov did no harm to each other and Topalov showed again that he is not himself in this tournament. He almost mated Ivanchuk, who could just save himself n an endgame, but even then Ivanchuk was convinced that he was losing, as he told the press afterwards. Great was his surprise when he was allowed dangerous counterplay, greater still his happiness when he met hardly any resistance and won quickly. White: Topalov Black: Ivanchuk 1 e2-e4 c7-c6 Ivanchuk plays everything. 2 d2-d4 d7-d5 3 Nb1-d2 d5xe4 4 Nd2xe4 Nb8-d7 5 Ne4-g5 Ng8-f6 6 Bf1-d3 e7-e6 7 Ng1-f3 Bf8-d6 8 Qd1-e2 h7-h6 9 Ng5-e4 Nf6xe4 10 Qe2xe4 Nd7-f6 11 Qe4-e2 Qd8-c7 12 Bc1-d2 b7-b6 13 0-0-0 Bc8-b7 14 Kc1-b1 Ra8-d8 15 Rh1-g1 c6-c5 16 d4xc5 Qc7xc5 17 a2-a3 0-0 18 g2-g4 Qc5-d5 19 g4-g5 Qd5xf3 20 g5xf6 g7-g6 Diagram 21 Bd2xh6 The position is crying for 21 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans06.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

Bxg6, but with good reason Topalov pays no attention. After 21...fxg6 22 Rxg6+ Kf7 23 Rg7+ Kxf6 24 Bc3+ Kf5! there is no clear follow up. 21...Bd6xh2 22 Rg1-h1 Qf3xe2 23 Bd3xe2 Rd8xd1+ 24 Rh1xd1 Rf8-c8 25 f2-f3 Bh2-g3 Black can just prevent mate. 26 Bh6-g7 Quite out of play here. This is only good when a mate can follow, but there won't. Strong was 26 Rd7 or 26 b4, avoiding the manoevre Rc8-c5-h5 and still playing with the idea of mate, but not burning all his boats for it. 26...g6-g5 27 Rd1-d7 Bb7-c6 28 Rd7xa7 Rc8-d8 29 a3-a4 Bg3-e5 30 a4-a5 30 Ra6 still looks good. 30...Rd8-d2 31 Be2-c4 b6-b5 32 Bc4-b3 Bc6xf3 33 Ra7-e7 Rd2-d6 34 Re7-e8+ Kg8-h7 35 Bg7-f8 Rd6-d1+ 36 Kb1-a2 Be5xf6 37 a5-a6 g5-g4 38 c2-c4 Time pressure panic, but white was already in a bad state. 38...Rd1-d2 39 c4xb5 g4-g3 40 b5-b6 g3-g2 41 Bf8-c5 Be5xb2 White resigned. Fifth round After almost three years of waiting finally another Karpov-Kasparov game. Their last one was in 1994 in Linares, when Karpov reigned supreme. Their long awaited game turned out a disappointment. There had been two consecutive rest days, to give Karpov the opportunity to go to Paris and come back in time. Long before Karpov had agreed to play in Las Palmas, he had signed a contract with Paris Disneyland to appear there at a chess event for children, something he could not cancel. Back from a tiring trip, Karpov appeared not in the mood to play a sharp game. Right from the opening he seemed to be playing for a draw and as he had white, nobody doubted that he would get one. A boring game, but still they thought long and got into terrible time trouble. For the players their own game is never boring, only the spectators think so. And a day later it was found out that in the last three minutes of the game exciting things had happened. Maybe a missed win for Karpov. Then a missed win for Kasparov in a pawn ending. Not so boring at all, but nobody had noticed it at the time. Kramnik was crushed by Ivanchuk. For this tournament Kramnik has taken up a new opening as black, the King's Indian. It certainly still needs some polishing. After his earlier game with Kasparov, Kramnik said that he had not played the King's Indian for ten years, so his experience dates from the time he was eleven years old. Anand-Topalov was an uneventful draw. The highlight of the day was the press conference that Ilyumzhinov gave. The Executive Council of FIDE had had two days of discussions in Las Palmas, invited there because the Canarians want to have the Kasparov-Karpov match in 1997. Ilyumzhinov announced that his knock-out World Championship tournament would be held in Elista, December 1997 till January 1998. Five million dollar prize fund, guaranteed by the Kalmykian government. And what about Kasparov-Karpov, what kind of world championship was that then? Ilyumzhinov replied that in their provisional agreement Kasparov and Karpov had not mentioned FIDE at all, so it was none of his file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans06.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

business. FIDE would go its own way. The Canarian chess organisers turned white. Suddenly it appeared that their cherished match would have no official status at all. And then came something really weird. Ilyumzhinov announced that an independent chess state would be founded on the territory of Kalmykia in 1998, during the olympiad. With its own government, parliament and laws. And, most important it seems to me, its own tax system. In 1998 the king of independent Chessland would be elected by the players in the olympiad, but everyone who was present at the conference was also invited to take part in the election. The words of comrade Stalin came to mind: it is not important who is voting, important is who is counting. When we staggered outside the room, a Kalmykian was waiting for us, distributing booklets with drawings and photos of scale models of the splendid chess palaces that would be built in the kingdom of chess. After studying the booklet it became clear that Iljumzhinov wants to make what he calls "an offshore economic zone," a tax heaven for bankers and international investors, under the flag of FIDE. We are in strange company nowadays. White: Karpov Black: Kasparov 1 d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2 Ng1-f3 d7-d5 3 c2-c4 e7-e6 4 Nb1-c3 d5xc4 5 Qd1-a4+ c7-c6 6 Qa4xc4 b7-b5 7 Qc4-d3 Bc8-b7 8 a2-a3 Not in the mood for heavy fighting. With the sharp 8 e4 he once won a beautiful game against Gelfand. 8...a7-a6 9 e2-e3 c6-c5 10 d4xc5 Bf8xc5 11 Qd3xd8+ Ke8xd8 12 Bc1-d2 Kd8-e7 13 Bf1-d3 Nb8-d7 14 Ke1-e2 Bc5-d6 15 Rh1-d1 Ra8-c8 16 Ra1-c1 Nd7-b6 17 Bd2-e1 Nb6-c4 After white's unpretentious play black is somewhat better now. 18 Rc1-c2 Bb7xf3+ 19 g2xf3 Nc4-e5 20 h2-h3 Ne5xd3 21 Rd1xd3 Rh8-d8 22 Rc2-d2 Bd6-c7 23 Rd2-c2 Bc7-b6 24 Rd3xd8 Ke7xd8 25 Rc2-d2+ Kd8-e7 26 Rd2-d1 g7-g6 27 f3-f4 Rc8-c4 28 f2-f3 Nf6-d7 29 b2-b3 Rc4-c6 30 Nc3-e4 Karpov one minute left, Kasparov two, after racking his brains to make something substantial out of practically nothing. Without anyone noticing, white has gotten an advantage. 30...Rc6-c2+ Diagram 31 Rd1-d2 "31 Kd3 was tempting," said Karpov during the post mortem. Indeed it would have been mighty strong. Kasparov intended to play 31 Rh2 and he certainly would not have had time to change plans. After 32 Bb4+ Kd8 33 Ng5 white's advantage would have been huge. And also after 31 Rb2 32 Bb4+ Kd8 33 Nd2 or 31 Rc7 32 Bb4+ Nc5+ 33 Ke2 black would be in big trouble. 31...Rc2xd2+ 32 Be1xd2 A drawn position again although nobody had noticed that things had temporarily changed. 32...Bb6-c5 33 Ne4xc5 Nd7xc5 34 Bd2-b4 Ke7-d6 35 Ke2-d2 a6-a5 36 Bb4xc5+ Kd6xc5 37 Kd2-d3 f7-f6 38 h3-h4 But this is very uncautious. He wastes a tempo that he will need later. Also, with the white pawn on h4, it is much easier for black to create an outside passed pawn. 38...Kc5-d5 39 b3-b4 a5xb4 40 a3xb4 Diagram 40...h7-h6 Not the best move before the time control. Black returns the compliment. It seems that Kasparov himself made it known the next day that he could have won with 40...e5. An important difference with the game is seen in the variation 41 e4+ Kd6 42 Ke3 Ke6 43 fxe5 fxe5 44 Kf2 Kf6. Now after 45 Kg2 follows 45...h5 and 46...g5 and black wins, while file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans06.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

after 45 Kg3 comes 45...h6, the move which in reality he squandered on his 40th, and white is in zugzwang. 41 e3-e4+ Kd5-d6 42 Kd3-e3 e6-e5 43 f4xe5 f6xe5 44 Ke3-f2 Kd6-e6 45 Kf2-g2 Circumspection is still needed 45 Kg3 would lose. But now there is nothing to do for black; draw agreed. Play out a boring game to the end and funny things can happen; Fischer knew it. Sixth Round Anand, who had shared the lead with Kasparov, fell back losing to Kramnik. Topalov, who had seemed badly out of form during the first part of the tournament, has regained his strength and easily held a position against Kasparov that seemed very difficult for him, with the totally wrecked pawn structure that is typical for the Scotch when Kasparov plays the white side. Ivanchuk forced an early draw against Karpov. Perpetual check after fifteen moves. White: Kramnik Black: Anand 1 Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2 c2-c4 b7-b6 3 g2-g3 Bc8-b7 4 Bf1-g2 e7-e6 5 0-0 Bf8-e7 6 Nb1-c3 0-0 7 Rf1-e1 d7-d5 8 c4xd5 Nf6xd5 9 e2-e4 Nd5xc3 10 b2xc3 c7-c5 11 d2-d4 Nb8-d7 12 Bc1-f4 c5xd4 13 c3xd4 Nd7-f6 14 Nf3-e5 Be7-b4 Anand likes to play against a strong center, but this seems to be based on an oversight. 15 Re1-e3 Ra8-c8 16 d4-d5 If this is possible, black has clearly gone wrong. And it is, for after 16...exd5 17 exd5 Nxd5 18 Rd3 the complications turn out favourably for white. 16...e6xd5 17 e4xd5 Bb4-d6 18 Ne5-c6 Bb7xc6 19 Bf4xd6 Bc6-a4 19...Qxd6 20 dxc6 would be very unpleasant for black, but maybe the lesser evil. Diagram 20 Bd6xf8 Fine play He could win a pawn by 20 Qxa4, but this queen sacrifice is stronger. 20...Ba4xd1 21 Bf8-e7 Qd8-c7 22 Ra1xd1 Nf6-d7 23 Bg2-h3 White's bishops in combination with his terrible passed pawn control the board. According to Kramnik black could have defended better during the next stage, but it still would have been an uphill fight. 23...h7-h6 24 Bh3-f5 b6-b5 25 Be7-b4 Rc8-d8 26 Re3-e7 Qc7-c4 27 Re7xd7 Rd8xd7 28 Bf5xd7 Qc4xb4 29 d5-d6 White is winning. His passed pawn is unstoppable and there will be no perpetual for black. 29...Qb4-a4 30 Rd1-d3 Qa4-e4 31 Bd7xb5 Qe4-e1+ 32 Kg1-g2 Qe1-e4+ 33 Kg2-g1 Qe4-e1+ 34 Kg1-g2 Qe1-e4+ 35 Kg2-f1 Qe4-h1+ 36 Kf1-e2 Qh1-e4+ 37 Ke2-f1 Qe4-h1+ 38 Kf1-e2 Qh1-e4+ 39 Ke2-d1 Qe4-g4+ 40 f2-f3 Qg4-h3 41 d6-d7 Black resigned. Seventh round A fantastic round. All three games decided, Anand producing a work of art against Karpov, who had it coming to him, because he spent a lot of time on an extremely dubious opening: 54 minutes on the first nine moves. Anand got a clear advantage and Karpov was forced to shed a pawn. What Anand did then, few players would have done in his place. Taking the pawn would have given him reasonable winning chances with absolutely no risk. He sacrificed a piece, Bxh7+, which usually is trivial, but here it was extremely unclear In one variation a second piece would have to be sacrificed, a third even. Few people thought it was correct, computer Fritz 4 thought it was absolute nonsense. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans06.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

A day later Anand said after long analysis that he would not have been in danger and would have winning chances in an unclear position, even if Karpov had played the best defence. But Karpov didn't and he could not have done it in the ten or so minutes he had left after Anand's sacrifice. It was a joy to see Anand's play. A quiet move with a pawn, followed by an unexpected queen switch across the whole board. This is Tal, someone said. This is Anand, I thought. Karpov overstepped the time in a hopeless position on the 36th move. The important game between the leaders, Kasparov-Ivanchuk, was hardly noticed, though this also was a fine attacking game, but less spectacular and with no sacrifices. Like Karpov, Ivanchuk overstepped in a lost position on move 36. Topalov won a good positional game against Kramnik, who tried the King's Indian again, to his regret. White: Anand Black: Karpov 1 Ng1-f3 d7-d5 2 d2-d4 e7-e6 3 c2-c4 d5xc4 4 e2-e4 b7-b5 This risky variation is out of character for Karpov. 5 a2-a4 c7-c6 6 a4xb5 c6xb5 7 b2-b3 Bc8-b7 8 b3xc4 Bb7xe4 9 c4xb5 Ng8-f6 10 Bf1-e2 Bf8-e7 11 0-0 0-0 12 Nb1-c3 Be4-b7 13 Nf3-e5 a7-a6 14 Be2-f3 Karpov's experiment is no success; it is very difficult for him to develop his queenside. 14...Nf6-d5 15 Nc3xd5 e6xd5 16 Ra1-b1 Qd8-b6 17 Bf3-e2 a6xb5 18 Rb1xb5 Qb6-c7 19 Bc1-f4 Be7-d6 20 Be2-d3 Bb7-a6 He has to give a pawn, otherwise he would lose quickly. 21 Bd3xh7+ But Anand doesn't want a pawn, he wants to sacrifice and give mate. 21...Kg8xh7 22 Qd1-h5+ Kh7-g8 23 Rb5-b3 Diagram 23...Bd6xe5 Not good. After 23...Bc8 Anand would play 24 Rg3 Qe7 25 Bg5 with advantage. The crucial line is 23...f6 24 Rh3 (the second piece) fxe5 25 dxe5 and now 25...Rxf4 (the third piece) 26 e6 is winning for white, but 25..Qc4 keeps it very unclear according to Anand, who thought 26 Re1 would be the best way to play for a win. I got this from a Dutch chess journalist who visited Anand in his hotel and was completely dazzled by the stream of fantastically complicated variations Anand showed. 24 Rb3-h3 f7-f6 25 d4xe5 Qc7-e7 26 Qh5-h7+ Kg8-f7 27 Rh3-g3 Kf7-e8 27...Rg8 loses after 28 Qg6+ Kf8 29 exf6. White's attack is winning. 28 Rg3xg7 Qe7-e6 29 e5xf6 Nb8-c6 30 Rf1-a1 Ke8-d8 31 h2-h4 Underscoring black's inability to do anything constructive. 31...Ba6-b7 32 Ra1-c1 Bb7-a6 33 Rc1-a1 Ba6-b7 34 Ra1-d1 Bb7-a6 35 Qh7-b1 Rf8xf6 36 Bf4-g5 and black overstepped. Eighth round Not much to say about this one. Three boring draws. Kasparov seemed in trouble against Kramnik, but he just managed to save himself in a rook ending a pawn down. A clear theoretical draw, but Kramnik played on for 30 more moves, though he could hardly hope to win this against the world champion. Topalov played a novelty which took the dangers out of a variation of the Benoni which up to now had given Karpov and others a lot of wins. Interesting for theory buffs, but not for the spectators, who had to look at an totally drawn position. Karpov did wonders with it, reached a queen ending a pawn up, but, pity for him, even this file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans06.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

was easily drawn by Topalov. In Ivanchuk-Anand not much of interest happened. White: Kramnik Black: Kasparov 1 Nf3 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nc3 d5 4 d4 Be7 5 Bg5 0-0 6 e3 h6 7 Bh4 Ne4 8 Bxe7 Qxe7 9 Rc1 c6 10 Bd3 Nxc3 11 Rxc3 dxc4 12 Bxc4 Nd7 13 0-0 b6 14 Bd3 c5 15 Be4 Rb8 16 Qa4 Bb7 17 Bxb7 Rxb7 Kramnik had this with black against Anand in a television game shown by the German channel WQR. Anand played 18 Rd1 and didn't get much. 18 Qc2 Rc8 19 Rc1 Rbc7 20 b4 Unpleasant for black; if he does not take measures quickly as he will lose a pawn. 20...e5 21 dxc5 bxc5 22 Rc4 After 22 Nd2 black would have 22...c4. Now white is ready with 23 Nd2 and 24 Nb3 winning a pawn Diagram 22...e4 This way he saves himself. After 23 Rxe4 comes 23...cxb4 and after 23 Nd2 or 23 Nd4 black has 23...Ne5 24 Rxc5 Rxc5 25 bxc5 Nd3 23 Qxe4 Qxe4 24 Rxe4 cxb4 25 Re8+ Rxe8 26 Rxc7 Ne5 27 Nxe5 Rxe5 28 Rxa7 h5 Pawn up for white but a clear draw. 29 h3 Rb5 30 g4 hxg4 31 hxg4 g6 32 Kg2 b3 33 axb3 Rxb3 34 g5 Kg7 35 Kg3 Rc3 36 Re7 Ra3 37 Kg4 Kf8 38 Rb7 Kg7 39 Kg3 Kf8 40 Rc7 Kg7 41 Re7 Kf8 42 Re5 Kg7 43 f4 Rd3 44 Kf3 Rd2 45 Ke4 Rd1 46 Rd5 Re1 47 Rd3 Kf8 48 Ke5 Kg7 49 e4 Re2 50 Rd7 Re1 51 Rc7 Re2 52 Ra7 Re1 53 Ra4 Re2 54 Kd6 Rd2+ 55 Ke7 Rf2 56 e5 Rf1 57 Ra6 Based on a miscalculation, but it makes no difference. 57...Rxf4 58 e6 He had overlooked that 58 Rf6 would be answered with 58...Rf5, after which white would be in trouble. But now they agreed to a draw. Ninth round Kasparov-Karpov again, their 165th game, and today it was an exciting one. Remarkable how often the outcome of their games is decided in the last few minutes. Remember Sevilla 1987, last game. Twenty seconds before the first time control Karpov was virtually World Champion. Then he made a blunder which spoiled everything. Today everything was normal for a long while. Chances for both sides, Kasparov having the two bishops, Karpov a better pawn structure. Then in mutual time trouble Karpov collapsed. A day later some very promising possibilities were found for him. Kasparov said afterwards that immediately after the game he had phoned his mother and said it had been an awful game. Topalov-Anand was a draw which could have been played on for a while, and Kramnik won a good technical game against Ivanchuk, who played on for much too long. Kramnik reacted jestfully by postponing an inevitable pawn promotion for several moves. So before the last round Kasparov was a full point up. But if Anand were to beat him, they would not share first place, nor the prize money. Anand would be first, because he would have beaten Kasparov 1« -«. White: Kasparov Black: Karpov 1 d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2 c2-c4 e7-e6 3 Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4 Qd1-c2 0-0 5 a2- a3 Bb4xc3+ 6 Qc2xc3 b7-b6 7 Bc1-g5 Bc8-b7 8 e2-e3 d7-d6 9 f2-f3 Nb8-d7 10 Ng1-h3 c7-c5 11 d4xc5 b6xc5 12 Bf1-e2 Qd8-b6 13 0-0 d6-d5 14 Ra1-d1 Bb7-c6 15 Nh3-f2 h7-h6 16 Bg5-h4 Bc6-a4 17 Rd1-d2 Ba4-b3 18 Nf2-g4 Nf6xg4 19 f3xg4 Ra8-b8 20 g4-g5 In the post file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans06.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

mortem Kasparov indicated 20 cxd5 exd5 21 Rf5 as more promising. 20...h6xg5 21 Bh4xg5 Rb8-b7 22 Bg5-e7 Rf8-e8 23 Be7-h4 Nd7-f8 24 Bh4-g3 Re8-d8 25 Bg3-h4 Rd8-d7 After 25...Re8, would white have gone for a repetition of moves with 26 Bg3? He probably did not feel so confident at this stage. 26 c4xd5 Rd7xd5 27 e3-e4 Rd5xd2 28 Qc3xd2 Bb3-a4 29 Be2-h5 Ba4-e8 30 Bh4-f2 Qb6-b5 Neither in the game, nor in the post-mortem did the players realize that 30...Qxb2 would have been very strong. After 31 Qxb2 Rxb2 32 Bxc5 Rb5 black is much better, maybe winning, because of the unfortunate position of white's bishops. Then 33 Rc1 Nd7 34 Bd6 does not quite win a piece for black, but it is very good for him, as is 33 Bxf8 Kxf8. White has other possibilities, but none very good After 31 Qd8 (instead of exchanging queens) black plays 31...Bb5, staying a very healthy pawn up. 31 Qd2-d8 Be8-c6 Here 31...c4 seems nice for black. 32 Bf2-g3 Rb7-d7 And here 32...c4 again. An interesting line is then 33 Bd6 Qxh5 34 Qxf8+ Kh7 35 Rf3 c3 36 b4 c2 37 Bf4 e5 and black seems to win. 33 Qd8-e8 (See Diagram) But now to his misery Karpov must have found out that he could not protect f7. After 33...Qb7, 33...f6 or 33...g6 white has the winning move 34 Bd6. 33...Qb5xf1+ Escape into a miserable ending. 34 Kg1xf1 Rd7-d1+ 35 Bh5xd1 Bc6xe8 36 Bg3-f2 Be8-b5+ 36...Nd7 would have put up a relatively better resistance. 37 Bd1-e2 Bb5xe2+ 38 Kf1xe2 Nf8-d7 39 Ke2-d3 a7-a6 40 Bf2-g1 f7-f5 41 e4xf5 e6xf5 42 Kd3-c4 Nd7-e5+ 43 Kc4xc5 Ne5-d3+ 44 Kc5-b6 Black resigned Tenth and final round. So Gary Kasparov did it again, showing the crown princes and his eternal rival Karpov that there is still a difference between him and the rest of the world. His score, he said, was better than he had expected ("I expected to share first place with Anand") but his play was not. "Everyone played under strength here, many mistakes were made, because of the extreme tension caused by playing a world class player everyday." Once he was in trouble after the opening (with black against Kramnik), his games with Karpov could have gone all different ways, but on the other hand he should have won the first game against Anand and anyway, being a full point up to the nearest rival is something against which there is no argument. Anand tried to beat him today in a long theoretical variation. Not much chance against the king of opening preparation. Kasparov held the draw cleanly and easily. Karpov played a sharp and lively game against Kramnik, who seemed to be lost at the final stage, but somehow managed a perpetual check. Ivanchuk in full battle overlooked a simple check and mate by Topalov, and after the game Ivanchuk said at the press conference that the tension of this supertournament had been so terrible, that he considered canceling some obligations in the near future. Very bad news for the Dutch organisers of Wijk aan Zee, who still expect him there and need him very much for their tournament. Karpov and Ivanchuk shared last place on points, but file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans06.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

according to the tie- break system Karpov officially was last, a fate without precedent in his long and glorious career. And now for the future. Kasparov spoke at a press conference about his coming match against Karpov. His position was clear and uncompromising. Essentially it came to this: "With 100% certainty there will be a match between me and Karpov, starting in September 1997. But any talk of it being a so called reunification match is completely groundless. There is nothing to unify, because there is only one World Champion, me, Kasparov. The match will be for the World Championship, me being the champion and Karpov the challenger. If I win, I promise to defend my title in another title match starting not later than September 1999. If FIDE wants to organize its own events, let them do so, but the chess world will recognize that they will have nothing to do with a real world championship. The title is owned by the World Champion, not by an organization which has lost legitimacy. I stand at the end of a line which started with Steinitz in 1886, and this will be so until I am defeated in a match. With FIDE I will have absolutely nothing to do, and what they say and do is irrelevant." Clearly the organisers in Gran Canaria, who have been bidding for the Kasparov-Karpov match, had been thinking that they were preparing a match under the auspices of FIDE, but privately Kasparov was very clear about this too: "If they think that, there will be no match here." White: Anand Black: Kasparov 1 e2-e4 c7-c5 2 Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3 d2-d4 c5xd4 4 Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5 Nb1-c3 a7-a6 6 Bf2-e2 e7-e6 7 0-0 Bf8-e7 8 a2-a4 Nb8-c6 9 Bc1-e3 0-0 10 f2-f4 Qd8-c7 11 Kg1-h1 Rf8-e8 12 Be2-f3 Ra8-b8 13 g2-g4 Nc6xd4 14 Be3xd4 e6-e5 15 f4xe5 d6xe5 16 Bd4-a7 Rb8-a8 17 g4-g5 Re8-d8 18 Qd1-e2 Nf6-e8 19 Ba7-e3 Bc8-e6 20 Qe2-f2 All played in a quarter of an hour. They were following Topalov-Kasparov, Olympiad 1996, when Kasparov played 20..Qc4 and later won. 20...Rd8-c8 Indicated by Kasparov in Informant 67, but this book was not yet in the possession of Anand, who started thinking here. 21 Ra1-d1 Be7-c5 22 Be3xc5 Qc7xc5 23 Nc3-d5 Be6xd5 24 Rd1xd5 Qc5xc2 25 Rd5xe5 Qc2xf2 26 Rf1xf2 g7-g6 27 Re5-d5 Ne8-c7 28 Rd5-d7 Nc7-e6 29 Bf3-g4 Ne6xg5 30 h2-h4 Ng5xe4 31 Rf2xf7 Rc8-c1+ 32 Kh1-g2 Rc1-c2+ (See Diagram) 33 Kg2-g1 After 33 Kf3 comes 33...Rf2+ 34 Kxe4 Rxf7 35 Be6 Re8 and black wins. Without risk white could have tried 33 Kh3 Nf2+ 34 Kg3, but after 34...Nxg4 this also is a draw. 33...Rc2-c1 Draw This column first appeared in several parts in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" in December, 1996. Copyright 1996 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree EMIL JOSEPH DIEMER Those who think that all chessplayers are mad, will not change their opinion after studying the life of Emil Joseph Diemer. Diemer was born in 1908 in the German town Radolfzell, in Baden. Already at a young age he was a passionate chessplayer, but it was not until 1932 that he had a game published. Until 1956 his greatest success was a first place in the blitz championship of Baden. In his best period he could be considered a mediocre master. Very strong Diemer certainly was not. Nevertheless, in the fifties and sixties he had a flock of disciples in Germany and also in the Netherlands. He was the prophet of relentless aggression in chess. "Play the Blackmar- Diemer gambit and mate will come by itself!" he wrote. "The Blackmar gambit changes the whole man!" In this he was completely serious. In 1996 the German Manfred M„dler Verlag published a biography of Diemer, written by one of his most faithful followers, Georg Studier: "Emil Joseph Diemer. Ein Leben fr das Schach im Spiegel der Zeiten." (A life for chess in the mirror of time) The biography has 280 pages. Some world champions are still waiting for such homage. Studier has great admiration and sympathy for Diemer. He calls him a man of unusual genius. Diemer's simul tours are described as triumphal processions. Still the book has not become a hagiography, because there was too much in Diemer's life which is repulsive and which Studier couldn't and wouldn't suppress. In 1931 Diemer was out of work. He had been fired from a small job at a publisher's house. He was not fit for a job. Like many other malcontents he became a member of the NSDAP, the German Nazi party, and was thrown out of the house by his father the same day. Diemer was never well able to take care of himself, but as a Nazi it was easier than before. Not that he had become a party member out of opportunism. He was a fanatic, in everything he did. He was a relentless agitator for the party in the years that the Nazi's romantically called the "Kampfzeit," the years of struggle before they took power. Diemer made new friends and now it was possible for him to become a professional chessplayer. He became the "chess reporter of the Great German Reich," was present at all important international chess events and sang the praise of "Kampfschach," chess as a struggle, in the Nazi newspapers and magazines. He did not earn much money and even then he was dependent, as he would be till the end of his life, on admirers to support him in his penury. After the war it became more difficult. Diemer wrote in countless little magazines and papers, sold chess books, gave simuls, but

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often he was hungry. He was simply not strong enough to be a chess professional. And in 1953 he lost an important part of his small income because he was expelled from the German chess federation. In a rabid press campaign Diemer had accused officials of the federation of homosexuality and corruption of innocent youth. For Diemer, who later told his biographer Studier that he had never physically loved a woman, homosexuality was a great and threatening evil. He did not only abstain from love but also from drinking and smoking. He played chess. Success he had not, but there were disciples who wrote passionate polemics about the merits of the Blackmar-Diemer gambit, 1. d4 d5 2. e4 dxe4 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. f3. For one year, from 1955 till 1956, Diemer published his own magazine, "Blackmar-Gemeinde" (Blackmar-Community), that he had to close down when his creditors became too impatient. Everyone of importance in the chess world was bombarded by Diemer with letters that contained endless analyses of his gambit. He found recognition, even in the Netherlands, where the company Ten Have published Diemer's German-language book "Vom ersten Zug an auf Matt" (From the first move going for mate). It was in the Netherlands that Diemer in 1956 finally became successful in chess. He won the Reserves Group of the Hoogovens tournament and later the Open Championship of the Netherlands. In the same year he played in the Swiss Championship (after being banned from the German federation he had become a member of a Swiss club) and shared second place. These successes were not to be repeated. After a disappointing tournament in England, Diemer discovered in a German women's magazine the cause of his bad score. Biorhythm. After that his chess friends were bombarded with biorhythmical calculations and graphs. Furthermore, Diemer discovered Nostradamus, the famous 16th century French clairvoyant. In a period of 25 years he sent about ten thousand letters on Nostradamus. They contained calculations hard to follow for the outsider. By means of a simple system, a=1, b=2 etc, he had cracked the code of the great clairvoyant. Even well- meaning friends found it strange that the code would be hidden in the German translation, instead of the original French text. Nostradamus was to dominate Diemer's life, even more so then chess. On the streets he accosted unsuspecting pedestrians. He disturbed a funeral by shouting: "A living one is buried here!" He lamented that the river Rhine would run dry and that nuclear bombs would fall on Heidelberg. The authorities of town and province loathed the ringing of the phone, in fear that it might be Diemer, announcing the apocalypse. In 1965 he was committed to a psychiatric clinic. The director found that chess was too much of a strain for Diemer's nerves and he was not permitted to play anymore. But six years later a miracle happened. In 1971 a young admirer brought about the cancellation file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans07.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:56 PM]

of both the clinic's interdiction and the expulsion from the German chess federation. Diemer could become a member of a German chess club again and his young admirer had seen to it that he got first board on the team. Diemer was given the new dentures that had been promised to him in 1952 by a rich admirer. He was playing again and his board was always surrounded by young disciples who were delighted by his attacking style. His strength in chess had suffered, but he did not mind. One day he might become the best player in the world, he said, but more important to him was the Nobel Prize that he expected for his investigations on Nostradamus' works. He died in 1990. He had not played chess during his last five years. In Fussbach, the site of his clinic, the villagers had seen him stumbling through the streets, tall and thin, with prophet's beard and half-blind, and they had respected Diemer, because they had heard by rumor that this man once had been a great chessplayer, maybe the greatest of all. That he was certainly not, but a remarkable player he was, with his glaring one-sidedness, always looking for the attack and for nothing else. Here is Diemer's last tournament game, played in 1984. Studier gives it in his book "without distracting commentary" and he is right to do so, because one should not clinically dissect an amazing game like this. White: Diemer Black: Heiling 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. f2-f3 d7-d6 3. e2-e4 g7-g6 4.g2-g4 Bf8-g7 5. g4-g5 Nf6-d7 6. f3-f4 c7-c5 7. d4-d5 b7-b5 8. c2-c3 a7-a6 9. h2-h4 Nd7-b6 10. h4-h5 e7-e6 11. h5-h6 Bg7-f8 12. a2-a4 e6xd5 13. a4-a5 Nb6-d7 14. e4xd5 Bf8-e7 15. c2-c4 f7-f6 16. c4xb5 f6xg5 17. f4-f5 (See Diagram) Seventeen pawn moves in a row, probably a world record. 17...g6xf5 18.Qd1-h5+ Ke8-f8 19. Ng1-f3 Rh8-g8 20. b5-b6 Bc8-b7 21. Nb1-c3 Nd7-f6 22. Nf3xg5 Nf6xh5 23. Ng5-e6+ Kf8-e8 24. Ne6xd8 Nh5-g3 25. Nd6xb7 Ng3xh1 26.Bc1-f4 Rg8-g6 27. 0-0-0 Nh1-f2 28. Rd1-e1 Ke8-d7 29. Nc3-b5 Nf2-e4 30. Re1xe4 Rg6-g1 31. Re4-e1 Rg1xf1 32. Re1xf1 a6xb5 33. Rf1-g1 Kd7-c8 34. Nb7xd6+ Be7xd6 35. Bf4xd6 Nb8-d7 36. Rg1-g8+ Kc8-b7 37. Rg8-g7 Kb7-c8 38. Rg7xh7 Ra8xa5 39. b6-b7+ Kc8xb7 40. Rh7xd7+ Kb7-c8 41. h6-h7 Ra5-a1+ 42.Kc1-c2 Kc8xd7 43. h7-h8Q Kd7xd6 44. Qh8-d8+ Kd6-e5 45. d5-d6 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" on Saturday, November 30, 1996. Copyright 1996 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree LINARES There had been rumors that Luis Rentero was expelled from the organizing committee of the Linares tournament that he had created and run for years. Rumors of bad quarrels with the municipality, which had taken over the tournament. Rentero struck back by organizing a new tournament in Ubeda, 30 kilometers from Linares, in the same period. The Spanish journalist Leontxo Garcia explained during the supertournament in Las Palmas how things would develop in the next few years. Gradually Rentero would buy the best players away from Linares into his own tournament and the municipality of Linares would be left with a second rate tournament. Maybe this was what the municipality had feared. Anyway, at the opening ceremony of the Linares tournament there was a heart-warming show of reconciliation. A spokesman of the municipality said that a Linares tournament without Rentero would be like a skiing holiday without snow. Rentero had no official function this year, but from the start he reigned with the heavy hand that the chessworld knows of him, with thundering speeches and threatening letters. He published an open letter to Karpov which must be one of the most insulting that the FIDE world champion has ever received. Karpov did not play in Linares and, according to Rentero, had not answered the faxes in which he had been invited. On behalf of the children of Linares, who supposedly were deeply shocked by the behavior of their idol Karpov, Rentero called Karpov a coward who had no right to call himself world champion, in fact had never deserved to call himself such, after he had ducked Fischer as he ducked Kasparov now. Rentero ended his letter by saying that Karpov had joined the list of BAD PERSONS who would never be invited to Linares again. Gelfand and Kramnik, who did come to Linares, maybe regretted it when they were severely reprimanded after playing a short draw in the first round. Well, probably they did not. Everybody knows the antics of the bully with the heart of gold, the players take it as a part of Linares folklore and always come back the next year. But all in all it seems that Rentero is playing this bully role in a more and more extreme way. His threats against Xie Jun and Zsuzsa Polgar, when they played for the world championship in Jaen under Rentero's auspices, were completely unacceptable and this time Karpov is rightly angry and has asked for an apology before he will ever go back to Linares. Karpov had a good reason not to play. He was campaigning in Tula for the seat in the Duma, the Russian parliament that had become vacant when general Alexander Lebed joined the Russian government. Karpov's main rival was another general, Alexander

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Korzhakov, former head of the security services of Yeltsin and now aligned with Lebed, who probably still has some influence in Tula. In fact Korzhakov won the election. Karpov was third out of eleven contenders. Earlier, Korzhakov's leader Alexander Lebed was quoted as saying that Kasparov would play an important role in formulating the strategy and programme of his party. It was not the first time Karpov and Kasparov found themselves in opposing camps. When the Dutchman Jeroen Piket left for Linares he thought he was replacing Ivanchuk but in fact he was replacing for Karpov. Ivanchuk had said yes, no, yes and no again but finally Rentero caught him. If there was one player who regretted his coming it must have been Ivanchuk during the first half of the tournament. "I am like a wounded lion here - everyone is hunting me," he said to the journalist Bjelica. The game Ivanchuk lost with white in 19 moves to Judit Polgar was really horrible. But later in the tournament he regained his strength and he was the only one who defeated Kasparov. "One day he plays like an 1800 player, next day he plays like Ivanchuk," Kasparov said. Expletives deleted according to Mark Crowther, who quoted Kasparov in The Week in Chess. Kasparov went on to a formidable score of 8.5 points out of 11, beating the numbers 2,3,4,5 and 6 of the final ranking. No doubt at this moment who is boss in the chess world. White: Anand Black: Kasparov 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 6. Bf1-e2 Like some players keep their beard growing until they have won a game, Anand seems to stick to this system until it will bring him a second success against Kasparov. 6...e7-e6 7. 0-0 Bf8-e7 8. a2-a4 Nb8-c6 9. Bc1-e3 0-0 10. f2-f4 Qd8-c7 11. Kg1-h1 Rf8-e8 12. Be2-f3 Ra8-b8 This position they had in December last year in the last round of the Las Palmas tournament. Then Anand played 13. g4. 13.Qd1-d2 Nc6-a5 14. Qd2-f2 Na5-c4 15. Be3-c1 e6-e5 16. Nd4-e2 e5xf4 17. Ne2xf4 Bc8-e6 18. b2-b3 Nc4-e5 19. Bc1-b2 Rb8-c8 20. Ra1-c1 Qc7-c5 21. Qf2-g3 g7-g6 22. Nc3-e2 Ne5xf3 23. g2xf3 b7-b5 24. a4xb5 a6xb5 25. Bb2-d4 Qc5- c6 26. Qg3-g2 b5-b4 27. Ne2-g3 Qc6-b5 28. Nf4xe6 f7xe6 29. f3-f4 e6-e5 30. Bd4-b2 Rc8-c5 (See Diagram) Anand was in time-trouble. From Linares there were reports that white could have obtained a clear advantage with 31. Nf5. I must confess that I don't see it. After 31...Bf8 white cannot strike at once with 32. Nxd6 Bxd6 33. fxe5 Bxe5 34. Bxe5 Rcxe5 35. Rxf6. Then 35...Rxe4 36. Rxg6+ would indeed be good for white, but after 35...Qb7 black would have nothing to fear. Interesting after 31...Bf8 would be 32. Nh4, e.g. 32...Qc6 33. fxe5 dxe5 34. Nxg6 Bg7 (34...hxg6 35. Qxg6+ Bg7 36. Rxf6 Qxf6 37. Qxe8+) 35. Nh4 Qxe4 36. Qxe4 Nxe4 37. Nf5 and it is still to been seen if white's advantage is worth much. Another defence for black after 31. Nf5 would be 31...Qc6. Anyway Anand would not have lost had he played this way. 31. f4-f5 g6-g5 But now black takes over the initiative on the king's wing. 32. Rc1-e1 Qb5-c6 33. Re1-e2 Kg8-f7 34. Bb2-c1 Re8-g8 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans08.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:57 PM]

35. Bc1-e3 Rc5-c3 36. Be3-d2 Rc3xc2 37.Bd2xb4 Rc2xe2 38. Qg2xe2 h7- h5 39. Ng3xh5 Also a passive defence with 39. Re1 would be very bad after 39...g4 followed by h4. 39...Nf6xe4 40. Qe2-f3 g5-g4 41. Qf3- g2 Rg8-h8 White resigned. He will lose material. After 42. f6 sufficient for black would be 42...Rxh5 43. fxe7+ Kxe7, but much stronger is 42...Bd8 43. Rf5 (43. Ng7 Ng3+) Rxh5 44. Rxh5 Qc1+ 45. Qg1 Nf2+ 46. Kg2 Qc6+ 47. Kf1 Qb5+ 48. Kg2 Qd5+ with a quick win. White: Ivanchuk Black: Topalov 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 4. e2-e3 e7-e6 5. d2-d4 d7-d5 6. a2-a3 a7-a6 7. d4xc5 Bf8xc5 8. b2-b4 Bc5-a7 9. Bc1-b2 0-0 10. Bf1-d3 Qd8-e7 11. 0-0 Rf8-d8 12. Qd1-e2 Bc8-d7 13. Ra1-c1 Ra8-c8 14. c4xd5 e6xd5 15. h2-h3 h7-h6 16. Rf1-d1 Bd7-e6 17. b4-b5 a6xb5 18. Nc3xb5 Ba7-b8 19. Bd3-b1 Nf6-e4 20. Bb1-a2 Ne4-g5 21. Nf3-d4 Nc6xd4 22. Bb2xd4 Ng5-e4 23. a3-a4 Rc8-c6 (See Diagram) Black has dangerous attacking possibilities against white's king. So with his next move white tries to exchange an attacker, but this finds a tactical refutation. 24. Bd4-a7 Rd8-c8 25. Qe2-b2 Probably his original intent was 25. Rxc6 bxc6 26. Bxb8, but then comes 26...Rxb8 (26...cxb5 27. Be5 is alright for white) 27. Nd4 Nc3 after which white does not have a good square for his queen: after 28. Qd3 (leaving f2 unprotected) 28...Nxd1 Nxc6 Qf6 is good for black and after 28. Qd2 follows 28...Nxd1 29. Nxc6 Qa3 30. Nxb8 Nc3 25...Qe7-h4 26. Rc1xc6 Everything works against white: 26. Bxb8 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Rxc1+ 28. Qxc1 Qxf2+ and white's Ba2 is hanging. 26...b7xc6 27. Rd1-c1 And now 27. Bxb8 would lose a piece after 27...Rxb8. 27...Ne4xf2 28. Qb2xf2 Bb8-h2+ 29. Kg1-f1 Qh4xa4 White resigned, as he will be two pawns down. The last piece of bad luck for him is that 30. Nd4 Nxa7 31. Nxc6 would fail to 31...Qa6+.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree ELISKASES Early February Erich Eliskases died at the age of 83 in C¢rdoba, Argentine. His death was mentioned in most chess magazines, but I did not see big articles which commemorated his career. Still, there was a time that Eliskases was considered a world champion candidate. For instance by Alekhine, in 1941. Alekhine wrote that a match against Capablanca was not opportune anymore, because Capablanca was past his best days. It would be better for the chessworld, according to Alekhine, if younger players like Keres or Eliskases got a chance. He praised the universal style of Eliskases. But this was in the notorious series of anti-semitic articles in which Alekhine exulted the Aryan attacking style. It was useful for his political purposes to praise the Austrian Eliskases, who after Austria's Anschluss in 1938 was the strongest player of Great-Germany. The Jewish players Botvinnik, Fine, Reshevsky and maybe Flohr could have been called world champion candidates with better reason. And moreover Eliskases was hardly a paragon of the romantic attacking style that Alekhine rejoiced in. But objective truth played no role in these articles. Eliskases was strong, that 's for sure. He had won matches against Spielmann and Bogolyubov. His best tournament victory was in Noordwijk 1938, ahead of Euwe and Keres. It was the first of eight consecutive tournaments in which he did not lose a single game. Alekhine could not know in 1941 that the period in which Eliskases played against the world's best had already passed. In 1939 World War II broke out during the chess olympiad in Buenos Aires. Eliskases played on first board for Germany, the team that won that olympiad. When the olympiad was finished, the five German players stayed in Argentine. Not because of unease with the politics of Hitler. The Austrian captain of the Great-German team Albert Becker had clearly shown his pro-nazi attitude in 1938 at the time of the Anschluss. In a recent interview in the Dutch magazine Schaaknieuws A.D. de Groot, author of Thought and Choice in Chess and member of the Dutch team in 1939, said that the German player Michel was the only member of his team that was not pro-nazi and that he was pestered by his teammates because of that. From Argentina Becker sent a letter to the Austrian chessworld in which he excused the desertion of the team by explaining that the return trip to Europe was too dangerous for Germans while England ruled the seas. Maybe this was true. Or maybe the patriotism of the chessplayers did not amount to a willingness to personally contribute to the war effort. Eliskases was 26 years old at the time, a good age for cannon fodder. It was not easy to be a professional chessplayer in Argentina

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during the war. Many strong players had stayed there after the olympiad and international chess life had come to a stop. In 1943 Eliskases settled in Brazil, first as a teacher of bridge, later as a chess trainer of the club of a German firm. In 1951 he was invited by a group of chessplayers in the Argentine city of C¢rdoba to become a chess trainer there. His greatest success in South-America was his victory in Mar del Plata in 1948, ahead of Stahlberg and Najdorf, two other Europeans who had stayed behind in Buenos Aires in 1939. In 1964 Eliskases was still strong enough to play on first board for the Argentine team in the olympiad in Tel Aviv. He played well, five wins and only two losses in nineteen games, against strong opposition. But by then his career as a world top player was of a distant past. It had been finished by the war, in 1939. Diagram: White: Kc1, Rf7; pawns - a6, b5, d4 Black: Ke3, Ra2; pawn - f2 The style of Eliskases may have been universal, as Alekhine wrote, but spectacular it was certainly not. It may be significant for his style that his most famous game is one in which he saved a draw by the skin of his teeth. White: Keres Black: Eliskases, Noordwijk 1938. A famous endgame that found a place in many textbooks. White's last move was 51 d3- d4 There followed 51...Ke3xd4! This had to be calculated very exactly. Not good for black would have been 51...Ra5 52 d5 Rxb5 53 d6 Rd5 and now not 54 a7 Ra5 55 d7 Rxa7 56 d8Q Rxf7 57 Qe8+ Kf3 58 Qxf7+ Kg2, but 54 Rxf2! Rxd6 55 Ra2 Rd8 56 a7 Ra8 57 Ra4 and white wins. 52 Rf7xf2 Ra2xf2 53 a6-a7 White could have started his run for promotion with the other pawn. In Hans Kmoch's tournament book the following variation is given: 53 b6 Kc3 54 Kd1 Kd3 55 Ke1 Ke3!! (double exclamation mark by Kmoch) 56 b7 Rh2 57 Kf1 Kf3 58 Kg1 Rh8!! 59 a7 Rg8+ 60 Kf1 Rh8 61 Ke1 Ke3 62 Kd1 Kd3 63 Kc1 Kc3 64 Kb1 Rh1+ 65 Ka2 Rh2+ 66 Ka3 Rh1 67 Ka4 Kc4 68 Ka5 Kc5 with a draw. A fantastic variation, writes Kmoch with good reason. 53...Rf2-a2 54 b5-b6 Kd4-c3 55 Kc1-b1 Ra2-a6!! Double exclamation mark by Kmoch again, and this time his admiration is somewhat exaggerated, because other rook moves on the a-file would do as well. 56 b6-b7 Ra6-b6+ 57 Kb1-c1 Rb6-h6! Draw. White's king cannot escape. Diagram: White: Kh1, Nc8; pawns - a3, b2, f4, g4, h3 Black: Kh7, Bd6; pawns - b6, c4, g7, h6 White: Eliskases Black: Fischer, Buenos Aires 1960. For the future world champion this was not a very successful tournament. Among twenty players, he shared thirteenth place. Nor was it for Eliskases, who finished seventeenth and apart from Fischer, only beat the weak Bazan. . 41...Bd6-c5 The sealed move, a mistake. A draw could be had by 41...Bxa3 42 Nxb6 Bxb2 though black, a pawn down, would still have to put in some effort. But it is typical for Fischer that he tries to keep some winning chances, even a pawn down. 42 a3-a4 Kh7-g6 After 42...Bd4 white has 43 Nd6 43 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans09.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:57 PM]

Kh1-g2 Kg6-f6 44 Kg2-f3 Kf6- e6 45 Kf3-e4 Bc5-f2 46 f4-f5+ Ke6-d7 47 Nc8-a7 Kd7-d6 48 Na7-b5+ Kd6-c5 49 Nb5-c7 Bf2-h4 50 Nc7-e8 Kc5-b4 51 Ke4-d5 Bh4-e7 52 Ne8xg7 Be7-f6 53 Ng7-e8 Bf6xb2 54 f5-f6 Bb2xf6 55 Ne8xf6 c4-c3 56 Nf6-h5 This way white is just in time: 56...c2 57 Nf4 c1Q 58 Nd3+ Hardly better in this variation is 57...c1N, because black's knight is powerless against white's kingside pawns. 56...Kb4xa4 57 Nh5- f4 b6-b5 58 Nf4-e2 c3-c2 And Fischer resigned. White's simplest win starts with 59 h4. There must have been few players who beat both Capablanca and Fischer. As far as I know only Euwe, Keres, Reshevsky and Eliskases. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" March 8, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree DOLLAR SIGNS The New York Open had a prize fund of $140,000. On the Internet site of the tournament big dollar signs turned around merrily as to invite the chessplayers to the land of plenty. And successfully. This year there were 761 players and 57 grandmasters among them. Those who think that the grandmasters could happily cut up the prize fund among themselves, are not aware of the way such American opens are run. Most of the money goes not to the main event, where the best players compete, but to other sections for the lower rated. For instance the under 1800 section had a first prize of $8000, won by a nine-year-old boy called Adam Maltese. With gnashing of teeth the grandmasters see the money that they consider rightfully theirs go down the under-1800 drain. It was a good start for a professional career for the young boy. He should be careful that he does not become too strong during the coming year, because that would force him to play next time in a higher section where the competition is much stiffer. I learned from American chess literature that some American players prepare in a very special way for events like the New York Open: by losing in other, less important tournaments as many games as they can without attracting suspicion, to come down to a low rating which will permit them to earn a lot of money in a section that is to weak for them. Sandbaggers they are called. The sandbagger is supposed to be excluded from tournaments when found out, but generally it seems that little effort is spent on smoking him out of his hiding, because a high turnout of players is in the organizers' interest. The entry fees were high at the New York Open: $220 for early applicants, $260 at the door of the playing hall. Grandmasters do not have to pay, but when they win a prize the $220 is deducted from it. Still I think that organizer Jos‚ Cuchi and his jewelry firm Heraldica spent a lot of money on the event. Grandmasters with a FIDE rating of 2600 or more got a free air ticket and hotel room this year. For most players the dates of the tournament were April 2-6, but there were other possibilities, like a two-weekends schedule. Or starting in the first weekend, then after four games deciding that you don't like your score, having it canceled and starting anew on April 2 with the big crowd, of course after paying a fee again, but this time reduced to $110. There were accelerated schedules, super-accelerated schedules, take your choice. All this is exhilaratingly exotic to European chessplayers. The players in the main section had to score highly to get a prize. The tournament was won by Krasenkov and Bologan, who made a wonderful 8 out of 9. They both won $9000, just a thousand more than the young boy from the under 1800 section.

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In tough tournaments like this one, with several games per day, the men are separated from the boys and I would think the New York Open was tailor- made for my indefatigable compatriot Loek van Wely, who in fact won it last year. This time he started well with 4,5 out of 5, but after that in the last four rounds he only scored draws, which brought him to a shared seventh place in the end. The last round saw him make a very short draw against the Turkish grandmaster Atalik. Strange. The $130 prize that Van Wely won amounted to less than the entry fee, so if this were deducted ( Was it? There also was a Consolation Fund where Van Wely had a claim to $220, exactly the entry fee. The calculations go over my head), he would be left with nothing. Had he won his last round game, his prize would have been $1260, worth playing on for a while. It is nothing like him, meekly succumbing to a worthless draw. Something must have been wrong. In the end only six grandmasters from the 57 won money which amounted to more than the deducted entry fee. But no matter. For many Europeans the tournament is a nice opportunity to visit New York, which apparently was realized by the organisers, who this year brought the tournament back to where it belongs: the heart of Manhattan. Those who think that this column is disgustingly about money instead of chess are certainly right, but please realise that all these banal financial calculations must have been heavily on the competitors' mind. Not only on the Internet site but also in the eyes of the players the dollar signs were merrily turning around. White Van Wely-black Lein 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 3. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 4. e2-e4 d5xe4 5. Nc3xe4 Ng8-f6 Lein is a great chess player, but his ambition is not what it was in his younger days. This is the move of an elderly chess player. He has not followed the latest news in the sharp variation 5...Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ and prefers to accept a small but clear disadvantage. 6. Ne4xf6+ Qd8xf6 7. Ng1-f3 Bf8-b4+ 8. Bc1-d2 Qf6-e7 9. Bf1-d3 Nb8-d7 10. 0-0 Bb4xd2 11. Qd1xd2 Nd7-f6 12. Nf3-e5 0-0 13. Rf1-e1 c6- c5 14. d4xc5 Qe7xc5 15. Qd2-f4 Rf8-d8 16. Ra1-d1 Bc8-d7 17. Re1-e3 The start of a deadly attack. Already I see no defence for black anymore. 17...h7-h6 18. g2-g4 Bd7-c6 19. b2-b4 Chases the black queen from the fifth rank 19...Qc5xb4 20. g4-g5 h6xg5 21. Qf4xg5 So that black cannot disturb his opponent with 21...Nd7 anymore. There is no defence against the white attack along the g- and h- files. 21...Bc6-e4 (See Diagram) 22. Re3-g3 Nf6-e8 23. Qg5-h5 Black resigned. Apart from mate white now also threatens 24. Bxe4 and after 23...Bxd3 it is mate in three. And here is a game from the tournament in Dos Hermanas, Spain, where Karpov presumably would have liked to prove that he is still number two in the world, but did not succeed. Anand and Kramnik won the tournament, Anand coming officially first on tie-break. Karpov, who beat Shirov and Short, shared third place with Salov file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans10.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:57 PM]

and Topalov. White Kramnik-black Karpov 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4. Qd1-c2 0-0 5. a2-a3 Bb4xc3 6. Qc2xc3 b7-b6 7. b2-b4 Bc8-b7 8. Bc1-b2 d7-d6 9. e2-e3 Nb8-d7 10. d2-d4 Nf6-e4 11. Qc3-b3 a7-a5 12. Bf1-e2 a5xb4 13. a3xb4 Ra8xa1+ 14. Bb2xa1 Nd7-f6 15. 0-0 Qd8-d7 16. b4-b5 Rf8-a8 17. Ba1-b2 White has a small but clear advantage because of his bishops. 17...c7-c6 18. b5xc6 Qd7xc6 19. Rf1-c1 Nf6-d7 20. Nf3-e1 Qc6-a4 21. Qb3xa4 Ra8xa4 22. f2-f3 Ne4-f6 23. Be2-d1 Ra4-a2 24. Ne1-d3 Kg8-f8 25. Bd1-b3 Ra2-a8 26. e3-e4 Certainly black is not lost, but long and painfull suffering awaits him with normal play. His next move gives white the opportunity to sharpen the struggle. 26...Nd7-b8 27. c4-c5 Surprisingly white voluntarily eliminates black's weak b-pawn, but after that black's pieces will be in trouble.27...b6xc5 28. d4xc5 d6xc5 29. Nd3xc5 Bb7-c8 A computer would be useful here to find a way for black to escape material loss. Better seems 29...Bc6. Karpov was in severe time trouble. 30. e4-e5 Nf6-e8 This passive retreat is more than black's position can take. 30...Nd5 would lose a pawn, but was essential. 31. Bb3-a4 (See Diagram) All black pieces on the back rank, and three of them in grave danger. 31...Ne8-c7 32. Bb2-a3 Kf8-g8 33. Nc5-e4 Ra8xa4 Also after 33...Nba6 34. Nd6 black would lose material. 34. Rc1xc7 Bc8-a6 Or 34...Bd7 35. Bd6 35. Ne4-c5 Black resigned, he is losing a piece. april 12

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree This article appeared in NRC Handelsblad on May 5, when the score between Kasparov and Deep Blue was 1-1. FRUIT FLY Chess computers have often been called the fruit flies of the science of Artificial Intelligence. The real fruit fly is a handy object of genetical studies. It reproduces fast and it is a simply structured creature. Studying the small will give insights into general mechanisms that play their role with the big as well. The match in New York between Kasparov and Deep Blue can be seen as a fruit fly too: the fruit fly of the study of the international media and how easily they can be manipulated. The German weekly "Der Spiegel" had a cover story: "Duel of the superbrains." Quote from Kasparov: "I will defend the human race." "Newsweek" wrote about "The brain's last stand," "Time" quoted Kasparov as follows: "Maybe the biggest triumph of the Creator is to see his creatures re-create themselves." (into supercomputers, Kasparov meant.) Thousands of other examples could be supplied. All over the world the media sang the song that they had sung last year, the song of the final battle between human and machine and of Kasparov as the last stand of the human race against IBM's Superbrain. How do they do it, Kasparov and IBM? How is it possible that it proves to be so easy to let everyone write down the same nonsense? It almost seems as if chess is the measure of all things. It would be a very arbitrary measure. The American game of checkers has already been conquered by the machine. There was one human being left who could beat the computer in this game and he has died. On the other hand, the Japanese games of shogi and go are still far too difficult for the computer. Deep into the next century the computer might solve a cryptogram; this will be hailed as the conquest of another last stand of the human race, and there will be many left after that. What we know about the relative strength of human chessplayers and chess computers is this: computers are slowly but surely getting better all the time and now they regularly beat good grandmasters. Still there are about a hundred people in the world who would beat the best computers with a convincing score of let's say 5-1. It has been said that Deep Blue is much better than all the other computers, but how true this is we have no way to judge, because during the last two years Deep Blue has been avoiding all competition.

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Since it was beaten in 1995 in the Computer World Championship by the program Fritz, Deep Blue has not played against other computers, nor did it play against humans other than Kasparov. At least not in public. It is understandable and wise that IBM gives as little information as possible about the true strength of Deep Blue. Nothing could be gained by doing that. Is the match between Deep Blue and Kasparov an honest affair? Putting the question seems natural though almost immoral according to some. We hardly have any material on which to base a considered answer. Last year Kasparov won with 4-2. If he had lost, he would not have been able to play a return match this year. But if he had won 6-0, he wouldn't either. IBM is Kasparov's sponsor. Not only does the company provide the prize money for this match, IBM and Kasparov have also big plans to collaborate in the coming years on the Internet with the Club Kasparov. It is not in Kasparov's interest to humiliate his sponsor by defeating its machine by a big margin. On Sunday he resigned the second game in a position which maybe was drawn. I do not think that he did this on purpose. Probably he did not see the move that might have saved him. But hard to find it was certainly not. The least you can say is that Kasparov did not look very hard for it. After this, the score was 1-1, the best possible score to generate publicity for the match. No chessplayer would blame Kasparov if he would follow the maxim of professionals who used to hustle their rich customers in the chess caf‚s of old: you have to win, otherwise they won't respect you, but you should not win by too high a margin, otherwise they won't come back. It is conceivable that among the rich patrons there is someone who would might win a game on his own. It is conceivable that Deep Blue is such a patron. But it is almost inconceivable, though true, that a match between Kasparov and his sponsor's creature would be described all over the world as the final battle between man and machine. Kasparov is a real master in the rhetoric that is required during media events like this. At the end of last year in Las Palmas he spoke about his first match against Deep Blue. Was that only a superfast calculator? Kasparov seemed to hesitate. Maybe there was more... "Now and then it was as if I could smell a whiff of real intelligence," he said. Fingers under his nose, eyes intent, as if a great insight had descended on him right at that moment. This was not the case. The remark about the whiff of intelligence I had seen published earlier. It was a standard bite for copy-hungry journalists. Now in "Der Spiegel," in a piece written by Kasparov himself, I saw the remark again. It will return to haunt us many times, this whiff of artificial intelligence. A good friend of Kasparov once explained to me that the 1996 match between Kasparov and Deep Blue had generated hundreds of millions of dollars worth of publicity for IBM. The value of file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans11.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:57 PM]

their stock had significantly gone up the week of the match. One does not have to be morbidly paranoid to suspect that with this kind of money involved it would be too much to ask for total openness and absolute honesty, both of IBM and of Kasparov. As I said, material that would enable us to come to a considered judgement as to the seriousness of the match is practically unavailable. The media piously make the sign of the cross and conveniently act on the assumption that in big business everything is always as it seems. A story about sponsorship and the prices of stocks is dull. There are so many of these stories. Silly as it is, the story about the human brain's last stand in the fight between man and machine is much more attractive. Postscript When I wrote this article I was obviously convinced that Kasparov would win the match and obviously I was wrong. Ah well, we all make mistakes. The mistake in the sixth game that Kasparov himself called decisive and that he indicated made his position resignable, he made on the seventh move, after about eight minutes of play, in a position that he has studied extensively while preparing for Karpov. Nobody is infallible. I was wrong as to the final result, but I think that some aspects of my article are still valid. I still do think that about a hundred players would beat Deep Blue in a match. Many of them are eager to prove it, but unfortunately it seems unlikely that they will get the chance. This column (apart from the Postscript) first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad May 5, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree FROM THE RUINS The German booklet "Schach blht aus den Ruinen" (Chess Flowers from the Ruins) has an index only for names, not for general subjects. In a general index the entries smoking and tobacco would have figured prominently."Without cigarettes nothing works" is the title of one of the chapters, which describes how the participants in the German championship of 1947 lighted their last cigarette in a critical position, only to extinguish it when they had found the right move, to save an all-important butt for the zeitnot period. Friedrich S„misch had been imprisoned for a while during the Nazi years because he could not keep his mouth shut. When asked about this time of imprisonment he used to reply: "There was nothing to smoke." At a tournament in Celle in 1948 the city counselors had promised food-parcels and cigarettes to the participants, to encourage them to fight hard. The local population protested and so the chessplayers' rations were reduced to two cigarettes per day. S„misch, walking along the boards to watch the games of his rivals, saw two cigarettes on the table of a notorious non-smoker and pinched them. The victim complained to the arbiter Alfred Brinckmann, who said: "S„misch? You can't do anything against him, he falls under monument preservation!" When the Germans were allowed to travel again and could participate in the Dubrovnik olympiad of 1950, they were pleasantly surprised that the Yugoslavs had seen to it that all playing tables were abundantly stocked with cigarettes. It is a pity that S„misch couldn't profit from it; he was not strong enough anymore to play in an olympiad and almost in the final phase of his career, in which he lost all his games by exceeding the time limit. "Schach blht aus den Ruinen," the book from which I have learned all this, is a collection of articles, brought together by the Dutch journalist Frits Barkhuis, that originally appeared in the German chess magazine "Caissa," that was edited by Barkhuis from 1946 till 1955. Barkhuis tells us that during the war he came to Berlin as a journalist and stayed there after the war because his marriage with a German woman was at that time not recognized in the Netherlands. In 1946 he started "Caissa," and that grew through the years from a simple information sheet to a real chess magazine. When Barkhuis returned to the Netherlands in 1955, he sold his magazine to the "Deutsche Schachzeitung." The things that current readers would like to know are often different from those that must have been interesting to the subscribers of yore. About the tales of food scarcity one is inclined to think: 'ah well, in due time they got fat anyway' but at the time they were not able to indulge in such sunny dreams. To the reader

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of 1948 the point of the anecdote about S„misch and Brinckmann that I told earlier is probably eccentric S„misch's tobacco-mania. But there is a different point to be made: the peaceful co-existence of political criminals with their victims in post-war Germany. Brinkmann had been a Nazi and had held important functions in the Nazi chess federation. S„misch had been in prison. Brinkmann's jolly remark in 1948 about S„misch enjoying the protection of monument preservation has, on second thought, an unpleasant ring. How did the Nazis and the others get on in the German chess federation after the war? From these articles one gets the impression that all was well and forgetful reconciliation reigned. Both S„misch and Brinckmann were valued contributors to "Caissa." In 1950 Germany was re-admitted to FIDE. An important role was played by the Dutch representative Van Steenis, who made an impassioned anti-fascist speech and then pleaded for the acceptance of the two Germanys. In 1951 West Germany played team matches again. First against Switzerland, then against Yugoslavia and after that against the Netherlands. It seems that especially the match against the Netherlands, where anti-German sentiments were supposed to be stronger than elsewhere, was considered to be a great success for the emancipation of German chess life. When even the Dutch were willing to play Germany, the rest of the world could not be far behind. After 21 rounds of German championship play, the German players, with only one rest day in between, went ahead in the struggle against the Netherlands. The match ended 10-10. On first board Euwe beat Unzicker 2-0. Unzicker had not participated in the grueling German championship, but nevertheless in the first round it appeared as if he took a moment's sleep at the board. Diagram: White: Kg1, Qd3, Ra1, Rf1, Na4, Bb2, Be2; pawns - a3, b5, e3, f4, g2, h2 Black: Kg8, Qd8, Ra8, Rf8, Nf6, Bc5, Bg4; pawns - a5, b7, d5, f7, g7, h7 White: Euwe Black: Unzicker. Unzicker executed a "petit combinaison" that failed horribly: 18...Bc5xe3+? 19. Qd3xe3 Rf8-e8 20. Bb2-e5 and black resigned. What is the genesis of blunders like this? It is not likely that Unzicker would have thought that Euwe had missed the simple 20. Qg3 Bxe2. Probably Unzicker had calculated this variation: 20. Bxf6 Qxf6 21. Qxe8+ Rxe8 22. Bxg4 and now with 22...Qd4+ black wins white's knight on a4. Only because white had this defence, which would fail, black could miss the simple 20. Be5, which won on the spot. White: Unzicker Black: Euwe, second round 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5. 0-0 Bf8-e7 6. Rf1-e1 b7-b5 7. Ba4-b3 d7-d6 8. c2-c3 0-0 9. h2-h3 Nc6-a5 10. Bb3-c2 c7-c5 11. d2-d4 c5xd4 12. c3xd4 Qd8-c7 13. Nb1-d2 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans12.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:58 PM]

Bc8-b7 14. Nd2-f1 Ra8-c8 15. Bc2-d3 d6-d5 A pawn sacrifice that was very much en vogue at the time. 16. e4xd5 e5-e4 17. Bd3xe4 Nf6xe4 18. Re1xe4 Bb7xd5 19. Re4-e1 Qc7-b7 20. Nf1-e3 Bd5xf3 21.Qd1xf3 Qb7xf3 22. g2xf3 Na5-c6 23. Ne3-d5 Be7-h4 24. Re1-e4 Rc8-d8 25. Nd5-c7 Nc6xd4 (See Diagram) 26. Kg1-g2? Euwe indicated that 26. Be3 Nc2 27. Rb1 Nxe3 28. fxe3 Bf6 29. Nxa6 Td2 would have led to a position with chances for both sides. 26...Bh4-f6 27. Bc1-f4 Nd4-e6 28. Nc7xe6 f7xe6 29.Bf4-e5 Rd8-d2 30. Be5xf6 Rf8xf6 31. b2-b4 Rd2-d3 32. Ra1-c1 This gets the approval of Euwe, who apparently considered passive defence with 32. Re3 insufficient. 32...Rd3xf3 33. Rc1-c8+ Kg8-f7 34. Rc8-c7+Kf7-f8 35. Re4-e2 h7-h6 36. Re2-d2 Kf8-g8 37. Rd2-d8+ Kg8-h7 38.Rd8-d7 Rf3xf2+ 39. Kg2-g3 Rf6-f3+ 40. Kg3-g4 h6-h5+ 41. Kg4xh5 Rf2-g2 White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad March 3, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree BODYGUARDS The taxi driver who brought me from the Rotterdam central railway station to the football stadium - for years I have wanted to begin a report this classic way - this taxi driver then, had asked before I had said a word if I wanted to go to the chess event, and I thought that he was a chess lover who maybe had seen my photo in a newspaper once, but this turned out not to be the case. He told me that two hours earlier he had had Timman in his car. He had driven Timman from his hotel to the stadium, where the Dutch chess championship was held. "And that I also was going to the chess tournament, did you conclude this by looking at my face?" I asked, still expecting the driver to say that he had recognized me. The driver looked at my face again and said: "Yes, in fact I did. When I saw you walking to the taxi line, I thought you were the kind of person who would go to a chess competition. Funny, isn't it?" That he was not an insider to the chess world became obvious soon, when he said: "I was inside that hotel for a few moments, but you couldn't get near to these chessplaying guys." I asked him why not. "They were down in the lobby, but they were surrounded by security guards." Security guards? True, Kasparov has bodyguards when in Moscow, which may be wise, because Moscow is a dangerous city where rich people often are kidnaped. But when he goes to play in the West he leaves them at home. And at the Dutch championship...No. "Security agents are not often seen in the chess world yet," I said, but he did not give up. "Oh yes, they were there. Not that people would want to assassinate that Timman or these other boys, probably, but of course there are many fans that could be a nuisance and have to be kept at a distance, I suppose." I said that still I didn't believe that there had been security guards. At a distance we saw the stadium already. "Is it difficult to get in?" asked the taxi driver. Ah, it used to be easy for me, but not anymore. I started to tell about qualification tournaments and about the rating list that exempted certain players from playing in these qualifiers, but what he meant was if it was difficult to get in as a spectator. "Oh no, there will be only a few hundred at most," I said. This surprised him. Apparently chess was a sport for the elite. "How much does it cost then, let's say a passe-partout for the whole event?" I said that entrance was free. After this the taxi driver kept silent and I realized what I had done, with my cursed pedantry. Here was a man who knew nothing of

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chess, but had taken a certain interest, because chess had come his way by accident. He had imagined that the cream of the Dutch chess players had to be protected by bodyguards against hordes of frantic admirers. That rich chess lovers fought to get hold of one of the immensely expensive entree tickets. And I had disenchanted him and robbed the chess world of it's magic by telling the banal truth. We had come to the stadium. It was big. At least a size too big for chess players, I realized now. I stepped out of the car. "Well, have a nice day then," said the taxi driver. White: Nijboer Black: Nikolic, Fourth round 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4. e4-e5 c7-c5 5. a2- a3 Bb4xc3+ 6. b2xc3 Qd8-a5 7. Bc1-d2 Qa5-a4 Nikolic plays this Nimzowitsch-variation of the French often and in many different ways. After the sharp 8. Qg4 he probably would have played 8...Kf8. 8. Qd1-b1 c5-c4 9. h2-h4 Nb8-c6 10. h4-h5 h7-h6 11. Ng1-e2 Ng8-e7 12. Qb1-c1 Bc8- d7 13. g2-g3 0-0-0 14. Bf1-h3 Kc8-b8 15. Bd2-e3 Kb8-a8 16. Qc1-d2 Rd8- c8 17. g3-g4 Nc6-b8 18. Ne2-g3 Rc8-c6 19. 0-0 Rc6-b6 20. f2-f4 g7-g6 21. Kg1-h2 a7-a6 22. Rf1-f2 Nb8-c6 (See Diagram) Maybe white can strengthen his position in a quiet way, but it is not easy to see how. What if he would have done absolutely nothing? Then I will do nothing also and it will be a draw, said Nikolic afterwards. Doing nothing is something that a human chess player cannot easily reconcile himself to and so white played the logical advance: 23. f4-f5 e6xf5 24. g4xf5 Bd7xf5 25. Bh3xf5 Ne7xf5 26. Ng3xf5 g6xf5 27. Rf1xf5 Nc6-d8 28. Be3-f2 He wants to put the bishop on h4, but the position is more dangerous for white than he realizes and his last move is wrong. Stronger was 28. Qg2, with a sharp position with chances for both. 28...Qa4-d7 29. Qd2-f4 Nd8-e6 Only now white saw that 30. Rxf7 would not be good for him after 30...Qe8 31. Qf5 (or 31. Qf6 Ng5 32. Qxb6 Qxf7) Ng5 followed by 32...Qxh5+ 30. Qf4-g4 Qd7-a4 31. Qg4-d1 Ne6-g5 The consequence of his unfortunate 28. Bf2: black's knight gains the wonderful square e4. 32. Bf2-e3 Ng5-e4 33. Rf5xf7 Rb6-b2 34. Ra1-c1 Ne4xc3 35. Qd1-f3 Ka8-a7 36. e5-e6 In severe time trouble white burns all his bridges behind him, but a passive defence with 36. Qg2 would also be very unattractive. 36...Rh8-e8 37. Rf7-f8 Re8xe6 38. Qf3-g3 Re6-e8 39. Be3xh6 Rb2xc2+ 40. Rc1xc2 Qa4xc2+ White resigned. White: Timman Black: Van der Wiel, Fourth round 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 4. g2-g3 Bc8-a6 5. Nb1-d2 Ba6-b7 6. Bf1-g2 c7-c5 7. e2-e4 c5xd4 7...Nxe4 8. Ne5 has been known to be bad for black since a long time. 8. Nf3xd4 Bf8-c5 9. Nd4-b3 Bc5-e7 10. 0-0 Qd8-c7 11. Nb3-d4 Nb8-c6 Usually black opts for a set up with a6, d6 en Nbd7, and indeed that seems much more flexible. 12. Nd4-b5 Qc7-b8 13. b2-b3 a7-a6 14. Nb5-c3 0-0 15. Bc1- b2 d7-d6 16. Rf1-e1 Ra8-a7 17. Nd2-f1 Bb7-a8 18. a2-a4 Nf6-d7 19. Nf1- e3 Be7-f6 20. Ra1-b1 Rf8-c8 21. Re1-e2 Nd7-c5 22. Re2-d2 Ra7-d7 23. Ne3-g4 Bf6-e7 24. h2-h4 h7-h5 This is a file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans13.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:58 PM]

serious weakening, but allowing white to march on with his h-pawn would be dangerous too. 25. Ng4-e3 Be7-f6 26. Bb2-a1 Nc6-a7 26...g6 would not be pleasant for black either, but now that black has put most of his forces in a corner far away from his king, white can strike hard. 27. Qd1xh5 Bf6xc3 28. Ba1xc3 Nc5xe4 (See Diagram) 29. Bc3xg7 Kg8xg7 30. Qh5-g4+ Kg7-h8 31. Qg4-h5+ Kh8-g7 32. Qh5-g4+ Kg7-h8 33. Bg2xe4 f7-f5 34. Ne3xf5 Rc8-g8 Also 34...exf5 35. Bxf5 would be good for white. 35. Qg4-f4 Ba8xe4 36. Qf4-h6+ Rd7-h7 37. Qh6-f6+ Rh7-g7 38. Qf6-h6+ Rg7-h7 39. Qh6-f6+ Rh7-g7 40. Nf5xg7 Rg8xg7 41. Rb1-e1 Be4-f5 42. Re1xe6 Bf5xe6 43. Qf6-h6+ Kh8-g8 44. Qh6xe6+ Kg8-h7 45. Rd2xd6 Qb8-c7 46. Rd6xb6 Rg8xg3+ Desperation. Black cannot realistically hope for a perpetual, but with his unorganized position and without pawns black had nothing to hope for anyway. 47. f2xg3 Qc7xg3+ 48. Kg1-f1 Qg3-f3+ 49. Kf1-e1 Qf3- c3+ 50. Ke1-e2 Qc3-c2+ 51. Ke2-f3 Qc2-d1+ 52. Kf3-f4 Qd1-f1+ 53. Kf4-e5 Qf1-e1+ 54. Ke5-d6 Black resigned. In the end Jan Timman and Predrag Nikolic shared first place in this championship. They will play a four-game match in October to decide who will be champion of the Netherlands. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" June 26, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree ANTWERP At the central station of the Belgian city of Antwerp I meet Sokolov and Nikolic, two Bosnian grandmasters who live in the Dutch town Leiderdorp. They had been on the same train as I. "Are you here as a journalist or as a player?" Sokolov asks. As a player. "So this time you'll have to suffer. Good." Yes, once a year, at least, one has to suffer playing chess, not to become a jellyfish. We are here for the Lost Boys tournament. Sokolov will play with seven others in the Crown group, Nikolic in the open group, like me. It is the fifth year that this tournament has been held; I am playing here for the first time. It is reputed to be a nice tournament with a pleasant social life and that will turn out to be true. In the tournament hall I recognize one of the arbiters. When was it that I played him? Havana Olympiad, 1966. I won, that I remember, but about how the game went I have no idea. He does. "It was a Ruy Lopez. I was a little bit worse all the time and then we adjourned. Our team had an appointment at our consulate which could not be canceled, so there was very little time for analysis. Then next day I lost quickly." I tell him my memory is not as it was. He smiles. In some way we are even now. I won, his memory is working fine. And I realize that he is still a chessplayer, though he has changed into the role of an arbiter. Do chessplayers exist who lose a game without being handicapped by an appointment at the consulate, or by being ill or having dined too heavily the day before? Chessplayers who lose just because their opponent was better? They exist, but they are a rare find. I am addressed by a Belgian who plays in one of the lower groups. In his village he organises a simul every year and he intends to invite me. "You are still alive. Donner suddenly fell ill and died, we were too late for him. We had Jannes van der Wal though, two years ago, just in time." Van der Wal was a Dutch world champion in draughts who had near-master strength in chess and died at a young age. I agree with the Belgian organizer that one should grab one's chance when it is still there, but it appears that I will have to wait some time for my invitation, for next time the simul will be given by Loek van Wely. What's that, are they in a hurry for him? It seems not necessary for this young man in fine health. But that is not the point, the village club wants some variety, one year someone from the past, another year someone from now. At the Eiermarkt (Eggsmarket), just in front of the hotel, Piket, Ljubojevic and Van Wijgerden are involved in a jumping contest.

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Piket can be called a man from now, but Ljubojevic and Van Wijgerden are already more or less from the past, for Ljubojevic is not as strong as he used to be and Van Wijgerden, an international master, has not played for many years and is here only to comment on the games for the spectators. Ljubojevic wins with at least a street stone difference and that is a fine feat, because Van Wijgerden had the reputation of being very athletic, able to climb a wall like a monkey. Ljubo is proud of his achievement and with good reason. Yes, it is good to be among the chessplayers again and to be sunk into the chessboard for ten days. In the mornings I prepare my openings, like in old times, but now my preparation amounts to realizing that so much has happened that I have not kept up with, that I had better avoid the variation that is under scrutiny. Good that I have only little time for preparation, otherwise no opening variation at all would be left to play. At the time of writing my suffering has been limited to the irritation about a draw that should have been a win. The real agony, about a loss, I have avoided during the first half of the tournament, but it will come, surely. Long live chess! White: Piket Black: Sokolov, Crown Group 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 Bf8-b4+ 4. Bc1-d2 c7-c5 5. Bd2xb4 c5xb4 6. g2-g3 0-0 7. Bf1-g2 Nb8-c6 8. 0-0 d7-d6 9. Nb1-d2 Qd8-b6 10. e2-e3 Bc8-d7 11. h2-h3 Ra8-c8 12. g3-g4 White does not intend to play g5 in the near future, but black prevents the move anyway, to have it out of his mind. 12...h7-h6 But in doing so he weakens his kingside, which will cost him dearly later. 13. Qd1-e2 a7-a5 14. Rf1-c1 Nc6-e7 15. a2-a3 b4xa3 It seems inconsistent to play a5 first and then to open the b-file which is weakened by this move. 16. b2xa3 Qb6-a6 17. Ra1-b1 Ne7-g6 Probably 17...b5 was best, though white keeps a tiny advantage with 18. Bf1. 18. Rc1-c2 Bd7-c6 19. Rc2-b2 d6-d5 After this things are getting serious for black. 20. g4-g5 h6xg5 21. Rb2-b6 Qa6-a8 22. Nf3xg5 d5xc4 23. Bg2xc6 Rc8xc6 24. Rb6xc6 b7xc6 25. Qe2xc4 Rf8-c8 26. Nd2-f3 Nf6-d5 According to Piket the pawn sacrifice 26...c5 was black's best chance. 27. Nf3-e5 Now after 27...Nxe5 28. dxe5 white would have a very dangerous attack. Black opts for a desperate counter attack. 27...Ng6-h4 28. Ng5xf7 c6-c5 29. Nf7-d6 Nc8-d8 29...Nxe3 would threaten mate, but come to nothing after 30. Qxe6+ followed by 31. Rb7 30. d4xc5 Nd5xe3 31. Qc4xe6+ Kg8-h7 32. c5-c6 Rd8-b8 33. Rb1-e1 Ne3-g2 34. Nd6-f7 (See Diagram) 34...g7-g6 A nice mate with two knights would follow after 34...Nf4 or 34...Nxe1: 35. Ng5+ Kh8 36. Nef7+ Kg8 37. Nh6+ Kh8 38. Qg8+ Rxg8 39. Nhf7 mate. 35. Nf7-g5+ Kh7-g7 36. Qe6-e7+ Kg7-h6 37. Ne5-g4+ Kh6-h5 38. Qe7-h7+ Kh5xg5 39. Qh7-h6+ Black resigned. And here is a spectacular struggle from the open. White: Bosboom Black: Kiril Georgiev 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 b7-b5 4. c4xb5 a7-a6 5. Nb1-c3 a6xb5 6. e2-e4 b5-b4 7. Nc3-b5 d7-d6 8. Bc1-f4 Nf6xe4 9. Bf1-d3 g7-g5 10. Bf4-e3 Ne4-f6 11. Be3xg5 Bf8-g7 12. Ng1-e2 Nb8-d7 13. Ne2-g3 Nd7-e5 14. 0-0 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans14.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:58 PM]

Qd8-b6 15. Rf1-e1 The beginning of a great adventure with uncalculable consequences. The safe move would have been 15. a4 15...c5-c4 16. Bd3xc4 Ne5xc4 One piece sacrificed, another one is attacked, but never mind, onwards for the attack: 17. Ng3-h5 0-0 18. Nh5xg7 Kg8xg7 19. Ne1xe7 Nf6-g8 20. Nb5-c7 This way the seemingly stranded knight threatens to take part in the attack by 21. Ne8+. 20...Ng8xe7 21. Nc7xa8 Qb6-a7 22. Qd1-h5 (See Diagram) Now by 22...Ng8 black could have forced his opponent to give a perpetual with 23. Bh6+ Nxh6 24. Qg5+. But also black's blood must have been boiling at this stage and a draw was probably far from his mind. 22...Nc4-e5 23. Bg5-h6+ Kg7-g8 24. Bh6xf8 Kg8xf8 25. Qh5-h6+ Kf8-g8 26. Qh6xd6 Ne5-g4 27. Na8-b6 Bc8-f5 28. h2-h3 Ng4xf2 29. Kg1xf2 Ne7xd5 30. Qd6xd5 Qa7xb6+ White has won back everything he sacificed with heavy interest. Now it is black who has some attack against the king, but it is not sufficient. 31. Kf2-f1 Bf5-c8 32. Qd5-g5+ Kg8-f8 33. Ra1-d1 Bc8-a6+ 34. Kf1-e1 Qb6-e6+ 35. Ke1-d2 Qe6-d6+ 36. Kd2-c1 Ba6-d3 37. Qg5-e3 Qd6-c6+ 38. Kc1-d2 Bd3-g6 39. Kd2-e1 Qc6xg2 40. Rd1-d8+ Kf8-g7 41. Qe3-d4+ f7-f6 42. Rd8-d7+ Black resigned. For lovers of curiosities here is the accident that happened to Loek van Wely in the second round of the Crown Group. White: Ye Rongguang Black: Van Wely 1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nbd2 0-0 5. e3 d6 6. Bf1-c4 c7-c5 7. c3 b6?? Belgian chessplayers were able to tell that by coincidence the same mistake had been made a few months earlier during a simul of Karpov in Brussels by Hugo van Gompel, the pensioned ex-chief of the Brussels fire brigade. Both Karpov and Ye saw what was wrong with the move, they played 8. Bxf6 Bxf6 9. Bd5 and won quickly. What can one say? I myself once blundered a piece against Petrosian on the sixth move, and even that is not a world record. The Crown Group was finally won by Veselin Topalov with 5,5 out of 7, four wins, three draws, a fine score. The indomitable Victor Kortchnoi took second place, half a point behind, and at the closing ceremony he got an applause as if he had become world champion. The Open was won with 7,5 out of 9 by Mikhail Gurevich, now a Belgian citizen, who started with 6 out of 6 and could freewheel after that. I shared tenth place with 6 points and to my surpise I won a decent prize of more than $600. The agony of losing had been with me, but all in all the pleasure was much greater. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad August 9, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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DUTCH TREAT by Hans Ree Going to the Dogs When I was musing about the role of the dog in the history of chess, until recently my thoughts went out to that English dog that induced a painful but fortunately only temporary estrangement between the great chessplayers Euwe and Botvinnik. In 1936 during the tournament in Nottingham, world champion Euwe and future world champion Botvinnik took a walk together. They saw a dog of a comparatively rare breed. "We don't have such dogs in the Soviet Union," Botvinnik said. "No," Euwe replied, "I suppose your people have eaten them all." The unwavering communist Botvinnik made it clear in his memoirs that he did not appreciate this remark, which he blamed on Euwe's youthful impudence, though he himself was ten years younger than Euwe. It was only much later that they became very good friends. And then of course there was Robert Huebner's dog, which according to Huebner could reach master strength within a few months with competent instruction. But Huebner's dog has in common with Schroedinger's cat that it is an imaginary animal that serves only to illustrate a point, in this case a point about the strength of international masters. But now there is Short's dog, the hell-hound from Novgorod. After the tournament in Novgorod, Short said in his column in "The Sunday Telegraph" that on the evening before the last round he went out for a walk to consider an always difficult problem: what to do against Gary Kasparov. Quietly flowed the river Vokhov. Serene was the sight of the thirteenth- century monastery, situated nearby. The perfect background for subtle contemplation. But very unquiet was the famished wild dog that suddenly hurled itself on Short. Only in the early hours of the morning of the day that he had to face Kasparov was a bandaged Short able to leave the hospital. The game against Kasparov was a short but fascinating draw, ending in a perpetual, that will give students of the Sicilian Defence food for thought for quite a while. Here it is: White: Short Black: Kasparov 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 6. Bf1-c4 e7-e6 7. 0-0 Bf8-e7 8. Bc4-b3 0-0 9. f2-f4 b7-b5 10. e4-e5 d6xe5 11. f4xe5 Nf6-d7 12. Bc1-e3 Nd7xe5 13. Qd1-h5 Nb8-c6 14. Nd4xc6 Ne5xc6 15. Rf1-f3 b5-b4 A novelty. Often 15...g6 has been played and white has usually won nicely. Kasparov's move looks very risky. 16. Rf3-h3 h7-h6 17. Ra1-d1 Qd8-a5 (See Diagram) 18. Nc3-d5 e6xd5 19. Rh3-g3 d5-d4 20. Bb3-d5 Be7-g5 21. Be3xg5 Qa5xd5 22. Bg5-f6 Qd5xh5 23. Tg3xg7+ Kg8-h8 24.

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Rg7-g6+ Kh8-h7 25. Rg6-g7+ Draw. It is tempting to speculate on what might have been had Short not been attacked by that furious dog. As it happened, Short went for an elegant draw. But maybe there was a refutation of Kasparov's novelty. After an undisturbed night's sleep Short might have found it. Kasparov and Kramnik would have shared first place in Novgorod and the clamors for a world championship's match between the two would have become even louder. The history of chess might have taken a different turn, had not the hound of Novgorod intervened. I must admit that this line of speculation is very tenuous, for Kasparov probably had worked out the whole game and all its possible deviations at home, and as we know, his preparation is usually quite good. On the same page as Short's chess column there was a bridge column that was also about chess. The bridge writer of "The Sunday Telegraph" considered Deep Blue's victory over Kasparov as proof that chess is an inferior and "one-dimensional" game. Bridge was much deeper and a computer would never defeat a strong human bridge player. Is that true? Bridge computers may be weaker than their chessplaying relatives, but much less time and money has been spent on them by researchers. But what may be true, is that bridge players will be less in shock when a computer beats the best human players. They seem to be closer than us to their roots, which for us, as well as for them, lie in frivolous coffee house play. They might realize more clearly than chess players that a game can only be played by humans and that the strength of a machine is irrelevant. But we are in danger of digressing from our subject, which is the dog. For the Mongols, the dog was the piece that occupied the position next to the king, where we have the queen. There have been scholars who took this as an indication that for the Mongols the dog was a more important member of the household than the woman, but these scholars are not taken seriously anymore. A German writer had it that our bishop used to be called "Hund" (German for dog) in the past, but that seems not to be true either. In a study about Mongol tribes, published in St. Petersburg in 1776, the Mongol people of Kalmykia are described as being completely immersed in chess and card games during wintertime. And so by a detour we are once again in Kalmykia, land of our leader Ilyumzhinov. In the Dutch weekly "Vrij Nederland" Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam (known to us as editor of "New in Chess") had it on authority of an eye-witness that the building of the independent chess city-state that would arise in the Kalmuk capital Elista had come to a stop after the Turkish workmen had left because they were not being paid. According to the same eye-witness 1500 civil servants in Kalmykia had not been paid their salaries for four months, because file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans15.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:59 PM]

the money was needed for the prizes of the Russian chess championship, played in Elista. Whether all this is true, I have no idea, and anyway, it takes us too far from our theme, which is and remains the role of the dog in the history of chess. White: Isabella Hund Black: Barbara Hund, Bundesliga, Germany 1993. 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. e4xd5 e6xd5 4. Bf1-d3 Nb8-c6 5. c2-c3 Ng8-f6 6. Bc1-g5 Bf8-e7 7. Ng1-f3 Bc8-g4 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Nb1-d2 Bg4-h5 10. Rf1-e1 Bh5-g6 11. Bd3xg6 h7xg6 12. Nf3-e5 Nc6xe5 13. Re1xe5 Be7-d6 14. Re5-e3 (See Diagram) These two did not harm each other, but a fiercer bite was seen in the next game. White: Bruno Bouvier Black: Georges Antonoff, Championship of Paris 1995. 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. c2-c4 d5xc4 4. Nb1-c3 c7-c5 5. e2-e3 e7-e6 6. Bf1xc4 Bf8-e7 7. 0-0 a7-a6 8. a2-a3 b7-b5 9. Bc4-d3 0-0 10. d4xc5 Be7xc5 11. e3-e4 Bc8-b7 12. Qd1-e2 Nb8-d7 13. e4-e5 Nf6-e8 14. Rf1-d1 Qd8-e7 (See Diagram) 15. Bd3xh7+ Kg8xh7 16. Nf3-g5+ Kh7-g6 17. Qe2-d3+ f7-f5 18. e5xf6+ Kg6xf6 19. Qd3xd7 Qe7xd7 20. Rd1xd7 Ne8-d6 21. Ng5-h7+ Kf6-e5 22. Nh7xf8 Ra8xf8 23. Bc1-e3 Bc5xe3 24. f2xe3 g7-g6 25. Ta1-d1 Bb7-d5 26. Rd7xd6 Black resigned because of 26...Kxd6 27. e4. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" June 6, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree SCRIMMAGE IN SLOUGH One often hears that true loyalty to one's chessclub does not exist anymore now that most European top clubs hire mercenaries to play for teams they are not emotionally tied to. That old-time devotion to one's club must have been something marvelous. I gained some insight into it when browsing through an old magazine and finding the "club song" of that old and venerable club from the Dutch city The Hague, Discendo Discimus. The name is "mock Latin" and means "By learning we learn". The melody is that of a well known Dutch song "Amid the bronze-green oak trees" and the text, though losing something in translation, is still quite forceful: Hail Discendo Discimus/plunge into battle/Show that Thou art the strongest club/in the whole of the Netherlands/Give mate to Thy opponents/be not satisfied with less/Hail Discendo Discimus/three times hail DD!/Hail Discendo Discimus/three times hail DD!! At the end the simple "repeat" would not do justice to the force of the club song, because where the first "hail" can still be seen as the expression of a confident but modest devotion, in the repetition the second "three times hail" grows to a real paroxysm of fighting spirit and ruthless resolution. One can imagine how the team members, after singing this song, jumped into battle against competing clubs, swift as greyhounds, hard as steel, tough as leather. And what would these heroes have done if there was a chance to become champion of Europe in the Russian city of Kazan? If necessary they would walk there barefoot, ignoring the hardships. We speak of things long gone, because the club song must have been written at a time when the expression "Hail!" was still innocent and did not lead to dark thoughts. Recently the Dutch champion club Panfox from Breda played in the preliminaries for the European championship in the English town Slough, a suburb of London. Not however with the resolute will to win of the heroes of the past as described above. From the many strong foreigners that the club counts among its members, only Julian Hodgson was called in. A spokesman for the club said that one didn't really want to qualify for the finals, because the trip to Kazan would cost the club about $50,000, wasted money considering the lack of public interest in this championship. The weakened Panfox team did reasonably well under the circumstances, winning easily in the first round against the Belgian team Tessenderlo. Then in the second round Panfox was

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eliminated by Merkur from Graz, Austria. Well, from Graz, the six-man Austrian team had three Russian players and a German. On the last day Panfox gained third place by beating Oslo, Norway. But there were teams in Slough with a much more fanatic attitude. Up to now the town was only known to me by a poem of the late English Poet Laureate John Betjeman which starts with the lines Come, friendly bombs and fall on Slough It isn't fit for humans now There isn't grass to graze a cow Swarm over, Death! In the finals between the home club Slough and Merkur the grim atmosphere evoked in this poem seemed to have an unfavorable influence on the chessplayers, because the game ended in abuse and violence. In time trouble, the English player Summerscale indicated that his opponent, the Austrian Felsberger, was not writing down his moves properly, but only marking how many moves had been made. Summerscale had lost a piece, maybe as a consequence of Felsberger's illegal practice, maybe not. Clocks were stopped. Felsberger, who does not speak English, asked his captain Detter what the problem was. From this point, I am following the English version of what then happened. Detter started Summerscale's clock, though it was Felsberger's move. Summerscale stopped the clock, Detter started it again. Detter called Summerscale a "motherfucker", thumped him in the back and tore up a letter of protest that was hastily produced by the English side. According to the Austrians this version is greatly exaggerated and the whole incident just a piece of chicanery by the English to save a lost match. Anyway, after the first time control Summerscale, who had a completely lost position by now, did not move anymore and let his clock run. Eventually his flag fell and his game was declared lost by the English arbiter Bob Wade. However, after lengthy consultations with the furious Slough team Wade changed his mind and now declared the game lost for Felsberger. Now the Austrians were furious. What had Felsberger done to deserve this draconian punishment? He had not written down his moves, but this is considered a small offence, usually punished, if at all, by giving the opponent a few minutes extra time, which certainly would not have saved Summerscale, whose position was beyond hope. Had Felsberger won his game, the Austrian team would have qualified for the finals in Kazan. Now Slough had qualified. Had the English arbiter been as impartial as he should? The Austrians were convinced he had not. And they were not alone. Afterwards file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans16.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:59 PM]

the Dutchman John van der Wiel wrote a letter in which he called the arbiter's behaviour "almost criminal" and went on: "We recommend to suspend the arbiter Bob Wade, who in recent years time and again showed his incompetence and now has committed a really capital blunder." Merkur filed an official protest with FIDE. As chance would have it, the men who have to handle this protest are both Austrian: Jungwirth, president of the European zone and Stubenvoll, director of the Europa cup for clubs. They will have a tough time coming up with a just and impartial decision that will satisfy all. White: Summerscale Black: Felsberger 1.Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 c7-c5 3.Nb1-c3 b7-b6 4.g2-g3 Bc8-b7 5.Bf1-g2 e7-e6 6.O-O a7-a6 7.Rf1-e1 d7-d6 8.e2-e4 Bf8-e7 9.d2-d4 c5xd4 10.Nf3xd4 Qd8-c7 11.Bc1-e3 O-O 12.Ra1-c1 Nb8-d7 13.f2-f4 Ra8-c8 14.b2-b3 Rf8-e8 15.Be3-f2 Be7-f8 16.h2-h3 g7-g6 17.Nd4-e2 Qc7-b8 18.g3-g4 b6-b5 19.Ne2-g3 h7-h6 20.c4xb5 a6xb5 21.Nc3xb5 Rc8xc1 22.Qd1xc1 Re8-c8 23.Qc1-d1 Bb7-a6 24.Nb5-d4 e6-e5 25.Nd4-e2 d6-d5 26.g4-g5 e5xf4 27.g5xf6 f4xg3 28.Bf2xg3 Ba6xe2 29.Bg3xb8 Be2xd1 30.Re1xd1 Rc8xb8 31.e4xd5 Nd7xf6 32.Bg2-f1 Nf6-e4 33.Kg1-g2 Rb8-c8 34.Bf1-c4 Kg8-g7 35.a2-a4 Bf8-b4 36.Rd1-d4 f7-f5 37.Bc4-b5 Bb4-c5 38.Rd4-d3 Kg7-f6 39.a4-a5 Kf6-e5 40.Bb5-c4 g6-g5 41.a5-a6 h6-h5 42.Rd3-d1 g5-g4 43.Rd1-b1 f5-f4 and here the game was first declared lost for white and later lost for black. And now for some more edifying games from Slough. The next one is a typical Hodgson adventure. His piece sacrifice is born out of bad necessity and certainly not correct, but creatively weaving ever new threats against black's king in the centre, he manages to reach an ending that even stands better for him at the moment a draw is agreed. White: Hodgson (Panfox) Black: Razuvaev (Merkur) 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. Bc1-g5 e7-e6 3. e2-e4 h7-h6 4. Bg5xf6 Qd8xf6 5. Nb1-c3 d7-d6 6. Qd1-d2 g7-g5 7. 0-0-0 a7-a6 8. g2-g3 Nb8-d7 9. f2-f4 Bf8-g7 10. Ng1-h3 Qf6-e7 11. Kc1-b1 b7-b5 12. Bf1-g2 Bc8-b7 13. e4-e5 0-0-0 14. a2-a3 b5-b4 15. Bg2xb7+ Kc8xb7 16. Nc3-e4 d6xe5 17. f4xe5 Nd7xe5 18. Qd2-g2 Ne5-c6 19. Ne4-c5+ Kb7-b6 20. Qg2-e2 Rd8xd4 21. Qe2xa6+ Kb6xc5 (See Diagram) 22. Nh3-f2 Rh8-b8 23. Rd1xd4 Bg7xd4 24. Nf2-e4+ Kc5-d5 25. Rh1-e1 f7-f5 26. Ne4-d2 Qe7-c5 27. Qa6-e2 e6-e5 28. g3-g4 Nc6-a5 29. Qe2-f3+ Kd5-d6 30. g4xf5 Qc5-d5 31. Qf3-e2 Kd6-d7 32. f5-f6 Rb8-f8 33. Re1-f1 Na5-b7 34. Qe2-h5 Rf8-f7 35. Qh5xh6 Qd5-g2 36. Qh6-g6 Nb7-d6 37. Qg6-d3 Qg2xh2 38. c2-c3 b4xc3 39. b2xc3 Bd4-b6 40. Nd2-c4 Qh2-h7 41. Qd3xh7 Rf7xh7 42. Nc4xd6 Rh7-h8 43. Nd6-f7 Rh8-b8 44. Kb1-c2 Bb6-e3 45. Nf7xe5+ Kd7-e6 46. Ne5-c6 Draw White: Chernin (Merkur) Black: Van der Wiel (Panfox) 1. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 2. g2-g3 e7-e5 3. Bf1-g2 f7-f5 4. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 5. b2-b4 e5-e4 6. Nf3-d4 d6-d5 7. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 8. b4-b5 Nd5-f4 9. g3xf4 Qd8xd4 10. Nb1-c3 Bf8-c5 11. e2-e3 Qd4-c4 This looks file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans16.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:59 PM]

nice for black but his queen is getting on the wrong track.12. Bc1-b2 0-0 13. Rh1-g1 Rf8-f7 14. Ra1-c1 Qc4-b4 15. Qd1-c2 Bc5-d6 16. Nc3-d5 Qb4xb5 (See Diagram) 17. Nd5-f6+ Kg8-h8 18. Bg2-f1 Qb5xb2 Things have gone wrong for black surprisingly fast. After e.g. 18...Qa5 19. Qb3 his position falls apart. 19. Qc2xb2 Rf7xf6 20. Qb2xf6 Not necessary, but a nice way to finish the game. 20...g7xf6 21. Bf1-c4 Bc8-e6 22. Bc4xe6 Nb8-a6 23. Ke1-e2 Na6-c5 24. Be6xf5 Ra8-d8 25. Rg1-g3 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" September 27, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree BATTLE FATIGUE Boris Spassky became sixty years old this year and two journalists from the French chess magazine Europe Echecs went to visit him to celebrate. A few crumbs of the conversation they had with the former world champion appeared in the October issue, which seems rather late because the birthday was in January. Maybe the journalists had not noticed it then, but Spassky does not play often and when he plays, he tends to make a quick draw and join the commentators to entertain the public with funny faces and imitations of Karpov's way of speaking. Though Spassky is married to a French women and has been living in France for more than twenty years he spoke English with the French journalists. "It does not matter. Chess is his native language," they wrote politely. But sadly, one does get the impression that this native language has not given much joy to Spassky. His qualification for the candidates tournament of 1956, a great success at his young age, he describes as a "whiplash" because his mind was not ready for it. The only years he recollects with pleasure are the years before 1969, when he was not yet world champion but felt that he was the strongest. He had energy, he was creative and that made him happy. But it was not to last. "After I won the title, I was confronted with the real world. People do not behave naturally anymore - hypocrisy is everywhere." Then came years of pain and sorrow. Spassky lost the title to Fischer. He left the Soviet Union. His successes became less frequent and he played not for joy but to earn money. He tells Europe Echecs that he was saved by the second match against Fischer in 1992, which made him financially independent. And now? He is writing his memoirs. Maybe there will be a time when they will be published, after his death. He is still playing now and then, one or two tournaments a year, but not the hard and serious tournaments. "I enjoy life, sometimes with a good bottle of wine! But don't count on me in tournaments that demand a lot of nervous energy, like the French championship. I am empty, these are not for me anymore." Spassky speaks with Europe Echecs a little bit about Kasparov and Karpov and has few kind words for them. Why did Kasparov lose to Deep Blue? "If the match was honest, Kasparov lost because he is stupid. But we cannot take this for granted." As for the Kasparov-Karpov matches, he does not hold the extreme opinions of his friend Bobby Fischer, who thinks that everything was pre-arranged, from the first to the last move, but on the other hand he does not accept that all was as it seemed to be. Spassky believes

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that the first two matches, of 1984 and 1985, were honest, but after that he doesn't trust the two K's: "If they had played 150 games at full strength, they would be in a lunatic asylum by now." All in all, despite the talk of enjoying life with a good bottle of wine, the interview exudes a very melancholy mood and the reader, overcome with a fatigue that is almost as burdensome as that of Spassky himself, is sadly wondering if life at the top of the world of chess is really so exhausting as to drain a great and strong player of all fighting spirit. It can be, but it does not have to be; Victor Korchnoi is not the only example of joyful chess longevity. At the time I read this interview a tournament was being held in the Dutch town Hoogeveen which had among the competitors two great players who are much older than Spassky but are far from being drained and exhausted. In the main group of four, playing a double round-robin, Vasily Smyslov competed with Judit Polgar, Loek Van Wely and the former youth champion Emil Sutovsky. Smyslov is 76 years-old and he still loves chess. I would like to introduce his game with Polgar with a short news item that I found in the same issue of Europe Echecs that had the interview with Spassky. Zoe Gelfand, the wife of chessplayer Boris, made it known that she had gotten a tamagotchi as a present. One of these new computer-pets that children like to raise. Zoe told that she had tried to raise her tamagotchi according to the famous Polgar-method and that it had died after a few days. Not quite a convincing argument because father Polgar's method was meant for humans, but I give it for what it is worth. White: Smyslov Black: Judit Polgar, Hoogeveen, fourth round. 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. d2-d4 g7-g6 3. Bc1-g5 Bf8-g7 4. Nb1-d2 d7-d5 5. e2-e3 0-0 6. Bf1-d3 c7-c5 7. c2-c3 b7-b6 8. 0-0 Bc8-b7 9. Bg5xf6 Bg7xf6 10. Qd1-e2 Bf6-g7 11. Ra1-d1 Nb8-d7 12. Rf1-e1 Modern opening theory is not for Smyslov anymore, especially when he plays with white. He opts for a modest and solid position and waits for what comes. 12...c5-c4 And what comes must have been a welcome surprise to Smyslov. 13. Bd3-c2 f7-f5 The consequence of her last move, for otherwise white would easily get a good game with 14. e4. But now white also gets a clear advantage with energetic play. 14. Nf3-g5 Rf8-f6 15. f2-f4 b6-b5 16. g2-g4 e7-e6 17. Qe2-g2 Qd8-e7 18. Nd2-f3 h7-h6 19. Ng5-h3 a7-a5 20. Nf3-e5 Black has a miserable position and now sacrifices material to confuse the issue. 20...g6-g5 21. g4xf5 Nd7xe5 22. d4xe5 Rf6xf5 23. Bc2xf5 e6xf5 (See Diagram) Black certainly does not have enough for the exchange. She threatens to close the position with 24...g4. 24. f4xg5 d5-d4 25. e3-e4 d4xc3 Now 26. gxh6 would win even more material for white. With 26...cxb2 black would get an impressive block of pawns, but again it would hardly be enough. 26. b2xc3 h6xg5 27. Nh3xg5 b5-b4 28. e5-e6 Bb7-c6 29. Ng5-f7 Qe7-f6 30. Rd1-d6 Here 30. e5 Qxe6 31. Nd8 looks quite good for white. He was in heavy time pressure. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans17.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:59 PM]

30...Qf6xc3 31. Re1-d1 Bc6xe4 32. Rd6-d8+ Ra8xd8 33. Rd1xd8+ Kg8-h7 34. Nf7-g5+ Kh7-h6 35. Ng5-f7+ Draw David Bronstein played in the open tournament. He is three years younger than Smyslov, his position on the world ranking list is a bit less prominent, but a Bronstein game is still very often something special. In the first round against the young Dutch girl Linda Jap Tjoen San he left a queen en prise in a totally winning position, which reminded the Dutch spectators of the candidates tournament of Amsterdam 1956, where Petrosian had done exactly the same thing against Bronstein himself. In the fourth round it seemed as if Bronstein got a return gift from Dutch chesswriter IM Gert Ligterink, who resigned in what at first was thought to be a drawn position. But this was not true. After long analysis Bronstein showed that there had been a beautiful win for him anyway. Not that this quite justified Ligterink's resignation. And two rounds earlier Jap Tjoen San, the glad recipient of Bronstein's queen, had resigned against Ligterink in a position which really was drawn. You give a few, take a few and in the end it all comes out equal. I learned from the great Dutch chess writer E. Straat that Tacitus held those who ascribe significance to banal coincidences in contempt; otherwise, I would tend to see a higher justice in this remarkable circle of gifts. So much for curiosities. Just winning beautiful games is something that Bronstein is also still quite capable of. White: Bronstein Black: Vedder, Hoogeveen open, third round 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 4. g2-g3 Bc8-b7 5. Bf1-g2 Bf8-b4+ 6. Bc1-d2 c7-c5 7. d4xc5 Bb4xc5 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Nb1-c3 Nf6-e4 10. Qd1-c2 f7-f5 11. Ra1-d1 Ne4xd2 12. Rd1xd2 a7-a6 13. a2-a3 Qd8-c7 14. Rf1-d1 Bc5-e7 15. Qc2-b3 Rf8-c8 16. c4-c5 (See Diagram) Black has seen too late that white is now threatening 17. Rxd7 Nxd7 18. Qxe6+. 16...Bb7-c6 17. c5xb6 Of course white is winning now. He finishes the game quite elegantly. 17...Qc7-b7 18. Nf3-e5 Bc6xg2 19. Rd2xd7 Bg2-d5 20. Rd1xd5 Rc8xc3 21. Rd7-d8+ Bronstein would have played the simple 21. bxc3, were it not that he was afraid that pedants would accuse him of having overlooked a forced mate. 21...Be7-f8 22. Rd8xf8+ Kg8xf8 23. Qb3-b4+ Kf8-e8 24. Rd5-d8+ Ke8xd8 25. Qb4-f8+ Mate This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" October 18, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree ONE HUNDRED PERCENT CHESSPLAYER During a recent tournament in Leeuwarden, capital of the Dutch province Friesland, I had a conversation with Jonathan Speelman about our ways of earning money and he told me that recently he had found a nice little sideline. The Dutch director Marleen Gorris, who won an Oscar this year, was going to make a film based on Nabokov's novel "The Defence" and Speelman was hired as chess advisor. Sometimes one hears an interesting bit of news at chess tournaments, though one trembles at the thought of what will happen to Nabokov's poor Luzhin in the hands of a fiercely feminist director. Speelman said that to his shame he had to confess that he had never read the book till the end. "I cannot read this horrible book." I told him that I had found it admirable, but that was not his point. "Oh, yes, I am sure it is a fine novel, but I can't stand to read about chessplayers as maladjusted eccentrics. As in Stefan Zweig's book and in Nabokov's too. Horrible." He shivered, hunched and brought his arms near to his body, as if a cold polar wind was suddenly blowing in the restaurant. "Sometimes they are like that," I said. "Sometimes," Speelman reluctantly admitted, and he could hardly have said otherwise during a tournament that had among its participants Semion Isaakevich Dvoirys. Dvoirys had been in Leeuwarden before and once he had thrown his shoe through the tournament hall after a defeat. He always came with a few companions and this time his companions had told the Leeuwarden organizers that during a tournament in France, a few weeks earlier, they had worried about Dvoirys, because they had noticed that during the night he had disappeared. It was only after a long search that they had found him, in the woods near a hollow tree where every day he had been hiding food, picnicking in the middle of night. As long as Dvoirys was doing well in the tournament we noticed nothing peculiar about him, but in the seventh round against Bosboom he suffered the first of three consecutive defeats and in despair he broke a block of chocolate in to little pieces, threw them all about and then went to collect them, searching under his own and his neighbor's table. They were quite surprised when, in the heat of battle, they suddenly found another player crawling under their legs. "Gentlemen please, serious games in progress!" is the traditional arbiter's call to order, but the arbiter was speechless and anyway, his words would have been powerless. After losing to Lobron in the last round, Dvoirys kneeled and beat his head three times on the floor with great force. I did not see it, for I was outside the building smoking a cigarette - yes, Americans, the anti-smoking brigade has reached our shores, but in

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defence of the rules committee it has to be said that we played in a museum among paintings of seventeenth century masters - and I barely saw how Dvoirys came hurrying out of the building at full speed only missing hitting a wall of the Chancellery by sheer luck before disappearing out of sight. The chief organizer told us that once in Russia Dvoirys had beaten his head until it bled with his opponent's queen that he had just captured. "This is not quite true," said Russian grandmaster Gleizerov. "It was a knight. The knight is very sharp in Russia. His behavior has to be explained by the fact that he is a one hundred percent chessplayer. Chess is his life.'' Just like everyone else, Lobron was a bit shaken by the incident, but not really distraught by what his victory had done to Dvoirys. He was satisfied with what he considered a fine game and in this he was quite right. White: Dvoirys Black: Lobron 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-d2 d5xe4 4. Nd2xe4 Nb8-d7 5. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 6. Ne4xf6+ Nd7xf6 7. c2-c3 c7-c5 8. Bc1-e3 Qd8-c7 9. Bf1-b5+ Bc8-d7 9. Bb5xd7+ Nf6xd7 11. d4-d5 The only way to make it interesting, but later in the game black's pawn majority will be more active than white's. 11...e6-e5 12. c3-c4 Bf8-d6 13. Qd1-c2 0-0 14. 0- 0 Ra8-e8 15. Nf3-g5 The beginning of quite an unfortunate knight's tour. 15...Nd7-f6 16. Ra1-e1 h7-h6 17. Ng5-h3 e5-e4 18. g2-g3 Qc7- d7 19. Kg1-g2 Nf6-g4 20. Nh3-g1 f7-f5 21. Be3-c1 f5-f4 22. Re1xe4 f4- f3+ 23. Ng1xf3 Qd7-f5 24. Nf3-d2 h6-h5 25. Qc2-b1 Bd6-e5 26. Re4-e2 Qf5-f7 27. h2-h3 (See Diagram) 27...Ng4-h2! 28. Kg2xh2 Be5xg3+ 29. f2xg3 Re8xe2+ 30. Kh2-g1Re2-e1 31. Qb1-d3 Qf7-f2+ White resigned. The players who had the best reason to be satisfied with their performance were Gleizerov and Ivan Sokolov, who tied for first, and the Dutch player Manuel Bosboom, who shared third place with Lobron, Speelman and Van Wely and made his first GM norm. His time pressure scrambles were blood-curdling although in most cases he came out on top. The next game was the prelude to the chocolate incident. White: Bosboom Black: Dvoirys 1. c2-c4 e7-e5 2. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 3. g2-g3 g7-g6 4. Ra1-b1 Typical for Bosboom, who follows his own paths. The common man playing g3 will continue on the next move with Bg2. No such mindless conformism for Bosboom. In another round, against Yakovich in a similar opening set up, his Bg2 came hours after his g3. 4...a7-a5 5. a2- a3 Bf8-g7 6. b2-b4 a5xb4 7. a3xb4 f7-f5 8. b4-b5 Nc6-d4 9. Bc1-b2 Ng8-f6 10. Bf1-g2 10...0-0 11. d2-d3 d7-d6 12. e2-e3 Nd4-e6 13. Ng1-f3 f5-f4 14. e3xf4 e5xf4 15. d3-d4 g6-g5 16. d4-d5 g5-g4 17. d5xe6 g4xf3 18. Qd1xf3 Bc8xe6 19. 0-0 f4xg3 20. h2xg3 Be6xc4 21. Rf1-d1 Ra8-b8 22. Nc3-e4 Bc4-a2 Black has won a pawn, but his kingside is somewhat shaky. Now black forces a position with opposite colour bishops, in which file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans18.txt[10/5/2016 8:14:59 PM]

white's attacking chances improve. 23. Rb1-a1 Nf6xe4 24. Qf3xe4 Bg7xb2 25. Ra1xa2 Qd8-f6 And this costs an important pawn. 26. Qe4- c2 Bb2-c3 27. Rd1-d3 Bc3-e5 28. Qc2xc7 Rf8-c8 29. Qc7-d7 Rc8-c1+ 30. Kg1-h2 Kg8-h8 31. Qd7-h3 Qf6-g6 32. Rd3-f3 Rc1-c5 33. Ra2-a4 Rb8-g8 34. Ra4-h4 Rc5-c7 35. Rf3-f5 (See Diagram) 35...Rc7-f7 There was no good defence against the threat of Be4 followed by Rfh5. 36. Bg2-e4 Rg8-g7 37. Rf5xe5 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" November 22, 1997. Copyright 1997 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree PATZER'S PARADISE At the door of the press room in the Olympic Museum in Lausanne, the site of the match between Karpov and Anand, my colleague Gert Ligterink, reporter for the Dutch newspaper "Volkskrant", is addressed by Alexander Roshal, editor of the Russian chess magazine 64. Roshal is obviously in a happy mood. He asks: "You have a FIDE title I think?" This is confirmed. Ligterink is an IM. Roshal grins merrily, he beats his fist against his breast and says: "Me no title!" in a way which makes it appear a hero's accomplishment. Inside the press room we see why Roshal is so happy. A blitz tournament is announced for "professional journalists and media representatives" who report on the World Championship. Total prize fund $50,000. Once again our president Kirsan Ilyumzhinov is showing his magnanimity. The formula is more or less the same as in the knock-out world championship tournament in Groningen, which means that everybody will share in the loot, even those who hardly know the rules and will be eliminated in the first round. That is to say, everybody except strong chessplayers. Journalists who have a FIDE title are excluded from participation. Slightly sour-faced my "Volkskrant" colleague and I look around in the press room and take stock of the strength of the professional journalists. We are the strongest chessplayers there. First prize $9,000, second prize $6,000, but not for us. It could have been an interesting final between the two of us. Then Leontxo Garcia, reporter for the Spanish newspaper "El Pais" joins us. He cannot play in the tournament either, for he is a FIDE Master. Poor guy. He has a title that doesn't bring one anything, no invitations at all, but now it brings him an exclusion. But Leontxo looks at it from the bright side. "At least it saves us from a difficult ethical dilemma," he says cheerfully. And he is right of course. At the end of the FIDE congress in Erevan 1996 Ilyumzhinov organized a blitz tournament for the delegates. That too had a nice prize fund. Not everyone found it an edifying sight to see Ilyumzhinov's opponents, who had spoken bravely of corruption and "big pockets," grubbing their snouts in his trough only a few hours after their defeat in the elections. In itself there is not much wrong with a tournament for journalists. But many journalists have speculated about the origin of Ilyumzhinov's millions. Have they all been earned by honest work? One can imagine that these speculations might have been less bold, had the journalists been carrying part of that money in their own pockets. Anyway, these ethical considerations seemed strangely restricted to

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those who have been condemned to stand aside. It was a true miracle, all these guys who suddenly turned out to be professional journalists; who could have guessed. The chief organizer of the Groningen tournament suddenly revealed himself to represent a Groningen newspaper. The FIDE official who directed the questions during the short press conferences of Karpov and Anand after their games, claimed successfully that this made him a journalist, eligible to play. A special case was Dimitri Bjelica, who really is a journalist, but unfortunately also a FIDE Master. He claimed loudly that he was not and that his title was taken from him by the Yugoslav chess authorities, and he could only be silenced when Ilyumzhinov promised to play a private match with him. "It's patzer's paradise" said Christophe Bouton, reporter for the French "Figaro," with a touch of self-deprecation which was not quite justified, because Bouton is a good chess player. He won the tournament and a few hours later he brought ten bottles of excellent champagne to the press room for all his colleagues, titled or not. Alexander Roshal was in third place. He is not a patzer either. He is "master of sports" in Russia and that is quite an accomplishment, but because of the lack of possibilities for Russian masters in the days of the Soviet-Union to play in international tournaments, he never earned an international title. Now at last this has turned out to be a blessing. Roshal used to be Karpov's regular companion during trips abroad. Every time I meet him, he explains that he is not a friend of Karpov anymore and in fact never was. "I was a professional friend. Who has important friends, has important money. I know. But not anymore now." Maybe not, but he might still be well informed about Karpov's doings and I asked him if he knew who all those unknown names on the list of Karpov's delegation were. An impressive delegation of fifteen people, and Karpov's business partner Ron Henley, who was also present, was not even on the list. There is Karpov's wife, his lawyer, an interpreter, five seconds, probably a doctor and a body guard. But even so many names remained unexplained. Roshal said they were probably sponsors of Karpov who, as a reward, were made members of the team that is to carry the champion into his next two years of reign. Nice to put that on your business card later. I studied the names. Grigory Kalashnikov might make a good bodyguard. Anyway, it is an impressive list. Anand's delegation, which consists of himself, his wife and three seconds, looked quite humble in comparison. Diagram This is the position after white's 25th move in the first game Karpov- Anand. Anand played 25...Qe7-d6, a good move. But why file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans19.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:00 PM]

didn't he play 25...Qxe4? That forces the exchange of queens. If white does not have anything forcing quickly, black would be better. That forcing line to refute 25...Qxe4 should start with 26. Qxe4 Nxe4 27. Re1 Rc4, but what then? I couldn't find it. The next day the Belgian IM Luc Winants, who was one of the French-language commentators, showed me a beautiful analysis. After 27...Rc4 white first plays 28. b3 and after 28...Rd4 comes a truly difficult move: 29. Rf2!, with the threat 30. Rd2 with decisive material gain. When black prevents this with 29...Ndf6, comes 30. Rf4. This move would not have been right a move earlier because of 29. Rf4 Ndc5. But now, one move later, it wins on the spot because of the threat 31. Bxf6. The main line of Winants' analysis was more complicated. After 26. Qxe4 Nxe4 27. Re1 Rc4 28. b3 Rd4 29. Rf2! he follows up with 29...h6 30. Rd2 Rb4 31. a3 hxg5 32. axb4 Ndf6 33. Rd4 Rh4 34. b5 and white wins. Beautiful and deep. I payed Winants a heart-felt compliment for his nice analysis, and then he laughed and said: "Of course I put a computer to work on it." Anand is not a computer and maybe he did not see the exact refutation of 25...Qxe4 during the game. But he must have smelled the danger. This sense of danger badly failed him on the next move, when after 25...Qe7-d6 26. Qb7-a8+ he did not play the safe 26...Qb8, which would have led to an equal game, but 26...Ke8-f7? which was refuted nicely by Karpov. Diagram And this diagram gives the position after black's 34th in the fourth game. White Anand-black Karpov. An important moment. At the time we reporters thought it was at this moment that Anand lost the world championship. We didn't know yet that he would force a tiebreak later and lose the match only then. Anand played, far too quickly, 35. c4-c5 and he lost. A much better chance was 35. Qd8 Qxh5 36. Be3. When I wrote my report that day I left unsaid, because of ignorance, whether this would draw or would only put up stronger resistance. In fact it would draw, as Michael Gurevich showed the next day in his match bulletin. After 36. Be3 he gives a)36.....a6 37. Qd6 a5 38. Qxe6. B)36...Qf7 38. Qa8 and c)36...Bc6 37. Qd6 Be4 38. f3, when black can sacrifice a piece. Variation B is a clear draw, A and C are messy and risky ways for Karpov to play for a win. This is not the way Karpov plays chess, he would have taken the draw. Anand's mistake was not decisive, he got his chance later. But it was to prove significant. Here and in other moments in that fourth game he relapsed to the sins of his youth: playing quickly and impulsively when serious thinking was in order. It would be his undoing in the first tiebreak game. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" January 10, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree BLITZ TOURNAMENT I could write at great length about the smell of the Hoogovens tournament in Wijk aan Zee. The typical mixture of wet winter coats, Dutch pea soup, the cold sweat of hundreds of amateur chessplayers and maybe a whiff of the multi-colored smoke that comes out of the nearby chimneys of the sponsoring steel company. Some speak not of smell but of stink, but for me it has been the most delicious of fragrances for decades, and in this jubilee year when the 60th Hoogovens tournament was played, I half expected to see small bottles of this perfume offered to the discerning chess lover. Alas not, but maybe the Hoogovens steel company, most faithful chess sponsor in the world, is waiting for the hundredth anniversary of its tournament. Apart from the smells there are the sounds. Somewhere in the big hall a clock is punched and even the half-experienced amateur player who strolls around when it is not his move, does recognize in the general bustle of sounds, like a bat equipped with infallible radar, this little sound for what it is: his clock, so it is his move now, and back to the board. The sound of the flag falling, the most subtle and most horrible of all chess sounds, is almost a sound of the past and can now only be heard in the lower amateur groups, because in the higher ones the new electronic clocks are used, where no flag falls. On the first rest day of the tournament a new sound could be heard. A blitz tournament on the stage where the top group is playing. Blitz tournaments have always been quite common at the Hoogovens tournament, but they always were casual affairs, played in the bar or in the big hall, and their sounds where much different from this one, in which the world top players played for quite a lot of money. A round starts. Silence. Absolute concentration. Spectators hold their breath. Then an arbiter hits the gong and suddenly for about half a minute there is a pandemonium, a rapid fire of clocks that are punched not quite synchronously. Then, at move fifteen or so, they become a little bit more quiet. All in all it is an hilarious sound. A few times I have seen spectators burst out in spontaneous laughter when the games started. Their merriness was caused by the contrast between the profoundness of thought these players were supposed to represent, and the fury of their apparent child's play. The prize money was twenty thousand guilders, which is about ten thousand dollars. Not bad for a few merry hours. It had not escaped the players' notice that first prize in the journalist tournament in Lausanne had been almost equal to the total prize fund here, but apart from Anand and

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Van der Sterren they had all come to play; Karpov, Kramnik, Topalov, Shirov, Gelfand, Adams, Judit Polgar, Salov and the Dutch contingent of Timman, Piket, Van Wely and Nijboer. The rounds of the regular tournament you could follow quite comfortably at home on the Internet, but that was not possible for the blitz tournament, for which the electronic highway is not fast enough yet. Dutch champion Predrag Nikolic had come over to watch and said: "This is much nicer than normal chess. The public loves it, and so do the players, for they are not suffering now, like in classical chess. For every mistake there is the excuse of shortage of time. Immediate action is required at every moment and the worms of doubt will not get the time to eat you." He was right, though we shouldn't say such things too loud in public, because before you know it classical chess will be abolished to satisfy the demands of frivolous modern time. When you play over the games afterwards, there is very little to be enjoyed. Pieces are blundered, mate in one was overlooked twice, flags of players in completely winning positions fell many times. And it makes one shiver, the idea that all these trifles will go into the databases, those great garbage cans full of undifferentiated waste. Don't remark, when you look at next game, that it is an awfully bad game, which it is, but try to imagine how it is to watch it live in ten minutes on the electronic screens. This is very exciting indeed. White: Adams Black: Van Wely, five minutes per player. 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. Bc1-g5 f7-f6 3. Bg5-h4 Ng8-h6 In one of their tiebreak games in Groningen he played first 3...Nc6 4. e2-e3 Nh6-f5 5. Bh4-g3 h7-h5 6. Bf1-e2 h5-h4 7. Bg3-f4 g7-g5 8. Be2-h5+ Ke8-d7 9. e3-e4 d5xe4 10. Bf4-c1 c7-c6 11. Bh5-g4 Kd7-c7 12. Ng1-e2 Nf5-d6 13. Bg4xc8 Qd8xc8 14. Nb1-c3 h4-h3 15. g2-g3 Qc8-g4 16. Bc1-e3 Qg4-f3 17. Rh1-g1 Nb8-d7 18. d4-d5 c6-c5 19. a2-a4 a7-a6 20. Ra1-a3 Nd6-c4 21. Ra3-b3 Nc4xe3 22. f2xe3 Nd7-e5 23. d5-d6+ e7xd6 24. Qd1-d5 Ra8-b8 25. Qd5-e6 Rb8-d8 26. Nc3-d5+ Kc7-b8 27. Nd5xf6 c5-c4 28. Rb3-b4 Qf3xe3 29. Qe6-d5 b7-b6 30. Ke1-d1 Kb8-c7 31. Nf6xe4 Bf8-e7 White had done badly in the opening, but at this moment he could well reckon on a win, mainly because of black's terrible time pressure. 32. Ne2-d4 Qe3xg1+ Oh no, not this way. Not only has white blundered a whole rook, suddenly he is almost mated. 33. Kd1-e2 Qg1xh2+ 34. Ne4-f2 Qh2-g2 35. Rb4xc4+ Ne5xc4 36. Qd5xc4+ Kc7-b7 37. a4-a5 Rh8-f8 38. Ke2-d3 Rf8xf2 39. Kd3-c3 Qg2xg3+ 40. Kc3-b4 (See Diagram) Black had only seconds left, but had he found 40...d5+, that would probably have been enough to win the game. 40...Rd8-c8 41. Qc4-d5+ Kb7-b8 42. Nd4-c6+ Rc8xc6 43. Qd5xc6 Qg3-f4+ 44. Kb4-a3 Rf2-f3+ 45. Ka3-a2 b6xa5 46. Qc6-b6+ Kb8-c8 47. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans20.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:00 PM]

Qb6xa6+ Kc8-d7 48. Qa6-b7+ Kd7-e6 49. Qb7-c8+ Ke6-f6 Here Van Wely offered a draw. He is of course completely winning, but had no time left. It was quite sporting of Adams to accept. Most players did not behave so friendly on such occasions. Salov did once, giving a draw in an endgame against Topalov which he could have won on time, and then in the next round in a queen endgame where he had four pawns against none for Judit Polgar, he let himself be mated in one move. "Good punishment for my tenderheartedness," he said. Enough of this circus entertainment, now a real game of the Hoogovens tournament. White: Topalov Black: Karpov 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-e7 4. c4xd5 e6xd5 5. Bc1-f4 c7-c6 6. Qd1-c2 g7-g6 7. e2-e3 Bc8-f5 8. Qc2-d2 Ng8-f6 9. f2-f3 h7-h5 10. Bf1-d3 Bf5xd3 11. Qd2xd3 Nb8-a6 12. Ng1-e2 Na6-c7 13. 0-0 Nc7-e6 14. Bf4-e5 h5-h4 Topalov, explaining this game to the press, found this a good idea, even combined with black's next one, but I can't quite understand why. 15. Ra1-e1 0-0 16. g2-g4 h4xg3 But here Topalov thought that black would have done better keeping the h-file closed. 17. h2xg3 Nf6-d7 18. Kg1-g2 Nd7xe5 19. d4xe5 Qd8-d7 20. f3-f4 f7-f5 21. g3-g4 Rf8-f7 Better was 21...Ng7 followed by Kf7, which wouldn't have been very nice for black either, but would leave him with good defensive resources. 22. Rf1-h1 According to Topalov his position was winning now. 22...Be7-f8 23. g4xf5 Ne6-c5 24. Qd3-d1 Qd7xf5 25. Ne2-d4 Qf5-d7 26. Re1-g1 Not the most accurate move; better was 26. Rh3. Black's next, which in many variations gives him the possibility of Rxe5, had been overlooked by white. 26...Ra8-e8 27. Rh1-h3 Nc5-e6 28. Rg1-h1 Bf8-g7 29. Qd1-c2 Ne6-f8 30. Nc3-e2 Qd7-e7 31. Nd4-f3 Qe7-b4 32. Rh3-g3 c6-c5 33. Nf3-h4 Re8-e6 34. Ne2-c3 d5-d4 35. Nc3-d5 Qb4-b5 36. e3-e4 c5-c4 37. Nh4-f3 d4-d3 38. Qc2-c3 Re6-a6 39. Nf3-d4 Qb5-c5 40. Rg3xd3 After this the position becomes very sharp. Simply 40. a3 was also quite good. 40...Ra6xa2 41. Rd3-h3 b7-b5 42. Nd4-f3 Nf8-e6 43. Kg2-g3 b5-b4 44. Qc3-d2 (See Diagram) Now 44...c3 looks good for black at first sight, but Topalov had prepared a nice forced win against this: 45. Qh2 Rf8 46. Rh7 Rxb2 47. Rxg7+ Nxg7 48. Qh7+ Kf7 49. e6+ 44...Rf7-f8 45. Nd5-f6+ Nf8xf6 46. e5xf6 Bg7xf6 47. e4-e5 Bf6-g7 48. Rh3-h7 Qc5-f8 49. Nf3-g5 Ra2-a6 Now there is a forced mate, but 49...Nxg5 would have been hopeless for black too, because of 50. Qd5+ Nf7 (50...Qf7 51. Qd8+ Qf8 52. Rh8+) 51. e6. 50. Rh7-h8+ Black resigned because of 50...Bxh8 51. Rxh8+ Kxh8 52. Qh2+. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" January 24, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Centaur In the twelfth round of the Linares tournament, Kasparov played a 19-move draw with Topalev. It was not his only quick draw in the tournament, but for this one he was fined $3,000 by organiser Luis Rentero. All the players had signed a contract that forbid them to offer a draw during the first forty moves. All except Shirov, the reckless adventurer who maybe considered it an insult. Kasparov grumbled, rightly, that the final position against Topalov was a dead draw and he had his second Dohoian write a protest letter, but he accepted his fate. Or so it seems, but maybe it was a piece of theatricality. Rentero and Kasparov are partners in the new-founded World Chess Council which will organise the matches for Kasparov's world championship. First (probably) Kramnik-Shirov and then the winner against Kasparov. Maybe one day Kasparov's opponent will complain that the organisers are not impartial. Then Rentero will beat his breast, fiercely denying that he would ever give favours to friends: "Remember I fined Gary $3,000 for a quick draw?" We have grown suspicious, but not without reason. Some twenty years ago an English journalist complained that in sports only chess and marbles were above suspicion. One wonders what has happened in the world of marbles. The day after the tournament Kasparov went to Madrid to advertise an event that had been announced a few months ago. In June, in the Spanish town of Leon, he will play a match of six games against Topalov, in which both players will have free access to a computer. It is an idea that has been cherished for years by Kasparov. Advance Chess, he calls it. In Madrid his audience was treated to fine pieces of unbridled Kasparov rhetoric. A new age for chess had arrived. Leon was privileged to see the first appearance of 21st century chess. Speculation and risk would cede to accuracy and the search for perfection. The symbiosis of man and machine would be an example not only for the chess world, but for all human endeavours. Last year he was the last stand of the human race against the computer Deeper Blue. If you can't beat'em, join'em, he must have thought. Not everyone will like the idea. A hundred years ago it was also possible to raise the standard of chess by permitting players to consult books on openings and endgames. It was not done. Nowadays chessplayers are sometimes caught at a bookstall during their game, consulting reference books. They are punished and their plea that they are trying to bring chess to a higher level is not accepted. For many people, speculation and risk are just the

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things that give chess its attraction. But it has to be admitted that Kasparov has found a promising source of new sponsorships. He and Topalov will get the same computer. But what they put into it will be their choice. Their personally screened databases with millions of games. Their own opening analysis from years ago that they may have forgotten by now. A chessplaying program of their choice. This will provide nice publicity for the program that is used by the winner. Who did win the match, the human player or the program that helped him calculate the variations and checked on his tactical mistakes? Difficult to say. If Kasparov's idea gains acceptance, the chess world will resemble the world of motorcar racing. A tournament will be a testing ground and a generator of publicity for the manufacturers of the machines. The following two games from Linares were created in the old-fashioned non-technological way. Just humans thinking on their own. These games might give the impression that sometimes computer help would not be a superfluous luxury, even for the best players in the world. Give this " blindfold" test to a knowledgeable chessplayer: show him the moves, but not the names of the players. About the losers he might say: "From the competent way they play the first ten moves or so, it appears they are club players. But the way they handle the rest of the game makes it clear that they are not playing in a high league."' White: Ivanchuk Black: Anand, Linares, Round 12 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 6. Bc1-g5 e7-e6 7. Qd1-d2 Bf8-e7 8. 0-0-0 0-0 9. f2-f3 This is played occasionally. The usual move is 9. f4 or 9. Nb3 9...Nc6xd4 10. Qd2xd4 a7-a6 11. h2-h4 b7-b5 12. Kc1-b1 Qd8-c7 13. h4-h5 h7-h6 14. Bg5-h4 Bc8-b7 15. Nc3-e2 Very slow and artificial manoevres by white. 15. Bd3 would give no advantage, but it looks superior. After 15. Bd3 d5 16. exd5 Bc5 white would have 17. d6 as an escape. 15...Ra8-c8 16. Qd4-d2 Rf8-d8 With simple natural moves, black has gotten a fine position. He is ready for a break in the center. 17. Rd1-e1 Another contortionist move. 17...e6-e5 First this pawn, for after 17...d5 18. e5 Qxe5 19. Bg3 black's queen would be in limbo. Now 18...d5 is a threat. 18. Bh4xf6 Be7xf6 19. Ne2-c3 Bf6-g5 20. Qd2-d1 After 20. Qd3 would follow 20...d5 21. Nxd5 Bxd5 22. exd5 Rxd5 and white cannot take on d5. With the queen on d1 he would have 23. Bd3, so now black changes plans: 20...Qc7-a5 Intending 21...Rxc3 with a very strong attack. 21. Nc3-d5 This allows a nice finish, but good moves were not to be found for white. 21...Bb7xd5 22. e4xd5 (See Diagram) 22...Rc8xc2! 23. Kb1xc2 Qa5xa2 A rook up, white is helpless against the threat 24...Rc8+. 24. f3-f4 So that after 24...Bxf4 he can bring his rook to the defence with 25. Rh3. 24...Rd8-c8+ 25. Kc2-d2 Bg5xf4+ 26. Kd2-e2 Qa2xb2+ 27. Ke2-f3 Rc8-c1 White resigned. To avoid losing his rook on e1 he file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans21.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:00 PM]

has to give up his queen, leaving his position disorganized; black then wins easily. White: Kramnik Black: Svidler, Linares, Round 12 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. g2-g3 d7-d5 4. d2-d4 Bf8-e7 5. Bf1-g2 0-0 6. 0-0 d5xc4 7. Qd1-c2 a7-a6 8. Qc2xc4 b7-b5 9. Qc4-c2 Bc8-b7 10. Bc1-f4 Nf6-d5 This move has a bad reputation. 11. Nb1-c3 Nd5xf4 12. g3xf4 Nb8-d7 13. Rf1-d1 Bb7xf3 This cannot be satisfactory for black. After 13...Qc8 14. Ne4 c5 15. dxc5 Nxc5 16. Nxc5 Qxc5 17. Qxc5 Bxc5 in Ribli-Karpov, Amsterdam 1980, black had attained his goal in this variation: eliminating the weakness on c7. But even so black was slightly worse in the ending and he lost. 14. Bg2xf3 Ra8-b8 15. e2-e3 Nd7-f6 16. Ra1-c1 Qd8-d6 17. Nc3-e2 Rf8-c8 18. e3-e4 Qd6-d7 19. d4-d5 e6xd5 20. e4-e5 Nf6-e8 21. Rd1xd5 Qd7-h3 22. Bf3-g2 Qh3-h4 23. Ne2-d4 White's game plays itself. His threats are 24. Nc6 and especially 24. Nf5. White is winning. (See Diagram) 23...Qh4xf4 24. Nd4-c6 Now black's queen, rook and bishop are in danger. He can not save everything. 24...Be7-h4 25. Rc1-d1 Rb8-b6 26. Rd5-d4 Rb6xc6 27. Bg2xc6 Qf4xe5 28. Bc6-d7 Rc8-d8 29. Rd4xh4 Black resigned. After 29...Rxd7 ( or 29...Qg5+ 30. Rg4) 30. Qxh7+ Kf8 31. Rxd7 black has only a few checks. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" March 14, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree The Great Davidson In Cafe Vienna in London, around the turn of the century, the professional chessplayers would gather near the entrance, eager to catch a promising customer as soon as he walked in. One of these professionals was 17-year old Jacques Davidson, a Dutch boy living in London. One year earlier his father, who had settled in London as a teacher of languages, had taught his son to play chess. Jacques had played with his father for a stake, he had won, and though he was not payed, the idea had occurred to him that it could be profitable to play chess against rich Englishmen. He learned how to proceed from another Dutchman, Rudolf Loman. Jacques Davidson was born in 1890, Rudolf Loman in 1861. Loman had been living in London for a number of years. He also played chess for money, though he had another profession, organ player. Later, in 1912, Loman would become Dutch champion. And later still, in the twenties, Davidson would finish second in the Dutch championship twice, behind Euwe, who by that time was too strong for any Dutchman. In Cafe Vienna the stake was a shilling per game. Davidson could beat most of the customers with his eyes closed, but from the experienced Loman he had learned that he had to cede them a game every now and then, or their interest would slack. About one in five. Not more, because then the earnings would be negligible and even worse, one would stand the chance that the customer would lose respect for someone who could not beat him consistently and find another pro who was better. The pros liked it when they were invited by a rich customer to play chess at his home. There they had him for themselves, without interference from a competing chessmaster. Davidson was lucky to have such a customer and he visited him regularly. He was picked up by car. Two servants were in it, one to drive and one to open the garden gate of the rich customer. When Davidson was brought home after the chess session, two servants were again in the car, because the rich Englishman liked to indulge in the fiction that his chess partner also had a garden gate that should be opened by a servant. It was wise for the professional to let the rich customer win the last game of the session. That would lead to a friendly after-chess chat in which the natural talent of the customer could be praised. If he would try hard, he would become a master, for sure. The rich customer had been convinced of that all the time. But try hard he would never do, because trying hard in anything was contemptible for members of his class. From Loman, Davidson had learned that he should never ask for

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the money that was due to him. "Better try to get a meal at the Salvation Army than ask for your money, even when it adds up to 200 shillings, for he will pay at once, but never ask you again," Loman had said. And when pay-day came at last, one had to feign that one did not know exactly what was due, looking in a notebook, pretending to add figures. The rich man knew exactly what he had to pay, had the amount in hand, but kept up the fiction that he was above such financial trifles. Was being so difficult in paying intended to humiliate the pros? No, Loman said. It was because the rich people could not permit themselves to realize that their opponents were poor chessplayers who had to live on their winnings. If that thought entered their minds, they wouldn't be able to play anymore. One only played with gentlemen. But in Cafe Vienna there was someone who really pestered the chess professionals. A pensioned colonel who took endless time thinking about his moves and kept a professional busy for an entire evening on one game for one shilling. And they couldn't refuse to play him, according to the code of the cafe. They all hated him. One afternoon they heard a chessboard fall to the floor, the pieces clattering all about. It had become too much for one of the pros; his nerves had cracked. Poor boy, never again would he be allowed to play in the Vienna, his colleagues realized. That also was part of the code. The colonel kept coming to the Vienna, and from that moment he felt forced to prove that he had not been slowing down the game on purpose to minimize his losses. The professionals jumped on him. Now it was five games an evening, and not ceding one game in five to the customer, oh no, that rule did not apply to the colonel. A bit hard it was, because the colonel could not really afford to lose so many games. "Then let him burgle his general's house," Loman said pitilessly. Most of this I learned from an interview that Jacques Davidson gave in 1962 to the Dutch newspaper "Het Parool." The title that journalist Willem Witkamp gave to his wonderful article was "The Great Davidson." This was somewhat ironic, because Davidson was a strong chessplayer, an international master, but he was not what most people would call a great chessplayer. But it was not completely ironic. Davidson was the first Dutchman who succeeded in being a professional chessplayer, and that in a time when only the very best of the world could live on chess. Sometimes Davidson had to take little jobs on the side. For a while he was a traveling salesman for a publisher of encyclopedias. But to the end of his life, he was above all a professional chessplayer. And because of this, in a sense he was really a great man. Around 1920 he was one of the strongest Dutch chessplayers, but not much notice was taken because Euwe was so much stronger. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans22.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:01 PM]

Davidson played in tournaments, the strongest being that in Semmering, 1926. But most of his income came from simultaneous displays, lectures, newspaper articles and the selling of chess books, often going from door to door. The income was small. In the interview mentioned he said: "Nevertheless I have raised four children decently. You shouldn't do that. Raise children, yes. But not from chess." And he had petty enemies in the Dutch chessworld. Euwe was always helpful, but there were little men of influence who begrudged a professional chessplayers the light in his eyes. In the interview Davidson talked about a tournament held in Amsterdam in the twenties. There was a special price for a special game. Loman who, like Davidson, had returned to the Netherlands, was a member of the jury. When the tournament was finished and the prizes had been distributed, Loman and Davidson walked home together. "You should have won that prize," Loman said to Davidson. But he hadn't, and it turned out that one of the jury members had said that Davidson would bring this trophy immediately to a pawnshop, so better to give it to a more worthy chessplayer. Davidson was not surprised. "I'll show you this. It has to be seen by one real chessplayer, and then we will forget about it," he said to Loman. He showed Loman a postcard from that same jury member and explained what it was about. That jury member had recently given a journalistic job to Davidson, but had received the money himself and never payed Davidson, the man that was supposed to be so poor that he would pawn his trophy. The postcard from the jury member explained why he had never payed. He had been ill and his wife had spent the money. Bad luck. "That's cruel, isn't it? But life is cruel - but still there is something to it," Davidson said in the interview. Davidson died in 1969, 78 years old. On his gravestone there is a chess problem, white to play and mate in one. His life was ten times harder than we modern Dutch professionals have it now, but he managed gracefully. The game that follows is from a quadrangular tournament in Amsterdam, 1925. The result was 1. Davidson, 3; 2. Euwe, 2; 3/4 Saemisch and Weenink, 1/2. I am not sure, but this might be the one that should have won the brilliancy prize. White: Davidson Black: Euwe 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. g2-g3 c7-c6 4. Bf1-g2 d7-d5 5. c4xd5 c6xd5 6. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 7. Ng1-f3 0-0 8. 0-0 Nf6-e4 9. Bc1-f4 Nb8-c6 10. Ra1-c1 Qd8-a5 11. Qd1-b3 e7-e6 12. Rf1-d1 Ne4xc3 13. Rc1xc3 Rf8-d8 14. e2-e3 f7-f6 15. g3-g4 g6-g5 16. Bf4-g3 Qa5-b4 17. Qb3-c2 Bc8-d7 18. Nf3-e1 Bd7-e8 19. Ne1-d3 Qb4-e7 20. a2-a3 Rd8-c8 21. Rd1-c1 Bg7-f8 22. Qc2-d2 b7-b6 White had an easier game, but after this move the dangers for black become acute. 23. e3-e4 Qe7-d7 24. Qd2-e3 e6-e5 An emergency measure that turns out badly. 24. e4xd5 Nc6xd4 (See Diagram) 26. Nd3xe5! f6xe5 27. Bg3xe5 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans22.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:01 PM]

Rc8xc3 28. Rc1xc3 Nd4-b5 29. Qe3xg5+ Be8-g6 Also after 29...Bg7 30. d6 Nxc3 31. Bxa8 white's multiple treats would guarantee him a decisive material advantage. 30. d5-d6 Qd7-e6 31. Bg2xa8 Nb5xc3 32. Be5xc3 Bf8-h6 To get a perpetual after 33. Qxh6 by 33...Qxg4+ 33. Ba8-d5 Bh6xg5 34. Bd5xe6+ Bg6-f7 35. Be6xf7+ Kg8xf7 36. Bc3-e5 Kf7-e6 37. f2-f4 Bg5-h4 38. Kg1-g2 Ke6-d5 39. g4-g5 Kd5-e6 40. Kg2-h3 Bh4-f2 41. Kh3-g4 b6-b5 42. h2-h4 a7-a5 43. h4-h5 b5-b4 44. a3xb4 a5xb4 45. g5-g6 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" April 4, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Mayors When it was recently announced that Mayor Faber of the Dutch town of Hoogeveen was to join the Board of the Royal Dutch Chess Federation, my first thought was: "Does he know what he is in for? Mayors and chess, the combination spells disaster." Silly thought, I admit. It was because one week earlier I had visited the Amber rapid tournament in Monaco and there I had had an interesting conversation about French mayors who in the past had shown a special love for chess. I was speaking with some Dutch chess lovers who made their home on the French Mediterranean coast. Pleasant company they were. "Whoever arrives from the Netherlands has, by definition, been pillaged by Dutch taxes, so don't even think about paying the bill," they said. Our talk had given me the impression that chess loving mayors were destined for a bad end. Michel Mouillot, mayor of Cannes, had been a pillar of the yearly Festival of Games, of which a chess tournament always was the most important part. I remember well that in 1990 I had the privilege of being awarded a prize from him. A few years later Mouillot finished up behind prison bars because of financial mischief. Nearby, Mayor Jacques Medecin ruled over Nice until 1990. He had been mayor for a long time, since 1966, and a member of a dynasty - his father Jean had been mayor before him since 1928. During the reign of Jacques in 1974 Nice organised the chess olympiad, the biggest chess event ever played in France. It was about that time that the English writer Graham Greene, a resident of the Mediterranean coast, wrote the pamphlet "J'accuse" (I accuse), a sharp attack on the way Medecin combined business, politics and good relations with the French underworld. It took some time for Greene's point to sink in, but in 1990 Medecin felt forced to give up his office and flee to Uruguay. It was all in vain; he was extradited to France and was in prison for some years. Michel Noir, mayor of Lyon, was a chess lover par excellence and for some time he was considered in French politics a presidential candidate. In 1990 Noir brought the second leg of the Kasparov-Karpov match to Lyon. He also made the Lyon team the strongest in the French League by providing the finances to attract top foreign players. Alas, this mayor also came to a bad end. In 1996 he was fined and sentenced to a provisional prison term as a result of corruption. The French are lucky that they still have Mayor Gouvart of Capelle-la- Grande. This is a small industrial town of 9000

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inhabitants near Dunkirk, close to the Belgian border. Here every year the strongest open tournament in the world is played. This year there were 637 players, among them 93 grandmasters. One gets the impression that Capelle-la-Grande is run as a family business. Mayor Roger Gouvart is a communist, but represents a local political party devoted to the interests of the town. For a long time he had been president of the local trade union, a function that is now held by one of his sons. Another son, Michel Gouvart, also a prominent trade unionist, organises the annual chess tournament. The communist background of the organisers comes out in the egalitarian spirit in which the tournament is run. Financial conditions for all grandmasters and international masters are practically the same: food, lodging and a minimal starting fee. There also seems to be a special connection with players from countries of the former Soviet Union, who always come to the tournament in droves, sometimes being picked up in their hometowns and brought in by special buses, courtesy of Capelle-la-Grande. The municipality has guaranteed the existence of the tournament till 2004. Let us pray that nothing unpleasant will happen to Mayor Gouvart before that time. This year the tournament was won by Igor Glek, a Russian grandmaster who lives in Germany. As will be seen, he is an expert in the MacCutcheon variation of the French. That stood him in good stead, as Glek wrote in the French magazine Europe Echecs, in 1988 when he was doing his military service in Russia. At that time Anatoly Karpov was playing for the Red Army team. Karpov asked Glek for advice about what to play with white against the MacCutheon. Glek compiled a small file on the line that starts with 5. e4xd5, which of course is not a refutation of the MacCutcheon, but very safe and, according to Glek, gives white good prospects for a minimal positional advantage. "Just what I needed," Karpov said. Glek was rewarded with two weeks extra leave from military service. The world has changed since then and nowadays Karpov has to pay his helpers. White: Spraggett (Canada) Black: Glek, Capelle-la Grande 1998. 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6 4. Bc1-g5 Bf8-b4 5. e4-e5 h7-h6 6. Bg5-d2 Bb4xc3 7. b2xc3 Nf6-e4 8. Qd1-g4 g7-g6 9. Bf1-d3 Ne4xd2 10. Ke1xd2 c7-c5 11. Qg4-f4 Bc8-d7 This is probably better than the natural 11...Nc6. Glek wants to put his knight on d7 to protect f6, but first he wants to develop his bishop. 12. Ng1-f3 Bd7-c6 13. h2-h4 Nb8-d7 14. Rh1-h3 A standard move in this line, but if it does not lead to an attack the rook is badly out of play. 14...Qd8-e7 15. d4xc5 0-0-0 16. Nf3-d4 Nd7xc5 17. Ra1-b1 Qe7-c7 18. Qf4-f6 Rh8-f8 19. f2-f4 To be followed up by 20. h5, and black's kingside pawns will fall. But in fact black's attack against the white king comes first and white's queen will be totally out of play for the rest of the game. 19...Nc5-e4+ 20. Bd3xe4 d5xe4 Now the possibility of 21...Rxd4+ file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans23.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:01 PM]

has to be reckoned with. 21. Rb1-b4 Rd8-d7 22. Kd2-c1 Rf8-d8 23. a2-a3 a7-a5 According to Glek, he could have had a winning attack with 23...Qa5 24. Kb2 Qc5 25. Nxc6 bxc6 26. Rxe4 a5. 24. Rb4-c4 Qc7-b6 25. Rh3-e3 Kc8-b8 26. Re3-e1 White was in time trouble. Again according to Glek, 26. Nxc6+ bxc6 27. Rd4 was white's only chance. 26...Bc6-d5 After this black's attack plays itself. 27. Rc4-a4 Rd8-c8 28. Kc1-d2 Qb6-b2 29. Re1-e3 (See Diagram) 29...Bd5-b3! 30. Ra4xa5 Rd7xd4+ White resigned. From the same tournament, a light and tasty gamelet won by one of the best young Dutch players. White Karpatchev (Russia) - black De Vreugt 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. c2-c3 e7-e5 3. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 4. Bf1-c4 Qd8-c7 5. 0-0 Bf8-e7 6. d2-d3 Ng8-f6 7. Nf3-g5 0-0 8. f2-f4 h7-h6 9. Ng5-f3 e5xf4 10. Nf3-h4 g7-g5 11. Nh4-f5 d7-d5 12. Nf5xh6+ Kg8-g7 13. e4xd5 Kg7xh6 14. d5xc6 Kh6-g7 15. Nb1-d2 Rf8-h8 16. Qd1-e1 Be7-d6 17. Nd2-e4 Nf6xe4 18. d3xe4 Bc8-g4 19. g2-g3 Playing this move white must have overlooked something. 19...f4-f3 20. Bc1xg5 (See Diagram) 20...Rh8xh2 21. Kg1xh2 Bd6xg3+ White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" April 18, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree 21st Century Chess? I make mistakes, therefore I exist, wrote my hero Tartakower. As long as I make mistakes, I do not exist, Kasparov seems to think. For years he has been pushing the form of chess he calls "advanced chess", in which man and computer, like a modern centaur, will form a unity. Chess for the 21st century, Kasparov calls it. As far as I know, the first time he came up with it was during a tournament in Amsterdam where he claimed to have lost two games because he could not remember his old opening analysis. This unfortunate and unjust accident would not happen in advanced chess, where players would have at their disposal a chess computer, database, and files of old analysis. It took some time, but it was to be expected that Kasparov would have his way. In the second week of June, in the Spanish town of Leon, Kasparov and Topalov played a six-game match with the help of computers. Originally I thought that it would also be a match between different manufacturers of chess software, comparable to an automobile race, but Ricardo Calvo corrected me on The Chess Cafe's Bulletin Board. In fact, Kasparov and Topalov had the same packet available: the playing program Fritz 5 and the database Chessbase 7.0. The final decision what move to make was still for man, not for Fritz. Both players got one hour for the entire game, which did not give them much time for extensive deliberations with Fritz. I certainly do not hope that this will really be the chess of the future, for it lacks everything that makes chess attractive to millions of players. The rationale behind it is that chess will be raised to a higher level by a harmonious division of tasks between man and machine. Man will think of long-range strategies and will check the tactical variations with the help of a computer, so that his deep strategical thinking will not be spoiled by stupid blunders. But as Freud wrote, one has to be able to live with some incertitude. The exhilarating feeling that one walks in a minefield, that one has to be constantly on the alert for a tactical surprise, plotting at the same time to surprise one's opponent, these are the very things that make chess exciting, and Kasparov wants to eliminate them in an irrelevant search for certitude and perfection. But as a one-time light-hearted exhibition, it probably was fun, especially for the spectators, who for the first time in chess history could have the idea that they were looking into the players' heads and seeing what variations they were investigating. What they actually could see were the screens of Fritz 5, the variations that Kasparov and Topalov were feeding it and Fritz's evaluations. According to reports of Leontxo Garcia in the Spanish newspaper "El Pais", Topalov made little use of his computer, which is

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understandable as one hour for a game is not much and sensible discussions with chess computers can take a long time. Kasparov leaned on Fritz more heavily; after all, it was his idea from the beginning. That it helped him, I doubt. He was seen putting variations to Fritz for a long time, then angrily shaking his head and gesturing with his hands as if to say: "What idiot do I have to put up with?" and then going back to the board, now thinking for himself, but having lost quite a lot of time in fruitless discussions with the beast. The final result was 3-3, both players winning two games. Then some blitz games were played - no time for computer consultations then, I suppose - Kasparov winning the final sudden death game. A few months ago Kasparov beat Topalov 4-0 in a short match of rapid games without computer assistance. For the moment and at the time controls in Leon, I suppose that Kasparov on his own is quite a lot stronger than Kasparov with computer prosthesis. Fortunately mistakes were still made and beauty could be seen, as in the fourth game. White: Kasparov Black: Topalov, Fourth Game 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. d2-d4 g7-g6 3. c2-c4 Bf8-g7 4. g2-g3 c7-c5 5. Bf1-g2 Qd8-a5+ 6. Nb1-c3 Nf6-e4 7. Qd1-d3 c5xd4 8. Nf3xd4 Ne4-c5 9. Qd3-d1 Nb8-c6 10. e2-e3 Nc5-e6 11. 0-0 The first pawn sacrifice, a nice one, though seen before in a game where Kasparov's second Azmaiparashivili was black. Black declines, but soon will be forced to win a pawn after all.11...Qa5-c5 12. Nd4-b5 a7-a6 13. Nc3-a4 Qc5xc4 This pawn will give black little pleasure.14. Nb5-c3 Ra8-b8 15. Na4-b6 Qc4-c5 16. Nc3-d5 0-0 17. b2-b4 Qc5-d6 18. Ra1-b1 Ne6-c7 19. Nb6-c4 Qd6-e6 20. e3-e4 d7-d6 21. Bc1-e3 Qe6-d7 22. Nc4-b6 Qd7-d8 23. f2-f4 Nc7xd5 24. e4xd5 Nc6-a7 25. Rb1-c1 Bc8-f5 26. g3-g4 Na7-c8 27. Nb6-c4 Bf5-d7 28. Qd1-e2 Bd7-b5 29. Qe2-f2 e7-e6 30. Rf1-d1 e6-e5 31. f4-f5 g6xf5 32. g4xf5 Qd8-f6 33. a2-a4 Had this pawn sacrifice been accepted, Kasparov probably would have followed it up with an exchange sacrifice: 33...Bxa4 34. Rf1 Bb5 35. Nd2 (heading for e4) Bxf1 36. Rxf1 33...Bb5xc4 34. Rc1xc4 Nc8-e7 35. Rd1-f1 Kg8-h8 36. Qf2-g3 b7-b5 37. Rc4-h4 Ne7xf5 (See Diagram) 38. Rh4xh7+ And a nice rook sacrifice to crown the achievement.38...Kh8xh7 39. Bg2-e4 Kh7-g8 In all the reports I saw, Fritz's evaluation that black could have forced a draw at this point with 39...Kh8 40. Bxf5 Bh6 41. Qh3 Kg7 42. Qg3+ Kh8 was repeated as Gospel. "Fritz found this in 5 seconds" wrote its manufacturer Frederic Friedel proudly. Fast it sure is, but was it right? Can black survive the attack after 39...Kh8 40. Dh3+ Qh4 41. Qxf5? Anyway it would be much preferable to the game continuation. 40. Be4xf5 e5-e4 41. Qg3-h3 Black resigned. All in all I prefer to see games played without brain prosthesis. As an extra, here is the final game of the Kramnik-Shirov match. A brilliant win by Shirov, but it has to be said that after the opening he was in a bad state. Will he be able to escape so spectacularly file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans24.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:01 PM]

from his chains when playing Kasparov for the world championship? Most chess fans hope so, because they like a change of power, but it seems hard to believe. White: Kramnik Black: Shirov, Ninth Game 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. f2-f3 An oldie, used several times by Alekhine. Apparently Kramnik has not been able to find anything convincing against Shirov's Gruenfeld Defence. 3...d7-d5 4. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 5. e2-e4 Nd5-b6 6. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 7. Bc1-e3 0-0 8. Qd1-d2 e7-e5 9. d4-d5 c7-c6 10. h2-h4 h7-h5 11. Bf1-e2 c6xd5 12. e4xd5 Nb8-d7 13. d5-d6 Nd7-f6 14. Be3-g5 Rf8-e8 15. Ra1-d1 Bc8-e6 16. Ng1-h3 Nb6-c4 17. Be2xc4 Be6xc4 18. b2-b3 Bc4-a6 He wants to keep the white king in the middle, but this is over-optimistic and imprudent. Now white could have played 19. d7 Re6 20. Nf2, after which black can hardly move a piece and in the long run will succumb to the pin of Nf6. 19. Nc3-d5 The same idea, but wrongly executed, because now black has a chance to turn loose. 19...e5-e4 20. Nd5xf6+ He could have played 20. d7 immediately, which is very complicated. Also in this case black will lose material, but he has many promising attacking possibilities. On the FIDE Internet pages (www.chessweb.com) Luc Winants gives the following beautiful variation: 20. d7 exf3+ 21. dxe8Q+ Qxe8+ 22. Qe3 Nxd5 23. Rxd5 Qc6 24. Rd8+ Rxd8 25. Bxd8 Qc2 26. Qe8+ Bf8 (threatening 27...Bb5 28. Qxb5 Bb4+) 27. Rg1 Qc3+ 28. Kf2 Bb5 29. Qxb5 Bc5+ 30. Kg3 f2+ 31. Kh2 Bd6+ 32. Kh1 Qg3 and white will be mated. 20...Bg7xf6 21. d6-d7 Now if black had to move his rook white would be fine. (See Diagram) 21... Qd8-b6! But there is better. A rook is sacrificed for a decisive attack. 22. d7xe8Q+ Ra8xe8 23. Qd2-e3 The only way not to lose quickly. After 23. Be3 black wins with 23...Bxh4+ followed by 24...exf3. 23...Bf6xg5 24. Qe3xb6 Bg5xh4+ 25. Ke1-d2 25. Nf2 exf3+ 26. Kd2 Bg5+ doesn't help white either. 25...a7xb6 26. f3xe4 Re8xe4 A formal count would grant white an exchange for two pawns, but Tarrasch already pointed out that two bishops plus rook are a formidable power, hardly inferior to two rooks plus knight. Black is winning. 27. Kd2-c2 Re4-g4 28. Rd1-d2 Bh4-e7 29. Rh1-g1 Kg8-g7 30. Nh3-f2 Rg4-f4 31. Nf2-d3 Rf4-e4 32. Rg1-d1 Ba6-b5 33. a2-a4 Bb5-c6 34. Rd1-e1 Re4xe1 35. Nd3xe1 Be7-b4 36. Rd2-e2 Bb4xe1 37. Re2xe1 Bc6xg2 38. Kc2-d2 h5-h4 39. Kd2-e3 Bg2-d5 40. b3-b4 h4-h3 41. Re1-e2 f7-f5 42. Re2-d2 Bd5-e4 43. Ke3-f4 Be4-g2 44. Rd2-d7+ Kg7-f6 45. Rd7-h7 g6-g5+ 46. Kf4-g3 f5-f4+ 47. Kg3-g4 Kf6-e5 48. b4-b5 and white resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" June 13, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Father and Son It was in one of the last rounds of this year's Dutch championship. Karel van der Weide, one of the outsiders, was playing Ivan Sokolov, the Bosnian grandmaster who is living in the Netherlands. Sokolov was leading the tournament, but now he was a pawn down and he had a miserable position. Earlier in the game he had been two pawns down though. Van der Weide was clearly still winning, but it was obvious that he had lost the right track. Jan Timman, one of Sokolov's rivals for first place, had won his game an hour earlier. I went to him and asked: "You remember that championship where we shared second place?" Of course he did. And he had an inkling of what I was going to say about it. The Dutch championship of 1979. In the second round Gert Ligterink, who was to become champion that year, played against Piet van der Weide, the father of the afore-named Karel. There was a terrible time scramble in which many a piece was inadvertently lost. When the smoke cleared, Piet van der Weide was a bishop up. Ligterink had to resign, but it was not his move. After any normal move that Van der Weide would make, moving his bishop, moving his king, to whatever square he fancied, Ligterink would in fact have resigned. But first Van der Weide went to get a cup of coffee, to calm his nerves. When he came back at the board his flag was down, which he had expected; but in the meantime it had also turned out something which he had not expected - that he had only made thirty-nine moves instead of the required forty. He had lost on time. He took it as a man. "A pity, but such things can happen," he said and sportingly he shook hands with the opponent. The other players in the tournament didn't think at all that this was one of these things that are bound to happen now and then. "Why for heaven's sake didn't you make an arbitrary extra move before you went for a coffee, or even two, to be quite sure?" This had indeed been considered by Piet, but he had rejected this course of action. But why? He explained his decision with the parable of the inexperienced air traveler. "You always see these inexperienced travelers at airports who arrive much too early, just to be sure and because you never know. And then they have to hang around there for hours. The experienced traveler arrives on time, but not too early. And so I thought that an experienced chessplayer has to make forty moves before the time control, and not nervously one extra to be quite sure."

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All well and good, but in this way the experienced traveler had helped a dangerous rival of ours to an extra point. How important that would be, only became clear at the end of the tournament. It was exactly by this one point that Ligterink was ahead of Timman and me. Otherwise the three of us would have shared first place. It had happened long ago, but of course I didn't have to tell Timman all this. And in fact he had anticipated what I actually did say to him: "What the father did to us then, the son will do to you now." Timman laughed wryly. "Well, at least he will not lose this game. Good heavens, imagine that!" But he did. And in the end, just as in 1979, Timman finished one point behind the champion, in this case Ivan Sokolov. White: Kf2, Re5, Rh1, Ng4; pawns - a2, b3, c4, d4, f3, h3 Black: Kb7, Rg5, Rh5, Bf5; pawns - a6, b6, c6, c7, f4 White: Van der Weide Black: Sokolov, Position after black's 45th move. White has a pawn more, his pawn structure on the queenside is better than black's and black's three pieces on the kingside can hardly make a move. After 46. Nf6 black would have to answer 46...Rh4, because 46...Rh6 47. h4 Rgg6 48. Rxf5 Rxf6 49. Rxf6 Rxf6 50. h5 would be hopeless for black. But then, after 46. Nf6 Rh4, black would be absolutely unable to move his pieces, except for his king, and white would open a second front at his leisure against the black king with b4 and c5, which would easily decide. In the game however followed: 46. Kf2-g2 Rg5-g8 47. Kg2-f2 Rg8-g6 Now it is not so easy anymore, because black's rook is mobile, but still 48. c5 would be promising. But white was tired and blunders a pawn. 48. Rh1-h2 Rg6-d6 49. Kf2-e1 Rd6xd4 50. Rh2-e2 Rd4-d6 Now it is black who will play for a win. 51. Ng4-f2 Rd6-h6 52. Ke1-d2 c6-c5 53. a2-a4 a6-a5 54. Kd2-c3 Rh6-g6 Now 55. Ng4 would be quite sufficient to hold the draw, because 55...Bxg4 56. hxg4 Rh3 57. Rf2 Rxg4 58. Rf5 gives black nothing. 55. Nf2-d3 Bf5xd3 56. Kc3xd3 Rh5xh3 And even here white would have excellent drawing chances after 57. Rf2 Rd6+ 58. Kc3 57. Kd3-e4 Rg6-d6 58. Re2-f2 Rd6-d4+ 59. Ke4-f5 Rh3-h5+ But it had to be, white is losing a rook and resigned. Heart-breaking, not only for Van der Weide. This was round nine. One round earlier, strange things had happened also. White: Kh1, Qd2, Rd1,Re1, Nb3, Ne4, Be3,Bf1; pawns - a2, b2, c2, f3, g2, h2 Black: Kg8, Qe7, Rd8,Rf8, Ne5, Nf4,Bb7, Bg7; pawns - a7, b6, d6, e6, g4, h6 White: Reinderman Black: Van Wely, Position after white's 24th move. Black has built up a strong attack. But both players seem to have gone for a nap at this stage and overlooked that black can win here immediately with 24...Nxg2! followed by 25...gxf3. 24...Ne5-g6 25. g2-g3 Nf4-g2 was played. The attack on his knight has awakened black and now he sees it. One move earlier, with a white pawn on g2 and black's knight still on e5, this would have been much stronger of course. 26. Bf1xg2 g4xf3 27. Bg2xf3 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans25.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:02 PM]

Rf8xf3 28. Be3xh6 Bg7xb2 29. Kh1-g1 Ng6-e5 30. Bh6-g5 Qe7-h7 31. Bg5xd8 Rf3xg3+ One rook sacrifice after another, it's beautiful for sure, but its correctness is another matter. Black remains material down. 32. h2xg3 Ne5-f3+ 33. Kg1-f2 Nf3xd2 34. Nb3xd2 d6-d5 35. Ne4-d6 Qh7-h2+ 36. Kf2-f3 Bb7-a6 37. Re1xe6 Bb2-c3 38. Re6-e8+ Kg8-h7 39. Re8-e7+ Kh7-g6 40. Re7-e6+ Kg6-h7 Time control made, time for deep thinking. During and after the game man and computer working harmoniously together found that white would have a winning attack after 41. Rde1. After 41...Bxd2 black would be mated, so the crucial variations start with 41...Qxd2. But it has to be said that these variations are complicated. During the game white thought he would only have a draw in this case. 41. Nd2-f1 So he tries to keep all his material, but does not succeed. 41...Qh2-h5+ 42. g3-g4 Qh5-h1+ 43. Kf3-f2 Ba6xf1 44. Rd1xf1 Qh1-h2+ 45. Kf2-e3 Again he disdains the draw, otherwise he would have forced it with 45. Kf3 Qh3+ 46. Kf2 Bd4+ 47. Ke1. 45...Qh2-g3+ 46. Rf1-f3 d5-d4+ 47. Ke3-d3 Qg3xf3+ 48. Kd3-c4 Qf3-f1+ The position is still quite unclear, but black is better now. 49. Kc4-d5 d4-d3 50. Re6-e7+ Bc3-g7 51. c2xd3 Qf1xd3+ 52. Kd5-c6 Qd3-f3+ 53. Kc6-c7 Qf3-f4 54. Kc7-c6 Qf4-f6 55. Kc6-d7 Qf6-d4 56. Kd7-c6 Qd4-c5+ 57. Kc6-d7 Qc5-d5 58. Kd7-c7 Kh7-g6 59. Kc7-d7 Bg7-f8 60. Re7-e6+ Kg6-g7 61. Bd8-f6+ Kg7-g8 62. g4-g5 b6-b5 63. Bf6-e5 Bf8xd6 64. Be5xd6 b5-b4 65. g5-g6 Qd5xa2 66. Bd6-e5 Qa2-d5+ 67. Kd7-e7 b4-b3 68. Ke7-f6 Qd5-d8+ 69. Kf6-f5 Qd8-d7 70. Kf5-f6 b3-b2 71. Be5xb2 Qd7-g7+ 72. Kf6-f5 Qg7xb2 73. Re6-e8+ Kg8-g7 74. Re8-e7+ Kg7-f8 75. Re7-f7+ Kf8-g8 76. Rf7-d7 Qb2-b5+ 77. Kf5-e6 Qb5xd7+ 78. Ke6xd7 a7-a5 White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" July 4, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Rites of Passage It was during the Lost Boys tournament in Antwerp, when Jeroen Piket was the sole leader with 5 out of 5. "A new star has arrived on the scene, and all the journalists are only interested in him," said Jeroen Piket. "And it is not you," said Loek van Wely. "It hasn't been me for a long time. But now it is not you anymore either," said Piket. "But we'll waylay him," said Van Wely. "Poor boy. He still thinks that it is nice to become a grandmaster. But soon he'll realize that the days of light-hearted chess are over and that his real troubles are only beginning," said Piket. In their minds, they were already putting the screws to him - the ordeal of a freshman. The man they were talking about was the young Dutch player Erik van den Doel, who a week earlier had made his third and final grandmaster norm. Amazing how strong he suddenly has become. For years he was just known as one of the best Dutch young players, while at the same time Dutch chess fans were complaining that none of the youngsters broke through to internationale level. But now! His first grandmaster norm Van den Doel made at last year's Lost Boys tournament. About a month ago he made a second norm in a tournament in England, which he won. Immediately after that he won a strong Open in the Dutch town Haarlem with six out of six. This did not count as a norm because there were only six games, but the third norm came right afterwards in the open championship of the Netherlands, which he won. Loek van Wely had been visiting the open championship just before he came to play in Antwerp and he told us that maybe there was something wrong with this last grandmaster norm. According to him, Van den Doel had had to score 7 out of 9 against an opposition which averaged 2400 Elo points. In fact he had made 7.5 against an average opposition of 2399.5. A better performance, but did it count? If not, then it would not be 19-year old Van den Doel who was the youngest grandmaster in Dutch history, but the record would still be Van Wely's. I didn't check the calculations. The general opinion in Antwerp was that Van Wely had made a small error to his advantage. After three rounds of the Lost Boys tournament somebody calculated that Van den Doel had played 27 games in a row without losing and scoring 24 points out of it. "Of course it is always possible that I will suddenly lose a game," he was quoted in a newspaper. Suddenly lose a game! What is common practice for ordinary mortals, for him had become a vague danger lurking in the background, of which he had to recognize the theoretical possibility that it could suddenly become acute. No chessplayer is an invulnerable superman. Next round Van den

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Doel lost to the formidable Russian Belgian Michail Gurevich, whom he had beaten in Haarlem. After that he won a few and lost a few, the latter against grandmasters Stefansson (who was to be the winner of the tournament) and Van Wely. A freshman's ordeal you can hardly call it; Van den Doel had already far too much experience against strong grandmasters. But nevertheless, some slightly older players, watching the games on the electronic screens with quiet satisfaction, considered it to be exactly that. White: Gommers Black: Van den Doel, Lost Boys Tournament, 1998 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1-f3 g7-g5 One of the oldest defences against the King's gambit and still the best. 4. h2-h4 g5-g4 5. Nf3-e5 Ng8-f6 6. d2-d4 d7-d6 7. Ne5-d3 Nf6xe4 8. Bc1xf4 Bf8-g7 Playing for a quick 0-0-0 with 8...Qe7 has an excellent reputation too. 9. c2-c3 0-0 10. Nb1-d2 Rf8-e8 11. Bf1-e2 Old theory gives 11. Nxe4 Rxe4+ 12. Kf2, but also in this case 12...c5, as in De Wit-Van der Sterren, Netherlands 1994, gives black a strong attack. 11...g4-g3 12. Nd2xe4 Re8xe4 13. Ke1-d2 c7-c5 14. Bf4-g5 Qd8-a5 Safe and good was 14...Qb6 15. Bf3 Re8 15. d4xc5 d6xc5 16. Be2-f3 Re4-d4 The point of 14...Qa5, but black's rook is led astray. 17. Kd2-c1 Rd4-c4 18. Qd1-e1 Bc8-e6 19. Nd3- e5 Bg7xe5 20. Qe1xe5 Nb8-d7 21. Qe5xg3 This looks quite good at first sight, but according to Van den Doel better was 21. Qe3 with a solid advantage for white. 21...Rc4xc3+ 22. Kc1-d1 Qa5-a4+ 23. Kd1-e1 Rc3xf3 24. g2xf3 Kg8-h8 25. Bg5-d2 Ra8-e8 26. Bd2-c3+ f7-f6 27. Rh1-h2 Black was threatening mate by 27...Bc4+ 27...Be6-f5+ 28. Rh2-e2 Re8-g8 29. Qg3-f2 Qa4-f4 30. Ra1-d1 b7-b5 31. b2-b3 c5-c4 32. b3xc4 b5xc4 33. Re2-e7 Nd7-e5 34. Bc3xe5 f6xe5 (See Diagram) A difficult and unclear position. With his next move white tries to make it clear by force, but this is quite risky. 35. Qf2-c5 Qf4xh4+ 36. Ke1-d2 Qh4-d4+ 37. Qc5xd4 e5xd4 38. Re7-c7 Probably black's free pawns could still be held in check by 38. Kc1, e.g. 38...c3 39. Rxd4 Rb8 40. Kd1 c2+ 41. Kd2 Rc8 42. Kc1 Rb8 with a draw. 38...c4-c3+ 39. Kd2-c1? White wants to go to a square were after 39...Rd8? 40. Rxc3 he could not be given check. After 39. Ke2 Rd8 things still would not be quite clear. 39... Rg8-b8 But now they are. White resigned. White: Piket Black Azmaiparashvili, Lost Boys Tournament, 1998 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. Nb1-c3 d7-d5 4. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 5. e2-e4 Nd5xc3 6. b2xc3 Bf8-g7 7. Bc1-e3 A change from the fashionable line with Nf3 and Rb1. 7...c7-c5 8. Ra1-c1 Qd8-a5 9. Qd1-d2 0-0 10. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 A mistake based on faulty memory. Black intends to play like his former boss Kasparov, but he played 10...e6 in this position. After 11. Bh6 Nc6 12. h4 cxd4 13. Bxg7 Kxg7 14. cxd4 Qxd2+ (Karpov-Kasparov, 1990 World Championship Match, Game 15) white's advantage in the endgame was small. 11. Be3-h6 e7-e6 The endgame after 11...cxd4 12. Bxg7 Kxg7 13. cxd4 Qxd2+ would not be playable for black, who doesn't have the move Nc6. 12. h2-h4 And so black has to suffer a strong kingside attack. 12...f7-f6 13. Bh6xg7 Kg8xg7 14. e4-e5 14. h5 would also be good, but not immediately winning as after 14...g5 15. Nxg5 black still has 15...cxd4. 14...h7-h5 Quite a file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans26.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:02 PM]

concession, but black's position was bad in any case. After 14...cxd4 strong would be 15. h5. 15. Rh1-h3 Nb8-c6 After 15...Bb7 Piket had calculated a long variation: 16. Bd3 Bxf3 17. Rxf3 f5 18. Be4! fxe4 19. Rxf8 Kxf8 20. Qf4+ Ke8 21. Qxe4 Qa3 22. Rc2 Qa4 23. Qxa8 and white wins the queen's ending. 16. e5xf6+ Rf8xf6 17. Nf3-e5 Nc6xe5 Now white's attack decides quickly. After 17...Bb7, which seems more stubborn to me, Piket wanted to play 18. Nc4 Qa4 19. Nd6. 18. d4xe5 Rf6-f5 19. Bf1-d3 Rf5xe5+ 20. Rh3-e3 Re5-d5 21. Re3-g3 Rd5-e5+ 22. Ke1-f1 Bc8-a6 23. Rg3xg6+ Kg8-f7 24. Rg6-g3 (See Diagram) Black cannot prevent the white queen's decisive participation in the attack. 24...Re5-e4 25. Kf1-g1 Ba6xd3 26. Qd2xd3 Qa5-a4 27. Qd3-f3+ Kf7- e7 28. Rg3-g7+ Ke7-d6 29. Rc1-d1+ Kd6-c6 30. Rd1-e1 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad August 8, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Class and Glamour "Chess used to have glamour," wrote Henk Spaan, a Dutch writer and TV- comedian who avidly followed the chess news until the early eighties and then gave up. "Chess used to have class," said Ulf Andersson. We were at a dinner in Prague. Ulf was there as a second of Jan Timman for his six-game match against Gary Kasparov; I was there as a reporter. Henk Spaan looked at chess as an outsider, Ulf as a professional. Glamour is not quite the same as class. Nevertheless I think they meant the same thing. Andersson discussed the progressing trivialisation of chess. It had started, he thought, when they changed the time schedule from forty moves in two and a half hours to forty moves in two hours. Then adjourned games were abolished under the false pretext that adjourning would be unfair because the player with the best chess computer would have an advantage. Nonsense of course. In the past the player with the best human second had an advantage and in fact he still has. Anyone can buy the best chess computer. If any, the computer's influence is an equalizing one. Next, important events were decided by blitz and rapid games. And last but not least, there is the demeaning spectacle of the mess the various world championships are in. At the press conference the day before the Kasparov-Timman match started we had heard that Kasparov's championship match against Shirov was off because of lack of sponsorship. Nowadays Ulf Andersson is hooked on correspondence chess. No glamour there, no money, but a lot of class. I browse through my old press cuttings and I see that in 1978 I predicted that the computer would be world champion within fifteen years and that chess would perish because of its trivialisation. Predictions never come true exactly. The trivialisation of chess I saw in the media attention to the Karpov-Kortchnoi match of 1978. The yogurt incident, the gurus that helped Kortchnoi, the parapsychologist Zuchar in Karpov's camp. What was I complaining about? All this was a model of seriousness compared to the present state of affairs. Kasparov is in a difficult situation. In 1996 he announced that he would play a match for his world championship against Karpov the next year. It did not happen. This year he was going to play against Shirov. Canceled again. It is the curse of his great power. He does not succeed in finding sponsorship for his matches, partly because everybody thinks: what's the big deal, he will win anyway.

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Now he has to sit and wait if Shirov will start a lawsuit against him because of breach of contract. Shirov would have the sympathy of most of the chessworld, but has announced he will not sue, because he still hopes the match will go through once upon a time. The FIDE world championship in Las Vegas is still on for December this year, but first of all it won't be a real world championship without Kasparov taking part and secondly a knock-out format world championship cannot be taken seriously anyway. And then, what if Ilyumzhinov is murdered by one of his business friends? It stands to reason that this will happen sooner or later. FIDE and all its events will collapse totally and immediately. Bessel Kok, organiser of the Kasparov-Timman match and in the past the force behind the World Cup tournaments of the now defunct Grandmasters Association, tried to find a way out of the impasse. The Las Vegas championship should be remodeled to a kind of candidates tournament, the winner of which should play against Kasparov for the absolute world championship of all categories. From the proceeds of that match Shirov could be compensated for the loss of income he suffered by hiring four high class seconds for his match against Kramnik and not receiving a penny of prize money. If I were Shirov, I would try the courts first. Kasparov hesitatingly agreed to Kok's proposal. Quite a concession, for in 1996 he described FIDE as a rotting corpse which no decent person would dare to embrace. Will FIDE agree to the proposal? Negotiations will be simplified by the fact that FIDE is run as a dictatorship. There is only one opinion that counts, that of Ilyumzhinov, who does not have to bother about rules, regulations and laws. There is much that could be said against Kok's proposal. On the other hand, it is true that any situation where there is one credible world champion, is preferable to the situation we have now. Kasparov made a funny remark to Kok. They were talking about Karpov, who is not the chess giant he used to be, and about Kortchnoi, who at his ripe old age of 67 is winning one tournament after another. "If there would be a revenge match Karpov-Kortchnoi, Kortchnoi's chances would be much better now," said Kasparov. This was probably meant to put Karpov in his place, but could be taken as hommage to the indefatigable Kortchnoi. "Every time I win a tournament I have to think that there is something wrong with modern chess," Kortchnoi once remarked with a grin. At the time of this writing he is in the process of winning the Can-can tournament (women against veterans) in Roquebrune, France. Before that, the last tournament he won was the Alois Nagler Memorial tournament in Zurich, Switzerland. Kortchnoi and four other senior chesspersons (Larsen, Gligoric, Smyslov and Unzicker) each played ten games against five young file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans27.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:02 PM]

Swiss players. The oldies won with the score 31-19. "The young guys are lacking the will to win," said Larsen. This did not apply to Chess Cafe columnist Richard Forster, who played against Kortchnoi one of the most interesting games of the tournament. Kortchnoi lived up to his reputation as a child murderer and made the best score with 8 out of 10. White: Kortchnoi Black: Forster 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 g7-g6 4. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 5. e2-e4 d7-d6 6. f2-f3 0-0 7. Bc1-g5 e7-e6 8. Ng1-e2 e6xd5 9. c4xd5 a7-a6 10. a2-a4 h7-h6 11. Bg5-e3 Nb8-d7 12. Ne2-g3 Nd7-e5 13. Bf1-e2 Bc8-d7 14. Qd1-d2 h6- h5 15. 0-0 b7-b5 16. Be3-g5 If white accepts black's pawn sacrifice black would get good play on the queen's wing. 16...Rf8-e8 17. f3-f4 Ne5-c4 18. Be2xc4 b5xc4 19. f4-f5 The standard attacking method in this kind of positions is the pawn sacrifice 19. e5 dxe5 20. f5, but Kortchnoi plays differently. Now black will be very active on the black squares. 19...Qd8-e7 20. Ra1-e1 Qe7-e5 21. Kg1-h1 Nf6-g4 22. Qd2-e2 Ra8-b8 23. Bg5-f4 Qe5-e7 24. Qe2-d2 Qe7-h4 25. h2-h3 Bg7-e5 26. Ng3-e2 Ng4-f2+ 27. Kh1-g1 Nf2-d3 28. Bf4xe5 Re8xe5 (See Diagram) Black's strategy seems to have succeeded, but now it is white's turn to attack. 29. Qd2-h6 Threatening 30. f6 29...Qh4-f6 30. Ne2-f4 Nd3xf4 Pity for the wonderfully placed knight. After 30...Nxe1 the Swiss weekly "Schachwoche" gives a nice variation: 31. fxg6 fxg6 32. Ne6 Rxe6 33. dxe6 Qxe6? 34. Nd5 and white wins. Better would be 33...Qg7, but even then white has an advantage. 31. Rf1xf4 Rb8xb2 32. Re1-f1 Re5-e7 A very complicated position. After 33. fxg6 Qxg6 34. Qxg6+ fxg6 35. e5 dxe5 36. Rf8+ Kg7 37. d6 black saves the draw with 37...Bc6 ("Schachwoche"). 33. e4-e5 A last drop of oil on the fire. (See Diagram) 33...Re7xe5 And in time trouble the complications are to much for black. He should have played 33...dxe5, after which move the analysis of "Schachwoche" goes 34. Ne4 Qh8 35. Qg5 exf4 36. Qxe7 Qd4+ 37. Kh1 Bxf5 38. Nf6+ Kg7 39. Ne8+ and draw by perpetual check. 34. f5xg6 Qf6xg6 35. Qh6xg6+ f7xg6 36. Rf4-f8+ Kg8-g7 37. Rf1-f7+ Kg7-h6 38. Rf7xd7 Kh6-g5 39. Rd7xd6 Re5-e1+ 40. Kg1-h2 Rb2-d2 41. h3-h4+ Kg5xh4 42. Rd6xg6 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" September 12, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Sweat, Leather and Gunpowder If I remember well, the protagonist of the novel "Good as Gold" by Joseph Heller had an older brother who derived satanic pleasure from making statements in which a multitude of untruths tumble over each other in a narrow space. For instance he says: "Lets talk geography. Did you know that eagles are completely blind in the daytime?" The younger brother knows that it would be wise to keep his mouth shut, but he cannot and he says: "Not geography of course, you mean biology. And it's not eagles about whom it is said that they are blind, but moles, and that's not true either.'' The father intervenes: "Oh, our learned know-it-all knows better again. It would truly be a miracle if it were different this time, for a change." Or the brother says: "Are you aware that nobody knows where the mouth of the Nile is?'' And again, against his better judgement, the know-it-all allows himself to be provoked. "What you mean is not the mouth but the source of the Nile, and ,by the way there is more then one source of the Nile and it is not at all true that nobody knows these sources, because they were discovered long ago.'' Now the father gets really angry. "Who always has to spoil the pleasant atmosphere at the dinner table? The little pedant who has to correct everyone and is always looking for an argument." That pedant am I, and the satanic fabulist is the Dutch chess writer Lex Jongsma. At least that's how it sometimes appeared to me when I was reading the book 60 Jaar Hoogovens Schaaktoernooi, written by Lex Jongsma and Alexander Mnninghoff. A book in Dutch about the tournament that abroad is usually known as "Wijk aan Zee", after the town where it is held nowadays. 60 Years Hoogovens Chess Tournament. Let me give an example of the fabulist's art. It is about Herman Pilnik, in the fifties a player who was often seen at the Hoogovens tournament. Jongsma writes about him: "One of the Polish players (the other was Najdorf) who stayed in Argentina after the Olympiad in 1939." The pedant that I am - I cannot restrain myself. Not Polish, Pilnik was born in Germany and never played for a Polish team, he didn't even take part in that Olympiad of 1939 and no wonder he stayed in Argentina in that year - he had been living there since 1930. And somewhat later Jongsma writes: "There would be a Chilean intermezzo (new wife, new country, Pilnik on first board of the Chilean Olympiad team..." Now what's this again? In his whole life Pilnik never played for any Olympic team other than that of Argentina. Or take the lines he writes about the Russian chessplayer

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Ilyin-Zhenevsky. Only a few lines, in which we are told that Ilyin-Zhenevsky was an anarchist about whom it was rumoured that he had tried to murder Lenin and Stalin, and who had taken the name Zhenevsky because in his youth he had won a bet that he could bike around Lake Geneva within 24 hours. Now, really. The pedant has to object again. Not an anarchist but a Bolshevist and the supposed rumours about these murder attempts apparently never reached Lenin or Stalin, because until his death by German bombing in 1941 during the Leningrad siege, Ilyin held important positions in the Soviet Union. And he took the name Zhenevsky because he had lived in Geneva and was proud that he had been chess champion of that city. It took no great research to know all this; I just consulted a common book of reference. Or about Robert Fischer: "Remember that Fischer had been in retirement since 1962 and would only appear in the smithy again in 1970." With the smithy Jongsma means the world of chess. A small kernel of truth can be discerned here, because Fischer really was not very active between 1963 and 1969, but all the same during that period he played in two US Championships and took part in events in Havana (twice), Santa Monica, Monte Carlo, Skopje, Sousse, Netanya and Vinkovci. Lugano 1968 I do not count, because there he left before the first round started, because he didn't like the lighting in the tournament hall. Jongsma's fabulations have a certain monumental beauty and one wonders if he creates them on purpose, like that brother of Gold. It might be so. He describes an incident from 1971 at some length in which Najdorf and I were involved. About a year ago he told me his version of what had happened. I said he had misunderstood a few things and enlightened him as to these details. Jongsma listened attentively and, as I see now, did not change a thing in his text. It is not as if I feel badly treated. Not one unfriendly word is written about me. But I don't quite understand it. Let me not be the pedant who spoils the pleasant atmosphere at the dinner table. This is a book with rich content. Both Jongsma and Mnninghoff have exerted themselves to dig up fascinating stories and humorous anecdotes and most of these are undoubtedly true. And sixty years of Hoogovens tournaments form a wonderful subject. The world's most dear tournament Mnninghoff calls it somewhere and that is exactly my opinion. Jongsma and Mnninghoff belong to the true devotees who, as soon as they had escaped from the prison of secondary school, never lost an opportunity to be part of this chess festival of "passion, drama, death and resurrection, tears of happiness and pain, of sweat, leather and gunpowder". I was rather shocked to read how often this tournament has been on the brink of being closed down by the steel company Hoogovens, which for many years incurred heavy losses and had to minimize on expenses in all kinds of ways. At the moment the tournament is assured of being held until the year 2002. Doomsayers have said file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans28.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:02 PM]

that this may mean that it will be discontinued then, but I don't believe that. Let me quote Mnninghoff. He attended the closing ceremony and dinner of the 1998 tournament. "We went outside with hundreds of people, into the cold night. The black hole of the beach was our destination and there we stood, the chess tribe. Crack, boom, fire and glow: Fireworks saying "See you again in 1999" radiated to us. We were overwhelmed by a warm inner surge. Because The Tournament goes on. It's unthinkable that it should not. As simple as that," says Mnninghoff, and I say: Bravo! Apart from the book, Interchess (the publishers of "New in Chess" magazine) also brought out a CD-rom with all games that have been played in these sixty years in the grandmaster and master groups, with analytical notes, statistical material, small biographies, photographs's and a short film. What to show from the wealth of sixty Hoogovens tournaments? My choice is a vanished cultural treasure, the adjourned game. (See Diagram) White: Kd2, Qe1,Rc3, Rg1, Na7, Be3; pawns - a4, b6, c6, e4, g4 Black: Kg8, Qh3, Rf1, Rg3, Bd8, Be6; pawns - c7, d6, e5, g2, g5 White B”hm (Netherlands) Black: Biyiasis (Canada), from the 1980 tournament. Such a madly complicated position and what a blessing that it didn't have to be played out, groping in the dark, in the first session, but after a two-hour interruption, so that the players could more or less ascertain where they stood and what they should do. White had sealed 41. b6-b7 Then followed 41...Rf1xe1 42. b7-b8Q Rg3xe3 43. Qb8xd8+ Kg8-f7 44. Qd8xc7+ Kf7-g6 45. Rg1xe1 g2-g1Q 46. Rc3xe3 Qg1-f2+ 47. Kd2-d3 Qh3-g2 48. Re1-e2 During the intermission B”hm had calculated a long variation by which he hoped to reach a draw: 48...Qff1 49. Kd2 Qgg1 50. Re1 Dff2+ 51. R1e2 Qf8 52. Nb5 Bxg4 53. Qxd6+ Qxd6 54. Nxd6 Bxe2 55. Kxe2 Qc1 56. Nf5 Qc2+ 57. Kf3 Kf6 58. a5 and maybe a fortress can be made. But after three quarters of an hour's thought Biyiasis played differently: 48...Qg2-f1 49. Kd3-d2 Qf1-e1+ 50. Kd2-c2 Qf2xe2+ 51. Re3xe2 Qe1xe2+ Quite miraculously a material balance has been reached, but now black wins by a mating attack. 52. Kc2-c1 Qe2-e1+ 53. Kc1-c2 Qe1xe4+ 54. Kc2-c1 Qe4-c4+ 55. Kc1-b2 Qc4-b4+ 56. Kb2-c1 Qb4-a3+ 57. Kc1-d2 Qa3-b2+ 58. Kd2-d3 e5-e4+ 59. Kd3xe4 Qb2-e2+ 60. Ke4-d4 Qe2-d2+ 61. Kd4-e4 Be6-d5 mate. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper RC-Handelsblad October 10, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Samurai "Lonesome like a tiger in the jungle is the samurai." Occasionally this saying occurs to me and it always makes me smile. Originally it was the motto of a film by the French director Jean-Pierre Melville, "The Samurai," with Alain Delon playing the leading part. Then it was taken up by Hein Donner to describe himself. From Cuba he had brought an enormous and magnificent hat. When he wore it he felt like a samurai, but at the same time he knew that everyone who saw him wearing it burst out laughing. Whenever I murmur that saying about the tiger in the jungle, I see Hein with that hat. Last year Donner's book "The King" came out in English. The English reviewers had to wait for ten years after the original Dutch edition came out, but they didn't mind and were appreciative of what they got, which warms the heart of us Dutch, because it is always nice to see your own opinions shared by foreign authorities. The samurai is often depicted as a tragic character who holds a strong system of ethics and has formidable skills, but lives in a time where his ethics are considered irrelevant and his sword-fighting skills are not needed anymore. Chessplayers sometimes fear that they will be in the same position. I once dreamed that I was playing in an important tournament and did not remember how the pieces moved. When I woke up, I thought that in reality I was afraid of the opposite, that I would know how the pieces moved, but that there would not be important tournaments organized anymore. Later I realized that this had been a too complicated explanation, and that in fact the dream had been quite realistic. No lack of important tournaments in our times. In the reports about the Fontys tournament in the Dutch town Tilburg I read how Viktor Kortchnoi raged against the young opponents who had beaten him. Anand he called a coward. With Kramnik he didn't want to speak, because Kramnik in his opinion had been playing for tricks. In fact it seemed as if Kortchnoi had not really wanted to speak to anyone, just sitting in the pressroom growling to no one in particular. Lonesome like a tiger in the jungle...I had to smile. But surely not to make fun of Kortchnoi. At his ripe age he acts out what other chessplayers think after a painful loss but keep to themselves. "Such insolence crying to Heaven, this revolting ass winning against me of all people, with his miserable 1. Nf3!" About Nimzowitsch it has been written that once after a defeat he jumped on a table in the tournament room and shouted: "Against this idiot I had to lose!" The last round of the Fontys tournament was on a Wednesday and already on Thursday Loek van Wely and Jeroen Piket were leaving

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for their next tournament, a zonal in Andorra. "On Saturday I'll know if I am still alive," said Piket to a Dutch newspaper. By then the first round would have been played. It really was a tough schedule for Van Wely and Piket, the olympiad in Elista, the mightily strong Fontys tournament and then the zonal, one right after another. A few days earlier I had met Paul van der Sterren by accident in Amsterdam. He too was taking part in the Andorra zonal. As we know, the World Championship for which this zonal was a qualifier, originally was to be held in December of this year in Las Vegas. Then in accordance with Karpov's wishes, it was rescheduled to January 1999 and at the time there were rumors that it would be played in April or June 1999, still in Las Vegas. I had little confidence in these rumors as did Paul. "I suppose it will be Elista at the end of 1999," he said. "It is a pity, because I really enjoyed the prospect of Las Vegas. But this messy situation where you never know what is in store for you, has its charms too. It sort of fits the chessworld, I think." Cheerfully he embarked on his trip to Andorra, together with his Dutch comrades (apart from Piket and Van Wely) Nijboer, Reinderman and Van den Doel. The seventh Dutch samurai was Jan Timman, but he didn't have to go to Andorra, because he'll probably have a place in the World Championship anyway. Eventually Nijboer and Reinderman qualified, together with the English Speelman and Miles, Bauer from France and Magem from Spain. Kortchnoi did not belong to this zone; in fact he had qualified already earlier this year, but had it been different, I am sure that at the final day of this Fontys tournament that had been rather miserable for him, Viktor the Indefatigable would have packed his bags joyfully for the next adventure, travelling on to Andorra, to teach the young and weak-minded generation once again sternly how things are and should be. White: Piket Black: Lautier, Fontys, fifth round. 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4. Ng1-f3 0-0 5. Bc1-g5 c7-c5 6. Ra1-c1 A few weeks earlier in the VAM tournament in Hoogeveen Timman fared badly against Judit Polgar with the ambitious 6. d5. Piket's move looks modest, but it does pose some problems which Lautier takes too lightly. 6...c5xd4 7. Nf3xd4 d7-d5 8. e2-e3 d5xc4 9. Bf1xc4 Nb8-d7 10. 0-0 h7-h6 11. Bg5-h4 Nd7-e5 12. Qd1-b3 Bb4-e7 13. Rf1-d1 Neglecting his development, black has thrown open the centre and now he is in acute difficulties. 13...Ne5xc4 14. Nd4-c6 Now black should have played the normal 14...Qe8, though white would have a clear advantage after 15. Nxe7+ Qxe7 16. Qxc4. 14...Nc4-d2 This amounts to a fatal loss of time. 15. Rd1xd2 Qd8-e8 Because after 15...Qxd2, which must have been his intention, follows 16. Nxe7+ Kh8 17. Rd1 and black loses his queen. 16. Nc3-b5 Bc8-d7 17. Nc6xe7+ Qe8xe7 18. Bh4xf6 g7xf6 19. Rc1-c7 Ra8-d8 20. Nb5-c3 Qe7-e8 21. Nc3-e4 Kg8-g7 22. Ne4-d6 Qe8-e7 (See Diagram)

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Now white can win any way he likes, most obviously with 23. Nxb7, but with what must have been sadistic pleasure, he made a unnecessary quiet move that underlines black's helplessness. 23. h2-h3 Black resigned. White: Anand Black: Kortchnoi, Fontys, ninth round. 1. Ng1-f3 A coward's move? Apparently that was Kortchnoi's opinion. The rest of the world tends to think that it is the move of a player who masters all aspects of the game and who feels at home not only after 1. e4, but in all opening systems. 1...d7-d5 2. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 3. c2-c4 e7-e6 4. Nb1-c3 c7-c5 5. c4xd5 c5xd4 6. Qd1xd4 Nf6xd5 7. e2-e4 Nd5xc3 8. Qd4xc3 To me it seems that it is black who is not really in a fighting mood, because in this simplified position with an almost symmetrical pawn structure he can only hope for a draw after some uphill fighting. 8...Nb8-c6 9. a2-a3 Bc8-d7 10. Bf1-e2 Ra8-c8 11. 0-0 Nc6-a5 12. Qc3-d3 Bd7-a4 13. Qd3xd8+ Rc8xd8 14. Bc1-e3 Na5-b3 (See Diagram) 15. Be2-d1 This strong move had been played in Kramnik-Van Wely, Monte Carlo 1998 (Rapid Game), but Kortchnoi did not know this. In that game black played 15...a6 and after 16. Bxb3 Bxb3 17. Rac1 white was clearly better. 15...b7-b5 But this is even worse. 16. Bd1xb3 Ba4xb3 17. Rf1-c1 e6-e5 Black's Bb3 was in trouble which is not solved by this desperate pawn sacrifice. 18. Nf3xe5 a7-a6 19. Ne5-c6 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad November 7, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Youth Championship In 1987 I was present at a World Junior Championship as a second of the Dutch participant Jeroen Piket. The tournament was to be held in Manila, but when we arrived there, we learned that it was moved to Baguio City, maybe because in the preceding days there had been a few bomb attacks on tourist hotels in Manila. We stayed one day in Manila and I noticed that right in front of our hotel there was a political demonstration. There was some shouting, I walked past the demonstrators without paying attention and later in my hotel room I looked out of the window a few times to see what was going on, but didn't notice anything special. In the evening I learned from a television news broadcast that two people had died in what had become a clash with police forces. Had I been a press correspondent, I think I would have left the television out of my eye-witness report. The Belgian participant's second had dared to join the demonstrators, showing his solidarity with the forces of democracy by wearing a shirt with the portrait of Mrs. Corazon Aquino, who had been elected president the year before. This was not a wise choice as it turned out that he had mixed with supporters of the deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who had handed him a few angry blows. The Belgian second laughed when he told the story, saying: "The Dutch will find it a good joke of course," hinting at the deplorable Dutch custom of inventing jokes at the expense of supposedly dense Belgians. But of course this is not what this story is about. The World Junior Championship in Baguio City was to be won by Anand, who impressed me a lot with his forceful play, quick as lightning. Once when I watched him disposing once more of a strong opponent in about twenty moves, spending not more than a quarter of an hour thinking, I expressed my admiration strongly and the Israeli player Gad Rechlis asked me: "You think he is so good?" Yes, I thought Anand was very good. "Well, I don't think he is so good at all," said Rechlis and he walked away. Then in the last round Rechlis had to play Anand with black. That will show him, I thought, but to my surprise Rechlis got a positionally winning position soon after the opening, without exerting himself in the least. Eventually Anand squeezed out with a draw and became World Junior Champion but for a brief time I had thought: "Rechlis was right and I must have been completely wrong; Anand isn't so good at all." Something like that must have crossed the mind of Nigel Short during the Olympiad in Elista. When playing a tournament in Kazakhstan, Short had been impressed by the young player Darmen Sadvakasov, and when England was scheduled to play

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Kazakhstan at the Olympiad, Short warned his teammate Jon Speelman, who was to play Sadvakasov, that this young guy was really good. Then to his surprise Short saw Speelman dispose of Sadvakasov with consumate ease. With Anand everything eventually turned out alright eventually as it did with Sadvakasov. Early this month Sadvakasov won the World Junior Championship in the Indian city Calcutta. The very top young players consider themselves too mature to compete in a youth championship. Leko, Ponomariov, Movsesian and Bacrot did not take part and because of this, the Vietnamese GM Dao Thien Hai was the highest rated player in the championship. He shared third place with the Greek Banikas, who won the bronze medal on tie-breaks. Banikas was the only non-Asian player among the top four, as second place was won by the Chinese GM Zhang Zhong. The girls championship was won by the Vietnamese Hoang Thang Trang. We have seen the break-through of Chinese chess, now the Vietnamese are coming. The Dutch participant Ruud Janssen shared fifth place. It has been a long time since a Dutch chessplayer finished so high in a World Junior Championship. Looking back at the year 1998, as one tends to do in these days, we Dutch happily notice that this was the year that many young Dutch players suddenly had wonderful results. Erik van den Doel became a grandmaster and found his place among the very best of Dutch players, Dennis de Vreugt became European champion in his age group and the eleven year-old Daniel Stellwagen proved himself a match for masters and grandmasters during the tournament in Hoogeveen. White: Mirzoev (Azerbaidzjan) Black: Sadvakasov 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. Ng1-f3 c7-c5 3. c2-c4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 e7-e6 5. g2-g3 Qd8-b6 6. Bf1-g2 Bf8-c5 7. e2-e3 Nb8-c6 8. Nd4-b3 Bc5-b4+ 9. Bc1-d2 a7-a5 10. 0-0 a5-a4 11. Nb3-c1 It is not quite clear why he prefers this passive move to the natural 11. Nd4 11...d7-d5 12. c4xd5 e6xd5 13. Nb1-c3 0-0 14. Nc1-d3 d5-d4 15. Nd3xb4 Nc6xb4 16. Nc3xa4 Qb6-b5 Black on the contrary plays with heart-warming agressiveness. It is not at all obvious at this moment that he has enough for the sacrificed pawn. 17. b2-b3 d4xe3 18. Bd2xe3 Bc8-g4 19. Qd1-d6 Nb4-c2 20. Qd6-c5 Qb5-e2 21. Ra1-c1 Ra8-c8 22. Qc5-b6 Bg4-f3 23. Bg2xf3 Qe2xf3 24. Be3-c5 Nf6-d7 25. Qb6-b5 (See Diagram) After this things turn out badly for white. Short indicates in "The Sunday Telegraph" that white should have played 25. Qd6 Nxc5 26. Nxc5 Rfd8 27. Nd7. It is rather quaint to put the knight on a square where it is unpleasantly pinned, but black cannot profit easily from that. 25...Rc8xc5 26. Qb5xd7 Going from bad to worse. The only small chance of salvation was the queen sacrifice 26. Nxc5 Nd4 27. Qd3 Ne2+ 28. Qxe2 Qxe2 29. Nd7 (Short) 26...Nc2-e3 Another move that white had overlooked. 27. f2xe3 Rc5xc1 28. Rf1xc1 Qf3xe3+ 29. Kg1-g2 Qe3xc1 30. Qd7xb7 Qc1-c2+ 31. Kg2-h3 Qc2-f5+ 32. Kh3-g2 Rf8-e8 White resigned.

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White: Soln (Slovenia) Black: Janssen In the Duch magazine Schaaknieuws Janssen wrote about his opponent: "I didn't like this boy." Maybe that was the reason that in his report he rather loosely called him "Primoz", which according to my sources is only the Christian name of the Slovenian player. 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 4. a2-a3 Bc8-a6 5. Qd1-c2 c7-c5 6. d4-d5 e6xd5 7. c4xd5 g7-g6 8. Bc1-f4 d7-d6 9. Nb1-d2 Bf8-g7 10. e2-e4 Ba6xf1 11. Ke1xf1 0-0 12. Nd2-c4 Nf6-e8 Dangerously passive. According to Janssen the right way was 12...b5 13. Nxd6 Nh5. 13. Qc2-b3 Qd8-e7 14. Ra1-e1 Nb8-d7 15. h2-h4 Nd7-e5 Not a move one likes to play. 16. h4-h5 Ne5xc4 17. Qb3xc4 Bg7xb2 18. e4-e5 d6xe5 19. Bf4xe5 During the game Janssen was much more afraid of 19. Qb3. 19...Ne8-d6 20. h5xg6 Bb2xe5 21. g6xh7+ Kg8-h8 White's piece sacrifice looks dangerous for black, but everything holds. 22. Qc2 f6 23. Nh4 Qd7 doesn't lead to anything clear for white. 22. Qc4-g4 f7-f5 23. Qg4-h5 Nd6-e4 (See Diagram) Now white should have regained his material with 24. Rxe4 fxe4 25. Nxe5 Rf6 26. Ng6, with an unclear position according to Janssen. 24. Nf3-h4 This way white stays a piece down. 24...Rf8-f6 25. Nh4xf5 Qe7-d7 26. Re1xe4 Rf6xf5 27. Qh5-e2 Qd7xd5 28. Rh1-h3 Ra8-f8 29. f2-f3 Be5-d4 30. g2-g4 Rf5-e5 31. Re4xe5 Qd5xe5 32. Qe2-a2 Qe5-e3 White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad December 19, 1998. Copyright 1998 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Heroic Tales One is reminded of a chapter of a boy's book or an old heroic legend. In the sacred chess halls in the Dutch village of Wijk aan Zee, on one of the free days of the main group of the Hoogovens tournament, the blitz tournament is held. There they are, the demi-gods. In front Kasparov, the magnificent, then the light-footed Anand, the crystal-clear Kramnik, the profound Ivanchuk and the resourceful Topalov together with eight steeled fighters of almost the same terrifying strength. Only one is absent it is the brilliant Alexei Shirov, who has been treated by a local dentist and is still under the influence of anaesthesia. A replacement has to be found, but who is available on such short notice and who can be a worthy replacement for Shirov, man of a thousand ruses? But there we see Manuel Bosboom! O yes, Bosboom, he is a strong Dutch international master, but is it morally defensible to have this young man pulverized by the giants? They say he is an agile blitz player. Ah well, then let it be; it is ruthless, but it has to be done. And Bosboom, still trembling because of the high and unexpected honour, loses his first three games, and nobody blames him, for that was his destiny. But then Bosboom finds himself. He knew that he deserved his place among the giants, even if he was the only one that knew, and he starts winning games and finishes as the highest Dutch player, together with Loek van Wely. And against Gary Kasparov, the man who throws rocks as if they are tennis balls, uproots heavy trees with bare hands and eats strong international masters for breakfast, against him Manuel Bosboom won their game. And he was the only one who did. That night saw long and agitated discussions in the watering-places around the sacred halls in Wijk aan Zee where all this happened. (See Diagram) White: Kh1, Qf4, Re4, Bc4; pawns - a4, b3, d3, e5, f6, g2, h4 Black: Kh7, Qf8, Rd8, Bc3; pawns - a5, b4, c5, e6, f7, g6, h5 Black has the advantage because the white mini-chain on e5 en f6 is very vulnerable. Kasparov now violently tries to turn the game around. 42. g2-g4 h5xg4 43. Qf4xg4 Qf8-h6 In the long run white cannot defend his weak pawns. His only chance is a counterattack and because of this 44. Bxe6 deserved consideration, especially in the last stage of a blitz game, though white certainly can not hope for more than a draw with this. 44. Kh1-g2 Rd8-d4 45. h4-h5 Qh6-d2+ 46. Qg4-e2 Qd2-g5+ Black is winning. 47. Kg2-f1 g6xh5 48. Re4xd4 Bc3xd4 49. Qe2-e4+ Kh7-h6 50. Qe4-a8 Qg5-g1+ 51. Kf1-e2 Qg1-e3+ 52. Ke2-d1 Qe3-g1+ 53. Kd1-e2 Qg1-h2+ 54. Ke2-d1 Bd4-c3 White resigned.

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Despite this one loss Kasparov won the blitz tournament convincingly with 10.5 out of 13, one and a half points ahead of Anand and Ivanchuk. And two days later he played the most stunning game I have ever witnessed. Sometimes Kasparov does things that no other chessplayer is able to do, things that are so stunning that colleagues and spectators ask themselves in astounded admiration how for heaven's sake it is possible that a human being can invent them. So it was in the fifth round of the Hoogovens tournament. Against Topalov he conjured up an attack out of nothing, with a rook sacrifice. Topalov thought long before he accepted the sacrifice. He could have reached an equal position by refusing, which of course he saw. After the game Kasparov said grinningly that for a brief moment Topalov had looked up, maybe receiving a message from above that he should contribute to Beauty by taking the rook. After that not only the moves that Kasparov made were stunning, but also the speed with which he executed them. Fifteen mortal blows in a row, all of marvelous beauty. Neither humans nor computers knew what to make of it while they saw it happening before their eyes, but Kasparov had already seen everything long before. After he had won, he said that this had been one of the most beautiful combinations of his career, maybe the most beautiful. This was no exaggeration. Those who were privileged to be present knew they would tell it to their children and grandchildren, as long as chess will be played in this world. When we were discussing this miracle afterwards, with rosy cheeks and glittering eyes, Jan Timman said: "Still it is difficult to say what is more admirable, the ease with which Anand is winning his games, or the almost supernatural effort that Kasparov puts into them." But we agreed that emotionally, the choice is easy. Games like Kasparov-Topalov fill one with joy and make one glad to be a chessplayer. Comparing Kasparov and Anand this way brought Alekhine and Capablaca to mind. Alekhine was the rock- thrower, Capablanca the man who made it all seem easy. But the difference between Kasparov and Anand, which can be stated in the same terms, is more pronounced. White: Kasparov Black: Topalov 1. e2-e4 d7-d6 2. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 3. Nb1-c3 g7-g6 4. Bc1-e3 Bf8-g7 5. Qd1-d2 c7-c6 6. f2-f3 b7-b5 7. Ng1-e2 Nb8-d7 8. Be3-h6 Bg7xh6 9. Qd2xh6 Bc8-b7 10. a2-a3 e7-e5 11. 0-0-0 Qd8-e7 12. Kc1-b1 a7-a6 13. Ne2-c1 0-0-0 14. Nc1-b3 e5xd4 15. Rd1xd4 c6-c5 16. Rd4-d1 Nd7-b6 17. g2-g3 Kc8-b8 Kasparov, on commenting this game for the press, did not say much about the opening. "Neither of us is an expert in this variation, I did nothing special and just made ordinary, sound moves." But at this point in the game Kasparov had had a vision that would have ocurred to few others: to bring over his queen from h6 to b6, into the attack. 18. Nb3-a5 Bb7-a8 19. Bf1-h3 d6-d5 20. Qh6-f4+ Kb8-a7 21. Rh1-e1 d5-d4 22. Nc3-d5 Nb6xd5 23. e4xd5 Qe7-d6 (See Diagram) file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans31.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:03 PM]

24. Rd1xd4 Here (and in fact already a few moves earlier) Kasparov had calculated exactly that he had a draw in hand and his intuition told him that there should be more. Then, while Topalov was pondering on his reply, Kasparov saw everything to the end to move 39. This may seem incredible, but there is no reason to doubt his words, as from this point on he played all his moves with amazing speed. 24...c5xd4 The modest 24...Kb6 would lead to an equal game, e.g. 25. b4 Nxd5 26. Qxd6+ Rxd6 27. bxc5+ Kxc5 27. Nb3+ Kb6 28. Kb2. Of course Topalov realized that. The next day he said: "My curiosity became my doom." 25. Re1-e7+ Not 25. Qxd4+ Qb6 26. Re7+ Nd7 and black is winning. 25...Ka7-b6 Of course the second rook sacrifice could not be accepted. After 25...Qxe7 26. Qxd4+ black is mated. And after 25...Kb8 26. Qxd4 Nd7 27. Rxd7 white wins because black's Rh8 is hanging, a motif that will reappear later. 26. Qf4xd4+ Kb6xa5 After 26...Qc5 27. Qxf6+ Qd6 (by which black aims for a draw by repetition) white has the wonderful move 28. Be6 (shown by Kasparov, who else?) which seems to win in all variations. 27. b2-b4+ Ka5-a4 28. Qd4-c3 Qd6xd5 29. Re7-a7 The draw that was guaranteed white, when he played 24. Rxd4, could be reached by 29. Qc7, when black has to give a perpetual. 29...Ba8-b7 Defending against the mate on a6 with 29...Rd6 is refuted by 30. Kb2, with the threat 31. Qb3+ and mate. Black must be able to meet Kb2 with Qd4. 30. Ra7xb7 Now white threatens to play Ra7 for the second time, and then mate would be unavoidable. Black has one move to organise a defence, but what to do? 30...Rd6 is easily refuted by 31. Rb6! and then after 31...Rxb6 or 31...Rhd8 white wins with 32. Kb2. A few hours after the game Topalov thought he could have succesfully defended with 30...Rhe8. His main line was 31. Rb6 Ra8 32 Be6 Rxe6 33. Rxe6 Qc4! and black reaches a rook ending which is about equal. But then the next day Dutch IM Gert Ligterink found (after 30...Rhe8 31. Rb6 Ra8) the beautiful quiet move 32. Bf1! which prevents 32...Qc4 and threatens 33. Rd6. After 33. Red8 white plays 34. Rc6 followed by 35. Rc6. Another line after 32. Bf1 is 32...Rec8 33. Qxc8 Qd1+ 34. Ka2 Qd5+ 35. Bc4! Qxc4 36. Qxc4 bxc4 37. Rxf6 and white wins the ending. All this was computer-checked and Kasparov-checked and no defense has been found for black at the moment of writing. 30...Qd5-c4 31. Qc3xf6 Ka4xa3 Black could reach another ending with 31...Rd1+ 32. Kb2 Ra8 33. Qb6 Qd4+, but it would be lost. 32. Qf6xa6+ Ka3xb4 At move 24 not only Kasparov, but also Topalov had looked far ahead, and he had foreseen this position. But he had not evaluated it accurately. 33. c2-c3+ Kb4xc3 34. Qa6-a1+ Kc3-d2 35. Qa1-b2+ Kd2-d1 (See Diagram) 36. Bh3-f1! This move white must have seen a long time ago, as without it he would be lost. When black's attacked queen moves, he is mated. 36...Rd8-d2 37. Rb7-d7 One brilliant move after another and the comment to white's previous move also applies to this one. 37...Rd2xd7 38. Bf1xc4 b5xc4 39. Qb2xh8 And with this move, the final point of the combination that started with 24. Rxd4 (or even with 21. Rhe1, as the rook sacifice was an almost necessary consequence of it) the great work has been done. Now file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans31.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:03 PM]

some accurate technique is still needed, to prevent black from winning one of white's kingside pawns and then building a fortress. 39...Rd7-d3 40. Qh8-a8 c4-c3 41. Qa8-a4+ Kd1-e1 42. f3-f4 f7-f5 43. Kb1-c1 Rd3-d2 44. Qa4-a7 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" on January 23, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Just Incredible... We seldom hear from Bobby Fischer nowadays and when we hear something he is usually angry. For the last few months he has been more angry than he has ever been before. Fischer lives in exile in Budapest since 1992, when the American government threatened to prosecute him for playing his match against Spassky in Yugoslavia. Fischer had his possessions in the United States stored and every year he sent some money to a representative to pay for the storage. Early this year something went wrong. The treasures that Fischer had collected in the course of his career, many of them very valuable, had been put in safes with drill-proof double walls, locked, double-locked and time-locked, but to no avail. His collection was auctioned and sold for a very small amount and when Fischer found out about it, it was too late. One can imagine he was a man in shock and he acted like one. He had always avoided the media like a plague, but now he was seeking them. He wanted to be interviewed. But when Fischer is angry, one can expect him to go ranting about the Jewish conspiracy. Our Dutch Broadcasting Foundation dreaded a barrage of anti-Semitic insults, and was probably not the only broadcasting organization that, for this reason, refused to be involved. It seems that Fischer finally gave one interview on Hungarian radio and a series of interviews for a Philippine station, by telephone from Budapest. The Philippine interviews have appeared on Internet and caused a lot of discussion there, the Hungarian one I have not tracked, and I am not sure that it really exists. Anyway, the fears of the Dutch broadcasters proved to be well-founded. Anti-Semitic foam was at Fischer's mouth. "But aren't you half-Jewish yourself," one of his interviewers dared to object, after which Fischer growled (according to a report in The New York Post) "Do you want to come with me to the boys' room, then we'll see who is Jewish." With no regrets I abstain from further quotes that might easily bring me into conflict with Dutch law. Grandmaster Eugenio Torre, a friend of Fischer who had acted as an intermediary between him and the Philippine broadcasters, tried to limit the damage with a declaration, published on the Internet. Whatever Fischer's ideas, he is in trouble, and the chess community has a duty to help him so that his many exciting plans for the future will not remain unexecuted, wrote Torre. A few days later he retracted his statement. Apparently Fischer had taken him to task. Being a friend of Fischer obviously is no undivided pleasure, though being Fischer seems sadder. The second Philippine broadcast became especially nasty when

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Torre read the full address of Fischer's American representative who was supposed to be responsible for the loss of his property. Maybe one of your Philippine friends can call on him, Fischer suggested, and the radio mediator helpfully added the zip code of the intended victim. All this was clear incitement to violence and given the violent nature, not of Fischer, but of the Nazis whose creed he shares, it is a threat that should be taken seriously. Ah well, I betray no secret when I say that the world of chess knows multi-splendoured beauty, but is alas sometimes rocked by scandals. And now that we are on this track, our thoughts go to the tournament that was played during the last days of 1998 in the German town B”blingen. A tournament that would have attracted little notice, were it not that first place was shared by Clemens Allwermann. A 55-year old German with no international rating, whose German rating of about 1900 did not even elevate him among the ten thousand best in Germany and who now suddenly played like a strong grandmaster. No wonder that rumor had it that a new John von Neumann had presented himself. John von Neumann was the name of one of the most famous mathematicians of this century and also the name that an unknown American chess player adopted when he played in the 1993 Philadelphia Open. He came, won a prize and fled when he was exposed as a fraud. We never heard of him again. Whether he was in contact with a computer during his games, as was generally suspected, or just with a human being, never became clear, but that something was amiss is certain. Allwermann's case is not so clear-cut. He himself said that he had been just lucky. No small luck indeed. Because he had no rating, his first rated result counts heavily and if it is recognized he will come in on the next rating list with 2610 and will be about number sixty in the world. "Just Incredible," Allwermann wrote on an Internet page. Those who begrudge him this indicate that he is a computer expert and that he wore glasses, a big tie and had unfashionably long hair, all fit as hiding places for modern mini-equipment. I wear glasses too and sometimes long hair, so whenever I will do something good, you will known why. But seriously, what should we think about this? Take a look at how he beat Russian grandmaster Kalinichev in the last round. White: Allwermann Black: Kalinichev (2505) 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 e7-e5 5. Nd4-b5 d7-d6 6. c2-c4 Bf8-e7 7. Bf1-e2 a7-a6 8. Nb5-c3 Ng8-f6 9. 0-0 Bc8-e6 10. Bc1-e3 0-0 11. Nb1-a3 Nf6-d7 12. Qd1-d2 Nd7-c5 13. Na3-c2 f7-f5 14. e4xf5 Be6xf5 15. Be2-f3 Kg8-h8 16. Bf3-d5 Qd8-e8 17. Ra1-d1 Qe8-g6 18. Nc2-a3 e5-e4 19. f2-f3 e4xf3 20. Bd5xf3 Nc6-e5 21. Nc3-d5 Be7-h4 22. Nd5-f4 Ne5xf3+ 23. Rf1xf3 Qg6-e8 24. Nf4-d5 Nc5-e6 25. Rd1-f1 Qe8-g6 26. b2-b3 Rf8-f7 27. Na3-c2 Ne6-g5 28. Be3xg5 Bh4xg5 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans32.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:04 PM]

29. Qd2-f2 Bf5xc2 30. Rf3xf7 Bg5-f6 31. Qf2-a7 One can be mistaken, but this funny move smells of computers. Instead of removing the queen from the defense of the kingside, almost every human being would prefer the simple and easily winning move 31. Rxb7. You might put it this way: a human player who is good enough to see 31. Qa7 is also sensible enough not to play it. 31...Ra8-g8 32. Qa7xb7 Bc2-e4 33. Nd5-f4 Qg6-f5 34. Qb7-d7 Qf5-e5 35. Kg1-h1 g7-g5 36. Nf4-h3 g5-g4 37. Nh3-f2 LB4-f5 38. Nf2xg4 Bf5-e4 39. Rf7xf6 Be4xg2+ 40. Kh1xg2 Qe5-e4+ 41. Kg2-h3 (See Diagram) White: Kh3, Qd7, Rf1, Rf6; pawns - a2, b3, c4, h2 Black: Kh8, Rg8,Qe4; pawns - a6, d6, h7 Here black resigned and according to reports in German newspapers and magazines Allwermann then said something astounding: "Yes, indeed, it's mate in eight." Mate in eight! If he really said that, and there semms to be no doubt about this, no further proof is needed. It was indeed mate in eight, computers find this in a second. But every human, even Kasparov, would need quite some time to ascertain that there is a mate in exactly eight moves in the longest variation, and in the heat of battle it is unthinkable that a human would think anything else than: It's over the guy can resign now. White: Kd2, Qe2, Ra1, Rg1, Ne1, Ng2; pawns - a2, b3, c3, d4, f2, g4 Black: Kg7, Qb6, Rh3, Rh8, Bc7,Be4; pawns - a6, b7, d5, e6, f6, g5 White: Giacopelli Black: Allwermann, second round. Again something strange. Black played 34...Be4xg2 and after 35. Ne1xg2 Rh3- h2 a draw was agreed because of extreme time trouble. What is strange here are not the moves, but the annotation to his 34th move that Allwermann wrote later: "Gives away the win. A fingerfehler; I touched the wrong bishop." And he gives the nice variation 34...Bh2 35. Rf1 Rxc3 36. Kxc3 Rc8+ 37. Kd2 Qxd4+ and black wins. A fingerfehler? When in time trouble you miss a nice variation like this? It is as if he doesn't realize how difficult it would be to find this variation is extreme time trouble, even for a strong player. In the electronic world nobody can erase his tracks and so I found fourteen earlier games of Allwermann. Now, that was quite different stuff from the miracles of B”blingen. Could they have been invented by the same brain? The German Chess Federation took the accusations against Allwermann quite seriously and recommended a full investigation. The jury is still out. This column first appeared in in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" February 6, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree The Gardener and FIDE If the members of the board of FIDE know their Dutch classics, they will merrily recite the lines from the poem The Gardener and Death by the Dutch poet P.N. van Eyck: "I was surprised when in the morning I saw here quietly at work the man I was to fetch at dusk in Ispahan.'' These words are spoken by Death. The poor gardener has seen Death and tries to flee him by running off to the town of Ispahan, but of course to no avail. He cannot escape his fate and the town to which he flees is already noted in the Great Book as the town where Death will find and get him. In the chess world the sad role of the gardener is played by the organizers who had moved their tournaments to August so that these would not coincide with the FIDE World Championship. Dortmund for instance. Every year it's one of the strongest tournaments on the calendar. Of course it is impossible to have such a strong tournament in the period where the best hundred players (except Kasparov) compete for the FIDE championship. In Dortmund and elsewhere, the organizers fled to August. They tried to escape Fate but of course FIDE caught them anyway. For the fourth time FIDE has changed the dates of its World Championship. Now it will be from July 26 till August 28 at Caesar's Palace Hotel in Las Vegas. Chess lover, make a note of place and dates, but don't book your trip yet. Like a steamroller the dates of the World Championship have been moving through the year, crushing tournaments wherever it came. Now it is planned to be held in one of the most busy periods of the year. We Dutch were looking forward to the first Lost Boys tournament in Amsterdam. Torpedoed by FIDE by one strike of the pen, but we should not complain for being singled out for this harsh treatment, because all over the world tournament organizers are in the same position. Should they move their dates again? Nobody can be sure if August will really be the month of the FIDE championship. Karpov, who had agreed to play in Dortmund and in Polanica Zdroj, says that he will take FIDE to court if it lets its championship coincide with these tournaments. But then, nobody can be sure if Karpov and FIDE are now really opposed to each other, or working harmoniously together to move the championship again to dates and place that maybe have been in the Great Book of FIDE all the time: Elista, Kalmykia, in December. Kasparov keeps aloof from all this, but his own World Championship is not in best health either. He is far too strong, that is his misfortune. Too strong for Shirov, so that no sponsors for their championship match could be found. But at the end of last year everybody thought that a match between Kasparov and Anand

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would be exciting and closely-fought. Then Kasparov made his re-entry to serious tournament chess. First he won the Wijk aan Zee tournament in imposing style but only half a point ahead of Anand. Then came Linares. Here he ended two and a half points ahead of Anand and Kramnik. Young Peter Leko came fourth, which was quite a success in this super-tournament, but he remained four points behind Kasparov, who seems to have little to fear from dashing youth in the near future. At the end of the Linares tournament Kasparov in a way was playing Karpov again. He tried to break a record. In Linares 1994 Karpov had made the fantastic score of 11 out of 13, maybe the best tournament result of all times. This year the tournament was stronger than in 1994 and if Kasparov had scored 11 out of 14 an argument could be made that he would have bettered Karpov's result. In this Kasparov failed, scoring 10« out of 14, which nevertheless was an astounding feat. White: Anand Black: Kasparov tenth round 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 6. f2-f3 e7-e6 7. Bc1-e3 b7-b5 8. g2-g4 h7-h6 9. Qd1-d2 Nb8-d7 10. 0-0-0 Bc8-b7 11. h2-h4 b5-b4 12. Nc3-b1 d6-d5 13. Bf1-h3 g7-g5 14. h4xg5 h6xg5 15. e4xd5 Nf6xd5 16. Be3xg5 Qd8-b6 A new move, prepared at home. 17. Bh3-g2 Rh8xh1 18. Bg2xh1 Ra8-c8 19. Rd1-e1 Qb6-a5 20. f3-f4 Qa5xa2 21. f4-f5 Nd7-c5 22. f5xe6 Kasparov's faithful partner in home preparation, the computer, had been extremely skeptical of black's set up until now, but having been fed black's next move it changed opinion and started to like black. 22...Bf8-g7 23. e6xf7+ Ke8xf7 At home Kasparov had also seen that white can draw here with 24. Qf2+ Kg8 25. Qf5! Bxd4 26. Qg6+. Anand had used a lot of time for his previous moves, which were very difficult, and now comes up with an ingenious idea that proves insufficient by only a hair's breadth. 24. Bh1xd5+ Qa2xd5 25. Re1-e7+ Kf7-g8 26. Re7xg7+ Kg8xg7 (See Diagram) 27. Nb1-c3 The first move that Kasparov had not considered at home. The immediate 27. Nf5+ would fail after 27...Qxf5 28. gxf5 Nb3+ 27...b4xc3 28. Nd4-f5+ Kg7-f7 29. Qd2xd5+ Bb7xd5 30. Nf5-d6+ Kf7-g6 31. Nd6xc8 Kg6xg5 32. Nc8-b6 Bd5-e6 33. b2xc3 Kg5xg4 34. Kc1-b2 Kg4-f4 35. Kb2-a3 a6-a5 36. Nb6-a4 Anand has reached an ending where he is close to a draw, but according to Kasparov's comments on his Internet site, black could win by force now with 36...Nd7. 36...Nc5-e4 37. Na4-b2 Ne4xc3 38. Nb2-d3+ Kf4-e3 39. Nd3-c5 Be6-f5 40. Ka3-b2 Nc3-d5 41. Nc5-b7 a5-a4 42. c2-c4 Nd5-b6 43. Nb7-d6 Bf5-d3 44. c4-c5 Nb6-d5 45. Kb2-a3 Bd3-c2 46. Nd6-b5 Nd5-e7 47. Nb5-a7 Close to his goal Anand makes a mistake. 47. Nc3 would have saved the draw. On first sight Anand's choice looks alright too, but watch what happens. 47...Ke3-d4 48. c5-c6 Ne7-d5 49. Na7-b5+ Kd4-c5 50. c6-c7 Bc2-f5 A nice finish. White resigned because of 51. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans33.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:04 PM]

Kxa4 Nb6+ 52. Ka5 Nc4+ 53. Ka4 (of 53. Ka6 Bc8+) 53...Bc2 mate. During the Linares tournament Anatoly Karpov played a match in Monaco against Dutch grandmaster Jeroen Piket. The result was 4-4. "With a drawn match, Karpov keeps his title," Kasparov sneered. Though all games were drawn, the match had not been dull at all. Karpov was in terrible time trouble in almost every game, which evidences itself dramatically in the next one. White: Piket Black: Karpov seventh game 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 4. a2-a3 Bc8-b7 5. Nb1-c3 d7-d5 6. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 7. Bc1-d2 Nb8-d7 8. Qd1-c2 Bf8-e7 9. e2-e4 Nd5xc3 10. Bd2xc3 0-0 11. 0-0-0 Qd8-c8 12. h2-h4 Rf8-d8 13. Rh1-h3 Nd7-f8 14. h4-h5 c7-c5 15. Rh3-g3 c5xd4 16. Nf3xd4 Be7-f6 17. Nd4-b5 Rd8xd1+ 18. Qc2xd1 Qc8-c5 19. Qd1-g4 Bf6xc3 20. Nb5xc3 Qc5-d4 21. Qg4-f4 Ra8-c8 22. Bf1-d3 Nf8-d7 23. h5-h6 g7-g6 24. Bd3-c2 Qd4-e5 25. Qf4-d2 Nd7-f6 26. Rg3-d3 Kg8-f8 27. f2-f3 g6-g5 28. Kc1-b1 Kf8-e7 29. Bc2-a4 Bb7-c6 30. Ba4xc6 Rc8xc6 31. Rd3-d8 a7-a6 32. Rd8-a8 Rc6-d6 33. Qd2-e2 b6-b5 34. Qe2-e3 Nf6-d7 35. Ra8-a7 Ke7-f6 36. g2-g3 Kf6-g6 36...Qxg3 37. e5+ Qxe5 was quite acceptable, but white's attack had cost Karpov a lot of time and without time, no adventures. 37. f3-f4 Qe5-d4 38. Qe3-e1? Again he pays too much attention to Karpov's clock and too little to the situation on the board. Now Karpov could have picked up a full rook with 38...Qxa7. (See Diagram) 38...Qd4-d3+? Later Karpov explained that he had been looking for a short move, fearing that a long one would make him overstep. 39. Kb1-a1 Qd3-d4 40. Ra7-c7 Now he sees it. 40...Qd4-d3 41. e4-e5 Rd6-d4 42. f4xg5 The position is still sharp and complicated. The Swiss weekly Schachwoche gives 42. Rc8 Qf3 43. Rg8+ Kxh6 44. Rxg5 Nf8 45. Qc1 as a win for white. 42...b5-b4 43. a3xb4 Rd4xb4 44. Qe1-f2 Kg6xg5 45. Qf2xf7 Rb4-a4+ 46. Nc3xa4 Qd3-d1+ 47. Ka1-a2 Qd1xa4+ 48. Ka2-b1 Qa4-e4+ 49. Rc7-c2 Qe4-e1+ Draw And in the final game it happened again. It was drawn by a repetition of moves which was in fact a series of blunders in which Karpov missed the chance to win a piece twice. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" March 13, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Reconciliation The four-player quadruple round-robin tournament that was held in 1979 in the Dutch town Waddinxveen had an importance not confined to chess alone. Apart from World Champion Anatoly Karpov, the players were the Czechs Vlastimil Hort and Lubosh Kavalek and the Russian emigrant to the Netherlands, Genna Sosonko. Kavalek had left his country in 1969; Hort was still living in Prague. There had been a time when Soviet players refused to compete against people like Kavalek and Sosonko. This was a tournament of reconciliation. Distinguished guests were present at the opening ceremony. There was the Dutch prime minister Dries van Agt, wishing Sosonko well with the archaic eloquence that was his trademark. Encouragement came also from the Soviet ambassador to the Netherlands, who said to Sosonko: "Do your best, Leningrader!" which was remarkable, because this way the ambassador made it clear that Sosonko was no longer considered a traitor to the Fatherland, but rather an expatriate member of the family. And there was a real prince, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, father of our present Queen Beatrix. Against him, Sosonko played an exhibition game to open the tournament officially. White: Sosonko Black: Prince Bernhard 1. e2-e4 c7-b6 This was a surprise for Sosonko, who realized that it would be in bad taste to answer with the brutishly normal 2. d4. However, a move like that of the Prince, moving out of the center and weakening the pawn structure, went against his chess instincts. So, as a compromise he played 2. a2-b3 Towards the center at least. But now Black came up with another surprise: 2...f7xe4 and having executed this move the Prince said: "Mr. Sosonko, by now you may have noticed that I am not the strongest of chess players. I offer a draw." Which was accepted of course. This line, called the Orange variation in honor of the Dutch Royal House, has not found its way into the books, but should be preserved for memory. Since then "Do your best, Leningrader!," has been the way we have encouraged Sosonko at the start of his games, and he himself, when asked if and when he would visit his homeland the Soviet Union, used to say that it would be when Leningrad was called St. Petersburg again, meaning never. Since the name of the city of his birth has indeed been changed to St. Petersburg, Sosonko has been a regular guest there, and at end of March he packed his bag for another visit. This time it was to be present at a match between two other former Leningraders, Viktor Kortchnoi, now Swiss, and Boris Spassky, now French. The meeting of these two greats could certainly be called another contest of reconciliation.

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The last match Spassky and Kortchnoi had played was the final of the candidates matches in Belgrade 1977. There Kortchnoi had done something that Spassky disapproved of. What exactly, became never clear; maybe it was just that Kortchnoi had won too many games in the early stages of that match. Spassky struck back with a spectacular disappearing act. He did not reflect on his moves at the table on the stage, but in a small room backstage, where a TV-monitor showed the actual position of the game. He only came out on the stage to actually execute the move, then disappeared backstage again. Kortchnoi complained that it gave him the feeling that he was a young kid again, playing in a simul against a master who only now and then popped up at his board. Spassky won one game after another during this stage of the match. But then Kortchnoi retaliated by imitating Spassky's behaviour. Bewildered spectators were looking for hours at an empty stage where only now and then a chessplayer (alternately from the left and the right) appeared to make a move, like a trumpeteer in an old glockenspiel who pops out at fixed hours. In a later game Spassky escalated the hostilities by putting on goggles. Kortchnoi won the match and at the closing dinner a Dutch visitor found Spassky alone at his table, trembling with rage. Spassky said then that he would write a book about what had happened and apparently he did start working on it, but it has never been published. But see and rejoice how time heals the most bitter wounds. At the end of March the old rivals played a friendly ten-game match celebrating the 275th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg University. The players each had an hour thinking time for the whole game. Again Kortchnoi won; this time the result was 6-4. White: Kortchnoi Black: Spassky, sixth game 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. f2-f3 d7-d5 4. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 5. e2-e4 Nd5-b6 6. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 7. Bc1-e3 0-0 8. f3-f4 The old move. Kramnik played 8. Dd2 in his match against Shirov last year. Now Spassky started thinking. 8...c7-c6 9. Ng1-f3 Bc8-e6 10. Qd1-c2 Nb8-d7 11. Bf1-e2 Be6-c4 12. g2-g4 e7-e6 13. h2-h4 Qd8-e7 14. h4-h5 (See Diagram) It is not often one sees such an impressive broad front. 14...c6-c5 15. e4-e5 Rf8-c8 16. h5xg6 h7xg6 17. d4xc5 Nd7xc5 18. Be3-d4 Bc4-d5 19. Ra1-d1 Rc8-d8 According to commentator Khalifman from the Russian GM School website, Black should have tried for counterplay with 19...Ne4 20. Nxd5 exd5. 20. Nc3xd5 Rd8xd5 21. Ke1-f2 21. f5 at once was very strong too. 21...Ra8-c8 22. Qc2-b1 Rc8-d8 23. b2-b3 Nc5- a6 24. Qb1-e4 Na6-b4 25. f4-f5 e6xf5 26. g4xf5 g6xf5 27. Qe4xf5 Rd5xd4 28. Rd1-g1 A nice move to finish it. Black resigned. With the next exciting game Kortchnoi took a decisive 5-3 lead.

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White: Kortchnoi Black: Spassky, eighth game 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 b7-b5 Spassky, being a point behind, chooses a sharp opening. 4. c4xb5 a7-a6 5. b5xa6 g7-g6 6. Nb1-c3 Bc8xa6 7. e2-e4 Ba6xf1 8. Ke1xf1 d7-d6 9. Ng1-f3 Bf8-g7 10. g2-g3 0-0 11. Kf1-g2 Nb8-d7 12. h2-h3 Ra8-a6 13. Rh1-e1 Qd8-a8 14. Bc1-g5 h7-h6 15. Bg5-d2 e7-e6 16. d5xe6 f7xe6 17. Qd1-c2 g6-g5 18. a2-a4 g5-g4 Commentator Khalifman himself had played 18...d5 in three games, and thought that stronger. 19. h3xg4 Nf6xg4 20. Bd2-f4 d6-d5 21. Nc3-b5 Plunging into to incalculable complications. 21...e6-e5 22. Nb5-c7 Qa8-a7 23. Nc7xa6 e5xf4 24. e4xd5 After 24. Qd3, to protect the Knight, comes 24...c4 25. Qxd5 Rf7 and f2 hangs. 24...Qa7xa6 25. Re1-e6 Qa6-b7 26. Re6-e7 f4xg3 A strange position where both players have a strong kingside attack. 27. Qc2-g6 Qb7xb2 28. Ra1-a2 Again the sharpest move. Also possible was 28. Qxg4. 28...Ng4-e3+ 29. Kg2-h3 g3xf2 30. Ra2xb2 (See Diagram) 30...f2-f1Q+ Who wouldn't have done that in time trouble, promoting to Queen and giving check? But it is the decisive mistake. Commentators Svidler and Khalifman indicated that with 30...Rxf3+ 31. Kh2 Rh3+ 32. Kxh3 f1Q+ 33. Kh2 Qf4+ Black could have drawn by perpetual check. 31. Kh3-h2 Ne3-f5 33. Rb2-g2 Now White is winning. 32...Qf1xg2+ 33. Kh2xg2 Nf5xe7 34. Qg6-e6+ Rf8-f7 35. Qe6xd7 Ne7-f5 36. Qd7-c8+ Bg7-f8 37. Nf3-e5 Rf7-g7+ 38. Kg2-h3 Nf5-d6 39. Qc8-e6+ Kg8-h7 40. Ne5-d7 Bf8-e7 41. Nd7xc5 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad April 3, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Revenge and Forgiveness "Therefore then Reynaud took the chess board and smote Berthelot upon his head so hard that he cloved him to the teeth. And thus Berthelot fell down dead to the ground afore him." This is a piece of medieval chess reporting. And in another story it is told (contrary to historical truth) how Charlot, son of Charlemagne, was mated by an opponent who rejoiced in his win in an unseemly extravagant manner. "And Charlot took the chess-board and said thus: 'Ha, lecherous bastard, must you talk so much about it?' And raises the chess-board and gave him such a great blow with it that he dashed out all his brains and forced his two eyes out of his head, and he fell dead in the middle of the place." These quotes I take from the book Chess Pieces by Norman Knight, a fine anthology of chess-related literary texts. Bones crack and blood spurts all over the place in medieval chess literature. But these are not really acts of revenge. The violence is too spontaneous, too natural. Somebody loses a game, he gets angry and cleaves his opponent's head. That's the way things were. Like a lion who guiltlessly slaughters his prey. He does not think of revenge. In Murray's A History of Chess there is a tale taken from the 12th century work De nugis curialium by Walter Map. Murray writes: "Two Breton nobles had quarreled, and one had mutilated the other. The King of France patched up the quarrel by marrying the son and daughter of the two contestants. One day the pair were playing chess, when the husband was called away. A knight took his place, and was mated by the lady, who said pointedly, 'Non tibi, sed orbi filio mat.'" Murray probably could afford to leave Latin untranslated, but we cannot. What the lady said was: 'Not to you, but to the son of the man who is castrated, I give mate.' Then the story goes on: "When the husband heard of this, he went straightway and treated his wife's father in the same way that his father had been treated, and returned home with the members of which he had deprived his victim. He called for the chess, and when he won he tumbled them on the board, saying, 'Filiae orbi dico mat.'" Meaning: I say mate to the daughter of the man who is castrated. Yes, this glorious act truly deserves the name of revenge. In modern chess literature the word revenge is often used, but the examples given are not very spectacular. A player loses a game and then works for years on an opening novelty with which he avenges his loss. Wunderkind Reshevsky is treated without respect by Lasker, fifteen years later the mature Reshevsky wipes Lasker off the board at Nottingham. Little Jo‰l Lautier was sent out of the

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press room by Kasparov in the French town Belfort when he indicated a mistake in analysis by Kasparov, and later the adult Lautier gains a positive score against Kasparov. Tarrasch claims that Yates is too weak to play in the tournament and then Yates loses against almost everyone but beats Tarrasch. One could call it revenge, and maybe the people involved felt it was a kind of revenge, but we certainly do not find impressive villainy here. The story of the Russian chess trainer Alexander Nikitin is closer to the real thing, as he describes it himself in his book Mit Kasparov zum Schachgipfel (With Kasparov to the chess summit) In 1976 Nikitin worked for the Sports Committee, the highest sports authority in the Soviet Union, much higher in rank then the board of the chess federation. Nikitin had seen a French press report implying that world champion Karpov was negotiating privately with Fischer in Tokyo about a match for the world championship. Nikitin knew that the Sports Committee had not given permission for these negotiations. He felt it his duty to report Karpov's serious offense to his superiors. Of course Nikitin had underestimated Karpov. What he did not know was that permission for these negotiations had been granted by an even higher authority, the Central Committee of the Communist Party. When Karpov came to hear of Nikitin's denunciation, he demanded Nikitin to be fired. This happened. Nikitin was accused of "immoral behaviour toward his prot‚g‚" and demoted to the humble function of trainer of the club Spartak. As fate would have it, one of the members of this club was a promising thirteen-year-old youngster, Garry Kasparov. Nikitin saw his chance. He swore that he would dethrone the intriguer Karpov, who had wrecked his career. And he would do it in the same way as his former "prot‚g‚" had always executed his own acts of revenge: not by acting himself, but by means of others. For Nikitin, Kasparov would be the tool to use for his revenge. All this is Nikitin's way of describing the events, not mine. For the next few years Nikitin spent all his talent and energy on the training of Kasparov. In 1985 he reached his goal: Kasparov beat Karpov. Thus Nikitin describes Kasparov's way to the top as a nine-year long campaign of revenge by himself. He is convinced that without his help, Kasparov would never have become world champion. Not all of his readers will share this opinion, but nevertheless this is a story of revenge on the grand scale, in accordance with the old adage that revenge is a dish that is best eaten cold. Karpov may have been an appreciative reader of this story, for revenge is a concept that is quite familiar to him. He wrote a book, Learn from file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans35.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:05 PM]

Your Defeats, which is all about games in which he took revenge for a recent loss. Some evil-doers have escaped him, because he never had the opportunity to play them after they had beaten him. People like Igor Ivanov, who beat Karpov in Russia and then escaped to Canada. Karpov finishes his book saying: "For them I will always be ready." It is not difficult to find revenge in the chess world, but is there a beautiful example of forgiveness? Not many that I know of, but Tartakower comes to mind. In 1946 many top players were in London for the Victory Tournament. There was much talk about Alekhine, who had written disgusting anti-Semitic articles during the war. A players' committee was formed, with Euwe as president, to deliberate if and how Alekhine should be punished for his collaboration with the Nazis. Only one grandmaster, Saviely Tartakower, did not join in the general condemnation of Alekhine. Tartakower called the behaviour of his colleagues hypocritical. He said that even before the war everyone had known that Alekhine was anti-Semitic and that nobody had taken offence. Arnold Denker reminisces (The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories) that right then and there Tartakower proceeded to take up a collection for Alekhine, who lived in Portugal with little money. If this is true, one can imagine that it made quite an impression in London in 1946, because Tartakower, to put it cynically and gruesomely, was a man who had a right to speak. When he was twelve years old, both his parents had been murdered in a pogrom in Rostov-on-Don. Much later, when World War II broke out, Tartakower managed at a ripe age to flee from Paris to London, where he joined the army of DeGaulle's Free French. Tartakower could plead for Alekhine without anyone thinking that he had some sympathy for collaboration with the Germans. He could afford to forgive Alekhine. But was it true forgiveness? Was it humanly possible to forgive Alekhine in January 1946? Euwe has described Tartakower as a man who was averse to joining a crowd and who hated mass demonstrations. Maybe Tartakower was more annoyed by the easy unity of his colleagues, than forgiving Alekhine. And maybe his collection for the pennyless Alekhine can be understood as a subtle act of revenge, the revenge of a man of honor. Alekhine had written that there would probably never be a Jewish world champion again, and now Tartakower signalled a humiliating message: you wanted us to be killed, but I have forgiven you.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Mercenaries Nearby my hotel is the office of an undertaker who advertises as being "serious and worth the money." Quite right. Nobody needs an unserious undertaker. I feel inspired by the motto. Serious and worth the money, that is what I want to be. The match between the German clubs "Schachfreunde Brackel" and "Mlheim Nord 1931" may not be the match of the century, but for me it is important enough to have come one day beforehand to Dortmund, where the Chessfriends of the town district Brackel reside. Not much is written in the papers about the club competitions of the different European countries, but they are important, if only because they are an indispensable source of income for many professionals. The German Bundesliga used to be the most important competition, but nowadays there are many European countries where clubs pay well. Most federations try to restrain their clubs a bit when they go shopping for foreign chessplayers, but nowadays with jurisdiction giving European citizens the right to work in the whole of the European Union, this has become difficult. Our match decides what you might call the championship of the Ruhr area. The winning team is promoted to the league of the German federal state Nordrhein-Westfalen, which forms the third class of the national competition, the Bundesliga. No, we are not playing the match of the century. In Germany the foreign players are usually called legionaries. In France and England the word is mercenaries. It doesn't sound very affectionate. Mercenaries are not supposed to have a true love for their club. They come, fight, receive their pay and depart for other adventures. Nevertheless they are eagerly sought. If I remember well, there was one year when the Dutch IM Rini Kuijf played in four different leagues, the Dutch, German, Belgian and the Spanish. Now for this German match Genna Sosonko and I have come over from the Netherlands. For Sosonko it is the second time that he has played for the chessfriends of Brackel, for me the first. "Don't you know that I play much weaker than I used to?" I asked the team captain on the phone. This he knew quite well, but it was not easy to find strong Dutch players. Most of them already played for another German Club. At the Amsterdam railway station I had met a friend, a poet, who had come from Groningen in the north of the Netherlands, to give a reading in Amsterdam. A mercenary of poetry. "No time, I have to go on, to Germany to play in the Bundesliga," I said, and while I hurried to my train I hoped that for a few seconds the bewildered

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poet would think that I meant that I had to play professional soccer. On our way to the match venue our team captain tells us that the team was in the same situation five years ago. Then also they were in a play-off for advancement to the higher league. It is difficult. Every year only one team of the Ruhr area goes up. Being the traditional center of German heavy industry, it is a densely populated area with many good chessplayers. Five years ago the club went to extreme measures for the play-off, putting Russians on all eight boards. Nowadays this would be against the rules, though eight British or Dutch players would be allowed. The opposition came with eight Polish mercenaries. Russia beat Poland 4«-3«.. Brackel was promoted, but in later years they lost their sponsor and went down again. Now there is a little money again and that's why we are here. The enemy staff of Mlheim hasn't been idle either and comes with masters from Russia and Lithuania. Our team loses. Sosonko and I make hard-fought draws. We have not helped the team much but we can't be blamed either, the more so because had we both won anyway, the match would have still been lost. If we are quick, we can catch the international train to Amsterdam that leaves two minutes to seven. We hardly had the opportunity to say one word to one of our team members, let alone to get to know them better, but that's how it is with mercenaries, they are not in it to fraternize with the natives. The team captain pays out. He must be a little unhappy, but it does not show. "Maybe next year, if we make the play-offs again," he says with a friendly smile. Yes, let's hope so. And off we go. White: Aumann (Mhlheim Nord)-Black: Sosonko (Schachfreunde Brackel) 1. c2-c4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 6. g2-g3 Bf8-c5 7. Nd4-b3 Bc5-b4 8. Bf1-g2 b7-b6 9. 0-0 Bc8-a6 10. Nb3-d4 Nc6xd4 This exchange sacrifice looks good. Black gets one pawn now and another one will soon follow. But it is not that clear; White maintains good counterplay. 11. Bg2xa8 Bb4xc3 12. b2xc3 Nd4xe2+ 13. Qd1xe2 Qd8xa8 14. Bc1-a3 Qa8-e4 15. Qe2-d1 Qe4-c6 16. Qd1-d4 Ba6xc4 17. Rf1-d1 d7-d5 18. Qd4-e5 Ke8-d7 19. Ba3-c1 Qc6-d6 20. Qe5-g5 Rh8-g8 21. Bc1-f4 Qd6-e7 22. a2-a4 Kd7-c6 23. Rd1-d4 h7-h6 24. Qg5-e5 g7-g5 25. Bf4-e3 Kc6-b7 Here also 25...Nd7 was possible, but then White has 26. Rxc4+ dxc4 27. Qb5+ with some attack. 26. a4-a5 Nf6-d7 It looks as if Black is winning the Queen. (See Diagram) 27. a5xb6 But no, White still has a resource. 27...a7xb6 27...Nxb6 was possible but of course this was not what Black intended when he made his last move. 28. Ra1-a7+ Kb7xa7 29. Qe5-c7+ Ka7-a6 30. Rd4-d1 Now White threatens at least a draw by perpetual check. Maybe Black would be wise to allow White to execute this "threat". 30...Qe7-a3 31. Qc7xd7 Rg8-b8 32. Qd7xf7 Qa3-a4 and file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans36.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:05 PM]

Black offered a draw. "He embraced me," Sosonko said later, but objectively speaking White has more chances to win in this difficult position than Black. The next game is from a more prestigious event, the main league of the French club competition. My notes are based on the (more extensive) analysis that the loser John Nunn gave in the British Chess Magazine. White: Nunn (Monaco)-Black: Nataf (Clichy) 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 e7-e5 5. Nd4-b5 d7-d6 6. c2-c4 Bf8-e7 7. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 8. Nb5-a3 f7-f5 9. Bf1-d3 f5-f4 10. g2-g3 Ng8-f6 11. g3xf4 e5xf4 12. Bc1xf4 0-0 13. Bf4-g3 Nf6-g4 14. Bd3-e2 White saw the coming sacrifice, but he misjudged it. 14...Ng4xf2 15. Qd1-d5+ This check is necessary to control square g5. After 15. Bxf2 Rxf2 16. Kxf2 Bh4+ Black would be winning. 15...Kg8-h8 16. Bg3xf2 Nc6-b4 White did not expect this move. 17. Qd5-h5 Rf8xf2 18. Ke1xf2 Be7-h4+ 19. Kf2-g2 g7-g6 Forcing White to give up the control of g5. 20. Qh5-f3 Qd8-g5+ 21. Kg2-f1 Bc8-h3+ 22. Qf3xh3 Ra8-f8+ 23. Be2-f3 Qg5-e3 24. Qh3xh4 (See Diagram) All this Nunn had seen after Black's 16...Nb4, but he thought that now Black would be forced to take the draw with 24...Qxf3+ 25. Kg1 Qe3+. 24...Nb4-d3 But a Rook and two pieces down Black has time for a quiet move. 25. Nc3-d5 Qe3xf3+ Even stronger was 25...Rxf3 26. Kf1-g1 Nd3-f2 27. Kg1-f1 Qf3xh1+ 28. Kf1-e2 Qh1xa1 White resigned. Nunn writes that at dinner that evening his teammates were so jubilant about the beauty of this game that he began to worry that in fifty years' time he would be only remembered as the guy who lost to Nataf. This is unlikely, but the feeling is understandable. A similar thought occurred to Hein Donner after a game in the Olympiad in 1978 in Buenos Aires. (See Diagram) White: Ke1, Qh4, Ra1, Rh1, Nd5, Ng1, Bc1, Be2; pawns - a2, b2, c2, e4, f2, g5 Black: Kg8, Qd8, Ra8, Rf8, Nc6, Ne8, Be6, Bg7; pawns - a7, b7, c5, d6, f5, g6 White: Liu Wen Che (China)-Black: Donner (Netherlands) 15. Dh4-h7+ Kg8-f7 16. Dh7xg6+ Kf7xg6 17. Le2-h5+ Kg6-h7 18. Lh5-f7+ Lg7-h6 19. g5-g6+ Kh7-g7 20. Lc1xh6 Black resigned, it is mate next move. After this Donner sat at his board motionless for at least half an hour. Then he regained himself and proudly claimed that he would be remembered as long as chess will exist as the Chinese Kieseritzky. This was indeed remembered and during the first international chess tournament in China, Donner received a postcard from Peking on which many of the participants had put their signatures, a tribute to the selfproclaimed godfather of Chinese chess. This column, in slightly shorter form, first appeared in the Dutch file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans36.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:05 PM]

newspaper NRC-Handelsblad June 12, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Prefer the Trombone Why would one play chess? The steady pursuit of the game will inevitably make you selfish, cunning, conceited, vindictive and round-shouldered. If you prefer a lonely life, practise on the trombone as being more effective. And there are many other good reasons not to play chess. We know. But what surprises us a bit, is that the chess-baiting article was printed in the magazine of a world champion of chess. We wouldn't expect Karpov or Kasparov to give credence to such demoralizing negativism. But Emanuel Lasker did, in Volume V of Lasker's Chess Magazine, that covers the period from November 1906 till April 1907. He quoted the nine reasons not to play chess from the Johannesburg Sunday Times, adding sarcastically: "What! nine beautiful 'reasons' for not learning the game of kings, and never a warning about Paul Morphy? It must surely have been an oversight." But still I think these nine reasons must have struck a note. Lasker had been world champion for twelve years and maybe he was bored with it. These volumes of Lasker's magazine are reproduced fac-simile by the Czech firm Moravian Chess. The reproduction is not of the highest quality and many diagrams fade into the shadows, but the text remains legible and gives one cause to muse about similarities and differences between then and now. Hear this. Chess has been studied to death. The theory of openings and endgames is so highly developed that the human brain can hardly fathom it. The death penalty should be given to those who go on writing instructional books. This is not written by a modern refugee from the information society, but in 1906, though not by Lasker himself, it was taken from the Birmingham Mercury. But it seems as if Lasker had a world-wide network of spies, instructed to send him articles that show a sorrowful view of chess. Frank Marshall tells that he will retire from chess after his match against Lasker. "Chess, as a pastime, is a grand game. But to go deeply into it, as we have to, means a sure breakdown." And: "The life of a chess champion is short. I feel I am shortening my life by sticking at the game. I've long wanted to quit. But there's a fascination that holds me." This in 1906. When Marshall died in 1944 it was said that in his adult life there had been no day without a game. Lasker also publishes a long story about the life of an imaginary chessmaster, who stands as a model for all chessmasters. Initial successes. An obsession for chess, disturbed only briefly by a

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short-lived marriage, from which the master is delivered by the speedy death of the neglected wife. Poverty that is hardly felt by the master, whose only wishes are now to play chess and to be collected by the Great Reaper while he is at the chessboard. This wish is fulfilled. And then there is a technical description and a drawing of the Chess See-Saw, that causes the player whose move it is not, to be raised in the air far above the board. Together the players make a kind of gigantic chess clock this way and the point of the whole intricate contraption is to spare them each other's company. "And so we ripe and ripe and so we rot and rot. And thereby hangs a tale." That was the conclusion, happily reproduced by Lasker, of a newspaper report on a telegraph match from 1907 between the US and Great Britain. Was there no good news then? Oh yes, for instance the story about the famous noise-proof chessroom, blasted and hewn out of the living rock, deep in the foundations of the villa of the well-known chess patron Isaac Rice. We learn that Mr. and Mrs. Rice were pioneers of the Society for the Suppression of Unnecessary Noises and succesful leaders of a campaign against the superfluous whistling of Hudson river boats that made chess playing almost impossible. Good news indeed, but all in all Lasker's readers had reason to suspect that he had his doubts about the wholesomeness of the game of which he was king. How different are our modern champions, who never seem to be touched by the disruption of doubt. With some reluctance I emerge from the past to focus on the Frankfurt rapid tournament. In the group of the "Giants", who played each other four times, the final result was 1. Kasparov, 7« out of 12; 2/3 Anand and Kramnik, 6; 4. Karpov, 4«. In the first days of the tournament a letter had appeared on the FIDE Web site, allegedly written by Karpov, in which Karpov heartily embraced the FIDE officials whom one month earlier he had described in a furious 15-page article as unreliable liars. The letter turned out to be a mistake. Karpov had not written nor signed it, nor had he agreed to take part in the Las Vegas World Championship, scheduled for August this year. During a press conference in Frankfurt he dismissed the World Championship, saying that in fact it should be called a World Cup or something like that. Kasparov seemed pleasantly surprised. Negotiations about Karpov's participation are still on. But last time, in the championship of 1997/1998, when everything was nicely set up so that Karpov had only to defeat an exhausted Anand to prolong his title, had it been a real World Championship then, or had that only been a World Cup too? Apparently this question was not raised at the press conference in Frankfurt. White: Kasparov Black: Anand Frankfurt Giants 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. d2-d4 e5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Bf8-c5 5. Nd4xc6 Qd8-f6 6. Qd1-d2 d7xc6 7. Nb1-c3 Ng8-e7 8. Qd2-f4 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans37.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:05 PM]

Qf6-d6 A new move. Black is willing to exchange queens, but only when it straightens out his pawn chain. 9. Bf1-e2 Ne7-g6 10. Qf4-g3 f7-f5 11. f2-f4 Qd6-d4 12. Be2-d3 Bc5-b4 13. e4xf5 A very sharp move. More prudent was 13. Bd2. 13...Bb4xc3+ 14. b2xc3 Qd4xc3+ 15. Ke1-f2 0-0 16. f5xg6 Qc3xa1 17. Qg3-h4 h7-h6 18. Bd3-c4+ Kg8-h8 19. Bc4-f7 Qa1-c3 20. Bc1-e3 (See Diagram) It is moot whether or not White has enough for his sacrificed exchange, but Anand does not want to investigate this and prefers to take over the attack by a piece sacrifice. 20...Bc8-e6 21. Bf7xe6 Ra8-e8 22. Qh4-h3 Qc3xc2+ 23. Kf2-f3 Qc2xg6 24. Be6-g4 Here Black might also find it possible to play for a win, but it is a rapid tournament and he was probably short of time, as this was quite a complicated game. So, he forces an elegant draw. 24...Qg6-e4+ 25. Kf3-f2 Rf8xf4+ 26. Be3xf4 Qe4xf4+ 27. Bg4-f3 Qf4-d4+ 28. Kf2-g3 Draw White: Anand Black: Kramnik Frankfurt Giants 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 3. Nf3xe5 d7-d6 4. Ne5-f3 Nf6xe4 5. d2-d4 d6-d5 6. Bf1-d3 Nb8-c6 7. 0-0 Bf8-e7 8. c2-c4 Nc6-b4 9. c4xd5 Nb4xd3 10. Qd1xd3 Qd8xd5 11. Rf1-e1 Bc8-f5 12. g2-g4 Bf5-g6 13. Nb1-c3 Ne4xc3 14. Qd3xc3 Ke8-f8 15. Bc1-f4 c7-c6 (See Diagram) Anand had the same position a few rounds before against Karpov. Then he played the quiet 16. Re3, got a winning position after a bad mistake by Karpov, but blundered and lost. In the meantime he had found a much sharper possibility. 16. Re1xe7 Kf8xe7 17. Qc3-b4+ Ke7-d8 18. Qb4xb7 Ra8-c8 Khalifman analyses on www. gmchess.spb.ru the double rook sacrifice 18...Qxf3 and concludes that it is not sufficient for Black. 19. Bf4-g5+ f7-f6 20. Qb7xg7 f6xg5 21. Qg7xh8+ Kd8-c7 22. Qh8-e5+ Qd5xe5 23. d4xe5 h7-h6 24. Ra1-e1 Rc8-e8 25. h2-h4 g5xh4 26. Nf3xh4 Bg6-f7 27. Nh4-f5 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad July 10, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree High Anxiety Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, where the FIDE World Championship is held, can be called a hotel or a casino, but in fact it is a huge complex of hundreds of shops, scores of conference rooms and restaurants, thousands of hotel rooms, a few theatres and then of course the vast plains where the gamblers assemble. I was walking through the endless succession of shopping malls and thousands were with me. I wanted to get out. Already after two days I wanted to get out of Las Vegas, but my duty as a reporter kept me there. But escaping from Caesars Palace seemed feasible, though not easy. The management wants to keep you in and the whole huge complex has only two exits for the general public. I could not find them. There were other exits, for the attendants, but those were locked. In case of fire they will have to be opened quickly. Let's hope they will be opened quickly enough. But lo and behold, I found an emergency exit that was not locked and gave access to a car-park that again was huger than any I had ever seen. I had escaped. Theoretically I should be able to find my way to the public highway. But not in practice. There were people at work, they should be able to help me. And they did. One of them took a key, opened a door and shoved me in. There I was again, in Caesars Palace's shopping mall, with its moving and talking statues and its mock open sky with mock clouds and mock setting sun. Escape had failed. Where had I seen this before? Yes, of course, in the movie The Truman Show, the final scene where the main character hits his head against the borders of his artificial world, that turn out to be made of cardboard. My feeling that nothing was real here, quite common to visitors of Las Vegas, was reinforced by another experience, which had nothing to do with the city, but with modern technology in general. Many of the chess journalists whom I usually meet at big events were absent this time. Maybe because the European morning papers could only report two days after the round because of the time difference. We missed Leontxo from Spain, who apart from his newspaper articles for El Pais was always doing at least three live reports a day for Spanish radio. The Russian radio and TV team, normally always present, was absent too. Their listeners were asleep while the games were being played. But there were new people. Mainly Internet journalists, reporting for sites on the web.

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Now my story will become a bit technical, but I hope you will be patient. As in almost every important tournament nowadays, the moves the players make are automatically relayed to computer screens. There are many systems that do this almost perfectly, but the friendly and hard-working Russian crew that was in charge here could not make it happen. Very often the screens gave up after a while and no more moves were transmitted. But the game notation, the PGN-file, did arrive alright in the computers. With a simple piece of software, this can be converted into moving pieces on a screen. Not on the screens we saw in the playing hall and in the press room, apparently. But it could be sent to the Internet. And so, what did your reporter on the spot do if he wanted to follow a game that was played one floor above him, when the screen failed? He ventured outside to the wide world of the Internet. Next to the press room is the computer room. There the messages are sent to the world. On the laptop in front of me I can chart the voyage of these messages. They make a few stops in the United States. Then the big jump over the ocean. They visit a few European computers and arrive at their destination, the FIDE computer. Then they start their return trip. Destination: my laptop. Now I see the game on my screen. The game is played in my immediate vicinity, but it had to make a trip around the world to reach me. If all goes well, the trip takes seconds. With heavy traffic it goes slower. But anyhow, it is a miracle. That is, if it works well. Next day something else was wrong with the computer system and the miracle did not occur. And now for real chess, but only the first two rounds. You readers know much more by now. Viktor Kortchnoi was a bit worried at the start of the tournament. As number 16 on the FIDE rating list he didn't have to play in the first round, but in the second round he had to face Dolmatov, a very strong player, who prepares his openings in collaboration with Kramnik. And if Kortchnoi beat Dolmatov, his next opponent would be the great Kramnik himself. "I have to face the opening preparation of the whole family," he said. In the first game against Dolmatov this succeeded beyond expectation. Seldom has Dolmatov been so hard hit in the opening stage of a game. White: Kortchnoi Black: Dolmatov 1. c4-c4 f7-f5 2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 3. g2-g3 d7-d6 4. d2-d4 g7-g6 5. Bf1-g2 Bf8-g7 6. 0-0 0-0 10. Qb3-a3 This queen manoeuver is quite original. She seems to be out of play, but in fact the queen will support a dangerous action on her wing. 10...Qd8-e8 11. b2-b4 Na6-c7 12. Bc1-b2 e7-e5 Asking for trouble. The modest 12...Bd7 should be played. 13. d4xe5 d6xe5 14. Qa3-a5 Now the seemingly misplaced queen hits hard. Black had probably just overlooked, when he made his 12th move, that file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans38.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:05 PM]

two of his men are now attacked. 14...Nc7-a6 The only way not to lose a pawn at once, but the knight comes to a square that he had just evacuated with good reason. 15. b4-b5 (See Diagram) 15...b7-b6 This weakens the long diagonal, but there was no good defense. 15...cxb5 16. cxb5 Nc5 17. b6 would also be hopeless for Black. 16. Qa5-a3 Na6-c5 17. b5xc6 If Black cannot regain this pawn soon, he is done for. 17...e5-e4 18. Nf3-d4 Qe8-f7 19. Ra1c1 Bc8-e6 20. Nc3-b5 a7-a6 21. Nb5-d6 Qf7-c7 22. Nd6-b7 This wins a second pawn. Black resigned. Quite fascinating too was the first game between Alexei Shirov from Spain and Ivan Sokolov from Bosnia (or from Holland, where he lives). White: Shirov Black: Sokolov 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 3. Nf3xe5 d7-d6 4. Ne5-f3 Nf6xe4 5. d2-d4 d6-d5 6. Bf1-d3 Nb8-c6 7. 0-0 Bf8-e7 8. Rf1-e1 Bc8-g4 9. c2-c4 Ne4-f6 10. Nb1-c3 0-0 11. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 12. h2h3 Bg4-e6 13. a2-a3 Be7-f6 14. Nc3-e4 Be6-f5 15. Qd1-b3 Nd5-b6 16. d4-d5 Bf5xe4 17. Bd3xe4 Nc6-e7 18. Bc1-e3 Ne7-c8 19. Ra1c1 Nc8-d6 20. Be4-b1 Qd8-d7 White may have a slight advantage, but all Black's pieces are decently placed and his position is hard to attack. 21. Rc1-c5 g7-g6 22. Re1-c1 Ra8-c8 23. Nf3-d4 a7-a6 24. Bb1-a2 Rf8-e8 25. Qb3-d3 Nd6-e4 26. Rc5-a5 Qd7-d6 27. b2-b4 Bf6-e5 28. Nd4-f3 Be5-b2 29. Rc1-c2 Bb2-g7 30. Be3-c5 Qd6-d7 31. Ba2-b3 Rc8-d8 32. Bc5-e3 Qd7-d6 33. Ra5-c5 Rd8-d7 34. Nf3-d2 Ne4-f6 35. Nd2-c4 White has not made much progress and his last move was wrong, according to Sokolov, because now his king remains without protectors. 35...Nb6xc4 36. Bb3xc4 Nf6-e4 37. Rc5-a5 Rd7-e7 38. Bc4-b3 Bg7-e5 Suddenly Black has a dangerous attack. 39. Bb3-a4 He cannot find a defense anymore and tries for a counter attack, but this comes too late. 39...Be5-h2+ 40. Kg1-f1 Ne4-g3+ (See Diagram) 41. Kf1-e1 b7-b5 42. Rc2-c6 Qd6-e5 43. d5-d6 c7xd6 44. Rc6xa6 Ng3-f5 45. Ba4xb5 Nf5xe3 46. Bb5xe8 Qe5-a1+ 47. Ke1-d2 Qa1b2+ White resigned. Sokolov lost the next game to Shirov and then was eliminated in the tie-breaker, but Viktor the Indestructible and Indefatigable after some frantic tie-break games went on to the next round. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad August 7, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Doping I entered my neigbourhood bar and from two sides it came at the same time: "Hey, what did I read, you chessplayers too will have to piss into a little bottle after the game, ha, ha, ha!" Unholy glee, thinly disguised as good-natured fun. They had read a newspaper article in which the prospect of doping tests in the chess world had been raised. It hasn't happened yet. The Dutch Chess Federation has asked for an exemption from the doping rules that all Dutch sport federations have to apply if they want to receive their full government subsidy. This exception has been granted temporarily, but only pending a scientific investigation into the chess-improving possibilities of certain substances. And now that FIDE has been adopted by the International Olympic Comittee, the spectre of doping tests threatens us all. Many years ago I asked some experts in physiology if they could think of substances that would improve the performance of chess players. My interest was mainly a general scientific one, though I certainly intended to make personal use of interesting tips, would they come my way. I considered taking performance-enhancing drugs a human right, and I still do. But these useful tips failed to come. Maybe I did not meet the right experts and it is also possible that there are better drugs now than there were then. These imminent doping test are a good example how legislators can create a problem out of thin air. A "doping problem" does not exist in the chess world. Not yet. But when doping tests are introduced, prominent chessplayers will be forced to take the advice of medicine men who can tell them how much coffee they may drink and if their nose drops are on the black list. And once these contacts are established, it will be only natural to ask the medicine man if he can give some help improving the performance. When there will be doping tests in the chess world, there will be doping. Maybe my worries are groundless. The German Chess Federation had already introduced doping rules in 1992, under pressure of the general German Sports Federation. I never heard af actual tests in Germany. But, on the other hand, the no-smoking rule originated in Germany too, again to accommodate the sports federation. We laughed at it then and now we know no better. In 1992 I wrote: "Next year in Dortmund. Kasparov and Timman fill their bottle, strictly according to the international rules of procedure (shirt up, trousers down, a medical doctor has to be present to check that the urine comes out of the officially designated aperture). Will chessplayers accept this? They wouldn't be worth their salt if they did. Out of respect for the

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memory of Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca and Alekhine, I do hope - though in general I am not in favor of coercion - that in this special case the Grandmasters Association would sternly command its members, on pain of expulsion, to boycot this nonsense." Alas, the Grandmasters Association is no more, but now, as then, a chessplayer who would discredit the chessworld by submitting to these humiliating procedures, deserves to be expelled from it, greased with tar and feathers, and avoided like a leper. But enough of this unsavory subject. Let us turn now to the game that Kasparov and Timman played on Sunday September 5 in the port area of Rotterdam, about 30 miles from the city itself. On a gigantic board the pieces were containers, moved by big cranes. It would have been exciting to have the players handle these cranes themselves, but probably quite dangerous too. In fact they were sitting in an office and played at a normal board. The time control was 25 minutes for the whole game, but after every move there was a pause of about two minutes when no clock was running, to allow the crane handlers to catch up. I noticed that on the internet an official of the Dutch chess federation suggested that Timman's win was probably fixed in advance. Your best friends are in the federation! In fact the Kasparov I know is not at all disposed to agreements to lose his games. White: Kasparov Black: Timman 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6 4. d2-d3 Bf8-c5 5. c2-c3 d7-d6 6. Bc4-b3 0-0 7. Bc1-g5 Bc8-e6 8. Nb1-d2 a7-a6 9. h2-h3 Bc5-a7 10. Bg5-h4 A rather meek set-up, contrary to Kasparov's habits. 10...Kg8-h8 11. g2-g4 Nc6-e7 12. Bh4xf6 g7xf6 Already the old masters knew that this weakening was not always serious, and certainly not now, when White himself has weakened the square f4. 13. Nf3-h4 Ne7-g6 14. Nh4-g2 c7-c6 15. Qd1-f3 d6-d5 16. Nd2-f1 a6-a5 17. Nf1-g3 Ba7-c5 18. a2-a4 Bc5-e7 19. Bb3-a2 Ra8-a6 20. Ng3-h5 Ra6-b6 21. Qf3-e2 Qd8-d6 22. 0-0 Rf8-d8 23. Rf1-d1 d5-d4 24. Rd1-d2 Qd6-c5 Apparently the players do not want to be distracted from their long and slow manoevres by tactical considerations. Doesn't 24...dxc3 25. bxc3 Qa3 win a pawn here? 25. Rd2-c2 Qc5-d6 26. Ng2-e1 Rd8-g8 27. Ne1-f3 Qd6-d7 28. Kg1-h1 c6-c5 29. Ba2xe6 Black had a good game anyway, but this move, rectifying Black's pawn structure, is a serious positional concession. 29...f7xe6 30. Nf3-d2 Rb6-a6 And here 30...dxc3 31. bxc3 Rd6 wins a pawn, though White might get some compensation. 31. Nd2-c4 Be7-d8 32. Rc2-c1 Rg8-f8 33. f2-f3 Bd8-c7 34. Ra1-a3 Ra6-a8 35. Ra3-b3 Qd7xa4 36. Rb3xb7 Qa4-c6 37. Rb7-b3 f6-f5 (See Diagram) 38. Nc4-d2 Rf8-f7 39. c3-c4 a5-a4 40. Rb3-b5 Bc7-a5 41. Nd2-f1 Ba5-b4 42. Nf1-g3 f5xg4 43. f3xg4 Ra8-f8 44. Rc1-f1 Qc6-e8 45. Rf1xf7 Qe8xf7 46. g4-g5 Ng6-f4 47. Qe2-f3 Nf4xh5 48. Qf3xh5 Qf7-f2 49. Ng3-e2 Qf2-f3+ 50. Qh5xf3 Rf8xf3 51. Kh1-g2 Rf3xd3 52. Ne2-g3 Kh8-g7 53. Rb5-b6 Bb4-e1 54. Ng3-f1 Kg7-f7 55. Nf1-h2 Rd3-d2+ 56. Kg2-h1 Rd2-e2 57. Nh2-g4 Re2xe4 58. Ng4-f6 Re4-e2 59. Nf6xh7 and White resigned. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans39.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:06 PM]

It was a day of high and noble visitors, for while the Rotterdam area was receiving Kasparov, Amsterdam had Alexei Shirov, who played a blindfold simul at Chess in the Vondelpark, a yearly event of simuls and blitz play. Against five opponents he scored 3-2. The only player to beat him was a promising Amsterdam youngster of (I think) 13 years old. White: Shirov Black: Erwin l'Ami 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 6. g2-g4 Nb8-c6 7. g4-g5 Nf6-d7 8. Bc1-e3 a7-a6 9. f2-f4 Qd8-c7 10. Bf1-g2 b7-b5 11. 0-0 Bc8-b7 12. f4-f5 Nc6xd4 13. Qd1xd4 Nd7-e5 14. f5xe6 f7xe6 15. a2-a4 b5xa4 16. Nc3xa4 Bf8-e7 17. Na4-b6 Ra8-b8 18. Bg2-h3 Not good. 18...Qc7xc2 For now that e4 is hanging this is quite strong. 19. Qd4-a4+ Qc2xa4 20. Ra1xa4 Bb7-c6 21. Ra4-a5 Trying to make the best of a bad thing by preparing an Exchange sacrifice. 21...Be7-d8 22. Ra5xe5 d6xe5 23. Nb6-c4 Rb8-b3 24. Nc4-d6+ Ke8-d7 25. Nd6-c4 Kd7-e8 26. Nc4-d6+ Ke8-d7 27. Nd6-c4 Bc6xe4 28. Nc4xe5+ Kd7-c7 29. Rf1-f7+ Kc7-d6 30. Ne5-c4+ Kd6-c6 31. Bh3xe6 It seems as if White has some counterplay, but Black's next ends it all. (See Diagram) 31...Rb3xe3 32. Nc4xe3 Bd8-b6 33. Kg1-f2 Rh8-d8 34. Kf2-e2 Be4-d3+ 35. Ke2-f3 Bd3-g6 The main threat is 36...Rd3 36. Ne3-c4 Bg6xf7 37. Be6xf7 Bb6-c7 38. Kf3-e4 Bc7xh2 White resigned. P.S. A few days after I had written this article a report in the Swiss weekly Schachwoche showed me that my hope that the chess world would resist the doping squad may have been too optimistic. At an open tournament in Porto San Giorgio, Italy, doping test were carried out at the start of the last round. Results are not yet know, but it may well turn out that some players had taken too much coffee. Will they lose their prize money? Will they be suspended from chess? In the chess world those who have kept their senses are fighting a rear-guard action, it often seems. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad September 11, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Fried Liver I bought Il Gazettino for the weather forecast and to see if there was anything about chess. There wasn't. Earlier I had tried to find a chess club in the telephone book, but in that too I had failed. Pity, I like to see something of the local chess life when I am abroad. But when I crossed the little square for a second time and passed the newsstand, it turned out that I had found a chess club without trying. At the back of the newsstand they were playing chess. A board and pieces, a clock and five men who alternated according to the system "winner stays". I was allowed to take part and sat myself on a little chair, but this was wrong; I had to sit at the other side of the board, my back to the newsstand, on a pile of magazines. My opponent was the newsvendor himself and from the chair he could keep an eye on his customers. When a tourist took one of his newspapers he cried something like "Three thousand! Please put the money on the counter!" Sometimes there was a difficult customer who needed personal attention; then he would stop the clock to attend to his business, but this did not happen very often, because most people realized that his customers were not his first priority now, but chess. He put on some music in the little stall. The Miles Davis quintet with John Coltrane. I was among chessplayers, I was listening to my favorite music and I had a view of the Canal Grande and its fabulous palazzos. It was in Venice. I have avoided mentioning the name till now, so I would not dishearten you. One is advised against writing about Venice and with good reason. Because of the special beauty of the city even the best writers are seduced into thinking themselves very special too and they adopt a grandiloquent tone of the cultural gourmet. But now I cannot avoid the name of Venice anymore, because I too was seduced into cultural- historical musings. Early in the seventeenth century Leo da Modena had been a rabbi in this city. In his youth he had written a pamphlet against all games. This was because he was fatally addicted to them himself. My encyclopedia says: "Leo's life was particularly unhappy. As a result of his gaming debts, he was forced to pursue all kinds of trades and crafts; his children died young and his wife went insane. His great fame came only after his death." My newsvendor had lost a lot of business because of his passion for chess. He spoke English well and he knew all the prices of foreign newspapers by heart. Couldn't he find a more lucrative profession? It seemed to me that he had his newsstand only to put a chessboard in the back. I asked if there were chess clubs in Venice. "There are two more, but this here is in fact the biggest. At the

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others you'll find a few old men, moving their pieces with shaking hands." The group had realized by now that I was a stronger player than they were. Moreover I had told them that I knew personally their fellow Venetian Antonio Rosino, the chess correspondent of Il Gazettino. One of the men asked the unthinkable, if maybe I had known Fischer. "Oh yes, I have played him in a tournament in Israel in 1968." I do not want to boast, but they reacted as if a saint had descended into their midst. They did not ask for the result of our game, this they took rightly for granted. What opening to play here? The Venetian, that seemed to fit the occasion, but alas, I wasn't familiar with any opening of that name. Then what? After a while it dawned on me. Of course, the Fegatello! Or, as it is still sometimes called, the Fried Liver variation. Fegato alla veneziano, fried liver with onions and polenta, is a famous dish, a specialty of the city. The Italian masters had already investigated the Fegatello back in the sixteenth century and they had given the variation its strange name. In the course of an hour of blitz games I managed to dish up the Fried Liver once. I do not think that the Venetians realized that it was meant as a tribute to their city. If you want to try it yourselves as well, the newsstand is near the Academia bridge, at the Dorsoduro side. And for opening preparation, the nicest game with the Fried Liver I could find, was played by the famous chess historian Baron Tassilo von Heydebrand und der Lasa, who died a hundred years ago. White Von der Lasa-Black Mayet, Berlin 1839 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6 4. Nf3-g5 d7-d5 5. e4xd5 Nf6xd5 6. Ng5xf7 There it is, the Fegatello. 6...Ke8xf7 7. Qd1-f3+ Kf7-e6 8. Nb1-c3 Nc6-e7 This line is called Fegatello de Polerio and is nowadays considered inferior to 8...Nb4, Fegatello de Domenico. 9. d2-d4 b7-b5 10. Nc3xb5 c7-c6 11. Nb5-c3 Qd8-b6 12. d4xe5 Bc8-b7 13. Nc3-e4 Qb6-b4+ 14. Bc1-d2 Qb4xc4 15. Qf3-g4+ Ke6xe5 16. f2-f4+ Ke5-d4 (See Diagram) 17. c2-c3+ Nd5xc3 18. Bd2xc3+ Kd4xe4 19. f4-f5+ Ke4-d5 20. 0-0-0+ Kd5-c5 21. b2-b4+ Kc5-b5 22. a2-a4+ Black resigned. Because we shouldn't be stuck in the past completely, here is an exciting game from the VAM tournament in the Dutch town of Hoogeveen. There was a group of four players who played each other twice. Their final scores: Jan Timman and Judit Polgar 3.5, Karpov 3 and Darmen Sadvakasov, the youth champion of 1998, 2. Apart from this group, there was a strong open, won on tie-break by the Russian Belgian Mikhail Gurevich, and a large amateur section. White Timman-Black Judit Polgar

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1. Ng1-f3 c7-c5 2. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 3. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 4. d2-d4 c5xd4 5. Nf3xd4 e7-e6 6. a2-a3 Qd8-c7 7. Nd4-b5 Qc7-b8 8. g2-g3 a7-a6 9. Nb5-d4 Nc6xd4 10. Qd1xd4 b7-b5 Black plays provocatively sharp. 11. e2-e4 e6-e5 12. Qd4-e3 Qb8-c7 13. c4xb5 Bf8-c5 14. Qe3-f3 Bc5-d4 15. Bc1-g5 Bd4xc3+ 16. b2xc3 Nf6xe4 Again the sharpest move, but at this stage it is quite forced. 17. Qf3xe4 Bc8-b7 18. Qe4-b4 f7-f6 19. b5-b6 Qc7-c6 20. 0-0-0 White, not a timid player himself, offers an exchange sacrifice. 20...Qc6xh1 Which she has to accept, because 28...fxg5 29. Bh3 is quite bad for Black and 20...a5 doesn't improve things after 21. Qb3. 21. Bf1-h3 Qh1-e4 22. Qb4-d6 Ke8-f7 23. Qd6xd7+ Kf7-g6 24. Bh3-e6 Rh8-f8 25. Bg5-e3 Ra8-d8 She misses White's nice next move. Better was 25...Bc6 with an unclear position. (See Diagram) 26. g3-g4 This way White regains his exchange and forces a favorable ending, which however stays quite difficult for a while. 26...Rd8xd7 27. Be6-f5+ Qe4xf5 28. g4xf5+ Kg6xf5 29. Rd1xd7 Bb7-e4 30. Rd7xg7 Kf5-e6 31. Kc1-b2 Rf8-d8 32. Kb2-b3 f6-f5 33. Kb3-b4 f5-f4 34. Be3-c5 Rd8-d7 35. Rg7-g8 Be4-b7 36. Rg8-e8+ Ke6-f5 37. c3-c4 e5-e4 38. Kb4-a5 h7-h5 39. Re8-b8 e4-e3 40. f2xe3 f4-f3 41. e3-e4+ Bb7xe4 42. Ka5xa6 Kf5-g4 43. a3-a4 Rd7-f7 44. a4-a5 Kg4-h3 45. b6-b7 Kh3xh2 46. Ka6-b6 Rf7-f6+ 47. Kb6-a7 Rf6-f7 48. a5-a6 Be4-d3 49. Rb8-c8 Kh2-h3 50. Ka7-b6 Rf7-f6+ 51. Rc8-c6 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad October 23, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Juvenile Crime Not everyone agrees that an official world championship for "under 10's" is of educational value to the kids, but psychology is not my field and not my subject here. In the Spanish town of Oropesa del Mar, ten world championships were held together: for under ten, twelve, fourteen, sixteen and eighteen, and all this both for girls and boys. The Dutch great hope was Daniel Stellwagen, twelve years old. There was a tense situation before the last round in the under-12 section. Stellwagen was equal with the Chinese Wang with 8 out of 12. If both drew or both won, Stellwagen would be world champion on tie-break. He had to play with White against the Russian Tomashevsky; Wang was Black against his countryman Huang. Black, white, green or red, it would really make no difference, because the Chinese have a reputation to be indecently helpful to each other if it suits the common cause. And so it happened. Stellwagen made a draw. The two Chinese had done little in their game, moving their pieces to and fro. Huang had been a bit better all the time, but during the last few moves the advantage had changed hands and now it was Wang who was a bit better. But in fact it made no difference at all who had the advantage. Within a minute after Stellwagen had agreed the draw, Huang resigned his game. No question of time trouble - he had half an hour left for two moves in a drawn position. Wang was world champion. Of course the Dutch delegation filed a protest. This was rejected, although the appeals committee went out of its way to show sympathy for the Dutch side, declaring that cases like this were unfortunately all too common but impossible to act against, because hard proof was always lacking. Yes indeed, it always is. Better proof than in this obvious case of cheating you will never get. One cannot blame the Chinese boys. They are twelve years old or younger. No doubt they had older and more experienced attendants who had instructed them as to their duties to the Fatherland. For Daniel Stellwagen, it was bitter to be cheated out of a world championship this way. But he was not entirely blameless himself. He should have played on against Tomashevsky instead of agreeing to a draw. Not only because he could have foreseen the trick that would be played on him, but also because he was clearly better in his game. These were words, but only moves can make an argument. Here is the game between the two Chinese boys.

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White: Huang Black: Wang 1. e4 e6 2. d3 c5 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nbd2 Nf6 5. g3 b6 6. Bg2 Bb7 7. Qe2 Be7 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Re1 Nc6 10. c3 a5 11. e5 Nd7 12. a4 Re8 13. Nf1 Nf8 14. h4 Qc7 15. N1h2 Ba6 Up till here the game is unexceptionable, but now they start moving their pieces rather aimlessly, waiting for developments elsewhere. 16. Qd1 Ng6 17. Qe2 Nf8 18. Bf1 Reb8 19. Ng4 Qb7 20. Bg2 b5 21. axb5 Qxb5 22. Bf1 Qb3 23. Ra3 Qb6 24. Ra2 Bb7 25. Qc2 Qc7 26. h5 d4 27. Nd2 Nd7 28. Nc4 Nb6 29. Bf4 Nd5 30. Bd2 Nb6 31. Bg2 Nxc4 32. dxc4 Nd8 33. Bxb7 Qxb7 34. Rea1 Qf3 35. Qd1 Qxd1+ 36. Rxd1 Nc6 37. Rda1 Ra7 38. f4 Rab7 (See Diagram) Here White resigned. Indeed Black is slightly better now, but of course resignation cannot be justified by the situation on the board. It has happened once before that the Netherlands missed a kind of world championship under circumstances that caused suspicion. I was involved myself, so I am not an impartial witness. I give the facts. It was at the Haifa Olympiad in 1976. Progressive peace-loving countries did not take part, because of Israeli-Arab problems. And so before the last round the Netherlands and the USA were leading with equal points. If it stayed that way, the Netherlands would win the Olympiad on tie-breaks. At the time of adjournment in the last round the US had taken a 3-0 lead against Wales, but their last game was adjourned in a lost position. The Netherlands were up 1.5-0.5 against Finland with two adjourned games. Timman had serious winning chances against Westerinen and the Dutch master Kuijpers had an insignificant advantage against the Finnish player Saren. One and a half points out of these two games could reasonably be expected, and this actually did occur. It would be enough to win the Olympiad, had Wales won its adjourned game. But in fact strange things had happened there. (See Diagram) White: Kd4, Rc5, Rh1; pawns - e4, f2, g2, g3 Black: Kd6, Ra2, Rh8; pawns - a6, c4, h6 This was the adjourned position in the game Cooper (Wales)Commons (US). When play was resumed two hours later, it turned out that White's sealed move was 41.Rc5-f5, a good move. Commons replied 41...Kd6- e7 (another good move that makes way for his Rook to give checks) and had the cheek to offer a draw in a position which he knew to be quite lost. What did Cooper do? He did nothing. He made no move and let his clock run for three quarters of an hour, after which he was in time trouble and could honorably accept the draw. I am not absolutely sure that this was foul play. It is conceivable that Cooper indeed went out of his mind because of the threat of the black Rook checks. But it is difficult to believe. He was winning. There were no chances to lose; the worst that could happen to him was that file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans41.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:06 PM]

Commons would squeeze a draw. He had had two hours after adjournment to analyze the position and after that the better part of an hour on his clock before he went on his big think. Could he really not come up with one decent move? I wonder what Americans think of this; they screamed bloody murder when Russia overtook them in the last round by winning 4-0 against the Georgia women team in Lucerne 1997. So, in 1976, the Americans won the gold and we won the silver. After the prize-giving ceremony we were visited by Israeli coin collectors who wanted to buy our medals. Donner sold his, because he thought that coins should be in the possession of coin-lovers. The other team members did not, and in this we were quite wrong, because later, whenever I saw that miserable silver medal, I had to think, gnashing my teeth, of that wretched Cooper-Commons game. By the way, now that I think of it, where is that rotten medal? No idea. I must have buried it deep down away. To end this story here's something more uplifting, a nice game from Daniel Stellwagen's world championship. White: Stellwagen (Netherlands) Black: Alavi (Iran) 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 3. Nf3xe5 d7-d6 4. Ne5xf7 This he must have learned from GM Dimitri Reinderman, one of the seconds for the Dutch team. 4...Ke8xf7 White's daring sacrifice has occurred in the highest circles. In Topalov-Kramnik, Linares 1999, after 5. Nc3 c5 White had to fight hard for the draw. 5. d2-d4 Bf8-e7 In Reinderman-Van der Sterren, Lost Boys tournament Amsterdam 1999, Black played the strange 5...Nxe4 6. Qh5+ g6 7. Qd5+ Kg7, preferring to play a pawn down rather than a piece up. 6. Nb1-c3 Rh8-e8 7. Bf1-c4+ Kf7-f8 8. 0-0 c7-c5 9. d4-d5 Nf6-d7 10. f2-f4 Be7-f6 Maybe alright, but it provokes a violent attack. 11. e4-e5 d6xe5 12. Qd1-h5 Main threat 13. d6 12...Kf8-g8 After 12...Nb6, 13. fxe5 Rxe5 14. Qxe5 Nxc4 would be alright for Black, but 13. Bb5 is stronger. 13. d5-d6+ Kg8-h8 14. Bc4-f7 e5xf4 Correctly returning material. After 14...Rf8 or 14. Rg8 White would surely have a winning attack. 15. Bf7xe8 Bf6-d4+ 16. Kg1-h1 Nd7-f6 17. Rf1xf4 Black may have overlooked this move, but if now he had found 17...Nbd7, he certainly wouldn't have been worse. 17...Qd8xd6 18. Rf4xf6 Qd6xf6 Material is equal again, but White's huge lead in development quickly decides. 19. Bc1-g5 Qf6-f5 20. Be8-b5 g7-g6 21. Qh5-h4 Nb8-d7 22. Ra1-e1 a7-a6 23. Re1-e8+ Nd7-f8 24. Bb5-d3 Qf5-f7 25. Re8-e7 Qf7-f2 26. Qh4xf2 Bd4xf2 27. Bg5-f6+ Kh8-g8 28. Re7-g7+ Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad November 13, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Chess Quarrels Now that the news item has reached foreign lands, it is no use trying to conceal it anymore. It first appeared in the Dutch newspaper Nieuwsblad van het Noorden (Newspaper of the North), then in our chess magazine Schaaknieuws and recently in the Swiss weekly Schachwoche. The subject was a game of chess between two women from the Dutch city Groningen; they were fifty and sixty years old. The game was played at the home of the sixty-year old lady. Her opponent had suddenly grabbed the marble chess board and hit her on the head with it. The victim, with broken nose and a painful shoulder, fled her house and asked her neighbour for help. He informed the police and the assailant was caught and taken away in handcuffs. This news item leaves many questions unanswered. I'd like to know if she was in menopause, said the chessmaster's wife. I'd like to know the adjourned position, said the chessmaster. Whoever thinks that chess violence is a recent development has it wrong. In the wonderful anthology Chess Pieces by Norman Knight I found these two items, written in the fifteenth century and describing chess life at the court of Charlemagne. "Therfor theene toke Reynawde ye ches borde, and smote Berthelot upon his hede so harde that he cloved him to the teeth." And also (modern translation from the original French): "And Charlot seized the chess-board and said thus: 'Ha, lecherous bastard, must you talk so much about it?' And raises the chessboard and gave him such a great blow with it that he dashed out all his brains and forced his two eyes out of his head, and he fell dead in the middle of the place." So it seems that men are more forceful in this kind of chess struggle, though it must be admitted that the veracity of these reports, written centuries after the deeds, are doubtful as it is unlikely that chess was in fact played at Charlemagne's court. A woman who probably doesn't play chess is the Spanish socialist Maria Sornosa, a member of the European Parliament. According to Leontxo Garcia of the Spanish newspaper El Pais she wants to abolish women's competitions in chess because she finds them discriminatory, and in the parliament in Brussels she stated: "According to present legislation in all member states of the European Union, there is an express interdiction of mixed chess competitions between members of both sexes." This would indeed be bad if true, but we know that the abuse exists only in the parliamentarian's imagination. Such bland disregard for the real world by politicians has been seen before, when in 1986 the American Senate and House passed a joint resolution stating

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that the United States recognized Fischer as the official World Chess Champion. From the start this article may have appeared a bit male-chauvinist and it may seem going from bad to worse when we come to the next game from the European championship (for national teams), recently held in Batumi, Georgia. But appearances deceive, for the blame lies not with the women chess players, but with FIDE. Everywhere on the Web there were laments about the ridiculous game scores on the FIDE website. At some point the people from Club Kasparov had had enough and decided to print a game in the original FIDE-version, without corrections. "The women are the worst victims," they wrote. Chess according to FIDE, see and wonder. It's quite impossible to reconstruct from this score the real course of the game. White Mkrtchian (Armenia)-Black Bojkovic (Yugoslavia) EU Ch women, Batumi 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. Nd4 Here we can still gather what really happened. FIDE must have forgotten to put in the moves 3. d4 cxd4. 3...Nf6 4. Nc3 a6 5. Be2 e5 6. Nb3 Be7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. a4 Be6 9. f4 Nc6 10. Kh1 d5 11. Na5 But from now on we are at a complete loss. 11...dxe4 12. Nxe4 Qd5 13. d4 Wasn't that pawn gone on move 3? 13...Rac8 14. Nc3 Qf3 15. Bxf3 Nxd4 16. Bxb7 e4 17. Nxe4 h6 18. Bxa6 Ra8 19. Nd2 Rfb8 20. Bb5 Rc8 21. h3 Draw! In Batumi the women's championship was won by Slovakia and the general championship (men + Judit Polgar) by Armenia. In the men's event Hungary (favorite at the start) was second, Germany third. By the way, in my original Dutch-language article I had written that Slovenia had won the women's competition. It is a true friend who points out your errors and in this case it was Geurt Gijssen who phoned and suggested that I was beyond bothering to distinguish between new countries like Slovenia and Slovakia that didn't exist as a state during my schooldays. This was not quite true. Slovenia had been on my mind because a Slovenian website was generally praised for giving accurate results, contrary to FIDE. I do realise that my excuse is very similar to that of the proverbial drill-sergeant who maintained that water boils at 90 degrees (Celsius of course) and only at the next drill-session admitted that he had been confusing boiling water with the right angle of classical geometry. The Dutch did not do exceptionally well in Batumi. The woman team shared 27th place and the men shared tenth with five other countries. All had been right with our men until they played Armenia and lost file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans42.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:07 PM]

3-1. White Anastasian (Armenia)-Black Tiviakov (Netherlands, this event saw his debut for our country) 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. Bc1-g5 d7-d5 3. e2-e3 c7-c5 4. Bg5xf6 g7xf6 5. c2-c4 c5xd4 6. e3xd4 Bf8-g7 7. Nb1-c3 d5xc4 8. Bf1xc4 0-0 9. Ng1-e2 Nb8-c6 10. d4-d5 Nc6-e5 11. Bc4-b3 f6-f5 12. 0-0 Qd8-d6 13. Ne2-d4 Ne5-g4 14. Nd4-f3 Bc8-d7 15. h2-h3 Ng4-e5 16. Rf1-e1 Ne5-g6 17. Qd1-d2 b7-b5 18. Nc3-e2 a7-a5 19. Ra1-d1 a5-a4 20. Bb3-c2 Rf8-c8 21. Ne2-g3 Bg7xb2 22. Bc2xf5 Bb2-c3 23. Qd2-h6 Bd7xf5 24. Ng3xf5 Qd6-f6 25. g2-g4 Bc3xe1 26. Rd1xe1 Ra8-a7 27. Nf3-g5 Qf6-h8 28. Qh6-h5 Rc8-f8 29. Nf5-h6+ Kg8-g7 30. Ng5-f3 Rf8-d8 31. Nf3-d4 Ra7-d7 32. Nh6-f5+ Kg7-g8 33. Nd4-c6 Qh8-c3 34. Re1-e3 Qc3-a1+ 35. Kg1-h2 Rd8-e8 36. Qh5-h6 Qa1-f6 37. h3-h4 (See Diagram) 37...Kg8-h8? 38. h4-h5 Rd7xd5 39. Nc6xe7 Rd5-d8 40. h5xg6 f7xg6 41. Qh6xh7+ Kh8xh7 42. Re3-h3+ Black resigned. Before World War II Rudolf Spielmann was called "the last Knight of the King's gambit." Now Alexei Fedorov from White-Russia deserves this title. Everybody knows it and can prepare for it, but still Fedorov is winning one game after another against strong opposition with this gambit, perhaps because few players choose the oldest and strongest defense 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5. White Fedorov (White-Russia)-Black Jusupov (Germany) 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 d7-d5 3. e4xd5 e5xf4 4. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 5. Bf1-c4 Nf6xd5 6. Bc4xd5 Qd8xd5 7. Nb1-c3 Qd5-d8 8. d2-d4 Bf8-d6 9. Qd1-e2+ Qd8-e7 10. Qe2xe7+ Ke8xe7 Better is 10...Bxe7 to keep the option of castling. 11. Bc1xf4 Bd6xf4 12. Nc3-d5+ Ke7-f8 13. Nd5xf4 Nb8-d7 14. 0-0 Nd7-f6 15. Nf3-e5 a7-a5 16. c2-c4 Ra8-a6 17. d4-d5 h7-h5 18. h2-h3 h5-h4 19. Ra1-e1 Bc8-f5 This amounts, at best, to a serious loss of time. 20. Nf4-e2 Rh8-h5 He should have humbly retreated with 20...Bc8, but of course this wouldn't have been a pleasure either. (See Diagram) 21. g2-g4 Winning material. 21...Bf5xg4 For after 21...hxg3 22. Nxg3 Rg5 23. Rxf5 Rxg3 24. Kh2 Black's Rook is trapped. 22. Ne5xg4 Nf6xg4 23. h3xg4 Ra6-g6 24. b2-b3 Rg6xg4+ 25. Kg1-h2 a5-a4 26. Ne2-c3 a4xb3 27. a2xb3 c7-c6 28. d5-d6 Rg4-d4 29. Nc3-d5 Rd4-d2+ 30. Kh2-h1 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" December 11, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Master X Who is the strongest player in history? At the end of last year many chess lovers gave the matter some thought and most of them indicated the usual suspects. A man who had an opinion all his own on this subject was the great master and teacher Pyotr Romanovsky, who lived from 1892 till 1964. He used to put the question to his pupils who then came up with the classic answers. Maybe Alekhine? Botvinnik perhaps? At the moment when all world champions and near-champions had come up and been rejected by the master, the question was burning on the pupils's lips: who then was it? Then, as Genna Sosonko once told me, Romanovsky used to stay silent for a while and when the tension had become almost unbearable, he said solemnly: "The strongest chess player of all time was James Mason." James Mason was described, on the eve of the great Hastings 1895 tournament, more or less like this (I quote from memory): "About Mason it has recently been written that in a sober state he doesn't have to lose a game to anyone. This may be true, but as this state is increasingly rare, it must be feared that his result here will be as mediocre as in his previous tournament." This indeed sums up the image of Mason in chess history. Of course one proves oneself a rare connoisseur, putting up Mason as the greatest chess player of all time. I will not pretend to be a connoisseur as delicate as Romanovsky. True, my candidate is even less famous than James Mason, but I have not discovered his qualities independently. Until recently I had never played over one of his games. The following story I take from the book Soviet Chess 1917-1991 by Andrew Soltis, a rich mine of anecdotes and information. At the end of 1929 the Leningrad newspaper Smyena reported that an anonymous reader had challenged the ten best players of the city to take part in a simul against him, to be played by telephone. The event was arranged and among the opponents of "Master X" were heavy-weights like Ilyin-Genevsky, Botvinnik, Ragozin, Rokhlin and Leonid Kubbel, the famous study composer. Master X quickly got a favorable position in most of his games. Who was he? Could he be Abram Model, who was commenting on the games in the newspaper? This seemed highly unlikely as Model was not supposed to be able to hold himself against such distinguished company. But in fact Master X turned out to be Abram Model. From ten games he won seven and drew three. Compared to this feat, Kasparov's extraordinary victories in simuls against national teams shrink into insignificance.

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I cherish the following scene: My spell-bound pupils anxiously await my verdict. Then I say solemnly: "Few people are aware of it, but the strongest chess player of all time was Abram Model." Model lived from 1895 till 1976. He was a teacher of mathematics. Soltis quotes Model's friend Dmitry Rovner who wrote that Model "to his misfortune was talented not only in chess but in mathematics, in music, in writing poetry." He also had the talent to make people laugh and even succeeded in having the serious Botvinnik "laugh himself silly". But, says Rovner, everything came too easily to Model and he never found a reason to work hard at chess. This fabulous simul by Master X brings back an old memory. The Interzonal of 1964 in Amsterdam was won by Smyslov, Larsen, Spassky and Tal. After the last round, the organizers received a letter from a man living in The Hague who, under the motto "Cloesmeijer teaches the Grandmasters", challenged these giants to a clock simul in which he would take on all four of them. This interesting event however fell through. What if it had really happened? Who knows, maybe after a solemn pause I would have to tell my pupils: "The strongest chess player of all time was not James Mason, not Abram Model, but Cloesmeijer from The Hague..." One of the few players who managed to snatch a half-point from Model in his simul was Botvinnik. Their game was hardly exciting, but certainly of some historical interest. White Model-Black Botvinnik, simul Leningrad 1929 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4. e4xd5 e6xd5 5. Bf1-d3 Nb8-c6 6. Ng1-e2 Ng8-e7 7. 0-0 Bc8-g4 8. f2-f3 Bg4-e6 9. a2-a3 Bb4-a5 10. Nc3-a4 0-0 11. c2-c3 Be6-f5 12. Ne2-g3 Bf5xd3 13. Dd1xd3 Ba5-b6 14. Na4xb6 a7xb6 15. Bc1-g5 f7-f6 16. Bg5-d2 Qd8-d7 17. Ra1-e1 Ra8-e8 18. Re1-e2 Ne7-c8 (See Diagram) 19. Re2xe8 Rf8xe8 20. Rf1-e1 Re8xe1+ 21. Bd2xe1 Nc8-d6 22. Be1-d2 Nd6-c4 23. Bd2-c1 Nc6-a5 24. Qd3-d1 Qd7-e8 25. Ng3-f1 Qe8-g6 26. b2-b3 Nc4-d6 27. Bc1-f4 Nd6-e8 28. Nf1-e3 Qg6-f7 29. b3-b4 Na5-c6 30. h2-h4 Draw The next game is much more interesting. It was played not in a simul, but in the fifth Soviet Championship, where Model shared third place with Duz-Khotimirsky and Botvinnik shared fifth with Vladimir Makogonov. The tournament was won by Bohatirchuk, who later was to be written out of Soviet chess history as a traitor to the Fatherland. White Botvinnik-Black Model, Moscow 1927 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4. e4-e5 c7-c5 5. a2-a3 c5xd4 6. a3xb4 d4xc3 7. b2xc3 Qd8-c7 8. Ng1-f3 Ng8-e7 9. Bf1-d3 Nb8-d7 10. 0-0 Nd7xe5 11. Bc1-f4 Ne5xf3+ 12. Qd1xf3 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans43.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:07 PM]

e6-e5 13. Bd3-b5+ Ke8-f8 14. Bf4-g3 Bc8-f5 15. Qf3-e3 f7-f6 16. f2-f4 e5-e4 17. Ra1xa7 Ra8xa7 18. Qe3xa7 Kf8-f7 19. Bg3-f2 Rh8-c8 20. Bf2-c5 Bf5-d7 21. c3-c4 Bd7xb5 22. c4xb5 Qc7-d7 23. b5-b6 Ne7-f5 24. Rf1-d1 Rc8-d8 25. c2-c3 Nf5-h4 26. Qa7-a2 Nh4-g6 27. Bc5-e3 Qd7-e6 (See Diagram) 28. c3-c4 d5-d4 29. Rd1xd4 Rd8xd4 30. Be3xd4 Ng6xf4 31. Bd4-e3 g7-g5 32. b4-b5 Nf4-d3 33. Qa2-c2 f6-f5 34. c4-c5 f5-f4 35. Be3-d4 Qe6-d5 36. Qc2-c3 Qd5-a2 37. Qc3-a1 Qa2xa1+ 38. Bd4xa1 Nd3xc5 39. Kg1-f2 Kf7-e6 40. Kf2-e2 Ke6-f5 41. h2-h3 h7-h5 42. Ba1-d4 Nc5-d7 43. Ke2-f2 e4-e3+ 44. Kf2-f3 g5-g4+ 45. h3xg4+ h5xg4+ 46. Kf3-e2 Kf5-e4 47. Bd4-g7 f4-f3+ White resigned. My database gives another win by Model over Botvinnik, in Leningrad 1930, but honesty forces me to admit that it was more often the other way around. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad January 15, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Angry Boss Never inclined to contentedly polish his trophies, Gary Kasparov is still angry about what happened at the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, and in an interview on his website www.kasparovchess.com he spouts his grievances. Apparently everybody had been against him. The organizers were ever so sorry, mournful and even "distraught with grief" whenever he won a game. For his second Yury Dohoian it had been especially painful to visit the press room, where everybody wanted his master to lose. Spectators were conned by the commentators into awarding the daily "prize of the public" to undeserving others and not to Kasparov. Strangers had been allowed on the stage and the journalist John Henderson had been seen snatching food and drinks from a back room restricted to the players. In order to give everyone the chance to form one's own judgement on the injustice done to him, Kasparov has put on his website once again all games that won a spectator's prize at Wijk aan Zee, plus his own wins for comparison. Last year Kasparov was furious at the Spanish organizers from Leon who had used the words "completely unacceptable" in one of their letters. In vain they tried to make him swallow the - indeed improbable - notion that these words have a different and more gentle emotional color in Spanish. At the time it seemed that the whole of Spain would be stricken from Kasparov's list. Now Holland trembles at his wrath. And one imagines a future meeting of World Champions in Heaven, where they exchange notes on their earthly tribulations. "It's the Jews that did it!" says one. "Oh no, it's the Dutch from Wijk aan Zee!" says another. "Don't we all know that in fact it was the bicyclists?" adds a third one. Kasparov's new website is a bit chaotically organized, but it certainly has a lot to offer. As a kind of inauguration party there was an Internet tournament in which Kasparov himself participated. Though Khalifman thinks that Internet tournaments are the wave of the future, most chessplayers consider them a meager substitute for ordinary tournaments. This however did not prevent a strong field from taking part. The prize fund (first prize $20,000) was attractive and most of the players had no other obligations anyway. Only Adams and Seirawan, who played a match in Bermuda, had to play their games in Kasparov's tournament, in between their match games.

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It seems that technology is not yet up to the expectations of Internet devotees. Connections were often lost, most dramatically during the match between Adams and the Israeli computer Deep Junior. Deep Junior had convincingly beaten Illescas 2-0. In its first game against Adams, the Thing was winning with black when the connection was lost. The game was then declared drawn and when a connection could not be re-established in time for the second game, that game was declared a forfeit for Deep Junior. Undefeated without really having conceded one draw, Deep Junior may be considered the moral winner of tournament, a feat, however, that has never consoled one human, let alone a computer. Another problem not experienced in ordinary tournaments is the time lag between opponents. The Indonesian Adianto, playing in a Jakarta hotel, was eliminated around four a.m. by Nigel Short, who was playing at a much more convenient time of day in Greece. The Dutch competitors were Loek van Wely and Jeroen Piket. In the first round, Van Wely beat Ivan Sokolov, whose mind may have been elsewhere, in fact in a different room of his apartment, where his girlfriend was expecting labor pains that were to begin any day. In the next round Van Wely was eliminated by Kasparov. Jeroen Piket was well-prepared for his first match against Yasser Seirawan. He had sent his children out of the house and invited his brother Marcel, a strong chess player himself, for moral support. Representatives of kasparovchess.com were supervising the players to see that they would not consult books, chess playing programs or human advisers. In the case of Piket, the supervising was done by the Dutch player Jan van de Mortel, who has been described on kasparovchess.com as their "regional manager for the Netherlands and Belgium". Working for Kasparov is said to have the advantage of receiving a decent salary, but it certainly requires one to have an elephant's skin. During the Wijk aan Zee tournament, Van de Mortel had written a report on kasparovchess.com in which he had implied that Kasparov had stood badly in his game against Judit Polgar. Now on the same website he is severely reprimanded for this by the Boss himself, in the aforementioned interview. Piket first eliminated Seirawan. Then the great Alexander Morozevich, though only with a lot of effort. The first two games, with one hour thinking time per player for the whole game, were both drawn. Then there were two blitz games. Piket lost the first one with white, but managed to equalize the score in the second game. In the next series of two blitz games he won twice. Morozevich was quoted saying that he had known in advance that, were it to come to a blitz tie- break, he would be clumsy with the mouse and lose. This seems strange, because he has gathered quite file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans44.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:07 PM]

a lot of experience on the Internet Chess Club. Those who wanted to follow the games live on kasparovchess.com had to register as members. I hesitated briefly. Would the Boss be as severe to ordinary members as he was to his regional managers? He wouldn't, would he? So I overcame my doubts and registered, because I wanted to follow our man Jeroen Piket as closely as possible. Friday last week Piket eliminated Peter Svidler, who seemed so shocked when he hadn't been able to convert a two-pawn advantage to a win in the first game, that he wasn't able to put up decent resistance in the second game. A day earlier Kasparov had beaten Adams and so the final Kasparov-Piket was scheduled for Saturday. Friday evening a group of Dutch chessplayers gathered in a hotel near Rotterdam. The next day we would spread over the municipalities in the Rotterdam harbour area, give a lecture and a simul, and then join each other again for a blitz tournament. Late at night Jeroen Piket checked into the hotel. He had just beaten Peter Svidler, which meant that next day he would have to meet Kasparov in the finals of the Internet tournament. He wouldn't be able to play in our blitz tournament, but he would give his lecture and simul on Saturday morning. Piket was quite jubilant, showed us his games against Svidler and asked Timman for advice on a variation of the Scotch that Kasparov might choose. The mood was good, maybe too good. We lost our sense of time. Many empty wine bottles later we found that it was 3 a.m. and we broke up our meeting. Piket had gathered an impressive wine bill. In five hours he would have to wake up for breakfast, then drive to another town in the neigbourhood to give his lecture and simul and immediately afterwards he would have to face Kasparov. Didn't he take his great opponent a bit too lightly? "Megalomania is fatal for Piket", Kasparov had said in the interview, commenting on Piket's results in Wijk aan Zee. But on Saturday again something went wrong with the Internet connection. The first game between Kasparov and Piket was broken off after 18 moves in a normal position of the Ruy Lopez, Breyer variation. Later the game was declared invalid and the finals were postponed to Sunday. On that day Piket saved himself with a draw in the first game from what looked like a very precarious position (and indeed Piket later admitted that he had been lost) and in the second game he won an ending that Kasparov should have held. If megalomania had been a file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans44.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:07 PM]

side effect of his euphoria after beating Svidler, apparently it had worn off by Sunday, when he was his sober self again. White: Kasparov Black: Piket, Finals, first game. 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5. 0-0 Bf8-e7 6. Rf1-e1 b7-b5 7. Ba4-b3 d7-d6 8. c2-c3 0-0 9. h2-h3 Nc6-a5 10. Bb3-c2 c7-c5 11. d2-d4 Qd8-c7 12. Nb1-d2 Bc8-d7 13. Nd2-f1 c5xd4 14. c3xd4 Ra8-c8 15. Nf1-e3 Na5-c6 16. d4-d5 Nc6-b4 17. Bc2-b1 a6-a5 18. a2-a3 Nb4-a6 19. b2-b4 Rc8-a8 20. Bc1-d2 Rf8-c8 21. Bb1-d3 Qc7-b7 22. g2-g4 g7-g6 23. Ne3-f1 a5xb4 24. a3xb4 Be7-d8 25. Nf1-g3 Na6-c7 26. Qd1-e2 Ra8xa1 27. Re1xa1 Rc8-a8 28. Qe2-e1 Nf6-e8 29. Qe1-c1 Ne8-g7 30. Ra1xa8 Qb7xa8 31. Bd2-h6 Nc7-e8 32. Qc1-b2 Qa8-a4 33. Kg1-g2 Bd8-b6 34. Bd3-c2 Qa4-a7 35. Bc2-d3 Qa7-a4 36. Ng3-e2 Ne8-c7 37. Nf3xe5 d6xe5 38. Qb2xe5 Nc7-e8 39. Bh6xg7 Qa4-d1 40. Bg7-h6 Qd1xd3 41. Qe5-e7 Ne8-g7 42. Ne2-g3 Qd3-c2 43. Qe7-f6 (See Diagram) 43...Ng7-f5 44. Qf6xb6 Nf5-h4+ 45. Kg2-h2 Nh4-f3+ 46. Kh2-g2 Nf3-h4+ 47. Kg2-h2 Nh4-f3+ 48. Kh2-g2 Nf3-h4+ 49. Kg2-h2 Draw White: Piket Black: Kasparov, Finals, second game 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. Nb1-c3 d7-d5 4. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 5. g2-g3 Nb8-c6 6. Bf1-g2 Nd5-c7 7. d2-d3 e7-e5 8. 0-0 Bf8-e7 9. Nf3-d2 Bc8-d7 10. Nd2-c4 0-0 11. Bg2xc6 Bd7xc6 12. Nc4xe5 Bc6-e8 13. Qd1-b3 Be7-f6 14. Ne5-g4 Bf6-d4 15. e2-e3 Bd4xc3 16. Qb3xc3 b7-b6 17. f2-f3 Be8-b5 18. Ng4-f2 Qd8-d7 19. e3-e4 Nc7-e6 20. Bc1-e3 a7-a5 21. Ra1-d1 Ra8-d8 22. Rd1-d2 Qd7-c6 23. Rf1-c1 Qc6-b7 24. a2-a3 Ne6-d4 25. Kg1-g2 Rd8-c8 26. Rc1-B1 Rf8-d8 27. Be3xd4 Rd8xd4 28. b2-b4 a5xb4 29. a3xb4 Qb7-d7 30. b4xc5 b6xc5 31. Rb1-b2 h7-h6 32. Rb2-a2 Kg8-h7 33. Ra2-a5 Rc8-d8 34. Qc3xc5 Bb5xd3 35. Rd2xd3 Rd4xd3 36. Nf2xd3 Qd7xd3 37. Ra5-a2 Qd3-b3 38. Qc5-c2 Qb3xc2+ 39. Ra2xc2 h6-h5 40. f3-f4 g7-g6 41. e4-e5 (See Diagram) 41...Rd8-d3 42. Kg2-h3 Rd3-e3 43. Kh3-h4 Kh7-g7 44. Kh4-g5 Re3-e1 45. Rc2-c7 Re1-e2 46. Rc7-e7 Re2-a2 47. f4-f5 g6xf5 48. e5-e6 h5-h4 49. Re7xf7+ Kg7-g8 50. Kg5-f6 Black resigned This column first appeared, in part, in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" February 19, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree To the Harbour The story was originally told in the Canadian magazine En Passant but I learned it from Inside Chess, now regrettably defunct. Defunct they wouldn't call it, there at the offices in Seattle. Moved on from a paper magazine to the wider pastures of the Internet, they would say. I call that defunct, though I wish them well on the fickle floats of the New Economy. Anyway. Last year at the closing ceremony of a tournament in Havana the Canadian FIDE master Irwin Lipnowski sat across from Robert Huebner, who had shared first prize. Apart from a money prize, Huebner had received two trophies. "You must have many trophies at home?" Lipnowski asked admiringly. Huebner said he had none. His apartment was full with books and there was no room left for trophies. "But what do you do then with these trophies?" Huebner explained that after the closing ceremony he would go to the harbour and throw his trophies into the water. That was what he always did when he had won a tournament. He didn't want to carry a heavy cup back to Germany. Lipnowski asked if it wouldn't be more practical to tell the organizers in advance that he wouldn't want their cups and trophies, but Huebner explained that this would be very discourteous, even insulting. This stands to reason. One realizes that leaving the cup in the hotel room wouldn't do either. It would be found, reported, and the organizers would have to spend time and costs to send the forgotten cup to Germany after all. No, there was only one solution. To the harbour. The meticulous care which Huebner took to avoid hurting the feelings of the organizers reminds me of a Dutch artist friend, the gifted painter Willem van Malsen. On one occasion I met him by accident on a train where, in the quiet of his compartment, he was carefully tearing apart a pair of his trousers. Why that? He explained that he was on his way to visit his mother, who in her old age still took pride in fixing the torn clothes of her Bohemian son. For him, tearing apart his trousers for her to fix was an act of love. I appreciated the opportunity to see a true artist at work. But back to chess. Lipnowski, who must have won fewer trophies in his life than Huebner, found it a pity that the recent acquisitions would disappear into the Havana harbour. Wouldn't Huebner rather give them to him? Most certainly he would. Indeed Huebner was quite grateful for the offer. It would spare him a long walk with a heavy burden.

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Lipnowski said that he would take good care of the trophies and that Huebner would be welcome to reclaim them any time he wished, but Huebner reassured him that the chance that he would actually do this was zero. Silver cups and table lamps, popular prizes in weekend tournaments in the time of my youth, seem hardly coveted by the top players of modern time. When Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik shared first prize at the recent Linares tournament, Kasparov said that Kramnik could have the cup. He subtly emphasized that he himself already had five Linares cups. Kramnik, no less courteous than Huebner, let it be known that he greatly appreciated the gift. At the press conference, Kramnik talked about a subject that must be dear to his heart, as he had already broached it before: the need of protection against chess criminals who would use a computer during their games. Is this really a threat? One would like to laugh it away, but one wonders. At the end of 1998 there was the infamous case of the German amateur Clemens Allwerman who won the Boeblingen Open and was suspected of having used a computer. "It's mate in eight," he had said when his last round opponent had resigned, which would almost be proof of clairvoyance, had he thought up this himself. What happened to this case? The 1998 story should have had a follow up by now. There was a report from the German regional chess federation that had investigated the case, disclosing that Allwermann, shortly before his heroic feat, had bought a few thousand German marks worth of spy equipment in an electronics store. But if he has ever been punished or even reprimanded, I don't know. The criminally inclined could learn from this case that it is unwise to talk about a mate in eight and risky to play too far above one's normal standard. We haven't heard of such practices since 1998, but this may only mean that crooks have gotten smarter. We anxiously await further developments. Kasparov and Kramnik shared first place in Linares and Anand, Leko, Khalifman and Shirov shared last. A decent result for Khalifman and a disappointment for Anand, who can be called the most prominent loser of the tournament. It took quite a while before he won a game, but when he did it was a very nice one. White: Anand Black: Khalifman, Linares ninth round 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4. e4-e5 c7-c5 5. a2-a3 Bb4-a5 6. b2-b4 c5xd4 7. Qd1-g4 Ng8-e7 8. b4xa5 d4xc3 9. Qg4xg7 Rh8-g8 10. Qg7xh7 Nb8-c6 11. f2-f4 Qd8xa5 12. Ng1-f3 Compared to the main variation, 5...Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. Qg4, White is definitely better off here. 12...Bc8-d7 13. Ra1-b1 0-0-0 14. Qh7-d3 Ne7-f5 15. Rh1-g1 d5-d4 16. g2-g4 Novelty. 16. Qb5 has been played, but without success. 16...Nf5-e7 17. Rg1-g3 Bd7-e8 18. h2-h4 Ne7-f5 19. Rg3-g1 Nf5-e3 20. Bc1xe3 file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans45.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:07 PM]

d4xe3 21. Qd3xe3 Nc6-e7 22. Bf1-c4 Be8-c6 23. Rb1-b3 Kc8-b8 24. Qe3xc3 Qa5-c7 25. Bc4-e2 Ne7-d5 26. Qc3-c4 Qc7-a5+ 27. Ke1-f2 It seems as if Black has reasonable attacking chances for his sacrificed pawns, but Anand will prove to have everything under control. 27...Bc6-a4 28. Rb3-b2 Rd8-c8 29. Qc4-d4 Rc8-c3 29...Rxc2 or 29...Bxc2 30. Rc1 would lead to an exchange of pieces that cannot be profitable for Black. 30. Be2-d3 Rg8-c8 31. Rg1-c1 Rc8-d8 32. Rc1-b1 Ba4-c6 33. Rb2-b3 Rc3xb3 34. Rb1xb3 Nd5-f6 35. Qd4-b4 Nf6xg4+ 36. Kf2-g3 Qa5-d5 (See Diagram) 37. Bd3-h7 A nice move that protects Nf3 and at the same time prevents Black's Rg8. 37...Qd5-d1 38. Kg3xg4 Rd8-d2 39. Kg4-g5 Bc6xf3 40. Bh7-d3 Rd2-g2+ 41. Kg5-f6 The wandering King, always a nice theme, though the dangers of its wandering were small this time. 41...a7-a6 42. Rb3-b1 Black resigned. Last week in Monaco the traditional Amber tournament started with a line up of the usual suspects. Joop van Oosterom, the patron of this tournament, knows whom he likes and whom he does not and keeps faithful to his friends throughout the years. The following blindfold game was declared by Hort to be the best of the first round. Against Lautier's Sveshnikov variation, Shirov exhumes a piece sacrifice that was studied extensively about ten years ago and found wanting. But it must be hell to defend against it in a blindfold rapid game. Thinking time per player: 25 minutes + 20 seconds per move. White: Shirov Black: Lautier 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 e7-e5 6. Nd4-b5 d7-d6 7. Bc1-g5 a7-a6 8. Nb5-a3 b7-b5 9. Bg5xf6 g7xf6 10. Nc3-d5 f6-f5 11. Bf1xb5 a6xb5 12. Na3xb5 Ra8-a4 13. b2-b4 Ra4xb4 14. Nb5-c7+ Ke8-d7 15. 0-0 Rb4-b7 16. Qd1-h5 Nc6-e7 17. Qh5xf7 Kd7-c6 (See Diagram) 18. Ra1-b1 f5xe4 19. Rb1xb7 Kc6xb7 20. Rf1-b1+ Kb7-c6 21. Rb1-b6+ Kc6-c5 22. Rb6-b3 Kc5-c6 23. Rb3-c3+ Kc6-b7 24. Nd5xe7 Bf8xe7 25. Qf7-d5+ Kb7-a7 26. Qd5-a8+ Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad March 18, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Marks or Marx? In almost every chess magazine of the Soviet Union the slogan could be found, at one time or another: "Chess is the gymnasium of the mind - V.I. Lenin." Of course it was a wonderful argument for the propagation of chess. Who in the former Soviet Union would dare to contradict Lenin? But last year Genna Sosonko revealed in New in Chess that the slogan had not actually been invented by Lenin, but by the Russian chess master and organizer Yakov Rokhlin, who had attached Lenin's name to it for propaganda purposes. That was clever of Rokhlin. One tends to think that it was also a bit risky. Had it been found out that he had misused the name of Lenin so opportunistically, trouble would not have been far off. But in those pre-computer times, Lenin's Collected Works were not yet available on disk with handy search functions, and nobody was foolish enough to comb all volumes to see if the quote was really there. And it was also a good thing that no one had found out that in 1803, in the English magazine Chess Studies, there had been written about the game of chess: "It is, in its essential tendency, a gymnasium of the mind." Not only had Rokhlin used Lenin for his own purposes, he also had made him look like a plagiarizer. There should be no doubt though about Lenin's love of chess, nor about the chess passion of socialist patriarch Karl Marx. After Marx's death, his comrade in arms Wilhelm Liebknecht described how furious Marx would be whenever he had lost a chess game. (W. Liebknecht: Karl Marx zum Gedaechtnis, quoted in Kaissiber, of which more later.) In London, where Marx and other political refugees had gathered around 1850, Marx once announced triumphantly that he had found a new move with which he would beat everybody, and at first this proved indeed to be the case. Until Liebknecht found the right defense and beat Marx with it. Marx asked for revenge, the next morning at his place. When Liebknecht arrived there, Marx's wife had retired and 'Lenchen' (I suppose this was the maid) was looking unfriendly. Marx at once fetched the chessboard. During the night he had found an improvement. He won the first game and immediately his spirits improved and he had sandwiches brought and something to drink. The next game was won by Liebknecht. They went on till midnight, when Lenchen decided that it had been enough. Next morning Liebknecht was visited by Lenchen, who told him that Marx's wife urgently requested him not to play chess

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with her husband during the evenings anymore, as Marx was intolerable when he lost. One game by Marx has been handed down in chess literature. White Karl Marx (?)-Black Meyer 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1-f3 g7-g5 4. Bf1-c4 g5-g4 5. 0-0 The Muzio gambit, quite popular at that time. 5...g4xf3 6. Qd1xf3 Qd8-f6 7. e4-e5 Qf6xe5 8. d2-d3 Bf8-h6 9. Nb1-c3 Ng8-e7 10. Bc1-d2 Nb8-c6 11. Ra1-e1 Qe5-f5 Played for the first time in Kolisch-L. Paulsen, London 1861. 12. Nc3-d5 Ke8-d8 13. Bd2-c3 Successfully tried by Chigorin in 1874, but in later games 13. Qe2 was preferred. 13...Rh8-g8 14. Bc3-f6 More accurate would have been 14. Rxe7, as in Mackenzie-N.N. New York 1883. 14...Bh6-g5 15. Bf6xg5 Qf5xg5 16. Nd5xf4 Nc6-e5 After 16...Nd4 17. Qf2 Ne6 White wouldn't have had enough for his piece. 17. Qf3-e4 d7-d6 18. h2-h4 Qg5-g4 And here 18...Qg7 was stronger. (See Diagram) 19. Bc4xf7 Rg8-f8 20. Bf7-h5 Qg4-g7 21. d3-d4 Ne5-c6 22. c2-c3 a7-a5 23. Nf4-e6+ Bc8xe6 24. Rf1xf8+ Qg7xf8 25. Qe4xe6 Ra8-a6 26. Re1-f1 Qf8-g7 27. Bh5- g4 Nc6-b8 28. Rf1-f7 Black resigned. All in all, a game of which no Marxist should be ashamed. Marx, unmaterialistically, sacrifices a piece and proves to be well aware of contemporary opening theory. His play is not without mistakes, but he handles the attack with flourish. But was the game really played by Marx? The German quarterly Kaissiber is a rich source of information for chess lovers who like to go off the beaten track. The magazine specializes in analyses of unfashionable opening variations and historical research. For instance, in its first issue of 2000 there is an article by Michael Ehn, Wiener Turnierpreise (tournament prizes in Vienna). It is about a question that has always intrigued me and many others. How much did the masters of the past actually earn their living? We read about prizes of so many pounds, marks, crowns or whatever, but it is very difficult to form an idea how much that would be in modern terms. And what did chess writers get for their work? Ehn makes a start of handling this difficult subject in a scientific way. Very interesting. But back to Marx now. In the same issue, in an article called Der Murks mit Marx (The Trouble with Marx), Kaissiber's editor Stefan Buecker reports on his investigations as to the authenticity of the game supposedly played by Marx. His suspicions had been raised by the quality of the game. Wasn't it just too good for Marx? Liebknecht had written that Marx was an excellent draught player, but weak at chess. How then could Marx be so well versed in the theory of the Muzio Gambit? Bcker went back to the sources and found that when the game file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans46.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:08 PM]

was published in 1926 in a Russian magazine, the editors had honestly written that the source was not known to them. But this was forgotten later. In Schlechter's 8th edition of Bilguer's Handbuch, the openings bible of that time, the opening moves of the game were given with the footnote, (p. 731): "Gentleman's Journal 1871, page 218, notes that 13...Rf8, as in Marks-Meyer, is better." The 1873 edition of Bilguer is even more specific and mentions that the player with the black pieces had been H. Meyer. This H. Meyer was known to Buecker. He must have been the problem composer Heinrich Meyer, who moved from Hanover to London around 1870. Buecker reaches the conclusion that the player with the white pieces cannot have been Karl Marx, but must have been Edward Marks or Mark Marks (whoever they may have been, I personally had never heard of either of them before). He is probably right, but there still remain some slight doubts. In his recent biography Karl Marx the author Francis Wheen writes that Marx played the game in 1867, when he was in Germany to check the proofs of his main work Das Kapital, at a houseparty given by the chess master G.R.L. Neumann. Wheen obviously is under the impression that he is the first to print the score of this game, which in fact has appeared in many magazines and books. This does not improve his credentials as a chess historian. On the other hand, he is quite specific as to time and place and there must be some basis to it. I put the matter to Buecker, who replied that Wheen's reference to the game had only been indicated to him after his own article had appeared. He had written to Wheen for clarification, but had not yet received a reply. Could it have been, Buecker surmised, that Wheen had misunderstood the Russian 'partya', which means game, and had changed it to a house 'party' given by Neumann? Maybe. For the moment we have to wait a bit before we can definitely do away with Karl Marx's one preserved game of chess. There is also a game fragment that has been attributed to Marx, but it had been known for a long time that this attribution was wrong. (See Diagram) White: Kg1, Qa4, Rd8,Rf1, Bf8; pawns - a3, b2, g2, h3 Black: Kh8, Qd2, Ng4, Nh5; pawns - b7, c7, f7, g3, h7 White Neumann-Black Marx (??) Black announced mate in three, starting with 1...Qd2-f2+. Buecker quotes the Deutsche Schachzeitung of 1869: "From a game played by G.R. Neumann (White) with Knight odds against Mark Marks from London." There he is again, this Mr. Marks. In Cyrillic transcription there is no difference between him and Marx and it is understandable that Soviet writers eagerly attributed this game fragment to Marx, until file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans46.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:08 PM]

their mistake was pointed out in 1964 by N. Sacharov in the Bulletin of the Central Chess Club. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" on April 1, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree 90 Lashes of the Whip Last year in Las Vegas at the opening ceremony of the FIDE World Championship there was a group of singers and dancers, allegedly from Hong Kong and allegedly (for few of us understood their Chinese words) announcing that the next championship would be held there and that the prize fund was secured. There was talk about a similar offer from Sun City, the South-African casino town. Millions of dollars were pouring in from all sides into the chess world, it seemed. We never heard of these offers again and I remember wondering, while I was watching the dancers, if they were really from Hong Kong or if it was an American or European group, just hired for a performance and maybe unaware of the existence of a game called chess. What did it matter? Our president Ilyumzhinov had provided a spectacle and promises of money and that's what counted at the time. More and more he reminds me of a character who will be known to lovers of Russian literature: Ostap Bender, also known as the Great Combinator, the hero of the novel The Twelve Chairs by Ilya Ilf and Yevgeni Petrov. A successful adventurer will never cease to amaze friend and foe with new daring and unexpected actions. Dull and sober citizens are still wondering about his latest feat. Was everything really as it seemed? But the adventurer, always a few steps ahead, is already on to new exploits, leaving his petty-minded critics bewildered. Such an adventurer is Ilyumzhinov. Mid-May, as a result of a meeting of the Presidential Board in London, it was announced that the venues for the next World Championships were to be New Delhi, where the tournament would start on November 25, and Tehran, where the final rounds would be played. The full prize money does not seem to be secured yet, but Ilyumzhinov personally guaranteed 3 million dollars. Maybe this is true, maybe not. I have stopped racking my brains about the seriousness of FIDE announcements. But it has to be admitted that the choice of Tehran is a spectacular surprise. During the eighties chess had been forbidden in Iran. In 1991 the Iranian player Babak Tondivar, while competing in a tournament in Berlin, told a German journalist - unfortunately I forgot who he was and in which magazine he wrote his article about the ordeals the chess community had to suffer during these years. Chess players had to meet in secret places. Tondivar said that he and his friends met once a week in a clothes factory for small tournaments and lectures. Chess literature could be bought, but it

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was very expensive because the booksellers risked punishment themselves. There was mention of a strong Iranian chess player who had received ninety lashes of the whip after being caught at chess. After Khomeini's death in 1989, all this changed. In 1990 the Iranians played in the olympiad again, though apparently chaperoned by a functionary who could not play chess but had to make sure that the team members did not drink alcohol or speak to women. A year later, according to the German journalist, a mass chess tournament was held in Tehran with two thousand competitors and even a tournament for members of parliament, where fifty took part. How quickly times change. And now Tehran will receive the FIDE World championships, not only for men, but also the women's championship, if I understood the press reports right, and if we can trust FIDE announcements. Some other pieces of news from the board meeting. Doubts about the realisation of this year's olympiad in Istanbul are apparently unfounded. The olympiad will start there on October 27. Players from Birma (at least those of 1900+), who in the past years had their ratings raised by fraud on a grand and unprecendented scale, will have to hand in 100 points, which in my humble estimation represents about half of the loot. A new rule was announced to the effect that tournaments in which a computer takes part will not be officially rated. A sensible reaction to the silliness of the Dutch Chess Federation which invited chess computer program Fritz to this year's national championship. The rest of this column will be devoted to maintenance long overdue. Last April, Dutch Jeroen Piket and Kazakhstan Vladislav Tkachiev played an exciting match of eight games in Cannes, France. Tkachiev, 26 years old, nowadays divides his time between Moscow, where his family lives, and Cannes, where the ambitious local chess club has provided him with an apartment. The club also arranged a few matches for Tkachiev, against increasingly strong opposition. David from Luxemburg and Van der Wiel from the Netherlands were beaten - "to pulp" it was said in one report, with the characteristic gentleness of chess journalism - and Piket held the score even, 4-4. White Tkachiev-Black Piket, fourth game. 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 3. Nb1-c3 d5xc4 4. e2-e3 b7-b5 5. a2-a4 b5-b4 6. Nc3-e4 Sticks to his intention to sacrifice a pawn. 6. Na2 would have regained it, but with no hopes of an advantage. 6...Qd8-d5 7. Ne4-g3 Ng8-f6 8. Ng1-f3 Bc8-a6 9. Bf1-e2 e7-e6 10. 0-0 Bf8-d6 11. Bc1-d2 h7-h5 12. Nf3-e5 h5-h4 13. Be2-f3 (See Diagram) 13...h4xg3 A beautiful Queen sacrifice, which is entirely voluntary, as 13...Qa5 was quite playable. Then 14. Nxc6 Qc7 would be good for Black. 14. Bf3xd5 g3xh2+ 15. Kg1-h1 c6xd5 Black has two file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans47.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:08 PM]

pieces, two pawns and a very compact and solid position for the Queen. It is more than enough. 16. a4-a5 Ba6-b5 17. a5-a6 Nb8-c6 18. Ne5xc6 Bb5xc6 19. Ra1-a5 Ra8-b8 20. Qd1-e2 Nf6-e4 21. Rf1-a1 Bd6-c7 22. Bd2-e1 Bc7xa5 23. Ra1xa5 c4-c3 24. f2-f3 Ne4-d6 25. Be1-g3 Rb8-b5 26. Ra5-a1 Nd6-c4 Probably he was in time trouble, for this is Piket's habit. 26...cxb2 27. Qxb2 Nc4 would give much better winning chances. 27. b2-b3 Nc4-b6 28. Bg3-d6 Ke8-d7 And here, to hold the game, he should have played 28...f6 followed by Kf7. But spurred by the clock he leaves his entire King's side unprotected. 29. Bd6-c5 Rh8-b8 30. Qe2-f2 Nb6-c8 31. Qf2-g3 Rb8-b6 32. Qg3xg7 Nc8-d6 33. Qg7-f8 Black resigned. A bitter pill to swallow for Piket, but in the last game, which, being 4-3 down, he had to win to equalise the match, he received a comparable present from his opponent. White Tkachiev-Black Piket, eighth game. 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 b7-b5 4. Ng1-f3 g7-g6 5. c4xb5 a7-a6 6. b5-b6 d7-d6 7. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 8. e2-e4 Nb8-d7 9. a2-a4 Qd8xb6 10. a4-a5 Qb6-a7 11. Bf1-e2 0-0 12. 0-0 Ra8-b8 13. Qd1-c2 Nf6-e8 14. Bc1-g5 Nd7-e5 15. Nf3xe5 Bg7xe5 16. Nc3-a4 Ne8-f6 17. Na4-b6 Be5-d4 18. Ra1-b1 Bc8-d7 19. Rf1-d1 (See Diagram) 19...Rb8xb6 Again Piket is willing to sacrifice material, but here this was more or less forced, as White was ready for 20. b4 with an advantage. 20. a5xb6 Qa7xb6 21. h2-h3 a6-a5 22. b2-b3 Bd7-b5 23. Rd1-e1 Rf8-b8 24. Be2xb5 Qb6xb5 25. Bg5-d2 Qb5-a6 26. Bd2-e3 Bd4xe3 27. Re1xe3 Rb8-b4 28. Rb1-d1 Nf6-d7 29. Rd1-a1 f7-f6 30. Ra1-a4 Rb4-b5 31. Re3-e1 Qa6-b6 32. Ra4-a3 Kg8-g7 33. Re1-a1 c5-c4 34. Qc2xc4 Nd7-c5 35. Ra1-e1 Rb5-b4 36. Qc4-c2 Nc5xb3 37. Qc2-c8 Nb3-c5 White has played a bit hesitantly, maybe not being able to decide if he should play for a draw to win the match or play for a win, which his position deserved. The draw could still be had easily with 38. Qe8 Qa7 39. Rxa5 Qxa5 40. Qxe7+ and if Black walks out of the perpetual check he will be mated. Rejecting this possibility, White unexpectedly sees his position go from bad to worse. 38. Qc8-c6 Qb6-a7 39. Ra3-a1 Kg7-f7 40. Re1-b1 Nc5xe4 41. Qc6-c2 Qa7-d4 42. Rb1-e1 f6-f5 43. Ra1-a2 Qd4xd5 44. Re1-d1 Qd5-e5 45. Rd1-a1 Qe5-d4 46. Ra2-a4 Ne4-c5 47. Ra1-d1 Qd4xd1+ 48. Qc2xd1 Rb4xa4 49. Qd1-d2 h7-h5 50. Qd2-c3 Ra4-b4 51. Kg1-h2 Nc5-e6 52. Qc3-a3 Rb4-b5 53. Qa3-a4 Rb5-c5 54. Qa4-b3 d6-d5 55. Kh2-g1 Rc5-c1+ 56. Kg1-h2 d5-d4 57. Qb3-a3 Rc1-c5 58. Qa3-b3 h5-h4 59. Kh2-g1 Rc5-c3 60. Qb3-d5 a5-a4 61. f2-f4 a4-a3 62. g2-g4 h4xg3 63. h3-h4 Rc3-c5 64. Qd5-a2 d4-d3 White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper "NRC-Handelsblad" May 20, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Jake, Joe and Garry Would Uncle John be still alive? Since 1935, when the first edition appeared of the book Oom Jan leert zijn neefje schaken (Uncle John teaches chess to his nephew) by Alb. Loon and Dr M. Euwe, generations of Dutch children have learnt chess from it and only a few years ago this classic was a source of inspiration for the beautiful and very succesful children's film Lang Leve de Koningin (Long live the Queen), directed by Esme Lammers, who by the way is a granddaughter of Euwe. Uncle John, who in an illustration in the first edition looks remarkably like Euwe, is the teacher. His nephew John, named after him, is the pupil. Father, though a bit stubborn and conceited, picks up a few grains of chess wisdom himself, and Mother stays subserviently in the background. Only seldom does she contribute to the learned discourse. "Heathens," says Mother with repugnance. This she said in the first edition about the Arabs who brought the game of chess to Europe. Later editions are more sober, but even then chess technique was spread thinly among the reflections on soccer, Uncle John's bachelor's home and on everything that occurred to the fertile mind of Alb. Loon. Who was this Alb. Loon, co-author of probably the best selling Dutch chess book ever? I don't know and I never met anyone who did. Uncle John's teachings did not only inspire the children's film mentioned above, but also a brilliant parody written by grandmaster Hein Donner in the Dutch magazine Schaakbulletin in 1974. Uncle John, his nephew, Father and Mother are happily gathered around the chess board when the doorbell rings. "Oh dear, I do hope it's not Uncle Hein," says Mother. But unfortunately it was. No student of Uncle John could fail to be impressed by the following iron law of chess: do not bring out the Queen too early in the game, it's a beginner's mistake. In another chess primer Volledige handleiding voor het schaakspel (Complete manual of chess), written by Euwe alone and therefore much more succinct than Uncle John's teachings, this iron law was illustrated by some games between Jake and Joe. Uncle John, Jake and Joe have been three pillars of Dutch chess education for more than half a century. Jake and Joe are beginners in chess. Jake likes to bring out his Queen early and in the first few games he is quite succesful.

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White: Jake Black Joe 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Bc1-c4 Bf8-c5 3. Qd1h5 Ng8-f6 4. Qh5xf7 mate. In slightly different versions this Scholar's Mate is delivered to Joe twice. Earlier he had been the victim of Fool's Mate, 1. f3 e5 2. g4 Qh4 mate. Joe makes a sensible decision: he buys a book about chess. As to which book this was, we are left in the dark. Could it have been the Volledige handleiding voor het schaakspel itself? In that case Joe would have found the games that he was to play against Jake in the future, which would have been too easy for him and even unfair. Rightly Euwe is not distracted by such speculations. White: Jake Black Joe 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6 First bring out the Knights, then the Bishops, a rule Joe found in his book. Now Jake, deprived of the possibility to threaten his beloved Scholar's Mate, got confused and lost. So in the next game he played differently. White: Jake Black Joe 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Qd1-h5 "You must be afraid that otherwise after 2...Nf6 it would be too late to bring out your Queen too early," Joe remarked smartly. 2...Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 g7-g6 Joe has learned a thing or two. 4. Qh5-f3 Ng8-f6 5. Qf3-b3 Nc6-d4 6. Bc4xf7+ Ke8-e7 7. Qb3-c4 b7-b5 8. Qc4-c5+ d7-d6 9. Qc5-c3 Ke7xf7 and White resigned. Having blundered a piece on move 6, Jake asked if he could start anew from that point. This was allowed and there followed: 6. Qb3-c3 d7-d5 7. Bc4xd5 Nf6xd5 8. e4xd5 Bc8-f5 9. d2-d3 Bf8b4 10. Qc3xb4 Nd4xc2+ White resigned. Anyone who doesn't realize after these examples that bringing out the Queen too early is bad, is truly incorrigible. One of these incorrigibles was the late Dutch attorney J.T. van Eybergen, a colorful character in Dutch chess life who habitually insisted on playing the openings his own way, and not in the way of the books. The story goes that in the sixties Euwe played on first board for the club named after him, Max Euwe. On second board Van Eybergen would play with satanic relish 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 and Euwe would watch it with the same repugnance that Mother, earlier in this article, had shown when talking about the heathens. Thus it has been told to me, but if it is true I do not know. But who was right, Euwe or Van Eybergen? Here is a game that sheds a different light on this question than the games between Jake and Joe did. White: Woody Harrelson Black: Garry Kasparov, Prague 1999 White is a famous actor, known among other things as the good and innocent assistant-barman in the TV series Cheers. Black needs no introduction. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans48.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:08 PM]

1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Qd1-h5 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 Qd8-e7 4. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 5. Qh5-h4 d7-d6 6. d2-d3 h7-h6 7. h2-h3 Bc8-e6 8. Nb1-c3 Be6xc4 9. d3xc4 Nc6-d4 10. Nf3xd4 e5xd4 11. Nc3-e2 c7-c5 12. f2-f3 d6-d5 13. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 14. Qh4xe7+ Nd5xe7 15. Bc1-d2 0-0-0 16. 0-0-0 g7-g6 17. Ne2-f4 Bf8-g7 18. c2-c4 d4xc3 19. Bd2xc3 Bg7xc3 20. b2xc3 b7-b6 21. c3-c4 Ne7-c6 22. Kc1-b2 Rh8-e8 23. Rd1xd8+ Re8xd8 24. Nf4-d5 h6-h5 25. a2-a4 Kc8-d7 26. Kb2-c3 Kd7-e6 27. f3-f4 Nc6-d4 28. Rh1-d1 Nd4-e2+ 29. Kc3-c2 Ne2-d4+ 30. Kc2-c3 Nd4-e2+ (See Diagram) Draw agreed. It has to be admitted that Harrison was helped by the grandmasters who were in Prague at the occasion of the match between Shirov and Judit Polgar, but that does not alter the fact that the so-called beginner's move 2. Qh5 makes quite a decent impression here. Not so in the next game. White: Boris Becker Black: Garry Kasparov, New York 2000 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Qd1-h5 Nb8-c6 3. Qh5-f3 Nc6-d4 4. Qf3-c3 Ng8-f6 5. f2-f3 g7-g6 6. Ng1-e2 c7-c5 7. Ne2xd4 c5xd4 8. Qc3-b3 Bf8-g7 9. Bf1-c4 0-0 10. c2-c3 d7-d5 11. Bc4-e2 d4-d3 12. Be2xd3 d5xe4 13. Bd3xe4 Nf6xe4 14. f3xe4 Qd8-h4+ 15. Ke1-d1 Qh4xe4 16. Rh1-e1 Bc8-g4+ 17. Re1-e2 Qe4xe2+ White resigned. Here again 2. Qh5 looks like a true beginner's move, just as it did in Jake's games. But should this be blamed on the move, or on Jake and Boris? Vladimir Kramnik is not a beginner at all, but nevertheless some years ago he intended to try out the move 2. Qh5 against Kasparov in the PCA Grand Prix rapid tournaments, though only in the blitz games that were to decide the outcome when rapid games failed to do so. Kramnik told this to Nigel Short, who recently told it to us in his column in the Sunday Telegraph, an English weekly newspaper devoted to the pleasures of fox hunting, but also providing less gruesome news. Somehow Kramnik never did it. He got the chance only once in the PCA tournaments (in the blitz games that is) and then preferred 2. Nf3, and in his 1998 match of blitz games against Kasparov he avoided 1. e4 in all his games with White. But it would have been a responsible experiment. Imagine the shock when the world champion would be threatened with a Scholar's Mate, not by someone like Harrison or Becker, but by one of his most respected colleagues. The cheek of it! It would appear as a real insult. As an added advantage Kasparov would be out of his much-feared opening preparation from move two. And, most important, in the main variation after 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Qd1-h5 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 g7-g6 4. Qh5-f3 Ng8-f6 5. Ng1-e2 (instead of Jake's 5. Qb3?) White is not worse, according to Kramnik. True, he doesn't have an advantage either, as Short sensibly remarks, but one can't have everything. (See Diagram)

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I won't go so far to predict a glittering future for Jake's opening, but I do think that after Kramnik's avowal we will see this position more often. Intrepid experimenters should be aware of the gambit 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nf6 3. Qxe5+ Be7, though I do not quite trust this for Black. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad June 17, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Veterans I have touched on the dreary subject before and this will not be the last time. When the doping testers come into our lives, I will not give them my blood, nor my urine. This might lead to my being banned from official chess competitions, which would be terrible, the worst disaster in my life. But let's look at it from the bright side. I haven't been playing many tournaments lately anyway and having to consider myself the kind of person that would yield to such nonsense, would be worse. So, there is little choice. Jan Timman once said on Dutch television that he wouldn't submit to doping tests either, because he considered them useless and humiliating. But what if it really came to them? He plays chess a lot. It is his life and the source of his income. Can he be expected to give this all up? For him the choice would be really hard. When last year chess journalists wrote about the spectre of doping control, the Dutch Chess Federation was not impressed. Typical journalistic panic-mongering, they felt. It would pass away, they said. Our federation was exempted by the government for the year 2000 from the duty of adopting doping laws and in the meantime a report would be published by NeCeDo (Dutch Centre for Doping Problems) that would prove once again that chess-enhancing substances did not exist. No problem at all. The report came and of course it did indicate several substances that would be able to improve the functioning of the mind. What would one expect from a centre for doping problems? Of course, the effects were said to be small, the indicated substances might be counterproductive, the scientific literature was ambiguous... But if an organization like NeCeDo wouldn't find problems where they do not exist, it might as well dissolve itself. So, now what? The Dutch Chess Federation finds doping regulations senseless, but they are demanded by our Minister of Sport, Mrs Vliegenthart. Would the federation want to do without Timman? No, of course not, but it also would not want to do without Vliegenthart's subsidies. The federation is still pondering the issue. Our bridge and draught federations have already given in. Don't give way, Dutch Chess Federation, don't yield to the whims of the crazy witch Vliegenthart who wants to thrust me out of the chess world! What profits can all the subsidies of the world bring you when Timman is not allowed to play chess? Timman said once that it would be a nice idea to organize a tournament where all kind of brain enhancers would be freely dispensed to all players, who would find them in nice little bowls

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on their tables in the tournament hall, courtesy of the sponsor. Indeed an excellent idea. It wouldn't be very difficult to find generous sponsors for the Smartchess tournament. One candidate would be Mr Van der Wielen of Numico, a Dutch firm that makes pills consisting of vitamins, minerals, brain boosters and all kinds of "maximum-life-span" stuff. So enamored is Van der Wielen of his often exotic products, that he expressed the opinion that the Chinese live longer than the Dutch, because of their traditional acquaintance with life-sustaining herbs and roots. Coincidence had it that on the day I wrote this column, my newspaper published a page-long article about three Dutch top managers - one of them being Mr Van der Wielen - and how they kept themselves smart and sharp, to the benefit of the economy and all of us lesser mortals. The article was entitled "Pill Gorgers". Of course, top managers have to stay smart, everybody understands that. During dinner, before dessert, the three captains of industry went together to the toilet to see if the color of their urine still allowed for some alcohol-taking. No fear in their minds of a sneaky doping tester, standing ready with his litle bottle, not with them! Every health store, drugstore and even many supermarkets nowadays provide bottles or caskets of ginkgo biloba. It has been all the rage for the last five years. Supposedly good for blood circulation and oxygen supply to the brain and therefore good for mental concentration and memory. I wouldn't know, but many doctors say that it works even if you don't believe in it. Be that as it may, this popular product is denied by NeCeDo to Dutch chess players. Ironic that in an age when everyone is encouraged to become smart, chess players are forced to stay dumb, on threat of expulsion from their trade. Dutch Chess Federation, when you consider your decision, think also of the older players! Few are the senior citizens nowadays whose general practioner does not prescribe for them one of these memory-enhancers, it's almost standard practice. Should the senior citizen's chess and bridge clubs become the happy hunting grounds of the infamous drug testers? No, for supposedly they will restrict their distasteful activities to professional chess players. But some of these are old too. What will be the fate of Dutch chess patron Joop van Oosterom's yearly "Ladies against Veterans" tournament? Would there be a drug tester so foul that he would dare to ask ex-World Champion Vasily Smyslov (79) for his blood and urine? And would the great man oblige? And proud Viktor Kortchnoi (69), would he? I cannot imagine he would. This year's "Ladies against Veterans" tournament was held in Munich and therefore called the Schuhplattler tournament, after a Bavarian dance that involves much shouting and wielding of axes file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans49.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:09 PM]

and saws. As far as I know, nobody was hurt. The ladies won 27-23, but the best individual player was once again Viktor Kortchnoi. White: Galliamova Black: Kortchnoi, Schuhplattler, 3rd round. 1. e2-e4 c7-c6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-d2 d5xe4 4. Nd2xe4 Bc8-f5 5. Ne4-g3 Bf5-g6 6. h2-h4 h7-h6 7. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 8. Nf3-e5 Bg6-h7 9. Bf1-d3 Bh7xd3 10. Qd1xd3 e7-e6 11. Bc1-d2 Nb8-d7 12. f2-f4 Bf8-e7 13. 0-0-0 c6-c5 14. Bd2-c3 0-0 15. Ne5xd7 Qd8xd7 16. f4-f5 Qd7-d5 17. b2-b3 Ra8-c8 18. d4xc5 Qd5xc5 19. Bc3-d4 Qc5-a3+ On the site http://chess.lostcity.nl/schuhplattler/ there was a daily report written by Dutch IM Paul Boersma from which I have derived most of the following notes. Here, according to Boersma, 19...Qa5 was much better. 20. Kc1-b1 Nf6-d5 21. c2-c4 Nd5-b4 22. Qd3-e2 b7-b5 23. f5-f6 Be7xf6 24. Bd4xf6 g7xf6 25. Ng3-h5 f6-f5 26. Nh5-f6+ Around here people were starting to look for White wins and finding them, one being 26. Rd2 Nxa2 27. Qd3. 26...Kg8-h8 27. Rd1-d2 Rf8-d8 28. Qe2-e3 Kh8-g7 29. Nf6-h5+ Kg7-g6 (See Diagram) Bravely forward, avoiding a draw by repetition, but Black is taking a big risk. 30. Rh1-h3 After the game, 30. Qg3+ was analysed to a win for White: 30...Kxh5 31. Qg7 (threatening 32. g4+ fxg4 33. Qxf7 mate) and among other fruitless defenses Boersma gives 31...Rg8 32. g4 fxg4 33. Qxf7+ Rg6 34. Re1, which is still quite complicated after 34...Nd3 35. Rxd3 Rf8, but it seems that 36. Rd5+ exd5 37. Qxd5+ does the trick. 30...Rc8xc4 An unexpected defense 31. Rh3-g3+ Rc4-g4 32. Rg3xg4+ f5xg4 33. Nh5-f4+ Kg6-f5 34. Qe3-c5+ e6-e5 35. Rd2xd8 Qa3xa2+ 36. Kb1-c1 Qa2xb3 37. Rd8-d2 Things have been an obscure mess for the last few moves and after this White will be in real trouble. Much better was 37. Nh5. 37...Nb4-a2+ 38. Rd2xa2 Qb3xa2 39. Nf4-d5 Qa2-c4+ 40. Qc5xc4 b5xc4 41. Kc1-d2 a7-a5 42. Kd2-c3 Kf5-e4 43. Nd5-f6+ Ke4-f4 44. Kc3xc4 Even here analysts thought that the endgame might still be saved by 44. Nh5+. 44...Kf4-g3 45. h4-h5 Kg3-f4 46. Kc4-b5 e5-e4 47. Nf6-d5+ Kf4-e5 48. Nd5-e3 g4-g3 49. Kb5xa5 f7-f5 50. Ka5-b4 f5-f4 51. Ne3-g4+ Ke5-d4 52. Ng4xh6 f4-f3 53. Nh6-f5+ Kd4-d3 54. h5-h6 f3xg2 55. h6-h7 g2-g1Q 56. h7-h8Q Qg1-b6+ 57. Kb4-a4 Qb6-a6+ 58. Ka4-b4 Qa6-c4+ 59. Kb4-a3 Qc4-c5+ 60. Ka3-b3 Qc5-b5+ 61. Kb3-a2 Qb5xf5 62. Qh8-h1 Qf5-f2+ 63. Ka2-b3 g3-g2 64. Qh1-h3+ Kd3-e2 White resigned. A newcomer to the veterans' team was Dutch IM Hans Bouwmeester (70) who had not played a regular tournament for many years, being much more involved in correspondence chess nowadays. Understandibly he proved a bit rusty, spoiling a number of promising games. This nice attacking game by the middle Polgar sister was not one of these. White: Sofia Polgar Black: Bouwmeester, Schuhplattler 3rd round file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans49.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:09 PM]

1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 Ng8-f6 4. 0-0 d7-d6 5. d2-d4 Bc8-d7 6. Rf1-e1 Bf8-e7 7. Nb1-c3 e5xd4 8. Nf3xd4 0-0 9. Bb5xc6 b7xc6 10. Bc1-f4 Ra8-b8 11. b2-b3 c6-c5 12. Nd4-f3 Bd7-e6 13. Qd1-d3 Nf6-d7 14. Nc3-d1 a7-a5 15. Nd1-e3 Nd7-b6 This move, removing a piece from the kingside, was blamed for things to come and the solid 15...f6 was preferred. 16. Ra1-d1 a5-a4 17. e4-e5 d6-d5 18. Ne3-f5 c5-c4 19. b3xc4 Nb6xc4 20. Nf5xe7+ Qd8xe7 21. Nf3-g5 g7-g6 22. Qd3-g3 Nc4-b2 23. Rd1-d2 c7-c6 24. c2-c3 Rb8-b7 (See Diagram) 25. Ng5xh7 Kg8xh7 26. Bf4-g5 f7-f6 27. e5xf6 Qe7-f7 28. Rd2-e2 Nb2-c4 29. Bg5-h6 The simple 29. f3 would win a piece, but White's attack is so overwhelming that she doesn't spoil anything. 29...Rf8-b8 30. Bh6-g7 Kh7-g8 31. Qg3-h4 Qf7-d7 32. Qh4-h8+ Kg8-f7 33. Qh8-h7 Rb7-b1 34. Re2xe6 Qd7xe6 35. Bg7-h8+ Kf7-e8 36. Qh7-g8+ Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC_Handelsblad July 29, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Down and Out on Your Own Street The Lost Boys tournament in Amsterdam was held on the street where I live and that was a strange experience. One should travel for a tournament, preferably to a place far away where you haven't been before. How will it be, the city, the hotel and the playing room? And who will take part? A bit of anxiety, but mainly pleasant anticipation. At the start there are always a few minor problems, the room is not right, you have a small quarrel, you move to another place. And then the first round, you don't feel quite settled yet, but then, after just a few moves, there are only the problems on the chess board and you know these are solvable if you sink into the board deeply enough. You light a cigarette. All is well. The cigarette shows that I am talking about the past, for nowadays this essential pleasure is denied. When the writer Martin Amis was asked why he occasionally wrote interviews and worked as a reporter (for wasn't writing novels a nobler craft than such humble journalistic work?) he answered that writing non-fiction brought you out of the house. The same with chess. It brought you outside and maybe that was even more important than the joy of winning. So it wasn't really right to play a tournament on one's own street, but I had no choice. If I did''t participate, I would go to watch every day and every time I would be tortured by remorse, thinking that I should have been playing instead of watching. "And now it is the other way around, I suppose?" asked John van der Wiel. "Yes, of course," I said, but that was only a joke, for I was doing well in the tournament. I had won one game, drawn with the redoubtable Mikhail Gurevitch and Jan Timman, and the fear expressed by my wife that Jan and I would sink through the stage due to our combined weights had not become true. The next two rounds went badly and that too is interesting, for it gives you self-knowledge. Defeat was a lot less painful than it was in the past. That was nice in a way, but on the other hand this was not quite as it should be either and I almost longed for the real suffering of old times. I hadn't played in a tournament for two years and I had slid back into beginners' mistakes. In the first game I lost, I had been a bit afraid of my opponent Tregubov and at the critical moment I had lost my nerve, seeing phantom threats and thereby missing the

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real one. And the next day it was exactly the opposite. "How easily I am winning this game, pity that it's not always like that," I mused happily. No wonder that my next move was a horrible blunder after which I could have resigned at once. One could elaborate on this subject, but I won't, for originally this article was written for my Dutch newspaper on the free day of the tournament and I was convinced that it would bring bad luck to twaddle oneself around to much. I had still good hopes for the second part of the tournament, but these were bitterly disappointed. It went from bad to worse and all in all the tournament was a disaster for me, almost painful to write about. So let's move to a happier subject for a while. A few years ago I had a small scoop in Dutch journalism when I wrote that the Dutch director Marleen Gorris, winner of an Academy Award for her film Antonia, was going to make a film based on Vladimir Nabokov's novel The Defense. I had heard the good news from Jon Speelman, who had been hired as chess adviser. For a long time it appeared as if this small piece of news was bogus, for Marleen Gorris went on to make a quite different film and nothing was heard of the Nabokov film. But it has been made after all, The Luzhin Defence was shown last week at the Edinburgh film festival and soon it will be released for regular theatres. The editor of British Chess Magazine was apparently privileged with a preview, for in the August issue there was a review (generally favorable) and the following diagram was printed (See Diagram): White: Kf3, Rc1, Nc3, Be2; pawns - a4, b3, f4, g2, h2 Black: Kf8, Re7, Bc5; pawns - a6, f7, g6, h7 White: Turati Black: Luzhin In the film, this is the position (devised by Speelman, based on a known study) where the decisive game for the World Championship was adjourned. For reasons that will be known to admirers of Nabokov, the game was not resumed. Black can win by 1...Re7-e3+ 2. Kf3-g4 f7-f5+ 3. Kg4-g5 Kf8-g7 4. Nc3-d5 Re3-h3! 5. g2xh3 h7-h6+ 6. Kg5-h4 Bc5-f2 mate. To come back to the Lost Boys tournament, my miserable play does not blind me to the fact that it was quite a nice tournament. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans50.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:09 PM]

Amsterdam had been a chess dessert for the last few years. This year the aching gap was filled by the company Lost Boys ("in ecommerce and multimedia projects") which had held a big chess festival with about 500 participants in the Belgian city Antwerp for the last seven years. This year the tournament was moved to Amsterdam, the city of the company's headquarters. Good for Amsterdam, a bad loss for Antwerp. It looked as if the Belgians, angry at being deserted, were boycotting the new Amsterdam tournament. Hundreds of Dutch chessplayers had come to Antwerp every year, but in Amsterdam there were only two Belgians, one of them being the ex-Russian Mikhail Gurevich, who was specially invited. He won the main section of the tournament together with Ivan Sokolov and Pavel Tregubov (the recent European champion) with 7 out of 9. Milov, Van der Sterren, Epishin, Nijboer and Shchekachev shared fourth place with 6.5 points. Here are some highlights from the first few rounds. White: Van der Werf Black: Piket 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 d7-d5 4. Bc1-g5 d5xc4 5. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 6. e2-e3 b7-b5 7. a2-a4 c7-c6 8. Nf3-d2 White had had this before, in Van der Werf-Bosman, Dutch team competition 1994. Then followed 8...Bb7 9. axb5 Bxc3 10. bxc3 cxb5 11. Qb1, when White had good compensation for the pawn and went on to win. 8...a7-a6 9. a4xb5 c6xb5 10. Nc3xb5 a6xb5 A nice sacrifice of the exchange, though Piket is not the first to have thought of it. 11. Ra1xa8 Bc8-b7 12. Bg5xf6 g7xf6 13. Ra8-a1 e6-e5 This position was also reached in Hicker (rating 2095)-Haeusler (rating 1875), Finkenstein Open 1994. Games between players with this kind of rating used to remain unnoticed in the past, but not so in the computer age. In that game from 1994 the meek 14. Be2 Lxg2 15. Rg1 Bb7 16. Kf1 was played. Black won. 14. Qd1-h5 Much more agressive, but in this case too White will be in big trouble. 14...Nb8-c6 15. Ra1-d1 e5xd4 16. Qh5xb5 c4-c3 17. b2xc3 d4xc3 18. Qb5xb7 c3xd2+ 19. Ke1-e2 Qd8-d5 (See Diagram) Opinions of computers and humans will greatly differ about this position. The computer will count material, see that Black has no clear way to get something done and come to the conclusion that White is much better. Humans will see White in a terrible bind and evaluate the position as winning for Black. This is the exceptional case where truth lies in the middle. 20. Qb7-c8+ Ke8-e7 21. Qc8-c7+ Human or computer, everyone will see that White is mated after 21. Qxh8 Qc4+. 21...Ke7-e6 22. Qc7-f4 Qd5-b5+ 23. Ke2-f3 Qb5-d5+ 24. Kf3-e2 Qd5-b5+ 25. Ke2-f3 Nc6-e5+ 26. Kf3-g3 Rh8-g8+ 27. Kg3-h3 Amazing, the things that White can suffer and survive. During the game Piket always had the idea that there should be a way to mate the White King, but neither then or during the post-mortem could he get him. 27...Qb5-b7 28. e3e4 Ke6-e7 29. Bf1-e2 Qb7-c8+ 30. file:///C|/...ts%20and%20Settings/Owner/Desktop/eBook%20Reprocesses/Dutch%20Treat%20-%20Hans%20Ree/Dutch%20Treat/hans50.txt[10/5/2016 8:15:09 PM]

Qf4-f5 Qc8-c3+ 31. g2-g3 Rg8-g5 32. Qf5-f4 Ne5-g6 33. Qf4-e3 Qc3xe3 34. f2xe3 Rg5-e5 35. Be2-f3 Re5-c5 36. Rd1-b1 Bb4-a3 Draw. After 37. Rd1 Bc1 the pieces of wood on c1-d1-d2 are out of the game and with the rest of their material the players can not threaten each other. A Dutch youngster against Karpov's former second. White: Berkvens Black: Epishin 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 e7-e6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 a7-a6 5. Bf1-d3 Bf8-c5 6. Nd4-b3 Bc5-e7 7. 0-0 d7-d6 8. Qd1-g4 g7-g6 9. Qg4-e2 Nb8-d7 10. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 11. f2-f4 e6-e5 12. f4-f5 g6xf5 13. Rf1xf5 Nd7-c5 14. Rf5-f1 Nc5xd3 15. Qe2xd3 b7-b5 16. Nb1-c3 b5xc4 17. Qd3xc4 Rh8-g8 18. Rf1xf6 Surely not based on exact calculation but on positional feeling. White gets an enduring attack for the exchange. 18...Be7xf6 19. Nc3-d5 Ke8-f8 20. Qc4-c6 Ra8-b8 21. Bc1-h6+ Bf6-g7 22. Bh6-g5 f7-f6 23. Bg5-e3 There is no quick decision. After 23. Rf1 Black defends with 23...Bb7, and 23. Bxf6 Bxf6 24. Nxf6 Qxf6 25. Rf1 fails to 25...Rxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Bh3+ 23...Bc8-b7 24. Qc6-c4 Rb8-c8 25. Qc4-d3 Bg7-h8 26. Nd5-b6 Rc8-b8 27. Ra1-d1 Rg8-g4 28. Nb3-c5 Bb7xe4 29. Qd3-c4 29. Nbd7+ Kg8 30. Qxd6 looks mighty strong. 29...Be4-f5 30. Qc4-f1 Bf5-c8 31. Nb6xc8 Qd8xc8 32. Rd1xd6 Rb8xb2 33. Qf1-d3 Rg4xg2+ 34. Kg1-f1 Rg2-c2 In a complicated position with time trouble for both sides, Black slips. After 34...Qg4 White may have no more than a draw by perpetual check. 35. Rd6-d8+ Kf8-f7 (See Diagram) 36. Qd3-d5+ This does not yet spoil the game, but there was a mate in 3 with 36. Qxh7+ 36...Kf7-g6 37. Rd8-g8+ But this really does ruin it. There still was a mate in 9 with 37. Qg8+ (says the computer). 37...Bh8-g7 38. Qd5-d3+ Qc8-f5+ Alas, that is the end of White's attack. White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad August 19, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.

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Dutch Treat

Subtle Clues THERE ARE EXCEPTIONS to the general rule that chessplayers in a film are either devious crooks or madmen, but for La partie d'échecs (The Chess Game), a film that I saw a few months ago on Belgian TV, director Yves Hanchard has been faithful to tradition: World Champion Howard Staunton is depicted as a crook and his French opponent Master Max is mad.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

It was a Belgian-French-Swiss co-production from 1994. Too many cooks in the kitchen may be good for subsidies from European cultural funds, but they tend to spoil the dish. This film is far from a masterpiece, but for chess addicts it has quite a few interesting points. Master Max, who is, contrary to Staunton, a character that doesn't seem to be based on an actual chess player, is invited by Marquise De Theux (played by Catherine Deneuve) to play at her estate against the Englishman Howard Staunton, the reigning champion. The winner of a two-game match will not only be the new World Champion, he will also marry the beautiful daughter of the marquise. Poor Staunton - he is the proverbial villain of chess history. I remember well how quite recently on The Chess Café's Bulletin Board in the great Historians' Quarrel of Ken Whyld against the gang of five, six, seven or whatever their number, he was still able to attract the ire of contemporary historians. And in this film, being cast as the bad guy, Staunton has already secured the love of the marquise's daughter by means that have little to do with chess. He will get her whatever the outcome of the match. One cannot really blame him for this, or her, for the emotionally and socially disturbed Master Max is an unlikely candidate for marriage. But indeed shameful is the proposal that Staunton makes after he has lost the first game. He promises to lose the second game also. Then Max will be champion and marry the daughter. Afterwards he will confess that the second game was fixed and then the title will revert to Staunton, but not Max's new wife.

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Max, madly in love with the marquise's daughter, believes Staunton and runs through a nice game that they will stage the next day. The chess adviser of the film has not been able to prevent silly lines such as "I want to beat Staunton with a discovered check!," but he did choose some very nice historical games and they are presented in such a subtle way that only an attentive chess detective will be able to figure out which ones they are. The second game starts. We see the opening moves played quickly with wildly flailing arms, as if the players are protecting themselves from a swarm of bees, instead of starting a chess game. White Staunton Black Master Max 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 Bf8-c5 4. c2-c3 Ng8-f6 5. d2-d4 e5xd4 6. c3xd4 Bc5-b4+ This is the first time we get a glimpse of the board. We see the black bishop giving check. Aha, we think. Italian opening. 7. Nb1-c3 d7-d5 8. e4xd5 Nf6xd5 9. 0-0 Bc8-e6 10. Bc1-g5 Bb4-e7 11. Bc4xd5 Be6xd5 12. Nc3xd5 Qd8xd5 13. Bg5xe7 Nc6xe7 14. Rf1-e1 f7-f6 15. Qd1-e2 Qd5-d7 16. Ra1-c1 c7-c6 None of these moves we have seen on the screen, but at this point we get a clue again, enabling us to reconstruct them. (See Diagram) We do not really see the position as it is given here, only a small part of the board: pawn d4, pawn c6, the Queen on d7 and the Knight on e7. It's clue enough for the chess detective, who realizes that they are duplicating Steinitz-Bardeleben, Hastings 1895. He briefly wonders in what year the film is set, as the real Staunton died in 1874, but realizes that such musings are irrelevant. Back to the film, where the previous day Max had told Staunton that White could win in the diagrammed position with d4-d5 and that White, if he didn't make that move, "would lose in thirteen or fourteen moves," which must be another line that the chess adviser vainly struggled to keep out. Staunton had agreed not to play d4-d5, but of course the scoundrel has no intention of keeping his promise and he plays it all the same. The moves that follow we do not get to see on the screen, but of course we know what they must have been: 17. d4-d5 c6xd5 18. Nf3-d4 Ke8-f7 19. Nd4-e6 Rh8-c8 20. Qe2-g4 g7-g6 21. Ne6-g5+ file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [9/29/2000 10:15:24 PM]

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Kf7-e8 22. Re1xe7+ Ke8-f8 23. Re7-f7+ Kf8-g8 24. Rf7-g7+ Kg8-h8 25. Rg7xh7+ This is the moment when Bardeleben left the playing room and let his time run out, after which a disappointed Steinitz showed what would have happened, had Bardeleben not sneaked out so unsportingly: 25... Kh8-g8 26. Rh7-g7+ Kg8-h8 27. Qg4-h4+ Kh8xg7 28. Qh4-h7+ Kg7-f8 29. Qh7-h8+ Kf8-e7 30. Qh8-g7+ Ke7-e8 31. Qg7-g8+ Ke8-e7 32. Qg8-f7+ Ke7-d8 33. Qf7-f8+ Qd7-e8 34. Ng5-f7+ Kd8-d7 35. Qf8-d6 Mate. His treachery has brought Staunton the point; it's now 1-1 and a final decisive game is scheduled. Again we see the wild and quick arm movements in the opening stage. We see that Master Max, who plays White, moves a piece in the middle of his first rank, one square up, it appears. An important clue. It must be Ke1-e2. The Steinitz Gambit! A sharp game indeed. After this, we see no other recognizable moves made, except at the end. Max has, inadvertently it seems, touched a piece that he doesn't want to play, and Staunton demands the traditional penalty: a King's move. Now we see Max moving his King at the far edge of the board, apparently to the square a7, and then Staunton, the marquise, her admirers and her daughter realize what Max has realized all along, that Staunton will be mated in a few moves. And the chess detective now has enough information to know what game was enacted. Of course it was that fantastic game that ended with 26. Ka7. White Steel Black NN, Calcutta 1886 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 3. f2-f4 e5xf4 4. d2-d4 Qd8-h4+ 5. Ke1-e2 The Steinitz gambit. 5...d7-d5 6. e4xd5 Bc8-g4+ 7. Ng1-f3 0-0-0 8. d5xc6 Bf8-c5 9. c6xb7+ Kc8-b8 10. Nc3-b5 Ng8-f6 11. c2-c3 Rh8-e8+ 12. Ke2-d3 Bg4-f5+ 13. Kd3-c4 Bf5-e6+ 14. Kc4xc5 a7-a5 15. Nb5xc7 Qh4-h5+ 16. Nf3-e5 Nf6-d7+ 17. Kc5-b5 Qh5xd1 18. Bc1xf4 Qd1xa1 19. Kb5-a6 Nd7xe5 20. Nc7xe8 f7-f6 21. d4xe5 f6-f5 22. Bf4-e3 Rd8xe8 23. Bf1-b5 Qa1xh1 24. Be3-a7+ Kb8-c7 25. Ba7-c5 Re8-d8 (See Diagram)

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26. Ka6-a7 Black resigned. Thanks to Tim Krabbé and Dutch IM Gerard Welling, we know that this was actually only analysis by Robert Steel, a British government official in India, not a game that was really played. But that is not the point here. Master Max did play a splendid game. And nice work too by the chess adviser, who knew that just a few clues would suffice to recognize it. His choice of Steinitz-Bardeleben as a model for the second match game in the film can be explained simply on the grounds of its beauty, but I think there is more to it. In the final scene, Master Max is shown as a kind of mad king on the terrace of a mountain castle, playing with giant-sized chessmen on a giant board. Then he jumps off the edge of the board into Nothingness. His disappearance mimics the death of the man whose moves he had copied, Curt von Bardeleben, who in real life jumped to his death in1924. It appears as if the chess adviser, whoever he is, in the margins of a somewhat trashy film played a game of his own, involving the few chess addicts who would see the film as a conspiracy of shared knowledge. The chess detective salutes him and purrs contentedly. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad September 9, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Ninth File] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2000 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Paradise Lost I QUITE ENJOYED myself during the first week of the Kasparov-Kramnik match, when I was present at the Riverside Television Studios to report for my newspaper.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Raymond Keene, one of the technical directors of the match, graciously invited me to the VIP-room, where wine, champagne and nice snacks were lavishly offered by attendants of perfect courtesy. Eric Schiller, the other technical director, enlightened me on the merits of different smart drugs - a burning issue now that chessplayers are threatened with doping checks - and told me that he hadn't blundered since he began using gingko biloba. "Good and friendly men," I thought, while asking the attendant to pass me a full bottle this time, for convenience's sake. "Not perfect men, of course, but who is?" At the terrace I was looking over the Thames, very quiet at this point in Hammersmith and only being rippled by a few rowers and an abundance of water birds. Nearby was the Hammersmith Bridge, a somewhat quaint but beautiful structure. Next to me stood Lothar Schmid, head of the Appeals Comittee. "This is a very beautiful view," he said. "The game is also quite interesting, but by far not so interesting as this view." And he was right, for ten moves later the first match game was an early draw. I also made a new acquintance, my co-columnist Richard Forster, and this was reassuring, for I had always had a feeling that this man couldn't really exist, being so young and already combining so many fields of expertise, but here he was, reporting on the match for the Swiss Neue Zürcher Zeitung after spending mornings in London libraries, looking for old newspapers to provide material for the book on Amos Burn he is working on. But not all was well in what seemed to be a paradise. To jump ahead a few weeks, we can now read at the website www.chesscenter.com/wcc2000/r5.html how journalist John Henderson, at the start of the fifth match game, was expelled from the pressroom under a thinly veiled threat of violence. The scene

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was KC's Picture of the Day last Thursday on Kasparov's website and the headline for the accompanying article was Moscow on the Thames which seemed fitting until I realized that I couldn't recall such a dramatic incident happening during a Moscow World Championship match. Henderson's expulsion was the culmination of a conflict that had started well before the match. A battle of websites, braingames.net, the site of the organizing company, against chesscenter.com, home of The Week in Chess, which has Henderson as one of it's most prominent contributors. His boss at The London Chess Center is the well-known IM and chess journalist Malcolm Pein, who had originally been hired as technical director of the match, but then walked out with a slamming of doors. Soon after that he got a letter from Braingames Network's solicitors, trying to prevent him from putting up his own website on the match, apparently because it would constitute a conflict of interest. Pein didn't agree, which was understandable because it would be undoing the work of years if TWIC now suddenly failed to supply up-to-date information on the match. None of it's regular visitors would understand or accept it. Pein was declared persona non grata at the match and from the first day, Henderson was given to understand that he was forbidden to make contact with his boss from the pressroom, be it by telephone, modem or pigeon. Henderson retaliated by writing teasing articles about the organizers, mainly concentrating on Keene and Schiller ("the Hardy and Hardy of chess") and not shrinking from callling the organizing company "braindeadgames.net". Apparently his article after the fourth game (all these articles are still on the net) made the organisers explode. OK, nobody likes to be ridiculed in his own house. But on the other hand, expelling a journalist because his articles don't suit you may be a common occurrence in the big bad world outside, but it seems unprecedented at chess events and a threat to all of us chess reporters. Henderson was also writing on the match for CNN's website and one would expect this formidable organization to make a big noise. Even Saddam Hussein didn't go as far during the Gulf War, expelling the man of mighty CNN. Would Raymond Keene then be able to get away with it? But all remained quiet for almost a week. The offending article was removed from the site, then reappeared, apparently after intensive consultation with lawyers. Henderson himself had already remarked that lawyers and lawsuits are all over the place in the chess world nowadays, suggesting that soon we will have a lawyer world file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 6) [10/22/2000 11:20:21 PM]

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champion. And indeed this almost seems likely. Not the computer world champion which we have all dreaded for many years, but a lawyer who manages to serve writs to all his competitors, forbidding them to play chess or even enter the playing hall. After some period of lawyer-imposed silence, Henderson returned to his reporting, still being banned from the press room however. He became an internet reporter who got his news from the internet and this to me seems symbolic of a claustrophobic loop into which all of us chess reporters are entangled nowadays. After a week in London, I went back to Amsterdam to report on the match from home. My newspaper is a decent one that doesn't pretend that its reporter is on the spot when in fact he isn't. So, when I was in London, my articles started with "London, Oct. 9" and when I was back it was just "Rotterdam", the city of its main office. But apart from that, would the readers notice the fact that I wasn't present at the match? Hardly. We are very well informed by the internet. In London, I could write articles that were a bit different from what my colleagues could do with their computer-generated information, but no reader would notice this, for the information gathered on the spot is just different from what one gets on the internet, not necessarily more interesting. We are well served by the internet. Everyone gets it on a plate. I am thankful for it and at the same time it depresses me. It's too easy. Everybody can do it now, acting as a chess reporter. Even if you hardly know the rules of chess you can appear to be a shrewd chess analyst by copying the analyses on the net, which often are scanty, but always good enough for a newspaper, and sometimes of top quality. A highly developed skill of the past, chess reporting, has become almost obsolete, just as the samurai's sword-fighting skill became obsolete when effective handguns were introduced. I did the rounds of the internet sites and one of my rest stations was the Internet Chess Club. I was there on a good day. Peter Svidler was the moderator of the discussions, Nigel Short was around as were many other strong grandmasters. And then came in Zurab Azmaiparashvili. He is a member of the Soviet School that tells us that the match between Kasparov and Kramnik has been fixed, from the first move to the last. He had already said so months ago, strangely enough on Kasparov's own kasparov.com, and he repeated it now on the ICC. His point of view is widely shared by Russian chessplayers. Personally I think this is absolute nonsense and I have many arguments to support my view, but I won't elaborate now. Anyway, Svidler said: "Come off it, Zurab, this match is not fixed." file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 6) [10/22/2000 11:20:21 PM]

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But Azmai did not relent: "It is already completely without interest now." Hear, hear, this is the man who at the end of 1995 made a big rating jump because of an 18-round Macedonian ghost-tournament which nobody ever saw and which probably was never played at all. "You need a thief to catch one" you might think, but I think differently. But as I said, this conspiracy view is widely spread among Russians and doing the rounds I saw that it has also contaminated Alexander Khalifman's excellent website gmchess.com. There is a columnist, Valery Segal, and one of his columns is entitled Kasparov Anti-Chess. What I would call chess at its finest Segal calls anti-chess, so let's see why. Last year Alexander Khalifman won the Las Vegas championship and no one would ever claim that he cheated, writes Segal. This is true. No one claimed this and no one ever will, unless in 65 years time another chess writer of the mental make-up of Segal appears on the scene. Segal goes on: "On the other hand, the recent agreement between Kasparov and Kramnik immediately created rumors, suspicions and general skepticism. These suspicions do not seem to be unusual even to supporters of a match system of the World Championship, at least not to the intelligent ones." Segal then explains how "the intelligent ones" might well think that there is something wrong with this match. And then a startling dive into chess history. Also in the past, maybe everything was not what it seemed to be. "For example, if we think about the Alekhine-Euwe matches, many questions arise. Why would anyone sponsor the matches between Alekhine and a not very strong challenger?" One gasps for breath. Alekhine-Euwe a fixed match? Having regained consciousness one realizes that Segal's last question is an easy one. All the money came from the Netherlands, where people were quite eager to see Euwe play for the World Championship, even in the event that he was not a very strong challenger. But he was. I have seen it written so often lately. Euwe was supposedly not a worthy challenger for Alekhine in 1935 and when Alekhine regained his title in 1937, it was all as expected. It was not. May I remind Mr. Segal and other detractors of Euwe of a few facts? Euwe had played a match against Alekhine in 1926/27 over ten games and lost with a one-point difference. In the meantime he had become stronger and Alekhine had not. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 6) [10/22/2000 11:20:21 PM]

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The results of Euwe in strong tournaments during the period 1934-1937 were as follows: Leningrad 1934. Sixth place. Admittedly, this was bad. It has happened to others when they first visited the Soviet Union. Zürich 1934. 1. Alekhine 13, 2/3 Euwe, Flohr 12, ahead of Bogoljubow, Lasker, Bernstein and Nimzowitsch. Hastings 1934/1935. First Euwe with Flohr and Thomas, ahead of Capablanca, Botvinnik and Lilienthal. Then came the World Championship match over 30 games, won by Euwe with the score 15½-14½. One wonders if the people who like to pound on Euwe, to deprecate the match system, really think that "a not very strong challenger" would be able to hold himself nowadays against Kasparov in a 30-game match. Let's go on. Amsterdam 1936. Euwe and Fine shared first, ahead of Alekhine. Nottingham 1936. Botvinnik and Capablanca shared first place; a half-point behind were Euwe, Fine and Reshevsky, then (another half-point behind) came Alekhine. Zandvoort 1936. Alekhine did not take part. 1. Fine 2. Euwe, followed by Keres, Tartakower and Bogoljubow. Germany 1937, double round-robin of four players: Euwe, Alekhine, Bogoljubow, Sämisch. 1. Euwe 2. Alekhine. Then came the return match that Alekhine won. Note that in the three tournaments between their two matches in which Euwe and Alekhine both played, Euwe was always ahead of Alekhine. Was he really such a weakie that Segal should wonder how on earth a sponsor could be found for his matches, and then go on speculating about foul play? I think it is a bloody shame. But at the end of his article Segal seems to swallow his words. No, Euwe was an honorable man, he writes. Maybe even Kasparov and Kramnik are honorable men. Segal has his doubts, but won't express them for the moment. No, he says, it's just the system of the champion choosing his challenger that has provoked him to his speculations about foul play, it's nothing personal. But the deed has been done. In his frantic efforts to blacken the Kasparov-Kramnik match, Segal has felt the need to throw mud on the Alekhine-Euwe matches, which until now had been untouched by conspiracy theories.

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Copyright 2000 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Ninth File] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2000 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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The End of Chess? RUSSIA, AFTER SOME INITIAL TROUBLES, took its rightful first place, Germany's team of golden oldies surprised everyone and itself with a splendid performance, winning silver medals, and Ukraine ousted Hungary from its expected third place by a hairbreadth. The Istanbul Olympiad was well-organized and a true feast, as the Olympiads always are, even when badly organized.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Then came in the chess politicians for the 71st FIDE Congress. Reports about these congresses have been sad tales indeed for the last six years, but this congress was exceptionally dismal, though it went largely unnoticed in the reports I saw. President Ilyumzhinov was given unprecedented powers and used them immediately to announce the end of serious chess. More about this later; let me first discuss some real chess, to brighten my mood. There was a curious incident at an early stage of the Olympiad and of course it was Robert Hübner who took the principled stand. It was at the start of the second round. Not many moves had been made yet, but nevertheless, it was an unwelcome breach of the players' concentration when they were suddenly told to stop the clocks and wait till the computers were ready to transmit the moves to the screens and to the internet. All obeyed except Hübner, for he is of the opinion that man should not let himself be bullied by the computer. As this is happening all the time, Hübner has written that there is no place in the world anymore for people like him, but apparently he is still prepared to fight for his crumbling piece of ground. An angry arbiter tried to change his mind, but in vain. Unperturbably Hübner played on. I wish that among the delegates to the 71st FIDE Congress there would have been a few inspired by his principled stubbornness, but again, we'll come to that later. Except for Hübner and his opponent, the players had to wait for about half an hour until computers and personnel were ready. Ready for clownery that is. Those who at that time tried to play over the games from the first two rounds saw pieces moving on the board

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like drunken sailors oblivious to the rules of chess, taking their own men if it suited them and sometimes suddenly disappearing into thin air. During later rounds the staff of FIDE Commerce, responsible for the bulletins and the electronic transmission of the games, did a better job. And all in all, according to most reports this Olympiad was quite well-organized. Turkey is a candidate for the Olympic games in 2008 and was eager to present this chess Olympiad as a showcase of its organisational competence. I suppose Chess Café visitors will be well informed about the struggle for the medals, so I will concentrate on what I followed most intensely during the Olympiad: the performances of the Dutch teams. No medal winners alas, though for a long time the Dutch women seemed likely to gain at least third place. This is no credit to the Dutch school of chess, but more a credit to the ability of Dutch men to lure strong women chess players to our country; from the team of four players only Linda Yap Tjoen San is native Dutch. In the end they reached a creditable sixth place. The Dutch men ended on a horrible 32nd place, much worse then they deserved. They went to Istanbul without Jan Timman, who had personal reasons to stay at home and may also have been disgruntled at being placed on third board behind Loek van Wely and Jeroen Piket. "Van Wely should take note: I won't play on a lower board than he anymore," Timman had said in a recent interview for the Dutch magazine Schaaknieuws. Not in our club team, Timman had meant, and he denied categorically that his consignment to third board at the Olympiad had influenced his decision to stay at home. The Dutch went to Istanbul with five players. Young Dennis de Vreugt, who was to accompany the team not as a player but as a trainee, was registered as the sixth, but he was only supposed to play in case of emergency. Before it came to that, he had to return home because of illness. The next to go was Sergei Tiviakov who suffered stomach bleeding and had to stay several days in an Istanbul hospital before he went back to the Netherlands by way of his native Russia. That left four; Van Wely, Piket, Van der Sterren and Nijboer, who now had to play each day and made a good job of it until they finally collapsed in the last two rounds.

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Here is a game in which Alexei Shirov and Loek van Wely continued a theoretical discussion that appeared to have been settled by Shirov with a thundering blow in August in Polanica Zdroj. But Van Wely is a stubborn man. White: Shirov (Spain) Black: Van Wely (Netherlands) 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 6. Bc1-e3 e7-e6 7. g2-g4 e6-e5 8. Nd4-f5 g7-g6 9. g4-g5 g6xf5 10. e4xf5 d6-d5 11. Qd1-f3 d5-d4 12. 0-0-0 Nb8-d7 13. Be3-d2 Qd8-c7 14. g5xf6 d4xc3 15. Bd2xc3 Qc7-c6 16. Qf3-g3 Having sacrificed a piece, Shirov now adds a Rook, just as he did in their game in Polanica Zdroj. Then Van Wely didn't dare to accept the Rook sacrifice, as it was obviously based on home preparation by Shirov, who went on to win that game in brilliant style: 16...Bf8-h6+ 17. Kc1-b1 Bh6-f4 18. Qg3-d3 0-0 19. Rh1-g1+ Kg8-h8 20. Bc3-b4 Rf8-g8 21. Rg1xg8+ Kh8xg8 22. Bb4-e7 h7-h6 23. Bf1-e2 Nd7xf6 24. Qd3-d8+ Kg8-h7 25. Qd8-f8 Bc8-e6 26. Qf8xa8 Be6xf5 27. Kb1-a1 Nf6-d5 28. Qa8-f8 Qc6-e6 29. Be7-c5 Bf5xc2 30. Rd1-g1 Bc2-g6 31. h2-h4 Bf4-h2 32. Rg1-d1 Nd5-f4 33. Rd1-d8 and Black resigned. That game had posed many difficult questions to analysts, and a tentative conclusion was reached that after acceptance of the rook sacrifice with 17...Qxh1, a draw should result after best play. Van Wely, having done some homework of his own, decides to take the Rook this time. 16...Qc6xh1 But the way to do it was supposed to be 16...Bh6+ 17. Kb1 and only now 17...Qxh1. We may see this happen in a future Shirov-Van Wely game. 17. Bf1-g2 Bf8-h6+ (See Diagram) 18. Bc3-d2 Had Van Wely forgotten about this possibility, indicated by many analysts after their Polanica Zdroj game? Now White wins the Queen. 18...Bh6xd2+ 19. Kc1xd2 Qh1xg2 A strange move. Can this Bishop really be more valuable than the Rook? After 19...Qxd1+ Black would have a considerable material advantage, but he would be tied up, though not more so than in the actual game. Shirov's opinion on the position after 19...Qxd1 was said to be "at least a draw for White". 20. Qg3xg2 a6-a5 21. f2-f4 e5xf4 22. Qg2-g7 Rh8-f8 23. Rd1-e1+ Ke8-d8 24. Re1-e7 Kd8-c7 Black was lost anyway. 25. Qg7xf8 Black resigned. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 7) [11/20/2000 10:59:07 PM]

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Here is another example of Van Wely's razor-sharp opening preparation, this time rewarded with success. White: Van Wely (Netherlands) Black: Krasenkow (Poland), 11th round 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Nb1-c3 c7-c6 4. e2-e4 d5xe4 5. Nc3xe4 Bf8-b4+ 6. Bc1-d2 Qd8xd4 7. Bd2xb4 Qd4xe4+ 8. Bf1-e2 Nb8-a6 9. Bb4-a5 f7-f6 10. Qd1-d8+ Ke8-f7 11. 0-0-0 b7-b6 12. Ba5-c3 e6-e5 13. Be2-h5+ g7-g6 14. Bh5-f3 Qe4-f4+ 15. Rd1-d2 Qf4xc4 16. Ng1-e2 Qc4xa2 17. Rd2-d6 Having sacrificed a few Pawns he now offers a Rook, but it can hardly be taken: 17...Qa1+ 18. Kd2 Qxh1 19. Bxc6 and both 20. Bxa8 and 20. Bd5+ Kg7 21. Bxg8 are threatened. 17...Ra8-b8 18. Rh1-d1 (See Diagram) 18...Bc8-e6 Here Black had a much better defence. After 18...Kg7 it is not easy for White to continue his attack. He might try 19. Bxe5 but then the annoying check 19...Qc4+ will eventually lead to an endgame where it is not clear if White has enough for his sacrificed pawns. 19. Rd6-d7+ Now White is winning. 19...Be6xd7 20. Rd1xd7+ Kf7-e6 21. Rd7-d6+ Ke6-f7 22. Rd6-d7+ Kf7-e6 23. Bf3-g4+ f6-f5 24. Rd7-d6+ The modern school. White repeats moves, not to win time but to give, sadistically, false hope for a draw to the opponent, as a painful lesson for the next game. 24...Ke6-f7 25. Rd6-d7+ Kf7-e6 26. Ne2-f4+ e5xf4 27. Rd7-d6+ Ke6-f7 28. Rd6-d7+ Kf7-e6 29. Rd7-d6+ Ke6-f7 30. Qd8-d7+ Ng8-e7 31. Rd6-f6+ Kf7-g7 32. Qd7xe7+ Kg7-h6 33. Rf6xg6+ Black resigned. But now let's return to the FIDE congress. Distasteful as the task may be, it has to be done. According to the Dutch federation's report, the congress was badly prepared and chaotic, handled nervously by vice-president Makropoulos while Ilyumzhinov smiled and sat quiet as if it was no concern of his. Many times FIDE's own statutes were blatantly violated, but this is hardly a surprise anymore. Also no surprise, but still almost incredible when you really think about it, was the transfer of all commercial rights to the FIDE World Championship to the private firm FIDE Commerce, owned by Ilyumzhinov (70%) and the Russian businessman Artyom Tarasov file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 7) [11/20/2000 10:59:07 PM]

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(30%). These rights were given to FIDE Commerce until the year 2017, with an option for the company to renew it till 2027. It means that FIDE's delegates have given up all pretense that they represent a democratic organisation that can choose its own leader. FIDE was already sickly hooked to the lifeline of Ilyumzhinov's money. But now it is not even formally possible to get rid of him by democratic elections. Whatever happens, he will still have the rights to organise and exploit the World Championship. FIDE and Ilyumzhinov will be in tight embrace till 2027, if Ilyumzhinov wishes so. Only the Netherlands and Portugal voted against this proposal. Why not more countries? We see here an educational example of successful rogue politics. About a year ago the FIDE Board announced plans that went much further. All rated players would have to buy a credit card from FIDE Commerce for a considerable price. All rated tournaments would have to deposit the prize money in an account of FIDE Commerce, which then would see to its fair distribution. An official FIDE journalist would be appointed in all countries. Journalists in general would be forbidden to use the expression "FIDE World Champion" instead of just "World Champion". These demands were obviously unenforceable and therefore ludicrous. I think they were meant to be so from the start. Many federations bravely protested against these ludicrous proposals. I knew what would happen. The most ridiculous proposals, never meant seriously anyway, were cancelled and now the federations accepted the hard kernel of Ilyumzhinov's proposal. They might not have done so without these silly fringe ideas that allowed them to beat their breast with a mock principled opposition, at least for a while. Not only is FIDE now effectively privatised, what also counts is: privatised for whom? Ilyumzhinov we know. The new man Tarasov is sometimes euphemistically described as a shadowy businessman. In fact he has been very much in the limelight in Russia, seeking political offices that would grant him immunity from criminal prosecution by the Russian authorities. Tarasov has sued Western journalists who tried to explain why such criminal prosecution would not be without reason. I have no intention to make trouble for The Chess Café and I'll restrict myself to saying that to my mind respectable organisations should avoid him. And now for the big one: a truly revolutionary proposal by Ilyumzhinov. After the congress he gave an interview to journalists file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 7) [11/20/2000 10:59:07 PM]

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Stefan Loeffler (for the German Frankfurter Algemeine Zeitung) and Leontxo Garcia (for the Spanish El Pais). He spoke about the money he had given to FIDE and the money he earned on oil, which was interesting, but shocking was the way he immediately used his newly won powers to announce a truly breathtaking measure. On the demand of a sport’s television company that was interested in chess, in the future, games would no longer last six hours, but only two hours. "From the World Championship and the Olympiads to all local tournaments," Ilyumzhinov said. He would use the next FIDE Championship in New Delhi to collect the opinion of the players and if they agreed, the new sport's television time-limit would be law. Here one cannot but think of Stalin's maxim: "It's not important who will vote, important is who will count." We know who will count and so I think we know how the vote in New Delhi will turn out. It will truly mean the end of serious chess. I never liked the confusing situation where we had two World Champions. I wished for integration of the two championships. But it is hopeless. It may already be too much to ask from Kramnik. He has done a truly magnificent thing, beating Kasparov in a serious match. Should he integrate his championship with FIDE's version of Trivial Pursuit? Now the question becomes even more pertinent: should he integrate his title with a silly rapid tournament? Note again the element of rogue politics. There is no way that Ilyumzhinov can force local tournaments to follow him on his road to trivialisation of chess, and as he is an intelligent man, he knows this. Again national federations will protest, showing their independence of mind. They will get their bone to chew on and then will accept the scandal. I wrote that this would be the end of serious chess, but of course this was too pessimistic. Chess has been around for about 1500 years and I think it will survive FIDE. The end of serious chess within FIDE, that might be. We have seen many scandals in FIDE, but we thought that we could not do without this organisation and that it might be reformable. It is not, it is a lost case. Now that FIDE is really on its way to kill chess, decent national federations should walk out, as quickly as possible. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Ninth File] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2000 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Johan Barendregt I THOUGHT ABOUT the Dutch Master Johan Barendregt recently, and the reason was not a new instance of the Barendregt Mate about which Tim Krabbé wrote one of his first articles for The Chess Café, but the behaviour of psycho-therapists, a subject on which Barendregt had had much to say when he was still alive.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Dutch television is a powerful producer of the foul stream of mud that goes under the name "emotion-TV" and the Dutch Christian Broadcasting Company moves in the vanguard of television hooligans. They used to be models of decency there, a bit dull perhaps, but with the fear of God in their hearts. Alas, those who have turned away from God will fall into the hands of psycho-therapists. The Christian company showed a TV documentary called Hidden Mothers where a woman told us that ritual abuse by her family had caused her to give birth to five babies before her sixteenth year, of which three were killed, one was sold and one died soon after birth. She had lived her life without ever being disturbed by these horrible memories, but recently they had been "brought to the surface" by a therapist. The unfortunate family, accused of monstrous misdeeds, was not mentioned by name in the documentary, but was easily recognized by people in their neighbourhood. When the family went to court, the broadcasting company argued that it was not their duty to find out if these monstrosities had really happened. The professional word of the psycho-therapist was enough for them. The family's lawyer said that his method, resurrecting so-called repressed memories that were never heard of before his own intervention, was controversial. Yes, one could say that. And indeed I had the feeling that such therapists had been aptly described by Johan Barendregt. He was not only an International Master, who had won games against Botvinnik and Portisch, but also a professor in psychology and in 1977 he wrote a little book called Characters by and after Theophrastus. This Greek writer had written sardonic portraits of his

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contemporaries in the fourth century BC. Barendregt translated the work from the Greek and added his own Characters. For each character by Theophrastus, Barendregt invented one with similar weaknesses, but taken from his own professional world of therapists and psychologists. It was his very unorthodox contribution to a symposium dedicated to Methodology and the crisis in Psychology. One of his characters was called the Loathsome. Someone who utters statements just because they suit him and makes no effort to find out if they are really true. "He disdains to test his theories and scratching his head he considers thinking. When he talks he chatters; when he writes he babbles. His concepts are so slimy that everything connects with everything. This sodden mass he considers the sediment of his experience; and he has only to stir it to get a consistent theory." The Journalist, who tells people what he thinks they like to hear, was another character described by Barendregt. He had a critical eye for the fads of his time, but I like to think that the modern alliance between junk television and junk therapists would be beyond his worst nightmares. Like all serious people he fought on two fronts. He did battle with psychologists who neglected methodological strictness and just prattled their cherished theories, but also with those who had made sterile method their idol and flaunted their trivial investigations, trembling with fear as soon as they were confronted with something as unscientific as a living human being. He attributed it to his chess background, this tendency to contradict everyone at all times: make your move and I will refute it with a counter-move, that is the chessplayer's attitude. I think he did himself an injustice, for in his short life he originated important scientific projects that were not at all exclusively based on contradiction. During the period that I was a serious chessplayer, I did not only try to find out if doping could further my chess career, but I had one other fruitless idea. I let myself be hypnotized by Barendregt, thinking that a post-hypnotic suggestion such as "you'll play like Tal" would do me good. Barendregt had noticed that I had often failed exactly at the moments when success was within easy grasp and he thought it file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [12/26/2000 6:13:41 PM]

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conceivable that hypnosis might help. But he failed to hypnotise me. After a few sessions he asked if I had ever been seasick. Indeed I had been, a few times, and apparently this was a characteristic of people who were difficult to hypnotise. They couldn't yield to the hypnotist, nor to the rhythm of the waves; subconsciously they resisted and so they became seasick or, in our case, unhypnotiseable, at least in the time we were willing to spend on it. During our last session something bothered him that had to do not with our project, but with his pending divorce. He behaved grimly like a true misanthrope and then I understood something that I had heard a few times, that many students and colleagues were a bit frightened of him. Obviously he wanted me to leave as soon as possible and that was what I wanted myself too, but I begrudged him a small social victory and kept lingering for a while. That was my chess background. Make a move and I'll make a counter-move. You keep playing games, even when they are totally uncalled for. For some years we played for the same club team and once after a match I took him to a bar where I often went. We talked spiritedly until he was distracted by the nice girls that frequented the place. "If you want me to leave because you have better things to do, just say it and I'll be gone," he said. "Don't be an idiot, Johan, we are talking nicely, aren't we?" But this of course he interpreted as the generosity of wealth, imagining that I was only willing to endure his presence because of the certainty that my time for other pursuits would come later that evening. I wasn't, it wouldn't. "You know, at my age women are still willing, but only for serious relationships, not just for fun," he said. A few months later I was called by a mutual friend who told me that I should pay Johan a visit in the hospital were he had just been taken. Apparently there was something wrong with his leg. Something wrong with the leg. I once had suffered a fracture myself and did not consider it a big thing, so this hospital visit promised to be in light spirit, but when I entered his room he said it was lung cancer and nothing could be done anymore. I don't really remember what we talked about then, except that at the end he said: "If only you realise that there is no God," as if he were giving me his blessings in his way. A few weeks later I entered that room again, but then he was so far gone that he had been put in a darkened corner, his bed surrounded file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [12/26/2000 6:13:41 PM]

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by the people who were dearest to him, and standing apart there, awed by the sight, I thought that had he been younger and both of us less shy than we were, we could have been friends instead of the good acquaintances that we actually were. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad August 22, 2000. Copyright 2000 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Ninth File] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2000 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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At the Corus Tournament THOUGH UNDERSTANDABLY OVERSHADOWED by the battle of the giants such as Kasparov, Kramnik, Anand and Shirov and their like, the second grandmaster group in Wijk aan Zee is quite an interesting tournament in itself. Mikhail Gurevich from Belgium and Boris Gulko from the USA are the favorites to win; they are the iron cadres of the chess world, hardened in innumerable battles. And on the other hand, there are Timour Radjabov from Azerbaijan and Pentyala Harikrishna from India.

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Radjabov is thirteen-years-old, Harikrishna fourteen. They have known each other for more than four years, for they met in a youth championship on the isle of Minorca in 1996. Harikrishna won that game. In that year Harikrishna became the Under-10 World Champion. Radjabov has won seven titles, European Champion, World Champion, under ten, under twelve, under eighteen. There are many titles to be won nowadays for the youngsters. In Wijk aan Zee it's often said in jest that their tournament is only a preparation for the 2010 match for the World Championship between Radjabov and Harikrishni. Maybe, but they'll have to reckon with the Chinese Bu Xiagzhi, the youngest grandmaster in the world. He is stronger than they are, but on the other hand Bu is already fifteen-years-old. Harikrishna is doing better than Radjabov in Wijk aan Zee, but probably they are more or less of equal strength - both are International Masters who have made one grandmaster norm, Harikrishna at the Istanbul olympiad and Radjabov at a recent tournament in Budapest. Of Radjabov we know much more. One reason may be that Azerbaijan is nearer to us than India, and another one the fact that he makes himself known. There is a website dedicated to him and he often plays on the Internet Chess Club under the handle Velimirovich. Like a spy we can follow his steps there. He plays in the morning and during the evening and in between are the seven hours he dedicates daily to the study of chess. His last game at the ICC was

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on January 14. Next day he arrived in Wijk aan Zee. Has he no access to the net there? Or does he refrain from frivolous blitz games during a serious tournament? Not all is revealed to the cyberspy. In all articles written about Radjabov it is stressed how much he has in common with Kasparov. They are both born and raised in Baku, both shed the Jewish names of their fathers and both have profited of the patronage of the political leader of Azerbaijan, Kheidar Aliev, a prominent Communist politician during Kasparov's rise who fell out of grace later and then returned triumphantly as an Azerbaijan nationalist. Last November Frank Westerman, the Moscow correspondent of the Dutch newspaper NRC Handelsblad had an interview with Radjabov in Baku. Radjabov said that Kasparov was a role model to him. He had photos where he was together with Kasparov, but these were not on his desk, but hidden in a drawer. Kasparov escaped from Baku in 1991 during the anti-Armenian pogroms. He managed to charter a plane from Moscow to save his family and friends. Since then, Westerman writes, Kasparov’s name is better not mentioned in Azerbaijan. Radjabov told Westerman that when he won the Kasparov Cup, it was not mentioned at all by Azerbaijani television and newspapers, though all his other exploits were reported on in detail. If Kasparov is his idol, it is an idol to be surpassed, and so the motto on his website is "Surpassing the footsteps of Kasparov." In 1998 Kasparov presented a trophy to Radjabov during a youth tournament. This was a time that most people thought that Kasparov would only lose his World Champion's title to a generation still in kindergarten at the time. Would it be Radjabov? "I saw fear in his eyes," said Radjabov to a Russian journalist. Later he told Tim Wall, a British journalist who lives in Baku, that it had been a joke, and he made fun of the journalist who had quoted him as if he had been serious. Just a joke, but from a boy who was only eleven-years-old then, this joke certainly showed precociousness and self-confidence. Here is one of Harikrishna's games from the Corus B tournament, against another youngster, Dutch junior champion Niko Vink. White Vink Black Harikrishna, Corus B 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 e7-e5 6. Nd4-b5 d7-d6 7. Nc3-d5 Nf6xd5 8. e4xd5 Nc6-b8 9. c2-c4 Bf8-e7 10. Bf1-d3 0-0 11. 0-0 a7-a6 12. Nb5-c3 f7-f5 13. f2-f4 Nb8-d7 14. Qd1-c2 g7Vg6 15. Ra1-b1 Be7-f6 16. b2-b4 Qd8-c7 17. Qc2-b3 b7-b5 18. Bc1-b2 b5xc4 19. Bd3xc4 e5xf4 20. Rf1xf4 Nd7-e5 21. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 6) [1/23/2001 8:46:42 AM]

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Nc3-e2 g6-g5 22. Bb2xe5 Bf6xe5 23. Rf4-f2 f5-f4 24. Bc4-d3 Qc7-a7 (See Diagram) 25. Kg1-f1 Bc8-g4 26. Bd3-e4 Ra8-e8 27. Qb3-d3 Be5_h8 28. Rb1-c1 Qa7-e7 29. Rc1-c4 Bg4-d7 30. Qd3-c2 Bd7_b5 31. Be4-d3 Bb5xc4 32. Qc2xc4 Re8-c8 33. Qc4xa6 Bh8-d4 34. Bd3-f5 Qe7-e3 35. Bf5-e6+ Kg8-h8 36. Rf2-f3 Rc8-c1+ 37. Ne2xc1 Qe3-g1+ 38. Kf1-e2 Qg1xg2+ 39. Ke2-e1 Qg2xf3 40. Nc1-e2 Bd4-c3+ 41. Ke1-d1 Bc3-e5 White resigned. In general I do not feel qualified anymore to write about modern opening theory, but Loek van Wely's heroic uphill-fight against the Perenyi variation has held his Dutch fans enthralled. There was a sigh of relief after Shirov's win against Topalov in the first round of Corus A. Not because the Dutch public has anything against Topalov, but for quite another reason: this was one game that Van Wely didn't have to lose anymore. Van Wely had tried the line with Black against Shirov last year in Polanica Zdroj and he was beaten in a very beautiful and spectacular way. For clarity's sake I will call this game P1, where P stands for Perenyi. P1: White Shirov Black Van Wely 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 6. Bc1-e3 e7-e6 7. g2-g4 The variation named after the Hungarian master Bela Perenyi. White is prepared to sacrifice a piece. 7...e6-e5 8. Nd4-f5 g7-g6 9. g4-g5 g6xf5 10. e4xf5 d6-d5 11. Qd1-f3 d5-d4 12. 0-0-0 Nb8-d7 13. Be3-d2 Qd8-c7 One example of the storms that Van Wely had withstood in this line is Nijboer-Van Wely, Dutch championship 1999: 13...dxc3 14. Bxc3 Qb6 15. gxf6 Bb4 16. Bc4 Bxc3 17. Bxf7+ Kxf7 18. Qh5+ Kxf6 19. Qh6+ and now Black bravely avoided perpetual check with 19...Kxf5. Later it ended as a draw after all. 14. g5xf6 In an earlier round of the Polanica Zdroj tournament Shirov had played 14. Bd3 against Svidler. Black got a good position. 14...d4xc3 15. Bd2xc3 Qc7-c6 16. Qf3-g3 This Rook sacrifice had obviously been prepared by Shirov after his game against Svidler. 16...Bf8-h6+ For what might happen after 16...Qxh1, see the next game. 17. Kc1-b1 (See Diagram)

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Can Black take the Rook now? It is extremely complicated and at the time my computer and I reached the conclusion that the most likely result would be a draw by perpetual check, given by Black: 17...Qxh1 18. Bxe5 Qe4 19. Bc7 Bd2 20. Bd3 Qc6 21. a3 Nc5 22. Rxd2 Nxd3 23. Re2+ Be6 24. cxd3 Qh1+. This conclusion might well be wrong. 17...Bh6-f4 18. Qg3-d3 0-0 19. Rh1-g1+ Kg8-h8 20. Bc3-b4 Rf8-g8 21. Rg1xg8+ Kh8xg8 22. Bb4-e7 Protecting f6, a nail in Black's coffin. White is doing fine now and went on to score a brilliant win. 22...h7-h6 23. Bf1-e2 Nd7xf6 24. Qd3-d8+ Kg8-h7 25. Qd8-f8 Bc8-e6 26. Qf8xa8 Be6xf5 27. Kb1-a1 Nf6-d5 28. Qa8-f8 Qc6-e6 29. Be7-c5 Bf5xc2 30. Rd1-g1 Bc2-g6 31. h2-h4 Bf4-h2 32. Rg1-d1 Nd5-f4 33. Rd1-d8 Black resigned. After this, many players would have given up this line, but Van Wely is a stubborn man. So, when he met Shirov again at the Istanbul Olympiad he copied their earlier game until move 16 and then came up with a novelty. P2: White Shirov Black Van Wely 16...Qc6xh1 So this time he takes the Rook, but not in the way suggested by annotators after his loss in P1. They preferred 16...Bh6+ 17. Kb1 Qxh1. 17. Bf1-g2 Bf8-h6+ (See Diagram) For now White has an extra possibility: he can win Black's Queen. 18. Bc3-d2 Bh6xd2+ 19. Kc1xd2 Qh1xg2 A very strange move. Can this Bishop really be stronger than the Rook on d1? 20. Qg3xg2 a6-a5 21. f2-f4 e5xf4 22. Qg2-g7 Rh8-f8 23. Rd1-e1+ Ke8-d8 24. Re1-e7 Kd8-c7 25. Qg7xf8 Black resigned. This was quick and painful, but still Van Wely was not convinced. So, a few weeks later in the German team championship he tried the line again in

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P3: White Kalka Black Van Wely Apparently Van Wely had reached the conclusion that taking the Rook was no good. This time he followed P1 till White's 20. Bb4 and then came up with a prepared novelty. 20...Nd7-c5 21. Qd3-c3 Qc6xf6 22. Bb4xc5 Bc8xf5 23. Qc3-a3 Rf8-c8 24. Bf1-d3 Qf6-e6 25. Bd3xf5 Qe6xf5 26. Bc5-e7 Rc8xc2 27. Kb1-a1 Rc2-c6 (See Diagram) Here 28. Qa5, as indicated by the German magazine Schach, would have spelled big trouble for Black again. White however played 28. Bd8 and eventually Black won. So Black had finally scored with this line, but it had been a narrow escape and one wouldn't think any Black player so stubborn to dare a repeat. But then in the first round of the Corus tournament there was P4: White Shirov-Black Topalov Again P1 was followed, this time till White's 18. Qd3. Then Topalov showed his prepared novelty. 18...Rh8-g8 19. Bf1-h3 Ke8-d8 20. Bc3-b4 Qc6xf6 21. Qd3-c4 (See Diagram) Already Black is facing disaster. 21...Rg8-g5 22. Rd1-d6 Qf6-g7 23. f5-f6 Rg5-g1+ 24. Bh3-f1 Black resigned This was really spectacularly bad opening preparation by Topalov. Three moves after his novely he was already lost. How is this possible? It must be due to the modern habit of computer-assisted preparation. The computer keeps saying that Black is better in this line. An unassisted human would look at Black's King, shrink in horror and say to himself: whatever the objective merits, I don't want to play this with Black. Would Van Wely be convinced? It seemed so, because when he faced Shirov in the sixth round, he gave up his beloved Sicilian file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 6) [1/23/2001 8:46:42 AM]

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and defended with the French. In the pressroom his second Suat Atalik was asked why. "It would have been nice if the two of you had found a sideline in this variation to beat Shirov this time." But Atalik answered: "Even God cannot beat Shirov in this variation." It's not easy to beat Shirov with Black anyway. Taking up the French didn't help Van Wely; he was crushed in 28 moves. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Clubland CHESS CLUB B. of the Prenzlauer Berg district in Berlin is not one of the city's strongest clubs, but its social life is second to none. There is beer in abundance and sandwiches and sausages, the air is pleasantly blue with smoke and when all other Berlin clubs have already been closed for hours, B. is still full of life. This I learned from an article by reporter Sieglinde Geisel in the Berliner Zeitung in June last year. I don't know why she gave only the initial of the club's name. Maybe to protect the privacy of its members, but it is also possible that Club B. appeared to her to stand for any chess club, a kind of Everyman of the chess clubs of the world.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree Submit your nominations for The Chess Cafe Book of the Year

At B. the typography of printed papers is still as it was during the time of the DDR, the communist German Democratic Republic, and on the walls there are still the DDR slogans: "Mentally fit to old age." "Young or old, active together." The furniture is as in the DDR and the members of the club were raised in the DDR, except for one, Johannes, whom the others call "our Quoten-Wessi". He is one of the few club members who have a family and a regular job. Johannes tells the reporter that he has a little man inside his ear who warns him to stop whenever he runs the risk of completely immersing himself in chess. Andreas tells her that for the last two years his one-room apartment has been without electricity and telephone. His relatives pay the rent and sometimes he makes some money renovating other people's apartments. Once a friend took him to an office of the city administration to apply for social security benefits, but it turned out to be the wrong office. The civil servants suspected him of fraudulently trying to get double benefits and since then he never applied again. Peter lost his job in 1984, when he submitted a request to leave the DDR, and since that time he has sustained himself by playing chess in the park for money and by betting on horse races. He had saved a thousand marks to buy himself a racehorse, but after the Wende, the unification with the Western part of Germany, all racehorses were bought by the rich Wessi's. The horse that Peter had fancied has won 150,000 marks in the last four years. For Peter the Wende had come

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too early. Franz is the bohemian, and also a chess artist who tries to make his games works of art. He became a DDR citizen accidentally in 1961, when the Berlin Wall was built just at a time when Franz was visiting his parents in East Berlin. His normal residence was with his grandmother who lived in the West. Franz flavours his conversations with small anecdotes. Like how after the building of the Berlin Wall for more then a year Verdi's famous opera Nabucco was staged without the Slave Choir, to avoid unpleasant associations. He tells about one of Goebbels's last decrees, when the Russians were already approaching Berlin and Goebbels announced the immediate abolition of the dog-tax, and there is a trace of a smile on his face, as if to say that a lesson can be learned from this piece of information. Franz is a musician and sometimes he earns some money playing at funerals. Some time after she visited Club B., reporter Sieglinde Geisel attended the open championship of Berlin. She followed the post-mortems and it became clear to her that the loser of a game never attributed the result to superior strength of his opponent, but that it was always one unfortunate and avoidable mistake that had provoked the catastrophe. There at the Berlin Open she met again some of her acquaintances from Club B. Andreas’s relatives had stopped paying his rent, but on the other hand he had managed to submit a request for social benefits and this had been granted. At the Berlin Open he says that now he will try to keep some emotional distance from chess, this "efficient reality repressor". Franz is also receiving social benefits now and the money he earns with his funeral music is settled against them. "Since 1991 we have Communism here," he says. It is doubtful if Sieglinde Geisel really believed that the members of Club B. would manage to keep a distance from their efficient reality repressor. She quotes Martin: "When I completely forget where I am for five hours, this is an experience I want to repeat again and again. Life can give no security, but the chess goddess you can always trust. She doesn't promise anything and she doesn't disappoint you. She is like a pet animal that is happy when it gets fed. That animal doesn't rail at you, it's just there." Of course the chess players who compete in the highest section of the German club competition, the Bundesliga, are quite different from the players at Club B. For one, they are often non-German. The chess club Lübeck for instance has Alexey Shirov and Michael file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [2/26/2001 11:47:53 PM]

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Adams as its top boards and very rare is the match in which a German is asked to play on the Lübeck team. This of course has caused some resentment in German chess circles, but the national federation cannot do anything about it. There used to be a rule limiting foreign assistance to two players per match, but nowadays such a rule would violate the laws of the European Union that guarantee equal job-access to citizens of all member-countries. Here are two games from the Bundesliga. The only German involved is Tegel's Paulsen. White: Speelman (Lübeck) - Black: Paulsen (Tegel) 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. Ng1-f3 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 c5-c4 A strange line, called the "Habichd' by Stefan Bücker, the Prince of Weirdness of opening theory. Habichd is German for "Gotcha" and the object the line is supposed to get is pawn d5, now cut off from its brother on c2. 4. Nb1-c3 Qd8-a5 5. Qd1-d4 Nb8-a6 Bücker recommended 5...b5. 6. e2-e4 According to the German magazine Schach, Speelman had calculated a fantastic line when he considered his sixth move, which he showed immediately after the game had finished: 6...b5 7. e5 b4 8. exf6 bxc3 9. fxg7 cxb2+ 10. Bd2 c3 (The only move according to Speelman, but Schach mentions 10...Bxg7 as another and probably better possibility. After that White will remain down an exchange, but his compensation will be more than adequate.) 11. gxh8Q (Who could resist the temptation to reach a position with four queens, especially in analysis? The sober 11. Rb1 would give White a clear advantage.) 11...bxa1Q+ 12. Ke2 (threatening 13. Qxf8+ and mate) 12...Qb5+ 13. Ke3 Qb6 (See Diagram) This is the position Speelman had envisaged when pondering his sixth move. Who would be better and why? At the post-mortem a lot of highly qualified people, Lübeck's top board Alexey Shirov being the most prominent, threw in a helping hand and collectively they worked out the following continuation: 14. Qxb6 axb6 15. Bxc3 Qc1+ 16. Nd2 Nc7 17. Bg7 Nxd5+ 18. Kf3 Qa3+ 19. Bd3 e6 20. Nc4 Qc5 21. Be4 f5 22. Bxd5 Qxd5+ 23. Kg3 f4+ 25. Kh4. The conclusion reached was that White would have good winning chances. Of course this was only analysis and compared with its splendor the actual game continuation was rather prosaic. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [2/26/2001 11:47:53 PM]

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6...Na6-b4 After this move White gets a fine game without complications. He won without much effort. 7. Ke1-d1 e7-e6 8. a2-a3 Nb4-a6 9. Bf1xc4 Bf8-c5 10. Qd4-d2 b7-b5 11. Nc3xb5 Qa5xd2+ 12. Nf3xd2 Nf6-g4 13. Kd1-e2 e6xd5 14. Bc4xd5 Ra8-b8 15. c2-c4 0-0 16. b2-b4 Bc5-b6 17. Bc1-b2 Ng4xf2 18. Rh1-f1 Nf2-g4 19. Nb5-d6 Ng4-h6 20. Nd6xf7 Black resigned. White: Piket (Solingen) - Black: Feigin (Gelsenkirchen) 1. d2-d4 e7-e6 2. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 3. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 4. g2-g3 Bc8-a6 5. b2-b3 Ba6-b7 6. Bf1-g2 Bf8-b4+ 7. Bc1-d2 a7-a5 8. 0-0 0-0 9. Qd1-c2 One week later Piket had this same position at the Corus tournament, but that time he was Black against Topalov. Also in that game Black didn't get full equality. 9...h7-h6 Topalov-Piket went 9...d6 10. a2-a3 Bb4xd2 11. Nb1xd2 c7-c5 This doesn't look quite right, combining c5 and a5. 12. e2-e4 c5xd4 13. Nf3xd4 Nb8-a6 14. Rf1-e1 Ra8-c8 15. Ra1-d1 Qd8-e7 (See Diagram) 16. Nd4-f5 A well-calculated combination. 16. e5 Bxg2 17. exf6 Qxf6 wouldn't give White anything. 16...Qe7-c5 After 16...Qxa3 White would win an exchange with 17. Nb1 followed by 18. Nd6. Also quite unpleasant for Black would be 16...exf5 17. exf5 Qxa3 18. Bxb7 Nb4 19. Qc3 Rc7 20. Bg2. 17. Nf5-d6 Qc5xd6 18. e4-e5 Qd6-c7 19. Bg2xb7 Qc7xb7 20. e5xf6 The position White had been aiming for at his 16th move. Now after 20...gxf6 21. Ne4 White is threatening both 22. Nd6 and 22. Nxf6+ 20...d7-d5 And also after this move White gets a decisive attack. 21. f6xg7 Rf8-d8 22. Qc2-b2 d5-d4 23. Nd2-e4 e6-e5 24. Ne4-f6+ Kg8xg7 25. Nf6-h5+ Kg7-f8 26. Re1xe5 Rc8-c5 27. Rd1xd4 Rd8xd4 28. Qb2xd4 Rc5xe5 29. Qd4xe5 Qb7-c6 30. Nh5-f6 Na6-c7 31. h2-h4 Nc7-e6 32. Nf6-d5 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad February 16, 2001. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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[Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Chess in Space NOW THAT THE RUSSIAN SPACE ship Mir has been brought back to earth and to its doom, there is justified concern if any decent chess will still be played in space, as this can hardly be left to the Americans.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

From the German firm Chessbase’s website we learn that one of the precious objects that went down with Mir was the Fritz CD-ROM that had been sent up by rocket from the base in Kazakhstan some years ago at the request of cosmonaut Sergei Avdeev. It seems a bit old-fashioned to transmit digital information by rocket, but apparently that’s the way it was done. Fritz’s makers are understandably proud of their important customer, Mir, that until last week circled the earth. The American astronaut that was mated by the computer HAL in Stanley Kubrick’s film 2001 was a weak beginner, but the Soviets proved already in 1970 that they had knowledgeable chessplayers aboard their spacecraft. Cosmonauts Sevastianov and Nikolayev, playing with White, were in space manning the Soyuz 9 while the team of Earth consisted of Air Force general Kamanin and cosmonaut Gorbatko. White: Soyuz 9 Black: Earth, 1970 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e3 e5 4. Bxc4 exd4 5. exd4 Nc6 6. Be3 Bd6 7. Nc3 Nf6 8. Nf3 0-0 9. 0-0 Bg4 10. h3 Bf5 11. Nh4 Qd7 12. Qf3 Ne7 13. g4 Bg6 14. Rae1 Kh8 15. Bg5 Neg8 16. Ng2 Rae8 17. Be3 Bb4 18. a3 Bxc3 19. bxc3 Be4 20. Qg3 c6 21. f3 Bd5 22. Bd3 b5 23. Qh4 g6 24. Nf4 Bc4 25. Bxc4 bxc4 26. Bd2 Rxe1 27. Rxe1 Nd5 28. g5 Qd6 29. Nxd5 cxd5 30. Bf4 Qd8 31. Be5+ f6 32. gxf6 Nxf6 33. Bxf6+ Rxf6 34. Re8+ Qxe8 35. Qxf6+ Kg8 Draw There may have been more to be had for White at some stage, but all in all this game was well-played by both sides. Cosmonaut Vitaly Sevastianov later became known to the general public as the inventor of the Soyuz-Apollo cocktail, a stiff mixture of 25% vodka, 25% gin and 50% brandy, and to chessplayers as the president of the Soviet Chess Federation, in those times a function

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exercised by personalities of high stature. Sevastianov's successor Alexander Chikvaidze became after his time as chess president Soviet ambassador to the Netherlands and later Foreign Minister of Georgia. During his years in the Netherlands, Chikvaidze used to visit birthday parties given by GM Sosonko, who as an emigrant from the Soviet Union, had been persona non grata to earlier ambassadors. I remember an evening at the Amsterdam Concert Hall in honour of the Russian-American writer Nabokov, where Chikvaidze gave an interesting speech of which no literary critic would have to be ashamed, while the American ambassador made no effort to feign that he had ever heard of Nabokov before. This was the Pizza Hut mogul who owed his ambassadorship to a generous contribution to Reagan's election fund and I remember being concerned at the time about the low status my country must have had in the eyes of the American administration to have them send us this ambassador. Since then the Dutch have had some very intelligent American ambassadors and anyway, I digress scandalously, for what has all this to to with chess, one might ask. Unsuspected connections between space travel and chess are explored in the thriller Fall of a Cosmonaut by Stuart Kaminsky. In space, cosmonaut Tsimion Vladovska has mysteriously disappeared from Mir. His last recorded message was a request to contact inspector Rostnikov in Moscow in case anything went wrong on Mir. Meanwhile on earth, a deranged chess fanatic has stolen the negatives of a recently finished film, an epic on Tolstoy’s life and the most costly film ever made in Russia. The mad chessplayer threatens to destroy the negatives and murder the director. Are these cases connected? At first sight this seems implausible, but inspector Rostnikov finds out the truth with help from his partner, the down-to-earth and rational Emil Karpov, well-versed in Marxist dialectics. This Emil Karpov might be a composition character of a man we all know and the protagonist of the classic children’s novel Emil and the Detectives by the German writer Erich Kästner, but I can't be sure, for I haven't read Kaminsky’s thriller, only a summary . A space voyager who might have zoomed in on the south coast of France recently would have spotted Kramnik, Anand, Karpov and many other top players in Monte Carlo where they were participating in the Amber tournament, as they do every year around this time. Less than forty miles westward, but it is only a flash for the space voyager, he would have seen Kasparov, Morozevich, Adams and other chess giants in Cannes. He might have thought file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [3/26/2001 9:15:16 PM]

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they were using a free day of the Amber tournament for a small excursion, but in fact it was two different rapid tournaments that brought almost the entire chess elite together on a small part of the Côte d’Azur. “One could think of more unpleasant assignments,” muses the space voyager, and then he is gone. The Cannes tournament is a FIDE event and Kasparov’s participation, the first time since the Moscow olympiad of 1994 that he has played for FIDE, came as a surprise. Kasparov stressed the fact that he had not negotiated with FIDE, only with the French federation, and that he had ascertained that this time the money for the FIDE event came from a clean source. Another novelty in Cannes was the introduction by FIDE Commerce’s president Artyom Tarasov of a “chess uniform”, designed by a certain Olga Feshina. Two girl chessplayers had the honour of wearing it for the the first time during a demonstration game. One wonders who will follow. A uniform for chessplayers, why not? Doping controls are certainly a more drastic measure. White: Kasparov Black: Bareev, Cannes rapid (25 minutes for the first 50 moves, then 10 seconds per move.) 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-d2 c7-c5 4. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 5. e4-e5 Nf6-d7 6. c2-c3 Nb8-c6 7. Bf1-d3 Qd8-b6 8. 0-0 This Pawn sacrifice has been played by Kortchnoi, who is not in the habit of giving away his pawns for nothing. Bareev declines. 8...g7-g6 9. d4xc5 Nd7xc5 10. Nd2-b3 Nc5xd3 11. Qd1xd3 Bf8-g7 12. Bc1-f4 0-0 13. Qd3-d2 Bc8-d7 14. Rf1-e1 Nimzowitsch would be happy seeing this consistent overprotection. White has a clear advantage. 14...a7-a5 15. Bf4-h6 a5-a4 16. Bh6xg7 Kg8xg7 17. Nb3-d4 Nc6-a5 18. Ra1-b1 Na5-c4 19. Qd2-f4 Qb6-d8 20. h2-h4 h7-h6 21. Qf4-g3 Qd8-e7 22. Nd4-e2 Kg7-h7 23. Ne2-f4 Rf8-g8 24. Re1-e2 Ra8-f8 25. Rb1-e1 Rf8-c8 26. Nf3-h2 g6-g5 27. Nf4-h5 g5xh4 28. Qg3-h3 Rg8-g5 29. Nh5-f6+ Kh7-g7 30. f2-f4 Rg5-g6 31. Nh2-g4 Rc8-h8 32. Nf6-h5+ Kg7-f8 33. Ng4-f6 Bd7-c6 34. Qh3xh4 a4-a3 35. b2-b3 Nc4-b2 36. Kg1-h2 Qe7-c5 37. Re2-e3 The move that would be favoured instantly by most humans (and by my computer given a minute or two) is 37. f5 and in fact this is a much more clear-cut way to pursue the attack. After 37...exf5 38. e6 the two overprotecting White Rooks would jump with joy and after 37...Rg5 38. fxe6 the opening of the f-file is decisive. 37...d5-d4 38. Re3-g3 (See Diagram)

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Now Black could have put up strong resistance with 38...Rxg3 39. Qxg3 Qxc3. GM Ruslan Scherbakov, who analyzes the position after 40. Qg7+ Ke7 41. Rg1 Rc8 in Chess Today, reaches the conclusion that then only 42. Ng4 would bring White a winning attack. But this would be more difficult for White than the game’s final moves, which were 38...d4xc3 39. Rg3xg6 f7xg6 40. Nf6-d7+ Bc6xd7 41. Qh4-f6+ Black resigned; it’s mate next move. Because of his many draws in Linares, Peter Leko was heavily criticised, often insolently. On Kasparov’s website, editor Mig even went so far as to publish a lot of reader's poems impudently making fun of Leko’s supposed love of the draw. I do not think that Kasparov himself had editorial responsibility for all this, rather that he must have been embarassed by the way his colleague was slandered on a site that carries his name. Anyway, in a question-and-answer exchange with readers, Kasparov came to Leko’s defence, saying that Leko had really tried in Linares to find a more aggressive style. It didn't come to anything then, but it did in the first two days of the Amber tournament, where Leko pursued violent attacks in three of his four games (two rapid, two blindfold), scoring three wins and one draw in a more quiet and very long blindfold game where Karpov just managed to escape with a pawn less. Their earlier encounter (rapid but with sight of the board) had gone like this. White: Leko Black: Karpov, Monte Carlo (25 minutes plus 10 seconds per move for the whole game.) 1. e2-e4 c7-c6 2. Nb1-c3 d7-d5 3. d2-d3 e7-e5 4. Ng1-f3 d5-d4 5. Nc3-e2 f7-f6 6. g2-g3 c6-c5 7. Bf1-g2 Nb8-c6 8. 0-0 g7-g5 9. c2-c3 a7-a5 10. c3xd4 c5xd4 11. Nf3-d2 Bc8-e6 12. f2-f4 a5-a4 13. Nd2-f3 h7-h6 14. Bc1-d2 Bf8-d6 15. b2-b4 Qd8-b6 16. f4xg5 f6xg5 17. Bd2xg5 Quite a beautiful piece sacrifice, that brings White no immediate dividends but a lasting attack. Admirable is the unhurried composure with which Leko from now on builds up the pressure. 17...h6xg5 18. Nf3xg5 Nc6-d8 19. Ng5xe6 Nd8xe6 20. h2-h4 Rh8-h6 21. a2-a3 Ke8-e7 22. Rf1-f5 Qb6-c6 23. Qd1-d2 Qc6-e8 24. Ra1-f1 Ra8-c8 25. Bg2-h3 Rc8-c7 26. Qd2-a2 Rc7-d7 27. Kg1-h2 Ke7-d8 28. Ne2-g1 Kd8-c8 29. Ng1-f3 Ng8-e7 (See Diagram) file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 5) [3/26/2001 9:15:16 PM]

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30. Rf5xe5 Another nice sacrifice, after which Black's defences collapse. 30...Bd6xe5 31. Nf3xe5 Ne7-c6 32. Ne5xd7 Qe8xd7 33. b4-b5 Nc6-e7 34. Qa2-d2 Ne7-g8 35. Qd2-a5 Qd7-d6 36. Bh3xe6+ Rh6xe6 37. Rf1-f8+ Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad March 24, 2001. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved. This column is available in Chess Cafe Reader format. Click here for more information.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Smell of the Soviet Union GENNA SOSONKO'S BOOK Russian Silhouettes, recently published (in English) by the Dutch firm New in Chess, describes a vanished culture from a country that doesn’t exist anymore: the world of Soviet chess, with its huge armies of players, trainers and organizers. A world, writes Sosonko, where crowds followed the games of their heroes on big demonstration boards on the streets when tickets for the hall were sold out, where pensioners bent over chess boards on park benches in twenty degrees of frost and old women patiently awaited their grandchildren who were shown Legall’s mate for the first time at the House of Pioneers.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

This is the world that Sosonko left in 1972, to emigrate first to Israel and soon afterwards to the Netherlands. The Soviet Union was not only a chess paradise, it was also a country where people were cruelly stifled in their development and where to survive one had to wear a mask that through the years became more difficult to put off and finally threatened to coincide with the face. The world of Soviet chess has gone, but in his mind Sosonko still hears the voices of its great representatives and in the introduction to his book he writes: “Each time after one of those whom this book is about passed away, I wanted to read about them. Later I realised that I wanted to read about them what I myself knew. More than this what only I knew. Deprived of this possibility I decided to write about them. Hence this book.” The chess culture in which Sosonko lived during the first half of his life as a player, trainer and second of people like Tal and Kortchnoi, has vanished not only because of the disintegration of the Soviet Union, but also because chess itself has changed. There are no more adjourned games, time limits are more pressing and opening preparation is done with the help of computers. According to Sosonko it is also another kind of human being that populates the chess world now. He writes: “Although I know that it was no great mind who came up with the thought that in olden times the sky was more blue, the girls were prettier, queen sacrifices were more spectacular, and finally,

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that the people in chess were more interesting, I cannot dismiss the thought: it’s true, it’s true...” He wanted to write what only he knew and accordingly the portraits in this book with a few exceptions are those of people that Sosonko knew very well, not only during his Soviet years in Leningrad, but also later, when he was already living in the Netherlands. Up till the early eighties it was quite difficult to stay in touch with the Soviet chessplayers, because the emigrants were considered non-persons who could not even be mentioned when tournament results were given in the press. For the Soviets there always was a certain danger involved in mixing with their former compatriots, but Sosonko managed to keep in touch. The two chapters about Capablanca and Levenfish, people whom obviously Sosonko didn=t know personally (though it seems he saw Levenfish once) are quite interesting too and in a way not less personal than those about his contemporaries. I knew Capablanca is the title of one chapter, but at its end it is clear that this is meant ironically and that Sosonko had caught only glimpses of Capablanca during his several visits in New York to Olga Chagodaeva, a Russian aristocrat that had been married to Capablanca from the late thirties till his death in 1941. What we get is a moving portrait of Olga herself, who died in 1994 at the age of 95. For Sosonko she represented a type: the muse-widow as a survivor. “Olga belonged to a whole galaxy of Russian women, who in the 20s and 30s became the wives or lady friends of artists from the West, its creative elite.” And also: “She belonged to that category of long-lived women, who are encountered at various times and social structures. World wars, revolutions, changes of country and of languages, it all takes its course, but life, life continues in any case. As a rule, men play an important role in their lives, often they outlive their children, if they have any, and they die not from illness, which is simply not permitted by the organism, but of old age, when everything ceases to function.” The chapter about Levenfish is mainly based on conversations with people who had really known him well, but also here Sosonko has a personal stake. Levenfish is described as a Soviet player who was not really Soviet, in the sense that he was raised in the era before the revolution and had kept the cultured manners and human dignity from a civilisation that was stamped out. He was a man from another world, and he had to hide this for his own good, but it still shone file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [4/23/2001 10:36:11 PM]

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through. Levenfish is contrasted with the Soviet chess champion par excellence, Botvinnik, a man whom Sosonko knew well and admired tremendously, which however does not prevent him from casting a cold eye at the Patriarch’s stubbornness in the face of facts and his ability to always find a political protector in the moments when he needed him, and taking this for granted as his due. The other chapters are about those that Sosonko really knew well, the great and mighty such as Tal, Botvinnik and Polugayevsky, but also people like the trainer Vladimir Grigoryevich Zak, who hardly became known outside the Soviet Union. And in a chapter called The Jump, the dark side of chess is invoked, for this is about great talents who in their youth showed a promise that was never fulfilled, who gave everything to chess and in the end were left empty-handed and saw no other solution but the jump, from a bridge into an icy river. Sosonko: “Giving the joy of creativity, and sometimes prizes and money, chess at the very highest level demands a trifle in return - the soul.” Shortly after he had come to the Netherlands in 1972, Sosonko said in an interview with the Dutch journalist Max Pam that it had taken courage to emigrate, but that even more courage and willpower would be needed to stop playing chess. He doubted at the time if he could muster such courage and indeed he did not stop, but one could say that in a way he did. Sosonko kept playing chess, without however losing his soul to it, and of course for those who act like this, there is always in the back of the mind the idea that maybe it would have been, not better, but nobler, to lose oneself and one’s soul to chess. The book is marvelously written. Comparisons with Vidmar’s Goldene Schachzeiten come to mind, a true classic, but of the two Sosonko is the superior writer and Russian Silhouettes deserves to become a classic too. It is full of striking anecdotes, but they are never there only for their own sake; they always serve to enrich the portrait that Sosonko draws. The way his heroes are presented here, with love that does not exclude a sharp eye for human weaknesses, is the way we will preserve them in our memories and at the end of the book one of the sharply drawn characters that we have come to know is that of the author himself. A few weeks ago the first copies were presented at the Amsterdam bookshop Pegasus. It used to be located a few hundred meters away in Leidsestraat - the communist bookshop where we went to buy the file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [4/23/2001 10:36:11 PM]

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incredibly cheap chess books and magazines from Eastern Europe. The man from the bookshop still recognized a few of us old-time customers, though it has been a long time since they sold chess literature at Pegasus. It is not a communist bookshop anymore either. Times have changed. “Do you still remember that in the house opposite the street there was a camera that observed all customers?” Sosonko asked now, at the celebration party for his book. Indeed, we had heard of that, though we never were sure if it was true, and we didn=t care much anyway. But I realized that for the emigrant Sosonko it must have meant more than for us, that in his new country he was again spied on, this time by a Dutch government agency, when he went to buy Russian literature. Before I started to write this column, to get into the mood I took a few books from my shelves that in old times I had bought in that bookshop Pegasus. I opened The Soviet School of Chess by Kotov and Yudovich, published by Foreign Languages Publishing House, Moscow 1958. At the time it had been one of my favorite books. And really, when I opened it there was the familiar smell of Soviet ink or Soviet paper, I am not quite sure. The smell is faintly present in many Soviet books, but here it was extraordinarily strong. Show me this book, said my wife, when she had seen what I had written. I did, she opened it. “It’s amazing, I never experienced this smell before,” she said. For the first time in her life she had smelled the Soviet Union. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved. This column is available in Chess Cafe Reader format. Click here for more information.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Hot Logic IN THE INITIAL POSITION White has a small advantage. This cannot be proven by exact methods (how even to define a "small advantage"?) but it stands to reason and practice confirms it. It is not supposed to be a winning advantage, but substantial enough to give Black a hard time in the early stages of the game. So, Black should not get clear equality in the opening and if he does, it means that White has made a mistake.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Let us imagine a logician, playing White, who in an early stage of the game has to choose between two possibilities. One will lead to a fully equal game. The player knows that he hasn't made a mistake yet, so Black has no right to easy equality. White's move that would lead to equality must therefore be a mistake. White's other possibility will lead to incalculable complications. The logician has no choice, he must play it, for it is the only move that might keep the small advantage that is his due. And in fact he is confident that the complications will turn out favorable for him, even if he cannot see how. Otherwise it would be a violation of the logic of chess. I think this was the way of thinking of Max Euwe. His was a risky kind of logic, for how can you be sure that you haven't committed a small inaccuracy in the opening? Weak characters cannot afford this particular logic. Logic is often called "cool", but here we see the opposite. Euwe's chess logic was "hot" and it would often force him into wild and incalculable complications. On Sunday May 20 it was hundred years ago that Max Euwe was born. For us Dutch chessplayers he was the Father of the Fatherland. The flourishing chess life that the Netherlands have known since the thirties we owe to him. One day earlier there was a day of festivities in Euwe's honour at Gasunie Co. Building in Groningen. In 1977 this company established the tradition of the "Euwe Ring", initially worn by Euwe and to be handed over about five years later to a successor who had

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shown merit for the good of Dutch chess life. Euwe died in 1981 before he could do so and his first successor, Hans Bouwmeester, was chosen by a comittee. Bouwmeester took some time before he himself could decide on a worthy successor and in 1991 handed over the ring to Jan Timman, who handed it to Hans Böhm, who handed it, I am proud to say, to me last Saturday. Of Euwe's rich life and career only the tiniest part can be shown here in one column. I chose his last big tournament, the candidates tournament in 1953 in the Swiss cities Neuhausen and Zürich. Gruelling tournaments like this are not held anymore. There were fifteen players, who met each other twice. Twenty-eight games against top opposition, with adjournments and their consequent nightly analyses, from August 30 till October 23. Euwe was 52-years-old at the time. He had no ambition to become World Champion anymore; this ambition he had lost in 1948 when he had failed badly in the World Championship tournament in The Hague and Moscow. He wanted to know how he would do against the young lions of that time. Euwe started well, beating Kotov and Geller. In the third round he had a winning position against Smyslov, but miscalculated - it was in fact a simple case of chess blindness, something that happened to Euwe regrettably often in his career - and lost. This was a pity, but nevertheless after the first half of the tournament, when all players had met each other once, Euwe had shown that he could still fight against the youngsters. Smyslov, Reshevsky and Bronstein were competing for first place. They were twenty years younger or more than Euwe. In fourth place was Najdorf, already a veteran himself, only nine years younger than Euwe. With 7½ out of 14, Euwe shared fifth place with Boleslavsky and Petrosian, ahead of modern greats such as Keres, Kotov and Geller. In the second half Euwe collapsed, adding only four points to his total. A candidates tournament lasting almost two months had proven too long for a 52-year-old, though Euwe characteristically denied that he had become tired. During that first half he had played some great games, especially against Geller and Najdorf. His win against Najdorf I consider the most beautiful of his career and it is a good example showing how Euwe's logic would force him sometimes into a witch's cauldron. In the opening Najdorf chooses a slightly unusual order of moves. It

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had no great importance, but it evaded a specific line that was considered favorable for White. Logic tells Euwe that Black should pay a price for this small success, and the only way Black could be forced to pay the price was by a daring White pawn thrust. This pawn could become weak after quiet play. Again, according to logic, Black did not deserve to play quietly against a weak pawn. Therefore he should be attacked with all force. And so Euwe is forced by logic into a raging attack, sacrificing a Rook, a Knight, without being able to calculate the consequences. “But it must be the right way,” he would have thought while embarking on his adventure, and so it was. White: Euwe Black: Najdorf Zürich 1953 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. g2-g3 Bf8-g7 4. Bf1-g2 0-0 5. Nb1-c3 c7-c5 6. d4-d5 e7-e5 Usually Black played this move with his d-pawn already on d6 and then White was supposed to get some advantage by taking on e6. Here 6. dxe6 dxe6 promises White very little. How to punish Black for his evading a main line? Obviously the only way is pushing White's own d-pawn to d6. After the immediate 7. d6 Black has 7...Ne8, threatening to win the pawn. So logic demands 7. Bc1-g5 Setting up the small threat of 8. Qd2 when the unpleasant pin of Nf6 would become semi-permanent. In his book about the tournament, Euwe admits that the normal 7. e4 would be stronger. This would give up all pretense of punishing Black for his early e7-e5. You might say that handling the rigid c5-d6-e5 structure would be punishment enough for Black. But this is objectivity after the fact. During the game Euwe's logic worked differently. 7...h7-h6 8. Bg5xf6 Qd8xf6 9. d5-d6 So here is the "punishment". It obliges White to act strongly in the future. 9...Nb8-c6 10. e2-e3 b7-b6 11. Bg2-d5 Kg8-h8 12. Nc3-e4 Qf6-d8 13. h2-h4 f7-f5 14. Ne4-g5 White has forced himself into a wild attack. 14...Bc8-b7 Black cannot be too materialistic either. He doesn't fear 15. Nf7+ Rxf7 16. Bxf7 because 16...Nb4 would be very good for him. 15. g3-g4 e5-e4 16. Ng1-e2 Bg7xb2 Not only to attack a Rook, but also to provide square g7 to his King. 17. Ne2-f4

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At first sight this is only a standard Exchange sacrifice, but not so: after 17...Bxa1 18. Qxa1+ Qf6 19. Nxg6+ Kg7 White's attack would peter out. In fact White would be forced to invest a whole Rook with 18. gxf5 Bc3+ 19. Kf1. Both Euwe and Bronstein are of the opinion that White would have a winning attack for his Rook. Instead of taking the Rook, Black can take the Knight with 17...hxg5, but then also White would have a raging attack. 17...Qd8-f6 18. g4xf5 Bb2xa1 19. Nf4xg6+ Kh8-g7 20. Ng5xe4 Bronstein writes in his tournament book that 20. Nf4 would be a stronger continuation of the attack and he is probably right. His conclusion that therefore Euwe did not really deserve one of the brilliancy prizes for this game seems totally unwarranted to me, the more so because Bronstein admits that Euwe's 20. Ngxe4, in itself a nicely calculated move that wins back a Bishop, does not give away the win. 20...Ba1-c3+ 21. Ke1-f1 Qf6xf5 22. Ng6-f4 Now Black has to lose his Bishop, for otherwise White would win by Ng3 followed by Qg4+. 22...Kg7-h8 23. Ne4xc3 Ra8-e8 Bronstein prefers 23...Nd8 as a better defense, though he thinks White should win after 24. Bxb7 Nxb7 25. Ncd5. Should he really? I tend to believe Bronstein in such matters, but it is certainly not clear. I myself tried 24. Rg1 instead of 24. Bxb7 and after 24...Kh7 the computer came up with 25. Qa1. A typical computer move, very strange at first sight but probably quite strong. 24. Nc3-e2 Rf8-g8 25. h4-h5 Rg8-g5 26. Ne2-g3 Rg5xg3 27. f2xg3 Re8xe3 28. Kf1-f2 Re3-e8 Black has been forced to give back all his material, but it doesn't save him from Euwe's concluding attack. 29. Rh1-e1 Re8xe1 30. Qd1xe1 Kh8-g7 31. Qe1-e8 Qf5-c2+ 32. Kf2-g1 Qc2-d1+ 33. Kg1-h2 Qd1-c2+ 34. Nf4-g2 Qc2-f5 35. Qe8-g8+ Kg7-f6 36. Qg8-h8+ Kf6-g5 37. Qh8-g7+ Black resigned; it's mate in a few moves. A marvelous game. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper

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NRC-Handelsblad May 19, 2001. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved. This column is available in Chess Cafe Reader format. Click here for more information.

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Money Matters HOW STRONG WERE the old masters and how much money did they earn? These are difficult questions. When we play over a game from 150 years ago, we are armed with knowledge about the openings, middle game and even the endgame, of which the old masters could have had no idea. They had to solve problems on their own, the solution to which is now known to every Russian schoolboy. To judge their skill, we must empty our mind of much of what we know, and that is hard.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

To find out the value of old currencies is very hard too. Even economists can only vaguely indicate what for instance an English Pound could buy in 1851. In that year the first modern international chess tournament was held in London, from May 27 till July 12. It was no coincidence that it was in the year of the great London World Exhibition. This event was generally thought to herald a new era, the era of science and general progress. Chess, as an intellectual pursuit, should have fit in well with the new spirit, and the chessplayers of the most powerful nation on earth, Great Britain, should not have stood by idly when Progress presented itself proudly to the world. I have re-read the chapter on the London tournament from the book on Adolf Anderssen by Herman von Gottschall and everything that follows is based on that. After his arrival in London, Anderssen wrote a letter to friends in his home town Breslau, describing his trip with the meticulous price-consciousness, befitting the solid school teacher that he was. In Brussels he had played chess in a café on the Place de la Monnaie for half a franc per game. But francs are not our subject now. In Dover he had ordered a cup of coffee and had to pay the shocking price of one and a half shillings for it. His train ticket from Dover to London cost him 22 shillings and in London a taxi brought him to the chess Divan for three and a half shillings. There he saw chess masters earn a shilling for winning a game. From this we get the impression that a shilling was worth something between two and five modern dollars.

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At the Divan Anderssen meets Harrwitz, who tells him that he and his club will have nothing to do with the tournament. Harrwitz was a member of the Westminster club, while the tournament was organised by Howard Staunton's St. George club, and there was much ill feeling between these clubs, of which Anderssen of course was unaware. Harrwitz helps to find a room for rent that Anderssen is going to share with his German compatriot Mayet. They both have to pay six shillings per week. Suddenly to our modern eyes, that have seen the scandalous prices that London boarding houses tend to ask nowadays, the shilling seems to be worth much more than in the previous paragraph. Anderssen and Mayet take a meal in a restaurant for six shillings and now our shilling is back to about four dollars again. Later they meet two members of the St. George club, Horwitz and Staunton, the unofficial world champion who was described by a contemporary as "a man who on powerful shoulders carries a head where thinking has left its traces." "Staunton!" exclaims Anderssen excitedly to Mayet. He must have recognized him from pictures. Staunton seems flattered by this recognition and behaves as a charming and friendly host. Later Staunton will imply in the tournament book that Anderssen could only win the tournament because he himself was incapable of decent play because of illness. The two Germans are led to new lodgings, an apartment with three small bedrooms and a communal living room, to be shared by Anderssen, Mayet, Horwitz, Szén and Löwenthal. Each of them pays 11 shillings a week. Again, when it comes to lodging, the shilling seems to be worth around 20 modern dollars. For other things it was much less. Modern sky-rocketing rents show a freak behaviour and should not influence our calculations too much. Let's put the value of the 1851 shilling at four modern dollars, for the sake of expediency. Anderssen has to pay a five-pound entry fee for the tournament, a hundred shillings, equivalent to about 400 modern dollars. This seems extraordinarily stiff to us and it was rather inhospitable from the organisers. The English participants didn't have to pay an entry fee and it was stipulated that foreigners wouldn't have to pay either if their traveling had been costly. Was Breslau, practically on the opposite side of Europe, not far away enough to make the trip costly? Maybe the exemption from

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paying the entry fee that was promised in the tournament regulations was only meant to lure Saint-Amant away from California. He really would have to make a costly trip, had he wanted to meet his conqueror Staunton in London. But all is well that ends well. Anderssen won the tournament and first prize: 183 pounds, 6 shillings, 8 pence. Not bad at all. Having fixed the shilling at four dollars, we see that first prize was almost 15,000 modern dollars. If Anderssen contemplated a career as a professional chess player, he should have realised that even the best player in the world cannot always be first and that second prize in London 1851 was only 55 pounds. Besides, nobody knew when the next big tournament would take place and in the meantime the professionals were dependent on the one-shilling games in the cafés. Anderssen was never tempted. He stayed in London for some time, taking part in another, less important tournament and playing casual games, such as his "immortal" against Kieseritzky, and then returned to Breslau and to his job as a teacher of German and mathematics. On his way back, he was treated to a big party in Berlin where he was crowned as "chess emperor". His compatriot Von der Lasa found this silly, but next to scientific progress, nationalistic pride was to be the hallmark of the times to come. Anderssen's victory in London was hailed in Germany as a sign that in this new era Germany had taken over the leading role from England. And now, how strong were they playing, 150 years ago? I must say, playing over Anderssen's games from the London tournament, I was rather disappointed. Trying to take account of the inevitable lack of modern knowledge, I still found the general level low. When they had a position that suited them, they could handle it well, but I could not find a really good game in which both winner and loser played well. White: Szén Black: Anderssen, quarter finals, fourth game. 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 4. Bf1-c4 a7-a6 5. a2-a4 Ng8-e7 6. Qd1-e2 Ne7-g6 7. d2-d3 Bf8 e7 8. Bc1-e3 What does he want? If it's not d3-d4, his last move serves no purpose and only puts his piece in danger to Black's d7-d5-d4. 8...0-0 9. 0-0 No, apparently it wasn't d3-d4 he was after. 9...f7-f5 10. e4xf5 Rf8xf5 11. Nc3-b1 There is already a disorderly retreat against the threat 11...d5. Gottschall recommends 11. d4, but then comes 11...Rxf3. 11...b7-b6 12. c2-c3 Bc8-b7 13. Nb1-d2 Qd8-c7 14. d3-d4 Ng6-f4 15. Qe2-d1 This shouldn't even be considered. 15. Bxf4 Qxf4 would be no joy to play for White, but it is unthinkable that he can live file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 6) [6/25/2001 10:53:25 PM]

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with a black Knight that will soon threaten Nxg2. 15...Ra8-f8 16. d4xc5 b6xc5 17. Be3xf4 He has already changed his mind. 17...Qc7xf4 18. Rf1-e1 Nc6-e5 19. Bc4-e2 Rf5-g5 20. Kg1-f1 Ne5-g4 Should this be called a mistake, or was it a sense of chivalry that makes Black go for a difficult and entertaining win instead of simply winning a piece by 20...Qg4? 21. h2-h4 21...Qf4-h2 The preliminary to a nice rook sacrifice, but later it was found that 21...Nh2+ 23. Kg1 Rxg2+ would lead to a forced mate. This is not very difficult (time pressure did not exist then) and no chivalry would have had Anderssen disdain a forced mate. 22. Be2-c4 Qh2-h1+ 23. Kf1-e2 Qh1xg2 24. Nf3xg5 Be7xg5 25. h4xg5 Qg2xf2+ 26. Ke2-d3 Qf2-f5+ 27. Kd3-e2 Qf5-e5+ 28. Ke2-d3 Ng4-f2+ 29. Kd3-c2 Qe5-f5+ 30. Kc2-b3 Nf2xd1 31. Ra1xd1 Qf5xg5 32. Bc4-d3 Rf8-f2 33. Nd2-e4 c5-c4+ 34. Kb3-a2 Bb7xe4 35. Bd3xe4 Qg5-a5 36. Rd1-a1 Qa5xc3 White resigned. The big clash of the titans was to be in the semi-finals, when England and Germany's chess kings met. White: Anderssen Black: Staunton, semi-finals, third game 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. d2-d4 e5xd4 4. Bf1-c4 Bf8-c5 5. 0-0 d7-d6 6. c2-c3 Ng8-f6 7. c3xd4 Bc5-b6 8. Nb1-c3 Bc8-g4 9. Bc1-e3 0-0 10. a2-a3 Qd8-e7 11. Qd1-d3 Bg4xf3 12. g2xf3 Qe7-d7 13. Kg1-g2 Nf6-h5 14. Nc3-e2 Nc6-e7 15. Ne2-g3 Nh5xg3 16. h2xg3 d6-d5 17. Bc4-a2 Ra8-d8 18. Ra1-d1 c7-c6 19. Rf1-h1 Ne7-g6 So far, so good. In this open game the level of play is a class higher than in the previous game, where the players had to steer the unchartered Sicilian waters. 20.Rh1-h5 But this is a serious mistake, immediately punished. 20...d5xe4 21. f3xe4 Qd7-g4 22. Rd1-h1 Rd8xd4 Diagram

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23. Qd3-c3 There was nothing better. 23...Rd4xe4 Well played. 23...Qxe4+ would give Black two pawns for the Exchange and a perpetual check in hand, but probably no win. 24. Rh5xh7 Bb6-d4 25. Be3xd4 Re4xd4 After this the tables are turned. Staunton gives 25...Nf4+ and now either 26. Kg1 Qd1+ 27. Kh2 Qxd4 28. Qxd4 Rxd4 29. Rh4 Ne2 and Black stays a pawn ahead, or 26. Kh2 Kxh7 27. gxf4 Rh8 and Black wins. This last variation is rejected by Gottschall, who indicates that after 28. Bxf7 it is White who wins, not Black. This is true in itself, but in principle Staunton was right. Instead of 27...Rh8? Black should play 27...Rxf4, e.g. 28. Bc5 Rf3 29. Qxf3 Qxf3 30. Bxf8 g5 and Black wins. 26. Rh1-h4 Overlooked by Black. It's over. 26...Ng6xh4+ 27. Rh7xh4 Qg4xh4 28. g3xh4 Rd4xh4 29. Qc3-g3 Rh4-h5 30. f2-f4 Rh5-b5 31. b2-b4 Rf8-d8 32. Ba2-c4 Rd8-d2+ 33. Kg2-g1 Rd2-d1+ 34. Kg1-f2 Rb5-f5 35. Qg3-g4 Black resigned. Visitors of ChessCafe.com should believe me when I say that I haven't chosen these two games to prove a theory and put the old masters in a bad light. It was the opposite way. I decided to write an article about the London 1851 tournament, started my work by trying to find the two best or most interesting games by the winner, and only then had to come to the conclusion that, honestly speaking, they are rather awful. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad June 9, 2001. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved. This column is available in Chess Cafe Reader format. Click here for more information.

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Wonderful Brothel The thing I liked best was that for once we were allowed to smoke again during the games. As you will understand, this was no ordinary chess event. It was part of the Holland Festival, a yearly festival of theatre productions and concerts. On the closing day there was a production of Song Books, a work by the American composer John Cage, written in 1970, but not often performed because of its logistical difficulty, about which more later.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The 90-minute piece starts with the sounds of a chess clock punched and of the first move of a chess game. This game was played by the musician Misha Mengelberg and me. From books I knew how Cage had done this himself, not in Song Books, but at the production of another of his works, Reunion, where he had played chess on the stage first against the artist Marcel Duchamp and then against Mrs. Duchamp. During the game Cage had smoked, drunk wine and walked around now and then to stretch his legs or have a short conversation with an acquaintance in the audience. "Can we do this too during the performance?" I had asked the musical director. "Anything you like," he had said. A big ashtray was put near our chess table on the stage of the Concertgebouw and also a fire-extinguisher, as per the rules prescribed by the Amsterdam fire brigade. Sensible rules indeed. The Amsterdam Concertgebouw is, because of its fine acoustics, one of the most prominent concert halls in the world. I wouldn't like it if our national temple of music burned down to the ground because of me, though it would probably be a successful bid for celebrity status. "Can you handle a fire extinguisher?" asked the producer cautiously. "Of course I can," I said, though I had never touched one in my life. The production was a big spectacle for which you needed a thousand ears and eyes. At any one moment things were happening in all corners of the concert hall, on stage, in the balconies and on four big video screens on the walls of the hall. I saw someone carrying a stuffed deer's head, two wrestlers wriggling on the floor right next to

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our chess table, a bicyclist finding his way through the audience and many more strange things. The public had been invited to leave their chairs to follow the spectacle from different angles and they eagerly took advantage of this liberty. Among the crowd that had climbed on the stage I saw Dutch chess journalist Max Pam, who asked if he could play blitz against the winner of our game. Yes, of course, it would have been against the spirit of the evening to deny him this pleasure. By the way, let me not forget to mention that serious music was made by accomplished musicians and singers. I must confess that I do not have a good ear for modern classical music, but I was in a joyful mood and found everything splendid. And sometimes suddenly there were pieces of vocal music that touched me as moving and beautiful. John Cage said once that he thought few people would consider his Song Books as real art. "It looks more like a brothel, don't you think?" he had said. If so, I found it a wonderful brothel. The privilege to walk around in the entrails of the Concertgebouw, in corridors and rooms that had always been forbidden, and to eat in the musician's canteen, that in itself had already made me feel like a child on his first holiday trip. How wonderful to be an artist, I thought. To do what you like best and being paid for it in addition. The same goes for chessplayers and writers, but sometimes you tend to forget that. To have your name on a poster of the Concertgebouw, in the company of the ravishing and world-famous pianist Tomoko Mukaiyame, who here could be seen not only plucking at the strings of her grand piano, but also shouting from the balcony with help of a magnophone, in magnificent half-nakedness - sounds that I interpreted as Japanese war cries, but probably were something else - isn't that a great honor for which you would be willing to pay a lot, were it not that you were paid for it? Actually, this last consideration is not true. Paying for it would take all the honor and the fun away. Being paid can not be dissociated from the experience of being part of such a production. If you didn't get money for it, you wouldn't really belong to the performing crowd. I played a number of games against Misha Mengelberg and I certainly won't pretend that they were of great interest in themselves. Nevertheless I want to preserve one for lovers of chess trivia and as a personal remembrance of an evening that gave me a lot of pleasure. Notes to the game would be a bit overdone in this case. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [7/24/2001 8:31:23 AM]

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White: Ree Black: Mengelberg, Concertgebouw, Amsterdam June 30 2001 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4. e2-e4 d7-d6 5. f2-f4 c7-c5 6. d4-d5 e7-e5 7. f4xe5 d6xe5 8. Ng1-f3 Nb8-d7 9. Bf1-d3 0-0 10. 0-0 Rf8-e8 11. Kg1-h1 Kg8-h8 12. Bc1-e3 Nf6-g4 13. Be3-g1 a7-a6 14. a2-a3 Qd8-c7 15. b2-b4 b7-b6 16. Nc3-a4 Nd7-f6 17. b4xc5 b6xc5 18. Na4xc5 Bg7-f8 19. Nc5-a4 Nf6-h5 20. c4-c5 Nh5-f4 21. Bd3-c2 f7-f5 22. e4xf5 g6xf5 23. Nf3xe5 23...Qc7xe5 24. Bg1-d4 Ng4-e3 25. Bd4xe5+ Re8xe5 26. Qd1-d4 Ne3xc2 27. Qd4xe5+ Bf8-g7 28. Qe5-e8+ Black resigned I don't know what the public saw of this game. The first moves of our first game were watchable on the video screens, but in the course of the performance computer programs randomly decided what the screens were showing. It could be our game, but also one of the many other activities that took place, or an interview with Cage or films about his works. Obviously Misha Mengelberg was mainly invited because of his accomplishments as a composer-musician, but he has had his fifteen minutes of fame in the chess world also. That happened in the pressroom of the IBM tournament in Amsterdam 1972, when Ljubojevic and Browne were analysing their game which had just become drawn. A justified draw, the players concluded. No real winning chances for either side. But then Misha Mengelberg said modestly: "Gentlemen, may I ask a question? What about Kd5 in that Pawn endgame?" At first the players paid no attention, irritated by an unknown amateur that mingled with their game. But after a few seconds it dawned to them. Yes, indeed, Kd5 would have been winning for Browne.

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Ljubojevic-Browne, Amsterdam 1972, after Black's 36th move. Of course 37. Kxa5 Rxa2+ 38. Kxb4 would lead to an obvious draw, but Ljubojevic carelessly played 37. Rb5xa5? Rh2xa2+ 38. Ka4xb4 Ra2xa5 39. Kb4xa5. Now Browne played 39...f7-f5? and after 40. Ka5-b4 f5-f4 41. Kb4-c4 a draw was agreed. But instead of 39...f5, 39...Kd5 would have been winning for Black. The main line is 40. b4 (or 40. Kb4 Kd4) f5 41. b5 f4 42. b6 Kc6 (Turning back in his track. Mengelberg had seen this move, but the players had not) 43. Ka6 f3 and after both players have promoted, Black wins White's Queen. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad July 7, 2001. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Yearly Check-up A PHOTOGRAPHER FROM the newspaper I write for called me and told me about his stepson, a thirteen-year old boy from Kazakhstan who had emigrated with his mother to the Netherlands a week earlier. Except for her he had no-one to speak Russian or Kazakh to, and no friend yet to play chess with. That must be awful. I was reminded of a sentence the Irish writer Flan O'Brien wrote (more or less, for I re-translate from a Dutch translation): "To be enchained at night in a dark cavern without the company of chessplayers - such miserable fate!"

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

One day later the Lost Boys tournament would start in Amsterdam and though the time to enter had passed, the organizers might make an exception for a boy from Kazakhstan who had only been in the Netherlands for a week. And so the boy is playing there, in Group B. It is difficult to ascertain the strength of a Kazakhstan boy without a rating and he may have been put in a group that is to strong for him, for he has lost his first four games. I feel a bit responsible, as if I were his coach. But as far as I can see he is not feeling down about his losses, playing with a happy face, quickly and superficially. Perhaps I cold learn from his happy face after a loss. “During the first part of his life he tried to have successes. In this he failed. During the second part he tried to reach a state of mind where it would be unimportant to him whether or not he succeeded. In this he failed also.” Thus, more or less again, wrote the American logician Raymond Smullyan. Of course, you can imagine a third phase, in which you have realized that the detached state of enlightenment where success is unimportant is unreachable. In this third phase you are so enlightened that you realize that even detached enlightenment is unimportant. But if you fail in that too, how far can you extend this sequence? Enough, back to earth. Genna Sosonko walks into the tournament room, healthily tanned, relaxed, as in an investment company's advertisement for the second life stage, the life of leisure. He is not taking part in the tournament, otherwise he would look much more wrung-out. A week before the

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tournament he tried to convince me that it would be madness for me too to take part, asking for trouble and humiliation. Looking at a tournament is much nicer, he thinks. “One moment you are Dutch champion and the next you are groveling among the masses,” says a helpful spectator to me. This was after I had lost the first two games. In an Open you then descend to the pits. Last year there was an extra punishment, for the descent to the pits had to be taken literally; you had to play your next games in small, hot rooms without windows or ventilation. This time the new accommodations are big and everyone has room and air enough. But a loss is still a loss. Maybe I should have listened to Genna, but I didn't want to. I am attached to my one tournament a year, because it is also an essential yearly check-up, not only to see what you can still do, but also to investigate how you experience the emotions of struggle, winning and losing. It is different from what it used to be, but it is still interesting. After these miserable first two rounds things changed for the better and then you become a different person, who once again is interested in the world outside his own brain and specifically in the other games that are played in the tournament. Then you realise once more what a wonderful thing a big chess tournament is. Here in the Lost Boys tournament more than 200 games are played every day. Two hundred stories of pleasure and grief, of profoundness and inventiveness and of errors and despair. It is nice to watch a tournament, but you really only see it if you are taking part in it. One of the favorites was Mikhail Gurevich. A month earlier he had won the Belgian championship with the impressive score of 9 out of 9. Then he went on to win the strong Swedish Politiken Cup Open. But here he found that our Dutch boys are not to be taken lightly. In the first round Gurevich miraculously escaped with a draw against Merijn van Delft, two rounds later he was hammered off the board by young Dennis de Vreugt and in the fifth round he hit the same stone thrice but lived to tell the tale, which he did shaking with laughter about his own fits of chess-blindness.

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White: Gurevich Black: Happel A world-class player with Queen and three connected passed pawns against a Dutch FIDE Master with Rook and Knight. This must be a simple thing. But look what happens. 51. Kg3-h4 Nothing wrong with this move in itself, but later Gurevich might have cursed himself for not putting the King on the safe square h2. 51...Nh5-g7 52. Bc7-b6 With this move White squanders one of his three mighty pawns. 52...Rd7xa7 53. Bb6xa7 Rf7xf5 The point is that after 54. exf5 Nxf5+ 55. Kh5 Black doesn't take the Queen with 55...Nxg3, because of 56. d7, but plays 55...Ng7+ with a perpetual. White had seen this, but he thought he had a refutation. 54. d6-d7 But in fact this move costs him his second pawn. 54...Rf5-d5 The same trick, but in a version that had been overlooked by White. After 55. exd5 Nf5+ there is a perpetual again. 55. Qe3-f4 Rd5xd7 56. Ba7-e3 Rd7-e7 57. Qf4xh6+ Kh7-g8 58. Qh6-f6 Again overlooking the same trick, that could now have appeared for the third time. It might have cost him his third pawn. 58...Re7-e6 But this time Black misses it too. He could have forced a draw with 58...Rxe4. Both players thought that this would be refuted by 59. Bh6, but then comes the saving move 59...Re7, and if 60. Qxe7?? then 60...Nf5+, the now familiar knight move again. 59. Qf6-d8+ White is winning again and Black doesn't get a second chance. 59...Re6-e8 60. Qd8-d5+ Kg8-h7 61. Be3-d4 Bh3-g2 62. Qd5-d7 Re8-g8 63. Qd7xg4 Bg2-h1 64. Kh4-h3 Black resigned. White: Arakhamia Grant Black: Gohil From the same round. 25. Qd2-d8+! An unexpected invasion. After 25...Rxd8 26. Ne7+ Black is mated. 25...Qg6-e8 26. Qd8-c7 Be6xf5 27. Rf1xf5 g7-g6 Things seem more or less OK for Black, but now comes another surprise. 28. Rd1-d7 gxf5 29. Rd7-g7+ Kg8-f8 30. Rg7xh7 Nc6-e7 31. Qc7-d6 Qe8-g6 32. Rh7-h8+ Kf8-g7 33. Rh8xa8 Qg6-g5 34. Qd6-d4 Ne7-c6 35. Qd4xc4 Qg5-e3+ 36. Kg1-f1 Qe3xe5 37. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [8/21/2001 8:02:01 AM]

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Ra8-g8+ Kg7-f6 38. Qc4-h4+ Kf6-f7 39. Qh4-h7+ Kf7-f6 40. Rg8-g6 mate. Siegbert Tarrasch's famous dictum "Chess, like love, like music, has the power to make man happy" was preceded by words less often quoted but no less true: "It is not everyone who can write a play, or build a bridge, or even make a good joke. But in chess everyone can, everyone must, be intellectually productive and so can share in this select delight." To prove his point, here is a game between two unknown amateurs from Group C of the Lost Boys tournament. White: Harzevoort Black: Kers 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 a7-a6 3. c2-c4 b7-b5 4. c4xb5 a6xb5 5. Bf1xb5 Bc8-b7 6. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 7. Bb5-d3 f7-f5 8. Qd1-h5+ g7-g6 9. Qh5-e2 Ng8-f6 10. Bc1-g5 f5xe4 11. Bd3xe4 11...Nf6xe4 12. Bg5xd8 Ne4xc3 13. b2xc3 Bb4xc3+ Clever play by Black. In semi-orthodox opening's theory there is a similar line, starting with 1. d4 e6 2. c4 b6 3. e4 Bb7 4. Nc3 Bb4, where Black's queen sacrifice would be doubtful because White has Kf1, a move not available here. 14. Ke1-d1 Bc3xa1 15. Qe2-e5 0-0 16. f2-f3 Nb8-c6 17. Qe5xc7 Nc6xd8 18. Ng1-e2 Ra8xa2 19. Rh1-e1 Bb7-d5 20. Qc7-b6 Nd8-c6 21. Qb6-b1 Rf8-b8 22. Qb1-d3 Rb8-b3 23. Ne2-c3 Ba1xc3 White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad August 18, 2001. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Claude Bloodgood ON AUGUST 4 the American chessplayer Claude Bloodgood died in the hospital of a prison in Richmond, Virginia. According to himself and to his friends he was 77 years old, which may or may not be true. He had been a prisoner since 1962, with three short periods of interruption when he was a free man. His life before that time had been eventful, that is if you believe the account he gave in 1999 to Julian Borger, a journalist working for the English newspaper The Guardian.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

He was born in 1924 in Mexico as Klaus Bluttgutt III, the son of German parents. His father (still according to the story in The Guardian) was a spy for Germany who together with his son in 1931 settled in the US, with help of false papers, under the name Bloodgood. In 1938 little Klaus was sent to Germany, where he made a quick career in the Nazi Party and in the Abwehr, the German counter-intelligence service headed by admiral Canaris. Apart from that he was considered a chess prodigy and played with Canaris, General Rommel and Himmler, the head of the SS. Did these people really play chess? To my knowledge they do not appear in the extensive “celebrities playing chess” literature. During World War II he landed several times via German submarines on American shores to exchange information with his father, the spy. During his last trip the sub was hit and wrecked. Klaus managed to save himself and stay out of the hands of American authorities (the only member of the crew who did so) and resumed his life as the American citizen Claude Bloodgood. During the fifties he went to Hollywood as a professional chess hustler and played there with other stars, no Nazi leaders this time, but famous actors such as Humphrey Bogart, Gary Cooper, Richard Widmark, David Niven, James Mason and James Cagney. For a short period he was married to Kathryn Grayson, who starred in successful musicals. Of course the journalist Julian Borger tried to check if this story was

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true. He didn't find anything that confirmed it, not about the Nazi period, not about Bloodgood mingling with the Hollywood stars and not about his marriage. He did find in an FBI file a reference to Claude's father, who was said to be born in 1910. If that year is right, it would cast grave doubts on Claude's own year of birth as 1924, and on the whole Nazi period. Nevertheless Borger seemed impressed by vague indications suggesting that some parts of the story might be true. And he didn't doubt that Bloodgood was an "undisputed chess genius" and a "grandmaster". This Bloodgood was not, though he was a competent and enterprising player and a real chess fanatic. About the second part of his life we have better documentation. From 1962 till 1964 and from 1965 till 1967 he was imprisoned for burglary, from 1968 till 1969 for forgery and from 1970 till the end of his life for the murder of his stepmother, apparently in a fight about an inheritance. He was sentenced to death, which in a way suited him, for while he was on death row the prison system paid for his stamps, so that he could play correspondence games, sometimes 2000 at the same time. After his sentence had been commuted to life imprisonment this was not possible anymore, but soon he was allowed to organise chess events in the world outside the prison. This was extraordinary for a prisoner who had been condemned to death, but when asked about it, Bloodgood smiled and said that much was possible if you knew how to play the prison bureaucracy. After an unsuccessful escape attempt in 1974 this too was a thing of the past and since that time he played against his fellow-prisoners, thousands of games a year. Because of a bug in the American rating system, in 1996 he saw himself, without ever having encountered a really strong player, ascending to second place on the American rating list (Gata Kamsky being first) with a rating of 2702. American chess officials were confronted with the unnerving prospect that Bloodgood might demand a place in the team for the Olympiad, but this never happened. While in prison, Bloodgood wrote three books, The Tactical Grob on 1. g4, The Blackburn-Hartlaub Gambit, on 1. d4 e5 2. dxe5 d6 and The Nimzovich Attack: The Norfolk Gambits. Norfolk was the city were his father supposedly had worked as a spy. With some good reason these openings have been characterised as mad, bad and dangerous. They suited his adventurous style. One of the "Norfolk Gambits" was played by Bloodgood in 1999 in a correspondence file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [9/24/2001 9:23:39 PM]

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game with the journalist Julian Borger who would spin such a riveting yarn about Bloodgood's life. White: Bloodgood Black: Borger 1. Ng1-f3 d7-d5 2. b2-b3 c7-c5 3. e2-e4 d5xe4 4. Nf3-e5 Qd8-d4 5. Bc1-b2 Qd4xb2 6. Nb1-c3 Qb2-a3 7. Bf1-b5+ Bc8-d7 8. Ne5-c4 Qa3-b4 9. Bb5xd7+ Nb8xd7 10. a2-a3 Black resigned. This may have been a real money-earner during his hustler times. Inside and outside prison Bloodgood played this same game many times. You may notice something wrong with the diagram of the final position, but according to the Chess Addict columnists Mike Fox and Richard James this is how it appeared in The Guardian. Ah, well, even a quality paper can't have everything right. A certain flourish as a chessplayer cannot be denied to Bloodgood, but naturally he wasn't often able to meet strong opponents. The next game was played in 1973 within the framework of a Virginia Penitentiary Chess Program. White: Bloodgood Black: Sanderson 1. g2-g4 e7-e5 2. d2-d3 Bf8-c5 3. h2-h4 d7-d5 4. g4-g5 Bc8-g4 5. c2-c4 Ng8-e7 6. Bf1-g2 Bg4-e6 7. Qd1-b3 Bc5-b6 8. Nb1-c3 d5xc4 9. Qb3-b5+ Nb8-c6 10. d3xc4 a7-a6 11. Qb5-a4 0-0 12. Bg2-h3 Be6xh3 13. Ng1xh3 f7-f5 14. c4-c5 Bb6-a7 15. Qa4-c4+ Kg8-h8 16. h4-h5 Nc6-d4 17. Nc3-d1 Qd8-e8 18. h5-h6 g7-g6 19. f2-f4 Ra8-d8 20. f4xe5 Ne7-c6 21. Nh3-f4 21...Nc6-b4 21...Nxe5 would be good for Black. 22. e5-e6 Nb4-c2+ 23. Ke1-f2 Nc2xa1 24. e2-e3 Nd4-c6 25. Qc4-c3+ Nc6-d4 26. e3xd4 Qe8-e7 27. d4-d5+ Kh8-g8 28. Bc1-e3 b7-b6 29. Nf4xg6 h7xg6 30. h6-h7+ Black resigned. After Bloodgood=s death a long obituary appeared in The Week in Chess 354, written by Pierre Barthélémy, a journalist of the French newspaper Le Monde who knew Bloodgood well. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [9/24/2001 9:23:39 PM]

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His description of Bloodgood’s life, far more sober than that by Borger, Barthélémy concluded thus: “On a personal note, I knew Claude for close to a decade and became good friends with him. I found him to have a brilliant mind, a great sense of humor, to be a loyal friend, and to be kind and generous with others. Even though he had only limited finances, for example, he was always quick to share what little he had with other inmates, particularly when it came to promoting prison chess ... The chess world will be less interesting without him. I will miss him very much.” This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad September 1, 2001. Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Inside Chess] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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A Dutch World Champion

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

IT WAS ABOUT TIME that the Netherlands had a new world champion, after Euwe in 1935. The new champion is Gert Jan Timmerman from Rotterdam. It didn't cause much clamor in the world, not even in the Netherlands, due to the fact that he gained his title in a discipline that demands profundity and diligence, but is hardly spectacular for the general public; that of correspondence chess. It has been a long and strenuous campaign. The final of the 15th ICCF World Championship started in 1996, but already in 1988 a few hundred players were taking part in the qualification tournaments. Timmerman didn't have to play in these tournaments. As an over-the-board player he is a FIDE master with a rating of 2335, but in correspondence chess his standing is much higher. For many years he has been first on the ICCF rating list. Though he was spared eight years of agony, playing the final in itself is hard work. The standard time distribution, three days per move, with sixteen participants, comes down to five moves per day. In the early stages time can be accumulated, for it doesn't take three days to decide on 1. e4, but later there will be moves that need weeks to analyse.

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We know the classical stories about a letter dropped in the mailbox and then, when the player has returned home, he checks again and finds that his move has been a fatal mistake. So back to the mailbox, waiting for the postman to empty it and begging him to return the fatal envelope. The postman is not allowed to do this, but sometimes he does, if the begging is poignant enough. Fritz Baumbach, one of Timmerman's predecessors as World Champion, once told the German magazine Schach that on one occasion he had taken a small amount of money with him, to soften the postman's heart. Even a mail robbery was contemplated, but in fact Baumbach didn't have to use criminal methods. The postman let him have his way and in an enormous pile of Christmas cards Baumbach found his letter. After many days of analysis he mailed the letter again, with exactly the same move, but this time for the right reasons. All strong correspondence players agree that computer programs can be of some help, but by far not as much as people often think. The longer the thinking time, the better a human will do against a computer, and in correspondence chess a computer not steered by human strategy would be a belowaverage player. Nevertheless the game has changed since people began to use computers. Dubious adventures have far less chance to succeed. In the past, a lost position might be saved by a shrewd tactical swindle, but not anymore. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 7) [10/22/2001 11:15:42 PM]

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Is using computers allowed? And is it ethical to show a position to friends and ask their opinion? Strictly speaking, probably not. But almost everybody does it now and then. It cannot be checked, so a formal prohibition would be senseless. And one could even argue that it promotes chess culture, the correspondence player coming to the club and showing the workings of his mind to all comers. Nevertheless, many take pride in not showing their games to others and thinking with their own head. It will take a few years before the 15th world championship is finished, but Timmerman has finished all his games and his score of 12 out of 15 cannot be reached by other participants. His final game took a lot of patience. According to Timmerman, his Russian opponent Tomkovich is a notoriously difficult man who always complains that letters to him have disappeared in the mail or have been unaccountably delayed. In April Timmerman had sent his last move. No answer came. In June Timmerman sent the same move again by registered mail. Still no answer. In August Timmerman had a third try and then finally on September 11 he received Tomkovich's resignation. On that day other and more important events took place and out of respect the ICCF waited a week before it made Timmerman's World Championship officially known.

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One of his most important games was against Joop van Oosterom, the chess patron who has sponsored many important chess events, most notably the yearly Amber tournament in Monaco. Van Oosterom has no qualms about the fact that he often invites grandmasters to have a look at his games and express their humble opinion, but he is also a good player on his own who was a promising youth champion before he gave up chess for making money and then spending it on chess. Not all his games in the championship are finished yet, but he has a good chance for second place. White: Van Oosterom Black: Timmerman 19961998 1. d2d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4. e2-e4 d7-d6 5. Ng1-f3 0-0 6. Bf1-e2 e7-e5 7. 0-0 Nb8-c6 8. d4-d5 Nc6-e7 9. Nf3-e1 Nf6-d7 10. Bc1e3 f7-f5 11. f2-f3 f5-f4 12. Be3-f2 g6-g5 About this line Viktor Kortchnoi has written: “You know what this variation reminds me of? In World War II the German soldiers, and later the Russians too, used the following method: after some heavy drinking they stormed the enemy positions, with weapons ready for use and no protection at all. Awe-inspiring, isn't it? This was the so-called ‘psychological attack’.” Despite Kortchnoi's low opinion of this line, Black's attack can be quite dangerous, though it must be said that Kortchnoi himself has a tremendous score as White against it. 13. a2-a4 a7-a5 14. Ne1-d3 b7-b6 15. b2-b4 a5xb4 16. Nd3xb4 Nd7-f6 17. Nb4-c6 Often 17. Nd3 is played. In the most important game with that move, Yusupov-Kasparov, Yerevan 1996, file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 7) [10/22/2001 11:15:42 PM]

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17. Ra3 Bd7 18. Nb5 followed. The game was drawn. 17...Ne7xc6 18. d5xc6 Qd8-e8 19. Nc3-d5 Rf8-f7 20. a4-a5 b6xa5 21. Qd1-a4 g5-g4 It is always a success for Black when he can play this without the preliminary h7-h5, for on h5 the pawn would be in the way of his pieces. 22. Qa4-b5 A novelty that saves a tempo compared to 22. Bh4 Nxd5 23. cxd5 g3 24. hxg3 fxg3 25. Bxg3 Qe7 26. Qb5, Kiriakov-Lobzhanidze, Groningen 1996. Interesting and difficult are the lines after 22. Nxf6+ Rxf6 23. fxg4 Qg6 24. Bh4 followed by 25. c5 22...Nf6xd5 23. c4xd5 g4-g3 24. h2xg3 f4xg3 25. Bf2xg3 Bg7-h6 26. Kg1-f2 Qe8-e7 27. Rf1-h1 Qe7g5 His novelty hasn't helped White much, for Black has a dangerous attack. The Exchange sacrifice that White now brings is defensive in nature. He hopes to build a fortress. 28. Rh1xh6 Qg5xh6 29. Ra1xa5 Ra8xa5 30. Qb5xa5 Kg8-h8 31. Qa5-a3 Qh6-g6 Threatening 31...Qxe4 and 31...Rg7 32. Qa3-a8 Rf7f8 33. Bg3-h4 To answer 33...Qxe4 with 34. Bf6+. 33...Qg6-h6 34. g2-g3 34...Bc8-f5 Step by step Black improves his position. He has forced the white Queen to the eighth rank and now makes use of this to free his Bishop. 35. Qa8-a4 Bf5-g6 36. Qa4-c2 Kh8g8 37. Be2-d3 Bg6-h5 38. Bd3-e2 Bh5-g6 39. Be2-d3 Rf8-b8 40. Bd3-e2 Qh6-f8 41. Bh4-g5 Rb8b4 42. Kf2-g2 Qf8-b8 43. Bg5-h6 Rb4-b2 44. Qc2file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 7) [10/22/2001 11:15:42 PM]

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c4 Qb8-a7 45. Bh6-c1 Rb2-a2 46. Bc1-e3 Qa7-a5 47. Be3-h6 Kg8-f7 48. g3-g4 Ra2-a1 49. Be2-f1 Qa5-a7 50. Qc4-d3 Ra1-a3 51. Qd3-c4 Ra3-a2+ 52. Bf1-e2 Qa7-a5 53. Bh6-c1 Kf7-g7 54. Kg2-f2 Ra2a1 55. Be2-f1 Qa5-b6+ 56. Bc1-e3 Qb6-b1 57. Kf2g2 White has almost no moves. After the immediate 57. Qd3 Black wins by 57...Ra2+ 58. Kg3 Qxd3 59. Bxd3 Ra3 57...h7-h5 58. g4xh5 Bg6xh5 It has taken a long time before the Bishop could be put to action, but now its participation in the game is immediately decisive. 59. Be3-f2 Kg7-f7 Last preparation. The King has to be near c7. 60. Qc4-d3 60...Qb1xf1+ 61. Qd3xf1 Ra1xf1 Much stronger than 61...Bxf3+ 62. Kg2xf1 Bh5xf3 All White's pawns will fall. He makes another two moves, just to reach the sacred number of 64. 63. Bf2-e1 Kf7-e8 64. Be1a5 Ke8-d8 White resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRCHandelsblad September 29, 2001.

Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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[Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Inside Chess] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Memories of Tony Miles Many people knew that Tony Miles was suffering from diabetes, but the type he had is usually not life threatening, as my father pointed out when he recently celebrated his 90th birthday. This year Miles had to withdraw in the last round of the British Championship, but then later he played for his club in the Four Nations Championship League and on the day he was found dead in his bed he had an appointment to go out and play some bridge with the friend who eventually found him.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

He died in his birth town, Birmingham, apparently reconciled with England and English chess life. He had lived in the US, in Australia, Andorra and Germany. In one case it was because of a marriage, in another for tax reasons, but his restlessness also had to do with the conflicts he had with his English colleagues and with English chess organisers. Miles was a free spirit with a wry sense of humor and a sharp tongue. It made him one of the most colorful and popular characters on the international circuit, but it also caused many quarrels. He was only 46-years old when he died. Still so young? I thought. Not only that it is a scandalous age to die, but also in my mind he was older, because it seemed as if he had been around forever. My memory is not what it was, but I have my crutches; the database that tells me that the first time I played him was in the Amsterdam IBM tournament in 1976. He won that tournament, together with Kortchnoi. Two years earlier he had become World Junior Champion and for the next ten years he was to be one of the top players in the world, a world championship candidate in all respects, except that he never qualified from one of the interzonals.

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In 1977 he won unshared first prize in the Amsterdam tournament and in Tilburg – in these years the venue of the strongest international tournament – he was second behind Karpov. He would later win the Tilburg tournament twice, most brilliantly in 1984 and most spectacularly in 1985, when after a few rounds he was forced by an aching back to play his games on a massage table. His results immediately turned for the better and after a while there was much grumbling among his rivals and even an official protest. Dzindzichashvili added an individual protest by playing his game against Miles standing upright. I was in Tilburg as a reporter and to fulfill my duty I sneaked into the tournament room at a moment when the chair of Miles' opponent was empty. I took the chair and enjoyed a really strange sight. A few inches above the board floated Miles' head and arms and that was all you saw. I was reminded of an Egyptian sphinx, or of a cat that stretches opposite you on the floor. The Cheshire cat from the Alice in Wonderland book maybe. After a brief conversation the Cheshire cat disappears and only its grin stays behind in the tree. The grin that Miles showed when he had beaten his bewildered opponents. Yes, the protesters had a point, but on the other hand it was no fun for Miles either to play with an aching back on a massage table. A few days later he went on to the Ostende Open in Belgium. He had promised the organisers to take part and he didn't want to disappoint them, but he would rather go swimming and dieting to restore his back to order. There were 140 participants, no room for a massage table. He had to lie on the floor in a corner of the tournament room, only to stand up painfully to make his move. During the first round he played in effect a blindfold game, but later he was given a pocket set, on the condition that between moves he would only look at it and not touch the pieces. Sometimes you heard the barking of dogs on the boulevard along the beach and then other players joked that it was Miles, barking from his corner. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [11/26/2001 11:28:27 PM]

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One tended to forget that he was there and a few times when I was looking at his board, from beneath I felt a gentle pat against my calf, to warn me that I shouldn't trample him. We were vying for first place. In the next to last round he tried to win a difficult ending against the Rumanian Ghinda till three o'clock in the morning, but in vain. Next day, being half a point up on everyone, I had an uneventful draw with Gheorghiu and then I saw Miles trying for nine hours to win another ending to catch me. This time he succeeded and so we shared first prize. I would rather have been first alone, but I considered that during the last two days Miles had been on the floor for twenty hours and I couldn't really begrudge him his win. A few years later he had a severe relapse. Maybe he was already suffering from his diabetes, though unaware of it. It seems that the disease, if unattended, can influence the mind. Anyway, Miles had nervous breakdowns. In Downing Street, in front of Prime Minister Thatcher's residence, he was arrested, shouting that Raymond Keene was intending to murder him. Later he presented himself naked at a tournament in Andorra. He recovered and in the nineties as an indefatigable traveler he won tournaments again, though not of the same strength as in his heyday. And as we know, due to his sense of humor and his outspokenness, he also became one of the most popular chess journalists. In one of his ChessCafe columns, The Holey Wohly, he wrote about a game he played in Beijing 1996 against Eduard Gufeld. Miles was black and started 1. e4 c6 2. d4 Na6. He got a quite decent position, but lost the game. Next day, Miles tells, he saw Gufeld at breakfast. Gufeld said: “I hate you, my friend. You are destroying chess with your stupid ideas.” Gufeld kept shouting for two hours and later he never said a polite word to Miles. When they met at the board again, there was no handshake. It had happened before to Miles, in 1980 in the Swedish town Skara at the European team championship. Miles played Karpov with black on first board and started with 1. e4 a6 2. d4 b5. This game he file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [11/26/2001 11:28:27 PM]

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won and an angry Karpov said that his choice of opening had been an insult. Though one should grant a chessplayer the right to follow his own path, one can sympathize with Gufeld and Karpov. Originality is fine, but when a player consciously chooses the bizarre, in a sense he opts out of serious competition. It is as if he shouts: “Look, hands tied! I defy you by playing an opening that you and I know can't be right; in a sense I am giving you odds, so when I lose it doesn't really count.” This can be irritating and of course it is also true that on the highest level the bizarre cannot provide lasting success. The very original player Tony Miles often balanced on the brink of the bizarre and sometimes he went beyond it. He could afford it because he had sound traditional virtues: a fine positional feeling and an excellent endgame technique. Sharp calculation in complications that he did not usually seek but thoroughly enjoyed when they came up, and total concentration at the board. He loved chess and he loved to win. But still, I think that his love for the unusual was a sign of a weak spot in his armor and that this was brought home to him in 1986 when he lost a match with Kasparov 5,5-0,5. "The monster with a thousand eyes" Miles called Kasparov jokingly. Never losing his sense of humor, but after that match Miles didn't reach his former level, as Larsen didn't after his 6-0 loss to Fischer. Though it is always dangerous to speculate, I tend to think that the realisation that there was such a big gap between a world top player like himself and the absolute top payer Kasparov killed part of his ambitions. Nevertheless, when Tony Miles took part in a tournament, there was always something special happening. I liked to play him and though he was a much stronger player than I, for some reason I had an excellent score against him. Between 1981 and 1987 I beat him 5-0. Though he has often been described as an obsessive milk-drinker, during the second session of one of these games he put four cognacs file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 5) [11/26/2001 11:28:27 PM]

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in front of him, showing that he considered his position lost, but still setting up traps and making use of all the resources of the position. After his last loss to me, in 1987, I heard someone asking him: “Why do you lose against Ree, who doesn't even know his openings anymore?” “Maybe he has a big natural talent,” Miles said generously. That was one of the most beautiful compliments I had ever received and I quietly hastened away, not to show him that I had overheard him. “Even his enemies will miss him,” wrote one obituarist. I didn't know Tony Miles well enough to call myself a friend, but I knew him since 1976 and I will sorely miss him.

Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Inside Chess] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Fateful Mistakes It is generally considered a bit childish to speculate on the course history would have taken if some trivial event had been different from what it really was. "What if Cleopatra's nose had been smaller?" is the classic instance and "Your guess is as good as mine" would be the proper answer to that one.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Still, respected historians have written books filled with such speculations, as an entertainment between serious tasks and to exercise the historical imagination. And I too tend to indulge myself in these trivial pursuits, mapping out the great consequences of a small chess move on history or at least on a human life. What is the significance of one move in the life of a chess player who has made a million moves in the course of his career? I think of Vlastimil Hort, playing his candidates match against Spassky in 1977. He had been very generous, not claiming the match as he could have done when Spassky fell ill, but granting a postponement. Then in the next-to-last game, playing with black, he saw the winning move that would give him a decisive one point lead, but his hand trembled so that in the

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seconds he still had on the clock (enough to make at least ten moves in an ordinary blitz game), he wasn't able to pick up the piece and put it on the right square. He lost on time. After this Hort never reached the candidates matches again and given his gently humorous but deeply pessimistic outlook on life, one can imagine his inner voice wondering what might be the sense of reaching for the top, when at the crucial moment your hand trembles. The most fateful move in modern chess history appeared in the 41st game of the Karpov-Kasparov match 1984\85. In time trouble Karpov played 33. Rxd1, missing the winning 33. a6 that would have ended the match and given him a devastating 6-1 victory. After such a terrible beating, would Kasparov still be able to become the man he was to be in real life? This seems impossible. A 6-1 defeat in a World Championship's match leaves an indelible mark. And so, without the Kasparov as we know him, we wouldn't have witnessed his break-out from FIDE in 1993, nor its direct consequence, the ascent to power in FIDE of Ilyumzhinov. The chess world would have been quite different and so would be the life of Ilyumzhinov. That again would reflect on the state of his play-thing, the Russian republic Kalmykia. Maybe Ilymzhinov's political position would have been less stable without FIDE. Would that have influenced his oil contracts with Iraq and Iran? Or file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 7) [12/24/2001 4:05:00 PM]

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Russian and international politics? The present war in Afghanistan, often said to be linked with oil prospects? All this because Karpov missed 33. a6? I told you already that such speculations tend to run madly into childish frivolity. Another fateful move was played in the next diagram position. White: Botvinnik Black: Euwe, Groningen 1946 Groningen 1946 was the first post-war supertournament. Euwe and Botvinnik vied for first place in a close race that was finally won by Botvinnik with half a point difference. Naturally, the outcome of their mutual game was crucial. In the diagram position Euwe played 39...h7-h6 and later Botvinnik managed to draw the game. At the time Flohr proposed 39...Rc5 as a better winning try, but then it was thought that also in that case White could save the draw with 40. e5 Kd5 41. Re3 c3 42. e6 c2 43. e7

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However, in the latest issue of New in Chess (2001 #8) there was a reader's letter from Ton Bodaan, who had discovered a finesse that analysts in 1946 had overlooked. Black has the nice move 43...g5+. Then, after 44. Kxg5 Black wins simply with 44...Kd4+ 45. Kf4 Rc8. And after 44. hxg5 follows 44...c1Q 45. e8Q Rc4+ 46. Kf3 (now that g5 is not available) 46...Qf1+ 47. Kg3 Qg1+ 48. Kf3 Qxg4+ 49. Kf2 Qh4+ and White will be mated. Quite a beautiful find after all these years. So, Euwe could have won this game and thereby probably the tournament. A year later, in 1947, there was a FIDE congres in The Hague. Alekhine had died and as his predecessor, Euwe was proclaimed World Champion again. This time he was to wear the crown only for one day, for the next day the Russians arrived and managed to reverse the decision. They had a good argument: the only post-war supertournament had been won by Botvinnik, ahead of Euwe. Had Euwe played 39...Rc5 in their Groningen game and won the tournament ahead of Botvinnik, there would be no such argument. Euwe would have remained World Champion, there would have been a candidates tournament and in 1948 or 1949 a championship match file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 7) [12/24/2001 4:05:00 PM]

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between Euwe and the challenger. Again, as in 1935, Holland would have been taken by chess fever and as then the Euwe march, a feisty song I know by heart and sometimes recite at parties where alcohol flows too lavishly, would resound at Dutch pleasure fairs, markets and skating rings, and the benign effects would still be felt in Holland now. For us Dutch, 2001 was the year of Euwe, who was born in 1901, but in a way it was also the year of Jan Timman, who celebrated his 50th birthday on December 14. His birthday party may not have been as grandiose as that of Karpov in the Bolshoi Theater earlier this year, but still there were many foreign guests of the highest rank in the chess world. One of these I had already met by chance earlier that day in an Amsterdam restaurant. It was Raymond Keene, accompanied by his wife and son. When he noticed that I was conferring with two commissars of my newspaper, Keene, like a real Santa Claus, poured words of extravagant praise on me, deftly celebrating my talents as a chess writer. Alas, these words were spoken to the deaf. Had only Euwe played 39...Rc5, I reflected grimly, then my commissars would have held chess in higher esteem. In the year that the Dutch celebrated Euwe and some of us toasted Timman's second youth, I woud like to present a study composed by Timman this year and dedicated to the memory of Max Euwe. It was file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 7) [12/24/2001 4:05:00 PM]

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published in New in Chess 2001 #7. Black to play, White wins. White threatens to deliver mate, so Black has to act quickly and drastically. 1...Qe4-g2+! 2. Rg3xg2 Ne1-f3+ 3. exf3 Rc2xc1+ Now after 4. Kh2 White will be mated. He has to give his Bishops to clear the fourth rank. 4. Bb4-e1 Rc1xe1+ 5. Bc4-f1 Re1xf1+ 6. Kg1-h2 Rf1-h1+ 7. Kh2-g3 g5xh4+ This would have been mate without White's sacrifices of the Bishops. But also now there will be mating motifs. 8. Qa4xh4 Rh1xh4 9. Kg3xh4 No choice. After 9. h7 he would be mated by 9...Rbh1 10. Rg1 R1h2 and mate next move. 9...Rb1-h1+ 10. Rg2-h2 The final saving sacrifice. 10. Kg3 h4 would be mate again. 10...Rh1xh2+ 11. Kh4-g3 Kf5-g6 Black has no time to save his Rook, he must attend to White's Pawn. 12. Kg3xh2 Timman wrote that this is the end of the study proper, because from here there will be duals on move 13 and 17. Still, the final phase is worthy to be seen and leads to a nice case of mutual Zugzwang. 12...Kg6xh6 13. Kh2-g3 Kh6-g5 14. f3-f4+ Kg5-f5 15. Kg3-h4 Kf5xf4 16. Kh4xh5 Kf4-f3 17. Kh5-g6 Kf3xf2 18. Kg6-f6 Kf2-e3 19. Kf6-e5 Ke3-d3 20. Ke5-d5

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From the chaotic initial position to this Pawn ending it has been quite a trip. White to play would lose but Black to play has no better than 20...Kc2, when 21. Kd6 makes the draw.

Copyright 2001 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Inside Chess] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2001 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Classical Chess At the reception following the opening ceremony of the Corus tournament Alexander Morozevich, Alexander Khalifman and Alexander Grischuk were talking together, which reminded me of a few lines from a limerick celebrating three well-known Dutch writers. These go: Jacques Gans, Jacques de Kadt and Jacques Presser/ by accident met an SS-er. But I don't want to give the impression that there was an SS-er at the Corus reception.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

In fact, the three Alexanders had been joined by Rustam Kasimdzhanov and the Dutch IM Hans Böhm, who later told me what the conversation had been about. Classical chess. They had said that they were glad to play classical chess again, where a game can take seven hours, and Böhm had said what I would have said, had I been there. “Ha, you call that classical chess? If so, it is a watered-down version for spoiled brats. In our time, classical chess meant playing for five hours, then after a two-hour intermission spent on analysis, two more hours of playing, an adjournment again and then a few days later, on what was cynically called ‘the free day’, the final session of the game on which at that time you had spent most of your nightly hours analysing.” He might have added that people played a thirty-round candidates’ tournament under these circumstances. Khalifman of course knew all about it from his own experience, but the youngsters shuddered and decided that this kind of classical chess would be too much of a good thing. I must admit that I loathed adjourned games when I had them myself, but now I deplore their abolishment. In older times, at Dutch fairs, people were lured into a dark tent where the surprise they had been promised turned out to be a bowl filled with liquid cow-shit, in which they none-suspectingly put their

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hands. When they came outside, they urged everyone to visit the place, because they didn't want to be the only ones who had been had. Is this the case with me, now that I recommend so heartily the adjournments that used to make me suffer? I don't think so. Adjournments forced you to search for the truth and the truth is worth some discomfort. There are different opinions though. Ponomariov once said in an interview that searching for the truth in chess was good for older people. He himself preferred to consider chess as a sport. And as he also said that chessplayers start to decline after they have turned thirty, he seems to imply that searching for absolute truth is an activity for people who are not able to live and act anymore, a Nietzschean view that cannot easily be dismissed. The Corus organizers were terribly unlucky this year. The first setback was that FIDE had its finals for the World Championship coincide with the tournament. Last year FIDE Commerce's Artiom Tarasov had announced war against Corus. Was this the first step in this war? FIDE bosses Iclicki and Makropoulos emphatically denied this to the Corus people and said that the real reason was that Moscow's Hall of Columns was only available during the second half of January. In fact, the finals were not to be played in this Hall at all, but in Hotel Metropol. First the tournament lost Anand, who wanted to concentrate on the World Championship. Then they lost Kramnik, who wanted to prepare for his match against Fritz, which was later postponed and probably will never happen. Then they lost Ivanchuk and Ponomariov and finally they lost Kasparov, who, with litle incentive to play left, let it be known that he had caught a virus that made his doctor forbid him to fly. A doctor will forbid everything that the patient wants him to forbid, but it must be admitted that an airplane is an unhealthy place. But are there no trains anymore between Moscow and Amsterdam? When Emanuel Lasker had to travel to the US for the New York 1924 tournament, his trip started in Finland, where he had done a tour. After some time, the Finnish boat was stuck in the frozen sea. In Hamburg the ship Westphalia was waiting to bring the European file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [01/21/2002 11:11:14 PM]

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masters to New York, but it wouldn't wait very long. Lasker left the Finnish ship and walked many miles on the frozen sea to the mainland, where he bought a ticket for Berlin and Hamburg to be just in time for the Westphalia to bring him to New York, a trip that lasted two weeks in itself. I think, Kasparov, who is so fond of historical traditions, should have taken Lasker as an example. Actually, it must be said that this story is in Hannak's biography and that not all stories in his book are true. I looked at a map and wondered where it could have been that Lasker stepped on shore. No details are given by Hannak. Anyway, if the story is not true, Kasparov still should have taken the legend as an example. Despite a few notable absences, Corus is still a wonderful tournament with ten players out of the top twenty taking part in the main group and more than a thousand others in all kinds of other competitions. There is a strong rivalry between Jan Timman and Loek van Wely, Timman's successor as Dutch number one. In the second round Timman played a hair-raising variation that he had introduced in 1980, when Van Wely was eight-years old and didn't study opening theory yet. Apparently in later years he hadn't caught up. White: Van Wely Black: Timman 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. g2-g3 c7-c5 4. d4-d5 e6xd5 5. c4xd5 d7-d6 6. Nb1-c3 g7-g6 7. Bf1-g2 Bf8-g7 8. Ng1-f3 0-0 9. 0-0 a7-a6 10. a2-a4 Rf8-e8 11. Nf3-d2 Nb8-d7 12. h2-h3 Ra8-b8 13. Nd2-c4 Nd7-e5 14. Nc4-a3 Nf6-h5 15. e2-e4 Re8-f8 A deep move, found at the board in Scheeren-Timman, Dutch championship 1980. Scheeren tried to refute it immediately with 16. g4, but after 16...Qh4 Black had a strong attack and won beautifully. 16. Kg1-h2 It's funny that Fritz, confronted with this position immediately takes back Timman's last move, playing 16...Re8. 16...f7-f5 17. f2-f4 b7b5 18. a4xb5 a6xb5 All this was well known in the early eighties, but Van Wely looked – to use Dutch reporter Gert Ligterink’s expression – as if he had seen water burning. In 1982 two important games were played with 19. Naxb5 fxe4. In Kortchnoi-Kasparov, olympiad Luzern 1982, 20. Bxe4 was played and in Alburt-H. Olafsson 20. Na7. Both moves put the correctness of Black's system in doubt and are analysed in incredible and wonderful detail by

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Kasparov in his book The Test of Time. 19. f4xe5 This move was also analysed by Kasparov (without the insertion of 18. axb5 axb5) and his verdict was, as may be expected with such a witches' brew boiling, "unclear" That is, if White would have accepted Black's sacrifice on his next move. 19...Nh5xg3 20. Rf1-f3 Bg7xe5 21. Na3xb5 Now on 21. Rxg3 Black probably would have played 21...h5 21...Qd8-h4 With only one piece down and with a raging attack, Black is much better. 22. e4xf5 Bc8xf5 Much stronger would have been 22...Nxf5+. White's position would soon collapse. 23. Ra1-a4 Bf5-e4 And here 23...c4 was better. After 24. Kg1 Bxh3 White would have the defense 25. Rxc4, but instead simply 24...Bd7 would still be promising for Black. Now White should play 24. Nxe4 Nxe4+ 25. Kg1 Rxf3 26. Qxf3 Qe1+ 27. Qf1 Qg3 28. Rxe4 Qh2+ 29. Kf2 Rf8+ 30. Ke2 Rxf1 31. Kxf1 with an unclear position. I think I'd rather be White. When this variation was pointed out to Timman after the game, he said: “Ah well, it wasn't a game for the ages anyway.” Maybe not, but it was fun to watch it. 24. Rf3xf8+ Rb8xf8 25. Kh2-g1 Now there is a nice mating combination. 25...Ng3-e2+ 26. Qd1xe2 Qh4-g3 27. Bc1-f4 Qg3xf4 28. Bg2xe4 Qf4-g3+ 29. Kg1-h1 Rf8-f1+ White resigned, one move before mate. Usually it is not considered chivalrous to do this, but Van Wely had a special reason not to allow the mating move. At the beginning of the tournament everybody around can take part in a pool. Participants in the pool are asked to make all kind of predictions, one question being how many mates or stalemates would occur in the two grandmaster groups. Van Wely's answer had been "zero". Had he allowed the mate, he would have destroyed his chances to win the pool.

Copyright 2002 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Inside Chess] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Market Forces Chessplayers tend to laugh about medieval church fathers who used to condemn chess, but they don't take into account that chess at that time was not our virtuous game. As it was played in the fairs and markets by professional tricksters, it often resembled the games that are nowadays played on the streets, where innocent bystanders are lured into the illusion that they can guess under which cup the quickly moved ball is hidden.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Murray, in A History of Chess, quotes a Latin manuscript from the second half of the fifteenth century (one of the manuscripts from the Civis Bononiae group) that may well be called a manual for cheaters. These cheaters often did not start the game from the initial position, but from constructed positions that we would call studies or problems. The guileless opponent was allowed to choose what we would call "white" or "black". Murray's translation from the Latin goes: “My master used to say that in the first partitum we ought to play indifferently and to lose, and that similarly we ought to lose sometimes in the course of play, because in this way men are induced to play. But in order that you may play cautiously and avoid losing, you should take care that you know the secrets of the gamester, about which many tricks are given.

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The first is: it is certain that a good problem ought not to be what it appears, but the opposite. Therefore you should place that side of the chessmen which has the worse, but looks to have the advantage, at your side of the board. For then, if your opponent does not know the problem, he will take the board round and take the side that looks so much better. However, many players do not do so, so it is not to be reckoned as a certainty. Other tricks are mentioned, such as pretending at the start that you do not know the problem well and then later, if the opponent has taken the strong side and threatens to win, "correcting" it. The final piece of advice is: There is also another trick which is called the golden one which is worked in such a way that it compels the gamester to take the worse side. It is done thus. You know that a good problem ought not to be what it appears, but its opposite. You say that the side that appears to have the better is to lay a double stake. For unless he plays carefully, in this way alone he is compelled, before you lay your wager, to say which side he wishes. For you will ask him whether he wishes you to stake double or single, and in this way you will learn which side he is choosing. Thus do some use this trick.

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And thus well prepared the professionals of the late Middle Ages found their victims at the European fairs and markets and apparently until very recently the same thing happened in China. This old tradition was revived last year during a tournament in Wales by the Englishman Simon Buckley, as reported in the September issue of Chess Monthly by his victim Chris Duncan. Buckley said that he would win this position as White and draw as Black. Duncan was allowed to choose his color, on the condition that a draw would be equivalent to a win by Black. Duncan chose White, for as he confessed in Chess Monthly he was still under the impression that White would make a Queen and win, thereby proving a naïvity unspoiled by a hundred years of endgame studies. So their first game went 1. h2-h4 Kb8-c7 2. h4-h5 Kc7-b6 3. h5-h6 Kb6-a5 At this moment Duncan realized that promoting to a Queen would fail, because Black would construct a stalemate. 4. h6-h7 a7-a6 5. h7-h8N Not 5. h8Q because of 5...b6 and White cannot prevent stalemate. Now however 5...b6 would be refuted by 6. Ng6 fxg6 7. f7 g5 8. f8N (here 8. f8Q would be good enough also) 8...g4 9. Ne6 g3 10. Nc5 g2 11. Nb7 mate. 5...Ka5-b6 But this was file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 7) [02/24/2002 8:52:08 PM]

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another disappointment for Duncan. Now what? In the first game he played, apparently still entranced by the variation he had just calculated, 6. Ng6, but this was no good, for of course Black didn't play 6...fxg6? but 6...Kc7 and after 7. Ne5 Kd6 8. Nxf7+ Ke6 9. Nd8+ Kxf6 10. Nxb7 Ke5 a draw was agreed soon, so that Buckley had "won" his first game as Black. Duncan did slightly better the second time with 6. Nh8xf7 Kb6-c7 Now Duncan proceeded with 7. Ne5 Kd6 8. f7 Ke7 9. Kc2 a5 10. Kd2 Kf8 1. Kd3 a4 12. Ke4 a3 13. Kf5 Ke7 14. Kg6 a2 15. Kg7 a1Q 16. f8Q+ Ke6 17. Qe8+ Kf5 18. Qh5+ Ke6. The extra Knight is not enough to win. Another draw, the score 2-0 for Buckley. After these lessons Duncan thought he had learned how to draw as Black, but he was disappointed again. The position in the second diagram was reached again, but now Buckley was White and he showed the right way: 7. Nf7-g5 Kc7-d7 8. f6-f7 Kd7-e7 9. Kb1-c2 a6-a5 10. Kc2-d3 a5-a4 11. Kd3-e4 This position lead to a loss for Duncan three times: file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 7) [02/24/2002 8:52:08 PM]

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A 11...axb3 12. Kd3 Kf8 13. Kd2 Ke7 14. Kc1 Kf8 15. Kb2 and White wins. Score 3-0 for Buckley. B 11...a3 12. Ne6 Kxf7 13. Nd4 a2 14. Nc2 (but here we need a diagram for later use) 14...Ke6 15. Kd3 Kd5 16. Na1 Kc5 17. Kc2 Kd4 18. Kb2 Kd3 19. Kxa2 Kc3 20. Kb1 Kd2 21. Kb2 Kd3 22. Nc2 and White wins. Score 4-0 C 11...Kf8 12. Kf5 a3 13. Kf6 a2 14. Ne6 mate. Score 5-0. After this Duncan had had enough, otherwise he could have tried 11...b6 and force White to triangulate with 12. Ke3 Kf8 13. Kd3 Ke7 14. Ke4, when Black can again choose from the three alternatives that hadn't saved him earlier. So, is White winning from the first diagram? Duncan seemed to think so, though he wrote also that his torturer had told him that there were still some nuances left undiscovered. I too thought it was a win, after reading his article, but see later. Was it an endgame study known in literature? Harold van der Heyden's Endgame Study Database 2000 did not give it, but there were some studies that were quite similar. For instance this one:

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H. Geiger 1920. White wins with 1. h4 a5 2. h5 Ka4 3. h6 b5 4. h7 b4 5. h8N b5 6. Ng6 fxg6 7. f7 g5 8. f8N g4 9. Ne6 dxe6 10. d7 e5 11. d8N e4 12. Nb7 e3 13. Nc5 mate. But then, after I had written a newspaper column about this intriguing endgame, Tim Krabbé, who had read it, told me sternly: “Apparently you don't subscribe to EBUR. You really should.” EBUR, anagrammatically named after the manysided Alexander Rueb, expert on endgame studies, founder of FIDE and collector of chess books, is an excellent Dutch magazine devoted to endgame studies and indeed I should have been a subscriber. It turned out that an article had appeared in EBUR by Bert van der Marel, Das Schwarze Kabinet (the black cabinet), which had treated the study or pseudostudy of the first diagram in great detail. The position had been shown to Van der Marel by the Latvian player Janes Daudvarsis. According to Van der Marel the position in the first diagram is a draw after all and I think his analysis is right. From the third diagram, Van der Marel does not play 14...Ke6 (which he gives a question mark) but 14...Kf6, and then his analysis goes 15. Na1 Kg5 16. Kf3 (or 16. Kd5 Kf4 17. Kc5 Ke3 18. Kxb5 Kd2 19. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (6 of 7) [02/24/2002 8:52:08 PM]

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Kxb4 b5 20. Ka3 draw) Kh4 17. Kg2 Kg4 18. Kf2 Kh3 19. Ke2 Kg2 20. Pc2 Kg3 21. Kd2 Kf2 22. Na1 Kf3 23. Kc1 Ke2 24. Nc2 Kd3 25. Kb2 Kd2 (if in this position it would be Black's move he would draw with b6) 26. Na1 Kd1 27. Nc2 Kd2 28. Nxb4 a1Q+ 29. Kxa1 Kc3 draw. So it seems that the position in the first diagram is a draw after all. As a modern study, "White to play and win," it would therefore be incorrect, but for the medieval trickery of professional gamesters it would surely be a perfect gem. Copyright 2002 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Footnotes to History Conspiracy theories are generally not well regarded and especially in the Netherlands they are considered the lowest form of mental life. “So you think there is a conspiracy?” is an almost guaranteed conversation-stopper to diffuse criticism. No decent Dutchman wants to be seen as a conspiracy theorist, as if conspiracies don't exist in real life. But they do.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Certainly not to end an interesting discussion, I must say that I was not quite convinced by Soltis' two articles in the Skittles Room about the supposed “Treachery in Zürich”, but before I come to that I'd like to go into two other cases, to show my credentials as a conspiracy theorist. A lot has been written on the pages of ChessCafe.com about the games between Keres and Botvinnik in the World Championship tournament, The Hague-Moscow 1948. Did Keres play deliberately below his best to lose his first four games against Botvinnik and if so, can this be ascertained from the game scores? Larry Evans tried to prove so in the October 1998 issue of Chess Life and he has received a lot of criticism for it. Of course it is always difficult to find out if a mistake is deliberate or just a mistake. Even the greatest players make grave mistakes; they blunder pieces and can even overlook a mate

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in one occasionally. But some mistakes they do not make. Both beginners and top players can hang pieces, but beginners can commit strategic howlers that a top player never would, just because the move wouldn't even occur to him.

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Contrary to Yasser Seirawan, who is on record stating that these four games between Keres and Botvinnik prove nothing in themselves, I think that Evans was right and that he indeed managed to indicate moves played by Keres that were not just mistakes, but moves of the kind that would never occur to Keres, unless he was looking for mistakes to make.

Here I want to present the case that seems most convincing to me. Keres-Botvinnik after Black's 49th move. It was their third game, which had been adjourned after Black's 42nd move. Black's last move had been 49...Rc7-c6, which shows that 50...Rc3+ is

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not a threat here. In the diagram, White has an easy draw with 50. Ra4. In the tournament book the meticulous Euwe just states so, without giving a variation to prove it. Obviously Euwe found this unnecessary, for in fact after 50. Ra4 Black can do nothing to improve his position. Later Smyslov and Levenfish in their book on rook endgames did give a line to illustrate this: 50. Ra4 Kf6 51. Ra5 Ke6 52. h4 gxh4+ 53. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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Kxh4 Kd7 54. Kg3 Rf6 55. a4 Kc7 56. Rh5. They also indicated that White could reach a draw with 50. h4, though a less trivial one: 50...Rc3+ 51. Kg4 gxh4 52. Kxh4 Rxa3 53. Rd6 with a theoretical draw. I think that just passing, were it allowed in chess, would also be good enough for a draw. But what would we think of a player who, in the diagrammed position, would hit on the following defensive plan: a3-a4 followed by Rd4-d3-a3? Who would even think of this idiotic plan, putting his healthy Rook into the most passive position? Any pupil of the Botvinnik school would be fired immediately because of a hopeless lack of talent if he even hinted at such a plan.

In fact this is what Keres played: 50. a3-a4 Kg7-g6 51. h3-h4 Kg6-h5 52. h4xg5 h6xg5 (the intermezzo of two pawn moves masks the silliness of White's plan a bit) 53. Rd4-d3 Rc6-c4 54. Rd3a3 a6-a5 and Black duly won. White's rook maneuver strikes me as the equivalent of a perfectly healthy man crawling into a coffin and then closing the lid. Keres was a great endgame player. Would he do such a thing? You cannot call it a mistake. Mistakes happen, but this maneuver wouldn't even occur to him in normal circumstances. I think I convinced Yasser, but as it was at his birthday party, he may have felt obliged to humour me.

Another case of obvious (to me at least) mischief has attracted little attention outside the Netherlands. The Interpolis Tournament, Tilburg 1979. Before the last round, Karpov was leading, half a point ahead of Romanishin. In the last round there was file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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Karpov-Smyslov and Romanishin-Spassky. So, if Romanishin would draw or lose, a draw would suit Karpov fine, but otherwise Karpov would need a win to be first alone. After the opening, Karpov got a nice long-term advantage: more space, two Bishops. Then he and Smyslov started marking time, moving pieces to and fro without anything of importance happening. Then something very unusual was noticed. Karpov had left the board, the playing hall and, as it turned out, even the building. He kept away for about three quarters of an hour. Later one of the organisers divulged that he had accompanied Karpov to a bank office to settle some pressing financial matters. At the time Karpov came back to his game, Romanishin was a good Pawn up against Spassky. After that in Karpov-Smyslov some real chess moves had to be played and Smyslov quickly collapsed. Here's the game. Have a good look at Black's Knight maneuvers. White: Karpov - Black: Smyslov Tilburg 1979

1.e2-e4 c7-c6 2.d2-d4 d7-d5 3.Nb1-d2 d5xe4 4.Nd2xe4 Ng8-f6 5.Ne4xf6+ e7xf6 6.c2-c3 Bf8-d6 7.Bf1-d3 Qd8-c7 8.Ng1-e2 Bc8-g4 9.Bc1-e3 Nb8d7 10.Qd1-d2 Bg4xe2 11.Qd2xe2 0-0-0 12.0-0-0 Kc8-b8 13.Kc1-b1 Nd7-b6 14.g2-g3 Kb8-a8 15.Qe2-f3 Nb6-d5 16.Be3-c1 Nd5-e7 17.Bd3-c4 Ne7-c8 18.Rh1-e1 h7-h6 19.h2-h4 h6-h5 20.Bc4file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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b3 a7-a6 21.Re1-e2 Rd8-d7 22.Re2-d2 Rd7-e7 23.Rd2-d3 Nc8-b6 24.Bc1-e3 Nb6-c8 25.Bb3-a4 Nc8-b6 26.Ba4-b3 26…Nb6-c8 27.a2-a3 Nc8-b6 28.Qf3-f5 Qc7c8 29.Qf5-f3 Qc8-g4 30.Qf3xg4 h5xg4 31.c3-c4 Nb6-d7 32.c4c5 Bd6-c7 33.d4-d5 c6xd5 34.Bb3xd5 Nd7e5 35.Rd3-d4 f6-f5 36.Bd5-g2 Rh8-c8 37.b2-b4 g7-g6 38.Be3g5 Re7-e8 39.Rd4-d5 Bc7-b8 40.Kb1-c2 Ne5-c6 Adjourned and then resigned by Black. Ah, the good old days when the time schedule was so relaxed that players could take a time out during their game and visit their bank. Seriously though, not many players would have been able to get away with it. In Karpov's case the arbiters decided that this was not of their business. And also, who would be so confident that the right result would come, that in the decisive last round he would afford to leave the building for threequarters of an hour, his clock running? Not many, I think. But opinions differ. After I had suggested, in a Dutch magazine, that Karpov and Smyslov had agreed to a draw if Romanishin drew, but to a win for Karpov if Romanishin threatened to win. I was sternly reprimanded by Donner, who found that file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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nothing was proven except my devious character. Having shown that I am not an apologist for all things Soviet, I now return to Soltis' articles. Based on a recent article by David Bronstein in the Russian magazine 64, Soltis discusses what went on behind the scenes of the candidates tournament played in Zürich and Neuhausen in 1953. It has been amply shown that Soviet political officials showed great interest in chess and that Soviet chess was subordinate to political decisions. That this would happen too in Zürich 1953 would be no surprise. Soltis writes: “The leadership of the Soviet delegation was a ‘troika’ consisting of Dmitry Postnikov, the deputy chairman of the Soviet Sports Committee, ‘his deputy’ - a KGB officer named Moshintsev, and Grandmaster Igor Bondarevsky, who, Bronstein added, held a position in both ‘organs’. According to Bronstein, the troika repeatedly emphasized to the Soviet players that ‘no way, no how could Reshevsky be allowed to advance.’” This sounds quite credible. On the other hand, stopping Reshevsky was a task that the formidable Soviet squad might well be expected to perform by honest sporting means. Probable evil intentions are one thing, actual happenings another. Soltis uses very strong language. "Treachery", "the file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (6 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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dark age of Soviet chess", "secrets you might expect in a spy novel". I do not think that what actually happened bears out these strong words, even if we take everything that Bronstein wrote at face value. What kind of mischief did happen? Not much during the first leg of the tournament. By the way, this so-called dark age of Soviet chess had its glories. A candidates tournament of fifteen players, meeting each other twice. I wish the world would see such thing again, but do not dare to hope for it. The night before the 13th round Bronstein is ordered to beat Reshevsky with Black, a daunting task that Bronstein brings to a good end. Soltis: “So far, just a case of zealous concern by the troika.” True enough. Ordering your man to win at all costs may be risky coaching, but when it works, it works. Then during the second leg things become more serious. In the 24th round Keres as White plays the leader Smyslov, who has as many points as Reshevsky, but one more game to play. The troika suggests to Keres that he should make a quick draw with Smyslov. But in fact, Keres makes a fight of it and loses. Indeed, proposing a pre-arranged draw is not the height of sportsmanship. But team captains of many countries would propose the same in similar circumstances, or even propose to grant their main ace an uncontested win. Apparently this did not file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (7 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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happen and it has also to be noted that Keres felt free enough to refuse the proposed draw. Then an episode follows that is difficult to understand. According to Bronstein, he was told that Geller was ordered to lose against him, to further hinder Reshevsky's chances. Bronstein does not want the win, decides to play for a draw, but in fact he loses. Apparently Geller had received new orders from Bondarevsky, this time to beat Bronstein. However, again according to Bronstein, the other troika member Postnikov announced that Geller had been stubborn and would be punished. What should we make of this? I don't know. Anyway, Smyslov went his own way, beating Reshevsky and gaining a practically unbridgeable lead. Then Bronstein plays Smyslov as White. He is ordered to make a quick draw and does so, reflecting: “Even if I win, nothing will change... Somebody else will compensate Smyslov with this half-point, or even 'gift' him with a full point.” Here Bronstein makes it seem as if Smyslov should regard a draw as a great gift. In fact Smyslov had gone through this formidable tournament with only one loss, against Kotov, when Smyslov in a slightly better position had tried an incorrect combination. Bronstein also makes it seem as if Smyslov would have needed another "gift" in case Bronstein would have beaten him. In fact, with four more rounds to file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (8 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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go, even after a loss Smyslov would still have been a full point up to Bronstein and Reshevsky and he would have one extra game to play, for both Bronstein and Reshevsky would have a bye in these last four rounds. Bronstein certainly didn't give away much, drawing with Smyslov. Smyslov finished the tournament two points ahead of Bronstein, Keres and Reshevsky, a truly marvelous victory. It cannot be maintained that "gifts" had anything to do with it, even when one considers this draw against Bronstein a gift, which I certainly don't. Whatever the troika had schemed, it had hardly influenced Smyslov's victory. But, Soltis wonders, what if Reshevsky had played much better than he did, wouldn't there have been other acts of mischief? Well, what can one say? What if all these great Soviet champions hadn't been good enough to beat the westerners fairly, what devious deeds would have been perpetrated then? But in fact they were good enough, then and now, with only a brief interregnum in 1972. Soltis' suggestion that the history of Zürich 1953 should be re-written after Bronstein's account seems much exaggerated. To me Bronstein's article seems an interesting footnote to that history. But I can quite imagine that Smyslov was angry about it. Soltis writes that Smyslov, in his reaction to Bronstein's article, “provides a new twist to the story of the 1950 Candidates tournament.” file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (9 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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There Boleslasky had been leading, a point ahead of Bronstein, but had agreed to draw his last two games to give Bronstein a chance to catch up.

Soltis: “But in 64 Smyslov hints that Boleslavsky agreed to the draws after bowing to pressure from Veinstein, the head of a GULAG department and ‘an influential man in the country’. Veinstein wanted to make sure Botvinnik was defeated, and he knew Boleslavsky didn't have a good record against the world champion.” What Smyslov hints at is not quite a new twist. Bronstein himself tells the same story in his book The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, written together with Tom Fürstenberg. After a conversation with Boris Veinstein Boleslavsky decided to slow down, says Bronstein. So at least in this respect Smyslov and Bronstein agree, though Smyslov understandably has a less benign opinion of Veinstein's intervention. In the last two rounds of Budapest 1950 Boleslavsky drew with black against Kotov and with white against Stahlberg. Could he have done better had he not promised to slow down? Kotov, as White, would not be easy to beat under any circumstances. On the other hand, Ståhlberg seemed tired during the second leg of the tournament, having scored only 2½ points out of his last 8 games. As White, Boleslavsky was quite strong, having file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (10 of 11) [03/25/2002 10:39:07 PM]

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scored 6 out of 8. It seems to me that Boleslavsky was certainly giving away something when he did not try to beat Ståhlberg and to gain an unshared first place. Of course one can never tell, but contrary to Zürich 1953, Budapest 1950 might really have produced a different challenger had there been no intervention from Veinstein. Copyright 2002 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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The Euwe Variation We all know him, the guy that accosts you on the merest pretext to tell you his latest heroic feats in an endless flow of words, and even if you like him and appreciate his deeds, when you see him on the horizon you quickly disappear into a shop so that he can find another victim. We want to hear about our own heroic feats, not about those of others.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Eduard Gufeld, who used to live in Georgia and now lives in Los Angeles, fits the type. He tugs at your jacket and because he is big and strong there is no escape. "Listen, my friend..." There he goes again, not this time about his Mona Lisa against Bagirov from 1973, but there are always new heroic feats. His enthusiasm is boundless and it cannot be denied that his games are often brilliant and his stories funny. Yasser Seirawan's recent proposal for a fresh start in chess politics reminded me of a Gufeld story that can be found in his book Chess: The Search for Mona Lisa, on the kasparov.com website and no doubt in many other places. Gufeld tells that he went into a bar and was forced to eavesdrop on a heated discussion between a few

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gentlemen. "You haven't reckoned with Steinitz; Spassky is no match for him," said one. Someone ventured that Petrosian might have a good chance for first prize, to which another replied that Alekhine would leave both Fischer and Kasparov far behind. The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

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Capablanca was mentioned, Ruy Lopez, Botvinnik, Euwe, who regrettably had died in quarantine, and Lasker, who would have been unbeatable, had he not broken his leg and been executed. The conversation in the bar had been about horse racing and about the stable of the ChineseMalaysian businessman Dato Tan Chin Nam, who has named all his racehorses after chess champions and chess openings. We know that Dato Tan has done a lot for chess in general and especially for chess in Asia. The role of commissioner, a middleman between players and organizers, that Seirawan has given him in his "Fresh Start" proposal, he will without doubt fulfil fairly and capably, if it ever comes to that. But still, these chess horses bother me a bit. They remind me of a story told by Reuben Fine in his book Lessons from My Games. After the Olympiad in Folkestone in 1933 the American team was invited to visit their colleague Sultan Khan. Sultan Khan had come to Europe as a servant of an Indian maharaja, Sir Umar Hayat Khan, and with his natural talent he soon became one of the top players. At the end of that year he

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was to follow his master back to India and that was the end of his chess career. According to Fine, Sir Umar welcomed the Americans by saying that it was a great honor for them to meet him, because normally he only conversed with his dogs. Then the Americans were served at the table by their colleague Sultan Khan, which they found embarrassing. I don't think they would have felt more comfortable had the dogs been called after chess champions. By the way, I am not sure that this story is completely true. The Dutch chess writer Maarten de Zeeuw convinced me that it is more likely that Fine misunderstood Sir Umar, who probably wanted to say that the American's visit was a big honor for him, but mishandled the English. But to come back to the Gufeld story, what shocked me most was of course that Euwe was mentioned as having died in quarantine. Poor Euwe, so often underestimated nowadays outside his own country. Now and then on the internet newsgroup rec.games.chess.misc there is a discussion about Euwe, but never about his heroic feats, always about the way his name should be pronounced. Though Euwe was a diligent opening theorist, in his youth a pioneer of the Sicilian Scheveningen and the King's Indian and later of the Slav Defence, there is no real Euwe variation in opening theory. It's true that The Oxford Companion to Chess mentions three Euwe variations, but these file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 6) [04/22/2002 11:19:16 PM]

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are single moves rather than systems and anyway, hardly anyone knows that these moves are connected with the name Euwe. The reason for the lack of a really important Euwe variation must be the fact that it was Euwe who wrote the opening books and baptised the variations. He must have been reluctant to introduce an abundance of Euwe variations in his own books. But we can make up for his modesty. In latest Yearbook of New in Chess (#82) the Dutch opening theorist A.C. van der Tak writes about his search for an old Euwe game, played in 1929 in a 100-board encounter between the Netherlands and the German province RheinlandWestfalen. He finally found the game in an old newspaper clipping and was surprised to see that Euwe had played what nowadays is considered one of the main lines of the Benoni: White: Ludwig Engels Black: Max Euwe, The Hague 1929 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. Ng1-f3 g7-g6 3. c2-c4 Bf8-g7 4. Nb1-c3 0-0 5. e2-e4 d7-d6 6. h2-h3 c7-c5 7. d4d5 e7-e6 8. Bf1-d3 e6xd5 9. c4xd5 b7-b5

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Nowadays White's setup is considered one of the two systems that are most dangerous for Black in the Benoni. The other one, the Four Pawns Attack with Bb5+, is so dangerous that Benoni players tend to prefer the move order 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 c5, avoiding the Benoni in favor of the Nimzo-Indian in case White plays 3. Nc3. As far as I know, the latest verdict of modern opening theory on 9...b5 is that 10. Bxb5 Nxe4 11. Nxe4 Qa5+ 12. Nfd2 Qxb5 13. Nxd6 Qa6 will eventually lead to an endgame that Black can draw, but only with considerable effort and accuracy. Nevertheless 9...b5 is probably objectively the strongest move, which means that the diagram represents a crucial position of the modern Benoni. Of course in 1929 Euwe, with 9...b5, was playing for a win, not for a slightly inferior endgame. The game went on: 10. 0-0 c5-c4 11. Bd3-c2 b5-b4 12. Nc3-e2 Rf8-e8 13. Ne2-g3 Nb8-d7 14. Bc1-e3 a7-a5 15. Rf1-e1 Qd8-c7 16. Nf3-d4 Nd7-c5 17. f2-f3 Nf6-d7 18. Ng3-e2 Bc8-a6 19. Ne2-f4 Nd7-e5 20. Qd1-d2 Bg7-h6 21. Kg1-h1 c4-c3 22. b2xc3 Ne5-c4 23. Qd2-f2 Nc4xe3 24. Qf2xe3 b4xc3 25. g2-g3 Qc7d8 26. Qe3xc3 Bh6xf4 27. g3xf4 Qd8-h4 28. Kh1g2 Qh4xf4 29. Qc3-e3 Qf4xe3 30. Re1xe3 Ra8file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 6) [04/22/2002 11:19:16 PM]

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b8 31. Nd4-b3 Re8-c8 32. Kg2-g3 Nc5-d7 33. Bc2-d1 a5-a4 34. Nb3-d4 Nd7-e5 35. Bd1-e2 Ba6xe2 36. Re3xe2 Rb8-b4 37. Ra1-d1 Rc8-c3 38. Re2-d2 Kg8-g7 39. h3-h4 h7-h5 40. Rd1-a1 a4-a3 41. Rd2-c2 Rc3-d3 42. Nd4-c6 Rb4xe4 43. Nc6xe5 Re4xe5 44. Rc2-c6 Re5xd5 45. Rc6-a6 Rd5-d4 46. Ra1-c1 Rd4-g4+ 47. Kg3-f2 Rg4-f4 48. Rc1-c7 Rd3xf3+ White resigned Up till now the stem game of the 9...b5 line was considered to be Tolush-Aronin, Soviet Championship 1948. I think that after Van der Tak's find, it is only fair that the line should be called the Euwe Variation from now on. Copyright 2002 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Fun in Prague

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The beautiful Zofin Palace, venue of the Eurotel Trophy tournament, is built in the heart of Prague on a small island in the River Vltava. From the terrace behind the room for privileged guests I see small boats floating by in which people are having an idyllic picnic. We chess journalists are not starving either. I go inside again for some smoked halibut, caviar, a glass of champagne and to listen to Lubosh Kavalek and Genna Sosonko, who are explaining the games at a demonstration board. It's good to be present again at a tournament organised by Bessel Kok. Dutch by birth and Belgian by choice he came into the chess world around 1980, when he held his yearly SWIFT tournaments in Brussels. Then after 1986 he was a driving force behind the short-lived Grandmasters Association. This GMA experienced a painful split in 1990 and expired in 1993. Kok, who had already left the GMA, moved from his company SWIFT to Belgian Telecom, which didn't allow him to lavishly spend company money on chess. Now he is back in the chess world and he hasn't lost his touch. Two hours before the tournament starts I hear him giving his last orders by

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The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

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telephone. Lubosh, have a last check at the commentary hall, Genna, go to the VIP-room and see if everything is alright. Even so, after arriving at the playing venue he still finds something wrong. The chess sets in the café for the spectators are still in boxes. Wrong, the pieces should be invitingly placed on the boards. It's corrected. A lot of money combined with attention to small details make for a well-organised tournament. There were three Dutch players in this tournament, Timman, Van Wely and Piket, but they were all eliminated in the first round. For Piket this was his last tournament for a long time to come, for he is going to prepare himself for a different career, though he doesn't know yet in what field. “Has he gone crazy? Does he need a good psychiatrist?” asked one of the players. No need to worry, I think. As a chauvinistic reporter I had to put my hopes on a semi-Dutchman, Ivan Sokolov, who now has both Dutch and Bosnian nationality and will represent the Netherlands in the future. He has learned a few more Dutch words than the two that were forced on him very soon after he settled in the Netherlands: "blue envelope". An ominous expression to everyone living there, for this is the envelope sent by the taxman. Sokolov was eliminated in the third round by Anand after a hard fight, but before that he did quite well, beating Leko and Adams. White: Sokolov Black: Adams, Eurotel second round, first game

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1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Ng1-f3 b7-b6 4. Bc1-f4 An almost forgotten variation, played successfully by Miles in the seventies. 4...Bf8-b4+ 5. Nf3-d2 Nf6-h5 6. Bf4-g3 Bc8-b7 7. a2-a3 Nh5xg3 8. h2xg3 Bb4-f8 9. Nb1-c3 g7-g6 10. Qd1-c2 Bf8-g7 11. e2-e3 0-0 12. g3-g4 d7-d5 13. c4xd5 e6xd5 14. Nd2-f3 c7-c5 15. 0-0-0 c5xd4 16. e3xd4 Nb8-c6 17. Kc1-b1 a7-a6 18. Bf1-d3 b6-b5 Both sides have started a sharp kingside attack and it's quite unclear who will come first. 19. Rh1-h3 b5-b4 20. Nc3-a4 b4xa3 21. Rd1-h1 Nc6-b4 22. Qc2-d2 Nb4xd3 23. Rh3xh7 Threatening 24. Rh8+ Bxh8 25. Qh6 and mate. 23...Qd8-f6 24. Qd2xd3 Bb7-c6 25. Na4-c5 Rf8-b8 26. Qd3xa3 Rb8-b5 27. Nf3-e5 Ra8-b8 28. Kb1-a1 Bc6-e8 After 28...Rxb2 White has 29. Rxg7+ Qxg7 (or 29...Kxg7 30. Qe3) 30. Nxc6. 29. Nc5-d3 Rb5-b3 Until now Black had played well and 29...Qb6 would have given him the advantage. 30. Qa3-c5 Be8-b5 31. g4-g5 31. Nc1 would win material, as 31...Rxb2 32. Kxb2 Qxf2+ 33. Ka1 wouldn't give Black enough. 31...Qf6-d8 After 31...Qb6 things would be still unclear, e.g., 32. Qxb6 Rxb6 33. Nc5 Rb4 34. Ncd7 Bxd7 35. Bxd7 Rd6 36. Nf6+ Rxf6 37. gxf6 Bxf6 and Black has good compensation for the Exchange. 32. Rh7h8+ But now White's attack decides quickly. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 10) [05/21/2002 8:14:18 AM]

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32...Bg7xh8 33. Rh1xh8+ Kg8xh8 34. Ne5xf7+ Kh8-g8 35. Nf7xd8 Rb8xd8 36. Nd3-e5 Bb5-e8 37. Qc5-e7 Rd8-b8 38. Ne5-g4 Black resigned. This was one of the better games of the tournament. In general these rapid games are fun to watch, but when you play them over later, they are thin gruel. Still, these top players often impressed by what they could do in just seconds. I was reminded of the story about the Japanese artist who specialised in drawing roosters with ink on paper. A rich man wanted to buy one and the artist drew a rooster for him in one minute and charged a very high price. “So much for one minute's work?” asked the rich man indignantly. “No, not for this one, but for the 20,000 roosters I had to draw before I could do it in a minute,” said the artist. The rapid games and especially the tie-breaking blitz games can be seen in this way. A life of serious study of chess, concentrated in a fiveminutes-game. But this view would be too charitable. The quality of the rooster was higher. Maybe a completely new theory of chess will have to be developed for rapid games. Rook and Bishop versus Rook is not a theoretical draw anymore but winning, for the defender will always make a mistake. “The Sveshnikov is good for Black in rapid games,” said Vlastimil Hort. This because it is not really a defense, but a counter attack. Defense in general is not recommended in rapid chess. In the new theory of chess, the concept of file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 10) [05/21/2002 8:14:18 AM]

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truth is given up in favor of practicality. Rapid chess puts a premium on what I would call ‘hooligan chess’, attack at all cost. In a way it was a good thing that Karpov did so well in this tournament. He played his normal chess without a trace of hooliganism. Anand won the tournament, but this was no big surprise. That he met Karpov in the finals was surprising to many. From the start Karpov had been pugnacious on and off the board. He didn't like the pairings that put him against Short in the first round and against Kramnik in the second round. The word “conspiracy” seems to have escaped from the hedge of his teeth. But when his protests were to no avail, he proved himself up to the task. White: Karpov Black: Short, first round, first game 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4. Qd1-c2 d7-d5 5. c4xd5 e6xd5 6. Bc1-g5 h7-h6 7. Bg5-h4 c7-c5 8. d4xc5 g7-g5 9. Bh4-g3 Nf6-e4 10. e2-e3 Qd8-a5 11. Ng1-e2 Bc8-f5 12. Bg3-e5 Ne4xc3 13. Qc2xf5 Nc3-e4+ 14. Ne2-c3 Until now Short had moved instantly, but here he went into a big think, understandably because his position is quite bad. What had happened? He had played this line in his 1993 match against Kasparov and should know everything about it. And so should Kavalek, who was Short's second in 1993 and now commentator in the VIP-room. “In 1993 we knew everything about this variation, but file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 10) [05/21/2002 8:14:18 AM]

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since then things have happened which I haven't followed so well,” he said. In fact both he and Short had forgotten what they knew well in 1993: that 12...0-0 was the right move and 12...Nxc3 a bad mistake. 14...0-0 After 14...Nxc3 White wins with 15. Qc8+ 15. Bf1-d3 Nb8-c6 16. 0-0 16...Rf8-e8 This loses quickly. A better chance would be 16...Nxe5 17. Nxd5 Nxd3 18. Qxe4 Nxc5 17. Nc3xe4 d5xe4 18. Bd3xe4 Re8xe5 19. Qf5-h7+ Kg8-f8 20. Qh7xh6+ Black resigned. Despite this victory in the opening, Karpov didn't seem to have an opening repertoire suitable to compete at the highest level. As Black he was always in trouble with his Petrov defense. As White he only reached an opening advantage by accident. Such an accident happened in the next round, when Kramnik, who had equalized comfortably, made a careless move after which Karpov got some advantage that he pressed home with impeccable technique. Kramnik, born in the year that Karpov became world champion for the first time, must have felt as if he were hit by pre-historic man. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (6 of 10) [05/21/2002 8:14:18 AM]

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Then followed some Houdini-like escape acts by Karpov, first against Morozevich and then against Shirov. Karpov with a miserable position on the board and only seconds left on the clock, his opponents with ample time. The swiftness of his moves in itself was amazing enough, even more so the quality of his defense. After Karpov had eliminated Morozevich he was enjoying himself watching the tie-break games between Kasparov and Ivanchuk. “Such bad play. Whole series of moves without any sense. Coffee house play of a low order.” Eventually Kasparov was to lose the sudden-death blitz game where as white, a draw would have been equivalent to a loss. By the way, I think this was the day that Gelfand told us that while walking in Prague he had overheard a conversation between two Russians, one of them saying: “But you can't just shoot anybody.” Many thought that Kasparov, after being eliminated from the tournament, would be busy for some days in the woods around Prague, eradicating trees with bare hands to calm himself, but no, the next day he showed himself in the commentary room, making friendly jokes with everyone and taking the lead in the communal analysis of Karpov's first blitz game against Shirov.

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Had Shirov missed a win? At one point Kasparov indicated a line that seemed winning for Shirov, but then came 15-year old Radjabov from Azerbaidzjan who said: “Hey, hey, wait a minute” and showed that it wasn't so clear at all. Bravo! said Kasparov. We all enjoyed the show; only Timman seemed aggrieved by Kasparov's Nike baseball cap. “Coming to the VIP-room with a baseball cap on, no sense of decorum at all,” Timman said sternly. Three days later a high-profile Dutch politician was murdered by an animal rights activist who wore a baseball cap when firing his shots. “Now you see,” said Timman. White: Shirov Black: Karpov, fourth round, first blitz game 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 3. Nf3xe5 d7-d6 4. Ne5-f3 Nf6xe4 5. d2-d4 d6-d5 6. Bf1-d3 Bf8-e7 7. O-O Nb8-c6 8. c2-c4 Nc6-b4 9. Bd3-e2 0-0 10. Nb1-c3 Bc8-f5 11. a2-a3 Ne4xc3 12. b2xc3 Nb4c6 13. Rf1-e1 d5xc4 14. Be2xc4 Be7-d6 15. Ra1a2 Qd8-d7 16. Nf3-g5 Nc6-a5 17. Bc4-d3 b7-b5 18. Qd1-f3 Bf5-g6 19. Ra2-e2 Na5-c4 20. a3-a4 a7-a6 21. h2-h4 h7-h6 22. Ng5-e4 Ra8-e8 23. h4h5 Bg6-h7 24. a4xb5 a6xb5

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25. Ne4-f6+ A very strange move. Analysis concentrated on 25. Bxh6. After 25...Rxe4 26. Rxe4 f5 it's still unclear. 25...g7xf6 26. Bc1xh6 Re8xe2 27. Re1xe2 Bh7xd3 28. Qf3xd3 Could White have missed the simple 28. Qxf6 Qg4? 28...Rf8-e8 29. g2-g3 Re8xe2 30. Qd3xe2 Qd7-e6 31. Qe2-f3 Kg8-h7 32. Bh6-f4 f6f5 33. Bf4xd6 Nc4xd6 34. Qf3-d1 Qe6-e4 35. Qd1-d2 f5-f4 36. g3xf4 Nd6-f5 37. Qd2-a2 Kh7g7 38. Qa2-a6 Nf5-h4 39. Kg1-f1 Qe4-d3+ 40. Kf1-g1 Qd3-f3 White resigned. Like a cat with nine lives, Karpov had survived his battles with Morozevich and Shirov, but in the finals, two games at the classical time control, he was solidly beaten by Anand, who had floated unassailably through the tournament. “My advantage over Kasparov and Kramnik was that I had come to Prague just to play chess, while their cell phones were always ringing as soon as they had left the stage of the playing hall” said Anand. Indeed, political talks on the eve of the Prague reunification conference must have distracted both Kasparov and Kramnik heavily. But that's another story, well treated on the internet. Copyright 2002 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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An Unbridled Life

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Among the Dutch chess champions were many gifted people, but none such a treasure of wonders, good and bad, as Jan Esser, the champion of 1913. I have written about him before (in an article collected in my book The Human Comedy of Chess), but recently a new biography of Esser taught me many new things and brought the man to life. It is in Dutch, but I cannot imagine that it will not be translated into other languages: Het tomeloze leven van Johannes Esser. Grondlegger van de plastische chirurgie,by Ton Neelissen. (The Unbridled Life of Johannes Esser, Founder of Plastic Surgery). Anyway, for English speakers there is still the book by Dr. Barend Haeseker from 1983, Dr. J.F.S. Esser and his Contributions to Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery. Though written as a medical dissertation, it is also quite fascinating for the layman. But I suppose it will be hard to find. Jan Esser (1877-1946) was Dutch chess champion, chess columnist, president of the Dutch chess federation for a short time and founder of several chess clubs. He was an enthusiastic match player and once beat Janowski 2-1. But his most

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remarkable achievements were not in chess. He was a man who wanted to be the best in every field he touched and to a large extent he succeeded in this. Still, his most ambitious scheme became a failure and he died in poverty and isolation, his pioneering efforts forgotten and neglected.

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While still living in the Netherlands as a general medical practitioner, his house became a meeting place of artists and intellectuals and his friendship with several of the greatest Dutch artists was to be the foundation of his career as one of the greatest private art collectors that the Netherlands has ever known. Just one example, given in Neelissen's book: at a time that Piet Mondriaan, who was to become the most famous Dutch artist of the 20th century, was still virtually unknown, Esser already possessed 70 of his works. Many Dutch museums possess works donated by Esser, some of them are the crown jewels of their collection. Esser was also a shrewd financial speculator, who bought and sold castles, palaces, theatres and grand hotels as easily as if they were toy buildings from Legoland. He was a farmer, horse-breeder, builder, hotel manager, operator of a vaudeville house, but all these were only side-activities to his practical and theoretical work as a pioneer of plastic surgery. This by the way was a term that Esser abhorred, because it suggested trivial cosmetic operations for the idle rich. From time to time he did not feel above making some easy money that way, but his real work was quite different: he gave new faces

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and a bearable life to the victims of battles or of terrible accidents whose faces had exploded. The beginning of his spectacular career as a "structive surgeon" - the term invented by Esser was in World War I. At first he had offered his services to the French and British governments, who were not interested, and so in 1915 he went to the other side, the German and Austrian empires. With him he took four Dutch nurses, recruited from the staff of a rival Dutch surgeon who was not at all pleased. Accommodating the wishes of others was never to be a consideration in Esser's grand schemes. From Brünn (nowadays the Czech Brno) where he arrived in 1915, he moved to Vienna, then to Budapest and finally to Berlin, where he became quite famous. A Dutch newspaper reported in 1918 that the Emperor's sister in law, the Duchess of Sleeswijk-Holstein-Coburg, took part in his operations as an assistant and that the Empress visited his clinic and conversed with his patients. Esser performed thousands of operations and developed many new techniques, which he was to describe later in books and scientific articles. As Neelissen writes, some of these techniques were to be reinvented about fifty years later by American surgeons who had no idea that Esser had ever existed. He left Berlin in 1924, fleeing the German tax inspector, and after some years of frenetic traveling file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 9) [06/24/2002 8:56:36 AM]

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through Europe, he settled in 1926 with his three children - his first wife had died a year before - in a derelict French castle. The years to come would be devoted to a splendid ideal: a Free State of reconstructive surgery, with himself as head of state, where the millions of tortured invalids would find healing. It sounded like an impossible dream and indeed it would never become reality, but Esser came a long way. Supported by prestigious scientists and scholars from all over the world, Albert Einstein among them, he negotiated with the Spanish government, with Mussolini in Italy and finally with the Greek dictator Metaxas to find the territory for his independent mini-state. Metaxas provided a Greek warship to enable Esser to make a tour through the Greek archipelago to find an island that suited him. He found one, but then the deal fell through because Metaxas demanded the presence of one Greek policeman on the island, as a symbol of Greek sovereignty. Esser could not give in, as he never could give in to any demand from others. World War I had made his fame, which between the wars he squandered in pursuit of an impossible dream, and World War II was to be his undoing. In 1939, when France and Germany were already at war, but not yet fighting, Esser left for the US. There he didn't get permission to practice surgery. His theoretical contributions to the field were forgotten. He lost practically all his money at the New York Stock Exchange and the banker Baruch file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 9) [06/24/2002 8:56:36 AM]

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said that never in his life had he seen someone lose so much money so quickly and bear it so stoically. Theoretically Esser was still a rich man, but his possessions were in Europe, locked in art, real estate and a maze of about a hundred companies that he had founded. He found solace in working on a Theory of Everything that would unite all fields of learning and surpass Darwin and Einstein. An FBI agent that investigated his case because there had been rumors that Esser was a German spy, described him as "on the verge of being nuts", but the American professor of philosophy Paul Arthur Schilpp later wrote to Esser's son that neither privately nor professionally had he ever met a man of Esser's intelligence, except Einstein. Esser's health deteriorated and in 1946 he died of heart failure. He got a pauper's funeral. There was something he had in common with that other Dutch chess champion, Max Euwe. They both were fanatics of work, never having an idle moment. But in many respects they couldn't have been more different. Euwe was a standard of decency, always willing to work together with others and help them. Esser was a loner, often cold and callous. He is known to have left patients in the midst of a long-term series of operations, leaving them much worse then they were before. Though enormously file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 9) [06/24/2002 8:56:36 AM]

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rich he behaved often as a real miser, in one case letting a trusting friend and helper die of poverty. He exploited the workers that he brought from Holland to his French castle so much that at one time a violent insurrection was threatened. With his first and second wife and his six children he mainly communicated by letter, giving orders. As his second wife once said to one of their children: "He was a fantastic man, but so difficult to live with." But a fantastic man he was. Esser's most famous game was a loss against the brilliant Hungarian experimental truth-seeker Gyula Breyer, played in a small tournament in Budapest in 1917. It is also one of Breyer's most famous games, because of the mysterious King's move that prompted some spectators to argue that now Breyer had really gone mad. White: Breyer Black Esser Budapest 1917 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 3. e2-e3 Ng8-f6 4. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 5. Bf1-d3 Bf8-d6 6. f2-f4 0-0 7. Ng1f3 d5xc4 8. Bd3-b1 b7-b5 9. e3-e4 Bd6-e7 10. Nf3-g5 Threatening 11. e5 Nd5 12. Qc2 g6 13. h5 11...h7-h6 11. h2-h4 g7-g6 12. e4-e5 h6xg5 He can't prevent the opening of the h-file, for after 12...Nd5 comes 13. h5 hxg5 14. hxg6 with an overwhelming attack. 13. h4xg5 Nf6-d5

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14. Ke1-f1 In his book Gyula Breyer Iván Bottlik writes (I translate from the German): "With this King's move he floats like a yogi away from earthly dimensions and crosses the boundaries of that which is logically conceivable." The move is indeed deep, but is it objectively good? The reason behind it is that the direct mating attack would fail to a check given by Black: 14 Qg4 Kg7 15. Rh7+ Kxh7 16. Qh5+ Kg7 17. Qh6+ Kg8 18. Bxg6 fxg6 19. Qxg6+ Kh8 20. Qh6+ Kg8 21. g6 (White should take the draw here) 21?Bh4+ followed by 22...Qe7. Dvoretsky has tried to prove that in the diagrammed position White has a forced win by 14. Bd2, the main idea being 14...Nxc3 15. Bxc3 Qe8 16. d5 cxd5 17. f5. He may well be right, but in the maze of variations some things are still unclear to me. 14...Nd5xc3 15. b2xc3 It has been written that White would win by force with 15. Qg4 Qxd4 16. bxc3, but I don't see the win after 16...Qd8. 15...Bc8-b7 Now Breyer's idea succeeds splendidly. Better was 15...Nd7. Then White still has a draw after 16. Qg4 Kg7 17. Rh7+, but if he tries to win in this line by playing g6 (as in the note to White's 14th move), Black would turn the tables file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (7 of 9) [06/24/2002 8:56:36 AM]

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with Rxf4+ followed by Nf8. After 15...Nd7 16. Be3 White would be threatening mate again, because his Queen's Rook is ready to take part in the attack, but Black can defend by 16...Qe8. And what if Black plays 15...Qe8 at once? Then there isn't even a perpetual for White, who would have to pursue his attack by slow means and with a very doubtful outcome. 16. Qd1-g4 Now there is no good defence for Black anymore. 16...Kg8-g7 17. Rh1-h7+ Kg7xh7 18. Qg4-h5+ Kh7-g8 19. Bb1xg6 f7xg6 20. Qh5xg6+ Kg8-h8 21. Qg6-h6+ Kh8-g8 22. g5-g6 Rf8-f7 23. g6xf7+ Kg8xf7 24. Qh6-h5+ Kf7-g7 25. f4-f5 e6xf5 26. Bc1-h6+ Some sources say that Black resigned here because of 26...Kh7 27. e6, which would indeed win quickly. 26...Kg7-h7 27. Bh6-g5+ Kh7-g8 28. Qh5-g6+ Kg8-h8 Other sources have Black resign at this point because of 29. Bf6+ Bxf6+ 30. exf6 Qg8 31. Dh5+ Qh7 32. Qe8+ Qg8 33. f7. But Bottlik's book gives the real conclusion of the game, a sad anti-climax. Time trouble could spoil a masterpiece even before FIDE's time. At one stage Esser was even winning, but in the end Fate rewarded the daring Breyer. 29. Qg6-h6+ Kh8-g8 30. Qh6-e6+ Kg8-f8 31. Qe6xf5+ Kf8-g7 32. Bg5-h6+ Kg7xh6 33. Kf1-e2 Bb7-c8 34. Ra1-h1+ Be7-h4 35. e5-e6 Qd8-e7 36. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (8 of 9) [06/24/2002 8:56:36 AM]

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Qf5-f4+ Kh6-g7 37. Rh1xh4 Qe7xe6+ 38. Ke2d2 Nb8-a6 39. Rh4-h5 Qe6-f6 40. Rh5-h7+ Kg7xh7 41. Qf4xf6 Bc8-g4 42. Qf6-h4+ Kh7-g7 43. Qh4xg4+ Kg7-f6 44. Qg4-f3+ Kf6-e7 45. Qf3xc6 Ra8-g8 46. Qc6xa6 Rg8xg2+ 47. Kd2-c1 Black resigned. Copyright 2002 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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In the First Circle When Yasser Seirawan began his campaign to unite the two World Championships, he referred to Dutch GM Jeroen Piket to indicate that there was something rotten in the kingdom of chess. Nothing wrong with Piket himself, on the contrary. A fine man and a gifted player who has received plenty of support in his native country. Nevertheless Piket announced recently that he will prepare himself for a different career. When even Piket cannot hope to sustain his family playing chess, the chessworld is in a bad state, reasoned Seirawan.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Ironically, as a surely unintended result of Yasser's successful campaign an even more prominent player felt forced to announce his retirement from chess: Alexander Khalifman, FIDE's World Champion of 1999. “I'll have to look out for another job,” Khalifman sadly announced. Indeed, the unification process has taken its victims: all those players who would have gladly competed in the 2003 FIDE championship and now have to wait for the cycle that will lead up to the championship of 2005. Khalifman said: “I am not among those that can count on invitations for the top tournaments, as I have never sought my friends among organizers. I need open tournaments.” I tend to take Khalifman's sad announcement with a grain of salt, but it is true that life is not easy for chessplayers outside the club of the select few. Their struggle for survival was once poignantly described by Dutch GM Genna Sosonko. He quoted Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who, upon arriving at his first labor camp, got advice from an old man: “Make sure you will not be part of the general workforce, cutting trees at minus 30 degrees Celsius, for then you will die. Do everything to get special work, in a kitchen or a library.” This was a quote from Solzhenitsyn's book In the

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First Circle. In Dante's Inferno the first circle is inhabited by virtuous pagans and the unbaptised. Poets like Homer and Ovid were there. Satan himself resided in the first circle of Hell. It wasn't so bad there. The players in the Opens are the tree-cutters who will die. The elite is in the first circle. One has to join them at all costs.

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That the privileged few are nevertheless in hell may be an indication of Sosonko's wry attitude towards professional chess. Career Defining Moments For the last few weeks the first circle's earthly residence was Dortmund, where it was decided who will challenge Vladimir Kramnik in 2003 for his "Classical World Championship". Despite its victims - Anand, Ivanchuk, Khalifman and many others - I applaud the unification process. I am an observer nowadays, hardly a player, and we observers are in need of an event that is really "for death or glory", and "winner takes all". All sports have an event that is far more important than all others. It may be the World Championship or the Olympics. For cycling it is the Tour de France, for tennis it is Wimbledon. For chess it can only be the undivided, generally recognized World Championship, which we have missed since 1993. All other important events may gain luster, because we can speculate on their significance for the one and only top event. “Radjabov is doing well in Linares. Interesting. Next month he will play in the Candidates'. How far will he go?'' This is the way we used to speculate in the old days, but lately we have lost interest. The World Championship cycle provides the observer with what you might call "career defining moments" of the contenders. A career’s make-or-break moments. The observer is a cruel lover of blood-sports, or maybe it's just my own bad character that tends to highlight the negative career definers.

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Bronstein in Portoroz 1958, losing in the last round to Cardoso and being out of the Candidates'. Taimanov and Larsen, losing 60 to Fischer in 1971. Or Hort, playing a Candidates' match against Spassky in Reykjavik in 1977. Spassky fell ill during the match and Hort could have claimed victory, but sportingly agreed to a postponement. A good deed never goes unpunished. After fourteen games, with two more to go, the score was equal. In the next game Hort was winning with black. There was a move that would force immediate resignation and Hort saw it. He had more than enough time left to execute it, but his hand trembled so much that he couldn't move the piece and he lost on time. On a lower level I have known such a negative defining moment myself. I do not remember who was my opponent in that game, but I do remember a Dutch player avidly watching and undoubtedly realizing that this might be a career defining moment for him too, but in a positive sense, for after my miserable performance there would be a vacancy in our Olympiad team. The Dortmund tournament had a rather strange format. First two groups of four, playing a double round-robin, the best two of both groups qualifying for the semi-finals, matches of four games. Then the final match, four games again. With two days reserved for tie-breaks this made for sixteen days in which the eight contenders could have played a full double round-robin, which would have been far more convincing. Here is one of the games of the initial stage, in which Morozevich was extremely unlucky. White: Morozevich Black: Bareev 1. e2-e4 c7-c6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. e4xd5 c6xd5 4. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 6. c4-c5 Bf8-e7 7. Ng1-f3 0-0 8. b2-b4 b7-b6 9. Ra1-b1 b6xc5 After the game Bareev said that he got a terrible position in the opening and that here he should have played 9...a5. 10. b4xc5 Nf6-e4 11. Nc3xe4 d5xe4 12. Nf3-e5 Qd8-c7 13. Bc1f4 Rf8-d8 14. Qd1-a4 14. Ng6 Qa5+ 15. Bd2 Qc7 16. Nxe7+ Qxe7 17. Ba5 would give White an advantage, but he thinks that there is more to be had. 14...g7-g5 The only move. Now 15. Bg3 file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 7) [07/22/2002 10:39:34 PM]

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f5 16. Nxf7 f4 is unclear. 15. Bf4-d2 Bc8-d7 16. Bf1-b5 Bd7xb5 17. Qa4xb5 Rd8xd4 18. Qb5-e8+ Commentator Vlastimil Hort indicated 18. c6, after which Black has to seek counterplay with 18...Rxd2 19. Kxd2 Bd6. 18...Be7-f8 Black's path has been full of dangers, but now he is in safety. White should have gone for a perpetual with 19. Ng4 Rxd2 20. Nf6+ Kg7 21. Nh5+. If Black tries to avoid it with 21...Kg6? he will be mated. 19. Bd2-c3 Qc7xe5 20. 0-0 There might still be a draw for White after 20. Rb7, when Black can force a perpetual in several ways, but also (as GM Yanick Pelletier indicates in Schachwoche) play on with a draw in hand by 20...Nd7 21. Qxa8 e3 22. Bxd4 exf2+ 23. Kxf2 Qxd4+ 24. Ke2 Qe5+ 25. Kd1 Nxc5. But White, having prepared the sequence 21. Bxd4 Qxd4 22. Rxb8, still thinks he is better. 20...Qe5-d5 Only now the terrible truth dawns on White. He is lost, for the intended 21. Bxd4 is answered by 21...Nd7, winning White's Queen. 21. c5-c6 Qd5-d8 22. Qe8xd8 Rd4xd8 23. c6-c7 Rd8-c8 24. c7xb8Q Ra8xb8 25. Rb1xb8 Rc8xb8 The ending is quite lost for White, but he keeps on playing till Bareev has made the time control. 26. Bc3-d4 a7-a6 27. g2-g3 h7-h6 28. Rf1-c1 Rb8-b4 29. Bd4-e3 Bf8-g7 30. h2-h4 Bg7-d4 31. Be3xd4 Rb4xd4 32. h4xg5 h6xg5 33. Rc1-c5 Rd4-d5 34. Rc5-c4 Rd5-e5 35. Kg1-f1 Kg8-g7 36. Kf1-e2 f7-f5 37. a2-a4 Kg7-f6 38. Ke2-e3 Re5-d5 39. g3-g4 Rd5-d3+ 40. Ke3-e2 Kf6-e5 White resigned. Playing to Lose? A very strange aspect of the Dortmund formula was the tie-break that Veselin Topalov and Alexei Shirov had to play after they had both qualified for the semi-finals. Losing a game on purpose is rightfully considered a shameful deed, but in this case the Dortmund organisers were almost asking for it. At stake in this tie-break was only the pairing in the semi-finals. The winner would meet Peter Leko there, the loser Evgeny Bareev. Who would be the most difficult opponent? With all respect to Bareev, I think it was Leko, who is almost unbeatable file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 7) [07/22/2002 10:39:34 PM]

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even at the top level. So what should Topalov and Shirov do? Playing to win, as a good sportsman should, and in case of success be rewarded with the most difficult opponent? Even a criminal on trial is not obliged to cooperate in his own conviction. For Topalov and Shirov, playing to lose might seem the most rational option. But how to proceed then? I was reminded of a Dutch blitz tournament in which I played long ago. After some preliminary rounds the field was divided into several groups, based on the scores at that moment, and players took the points they had scored with them into the final rounds. For winning money, being low in group A was much worse than being high in group B. In the last round of the preliminaries I offered a draw in a deaddrawn ending. “No, I refuse and resign,” said IM Van Geet, who was aiming at group B. This might be the way for Topalov and Shirov, but waiting for the endgame would be risky, as the other man might have the same idea. No, like two competitors in a game show, hurrying to be the first to provide the quizmaster with the right answer, both players would have to shout eagerly and in unison "I resign!" already at the first move. But this would definitely make a bad impression on the spectators. So the wisest and most honest policy would be to play the tiebreak secretly in a hotel room and then later on the stage play the same games, but with reversed colors, so that the loser of the unofficial tie-break would be forced to win the official one. I am not saying that Topalov and Shirov did this, just that it seems the most rational method to me. Whatever happened, Shirov won the tie-break and was duly punished for it by losing his semifinal against Leko with the score 2½-½ The other semi-final, Topalov-Bareev was very exciting. No draws and at 2-2 another tie-break was played, but this time file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 7) [07/22/2002 10:39:34 PM]

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winning was really advisable. White: Topalov Black: Bareev, second and decisive tie-break game. 25 minutes + 5 seconds per move. 1. e2-e4 e7-e6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6 4. Bc1-g5 d5xe4 5. Nc3xe4 Nb8-d7 6. Ng1-f3 Bf8-e7 7. Ne4xf6+ Be7xf6 8. h2-h4 c7-c5 9. Qd1-d2 c5xd4 10. Nf3xd4 Topalov had had this in the past against Van Wely (who by the way was his second in Dortmund) and Shirov, who both played 10...0-0. Though this seems safer than Bareev's move, they both lost. 10...h7-h6 11. Bg5xf6 Nd7xf6 12. Qd2-b4 A new move, preventing Black from castling. 12. 0-0-0 had been played. 12...Nf6-d5 13. Qb4-a3 Qd8e7 14. Bf1-b5+ Bc8-d7 15. Bb5xd7+ Ke8xd7 15...Qxd7 16. Rd1 wouldn't be easy for Black either. 16. Qa3-a4+ Kd7-c7 17. Rh1h3 a7-a6 18. Rh3-b3 Qe7-c5 19. 0-0-0 Now seems the time for Black to solve most of his problems with 19...Nb6. After an exchange of Queens the worst is over for Black and the piece sacrifice 20. Nxe6+, to keep the Queens, does not seem correct. 19...b7-b5 But after this Black's condition is critical. 20. Qa4-a5+ Qc5-b6 21. Qa5-e1 Kc7-b7 22. Qe1-e2 Kb7-a7 Now comes a nice finish. First a sacrifice of a piece, then of an exchange. 23. Nd4xb5+ a6xb5 24. Rb3xb5 Qb6-c6 25. Rd1xd5 e6xd5 26. Qe2e7+ Ka7-a6 27. Rb5-b3 Black resigned. To avoid mate he has to give his Queen playing 27...Qb6 28. Ra3+ Qa5, but this hopeless. As all visitors to ChessCafe.com surely know, Leko beat Topalov in the final 2½1½. So he is going to play Kramnik for what they will call "the Classical World Championship", presumably in April next year. A few months later the winner of that match will play the winner of Ponomariov-Kasparov for the unified title. But wait a minute. This is indeed what Kramnik has promised to do if the wins the match. But what if Leko wins? He hasn't promised anything. Would he be willing to put his title at stake only a few months after winning it?

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If Leko and Kasparov both win their matches, Leko might say: “Dear Garry, you are now the Fide champion, a title you held in such low esteem during the last ten years. I am, to paraphrase your eloquent words, the 15th champion in the venerable line that started with Steinitz; the real champ. No doubt I will find a worthy challenger in due time, but you will understand that the times demand that I will look for him among the younger stars. You were a great player and good luck to you.” Would he really? Well, he might, if only for a laugh.

Copyright 2002 Hans Ree. All Rights Reserved.

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Re-writing Chess History Nowadays to attract the attention of the general public a chessplayer has to jump through hoops and so in the frivolous spirit of the modern age Vladimir Kramnik recently played a blitz game for German television against the boxing champion Vitali Klitschko. Kramnik got one minute, Klitschko got five.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Ukraïnian brothers Vitali and Vladimir Klitschko are boxing champions who miss no opportunity to publicise the fact that they play chess, even if they do not play it very well. On the other hand, Kramnik could show that he can move his hands very quickly and that he is not above cowering to the real world. It was a symbiosis with profit for all. Kramnik won the game, which was not published, probably to protect the innocent. The strength of Klitschko's opposition might be deduced from another game, played in Leipzig 2001 by the two brothers in consultation against the young German champion Elisabeth Pähtz, who played without seeing the board. White: Pähtz Black: The Klitschko Brothers 1. e2-e4 b7-b6 2. d2-d4 Bc8-a6 3. Bf1xa6 Nb8xa6 4. Nb1-c3 Ra8-b8 5. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 6. e4-e5 Nf6-h5 7. g2-g4 Nh5-f6 8. e5xf6 g7xf6 9. Qd1-e2 Bf8-g7 10. Qe2xa6 Qd8-c8 11. Qa6-e2 c7-c5 12. d4xc5 Qc8xc5 13. Nf3-h4 d7-d6 14. Nh4-f5 Bg7-f8 15. Bc1-h6 Bf8xh6 16. Qe2xe7 mate What the public enjoyed from this game must be the fact that a girl beat a collective mass of about six times her weight. Maybe archaeologists too nowadays feel forced to put on a false nose for jollity. At the end of last July many media reported that a British team had found during excavations in the city Butrint, in

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the South of what now is Albania, a small ivory chess piece that was dated from the fifth or sixth century (accounts differ) and thereby would be by far the oldest chess piece found in Europe. According to members of the archaeological team, chess in Europe turns out to have a much longer history than we assumed until now. The history of chess will have to be re-written.

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Can this be true? About the early history of chess there are few hard facts known and consequently the field provides rich opportunities for controversy and speculation. Most historians consider India to be the birthplace of chess, others point to China and an intrepid adventurer has even indicated Babylon in the second millennium BC as the cradle of chess. Nevertheless there exists something that can be called "mainstream chess history". In Whyld and Hooper's The Oxford Companion to Chess it is summed up thus: “The earliest evidence of a recognizable form of chess, chaturanga, is around AD 600. Before that, all is speculation.” This firm statement, not present in the first edition, was added to the second edition of 1992, probably as a warning against too adventurous historians. From India the game goes to Persia and from there to the Arabs, who bring it to Europe during the ninth century. Around the same time there is a Northern route by which chess is brought to Europe via Russia. This is the familiar tale that indeed will have to be strongly revised if the British archaeologists are right, for not only do they claim to have found the earliest European chess piece, they date it from a period (in one account the year 465 is mentioned) of which no firm evidence exists that chess was played anywhere in the world at all. As far as I know, dating a man-made object is not an easy task. It is not enough to date the material (ivory in this case) but what needs to be fixed is the period when the artisan made it into the thing it is now. Not only the established history of chess, but also methods of dating provide room for controversy. But even more difficult, I think, is to decide if the object is really

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a chess piece. It would be nice if we found 32 little objects of different sizes, reflecting the hierarchy of the pieces, but this is not the case here. Only one "piece" has been found. I look at the picture. What can it tell us? (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=448) A piece of ivory, four centimeters high, that looks a bit like a miniature Eastern-European church tower, with a little crown or cross on top. Yes, it has some resemblance to European chess pieces of a much later age, but chess pieces have come in many forms. It might have been a chess piece and it might have been a lot of other things. To name only one possibility, it might have been made for purely decorative reasons, with no function at all except to be pretty. The English archaeologist John Mitchell declared that the team had excluded the possibility that the object had anything to do with other board games such as backgammon or the Roman game tabula. It would have to be a chess King or Queen, because of the crown on top. A Queen? That would force us to re-write the history of chess even more drastically, as until now we had been convinced that the Queen was invented in Western Europe during the 15th century. Maybe what Mitchell meant was the Firzan, the Queen's early precursor, but that doesn't sound logical either, for why would a mere councilor of the King wear a crown? I doubt if the team of archaeologists had a detailed knowledge of the history of chess. But they knew enough to realise that their find, if it were really a chess piece, would force a re-writing of a small but substantial part of cultural history. Quite a big consequence of the find of a tiny piece of ivory. Sometimes it happens indeed that history has to be re-written, but for that the new facts have to be at least as firmly based as old theory. You can never be sure, of course. But to me it seems that the British archaeologists found an object that could have been file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [08/26/2002 8:53:34 AM]

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anything. Only if it were a chess piece would it have such an impact on general history. So a chess piece it had to be. Not only chess champions but also scientists and cultural scholars have to jump through hoops to get the media attention that nowadays is indispensable to the funding of their work. The team that did the excavations in Butrint got plenty of media attention after finding their "chess piece". As I said, you cannot be sure. The thing might be what they claim it to be. I certainly do not want to pass as an expert on chess history, but it seems to me that chess has been taken for a ride.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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A Tenacious Patient Each year the Staunton Chess Club in the Dutch city Groningen organises a gambit tournament, in the spirit of the great gambit tournaments of the early 20th century, though on a smaller scale. The Groningen tournament has only three rounds.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

It is not always easy to find a suitable gambit. Last year the Albin Countergambit was chosen, 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e5 3. dxe5 d4, a gambit which I think is not quite good enough, certainly not for a threeround tournament. Playing the Albin as Black in two of your three games seems too much of a handicap. The tournament that was played early this month had a better theme, the King's Gambit. I would call it the queen of gambits, though I know of different opinions. A cynic once described a gambit as "giving up a point to gain the public's sympathy as compensation." In 1924 Rudolf Spielmann wrote his famous article Vom Krankenlager des Königsgambit (From the sickbed of the King's gambit). It was provoked by Spielmann's disappointing results in the tournaments of Karlsbad and Mährisch Ostrau 1923, where he had scored +1 -5 =0 with the King's Gambit, which in the past had served him well. In later years Spielman kept playing it, though only occasionally. It is interesting to note that the black systems that were most feared by Spielmann are not considered so dangerous nowadays. Better for Black, according to Spielmann, were the following systems: A. 1. e4 e5 2. f4 Bc5 3. Nf3 d6 4. c3 Bg4 But according to the Yugoslav Encyclopaedia of Openings White is slightly better after 5. h3. Another possibility for Black, 4...f5,

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Spielman calls "quite suspicious for White". Well, maybe. It's very complicated and "quite suspicious for Black" too. Few people dare to play this move. B. 1. e4 e5 2. f4 d5 3. exd5 e4 4. d3 Nf6 5. dxe4 Nxe4 6. Nf3 Bc5 7. Qe2 Bf5 Modern theory says that after 8. Nc3 Qe7 9. Be3 White will get a better endgame.

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C. 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4 Nf6 4. Nc3 c6 This is still considered an excellent defense for Black, though Nigel Short has shown that White can get a comfortable equality. However, Spielmann's reason for not playing 3. Nf3 is not so convincing nowadays: he thought that the modern defense 3...d5 4. exd5 Nf6 would give Black an advantage. Current opinion is that White has a comfortable equality at least. On the other hand, the positions that Spielmann said he would like to play as White, after 3...g5, are nowadays considered quite promising for Black. In fact this was the theme of the Groningen tournament. From a modern perspective Spielmann's reasons for despair were not compelling, but he felt that his opening was assailed from all sides and repair work at one place would only show new holes at others. I took the opportunity to look at my own sickbed: in the database I found seven games in which I had played the King's Gambit as White. My score had been 2½ out of 7. There must be better ways to use the advantage of the first move, but it has to be said that the games were enjoyable. There have always been faithful knights of the King's Gambit and there always will be. Look at the chess scene of the James Bond film From Russia with Love, based on Spassky-Bronstein, USSR championship, Leningrad 1960. Very nice, isn't it? The moves that were obligatory in Groningen were 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5. Black plays the classical defense (or attack, you might say), centuries old, but in my opinion still the only try for a refutation

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of the King's Gambit. Many "modern defenses" have come and gone, but this oldie seems still the best. I think Viktor Kortchnoi and Larry Evans have stated that the burden to prove equality is still on White in this variation and I agree. There were 45 games played in the Groningen gambit tournament and White's score was a fine 56 percent. In the invitation group, won by the Frisian IM Sipke Ernst, White even scored 4 out of 6. Good news for the gambiteers. After a sickbed of almost eighty years the patient still clings to life and can bite nastily on occasion. But percentages cannot prove correctness, so let's see how the gambit was handled in the top group, where the players had studied the opening seriously in advance. White: Brenninkmeijer Black: Ligterink, first round 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1-f3 g7-g5 4. h2-h4 g5-g4 5. Nf3-e5 Ng8-f6 6. Bf1-c4 The main line used to be 6. d4, which was played in a game in the next round. 6...d7-d5 7. e4xd5 Bf8d6 8. d2-d4 Nf6-h5 9. 0-0 This position also appeared in Hoeksema-Ernst of the same round. There followed 9...0-0 The strongest move. 10. Ne5xg4 Qd8xh4 11. Ng4-h2 Nh5-g3 12. Rf1-f2 Rf8-e8 13. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 14. Bc1-d2 Nb8-d7 15. Qd1-c1 Nd7-f6 16. Rf2xf4 Bd6xf4 17. Bd2xf4 Ng3-h5 18. Bf4-e3 Re8xe3 19. Qc1xe3 Qh4xh2+ 20. Kg1xh2 Nf6-g4+ 21. Kh2g1 Ng4xe3 and White resigned. Back to Brenninkmeijer-Ligterink: 9...Qd8xh4 10. Qd1-e1 Qh4xe1 11. Rf1xe1 0-0 12. Bc4-b3 Bc8-f5 13. Nb1-c3 Nb8-d7 14. Ne5-c4 Black has no sensible plan here, wrote Ligterink later. 14...Ra8-e8 15. Re1-f1 Nh5-g3 This turns out badly, but White had a very good game anyway.

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16. Bc1xf4 Nice, but 16. Nxd6 cxd6 17. Bxf4 was more accurate. 16...Pg3xf1 For now White had to reckon with 16...Bxf4 17. Rxf4 b5, though 18. Kf2 seems quite allright for him. 17. Ta1xf1 Because Black's Bf5 is unprotected, White regains his Exchange with a clear advantage. 18...Kg8-g7 19. Bf4xd6 Kg7g6 20. Bd6xf8 Nd7xf8 21. d5d6 Nf8-e6 22. Nc3-b5 Re8-d8 23. d4-d5 Ne6-c5 24. c2-c4 a7-a6 25. Nb5-d4 Bf5-d3 26. Bb3-c2 Bd3xc2 27. Nd4xc2 Rd8xd6 28. Nc2-e3 h7-h5 29. b2-b4 Nc5-d3 30. c4-c5 Rd6-f6 31. Rf1-d1 Nd3-f2 32. Rd1-d4 g4-g3 33. Ne3-f1 Black resigned. A nice game that evened the score for the King's Gambit, 1-1. However, theoretically Black was on top, for Hoeksema-Ernst needed an improvement for White badly. In the second round this was tried in Brenninkmeijer-Hoeksema, where instead of Hoeksema's 12. Rf1-f2, Brenninkmeijer played 12. Rf1-e1 After 12...Bc8-f5 13. Nb1-d2 Nb8-d7 14. Nd2-f3 Qh4-h5 a position was reached that had already appeared in a game Freyman-Cohn from 1912. White's position is not very good and he eked out a draw with considerable effort. In the other game of that round the main line of the Kieseritzky Gambit was played. White: Ligterink Black: Ernst 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 e5xf4 3. Nf1-f3 g7-g5 4. h2-h4 g5-g4 5. Nf3-e5 Ng8-f6 6. d2-d4 After the first round 6. Bc4 was under a cloud. 6...d7-d6 7. Ne5-d3 Nf6xe4 8. Bc1xf4 Bf8-g7 9. c2-c3 0-0 10. Nb1-d2 Rf8-e8 11. Bf1-e2

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12...Bc8-f5 12. Nd2xe4 Bf5xe4 13. 0-0 Qd8xh4 14. Be2xg4 Nb8-c6 With 14...Bxd3 15. g3 Bc2 Black could reach an ending a pawn up, but White's compensation would be adequate. 15. Nd3f2 Be4-g6 16. Qd1-d2 h7-h6 17. g2-g3 Qh4-e7 18. Bf4xh6 Bg7xh6 19. Qd2xh6 Qe7-e3 20. Qh6xe3 Re8xe3 21. Ra1e1 Ra8-e8 22. Re1xe3 Re8xe3 23. Kg1-g2 This ending must be about equal, but White went on to win. A playable endgame is nowadays what White is aiming for in the Kieseritzky gambit, so this can be considered a success, but a serious question remains: what would White have done if Black, in the diagrammed position, had played 12...g3, which discourages castling and sets up terrible threats like 13...Bg4. Wortel-Kroeze, Sonnevanck tournament, Wijk aan Zee 1998, went 11...g4-g3 12. Nd2xe4 Rxe4 12. Ke1-d2 c7-c5 14. d4xc5 d6xc5 15. Kd2-c1 and though White won this game his position looks horrible. After two rounds the Kieseritzky gambit had scored fine for White, but objectively it still seemed rather shaky. So in the final round, both Whites opted for a different line. White: Hoeksema Black: Ligterink 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1-f3 g7-g5 4. Bf1-c4 Here White has to be willing to sacrifice a piece after 4...g4 5. 0-0 gxf3 6. Qxf3, the Muzio gambit. In Groningen this line was played once, in a lower group, but the game had no theoretical significance. I had a quick look at the openings encyclopaedia to see what the current verdict is on the Muzio. Unclear, as it has always been. 4...Bf8-g7 5. d2-d4 d7-d6 6. 0-0 The Hanstein gambit. 6...h7-h6 7. g2-g3 Bc8-h3 8. Rf1-f2 Nb8-c6 9. c2-c3

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A well known position. According to theory Black has a big advantage after 9...Nf6. In the game, after 9...Qd8-d7 10. g3xf4 g5xf4 11. Bc1xf4 Ng8-f6 12. Nb1-d2 0-0-0 13. Bf4-g3 Nf6-h5 14. Nf3-h4 Nh5xg3 15. h2xg3 Rd8-f8 16. Nh4-f5 Bh3xf5 17. Rf2xf5 White got some advantage and almost won. White: Ernst Black: Brenninkmeijer 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1-f3 g7-g5 4. Bf1-c4 Nb8-c6 5. 0-0 Bf8-g7 6. d2-d4 d7-d6 7. c2-c3 h7-h6 8. Qd1-a4 An interesting "novelty", in Kortchnoi's sense: “Everything old and wellforgotten is new.” In fact, the move was played in a simul by McDonnell in 1839. White threatens 9. d5 and after 9...Bd7 he plays 10. Qb3, winning a pawn. So, Black has to move his King, after which White has something to play for. In fact he won quite quickly, not so much because of a blunder by Black near the end, but mainly because Black couldn't find a good plan. 8...Ke8-f8 9. Nb1-a3 Ng8-e7 10. Bc1-d2 Ne7-g6 11. Kg1-h1 Bg7-f6 12. Nf3g1 Kf8-g7 13. g2-g3 f4xg3 14. h2xg3 Rh8-f8 15. Rf1-f2 Nc6-e7 16. Ra1-f1 Ne7-g8 17. Na3-c2 c7-c6 18. Bc4-d3 b7-b5 19. Qa4a3 c6-c5 20. Bd3xb5 Bc8-b7 21. d4-d5 Bf6-e5 22. Nc2-e3 Ng6e7 23. c3-c4 Ng8-f6 24. Qa3-d3 Nf6-h5 25. Ng1-e2 Bb7-c8 26. Kh1-g2 Ne7-g6 27. Ne3-f5+ Bc8xf5 28. e4xf5 Black resigned. After 28...Ne7 or 28...Nh8 follows 29. f6 Nxf6 30. Rxf6 Bxf6 31. Rxf6 and White wins. So what's the current state of the King's Gambit Accepted? It seems to me that in the Kieseritzky gambit, always considered White's most reliable line, he is aiming for an equality that is by

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no means guaranteed. There is more fun to be had in the Hanstein gambit, but my personal opinion is that Black should be better. The patient is still kicking, but a complete recovery is very much in doubt. The Bishop gambit, 1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Bc4, which was not allowed in the Groningen tournament, is another matter. I think White is OK there, but in a rather boring way. All games from the Groningen tournament can be downloaded in PGN format at www.sgstaunton.nl or by clicking here.

The games from the Groningen tournament are available in Chess Cafe Reader format. Click here for more information.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Noble Savage A prodigal son has returned to chess. Julio Granda Zuniga hadn't played a serious game since 1998, but this month he took part in the Peruvian championship, which he easily won, scoring 12 points out of 13 games.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

True, the opposition wasn't up to his standard. Mario Belli, who came second with 8 out of 13, is a 2400 player. But 12 out of 13 is impressive anyway and one may hope that for Granda this has been a training tournament to prepare him for the hunt for greater game. The chessworld will gladly welcome him back, for he is a remarkable player. He is not one of those who says that chess is his life. This is already apparent from his four years absence and also from the way he used to talk about chess in the past. Professionally he was a tree grower and his great passion seems to have been soccer, more than chess. In 1996, in an interview with Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam for New in Chess, he mused about his childhood dream of playing for the Peruvian national soccer team. “Who knows what might have happened, but chess stopped me.” He brought a soccer ball to the Dubai Olympiad of 1986 and to the European tournaments where he went from there. But with the exception of Agdestein, who has played for Norway's national soccer team, the other chessplayers were not very good and lacked true spirit: “At the beginning of the tournaments everyone was very enthusiastic, but after a few days they preferred sleeping or drinking.” Kasparov was singled out by Granda as a poor soccer player: “He has no idea. Running a lot but no concept.” When he was a child a chess manual had been forced on Granda by his father and he had read it reluctantly. Also later, when he was already a grandmaster, he didn't like to study. He didn't own

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by Hans Ree

a laptop and only skipped through chess magazines, never playing over a game on a board. His finest successes were gained in tournaments to which he had been invited more or less by accident. For the strong Reshevsky Memorial tournament in New York in 1992, all three Polgar sisters were invited (though Sofia preferred to play a match with Maurice Ashley). At the time Granda was Zsuzsa Polgar's boyfriend, so Joel Benjamin suggested to the organisers that they might as well invite Granda, thereby making the Polgar family complete and happy.

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An excellent idea that Benjamin came to regret, as Granda made mince-meat of the American participants. He won the tournament with 7 out of 9, a half-point ahead of Judit Polgar. During the preparations for the second Donner Memorial tournament in Amsterdam in 1995 one of the organisers, Bert Breuker, caused surprise by insisting that Julio Granda Zuniga from Peru was a very interesting player who absolutely had to be invited. Why him? asked the others. Granda wasn't exactly worldfamous and as he was born in 1967, he wasn't a promising junior anymore either. But Breuker insisted and the others granted him his pleasure. Granda won the tournament together with Jan Timman, who only caught up with him in the last round. The next year the third and last Donner Memorial was won again by Granda, who this time shared first place with Vassily Ivanchuk. Stories abounded about his lack of interest in opening theory. One day, on his way to the tournament hall in a car driven by Bert Breuker, he was said to have asked if his opponent of that day, Yasser Seirawan, was playing 1. e4 or 1. d4. I doubt if this story is true. Breuker had a habit of feeding the journalists with tasty little anecdotes that were often invented. To paraphrase the Russians, every Russian schoolboy knows that Seirawan is not a 1. e4 player. Granda should know that too, for in the past he had already played Seirawan at least three times. Let's say that the story was symbolically true, for Granda certainly had an impressive lack of opening knowledge.

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At these Donner tournaments he was the public's darling, for a noble savage who played the openings haphazardly and then handled the middlegame and the endgame like a young god, appealed to the imagination. And he played beautiful games of course. Here is one of his finest victories. Tim Krabbé, who compiled a collection of "The 110 Greatest Moves Ever Played", gave Granda's ninth move the 20th ranking. White: Granda Zuniga Black: Seirawan, Buenos Aires 1993 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 4. g2-g3 b7-b6 5. Bf1-g2 Bc8-b7 6. 0-0 Nb8-c6 7. e2-e4 e6-e5 8. d2-d3 g7-g6 9. Nf3xe5 A stunning move that resembles a gambit that in recent years gained some popularity in frivolous circles of the Internet Chess Club: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Nxe5?! 9...Nc6xe5 10. f2-f4 Ne5-c6 11. e4-e5 Nf6-g8 12. f4-f5 So White has a pawn and a strong initiative for his piece, but of course it is not at all certain if his sacrifice was correct. An attempt at refutation should begin with 12...Rb8, after which Seirawan in his notes in Informant 57 gave 13. e6 dxe6 14. fxe6 f5 (or 14...f6) 15. Rxf5 Qd4+ 16. Rf2 as the main line. His verdict: unclear. 12...Ng8-h6 13. Nc3-e4 Nh6xf5 14. Ne4-f6+ Ke8-e7 15. Nf6-d5+ Ke7-e8 16. Nd5-f6+ Ke8-e7 Now White has a least a perpetual, but of course he was not aiming for a draw when he played his daring 9. Nxe5. 17. g3-g4 Nf5-d4 18. Qd1-e1 Qd8-b8 19. Nf6-d5+ Ke7-d8 20. Bc1-g5+ Kd8-c8 21. Rf1xf7 Nd4-e6 22. Bg5-f6 Nc6-d8 23. Rf7-e7

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A curious position. Black's pieces are awkwardly placed, but he has one extra. Seirawan gave 23. Bxd5 24. cxd5 Bxe7 25. Bxh8 and now 25...Nd4 or Nf4 as best play and the battle would still rage on. 23...Rh8g8 24. Re7-e8 Bb7-c6 25. Bf6xd8 Ne6xd8 26. Nd5-f6 Rg8-h8 27. Bg2xc6 d7xc6 28. Qe1-e4 Qb8-c7 29. e5-e6 Very nice. This can be considered the apotheosis of White's strategy. With 9. Nxe5 White cleared the way for his e-pawn that is now going to promote to a Queen. 29...Bf8-g7 30. e6-e7 Rh8xe8 31. Nf6xe8 Bg7-d4+ 32. Kg1-h1 Qc7-d7 33. Ne8-d6+ Qd7xd6 34. e7-e8Q a7-a5 It is still a difficult position. With two pieces for the Queen Black can put up stubborn resistance. 35. Ra1-f1 Ra8-a7 36. Rf1f8 Ra7-d7 37. Qe4-e6 Qd6xe6 38. Qe8xe6 Kc8-c7 39. Qe6-e2 Bd4-g7 40. Rf8-f2 Bg7-d4 41. Rf2-f3 Nd8-f7 42. Rf3-f4 Nf7-d6 43. Kh1-g2 Nd6-c8 44. b2-b3 Rd7-e7 45. Rf4-e4 Re7-f7 46. Qe2-e1 Rf7-d7 47. Qe1-g3+ Kc7-b7 48. h2-h3 Rd7-f7 49. h3-h4 Rf7-d7 50. Re4-e6 Bd4-c3 51. Qg3-f3 Nc8-d6 52. Qf3-f8 Nd6c8 53. Re6-e8 Rd7-c7 54. Re8-d8 Bc3-g7 55. Qf8-e8 Bg7-f6 56. Rd8xc8 Black resigned. And here is the first game played by Granda after his four-year absence. It seems to be just the right game to get into the mood for more chess. White: Granda Zuniga Black: Cotrina Moscoso, Peruvian championship, Lima 2002 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 e7-e6 3. g2-g3 b7-b6 4. Bf1-g2 Bc8b7 5. d2-d4 c7-c5 6. d4-d5 e6xd5 7. Nf3-h4 g7-g6 8. Nb1-c3 Bf8e7 9. c4xd5 d7-d6 10. 0-0 Nf6-d7 11. Bc1-h6 Nb8-a6 12. Nh4-f3 Na6-c7 13. e2-e4 g6-g5 14. e4-e5 Nd7xe5 15. Nf3xe5 d6xe5 16. Bh6-g7 Rh8-g8 17. Bg7xe5 Be7-f6 18. f2-f4 Ke8-f8 19. Qd1-h5 Nc7-e8 20. Ra1-e1 Rg8-g7 21. f4xg5 Rg7xg5 22. Qh5-h6+ Bf6g7

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23. Rf1xf7+ Black's play has made no great impression and this sacrifice is nice and easy, ideally suited for a player who must have been somewhat rusty. 23...Kf8xf7 24. Qh6e6+ Kf7-f8 25. Re1-f1+ Bg7f6 26. Be5xf6 Ne8xf6 27. Rf1xf6+ Kf8-g7 28.R f6-f7+ Kg7-h8 29. Rf7xb7 Qd8-g8 30. Nc3-e4 Black resigned.

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Chess in Paris I was in Paris during the Olympiad and when the Netherlands was paired against France I considered it a good opportunity to visit the NAO Chess Club, like a soccer fan who prefers to follow an important match not at home, but in a bar with a TV. Maybe the club members would watch the games on the internet and unlike a soccer fan I wouldn't have to fear hooligans who would begrudge me rooting for the Dutch.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

The NAO club in its present form is a young club but already quite famous. It is named after Nahed Ojjeh, daughter of the Syrian defense minister and widow of a Saudi arms dealer. Mrs. Ojjeh lives in France and has big plans to bolster French chess. Among her projects are a chess academy, resembling the old Botvinnik school in Moscow, and the introduction of chess as a subject in French schools. She has been involved, together with the British TV company Einstein, in what might be called the ‘Kramnik leg’ of the world championship. The NAO club is the successor of the Cercle Caissa that had been run for many years by Chantal Chaudé de Silans, who, in the fifties and sixties, was the strongest French woman player and the first woman to take part in the "men's" Olympiad. After her death in 2001, the club was renamed after Mrs. Ojjeh. The daughters of Mrs. Chaudé complained that the club had not only sold its name, but also its soul. Others said that with her sponsorship, Mrs. Ojjeh had saved a nearly defunct club. Who is right, I cannot say. When I visited the old Cercle Caissa, it used to be quite lively, but that was some years ago. Anyway, the club has gained some new, prominent members, not only top French players (among them Boris Spassky), but also foreigners such as Kramnik, Grischuk, Svidler, Adams and the new Spanish star Vallejo Pons. They didn't manage to win the

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by Hans Ree

European Club Championship this year, but they certainly haven't given up. The club has moved to a new address, Avenue Foch 83, and from Avenue Foch 1, where I had arrived by bus, it proved rather a longer walk than I had expected, for this is the avenue where the richest Parisians live, in big villa's often hidden from view by blind walls. Fragile old ladies were walking their little dogs, attended by big, strong servants. At the club one could still smell the paint, for they had only moved in a few months ago and the redecorating had not been finished yet. The premises are quite impressive, with many big rooms that would easily take in hundreds of chessplayers.

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Not this day, however. I saw only four people, gathered at a little table and talking, not playing. They were quite old and must have been survivors of the Cercle Caissa. Then, in another room, I found a long-time acquaintance, the Bulgarian grandmaster Nikola Spiridonov. I have known him since the student olympiads of the sixties. When I went there for the first time, to Cracow in 1964, I was informed by a more experienced team member that the Dutch team and the Bulgarian team were friends. How this had come about I was not told; it probably was a friendship based on compatible drinking habits. Anyway, I gladly conformed to the tradition. Nikola has been living in Paris for about ten years, which I knew, for in past years I had met him by accident on Paris streets. We exchange the pleasantries of retired tournament fighters. “Are you still playing?” “Hardly, and very bad.” “I am sure it can't be as bad as my own play ...” And so on. He works as a trainer nowadays and he is giving a lesson to a boy of about ten years old. I am told that the boy is one of six NAO members that will take part in the World Youth Championships that are being held at the moment on Crete. Nikola is treating the closely related subjects of the isolated pawn and the hanging pawns, using a game of Akiba Rubinstein from a book in Russian. Good. The boy is being prepared for real chess, not FIDE chess as it was recently described by Richard Forster.

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On Crete, will the boy get the opportunity to apply the sound positional lessons, quietly aiming at Black's isolated pawn in the Tarrasch defense? I fear that more likely he will be machinegunned by a Schara-Hennig gambit. But these are not matters for me to ponder and I move on to another room. Until now I have seen six chessplayers and here I find two more, the manager Jordi Lopez and an assistant. I get coffee and pastry and a computer is set up for me to watch the Netherlands-France match. We are ahead 1½-½, I see, but I worry a bit about Ivan Sokolov's game against Josif Dorfman and Loek van Wely seems to be lost against Etienne Bacrot. Later I will find out that my worries about Sokolov were unfounded, but Van Wely could not save his game. “Usually there are more people here,” says Jordi and back in Holland I'll learn that he said the same thing the next day to another Dutchman. Back in Mrs. Chaudé's time there were always more people, I think, but I do not say this and anyway, it might have been unfair. When I leave I get some copies of the club magazine, a wellproduced monthly with game analyses by top French players and a history section that displays the frivolity of wealth, for games by Napoléon Bonaparte are printed without any mentioning that they are probably spurious. I learn that the club is open Tuesday till Saturday from 3 pm till 10 pm. Can this be right? At the clubs I used to know, 10 pm was about the time when it started to become lively. The club is certainly worth a visit, but when you want to play blitz in Paris the best thing to do seems to go to the chess corner in the Jardin du Luxembourg. They have no Kramnik there, but some of the regulars are quite strong. White Loek van Wely - Black Etienne Bacrot, Bled Olympiad 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 3. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 4. e2-e3 a7-a6 5. Bf1-d3 Bc8-g4 6. Qd1-b3 Bg4xf3 7. g2xf3 At this point the computer is squealing for 7. Qxb7 and it might be right, but no human has dared to play this move, maybe fearing the dubious file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [11/26/2002 8:10:22 AM]

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Exchange sacrifice 7...Bxg2 8. Rg1 Be4 9. Bxe4 Nxe4. 7...Qd8c7 8. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 9. Bc1-d2 d5xc4 10. Bd3xc4 c6-c5 11. d4xc5 Bf8xc5 12. Nc3-e4 Nf6xe4 13. f3xe4 0-0 14. Ra1-c1 Rf8-d8 15. Ke1-e2 b7-b6 16. f2-f4 Nb8-c6 After the game Van Wely said that up to this moment his position had been quite comfortable. It seems a bit draughty to me, with his King in the middle and some empty space around it. His next move is a grave mistake. 17. Rh1g1 17...Qc7xf4 A nasty surprise. After 18. exf4 Nd4+ Black wins quickly. 18. Rg1xg7+ Kg8-h8 19. Rc1-g1 Rd8xd2+ Visually a nice move, but 19...Qxe4 with terrible threats seems much stronger. 20. Ke2xd2 Qf4-f2+ 21. Kd2-c1 Qf2xe3+ 22. Qb3xe3 Bc5xe3+ 23. Kc1-c2 Be3xg1 Black has been satisfied with a very modest booty, just a pawn. 24. Rg7xg1 Ra8-g8 25. Rg1xg8+ Kh8xg8 26. Kc2-c3 Nc6b8 27. Kc3-d4 Kg8-f8 28. e4-e5 Kf8-e7 29. a2-a3 a6-a5 30. Bc4b5 Nb8-d7 White has put up strong resistance and I am not sure if Black can win this. However after White's next all is clear. The pawn ending is winning for Black. 31. Bb5xd7 Ke7xd7 32. Kd4c4 Kd7-e8 33. b2-b4 33. Kb5 doesn't help because of 33...f5 34. exf6 e5 33...a5xb4 34. Kc4xb4 f7-f5 35. e5xf6 Ke8-f7 36. a3-a4 e6-e5 37. a4-a5 b6xa5+ 38. Kb4xa5 Kf7xf6 39. Ka5-b4 Kf6-f5 40. Kb4-c3 Kf5-g4 White resigned.

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Seautoscopic Vision It might have been a question for the Holiday Quiz. Who wrote this, in the latest issue of New in Chess? “All in all I should be happy with my performance in Bled, having garnered 11 points out of 12 games. Yet I still regret that I lost a game in my first Olympiad.” It wouldn't have been a difficult question, for there was only one player in Bled who scored 11 out of 12, the seventeen-year old Chinese girl Zhao Xue. She certainly has the right spirit, regretting her one loss instead of glorifying in her eleven wins.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

By the way, here is another Chinese saying, culled from New in Chess, 2001 No. 7. About his game against Rublevsky from the Russia-China match in Shanghai, Zhang Pengxiang wrote: “I just hoped this game might be a mirror to reflect my shortcomings in any field.” And by the way again, the latest issue of New in Chess may be read with grim satisfaction by Richard Forster, for it strengthens his case against FIDE's time schedule. The magazine had great trouble persuading players to annotate one of their games from the Bled Olympiad. Khalifman writes that when he went over his games he found that “all games were played at such a low level that I just wouldn't dare to annotate them for you, dear readers.” Morozevich could only find “a weak but instructive game.” And Granda Zuniga couldn't find a game that really satisfied him either.

by Hans Ree

But this is not my subject now; the subject is the late Dutch grandmaster Hein Donner and women’s chess. Until his death in 1988, Donner stayed firmly convinced that neither women nor computers were able to play chess, shaking off all evidence to the contrary with a firm: “Only a fool like you could believe such a thing.”

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I had to give a lecture on Donner some time ago; I re-read his works, both on chess and on general subjects, and so I renewed my acquaintance with his theory of the seautoscopic vision, i.e., seeing yourself in others. It was a term invented by Donner in 1971, when he wrote a book on his friend the Dutch writer Harry Mulisch. When you look at something, you see yourself, and this applies especially to Mulisch, Donner claimed, probably correctly.

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One year later, in 1972, Donner applied his seautoscopic theory to another subject, the Dutch television programs about the SpasskyFischer match. These programs where tremendously popular and crowds who hardly knew the rules of chess were watching them. They were hosted by Max Euwe and Pim Mühring, an IM. Mühring played the dumb guy of a comical duo, asking dumb questions in the way of: “But pawns can't go back, or am I wrong, Mr. Euwe?” Mühring was an intelligent man, but his face didn't show it and neither did the remarks he made on TV. And this, according to Donner, was the secret of his success. The TV-viewer, leaning back on his couch, saw a World Championship game explained and was baffled by it. But on the screen he saw a man, an international master of FIDE, who seemed to understand as little of it as he did himself, and who looked rather dumb into the bargain. The viewer saw himself, and he relished it. If Donner's theory was right, it would explain the fact that TV shows about chess events hardly ever come off. They do it wrong, by choosing a host who looks bright, lively and knowledgeable, someone like Danny King, who looks very good on TV. They should do the opposite, trying to find the dumbest looking guy from the chessworld and having him explain the games in as dumb a way as possible, so that the viewer could exert his seautoscopic vision and enjoy the sight of his equal. Donner's seautoscopic theory can also be applied to himself. His style in chess was often called dry or pragmatic, dull even. It is remarkable how often Donner accused other players of a dull style. He mentioned Milan Vidmar, a sprightly tactician, as the prototype of a dull chessplayer, probably because the Yugoslav professor had

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committed the sin of being an amateur chessplayer. An even greater sin in the eyes of Donner was it to be a woman chessplayer and Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze were singled out by him as players who were so dull that he was almost ashamed to be a chessplayer himself. In fact, both Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze were and are lively attacking players. They were both weaker than Donner, but their style was more attractive. Donner only appeared to be describing Vidmar, Gaprindashvili and Chiburdanidze; when he looked at them, he was describing himself. Donner was a member of Discendo Discimus, a club in The Hague. The name means "by learning we learn", which is rather silly, but the club is justifiably proud of its long history and would never consider changing the name. If proof were still needed that Donner's theory about the dullness of women chess was faulty, it was delivered in a game played this year in a tournament organized by his old club. He wouldn't mind, for he was not a victim of his theories; he liked to play with them. Tea Lanchava, originally from Georgia, is one of the best women players in the Netherlands. This game won the tournament's brilliancy prize. White: Lanchava Black: Van der Lijn 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. Ng1-f3 g7-g6 3. c2-c4 Bf8-g7 4. Nb1-c3 0-0 5. e2-e4 d7-d6 6. Bf1-e2 e7-e5 7. d4-d5 a7-a5 8. h2-h4 Nb8-a6 9. Nf3-d2 h7-h5 10. Nd2-f3 Na6-c5 11. Nf3-g5 c7-c6 12. Bc1-e3 c6xd5 13. e4xd5 Bc8-d7 A good plan seems 13...e4 followed by Bf5 and eventually Nf6-d7-c5 14. f2-f3 Ra8-c8 15. Qd1-d2 Rf8-e8 16. Ng5-e4 Nc5xe4 17. Nc3xe4 Bd7-f5 18. Ne4-f2 e5-e4 19. f3-f4 Nf6-d7 Bringing the Knight to c5 is the right plan, but it gives White the opportunity to attack violently on the King's flank. The consequences were impossible to calculate at this moment. 20. g2-g4 This is practically forced, otherwise Black would obtain a big advantage. 20...h5xg4 21. h4-h5 g4-g3 22. Nf2-g4 g3-g2 23. Rh1-h2 Nd7-c5 24. Ke1-f2 Nc5-d3+ 25. Kf2xg2 Nd3xb2 26. h5-h6 Nb2xc4

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This looks good for Black, but now comes a beautiful queen sacrifice. 27. h6xg7 Nc4xd2 28. Be3d4 f7-f6 28...Re5 was another possibility, but White's advantage would be clear. 29. Ng4xf6+ Kg8-f7 30. Nf6xe8 Qd8xe8 31. Rh2-h8 Qe8-a4 After 31...Qd7 White pursues his attack successfully with 32. Rah1 32. Ra1-c1 White's last move must have come as a surprise to Black, for he immediately commits a losing blunder. Of course 32...Rxc1 was wrong too, because of 33. g8Q+, and 32...Rg8 wasn't very good either because of 33. Rc7+ Bd7 34. Bg4 with a big advantage for White. But there was a surprising defense, spotted within a second by the computer, but quite difficult for a human: 32...Bh3+. Then White would have a difficult choice. 33. Kxh3 is wrong because of 33...Qa3+. If White tries to be clever and plays 33. Kh2, then after 33...Rg8 34. Rc7+ Bd7 35. Bg4 Black has the defense 35...Nf3+, after which the advantage would be his. So best for White would be 33. Rxh3 Qxd4 34. Rxc8 Kxg7 35. Rc7+ Kg8 (not 35...Kf6 because of 36. Rh8) 36. Rc8+ with a draw. 32...Qa4xd4 Now it's over at once. 33. Rc1-c7+ One more nice move. Black resigned, for he will be mated after 33...Rxc7 34. g8Q+.

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And, to come back were we started, on the day that I read Zhao Xue's firm statement in New in Chess, I also learned that she had won the U-20 Girls World Championship in Goa, India. Here is one of her games from that tournament, not so dull either. White: Zhao Xue Black: Makka, Round 12 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 3. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 4. Qd1-c2 g7g6 5. Bc1-f4 d5xc4 6. Qc2xc4 Bf8-g7 7. Nb1-c3 0-0 8. e2-e4 b7b5 9. Qc4-b3 Qd8-a5 10. Bf1-d3 Bc8-e6 11. Qb3-d1 b5-b4 12. Nc3-b1 Rf8-d8 13. Nb1-d2 h7-h6 14. h2-h3 Qa5-b6 15. Bf4-e3 Qb6-b7 16. Nd2-b3 Be6xb3 17. a2xb3 Nb8-d7 18. Qd1-c2 Nf6e8 19. e4-e5 Ne8-c7 20. 0-0 e7-e6 21. Rf1-c1 Nd7-b8 22. Qc2d2 Kg8-h7 23. h3-h4 h6-h5 24. Nf3-g5+ Kh7-g8 25. Qd2-c2 Nc7-d5 26. Bd3xg6 f7xg6 27. Qc2xg6 Qb7-e7 28. Ng5xe6 Rd8-d7 29. Ne6-g5 Rd7-b7 30. Ra1-a5 Nd5-b6 31. e5-e6 Nb6-c8 32. Ra5-f5 Black resigned.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Repentance Day At the opening ceremony of the Corus tournament, Lex Jongsma, chess correspondent of the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf, told me rather mockingly that he had understood from a local newspaper that I had appropiated a game and an anecdote that rightfully belonged to him.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

About forty years ago, during a students olympiad, Jongma had played a game against young Eduard Gufeld in which Gufeld had taken back a move that would have lost immediately, though he had clearly released the piece, not for a split-second, but for several minutes. According to a report in that local newspaper, I had claimed during a lecture that Gufeld had done it against me, instead of Jongsma. This I could deny in good faith. During my chess career I have witnessed enough curious events to make it unnecessary to steal other people's experiences. Luckily Jongsma believed me, so this one was settled alright. However, half an hour later Gert Ligterink, chess correspondent of the Dutch newspaper Volkskrant, addressed me saying that the game I had published in my newspaper some months ago, allegedly played by the Ukrainian child prodigy Sergei Karjakin, had not been played by this youngster at all, but by a namesake, an Estoniam Sergei Karjakin, born in 1964. So within half an hour I was twice accused of attributing a game to the wrong player. In this case it was more difficult to plead innocence. I'd had no idea that there were two Sergei Karjakins, but when I checked my database it became clear. The game Karjakin-Shevchenko, Tallin 1998, that I had attributed in my newspaper column to the child prodigy, had in fact been played by the mature Estonian.

by Hans Ree

“His smooth and calm style is already well-recognizable,” I had

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written, commenting on the game last year. Trust the expert! In a game played by the Estonian your eagle-eyed commentator had recognized the style of his Ukrainian namesake.

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Let me plead in my defense that things are indeed confusing. When we see a Garcia, Nikolic or Mohammed, we know that we should check carefully which chessplayer is meant. But young Karjakin (he turned thirteen on the day of the second round of the Corus tournament) is a new man on the scene. By the way, I found that my database attributes to the Estonian Sergei Karjakin some games played in 1934 and 1935. This cannot be right either and suggests that there are at least three Sergei Karjakins that chess writers should carefully avoid confusing. This truly was a day of enlightenment for me, for early in the afternoon I'd had a visit by my friend Tabe Bas, who also had to point out my failings. Tabe Bas used to be a strong club player, who once won the Dutch Open Championship. He has been long retired from serious chess and for the past twenty years his role has been that of the Master Kibitz who comments on everything connected with chess and sometimes by accident hits the mark. He has been quoted often by Dutch chess writers and once he told me that he had met a man who followed the chess news and was quite surprised to meet Tabe Bas in the flesh, because he had always thought that this character didn't really exist, but had been invented by the Dutch chess writers. A character like the German Otto Normalverbraucher (Otto Average-consumer) or our wellknown Nomen Nescio, who didn't really exist either, except as a literary convention. This man had been wrong, for my friend Tabe really exists and as always he came immediately to the point, as soon as he'd walked up the stairs. “Hey,” said Tabe, “you wrote so casually in your newspaper chess column that White, in Kosteniuk-Karjakin, had never enough for her sacrificed Exchange, but I'd like you to have another look. Get the chessboard.” The game he was referring to had been played in the last Hastings tournament. Though it had no relevance to the fight for first place, it

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had been the top game of the tournament for the media and public. The glamour girl against the child prodigy. White Alexandra Kosteniuk Black Sergei Karjakin 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5. 0-0 Bf8-e7 6. Rf1-e1 b7-b5 7. Ba4-b3 d7-d6 8. c2-c3 0-0 9. h2h3 Bc8-b7 10. d2-d4 Rf8-e8 11. Nb1-d2 Be7-f8 12. a2-a4 h7-h6 13. Bb3-c2 e5xd4 14. c3xd4 Nc6-b4 15. Bc2-b1 c7-c5 16. d4-d5 Nf6-d7 17. Nd2-f1 f7-f5 18. e4xf5 Re8xe1 19. Qd1xe1 Bb7xd5 20. Ra1-a3 b5xa4 21. Nf1-h2 Bd5-b3 22. Ra3xb3 a4xb3 23. Qe1-e6+ Kg8-h8 24. f5-f6 Nd7xf6 25. Nf3-h4 g7-g5 White hadn't handled this variation according to recent wisdom. I had considered her exchange sacrifice 22. Rxb3 as an emergency measure. The Rook had been cut off from the King's wing, where the action was, so it might as well be exchanged for a Bishop. “She never got enough for it,” I had written, and I had lazily left it at that. Then came Tabe, whith his command “get the chess board.” In the diagrammed position White had played 26. Nh4-g6+, but Tabe had worked out a different line, starting with 26. Ng4. After that, Black can take both Knights, but 26...gxh4 would be losing after 27. Nxf6 and after 26...Nxg4 White would have at least a draw by 27. Qf7 Bg7 28. Ng6+. So, after 26. Ng4 Black would have to defend with 26...Nbd5 and then Tabe had worked out a beautiful line: 27. Ng6+ Kg7 28. Nxh6! Kxh6 29. Bxg5+! Two beautiful piece sacrifices. If Black, after 29. Bxg5+, modestly plays 29...Kg7, White has a winning attack after 30. Nh4. So Black has to accept the second sacrifice with 29...Kxg5. “Look at the King on g5,” Tabe said. “I wouldn't be surprised if file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [01/20/2003 7:51:58 PM]

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there was a forced mate, but I couldn't find it. Anyway, now I play 30. Ne5.” After sacrificing two pieces, here was another brilliant move. Black's only defense is 30...Kh6 and then White wins Black's Queen by 31. Nf7+. Bravo! Tabe Bas is not yet computerised, he thinks with his own brain and sometimes finds things not noticed by the lazy commentators who have a chessplaying program humming in the background when they play over a game. On the other hand, the computer has merits too. “Maybe there is a mate, but at least I win the Queen,” Tabe had said. The computer shows convincingly that there is no mate and that winning the Queen is all there is, leaving Black with an advantage. And even worse, from the romantic's point of view, the computer also points out, if you give it a few minutes time, that Black doesn't have to accept White's first piece sacrifice and with 28...Qd7, instead of 28...Kxh6, would keep a clear advantage. So you might say that Tabe's brilliant variation, with three piece sacrifices in a row, wasn't objectively better for White than the game continuation, which was, from the diagram: 26. Nh4-g6+ Kh8-g7 27. h3-h4 Qd8-d7 28. Qe6xb3 Ra8-e8 29. Bc1-d2 Qd7-f7 30. Qb3-f3 Qf7-d5 31. h4xg5 h6xg5 32. Qf3-c3 Nb4-a2 33. Qc3-a5 Na2-b4 34. Qa5-c7+ Qd5-f7 35. Qc7-a5 Nf6e4 36. Bb1xe4 Re8xe4 37. Ng6xf8 Qf7xf8 38. Nh2-f3 g5-g4 39. Nf3-g5 Re4-e2 40. Bd2-e3 Qf8-e7 41. Qa5-a3 Re2-e1+ 42. Kg1h2 Qe7-e5+ 43. g2-g3 Kg7-g6 and White resigned. Saying that Tabe's three-piece sacrifice is not objectively better than the game continuation misses the point. It should have been noticed. The splendor of Tabe's variation objectively cannot save White's game, but it shows the richness of chess and it indicates how much the commentator is missing when he lazily trusts Fritz humming in the background. The computer is an important help to a commentator, but not an oracle that he should rely on, leaning back lazily, and this was pointed out vividly by the beautiful line that I had missed file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 5) [01/20/2003 7:51:58 PM]

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completely. So, it had been truly a day on which my imperfections had been pointed out sharply. But onwards, bravely! As Vladimir Kramnik said on that day of the opening ceremony of the Corus tournament, though in quite a different context: “You learn from you old mistakes to correct them and then make new ones.”

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Gaming at the Corus Tournament “You take my bet for 2000 euros that Kramnik will overstep?” said Tom Bottema, the chief of the press office at the Corus tournament. This was rather surprising. Not being offered a bet by the press chief in and of itself. I knew that Bottema's heart is not only given to the noble game of chess, but also to a variety of less noble gambling games.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Surprising were the suspiciously good conditions of the bet. Kramnik had a better position against Krasenkow and about ten seconds left for his fortieth move. The move that he should play was obvious. Why should he overstep? Before I could give an answer Tom said: “He skipped a line on his scoresheet at move twenty.” That was it. By skipping a line and not noticing it later, Kramnik was still thinking that he had already made his fortieth move. Nice of Tom to warn me just in time. Maybe he realised that it wouldn't be quite appropriate for the chief of the press office to take thousands of euros from the journalists by making use of inside information that we didn't have. As it turned out, I should have taken the bet anyway, for Kramnik made his move just in time. At the start of the Corus tournament Tom always organises a pool in which journalists, staff and even players bet on the outcome of the tournament. Regulars from all over the world write in by e-mail. The very serious-minded argue that players shouldn't be allowed to take part in the betting, because they can influence the outcome, but as the stakes do not amount to much, this nit-picking is not taken seriously.

by Hans Ree

By the way, a less relaxed attitude to betting was taken at the World Championship match between Kasparov and Karpov in New York in 1990. During the second game Yasser Seirawan, talking into our

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headphones, proposed a bet to anyone in his audience that Kasparov wouldn't win. I and some others ran to his commentator seat to place our bets. Back in the press room I heard Yasser chuckling in my headphones: “That's what I like about America. That a fool and his money are easily parted and a sucker born every minute.” But a few minutes later a ruffled representative of the main sponsor entered the pressroom, declaring that these bets were in violation of state laws and should be cancelled. That was the end of betting, though it should be said that after Kasparov had won, Yasser gracefully paid up, even though our bets had been illegal. The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

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But back to the Corus tournament. As an accomplished gamester, Bottema has a sharp eye for curious technicalities. In the sixth round Karpov and Radjabov had a long endgame that Radjabov, having Rook + Bishop versus Rook, tried to win. Of course this endgame is a theoretical draw, but the defense is difficult, even more so because after move 60 players get only half an hour for the rest of the game. At move 113 Karpov, with about ten seconds left on the clock, claimed a draw because of the 50-move rule. Days later he was still indignant because Radjabov had tried to make him overstep. “But imagine this,” said Bottema. “What if Radjabov had put his bishop en prise and Karpov would have taken it? Then a new 50move stretch would start and Karpov would really overstep.” Would he? Karpov can be very quick with brain and hands. This hinged on a subtle point. Karpov was White, so the clock would be on his left hand. No, in that case he would have no chance to make it. But can't you claim a draw with Rook versus Rook? Our distinguished columnist Geurt Gijssen gave a clear answer: only in rapid and blitz games, not in classical chess. But Karpov wouldn't have to take the bishop, he could just ignore it, we tried to argue. But to this also Bottema had a considered answer: “This would be so if Radjabov would put his bishop en prise near the end of his 50-move winning try. Then Karpov could safely ignore it. But if Radjabov would do it say ten or fifteen moves earlier, Karpov wouldn't be able to ignore this, for he would be

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mated. Rook + Bishop v Rook may be a draw, but Rook + Invulnerable Bishop v Rook must be a win.” He was probably right. Take for instance this position: The well-known Cochrane position, a theoretical draw. White has to hang on to his bishop. Black defends by 1. Ke5 Kc8 or 1. Kc5 Ke8, in both cases keeping distance from the enemy king. But what if White would be be able to play 1. Kd6 merrily, without fearing Black's 1...Rxd4+, because after that capture Black would lose on time? I haven't worked it out exactly, but it seems that Black would be in deep trouble. Indeed, we were shocked by the devilish dilemma Karpov would have had to face. If he took the bishop, he would have to play another 50 moves and lose on time. If he would consistently refuse to take it, Radjabov would be able to mate him with help of his invulnerable bishop. Realising this unexpected dilemma in itself would be quite enough to make one overstep. So new rules will create new chess theory. Soon people will start studying the endgame of Rook + Invulnerable Bishop v Rook and it will not be long before a cynic will use this trick in a game. Let's hope he will not do it against Karpov, for then the mighty champion's anger would put the universe out of joint. White: Karpov Black: Radjabov, Corus Round 6 1.d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 g7-g6 3.Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4.e2-e4 d7-d6 5.Ng1-f3 0-0 6.Bf1-e2 e7-e5 7.Bc1-e3 Nb8-a6 8.0-0 Nf6-g4 9.Be3g5 Qd8-e8 10.d4xe5 d6xe5 11.h2-h3 f7-f6 12.Bg5-d2 Ng4-h6 13.Bd2-e3 c7-c6 14.c4-c5 Nh6-f7 15.Be2-c4 Na6-c7 16.Qd1-b3 Nc7-e6 17.Bc4xe6 Qe8xe6 18.Qb3xe6 Bc8xe6 19.Rf1-d1 Rf8-d8 20.b2-b3 Bg7-f8 21.Nc3-a4 Bf8-e7 22.Nf3-e1 f6-f5 23.e4xf5 g6xf5 24.f2-f4 e5xf4 25.Be3xf4 Nf7-g5 26.Ne1-d3 Ng5-e4 27.Bf4-e3 Be7f6 28.Ra1-c1 Be6-f7 29.Nd3-f4 Bf6-e5 30.Kg1-f1 Kg8-g7 31.Rd1xd8 Ra8xd8 32.Kf1-e1 Rd8-e8 33.Ke1-d1 Ne4-g3 34.Rc1file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [02/23/2003 9:09:15 PM]

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c2 Be5-c7 35.Be3-c1 Ng3-e4 36.Bc1-b2+ Kg7-g8 37.Bb2-c1 h7-h6 38.g2-g4 f5xg4 39.h3xg4 Ne4-g5 40.Na4-b2 Ng5-f3 41.Nf4-d3 Re8-d8 42.Rc2-g2 Bf7-g6 43.Kd1-e2 Bg6xd3+ 44.Ke2xf3 Rd8f8+ 45.Kf3-e3 Bd3-b1 46.Ke3-d4 Bb1xa2 47.Bc1xh6 Rf8-f6 48.Nb2-d3 Ba2xb3 49.Rg2-b2 Rf6xh6 50.Rb2xb3 b7-b5 51.c5xb6 a7xb6 52.Rb3-a3 Bc7-h2 53.Kd4-e4 Kg8-f7 54.g4-g5 Rh6-d6 55.Ra3-a2 Bh2-g3 56.Ra2-c2 c6-c5 57.Nd3xc5 b6xc5 58.Rc2xc5 Kf7-g6 59.Rc5-d5 Rd6-a6 60.Ke4-f3 Bg3-d6 61.Kf3-e4 Bd6-e7 62.Rd5-e5 Ra6-a4+ 63.Ke4-d5 Be7xg5 64.Re5-e4 Ra4-a5+ 65.Kd5-e6 Ra5-a6+ 66.Ke6-e5 Bg5-f6+ 67.Ke5-f4 Ra6-a1 68.Re4-e6 Ra1-f1+ 69.Kf4-g4 Rf1-h1 70.Re6-e4 Rh1-h5 71.Kg4-f4 Rh5-f5+ 72.Kf4-e3 Bf6-e5 73.Re4-c4 Rf5-f1 74.Rc4-c2 Kg6-f5 75.Ke3-d3 Rf1-d1+ 76.Rc2-d2 Rd1-a1 77.Kd3-c4 Ra1-a8 78.Rd2-f2+ Kf5-e6 79.Rf2-d2 Ra8-a4+ 80.Kc4-c5 Ra4-e4 81.Rd2-c2 Be5-d6+ 82.Kc5-c6 Bd6-f4 83.Rc2-c5 Bf4-e3 84.Rc5-c3 Be3-d4 85.Rc3-g3 Re4-e2 86.Rg3-g6+ Bd4-f6 87.Rg6-h6 Re2-c2+ 88.Kc6-b5 Ke6e5 89.Rh6-h5+ Ke5-d4 90.Rh5-h6 Bf6-e5 91.Rh6-b6 Kd4-d5 92.Kb5-a6 Be5-c7 93.Rb6-b3 Bc7-d6 94.Ka6-b5 Bd6-c5 95.Rb3d3+ Bc5-d4 96.Rd3-b3 Rc2-c8 97.Kb5-b4 Rc8-c7 98.Kb4-b5 Bd4c3 99.Kb5-a6 Kd5-c4 100.Rb3-b7 Rc7-c8 101.Rb7-b1 Rc8-a8+ 102.Ka6-b7 Ra8-h8 103.Rb1-c1 Kc4-d4 104.Kb7-c6 Rh8-c8+ 105.Kc6-d7 Rc8-c4 106.Kd7-e6 Kd4-e4 107.Rc1-d1 Bc3-b4 108.Ke6-d7 Rc4-c2 109.Rd1-h1 Bb4-d2 110.Rh1-h2 Rc2-a2 111.Kd7-c6 Ke4-e5 112.Rh2-e2+ Ke5-d4 113.Re2-g2 Draw

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Farewall, Jeroen Piket! I have often dreamt about chess and chessplayers, but never about Jeroen Piket, until about a month ago. It was very crowded in Amsterdam, in that dream. On the Spui, a central square of the city, wooden galleries were erected and there I sat, waiting for the festivities to come.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

A bit higher up I heard Jeroen Piket speaking with his father Joop, who in his prime used to be a player of near-master strength. They were analysing the Scandinavian opening. “That's a very open position indeed,” I heard Jeroen say, enthusiastically but also a bit worried. This is strange, I thought, preparing openings in the midst of a big crowd. But then I realised that a crowd was just the place were they wouldn't be conspicuous. Nevertheless, I didn't really like that they were preparing the Scandinavian. Jeroen had played it a few times during the 90s, with mixed results, but after all it was a rather dubious opening. Then the Pikets invited me to join them. I looked at the position and refuted everything they had been looking at with one simple move. White castles and Black can resign. It is difficult to shake off the power of superstition. When I woke up I wondered if my dream had been prescient. Maybe Jeroen had really included the Scandinavian in his repertoire again? He wasn't playing much at the time, because he was preparing for a career outside the chess world, but he did still take part occasionally in the German Bundesliga for the Solingen team.

by Hans Ree

It was a Monday after a Bundesliga weekend. I checked on the internet and found that Piket had been Black against the Czech Vlastimil Jansa, who plays for the Forchheim team.

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If Piket had really played the Scandinavian, I might have succumbed to delusions of grandeur, imagining myself a soothsayer, but luckily for me he had stuck to his trusted main line of the Ruy Lopez. It had been quite an interesting game. White: Vlastimil Jansa Black: Jeroen Piket, Bundesliga 2003

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1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4. Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5. 0-0 Bf8-e7 6. Rf1-e1 b7-b5 7. Ba4-b3 d7-d6 8. c2-c3 0-0 9. h2h3 Nc6-a5 10. Bb3-c2 c7-c5 11. d2-d4 Qd8-c7 12. Nb1-d2 c5xd4 13. c3xd4 Rf8-d8 One of Piket’s favorite lines. It has brought him some downfalls in the past, but now he knows everything about it. Best for White may be 14. b3, as Shirov has played against Piket. 14. d4-d5 Bc8-d7 This will be quite a difficult game, White operating on the King's wing and Black on the Queen's. For both sides it will be very hard to make substantial progress. 15. Nd2-f1 Rd8-c8 16. Bc2-d3 Na5-b7 17. Bc1-d2 Nb7-c5 18. Bd3c2 a6-a5 19. Nf1-g3 Be7-d8 20. Nf3-h2 Qc7-b7 21. Qd1-f3 b5-b4 22. Nh2-g4 Nf6xg4 23. h3xg4 a5-a4 24. Bc2-d1 g7-g6 25. Bd2-h6 Bd7-b5 26. Re1-e3 Ra8-a7 27. Bd1-e2 Bb5xe2 28. Qf3xe2 Qb7a6 29. Qe2-d2 Qa6-b5 30. Re3-f3 Qb5-d7 31. Qd2xb4 Qd7xg4 32. Ra1-c1 Ra7-b7 33. Qb4-a3 Rc8-b8 34. Ng3-f5 Bd8-e7 35. Rc1xc5 White, probably in time trouble, wants too much. He should have played 35. Rc4 and if Black unsuspectingly replies with 35...Nxe4, White wins by 36. Rxe4 Qxe4 37. Qxd6. After 35. Rc4 Qh5, the position would be about equal.

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38. d6-d7 This loses quickly, but White was already in trouble. 38...Rb7xd7 39. Nf5-d6 Qe4-e1+ 40. Kg1-h2 Bf6-e7 41. Rf3xf7 Be7xd6 White resigned. This may have been one of the last serious games of Piket's career, for not much he later he announced what seemed to be a definitive file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [03/24/2003 9:58:23 PM]

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break with chess. The career he had been preparing for turned out to be that of a close assistant to Joop van Oosterom, the Dutch chess patron (and a top correspondence chess player) who has spent millions on chess. Among many other things he sponsors the yearly Amber tournament, the twelfth edition of which is being held now (until March 27) in the French town Roquebrune. Piket is not playing there, being busy moving with his family to Monaco, Van Oosterom's homebase. Someone was asking Piket if his new career meant that he wouldn't take part in the Dutch championship in the near future. “You can say never again for all time,” said Piket. He could smile; and murder our hopes while he smiled. Ah, I still see in my mind the fifteen-year old Jeroen Piket of 1984, playing in an open in Amsterdam, his legs not reaching the ground when he was sitting at his board. Now I feel as if I am already writing an obituary of him. Piket's new boss, Van Oosterom, was seeded last year on a list of richest Dutchmen as #11, with an estimated fortune of $1 billion. This may seem not bad at all, but compared to one year earlier, $300 million had vanished. Maybe Jeroen Piket can reverse this trend in the future. We certainly can say that Van Oosterom has attracted a bright mind to his stable and that the Piket family will not have to fear poverty, but the Dutch chess world is mourning a grave loss. Piket was not only a fine player with a beautiful classical style, he was also pleasant company, lively and friendly, not susceptible to the egocentric mannerisms that sometimes deform a chessplayer’s character. In the U.S. and in Britain some grandmasters have preceded him into the world of finance. They are not doing badly there and when occasionally they show their face at chess events, they do not seem to be unhappy. But still, I couldn't help thinking of a saying of Max Weiss (quoted in Lasker's Chess Magazine, Volume III): “The poorest chessplayer is more to be envied than the most favored servant of the Golden Calf.” Let's hope that one day this conviction will come to be shared by Piket. In the meantime we will sorely miss him. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [03/24/2003 9:58:23 PM]

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Here is one game that brought both Piket and his Dutch fans great happiness. White: Jeroen Piket Black: Garry Kasparov, VSB tournament, Amsterdam 1995 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. Nb1-c3 d7-d5 4. Ng1-f3 Bf8-g7 5. Qd1-b3 d5xc4 6. Qb3xc4 When checking what Piket wrote in New in Chess in 1995, I was pleased to find: “This so-called Russian system was taught to me by Sosonko and Ree when I was still a youngster.” 7...0-0 7. e2-e4 Nb8-a6 8. Bf1-e2 c7-c5 9. d4-d5 e7-e6 10. 0-0 e6xd5 11. e4xd5 Rf8-e8 12. Rf1-d1 Bc8-f5 13. d5-d6 h7-h6 14. Bc1-f4 Nf6-d7 15. Rd1-d2 Na6-b4 16. Qc4-b3 Bf5-e6 17. Be2-c4 Nd7-b6 18. Bc4xe6 Re8xe6 19. Nc3-a4 This was a new move. In Karpov-Kasparov, World Championship match Sevilla 1987, White allowed 19. a3 Nd3! 19...Re6-e4 The modest 19...Nxa4 20. Qxa4 Nc6 was stronger. 20. Bf4-g3 Nb6-c4 This leads to complications that will favor White, but there was nothing better. 21. Na4xc5 Nc4xd2 22. Nf3xd2 Re4-e2 Piket considered 22...Rd4 23. Nf3 Rxd6 24. Nxb7 Rd3 to be a better chance, though he indicates that White would have a pleasant choice between 25. Nxd8 and 25. Qxb4 23. Qb3xb4 a7-a5 24. Qb4xb7 Re2xd2 25. d6-d7 An Exchange down, White is much better because of this passed pawn. 25...Rd2xb2 26. Qb7-d5 Rb2-b5 27. Ra1-d1 Bg7-f8 28. Bg3-d6 Bf8xd6 29. Qd5xd6 Ra8-b8 During the post-mortem if was briefly thought that 29...Qf8 might have saved Black, but then Piket, Kasparov and his second Dokhoian found 30. Ne4! Qxd6 31. Nxd6 Rbb8 32. Rc1 and White is winning. file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 5) [03/24/2003 9:58:23 PM]

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30. h2-h3 Rb5-b1 31. Rd1xb1 Rb8xb1+ 32. Kg1-h2 Rb1-b6 33. Qd6-e5 Kg8-f8 34. Qe5-h8+ Kf8-e7 35. Qh8-e5+ Ke7-f8 36. f2-f4 Now Black is almost in Zugzwang. 36...h6-h5 37. Qe5-d5 h5-h4 38. Qd5-e5 g6-g5 39. Qe5-h8+ Kf8e7 40. Qh8-e5+ Ke7-f8 41. f4xg5 Commenting on this move, Piket wrote: “And here Kasparov temporarily made me the happiest guy in the world. 41...Rg6 42. Kh1! is clearly hopeless. Black resigned.”

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 5) [03/24/2003 9:58:23 PM]

Dutch Treat

Master Egg in the Barn In 1962 I became a regular visitor of the chess café on Leidseplein, a lively square in the center of Amsterdam. I had visited it before but in that year I had become a university student. The chess café was halfway between my parents' house, where I still lived, and the Mathematical Institute. I went there on bicycle and more often than not I decided to feel tired halfway and prefer chess to mathematics.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

The professors didn't mind. In fact one of them told me later that he considered freshmen who turned up for his lectures rather dumb. They should have stayed in bed and read his book, he thought. The café was called De Oude Schouwburg, which means The Old Theater, after the National Theater that was right next to it. Devotees of chess, go, backgammon, bridge and other card games lived there together in ecumenical harmony, united in the religion of games. Recently the bridge columnist of the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant related some old memories of the café. He had been there while I was there, though we had never become acquainted. He wrote about a legendary idealist chessplayer who had taken his leave from the café to join the war of independence in Algeria. When after two years he came back, he was shocked to find his chess friends still brooding over the same variation of the Petrov Defense as when he had left.

by Hans Ree

In this respect the bridge columnist was partly right. The guy who had left for Algeria was a friend of mine, Henri Boulogne, a psychology student. He may have been idealistic, but that was not the reason he left us. Though he had lived almost all his life in the Netherlands, he had French nationality and he was called up for military service and sent to Algeria.

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 5) [04/20/2003 4:56:34 PM]

Dutch Treat

Like every war, this was a dirty war. He experienced terrible things and was indeed rather shocked when he found that nothing had changed with us during these two years. But that's what a chess café is for. You kill time and you have to be careful that in the meantime you do not kill your spirit. There were masters and near-masters in the chess café and sometimes a foreign grandmaster passed by. Reuben Fine came there once to play blitz, but unfortunately I wasn't present.

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On the other hand there were the amateurs. The two groups hardly mingled, because usually one didn't play for money. If one did, the stake was a quarter of a guilder, which didn't make it worthwhile for professionals to play the amateurs. Actually the amateurs preferred to stay among their own. The king of the weaker players was J.G. van Eybergen, a lawyer whose practice had crumbled enough to allow him to spend twelve hours a day in the café. His initials J.G stood for Jan George, but in our café he had no first name. The first part of his surname means egg and everybody referred to him as The Egg, or Master Egg when they addressed him directly. Everybody knew that during World War II he had been on the wrong side and that this was one of the reasons for the later demise of his law practice, but that didn't keep the weaker players from paying homage to him. He was a kind of prophet, an Emil Joseph Diemer of our chess café. As White, he brought out his Queen as quickly as possible. 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5, or 1. e4 c5 2. d4 cxd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qa4. As Black he played dubious gambits, but not indiscriminately. Against stronger opponents he played the relatively solid Chigorin Defense. Just like Diemer, he had a group of disciples who were spellbound by his pontifications that taught that time was much more important than material. With his hyper-aggressive style he scored occasional wins against near-masters in regular tournaments and once in a blitz tournament he even beat GM Paul van der Sterren. Master Egg lived from 1911 till 1998 and he must have played a lot

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [04/20/2003 4:56:34 PM]

Dutch Treat

of entertaining games, but most of them are lost. He used to write his moves on the backside of a small cigar carton, which he threw away after it had been used. His best-known game is a win against Mickail Tal in a simul in Amsterdam in 1959. Young brilliant Tal was on his way to the World Championship. In Amsterdam he came, saw and conquered, but against The Egg he lost. White: Tal Black: Van Eybergen, simul Amsterdam 1959 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4. Bb5-a4 b7-b5 5. Ba4-b3 Bc8-b7 6. 0-0 g7-g5 Coffeehouse chess. Black goes through aggressive motions, but it's quite unsound. 7. d2-d4 e5xd4 8. Nf3xd4 6. Bxg5 Be7 9. Bf4 would secure White a solid advantage without any risk. Probably Tal didn't take his opponent seriously after 6...g5 8...Nc6xd4 9. Qd1xd4 Qd8-f6 10. e4-e5 Again, 10. Qxf6 Nxf6 11. Bxg5 Nxe4 12. Re1 Bc5 13. Be3 would have given White a small but solid advantage. 10...Qf6-c6 But now Black is in the game again. 11. Qd4-g4 Ng8-h6 12. Qg4-g3 Nh6-f5 13. Qg3xg5 Bf8-e7 14. Qg5-g4 After 14. Bxf7+ Kf8 15. Qg4 White would still be better. Best for Black then is probably 15...Qxg2+, with some compensation for the Pawn in the endgame. 14...Nf5-h4 Now Black has a dangerous attack. 15. f2-f3 0-0-0 16. Bb3xf7 h7-h5 17. Qg4-h3 Rh8-h7 18. e5-e6 Rh7-g7

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [04/20/2003 4:56:34 PM]

Dutch Treat

“The miracle man is slaughtered” wrote an enthusiastic analyst in the magazine of the Amsterdam chess federation. This may have been exaggerated. Black stands well, but after 19. Kh1 it would still be a game. 19. Rf1-f2 Be7-c5 But now White is lost and after his next move it is over. 20. Qh3xh4 Qc6xf3 White resigned; he will be mated within a few moves. In 1972 our café was taken over by a sandwich shop and we were homeless until one year later in a neighbouring backstreet a new chess café was founded under the name Het Hok, which may be translated as The Barn, The Sty, or The Den. This was nice too, but not quite the same. Chess had been prominent in the old café, but in the new Barn we played second fiddle to the card players. The atmosphere had changed. In fact, a few years ago a Dutch weekly magazine pointed out The Barn as one of the spots where members of Dutch organised crime gathered. This was much exaggerated. Innocent high school students were much more numerous there. But anyway, another café in a different part of the city took over the role of Amsterdam's most prominent chess café, where masters gathered to discuss their serious games or to play blitz. It is called Gambiet, located on Bloemgracht, and a spot to be recommended to visiting chess tourists. With many others, Master Egg moved to Gambiet. It is a bit out of my way and I don't visit it often. But I do remember strolling in during the summer of 1989, when the Dutch championship was being played. One of he regulars of the café, IM Albert Blees, was leading the tournament and everybody was watching TV, because Dutch teletext was transmitting the games live.

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 5) [04/20/2003 4:56:34 PM]

Dutch Treat

As in the old days on Leidseplein, Master Egg, now almost eighty years old, was surrounded by a flock of disciples. I heard him say: “Yes, our master Blees is doing well. He doesn't lose his head because of his successes. There are many players in this house who could take an example to him.” And then his dry rooster chuckle, that I had known since 1962. Again, nothing had changed.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 5) [04/20/2003 4:56:34 PM]

Dutch Treat

Patisserie Van Wely After Dutch grandmaster Hein Donner had remarried in the seventies, his wife quickly came to the conclusion that her charming but rather small house wouldn't hold both her and a man so big in all respects. She found a new house that perfectly fitted all her demands, but unfortunately it was located in Reestraat, an old Amsterdam street that - though it wasn't named after me at all - was an unacceptable address to Hein.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

After a while they found another place in Wolvenstraat, quite near to Reestraat. There they moved. When Alexander Münninghoff was working on his biography of Donner, he heard of this story and couldn't really believe it. He had heard many amusing stories about Donner and not all of them were totally truthful. I told him that this one must be absolutely true, because I had heard it from Mrs. Donner herself, who never lies. “But wasn't that a bit childish of Hein?” Alexander asked me. “Of course the two of you were rivals, but you wouldn't refuse to live in a Donnerstraat, if there was one, would you?” I wondered. I thought about international master Haye Kramer, who lives in Leeuwarden, capital of the Dutch province Friesland. He was a very promising player in the forties and fifties and strongly supported by a local chess patron Waling Dijkstra. As making a living from chess was almost impossible at that time, Dijkstra, who was very influential in Leeuwarden, found Kramer a good job. So Kramer could rent a nice house, owned by Dijkstra and nicely redecorated with paint produced by one of Dijkstra's companies. In addition, the house was in the Waling Dijkstrastraat, named after one of the chess patron's forefathers, a popular Frisian writer.

by Hans Ree

“Well, to tell the truth, I wouldn't live on a Donnerstraat either,” I

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 5) [05/26/2003 10:25:20 PM]

Dutch Treat

said to Alexander Münninghoff, who seemed quite surprised. Recently Jan Timman moved to an apartment in Beethovenstraat in Amsterdam. Nothing wrong with it, except that Jan looked a bit worried when he said: “Actually it is right above Van Wely.” He didn't mean the chessplayer Loek van Wely, who doesn't live in Amsterdam, but a well-known luxury bakery that claims to be the best in the country.

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Rivalry between Loek van Wely and Jan Timman has flamed high in recent years, causing some nasty outbursts in the Dutch press, especially by Van Wely, who likes to provoke his colleagues. Now every time Timman enters his house he must pass the proud window sign of Patissier-Chocolatier-Glacier-Salon de Thé, Establishment Van Wely since 1922. “You remember that Hein didn't want to live in Reestraat?” I remarked with my usual lack of tact. Of course Jan did. At the recent Sigeman & Co tournament in Malmö and Copenhagen Timman started with 1½ out of 2, but then it seemed as if the good products of Patissier Van Wely weighed too heavily on his mind and stomach, as he scored only half a point from the next five games. Then he recovered with a nice win against Emil Sutovsky, the last moment replacement for Zhang Zhong, who was kept home because of the SARS epidemic.

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White: Sutovsky Black: Timman 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 e7-e6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 d7-d6 6. Bc1-e3 Bf8-e7 7. f2-f4 0-0 8. Qd1-f3 Nb8-c6 9. 00-0 Qd8-c7 10. Nc3-b5 Qc7-b8 11. g2-g4 a7-a6 Now after 12. Nc3 a position would be reached from the famous game Tal-Larsen, candidates match 1965, which was won by White after great adventures. 12. Nd4xc6 This seems doubtful as Black's mobile center will be quite dangerous. 12...b7xc6 13. Nb5-d4 Qb8-b7 14. g4-g5 Nf6-d7 15. e4-e5 d6-d5 16. Bf1-d3 Ra8-b8 17. b2-b3 Nd7-c5

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [05/26/2003 10:25:20 PM]

Dutch Treat

Black threatens to win material and even if White would prevent this by 18. Rg1, Black would be fine after 18...c5 18. f4-f5 Nc5xd3+ 19. Rd1xd3 Be7-a3+ 20. Kc1-b1 c6-c5 21. f5-f6 c5xd4 22. f6xg7 d4xe3 23. g7xf8Q+ Ba3xf8 24. Rd3xe3 d5-d4 25. Re3-e4 Bc8-d7 26. Qf3-d3 Bd7-b5 27. Qd3xd4 Bb5-c6 28. Rh1-e1 Bc6xe4 29. Re1xe4 Bf8-e7 30. Kb1-b2 Rb8-d8 31. Qd4-e3 Be7-c5 32. Qe3-f4 Qb7-d5 33. h2-h4 Bc5-d4+ 34. c2-c3 Bd4-c5 35. Re4-e2 Qd5-d1 36. Re2-g2 Qd1-h1 37. Rg2-d2 Bc5-a3+ 38. Kb2xa3 Qh1-c1+ White resigned. During the last round of the Sigeman & Co tournament a brilliant game was played which must have turned Timman’s mind once again to Van Wely, the chessplayer this time, who recently made an important contribution to the theory of the opening variation at issue. White: Curt Hansen Black: McShane 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. Nb1-c3 d7-d5 4. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 5. e2-e4 Nd5xc3 6. b2xc3 Bf8-g7 7. Bf1-c4 c7-c5 8. Ng1-e2 0-0 9. 0-0 Nb8-c6 10. Bc1-e3 Bc8-g4 11. f2-f3 c5xd4 12. c3xd4 Nc6-a5 13. Bc4-d3 Bg4-e6 14. d4-d5 Bg7xa1 15. Qd1xa1 f7-f6 16. Be3-h6 Rf8-e8 17. Kg1-h1 Ra8-c8 Young Luke McShane shows himself a stubborn man, for in the first round of the tournament as Black he had lost a game against Peter Heine Nielsen that went 17...Bd7 18. e5 Rc8 19. Ng3 Nc4 20. Bxc4 Rxc4 21. Ne4 Qb6 22. Rd1 Rxe4 23. fxe4 fxe5 24. Qxe5 Qf6 25. Qg3 e6 26. d6 e5 27. h3 b5 28. Bg5 Qe6 29. Be7 Rc8 30. Rf1 Qc4 31. Qf2 b4 32. Bg5 Bb5 33. d7 Bxd7 34. Bh6 Bf5 35. exf5 Qf7 36. f6 a5 37. Qb6 Ra8 and Black resigned. 18. Ne2-f4 Be6-d7 19. e4-e5 Na5-c4 20. e5-e6 Bd7-a4

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [05/26/2003 10:25:20 PM]

Dutch Treat

21. Nf4xg6 This sacrifice has been known at least since Bannik-Novotelnov, Tblisi 1951, but as the results were not good for White, it was almost forgotten until it was revived some years ago. 21...h7xg6 22. Bd3xg6 Nc4-e5 23. Bg6-e4 Ba4-c2 24. Be4xc2 Rc8xc2 25. Qa1-d1 Kg8-h7 In Van Wely-Kovchan, Aeroflot Open 2003, Black had played 25...Rc5 and got a losing position very quickly after 26. f4 Qxd5 27. Qd1-h5 Rc2 28. Rg1 Qe6 29. Qxe8+ Kh7 30. Qf8 Qg4 31. fxe5 Rc8 32. Qxe7+ Kxh6 33. exf6 To quote Viktor Kortchnoi, everything well-forgotten is new. The position after 25...Kh7 already appeared in 1951 in Bannik-Novotelnov. There White played 26. Qxc2+ Kxh6 27. f4 Ng6 and Black managed to survive and win the game. 26. f3-f4 Not taking a Rook with check shows admirable self-restraint. 26...Kh7xh6 Now 26...Ng6 would be answered by 27. Qh5 27. f4xe5 Rc2-c4 28. Qd1-d3 b7-b5 29. e5xf6 e7xf6 30. d5-d6

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 5) [05/26/2003 10:25:20 PM]

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30...Kh6-g7 31. Qd3-g3+ Kg7h7 32. Qg3-h3+ Kh7-g7 33. Qh3-g3+ Kg7-h7 34. Qg3-f3 Kh7-g6 35. Qf3-d5 Re8-h8 36. h2-h3 a7-a6 37. Qd5-d3+ Kg6g7 38. Qd3-g3+ Kg7-h7 39. Rf1-f5 Qd8-e8 40. Rf5xf6 Rh8g8 41. Qg3-d3+ Kh7-g7 42. Qd3-f5 Rc4-c5 43. Rf6-f7+ Black resigned.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/Cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 5) [05/26/2003 10:25:20 PM]

Dutch Treat

Treasure Diving Recently I visited Jan Timman's new apartment and what I saw there reminded me of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein and the way he used to do the dishwashing. Most people tend to clean the dirty plates and cups on the day they used them and then put them in the drawers to be soiled again another day. Wittgenstein performed the task on a grander scale. He saved the dirty dishes for at least one week, put them in the bath tub to soak and finished the job efficiently with a hose.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Timman had moved into the apartment about a month earlier. Most people tend to empty one carton, put the contents in a drawer and then go on to the next one. But it seemed as if Timman had adopted the philosopher's grand-scale approach by emptying all the cartons at the same time and spilling the contents over all the rooms of his apartment so that he could clear away everything at one go. Well, at one go... The great work hadn't nearly been finished yet. A small group of chessplayers had gathered around a chessboard on a little island in the sea of books and papers that covered all of the apartment. We were looking mainly at endgame studies. One study often reminds you of another one with a related theme. But how exactly were the pieces placed in that other study? Often a book was needed to check. On such occasions Timman walked without hesitation to one of the mountains of papers, delved into it and invariably came up with exactly the right book. Now he didn't remind me of Wittgenstein anymore, but of another celebrity, the multi-trillionair Scrooge McDuck, uncle of Donald Duck.

by Hans Ree

To store his money, Uncle Scrooge possesses an enormous warehouse, which he also uses as a swimming pool. He knows the exact location of each individual coin and when for instance he needs the 1920 Exotistan florin, he climbs the diving plank, takes an expert's look at the immense amount of money, jumps in and after a short and blissful dive he comes up with the required coin. Timman handled his chessbooks with the same assurance. For the latest issue of Ebur, a magazine devoted to endgame studies, he didn't have to dive deeply, for it had arrived on that same day.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 4) [06/24/2003 7:59:50 AM]

Dutch Treat

Recently Jan Timman, Tim Krabbé and Hans Böhm have sponsored endgame study tourneys. The (provisional) jury report of the tourney that Krabbé sponsored on the occasion of his 60th birthday can be found on his website, www.timkrabbe.nl. Sponsoring such a tourney can be a heavy burden, for apart from supplying the prize-money, they had to log many hours of jury-duty. But Timman, Krabbé and Böhm were well rewarded for their efforts, for their tourneys attracted many submissions of high quality. The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

The latest issue of Ebur, mentioned earlier, contained the provisonal report on Böhm's tourney, that had a "quiet move" as its prescribed theme. As Timman, Krabbé and Böhm had been judges of that tourney, this was a good occasion for them to show me the masterpiece they had deemed worthy of first prize. All three of them and also Harold van der Heijden, compiler of the famous endgame study database, had exclaimed “King d6!” when they first saw the next diagram. Though they had no idea in what position it would have to be played, this move turned indeed out to be the final move of the study. These study-lovers are not paranormally gifted, but they know their trade.

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Luis Miguel Gonzalez First Prize Böhm's Quiet Move Tourney (provisional) White to move and win. 1. Rc8-c7+ Kh7-g8 After other moves White wins quickly. 2. Ne8-f6+ Kg8-f8 3. Nf6-h5 3. Nd7+ looks strong too, but it is insufficient. 3...Kf8-g8

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [06/24/2003 7:59:50 AM]

Dutch Treat

After 3...d1Q Black will be mated quickly by 4. Rc8+. 4. Rc7-g7+ Kg8-f8 Or 4...Kh8 5. Rg1 d1Q 6. Nf7+ Bxf7 7. Rxd1 Bxh5 8. Rh1 winning. 5. Rg7xa7 His 11th move will make clear why this pawn has to be removed. 5...Kf8-g8 White was threatening mate in a few moves. 6. Ra7-g7+ Kg8-f8 6...Kh8 fails again after 7. Rg1. 7. Rg7-b7 Kf8-g8 8. Nh5-f6+ 8. Rxb3 d1Q doesn't win. 8...Kg8-f8 9. Nf6-d7+ Kf8-e7 10. Nd6-f5+ 10. Ne5+ will only lead to a draw. 10...Ke7-f7 After other King's moves White wins more quickly. 11. Rb7-b6 This is the quiet move prescribed by the theme of the tourney. 11...d2-d1Q There is nothing better. After 11...Kg8 12. Rg6+ Black will be mated and after 11...Be6 12. Ne5+ Kf6 13. Ng4+ White stops the d-pawn. 12. Nd7-e5+ Kf7-g8 13. Rb6-b8+ Kg8-h7 14. Rb8-b7+ Kh7-g8 15. Nf5-h6+ Kg8-f8 16. Ne5-g6+ Kf8-e8

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [06/24/2003 7:59:50 AM]

Dutch Treat

And now comes the final move, foreseen by the clever judges. 17. Kc5-d6 and mate in 2. By the way, Hans Böhm has already sponsored a new endgame study tourney in which the prescribed theme is "humor", a concept wisely left undefined. The prizefund is 500 euros, the judges will be Timman, Krabbé and Böhm, with technical assistance provided by tourney director Harold van der Heijden. Submissions can be send before December 31 2004 to: "Humor Tourney" Harold van der Heijden Michel de Klerkstraat 28 7425 DG Deventer The Netherlands.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 4) [06/24/2003 7:59:50 AM]

Dutch Treat

A Game of Classical Chess Constant Orbaan, who lived from 1918 until 1990, was a player of master strength, but when I came to know him he had already more or less given up his career as a player and in the Dutch chess world he was above all known as an arbiter and journalist. As an arbiter he kept to the classic chess maxim: do nothing, but do it well. His presence was hardly noticed but somehow incidents were few under his leadership. His soothing aura must have filled the tournament rooms and kept the players from mischief.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

After his death I received part of his chess archive. He had kept clippings of practically everything he had ever written and these many hundreds of articles constitute not only a portrait of himself – a quiet and almost too modest man with a wry sense of humor – but also a portrait of the period, when chess was so different from what it is now. Nowadays the term 'classical chess' is used for games that can last up to seven hours. I am not saying that it should be called blitz, but my generation can only smile when we see the word classical used in this sense. Here is a real classical game that lasted almost fourteen hours. It was played in a small international tournament of six players in the Dutch town Eersel in 1966. Orbaan wrote about it in the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Handelsblad, and to a modern reader it is amazing how big such an article could be in those days. Almost half a page, in small print. During a world championship match Dutch chess journalists were allowed to fill even more space and papers who didn't have an expert on chess on staff would hire one temporarily for the occasion. Those were the days.

by Hans Ree

Contrary to common practice this game wasn't adjourned after five hours, because it was played in the next-to-last round. Next morning, at the start of the last round, all other games should be finished. And so the players embarked on what would turn out to be a heroic marathon. Those were the days, but few modern players would want them back. The game started at a quarter past one in the afternoon. White: Constant Orbaan Black: Moshe Czerniak (Israel), Eersel 1966

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 4) [07/21/2003 7:28:41 AM]

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1.d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 g7-g6 3.Nb1-c3 c7-c5 4.d4-d5 d7-d6 5.e2-e4 Bf8-g7 6.Bf1-d3 e7-e5 7.Ng1-e2 0-0 8.Bc1-g5 h7-h6 9.Bg5-h4 Nb8-d7 10.f2-f3 a7-a6 11.g2-g4 Ra8-b8 12.a2-a4 Rf8-e8 13.Bh4-f2 Nf6-h7 14.h2-h4 Nd7-f8 15.Qd1d2 Bc8-d7 16.Ne2-g3 Qd8-f6 17.Ke1-e2 Qf6-d8 18.Rh1-h2 Qd8-a5 19.Ra1-h1 Strategically White is winning and Black's pawn sacrifice is his only chance for counterplay. 19...b7-b5 20.a4xb5 a6xb5 21.Nc3xb5 The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

Orbaan comments that ignoring Black's sacrifice and playing for the attack might have been better. Maybe. What he does is certainly good enough. 21...Qa5xd2+ 22.Ke2xd2 Bd7xb5 23.c4xb5 Nf8-d7 24.Rh1-a1 Nd7-b6 25.b2-b3 Nh7-f8 26.Rh2-h1 Nf8-d7 27.Ra1-a6 Kg8f8 28.h4-h5 Kf8-e7 29.Bf2-e3 Re8-h8 30.g4-g5 h6xg5 31.Be3xg5+ Bg7-f6 32.Bg5-e3 Ke7-d8 33.h5xg6 Rh8xh1 34.Ng3xh1 f7xg6 35.Nh1-f2 Kd8-c7 36.Nf2-d1 Rb8-h8 37.Nd1-b2 Rh8-h2+ 38.Bd3-e2 Kc7-b7 39.Nb2-a4 Nb6-c8 40.Na4-b2 Nd7-b6 41.Nb2-a4 Nb6-d7 42.Na4-c3 Nc8-b6 43.Ra6-a1 Nb6-c8 44.Ra1-g1 Bf6-d8 45.Nc3-a4 Nc8-e7 46.Be3-g5 Bd8-a5+ 47.Kd2-d1 Ne7-c8 48.Na4-b2 Ba5-c3

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Black has been able to cause some problems, but he is still lost. Now it was a quarter to seven and though it was clear that there could be no official adjournment, the game was interrupted so that the players could take a snack. A first small dispute arose, portent of things to come. Orbaan wished for an interruption of an hour and a quarter, Czerniak wanted only an hour's rest. Orbaan, never a devotee of conflict for conflict's sake, gave in. So, at a quarter to eight they proceeded with their game. 49.Nb2-c4 Kb7-c7 50.b5-b6+ Nd7xb6 51.Nc4xb6 Nc8xb6 52.Bg5-e3 Bc3-d4 53.Be3xd4 c5xd4 54.Rg1xg6 Nb6-d7 55.Rg6-g7 Kc7-d8 56.Be2-b5 Nd7-c5 57.b3-b4 Nc5-b3 58.Bb5-a4 Nb3-d2 59.Rg7-d7+ Kd8-c8 60.Rd7xd6 Nd2-b1 61.Rd6-c6+ Kc8-d8 62.Ba4-c2 Nb1-c3+ 63.Kd1-c1 Nc3-a2+ 64.Kc1-b1 Na2xb4 65.Rc6-c4 Nb4xc2 66.Rc4xc2 Rh2-h1+ 67.Rc2-c1 Rh1-h3 68.Rc1-f1 Rh3-h2 69.Kb1-c1 Kd8-e7 70.Kc1-d1 Ke7-d6 71.Kd1-e1 Rh2-a2 72.Rf1-f2 Ra2a1+ 73.Ke1-e2 Kd6-c5 74.Rf2-g2 Ra1-a2+ 75.Ke2-f1 Ra2-a1+ 76.Kf1-f2 Ra1a2+ 77.Kf2-g3 Ra2-a8 78.Rg2-c2+ Kc5-b4 79.Kg3-f2 Ra8-a3 80.d5-d6 Ra3-a6 81.d6-d7 Ra6-d6 82.Rc2-c7 d4-d3 83.Kf2-e1 d3-d2+ 84.Ke1-d1 Rd6-d4 85.Rc7c2 Rd4xd7 86.Rc2xd2 Rd7-h7 87.Kd1-e2 Rh7-h5 88.Rd2-d5 Kb4-c4 89.Ke2-e3 Rh5-g5 90.Ke3-f2 Kc4-b4 91.Rd5-d1 Kb4-c5 92.Rd1-g1 Rg5-h5 93.Rg1-g6

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Kc5-d4 White's victory is near, one would think. It was one o'clock in the night. The café that hosted the tournament room had to close and another place had to be found. Czerniak, one of those characters that are habitually described as 'colorful', protested angrily against a lot of things and announced that he wouldn't play anymore. Both Orbaan and the arbiter asked him to come up with a reasonable proposal and promised that they would comply. This made Czerniak even angrier. This was the arbiter's responsibility, he said. Then the arbiter, tired and confused, decided that the game would be adjourned. This might have been Czerniak's wish a few minutes earlier, but not anymore. Indignantly he pointed out that an adjournment would violate the tournament rules. He now demanded that the game should be played till the bitter end and announced that as a protest against the horrible circumstances he wouldn't turn up for his last-round-game against the Hungarian Sandor. So the game had to be continued. A local chess enthusiast invited the players to his home, where after taking a cup of strong coffee they proceeded as follows. 94.Rg6-d6+ Kd4-c4 95.Kf2-g3 Rh5-g5+ 96.Kg3-h4 Rg5-g8 97.Rd6-d5 Rg8-e8 98.Kh4-g4 Re8-g8+ 99.Kg4-f5 Rg8-f8+ 100.Kf5xe5 Rf8xf3 An elementary Rook ending has been reached and White is clearly winning. Alas, the emotions of the fight had been too much for Orbaan and he spoils an endgame that should have been easy. 101.Rd5-d1 Rf3-f8 102.Rd1-d6 Rf8-h8 103.Rd6-c6+ Kc4-d3 104.Rc6-e6 Rh8-h5+ 105.Ke5-d6 Rh5-a5 106.Kd6-e7 Ra5-a1 107.e4-e5 Kd3-e4 108.Ke7-f7 Ke4-d5 109.Re6-e7 Here Orbaan realised that he had given away the win. It was half past three in the morning. Now that they had come all this way, he decided to make a few more moves to sweep the board clean. 109...Ra1-f1+ 110.Kf7-e8 Rf1-e1 111.Re7-d7+ Kd5-c6 112.Rd7-e7 Kc6-d5 113.Ke8-d7 Re1xe5 114.Re7xe5+

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Now after 114...Kxe5 the position that Orbaan had been aiming for with his last moves would appear, a truly fitting end to an exhausting fight: But once again Czerniak exploded in rage. He called it a shame that Orbaan had tortured him by playing on in a totally drawn position for at least twelve hours. He absolutely refused to make that last move 114...Kxe5. Poor Orbaan, who had given away a simple win only ten minutes earlier, might have answered that nobody could force Czerniak to make a move and that personally he would be quite happy to wait till Czerniak would lose on time. But he was far too gentle a man for that and so he offered a draw which was reluctantly accepted by Czerniak. It was a quarter to four. Czerniak repeated that he wouldn't appear for the last round and took his leave. Six hours later, at ten in the morning, he appeared nevertheless and he beat Sandor in a fine game that lasted eight hours, just a trifle compared to his game against Orbaan. Orbaan himself lost in the last round against Boris Ivkov, the tournament winner. As I said earlier, when we hear that classical chess is still being played nowadays, we can only smile.

[The Chess Cafe Home Page] [Book Reviews] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Studies] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2002 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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A Game of Classical Chess The Brute and the Beast It must be a bitter experience for Vladimir Kramnik, doing the rounds, hat in hand, to collect money for his match against Peter Leko, while at the same time Kasparov, the man he defeated in 2000, keeps collecting his millions with ease.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

When Putin and Kuchma, presidents of Russia and Ukraine, gave their support to Kasparov's match against Ponomariov, sponsors eagerly followed, going for the smell of power like moths to a flame. And in November another million will be provided for a four-game match of Kasparov against the computer Deep Fritz. At the premises of the New York Athletic Club a 3-dimensional floating board will be projected on which Kasparov will execute his moves not by hand but by voice. Will the technology be adequate? I have seen scoresheets of Bobby Fischer where his handwriting turned into illegible scratches when his position was lost. What about Kasparov's voice in times of stress? The speech-recognition program will be the real hero of the event, if it withstands the pressure. Obviously many other top players wouldn't mind earning a million in a joke event, but if they want to follow in Kasparov's footsteps they'll have to be quick, because it seems as if within a few years the best computers will become unbeatable. Early this month the computer Shredder 7 won a grandmaster tournament in Argentina with a score of 8½ out of 10 and a TPR of 2752. An even stronger tournament in the German town Lippstadt was won about a week ago by Brutus, a program named by its creator, the Austrian computer scientist Chrilly Donninger, after one of the murderers of Julius Caesar.

by Hans Ree

Shredder, Brutus - these computer designers do not seem to be men of peace. The aggressive names they give to their darlings bring to mind Evelyn Waugh's fine novel Scoop, in which the newspapers The Daily Brute and The Daily Beast were battling brutally and beastly for the public's favor. I used to play in some man-against-computer tournaments in Holland and I was often shocked by the strong emotional involvement of the computer operators with their playthings. In comparison, the human players seemed models of

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civilised aloofness. But we have to admit that the killer instinct of the computer people is not only reflected in the names of their programs, but also in their play. If these TPR's of Brutus and Shredder turn out to be repeatable and represent a stable level, it would mean that they would take fourth and fifth place on the world ranking list, only preceded by Kasparov, Kramnik and Anand. Look how easily Brutus did away with the very strong Ukrainian grandmaster Oleg Romanishin. The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

White: Romanishin Black: Brutus Lippstadt 2003 1. d2-d4 d7-d5 2. c2-c4 c7-c6 3. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 4. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 5. g2-g3 Nb8d7 6. Qd1-d3 Bf8-e7 7. Bf1-g2 0-0 8. 0-0 b7-b6 9. Rf1-d1 Bc8-a6 10. b2-b3 Ra8-c8 11. e2-e4 c6-c5 12. e4xd5 e6xd5 13. Bc1-b2 Rf8-e8 14. Ra1-c1 d5xc4 15. b3xc4 c5xd4 16. Nc3-b5 Ba6xb5 17. c4xb5 Rc8xc1 18. Rd1xc1 Be7-c5 19. Nf3xd4 Nd7-e5 20. Qd3-d1 Qd8-d6 21. Nd4-b3 21...Bc5xf2+ “Computers don't know how to sacrifice material.” This may have been true once, but certainly not now, as already became quite clear during Kasparov's match against Deep Junior

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22. Kg1xf2 Nf6-g4+ 23. Kf2-g1 Qd6-h6 24. Rc1-c3 Qh6xh2+ 25. Kg1-f1 h7-h5 26. Qd1-d4 h5-h4 27. g3xh4 Qh2xh4 28. Rc3h3 Ng4-h2+ 29. Kf1-g1 A decisive mistake in time-trouble. After 29. Rxh2 things would still be unclear. 29...Nh2-f3+ 30. Bg2xf3 Or 30. Rxf3 Nxf3+ Qg3+ and White will be mated. 30...Qh4xh3 31. Nb3-d2 And Black resigned because of 31...Nxf3+ 32. Nxf3 Qg3+. It's not earth-shaking nowadays, but Dutch chess fans were quite happy to see young Jan Smeets, 18-years old, score his first grandmaster norm with 6½ out of 10 against the human players. His official score, with his loss against Brutus included, was the strange-looking 17 out of 11, because in Lippstadt an unconventional scoring system was used in which a win counted for 3 points and a draw for 1 point. This may please some of our ChessCafe Bulletin Board contributors, but I am not fond of such artificial novelties that intend to discourage draws. There is nothing wrong with a draw, as long as real chess has been played. Smeets won a spectacular game against the Georgian ex-world champion Maia Chiburdanidze and I must say I found the way she succumbed right out of the opening rather painful to watch. I remembered how in 1988, after the first file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 3) [08/24/2003 5:03:23 PM]

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European championship in rapid chess (or active chess, as they called it then), which was won by Karpov, we were brought by bus from Gijon to the Madrid airport. Maia served sweets and cookies to all of us and I thought at the time that female world champions must be gentler than their male counterparts. Nowadays it is said that next to chess her great passion is religion and if we are to judge by the following game, whatever God tells her, it is not the latest news in opening theory. White: Smeets Black: Chiburdanidze, Lippstadt 2003 1. e2-e4 c7-c6 2. d2-d4 d7-d5 3. e4-e5 Bc8-f5 4. Nb1-c3 e7-e6 5. g2-g4 Bf5-g6 6. Ng1-e2 c6-c5 7. h2-h4 c5xd4 Nowadays one doesn't see this move often, as it furthers White's development. Almost everyone plays 7...h5 immediately. 8. Ne2xd4 h7-h5 9. f2-f4 h5xg4 10. Bf1-b5+ Nb8-d7 11. f4-f5 Rh8xh4 12. Rh1g1 This sharp position was reached for the first time in Van der Wiel-Speelman, Wijk aan Zee 1983, where after 12...Bh5 13. fxe6 fxe6 14. Nxe6 Black was in trouble, but managed to escape with a draw. 12...Bg6xf5 12...exf5 is probably best, though here also White will get a strong attack. 13. Nd4xf5 e6xf5 14. Qd1xd5 Now White is clearly better and after Black's next mistake the game is over quickly. 14...a7-a6 15. Bc1-g5 Bf8-e7 16. Bb5-c4 Maybe Black had thought that she would only have to give an Exchange, but now it is clear that things are much worse. Black loses a piece. 16...Nd7xe5 17. Qd5xe5 Ke8-f8 18. Qe5xf5 Qd8-e8 19. 0-0-0 g7-g6 20. Qf5-f4 Be7xg5 21. Qf4xg5 Qe8-e7 22. Qg5-d2 Black resigned.

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Chess-boxing and Entertainments The great mathematician Alan Turing invented during the 1940s the game round-the-house chess. After making his move a player had to run around the house and when he had completed his round his opponent had to make his move on the board and start running himself.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Turing seems to have been a weak chessplayer and it is said that Harry Golombek, during World War II when they both worked on the Enigma codebreaking prject, could give him queen odds. But he was an excellent runner, one of the best in the country, and in round-the-house chess he might have stood a chance against Golombek. I was reminded of that game recently during a visit to an Amsterdam bookshop that specialized in chess and go, when I heard another customer talking about the first world championship of chess-boxing, to be held in November in Amsterdam at the cultural centre Paradiso, a small place that got international fame when the Rolling Stones performed there a few years ago. It wasn't quite clear to me what the exact rules of chess-boxing would be, but I got the impression that it would be comparable to round-the-house chess and that a player would think about his chess move while the opponent was gasping down on the canvas of the boxing ring. Later the originator of chess-boxing, a Dutch artist called Iepe B.T. Rubingh, a/k/a The Joker, was to send me some additional information. One of the training sessions had consisted of playing chess with the clock at 25 meters distance, quite similar to Turing's game. The exact rules for the chess-boxing championship remained a bit unclear to me, but the event is definitely on.

by Hans Ree

The customer left the shop and a few moments later Jan Timman came in. I told him about the strange event I had just heard about, but Timman was already informed, because he had been asked to fulfill the role of an ambassador for chess-boxing. They had approached the wrong man, because already at school Timman had refused to take part in the boxing sessions, as hitting other people was against his principles. “But I must admit that occasionally I make myself available for very strange things,” Timman said. Recently he had given a simul where his opponents were sitting in the seats of a turning Ferris wheel. It had been very tiring. Timman would have to wait until a seat came down with player and chessboard and then

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he would have only a few seconds to make his move. When he hesitated too long the bird would escape up into the sky again, with a friendly gesture that seemed to say “Better luck next time.” The simul had taken six hours and the merits of this form of chess had not become clear to Timman. We came to speak about Kasparov's match against Deep Fritz, in November in New York, where he will play on a virtual 3-dimensional board, the moves being activated by voice instead of by hand. And about the simul that was given by Alexandra Kosteniuk, the chess world's glamour girl, on September 6 in Amsterdam. The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

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This simul was held to promote a relatively new gadget: a mobile (cell) phone to play chess or access on-line databases. I think it has a good future, for it can be quite cheap. Kosteniuk was located at the Amsterdam cultural center De Balie and her six opponents started their games at different locations in the Netherlands - most of them well-known tourist attractions - and moved in the direction of De Balie during the game's progress. A board and pieces used to be enough for chess. Nowadays it seemed as if stateof-the-art computer technology, a boxing ring or a Ferris wheel are indispensable. “Chess has become rather complicated lately,” I sighed. But Timman grinned and said: “Don't forget about all these grains of Indian rice, that can't have been simple either.” Kosteniuk scored 5½-1½ in her simul. Here is her game against Jan Nagel, a politician who played a prominent role in the Netherlands lately when he launched the anti-immigration politician Pim Fortuyn. To Nagel's credit it must be said that soon afterwards he split with the xenofobic leader and luckily nowadays he has more time for his other passion, chess. When he arrived at De Balie, Nagel had a winning position and he could count there on the moral support of his son-in-law Yasser Seirawan. But it was of no avail, for the alluring presence of Kosteniuk, who hardly ever moved away from this board where she was lost, proved too much of a distraction. The other games of this simul can be found on the Dutch website www.schakers.info. Kosteniuk - Nagel, Amsterdam 2003 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Bf1-c4 Bf8-e7 4. 0-0 Ng8-f6 5. d2-d4 d7d6 6. h2-h3 0-0 7. Nb1-c3 e5xd4 8. Nf3xd4 a7-a6 9. a2-a4 Nc6xd4 10. Qd1xd4 Bc8-d7 11. Bc1-e3 Bd7-c6 12. Rf1-d1 Qd8-e8 13. b2-b4 b7-b6 14. f2f4 Bc6-b7 15. Nc3-d5 White was better, but after this careless move she loses

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an Exchange. 15...Nf6xd5 16. e4xd5 Be7-f6 17. Qd4-d3 Bf6xa1 18. Rd1xa1 With two good Bishops there is no need for White to despair, though objectively Black is winning. 18...a6-a5 19. b4xa5 Ra8xa5 20. Bc4-b3 Qe8-e7 The simplest way would be 20...Bxd5 21. Bxd5 Rxd5 22. Qxd5 Qxe3+ followed by 23...Qxf4. With two pawns more the win might not be trivial yet, but a loss would be impossible. 21. Be3-d2 Ra5-a8 22. c2-c4 Qe7-f6 23. Bd2-c3 Qf6xf4 24. Ra1-f1 Qf4-h6 25. Bb3c2 Ra8-e8 26. Bc3-d2 Qh6-g6 27. Qd3-c3 f7-f5 28. Rf1-f3 Qg6-f6 29. Qc3-d3 g7-g6 30. Bd2-c3 Qf6-e7 31. Qd3-d4 Qe7-e5 32. Qd4-h4 Qe5-e7 33. Qh4-h6 Rf8-f7 34. Rf3g3 Now White has reached a position that she could have only dreamed of earlier. Still Black could defend with 34...Rf6 followed by 35...Qf8 and if necessary 36...Re5. But alas, he lets himself be mated. 34...Qe7-f8 35. Rg3xg6+ h7xg6 36. Qh6-h8 mate

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Controlled Mental Disturbance Loek van Wely is a strange character. Apart from being a fine chessplayer he has many other pleasant traits. He is honest and outspoken and he likes to win big money prizes, but mostly for honor and not because he wants to hoard his treasures, for he easily gives them away to good causes, such as a small master tournament near his home city. But this good and generous man changes into a fire-spitting monster as soon as a journalist comes along to take down his opinions on the world and his colleagues.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

It has been said about Botvinnik that he forced himself to hate his opponents, to be able to fight with full motivation. About Kortchnoi more or less the same has been said and Kortchnoi himself has cheerfully admitted that there is a lot of truth in this allegation. But this was only about opponents! Loek van Wely however is quite indiscriminate when he is pumping up his adrenaline level.

The Human Comedy of Chess

During the past two weeks the European team championship has been held in the Bulgarian city Plovdiv, as it was twenty years ago, in 1983. I was a member of the Dutch team then and when we arrived at the airport the sky was blue and the sun was burning hot. At that time there had been press reports about members of the Bulgarian secret service who had been murdering Bulgarian dissidents living abroad by means of an umbrella from which poisoned darts were shot. When we stepped down from the plane, Genna Sosonko, perspiring and looking at the clear blue sky, said: “If one of us sees a man with an umbrella, we'll warn each other, right?” On the eve of this year's European championship Van Wely gave an interview to Renzo Verwer, for the Dutch magazine Schaaknieuws (Chess News), in which he struck out against his teammate in Plovdiv, John van der Wiel.

by Hans Ree

“When you go before the wind everything is easy. Even Van der Wiel can play well then,” he said. And also: “After making a draw against Van der Wiel for example, I collapse for a moment and think: how is it possible? How terrible.” Opponent or teammate, it doesn't seem to make a difference. Teimur Radjabov, who might be one of his opponents on first board in Plovdiv, was called 'a gigantically cowardly coyote' by Van Wely in the interview.

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It seems as if he can only flourish in an atmosphere of extreme tension. It's an intrinsic part of chess at the top, he thinks: “You don't have to be an extreme bastard to get to the top, but being a bit tricky cannot hurt. You shouldn't be naïve, but realise that you're in the bad world outside, where everyone is trying to fuck you. You should never speak out quite openly, rather operate like a snake.'' 'Controlled mental disturbance' is what he intends to make into a formidable weapon in this world of vipers, all of them disturbed in a shrewdly controlled way, and he finds it a pity that it has taken him so many years to realise this. The Chess Cafe E-mail Newsletter Each week, as a service to thousands of our readers, we send out an e-mail newsletter, This Week at The Chess Cafe. To receive this free weekly update, type in your email address and click Subscribe. That's all there is to it! And, we do not make this list available to anyone else.

For a while Van Wely worked together with Veselin Topalov, and even Topalov and his manager Silvio Danailov, though they were supposed to be his friends, pulled little tricks on him, he says, to find out his opening secrets or to intimidate him, which might be useful later, when they would play against each other instead of working together. Van Wely doesn't blame Topalov. All the top players use these little dirty tricks, he thinks. Is this paranoia or just a realistic view of a world of hard competition? I cannot quite make up my mind. The stark picture he draws is far removed from the way I experienced the top players, during the period when I played them regularly. But maybe they didn't feel obliged to open their box of dirty tricks to beat me. Or the world of top chess may have hardened during the past decades, as many other areas of life have.

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Recently Van Wely worked together with Ruslan Ponomariov and what he tells about their collaboration should quench speculation about Ponomariov deliberately sinking his match against Kasparov. In fact he prepared quite seriously for it, so much so that Van Wely complains about the hard work he had to do for seven weeks, without a day of rest. “Really, many prisoners of war were better off,” he says. And of course there were frictions there too, for he cannot live without them: “Pono is really bullshitting, he is fucking you all the time. He wants to be treated like Ruslan the Great, but I didn't do that.'' At the time of this writing Ukraine and the Netherlands have not yet met at the European championship, so Ruslan the Great and Loek the Fire-spitter haven’t yet had opportunity to continue their conversation. During the first round of that championship Ponomariov made news when his game against Evgenij Agrest, who played top board for Sweden, was declared lost for Ponomariov because his mobile phone rang. Apparently it was his birthday, so this might have been an ill-timed congratulation message from one of his fans. It seems to be a harsh rule that declares a forfeit just because a phone rings, but there is something to be said for outlawing phones in the playing hall.

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Nowadays mobile phones can be bought that are also chess computers, with access to databases and full powers of analysis. Phones that do not ring, but just gently purr, waiting for their owner to put a critical position on the board, are unacceptable too. Soon there will be metal-detection ports at the entrance of the playing halls, as already proposed several years ago by Vladimir Kramnik. But will it help? One is reminded of a brutal scene near the end of The Godfather I, when Al Pacino after entering a restaurant is thoroughly searched by members of a rival gang. Then he goes to the men’s room, where one of his helpers has hidden the gun he needs. Top players already have trainers, seconds, computer experts and physical therapists working for them. In the future The Chief Hider of Pocket Fritz may become one of the more important dignitaries at a champion's court. Agrest (Sweden) - Ponomariov (Ukraine), European Championship, Plovdiv, First Round. 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 b7-b6 3. Nb1-c3 Bc8-b7 4. d2-d3 Bb7xf3 5. e2xf3 c7-c5 6. d3-d4 c5xd4 7. Qd1xd4 Nb8-c6 8. Qd4-d1 g7-g6 9. Bf1-e2 Bf8-g7 10. f3-f4 0-0 11. Bc1-e3 e7-e6 12. 0-0 Nc6-e7 13. Qd1-a4 Ne7-f5 14. Ra1-d1 Nf5xe3 15. f2xe3 Qd8-c7 16. Kg1-h1 a7-a6 17. Be2-f3 Ra8-a7 18. Rd1-d2 Rf8-c8 19. Bf3-e2 Qc7-b8 20. Qa4-b3 Bg7-f8 21. e3-e4 d7-d6 It's curious to see how the irregular pawn formation from the opening has straightened out into a common hedgehog position. 22. f4-f5 Nf6-d7 23. f5xe6 f7xe6 24. Be2-g4 Rc8-e8 25. Nc3-e2 Nd7-e5 26. Bg4xe6+ 26. Bh3 would be difficult for Black in the long run, but the direct method chosen by Agrest seems quite good too. 26...Re8xe6 27. c4-c5 d6-d5 A necessary in-between move. Otherwise Black's position would fall apart. 28. Qb3xd5 Ra7-e7 Here Ponomariov's phone rang and that was the end of the game. After 29. Nf4 Ng4 20. g3 Ne3 - the endgame after 20...Qe5 21. Nxe6 is quite bad for Black also - 21. Nxe6 Nxd5 22. Rxf8+ Qxf8 23. Nxf8 Kxf8 24. Rxd5 White would have been a pawn up with excellent winning chances. So, maybe Ponomariov didn't lose much by bringing in his phone, but his fate is a warning to the communication-crazies who shudder at the thought that they might be cut off from the world, if even for a few hours.

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Dutch Treat

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An Envelope at the Airport The open tournament on Curaçao, a Caribean island that is still part of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, was won this year by Boris Gulko with 6½ points out of 9 games. Shabalov, Hübner and Greenfeld had the same score, but Gulko had met stronger opposition. Jan Timman finished half a point behind the leaders. Two years ago he had won the Curaçao Open and if I correctly remember the story that one of the organisers told me later, he had won a prize of $10,000.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The day after that tournament of 2001, this organiser brought Timman to the airport, together with Dutch IM Hans Böhm and his wife. Böhm had not played in the tournament, but he had been in charge of press contacts and general public relations. On their way to the airport Timman said suddenly: “We must go back. I left the envelope with my prize money in the safe-deposit of my hotel room.”

The Human Comedy of Chess

But there was a chance that they would miss their flight that way, so the organiser proposed something different. He would deliver them to the airport, then return to the hotel and come back and bring the envelope. If they had boarded the plane by then, the organiser would remit the money to the Netherlands. And so it was done. He found the envelope, drove quickly to the airport and found Timman and the Böhms still there. But in the meantime another problem had appeared. The flight to Amsterdam had been overbooked and for Timman, Böhm and his wife only two seats were available. This was extremely inconvenient, for both Timman and Böhm had important obligations in the Netherlands. But to depart together and leave Mrs. Böhm alone on the island would not have been very chivalrous.

by Hans Ree

Again the organiser found a solution. On a small island where everybody knows each other problems can be fixed. As the Van der Valk Plaza Hotel in Willemstad, Curaçao's main town, had been an important sponsor of the tournament, the organiser could persuade KLM Airlines to offer a deal to the waiting passengers. The first one to give up his reservation for this flight to Amsterdam would be able to prolong his holiday for a few days, free of charge, at the Van der Valk Plaza. And indeed an extra seat became available this way. Timman and the Böhms

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happily boarded the plain and the organiser sighed with relief. But his troubles were not over yet. The next day he got a phone call from Hans Böhm. Yes, they had arrived in Amsterdam alright. Thanks again for the assistance. But unfortunately something unpleasant had happened. After all the excitement Jan had inadvertently left his envelope with his prize money on a seat in the departure lounge. Would the organiser be so kind to enquire if this envelope had been found? Well, it may have been found, but as it turned out, it had certainly not been delivered to the lost-and-found desk. One imagines the reaction of the lucky finder of this $10,000 envelope. His first thought may have been: “What a lucky find!” But his second thought was probably less joyful: “Where is that money from and who might be the owner?” If the finder were a chessplayer, there might be a good chance that he would realise that the envelope was left there by Jan Timman, who, for all his great learning and wisdom, is often oblivious of practical matters. More likely however, he wouldn't know the name Timman at all. But what he would certainly know is that the flight from Willemstad to Amsterdam is notorious for cocaine smuggling. Cocaine carriers, their merchandise swallowed and carried in small sacks inside their stomachs, at great risk to their life, as the sacks sometimes burst open, abound at Willemstad airport. And then you see an envelope with $10,000, left on a seat in the departure lounge; the conclusion seems obvious that this has something to do with drug trafficking. It is a well-established fact that drug barons tend to behave quite unfriendly when other people grab their money and run. The finder of the envelope, not so happy anymore, looks to his right and his left. He doesn't notice anything unusual, but still there is a creeping feeling that his life might be in danger. On the other hand, just leaving the envelope there would be such a pity... We leave him alone in his predicament and jump back to 2003 and this year's tournament. As I indicated earlier, Gulko won it and Timman shared fifth place with a half-point less. But it could easily have been different. Here is the game they played in the next to last round Gulko - Timman, Curaçao Open, Willemstad 2003 1.Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 e7-e6 3.Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 4.e2-e3 c7-c5 5.Bf1-e2 0-0 6.0-0 d7-d5 7.a2-a3 Bb4-a5 8.d2-d4 Nb8-d7 9.c4xd5 e6xd5 10.b2-b4 c5xb4 11.Nc3b5 Nf6-e4 12.a3xb4 Ba5-b6 13.Qd1-b3 Nd7-f6 14.Nf3-e5 Bc8-e6 15.f2-f3 a7-a6 16.Nb5-c3 Ne4xc3 17.Qb3xc3 Ra8-c8 18.Qc3-e1 Nf6-e8 19.Ne5-d3 Ne8-d6 20.Nd3-c5 Rf8-e8 21.Be2-d3 Be6-d7 22.Ra1-a2 Bd7-b5 23.Qe1-d1 Bb6-c7 24.Ra2-e2 Nd6-c4 25.g2-g3 b7-b6 26.Nc5-a4 Bc7-d6 27.Qd1-b3 Rc8-c7 28.Rf1e1 Qd8-c8 29.Re2-c2 Qc8-h3 30.Bd3-f1 Qh3-f5 31.e3-e4 Qf5-d7 32.Na4-c3 file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 3) [11/23/2003 10:31:49 AM]

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d5xe4 33.f3xe4 Re8-a8 34.Nc3xb5 a6xb5 35.e4-e5 Bd6-f8 36.Re1-e4 Qd7-d5 37.Bf1-g2 Ra8-d8 38.Bc1-f4 Qd5-e6 39.Rc2-c1 White's last move was a horrible blunder, for now Black could force immediate resignation with 39...Nd2. But both players didn't notice what might have happened and the game went on: 39...Rc7-a7 40.Rc1-d1 Ra7-a4 41.Re4-e2 Ra4xb4 42.Qb3-c3 Qe6-f5 43.Bg2-e4 Qf5-g4 44.Be4-f3 Qg4-f5 45.Bf3-e4 Qf5-g4 46.Be4-f3 Qg4-f5 Draw by repetition. It seems to me that White could have played on, but Curaçao is a very pleasant tourist island, with sun and beaches and many-colored fishes and charming Dutch-colonial architecture, so enough was enough. Games, results and other information about the tournament can be found at www.curacao.com/chess.

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Chess Paradise In his latest book, The Reliable Past, which was reviewed recently for ChessCafe.com by Taylor Kingston, Genna Sosonko quotes a Russian militia report from the times that the Soviet Union still existed: “Citizen A.S. Lutikov in a state of extreme alcoholic intoxication was found dragging on his back another citizen, who was later found to be M.N. Tal.”

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Yes, one can easily imagine the scene, for these two eminent grandmasters had a way with the bottle. I remember Tal crawling on hands and feet in a hotel room in Sukhumi in 1972, looking for a bottle of cognac that his wife supposedly had hidden somewhere, while she together with a girlfriend had jumped on his back to stop him. This was rather similar to the situation with Lutikov, only the rider had become horse. I had to laugh about the militia report and there are many more things in this book that can provoke laughter. For example, the extreme measures Eduard Gufeld might take when he was in danger of losing a game. Sosonko tells us that once, when Gufeld immediately before the resumption of an adjourned game realized that he had sealed a losing move, he snatched the envelope from the hands of the arbiter and swallowed the piece of paper on which he had written the fatal sealed move. And later, when he had already emigrated to the United States, Gufeld managed to save a seemingly hopeless position in time trouble by pressing the button of the fire alarm on the wall, just above the head of his opponent, who understandably lost his nerve and the game. With all its wealth of funny anecdotes it is nevertheless a melancholy book, for just as Sosonko's earlier book, Russian Silhouettes, it describes a vanished world and the fate of older chessmasters who, with the disappearance of the typical chess culture of the Soviet Union, lost the foundations of their existence.

by Hans Ree

Sosonko writes: “Playing chess when you are elderly resembles the cruel custom in ancient times when slaves on galleys had their thumbs cut off; it was still possible to row, but not to throw a lance.” And at another occasion: “In ancient Persia one of the severest forms of punishment used to be imprisonment and the death penalty a few years later. This is the path that is followed by practically every chess professional.”

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Sosonko himself has escaped this fate, for his gifts as a writer and teacher enable him to play now only occasionally. His view of the common path of the chess professional is bleak, but it must be said that playing chess for him was never an undivided pleasure, even when he was at the top of his powers as an active player. As he himself remarked, often during or just before an important tournament, he tended to fall ill. Playing chess may be hard and cruel, but not playing chess anymore is also tough. One of the chapters, simply named The Club, is about the Central Chessclub on Moscow's Gogol Boulevard; for the young Genna Sosonko, who lived in Leningrad, this was chess paradise. The train from Leningrad to Moscow, then the subway and the last station of the ride, Kropotkinskaya. Snow on the benches of the boulevard. The crowded cloakroom, a last cigarette and then the arbiter punches the clock: “Moscow. Gogol Boulevard. The Club. The wonderful January of 1961.” In 1988 Sosonko returned to the club, accompanying young Jeroen Piket. In the Grandmaster Room Botvinnik lectured and suddenly Viktor Baturinsky came in, who was once the feared leader of Soviet chess. He saw Sosonko, disappeared immediately and they heard him say in the corridor: “What's the world coming to, next year we'll be allowing Korchnoi to come to Moscow...” This of course can be seen as a triumph for Sosonko, who at the time of his emigration in 1972 fully expected never to return to his native country, but again his pleasure is mixed with melancholia. A few years later, after the collapse of Communism, large parts of the club had to be let to parapsychologists, little shops, and a restaurant. Sosonko knows very well why he left the Soviet Union, but as he writes in his preface, “only after I put my seal on the past did I realise the difference between what I tried to run away from and what I regretted having left behind.” The book has no game scores or diagrams, which may be regretted by some. But then, it would have been a different book from the beautiful personal memoir that it is, when technical chess matters would have fit in with the flow of the stories. But for the inveterate lovers of the pieces and the board, here is a game that might illustrate the wild adventures of Anatoly Lutikov, with whom this article started. In his youth Lutikov had great admiration for the dashing attacks of Alexander Kazimyrich Tolush, who used to accompany his blitz games with shouts like: “Forward Kazimirych!” Lutikov took over this expression during his adult years and the rather chaotic diagram shows that not only he, but also his opponent had followed Tolush's noble maxim. Anatoly Lutikov - Bukhuti Gurgenidze Sverdlovsk sf ch-SU, 1957

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1.d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 g7-g6 3.Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4.e2-e4 d7-d6 5.f2-f3 c7-c6 6.Bc1g5 a7-a6 7.Qd1-d2 b7-b5 8.0-0-0 0-0 9.g2-g4 Qd8-a5 10.Kc1-b1 Rf8-e8 11.h2-h4 h7-h5 12.Bg5xf6 e7xf6 13.g4xh5 b5-b4 14.Nc3-e2 Qa5xh5 15.Ne2-g3 Qh5-h6 16.f3-f4 d6-d5 17.e4-e5 c6-c5 18.c4xd5 c5xd4 19.e5-e6 f7xe6 20.Bf1-c4 e6-e5 21.Ng1-e2 Bc8-g4 22.d5-d6+ Kg8-h8 23.h4-h5 g6-g5 24.f4xe5 f6-f5 25.Ne2xd4 Re8xe5 26.Qd2-g2 Ra8-a7 27.Rd1-d2 Ra7-d7 28.Nd4-c6 Nb8xc6 29.Qg2xc6 f5-f4 30.Ng3-e4 Bg4-f5 31.Bc4-d3 Bg7-f8 32.Rh1-d1 g5-g4 33.Bd3-c2 f4-f3 34.Rd2-d5 Qh6-f4 35.Rd5xe5 Qf4xe5 36.Qc6-a8 Qe5-g7 37.Ne4-c5 Bf5xc2+ 38.Kb1xc2 Qg7h7+ 39.Rd1-d3 Rd7-f7 40.d6-d7 f3-f2 41.d7-d8Q f2-f1Q 42.Qa8-d5 Qf1-f2+ 43.Kc2-b3 Qh7-g7 44.Rd3-d2 Rf7-f3+ 45.Kb3-a4 45...Qg7xb2 46.Rd2xb2 Rf3-a3+ 47.Ka4xb4 Qf2xb2+ 48.Qd5-b3 Ra3xb3+ 49.a2xb3 Qb2-f2 50.Kb4-a4 g4-g3 White resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2003 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Sveshnikov's System Viktor Kortchnoi told me once that when he prepared for his first match against Karpov in 1974, which was officially only a candidates match, but in fact would designate the next World Champion, he couldn't quite decide what to do against the Tarrasch variation of the French. After 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nd2 everything seemed to give White a slight advantage. Then he was called by one of his seconds, who said: “There is good news, Viktor Lvovich, I have found the solution. A little Bishop move will solve all problems: 3...Be7 is the right move.”

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

The next day another second called: “I have good news, for in the French a litle Bishop move...” Kortchnoi interrupted him: “Yes, I know already, 3...Be7 will do it.” But here he was wrong, because the other second had found that 3...Be7 was a serious mistake and that in fact 3...Bd7 was the solution to all Black's problems. One is reminded of the French nobleman who on his sickbed was surrounded by quarreling doctors who disagreed about the nature of his ailment. The nobleman spoke: “Gentlemen, I will bring you to a consensus,” then turned over in his bed and died. Kortchnoi ignored his quarreling seconds, but not to turn over and die. He decided to play the normal 3...c5 and accept the small disadvantage of the isolated pawn. This move served him well; all seven games of the match with this variation were drawn. By the way, the search goes on and in the latest issue of New in Chess there is an article by Jeroen Bosch in praise of another little move, 3...h6, though Bosch doesn't really claim it to be the solution to all Black's problems.

by Hans Ree

The problem of finding Black's best third move against the Tarrasch variation is small fare compared to the big question: what is the best move in the initial position? Pragmatists shrug and call it a matter of taste, but systematic thinkers feel honor-bound to tackle the question. In 1999 Hans Berliner published his book The System in which he claimed that 1. d4 is the only right move, giving White an opening advantage that with correct play by both sides would develop into a decisive advantage in the middle game. Berliner admitted that there were a few openings that he hadn't refuted yet with

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concrete variations, such as the Nimzo-Indian, but this would be only a matter of time. But it turns out that just like Kortchnoi's seconds in 1974, the system builders can also come with impeccable logic to completely opposite conclusions. In the January issue of the German magazine Schach there is a long and interesting article by Evgeny Sveshnikov with the proud title My System. According to Sveshnikov 1. d4 is a mistake and 1. e4 is the only right move. Maybe not a winning move, because Black has one - and only one - correct defense: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 (according to Sveshnikov 3. Bb5 is stronger) 3…cxd4 4. Nxd4 e5. We will see later why he has given up on his original Sveshnikov variation that goes 4...Nf6 5. Nc3 e5. According to Sveshnikov's system a popular defense like the Petrov, wich goes 1. e4 e5 (a small mistake) 2. Nf3 Nf6 (a serious mistake), is just wrong, a losing opening. Sveshnikov mentions a long talk he had in 1995 with Botvinnik. Botvinnik thought that the problem of chess was not completely solvable. In fact that was the reason why he worked on computer chess. As most non-trivial problems in life are not completely solvable, because of a lack of full information, chess could be used as a model for such problems. Sveshnikov told Botvinnik that he considered chess as an unambiguously solvable mathematical problem and that therefore in every position there must be a best move. Botvinnik listened to him for an hour, not interrupting and only muttering at regular intervals always the same objection: “But it is not a completely solvable problem.” Though Botvinnik was not convinced of the universal power of Sveshnikov's system, his nephew Igor, who had witnessed this exchange of ideas, was quite stunned that his uncle, the great Mikhail Moiseevich, had listened for such a long time to another chessplayer. When Sveshnikov introduced his variation in the sixties, top players were skeptical. First, Black weakens his d5-square and later can be forced to play the ugly g7xf6, making a mess of Black's whole pawn structure. No wonder that positional players were convinced that this must be totally wrong. Of course eventually the dynamic possibilities of the structure became clear to all. It is rather ironic that nowadays, when everybody plays the Sveshnikov, the inventor himself has become convinced that it is not correct. He finds a clear advantage for White in the line 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 e5 6. Ndb5 d6 7. Bg5 a6 8. Na3 b5 10. Bxf6 gxf6 10. Nd5 f5 (10...Bg7, nowadays quite popular, is even worse according to Sveshnikov) 11. Bd3 Be6 12. 0-0 Bxd5 13. exd5 Ne7

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And here, according to Sveshnikov, White has a clear advantage. So now he plays the line with the immediate 4...e5, after which White cannot reach the diagrammed position. His new version is often jokingly called the Kalashnikov or seriously the Neo-Sveshnikov and modestly, by Sveshnikov himself, the Labourdonnais variation. For Black he claims good drawing chances in this line and this shows how close he is to claiming a win for White in the initial position. Only good drawing chances for Black, if he chooses the one correct defense of all the openings in the books. And that when White hasn't even played the best moves, for Sveshnikov thinks that 3. d4 is only correct after Black's mistake 2...d6 and that after the right move 2...Nc6 White should play 3. Bb5. Lately many players seem to have come to the same conclusion, but according to Sveshnikov they play the correct 3. Bb5 with the wrong intention, aiming for an early Bxc6, instead of the correct c2-c3 followed by d2-d4. The other popular way by which White nowadays avoids the Sveshnikov variation, old or neo, with 1. e4 c5. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3, holds no danger to Sveshnikov and as an illustration he gives a fine game that he played recently. Whatever one thinks of the dogmatic certitude of his statements, it cannot be denied that he is a great and creative opening inventor. Philippe – Sveshnikov Cap d'Agde 2003 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3. Nb1-c3 e7-e5 Sveshnikov considers 3. Nc3 a dubious move that would be justified after 3...Nf6 4. Bb5 4. Bf1-c4 Bf8-e7 Everybody plays the stereotyped 3...d6, but after serious study Sveshnikov found that that was wrong. 5. d2-d3 Ng8-f6 6. Nf3-g5 0-0 7. f2-f4 d7-d5 That's the reason why he avoided 3...d6 8. e4xd5 Nc6-d4 9. 0-0 Bc8-g4 10. Ng5-f3 Now Black has an easy game. Sveshnikov mentions 10. Qd2, after which he file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [01/25/2004 10:58:21 PM]

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recommends 10...exf4 11. Rxf4 Bh5 12. Rf1 Qb8, and also the very interesting 10. Qe1 Nxc2 11. Qh4 which leads to the following position: He writes: “I have analysed these variations in depth and after serious considerations decided not to show them now. After all, I would like to score a few points with my gambit. Let the imitators strain their own heads at this point. If someone will accept the challenge against me...?” The actual game proceeded after 10. Nf3: 10...Be7-d6 11. f4xe5 Bd6xe5 12. Bc1-g5 Nd4xf3+ 13. g2xf3 Bg4-h3 14. Rf1-e1 Be5d4+ 15. Kg1-h1 Nf6-g4 16. Qd1-d2 Qd8xg5 17. Qd2xg5 Ng4-f2+ 18. Kh1-g1 Nf2xd3+ 19. Kg1-h1 Nd3-f2+ 20. Kh1-g1 Nf2e4+ He has a draw in hand but looks for more. 21. Qg5-e3 Ne4-d2 22. Bc4-b5 a7-a6 23. Bb5-d3 Ra8-e8 24. Kg1-f2 Re8xe3 25. Re1xe3 Rf8-e8 26. Nc3-d1 c5-c4 27. Bd3-e2 f7-f5 Here Sveshnikov indicates that after 27...b5 28. Ke1 Bxe3 29. Nxe3 Rxe3 30. Kd2 Re5 Black would have excellent winning chances. The move played gives him only a small advantage and as this column is about openings and not about Rook endings we will not plagiarise his notes anymore. 28. c2-c3 Bd4-c5 29. Kf2-e1 Bc5xe3 30. Nd1xe3 f5-f4 31. Ke1xd2 f4xe3+ 32. Kd2-e1 b7-b5 33. Be2-f1 Bh3xf1 34. Ke1xf1 Re8-e5 35. Kf1-e2 Re5xd5 36. Ke2xe3 Rd5-h5 37. Ra1-h1 Kg8-f7 38. Ke3-f4 Kf7-f6 39. h2-h3 Rh5-f5+ 40. Kf4-g3 Rf5-g5+ 41. Kg3-f2 Rg5-d5 42. Kf2-e2 Kf6-f5 43. h3-h4 Rd5-d6 44. a2a3 Rd6-h6 45. Ke2-f2 g7-g5 46. Kf2-g3 g5xh4+ 47. Kg3-h3 Rh6-d6 48. Rh1-h2 Kf5-f4 49. Rh2-f2 Kf4-e3 50. Rf2-f1 Ke3-e2 51. Rf1-b1 Ke2xf3 52. a3-a4 Kf3e2 53. a4xb5 a6xb5 54. Kh3xh4 Rd6-d1 White resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2003 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Golden Newspaper Days Evgeny Sveshnikov's interesting article in the German magazine Schach, about which I wrote last month, got an amusing sequel in the next issue. In his original article Sveshnikov had made some disparaging remarks about top players who lacked original opening ideas themselves and profited from the novelties found by more creative spirits. One example he mentioned was his game against Sergei Volkov at the Russian team championship in Togliatti in 2003, where he had shown how to handle Volkov's French defense by playing 7. b3! in the Advance Variation.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

It is well-known that Sveshnikov is a campaigner for copyrighting chess games. In Togliatti he had managed to persuade the organisers not to publish the games, but unfortunately they were smuggled to the outside world anyway and found their way into the databases. There Peter Svidler had found Sveshnikov's 7. b3 and made good use of it to win a brilliant game in the Russian championship against the same Volkov. That's how Sveshnikov describes it, but his memory deceived him, for in fact Svidler had been on the same team as Volkov in Togliatti and had witnessed the game Sveshnikov-Volkov personally. To keep his novelty to himself, Sveshnikov should have forced the other players to be blindfolded as soon as they were approaching his board. Moreover, one reader of Schach pointed out that the move 7. b3 wasn't Sveshnikov's intellectual property at all, because it had been played several times by other players. Sveshnikov's answer showed truly aristocratic self-confidence. Yes, of course he was aware of these earlier games with 7. b3. But by playing this move himself, he had stamped it with the quality mark “Sveshnikov” and that was the reason that Svidler had studied it.

by Hans Ree

Recently Svidler-Volkov was judged the best game of the last six months on the website www.worldchessrating.com, where it can easily be found, with analysis by Krasenkov. I want to deal here with another aspect of opening theory, because a game that was recently played in the German championship reminded me of one of the funniest episodes of 20th century chess.

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Whenever I browse through old Dutch newspapers I am astounded by the amount of space the chess reporters were given. It seems as if newspapers were much bigger then, which they were not, or that not much of interest was happening in the world outside chess, which wasn't true either. As an example here is the beginning of a report that E. Straat wrote in 1955 for the Dutch newspaper de Volkskrant about the 14th round of the interzonal tournament in Göteborg. It was reprinted in his book Praatschaak 2 (Chess Talk 2) that unfortunately has never been translated. Under the heading “Bankruptcy of the System” Straat wrote: “Long ago on a September evening I saw a shock troop of Germans, each one armed with a big book and loads of papers, march into the game room of the casino in Spa. As if on military orders, they spread over the many roulette tables, opened their books and hand-written papers covered with ciphers, and with deadly seriousness and frightful persistency they started to play on the 'transversaux de trois' the system they had worked out at home till the inevitable crash of the bank. One hour later they folded books and papers and the six Germans marched out of the room - not with the treasures they had imagined, but down and out, leaving with only their return railway tickets. The system had not worked.” Happy days when a newspaperman was allowed to start his daily chess report in such a leisurely manner. By the way, Evert Straat (1892-1972) was a very interesting character. He was a good player, who participated in a few master tournaments during the twenties, but he made his mark in many other fields too. After briefly practicing as a lawyer he became editor-in-chief of a sensationalist illustrated magazine that became very popular, he translated Greek tragedies and the New Testament and in the fifties he gained some national prominence as a jury member of a radio quiz who knew everything about every subject. As a chess reporter, he was able to write in a way that made chess accessible to nonchessplayers and he was an inspiration to Dutch chess writers of a later generation. There is an anecdote saying that during the thirties Straat, who led a bohemian life and was often out of money, invented a Czech tournament and phoned his daily onthe-spot reports from an Amsterdam café to the newspaper office next door. I have never been able to verify this anecdote and hasten to say that this kind of reporting has not been my inspiration. One wouldn't get away with it nowadays. But back to round 14 of the Göteborg interzonal. Fate had it that four Argentines had to play four Soviets with black and like the Germans in the casino, the Argentines had worked out an infallible system in the Sicilian Najdorf, which was quite popular at that tournament. The system has become known as the Göteborg variation. Indeed, in three out of these four games the variation arose on the board and how the Argentine system stood up will already have become clear from Straat's file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [02/24/2004 8:26:11 AM]

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introduction.

Geller-Panno, Spassky-Pilnik and Keres-Najdorf, Göteborg 1955 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 a7-a6 6. Bc1-g5 e7-e6 7. f2-f4 Bf8-e7 8. Qd1-f3 h7-h6 9. Bg5-h4 g7-g5 10. f4xg5 Nf6d7 11. Nd4xe6 The Argentines had correctly presumed that the Soviets wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to sacrifice a piece. The first one who dared to jump into the complications, after thinking for a quarter of an hour, was Geller. Spassky and Keres were waiting to see how he would be doing. Very soon they would be able to follow Geller's example confidently. 11...f7xe6 12. Qf3-h5+ Ke8-f8 13. Bf1-b5 This last move by Geller had not been foreseen by the Argentines. The diagram position appeared in all three games. Panno played 13...Ne5 against Geller and lost quickly. After having seen that, Pilnik and Najdorf played 13...Kg7, but they didn't last much longer. In the fourth Soviet-Argentine encounter Petrosian beat Guimard brilliantly - though after quite a different opening - to complete the Argentine disaster. The Göteborg system seemed bankrupt after its first appearance, but in Portoroz 1958 it was rehabilitated by Bobby Fischer, who played 13...Rh7 against Gligoric and made a draw after having stood better. Flirting with death, some others kept practising the Göteborg system as Black and achieved reasonable results, maybe because they were specialists in a system that came as a surprise to their opponents. In 1998 Dale Kirton published extensive analyses in New in Chess Yearbook 48 to prove that White is winning after the piece sacrifice 11. Nxe6. Whether or not he was correct is not for me to judge. One man who apparently was not convinced by Kirton, or hadn't read the yearbook, is Peter Enders. In the recent German championship, won by Alexander Graf, his enduring faith in the death-defying Göteborg variation was not rewarded.

Naiditsch - Enders Up till the position of the first diagram all moves were as in the stem games of 1955 and there then followed:

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13...Rh8-h7 Fischer's move. 14. 0-0+ Kf8-g8 15. g5-g6 Rh7-g7 16. Rf1-f7 Be7xh4 17. Qh5xh6 Rg7xf7 18. g6xf7+ Kg8xf7 19. Ra1-f1+ Bh4-f6 20. e4-e5 Kirton's very complicated analysis went on with 20. Qh7+. After 20...Kf8 he wanted to play 21. e5 dxe5 22. Be2 and after 20...Ke8 he proceeded with 21. Qg6+ Kf8 22. e5 dxe5 23. Ne4, similar but not quite identical to the actual game. 20...d6xe5 21. Nc3-e4 a6xb5 22. Qh6-h7+ Kf7-f8 23. Qh7-h8+ Kf8-e7 24. Qh8h7+ Ke7-f8 25. Ne4xf6 Qd8-b6+ 26. Kg1-h1 Nd7xf6 27. Rf1xf6+ Kf8-e8 28. Rf6-f7 The final position is truly a warning sign to intrepid piece-snatchers. Black resigned.

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Cheating for Sport After the Linares tournament, it became known that Garry Kasparov had done something for which lesser mortals might have been disqualified from the tournament. Twice he had left the playing area for about a quarter of an hour, without giving notice to anyone. The second time the organisers had sent a spy to follow him and it turned out that he had gone to his hotel room.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Really! To the holy sanctuary where he keeps his laptop, with database, playing engines and all his legendary opening analysis. Nowadays, when your cell phone rings during a game, you forfeit automatically and this seems a much graver offence. The organisers didn't take action. Kasparov said that he had gone to his room to take medicines. If he had said so before leaving the playing hall the arbiter would probably have arranged a guardian to accompany him to his room, and everything would have been alright. But then Kasparov would have had to acknowledge that rules apply not only to commoners, but also to the king. I do not think that he was really cheating; I think that what he said was the truth. But nevertheless the incident turned my mind to the real cheaters who will be always with us, especially on the internet. They are strange people. Sometimes you can understand why they do it: just for the money. But often they seem to derive their pleasure from cheating itself, as art for art's sake, without monetary motives. In the past I have written about the 1995 Senior World Championship in which Milan Matulovic took part. In his heyday he was able to sell a place in the candidates matches for real money, but in this veteran's tournament prizes were low and anyway Matulovic wasn't doing well and had little chance to win one.

by Hans Ree

But still he was applying his tricks, setting his clock back when he had overstepped the time limit and setting his opponent's clock ahead to make up for the lost time. It was not for the money, just cheating for the fun of it. In a way I was touched by the old man still going strong in his particular field. A special case is the plagiarists among composers of problems and endgame studies. Here the chances of monetary rewards are extremely low and the chances to be found out and gain eternal infamy instead of glory are rather high.

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In the latest issue of EBUR, a quarterly devoted to endgame studies, the editor Harold van der Heijden writes about what he calls “a second generation of plagiarists”. They are smarter than their predecessors in the way they disguise their plagiarism, but on the other hand the means of detection have improved too, especially because of Van der Heijden's study database. Even so one of the cheaters, a certain I. Borisenko from Ukraine (not to be confused with the well-known player Georgy Borisenko) had managed to trick Van der Heijden, who in the previous issue of EBUR had published three studies by Borisenko that upon closer inspection turned out to be plagiarised, all three of them. Here is one. We start with the original model.

White to move and win. H. Rinck first prize Ginninger MT 1935 White can easily capture Black's bishop, but to win he also has to get the black knight stranded on a1. Black's king will try to come to the rescue of his knight. 1. Bh7-e4+ Ka8-a7 2. Nb4-c6+ Ka7-b6 3. Nc6xd4 Kb6-c5 5. Nd4-e2 Kc5-c4 5. Ne2-c1 Kc4-c3 6. Nc1-a2+ Kc3-c4 7. Be4-h7 Na1-b3 8. Bh7-g8+ and wins. And here is Borisenko's version.

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The board has been turned 90 degrees and two rooks have been added for a silly introduction that only serves as a smoke-screen to confuse the authenticitycheckers. Now the solution starts with 1. Nf8-d7+ Kg8-h7 2. Re8xh8+ Kh7xh8 3. Bc5-d4+ and the rest as in Rinck's study. “Why do Borisenko and his partners in crime send these studies to me?” Van der Heijden wonders. He is well-known as one of the greatest experts when it comes to spotting cases of plagiarism and he suspects that this is exactly the reason. The cheaters do it as a sport and they want to challenge a worthy opponent. This is confirmed by the fact that Borisenko didn't pick a relatively unknown study by a minor composer to work on. No, flirting with exposure, Borisenko choose a study by the famous Henri Rinck that had won a first prize in a tourney. Another article in EBUR is perhaps not connected with cheating, but certainly with mystification. Once again the mysterious tractor problem surfaces, that differs from the monster from Loch Ness by the fact that it really exists, even in several different versions. The canonical version is the one published in the Dutch magazine Schakend Nederland in 1990 by the composer Gijs van Breukelen.

White to move and win. 1. Bf8-g7+ Kh8-g8 2. Ne8xf6+ Kg8xg7 3. Nf6-h5+ Kg7-g6 Not 3...Kf7, because this square is needed for the black knight. 4. Bd1-c2+ Kg6xh5 5. d7-d8Q Ne5-f7+ He has to remove the new queen, otherwise he will be mated quickly. 6. Kd6-e6 Nf7xd8+ 7. Ke6-f5 e3-e2 8. Bc2-e4 e2-e1N 9. Be4-d5 c3-c2 10. Bd5c4 c2-c1N Twice promoting to a knight black has been able to delay the mate. 11. Bc4-b5 Na6-c7 12. Bb5-a4 But now the four black knights cannot prevent mate in a few moves. file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [03/22/2004 10:49:22 PM]

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A nice problem that comes with a nice story of which many different versions exist. The Dutch journalist Jules Welling told the story as he heard it in the pressroom of the 1978 Karpov-Kortchnoi world championship match. Supposedly the position had appeared in a game and white had resigned. Then a Georgian farmer became obsessed with this position and glued it to his tractor. After twenty years of farming he had found the solution, a forced mate, which he sent to the Russian magazine 64. Much later, when Karpov took over as chief editor of 64, he asked Tal to go through the piles of unanswered mail and that's how Tal found the tractor problem. When Welling asked him if this was really true, Tal slyly answered that truth should never be in the way of a good story. Harold van der Heijden thinks that Welling invented this story, but this I doubt. Welling isn't like that. Other people would be proud of inventing the tractor story, but Welling found the suggestion an attack on his journalistic integrity. Anyway, it is certain that this problem existed long before it was published in 1990. Does this mean that Van Breukelen was guilty of plagiarism? Not necessarily. Van der Heijden's opinion is that Van Breukelen composed it during the seventies, but only showed it to a few friends at that time. The new light that EBUR sheds on the matter is a photograph from 1976. We see Dutch IM Hans Böhm and the draughts world champion Harm Wiersma together with the painter Hans Verhoef, who is showing his painting of the tractor problem, with insects as pieces. So, we know for sure that the problem existed already in 1976, though in a slightly different version, with Black's king on h7 and without the f6-pawn, and White's knight on g4 and without the bishop on f8. Then the solution starts with 1. Nf6+ Kg7 2. Nh5+ Kg6, and so on. To add to the mystery, in the book by Arnold Denker and Larry Parr The Bobby Fischer I knew and other stories, Denker claims that this position had already been shown to him in 1953 by Ossip Bernstein, who supposedly had seen it in Spain a few years earlier. If this is true it would mean that Gijs van Breukelen was indeed guilty of plagiarism in 1990. But again, it doesn't have to be so, for Denker too was no stranger to the notion that truth should not always get in the way of a good story. More about the tractor problem can be found on the Chessbase website. The link is www.chessbase.com/puzzle/puzz16b.htm

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Sin of Pride The next two days would be free, so we had a long evening before us without worrying about chess preparation. There were always two consecutive free days at the Lone Pine Open, to comply with Bobby Fischer's religious principles in case he would ever turn up to play there. Of course he never did, but we were happy with our Fischer schedule. The next day some of us would ride to Las Vegas, were we would arrive in the evening, gamble at night and return the next morning to Lone Pine.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

The evening before this trip was devoted to international brotherhood. “Shall we exchange shoes?” asked the Mexican, as he was already pulling them off. His shoes were beautiful small boots that looked very expensive. My shoes were old and cheap. We exchanged them and the boots fitted me perfectly. It could hardly be called a fair exchange. It was a gift. However much you drink, eventually the conversation will turn to chess. The Mexican was a weaker player than I and he made a remark which I found wrong. I reacted strongly and aggressively, and the fact that I had just received a valuable present from him must have been the very reason for my intemperate behaviour. “Do you think I am a patzer?” asked the Mexican. He was shocked. “Yes, I think you are a patzer,” I said, though I knew that he wasn't. For a moment he could hardly believe his ears and then he wanted his boots back. I pulled them off feeling relieved, for I am not good in accepting presents. When you are given a present, you are in debt and the giver has an advantage on you. When it is said that pride comes before the fall, it is usually understood that pride is a cause of the fall. But often the connection is opposite. Someone is feeling that his fall is imminent, and that makes him proud, a sign of weakness. He is building a wall of defence.

by Hans Ree

Raymond Keene has said that when three chessplayers pass through a revolving door, they do so in order of rating. We cherish our hierarchy. When the new rating list is published, we consider our standing for the next months and who will be ahead of us at the revolving door. The hierarchy is tough, but even tougher is contact with the outside world were nobody has an inkling of the subtle nuances of our hierarchy. “The beautiful thing about chess is that it teaches you the humility of defeat,” said Kasparov once. Wise words, but one might add that victory also should be no

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obstacle to humility. I wonder if Kasparov knows that the DNA of baker's yeast is a match with 50 percent of that of humans, even if they are very high on the FIDE list. Our close cousin baker's yeast doesn't care about victory or defeat and we should learn a lesson from it. Apart from the pride of the strong chessplayer, there is also the pride of the honest chessplayer. We had made our trip to Las Vegas and now we were playing the last round in Lone Pine. At that time games were adjourned after forty moves and five hours of play and I had two hours to analyse my adjourned position against a Yugoslav grandmaster. There was a farewell party at the home of the rich inventor who was the sole sponsor of the tournament, but of course I went to my motel room first to look at my game. Fifteen minutes sufficed to see that it was a dead draw. If one of us would try to win, he would lose. I went to the party at the inventor's home, which was quite impressive. Outside were huge radio aerials. It was said that the inventor wanted to have radio contact with the whole world, night and day, to play his radio chess games. Armed guards were patrolling the lawns and when you had entered the house you understood why. A quick look at the gallery of paintings provided a Frans Hals, a Hieronymus Bosch and a small Rembrandt. It was sheer irresponsibility to let chessplayers loose here, a squalid tribe that might carelessly extinguish their cigarette butts on old masterpieces. I didn't know it at the time, but this would be the last chess party at the inventor's home. Next year he would still pay for the tournament, but there would be no party, presumably because the year before drunken Icelanders had done gymnastics hanging on the splendid chandeliers in the toilet room and destroyed them. Of course the Yugoslavs had also found out that my adjourned position was a dead draw. My opponent was not present, but one of his compatriots came to me smiling and said: “It is better to share the money, then to share the point.” It was obvious what he meant. If one of us should win, whoever it was, our total prize money would be much higher than in case of a draw. A draw or a loss wouldn't make much difference financially, but a win would secure a good prize. My opponent was poorer than I and he had a sick old mother who he had to provide with medicines that were not available in Yugoslavia. Now, come on, if we would have to make a deal with every poor chessplayer who has a sick mother, would this be the end? On my way to the tournament hall I met him outside. He explained that it would be best if he would win the game, because at first sight it might seem that he had a tiny advantage. On the other hand, if I would prefer to win instead of losing, that would be fine too, though the division of the prize money would have to be a little different in that case. This stood to reason. Winner gets glory, loser gets money. file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [04/26/2004 9:28:23 PM]

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I said that I understood his point of view, but that our adjourned position was so obviously a draw that it would provoke a scandal if one of us would win. I offered a draw. “Then we will play,” he said. We played and he tried to win and he lost, which he would have known from the start. “What a scandal” exclaimed a spectator who had followed our game and apparently understood that I could never have won it in a normal way. I had shown the pride of the incorruptible, but my opponent had his pride too. He preferred an almost certain defeat, rather than grant me my honest draw. The incorruptible is insufferably arrogant, because in a world of professionals he behaves as a rich amateur, who doesn't really care about results. As we get older and our play becomes weaker, a new form of pride emerges: the pride of fake humility. One imagines oneself an enlightened soul who doesn't play to win anymore, but just to experience the beauty and harmony of the game. There is a story about a tribe of Papuans in the former Dutch colony New Guinea who were taught the game of soccer by Dutch missionaries. When they came back after a few years they found that the Papuans were still playing soccer, but with an extra rule added: they only stopped playing when the score was equal. One might say that they were not really enlightened yet, for exactly by avoiding victories and defeats they were still recognizing the force of the concept. But they were on their way. It might be true what they say, that some old chessplayers exist who are beyond feeling pain when they lose. If so, this is the path to enlightenment: one starts out to win, but after some time one doesn't succeed anymore. Then one tries to convince oneself that the difference between winning and losing is illusionary. Again one doesn't succeed. The next step is to realize that this latest failure is unimportant too, and again one will not succeed. But then one will see that this is the end and that no further failures on this path of infinite regression are possible, because the next step would be conceptually too complicated to even consider.

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Dutch Brilliance On the website of the Dutch Chess Federation, IM Rini Kuijf described how he had been watching a game from the European championship, played in the Turkish city of Atalya, between the strong Czech David Navara and our youngest Dutch grandmaster Jan Smeets. It was live on the internet and Kuijf's patriotic heart swelled with pride. What a brilliant game by Smeets. First an unexpected sacrifice of a bishop, then a rook sacrifice and finally an elegant knight move that won the queen.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Kuijf set to work and wrote an article for his newspaper about Smeet's final breakthrough with a magnificent win over a 2600+ player. Then he went back to watch the games and he saw that a lot had changed. Actually, Smeets hadn't won against Navara, but lost. And it had been quite a different game, not a spectacular attack on the king, but a technical endgame. The game that had stirred Kuijf's heart had in fact been played by the Romanian Mircea Paligras and the Georgian Baadur Jobava. On the tournament website these games had originally been mixed up and now the mistake had been corrected. Kuijf was just in time to phone his newspaper to tell them they should cancel his article about Smeets' break-though. It was a pity that he had written in vain, but he was not unhappy. With patriotic fervor he had sympathised with Smeets and seen a wonderful game and this experience could not be taken away from him, even if later developments had put a different light on it. Like Princes Ukhtomski in Vladimir Nabokov's short story A Matter of Chance, he knew “that happy things can only be spoken of in a happy way, without grieving because they have vanished.” I too would have preferred that this wonderful game would have been played by my compatriot Smeets, but it's still worth showing. Jobava gained fame last year when he won a beautiful game against Bareev in the European club championship and then told journalists that the final position, at move 33, had already been on the board during his home preparations. Here he shows that he can be an artistic improviser too.

by Hans Ree Parligras - Jobava, European championship 2004 1. e2-e4 d7-d6 2. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 3. Nb1-c3 g7-g6 4. Bc1-e3 Bf8-g7 5. Qd1-d2 0-0 6. 0-0-0 c7-c6 7. Kc1-b1 b7-b5 8. f2-f3 Nb8-d7 9. e4-e5 b5-b4

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A strong novelty. Black sacrifices a pawn for active piece play. 10. e5xf6 b4xc3 11. Qd2xc3 11. fxe7 was probably better, but then also Black has good chances for an attack after 11...Qxe7 11...Nd7xf6 12. Qc3xc6 Bc8-e6 13. Be3-c1 Ra8-b8 14. Ng1-h3 Now the simple 14...Qa5 15. Qa6 Bxa2+ would be good for Black, but he prefers a much more forceful blow. 14...Be6xa2+ 15. Kb1xa2 Qd8-a5+ 16. Ka2-b1 Nf6-d5 Threatening 17...Nc3+ 17. Rd1-d3 Here Black has a rich choice of good moves, e.g., 17...Nb4, when White can still defend by returning the piece with 18. Qc4 Rfc8 19. Ra3 Qf5 20. Bd3. Also very strong would be 17...Bxd4 with many threats. Black chooses the most spectacular way to pursue his attack. 17...Rf8-c8 18. Bc1-d2 Rb8xb2+ 19. Kb1xb2 Rc8-b8+ 20. Rd3-b3 Bg7xd4+ 21. c2-c3

21...Nd5-b4 The beautiful point of Black's sacrifice. White has to give up the queen and should have done so by 22. cxd4 Qa2+ 23. Kc1 Qa1+ - 23...Qxb3 24. Bxb4 Rxb4 is another way to win the queen, not quite clear either - 24. Rb1 Qa3+ 25. Kd1 Nxc6 26. Txb8+, after which he would still be able to put up resistance. 22. Qc6-a6 Nb4xa6 23. Bf1xa6 Rb8xb3+ 24. Kb2xb3 Qa5xa6 25. c3xd4 Qa6-e2 Now Black wins easily 26. Bd2-e1 Qe2xg2 27. Nh3-f2 Qg2xf3+ 28. Kb3-c4 a7-a5 29. Rh1-g1 a5-a4 30. Nf2-d3 a4-a3 31. Be1-d2 e7-e5 32. d4xe5 Qf3-c6+ White resigned because he file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [05/24/2004 7:27:59 PM]

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will lose his rook. In English, expressions containing the word “Dutch” are invariably negative. “Dutch” treat, comfort, courage, concert or nightingale are better avoided; one of the worst expressions, fortunately not generally known, is “Dutch wife”, used by English sailors for a wooden board with a hole in it. From the first part of this column readers might infer that “Dutch Brilliance” stands for brilliance that is not really Dutch at all, but the next game will prove that this is not true. It was played a few weeks ago in the Dutch junior championship, which was won, in the absence of our best youngsters Smeets and Stellwagen, by Dennis Ruijgrok. Hilke van den Berg - Renze Rietveld, Dutch championship U-20 2004 1. a2-a3 f7-f5 2. b2-b4 Ng8-f6 3. Bc1-b2 e7-e6 4. h2-h3 a7-a5 5. b4-b5 b7-b6 6. e2-e3 Bc8-b7 7. Ng1-f3 Bf8-e7 8. g2-g4 This expansion on both flanks while the center is held back gives the game a pleasant whiff of Basmania. From John Watson we have learned that nowadays anything goes in opening strategy, but still what we see here is quite extraordinary. 8...f5xg4 With hindsight one can say that Black shouldn't have opened White's attacking lines. 9. h3xg4 0-0 10. Bf1-g2 d7-d6 After 10...Nxg4 11. Ng5 Bxg5 12. Qxg4 Bxg2 13. Qxg2 White has a very strong attack for the pawn. 11. g4-g5 Nf6-g4 None of the knight moves was quite satisfactory. Relatively best was probably 11...Ne4, but White would have a fine game, one possibility being 12. d3 Nc5 13. d4 Ne4 14. d5 Bxd5 15. Qd4 Rf7 16. Nfd2.

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12. Rh1xh7 Bravo for Basmania! After twelve unorthodox moves White is already winning. 12...Kg8xh7 At first sight it seems as if White lacks material to follow up his attack, because his Nf3 is pinned. But it is exactly the opposition of Bb7 and Bg2 that makes his combination correct. 13. Nf3-d4 Qd8-e8 After 13...Bxg2 14. Qxg4 White is threatening mate by 15. Qh5+ Kg8 16. g6 14. Qd1xg4 Bb7xg2 15. Qg4xg2 Qe8-f7 16. Nb1-c3 Being only an exchange down White's attack is decisive. 16...e6-e5 17. 0-0-0 Threatening 18. g6+ Qxg6 19. Rh1+ 17...Be7xg5 18. Qg2xg5 e5xd4 19. Nc3-d5 Rf8-e8 20. Bb2xd4 Nb8-d7 21. Rd1-g1 Nd7e5 22. f2-f4 Ne5-f3 23. Nd5-f6+ Elegant to the end. 23...Qf7xf6 24. Qg5-h5+ Qf6-h6 25. Rg1xg7+ Kh7-h8 26. Qh5xh6 mate

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Chess Dreams Everybody finds his own dreams interesting, though it's not often that one can learn something useful from them. There are many stories about writers who dreamed an idea for a wonderful story, woke up to write it down and went to bed again to find the following morning a note saying “boy meets girl” or “two squirrels”.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

There are exceptions. The German scientist Friedrich August Kekule had a dream about two snakes that bit each other's tail and together formed an image of something that Kekule had been trying to find for a long time: the structure of benzene. When he told this at a scientific congress in 1890, he concluded his story saying: “Gentlemen, let's learn to dream, and maybe we will find the truth.” A recent issue of New in Chess (2004/3) has an article by Genna Sosonko, The Morpheus Variation, about the dreams of chessplayers. He writes about the dark dreams that predict misfortune that cannot be avoided anyway, the frustrating dreams in which a simple task cannot be executed, but also about dreams that provide useful insight, as in the case of Kekule. At least, if we can believe the dreamer's tales. Vladimir Bagirov got Alekhine's personal blessings when he decided to make the Alekhine Defense his regular opening, but he told the story with a smile that made it doubtful if he really believed it himself. I do believe Jan Timman, who says that he owed an important victory in his candidate's match against Yusupov in Linares 1992 to a move that had appeared in a dream. Timman-Yusupov, Linares 1992

by Hans Ree

This position was reached in the second match game and after 21. Rc1xa1 g7-g5 22. h4xg5 h6xg5 23. Bf4xg5 Ra8-g8 24. Bg5-f6+ Kh8h7 Black had enough counterplay and a draw was agreed soon afterwards. During the evening Timman analysed the game with his second Jeroen Piket, but they couldn't find a way to improve on White's play. But

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during the night Timman suddenly woke up because the solution had come to him in a dream. A few days later he had the opportunity to employ it in the sixth game. From the diagram position he played his dream novelty: 21. Bg2-f1 Rd3-d4 22. Bf4-e3 Rd4-d5 23. Rc1xa1 Rd5xe5 24. Nd2-c4. White was clearly better and went on to win the game and later the match. But usually the insight provided by dreams comes too late. This is Sosonko-Timman, Tilburg 1983. It seems that White has a clear advantage and in fact he won the game quickly, but the next day at breakfast Timman told Sosonko that he had dreamed a beautiful way to save the game: 32...h6-h5 33. g4-g5 After other moves Black's counterplay is quite sufficient. 33...Nf6xe4 34. f3xe4 Rd7-d2+ and Blacks draws by a perpetual with his invulnerable rook. These and other interesting dreams described by Sosonko reminded me of a recent chess dream of my own, in which I saw my friend Berry Withuis play a tournament game against Bent Larsen. This was rather surprising, because in the years that I met Withuis regularly he was a chess journalist and organiser who had given up serious chess long ago and only played blitz games or simuls. During the fifties he had been on the staff of the Dutch communist daily newspaper, but as this paper became less and less popular he had to find other work. He became a chess journalist and as he found that there were not enough chess events in the Netherlands to write about, he had to organise them himself. In real life I had seen Larsen and Withuis together at the chessboard, because Larsen sometimes helped Withuis when he made the bulletins of the Hoogoven tournaments. But now in my dream they were playing a serious tournament game. Larsen as White had sacrificed a piece for a pawn and was lost, but suddenly in one move he played Na3xc4-e5, picking up a pawn that had been protected, escaping with his knight, that had been awkwardly cornered, and bringing it to an attacking position. He won the game. The Spanish arbiter Carlos Falcon came to the board and I, as a spectator who sympathised with Withuis, tried to explain that something evil had happened, but to no avail. “We are in Spain here, so don't meddle with it” said Falcon. The deviousness of it! We were not in Spain at all, but at the Dutch Hoogoven tournament in Beverwijk. Later I tried to check if my dream had some basis in reality. Had Larsen ever file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [06/22/2004 7:15:35 PM]

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played Na3-c4-e5, not in one move of course, but in two consecutive moves? I tried to find Larsen's manoevre in the database, but found nothing. But a few days ago when I woke up, I suddenly remembered the game. I didn't remember who Larsen's opponent had been, but I knew that it had started with 1. f2f4 and I also remembered clearly how the pages of the bulletin looked where I had seen that game, with the primitive typewriting of cheaply produced magazines before the computer age. The rest was easy. It had been in Beverwijk 1960. Larsen's opponent was Roman Toran, who in real life I had seen in Spain in the company of his compatriot Carlos Falcon, so it was logical that Falcon had made an appearance in my dream. The notes to the game in the bulletin were written by "The Press Service", which in fact was Berry Withuis. And Na3-c4-e5 had not been played in one move and also not in two consecutive moves, but it was there. “It all fits,” as the paranoiac used to say. Could all these elements really have been combined by the hidden agent that had produced my dream? I don't know. Our minds work in mysterious ways. Bent Larsen - Roman Toran, 1960 1. f2-f4 Ng8-f6 2. Ng1-f3 g7-g6 3. b2-b4 Bf8-g7 Black could win a pawn with 3...Nd5, when Larsen's intention was 4. Bb2 f6 5. f5 4. Bc1-b2 0-0 5. e2-e3 d7-d6 6. Nb1-a3 e7-e5 7. f4xe5 Nf6-g4 8. Na3-c4 8...Rf8-e8 A not entirely correct pawn sacrifice after an hour's thought. Yes, those were the days when one could spend an hour on move eight. Nowadays one would play quickly 8...Ngxe5, which is much better. 9. e5xd6 Bg7xb2 10. Nc4xb2 Qd8xd6 11. a2a3 Nb8-c6 12. Bf1-e2 Bc8-f5 13. 0-0 Ra8-d8 14. Nb2-c4 Qd6-e7 15. h2-h3 Ng4-e5 16. Nc4xe5 Nc6xe5 17. Nf3-d4 Bf5-c8 18. Qd1-e1 a7-a6 19. Qe1-g3 b7-b6 20. Rf1-f2 c7-c5 21. b4xc5 Qe7xc5 22. c2-c3 Re8-e7 23. h3-h4 h7h5 Black provokes complications that are not advantageous to him, because after quiet play he would have very little for his pawn. 24. Be2xh5 Ne5-d3

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25. Bh5xg6 White has three pawns for the exchange and is easily winning. 25...Nd3xf2 26. Bg6-f5+ Kg8-f8 27. Qg3xf2 Rd8xd4 28. Bf5xc8 Rd4-a4 29. Qf2-f6 Qc5-e5 30. Qf6-h6+ Kf8-g8 31. Ra1-f1 Qe5-g3 32. Qh6xb6 Qg3xh4 33. Bc8xa6 Kg8-g7 34. Ba6b5 Ra4xa3 35. Rf1-f4 Ra3-a1+ 36. Bb5-f1 Qh4-g5 37. c3-c4 Ra1-d1 38. Qb6-b3 Rd1-e1 39. Kg1-f2 f7-f6 40. Qb3-b4 Re7-e5 41. Qb4b7+ The game was adjourned and later Black resigned.

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Chess in Amsterdam After a year of privation Amsterdam had a big international open again, this time not sponsored by one generous company, but by a number of institutions, one of them being the University of Amsterdam.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

During the tournament, to honor the connection between the university and chess, I gave a short lecture about its chess library, which is quite extensive, though not as big as that of the Royal Library in The Hague. As in The Hague, where Meindert Niemeijer in 1948 gave his collection of 7,000 chess books to the Royal Library, in Amsterdam a private collection was also the basis of the chess library. It was that of Alexander Rueb, one of the founders of FIDE and its first president from 1924 until 1949. In a glass case I had eight books from the collection exhibited, chosen only because I had a story to tell about them. It hadn't really been my intention, but after choosing these eight books, I realised that three of them had something to do with Bobby Fischer. One was Bobby Fischer vs the Rest of the World by Brad Darrach, an amusing report on Fischer's behaviour before and during his 1972 world championship match. Number two was Master Prim, a novel by James Ellison based on Fischer's life that had appeared in 1968. The title seems condescending, but when I read it recently I was pleasantly surprised. The book does not infringe on Fischer's dignity and it's also well-written. Hermann von Gottschall's Adolf Anderssen, der Altmeister deutscher Schachspielkunst I had not chosen with Fischer in mind, but later I realised that there was a definite connection. The American grandmaster Peter Biyiasis once told me that during the 70s, when Fischer stayed a few weeks at his house, he had hoped to analyse modern openings with the great man, but all Fischer wanted to do was analyse games from Gottschall's book, which he had brought with him.

by Hans Ree

The choice of the books was made before the news came out that Fischer had been arrested at the Tokyo airport. Had I known that this unfortunate event would happen, I might have added another book with a Fischer connection, The Reliable Past by Genna Sosonko. As we know, to avoid being deported from Japan to the U.S., Fischer has asked for asylum in a third country. Personally I would like the Netherlands to give shelter to the poor tormented soul, but chances are slim, as I see no legal basis at all for such

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a decision. Maybe the only country where Fischer might receive not political asylum, but instant citizenship, is Israel. It may appear unlikely for Fischer to seek safety in Israel, but he has been there before and as I remember it, he liked it there. And so what Sosonko predicted in a fantasy on the future of chess might actually happen: the legendary American Bobby Krisher remembers the old Jewish adage, "live among the Gentiles, die among the Jews" and settles in a religious kibbutz not far from the Lebanese border. The children of the kibbutz, to whom he gives chess lessons, call him Uncle Borukh and lovingly play with his long side-locks. Uncle Borukh always finds time for a kind word to photographers and journalists, at least in this fantasy. Well, we will see. But back to the Amsterdam chess tournament. As a commentator, I found that the public would follow the games with great interest until the first time control after 40 moves, which occurred at 5 p.m. After that they had had enough. The excitement of time trouble was over and the cozy bar and the sunny terrace were enticing. Out of politeness there were still a few people who joined me in the commentator's room, but they were relieved and thankful when I would call it day. With such impatience one misses a lot, for instance, the sensational developments in the game between Maarten Solleveld, a young Dutch player, and Ivan Sokolov, the Dutch-Bosnian grandmaster. They happened two hours later, near the second time control. This was the position in Solleveld - Sokolov, from the third round, after Black's 40th move. A few moves earlier Black had avoided a repetition of moves, which was unwise as White is clearly better here, with good squares for his Knights on c4 and c6. In fact Black is suffering under a classical Spanish torture. For the rest of the game the players had one hour each. 41. Ne3-f1 Qd8-f8 42. Qf2-g3 Rc8-b8 43. Nf1h2 Bb7-c8 44. Nh2-f3 Rc7-e7 45. Bb5-c4 Bc8d7 46. Nd4-c6 Bd7xc6 47. d5xc6 Rb8-c8 48. Bc4-d5 White has made good progress. His pawn on c6, supported by the excellently placed Bishop, will force Black to give up the Exchange. 48...Qf8-e8 49. Nf3-d4 Rc8-b8 50. Nd4-f3 Rb8-c8 51. Qg3-h4 Ne5xf3 52. g2xf3 Bg7-e5 53. Bf4-g5 Re7-c7 54. f3-f4 Be5-c3 55. Re1-e3 Rc7xc6 Now that White has weakened his e-pawn, Black would have good counterplay after 56. Bxc6 Qxc6. But White isn't interested anymore in the Exchange; he plays for an attack. 56. f4-f5 Bc3-g7 57. Rd1-f1 Rc6-c7 58. Re3-f3 Kg8-h8

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59. f5xg6 This is too early. White could win with 59. Bf6 Qf8 60. fxg6 fxg6. Then winning the Queen with 61. Bb2 isn't quite clear, but much stronger would be 61. e5, intending 61...dxe5 62. Bxg7+ Qxg7 63. Rf7 and White wins. 59...f7xg6 60. Rf3-f7 Rc7xf7 And here Black makes a big mistake. 60...Ne6 would be an adequate defense. White would still have reasonable compensation for his pawn, but with two minutes for the rest of the game, against nine minutes for Sokolov, White's chances to survive would be slim. 61. Rf1xf7 White is winning again, as Black has no defense against the threat 62. Bf6. 61...Nc5-e6 62. Bd5xe6 Qe8xe6 63. Rf7-e7 Qe6-g8 64. Bg5-f6 Game over, one would think. Black can resign or give a few senseless checks. 64...Rc8-c1+ 65. Kh1-g2 Rc1-c2+ 66. Kg2-g3 Rc2-c3+ 67. Kg3-g2 Rc3-c2+ 68. Kg2-g3 Rc2-c3+ Now after 69. Kf4 Black would indeed have resigned, but in terrible time pressure White played 69. Kg3-g2 and Black could claim a draw by repetition. How cruel this time schedule - 40 in 2 and 1 hour for the rest, without increment can be, was shown in Nijboer-Nikolic from round 6. At move 57 Nijboer had reached an ending of K+R+N+P vs K+B+N+P, a very difficult technical win. They played to move 116, when Nikolic resigned because he had lost a piece. Nijboer had 16 seconds left, Nikolic 15 seconds. If Nikolic had held out a bit longer, Nijboer might well have lost on time. What risks he had taken with his time management! “Well, I could always offer a draw during my last seconds,” Nijboer said unruffled. Really? Nikolic, who is a gentleman, would probably have accepted, but if not, would Nijboer be able to claim the draw in this ending with an Exchange more? Even our ChessCafe sage Geurt Gijssen didn't dare to give a definite answer to this question. All in all it was Friso Nijboer's tournament. He started with a splendid 5½ out of 6 and when finally he won the event with 7 out of 9, a half-point ahead of the field, he could claim that he had been winning in all his games. Here is one game where he let his opponent escape. “It is hard to imagine how either player can save the game,” an annotator once wrote, and this seems an apt comment on the spectacular and amusing part of this game when it seemed that both Kings were to be mated.

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Sandipan - Nijboer, 4th round, after Black's 32nd move. 33. Qd3-d4 After 33. Qxe3 Black might have a small advantage, but now an interesting tactical battle develops in which both players are playing for mate. 33...Qc6-c1 With the threat of 34...Rxg3+ and mate. 34. Rd5xf5 Because of Black's mating threat, White has no time to threaten mate himself with 34. Rd7 34...Qc1-f1+ Had he taken White's Rook, he would have been mated. 35. Kh3-h4 Threatening 36. Rh5+ and mate. 35...Qf1xe2 Now it's Black again who is threatening mate. 36. h2-h3 Qe2-f3 Renewing his mating threat. He has to keep an eye on h5, so as not to be mated himself, so 36...Qg2 was not possible. 37. Rf5-g5 Rg1xg3 Hoping for 38. Rxg3 Qh5 mate, but White has a final resource. 38. Rg5-h5+ Qf3xh5+ Because after 38...gxh5 White would have a perpetual. 39. Kh4xg3 Qh5-e2 40. Qd4-f6 Qe2-e1+ 41. Kg3-f3 Qe1-f1+ 42. Kf3-g4 Qf1-g1+ 43. Kg4h4 Qg1-e1+ 44. Kh4-g4 Qe1xb4 45. Qf6-g5+ Kh6-g7 46. Qg5-e5+ Kg7-f7 47. Qe5xe3 Qb4d6 The queen ending should be winning for Black, but about twenty moves later he allowed a perpetual after all.

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Cuban Memories This time there is no chess at the Olympic Games, which is all to the good, because chessplayers don't really belong there. Four years ago in Sydney Anand and Shirov played two rapid games, but I don't think they took it very seriously. After a long and tiring voyage Shirov went from the Sydney airport right to the playing hall were after taking a short nap he managed to draw both games. They could take their fee and return home, true to the noble Olympic motto that says that taking part is more important than winning.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

In a way chess was represented at the games in Athens, because a Cuban building in the Olympic Village was covered with enormous photo's showing Fidel Castro and Ernesto "Che" Guevara" at the chessboard. The IOC demanded that these photos should be removed, as political propaganda is not allowed in the village, but the Cubans refused, claiming that they were just sport photos, celebrating fair and peaceful competition in the spirit of the olympic movement. I do not know the outcome of this conflict. Che Guevara was a strong player, but Fidel Castro shares with him only the love for the game, not the expertise. The late Czech grandmaster Ludek Pachman, who visited Cuba often, has been quoted thus: “I have often seen Fidel at the chessboard, but I have always avoided playing him. Already his second or third move was completely anecdotal and I considered it an impossible task to lose against him. Others however have managed to do so.” In New in Chess Yearbook 70 Genna Sosonko mentions an opening variation that is known in Cuban government circles as Fidel's Attack: 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Bd6. Indeed a rather anecdotal move, to use Pachman's expression. Objectively it should be called Fidel's Defense, but that wouldn't have a revolutionary ring. In the East German tournament book of the 1966 Olympiad in Havana there are several photos of Castro, one of them while he is playing against world champion Petrosian in a simul. The caption says: “The number one of the Cuban ministers in fair competition with the number one of chess.” As Pachman would have predicted, losing to Castro proved an impossible task; this game was drawn.

by Hans Ree Guevara didn't appear at the Olympiad because he was in Bolivia, where he would be killed the next year. I wonder if his expertise in chess was connected with his general unbending way of thinking. He was the most radical of the Cuban revolutionaries, extolling hate as a revolutionary virtue. “What should be done with the traitor? The traitor should be executed after a short and fair trial.” This is logic file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 4) [08/22/2004 1:44:16 PM]

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as clear as that of Capablanca’s. In the book of the Olympiad I also see a photo of me at the swimming pool of the Havana Libre hotel, the former Hilton. It really was a luxurious and pleasant Olympiad, however with a snag for the Dutch team. At that time the Olympiads were not played with the Swiss system, but with preliminary groups from which two teams qualified for the Final A. In our group the Netherlands were ousted by Hungary, obviously the strongest team of the group, and Cuba, which performed surprisingly well. How did they do it? We were enlightened when members of the teams of Venezuela and Hungary told us that they had been approached by Cuban officials who had asked to help the Cuban team by losing heavily or - in the case of Hungary - granting a friendly 2-2 score. These two teams had firmly refused, but what about the three bottom teams, who made zero points out of 12 games against Cuba? They had done better against mighty Hungary, scoring 2 points out of 12. Pachman admitted having acted as an interpreter for the attempted deal with Hungary, after having gotten a promise from the president of the Dutch Chess Federation that we wouldn't make it an issue while we were still in Cuba. Our team captain Hans Bouwmeester would have been hesitant to do so anyway, because an official from the Dutch embassy had warned him against it, saying that the Cuban chess fans were so enthusiastic about their Olympiad that anyone who would spoil the fun with vile accusations would probably find a rattlesnake in his bed. If I remember well, there was a political schism at our embassy. The ambassador had some sympathy for the social achievements of the Cuban revolution, but his second in command was all against it, complaining that the price of pumpkins had doubled and that black people were now giving orders to whites. With such criticism the revolution might certainly seem attractive, but I don't really know what my opinion was at the time. I do know which scene I remember most vividly from this Olympiad. It had nothing to do with the game Fischer-Spassky, which understandably attracted excited crowds, but it was Viktor Kortchnoi, embracing a big column with both arms in the playing hall. He had to support himself, weak with roaring laughter about the absurd developments in his game against the Bulgarian Georgi Tringov during the time scramble before the adjournment. This is indeed a game to remember. Tringov • Kortchnoi, Havana Olympiad 1966 1.e2•e4 e7•e5 2.Ng1•f3 Nb8•c6 3.Bf1•b5 a7•a6 4.Bb5•a4 Ng8•f6 5.0•0 Nf6xe4 6.d2•d4 b7•b5 7.Ba4•b3 d7•d5 8.d4xe5 Bc8•e6 9.c2•c3 Bf8•e7 10.Bb3•c2 Qd8 •d7 11.Qd1•e2 0•0 12.Rf1•d1 Ne4•c5 13.Nf3•d4 Nc6xd4 14.c3xd4 Nc5•b7 15.Nb1•c3 f7•f6 16.Qe2•h5 f6•f5 17.Bc1•g5 Ra8•c8 18.Nc3•e2 c7•c5 19.d4xc5 file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [08/22/2004 1:44:16 PM]

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Be7xc5 20.Ra1•c1 Nb7•a5 21.Ne2•f4 Na5•c4 22.Rd1•e1 Bc5•b4 23.Re1•e2 d5 •d4 24.Rc1•d1 Nc4xb2 25.Nf4xe6 Qd7xe6 26.Bc2•b3 Nb2•c4 27.Rd1xd4 f5•f4 This move is difficult to understand. Black not only sacrifices a pawn, but he also gives the white bishop a good attacking diagonal versus h7. 28.Rd4xf4 Rf8xf4 29.Bg5xf4 a6•a5 30.h2•h4 a5•a4 31.Bb3•c2 g7•g6 32.Qh5•f3 Rc8•f8 33.Qf3•g3 Nc4•b6 34.h4•h5 Nb6•d5 35.Bf4•h6 Nd5•c3 36.Re2•e3 36...Qe6xa2 Black is dead lost and he can only grab some material and pray for the best. 37.h5xg6 Qa2xc2 38.g6xh7+ Kg8•f7 Now 39. e6+ mates in a few moves and after the secondbest move 39. Qf3+ my computer evaluates White's position as +12.66, which translates to an advantage of queen and piece. 39.Re3•f3+ Kf7•e6 40.Rf3xf8 He blunders a queen, but it shouldn't really make a difference. 40...Nc3•e2+ 41.Kg1•h2 They had made the time control but they didn't know this and went on playing blitz. 41...Ne2xg3 42.h7•h8Q Eagerly replacing his missing Queen he blunders a Rook. After 42. Rf6+ or 42. Re8+ White would still be winning. 42...Bb4xf8 43.Qh8xf8 Ng3•f5 I think that around here they came to their senses and realised that more than 40 moves had been made. The position is quite unclear now and after adjournment the game proceeded normally and quite interestingly. 44.Qf8•f6+ Ke6•d5 45.Qf6•f7+ Kd5xe5 46.Qf7•e8+ Ke5•f6 47.Bh6•f8 Qc2•c7+ 48.g2 •g3 Nf5•d4 49.Qe8•e4 Nd4•e6 50.Qe4•f3+ Kf6•g6 51.Qf3•d3+ Kg6•f6 52.Bf8•d6 Qc7•c4 53.Qd3•f3+ Kf6•g6 54.g3•g4 Ne6•g7 55.Bd6 •e5 Kg6•h7 56.Qf3•g3 Qc4•e6 57.f2•f4 b5•b4 58.f4•f5 Qe6•h6+ 59.Kh2•g2 Qh6•d2+ 60.Kg2•h3 Qd2•h6+ 61.Kh3•g2 Qh6 •d2+ 62.Kg2•h3 Qd2•h6+ Draw

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[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Youthful Sin In the chess bookshop I found a small book in Dutch with the intriguing title Smerig Spel? (Dirty Game?) and I was a bit disappointed to see that it was written by Johan Krajenbrink, who is a well-known Dutch draughts player. So it wasn't about chess. When I put it back the friendly bookseller told me that he had a few damaged copies that I could get for free. “It's not about chess, but there are a few tricks in it with universal value,” he said grinning.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Indeed, I found that tricksters in draughts and chess had much in common. For instance, according to the laws of chess a pawn on h2 needs at least five moves to promote, but clever blitz players have often done it quicker by putting the pawn on the right moment somewhere between two squares. h2-h4-h5½-h7 takes only three steps. Apparently draughts players know the same trick, for Krajenbrink confesses that once he won a blitz game by promoting one of his men a move too early in this way. His honest excuse is that he needed the point dearly. A subject not treated in his book is that of buying, selling or just giving away full points, but I doubt very much if the world of draughts is clean in this respect. The practise is so endemic in practically all sports that draughts can hardly be an exception. Personally I never did it and though I certainly don't regret this, it sometimes gave me the embarrassing feeling that I wasn't a real pro at all, but only a freeloader that posed as one. As I have written before, the incorruptible must appear unbearable to those who in a tough struggle for life are forced to compromise with virtue. Rather to my surprise I found that even the great fighter Viktor Korchnoi has given and taken free points, though it was in a very distant past. In the August issue of the British monthly Chess there was a report by Vladimir Barsky on a lecture that Kortchnoi gave at the Moscow Jewish Community Center. After the lecture there were questions and answers.

by Hans Ree

A chess fan from Tiraspol asked: “Do you remember Anatoly Lutikov? Have you ever played classical games against him, and if yes, where? He spoke well of you. He ended his career in Moldova, regrettably, by hitting the bottle.” An innocent question to which it would have been easy to give an innocent answer, but Kortchnoi, always outspoken, answered: “Have I played classical chess with

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him? He was virtually the only chess player I had negotiated a couple of games with. Once I needed a win and won. The next time he had to win. The King's Gambit had arisen (I was playing Black). Later Svidler told me that I had very good winning chances. I disappointed him by saying: Sorry, but I had to lose.” About Lutikov's love of the bottle Kortchnoi said: “There were quite a few in the chess world who had a sober outlook on life; but while taking this sober look at the world they could not help but start drinking.” I looked in my database for the game Kortchnoi mentioned and I suppose this is it. Lutikov-Kortchnoi, Semi-finals, Russian championship, Leningrad 1951 1. e2-e4 e7-e5 2. f2-f4 e5xf4 3. Ng1-f3 Bf8-e7 4. Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1-c3 Nf6xe4 6. Bc4xf7+ Ke8xf7 7. Nf3-e5+ Kf7-e6 8. Nc3xe4 d7-d5 9. Qd1-g4+ Ke6xe5 10. d2-d4+ Ke5xd4 It is well-known that Kortchnoi, especially in his youth, liked to grab material, but this is a bit extreme. 11. c2-c3+ Kd4-e5 12. Bc1xf4+ Ke5xe4 13. Qg4-f3+ Ke4-f5 14. Bf4xc7+ Kf5-g6 15. Bc7xd8 Rh8xd8 16. 0-0 Nb8-c6 17. Qf3-g3+ Kg6-h6 18. Rf1-f7 g7-g5 19. h2-h4 Rd8-g8 20. Ra1-f1 Bc8-e6 21. h4xg5+ Rg8xg5 22. Qg3-h4+ Rg5-h5 23. Rf1-f6+ Black resigned. At least they made a spectacle of it and one can understand that about fifty years later Peter Svidler found it amusing to analyse the game. Kortchnoi must have been 19 or 20 years old when he played this game. I don't think this little sin of his youth will damage his reputation as a knight without fear or blame. In July of this year Viktor the Indefatigable won an open tournament in Quebec. It wasn't a very strong tournament, but on the other hand it was already the third tournament that Kortchnoi had won this year, after the Beer Shiva rapid tournament and the György Marx Memorial in Hungary. In the Rilton Cup tournament in Stockholm he finished a half-point behind the winners Akesson and de Firmian, which proves that at the age of 73 you can't win them all. Here is a nice game from the Quebec tournament, against the Canadian IM Jean Hébert. Kortchnoi's reputation as a pawn-grabber is very one-sided. What he always liked to do was to unbalance the game and at appropiate times he is just as willing to shed material as to grab it.

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Hébert-Kortchnoi, Quebec Open, Montreal 2004 1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 b7-b6 3. d2-d4 e7-e6 4. e2-e3 Bf8-b4+ 5. Bc1-d2 Bb4e7 6. Nb1-c3 Bc8-b7 7. Bf1-d3 d7-d5 8. c4xd5 e6xd5 9. Qd1-a4+ c7-c6 10. Nf3e5 0-0 11. b2-b4 Be7-d6 12. f2-f4 White's set-up seems a bit illogical, as Ne5 and f2-f4 are usually connected with a kingside attack, not with play on the queen's wing with Qa4 and b2-b4. Kortchnoi now takes strong measures to punish White. 12...b6-b5 13. Qa4-b3 a7-a5 14. b4xa5 b5-b4 15. Nc3-e2 Nb8-a6 Here White can win a second and even a third pawn with 16. Bxa6 Bxa6 17. Nxc6 Qd7 18. Nxb4, but this would lead to his doom quickly. 16. Ra1-c1 c6-c5 But now White has to accept the pawn sacrifice, as otherwise Black would be clearly better. 17. Bd3xa6 Bb7xa6 18. Ne5-c6 Here and also at the following moves, White has a very difficult choice. After 18. dxc5 Bxe5 19. fxe5 both 19...Ne4 and 19...Ng4 would give Black a strong attack. 18...Qd8-d7 19. d4xc5 Ba6xe2 20. Ke1xe2 Also after 20. cxd6 Qg4 Black has an attack, though the position would remain quite unclear, at least to me. 20...Bd6xf4 21. Qb3xb4 Or 21. Nd4 Be5, again with a dangerous attack. 21...Qd7xc6 22. Qb4xf4 d5-d4 23. e3xd4 Qc6xg2+ 24. Ke2-d3 Qg2-g6+ 25. Kd3-c4 Nf6-e4 26. Bd2-b4 At first I thought that White could still put up resistance with 26. d5, but then a newspaper reader (Ardjan Langedijk from New in Chess) pointed out 26. d5 Nxc5 27. Kxc5 Qd3 and Black wins. 26...Qg6-a6+ 27. Kc4-b3 Qa6-d3+ 28. Kb3b2 After 28. Ka4 Rfb8 Black threatens both 29...Qb5+ and 29...Rxa5+ and mate. 28...Rf8-b8 29. Rh1-d1 He resigns himself to his fate. After 29. a3 Black would win with 29...Qxd4+ 30. Kc2 Rxb4 31. axb4 Dc3+ 29...Rb8xb4+ 30. Kb2-a1 Qd3-e2 31. Rc1-b1 Ne4-c3 31...Qxa2+ was mate in two, but this is good enough. White resigned.

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[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Dutch Treat

100 Months with Hanon How time crawls. Is this only my 100th column for ChessCafe.com? It feels as if the Cafe has been with me for a much longer time, but in fact it opened its doors only in 1996. It's already becoming a bit difficult to realise that once upon a time we had no chess websites and even no computers.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

With some effort I can recollect the hardships of a chess reporter in the precomputer age. Delivering a chess game to the newspaper by phone. Usually you got someone on the line who knew about chess notation, but not always. At worst you had to speak like this: one, dot, space, lower case edward two, hyphen, lower case edward four, space... That was 1. e2-e4. It could take some time, which was especially awkward when you reported from America and had to wait till at least 2 AM before you would get anyone on the line in the Dutch office. How to spend the hours between a hard day's work and phoning in the report? Unwisely one tends to grab for the bottle. “Please sir, can you speak a bit more clearly?” said the polite attendant on the phone who understood the reporter's plight. My colleague IM Gert Ligterink was the first of the Dutch chess writers who was equipped with a computer to send in his articles. We called it the Miracle Machine. My own newspaper adapted to the new age a bit later, in 1986, which meant that the laptop I got from them was a bit more advanced. My screen showed 15 lines of text, while Ligterink's contained only 8 lines. Neither of our laptops had an internal source of light, which meant that we had to shuffle lamps and tables in our hotel rooms to have the screen lighten up. Sometimes we could only type in the bathroom. Getting a connection to the newspaper computer was an adventure in itself. These days of heroic reporting were already over when I first met Hanon Russell in 1991. Technological progress had done its beneficial work, but I don't think that Hanon at that time was already contemplating opening his cybercafe.

by Hans Ree

In New in Chess I had written an article about the catalogue of his big collection of chess memorabilia. It provoked a lengthy answer by Hanon in which he put me right on a few things he thought I had gotten wrong and invited me to a guided tour of the collection itself, at his home in Milford, Connecticut. I gratefully accepted the invitation. Hanon proved a lively, entertaining and generous host, but there was something which as a European I considered very quaint at the time. When I wanted to smoke I was directed outside to the porch. It was not the last time for me to notice that

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Hanon tends to adopt a seignorial manner in his domain, be it the ChessCafe or his home. Through the years, before and after my joining his ChessCafe, we kept meeting in person if there was an opportunity, and the last time was in April 2000 in New York. We walked the streets, me having some trouble catching up with Hanon's brisk pace, and paused a while on Times Square, where Hanon studied the lighted banners that showed the latest results of the stock exchange. Maybe inspired by these figures he told me that he considered giving up his law practice to spend all his time on the chess business. I was shocked. To me giving up a successful law practice to publish and sell chess books seemed a sure way to self-destruction. I refrained from saying so at the time, but I was reminded of a story from Arnold Denker and Larry Parr's book The Bobby Fischer I Knew. It was about the chess hustler George Treysman and the way he had lured a respectable and happily married shop owner called Jack Richardson into chess and to his doom. Addicted to chess, Richardson came to lose his business, his wife and his respectable appearance. One day, when a ratty-looking Richmond slouched into the New York Chess & Checkers Club, better known as The Fleahouse, Treysman said proudly to a friend: “See that guy? I made him into a chessplayer!” I wondered if I and my fellow ChessCafe columnists were doing to Hanon what Treysman had been doing to Richardson. Happily my fears proved to be entirely unfounded. Later that afternoon we met Bruce Pandolfini. I knew he was a celebrity in American chess circles and a very successful teacher. After a pleasant walk in Washington Park, where Bruce was indeed greeted as a celebrity by the regulars of the chess corner, I dared to ask him a question that was burning in my mind: what were his rates? The exchange that followed has been related by Hanon himself in his article A Walk in the Park in the Skittles Room. Bruce hesitated before he answered, so that I wondered if my question had been rude. Then he said: “Actually I am JewishItalian.” What kind of answer was that? Hanon rescued me: “Not your race, Bruce. Hans is asking for your teaching rates.” The answer to that was quickly supplied: $250 per hour, and many prospective pupils had to be disappointed, as he only wanted to teach for 15 hours in a week. I was impressed. How did he do it, persuading people to spend such money on chess lessons? Bruce smiled and said “I think there is something in my manners that makes people say ‘yes’.” This was probably true, as he was indeed a friendly and engaging character. I realised what I would probably say to someone who wanted lessons from me: file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [10/24/2004 11:52:41 AM]

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“Well, of course I realise that $50 per hour is a lot of money and there is no guarantee at all that my teaching will do you any good, but if you really insist we might try.” There is something to my attitude that makes people say ‘no’. More than a bit jealous I managed to say that I was quite pleased to find that there was so much money in chess and that Bruce's ability to make it flow his way was an encouragement to us all. Of course this was the simple truth. There is more money in chess than I sometimes imagine. In later years I was to find that my fears that Hanon would go the way of Treysman's Richardson had been ridiculous. The ChessCafe is a flourishing enterprise and I am proud and happy to be part of it. A few days ago Hanon e-mailed me to suggest that I might elaborate a bit on things discussed in the interview – that is now posted in the Skittles Room – and present my game against Leonid Stein which I mentioned there, with some good notes. A flattering and pleasing proposal, but while playing over that old game I realised that it hardly needs notes. A Sämisch King's Indian, White opens the h-file, makes the thematic sacrifice of a Knight on f5 and the thing is done. It's self-explanatory, as Bobby Fischer used to say. I do still like the game, so here it is anyway. Hans Ree -Leonid Stein, Amsterdam IBM I, 1969 1. c2•c4 g7•g6 2. Nb1•c3 Bf8•g7 3. d2•d4 Ng8•f6 4. e2•e4 d7•d6 5. f2•f3 b7•b6 6. Bf1•d3 e7•e5 7. d4•d5 Nf6•h5 8. Ng1•e2 0•0 9. Bc1•e3 Nb8•d7 10. Qd1•d2 a7•a5 11. Bd3•c2 Nd7•c5 12. g2•g4 Nh5•f4 13. Ne2xf4 e5xf4 14. Be3xf4 Bc8•a6 15. h2 •h4 Ba6xc4 16. Bf4•h6 Bg7xh6 17. Qd2xh6 b6•b5 18. h4•h5 Qd8•e7 19. Qh6•e3 b5•b4 20. Nc3•d1 c7•c6 21. d5xc6 Ra8•c8 22. Qe3•d4 Bc4•b5 23. Nd1•e3 Bb5xc6 24. Ra1•d1 Nc5•e6 25. Qd4•d2 Qe7•f6 26. h5xg6 h7xg6 27. Ke1•f2 Rf8 •d8 28. Ne3•f5 g6xf5 29. g4xf5 Bc6•d7 30. Rd1 •g1+ Ne6•g7 31. Bc2•b3 a5•a4 32. Bb3•d5 b4 •b3 33. a2xb3 a4xb3 34. Bd5xb3 Kg8•f8 35. Rh1•h8+ Kf8•e7 36. Rh8•h6 Ng7•e8 37. Rh6xf6 Ne8xf6 38. Rg1•g7 Bd7•e8 39. Qd2 •d4 Rc8•c5 40. f3•f4 Nf6•h5 and as the time control had been made, Black resigned. However, it is more in the spirit of this column to present a game by a different player. Some visitors to ChessCafe.com may have wondered how good a chessplayer the proprietor is himself. In some café's this is a closely guarded secret. It is not absolutely necessary that the boss plays well himself, but in fact ours does. Here is a game played in a weekend tournament in July 2003 against FM David Vigorito. Note the brisk pace of the attack, as resolute as the way he walked the New York streets. file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [10/24/2004 11:52:41 AM]

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Hanon Russell -David Vigorito, US 2003 1. Ng1•f3 d7•d5 2. g2•g3 Ng8•f6 3. Bf1•g2 c7•c6 4. d2•d3 Nb8•d7 5. 0•0 e7•e5 6. e2•e4 d5xe4 7. d3xe4 Bf8•c5 8. Qd1•e2 0•0 9. Nb1•c3 b7•b5 10. a2•a3 a7•a5 11. Bc1•e3 Bc8•a6 12. b2•b4 Bc5•d6 13. Rf1•d1 Qd8•e7 14. Qe2•d2 Bd6•c7 15. Nf3 •h4 g7•g6 16. Be3•h6 Rf8•d8 17. Nh4•f5 Qe7•e6 18. Qd2•g5 Nf6•h5 19. Bg2•h3 f7•f6 20. Qg5•h4 Qe6•c4 21. Rd1•d3 Nd7•f8 22. Ra1•d1 a5xb4 23. a3xb4 Rd8xd3 24. Rd1xd3 Ra8•d8 25. Rd3•f3 Qc4xb4 26. Nf5•g7 Qb4•e7 27. Ng7xh5 g6xh5 28. Rf3xf6 Bc7•d6 29. Bh6•g5 Qe7•g7 30. Rf6•h6 b5•b4 31. Rh6xh5 Nf8•g6 32. Bh3•e6+ Kg8 •f8 33. Qh4•g4 b4xc3 34. Bg5•h6 Qg7xh6 35. Qg4•f5+ Kf8•g7 36. Qf5•f7+ Black resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Roel's Gambit In the chess shop I asked for the recently published book about the Sicilian with 2. a3 and the bookseller said: “Ah, the Van Duijn gambit.” In a way he was better informed than the author, grandmaster Alexei Bezgodov, for in his book Challenging the Sicilian with 2. a3!? he shows no sign that he is aware of Van Duijn's existence.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

In the Netherlands Roel van Duijn is well-known, not as a chessplayer, but as a politician. In 1965 he was one of the founders of the Provo movement, a playful and vaguely anarchist group that was to gain a seat in the Amsterdam City Council with the slogan “Vote Provo for better weather.” Later he founded the Orange Freestate and the Goblin Party and nowadays he is active for the Green Party. In different groups and political parties he always remained a gentle and inventive radical. I can vouch for his early interest in the Sicilian with 2. a3, for in the 60s I played a chess match with him. Roel had already reached some national prominence. I was only a chessplayer. He lived with a beautiful girlfriend in the heart of Amsterdam, I lived with my parents in a suburb. To make up for my arrears in life I could beat Roel in the match. It seems that in the Soviet Union there was often mention of a Russian inventor named Popov to whom mankind was supposed to owe the radio, the electric light and many other conveniences. In chess it was the same. In the West we had our Tartakower variation of the Queen's Gambit, but in the Soviet Union this was called the Bondarevsky-Makogonov variation. We had our Pirc opening, they had the Ufimzev opening, and so on. Bezgodov does not suggest at all that he invented the variation with 2. a3 or that it should be called after him, but nevertheless I fear that the connection of Van Duijn's name with the gambit, which is firmly established in the Netherlands and in Germany, is now in danger in the English-speaking part of the world.

by Hans Ree

Roel himself had noticed that too. He had bought Bezgodov's book and told me that he had studied it on his way home on his bicycle and noticed some grave lacunae, especially when it came to mentioning his name. No wonder that Amsterdam cyclists are feared as dangerous desperadoes. But apart from his risky behaviour in traffic, he was right: “Doesn't Bezgodov know my games, from the junior championship of The Hague in 1958 till now? Or my

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articles in Schakend Nederland and Schaaknieuws?” Apparently not. White's second move 2. a3 is of course not yet a gambit, but the preparation for it. After 1. e4 c5 2. a3 Nc6 (or 2...e6) White plays 3. b4 and if Black accepts the pawn sacrifice White gets good chances. White's problems are connected with other variations. In blitz games with Roel I almost invariably played 2...g6. He thinks this is Black's best move and Bezgodov has a high opinion of it also. Just as in the variations where Black accepts the pawn sacrifice, the way these two experts continue White's play is quite different. Here are two of my blitz games with Roel. I wouldn't have remembered them, but he published them (only the opening moves) in his article in Schaaknieuws in 1994.

Van Duijn-Ree 1. e4 c5 2. a3 g6 3. Bc4 Bg7 4. Nc3 Nc6 5. Nge2 e6 6. 0-0 Nge7 7. Ba2 d5 8. exd5 exd5 9. Nf4 d4? A question mark from Roel, but he is too severe. 10. Ne4 0-0 11. d3 b6 12. Qf3 Bb7 13. Qh3 Qc8? Question mark from me. After 13...Ne5 Black is OK. 14. Ne6 White won the exchange and the game. One tends to overlook the power of Ba2, wellhidden in a distant corner. In a later game I played more ambitiously as Black: 7...b6 8. d3 Bb7 9. f4 f5

10. Ng3 Nd4 11. Nce2 h5 followed by h5-h4h3 and eventually Black won. In Schaaknieuws Roel suggested 10. e5 as an improvement, writing that 10...g5? (his question mark) would be answered by 11. d4, but I don't see why this would be so good for White. Another suggested improvement for White was 9. Be3, though after 9...d5 Black has quite a decent game. In general I find it difficult to judge the worth

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of his manoevre Bf1-c4-a2. When Black plays e6, White's bishop bites on granite, but on the other hand, Black would like to play with his d-pawn or f-pawn or even with both, and if he does so White's bishop becomes active again. Bezgodov has a completely different way of handling White's position. One of his main lines is 1. e4 c5 2. a3 g6 3. b4 Bg7 4. Nc3 d6 5. g3, when we get a rather normal Closed Sicilian with an early b4, which is probably not bad. Bezgodov claims a small advantage for White, but I see no reason why this would be better for White than the usual lines of the Closed Sicilian. What to do then? Those who cannot reconcile themselves to the sober insight that Black should be able to reach equality after 2. a3, might try 1. e4 c5 2. a3 g6 3. h4 and hope that after the natural 3...h5 the insertion of these pawn moves might help White, though I don't think it does. Bezgodov is so enthusiastic about 2. a3 that he makes it appear as if the move guarantees an advantage for White in every variation. It must be said that he backs up his opinions with highly interesting variations. Roel van Duijn is more moderate. In 1994 he wrote: “2. a3, such a goblin-like little move, is an important and still too much neglected challenge to the Sicilian.” That's about right, I think. As an illustration of Bezgodov's aggressive style, here is an excerpt of one of his analyses. 1. e2•e4 c7•c5 2. a2•a3 e7•e6 3. b2•b4 c5xb4 4. a3xb4 Bf8xb4 5. Bc1•b2 Van Duijn always played 5. c3 followed by 6. d4, which seems quite promising also. Bezgodov rejected this positional line in favor of a direct attack, his trademark throughout the book. 5...Ng8•f6 6. e4•e5 Nf6•d5 7. c2•c4 Nd5•b6 8. Ra1•a3 A nice exchange sacrifice. If Black accepts with 8...Bxa3 Bezgodov wants to play 9. Bxa3 d5 10. Nc3 a6 11. Qg4. 8...0•0 This is asking for trouble, though Bezgodov calls the move logical. 9. Ra3•g3 Kg8•h8 10. Bf1•d3 h7•h6 There was already a threat of 11. Rxg7 Kxg7 12. Qg4+ Kh8 13. Qh5 11. Qd1•g4 Rf8•g8 12. Rg3•h3 Bb4•e7 13. Qg4•e4 g7•g6 14. Qe4•e3 Be7•g5 15. f2•f4 Bg5•h4+ 16. g2•g3 Bh4•e7 17. Rh3xh6+ Kh8•g7

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The opening analysis could end here, for White is clearly better, but Bezgodov likes to analyse till mate and here he does it with a beautiful rook sacrifice. 18. h2•h4 Kg7xh6 19. f4•f5+ Kh6•g7 20. f5 •f6+ Be7xf6 21. e5xf6+ Kg7•f8 22. Qe3•h6+ Kf8•e8 23. h4•h5 g6xh5 24. Rh1xh5 d7•d5 25. Qh6•g7 Another beautiful move. After 25...Rxg7 White wins by 26. fxg7 Kd7 27. Rh8 25...Ke8•d7 26. Qg7xf7+ Kd7•c6 27. Ng1•f3 Nb6xc4 28. Bd3xc4 d5xc4 29. Nf3•e5+ Kc6•b6 30. Ne5xc4+ Kb6•c6 31. Qf7•h7 Nb8•d7 32. Qh7•e4+ Kc6•c7 33. Qe4•f4+ e6•e5 34. Bb2xe5+ Nd7xe5 35. Qf4xe5+ Kc7•d7 36. Rh5•h7+ Kd7•c6 37. f6•f7 And here Bezgodov's opening analysis ends. White wins.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Bulletin Board] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Forgotten Master During the tournament in Semmering-Baden in 1937, which had Keres, Fine, Capablanca, Reshevsky and Flohr among its participants, the Latvian player Vladimir Petrov wrote a letter to his wife in which he begged her to join him. Because of her absence he had already lost two points, which amounted to a loss of 2 x 30 lati (the monetary unit of Latvia) in point money, which would have covered the cost of her trip fom Riga to Austria (one way).

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

I may seem illogical of Petrov to ask his wife to spend money on travel which he had not earned but lost, but one can imagine a domestic pre-tournament quarrel: “Please, come with me!” said Vladimir. “But it's so expensive!” said his wife. Then during the tournament Vladimir proved in his letter that her absence was at least as expensive as a train ticket. Later in the letter he asked her to borrow the money for the trip and then told her that he had lost 70 lati in the casino, maybe as another incitement to come and join him and have a firm hand on the communal purse.

The Human Comedy of Chess

From this letter we learn something about the point money for non-prize winners in an elite tournament in 1937 - a point would earn a ticket from Riga halfway to Vienna - and also about the relation between Petrov and his wife, which seems to have been rather good. Many a husband would hesitate to ask his wife to borrow money to join him and saying that he himself had squandered such money in the casino, almost in the same sentence. The letter is quoted in a small book recently published by Caissa Editions, Vladimirs Petrovs, A chessplayer's story from greatness to the Gulags.

by Hans Ree

As can be seen, the author, Andris Fride, uses the Latvian form of Petrov's names, with an s at the end, insisting that this is the only proper form. He writes: “The name 'Petrov' is common in Russia and therefore, to use that only made it easier to hide his disappearance and non-person status. We also like his proper name in pride for his nationality and in defiance of the bestial Soviet system which took his life as part of its indifference to human suffering and common decency.” Petrov had a Russian father and his mother was of mixed Russian/Latvian descent. He was born in Riga in 1908, when the city was part of the Russian empire. I don't think that he himself would have found the Russian form 'Petrov' improper.

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Fride is obviously a Latvian nationalist, who at the end of his book seems to express a regret that the Russians who settled in Latvia after World War II cannot be thrown out of the country because of modern conceptions of human rights. It must be said that the history of Latvia gives ample reason for nationalism. Petrov's last appearance to defend the colors of an independent Latvia was at the Buenos Aires Olympiad in 1939. On first board he made the fine score of +8 =11 0 against opponents that included Alekhine, Keres and Capablanca. During the Olympiad war broke out in Europe. An adventurous return trip lasted five weeks, after which the team arrived safely in Latvia, where Petrov in an interview could supply the curious information that the spectators in Buenos Aires had been so enthousiastic that occasionally they had to be sprayed with fire hoses to calm down. In 1940 the Soviet Union invaded the Baltic States. Petrov became a Soviet citizen, taking part in Russian tournaments. Apparently he had to endure the attacks that were commonly directed at people whose loyalty to the system was not 100 percent certain. Fride mentions accusations in the Latvian press that Petrov was self-centered, too big for his boots, that his success went to his head and his drinking was uncontrolled, that he played for money and didn't repay his debts and that he regretted the Soviets taking control of Latvia. Such accusations could be murderous at that time. In 1941, while Petrov was playing in Russia, German troops entered Latvia, where his wife and daughter lived. Petrov wanted to return home, but he couldn't cross the German-Soviet front and had to stay in Russia. His last tournament was Sverdlovsk 1942. Then he was arrested and no information about his fate was provided. After the war his wife travelled to the Siberian camps to find out what had happened to her husband and even settled in that region for ten years. But only in 1989, at the time of Gorbachev's perestroika, she was informed that Vladimir had died of lung inflammation and malnutrition in a camp in 1943. He had been arrested August 31, 1942, because he had expressed annoyance for the decreasing living standards in Latvia after the Soviet occupation. In 1989 Petrov was 'rehabilitated', the cynical term that was used for the victims of repression. For almost half a century Petrov's name could not be mentioned in the Soviet chess press and this may be a reason that also in the West his name is half-forgotten. Apart from the Buenos Aires Olympiad he had his best result in 1937 in Kemeri, a Latvian resort town near the Baltic coast. Petrov shared first place with Flohr and Reshevsky, ahead of Alekhine, Keres and Fine.

Vladimir Petrov • Reuben Fine, Kemeri 1937 1. e2•e4 Ng8•f6 2. e4•e5 Nf6•d5 3. d2•d4 d7•d6 4. c2•c4 Nd5•b6 5. f2•f4 d6xe5 6. f4xe5 Nb8•c6 7. Bc1•e3 Bc8•f5 8. Nb1•c3 e7•e6 9. Ng1•f3 Nc6•b4 10. Ra1•c1 file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [12/20/2004 4:26:01 PM]

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c7•c5 11. Bf1•e2 Bf8•e7 12. 0•0 0•0 13. a2•a3 c5xd4 14. Nf3xd4 Nb4•c6 15. Nd4xf5 e6xf5 16. Rf1xf5 g7•g6 17. Rf5•f1 Now if Black would regain his pawn immediately by 17...Nxe5, White would have an excellent game with his two bishops. 17..Be7•g5 So he wants to exchange a pair of bishops first. 18. Be3•c5 But White won't let him and rather sacrifices the exchange. 18..Rf8-e8 Black doesn't accept the sacrifice and indeed after 18...Bxc1 19. Qxc1 White would have good attacking chances against the king. 19. Qd1xd8 Ra8xd8 20. Rc1•d1 Rd8•d2 21. Rd1xd2 Bg5xd2 22. Bc5•d6 Bd2xc3 23. b2xc3 Nc6xe5 A sharp endgame. White's bishops might become strong, but his pawns are weak. 24. c4•c5 Nb6•d5 25. Rf1•c1 Re8•e6 26. Be2 •f1 a7•a6 27. Rc1•b1 b7•b5 28. c5xb6 A piece sacrifice that with correct play should have lead to a draw. 28....Re6xd6 29. b6•b7 Ne5•c6 30. c3•c4 Once again he plays the sharpest move. 30. h8Q would have lead to a draw. Strangely Max Euwe, quoted by Andris Fride, called 30. c4 a much stronger move than the drawing move 30. h8Q, while later he indicated a variation that would give Black a clear advantage. Logically between 'much better for White than a drawing move' and 'a clear advantage for Black' there should be a move by White that is criticized, but it is not to be found. Maybe it's there in Euwe's original analysis, which I haven't seen. 30...Nd5•e3 31. Rb1•b6 Threatening 32. Rxc6 or 32. b8Q, but Black can just defend himself. 31...Rd6•d1 With the threat of mate. 32. Kg1•f2 Rd1xf1+ 33. Kf2xe3 Nc6•b8 34. Rb6•d6 Rf1•e1+ 35. Ke3•d4 I think that after 35. Kf2 - an unpleasantly passive move that of course was never White's intention when he sacrificed his piece - it would still be a draw. But now Black could have gotten a clear advantage.

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35...Kg8•f8 A fatal mistake. Euwe indicated the right defense: 35...Kg7 36. c5 Re7 37. c6 Nxc6 38. Rxc6 Rxb7 39. Rxa6 Rb2 with good winning chances for Black. 36. Rd6•d8+ Re1•e8 37. Rd8•c8 Now Black is helpless. 37...Kf8•e7 38. Kd4•d5 Re8•d8+ 39. Rc8xd8 Ke7xd8 40. Kd5•d6 Black resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Menashe A small book that appeared in 2001 at the occasion of the twentieth anniversary of the Amsterdam chess café Gambiet had the title Eerste indruk: rechtsomkeert, which can be translated as First Impression: Turn Around and Leave. And indeed, the premises of Gambiet are far from the splendors of the Café de la Régence, where Voltaire, Diderot and Rousseau played chess, or Simpson's Divan. Through the years the walls of Gambiet have turned from white to yellow to brown and the furniture is ramshackle, but the music is classical and chess is played there with passion and often with great expertise, for many masters are regular visitors.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

It took me some effort not to write the preceding lines in the past tense, so connected is Gambiet with its owner and founder Menashe Goldberg, who died on Friday January 7. He was born in 1939 in Poland, which was not a good time and place for a Jewish child to be born. Recently I learned from his friend Yochanan Afek, who is an Israeli citizen but lives in Amsterdam, how Menashe survived the war. The Germans had worked out a scheme to exchange prisoners. In Palestine, which at that time was under British Mandate, lived a few hundred German colonists - not Jews but Christians -, who had become enemy citizens under British rule. They were to be exchanged for Jews from the countries under German occupation. This way Menashe arrived in 1942 in what was to become the state of Israel, together with his mother and an older brother. His father had already been murdered in Poland by German troops. During the sixties he settled in Amsterdam, where he came more or less by accident. The Israeli computer company for which he worked had told him to take a leave for some period, to restore tranquility at the firm. With a few friends Menashe went by boat to Cyprus. Maybe these friends also came to prefer tranquility. Anyway, Menashe went on alone to Amsterdam, where he knew a friend.

by Hans Ree

He stayed in the Netherlands, found a new job at a computer company and didn't like it. Chess was his great passion and in 1981 he opened his chess café at Bloemgracht. This is in the heart of old Amsterdam, in the quarter called Jordaan, close to the Anne Frank museum and the Westerkerk, Amsterdam’s biggest and most famous church. In another jubilee booklet, produced in 1991, it was calculated that during the first ten years he must have played some 30.000 games in his café.

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These jubilee booklets show that since the days of Voltaire and Diderot the connection between the chess café and literature has been preserved, for they contain contributions from poets and literary translators who are quite prominent in the Netherlands. As far as I know Menashe himself wrote only one article in his life, which started with the sentence: “I was just sitting down at the board, comes the famous swindler Rolf Schreuder and says: ‘Side bet?’” It is a strong sentence that suggest that he should have written more often. Significantly, the article was in English, after he had been living in Amsterdam for more than thirty years. For Menashe, integration in society was something the Dutch cheese-heads should do at his place, not the other way around. He liked to talk about “Gambiet atmosphere” and “the family” of Gambiet and he was a loving but stern family father, who considered quarreling to be the royal way to a candid human relation. Since his youth his health had been bad. He had a heart problem and long ago he had been told by doctors that he would only reach the age of fifty, which in fact he exceeded by fifteen years. In 2001 a speaker at the celebration of the café's twentieth anniversary said that Menashe, by cleverly delegating all workaday routines, had managed to reduce his own duties to practically nothing: “To reduce life to drinking, smoking and chess, truly a unique accomplishment.” At a celebration party this may sound nicer than it is in real life. Till the end of his life Menashe kept playing chess; in his own café, in the Senior Championship of the Amsterdam Chess Federation and in opens abroad, most often at the islands Jersey and Guernsey. But it was becoming more and more difficult for him and with his deteriorating health he became ever more combative. After descending from his living quarters above the café he used to do the rounds along the chess tables, insulting all clients in turn, hoping for a row to produce the adrenaline that would make him feel still partly alive. “They learn that at the hotel school,” said a customer at one such occasion. “A good host visits all the tables and has a personal word for all guests.” Menashe could be combative, but his customers were not shy with words either. Even those who had been given a life-long interdiction to visit his café were present at Menashe's funeral. There was much talk about the uncertain future of the only real chess café in Amsterdam. And the famous Open Championship of Jordaan, that was held there every year, would that survive? Let's hope for the best. Menashe Goldberg • Alan Quant, Saint Helier Open, Jersey 1997 1. e2•e4 c7•c5 2. Nb1•c3 d7•d6 3. f2•f4 a7•a6 4. Ng1•f3 Nb8•c6 5. Bf1•c4 e7•e6 6. a2•a3 Bf8•e7 7. 0•0 b7•b5 8. Bc4•a2 Qd8•c7 9. d2•d3 Ng8•f6 10. Bc1•d2 0•0 11. Ra1•c1 Bc8•b7 12. Qd1•e1 Rf8•e8 13. Qe1•g3 Be7•f8 14. f4•f5 With simple and natural attacking moves White has already obtained a clear advantage. 14...Nc6•d8 15. f5xe6 f7xe6 16. Nf3•g5 Kg8•h8 17. Qg3•h4 h7•h6 18. Ng5•h3 Nf6•h7 19. Qh4•h5 Re8•e7 20. Nh3•f4 Kh8•g8 21. Qh5•g6 Here White could file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 3) [01/23/2005 10:22:54 AM]

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have gained a decisive material advantage by 21. Ncd5 exd5 22. Nxd5 Bxd5 23. Qxd5+, winning Black's rook. However not much is lost by missing this chance, for Black will not be able to withstand White's methodical build-up of forces against the king. 21...c5•c4 22. Nf4•h5 Kg8•h8 23. Rf1•f3 Nd8•f7 24. d3•d4 Bb7•c6 25. Rc1•f1 Bc6•e8 26. Ba2•b1 Preparing to have his bishop join the attack. 26...Ra8•d8 27. Nc3•e2 a6•a5 The only way to avoid the decisive intervention of White's bishop was 27...e5, though Black would be lost anyway. 28. e4•e5 c4•c3 29. Ne2xc3 d6xe5 30. Nc3xb5 Be8xb5 31. c2 •c4 Now that White's bishop is freed Black will be mated within a few moves. 31...Nf7•g5 32. Bd2xg5 Nh7•f6 33. Nh5xf6 g7xf6 34. Bg5xf6+ Black resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2004 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Two Sad Knights and a Valiant One One of the chessclubs in the holy village Wijk aan Zee, where the Corus tournament is held every year, bears the name Het Paard van Ree, Ree's Knight. The name was chosen, many years ago, not to honor but to mock me, being inspired by a move I made that still fills me with disgust. In 1970 I played a game in Wijk aan Zee against the Finnish grandmaster Heikki Westerinen.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Hans Ree • Heikki Westerinen, Wijk aan Zee, 1970 1. d2•d4 Ng8•f6 2. c2•c4 g7•g6 3. Nb1•c3 Bf8•g7 4. e2•e4 d7•d6 5. f2•f3 0•0 6. Bc1•e3 Nb8•c6 7. Ng1•e2 Rf8•e8 8. Qd1•d2 Ra8•b8 9. a2•a3 a7•a6 10. b2•b4 Nf6•d7 11. Ra1•d1 b7•b5 12. c4xb5 a6xb5 13. d4•d5 Nc6•e5 14. Ne2•d4 Nd7•b6 15. Bf1xb5 Bc8•d7 16. Qd2•e2 Rb8•a8 17. Rd1•a1 e7•e6 18. d5xe6 f7xe6 19. 0•0 c7•c6 20. Bb5•a6 c6•c5 21. b4xc5 d6xc5 22. Nd4•c2 Ra8xa6 23. Qe2xa6 Ne5•c4 24. Be3xc5 Bg7xc3 25. Ra1•b1 Bc3•a5 26. Qa6•a7 Qd8•g5 27. Bc5•d4 Re8•a8 28. Qa7•b7 Nc4•d6 29. Qb7•c7 Nd6•b5 30. Qc7•e5 Qg5xe5 31. Bd4xe5 Nb6•c4 32. Be5•f4 Nb5•c3 33. Rb1•b8+ Ra8xb8 34. Bf4xb8 Bd7•a4 Westerinen has outplayed me both in the opening and in the middlegame. After 35. Nb4 Nxa3 White's position would be bad, but resistance would still be possible. Instead I played the horrible 35. Nc2•a1 and the Knight would stay there till the end of the game, which came soon. 35...Nc3•d1 36. Bb8•f4 Ba5•b6+ 37. Kg1•h1 Nd1•f2+ 38. Kh1•g1 Nf2xe4+ 39. Kg1•h1 Ne4 •f2+ 40. Kh1•g1 Nf2•d3+ 41. Kg1•h1 Nd3xf4 42. Rf1•c1 Nc4•e3 43. Rc1•c8+ Kg8•g7 44. Rc8•a8 Ba4•d1 45. a3•a4 Ne3xg2 46. a4•a5 Bd1xf3 White resigned.

by Hans Ree

The local chessplayers had so much fun with my Knight on a1 that they named their club after it, so that I would be reminded of it till the end of my days. By the way, though Heikki Westerinen is a gentle person who wouldn't harm a soul except by beating him in chess, he was involved in two events that were traumatic

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for me. The first one you have just seen. Eight years later, at the olympiad in Buenos Aires in 1978, I broke my leg during a party in Heikki's hotel room, which taught me that moderate drinking during a stressful tournament may be alright, but that one shouldn't try to keep up with the Finnish. The party went on, while I was lying on the floor, unable to move. One of the merrymakers still had the presence of mind to call the captain of the Dutch team Frans Kuijpers, who had gone to sleep much earlier, but immediately came to rescue me. He knocked at the door and was let in by Heikki, who said: “Of course it is terrible what happened here, but what do you want to drink?” First things first. A traumatic event, such as my move 35. Na1, may sharpen the eye. I noticed that this year in Group C of the Corus tournament in the game Jonkman - Zhukova a white Knight was exiled to a1 for 14 moves. Contrary to my own Knight it managed to come back into the game, but only when it was already too late. I think the pranksters of the Wijk aan Zee chessclub should go with the times and rename their club after a young and fresh grandmaster, Het Paard van Jonkman, Jonkman's Knight. After these two Knights of the mournful countenance, it is refreshing to see a game from the Corus tournament in which the inimitable Alexander Morozevich sent his Knight on a long journey, Ng8-e7-f5-g7-e6-c5-e4-f2, to deliver a crushing blow.

Ivan Sokolov • Alexander Morozevich, Wijk aan Zee 2005 1. d2•d4 d7•d5 2. c2•c4 e7•e5 This dubious gambit came as no surprise to Sokolov, for Morozevich had already used it last year to beat Gelfand. 3. d4xe5 d5•d4 4. Ng1•f3 Nb8•c6 5. Nb1•d2 Sokolov avoids the main line that starts with 5. g3 5...Ng8•e7 6. Nd2•b3 Ne7•f5 7. a2•a3 Bf8•e7 8. g2•g3 a7•a5 9. Qd1•d3 a5•a4 10. Nb3•d2 h7•h5 11. Bf1•h3 g7•g6 12. Nd2•e4 h5•h4

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One is reminded of Bent Larsen, who often pushed his a- and h-pawns at the first opportunity. White should play 13. g4 now, after which Black would have very little compensation for his pawn. 13. Bc1•f4 h4xg3 14. h2xg3 Nf5•g7 Black could regain his pawn by 14...Nxg3. Why didn't he do it? The only reason I can think of is that Morozevich always disdains the obvious. 15. Bh3•g2 Rh8xh1+ 16. Bg2xh1 Bc8•f5 17. Nf3•g5 Nc6•a5 18. Qd3•f3 Ng7•e6 19. Ng5•h7 Both players vie for originality, but White's Knight will stay here till the end of the game, when it will be trapped. 19...Bf5xe4 20. Qf3xe4 c7•c6 White's pieces are badly coordinated, but after the normal move 21. Rc1 he might still be alright. 21. e2•e3 A strange move. White must have missed something, but what? 21...Na5•b3 22. Ra1•d1 Qd8•a5+ 23. Ke1•e2 Ne6•c5 Black's pieces jump out of their boxes and White is lost. 24. Qe4•g2 Qa5•a6 25. Ke2•f1 Qa6xc4+ 26. Kf1•g1 Qc4•c2 27. Qg2•f3 d4•d3 28. Bf4•g5 Nc5•e4 29. Bg5xe7 29...Ne4xf2 30. Qf3xf2 Qc2xd1+ 31. Kg1•g2 Qd1•c2 32. Be7•d6 0•0•0 33. Kg2•g1 Qc2xf2+ 34. Kg1xf2 Rd8•h8 White resigned.

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Please come back, Garry! Just before the end of the Linares tournament everything still looked fine. Friedrich Friedl, director of Chessbase, arrived there on the day of the twelfth round and met Garry Kasparov at the Hotel Anibal. “So, how are you feeling, Garry?” With a wry smile he answered: “Like an old man, Fred, trying to keep up with these energetic young Turks.” He had just won an elegant miniature against Adams. With two rounds to go, the best of the young Turks were 1½ points behind him.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

I was reminded of the classic poker movie The Cincinnati Kid (1965). Steve McQueen plays the young hero who yearns to be recognised as the best poker player in New Orleans. For that he has to beat the old champion, a role played by Edward G. Robinson. The old champion is known as ‘The Man’. The man to beat. The old poker player wins the decisive hand. He says: “You're good, kid, real good. But as long as I am around, you're still second best. You might as well learn to live with it.” It seemed as if Kasparov would be able to say this to the young Turks of chess for a long time to come. But apparently even at that fine moment after the twelfth round, when he was far ahead of all his rivals, Kasparov had already decided to announce his retirement. There is no reason to doubt this. As long ago as 1996, after winning a supertournament in Las Palmas, he had already hinted at a retirement. True, he did it by saying that it was not yet time for that and that he wanted his young son to be able to see him on the stage in the future. Nevertheless it seemed strange that at the age of 33 he would even consider a break with serious chess. I would have wanted him to play the noble role of The Man for a long time to come, but alas for the chessworld, it's politics now that provides him a challenge.

by Hans Ree

He always liked to paint with a big brush, in chess, in the study of history, where he embraced the ‘new chronology’ that denies the existence of the Greek and Roman civilisations, and also in politics. In the Wall Street Journal he wrote recently: “This is a time for ambition. Victory in Ukraine and the reshaping of the Middle East are only the latest symbols of how democracy is dominant in the world today economically, military, and morally. We must leverage this ascendancy to set a global agenda and end the era of complacency and concession that is embodied by the United Nations. In politics as in chess, or in the military or in business, when you have the advantage you must press it quickly - or lose it. For

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the first time in history, we are in a position to checkmate tyranny.” Here one is reminded of Emanuel Lasker, who during World War I wrote several newspaper articles in which he used the theories of Steinitz to demonstrate that Germany's victory was inevitable. Personally I am not in favor of the global agenda that Kasparov wants to be set, as it seems a recipe for what Gore Vidal called ‘perpetual war for perpetual peace’. What I think is not important, but what will Kasparov's Russian audience think of this global agenda? His efforts to defend the remnants of Russian democracy against Putin are certainly commendable, but how convincing can a Russian politician be who closely identifies with the fiercest hawks of the Bush administration? Better to have our own bully than an American one, Russian voters might think. Even Mig Greengard, a friend and admirer of Kasparov, wondered if Kasparov wanted to go into American politics instead of Russian. I think Kasparov's character is not quite suited for the handiwork of politics. Both in chess and in Russian politics, the organisations in which he played a role have collapsed in quarrels. He is what the Russians call a ‘maximalist’ and he always considered a compromise as a sign of weakness. In chess his maximalism gave fire and color to every tournament in which he played. Alas, no more. Chess is dead, said Hikaru Nakamura. All the squares are black, was the headline of an Argentine sports paper. There are two periods in chess, with and without Kasparov, wrote the Russian journalist Atarov. And though I am old enough to have seen chess flourishing before the rise of Kasparov, for the moment the chessworld seems bleak to me compared to two weeks ago. In Linares, FIDE champion Kasimdzhanov proved himself not yet equal to the heavyweights. In the second leg he was rather easily beaten by Topalov, the man he had surprisingly eliminated from the championship in Tripoli last year. At times of a big loss one tends to consider fruitless 'what if' scenarios. What if Topalov had not lost to Kasimdzhanov in Tripoli? In that case either he or Adams would have become the champion of FIDE. In both cases it would have been relatively easy to find the money for a match against Kasparov. No reason then for Kasparov to leave the field and find his challenges elsewhere. All would be well. Edward Winter has pointed out that several other famous players in the past announced their retirement or at least contemplated withdrawal: Botvinnik (in 1941), Capablanca (1924), Euwe (1933), Lasker (1931), Marshall (1909), Pillsbury (1901) and Steinitz (1891). They came back to do great things. To build our hope on historical analogies may be clutching at a feeble straw, but it is all we can do.

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Perils of the Sea Recently I read Wolfgang Kamm's biography Siegbert Tarrasch, Leben und Werk (Life and Work). Like Silman's book about Pal Benko and Forster's book about Amos Burn, it is a massive volume, of 887 pages this time. Kamm likes to digress on subjects that have only a vague connection with his main subject, but in spite of this we learn much about Tarrasch himself.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Tarrasch seems to have had a special and delicate relation with the sea. After winning the important tournament in Manchester in 1890 he attributed his success partly to the refreshing boat trip across the North Sea to England. Five years later, in Hastings 1895, the influence of the sea was less benign. During the first part of the tournament Tarrasch played badly, according to him because the balsamic marine air made him sleepy and completely unable to do mental work. When he had spotted the danger he kept away from the beach and finally reached a decent fourth place behind Pillsbury, Chigorin and Lasker. In 1908 however the sea finally had the better of Tarrasch, making an end to his ambitions to become world champion. The first four games of his title match against Lasker were played in the German city Düsseldorf, where Lasker took a 31 lead. Though Düsseldorf is more than a hundred miles away from the sea, Tarrasch blamed its 'marine climate' for his defeats. The sea giveth and the sea taketh away... A fresh breeze of marine air can be enjoyed at the yearly Sigeman tournament. The first five rounds are habitually played in the Swedish city Malmö, and then the tournament moves to a suburb of Copenhagen. In general chess events which move from one place to another are understandably unpopular with the players. At the great AVRO tournament in 1938 the foreign players complained bitterly about the constant traveling from one city to another. As with the matches between Alekhine and Euwe the Dutch organisers were forced to instate this traveling circus to meet the costs, as local chess lovers were contributing money for the privilege of watching their heroes in their home town for one round.

by Hans Ree Discomfort, if any, is very slight for the players in the Sigeman tournament, as they have only to cross the bridge over the Sont to move from Malmö to Copenhagen. Jan Timman has already taken part in this tournament seven times since 1997. Through rain and shine he has never attributed his results to the influence of the file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 5) [04/25/2005 8:24:37 AM]

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sea, though it seems he likes the marine northern climate. After the first part in Malmö Timman was leading with 4 out of 5, half a point ahead of Krishnan Sasikiran, Viorel Iordachescu and Hikaru Nakamura. Some commentators were surprised that the 'Dutch chess legend' was doing so well at the ripe old age of 53, but I was not. Timman went on to beat Iordachescu, who never recovered and scored only a halfpoint in the four games in Copenhagen. Against Nakamura Timman played a game that was quite typical for the young American fighter: a long battle until only the kings were left. Before the last round Timman and Sasikiran were sharing first place with 6 out of 8; Nakamura and Curt Hansen were one point behind. Timman was to play Sasikiran with white. A final shoot-out between the leaders is always eagerly awaited by the fans, but more often then not they are disappointed. What to do, sharing a guaranteed first prize with a quick draw, or going nobly for clear first with the risk of finishing second, tied with two other players? Before that last round I wondered what I would have done in such a situation (OK, dear critical reader, I know that could have occurred only in a tournament of a lighter caliber, but that's not the point.) Approach the opponent with a peace offer the evening before the last round? Probably not. I have done such things, but I never liked it. More likely I would have played about ten moves, then offered a draw and have the other guy consider if he wanted to play for a win at all cost with black. Timman and Sasikiran agreed to a draw after 11 moves. I had expected something like that, but this is the age of the internet, when chess lovers all over the world watch a tournament live and spill their wrath easily. “Pathetic,” wrote an angry reader of Chess Today. Timman must have considered that it was about time to show that he was not only a legend, but could still win tournaments. All through the event he played in a sensible and practical way, risk-free and beating the youngsters on technique in the endgame. Rather than these long technical games, I would like to present here a relatively short and adventurous game played by Tiger Hillarp Person from Sweden, whose play is generally as blood-thirsty as his Christian name. His opponent, the Dane Sune Berg Hansen, should not be confused with his compatriot Curt Hansen, who also took part in the tournament. Hillarp Persson • Hansen 13th Sigeman & Co 2005 1. d2•d4 Ng8•f6 2. c2•c4 e7•e6 3. Nb1•c3 Bf8•b4 4. e2•e3 0•0 5. Bf1•d3 c7•c5 6.

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Ng1•f3 d7•d5 7. 0•0 d5xc4 8. Bd3xc4 Nb8•d7 9. Qd1•e2 b7•b6 10. a2•a3 c5xd4 11. Nc3•b5 Bb4•e7 12. Nb5xd4 Bc8•b7 13. b2•b4 a7•a5 14. b4•b5 Qd8•c7 15. Bc1•b2 Ra8•c8 16. Ra1•c1 Qc7•b8 17. Rf1•d1 Be7•d6 18. h2•h3 Rf8•e8 19. Bc4 •a2 Bd6•c5 20. Ba2•b1 Qb8•a8 21. Nd4•c6 A remarkable pawn sacrifice which brings no immediate compensation. White will be able to move his pieces into the direction of black's king, that is all. 21...Bb7xc6 22. b5xc6 Qa8xc6 23. Rc1•c4 e6 •e5 24. Bb1•a2 Qc6•b7 25. Rc4•h4 Re8•e7 26. g2•g4 h7•h6 After this move white can develop an attack without risk. A sterner test of white's strategy seems to be 26...e4 with two possibilities: A. 27. Ng5 h6 28. Nxf7 Rxf7. Here I don't see a convincing follow-up of white's attack. B. 27. g5 exf3 28. Qd3 This way white regains his piece, but I don't think black has anything to fear, e.g. after after 28...Ne5. 27. g4•g5 h6xg5 28. Nf3xg5 Rc8•e8 29. Qe2•c2 Qb7•c7 Here also black could play 29...e4, with an unclear position. Now white has a nice combination. 30. Rd1xd7 Qc7xd7 Also after 30...Rxd7 white plays 31. Qg6, threatening to win black's queen with 32. Nxf7 Rxf7 33. Bxf7+ Qxf7 34. Rh8+. Black cannot prevent this with 31...Rf8 or 31...Ree7, because then 32. Rh7 decides. 31. Qc2•g6 Bc5xe3 Black misses white's main threat. The best defense was 31...Re6, though white is clearly better even after that move. 32. Rh4•h7 Now black can only give a few checks to delay the mate. 32...Be3xf2+ 33. Kg1•h2 Bf2•g1+ 34. Kh2•h1 Qd7•c6+ 35. Kh1xg1 Qc6•c5+ 36. Kg1•f1 Qc5•b5+ 37. Kf1•e1 Black resigned. Apart from Timman's fine performance a highlight of the tournament, at least for me, was the game Nakamura -Sasikiran from the 7th round, which started 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5. At last a top player has dared to try this provocative but quite sensible move. A few years ago I wrote an article for the Chesscafe, Jake, Joe and Garry, in which I quoted Nigel Short, who had written that Vladimir Kramnik had prepared the move 2. Qh5 to use against Kasparov, though only in blitz games. file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [04/25/2005 8:24:37 AM]

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I think it would have been quite effective, not because of the strength of the move, but because of its shock value. The cheek of it, trying to deliver a Scholar's Mate with a beginner's move to the greatest player of time. It would have been quite difficult for Kasparov to check his anger and regain his composure within the short time of a blitz game. But alas, it never happened. Kramnik had told Short that in the main variation after 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 g6 4. Qf3 Nf6 5. Ne2 he considered the position to be equal. At the time I thought that with Kramnik's sign of approval we would see this position more often, but it didn't happen, at least not in highlevel chess. Now Nakamura has tried it. Of course the shock value of 2. Qh5 is much less in a classical tournament game than in a blitz game. One cannot expect wonders from a surprise second move. Nakamura got what he could have expected: an equal position with only a slight pull. He lost the game not because of the opening, but because he didn't want to resign himself to a dull draw. Nakamura,H (2657) • Sasikiran, 13th Sigeman & Co 2005 1. e2•e4 e7•e5 2. Qd1•h5 Nb8•c6 3. Bf1•c4 g7•g6 4. Qh5•f3 Ng8•f6 5. Ng1•e2 Bf8•g7 6. Nb1•c3 d7•d6 7. d2•d3 Bc8•g4 8. Qf3•g3 Qd8•d7 9. f2•f3 Bg4•e6 10. Bc1•g5 Nf6•h5 11. Qg3•h4 h7•h6 12. Bg5•e3 Nc6•a5 13. Bc4•b3 Na5xb3 14. a2xb3 a7•a6 15. d3•d4 Qd7•e7 16. Qh4•f2 e5xd4 17. Be3xd4 Nh5•f6 18. 0•0•0 0 •0•0 19. Ne2•f4 Rh8•g8 20. Rh1•e1 Kc8•b8 21. Kc1•b1 g6•g5 22. Nf4•e2 A sign of things to come. White could have forced a draw here easily, but he wants to keep some play in the position. Further in the game he disdained equality again, until his position deteriorated into a loss.

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[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2005 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Baron Play Random Complete chess was the name they gave to the short match that was recently held in the Dutch city Maastricht between the strongest Dutch player Loek van Wely and the most promising youngster Daniel Stellwagen. Conservatives might call it complete madness. In my first column for ChessCafe.com, in July 1996, I wrote about The Encyclopedia of Chess Variants by D.B.Pritchard, an impressive reference work about hundreds of chess-related games. At the time I called them chess perversions, though many of these games were quite clever.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

As Pritchard pointed out, different chess versions could be combined. In Billiards Chess the pieces are deflected at the edges of the board, which makes Bh6-a3 a possible move, as the bishop is deflected at f8. In Progressive Chess white makes one move, then black makes two moves, white makes three moves and so on. Serious tournaments of Billiards Progressive Chess have been held. In Maastricht Kasparov's Advanced Chess was combined with a form of chess that resembles Fischer Random Chess, but in fact is much older. As in Advanced Chess, Van Wely and Stellwagen could make use of computers. Databases, chess engines, tablebases, everything. In the first two games of the match they played orthodox advanced chess, if one can use that expression, but the next two games saw a further step towards complete madness: advanced random chess. Though Fischer has added some special rules of his own, the concept of random chess is quite old. One of the first published games of random chess was played in 1851 in Baden-Baden by the Dutch Baron van der Hoeven and the German Baron von Heydebrand und der Lasa. The Germans have a saying that humanity starts with the baron and apparently shuffle chess started there too.

by Hans Ree

Van der Hoeven had borrowed the idea from his uncle Count Philip Julius van Zuylen van Nyevelt, who had invented shuffle chess in 1792. His version was used in the third and fourth game of the match between Van Wely and Stellwagen, with the difference of course that the Count had no computer assistence. Personally I think that if I would be subjected to the torture of advanced random chess, I would leave everything to the computers, but Van Wely and Stellwagen

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have more self-confidence. Stellwagen had won the 'orthodox advanced chess' part of the match with 1½-½ and he made the same score in the random games. The most interesting random game was the first one, which was drawn. Van Wely • Stellwagen Maastricht 2005

1. f2•f4 f7•f5 2. Na1•b3 Na8•b6 3. Nc1•d3 d7•d6 4. Qe1•g3 c7•c5 5. Nd3•e1 Manoevring the knight towards the king's side where it can take part in the attack is sensible in itself, but the fact that white finds himself forced to play such an unnatural move at this early stage shows the defects of this particular initial position. In fact most of these positions are what Kasparov called ‘poison to the eyes.’ 5...Nb6•d5 6. d2•d3 Nd5•f6 7. e2•e3 a7•a5 8. a2•a3 b7•b5 9. Nb3•d2 Nc8•b6 10. Ne1•f3 a5•a4 11. Nf3•g5 h7•h6 12. Qg3•h3 Qe8•d7 13. Nd2•f3 Bg8•d5 14. Nf3 •h4 Kh8•g8 15. Nh4•g6 Rf8•e8 16. Bd1•f3 An adventurous move. White sacrifices a piece. I think that even with computer help the consequences were incalculable.

16...e7•e6 He doesn't accept the sacrifice. After 16...hxg5 17. fxg5 Nh7 18. Bxd5 Nxd5 19. e5 Nb6 20. exf5 white would have a dangerous attack, though I am not sure if it would be sufficient.

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17. e3•e4 Bd5•b7 18. e4•e5 Nf6•d5 19. Bf3xd5 Nb6xd5 20. e5xd6 Nd5xf4 21. Ng6xf4 Bd8xg5 22. Bg1xc5 Rb8•c8 23. d3•d4 e6•e5 24. Nf4•d3 e5xd4 25. Rb1 •e1 Bb7•e4

With calm play black has gained a superior position. 26. Bc5xd4 Qd7xd6 27. c2•c3 Bg5•f6 28. Re1•d1 Bf6xd4 29. Nd3•f4 Qd6•c6 30. Rd1xd4 Rc8•d8 31. Qh3•g3 Rd8xd4 32. c3xd4 Re8•d8 32...Qc4 would have presented more problems to white. 33. Nf4•h5 Rd8•d7 34. Kh1•g1 Kg8•h7 35. Qg3•f2 Qc6•c2 36. Qf2xc2 Be4xc2 37. Rf1•f2 Bc2•d3 38. Rf2•d2 Rd7xd4 39. Kg1•f2 g7•g5 40. Kf2•e3 This forces black's rook to a bad position and guarantees white an easy draw. 40...Rd4•h4 41. Rd2xd3 Rh4xh5 42. h2•h3 g5•g4 43. Ke3•f4 g4xh3 44. g2xh3 Kh7•g6 45. Rd3•d6+ Kg6•g7 46. Rd6•d7+ Kg7•f6 47. Rd7•d6+ Kf6•e7 48. Rd6 •b6 Rh5xh3 Draw Hindsight is easy, but you might say that Kasparov's abdication became predictable when in December 2004 he suddenly had some kind words to say about Fischer Random. Like a ruler who at the end of his reign wants to see his country go up in flames, a world champion wants to change the rules of chess. Think of Capablanca, who proposed to reverse the position of bishop and knight, or Botvinnik, who tried to make a computer program that would succeed him as the king of chess. Both Kasparov's views on Fischer Random Chess, which originally appreared on the Russian ProChess website, and Fischer's reaction in an interview for Icelandic TV, can be found on the pages of www.chessbase.com. Of course Kasparov wanted to make his own amendments to Fischer Random. The initial positions that were ‘poison to his eyes’ would have to be eliminated and only about 20 or 30 positions would stand the test of geometrical harmony. Each year one of these should be randomly chosen for use in tournaments, but only in that year. This way some opening preparation would still be possible, without the accumulated knowledge becoming a burden. When Fischer was told about Kasparov's endorsement of his random chess, he was file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [05/20/2005 7:59:59 AM]

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at first quite happy about it: “That's amazing. Did he say anything about me in prison? I guess he doesn't care about that.” The Icelandic TV anchorman told him that Kasparov had called it a tragedy. But when Fischer was told about the alterations proposed by Kasparov, he was disappointed, as he considered these to ruin his original idea: “Oooooh! There's the catch. I knew it was too good to be true.” It is rather interesting that Fischer originally liked the idea that Kasparov was in favor of random chess, even though he has called Kasparov a criminal cheater in the past. When the anchorman then said that Kasparov had called Fischer Random ‘entirely acceptable’ he seemed to hesitate and then turn back from the frightening prospect of reconciliation: “Well, I'm receiving a lot of mixed signals there. I don't like the sound… No, no, I don't trust him at all.” But who knows? It has happened before that bitter rivals became friendly in later years and maybe random chess will be the medium through which these two pugnacious souls will meet.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2005 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Chess in Italy and on the Web “Yes, I suppose there are madmen everywhere,” said the owner of the apartment we had rented. He meant chessplayers, though it must be said that he didn't use the word madmen, but the French word ‘fous.’ French fous have more dignity than American madmen. My wife had told him that wherever we went on holidays I had always visited a local chessclub. Did he know one in Bologna?

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Such questions are dangerous. What I wanted was an address, not an appointment. But there was no escape anymore. The apartment owner knew a business relative, a chess master, who would phone me and make an appointment to take me to his club. This is not my favorite way of meeting foreign chess players. I prefer to walk into a club anonymously, have a quick look and be free to walk out immediately if I don't like it there. I wondered if the ‘master’ he was talking about would really be a strong player. In a country where they say that everbody who reads a book is addressed as “dottore” or “professore” this was not at all obvious. But it turned out all right. The club was located next door to the excellent chess shop Le Due Torri, which was a good sign. And the way they were enthusiastically talking about Topalov's games in the tournament in Sofia, which had just finished, showed that there were some serious players. We played a blitz tournament, which I won with 9 out of 10. Strange how even in such an informal atmosphere you get carried along by senseless self-reproach about the one lost game. In a totally drawn position, with an advantage because I had the clock on my right-hand side, why had I been so stupid to force matters and ruin my kingside? Even the next day it still haunted me. Should I have played another opening? Silly question. I'm forever hooked on the chess poison, it seems.

by Hans Ree

After the blitz tournament we all went to a bar and talked about chess. Two members of the club had participated in the Dos Hermanas internet tournament, that had been played on the ICC server. They had both been disqualified, being accused of using a chess computer. This is an interesting and sensitive topic. Cheating by using computer assistance is endemic in internet tournaments. Sometimes cheaters are found out, sometimes not. On the other hand there are players who claim that they have been accused unjustly. Can they be right?

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The ICC claims to have software that can indicate beyond reasonable doubt that a player has used a computer. One move is of course never conclusive evidence, but a pattern may be. I have a healthy respect for modern chess software, but it is not infallible. The two Bolognese professed their innocence and I saw no reason at all to doubt their words. One of them was a FIDE Master, who had beaten two IM's in the tournament. He thought that this in itself had been reason enough to suspect him of computer assistance and have him disqualified. For both the verdict had come immediately after they had finished their game, which suggests that there had been no human intervention. Apparently the ICC software had been detective, prosecutor, jury and judge all in one. One other club member pointed at the FM laughingly and said that the idea that this gentle person would be shrewd enough to use a chess engine was utterly ridiculous. Besides, he had played over the disputed game and could confirm that his friend had played in his normal positional style, even missing a simple tactical win that would have been pointed out by any chess program. I believed them and I realised that someone who is wrongfully accused of cheating can do very little to clear his name. In theory he can put his games on the web, so that everybody can study them and form his own opinion. But in practice this procedure would be self-defeating. Very few people would seriously study the case. Most would just shrug and later they would remember the player's name vaguely as that of a cheater caught and unrepentant. One solution to this problem is the Freestyle tournament, which was recently played on Chessbase's playchess.com server. Everything is allowed there. As many chess engines as you like, multiple processors, a grandmaster conference, prayers to God, you name it. Also spyware smuggled into the opponent's computer? On this the regulations are silent. Such a tournament is interesting in itself, but it is not the perfect solution, as as most chessplayers want something else when they play on the internet. In the bar in Bologna we went on to another subject. “Why do you think Italy is so weak in chess?” someone asked, as if I were an oracle that could answer all questions that they had pondered in vain for a long time. “Twenty-five years ago France was about as strong as us, and now they are flourishing, while we have nothing.” Indeed the glory of Italian chess has waned. Still, at the time there was a chess festival in Frascati, near Rome, which had Boris Spassky as a special guest. The international grandmaster tournament in Frascati would be won by Fabio Bruno, a nice succes for Italian chess, though probably not a sign of a real renaissance, as Bruno is already 44 years old. “It's a good thing that players like Spassky and you are visiting Italy,” said one of the Bolognese. Ah, the land of dottore and professore! It was a long time ago that I file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [06/20/2005 7:20:07 PM]

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had heard such flattery in my own country. In the early morning they drove me home in excellent spirits. Napoli driving, exclaimed the man behind the wheel jubilantly. I arrived home safely and later I dreamed that a group of admirers had bestowed me a big house, a palazzo maybe. As it goes in dreams, I didn't really succeed in getting everyone together to sign the papers, but it was a good start. By the way, if you go to Bologna, the club is called the Chess Academy and the address of the bookshop next door is Via Ugo Lenzi 4/d. Here is the nicest game of the winner of the Frascati tournament, who recently returned to chess after a 15-year period of absence. Igor Miladinovic • Fabio Bruno, Frascati 2005 1. d2•d4 d7•d5 2. Bc1•g5 After the Trompowsky opening 1. d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 became popular, people began trying the same move against 1...d5, with little justification, but just for the fun of it. One sad example is Anand - Karpov, FIDE championship match, Lausanne 1998. 2...h7•h6 3. Bg5•h4 c7•c6 4. Ng1•f3 Qd8•b6 5. Qd1•c1 g7•g5 6. Bh4•g3 g5•g4 7. Nf3•e5 Qb6xd4 White's pawn sacrifice is far from convincing. 8. e2•e3 Qd4•c5 9. c2•c4 Bf8•g7 10. Nb1•c3 d5xc4 11. Ne5xc4 Bc8•e6 12. Nc4 •d2 Ng8•f6 13. Bf1•d3 Nb8•d7 14. a2•a3 Nd7•e5 15. Bd3•e2 Ra8•d8 16. Qc1•c2 Nf6•d5 17. Nd2•b3 After the modest 17...Qb6 White wouldn't have enough compensation for the pawn, but he would still be in the game. Therefore Black chooses a more violent measure: a piece sacrifice. 17...Nd5xe3 18. f2xe3 Qc5xe3 With three pawns for his piece and an attack against the king in the middle Black is better. 19. Nb3•c1 Ne5•c4 20. Bg3•f2 Rd8•d2 21. Qc2•b1 The endgame after 21. Bxe3 Rxc2 22. Bxc4 Bxc4 would be in Black's favor and so would be the middlegame after 21. Qa4 Qe5 22. Bg3 Qg5. Nevertheless White should have chosen one of these two lines. 21..Qe3•e5 22. Qb1•e4 Rd2xb2 Now White cannot prevent a decisive loss of material. 23. 0•0 Qe5xc3 24. Nc1•d3 file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [06/20/2005 7:20:07 PM]

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Being four pawns down White only struggles on because he has almost 200 rating points more than his opponent. 24...Nc4•d6 25. Qe4•e3 Rb2•c2 26. Ra1•c1 Rc2xc1 27. Rf1xc1 Qc3xa3 28. Qe3 •f4 0•0 29. Bf2•c5 Qa3•b3 30. Bc5•e3 Nd6•c4 31. Be3•c5 Nc4•d6 32. Bc5•e3 Nd6 •c4 33. Be3•c5 Rf8•d8 34. Nd3•f2 Nc4•e5 35. Bc5xe7 Rd8•d4 36. Nf2•e4 f7•f5 37. Qf4•g3 And White resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2005 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Conspirators How jealous I was in 1962 of the young Amsterdam player John Bink, who was asked to attend the Candidates Tournament in Curaçao as an assistant of the press service. Why hadn't the press officer Berry Withuis asked me to join him in Curaçao? Maybe because he thought it would be better for me to do the final exams of my high school, but who would think of school exams when there was a candidates tournament, one which would be run in large part by the Dutch?

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

It was a tournament of the kind they don’t hold anymore, with 28 rounds scheduled for eight players who would meet each other four times. After the third leg Tal had to be taken to a hospital, which meant that the others had an extra free day, but nevertheless it remained an enormous exertion of physical strength, lasting almost two months. At the start Tal and Fischer were the favourites, but in fact all the Soviet players had a chance to become Botvinnik's challenger. Apart from Tal, they were Petrosian, Keres, Geller and Kortchnoi. Only Benko and Filip, strong as they were, were considered to be outsiders At the Amsterdam chess cafe at Leidseplein, where masters, aspiring masters and ordinary coffeehouse players used to meet, occasionally some tournament bulletins dropped in, sent from Curaçao and taking a lot of time to reach us. I still remember the headline of the first installment: “Can a giant beat a giant?” A variation on the old philosophical problem about the irresistible force and the immovable object. Later it would become clear that three of these giants indeed couldn't or wouldn't beat each other. Petrosian, Keres and Geller drew all games between them, often without even a resemblance of a struggle. If anyone had suggested at the time that they had made a deal, I would have considered this scandalous slander. But actually they had, and the eight free days they gained this way were an important advantage in this grueling battle.

by Hans Ree

But it was not important enough to serve as a full explanation of Petrosian's victory. For this, the gap of 3½ points between him and Fischer was too big. Petrosian was probably the strongest player at the time. He went undefeated through his 27 games, only twice – against Benko and Tal – being in serious danger of losing. A trip to a Caribbean island may be a favorite prize for a TV quiz show, but it has never been my dream of a holiday. For the players who had to stay there for almost

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two months the tropical heat must have been an ordeal. Indeed, from Jan Timman's recently published book about the tournament – Curaçao 1962, The Battle of Minds that shook the Chess World – it appears that there were many complaints. A local journalist reported that the wives of the Soviet players had said that they suffered a lot. As this could be taken for ingratitude, the report was promptly contradicted by Mrs. Rona Petrosian and Yuri Averbakh, who declared that the heart-warming hospitality of the islanders made up for the small inconveniences. But after the tournament Petrosian felt free to speak bluntly in an interview for a Polish sports paper: “The climatic conditions there were terrible and the hall where we played was so poorly prepared for the two-month tournament that I am deeply convinced none of those who authored the new regulations would have been able to sit and watch there. And we had to play there!" This interview somehow reached Curaçao, where a local newspaper reacted angrily: “This Russian, so adulated and applauded on Curaçao, who made such a pleasant impression on all and sundry, turns out, as a Communist, to have romped all over our island as a wolf in chess sheep's clothes.” Apparently, like Fischer (“You're all Russians to me!”), the newspaper found no reason to make a distinction between an Armenian and a Russian. This was quite common at the time. What Petrosian as an alleged amateur could hardly say to the Polish magazine was that first prize in the tournament had been a miserable $750. I think the press service assistant may have earned more. I do not remember what I thought at the time about Fischer's famous article in Sports Illustrated, titled How the Russians Fixed World Chess. We are now almost sure that, apart from his loose use of the word ‘Russians,’ Fischer was right when he accused Petrosian, Geller and Keres of an advance agreement to draw all their games. Later this was confirmed by Kortchnoi, who himself has been suspected by some to have been party to the deal also. Wrongfully, I think, though it seems that this was not because Kortchnoi was above such schemes. In his recent auto-biography he wrote that Keres would have been wiser to agree to another pact and if I understand this correctly, he means a pact not with Petrosian and Geller, but with him, Kortchnoi. Timman has few doubts about the truth of Fischer's accusations and in the games that the three conspirators played among each other he limits himself to brief comments such as: “A fine game, in the sense that it looks like a real one” or, even more cynical: “It seems as if the combatants did not discuss their games in too much detail, with the result that they are not always boring and trivial.” The one position from these games treated in detail by Timman is from the last game between Keres and Petrosian in the 25th round. The final position was file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [7/26/2005 9:32:22 AM]

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singled out by Fischer as a clear proof of their teamwork, as according to him, Petrosian agreed to a draw after 14 moves in a winning position. Keres - Petrosian, Curaçao 1962, 25th round. 1. e2•e4 c7•c5 2. Ng1•f3 Nb8•c6 3. d2•d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 g7•g6 5. c2•c4 Ng8•f6 6. Nb1•c3 Nc6xd4 7. Qd1xd4 d7•d6 8. c4•c5 Bf8•g7 9. Bf1•b5+ Bc8•d7 10. Bb5xd7+ Qd8xd7 11. c5xd6 0•0 12. Bc1•g5 A weak move, but when the result of the game is known beforehand, one doesn't care much about opening niceties. 12...Nf6•e8 13. Qd4•b4 From bad to worse. Here White's queen is quite exposed. 13...Ne8xd6 14. f2•f3 a7•a5 Draw agreed, though Black's advantage is obvious. Proving the forced win that Fischer claimed to exist is however not easy. Timman agrees with Fischer's verdict and a brief outline of his analysis goes like this: 15. Qa3 (15. Qb3 a4 is even worse for White) 15…h6 16. Bf4 Nc4 17. Qb3 Rfc8 and now: A. 18. Rd1 a4 and everything leads to a winning advantage for Black B. 18. 0-0 a4 19. Qb4 Nxb2 20. Nd5 Nd3 21. Qxe7 Rd8, after which Timman gives 22. Be3, giving up the exchange, as relatively best for White. Variation B however is not convincing, because White can save the exchange with 22. Bc7. But I do not really think that the saving 22. Bc7 refutes Fischer's opinion about the game's final position. Black has an ample choice of good moves and in variation B I propose (instead of 19...Nxb2) the quiet 19...e6 20. Rd1 Qc6, after which I don't see how White can survive the pressure on his queenside. It's not quite a clear-cut win though. In the end, Petrosian won the tournament with 17½points out of 27. Keres and Geller shared second place with 17 points and Fischer, their nearest rival, had 14 points. Quite a success for the conspiracy, though the three giants could have done without it.

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file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (4 of 4) [7/26/2005 9:32:22 AM]

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Dutch Heroes The Dutch team started the European team championship in Gothenburg with a victory against Macedonia, which was not at all extraordinary. In the next round they beat Ukraine, winner of the 2004 Olympiad in Calvia and this was followed by victories against Armenia and Russia, which meant that our team had beaten the three medal winners of the last Olympiad.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Proudly I write 'our team', though I had nothing to do with it, just as a token of my chauvinistic excitement during the event. When was the last time that a Russian or a Soviet team was beaten 3-1? Had it ever happened before? Surely not often. And in fact the Russians should be happy with their 3-1 defeat against the Dutch, as it could have been 3½-½ very easily. Yes, our men had fought like supermen. But what was the matter with the Russians? They went on steadily downhill and finally reached 14th place. One shudders thinking of what would have happened to a Soviet team returning to Moscow with such bad news. Having beaten Ukraine, Armenia and Russia, our Dutch heroes will now lose to Cyprus or Luxemburg, I thought at the time, as ever the pessimist. Ashamed of my miserable loser's mentality I was reminded of a question that Genna Sosonko had put to me many years ago: “Do you know why Moses after the flight from Egypt led his people through the desert for forty years before they were allowed to enter the promised land?” I didn't know the answer, but Genna provided a good one: “Because it took such a long time before the slave mentality was out of their bones, and it may take just as long for Dutch teams not to expect to lose to Russia, let alone think, as we have usually done, that drawing them is a small victory.” It hasn't taken as long as Genna expected and it should be said that Jan Timman has never suffered from this loser's mentality. In the match against Russia Loek van Wely played on first board a very interesting draw against Peter Svidler, but I will concentrate here on the wins and the nearwin.

by Hans Ree

On second board Sergei Tiviakov beat Alexei Dreev in a game that looks very easy, as if Tiviakov was effortlessly demolishing a much inferior opponent. Of course this was not true. The Russians had a higher rating on all boards. Tiviakov • Dreev

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1.e2•e4 c7•c6 2.d2•d3 d7•d5 3.Nb1•d2 Qd8•c7 4.Ng1•f3 Nb8•d7 5.e4xd5 c6xd5 6.d3•d4 e7•e6 7.Bf1•d3 Ng8•e7 8.0•0 g7•g6 9.Rf1•e1 Bf8•g7 10.Nd2•f1 Ne7•c6 11.c2•c3 0•0 12.Bc1•g5 White is ready to start a kingside attack with moves like Qd2, Ng3 and h2-h4-h5 12...e6•e5 To prevent such an attack Black becomes active in the center, at the cost of weakening his pawn structure. 13.Nf1•e3 Nd7•b6 14.d4xe5 Nc6xe5 15.Bg5•f4 Ne5xf3+ 16.Qd1xf3 Qc7•c6 17.Ne3•c2 Bc8•d7 18.Nc2•d4 Qc6•c5 19.Qf3•g3 Rf8•e8 Accepting the pawn sacrifice with 19...Bxd4 20. cxd4 Qxd4 looks very unattractive. 20.Bf4•d6 Qc5•c8 21.h2•h4 Nb6•a4 22.Nd4•b5 Now Black is in serious difficulties. He cannot allow the knight to come to c7. 22...Bd7xb5 23.Bd3xb5 Re8xe1+ 24.Ra1xe1 Na4xb2 25.Re1•e8+ Qc8xe8 26.Bb5xe8 Ra8xe8 White has won the queen, but winning the game is still a difficult technical task. 27.Bd6•c5 b7•b6 28.Bc5•d4 Nb2•c4 29.Qg3 •g5 Nc4•e5 30.h4•h5 h7•h6 31.Qg5•e3 g6•g5 32.f2•f4 g5xf4 33.Qe3xf4 Re8•e6 34.Qf4•f5 Bg7•f6 35.Kg1•h2 Bf6•g7 36.a2•a4 Bg7•f6 37.Kh2•h3 Bf6•g7 38.g2•g4 Bg7•f6 39.g4•g5 h6xg5 40.h5•h6 The h-pawn decisively joins the attack. I am not quite sure if White already threatens 41. h7+ Kg7 42. Qxf6+ Rxf6 43. Bxe5, which would give him a piece for three pawns, but a direct threat may not be necessary, as Black is practically in Zugzwang. 40...g5•g4+ 41.Kh3•g2 Kg8•f8 42.h6•h7 Bf6 •g7 43.Bd4xe5 Re6xe5 44.Qf5•d7 Re5•e7 45.Qd7•d8+ Re7•e8 46.Qd8•d6+ Re8•e7 47.Qd6•h6 Re7•e2+ 48.Kg2•f1 Bg7xh6 49.h7 •h8Q+ Black resigned Quite an exciting game was played on board three by Jan Timman, who nowadays file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [08/21/2005 2:52:54 PM]

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is often referred to as 'the Dutch chess legend'. He doesn't like it very much, as the phrase seems to imply that he is already in the grave or stumbling towards it, while in fact after some set-backs he has slowly but steadily been improving his rating during the last year. My short notes are an excerpt of variations that Timman showed me. Motylev • Timman 1.e2•e4 e7•e5 2.Ng1•f3 Nb8•c6 3.Bf1•b5 a7•a6 4.Bb5•a4 d7•d6 5.0•0 Bc8•d7 6.c2•c3 Ng8•e7 7.d2•d4 Ne7•g6 8.d4•d5 Nc6•b8 9.c3•c4 Bf8•e7 10.Nb1•c3 h7•h6 This will work out well after 11. Be3 Bg5, but after White's next energetic move it turns out to be a loss of time. 11.b2•b4 a6•a5 12.a2•a3 0•0 13.Bc1•e3 Bd7xa4 14.Nc3xa4 Nb8•d7 15.c4•c5 a5xb4 16.a3xb4 Ng6•h4 17.Nf3xh4 Be7xh4 18.f2•f3 Bh4•g5 19.Be3•f2 f7•f5 20.c5•c6 An attractive move, as the black knight has no good square to retreat, but stronger was 20. exf5 Rxf5 (even though Black now has f8 for his knight) with advantage for White. 20...f5xe4 This piece sacrifice is practically forced, but it gives Black reasonable chances. 21.c6xd7 e4xf3 22.g2xf3 Qd8xd7 23.Kg1•g2 e5•e4 24.f3xe4 Bg5•f6 25.Ra1•a2 b7•b5 26.Na4•c5 d6xc5 27.Ra2xa8 Rf8xa8 28.b4xc5 Ra8•e8 29.Rf1•e1 Bf6•c3 30.Re1 •e3 b5•b4 31.Bf2•g3 Stronger was 31. c6, to fix c7 as a weakness. By now White was in severe time trouble. 31...c7•c6 32.Qd1•a4 Here the queen is misplaced. After 32.Bd6 White would at least not be worse. 32...Re8•c8 33.d5•d6 Qd7•e6 34.Qa4•d1 Rc8•a8

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35.e4•e5 A nervous move that will help Black later, but by now White's position was already difficult. 35...Ra8•a2+ 36.Re3•e2 b4•b3 37.Re2xa2 b3xa2 38.d6•d7 Bc3•a5 39.d7•d8Q+ Ba5xd8 40.Qd1xd8+ Kg8•h7 If only his pawn were still on e4 White would be OK, but now he cannot stop Black's pawn. 41.Qd8•a5 Qe6•b3 42.Bg3•f2 Qb3•d5+ 43.Kg2•h3 Qd5•f3+ White resigned And finally a position from the game at fourth board, where the unique chance to beat Russia 3½-½ was sadly missed. Van den Doel • Bareev, after Black's 24th move. Here 25. Qd8 would have finished the game quickly. White is threatening mate and after 25...Nf8 he wins the queen with 26. Rd6. In the game White played 25. Bf2xc5. After that he was probably still winning, but in the end Bareev managed to save an ending a pawn down. Well, the Netherlands did not lose to Cyprus as I had feared, but the 2-2 score against Greece (which by the way played excellently throughout the tournament and only missed the bronze medal on tie-break), might have been a serious set-back, were it not that Israel, the main rival for first place, in the same round lost surprisingly to Georgia. At the start of the last round the Netherlands had one match point more than Israel, which had more board points than the Netherlands. Match points would count first. Both Israel and the Netherlands won their last match, which meant that the Netherlands had won the European championship. It was well-deserved, for though Israel had more board points, the Netherlands had met stronger opposition. This was the biggest success for a Dutch chess team in history. In 2001 the Netherlands had also won the European championship, in the Spanish city Leon, but there Russia and Armenia had not taken part. A fine Dutch success was also accomplished at the Olympiad in Thessaloniki in 1988, when the Netherlands won the bronze medal, missing silver on tie-break to England, but being champion feels always better.

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[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2005 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (5 of 5) [08/21/2005 2:52:54 PM]

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Six-time Champion Why were there two consecutive free days at the Dutch championship, on Saturday and Sunday, just when spectators would like to pay a visit? Such a strange schedule I knew only from the tournaments in Lone Pine, California. There the free days had been on Friday and Saturday, when Fischer wouldn't play. The organisers didn't really expect him to take part, but as one can never be sure, they had made arrangements to please him anyway, in the way pious Jews keep an empty chair at the table in case the Messiah might show up and join for dinner. In Lone Pine the chess Messiah did not arrive.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

For a moment I thought that the Dutch Chess Federation had made a similar arrangement hoping that Fischer would turn up at the last moment and ask for a wild-card. The official in charge of top Dutch chess is a weird guy, who in 2000 invited the computer Fritz to take part in our national championship. But waiting for Bobby Fischer would be too weird even for him. When I found that during the weekend the Basque club Gros Xake Taldea would have to play two important matches in the Spanish league I thought this was the solution of the riddle of the two free days. Loek van Wely plays for this club and it would be quite in character for him to take two days off from the national championship to play a team match in Spain. He had done something similar during the Olympiad in Bled in 2002, when he took a few days off to attend the wedding of his sister in the Netherlands. “But Loek, that was bad enough already, but you can't expect us to change the whole schedule of our championship just to let you play in Spain?” “You can't really? You are already missing Ivan Sokolov because of a conflict over his appearance fee. Jan Timman isn't playing in the championship because he broke his hand. If you want to do without me also, just let me know.” But this imaginary conversation did not really take place, as I realised when I saw the results of the Spanish league, without Van Wely's participation.

by Hans Ree

Then I noticed that the hotel in the Frisian capital Leeuwarden where the players were staying was run by trainees of a hotel school and closed on Sundays. So that must be the reason. The Dutch Chess Federation had booked a cheap packet that implied that the players would be kicked out of the hotel during the weekend. I was reminded of our former national coach Hans Bouwmeester, a man without illusions who in his travels with Dutch chess teams used to sigh: “Of course you must realise that we are here on a reduced rate,” meaning that complaints about the hotel

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service would be useless. But again I was wrong. My riddle was solved when I learned that the big church which served as the playing hall had to be cleared by the chess players to make room for lovers of old architecture, as the weekend had been declared ‘open monuments days’ nationwide. More or less as the playing hall of the tournament in Mannheim in 1914 at the outbreak of World War I had to be cleared for a German infantry regiment. All this made me realise once again how rich our chess history is. Everything has a historical precedent, not only real events, but also the phantoms of my imagination. In the absence of Sokolov and Timman, a race was expected between Van Wely, who had won the championship for the last five years, and Sergei Tiviakov, who had already won three international tournaments in 2005 and had surpassed Van Wely on the FIDE rating list. During the first half of the tournament Van Wely had done well; with 4 out of 5 he was a point ahead of his nearest rival Tiviakov. Then he made two draws, which didn't really hurt him, but in the 8th round he lost a spectacular game against the young Dutch grandmaster Daniel Stellwagen. Writing about that game just after it had been finished, I excused myself to the readers for not analysing this difficult game, but I did exult the fine attacking style of the 18-years-old Stellwagen. The next morning, when I had a more sober look at the game, I found that this praise had been exaggerated, as in fact Van Wely had been winning for a long time. Nevertheless it remains a game worth seeing.

Loek van Wely • Daniel Stellwagen 1. d2•d4 Ng8•f6 2. c2•c4 g7•g6 3. Nb1•c3 Bf8•g7 4. e2•e4 d7 •d6 5. Ng1•f3 0•0 6. Bf1•e2 e7•e5 7. 0•0 Nb8•c6 8. d4•d5 Nc6 •e7 9. b2•b4 Nf6•h5 10. Rf1•e1 f7•f5 11. Nf3•g5 Nh5•f6 12. f2 •f3 c7•c6 13. Kg1•h1 h7•h6 14. Ng5•e6 Bc8xe6 15. d5xe6 Nf6 •e8 16. Qd1•b3 Ne8•c7 17. c4•c5 d6•d5 18. e4xd5 c6xd5 19. Bc1•b2 Qd8•e8 After the tournament Van Wely expressed his surprise that several youngsters had chosen to fight him in highly analysed theoretical variations. “They are committing themselves to an armaments race that they can only lose.” Until here everything was as in Van WelyKotronias, European team championship Gotenburg 2005. There Van Wely sacrificed immediately with 20. Nxd5. After an exciting fight Black won. 20. a2•a4 a7•a6 21. Ra1•d1 Ra8•d8 22. Nc3xd5 Rd8xd5 23. Be2•c4 Rd5xd1 24. Re1xd1 Qe8•b8 25. Rd1•d7 Bg7•f6 26. file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [9/26/2005 11:02:35 AM]

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f3•f4 b7•b5 27. c5xb6 Qb8xb6 28. f4xe5 Qb6•f2 To escape from White's tremendous pressure Black decides to return his extra piece. 29. Qb3•d1 Bf6•g5 30. Bb2•d4 Qf2•h4 31. Rd7xc7 Rf8•d8 32. Rc7•d7 Rd8•c8 33. Bc4•f1 Rc8•c1 34. Qd1•e2 Qh4•e4 Black has worked up some threats, but White can still keep things under control and win by 35. Qxa6. Afterwards Van Wely said he had panicked, being afraid of 35...f4, but then 36. Bg1 f3 37. Qb6 would defend everything. 35. Bd4•g1 Qe4•b1 36. Qe2xa6 Rc1xf1 Now Black is a piece up and this, combined with his attacking chances, is more important than White's free pawns. 37. Qa6•b6 Kg8•h8 38. a4•a5 Rf1•e1 39. Qb6 •c5 Re1•c1 40. Qc5•b6 Rc1•e1 41. Rd7•d8+ Kh8•g7 42. Rd8•e8 h6•h5 43. Qb6•c5 Re1•c1 44. Qc5•d4 Qb1•e4 45. Qd4•a7 Qe4xb4 46. a5•a6 f5•f4 47. Qa7•f2 Qb4•b5 48. Re8•a8 Rc1•f1 49. Qf2•d4 f4•f3 50. g2xf3 Qb5•e2 White resigned. At the start of the final round Van Wely was still a half-point ahead of Tiviakov, whom he had to meet with Black. Theoretically there was a third contender for the title: Jan Werle, the last-minute replacement for Jan Timman, shared second place with Tiviakov. Already at an early stage it became clear that Werle would not win his game against Stellwagen; Van Wely and Tiviakov were on their own to decide the championship. After a hard fight Van Wely, a pawn ahead, made a draw offer that Tiviakov could not refuse. By winning the title six times in a row Van Wely has equalled one of the records of Max Euwe, who still holds another record that seems difficult to beat: between 1921 and 1952 Euwe won all the Dutch championships in which he took part, altogether twelve times. Here is another instance of what Van Wely called the armaments race. In a theoretical variation he comes with a crushing novelty at move 26, originally intended to beat Alexei Shirov with.

Loek van Wely • Jan Smeets 1. d2•d4 d7•d5 2. c2•c4 c7•c6 3. Nb1•c3 Ng8•f6 4. Ng1•f3 e7 •e6 5. Bc1•g5 d5xc4 6. e2•e4 b7•b5 7. e4•e5 h7•h6 8. Bg5•h4 g7•g5 9. Nf3xg5 h6xg5 10. Bh4xg5 Nb8•d7 11. e5xf6 Bc8•b7 12. g2•g3 c6•c5 13. d4•d5 Qd8•b6 14. Bf1•g2 0•0•0 15. 0•0 b5 •b4 16. Ra1•b1 Qb6•a6 17. d5xe6 Bb7xg2 18. e6•e7 Bg2xf1 file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [9/26/2005 11:02:35 AM]

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19. Qd1•d5 Bf8•h6 20. Bg5xh6 Bf1•d3 21. Qd5•a8+ Nd7•b8 22. e7xd8Q+ Rh8xd8 23. Rb1•e1 b4xc3 24. Bh6•f4 Qa6•b6 25. b2xc3 Bd3•f5 The preceding moves have appeared in many games. Usually White played 26. h4 here. 26. f2•f3 Bf5•e6 After the game van Wely showed one variation he had looked at during his preparation: 26...Qb7 27. Qxb7 Kxb7 28. Re7+ Rd7 29. Bxb8 Kxb8 30. g4 Le6 31. Rxe6 (flashy but not strictly necessary) fxe6 32. g5 Rd5 33. h4 Rf5 34. Kf2 Kc7 35. g6 Rxf6 36. h5 and White wins. 27. g3•g4 Be6•d5 28. Qa8xb8+ Qb6xb8 29. Bf4xb8 Kc8xb8 30. Kg1•f2 Kb8•c7 31. h2•h4 Rd8•d6 32. Re1•e7+ Rd6•d7 33. h4•h5 Black resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2005 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (4 of 4) [9/26/2005 11:02:35 AM]

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Dr. Strangelove's Move It should have remained a joke and nothing more. Five years ago I had an article here, titled Joe, Jake and Garry, about the line 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5. This had been played twice against Kasparov, first by the actor Woody Harrelson, who with some grandmasterly help managed to draw, and later by tennis star Boris Becker, who had to fight Kasparov on his own and lost. These two games did little to bestow respectability on the move 2. Qh5, but that changed when Nigel Short wrote, that a few years earlier Vladimir Kramnik had prepared the move to use in a blitz game against Kasparov.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Had he really played it, this would have been welcomed by thrill-loving amateurs, but I think Kramnik was right to refrain from doing so. He would have gained some time on the clock, because Kasparov would certainly spend a few seconds expressing his disgust, but it would have been a joke in bad taste.

The Human Comedy of Chess

Kramnik had told Short that in what he considered to be the main line, 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5 Nc6 3. Bc4 g6 4. Qf3 Qe7 5. Ne2, White was not worse. Not a very strong endorsement, but good enough to persuade some people to use 2. Qh5 occasionally in blitz games. I did it myself too, sacrificing an opening advantage for the sake of shock and insult. Never more than once against the same opponent though. This year saw the first serious game with 2. Qh5 between strong grandmasters, Nakamura-Sasikiran from the Sigeman tournament in Malmö and Copenhagen. Kramnik's judgment that White was not worse was vindicated, but Hikaru Nakamura lost because he tried to avoid a draw at all cost. He must have become a hero to the multitude that likes to avoid all opening theory without paying the price of getting a bad position. Nakamura showed that it could be done, but once should have been enough. The main fault of 2. Qh5 after 1. e4 e5 is that it almost invariably leads to dull positions.

by Hans Ree

In Yearbook 76 of New in Chess Genna Sosonko wrote that Nakamura had played more than a hundred games on the Internet Chess Club with 1. e4 e5 2. Qh5. Even worse, he had done the same against the Sicilian: 1. e4 c5 2. Qh5, not only on ICC, but also in the World Open, Philadelphia 2005, against Mark Dejmek, whom he beat easily. In a blitz game or in a serious game against a vastly inferior opponent you can play

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everything, but I wouldn't have expected to see 2. Qh5 against the Sicilian in an important tournament game against a formidable player. Still, this occurred last month in the finals of the Young Masters tournament in Lausanne. Nakamura had lost his first game against the Ukranian Andrei Volokitin and had to win the second one. Nakamura – Volokitin Young Masters Lausanne 2005 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Qd1-h5 Contrary to the line with 1...e5, White is really a bit worse here, I think. 1...Ng8-f6 3. Qh5-h4 What would I have done here? Surely retract my second move partially by 3. Qe2, but of course this was not Nakamura's intention. 3...Nb8-c6 4. Bf1-e2 A move played several times by Dina Bazhenova, the Under-8 Girls champion of Russia. Presumably the idea is that with the queen out of the way, White will be able to activate the bishop by Be2-d1-b3, as actually happens in the game. 4...e7-e5 5. d2-d3 Bf8-e7 6. Qh4-g3 d7-d5 Black is already clearly better. 7. Nb1-d2 0-0 8. c2-c3 b7-b5 9. Ng1-h3 The awkward position of his queen prevents him from playing the normal move 9. Nf3 9...d5-d4 10. c3-c4 Nf6-e8 11. c4xb5 Be7-h4 12. Qg3-f3 Nc6-b4 13. Be2-d1 f7-f5 14. a2-a3 Ne8-d6 Such a position doesn't demand great courage to sacrifice a piece. 15. a3xb4 f5xe4 16. Qf3h5 Bc8xh3 17. g2-g3 Qd8-f6 18. Bd1-b3+ New in Chess Magazine 2005/7 quotes Volokitin, who considers 18. f3 Bg2 19. Rg1 the best defense after which “Black has to play accurately to maintain his advantage.” 18...Kg8h8 19. f2-f3 e4xf3 20. Ke1-f2 Bh4-g5 21. Nd2xf3 g7-g6 22. Bc1xg5 Qf6-f5 23. Qh5xh3 Qf5xf3+ White resigned. Horrible. It reminds me of one of the games that Max Euwe invented to dissuade Dutch children from playing 2. Qh5. In the daily e-mail magazine Chess Today the editor Alex Baburin strongly admonished Nakamura, who once in an interview said that he had little time for players like Smyslov: “Perhaps if he studied Smyslov a bit, he won't be coming up with moves like 2. Qh5 - after all the seventh World Champion called his game collection In Search of Harmony. 2. Qh5 clearly belongs to a different book...” Sosonko had written in a similar vein: “When the teething troubles of the talented American champion are over, he will stop playing moves like 2. Qh5 and put his teeth in other moves and systems. Plenty of room left!” This was written before the Lausanne tournament and if it had been Sosonko's aim to discourage Nakamura from playing 2. Qh5, his article actually had the opposite effect, for there Nakamura had found Dina Bazhenova's 4. Be2, which he tried out against Volokitin.

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“Never trust anyone over 30” was a famous slogan for the mindless of the 1960's. Putting one's faith in the Under-8 is certainly carrying it to an extreme. Playing over the Nakamura-Volokitin game, I imagined myself playing 2. Qh5, forced by an involuntary spasm of the right arm, and than sensibly retracting it on the next move with 3. Qe2. Somehow this imaginary sequence Qd1-h5-e2 reminded me of Stanley Kubrick's wonderful movie Dr. Strangelove or: How I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb. Peter Sellers plays Dr. Strangelove, a former Nazi scientist who has put his expertise in blowing up the world at the service of the American government. When he is excited, his right arms tends to rise involuntarily in a Nazi salute, after which he grabs it with the other arm and struggles to bring it back into a more civilised position. The next time I watch that movie I will imagine Peter Sellers as a chessplayer whose arm jumps out to bring the queen all the way to h5 and who corrects himself with great effort a moment later. To end in a more positive vein: in 1968 I spent some days together with Bobby Fischer in the kibbutz of one of the participants of the tournament in Netanya that had just ended. We played some blitz games in which Fischer appeared very fond of moves like Qd1-h5. Well, not really at move 2, but at the first opportunity when it was more or less reasonable. He won all these games, which he might also have done had he moved his queen even further, off the board. For those interested readers interested in seeing more of Nakamura’s 2. Qh5, here is a link to five of his games (in PGN format) from earlier this year.

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Dutch Treat

Big Fritz Is Watching You The bookseller from the chess shop demonstrated the new program Fritz 9 to me. Of course, once again its playing strength is increased compared to its predecessors, but as those earlier versions were already strong enough for me, this was not the new feature that the bookseller wanted to discuss. He showed me Fritz's map of the world.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

He was on-line and connected to ChessBase's Playchess.com server. On the map we saw red dots that stood for other people who had logged in. Zooming in one could read their names, the handles they were using at the Playchess site. As a bonus one could also see the temperature and the direction of the wind at their location, maybe to make it possible for visitors to chat about the weather after a game. “Look, America is waking up,” I said. At the Eastern coast clusters of red dots had appeared, representing players who had started a game in the early morning. “Soon there will be more there,” said the experienced bookseller.

The Human Comedy of Chess

There were some isolated dots in the oceans, people playing chess on a ship. I noticed some players in the Antarctic region and this too had already been noticed earlier by the bookseller. He told me he had challenged one of those dots to a blitz game and afterwards he had chatted with his opponent, who turned out to be a French engineer involved in a scientific expedition. They were drilling long pipes through the ice near the Antarctic coast until they reached water. In the water, that had been protected through the ages by a massive layer of ice, small organisms could be found that had become extinct everywhere. It was really impressive what one could learn from this map and also a bit uncanny. The dots on the map reminded me of movie scenes in the War Room of the Pentagon. I am told that – not in a movie but in real life – there is an American military project which has the aim to collect the physical descriptions of as many people as possible, so that in the ideal case the location of all the six billion citizens of the earth will be established by spy satellites at all times.

by Hans Ree

Here we were already seeing it on a small scale. We could only see the handles of the players who were logged in, but of course the people from ChessBase knew their real names. With computers I have always followed the adage: new systems, new problems. I try to do my work as long as possible with the trusted old stuff, typing at this

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 4) [11/20/2005 9:03:29 AM]

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moment in WordPerfect 5.1 for DOS, and I never had the feeling that I was missing anything important. But at the bookshop I did. What I saw there, I wouldn't be able to see at home with my old stuff. For the first time in my life I felt the desire for an up-to-date computer. The trusted old stuff can enlighten us also, as I noticed while playing over a game from the recent Essent Open, which was held in the Dutch town Hoogeveen. Routinely I had a playing engine running. Normally one pays attention only to the move that is considered best by the computer, but it can pay off to look at its second choice also. This is how Anand once found an important opening novelty. His machine indicated Qxh8, winning a rook. Anand had a closer look and found that Qxh8 was wrong. Then he looked at the machine's second choice: Qg7, with the idea that Qxh8 on the next move could not be prevented. Of course Qxh8 with a tempo less would have been wrong again, but then Anand realized that in fact Qg7 was the right move. Not to take the rook on the next move, but for other reasons of which the computer knew nothing because they were far beyond its horizon. Paying attention to the second choice taught Anand something about an opening variation. Doing the same I learned something about myself. Here is that game from the Essent Open. Fred Slingerland • Peter Doggers 1. e2•e4 c7•c5 2. Ng1•f3 d7•d6 3. d2•d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8•f6 5. Nb1•c3 a7 •a6 6. Bf1•e2 e7•e6 7. f2•f4 Bf8•e7 8. 0•0 0•0 9. Kg1•h1 Nb8•c6 10. Bc1•e3 Qd8 •c7 11. a2•a4 Rf8•e8 12. a4•a5 A well-known pawn sacrifice 12...Nc6xa5 13. e4•e5 d6xe5 14. f4xe5 Nf6•d7 Usually the second pawn is taken also and after 14...Qxe5 15. Bf4 Qc5 15. Na4 Qa7 16. Bc7 an advantage for White has not yet been convincingly shown. 15. Be2•d3 Nd7•f8 Taking the pawn now seems very risky, but the passive move he makes is certainly bad. 16. Qd1•f3 f7•f5 Better, but not good enough would have been 16...Bb4. 17. e5xf6 Be7xf6 18. Qf3•h5 Attacking Re8 and Na5. White is winning. 18...Re8•d8 19. Ra1xa5 Bf6xd4 20. Be3xd4 Rd8xd4

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Here the computer indicates mate in 4 by 21. Bxh7+ and many humans would have found the same move. The computer's second choice however, is quite surprising: 21. Rxa6. What kind of a move is that, blundering a rook? It really took me some time to realise that in fact it was the second-best move. If Black takes the rook, there is mate in 4 again and if he prevents the mate, White is winning a rook, not losing one. Unholy feelings and thoughts took possession of me. I imagined myself having the diagrammed position as White. What would I play? Not the banal 21. Bxh7+ surely, but 21. Rxa6. It was a purely sadistic fantasy. At first my opponent would be pleasantly surprised being offered a full rook for nothing. Then he would suspect that there might be a catch and slowly the awful truth would dawn on him that mate was threatened and that he wouldn't win but lose a rook. From a little distance I would watch contentedly how his initial joy would turn into desperation. Those were far from noble thoughts; silly and childish to say the least. I was rather surprised that as a practically retired player I could still indulge in such fantasies. But that's what chess does to us. Nigel Short has said that in a winning position he likes to repeat moves, but only once, just to give the opponent the idle hope that he might escape with a draw. Back to the diagrammed position. White didn't give mate, he didn't win the rook, but he played a move which is equally effective. 21. Nc3•b5 a6xb5 22. Ra5xa8 Of course there was mate in 4 again, but White settles for the exchange, winning easily. No mate, no rook, just an exchange, leaving Black in a hopeless position anyway. For a moment I wondered if this was an even more refined form of sadism than playing 21. Rxa6, but I think Slingerland was innocent and had honestly missed the mate. 22...Rd4•f4 23. Rf1xf4 Qc7xf4 24. Bd3xh7+ At last this move. Black resigned.

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file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [11/20/2005 9:03:29 AM]

Dutch Treat

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Dutch Treat

"Hands off, dirty bastard!" The last time I spoke with Román Torán Albero was in 1992, after the Candidates match between Jan Timman and Arthur Yusupov. I had been present as a reporter and before I left I went to the restaurant of the Hotel Anibal in Linares to do a round of handshaking with the chess officials who were waiting there for the closing ceremony to start. At the time Torán was president of the Spanish Chess Federation. With a broad smile he send me off, saying in perfect Dutch: “Milk is good for everyone,” a commercial slogan he had picked up in the 1950s during a Hoogoven tournament. In Dutch it rhymes.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Torán died this year on the first of October in Madrid, shortly before his 74th birthday. Not much attention was paid to his death in the chess world and I only noticed it because of an obituary by Gert Ligterink on the website of the Corus tournament. Torán was famous in Spanish chess circles and quite well-known among those who frequented the Hoogoven tournament, which nowadays is called the Corus tournament. Between 1953 and 1960 he took part there five times. The milk slogan was only one of the snippets of Dutch he had picked up; even much later, whenever he met Dutch chess players, he was to greet them in Dutch: “Hello, street-dog!” or “Hands off, dirty bastard!” I think this last phrase must have been taught to him by a particularly prudish Dutch woman, for Torán didn't need it to force himself on female company at those Hoogoven tournaments in Beverwijk. His tall and handsome stature, his roguish smile and impeccable dress made him the darling of the more adventurous ladies who resided in that little town. Some of his conquests are still visiting the tournament nowadays, maybe cherishing sweet memories.

by Hans Ree

He was a good international master, but he gave up serious chess at an early age to become a journalist, businessman and chess official. As his friend Pablo Morán wrote: “At a certain moment Román realised that it is better to live like a marquis than to be a strong chessplayer.” I don't know much about Torán's record as a chess official in Spain, but I suppose that he must have been quite effective in seducing rich sponsors. The quote from Morán may not be quite accurate, for I haven't read his book on Torán. It's what Ricardo Calvo told me, and he considered himself an enemy of Torán, both in chess politics and in general Spanish politics.

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Apart from being president of the Spanish Federation Torán was also vicepresident of FIDE, from 1982 until 1990. These were tumultuous years (but when are they not?) with bitter fights between supporters and opponents of FIDEpresident Florencio Campomanes. Torán was friendly with Karpov and obviously supported the administration of which he was part. Calvo took part in the election campaign of 1986 for the group, headed by Keene and Kasparov, that aimed to replace Campomanes by the now forgotten figure-head Lincoln Lucena. For his role in that campaign Calvo was declared persona non grata by FIDE in 1987. He went to court to fight the decision, spent a lot of money on it and attained nothing, which was in fact what he had expected. Once, when I was talking about chess history with Calvo, our conversation turned to the Arabian poet Yahya ben al Hakam, nicknamed al-Gazal, who lived in the 8th and 9th century in Andalusia. Calvo had written about him unfavourably and I found the way he described this poet quite similar to the way he used to talk about Torán. Had he written a pen-portrait of his own enemy in the guise of a historical article? Not quite, but Calvo recognised the similarity. “Such authoritarian characters turn up all the time,” he said. In fact, though al-Gazal had called the game of chess satanic and impure, the life and works of this poet and diplomat appealed to me. The fragments of his poetry that I had seen showed him as a cynical and witty observer, not without self-irony. I couldn't share Calvo's dislike of al-Gazal and Torán, but in his chess-political battles my instincts were at his side. In my book, it is not a point in favour to be a highly-placed FIDE official, neither then nor now. Nevertheless, Torán had many redeeming qualities. He had played some fine attacking games, written a book about Bronstein which I cherish, and as a chess journalist he kept his virtue long after he had given up competitive play. Whenever I was in Spain at a chess event I used to read his reports in the newspaper ABC. “They're all fascists there,” said Calvo dismissively. That is not for me to judge, but what I can say is that Torán's technical analyses were of a high level and must have cost him many hours of labour. Although he had chosen to live like a marquis, he remained a real chessplayer. Theo van Scheltinga • Román Torán Hoogoven Tournament Beverwijk 1953 1. d2•d4 Ng8•f6 2. c2•c4 g7•g6 3. Nb1•c3 Bf8•g7 4. e2•e4 d7•d6 5. Ng1•f3 0•0 6. Bf1•e2 e7•e5 7. 0•0 Nb8•d7 8. Ra1•b1 Rf8•e8 9. d4•d5 Nd7•c5 10. Bc1•g5 h7•h6 11. Bg5xf6 Qd8xf6 12. b2•b4 Nc5•d7 13. Nf3•d2 Qf6•e7 14. Be2•d3 Nd7•f6 15. Nd2•b3 Nf6•h5 16. c4•c5 Nh5•f4 17. Nc3•e2 Qe7•g5 18. Ne2xf4 e5xf4 19. f2•f3 Bc8•d7 20. Rb1•c1 Bd7•a4 21. c5xd6 Bg7•d4+ 22. Kg1•h1 c7xd6 23. Rc1•c4 Bd4•e3 file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (2 of 3) [12/26/2005 11:37:52 AM]

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24. Qd1•b1 Re8•e5 25. Rf1•e1 Qg5•g3 26. h2•h3 Re5•h5 27. Re1•e2 Ra8•e8 28. Qb1•f1 Ba4•d7 29. Rc4•c2 Re8•e5 30. Qf1•e1

30...Rh5xh3+ 31. g2xh3 Qg3xf3+ 32. Re2•g2 Bd7xh3 White resigned.

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Dutch Treat

Memories at Corus Habitual visitors of the Corus tournament were either shocked or delighted by the spectacular change of scenery. In former years the playing hall had been decorated with unassuming billboards of small auxiliary local sponsors, but this time the walls were covered with an enormous mind-blowing panorama of stars, cosmonauts, deep-sea divers and big balloons in the form of chess pieces.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

On the day of the opening ceremony I went to sit at one of the playing tables, to simulate the experience of the players. I looked at the psychedelic panorama, sniffed the smell of fresh paint and glue, and suddenly I was reminded of the old chess café that I used to visit almost every day during the sixties, and of Gerrit Lakmaker, who was also known as Gerrit the dancer, Gerrit the glue-sniffer or just crazy Gerrit. He was a prominent member of the crowd of artists and artist-followers that used to meet in the cafés near the Leidseplein square in Amsterdam, where my chess café was located also. Occasionally Gerrit came to our place, for he loved chess and was a competent player. His visits were allowed, but not really welcome, for he was the glue-sniffer and one smelled it heavily. When he tried to become a member of VAS, one of the oldest Dutch chess clubs and at the time the strongest of the country, he was refused membership after some heart-breaking internal discussions, for it is cruel to deny entrance to a true chess lover. All this came back to me and I felt that Gerrit had been vindicated now that the smell of glue had been introduced to the playing hall of the chess élite. Only briefly, though. After one or two rounds the smell was gone, or maybe I had become used to it. One of the dominating colors of the decor is red and this inspired Tom Bottema, the chief of the press service, to a discourse on color psychology. Tom knows his journalists, and what kind of stories they like to hear.

by Hans Ree

He explained the indeed very low percentage of draws during the first half of the tournament by the predominance of red, which according to color psychologists stimulates aggression. Especially the big red curtain facing those who were playing with white, would ensure a sharp opening struggle. Tom made sure to emphasize that this was only his personal opinion and that it had not been the intention of the organisers to force aggression on the players by making them see red. This was wise, for some might not like it to be used as

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 4) [01/23/2006 10:07:27 PM]

Dutch Treat

guinea pigs in an experiment in color psychology. One thing Tom failed to mention was that the big balloons painted on the walls were not red, but of a dazzling orange. Color psychology has something to tell us about orange too. While red is the color of noble and forceful emotion, orange stands for hysterics; for the vacuous excitement of the bawler. American psychologists found that young children with severe behavioral disturbances showed marked improvement when orange colors in their surroundings were replaced by civilised blue. One psychologist, Darrell Townsend, even defined an ‘orange personality type’. The orange personality likes noise, lacks concentration and has a pathological need for immediate gratification. All through his life he acts as a spoiled child. At the Corus tournament we saw plenty of the noble red, but sometimes hysterical orange took over. I am at the age that any chess event tends to remind me of a chess event from the past, in this case the tournament in Hastings, 1981/82. This traditional tournament was stronger than it is nowadays, but no where near as strong anymore as in its glory years, otherwise I wouldn’t have been invited. Neither the playing hall nor our lodgings could be called glorious. My tiny hotel room had an electrical heater that had to be fed with coins and even then proved powerless against the winter temperatures. Usually the players were sitting downstairs in a communal room where it was at least warm. I have sad memories of that tournament, not only because I played badly, but also because during that period the Dutch IM Johan Barendregt, who had been a good friend, was dying. There was however, one funny scene. We were watching a darts tournament on TV in the communal room and heard what the players were earning over the year. This caused great consternation to Laszlo Szabo who stood from his chair, shouting agitatedly: “What are we doing here? We should throw darts!” In fact the dart players were earning a lot less than they do now, but it was already enough to make a great player like Szabo jealous. Well, if he judges chess on the basis of the income it generates, the average chess professional can always feel jealous. At the Corus tournament I read a newspaper interview with Pieter Hopmans, one of the participants in group C. He is a professional poker player and told the interviewer that on an average day, consisting of four hours of play, his winnings on the internet were between 800 and 1,000 euros. This year he intends to go on a year-long vacation trip around the world, together with his girlfriend. Yes, I suppose he can afford it, I thought jealously. No Dutch chess player, past or present, has ever even approached such earnings. Had I devoted my life to the wrong game, as Szabo had already claimed for all of us in 1981?

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Dutch Treat

I think not, for pleasurable and exciting as an evening of poker can be, it cannot provide the intellectual satisfaction of chess. The German GM Matthias Wahls, who last year changed his profession from chess to poker, readily admitted this, but, he went on to explain in the German magazine Schach, poker has something that chess is lacking: an abundance of amateurs with weak character and big ego who strongly over-estimate their playing strength and can be rifled by the pro’s. Beating the weakies day after day seems mind-numbing in the long run and maybe Wahls agrees, for apart from playing he has founded a poker academy. As the events in the main group of Corus are well-covered on several websites, I will stay for awhile with group C, which in itself is quite a decent tournament with eight grandmasters, and where a chess amateur like Hopmans is an exception. Just before the tournament one of the pro’s, the Dutch IM Yge Visser, had good news for his friends: his problems as White against the Sicilian were solved, as he had come across the Van Duijn gambit. This gambit is called - at least in the Netherlands and Germany - after the Dutch political activist and writer Roel van Duijn, who has employed it regularly for almost fifty years. Yge Visser - Ahmed Adly (Egypt) Corus C round 4 1. e2•e4 c7•c5 2. a2•a3 e7•e6 3. b2•b4 c5xb4 4. a3xb4 Bf8xb4 Roel was always happy when his opponents accepted the gambit this way. He liked White’s strong center after 5. c3 and 6. d4 5. Bc1•b2 Ng8•f6 6. e4•e5 Nf6•d5 7. c2•c4 Nd5•e7 8. Nb1•a3 Nb8•c6 9. Na3•c2 Obviously Visser is not following Van Duijn, but the Russian Alexei Bezgodov, who wrote a book about the variation with 2. a3. I wouldn’t like to spend two moves to commit my knight this early to c2, but in favor of the manoevre it can be said that it forces black’s bishop to a5, where it stands worse than on b4. 9...Bb4•a5 10. Ng1•f3 In similar positions Bezgodov plays Qg4 first, which indeed seems more promising. 10...0•0 11. h2•h4 d7•d6 12. e5xd6 Qd8xd6 Now if White continues quietly he will have very little for his pawn, so he takes strong action. 13. Ra1xa5 Nc6xa5 14. Qd1•a1 Attacking a5 and g7. 14...Na5•b3 15. Qa1•a2 Nb3•c5 16. d2•d4 Qd6•a6 17. Qa2•a3 Nc5•a4 18. Bb2 •c1 White’s play is based on the awkward position of Black’s queen and knight. Adly finds an interesting solution. He sacrifices a piece to take over the initiative.

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18...Ne7•c6 19. c4•c5 b7•b5 20. c5xb6 Qa6•a5+ 21. Bc1•d2 Qa5xb6 22. Qa3xa4 Qb6•b1+ 23. Ke1•e2 Bc8•d7 Material is about equal, but White’s pieces don’t work well and his king is in danger. 24. Nf3•e1 Rf8•d8 25. Qa4•a3 Ra8•b8 26. Qa3•c1 Qb1•a2 27. Rh1•h3 Rb8•b1 28. Qc1•a3 White should have played 28. Ra3, after which the outcome would be still in doubt. Now Black can decide the game by a nice combination. 28...Nc6xd4+ 29. Nc2xd4 Bd7•b5+ 30. Nd4xb5 Rd8xd2+ 31. Ke2•e3 Rb1xe1+ 32. Ke3•f3 Rd2xf2+ 33. Kf3•g3 Qa2xa3+ White resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Dutch Treat

Tartakower's Poetry By the International Chess Calendar produced by our ChessCafe host Hanon Russell I was reminded that fifty years ago Savielly Tartakower died on February 5. For me any pretext is good enough to write something about Tartakower, who was an admirable man – a great player, a diligent and witty writer and journalist, a Doctor of Law, a poet in three languages, a music critic, a courageous soldier and according to all accounts always a man of honor.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

In an earlier article (Revenge and Forgiveness, May 1999) I related that during the Victory Tournament in London in 1946 Tartakower was the only participant who defended Alekhine. A committee presided by Euwe had been set up as a kind of tribunal to judge the case of Alekhine, who by his series of anti-semitic articles had become an outcast. Tartakower found the vengeful attitudes of his colleagues hypocritical, as they had all known about Alekhine's anti-semitism already before the war and never protested. According to Arnold Denker in The Bobby Fischer I Knew, Tartakower even started to collect some money for Alekhine, who was supposed to be living in poverty. Both Tartakower's parents had been killed in a Russian pogrom. At the outbreak of World War II Tartakower had managed to reach England from Paris and he had joined DeGaulle's army of the Free French. His attitude towards the Nazis was beyond suspicion. Though I find it hard to agree with Tartakower on Alekhine's case, his attitude, standing alone against the rightful indignation of his colleagues, seems admirable to me. “Tartakower was never a joiner,” commented Euwe later, which I consider a great compliment. In the list of Tartakower's accomplishments I mentioned that he was a poet. Until recently, the only thing I knew about his poetry came from the Dutch journalist E. Straat, who wrote in his wonderful collection Praatschaak 1:

by Hans Ree

“There sat Tartakower – Dr. Savielly Tartakower, Russian, Austrian, later Xavier Tartacover, Polish, French, by origin a lawyer and a chessmaster who wrote music criticism for the Wiener Abendzeitung, or whatever that newspaper was called at the time - translating a new poetry collection by German expressionists (Kurt Pinthus' Menschheitsdaemmerung) into Russian, while at the same time he was defending and drawing a subtle knight ending against Euwe. The translation was

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perfect according to experts; the way in which Tartakower handled his fragile endgame against Euwe was faultless according to our Max.” Recently one of Edward Winter's columns on www.chesshistory.com (C.N. 4089, January 9) was devoted to Tartakower's poetry. It was in fact a contribution by the chess historians Richard Foster and Tomasz Lissowski, who referred to earlier articles by Sergei Voronkov and Yuri Arkhipov in the Russian chess press. It seems that Russian poetry critics were less impressed by Tartakower's poetry than the experts invoked by Straat. In 1911 a small book of poetry by Tartakower was reviewed by Nikolai Gumilev, a respected poet and critic. Gumilev was one of the founders of the 'acmeist' movement, of which Anna Akhmatova (who was briefly married to Gumilev) is the most famous representative. Gumilev was executed in 1921 on the charge that he had been involved in an anti-Bolshevik plot. In 1911 Gumilev called Tartakower a true poet, with focused thoughts and great inner strength. However he went on saying: “But he has no feeling for the Russian language; worse still, he does not know it! His syntax is impossible, his vocabulary preposterous.” And he concluded that Tartakower would do better to write his poems in Yiddish, which seems a low blow. Was Tartakower really so ignorant of Russian? I wondered if Gumilev's opinion could have been caused by a clash of poetic styles. From Straat I knew that Tartakower had translated the German expressionists, a movement in which the blowing up of ordinary syntax and the invention of a 'preposterous' vocabulary was commonplace. Maybe Tartakower, the hypermodernist in chess, had done something similar in his own poetry, not out of ignorance, but on purpose. But as I had never seen one of his poems, this little theory had no support. Forster and Lissowski note that later Vladimir Nabokov reviewed a small volume by 'Rewokatrat' (Tartakower in reverse), reaching the cruel verdict: “Write, but do not think it is poetry.” The only poetry book by Tartakower that I could obtain on short notice is Das Russische Revolutionsgesicht (The Russian face of revolution) published in 1923. The cover text says 'Russland lacht und klagt...' (Russia laughs and cries...) and the author is called Saviely Tartakower, while inside the book he is always Savielly with two l's. It is (apart from two prose pieces) an anthology of modern Russian poetry translated by Tartakower into German and preceded by a long essay. To a layman like me the essay seems knowledgeable and perceptive. But what about the poems? Tartakower repeatedly indicates that his translations have the same meter as the Russian originals. Apparently when the originals rhymed, his translations rhyme also. These are severe constraints on a poetry translator and it seems to me that the Russian poems in this translation are victimised on a Procrustes bed. file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [02/21/2006 10:17:30 PM]

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Especially the incessant rhyming doesn't seem natural. Everything becomes a bit folksy, as in light verse in which clumsy rhyming is accepted and sometimes even pursued for comical effect. But this isn't supposed to be light verse. It may be an unfair judgment, because I don't know the original poems. But Tartakower also translated one Russian poem by himself. If that is not good poetry in German, it's all his own fault. I think it is not very good. This poem called Iwan, which should have been an elegy on the bloodshed in Petersburg caused by the revolution and the civil war, strikes me as a rather primitive didactic tract on the evil of violence and the virtue of forgiveness. Again the forced rhyming is irritating. Alas, based on this admittedly small piece of evidence I must agree with Nabokov's verdict: write, but do not think it is poetry. It's a pity, because I would have liked my hero Tartakower to be a good poet also. But you can't have everything. As an afterthought: Forster and Lissowski translate a poem by Tartakower that describes his feelings when he received a telegram saying that his parents had been killed. This poem seems much better to me, maybe because this translation doesn't rhyme. Here is one example of his artistry as a chessplayer. The game won the third brilliancy prize in the tournament of Teplitz Schönau 1922 and Tartakower obviously thought it had deserved a higher prize. In his French book Tartacover vous parle (Tartakower speaks to you) he writes that the majority of the jury expressed the opinion that his rook sacrifice had been intuitive, as it was impossible to calculate all the variations, and that such sacrifices should not be encouraged. Remarkable. I think that nowadays intuitive sacrifices are appreciated much more than sacrifices based on exact calculation, which are often disparagingly called pseudo-sacrifices. Geza Maroczy • Savielly Tartakower Teplitz•Schönau, 1922 1. d2•d4 e7•e6 2. c2•c4 f7•f5 3. Nb1•c3 Ng8•f6 4. a2•a3 Bf8•e7 5. e2•e3 0•0 6. Bf1•d3 d7•d5 7. Ng1•f3 c7•c6 8. 0•0 Nf6•e4 9. Qd1•c2 Be7•d6 10. b2•b3 Nb8•d7 11. Bc1•b2 With typical Tartakowerian exaggeration he writes that white trusts the scientific foundation of his play, while black considers the position as a concrete problem: mate in 25! 11...Rf8•f6 12. Rf1•e1 Rf6•h6 White's calm play has permitted black to embark on a dangerous attack. Now white hastens to construct the solid defensive position that many modern players reach more economically with 3. g3.

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13. g2•g3 Qd8•f6 14. Bd3•f1 g7•g5 15. Ra1•d1 According to Tartakower white should have played 15. Bg2 at once, to be able to follow-up with Nf3-d2-f1. 15...g5•g4 16. Nc3xe4 Not at once 16. Nd2 because of 16...Nxf2. 16...f5xe4 17. Nf3•d2 17...Rh6xh2 Black gives a rook for an attack that will only succeed when his three pieces are brought into play that are still lying dormant on the queenside. This is what makes the sacrifice uncalculable (though Tartakower did not agree that is was) and beautiful. 18. Kg1xh2 Qf6xf2+ 19. Kh2•h1 Nd7•f6 20. Re1•e2 Qf2xg3 21. Nd2•b1 Nf6•h5 22. Qc2•d2 Here and on his next few moves white has a choice of defenses which according to Tartakower's notes would all be insufficient. If he is right, I do not dare to say. 22...Bc8•d7 23. Re2•f2 Qg3•h4+ 24. Kh1•g1 Bd6•g3 25. Bb2•c3 Bg3xf2+ 26. Qd2xf2 g4•g3 27. Qf2•g2 Ra8•f8 28. Bc3•e1 28...Rf8xf1+ The sacrifice of the second rook prepares a decisive intervention of his bishop. 29. Kg1xf1 e6•e5 30. Kf1•g1 Bd7•g4 All the remaining black pieces throw themselves on the white king. White has to return some material, but he remains defenseless. 31. Be1xg3 Nh5xg3 32. Rd1•e1 Ng3•f5 33. Qg2•f2 Qh4•g5 34. d4xe5 Bg4•f3+ 35. Kg1•f1 Nf5•g3+ White resigned.

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Leko's Stations of the Cross George Koltanowski, who as a storyteller didn’t always confine himself to the literal truth, described in his booklet Chessnicdotes a scene that supposedly took place at an Olympiad, after the round was finished. The grandmasters were sitting in the restaurant and Kortchnoi exclaimed that he was really the greatest Patzer of the tournament, as he had lost his game against Pomar by pure oversight. But Tal contradicted him, saying that he himself was the greatest Patzer, because of his poor game against Larsen. Then a voice at another table called out: “Say, Grandmaster Damjanovic, don’t you have something to say too?”

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Actually my database has it that Tal and Larsen never played each other at an Olympiad and that Kortchnoi and Pomar only made an uneventful draw in 16 moves at the Olympiad of Skopje 1972, where Damjanovic – actually a strong player who was too often the butt of this kind of anecdotes – did not play. Maybe it is not fair to attack old stories with the destroying power of a modern database. Anyway, I recently imagined a conversation between Peter Leko and Jan Timman that might develop along the lines of Kolty’s anecdote. Leko might say: “What I did in Linares on Friday March 3 was really horrible. Against Vallejo Pons I agreed a draw in a position that was so easy to win that everybody saw it, except me. I am really the most stupid chessplayer in the whole world.” “Oh no,” Jan Timman might answer. “Only three days later I did something much worse at the Reykjavik Open against Helgi Ziska, a fifteen-year old boy from the Faroe islands. I didn’t give a draw in a winning position, I resigned while I only had to take his Queen to force his own resignation. It’s really me who is the most stupid player in the world.” And I, if I had been present at that imaginary conversation between the two chess giants, wouldn’t I have something to say too? Certainly. Against the Dutch IM Coen Zuidema I once resigned in a position where I didn’t even have to find a good move to make a draw; just shuffling my King to and fro would have been sufficient. Obviously it is me who is the most stupid player in the world.

by Hans Ree

After the first leg of the tournament in Morelia (Mexico) and Linares (Spain) Leko was leading and he seemed to be in fine form, having won three games in excellent style. Then in the first round that was played in Linares something happened that must have caused him some sleepless nights. He agreed a draw in a winning position.

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Leko-Vallejo Pons, after Black’s 24st move. I wonder who offered the draw here. According to the rules it should be the player who had made the last move, Vallejo Pons, and in that case it almost appears as if his offer carried a hypnotic suggestion. Would he have seen that he was lost and tried a draw offer as a last recourse? That would have been bad manners and also bad tactics. I think it’s more likely that Leko offered the draw. The way to win is obvious and straightforward: 25. gxf7+ and now after 25...Kxf7 White would win on the spot by 26. Bc4. I think this pretty move must have been overlooked by Leko, for in the other variation, after 25...Rxf7, the simple winning line starting with 26. Bd3 and 27. Qh7+ can hardly be missed or miscalculated. Even after this unfortunate accident Leko was still in clear first place. Nothing fatal had happened, but in the way a splinter in one’s finger may not hurt at first, but then slowly cause a festering wound, this draw may have affected Leko’s selfconfidence. At least that is how we journalists like to describe an event, with a story line heavily leaning on pop-psychology. Two rounds before the end Leko was still leading, a half-point ahead of Levon Aronian. Leko had made eight draws in a row, but it was obvious that in the 13th round as Black against Veselin Topalov he would have to work hard for his draw. In fact Topalov had him under pressure during the whole game, but Leko defended well and at the 54th move the draw was within easy reach. Topalov-Leko, after White’s 54th move. Here 54...Kd7 55. Kxg6 Nc4 would have been a simple draw. After 56. Rd3 (the Rook ending after 56. Rf3 Nxd6 57. Nxd6 Kxd6 is drawn also) Nxd6 57. Nxd6 (or 57. Rxd6+ Ke7 and Black regains his piece) 57...Rxf4 58. Nxb5+ White might still have tried to win with Rook + Knight against Rook. But though Kasparov once managed to do this against Judit Polgar (when they were both forced to blitz their moves), I cannot imagine Leko losing this endgame. He actually played 54...Rb4-d4 and after 55. Ne4-f6 Rd4xd6 56. Re3-e8+ Kc7 57. Re8-e2 he had to give up either the exchange or a piece and finally lost. So Leko had first given a draw in a winning position and then he had lost a simple endgame. Now before the last round he was sharing first place with Aronian, file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [03/19/2006 10:40:22 AM]

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Topalov and Radjabov. According to an eyewitness, during that last game Leko looked like a man who had lost all his power and interest. Still, when Leko wants to make a draw as White, he makes it. But with his rivals Topalov and Radjabov playing the underdogs of the tournament Vallejo Pons and Bacrot, Leko couldn’t be sure that a draw would bring him anything substantial. When you don’t know if you should play for a draw or for a win, you usually end up playing for a loss, and in fact Leko played his last game far below his normal strength. Leko-Aronian, after Black’s 14th move. By 15. Bxe7 Ngxe7 16. d4 exd4 (the piece sacrifice 16...Bxh3 is not correct) 17. Nxd4 Nxd4 18. Qxd4 White would have reached a quiet position which would be very difficult to lose, but because of the tournament situation he wanted more and played: 15. c2•c3 b4xc3 16. b2xc3 f7•f5 17. Bb3•a4 After this move Black gets a clear advantage, but already White had some small difficulties. 17...f5xe4 18. Ba4xc6 e4xf3 19. Bg5xe7 Ng8xe7 20. Bc6xf3 Ne7•g6 21. Bf3•g4 Ng6•f4 22. Ra1•a2 Qc8•b7 White is already lost. Black is threatening mate and after 23. f3 there are several winning methods, a simple one being 23...Bxc4 24. dxc4 Qc6, threatening 25...h5 among other things. 23. Bg4•f3 Qb7•b3 24.Ra2•c2 Nf4xd3 25.Qd1xd3 Qb3xc4 26.Qd3xc4 Be6xc4 Being a pawn up in a positionally superior position Black quickly won. As both Topalov and Radjabov drew their games, Aronian took clear first place. He is a very interesting player who seems to have a strangely light-hearted attitude to chess. The Russians call him a genius and maybe he is. Have a look at the interview that Misha Savinov had in September 2005 for the ChessCafe. Savinov asked: “Do you have something of Larsen’s traits?” and Aronian answered: “Yes, I like jumping with my pieces here and there and pushing the pawns. Normally it makes my position just rotten. But then I try to create some active play, increase tensions, look for tricks. I enjoy crooked position.”

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Jump around, push some pawns and when your position has become rotten, just look for some tricks and everything will be alright. Can that really have been the way for Aronian to reach fifth place on the world ranking list and win a supertournament? There must be more to it.

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Volatile Karpov in the FIDE Elections Anatoly Karpov is a great chessplayer and a personality wrought of iron, but hardly a model of reliability. Remember the Russian championship of 2004. The organisers had proudly announced that Kasparov, Kramnik and Karpov would take part. Then Kramnik cancelled his participation because of his illness, which we now know to be quite serious.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

by Hans Ree

But Kasparov and Karpov were still there and the day before the first round they jointly gave a press conference at the Moscow Hotel Rossya, which by the way has now been demolished to the universal regret of moderate budget tourists. Nothing that Karpov said at that press conference had prepared the public for the shock they were in for the next day. Karpov had left Moscow because of business obligations and wouldn't play in the championship after all. A few weeks ago Karpov showed his easy-going volatility again. Last year he had been the most outspoken critic of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and his team. He had mentioned Zurab Azmaiparashvili's fight with the Spanish police at the Calvia Olympiad, suggesting that this kind of physical violence was characteristic for the present leadership of FIDE. And here is a quote from Karpov as recent as January 2006: “I think everybody connected with chess understands that if we allow chess to continue for another four years in its present terrible state, it will simply disappear from the face of the earth.” Out with Ilyumzhinov and his cronies, or chess will die, that was Karpov's clear message. He also said that he completely agreed with Bessel Kok, the Dutch/ Belgian businessman who is

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running against Ilyumzhinov for the presidency of FIDE, and that he supported him. But something must have happened that made him change his mind, for recently in an interview with the Russian radio station Echo of Moscow, Karpov said: “Well, I personally think that Ilyumzhinov's chances for success are close to 100% today. The major reason is that Bessel Kok only looks at chess from the point of view of the professional player.” Of course, Karpov went on, Ilyumzhinov would have to listen to the professionals also, but he had shown already much progress in this respect by his efforts to organise a match between Kramnik and Topalov. This was truly a stab in the back from the man who had declared his total agreement with Bessel Kok. Who would want to vote for a man whose chances to win were supposed to be almost nil? Kok's election team tried to do some damage control by means of an interview with Karpov on their campaign website. Karpov admitted that it had been a bit premature to estimate Ilyumzhinov's chances as close to 100%, but this must have been small comfort for Kok. It is clear that Karpov sees his future connected with the people who quite recently were supposed to make chess disappear from the face of the earth. For the first time since 1982, when Florencio Campones became head of FIDE, we see a serious fight for the presidency. Both Campomanes and Ilyumzhinov have met rival candidates, but in the past it was enough for them to raise a finger and the opposition would fold their hands, hoping to be rewarded with a position in the winning team. Now there is a real campaign going on. A journalist in general should take a detached attitude and not be involved in campaigns. On the other hand I cannot not hide the fact that I agree with the views of the Karpov of 2005, though I would formulate them a bit less brutally than he did. Recently Nigel Freeman, who is the candidate for FIDE Treasurer on the Ilyumzhinov team, complained that many file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 5) [04/23/2006 3:10:41 PM]

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journalists describe the competition between the two teams in terms of black and white, good and evil. In a way he is right; the manichean view is primitive. Certainly all FIDE officials cannot be crooks. There must be some decent guys among them. But as a collective the FIDE Board deserves John Nunn's verdict in his latest book Grandmaster Chess Move by Move: “The general impression is of bullying and incompetence in equal measure.” In contrast, Bessel Kok is an extremely able organiser and during the almost 20 years that I know him I have never heard him tell a lie. But does he have a chance? When he announced his candidacy I thought his case was doomed, because the forces of bullying appeared far too strong. But now I am not so sure. He has managed an intelligent campaign that has built up slowly, insuring that almost every day small successes can be reported: statements of support from players, sponsors, national federations and other organisations. Almost 40 federations have pledged their support. The Ilyumzhinov team claims to have 60 votes by now, which might be true or not. Never trust a high FIDE official and after shaking hands with him, be sure to count your fingers. One unlikely supporter of Ilyumzhinov is the chess federation of Israel. Why would Israel, of all countries, support a FIDE team that had a World Championship organised in Tripoli, where their players could not take part? Surely the answer must be found in the influence of Israel Gelfer, a long-time high FIDE official. Understandably the decision evoked much criticism inside the Israeli chess federation. Apparently the opposition managed to schedule a second meeting with the aim of reviewing the case, but what the outcome of that meeting was I do not know. For a while it appeared to me as if everyone in the chess world whom I find sympathetic and reliable was supporting Kok, but file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 5) [04/23/2006 3:10:41 PM]

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this turned out to be not quite true. Veselin Topalov, a fine gentleman, recently declared: “I deeply respect the present head of the World Chess Federation Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. I think that his contribution to chess is enormous and I hope that this time he will win again.” Ilyumzhinov certainly improved his chances by his announcement of the match between Kramnik and Topalov, to be played from September this year in Elista. After years of muddling at last there is the long hoped-for unification of the two World Championships, or at least the promise of it. On his website Kok posed some questions: was the prize money of a million dollars already transferred to FIDE's bank account and would the match also be played if Kok wins the election? Especially the second question may not be answered. Undoubtedly it is in Ilyumzhinov's interest to suggest that the fate of the match is linked to his own fortunes, but if he would say so openly he would be open to the accusation that he is abusing the World Championship for an election stunt. In the privacy of the ballot box the delegates will remember their commitments. But will they be faithful to them? A lastminute promise or threat may influence the faint-hearted. It has happened before. And then there is Stalin's famous dictum: it's not so important who votes, it's important who counts the votes. We do not know what the result will be of the FIDE elections at the Olympiad in Turin, but whatever happens I am sure that Karpov was too pessimistic when only a few months ago he predicted that chess would disappear from the face of the earth if Ilyumzhionov won.

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[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Jan Timman in Malmö I remember a photo of Mikhail Tal and Boris Spassky with a caption in which they were called the dinosaurs of chess. Dinosaurs are supposed to have died long ago. How old where Tal and Spassky when that picture was taken? Tal died in 1992 at the age of 55. Spassky was a few months younger than he. These dinosaurs cannot have been very old, but that's what I think now and probably not at the time when I saw the photo.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

More than twenty years ago I read Mario Vargas Llosa's book Aunt Julia and the Scriptwriter. One of its characters is a radio journalist who always refers to himself as being 50 years old, when a man is in his best years. At the time I found that funny, but now I think that the journalist was more or less right. Someone who was not deceiving himself was the film-maker Luis Bunuel. Apparently in his old age he used to address strangers on the street, pointing out some old decrepit passer-by and saying: “You see that poor guy there? That's the film-maker Bunuel. Isn't it terrible? Only last year he was still walking upright.” The previous musings will explain the fact that I was quite pleased when a modern dinosaur, Jan Timman, won the 14th Sigeman & Co Tournament in Malmö, Sweden earlier this month. It was said that he had a guardian angel on his shoulders, escaping from dubious positions several times, but certainly his tactical alertness had something to do with these escapes also. “Luck will come to those who know how to forge their luck, answered Alekhine energetically when a player complained to him about his bad luck in the tournament.” I quote from memory, not knowing exactly where I once read this. The 'energetic answer' has a German ring to it, as in war movies where German officials are always energetically clicking heels, with tense muscles, ready for battle. Here is one example of angelic guardianship, or rather, in the spirit of Alekhine, of the tactical resourcefulness of a man who knows how to forge his luck.

by Hans Ree

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This is from the third round, Khenkin Timman after Black's 33rd move. Igor Khenkin is a pawn up with a good position, but here he has to be careful. 34. Qf4 would have prevented Black's counter attack, for after 34. Qf4 Ra1+ 35. Kh2 Qf1 36. Qf5+ it would be Black who is mated. However the game went 34. Rd8-c8? Ra5-a1+ 35. Kg1-h2 Qc4-f1 Suddenly White is lost; he has no defence against Black's attack. 36. Rc8-h8+ Kh7-g6 37. Qb8-g3+ Kg6-f5 38. Qg3-f4+ Kf5-g6 A repetition of moves, surely not for sadistic pleasure, but just to make the time control. 39. Qf4-g3+ Kg6-f5 40. Qg3-f4+ Kf5-e6 Black is safe and White is about to be mated. In desperation he sacrificed a rook and soon resigned. 41. Rh8-e8+ Nf6xe8 42. Qf4xe4+ Ke6-d7 43. Qe4-f5+ Kd7-e7 44. Qf5-c5+ Ne8d6 45. e3-e4 Qf1-c4 46. Qc5-b6 Ke7-d7 47. f2-f3 f7-f5 48. Qb6-e3 f5xe4 49. f3xe4 Qc4-f1 White resigned. Something similar happened two rounds later. Cicak-Timman, after Black's 43rd move. With 44. Bxg7 Rxg7 45. Qd8+ Kh7 45. Qxd3 White could reach a rook ending with an extra pawn, but it would be a draw. Maybe he wanted more. The game went 44. Rg1-g2 Re6h6+ 45. Kh2-g1 Qc4-e4 and here White was already in big trouble. He made another mistake and resigned after 46. Kg1-f2 Rh6-h1 Not to suggest that Timman needed his angel in every game, I'll show his victory over Jonny Hector in which Timman, after a calm veteran's opening, had a practically winning position already after 16 moves. Timman - Hector, 6th round 1. Ng1-f3 d7-d5 2. g2-g3 Bc8-g4 3. Bf1-g2 Nb8-d7 4. c2-c4 e7-e6 5. c4xd5 e6xd5 6. 0-0 Bf8-d6 7. Qd1-b3 Nd7-b6 8. Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6 9. h2-h3 Bg4-d7 10. d2-d3 00 11. a2-a4 a7-a5 12. Bc1-e3 Ra8-a6 13. Be3-d4 Rf8-e8 14. e2-e4 d5xe4 15. Nf3g5 Re8-f8 16. d3xe4 c7-c5 An ugly move, terribly weakening his queenside, but already there was no good defense against White's advance in the center. 17. Bd4-e3 h7-h6 18. Rf1-d1 Qd8-b8 19. Ng5-f3 Bd7-e6 20. Qb3-c2 Nb6-c4 21. Be3-c1 Nc4-e5 22. Nf3xe5 Bd6xe5 23. Bc1-e3 Qb8-c8 24. Kg1-h2 Rf8-e8 25. Nc3-b5

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25...Be5-b8 Resigning himself to his fate by giving a pawn that could be protected only by 25...b6, another ugly move that would destroy communication in Black's camp. 26. Qc2xc5 Qc8xc5 27. Be3xc5 Ra6-c6 28. Bc5-d4 Be6-b3 29. Rd1-e1 Rc6-c4 30. e4-e5 Nf6-d7 31. Ra1-a3 Bb3-c2 32. Bg2-d5 Rc4xa4 33. e5-e6 f7xe6 34. Re1xe6 Black resigned. In the last two rounds Timman tied himself to the mast, like Ulysses with the Sirens, not to be seduced by the lure of real chess. One hand free to make a few perfunctory moves and sign the scoresheet at the earliest opportunity. Earlier he had already played a super-quick draw against Suat Atalik. On the good side it can be said that in the games he really played he made the fine score of 5½ out of 6. And then, an old chessplayer has to be practical. Burning oneself out in every game may have a romantic appeal, but winning a tournament is a higher priority. Timman is 54 years old and he doesn't find it easy to play a nine-round tournament without a rest day. I had a look at the rating list to see how many players over 50 are among the top 100. There were only four, in order of rating: Anatoli Karpov, who has just turned 55, Robert Hübner (57), Alexander Beliavsky (52) and Jan Timman (54). Nowadays Karpov plays mainly rapid tournaments and Hübner plays seldomly since he has found what he calls 'a decent profession' as a technical translator. The only dinosaurs from the top 100 who still compete in classical tournaments are Beliavsky and Timman. But what about Viktor Kortchnoi, the indefatigable? He is just out of the top 100, but undoubtedly plans a come-back. In his long and distinguished career Timman has won tournaments that were much stronger than the one in Malmö, Sweden the other hand, in the modern chessworld a tournament victory by a 54-year old is almost something for the Guinness Book of Records. I thought about George Koltanowski, who in 1937 set a world record with a blindfold simul against 34 opponents. 48 years later he wrote in his book In the Dark: “I was 82 years old in September 1985. When I am 83, I would like to set a new record (crazy, what?) and play six boards simultaneously blindfold. It would set a record for an exhibition for an 83-year old. And continue each year... Think it can be arranged?” Koltanowski was to live on till the year 2000, so he had the opportunity to set many new records in this way, which he duly did almost until his death at the age of 96.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [05/21/2006 4:58:12 PM]

Dutch Treat

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 4) [05/21/2006 4:58:12 PM]

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Vote Early and Often This famous American dictum, attributed to leaders as diverse as Lyndon B. Johnson and Al Capone, suggests that election fraud and corruption are unavoidable facts of life that should be taken that should be taken with

an

equanimous smile. This may be true when corruption is one factor among others, sometimes deciding the outcome of an election, but often not. It is quite different when corruption is so endemic that the whole concept of elections, in which contenders are supposed to be judged on their policies and their capability to execute them, becomes meaningless. Such is the case in FIDE.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

One would hardly think so, judging by the photos of FIDE's election day in Turin. During the campaigns for the presidential election some bitter words were said and written, but finally harmony seemed to reign. In his speech to the delegates, Bessel Kok stressed the need for change, but he also thanked Kirsan Ilyumzhinov for the courtesy shown to him in Turin. Then came a very short speech by Ilyumzhinov, followed by the voting and the counting. Ilyumzhinov turned out to have won overwhelmingly with 96 against 54 votes. Both Kok and Ilyumzhinov were all smiles and they embraced on the stage. However, many people came home from the Olympiad with tales belying the show of harmony. Here are a few reactions that were collected by Schaakmagazine, the monthly magazine of the Dutch chess federation. Yvette Nagel (the wife of Yasser Seirawan, who was a member of Bessel Kok's team): “Truly fascinating what happened, this was unreal. At a certain moment, even before the actual voting, pamphlets were distributed saying that Ilyumzhinov had won 87 votes! A woman from Kok's team wanted to distribute something also, but was removed from the hall by Azmaiparashvili's wife, who literally kicked her. Some delegates were only flown in to Turin, they signed and took the same plane back home, it was really scandalous.”

by Hans Ree

Jan Timman: “Intimidation and bribery went much farther then we had expected. People have actually seen banknotes changing hands, but how to prove what the money was for? Bessel Kok will drop out after this adventure, this is sure.” Herman Hamers (former president of the Dutch Chess Federation): “Incredible what happened there. It has little to do with democracy.” Kok's team had seen to it that two of their own men were present at the count of

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 3) [06/26/2006 6:58:33 AM]

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votes and that voting would be confidential, hoping thereby to limit the efficacy of bribery. It seems that they even searched the voting booths for hidden cameras. If this is true, they didn't reckon with the powers of modern technology. In his column in The Guardian, Nigel Short mentioned one of the ‘odd stories generated by the election’ which had it that in the privacy of the voting booth some delegates photographed their completed ballot papers to SMS the picture to the right quarters before depositing their votes. During the campaign Yasser Seirawan wrote that if logic and reason would rule the election, Ilyumzhinov would not get a single vote. Indeed, what could be an honest reason to support him? He is a man who says that he has had conversations with aliens on their space ship and that Saddam Hussein is a fine character deserving the Nobel Peace Prize. As president of Kalmykia one of his first deeds was to abolish the local parliament, and international human rights organisations recognise him as a harsh suppressor of the freedom of the press. Two of his aides confessed to the murder of the journalist Larissa Yudina and were sentenced for it (of course outside Kalmykia). No reputable organisation would touch such a man even with a pole. From our perspective as chess lovers it can be added that during his reign of FIDE the interest of the international media in serious chess contests dropped dramatically. Recently in New in Chess, Timman reminded us of the reason why in 1996 the Dutch chess world lost the VSB tournaments. These fine tournaments had been held for many years to the delight of both chess lovers and executives of the VSB Bank. The last tournament especially, in which Kasparov and Topalov shared first place, was a big success. Apart from the tournaments, the VSB Bank also sponsored a nationwide ‘chess in the schools’ project which was very popular. Then in 1996 suddenly all came to an end. VSB's chief executive announced that the company would withdraw from chess, because Ilyumzhinov had announced that the world championship match between Karpov and Kamsky would be held in Saddam's Baghdad. The VSB man said: “You don't have to be a communication expert to realise that sponsoring and carrying across one's image are closely connected.” With Ilyumzhinov, chess had become dangerous to the bank's image. Nowadays they are doing a lot for Dutch poetry. This is only one example, where the reason for ending a fine chess tradition of ten years was explicitly given. There must have been many more occasions when a promising chess initiative was nipped in the bud because of Ilyumzhinov's reputation. Imagine a commercial sponsor who considers getting involved in chess. The boss doesn't know much about the chessworld and orders an employee to do a quick Google search. Up come FIDE and Ilyumzhinov. Horror! Within seconds the potential sponsor is led away from chess, never to come back to it. This is not a hypothetical case, for Seirawan says that he has witnessed such a situation. Above I quoted Timman saying that Bessel Kok would certainly stay away from file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 3) [06/26/2006 6:58:33 AM]

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FIDE in the future. This seems almost self-evident, but some doubt remains. Ilyumzhinov, in an interview with his sycophant Yury Vasiliev, said that Kok had told him that he needed a month's thinking time to consider if he would fulfill a role in FIDE. Seirawan tells it slightly differently, saying that Kok in the postelection euphoria of ‘gens una sumus’ had asked for a concrete written proposal and promised to answer within a month. Apparently such a written proposal has not yet come. But if it ever comes, I can think of only one reasonable piece of advice to Bessel Kok, who is a good and honest man who should not be mauled and tainted by the FIDE gang: Don't even think about it! FIDE politics is an extremely depressing subject, both to be involved in and to write about. I can promise our Chesscafe visitors that it will be quite some time before I will return to it.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 3) [06/26/2006 6:58:33 AM]

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Alex Wojtkiewicz (1963-2006) “Now all these KGB pigs come to kiss my ass,” said Alex Wojtkiewicz laughingly at the opening party of the first Aeroflot tournament in Moscow in 2002. Indeed, a few moments later a Russian chessplayer who was generally supposed to have worked for the KGB, came over to have a most friendly chat with him. Life had changed since Soviet times and Alex was enjoying it. At the party he talked about a prison term he had served, the details of which I only learned recently, after his death.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Wojtkiewicz was born in Riga in 1963. His father was (ethnically) Polish, his mother Russian. He was a promising young player and Alexander Shabalov was recently quoted in The New York Times saying that he may have been the best of a group that included Ehlvest, Salov and Andrei Sokolov. These three players were to gain greater successes than Wojtkiewicz, whose career was interrupted for six years during the 1980's. My database gives none of his games in 1981; for 1982 there are only two games and then there is a gap of five years until he resumes chess activity in 1988. For almost five years he was in hiding to escape military service in the Soviet army, “spending most of his time in the St. Petersburg underworld,” according to a memorial article on the USCF website. Such a life cannot be endured indefinitely. In 1986 he turned himself in and was sentenced to a two-year prison sentence, of which he served one and a half years. In 1987 he was released and the next year he was allowed to emigrate to Poland. At the Aeroflot tournament in 2002 he was already representing the United States, as a few years earlier there had been a conflict with Polish chess officials. This was his first tournament in Russia after his emigration. He had played a few tournaments in Estonia in the 90's, but never in the heart of the former Soviet empire and like many other émigrés, he celebrated his return as a political victory.

by Hans Ree

When the tournament was finished he intended to go back to the U.S. by way of Amsterdam, so at Sheremetyevo Airport he joined the Dutch group that would take the same flight. It turned out he was worried. Apparently, as a result of something about which he wouldn't elaborate, half of his Russian visa had been torn out of his passport. Would they let him embark on our flight when his papers were not in order? I tried to reassure him saying that probably they would like to get rid of a

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 3) [07/23/2006 10:23:26 AM]

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troublemaker like him as soon as possible, but this couldn't ease his mind. His worries proved to be well-founded, for while we were passing on to the departure hall, Alex was stopped and left behind. We said goodbye and wished him good luck, with a tinge of guilt for leaving him there, but not enough to consider missing our flight in a futile attempt to assist him. “He drinks too much,” said one member of our group, and this could not be denied. Though I didn't really fear for his wellbeing, it was a bit of a relief when a few weeks later I found that he was playing in an American tournament. He was very active on the U.S. tournament circuit, winning the yearly Grand Prix six times in a row. When he died in a Baltimore hospital on July 14, apparently from internal bleeding caused by a perforated intestine, he was leading the rankings for the 2006 Grand Prix, followed by his friend Jaan Ehlvest. In his last five tournaments he had won a clear or shared first prize. Winning the Grand Prix brings an additional $4,000 to the prizes already won in the individual tournaments. This money is won by extremely hard work, as witness John Donaldson's tribute in the Mechanics Institute’s Chess Room Newsletter: “Life in the United States was a mixed bag for Wojt. No other player, save the late Igor Ivanov, played so often and traveled so frequently around the United States in search of Grand Prix points. This life without an anchor, traveling weeks on end, certainly took its toll on Alex as it did on Igor. One online writer suggested naming the USCF Grand Prix after Alex and Igor, and it seems like the perfect tribute to these iron men. Alex was always busy in the US whether it was playing or teaching. Wojt seemed to feel financially insecure and it is a pity he had no health insurance.” Naming the Grand Prix after these iron men, apart from being a perfect tribute, might also serve as a health warning, though Donaldson, who is far from a cynic, probably didn't intend it that way. On the USCF website, Alex’s girlfriend Amber Berglund was quoted as she compared him with Dionysus, the God of wine and rapture: “He was a ball of heavenly hell•fire. He burned bright and his light went out too soon.” He was a wild guy, but a nice guy and from the tributes I read on the web it seems clear that he was loved and admired by many friends and pupils. At a memorial service on July 17 one of these pupils, Kevin McPherson, recalled a compliment that he had received when he was showing some games of which he was really proud from the World Open. Wojtkiewicz had gone through them, laughingly dismissing many of his moves, but then he had paused after one move and said: "Kevin, I've been teaching you for four years, you've spent thousands on chess lessons and finally, you play a good move!" Here is a game from the time that Wojtkiewicz was still playing for Poland. Alex Wojtkiewicz - Spyridon Skembris (Greece) Novi Sad Olympiad 1990 file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 3) [07/23/2006 10:23:26 AM]

Dutch Treat

1. Ng1•f3 d7•d5 2. c2•c4 e7•e6 3. g2•g3 Ng8•f6 4. Bf1•g2 c7•c5 5. 0•0 Nb8•c6 6. d2•d4 Bf8•e7 7. d4xc5 Be7xc5 8. a2•a3 0•0 9. b2•b4 Bc5•e7 10. Bc1•b2 a7•a6 11. Nb1•d2 Though White's set-up doesn't seem very threatening, in fact this is a difficult position for Black, who doesn't easily find good squares for his pieces. 11...Rf8•e8 12. Ra1•c1 Bc8•d7 13. Qd1•c2 Ra8•c8 14. Qc2•b1 h7•h6 15. Rf1•d1 Qd8•b6 16. e2•e4 Black's position is already becoming critical. 16...d5xe4 17. Nd2xe4 Nf6xe4 18. Qb1xe4 Rc8•d8 19. Qe4•g4 White's attack is quite dangerous. 19...f6 fails on 20. Rxd7 and after 19...g6 White would force a further weakening with 20. Qf4. 19...Be7•f8 20. Bb2•f6 Nc6•e7 21. Nf3•e5 Bd7•c8 22. Rd1xd8 Qb6xd8 23. Rc1 •d1 Qd8•c7 24. Qg4•h5 Ne7•f5 Black's last chance to defend was 24...g6, though White's advantage would be big and obvious. But now there is a nice finish. 25. Rd1•d7 Bc8xd7 26. Qh5xf7+ Kg8•h8 27. Bg2•e4 Qc7•d6 28. Ne5xd7 Qd6•d1+ There was no defense. After 28...gxf6 White wins by 29. Qxe8 and after 28...Rc8, to save the rook, White gets a decisive mating attack with 29. Ne5. 29. Kg1•g2 Qd1•e2 Or 29...Nd6 30. Qg6 Nxe4 31. Qxe8 and White wins. 30. Bf6xg7+ Nf5xg7 After 30...Bxg7 31. Qxe8+ Kh7 32. Bxf5+ White wins the queen. 31. Qf7•g6 Ng7•f5 32. Be4xf5 e6xf5 33. Nd7•f6 Black resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 3) [07/23/2006 10:23:26 AM]

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Adriaan de Groot, 1914-2006 The Psychological Laboratory of the University of Amsterdam must have been a pleasant chess joint during the early sixties. Johan Barendregt, professor of the theory of personality, was an IM. Adriaan de Groot, professor of methodology, didn't have a chess title, but around 1940, when he had been playing in international tournaments, he had been of master strength. And then there were the students, Kick Langeweg, Tim Krabbé, Fedde van Wijngaarden and Piet van der Weide, one strong IM and the others of near-master strength. Piet van der Weide said that the yearly championship of the psychologists was stronger than the official championship of Amsterdam, and he may have been right.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Somewhat later Johan Barendregt was to ask me tentatively if I wouldn't be interested in a job at the Lab, something to do with statistics or the methodology of science. Never mind that these subjects had not been on my curriculum as a mathematics student; I would learn them on the job. The important point was that he would be able to play chess with me. Such was Johan, who all his life pretended that his main career was that of a failed chessplayer who was forced to fulfill his professorial duties as a sideline, just to earn some money, the way Spinoza earned his livelihood grinding optical lenses. Adriaan de Groot, who died on August 14 at the age of 91, was different. For about a decade he played on an international level, but after that he stopped rigorously. He still liked to play blitz with friends and to correspond about games he had seen in a newspaper and analysed, but he didn't participate in serious tournaments anymore. The international chessworld knows him mainly because of his book Thought and Choice in Chess, an English version of his Dutch dissertation of 1946. I have never spent much time or thought about the implications of this study for the theory of thought and choice in general, or for computer science, but I liked to read the protocols of the verbalised decision process of chessplayers confronted with an interesting position.

by Hans Ree

Most of these were taken from the participants of the great AVRO tournament of 1938, to whom he had been introduced by Max Euwe. Their way of thinking had no big surprises for me. Of course they were world-class players, so they would calculate more quickly and accurately than me, but still it was my own way of thinking, only better. But even more interesting were the protocols taken from lesser players, and to be

file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (1 of 4) [8/21/2006 6:27:06 PM]

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honest, it was two Dutch lady chessplayers who surprised me by talking at great length about a certain position without even touching on the essence of it: the plan that black was forced to adopt in order not to lose without fight. These two ladies had played in international tournaments also, sometimes with considerable success, and apparently at their time this had been possible without understanding chess. De Groot understood chess well enough. He represented the Netherlands at three Olympiads, that of Munich 1936, Stockholm 1937 and Buenos Aires 1939, and took part in two Dutch championships, with decent results. As a psychologist he had great influence not only on Dutch psychology, but on Dutch society in general. He had been raised in the German psychological school of intuitive understanding and had become disappointed by it. Psychology should be a more exact and testable science, he found. Counting and measuring would be more fruitful than vague intuitive understanding. De Groot became the leading Dutch writer on education and the measurement of performance and as such he brought the Dutch educational system to a massive adoption of multiple choice tests. I think that later he experienced the disappointment of someone whose ideas have triumphed more drastically than he had wanted. A test does not only measure performance and knowledge, but after a while it will also influence teaching methods, as pupils are trained for the tests. Knowledge would become the kind of knowledge that can be easily tested with multiple choice questions. In an interview De Groot once remarked ruefully that the pendulum had swung too much the other way. It had been the way he had wanted, from vague understanding to exact measurement, but a bit too much and too exclusively. Now and then he had his publishers send me some of his publications on computer chess and related fields, but the only book that I received from his own hands was something quite different; an English translation of a Dutch book that he had written in 1949 and of which he was still quite fond: Saint Nicholas, a Psychoanalytical Study of his History and Myth. A literal translation of the original Dutch title would have been Saint Nicholas, Patron of Love. There is no counting and measuring in this charming book, but psychoanalytical and intuitive understanding, as in the old days. Here is a game from the last important tournament in which De Groot participated, the Hoogoven tournament of 1946. It was won by the Belgian Albéric O'Kelly de Galway, who lost only one game.

De Groot • O'Kelly de Galway Hoogovens Beverwijk 1946 1. e2•e4 e7•e5 2. Ng1•f3 Nb8•c6 3. Bf1•b5 Ng8•f6 4. 0•0 Bf8•c5 5. Nf3xe5 Nc6xe5 6. d2•d4 c7•c6 7. d4xe5 Nf6xe4 8. Bb5•d3 d7•d5 9. Qd1•f3 This is not dangerous for black. The usual move was then and still is 9. exd6

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9...Qd8•h4 10. g2•g3 Ne4•g5 It was not necessary to move the knight, for 10...Bg4 11. Qf4 Qh5 12. Bxe4 dxe4 13. Qxe4 0-0-0 would be a promising pawn sacrifice. 11. Qf3•d1 Ng5•h3+ Black's previous move would make more sense after 11...Bxf2+ 12. Rxf2 Nh3+ 13. Kg2 Nxf2 14. gxh4 Nxd1 15. Be2 Nxb2 with a difficult ending. 12. Kg1-g2 Dh4-e7 13. f2-f4 Now with a strong pawn center and black's knight out of play, white is fine. 13...h7•h5 14. Nb1•c3 He could have gone for the knight with 14. e6 Bxe6 15. f5, but he prefers a solid attack to a messy material advantage. 14...g7•g5 15. f4•f5 g5•g4 16. Qd1•e2 Bc8•d7 At first sight 16...Bd4 looks good, but white has 17. Be3. Then 17...Bxe5 would lose material after 18. f6 and 17...Bxc3 18. bxc3 Qxe5 19. Rae1 0-0 20. Qd2 would give white a very strong attack. 17. Nc3•a4 Bc5•b6 And here after 17...Bd4 white has 18. c3 Bxe5 19. f6 Qe6 20. Nc5 with excellent play. 18. b2•b4 0•0•0 Or 18...Qxb4 19. Nxb6 followed by 20. e6 with a winning attack. 19. Na4xb6+ a7xb6 20. a2•a4 Rh8•e8 21. a4•a5 b6xa5 22. Bc1•b2 Much stronger would have been 22. Rxa5, for after 22...Qxe5 - there is not much else that black can do - 23. Qxe5 Rxe5 23. Bb2 black would lose an exchange. 22...d5•d4 The decisive mistake. 22...axb4 would also lose quickly after 23. e6 with the threat of 24. Qe5, but after 22...Qxb4 black would be still in the game. One variation is 23. Rfb1 c5 24. e6 Bc6 after which white has to choose between playing for a draw by repetition with 25. Bc1 and winning a dubious exchange after 25. Bf6 d4+ 26. Kf1 Qc3. 23. Ra1xa5 Now white's attack is irresistible. 23...Qe7xb4 24. Ra5•a8+ Kc8•c7 25. Bb2•a3 c6•c5 He has to give the queen. White finishes it off quickly. 26. Ba3xb4 Rd8xa8 27. e5•e6 Bd7•c6+ 28. Bd3•e4 c5xb4 29. Be4xc6 b7xc6 30. Qe2•e5+ Black resigned.

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Dutch Treat

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/hans/hans.htm (4 of 4) [8/21/2006 6:27:06 PM]

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Move, don't freeze! Officially the tournament that was held in Amsterdam in August was called “Rising Stars versus Experience.” Some jokey variations on this name, playing on the supposed frailty of old age, were easily found and one writer even recommended the youngsters to wear earplugs to silence the sound of creaking bones of the older players. This was all in the spirit of good fun, but what really bothered me was that the Dutch press agency called it “Talent against Routine.” Of course the oldies were thought to represent routine, the youngsters talent.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

Can it really be said that the top players of twenty years ago have lost their talent? I'd rather say that they lost their routine, for routine is something that has to be kept up. With the exception of Alexander Beliavsky, the members of the Experience team are not very active anymore as tournament players and so what used to be an easy routine now becomes difficult. The brain has to be summoned to perform tasks that used to be handled efficiently by the spine. Of course not only routine is lost, but also exact knowledge of modern opening theory and the ability to calculate quickly, deeply and accurately, even in the fifth or sixth hour of play. In the beginning the Experience team did alright, reaching a 7½-7½ score after three rounds, but finally they were convincingly beaten by 2822. It had been quite some time since I had last seen some of them, but they hadn't changed much, I thought. Beliavsky was still showing that civilised hint of a smile, just like 34 years ago when he had wiped me off the board in 27 moves in Sukhumi. Ljubomir Ljubojevic still has his clownish energy and John Nunn and Artur Jussupow haven't much changed either since I last saw them. Only Ulf Andersson had unexpectedly grown a two-months-old beard that made him look like a sea captain in a cartoon. He himself said that he had become worried when he looked in the mirror and saw a dishevelled Saddam Hussein at the moment of his arrest. This seems exaggerated, as he still travels a lot and hasn't been stopped at a border yet.

by Hans Ree

Andersson tried to play super-solid. As John Nunn once put it in one of his books: “Ulf characteristically went straight for my little toe.” That's how he played as White in this tournament, making five draws of which four were completely uneventful, but one turned into a rook ending which had Ulf nibbling at Daniel Stellwagen's little toe – and getting serious winning chances – until move 88.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (1 of 4) [09/24/2006 2:22:40 PM]

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As Black he defended all five of his games with the simple and unpretentious system 1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 2. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Nd7, losing twice and making three draws. A few years ago he had shown me some beautiful and razor-sharp correspondence games from an elite tournament he had won. The difference in style compared with his quiet OTB games was striking. Andersson explained that he had been able to analyse these correspondence games very deeply. He had things under control, so he could play sharply. About a week ago the International Correspondence Chess Federation published its latest ratings. Number one is Joop van Oosterom, sponsor of this Rising Stars vs. Experience tournament and of many other chess events. Second on the list is Andersson. Actually it is generally assumed that as a correspondence player ‘Van Oosterom’ is a collective pseudonym of a group of grandmasters playing under his name, so as an individual player Andersson may actually be the highest rated. He can analyse wild positions as no other, but over the board he tries to avoid them. He told me that his Swedish compatriots had not wanted him on the Olympic team because of his super-solid style. Rather insolent towards the greatest Swedish chessplayer in history, I would say. “I may be too cautious, but on the other hand I am not losing games like an idiot within 20 moves, like you,” Ulf had said to one of the Swedish players. No, he doesn't lose often and even when he does he tends to fight for every square inch of his territory. But look what happened to him in the fifth round of the Amsterdam tournament against Magnus Carlsen. I got the impression that the fear of losing had paralysed Andersson. In the final position he had two reasonable moves, but – as if frozen behind his board – he let his time almost run out and then resigned. What had come over him? I would have liked to ask, but he had disappeared before I could. Magnus Carlsen • Ulf Andersson 1. e2•e4 e7•e6 2. d2•d4 d7•d5 3. Nb1•c3 d5xe4 4. Nc3xe4 Nb8•d7 This position was defended by Andersson five times in this tournament. 5. Ng1•f3 Ng8•f6 6. Bc1•g5 Bf8•e7 7. Ne4xf6+ Nd7xf6 8. Bf1•d3 c7•c5 9. d4xc5 Qd8•a5+ 10. c2•c3 Qa5xc5 11. 0•0 Bc8•d7 12. Rf1•e1 As Carlsen admitted during his press conference, his last move was a tactical oversight. 12...Nf6•g4

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13. Bg5xe7 White could keep material equality by 13. Qd2 or 13. Be3, but that would have been no way to play for a win. True to his style Carlsen prefers to play a lively position with a pawn less. 13...Qc5xf2+ 14. Kg1•h1 Ke8xe7 15. Re1•e2 Qf2•c5 16. Qd1•e1 Ra8•d8 17. Qe1•h4+ Ng4 •f6 18. Nf3•d4 It may seem as if everything had been planned by White, because black has serious difficulties with his king in the middle. 18...Bd7•c6 19. Ra1•f1 Rh8•g8 20. Qh4•g3 Ke7•d7 21. Bd3xh7 Rg8•h8 22. Bh7 •g6 An interesting position. Andersson thought for a long time and then resigned, a decision that nobody understood. Carlsen said that after 22...fxg6 23. Nxe6 Qb6 24. Nxd8 Rxd8 25. Qxg6 Kc8 26. Qxg7 White would have been clearly better, but as all black pieces were active, it would still have been a difficult struggle. This is certainly true and apart from that, in the diagram position Black has another move, 22...Rdf8. Then if White tries to strike with 23. Bxf7 Rxf7 24. Nxe6, he has only a draw after 24...Qb6 25. Ng5 Rff8 26. Ne6 Rf7. Of course White is not forced to play 23. Bxf7, but if he plays differently it is not clear if he has an advantage at all. Resigning in a position which was about equal is bad, but in the first round Stellwagen of the Rising Stars team, had made the ‘ultimate mistake,’ resigning in a winning position. Stellwagen - Jussupow, after White's 37th move. Black is winning and should have just taken White's queen with 37...Rxg2+. After that he has to be careful to prevent White playing Ra1b1-b8+, but this is easily done. However Jussupow played 37...Kh8xh7?? thinking that the win would be even easier after removing White's h-pawn. Stellwagen thought so too and resigned. It didn't take long before people found that White could have saved his queen, remaining a rook up, by 38. Rae1. Though the win is far from trivial, as Black has file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (3 of 4) [09/24/2006 2:22:40 PM]

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a few pawns for the rook and White's king is not safe, objectively speaking White resigned in a winning position. “I have done the worst thing a chessplayer can do in the first round, so from here it can only get better,” said Stellwagen. As I wrote earlier, the youngsters finally won convincingly, scoring 28-22. The best individual players were Magnus Carlsen and Alexander Beliavsky, who both scored 6½ out of 10. As Beliavsky had to meet the stronger team, his result was the best of all. I do not think there was a beauty prize, but had there been one, it would probably have been won by John Nunn. Nunn - Smeets, 4th round after Black's 25th move 26. Ne4-f6+ gxf6 27. Qxh6 f5 28. Nf3-h4 Bd7b5 29. Nh4xf5 Ra8-d8 30. Rc4-g4 c5-c4 31. Bb3-c2 Rd8-d5 32. Rg4-h4 A nice finish. White is threatening 33. Qh7+ Kf8 34. Qh8+ and mate and after 32...Nxh4 White would give mate starting with 33. Ne7+. So Black resigned. For more information about this event, visit the official tournament website (http://nhchess.quinsy.net).

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Ostap Bender's Legacy In the center of the Kalmykian capital Elista stands the monument to Ostap Bender, the main character of the book The Twelve Stairs by the Russian duo Ilya Ilf and Yevgeny Petrov. Already the first sentence makes it clear that this is a fine book: “In the provincial town N. there were so many hairdressers and undertakers that it seemed as if its citizens came only into the world to be cut, washed and shaved and, sprinkled with a fresh lotion, to pass away immediately afterwards.” I hope my re-translation of a Dutch translation has kept some of the original charm.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The book appeared in 1928 in Moscow, but Communist authorities play almost no role in it. Apparently at that time, and even in 1931 when the sequel The Golden Calf appeared, it was still possible to publish a picaresque novel in which the existence of the Communist government was practically ignored. Ostap Bender, who calls himself “the great combinator” is a con man, a thief and a blackmailer. In Russia he has become one of the most famous fictional characters and many of his sayings have become current expressions there.

The Human Comedy of Chess

During one if his adventurous trips Bender comes to the town Vashuki, where as “Grandmaster O. Bender” he will give a lecture about “fruitful opening play,” followed by a simul on 160 boards. Before his exhibition Bender had already visited the leaders of the chess section of the town, to whom he unfolded a breath-taking vision of a golden future for Vashuki chess. By organising a big international chess tournament with stars like Lasker and Capablanca, the sleepy little town Vashuki would become the center of Russia, of the world and even of the solar system, because the technological progress that would automatically proceed from the organisation of such a super event, would make interplanetary travel as common as a trip by train. Vashuki, which would be called New Moscow by then, might become the venue of the first interplanetary chess congress.

by Hans Ree

As to the costs of the organisation, Bender only asked for a small advance to pay for the telegrams, which was duly given by the dumbfounded men of the chess section. As Bender had played chess only once in his life, his lecture about opening play

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had to be brief. In his simul the “grandmaster” blundered pieces on all boards and it became clear that he didn't really know how the knight moved. He had to flee, knowing that his accomplice had already taking care of the entry fees, and with great effort and daring he managed to escape from the pursuit by the furious Vashuki chessplayers. It stands to reason that for Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who established the Bender monument, this clever rogue has been a source of inspiration. During the World Championship match it became clear that there is one other heavyweight in chess politics who likes to identify with Ostap Bender: Topalov's manager Silvio Danailov. Apparently in two Bulgarian newspapers a picture was printed of Danailov, standing happily smiling next to the Bender monument. Don't say that the Bender monument is a common photo opportunity for tourists in Elista. These pictures of Danailov seem a proud demonstration, published at a time when his shameful actions seemed to have secured the world championship for Topalov. In most parts of the world Danailov's reputation has become pitch black, but in Bulgaria this may be different. As a smart cookie who in a Russian province managed to get the better of the Russian Kramnik, at least for a while, he may have become quite popular. When Kramnik did not turn up for the fifth game, I thought the match was over. Kramnik had had no choice, I thought. Trivial as the matter of a private toilet may seem – though personally I do not think it's a trivial matter – Danailov had created a situation where his message was clear to all the media in the world, though he had been careful not to state it explicitly: Kramnik had won two games when he had his toilet in which to hide a small computer. But now that his opportunities to cheat were taken away, let's see what he can do on his own. This message was very powerful. In my neighborhood cafe I found that almost everyone who followed the chess news took the possibility of computer cheating by Kramnik quite seriously. They had all seen the famous restaurant toilet scene near the end of the movie The Godfather I, so the idea of a device, either a gun or a pocket-Fritz being hidden there, was quite familiar to them. So Kramnik, if he would have turned up for the fifth game, would have been in a situation where he would have had to play well to show that he had not been a crook. If, after having no access to his private toilet, he had started to lose, the mainstream media and the general public would have considered him a cheater. Everybody would remember Al Pacino getting the gun in the toilet. Against a tsunami of world-wide bad publicity nothing can be done, nor can it be rectified later. Confronted with the possible ruin of his reputation as a decent person, Kramnik could only preempt it by giving up a point in the match. Who would have been to blame, had the match been aborted after only four games, which seemed quite likely at the time? No lack of suspects. Topalov's team, the file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (2 of 4) [10/23/2006 7:10:44 AM]

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Appeals Committee, the chief arbiter and the organising committee, they all played a bad role, some actively making mischief, others innocently looking the other way when a firm stand would have been honorable. But of course at the Elista match there was only one person in charge, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov. The other officials were doing the things they thought he wanted them to do, which was not always easy to find out. No wonder that our Geurt's blood pressure rose to 220. There is a tendency among subjects of ruthless dictators never to blame the man in chief himself. “If only our leader knew what is being done in his name...” But of course he knows and every once in a while the leader will arrange a purge to eliminate the scapegoats and introduce others who will serve as scapegoats for the years to come. This we may see in the chess world in the next months. It is whispered that Makropoulos and Azmaiparashvili will be out of grace and that Bessel Kok will be in. If so, my advice to Kok, a good and decent man, would be a loud scream: “Don't even think about it!” Going back to the World Championship tournament in San Luis in 2005, we find another suspect who we can blame for the recent near-disaster: Alexander Morozevich. He suggested that Topalov had become World Champion with computer help, but at the time he didn't bring it out officially into the open. Later, when votes for the chess Oscar were collected, Morozevich's line-up was as original as his chess style: 1. Rybka 2. Hydra 3. Danailov. Hydra is the computer that routed Michael Adams. Rybka is the computer that was supposed to have won the World Championship for Topalov and Danailov the man who made it possible, all according to Morozevich of course. Later several other Russians took up this theme, among them Sergei Dolmatov, who used to work together with Kramnik quite often. One can imagine that both Topalov and Danailov were extremely angry about these accusations. And so they hit back in Elista. It is extremely unlikely that they really believed that Kramnik was cheating. They may not even have expected that their protest would be taken seriously. Topalov and Danailov may have been as surprised as everybody else when the Appeals Committee granted their idiotic demand that Kramnik's toilet would be closed. When their silly joke had gone far out of hand, they had to stick to their role. But there is no reason to pity them, for it almost made them win the match.

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[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

file:///C|/cafe/Hans/hans.htm (4 of 4) [10/23/2006 7:10:44 AM]

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YouTube and the Breyer Debate Anand, who was in Moscow for the great blitz tournament played last Saturday and Sunday, said that it had been interesting for him to follow the Breyer debate in the regular Tal Memorial, a tournament in which he had not taken part. I found that debate quite interesting too, especially because something had happened that might be called a hypernovelty: a top player showing his opening preparation on a video that can be seen on the popular YouTube website.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

In the first round of the Tal Memorial, Alexei Shirov and Shakhriar Mamedyarov played a short and sharp game that ended in a draw by perpetual check. For Mamedyarov it had been all home preparation, but Shirov had to improvise. Of course it had not been Shirov's intention to play a game of which all moves were already known to his opponent. He had been surprised by Mamedyarov's novelty. However, this novelty had already been shown by Mamedyarov on the website www.youtube.com, though probably inadvertently. How could that happen?

The Human Comedy of Chess

At the Essent tournament in the Dutch town Hoogeveen, which had been played somewhat earlier, Judit Polgar had lost with white against Mamedyarov. During the post mortem Mamedyarov showed her how she should have played, and he also showed the defense that he had prepared, had she done so. This was exactly what he was actually going to play a few weeks later in Moscow against Shirov. The Dutch chessplayer Peter Doggers made a video of the post mortem between Polgar and Mamedyarov and put it on his website www.doggers-schaak.nl and subsequently on YouTube. He didn't know that he had brought an important opening novelty into the public domain, otherwise he might have had a pang of conscience.

by Hans Ree

The video can still be seen by searching for 'Mamedyarov' on YouTube. If you watch it unprepared and don't speak Russian, you won't be able to understand what the post mortem was about, but someone who had made a study of this particular line of the Breyer variation would grasp what was going on. Shirov would have recognized the defense that Mamedyarov was showing to Polgar, if the unlikely idea had come to him to have a look at YouTube. Polgar and Mamedyarov knew that they were being filmed, but Mamedyarov probably did not realise that his opening preparation thereby would be displayed in the show-window. It is a strange idea that in the future chessplayers during their preparation may search for their opponent's name at YouTube, looking for an

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instructive video. We are being watched everywhere we go. A very popular video on YouTube, called Dutch Sunbather, shows a naked woman at a roof terrace in The Hague. The pictures were taken by a satellite, available to all and sundry by means of the free program Google Earth. Someone had been looking for his own house and his local bar, and by coincidence he found a naked neighbour and he put her on the web. When the resolution of the satellite images will be even higher than now, we won't be able to analyse an opening variation on a balcony or in a garden without running the risk that the world will be looking over our shoulders. It's a bit creepy, but hiding oneself in a blind bunker is no solution for most of us. Here is the first part of the Breyer debate. Shirov – Mamedyarov Tal Memorial Moscow, 1st round 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0•0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0•0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.b3 d5 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 g5 18.Nxg5 hxg5 19.Bxg5 This sacrifice had already been indicated by Paul van der Sterren in 2003 in an article called In Memoriam The Breyer in New in Chess Yearbook 66. From black's point of view this would only be attractive for people who wanted to analyse themselves to death, he wrote then. 19...exd4 20.e5 Rxe5 21.Rxe5 Nxe5 22.cxd4 Nc6

23.Nh5 Here Judit Polgar had played 23. Nf5 and after 23...Bc8 24. Tc1 Bxf5 24. Bxf5 Qd6 Mamedyarov repulsed the attack and went on to win. 23...Be7 24.Bxf6 Bxf6 25.Qd3 Kf8 26.Qh7 Bxd4 27.Qh6+ Ke8 28.Re1+

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28...Ne5 Mamedyarov's novelty. 28...Ne7 had been played with some success, but I think it loses. 29.Bf5 Qd6 30.Qg5 c5 Watching the video I could make out all the moves up till now and I mentioned them in a Dutch newspaper article well before ShirovMamedyarov had been played. White has to give a perpetual now. 31.Nf6+ Kd8 32.Nxd5+ Ke8 33.Nf6+ Kd8 34.Nd5+ Draw. So it seemed at that stage that Van der Sterren's in memoriam had been premature. But after the second part of the Breyer debate things look different again. It started when a few days later Alexander Grischuk joined in. Grischuk – Mamedyarov Tal Memorial 5th round In the position of the first diagram Grischuk did not play Polgar's 23. Nf5 nor Shirov's 23. Nh5, but 23.Qd3. Then after 23...Nb4 24.Qf3 Be7 25.Bb1 Bc8 26.Qf4 Ne4 27.Bxe7 Qxe7 28.a3 Nc6 29.Bxe4 dxe4 30.Nh5 Qd6 31.Nf6+ Kf8 32.Qh6+ Ke7 33.Ng8+ Ke8 34.Nf6+ Ke7 this game ended in a draw also, but it had been scary for black and improvements for white have been suggested. Last week the white side of the debate was further strengthened by Lubosh Kavalek in his column in The Washington Post. He wrote that already before all these games by Mamedyarov had been played, the top Czech player David Navara had analysed this line extensively. In the first place, in the position where Shirov had played 29. Bf5, according to Navara's analysis white could have created serious problems for his opponent with 29. Ng7+ Kd7 30. Bf5+ Ke7 31. Qf4. But the main line of Navara's analysis follows (or rather anticipated) Grischuk's game up till the position after black's 24th move.

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Here Grischuk played 25. Bb1, but Kavalek, basing himself on Navara's analysis and elaborating a bit on it, gave some lines to prove that white would have gotten the advantage after 25. Bf5. If Kavalek, an excellent analyst, is right, this would indicate that Van der Sterren's dismissal of the line in 2003 had been correct. Anyway, Mamedyarov seems to have come to the conclusion that the line needs some reworking, as he faced the Ruy Lopez with black twice more during the Tal Memorial and refrained from repeating it.

The three games in this column are available in PGN format. Click here to download the PGN file.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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A Lesson from the Computer “This is the end of human chess,” said Genna Sosonko when we were discussing the final game of the match between Kramnik and Deep Fritz. He is a man who likes to pretend cheerfully that only the blackest pessimism is a realistic worldview, but even though I don't share his visions of doom I understood what he meant.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The Human Comedy of Chess

It was not so much the final result of the match, which was 4-2 for Fritz, for with some wishful thinking a paragon of human chess might be able to see a silver lining. Kramnik should have won the first game, as indicated here last week by Karsten Müller and earlier, though not in such a clear-cut manner, by other analysts. Had Kramnik won that endgame and had he not overlooked a mate in one in a later game, the match might have ended equal. I am aware that I am counting virtual points here, the way Tarrasch did after he had been beaten in a match by Lasker. If he hadn't made a blunder here and a big mistake there, the score would have been quite different from what it had been in real life... Anyway, losing 4-2 against the computer wasn't so bad. In 2005 Michael Adams lost 5½-½ against Hydra, so one can even argue that humanity has made progress. But there was something else, which was more serious than a point more or less in the final score. In the last game against Kramnik it seemed that the computer was playing on a level where humans could not really understand anymore what he was doing. That was new.

by Hans Ree

We have learned to accept the fact that chess programs can do many things that are impossible to humans. Calculate millions of variations in a second. Indicate the absolute truth of tablebase positions. Still we could somehow maintain a patronising attitude to the computer. Sometimes they still made ridiculous moves. Even in 2002 an earlier version of Fritz made a move against Kramnik which at first sight looked completely ridiculous and indeed was quite bad. “A real computer move,” we used to say gloatingly. Even when computers were beating top grandmasters regularly, a ‘real computer move’ remained a synonym for a patently silly move. In 2005 Hydra didn't play silly moves anymore against Adams. He got the highest praise, as it was said that he played like a human, which of course meant that he combined the best qualities of human chessplayers and computers. A new level had been reached.

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Maybe it was just an accident, but it seemed that in the last game against Kramnik Fritz reached an even higher level, as in a Hegelian triad of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. First we had computers which occasionally made ridiculous moves that were indeed very bad. Then came Hydra, the antithesis: it didn't make ridiculous computer moves anymore. And finally there was Deep Fritz, the synthesis on a higher level. In the last game against Kramnik it made counter-intuitive, at first sight ridiculous moves again, but now they were good. If we still laugh, it is about our own ignorance. What I mean is the rook lift 10. Re1-e3 followed by 11. Re3-g3, which strikes an experienced chessplayer as brutally primitive. Of course such a manoevre on the third rank is nothing strange in itself. Tarrasch liked to bring his rooks into play that way and Tal won the first game of his 1960 World Championship match against Botvinnik with the moves 18. h2-h4 followed by 19. Rh1-h3. But to play Re1-e3-g3 at such an early stage in a Sicilian, that could not be. We know that the attack against the black king cannot be executed in such a simple and primitive way; it has to be prepared by attacking moves of the lighter pieces and sometimes the pawns. At least, we thought we knew that, until we were taught better by the computer. Deep Fritz - Kramnik, 6th game 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. 0•0 Be7 8. Bb3 Qc7 9. Re1 Nc6 10. Re3 Here it is, a typical computer move as in the good old days, with the difference that we cannot make good arguments anymore to maintain that it is indeed bad. 10...0•0 11. Rg3 Kh8 12. Nxc6 bxc6 13. Qe2 a5 14. Bg5 Ba6 15. Qf3 Rab8 16. Re1 c5 17. Bf4 A strong move. The complications after 17...c4 18. e5 would be to white's advantage. 17...Qb7 18. Bc1 Ng8 Probably a bad move. The knight stood well where it was. 19. Nb1 It seems to imitate black's last move, but with a difference: Fritz's move is strong. It prepares to bring its bishop to a better square. The temporarily misplaced knight will find a good square soon. 19...Bf6 20. c3 g6 21. Na3 Qc6 22. Rh3 Bg7 23. Qg3 a4 This must be wrong. He chases white's bishop to a square where it wants to go anyway and puts his pawn on a square where it is vulnerable and will be captured later.

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24. Bc2 Rb6 25. e5 A real attack is developing. With the pawn on e5 white threatens to win by 26. Bxg6 fxg6 27. Qxg6 25...dxe5 26. Rxe5 26...Nf6 The rook could not be taken: 26...Bxe5 27. Qxe5+ f6 28. Rxh7+ Kxh7 29. Qh5+ and mate. On the other hand, with a pawn on e5 white was threatening the familiar raid 27. Bxg6 fxg6 28. Qxg6 27. Qh4 Qb7 28. Re1 h5 29. Rf3 Nh7 Black has managed to defend himself against the mating attack, but now white strikes on the other wing. 30. Qxa4 Qc6 31. Qxc6 Rxc6 32. Ba4 The time when computers were helpless in any complicated endgame are definitely over. Fritz handles the execution with an iron hand. 32...Rb6 33. b3 Kg8 34. c4 Rd8 35. Nb5 Bb7 36. Rfe3 Bh6 37. Re5 Bxc1 38. Rxc1 Rc6 39. Nc3 Rc7 40. Bb5 Nf8 41. Na4 Rdc8 42. Rd1 Kg7 43. Rd6 f6 44. Re2 e5 45. Red2 g5 46. Nb6 Rb8 47. a4 Black resigned. It was a truly impressive game. One advantage of the human brain is that it can adapt quickly. Look at the following game from the recent Torre Memorial in Mexico, won by Ivanchuk. Arencibia • Milov, Carlos Torre Memorial, Merida 2006 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Bd3 Ne7 6. 0•0 Nbc6 7. Nxc6 Nxc6 8. Nc3 b5 9. Re1 d6 10. a3 Be7 11. f4 0•0 12. Kh1 Bb7

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13. Re3 Would white have played this move without the encouraging example of Deep Fritz? I doubt it. And is it a good move? I do not know. For a long time the rook seems out of play, as it should be according to human standards. But then, after 30. Rg3 and 31. h4, it seems to be fully functional after all, though only for a short time. I leave it to you readers to judge if the early rook lift in the Sicilian can really be a contribution to human attacking play. As for me, I am against it. 13...g6 14. Rh3 Bf6 15. Qe1 d5 16. e5 Bg7 17. Bd2 Rc8 18. Ne2 f5 19. Ng1 Qe7 20. Nf3 Rfd8 21. Be3 d4 22. Bf2 Rd7 23. b4 Qe8 24. Qg1 Ne7 25. Bxd4 Nd5 26. Be3 Bf8 27. Bd2 Nc3 28. Bxc3 Rxc3 29. Qe1 Rc8 30. Rg3 Bd5 31. h4 Rg7 32. Rh3 h6 33. Qd2 Be7 34. Kh2 Qd8 35. a4 Bxf3 36. Rxf3 g5 37. c3 g4 38. Re3 Bxb4 39. Qa2 Qxh4+ 40. Kg1 Rxc3 41. Qxe6+ Kh8 42. g3 Qh5 43. Qxa6 Rxd3 44. Rxd3 Bc5+ 45. Kf1 Qh1+ 46. Ke2 Qe4+ 47. Kd2 Bb4+ 48. Kc2 Rc7+ 49. Kb2 Qe2+ 50. Kb3 Qxd3+ 51. Kxb4 Qc3+ White resigned.

[ChessCafe Home Page] [Book Review] [Columnists] [Endgame Study] [The Skittles Room] [Archives] [Links] [Online Bookstore] [About The Chess Cafe] [Contact Us] Copyright 2006 CyberCafes, LLC. All Rights Reserved. "The Chess Cafe®" is a registered trademark of Russell Enterprises, Inc.

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Double Agents On the home page of the Russian website ChessPro.ru I saw a picture of the English correspondence chess grandmaster Adrian Hollis. It illustrates, as I found out with the help of a computer translation, an article by Vladimir Neishtadt about the notorious spy ring known at first as the Cambridge Three, later as the Cambridge Four and even, depending on how serious one takes subsequent allegations, as the Cambridge Five or Six.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

These were men holding high positions in the British intelligence service who turned out to have actually worked for the Soviet Union. But what did the picture of Adrian Hollis do there? Was he also a double agent? It seemed highly unlikely, as for his whole professional life he had taught Classics at Oxford University. Not to leave the reader in suspense I hasten to declare that Adrian Hollis is completely innocent. There are several anecdotes about chessplayers who ran into trouble because their books or notes were suspicious to the authorities, written as they are in an incomprehensible code. An often repeated story has it that Steinitz was arrested in the US during his two-game cable match against Chigorin in 1891. Of course this story was investigated by his biographer Kurt Landsberger, but in the absence of official police records from the period he could neither affirm nor disprove it. Another supposed victim of a spy hunt was the Russian player Moisei Elyashov, who was present as a reporter at the tournament in Mannheim in 1914, when it was disbanded at the outbreak of World War I. This seems a more plausible story. No doubt exists about the fact that in 2001 an inmate of a prison in Oregon was cruelly denied the pleasure of studying Eric Schiller's book Standard Chess Openings. He had ordered it from the publisher, but it was returned by the prison officials because it might endanger the security of the institution, with the simple explanation: “Contains code throughout.” If you go to Tim Krabbé's Chess Curiosities website and type ‘Schiller’ in the search window, you'll find the amusing notification received by Cardoza Publications. It is well-known that there were chess masters who were really involved in espionage. Alexander, Milner Barry and Golombek were part of the group that during World War II broke the German code, the first two holding high administrative positions. The most brilliant of these code breakers was the mathematician Alan Turing, who also played chess, but apparently not very well. Turing's main contribution to chess, apart from inventing the computer, seems to

have been round-the house-chess, in which a player can think about a move as long as the time that the opponent needs to run around the house. Then he starts running himself, while the opponent is thinking, and so on. Neishtadt's article is not about these fine men who made a crucial contribution to the British war effort, but about a chess master who for some time was suspected of being a double agent, a Soviet mole in the British intelligence service. This was Graham Mitchell, who was an international master in correspondence chess and until his retirement in 1963 the deputy of Roger Hollis, father of Adrian Hollis and Director General of MI5, the British intelligence service. The notorious Cambridge four were Guy Burgess and Donald Maclean, who fled to Moscow already in 1951, their boss Kim Philby, who came to Moscow in 1963, and the art historian Anthony Blunt, who in 1964 confessed to have been a Soviet agent, though in his case this became public knowledge only much later. At the time some MI5 agents were convinced that there must be other Soviet moles in the organisation who had not yet been exposed. One of the mole hunters was Peter Wright, who in 1987 would publish the bestselling book Spycatcher about his career in the intelligence service. At first the suspicions of Wright and his colleagues were directed both at Mitchell and at his boss Roger Hollis; later they were concentrated on Hollis. Possibly under pressure from this investigation Mitchell retired from his function in 1963, Hollis in 1965. In 1974 an official inquiry of the allegations against Hollis found no proof against him and in 1981 Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher declared to the House of Commons that Roger Hollis had not been a Soviet agent. Peter Wright remained unconvinced and in 1987 in his book Spycatcher he was still making a case against Hollis as the fifth member of the Cambridge gang. But whatever one may think of this - I have no opinion of my own - the question remains why the picture of Adrian Hollis figures so prominently on the ChessPro home page. His connection to this spy story is tenuous. He was the son of Roger Hollis and in the book British Chess (1983) he writes that he was introduced to correspondence chess by Graham Mitchell, but that is all. The reason might simply be that he had to stand in because no picture of Graham Mitchell, the real subject of the ChessPro article, was available. There is no picture of him in British Chess and when I tried a google search I could not find one either. Traditionally members of the intelligence community were not generous with photo opportunities. Here is a correspondence game by Mitchell, which was annotated in British Chess by a fellow worker in British intelligence, Hugh Alexander. C.E. Lord • Graham Mitchell BCCA Championship

1944-1945 1. e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 dxe4 4. Nxe4 Bf5 5. Ng3 Bg6 6. Nf3 Nd7 7. Bd3 e6 8. 00 Ngf6 9. b3 Qc7 10. Bb2 0-0-0 11. c4 Bd6 12. Qe2 Bxd3 13. Qxd3 h5 14. Rfd1 c5 15. Qe2 h4 16. Nf1 Nh5 17. Ne5 Ndf6 18. a3 Nf4 19. Qe3 g5 As a result of White's timid play Black has obtained a good position. According to Alexander, White probably is already lost, which seems exaggerated to me. 20. b4 But this is a grave mistake after which Black gets a clear advantage. 20...Bxe5 21. dxe5 21. Qxe5 would lead to an immediate defeat after 21...Qxe5 22. dxe5 Rxd1 23. Rxd1 Ne2+ 24. Kh1 Ne4, which wins a rook because of the threat 25...Nf2 mate. 21...Qc6 22. f3 The best defense was 22. Qf3, though the endgame would be bad for White. 22...Ng4 23. Qe1 cxb4 24. axb4 Qb6+ 25. c5 Qxb4 White cannot take the queen because of the nice mate with two knights as in the note to White's 21th move: 26. Qxb4 Ne2+ 27. Kh1 Nf2 mate. 26. Ba3 Rxd1 27. Bxb4 Rxa1 28. Qe4 Rd8 29. c6 Rdd1 This gives White a chance to escape. There was a forced win with 29...Rxf1 + 30. Kxf1 Rd1+ 31. Be1 Nd3 30. cxb7+ Kd7 31. b8N+ White misses his chance. There was a draw, indicated by Mitchell himself, by 31. Be1 Rxe1 32. Qd4+ Nd5 33. Qxa1 Rxa1 34. b8Q. This is not a simple variation, but the computer finds it almost instantly. It makes you realise how much correspondence chess has changed by the computer. Mistakes are still made of course, but the kind of tactical mistakes that we see here can easily be avoided. 31...Kd8 White has three attacking pieces directed at Black's king and it is fully understandable that on his previous move he still would have thought that he might arrange at least a perpetual, e.g., by 32. Nc6+. Again, the computer indicates almost instantly that there is nothing to be had for White in this position. 32. Be7+ Kxe7 33. Qb4+ Ke8 34. Qb5+ Kf8 35. fxg4 Nd3 White resigned.

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The Advantage of Giving Odds In the Dutch book 'Meneer' Caissa (Mister Caissa) by Max Euwe and the sports journalist Bob Spaak, Euwe tells a story about Emanuel Lasker. One day in 1924, on the ship that was bringing him from Europe to New York for the great tournament that he was going to win, Lasker was strolling in the smoking room and paused at a table where an unknown gentleman was studying a chess position.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

“Do you also play chess?” asked the man. “Once every few years,” Lasker replied, more or less truthfully, as since his match against Capablanca in 1921 he had played only one serious tournament. The man proposed to play a game and as he considered himself a good player and his opponent was clearly inexperienced, he proposed to give queen odds. If that would prove too much, they could try another game with rook odds, and so on until the odds were such that they would play with even chances. Lasker accepted and given queen odds he cleverly managed to lose two games. Then he said that during these games he had gotten the distinct impression that it might be an advantage to play without the queen, because the king, having an empty square next to him, had more freedom of movement. Would he be allowed to play another game, giving queen odds himself? At first his opponent remonstrated that this was a silly proposal, but as he was a pleasant man who didn't want to be rude to a fellow chessplayer, eventually he gave in. The next two games were won by Lasker, playing without his queen, which left his opponent in bewilderment about the nature of the game of chess, which was only resolved when later he found Lasker's name on the passenger's list. The story might be true, for Euwe was no fabulist and Lasker was known to show an interest in the play of weak chessplayers, to study the workings of their minds, presumably in the same way that some people (Nabokov's Pnin is an example) are fascinated by the window of a washing machine and spend much time studying the seemingly random movements of the revolving clothes, looking for meaningful patterns. By the way, this is a good occasion to correct a mistake I made a few years ago when I wrote here that the ship that brought Lasker in 1924 to New York was the Westphalia. In fact the Westphalia was the ship that brought the European masters (Lasker not being among them) to the tournament in New York in 1927. On board some of them analysed the variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined in which black plays Nbd7, Bb4 and c7-c5, which has become known as the Westphalia or Manhattan variation. The variation is still very much alive, as witnessed by the games of Levon Aronian. But beware, as against a very young Bobby Fischer, Euwe showed that black's system is senseless when white's knight is still on g1. It may seem a bit strange that top players, before a very important tournament in which they would be rivals, were analysing their openings together, but maybe they were ganging up against Capablanca. If so, they were not successful, for in New York 1927, Capablanca was to win the best game prize for a game in which Rudolf Spielmann played the Westphalia variation against him.

But to come back to the Lasker story, the absurd idea that it is better to give queen odds than to receive them, contains a grain of truth. Material odds are indeed partly compensated by a gain of mobility. For instance, giving knight odds allows for quick castling. Pawn odds are compensated by open files or diagonals. A few weeks ago the Estonian GM Jaan Ehlvest, now living in the US, played a match of eight rapid games against Rybka, generally considered to be the strongest chess engine. In every game Ehlvest received pawn odds, a different pawn in each game. In compensation Rybka played white in all games and the time control, 45 minutes for the game plus 10 seconds per move, was more suitable to the computer than to the human player. Some pawns are more equal than others. It isn't a big loss to play without the h-pawn. The pawn structure remains compact and the open h-file practically prevents the opponent from castling kingside, which is quite a handicap. Comparing the pawn structure with a set of teeth, the apawn and h-pawn are the wisdom teeth. It's no disaster to lose them. On the other hand, a gap within the structure is much more serious. The team behind Rybka had spent some thought on these and related matters. Rybka had played test games with pawn odds and the programmers had given it a new opening book and new strategies especially for this occasion. Against Ehlvest, Rybka was running on a fast 4-processor computer. They took it seriously at Rybka House. Ehlvest took the match more lightly. As he explains on Rybka's website, he had agreed to play because the Rybka office in Potomac was quite near to Virginia Beach, where he had just played the Millennium Open. He was lured by the promise that in case he would win the match, he would receive a substantial amount of money. We are all poker players, he wrote. He took his chance. It never looked as if the Rybka team would have to pay up. After three games Ehlvest had learned an important lesson: he shouldn't castle at the side were Rybka lacked a pawn. But by that time Rybka was already leading by 3-0. In the next five games Ehlvest did better and the final result was a 5½-2½ victory for Rybka. I hope that even though Ehlvest did not win the match, he was decently paid for his services. From now on the Rybka people can claim that their program can give pawn odds to a former world championship candidate and win convincingly. I don't think Rybka would be able to do it under fairer conditions: a match in which it would have white and black alternately, with classical time control and against an opponent who is well prepared for the unusual circumstances. Before such a match occurs, humanity should be given a chance to try it the Lasker way, by giving pawn odds to Rybka. Not that I think that humanity would win, but it would give us a better insight into the value of a pawn in the initial position. Maybe it is indeed an advantage to play without the h- pawn or a-pawn. Here is the third match game, in which Rybka played without the f-pawn, a much more serious disadvantage than the lack of an h-pawn. I would venture to say that white is lost in the initial position. Amazing quickly the tables are turned when Rybka manages to use the open f-file for a kingside attack. Rybka - Ehlvest, 3rd game, white without the f-pawn 1. Nf3 d5 2. d4 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. e3 0-0 6. Bd3 c5 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. dxc5 Bxc5 Ehlvest comments that being 2-0 behind he didn't want to play the endgame after 8...dxc4 9. Bxc4 Qxd1. Many others in his situation would jump at the chance to play an ending with an extra

pawn. 9. Bd2 a6 10. Qe2 Ba7 11. Rad1 Qe7 12. Kh1 dxc4 13. Bxc4 Ng4 14. h3 Nge5 15. Bb3 b5 A bad move, says Ehlvest. After 15...Bd7 16. Ne4 Nxf3+ 17. Qxf3 f5 black would be fine, still being a pawn ahead. 16. Ne4 Bb7 17. Bc3 Bb8 18. Nfg5 h6 19. Qh5 Ehlvest writes that already here he didn't see a good defence against white's threats. I must confess that I don't see what exactly white is threatening, but Rybka surely managed to build up an imposing position from almost nothing. Black's next two moves are certainly wrong. 19...b4 20. Be1 Bc8 21. Bh4 f6 Already white is winning. As can be expected from Rybka, it handles the final stage of the game perfectly. 22. Nxf6+ gxf6 Also after 22...Rxf6 23. Ne4 white's attack is decisive. 23. Ne4 Qf7 24. Nxf6+ Kg7 25. Qe2 After this quiet retreat black is defenseless. 25...Qc7 26. Bc2 Kh8 After 26...Ra7 my computer indicates the cute and very strong move 27. Bg5. 27. Qh5 Nf7 Threatening mate in one, but of course no self-respecting computer will fall for it. 28. Ng4 Black resigned.

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In Memoriam: Leo Kerkhoff I was shocked when I learned that Leo Kerkhoff had died on March 28 at the age of 62. He was two months younger than I. We had played each other in a Dutch junior championship in 1964 and of course later we met often, as the Dutch chess world is rather small. For a few years we played for the same club, which at the time was called Volmac Rotterdam and now just Rotterdam, as in the old sponsorless days. He was not only a strong chessplayer, but also a pleasant and cheerful man.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

His fellow clubmember Wim Westerveld, who knew him better than I did, wrote a loving obituary on the website of the Rotterdam chess federation. He hadn't seen Kerkhoff during the last few years and without really thinking about it he had supposed that everything was allright with him, as one tends to do in such cases. I had thought so too, but we were wrong, as it turns out that Kerkhoff had been gravely ill already for two years. All kinds of memories came back to me. That junior championship of 1964 in which we played. A very young Jan Timman also took part; it was the first time I met him and people were already predicting a great future for him. But in 1964 Kerkhoff became the junior champion. In my database the tournament is presented as an Under-18 championship, but this cannot be true, as both Kerkhoff and I were 19 years old and an U-18 Dutch championship didn't even exist at that time. It was held in Rotterdam and the young players from other cities were put up in a youth hostel, where they had to wash the dishes in the evening and perform other domestic tasks. Nil nisi bene about the dead, but I think Kerkhoff, who lived in Rotterdam and was staying at home, had an advantage over us. Reading about that championship I also remembered that in our game I had awfully mishandled the opening, though the details had vanished from my mind. Replaying the game from the database I saw that it had been very bad indeed and it seems inconceivable that nowadays a promising young player of the same age would show comparable ignorance. Two years later Kerkhoff took part in the second group of the IBM tournament in Amsterdam. On the website of the Corus tournament, Gert Ligterink tells (in Dutch) that he was taking part in the tournament also, in a much lower group. His own games meant less to him than the impressive performance of Botvinnik, who in the first six rounds scored six points in the main group. But then in the seventh round the focus of his attention became a game played by Kerkhoff in the B-tournament against the Austrian IM Andreas Dückstein. This says much about the beauty of that game, for also Botvinnik's game from that round must have been exciting for Dutch chess lovers. He was beaten by the Dutch IM Johan Barendregt, a gifted amateur.

Here is the game that understandably made such a big impression on Ligterink. Leo Kerkhoff - Andreas Dückstein IBM•B Amsterdam 1966 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 c5 4.c3 Nc6 5.Nf3 Qb6 6.a3 c4 7.Be2 Bd7 8.Nbd2 Na5 9.0-0 Ne7 10.Rb1 The plan of breaking up the queenside, which had been worked out by Kerkhoff together with his trainer Hans Bouwmeester, has gone out of fashion. Nowadays White plays on the kingside. Under the right circumstances Kerkhoff's scheme can be quite effective. 10...Ng6 11.g3 f6 12.b4 cxb3 13.c4 fxe5 14.cxd5 exd5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.dxe5 Bf5 17.Rxb3 Nxb3 18.Nxb3 a6 19.Be3 Qd8 20.Nd4 Bh3 21.Bb5+ axb5 22.Qh5+ g6 23.Qxh3 Qd7 24.e6 Qe7 25.Rc1 Bg7 26.Nf5 The final blow in a highly spectacular game. If Black takes the knight, he will lose his queen. 26...Qf6 27.Nd6+ Ke7 28.Rc7+ Kxd6 29.Bf4+ Qxf4 30.Rd7+ Kc6 31.gxf4 Bd4 32.Qf3 Black resigned. Such was Kerkhoff's style, always playing for the attack, not caring for material. There is a variation of the Ruy Lopez that in the Netherlands is called the Kerkhoff variation. It is a model of the kind of chess that he liked. Black sacrifices a piece at an early stage and unfathomable complications will follow. He played many games with this line around 1970. Nowadays the variation isn't popular anymore, and I can understand why, but when I looked at some recent games I found that a few adventurous souls still have it in their repertoire, as a clear refutation has not yet been found after all these years. Here is a game in which the Kerkhoff attack triumphs, played in the Dutch championship of 1970. Eddy Scholl became Dutch champion that year, losing only one game, a game for which Kerkhoff got the brilliancy prize. Eddy Scholl • Leo Kerkhoff Dutch Championship 1970 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.0-0 Bg4 6.h3 h5 This is what the Dutch know as the Kerkhoff variation. He wasn't the first to play it, but he analysed the line extensively and played many beautiful games with it. At this moment White cannot accept the sacrifice, but later he will take the piece. 7.d4 Those who want to avoid the coming complications play 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.d4, when Black should give up his sacrificial intentions and play 8...Bxf3 9.Qxf3 exd4 10.Rd1 Qf6. I don't really trust it for Black, but volunteers can still be found.

7...b5 8.Bb3 Nxd4 9.hxg4 hxg4 10.Ng5 Nh6 11.f4 At the time this was the critical position of the variation. It's problems are not yet completely solved and in 2000 Jan Timman as Black ventured into this jungle twice. 11...d5 12.Bxd5 Bc5 13.Be3 Qd6 14.b4 Bb6 What to say about this crazy line? I wouldn't trust Black's position for a penny, but Kerkhoff thought differently, for two years later he reached it again in the Dutch team competition against Kees Dekker. 15.Nxf7 Nxf7 16.Bxf7+ Kf8 17.fxe5 At first sight this looks fine for White, as after 17...Qxe5 18.Bd5+ Ke8 19.Qxg4 White is winning. But Black has a strong counterblow. 17...Nf3+ 18.Kf2 Bxe3+ 19.Kxe3 Qb6+ 20.Ke2 Rh2 21.Qd5 The right move was 21.Rf2, with a very unclear position. The computer spews a variation ending in perpetual check. 21...Rxg2+ 22.Kd3 Ke7 Now White has to give his queen. Materially he gets enough compensation, but Black's attack continues. 23.Rxf3 Rd8 24.Qxd8+ Kxd8 25.Re3 c5 After 25...Rg1, to keep White's queenside imprisoned, Black would be clearly winning. 26.bxc5 Qxc5 27.Nd2 Qxe5 28.Nb3 The decisive mistake. After 28.c3 it would still have been a fight. 28...Qc7 29.Bd5 Rxc2 30.Kd4 Qb6+ 31.Kd3 Rc3+ 32.Kxc3 Qxe3+ 33.Kb4 g3 34.Rf1 g2 35. Rf8+ Ke7 36.Rf7+ Ke8 37.Rxg7 Qe1+ 38.Ka3 g1Q 39.Rxg1 Qxg1 40.Kb4 Kd8 41.Bb7 Kc7 42.Bxa6 Kb6 White resigned. As Gert Ligterink relates, Leo Kerkhoff's cremation was attended by many people from many different spheres of life. There were chess and bridge players, but also people who had known him as a yachtsman or a skier or just as a man with an exhilarating zest for life.

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Donner versus Troitsky Why is David Bronstein’s last book, which appeared soon after his death in December last year, called Secrets Notes? I see hardly any secrets in the descriptions of his travels through Europe since the dissolution of the Soviet Union, when at last he was free to go wherever he wanted. Bronstein and his admirers have always been too eager to hang the clothes of a martyr on him, which doesn’t mean that he didn’t have a difficult life, and anyway, I am an admirer myself too. Who wouldn’t be? I was pleased to learn from the book that he had a special relation with Hein Donner, our Dutch ‘Big Brother’ as Genna Sosonko called him soon after he had arrived to the Netherlands.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Bronstein tells us that one day he was phoned by Botvinnik, then the president of the SovietDutch Friendship Society, to inform him about an exchange program between Dutch and Soviet chessplayers. Donner and his family would stay for some time in Moscow at Bronstein’s apartment, and in exchange Bronstein would stay with the Donners in Amsterdam later. It was at a time when any opportunity to travel abroad was eagerly taken up by Soviet chessplayers. Bronstein’s apartment was far too small to lodge the Donners. Why not let him stay at a more spacious place? Botvinnik explained that Donner had asked specifically to stay with Bronstein.

Hein Donner

Nothing came of it and Donner never visited the Soviet Union. I find it quite understandable that his choice to stay was with Bronstein, but on the other hand I wonder how the two would get on together. They both liked to explain the world to the unenlightened and listening to others was not their forte. Probably Donner would have bowed to the wisdom of Bronstein, as he was in great awe of the players of the Soviet Union, one reason why he never went there.

Much later Bronstein came to Amsterdam. Donner had died a few years earlier, but Bronstein met with his family. And he went to the Hein Donner bridge, which connects the Max Euwe square with a main traffic road. Whenever he was in Amsterdam in the next years he liked to stand at that bridge, relishing the homage from the city of Amsterdam to two Amsterdam chessplayers from the past. In his book he calls it the Jan Hein Donner bridge, which is not quite correct and would have been disapproved of by Donner himself. Donner claimed that this ‘Jan Hein’ instead of just ‘Hein’ had maliciously been brought into the world by the Dutch master Mühring, because of its resemblance to the Dutch expression ‘Jan Hen’(John Hen) which stands for an unmanly man. I believed him, until Jan Timman once pointed out to me that in his early years of journalism Donner signed his articles ‘Jan Hein Donner’ himself. Bronstein and Donner had in common that their pontifications were not always in accordance with the plain facts, but if you allowed for this trifle, they told the truth. In Secret Notes Bronstein is very disparaging about computer chess, though he liked to play against them when they were still beatable with mad gambits. Donner always took the stand that computers would never be able to play chess decently. When I told him in his nursing home, a few years before his death, that for the first time a computer had beaten an IM, he laughed at me, saying that everybody knew that computers couldn’t play chess, except Hans Ree, who would fall for the most ridiculous stories. Of course he knew better. Donner didn’t live to see the rise of computer chess, but posthumously he was beaten by computer technology on his own turf, chess writing. Recently his Dutch book De Koning has been translated completely as The King, which Jeremy Silman has called in a review in New in Chess the best chess book ever written. Most of the articles collected in that book are humorous or polemical stories about the general world of chess, but there is also a big technical chapter about a subject with which Donner had been obsessed for many months: the endgame of two knights against a pawn. Like most players I have never seen this intriguing endgame played in practice. Once I had the chance, but I missed it. It was during this year’s Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee. The first time control at the Corus tournament is at 5.30 pm and usually the press conference, given by the winner of a remarkable game, starts half an hour later. It takes about half an hour and then the journalists start working. Play goes on, but what happens during the final hours in the B-group and C-group is hardly noticed. And so it took a full week before I learned – thanks to the website www.chessvibes.com – that in the fourth round in the C-group there had been that rare delicacy, the endgame of two knights against a pawn. It had occurred in the game Brynell-Krasenkow, which had the following position after Black’s 66th move. As every Russian schoolboy knows, without the pawn this is a trivial draw, because two knights cannot force mate. When the defending side has a pawn, the endgame is won more often then not, but the winning process is quite difficult. Even with perfect play the win often takes more than 50 moves, which under present FIDE rules means that the game will end prematurely as a draw. Brynell’s position was theoretically winning and with perfect play he could have delivered mate within 50 moves, though the margin was small. Perfect play in this ending is unattainable for human beings. The game ended as a draw.

Difficult as it is to win a theoretically winning position with the two knights, defending a theoretically drawn position is very hard too. Even the great endgame virtuoso Anatoly Karpov failed the task. This is Topalov – Karpov, Amber rapid 2000, after White’s 61st move. Because Black’s pawn is well advanced, the position is theoretically drawn, but Topalov won rather quickly. Naturally, to defend this endgame accurately at the end of a rapid game is beyond human powers. And one should realise that Karpov was raised as a chessplayer in times when games were adjourned after 40 moves. Practical players didn’t study this complicated ending. If they would ever have it on the board, it would be long after adjournment and there would be time enough to look it up in a book. The theory of this endgame has been worked out by the great Russian study composer Alexei Alexeievich Troitsky (1866-1942), who died during the siege of Leningrad of exhaustion and malnutrition. He didn’t limit himself to the analysis of special cases of the endgame, but managed to find a general law, which is illustrated by the following diagram. Troitsky’s Law says that when the defender’s pawn has not advanced further than in this diagram, the position is winning for the side with the knights (in this case White). Of course the pawn has to be blocked by one of the knights, otherwise it will advance further, and blocking by the king is senseless. Winning positions where the pawn is further advanced do exist according to Troitzky, but they are exceptional. The diagram and Troitsky’s Law are an astounding achievement of the human mind. In our modern times it is hard to imagine that someone could attain this result without help of a computer. Donner wrote that it was the result of almost a lifetime of study. Between 1906 and 1910 Troitsky had published a series of articles about the endgame K+ 2N’s versus K+ P in the German magazine Deutsche Schachblätter. His final monograph about the endgame appeared in 1937 and according to Donner it has the defects of a work that has been amended and improved for 30 years: it had become incomprehensible to outsiders.

Alexei Alexeievich Troitsky

But Donner wanted to understand Troitsky. At the Amsterdam artist’s club which had many chessplayers as members we used to meet to discuss the ways of the world or to play blitz. But there was a period of a few months, in 1976 or 1977, when Donner had only one subject: two knights against a pawn. He tried to convey to us the wonders of the manuscript of Chapais, the bizarre dance of the kings, Henry’s sideway check and the retrograde of the second order. I was duly impressed, but I didn’t understand much of it. It was usually past midnight when we met there, but at another hour I wouldn’t have understood him either. Donner published his findings in 1977 in a revision of the first tome of Max Euwe’s series of books on the endgame. Most of the endings in that book were rather simple and there was not much for Donner to revise. But the chapter he wrote on the knights versus pawn ending were vintage Donner. He didn’t confine himself to an explication of Troitsky’s analyses, but he tried to improve on them and wrote: “It is with some hesitation that we express the conjecture that the great man has erred here.” His difference of opinion with Troitsky was about the following position: According to Troitsky this position is drawn, while Donner thought it was winning for white. Based on his analysis of this particular position he suggested, ‘trembling because of our own temerity’ that the diagram that represents Troitsky’s Law should be amended: In that diagram Black’s b- and g-pawns shouldn’t be on b6 and g6, as Troitsky had it, but on b5 and g5. A small amendment, but if Donner would have been right, his contribution would have been written with golden letters in the Book of Human Chess Achievements. But alas, he was mistaken. Nowadays one can simply feed the position of the last diagram to the Nalimov Tablebase.

According to Troitsky it was a draw, according to Donner is was winning for White. The Nalimov oracle declares that it is a draw. Thereby Donner’s proposed amendment of Troitsky’s Law loses its foundation. But one should admire the obsessive tenacity with which Donner immersed himself in this ending for many months. He dared to criticize Troitsky and he was wrong, but the number of people in the world who were able to give a well-founded opinion on this endgame could probably be counted on the fingers of one hand. And of course it is much more heroic to be wrong the way Donner was wrong, than to feed a position to the Nalimov oracle and be right.

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Fenny Heemskerk, Almost Kidnapped in Moscow A few weeks ago, on the 8th of June, the Dutch WGM Fenny Heemskerk died at the age of 87. She had been the most successful Dutch woman chessplayer of all time. I'm not saying that she was the strongest woman player. I think the present Dutch woman champion Zaoqin Peng plays better chess. But one has to judge people in the context of their times. In her heyday Heemskerk, with very little support, was able to compete with the best Russian women players and threaten their crown. Since the fifties, the period when she was at her best, women's chess has been elevated to a different level. It's just chess now, and even though the men are stronger, we do not think anymore that women chessplayers play a different game.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Compare Max Euwe's recommendation of women's chess in the introduction to a Dutch tournament book about the women's world championship in Moscow 1949/1950. Euwe wrote: "Most of the ladies in this tournament really play chess, not always so strong, but usually enterprising and lively. The games in this book are certainly worth playing over, there are no grandmaster draws without fight, no unfathomable positional games that will be a riddle to 99.9% of the chess lovers, it is all equally clear, the good moves as well as those that are not so good, and the reader will find many instructive things in this book." This was meant as a compliment. To us it may seem a rather sarcastic put-down, but that was certainly not Euwe's intention. A patronizing compliment of women's chess like this would be unthinkable nowadays.

Fenny Heemskerk

Fenny Heemskerk had qualified to take part in that tournament. It was not a candidates' tournament, but a real tournament for the world championship, as the former champion Vera Menchik had died during a German bombing of London in World War II.

Nowadays the Dutch chess federation is far from rich, but in the years after the war it was worse. Though Fenny Heemskerk had qualified for the World Championship tournament, a lot of work had to be done to secure her participation. The Dutch chess federation organized a collection to cover the expenses. In its magazine, under the heading 'Will Fenny go to Leningrad?' there was a monthly financial report on the proceeds. Apparently at that time the tournament was still scheduled for Leningrad, though eventually it was to be held in Moscow. Euwe varied on the theme by writing "Fenny has to go to Leningrad!" Later the magazine could say: "Fenny goes to Leningrad" and finally with a sigh of relief: "Fenny is in Moscow." We see a picture of her boarding the train to Moscow on Saint Nicholas day, when Dutch familial cosiness is at its height. The president of the Dutch federation and some of her family were at the platform, but when the train left she was on her own, because the money collection had not provided for a companion. At the time it was quite an adventure to travel to the Soviet Union. During the last months, when she finally knew that she really would take part in the championship, Fenny had studied some Russian. In Moscow she took 8th place with a score of 8 out of 15. Against the four Russians, who took the first four places, she scored 2 points and in the game against the tournament winner Ludmilla Rudenko, which she lost, she missed an easy win just before the first time control. It was a creditable result which would be far surpassed two years later in the Candidates tournament of 1952, again in Moscow. The winner of that tournament would play a match for the World Championship against Rudenko, the winner of Moscow 1949/1950. This time Fenny Heemskerk had a second, the Dutch master Lodewijk Prins. Having played in the men's interzonal in Salstjöbaden, he arrived in Moscow a few days late, lamenting as soon as he stepped off the train about a fold in his trousers, an un-ironed shirt or similar matters. Fenny worried. Was this the man who was supposed to assist her, or should she mother him during the next weeks as an additional burden to her, she thought. But she was wrong, as Prins proved to be an excellent assistant. She played well in that tournament, so well that the Russians got worried and thought of a way to stop her. As Fenny once told me, one day suddenly some paramedics entered her hotel room, telling her that they had heard that she might have caught a cold, but that it could be much more serious, one never knew and one shouldn't take any risk with a distinguished foreign guest. Fenny would have to be brought to a hospital at once, where the best Russian doctors would take care of her. Of course they couldn't say on what day she would be dismissed from the hospital, that would be for the doctors to decide. Luckily Prins was also present in the hotel room and he proved his worth as a second. Like a true knight he made it clear that Fenny would only be taken away over his dead body. The attempt of kidnapping her did not succeed. At the end she shared second place with the Russian Olga Ignatieva. First place was for Elizaveta Bykova, who would go on to win the match against Rudenko and become world champion. This was to be the greatest success of Fenny Heemskerk's career, never to be equalled or even approached. In the Netherlands she remained the best woman player for a long time, winning the Dutch championship • held only once every two years at that time – ten times between 1937 and 1961. Until a few years before her death she kept playing chess at the two clubs in the Dutch town Amersfoort of which she was a member. This was a joy to all, because she was a very nice and warm-hearted lady. Here is her game from that Moscow candidates tournament against the winner and future world champion.

Fenny Heemskerk • Elizaveta Bykova Women's Candidates' Tournament Moscow 1952 [A49] 1.Ng1•f3 Ng8•f6 2.g2•g3 g7•g6 3.Bf1•g2 Bf8•g7 4.d2•d4 d7•d6 5.0•0 0•0 6.Nb1•d2 She wasn't a great opening expert and therefore avoids the main line, though later we'll see typical King's Indian positions anyway. 6...Nb8•d7 7.e2•e4 e7•e5 8.c2•c3 Rf8•e8 9.Rf1•e1 Nd7•f8 10.d4•d5 Nf6•d7 Black prepares f7f5, but in a rather unpractical way. I think 10...h6 followed by 11...N6h7 would have been better. 11.Qd1•c2 Qd8•e7 12.b2•b4 c7•c6 13.c3•c4 a7•a5 14.b4xa5 Ra8xa5 15.Nd2•b3 Ra5•a8 16. a2•a4 c6•c5 17.Bc1•b2 Nd7•f6 18.a4•a5 Nf6•h5 19.Qc2•d1 f7•f5 20.e4xf5 Bc8xf5 White has an obvious advantage and after simple moves such as 21. Nh4 Bd7 22. Nd2 Black would be in trouble. Instead White goes for a sacrificial attack which is totally unclear. For a long time it was to be characteristic for women's chess that wild aggression would be sought in situations where it was unnecessary. 21.Nb3xc5 d6xc5 22.Nf3xe5 Qe7•d6 23.f2•f4 Bf5•d7 More prudent seems 23...Nf6, to move a piece in the direction of the queen's wing, where the action will be. 24.Qd1•b3 Though White has two pawns for the piece and aggressively placed pieces, Black has no reason to despair. One good defence would be 24...Bc8. 24...Re8•e7 25.Qb3•b6 Qd6xb6 26.a5xb6 Ra8xa1 27. Re1xa1 Re7•e8 28.Ra1•a7 Bd7•c8 29.d5•d6 Now Black's position is critical. One interesting line is 29...Rd8 30. Ra8 Bf6 31. Rxc8 Rxc8 32. Bxb7 Rb8 33. Bd5+ Kg7 34. b7, which seems very good for White, even though she is a rook down. 29...Nh5•f6 30.Bg2xb7 Bc8xb7 31.Ra7xb7 Nf6•d7 This loses quickly, but Black's position was already very bad. 32.Ne5xd7 Bg7xb2 33.Nd7xf8 Kg8xf8 34.d6•d7 Re8•d8 35.Rb7•c7 Kf8•e7 36.b6•b7 Rd8•b8 37.Rc7•c8 Ke7xd7 38.Rc8xb8 Kd7•c7 39.Rb8•f8 Kc7xb7 40.Rf8•f7+ Kb7•b6 41.Rf7xh7 Kb6•a5 42.Rh7•b7 Bb2•c3 43.Kg1•g2 Black resigned.

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Lessons from Art Buchwald Recently Lubosh Kavalek presented in his column in The Washington Post a game that started with the moves 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6. After these standard moves of the Rauzer Sicilian, White played the rather unusual 7.Bb5. Kavalek commented: Developing the bishops like Art Buchwald used to do against me. The late humorist would later exchange them for my knights, exclaiming: “No more forks!”

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

As always the humorist had a sensible point, but nevertheless his method seems extremely primitive. Didn’t Buchwald know that the bishop-pair is considered a valuable asset and could he not count that an optimally placed bishop covers thirteen squares and a knight only eight? Of course things are not so simple as I just presented them. Kavalek indicated that even the great Alekhine had used the ‘primitive’ move 7.Bb5 in a blindfold simul in Paris in 1925. Later he did it again in a serious game, Alekhine - Foltys, Margate 1937. In these games, after a later a7-a6 by Black, Alekhine withdrew his bishop to e2, losing a tempo. His idea seems to have been that the move 7...Bd7 which he had forced this way, might have negative value for Black. Interesting. In several Scheveningen set-ups this is indeed the case, as proven by two Karpov-Kasparov games in which Black played Bc8-d7c8. In Alekhine’s games with 7.Bb5, Black’s 7...Bd7 is almost certainly a useful move, but it speaks for Alekhine’s inventiveness that he considered the idea that this natural developing move might in fact be a loss of a tempo. I found that several strong players had experimented with the Buchwald move 7.Bb5, among them Bobby Fischer in a simul in Solingen in 1970. Contrary to the Buchwald method he left one of Black’s knights on the board, which turned out badly, for later he fell victim to a nasty knight fork and had to resign. An opening in which the Buchwald method plays an important role is the Chigorin Defense, 1.d4 d5 2.c4 Nc6. In several important variations Black plays his bishops to b4 and g4, intending to exchange them for the knights. Chigorin’s opening never became very popular, but even at the highest level there have always been devotees. One of them is Alexander Morozevich, who together with Vladimir Barsky wrote a fine book, The Chigorin Defence According to Morozevich, published by New in Chess this year. It is not often that a top players shares his private opening analyses with the general public. Morozevich writes that he could do it because he doesn’t intend to use this defense in the near future. He hasn’t lost his faith, but he is a man who always likes to explore new territories. Glancing through the book I was confronted with my prejudices. Looking at a diagram I thought: “Isn’t it ugly? Can Black really play this way?” But Morozevich shows with concrete variations that it can be done. He doesn’t like vague generalizations and writes:

“One can argue for a long time about various abstract matters, but we have a board, and we have pieces: if you think that this or that move is bad, then show me why.” Though Morozevich has practiced the Chigorin Defense in serious tournaments, many of the examples he gives are blitz games, some of them against top class players such as Karpov, Kramnik and a certain Raffael, who according to Morozevich may be Kasparov. Blitz games count for less than serious tournament games, but when two top players blitz an opening variation that they have really studied, we can learn something from them. If it is true that Raffael was Kasparov, their blitz games in 2006 on the playchess.com server amounted to a collision of principles, for already long ago Kasparov had voiced his distrust of the Chigorin Defense. Kasparov – Smyslov Candidates Final Vilnius (11), 1984 [D07] 1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.c2-c4 Bc8-g4 4.c4xd5 Bg4xf3 5.g2xf3 Qd8xd5 6.e2e3 e7-e5 7.Nb1-c3 Bf8-b4 8.Bc1-d2 Bb4xc3 9.b2xc3 The opening according to Art Buchwald. Black has exchanged his bishops and he has given White a potentially very strong pawn center. On the other hand, White’s kingside is slightly weakened and Black has free piece play. Morozevich and Barsky quote from Kasparov’s notes to this game: “Tigran Petrosian once joked: ‘If your opponent wants to play the Dutch Defence you shouldn’t prevent him!’ There is a mass of openings for which this joke is justified, and the Chigorin Defence is one of them.” 9...Qd5-d6 Morozevich has come to the conclusion that 9...Nf6 is the best move. 10.Ra1-b1 b7-b6 11.f3-f4 e5xf4 12.e3-e4 Ng8-e7 13.Qd1-f3 0-0 And here he finds the immediate 13...Qa3, with the threat 14...Nxd4, much stronger. 14.Bd2xf4 Qd6 a3 15.Bf1 e2 f7 f5 16.0-0 f5xe4 Even now, after 16...Ng6 White’s advantage would be small, as Kasparov indicated in his notes. 17.Qf3xe4 Qa3xc3 18.Bf4-e3 Now White has a tremendous attack. 18...Qc3-a3 19.Be2-d3 Qa3-d6 This cannot be the solution, but as Kasparov already showed, other moves couldn’t save Black either.

20.Qe4xh7+ Kg8-f7 Here many moves would lead to a win for White. The one chosen by Kasparov is not the simplest, but in accordance with his style. Another piece is brought into the attack. 21.Rb1-b5 Nc6xd4 22.Qh7-e4 But this is wrong. After 22.Bxd4 Qxd4 23.Rg5, White would have a winning attack, as 23...Rh8 fails to 24.Bc4+. 22...Ra8-d8 Kasparov had been seduced by the attractive variation 22...Nxb5? 23.Bc4+ Kf6 24.Qh4+ Ke5 25.f4+ Ke4 26.f5+ Kxe3 27.Qf2+ Ke4 28.Re1 mate. After Smyslov’s sensible and strong actual move, Kasparov felt forced to take the draw. 23.Be3xd4 Qd6xd4 24.Rb5-f5+ Ne7xf5 25.Qe4xf5+ Kf7-g8 26.Qf5-h7+ Kg8-f7 ½-½ At first sight this game is not a recommendation for the Chigorin Defense, as White quickly gained a decisive advantage which seemed to flow naturally from the general characteristics of the position – two bishops and a strong pawn center. On the other hand Morozevich shows us several ways to improve on Black’s play. For many players it will be attractive and useful to study an opening outside the mainstream of theory, guided by a top-class practitioner. But as for me, I fear that I would never get the feel of it. It’s not only the bishop-pair, which I have always cherished. In many variations Black exchanges both his d-pawn and his e-pawn, leaving him without center pawns. Morozevich writes that he prefers open piece play in the center rather than blocked pawn chains. For me it is the opposite. When it comes to the center I have a horror vacui and I wouldn’t know what to do with my free pieces. Here is a diagram (not from an actual game, but this may come) that appeals to me. A position worthy of Hans Kmoch’s famous book Pawn Power in Chess. If you like this diagram, I think it will be hard to like the Chigorin Defense.

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A Star that Briefly Shined on America At the start of the Hogeschool Zeeland Open, held this month in the Dutch town Vlissingen, its main attraction was the former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, but soon everybody was talking about another player, the young American Fabiano Caruana. He had won his first six games. A new star had not exactly been born, for Caruana had already been strong for quite a few years, but it shined brightly.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

When recently the American Jesse Kraai scored his final GM norm it was said that he would be the first American-born grandmaster after a drought of a decade. This was a bit formalistic. Hikaru Nakamura, born in Japan, came to the US when he was only two years old, so he can reasonably be called a product of the American chess scene. Nevertheless, the crop is lean on American soil. The talents must be there, but were do they go? Rushing to a better-paid job, it seems. I have been reading Michael Weinreb’s book The Kings of New York, about the successful chess team of Edward R. Murrow High School. One chapter is about the Supernationals III of 2005, a tournament that combined the elementary, junior-high and high-school national championships. The morning of its first day, 5,290 participants had registered. This is an astounding number, more than twice as big as that of the number of the players at an Olympiad. I wondered if I had ever seen so many chessplayers together. Maybe at festivals of simuls, during the Havana Olympiad of 1966 or on the Spanish island Gran Canaria, where I saw thousands of schoolchildren under banners saying “Chess is the culture of our islands,” a slogan which I found a bit sad. Thousands of American children playing in the scholastic championship, generous foundations such as Chess in the Schools, Right Move and AF4C, university scholarships, the Samford Fellowship; seen from afar American junior chess would look like a paradise, were it not for the decade’s drought.

Fabiano Caruana Source: Hogeschool Zeeland

There seems to be little danger that Fabiano Caruana will want to escape into a better-paid job. His chess future looks bright. Born in Miami he was raised in Brooklyn. In 2002, at the age of ten he gained some prominence by beating GM Alex Wojtkiewicz in an official rapid game and since then it has been all on high. In 2003 there was a remarkable article about him in The New York Times. His parents told the reporter Daisy Hernandez that Fabiano had started playing chess at the age of five. His chess career had cost the family about $50,000 yearly, for travel and trainers. To cut on expenses they had put Fabiano on a public school and at the time of the interview they were converting their basement into a rental flat. Recently the family had found a sponsor who wanted to remain anonymous. He provided the service of a private jet and money for coaching. In 2004 the family moved to Spain, were Fabiano was to work with the trainer Boris Zlotnik. Then in 2006 they went on to Budapest, hometown of an even better qualified trainer, the ex-Russian Alexander Chernin. In Budapest, shortly before his fifteenth birthday, Fabiano scored his final GM norm in the First Saturday Grandmaster tournament. Having dual citizenship, American and Italian, he decided that his FIDE nationality would be Italian and indeed in Vlissingen he was playing for Italy. So finally, after many years, the US chess community once again saw a truly Americanborn and bred young super-talent, but living in Hungary and playing for Italy, Fabiano Caruana seems to have said farewell to his native country already. Having scored 6 out of 6, Caruana lost a dramatic game against Sergei Tiviakov in the next round. In the middlegame Caruana lost one pawn after another, but then, being three pawns up, Tiviakov gave away a piece, after which the game was about equal. Then in mutual time trouble, Caruana resigned in a drawn position. Tiviakov - Caruana, final position. After 73...Kh6, White has a perpetual with 74.Qe6 + Kh5 75.Qf7+, but not more. But Caruana must

have seen a ghost like 73...Kh6 74.Re6+ Kh7 75. Qg8 mate?!? and resigned. If this was a traumatic experience, young Caruana quickly recovered. The next day he beat the Indian grandmaster Barua and in the final round he held Kasimdzhanov to a hard-fought draw, thereby winning the tournament on tiebreak. Here is the game he won against the Dutchman Daniel Stellwagen, who is also a great talent, but five years older. What’s more, Stellwagen has never aspired to be a chess professional. He studies chemistry, loves the subject and firmly intends to make it his profession, which will be chemistry’s gain and our loss. Caruana – Stellwagen HZ Open Vlissingen (6) 2007 Sicilian Defense [B54] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.g4 Played by Karpov in a World Champion’s match against Kasparov. Black is gently persuaded to put his knight not on f6 but on e7. 6...a6 7.Be3 Nge7 8.Nb3 b5 9.f4 Bb7 10.Qd2 Na5 11.Nxa5 Qxa5 12.Bg2 b4 With this and his next moves Black takes direct action, because after 12...Nc6 his development would be disturbed by 13.Qf2, intending 14.Bb6 13.Ne2 h5 14.h3 Ng6 15.Bf2 Be7 16.g5 e5 17.f5 Nf4 18.Nxf4 Bxg5 19.Qxd6 exf4 After 19...Bxf4, White’s 20.Bh4 would be very unpleasant. 20.0•0 Rd8 21.Qc5 Qxc5 22.Bxc5 Rc8 23.Bxb4 Rxc2 24.Rf2 Rxf2 25.Kxf2 Because of Black’s weak pawns the endgame is better for White. 25...Rh6 26.Bc3 Rc6 27.Rd1 g6 28.e5 Bh4+ 29.Kf1 Now the modest 29...Rc7 would be the lesser evil, though White would be better after 30.Bxb7 Rxb7 31.Rd6 29...Rxc3 30.bxc3 f3 31.Bh1 It may seem as if Black has some compensation because of White’s locked-up bishop. 31...gxf5 32.Rd4 f4 After 32...Bg3, White has 33.Bxf3 Bxf3 34.Rd3.

33.Bxf3 This is the end. It’s much stronger than 33.Rxf4, for then after 33...Bg3 34.Rb4 Bc6, Black would still have some play with his two bishops. 33...Bxf3 34.Rxf4 Bg3 35.Rxf3 Bxe5 36.c4 h4 37.Ra3 1-0

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Euwe's Heritage At the chess festival of the Max Euwe Center, last month on the Max Euwe Square in Amsterdam, I met Fietie Euwe, one of the daughters of Max. A week earlier I had met her at another festivity of the Max Euwe Center, that time in Groningen, where I had passed on the ‘Euwe Ring’ to Genna Sosonko. “It is almost a full-time job, being a daughter of the great Max,” I said to Fietie, who assented and told me that the day before she had been present at the opening ceremony of the Euwe Stimulus tournament in Arnhem. She said she liked it, being invited to all these Euwe events, also because she would meet people who she knew from many years ago.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

“Look, there is Tabe Bas,” I said. Tabe Bas is a retired actor-singer who used to be a strong chessplayer. He is still an outstanding chess kibitzer, attending almost all important Dutch chess events. He used to visit Max Euwe at his home quite often and he likes to tell the story about an evening when he was playing blitz with Hein Donner at an Amsterdam cafe and Donner suddenly said that he had an irresistible appetite for one of the delicious ‘salamanders’ – a kind of toasted cheese sandwiches, I think – that Euwe’s wife used to make. “A good idea, but we can’t just come to his house and say we want a salamander,” said Tabe. Donner agreed that they would need an excuse. An opening novelty would serve perfectly. “Let’s go, I’ll think of one on our way,” said Donner. And so an important novelty in the Nimzo-Indian was born, though I don’t know which one it was. “Really, that’s Tabe,” said Fietiee. “I haven’t seen him in thirty years,” and she hastened to the bench where he was sitting, to renew the acquaintance. Apart from the events that I just mentioned, a strong tournament was held in Amsterdam, organised by the Association Max Euwe, which is based in Monaco, home of the chess patron Joop van Oosterom. With all these activities in honor of Max Euwe I was reminded of a line of poetry by Vladimir Mayakovsky – not one of his best – that I once saw written on a wall of a Soviet restaurant: “Lenin lived, Lenin lives, Lenin shall live.” It could be truly said about Euwe. The Amsterdam tournament, Rising Stars versus Experience, featured top players of the recent past against youngsters who are top players of the near future, at least some of them. Like last year, it was played according to the Scheveningen system, which means that all games were between a youngster and an older player. Sergey Karjakin had the highest score of all participants. I went there almost every day and I wondered why this attractive tournament, held in the heart of Amsterdam, attracted so few visitors. It must have been because of the excellent Internet coverage. Of course all games could be followed live, which is normal. In the playing hall all boards had their own webcam, which is not yet common practice, but not unprecedented. But at this tournament the Internet viewers were really pampered on a scale not yet seen. The commentary room had a webcam too, so that one could see and hear the commentator and later the players themselves, who came to explain their games on one of the demonstration boards. In fact the Internet viewers could see much more than those who were actually present at the tournament. On the Internet you could watch all games, all the corners of the playing hall and all the explanations in the commentary room, simultaneously on the screen. “We are competing ourselves out of business with such service,” said press officer Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, and he certainly had a point. Still, there are some good reasons to be actually present at the place were things are happening. One day, when I had no time to go there, I was watching the commentator of that day Gert Ligterink. He took a break, put his microphone on a table, but as it was still open I could follow a conversation between some spectators about old chess books and the

prices they would fetch nowadays. I would have liked to be present in the flesh at that conversation, but probably in the near future Internet viewers will be able to bid instantly on books discussed by the spectators. Meanwhile, the other Euwe tournament, the Euwe Stimulus tournament in Arnhem, was won by the young Zambian Amon Simutowe, nicknamed ‘The Zambezi Shark.’ The tournament had a formula comparable to that in Amsterdam, young versus old, but this was not a Scheveningen tournament, but a conventional round-robin.

Vincent Rothuis

At this event the Dutch Junior Champion Vincent Rothuis was the public’s darling, at least that is how he was described on the tournament’s website. He is a very talented player who in the past has proven that he can compete with strong grandmasters, but in Arnhem he scored only a half-point out of nine games. How come? He played like a man possessed by the idea that every game should be a spectacular fight in which the players go at each other’s throat from move one. I can imagine that the public liked it, but the public tends to like spectacular public suicides on the market square also. Watching Rothuis’ games in Arnhem I thought of him as a hyperactive child. Not one moment of rest and quiet, always excitement, even when the position didn’t ask for it. Why does someone choose to adopt such a kamikaze style? It may have something to do with the computer. Chess engines are very good at tactics and when you have them analysing a game, they tend to show tactical lines. For the computer, a game of chess is a sequence of tactical scrimmages. A game between humans is often different. Doing nothing, or almost nothing, should be part of the human chessplayer’s technique. As the late German master George Kieninger used to say: everybody can make combinations, but only a few are able to shift wood. This is an extreme – and one might say extremely dull – attitude, but copying the computer’s hyperactive style is another extreme. Vincent Rothuis himself had another explanation for his mad adventures at the Euwe Stimulus tournament. He had recently decided not to become a chess professional and now he could play just for fun. It would not be my kind of fun to perish in glory in almost every game, but it is true that it made for great spectacles. Look how he played against the former World Championship candidate and FIDE president Fridrik Olafsson. At least the game shows that thinking for oneself almost from move one is not confined to Fischerandom. Peter Boel, the tournament’s press officer, described it as New Age chess. Vincent Rothuis – Fridrik Olafsson Euwe Stimulus Arnhem Modern Defence [B06] 1.e2•e4 g7•g6 2.h2•h4 h7•h6 3.f2•f4 Already this position is not in my database. 3...Ng8•f6 4.e4•e5 Nf6•h5 5.f4•f5

This amounts to a rook sacrifice, no common occurrence at move 5. 5...d7•d6 After 5...Ng3, White should indeed sacrifice a rook with 6.fxg6 Nxh1, which after 7.Qh5 (or 7. gxf7+ Kxf7) 7…Bg7 would lead to a very unclear position. Olafsson chooses a safer option, providing a square for his king. 6.e5•e6 f7xe6 7.f5xg6 Nh5•g3 8.Rh1•h3 Ng3xf1 9.Qd1•f3 Ke8•d7 10.Qf3•f7 An ambitious move. He wants to pick up the knight only after winning a piece with his gpawn. 10...Nb8•c6 He could have refuted White’s idea by playing 10...Qe8, for after 11.g7 (11.Qxe8+ Kxe8 12.Kxf1 h5 would be good for Black as well) 11…Bxg7 12.Qxg7 Rg8 13.Qc3 Qg6, Black would save his piece. 11.g6•g7 Bf8xg7 12.Qf7xg7 Rh8•g8 13.Qg7•c3 White has won his piece, but Black has a strong attack. 13...Rg8xg2 14.Ke1xf1 Qd8•g8 15.Ng1•e2 Rg2•g4 16.d2•d3 b7•b6 17.Bc1xh6 Bc8•b7 18.Nb1•d2 Nc6•d4 19.Nd2•e4 Nd4xe2 20.Kf1xe2 Bb7xe4 A much clearer way to get a big advantage was 20...Rxe4+ 21.dxe4 Qg2+. 21.d3xe4 Rg4xe4+ 22.Ke2•d3 After 22.Kf2, the position would still be unclear, though with two pawns for the piece and good play against White’s denuded king, Black should be alright. 22...Qg8•g2 Now Black is winning. 23.Qc3•d2 Qg2xh3+ 24.Kd3xe4 d6•d5+ 25. Ke4•f4 Qh3xh4+ 26.Kf4•e5 Given his sense of fun it is possible that he went voluntarily for a quick end. 26...Qh4•f6 mate.

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A Chess Tourist in Venice According to the ChessCafe.com Archives – one of the crutches of my deficient memory – it was eight years ago when I first noticed the chess club at the newspaper stall near the Accademia boat stop in Venice. The word ‘club’ may be too grandiose to describe it. There was one little table at the back of the stall, a chair for one of the players and a pile of newspapers for his opponent to sit on. The others had to wait for their turn, according to the principle ‘winner stays.’ A small club, but a nice one. I kept visiting it whenever I was in Venice, most recently a few weeks ago, after four years absence.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Some things had changed. Because the Accademia gallery is being renovated, we had less space and were a bit cramped between the people who hurried to and from the boats, but of course we hardly noticed this during play. There was a new owner of the stall, who turned out to be a younger brother of his predecessor. Luckily he loved chess too, though he seemed less absorbed by the game than his older brother, who used to turn his stall into a self-service shop when he was playing chess. ‘Just put the money down’ he cried, and I had been impressed by the fact that he knew the prices of all his papers, books and calendars by heart and could tell them in four languages. This liberal practice may have cost him some money. Anyway, the younger brother didn’t chance upon the customers’ honesty anymore and stopped the clocks when he had to attend to business. There were also things that had remained unchanged, one being the reaction of the owner of the stall when I asked about real chess clubs in Venice. Just like his brother he answered with a stern face that the real club was here, where we were standing. The other clubs were fake, he said. Nevertheless he was willing to draw two circles on a map to indicate the location of the Circulo Carlo Salvioli and the Circulo Esteban Canal, the two most prominent chess clubs of the city.

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The club named after Esteban Canal is at Campo Saffa, not far from the apartment that I had rented. It is located in two empty shops opposite each other. Not quite on the level of the splendid palazzos in which the great Venetian tournaments used to be played, but on the other hand, by no means could this club be called a fake. It had a small library and a cupboard with trophies, on the walls there were photos of world champions and Venetian tournaments, and people were playing blitz.

Antonio Rosino Photo: Ken Whyld Association

Among them was Antonio Rosino, whom I had visited earlier that day at his apartment, which by accident was in the same street as my temporary lodging. Call it a chessplayer’s intuition if you want. Antonio is a Fide master, a teacher and organiser of chess, but mainly known as a chess historian. Together with Andriano Chicco he has written a standard work of 639 pages about the history of Italian chess, Storia degli schacchi in Italia. Long ago he had given me this book as a present, saying that it would be nice if I could review it in New in Chess. ‘But I don’t know Italian’, I protested. ‘You will be able to read it easily’, he had said, the flatterer. This wasn’t true, but I have often used the book as a reference work. At his house he had entertained me telling stories and showing pictures about Italian chess history, often digressing on vaguely related subjects such as the emperor Tiberius, Dante or the Venetian resistance to the German occupation during the last years of World War II. One of the subjects we came to speak of was Hein Donner’s victory in the tournament in 1967, played at the Venice casino in the rooms where Richard Wagner had died in 1883. This detail about Wagner’s death I had not known, but of course Antonio did know it. At the time this victory caused quite a stir in Dutch chess circles, not only because Donner had finished ahead of then world champion Tigran Petrosian, but also because of what happened afterwards. A few days after the tournament Donner was on Dutch TV, talking about his great success, but also seizing the opportunity to make a political statement. He said that apart from his prize money he had received a splendid trophy, a golden gondola studded with diamonds. What to do with such a valuable object? On TV Donner announced that he would donate it to the Vietcong, so that they could sell it and buy medicines or, if they preferred so, weapons for their struggle against the U.S. in Vietnam. For this statement Donner was fired, on the same evening, as a chess columnist of the staunchly pro-American Dutch weekly Elseviers Weekblad. Repercussions by another paper for which he wrote were considered, but could be avoided. Under the harsh political climate of our days, he might have been prosecuted for aiding a terrorist organisation. A few years ago this story was brought up again in New in Chess by Genna Sosonko, who gave it an interesting twist, no doubt on authority of Donner himself: the Venice municipality, that had donated the trophy, had never actually sent it to Donner. Later the matter was put right by Antonio Rosino in a letter to New in Chess. The gorgeous trophy of gold and diamonds had never existed. What Donner had actually received, at the award ceremony, was just a little golden ornament with a few gems, representing the two night lamps of a gondola. The same prize had been given to Boris Ivkov one year earlier. What did actually happen to Donner’s gondola? The Vietcong never got it, that is certain. In his letter Antonio wrote that after the awards the players were brought by motor boat to their hotel near the San Marco Square. It was a day of high water. Antonio went out of the boat in his boots to get some help from the hotel, but Donner wasn’t going to wait for that. ‘He removed his shoes and came with me, cup and shoes in his hands, jumping into the water. This was the last time I saw him.’ When we were talking about this story Antonio said that of course Sosonko was not to blame for his false version. ‘We all know Donner’s stories, don’t we? They could be quite convincing.’ This gave me the opportunity to check another Donner story, which I had never quite believed. Eugenio Szabados (1898-1974) was a great man both in Venetian and Italian chess. Himself a player of master strength, he was also an organiser and patron of many fine chess events. From 1950 till 1958 he was president of the Italian chess federation. He was rich, being the owner of many ships, among other things. In 1956 there was the so-called Suez crisis, when the Suez Canal was closed off by the Egyptian president Nasser, who wanted to nationalise it. As Donner told the story, almost all of Szabados’ ships were inside the canal at that time. According to Donner, they were confiscated. Szabados had not insured his ships, because for an owner of a big fleet insurance is usually senseless. Once in a while you lose a ship, but insurance for the whole fleet would be much more costly.

So, still according to Donner, in 1956 Szabados lost all his ships and his whole fortune and was a poor man afterwards. Antonio was listening to my story and when I had finished he said: ‘This is completely true, from the beginning to the end.’ So, once again I experienced the unreliability of Hein Donner as a story teller. He could be right when you least expected it. When I had told Antonio that I had got the location of his club from the people at the newspaper stall, his face had darkened. ‘They do not speak well of us there,’ he said. This was certainly true. Later he told me about some quarrels between his club and the people of the Accademia newspaper stall in which the latter group had certainly not behaved like gentleman. So you see once again that when you come closer to a small and closely-knit society, you’ll always find trouble and strife. But I didn’t have to take sides. I had enjoyed myself at the Accademia newspaper stall and at the Esteban Canal club and I loved them all.

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Lessons from Stanislavksi Among the video’s that the French magazine Europe Echecs put on the web during the Tal Memorial in Moscow there was an interview with Yuri Averbakh, who had come to the tournament as a visitor. Not surprisingly at the age of 85 he looked a bit older than when I had last met him, five years ago, but he wasn’t resting on his laurels yet. His latest project is a book about the early history of chess. It is well-known that Averbakh has ideas about the origins of chess that deviate from the main lines of theory and ascribe a big role to the Greek army of Alexander the Great that went to the East. I would like to read the book when it comes out.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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I’m even more interested in Averbakh’s memoirs, about which he spoke in 2002 in the interview with Taylor Kingston that appeared here in the Skittles Room (here and here). Averbakh has served Soviet chess in many functions and he has certainly a lot to tell. I think this book of memoirs has appeared in Russian, but regrettably not in a language that I can read.

Yuri Averbakh circa 1955

In compensation there was an interesting article by Averbakh in the October issue of the German magazine Schach about the great candidates tournament in 1953 in Switzerland, where he was one of the participants. We tend to think that Soviet chess life always was a well-oiled machine where nothing was left to chance, but from Averbakh’s article one gets the impression that many things were handled in a way that seems decidedly amateurish. His preparation for the tournament can certainly be called professional. He collected the games of his opponents – not so easy at that time as now – and of all players he made a file that documented their habits in the opening, the middlegame and the endgame. Then it occurred to him that his opponents would do the same and that it would be useful to find out how his own file would appear to them. Making his own file, a self-portrait, Averbakh found that his main weakness was his uncertain play in double-edged positions which could not be calculated, but should be handled by intuition. He came to the conclusion that he should find a method to activate his subconscious, the source of many original ideas, at the right moment at the board. When he spoke about this problem with an actor who had been a pupil of the famous director Constantin Stanislavski, the actor gave him Stanislavski’s book An Actor Prepares. Here a method was described for the actor to evoke emotions and activate his subconscious by means of a special technique. Averbakh tried to develop a similar technique for chessplayers, but he had no time to get it

right before the candidates tournament and later his endgame books occupied him too much to come back to the Stanislavski method. A candidates tournament like that of 1953 would be impossible nowadays. It had 15 participants who met each other twice, so everyone had to play 28 games. It lasted almost two months. The Soviet delegation consisted of 21 people, which may look a big number, but in fact was rather modest. There were nine players, eight seconds, (Bronstein didn’t have one) a trainer, a chief of the delegation, a deputy chief and an interpreter. The deputy chief and the interpreter were from the KGB, but according to Averbakh they didn’t really trouble the players. The interpreter was a nice fellow who at the start had said to them: “Take care, boys, not a word about politics when I am around.” It was an iron law that everyone of the delegation should stay in the same hotel, and one would think that for such a big group reservations would have been made long in advance. But no, nothing at all had been done in this regard. Arriving in Neuhausen the group had to find a hotel, which was not easy. They found one which was more or less suitable and close to the town, but it didn’t really have enough rooms. The strongest players got a single room with a nice view of a waterfall. Others such as Averbakh had to share one with their second, without waterfall. When at the half-way point the tournament was to move from Neuhausen to Zürich, Alexander Kotov and the interpreter were sent there as a reconnaissance party to find a hotel. They made a nice holiday trip of it, first going to a movie, so that it was already dark when they finally went searching for a hotel. When the group arrived there, they were greeted by the hotel owner with the words: “I see that there are young people with you. Please note that they cannot bring in more than two girls per night.” The hotel was located in the middle of the red light district, just opposite a brothel, and was fittingly named Das Goldene Schwert, the Golden Sword. Only a few days later they were able to move to a more quiet neighbourhood. It shows a rather pleasant amateurish sloppiness that nowadays would be unthinkable, but the Soviet players were so strong that they could afford it. By the way, Averbakh only briefly touches the subject of Bronstein’s accusations about collusion to help Smyslov win the tournament. A few years ago Andy Soltis and I had written about this on Chesscafe and my opinion was then and is now that this collusion didn’t amount to much. Averbakh writes only: “If there is some truth to this, in any case it passed me by, I didn’t notice anything about it.” As Averbakh writes, the most famous game of the tournament is his own loss against Kotov, in which Kotov lured his king into the open with a spectacular queen sacrifice. As a Dutch patriot I would like to show here another game, played by Max Euwe. It was played early in the tournament, when Euwe was still doing well. After the first leg Euwe had a very decent score of 7½ out of 14, which gave him an equal fifth place with Petrosian and Boleslavski. In the second half he added only four points to it. For a man who was 52 years old at the time, 28 games were too much. Yefim Geller - Max Euwe, 2nd round 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 b6 7.Bd3 Bb7 8.f3 Nc6 9.Ne2 00 10.0-0 Na5 11.e4 Ne8 12.Ng3 cxd4 13.cxd4 Rc8 14.f4 White has to leave pawn c4 to its fate and relies on his kingside attack. 14...Nxc4 15.f5 Intending 16.f6 Nxf6 17.Bg5 with a winning attack. 15...f6 16.Rf4 White’s attack is strong and Black has only one option: counterattack. 16...b5 17.Rh4 Qb6 18.e5

Further sharpening of the battle. White is threatening – after 19.fxe6 – to take on h7 and obviously 18...h6 is no defense because of 19.Bxh6, winning. 18...Nxe5 19.fxe6 Nxd3 20.Qxd3 Qxe6 21.Qxh7+ This may look like a big success for White, but in fact Black’s king will be quite safe on f7. 21...Kf7 22.Bh6 White’s attack seems to be in full swing, but now comes the move that made the game famous. 22...Rh8 He sacrifices a rook for his counterattack. Both Euwe and Bronstein were to write in their tournament books that the quiet 22...Rc4 would have been even stronger, but my Rybka is not quite convinced and gives as a main variation (after 22...Rc4) 23.Rf1 Qd5 24.Re4 Rxd4 25.Re2 Rd1 26.Nf5 Rxf1+ 27.Kxf1 Qd3 28.Bxg7 Bxg2+ 29.Kf2 Qf3+ 30.Ke1 Qc3+ with a perpetual. 23.Qxh8 Rc2 Suddenly White has to defend and the only way to do this was 24.d5 Bxd5 25.Rd1 Rxg2+ 26.Kf1 gxh6 27.Qxh6 with a more or less equal game. 24.Rc1 Rxg2+ 25.Kf1 Qb3 Now there is no defence against Black’s mating attack. 26.Ke1 Qf3 0-1

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The Villain's Club A friend of mine, who often travels by train, occasionally permits himself when his ticket is checked, to present instead of his regular railway card his Donald Duck Club Card, by way of experiment. In fact the experiment can be closed, for he knows already exactly what will happen. When the conductor is a man, he grins, says something like “That’s perfectly fine sir, and I hope you’ll have a nice trip” and he goes on to attend to other passengers. A woman conductor however knows chalk from cheese, she becomes angry and threatens to call the railway police.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

I too am the proud bearer of a Donald Duck Club Card, like all subscribers to the Dutch weekly Donald Duck, but until recently I didn’t know that it could be so useful for an investigation of the differences between men and women. So, not a bad word about Donald Duck from me.

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About a month ago the Dutch newspapers reported that the civil servants of the Ministry of Justice were to be denied access to Wikipedia on the department’s computers. The reason was that they had spent time at the office changing Wikipedia articles, instead of performing their regular duties. Now with Wikiscan this is out in the open, for everyone to see, and it may look a bit silly to Dutch taxpayers, who want their civil servants to work hard. What exactly had they done? More or less by accident I came to visit a website which gave a list of 493 changes made by the Ministry of Justice to articles from the Dutch Wikipedia. Eleven of these were about characters from the Donald Duck weekly, with an understandable preference for the article about the Villain’s Club, which had been changed five times. It is a club of a wolf, a bear, a fox, a weasel and a buzzard who spend most of their time plotting mischief.

Wouldn’t it be better if our Ministry of Justice were to concentrate on real villains? On the other hand, correct information is always welcome, even if it’s only about Walt Disney villains. The most remarkable thing about the list of changes made by these Dutch civil servants was the great love of chess they were shown to possess. From the 493 changes more than a hundred were made to articles about chess. I haven’t checked them all, but a small random sample showed me that this was not a revisionist manipulation of history. All the changes I saw were innocent and often useful corrections or additions. Now that the civil servants are not allowed to make their corrections anymore, at least not at the Ministry’s computers, they should find a substitute pastime and luckily there is a recent magazine issue that combines their two passions: chess and Donald Duck. The Motiefgroep Schaken, a Dutch society of chess collectors, published a special issue of its magazine De Schaakkoerier, devoted to chess in the comics. One sees Donald Duck at chess – well, actually one sees him with his head banged through a chessboard by an angry Daisy Duck – and also members of the Villain’s Club. It is a nice issue, not only for civil servants. I wondered if there is a game that can be called the immortal civil servant’s game. Alekhine and Capablanca were civil servants at some period of their lives, but I don’t think they really qualify. I will not say that the following game is an immortal, but it has been played by two men who were civil servants for the greatest part of their professional life; Alexander as an intelligence officer and Olafsson as a lawyer for the Icelandic Ministry of Justice (though not yet at the time of this game) and later as the Speaker of Parliament, which is not a political function in Iceland. Both were highly competent and respected at their jobs, but then, there was no Wikipedia yet to distract them. Fridrik Olafsson - Conel Hugh O’Donel Alexander Hastings 1956/57 1.c2-c4 e7-e5 2.Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 3.Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 4.d2-d3 d7-d5 5.c4xd5 Nf6xd5 6.g2-g3 Bf8-e7 7.Bf1-g2 Bc8-e6 8.0-0 0-0 9.a2-a3 Be7-f6 10.Nc3-e4 h7-h6 11.b2-b4 Be6-f5 12. b4-b5 Bf5xe4 Almost forced, for after 12...Nd4 13.Nxf6+ Qxf6 14.Bb2 White would have some pressure. 13.b5xc6 Be4xf3 14.Bg2xf3 b7xc6 White’s position would be fine were it not for the annoying possibility 15...e4, which is hard to prevent. After 15.Bb2 Black would have (if he wants it) 15...Rb8 16.Rb1 Rxb2 17.Rxb2 e4 18.dxe4 Bxb2, which is drawish. Therefore White gives an exchange. 15.Bc1-d2 e5-e4 16.d3xe4 Bf6xa1 17.Qd1xa1 Nd5-f6 White has good compensation, but maybe not more than that. 18.Rf1-d1 Qd8-c8 18...Qe7 looks more logical, but then White has (if he wants it) 19.Bb4 c5 20.e5 Nd7 21.Bxa8, drawish again. Obviously they are both playing for a win. 19.Bd2xh6 Qc8-e6 20.e4-e5 Nf6-d5 21.Bh6-c1 Ra8-b8 22.Qa1-d4 Rf8-e8 23.Bc1-b2 c6-

c5 24.Qd4-d2 Nd5-b6 25.Qd2-g5 Once again it can be said that White has good compensation, but maybe not more. 25...Qe6-b3 But this is wrong. Black should keep the queen where it was. 26.Rd1-d2 Re8-e6 The humble retreat 26...Qe6 may be best here. 27.Bf3-e4 c7-c6 They had the classical time control (the real one, not the accelerated one that nowadays goes under the name ‘classical’), it’s only move 27, but nevertheless Black must have been in time trouble, for now White has a forced mate. With 27...Qb5 Black could have defended himself, for the time being. 28.Rd2-d8+ Re6-e8 29.e5-e6 Qb3xb2 30.e6xf7+ Kg8xf7 31.Qg5-g6+ Kf7-f8 32.Qg6xe8 mate.

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At the Kibbutz with Bobby I consider it my luck that I met Bobby Fischer when he was probably more relaxed than at any other event of his chess career. It was in 1968 at the tournament in Netanya, a coastal town in Israel. For me the tournament was strong enough, but for Bobby it was far below his standards, without any other top player being present. Eventually he was to win it with 11½ points out of 13 games, 3½ points ahead of Abe Yanofsky and Moshe Czerniak, who shared second place.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

For Bobby it was the first tournament since he had withdrawn from the Interzonal in Sousse the previous year. At home there was the U.S. Championship, in which he didn’t take part because of a conflict about the duration of the event. For him Netanya was a chess vacation. I had seen Fischer earlier at the Olympiad in Havana in 1966 and there I had also caught a glimpse of his notorious difficult behavior. He was analysing together with Larry Evans, who was supposed to be a friend. Suddenly Bobby stood up and walked off, saying “I won’t give you free notes for your magazine.”

Fischer with Castro in Havana

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In Netanya he was accompanied by a small rotund man, about 60 years old. He was an official of the USCF who had attended a Zionist conference in Jerusalem and had been brought to Netanya to keep the fickle genius in reins. This proved unnecessary, for in Netanya Bobby was kindness itself. Before the tournament he had made demands about space and quiet. These demands were not fulfilled. There was always a lot of noise from the spectators, with loud applause at crucial moments. Bobby just shrugged and said that in Yugoslavia it was much worse. I think he liked the exuberance of the public during Yugoslav tournaments.

He was in a good mood and once I saw him playing a game against a restaurant waiter who had begged for this honor that would make his life shine. As far as he needed company, Bobby chose me, which was natural as we were about the same age. As I said already, he was in a gentle mood and never touchy, not even when I said that I thought that in the past his behavior had been paranoid. He just laughed and said that I didn’t have the problems that he had. “If only your problems were mine I would be infinitely happy,” I thought naïvely. He even had some kind words for the Soviet grandmasters: “They are really strong players, not bad at all. They only look like that because of me.” Because we both were used to go to sleep late, we took some walks through the town late at night. Street workers still at their job were always greeting him: “Hi Bobby!” I left it to him to choose the subjects of our discussions and usually it was not chess. He spoke a lot about crime in the U.S., lawlessness and riots in the streets. He read the crime magazines, with true stories about violence and murder. “They all made a mistake,” he said about the victims. In his apartment in Brooklyn he had two alarm systems installed, one for the door and one for the window. I found that excessive then, but in retrospect it just seems a sensible precaution. We talked about American politics, as there would be a presidential election that year. Who would he vote for? For nobody, he said. They were all crooks. Among this bunch he thought that George Wallace, the governor of Alabama, was probably the most honest. My own favorite was Senator Eugene McCarthy, a Democratic candidate who wanted to end the war in Vietnam. Bobby found McCarthy ridiculous and he said it was unthinkable that a man like him would ever be president of the U.S. Right he was. His political views were radical already, but the opposite way of what they would become later. He said that the U.S. should put an ultimatum to North Vietnam and threaten to throw an atom bomb on Hanoi, where the North Vietnamese leader Ho Chi Minh was living himself, as now Ho just didn’t care how many peasants were dying. But what if they refused to bow to this ultimatum, I asked. “They won’t, but if so, we’ll have to do it,” he said, obviously deploring this sad turn of events. I had read that Bobby’s interests were limited to chess, but this was certainly not true. He knew a lot about American underground literature and even more about American popular music. Almost all the songs of Aretha Franklin he knew by heart and during one of our walks he gave an amusing imitation of the Four Tops, a popular Motown group at the time. He was an avid magazine reader, mentioning Mad, Newsweek, Playboy and Time, and was especially interested in the evangelist Billy Graham and the World Wide Church of God, a sect that many years later would lay its hand on a large part of Bobby’s money. I asked him if he belonged to a religious group, but this he denied. “I won’t play on Friday, but that’s just God’s law.”

Reshevsky-Fischer, Santa Monica 1966

At one point we were talking about Reuben Fine and the (spurious) anecdote he relates about Steinitz claiming to be able to give pawn and move odds to God. I have written about this conversation in the past, but only in Dutch, but still it has found its way into American chess writing and sometimes the story has been given a twist that made Bobby look silly or even blasphemous. “I think I would be able to make a draw with God with white,” he said. “I play the Ruy Lopez and this will be so balanced that I won’t lose. Maybe if He’ll play the Sicilian it would be difficult... but no, I’ll play Bc4 and I’m better, so what can He do? Unless He would use tricks, like clouding your mind...” Obviously all this was said in jest and God was used as a metaphor for perfect play. Nevertheless, to say that as white you wouldn’t lose against perfect play is quite a strong statement too. Despite his pugnacious views about the Vietnam War, Bobby was quite critical of American life. He found that in Israel and in Europe everyone was interested in chess, while the U.S. was only interested in money. He thought the country had become a jungle. A kibbutz, like in Israel, based on cooperation, would be considered a joke in the U.S, he thought. “The country is going to hell, with crime and pornography everywhere. The only good thing is the money. For the time being I’ll stay in Europe. I think I belong to the world.” I asked if, belonging to the world, he would come to my home town Amsterdam. “Probably not,” he said. “It’s just a heap of old rubbish. No quality stuff. And it’s too small for me. Rotterdam is a bit better, more modern, isn’t it?” It is indeed more modern, because a big part of the city center was devastated by German bombings in 1940. At the end of the tournament the two of us were invited by one of the participants, Yaacov Bernstein, to spend a few days on the kibbutz where he lived. Considering Bobby’s later views the idea of his spending time on a kibbutz may seem strange, and in fact during the tournament I had asked him about his views on Jewry. I had heard from a Dutchman involved with the Candidates tournament on Curaçao in

1962 that Bobby had made strong anti-Semitic statements. If this were true, what was he doing in Israel now? Bobby said that indeed he had been anti-Semitic and that this had been stupid. “Besides, I’m half-Jewish myself, so how can I be anti-Semitic?” As we know, this insight was subsequently lost. At the kibbutz we played some blitz. In our tournament game I had collapsed as soon as Bobby had uncorked an opening novelty. Playing blitz I hoped for... well, not really revenge, but maybe one draw out of a series of games, was that too much? But no way. After a while he wanted to give me knight odds. I protested, but I had to oblige. That game he won also, and then he refused to go on. “No challenge,” he said. “Fischer is Fischer, but a knight is a knight,” said Mikhail Tal when Bobby had claimed that he could give knight odds to any woman player. But for me, a knight was not enough. Afterwards we were looking at the games from the recent Candidates matches, TalGligoric and Kortchnoi-Reshevsky. About the latter match I could contribute some insights, as it had been played in Amsterdam and Dutch masters had been analysing the games. Our days at Bernstein’s kibbutz were pleasant and I’ll always remember the sight of Bobby embracing a horse and whispering sweet little words into its ears. The next and last time I met him was at the Olympiad in Siegen in 1970. We nodded briefly and said hello. Much later, during the nineties, I was in Budapest to attend a DutchHungarian wedding. Knowing that Bobby was living there, I fantasized that I would meet him by chance on the streets and that I would invite him to join the fun of the wedding party. It was a Jewish wedding, but Bobby wouldn’t mind, as in Budapest he had been spending time with the Polgars and with Lilienthal, keeping up the pretense that they weren’t really Jews, but only thought they were. A nice fantasy, but had we really met, he would have fled instantly, as I had become a journalist.

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A Plaque for Tartakower My chess stroll in Paris starts as usual in the Jardin du Luxembourg, at the northwest corner, near the Orangerie Museum. The chess tables stand ready, but only one man is sitting there, probably waiting for an opponent. It’s not yet midday and like everywhere, chess players here are not early risers. Later in the day all tables will be occupied.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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We go on to the chess shop Variantes in the rue St. André des Arts, near the Place St. Michel. My wife will always gladly leave me on my own there, as nearby there is an indispensable dress store where she can well do without my guidance. Her only worry is that the springtime collection will not have arrived yet. Variantes has an international stock of books that one can find everywhere, but they also have some local products, French novels with chess content or philosophical and sociological books about chess. You have to ask for a stool to climb on to reach the highest shelf, where the books are that almost nobody asks for. Usually I find something interesting there.

Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal

There is a notice board in the shop with advertisements for chess lessons and announcements of tournaments. Something is missing this time. There used to be announcements of weekly rapid tournaments that were held in a Chinese restaurant, but now they are gone. A year earlier I had heard through the grapevine that the Chinese organiser had duly collected the entrance fees, but had neglected to pay the prizes to the winners. It is a pity. Through the years it had been my intention to take part in one of these blitz or rapid tournaments, but I never did and now it seems that this business has closed. Play through and download the games from ChessCafe. com in the DGT Game Viewer.

In fact it is not easy in Paris to find places to play chess. Clubs have closed, one popular chess café was burnt down and others have apparently thrown out their chessplaying customers. Except for some clubs at the outskirts of the city the only place left seems to be the Luxembourg park.

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My wife and I meet halfway between the chess shop and the dress shop. Indeed, the spring collection had not yet arrived, but there had been a winter dress, offered at such a bargain that one would be a thief of one’s own wallet to let it go by.

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

Both happy with the things we bought we walk on. Nearby is a ‘bouqinist,’ a bookseller with a stall on the bank of the Seine specialising in chess. I know that he will have some interesting old books, but I also know that they will be beyond my budget, so this time we will pass him by. Next stop is the rue Lafayette. My wife will go to the department store of that name and I will visit another bookshop, Le Damier de l’Opéra. The name means ‘the checkerboard of the Opera,’ but it is mainly a chess shop. “Such a handsome man,” says my wife when through the shop window she sees a poster of Capablanca. That’s what women always were saying when he was still alive.

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So far this has been my normal chess stroll whenever I visit Paris, but this time I will add a small pilgrimage. In the past I have visited Alekhine’s grave at the Montparnasse cemetery. Now I would like to see how Kramnik is living, but I don’t know his address. Anyway, I would have hesitated to go there, for what if he suddenly came out and saw me prying there, as an obnoxious gutter journalist invading his privacy? This time I’ll go after Savielly Tartakower, one of my heroes. From Edward Winter’s website I have learned that already in 1929 Tartakower was living at the Hotel Mazagran, 4 rue Mazagran, and that he stayed there until the end of his life. When I was young the idea of living in a hotel appealed to me greatly, but then I always imagined a hotel that was more luxurious than the rather simple Mazagran. Hein Donner’s biographer Alexander Münninghoff relates that in 1952 Donner and his girlfriend at the time Olga paid a visit to Tartakower and that they were rather shocked by the great man’s physical decay and by the humble room he lived in. Maybe Tartakower chose his lodgings because the rue Mazagran runs into the rue de l’Echiquier, Chessboard Street, but more likely he was attracted by the prices of the rooms, which are still quite moderate for Paris. In his heyday Tartakower was earning good money, but much of it went to the casino tables.

Savielly Tartakower

We enter the hotel lobby to ask if someone there still knows something about Xavier Tartacover, the name he adopted in France. The receptionist knows nothing, for which she cannot be blamed as she has obviously been born after Tartakower’s death. But she appreciates the fact that foreigners are inquiring about a hotel resident who seems to have been famous, and she is very helpful. She promises that she

will make her own inquiries, but we’ll have to give her a few weeks time, as it probably will not be easy. The hotel has had many different owners, she says. A Jew, a Chinese, a Moroccan and now an Algerian. “The Jew seems the best chance to me,” I say and she agrees. I sing the praise of the great Tartakower and tell her that the hotel should place a memorial plaque, as many hotels do for famous residents of the past: “Here lived and worked from 1929 till 1956 Xavier Tartacover (1887-1956), chessplayer, writer and poet.” She finds it an excellent idea and so, if the new Algerian owner is interested in chess or Russian poetry, I think that plaque will adorn the Hotel Mazagran in the near future.

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Autograph Hunters The most amusing story that I know about autograph hunting involves the writer Truman Capote. Unfortunately I can’t remember where I read it. Anyway, Capote was sitting in a restaurant when a couple entered, a man and woman, both a bit vulgar and more than a bit inebriated. The woman recognized Capote as a famous writer and asked him if he would put his signature on her naked belly. Capote reluctantly obliged.

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Her companion didn’t like this. Angrily he fetched his dick from his trousers, put it in front of Capote and snarled: “Do you want to sign this too?”

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Capote looked at it disapprovingly. As everyone who has ever watched him on TV knows, he had a very peculiar voice. The voice has been described by his colleague Norman Mailer, after Capote had badly upstaged him on a TV talk show: “That voice, so full of snide rustlings and unforgiving nasalities; it was a voice to knock New York on its ear. The voice had survived; it spoke of horrors seen and passed over; it told of judgements that would be merciless.”

Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal

Capote’s judgement was indeed merciless. Disdainfully looking at the object in front of him he said: “I’m afraid an autograph will be impossible. But I might be able to initial it.” A gentler scene occurred years ago in the press room of the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee. I wasn’t present when it happened, but I trust the eyewitness reports. Vasili Ivanchuk had given a press conference. Afterwards one of the journalists, the American Robert Huntington, put a question to him, with a notebook in hand to write down Ivanchuk’s answer. Play through and download the games from ChessCafe. com in the DGT Game Viewer. The Complete DGT Product Line

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

At the time Huntington was working for the Associated Press, but sadly in 2003 he informed the chess world in an open letter that AP had decided to stop covering chess on a regular basis, partly to cut down on expenses, but also because of the mess that FIDE had made of top-level chess, capriciously cancelling important events that had been announced long ago. So this was in the good times, when AP was still interested in chess. Huntington has a speech defect. It wasn’t really difficult to understand what he was saying, except when you met him for the first time and were not used to it. For Ivanchuk it was the first time. He didn’t understand Huntington’s question. Huntington repeated his question, but still Ivanchuk didn’t really get it. What to do? To oblige the questioner he walked towards him, took his notebook out of his hand and kindly gave him an autograph, to Huntington’s great consternation.

Hou Yifan

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The most endearing autograph hunter was the Chinese girl Hou Yifan. She was twelve years old when she played in the C-group of the Corus tournament in 2007 and approached Vladimir Kramnik, still World Champion at the time, to ask for an autograph. It doesn’t happen very often that a player in a tournament asks another participant for an autograph, even when that other player competes in a higher group. Some people understood immediately that Kramnik should have asked for Hou Yifan’s own autograph in return, for it was bound to become valuable, later when she would be the Women’s World Champion or, who knows, World Champion of all chessplayers. Earlier this month she won the Ataturk Masters in Istanbul, a strong women’s tournament, with the score of 7 out of 9, one point ahead of Pia Cramling. During the first half of the tournament the main point of interest was that former World Champion Zu Chen started with 0 out of 4. Later she recovered and she finished with 4 out of 9. Hou Yifan, just turned 14, had a TPR of 2674. If she keeps this level it would make her 45th on the world ranking list, but of course it is more likely that she will improve. Here is a game from another recent tournament, this year’s Aeroflot Open in Moscow. Her opponent is Czech GM Viktor Laznicka, rated 2595. Hou Yifan - Viktor Laznicka Aeroflot Open, Moscow 2008 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence [C67] 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.Bf1-b5 Ng8-f6 4.0-0 Nf6xe4 5.d2-d4 Ne4d6 6.Bb5xc6 d7xc6 7.d4xe5 Nd6-f5 8.Qd1xd8+ Ke8xd8 9.Nb1-c3 Nf5-e7 10. h2-h3 Ne7-g6 11.Bc1-g5+ Kd8-e8 12.Ra1-d1 Bc8-e6 This is how Vladimir Kramnik, great defender of the Berlin Wall, played it a few times. 13.a2-a3 h7-h6 14.Bg5-e3 Bf8-e7 15.Nf3-d4 Ng6xe5 Black could have played 15...Bc4, but there was no compelling reason not to accept White’s pawn sacrifice. 16.Nd4xe6 f7xe6 17.Be3-d4 Ne5-c4 18.Bd4xg7 Rh8-h7 19.Bg7-d4 e6-e5 20. Bd4-e3 Nc4xb2 Again Black chooses the most ambitious move, and he is right, for after the meek 20...Nxe3 21.fxe3, White would be somewhat better. 21.Rd1-b1 Be7xa3 22.Nc3-e4 Rh7-f7 23.Be3xh6 b7-b5 24.f2-f4 e5xf4 25. Bh6xf4 Nb2-c4 26.g2-g4 a7-a5 27.g4-g5 a5-a4 28.Rb1-e1 28...Ba3-e7 It would have been better to play 28...Kd7 to activate the other rook. After 29.Nf6+ Kc8, White’s pawns wouldn’t run as fast as in the game. 29.h3-h4 a4-a3 30.g5-g6 Now there is an exciting race of pawns where White has the better chances. 30...Rf7-f5 31.Ne4-g3 31.h5 would have been very strong, as 31...Rxh5 wouldn’t be possible because of 32.Nf6+. 31...Rf5xf4

This exchange sacrifice wasn’t really necessary. After 31...Rd5 32.h5 Kd7, the outcome of the fight would be open. 32.Rf1xf4 a3-a2 33.Rf4-e4 A more simple way to victory would have been 33.g7 Kd7 34.h5 a1Q 35.Rxa1 Rxa1+ 36.Kh2. 33...a2-a1Q 34.Re4xe7+ Ke8-d8 35.g6-g7 Qa1-d4+ 36.Kg1-g2 Qd4-d5+ Even after allowing Black to make a queen White is still winning, but here she should have played 37.Kh2. 37.Kg2-h3 Nc4-d6 Now with White’s king on h3, Black could have put up a stiff resistance with 37...Kc8 38.Re8+ Kb7 39.Rxa8 Qd7+, with a more or less equal position. In this line 38.Rf1 may be stronger, but also in this case after 38...Kb7 39.Rf8 Nd6, it would be a hard fight. 38.Re1-e6 Now it’s over. White is winning. 38...Qd5xe6+ 39.Re7xe6 Kd8-d7 40.Re6-g6 Ra8-g8 41.h4-h5 1-0

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Dangerous Rest Days On the final day of the Dutch championship, won by Jan Smeets, a journalist asked me if I knew how Roman Dzindzichashvili was doing. The journalist was not a chess specialist, but apparently he followed the subject with interest and as he was about my age, he may have been in the grip of nostalgia.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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I told him that I thought that Dzindzi was doing well. A few years ago he was a chess coach at the University of Texas and though this engagement has been terminated for undisclosed reasons, it seems to me that with his private lessons and multitude of DVDs, Dzindzi still earns a decent wage. “Does he have a successor in the chess world?” asked the journalist. Obviously he meant to ask if there were still top players around with a similar colorful way of life.

Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

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Roman Dzindzichashvili

Photo by Robert Oresick

Now it must be said that in the past Dzindzi’s lifestyle has made a few real victims who probably wouldn’t use the word ‘colorful’ for his behaviour, but it is certainly true that his former Bohemianism, living hand-to-mouth and often on the run from creditors, made for lively stories. No, such Bohemians are not to be found anymore among the top players. Good for them, I must admit, but a pity for the journalists. There is much weeping and gnashing of teeth among our group about the sad respectability of modern chessplayers. However, I could tell my colleague that there may be a ray of hope: the fine that recently was imposed on the team of Tomsk-400 at the Russian team championship that was held near the Black Sea resort Sochi. The reason had been a ‘breach of sporting discipline,’ which according to the Russians is a well-known code expression for an alcoholic drinking-bout. Apparently this had occurred on the rest day before the seventh round and on the face of it the breach of sporting discipline must have been severe, as on the next day Tomsk was wiped out 5½-½ by TPSK Saransk. One of the five players who lost his game was my compatriot Loek van Wely, though I do not think that in his case alcohol had been the cause. He is not like that. The fine by the way was moderate: 1000 rubles, which comes to about 40 dollars. The rich club Tomsk, winner of the European Club Cup

Topalov-Kramnik 2006 World Chess Championship by Veselin Topalov & Zhivko Ginchev

in 2006, will still be solvent. I was reminded of a similar incident at the European team championship in the Bulgarian city Plovdiv in 1983. Before the last round our Dutch team was in fifth place, but we had played very well. If match points, not board points, had counted, I think we would have been in second place behind the Soviet Union. Anyway, we still had high hopes for a medal, as in the last round we would meet the comparatively weak team from Denmark. Therefore we would easily overtake England, which had to play Yugoslavia, and probably also Hungary, as they would meet the mighty Soviet Union and would almost certainly be beaten heavily. All teams were sponsored, in a way that we didn’t quite understand, by local companies. Unfortunately, as it turned out, our sponsor was a wine grower and on the rest day before the last round we were to visit his winery. It may have been that his products, not only wine but also stronger stuff, were a bit too stiff for our refined habits, or maybe we actually had a drop too much, but in any event the effects were horrible. One team member burst into tears, then passed out and could only be revived with much effort. The others were in a festive mood that must have appeared even more frightening to outsiders. When we arrived back at our hotel, stumbling out of the bus while roaring silly songs, we were observed by Yefim Geller and our team member Genna Sosonko, who had wisely stayed at home. “You have a fine team,” said Geller to Sosonko. “But aren’t they lacking a bit in sporting discipline?” The next day we beat Denmark by only 4½-3½, which we considered to be a catastrophe. England stayed out of reach and the chance to overtake Hungary had never really existed, as they had negotiated six ultra-short draws against the Soviet Union and lost only by 4½-3½. The Russian team championship that I mentioned earlier was a splendid event, but for an outsider it is problematic to pick a team to identify with. Most sports fans like to pick a favorite and I am no exception. But who to cheer for when Finek Gazprom from St. Petersburg meets Economist from Saratov? I wouldn’t know.

Loek van Wely

This problem was partly solved for me by the rather surprising participation of Loek van Wely. As his ICC handle is King Loek, he was now called King Loekovich by his fans on a Dutch internet chess forum. I decided to root for his club Tomsk-400, but regrettably they didn’t give much cause for jubilation.

I would also have liked to cheer for South Ural, which had Karpov and Kortchnoi on the team. Wasn’t it endearing that these former archenemies were now playing for the same team? It certainly was, but it shouldn’t have been a surprise, as last year they had already done the same. That year Karpov had said at a press conference that the world should learn a lesson from what they had done. Everywhere there were wars and other grievous conflicts, but the example of him and Kortchnoi showed that seemingly implacable enemies could live together in peace. Unfortunately, in the past year the world has refused to learn this lesson from Karpov, but who knows, maybe eventually it will. Alas, in spite of having these two legendary players on the team, South Ural did badly and dropped to the second league. Another Ural team from Yekaterinenburg, with great players such as Radjabov, Shirov, Kamsky and Grischuk, won the championship, while Tomsk-400, the 2005 and 2007 winners, attained ninth place. Not only his team, but also Loek van Wely himself did uncharacteristically badly. Only in the tenth round was he able to score a win and even this game could not really show that he had overcome his bad form. One strong move had been enough, and this move he had found already at home during his opening preparations. Loek van Wely (Tomsk-400) Sergei Dyachkov (Economist 2) 1.d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 g7-g6 3.Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4.e2-e4 0-0 5.Bf1-e2 d7d6 6.Ng1-f3 e7-e5 7.0-0 Nb8-c6 8.d4-d5 Nc6-e7 9.b2-b4 Nf6-h5 10.g2g3 A return to an old favorite. In recent years he had preferred the modern move 10.Re1. 10...f7-f5 11.Nf3-g5 Nh5-f6 12.f2-f3 This position is very familiar to Van Wely, who has had it many times as White and a few times as Black. 12...f5-f4 13.b4-b5 f4xg3 14.h2xg3 Nf6-h5 15.Kg1-f2 This is a novelty. In Taimanov - Gufeld, Moscow 1961, White had played 12. Kg2, which gave Black the opportunity for a promising sacrifice: 15...Nf4 16. gxf4 exf4, when Black threatened not only the simple 17...Bxc3, but also 17... Nf5 with a winning attack. In the game followed 17.e5 Bxe5 18.Nge4 Nf5 and with two pawns for his piece and a strong attack, Black went on to win. 15...Nh5-f4 One almost suspects a breach of sporting discipline by Dyachkov. He follows in Gufeld’s footsteps without noticing that the position of White’s king makes all the difference. 16.g3xf4 e5xf4 17.Qd1-d3 This would not have been possible in Taimanov -Gufeld, as Black would

have won with 17...Bxc3 18.Qxc3 Nxd5 19.cxd5 Qxg5+ (with check!). Another good possibility for Black would have been 17...Nf5 18.Bxf4 Nh4 + (again it is important that with the king on g2 this is with check) 19. Kxg3 Rxf4 and Black would win. 17...h7-h6 But now, with White’s king on f2, Black has nothing. After 17...Nc6 18. bxc6 Qxg5, White just walks away with 19.Ke1 and, after 17...Nf5, White would simply play 18.Bxf4, which would lose with the king on g2, but would be fine here. 18.Ng5-e6 Bc8xe6 19.d5xe6 Ne7-c6 Black’s last hope is 20.bxc6 Qh4+ which would give him a perpetual at least. 20.Rf1-h1 Now Black certainly does not have enough for his piece. 20...Nc6-e5 21.Qd3-d2 Qd8-g5 22.Rh1-h3 Qg5-f6 23.Nc3-d5 Qf6xe6 24.Kf2-g2 Qe6-f7 25.Qd2xf4 Qf7-d7 26.Qf4-g3 1-0

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Unconventional Ivanchuk Vasily Ivanchuk is not only loved by the chess world for his creativity at the board, but also because he doesn’t conform to the kind of behaviour that is nowadays expected from top players. They all know how to speak to the press after their game, with a few empty but well formulated sentences – often involving the fact that they haven’t consulted Fritz yet and cannot give a definite judgement – and just a little technical variation that can be picked up by the chess experts among the journalists.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

That’s how Ivan Cheparinov did it after he had lost his game against Ivanchuk in the fourth round of the M-Tel tournament in Sofia. He must have been disappointed, but at the press conference he put up a professional performance.

Tal-Botvinnik 1960 by Mikhail Tal

Ivanchuk did it it quite differently. While massaging his nose, as is his habit, he spouted a mass of complicated variations which must have been very hard to follow even for the chess experts among the journalists who understood Russian.

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

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Vasily Ivanchuk Photo: US Chess Trust.org

There is a video of this press conference, produced by the webmasters of the tournament site and available on YouTube. Next to Ivanchuk sits a Bulgarian man who has the difficult task of translating his remarks into English. At first you see him head-shaking and smiling, obviously wondering where this is going to lead. Then he makes a gesture trying to stop Ivanchuk, but Ivanchuk, in top form, cannot be stopped. The translator resigns, smiling helplessly to all sides. I can’t stop this man, says his body language. Finally he manages to translate the gist of Ivanchuk’s argument into English, and under the circumstances he does this quite well. As I understand only a few Russian chess words, much of what had been said was unintelligible to me, but still it was a fascinating video. With his win against Cheparinov, Ivanchuk brought his score to 4 out of 4. The next day saw another victory, so that he rounded off the first half of the M-Tel tournament with a perfect score.

Topalov-Kramnik 2006 World Chess Championship by Veselin Topalov & Zhivko Ginchev

The game against Cheparinov, very interesting in itself, intrigued me also because it evoked memories of the period around 1980, when Ivanchuk’s line against the King’s Indian had been very much in fashion. Among Dutch players, the Great Helmsman of this field of study had been Genna Sosonko, but I myself have also spent many days trying to work out the line to a forced win for White, unsuccesfully of course. After 22 moves, Ivanchuk had a position that had also occurred in a game he had played in a match against Jan Timman in 1991, and one commentator remarked that without doubt Ivanchuk had remembered that game as if it had been played the day before. I believed him, for in the past I have witnessed many instances of the almost incredible chess memory that some top chess players – not all of them – possess. Humbly one realises how differently human brains can work. The present game can explain how attractive this variation of the King’s Indian could be in the past. The lines are extremely sharp. Good preparation would pay rich dividends. On the other hand it makes it also understandable that after some time many White players switched over to the bayonet attack 9.b4, which at least for some time provided more possibilities to play normal chess, without home preparation through move 30. Vasily Ivanchuk – Ivan Cheparinov M-Tel Masters, Sofia King’s Indian [E99] 1.d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 g7-g6 3.Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4.e2-e4 d7-d6 5.Ng1-f3 0-0 6.Bf1-e2 e7-e5 7.0-0 Nb8-c6 8.d4-d5 Nc6-e7 9.Nf3-e1 Nf6-d7 10. Ne1-d3 f7-f5 11.Bc1-d2 Nd7-f6 12.f2-f3 f5-f4 From now on both players will restrict themselves to their own side of the board and only near the finish of the race will they come into close contact. The race is exciting, but not to everyone’s taste. 13.c4-c5 g6-g5 14.Ra1-c1 In the 70s, Sosonko developed a slightly different system. It starts with 14.cxd6 cxd6 15.Nf2 and proceeds with the moves Qc2, Rfc1 (the other rook), a4 and Ra3. That last move is a multipurpose move. White can triple on the cfile, but the rook also has another and more important function. After Black has played g5-g4 and White has taken twice on g4 with his f- and h-pawns, he can bring his rook to h3 for the defence or even a counter attack against Black’s king. And then there is still another small advantage in having the king’s rook on c1 instead of the other one. Sometimes, if things go wrong for White, his king has to run, and it can be advantageous that the f1-square is already free. Sosonko’s system was a model of logic and I eagerly adopted it. However, it turned out that even Sosonko’s iron logic could not deprive Black of his counter chances. 14…Ne7-g6 15.c5xd6 c7xd6 16.Nc3-b5 Rf8-f7 17.Qd1-c2 Nf6-e8 18. Nd3-f2 h7-h5 19.a2-a4 Bg7-f8 20.h2-h3 Rf7-g7 21.Qc2-b3 Ng6-h4 22. Rc1-c2 The same position was reached by Ivanchuk in 1991 in a match against Jan Timman, organised by KRO, a Dutch broadcasting company. Timman played 22…a6 and after an epic struggle a draw was reached at

move 103. 22…g5-g4 23.f3xg4 Ne8-f6 24.Bd2-e1 h5xg4 25.h3xg4 Nf6-h5 Sharp and ambitious, as to be expected from Cheparinov. After 25… Nxg4 26.Nxg4 Bxg4 27.Bxg4 Rxg4 28.Qh3 Qg5 29.Nc7 Rc8 30.Bxh4, the endgame would be somewhat better for White. 26.Nf2-h1 f4-f3 Again the sharpest way to continue the attack. 27.Be2xf3 Nh5-f4 28.Nh1-g3 After 28.Bxh4 Qxh4 29.g3 Nh3+ 30.Kg2 Nf4+, White would have a choice between a draw by repetition or an unclear position after 31.Kf2 Nh3+ 32.Ke1, which would be a dangerous walk. 28…Bc8xg4 29.Bf3xg4 Rg7xg4 30.Nb5-c7 Ra8-c8 31.Nc7-e6 Rc8xc2 Now White cannot take the queen because after 32.Nxd8 Rxg2+ 33.Kh1 Nf3, he would be mated. 32.Qb3xc2 Qd8-b6+ In this very difficult game Black makes the first clear mistake. After 32…Qe8, it would still be an open fight. 33.Kg1-h1 Maybe Black had counted on 33.Bf2 Nf3+ 34.gxf3 Rxg3+ with a draw. 33…Nh4xg2 33…Nf3 would threaten mate, but then comes 34.Nxf4 Nxe1 35.Qc8 Rxf4 36.Rxf4 exf4 37.Nf5 and suddenly it’s White who has a winning attack. Relatively best, but absolutely miserable would be the humble retreat 33…Nhg6. 34.Ng3-f5 Qb6-a6 Black cannot reinforce his attack, which means that his pieces on the king’s side are now misplaced. 35.Rf1-g1 Qa6-d3 36.Qc2xd3 Nf4xd3 37.Be1-h4 White is winning a piece. 37…Rg4xe4 38.Rg1xg2+ Kg8-f7 39.Nf5xd6+ Bf8xd6 40.Ne6-g5+ 1-0 After his perfect score in the first half of the tournament, Ivanchuk relaxed with four draws and then won his game of the last round, finishing with 8 out of 10, 1½ points ahead of Veselin Topalov. At the final press conference he showed once again that he is different from most of his colleagues. Most professional chess players are shrewd calculators. During a tournament they calculate how many rating points they have won or lost, they know about their TPR and often they even calculate the performance of their rivals who are playing in another tournament, to see if they have virtually surpassed them on a national or international list. It is a form of career planning, part and parcel of the life of a chess professional.

At the final press conference (as shown on one of the video’s made by the French magazine Europe Echecs) Ivanchuk seemed oblivious to career planning. As most chess watchers know, the M-Tel tournament was part of a Grand Prix system in which also the tournaments of Wijk aan Zee, Linares/Morelia and Dortmund participate. The winners of these tournaments (and some other players) will meet in September in Bilbao. To everybody’s surprise it turned out that Ivanchuk had never heard of the tournament in Bilbao for which he had just qualified by winning MTel. “When will it be?”, he asked the journalists. They told him that it would start on September 4. In that case, he would probably be able to participate, said Ivanchuk, though there might be something with the Spanish club competition… “What kind of a tournament is it, a rapid tournament?”, he asked the journalists. They informed him that it was a serious tournament with a classical time schedule. Pleasantly surprised, Ivanchuk said: “Ah, in that case I have to prepare well.”

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Magnus Carlsen’s Glorious Year Like moths flying to the light, Magnus Carlsen’s opponents seemed to seek their doom during the first part of the Aerosvit tournament, played at the Crimean resort Foros. In the first round it was the great Vasily Ivanchuk, who, in a more or less equal position, first played too optimistically for a kingside attack and then, only slightly worse, committed a quick suicide.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

In the next round Carlsen played a short and correct draw against Peter Svidler, but then, three times in a row, he won endings that could have been drawn by his opponents. Especially the third game in this series, against Alexei Shirov, was dramatic. Shirov, after defending an endgame with rooks and opposite-colored bishops, had finally reached a position that was clearly drawn, but then suddenly allowed himself to be mated.

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Some call it luck and undoubtedly there was some luck to it, but of course it is also proof of Carlsen’s great endgame technique and of his tenacity, always looking for the slightest chance until the end.

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

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Magnus Carlsen

It has been a great year for him. Equal first in the Corus tournament and the Baku Grand Prix, second behind Anand in Linares, a shared second place at the Amber tournament in Nice, a 5-3 victory in his rapid match against Peter Leko, and now a clear first place in Foros, one point ahead of Ivanchuk. In between all these great successes he also found time to win a game in the Dutch club league. He seems indefatigable. What would Botvinnik have thought of Magnus’ tireless activity? The patriarch would have great worries, expecting a quick burn-out or more likely a creeping onset of superficiality. During his reign Botvinnik himself played about one tournament a year, apart from his World Championship matches and his secret training matches. The rest of his time was needed for his investigations “in the quiet of my study.” Oh, how Botvinnik liked to use this favorite expression of his, Bronstein wrote. Times have changed since Botvinnik and this was drastically expressed by Vladislav Tkachiev during the World Cup tournament in Khanty-

Topalov-Kramnik 2006 World Chess Championship by Veselin Topalov & Zhivko Ginchev

Mansisk in 2007. He complained that he hadn’t been able to sleep, not even when there was a program about politics on TV. The interviewer suggested that a healthy walk in the woods might help, but Tkachiev brusquely rejected the idea: “These healthy walks are the heritage of Botvinnik. I wouldn’t do it, even if it would help, on principle.” During the Aerosvit tournament people were calculating Magnus Carlsen’s virtual rating and what place on the world ranking list he would reach. At the end of the tournament the conclusion was that he would be second behind Anand if the result would count for the FIDE rating list of July 1. It would be a sensational and unprecedented feat for a 17-year-old youngster. Garry Kasparov reached second place for the first time in July 1982, when he was 19. When Bobby Fischer ascended to, let’s say the top 5, FIDE ratings did not yet exist, but of course retroactive calculations have been made. According to Jeff Sonas’ chessmetrics website Fischer was 21 when he reached second place on a virtual list that didn’t exist at the time. Of course this does not mean that Carlsen is a greater talent than Fischer or Kasparov. It just tells us, if we didn’t know it already, that everything goes much faster nowadays. Everywhere there are GM children who make chess appear a simple game that can be mastered at a high level in a few years. The computers did it by allowing masses of information to be handled quickly. The children of the pre-computer age were on a frugal diet, just at the time when their hungry young brains would enable them to absorb a glutton’s feast. However it seems that the Aerosvit tournament will not be counted for the next rating list. The Dutch website Chessvibes contacted FIDE to clear up this question and characteristically it got two clear answers, contradicting each other. On June 18 Chessvibes received a message from FIDE saying: “Aerosvit tournament will be rated for July 2008 rating list.” For the naïve this would seem conclusive, but two days later another message, from the same official Gennady Rakhvalov, came from FIDE’s Elista office. Citing the FIDE Handbook he wrote: “Therefore, as this event finishes after the 15th it will not be rated by July.” It is a pity, for I would have liked to see young Magnus as number two. Maybe we shouldn’t make too much of a fuss about mundane rating calculations, but on the other hand, we don’t like to miss a historic moment, or see it delayed. Carlsen – Ivanchuk Aerosvit 2008 King’s Indian Defense [E97] 1.d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2.c2-c4 g7-g6 3.Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4.e2-e4 d7-d6 5.Ng1-f3 0-0 6.Bf1-e2 e7-e5 7.0-0 Nb8-c6 8.d4-d5 Nc6-e7 9.b2-b4 Nowadays this is the main line in the King’s Indian and probably the reason why Kasparov stopped playing this opening as black in 2000. 9...Nf6-h5 10.Rf1-e1 f7-f5 11.Nf3-g5 Nh5-f6 12.f2-f3 Kg8-h8 13.b4-b5 Up till here everything had been played before. 13...Nf6-e8 Manoevring the knight to g7, to catch the white pawn that will soon

appear on e6. 14.Bc1-e3 Bg7-f6 Black could win a pawn by 14...f4 16.Bf2 Nxd5, but after 16.Nxd5 (or 16. Qxd5), followed by 17.c5, White would have good compensation. 15.Ng5-e6 Bc8xe6 16.d5xe6 Ne8-g7 17.Be3-h6 Ng7xe6 An interesting exchange sacrifice. After 17...Ng8 18.Bxg7+ Kxg7, White’s pawn on e6 would stay alive and be quite dangerous. 18.Bh6xf8 Qd8xf8 19.c4-c5 White gives another pawn to activate his bishop. 19...Ne6xc5 20.Be2-c4 Bf6-g5 21.Qd1-e2 Qf8-h6 22.Ra1-d1 Ra8-f8 23. a2-a4 Intending to weaken Black’s d6-pawn by a4-a5 and b5-b6. 23...b7-b6 24.g2-g3 Qh6-h3 25.Qe2-g2 Qh3-h6 26.Qg2-e2 Qh6-h3 27. Kg1-h1 Even though the position is about equal White disdains a draw by repetition. 27...Nc5-d7 An equilibrium had been reached where it was very difficult for both players to undertake positive action. But now Ivanchuk removes his well-placed knight to reinforce a kingside attack that will not succeed. 28.Rd1-a1 Qh3-h6 29.Ra1-a2 Nd7-f6 30.Kh1-g2 Nf6-h5 31.Nc3-d5 Ne7xd5 32.Bc4xd5 Bg5-f4 33.Qe2-f2 f5xe4 34.Bd5xe4 Qh6-g5 35.Ra2c2 Now White is a bit better, but after the modest defensive move 35...Rf7 nothing special would be going on. Impulsively, Ivanchuk goes on a suicide mission. 35...d6-d5 36.Be4xd5 Bf4xg3 37.h2xg3 Nh5-f4+ 38.Kg2-f1 Nf4xd5 39.Rc2-e2 The result of Ivanchuk’s action is a position in which White’s rooks, previously dormant, work perfectly. White is winning. 39...Qg5-f6 40.Re2xe5 Qf6xf3 41.Qf2xf3 Rf8xf3+ 42.Kf1-e2 This forces the exchange of rooks, after which Black is without chances. 42...Rf3-f5 43.Re5xf5 g6xf5 44.Ke2-d3 c7-c5 45.Re1-e5 Nd5-b4+ 46. Kd3-d2 1-0 Black resigned, as his queenside pawns will fall.

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Two Historians About a month ago Time magazine had an article by Anand about the origin of chess. This is a subject about which much has been written, but as far as I know a general consensus has not been reached.

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Most chess historians consider India to be the cradle of chess, because the first references to a precursor of our game occur in Indian literature from the 6th century A.D. However, claims for China have also been made.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Anand wrote in Time that over the years he had had many conversations about the origin of chess, not only with chessplayers, but also with cab drivers and hairdressers. Russians, Chinese, Arabs, Ukrainians, Iranians, Turks, Spaniards and Greeks had all told him that the origin of chess was to be found in their country. The Immortal Game by David Shenk

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Viswanathan Anand

Topalov-Kramnik 2006 World Chess Championship by Veselin Topalov & Zhivko Ginchev

I can believe that they told him so, as a lot of talk is going on in cabs and hairdresser’s saloons and what’s more, you can’t think of a staggering claim or there will be someone who is seriously propagating it. To mention an example from my own country, Iman Wilkens, an economist born in the Dutch province Zealand, published a book in 1990 in which he expounded his theory that Homer came from Zealand and that the Odyssey describes Odysseus’ travels, not as we think on the Mediterranean between Asia Minor and Greece, but on the North Sea between England and Zealand. As usual with such theories, everything fits: the goddess Circe – in her name we still recognise the present Zealand town Zierikzee – conjured Odysseus’ companions into pigs at the Zealand sandbank Berendam, a name that would be Pigsdam (male pigs, that is) in English. And in the chess world we know that Garry Kasparov is an adherent of the Russian historical school that expounds the ‘New Chronology,’ which claims that Greek and Roman antiquity never existed and that the events described by the so-called ‘old Greeks and Romans’ actually took place in Western Europe during the Middle Ages.

Best of Chess Informant Viswanathan Anand

Fine for Anand that he didn’t allow himself to be confused by the talk of Ukrainian and Spanish cab drivers, but nevertheless, what he wrote about the Indian origin of chess was decidedly unusual, though not on the same level of weirdness as Wilkens’ or Kasparov’s theories. Mainline chess historians have found the first references to a precursor of chess around 600 A.D., but Anand claimed to have seen much earlier references, and not in obscure or recently discovered sources, but in classical works of Indian literature which have been studied meticulously for centuries, without historians finding chess there: the Ramayana, an epic that dates from many centuries B.C., and the Arthashastra, a political manual from about the third century B.C. Contrary to Kasparov’s New Chronology, that pushes ‘classical antiquity’ more than a thousand years forward into history, Anand’s New Chess Chronology seems to push the origin of chess at least a thousand years backward. I was surprised when I read his article, for I think of him as a man of a scientific bent, not at all prone to fantasy. The gist of that article was published on the Chessbase site. Frederic Friedel, Chessbase’s boss, seemed to be surprised as well, for he commented that he expected chess historians to react to Anand’s claims. But apparently no such reactions were received, as Chessbase didn’t publish a follow-up. Regrettably we are unlikely to see a serious chess battle between Kasparov and Anand in the future, but we may imagine a battle between them at a conference of historians. Anand would explain that according to Indian literature chess is at least a thousand years older than generally thought. Garry would protest: “Oh, no, Vishy, that can’t be true, for the first written documents of human civilisation date only from about 1100 A.D.” Mainstream historians would fear to tread into this argument and keep silent.

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Piet Zwart, A Democratic Director Piet Zwart, who died on July 28 at the age of 83, had been director of the Hoogovens tournament – nowadays known as Corus tournament – for thirty years, but to me it seemed as if he had been there always, so much had he been fused with the event, an incarnation of what it has always stood for: love of chess and human friendliness.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

It’s not quite true that he had joined the crew from the start, but almost. In Lex Jongsma and Alexander Münninghoff’s book about the history of the tournament, which appeared in 1998 when its 60-year jubilee was celebrated, I found out that in 1979 Piet received the golden buckle for 25 years of service. You might say that, in different capacities, he had been with the tournament as long as human memory stretched – at least my memory. After 1999, the year when he passed on the leader’s baton to Jeroen van den Berg, he was a visitor to almost every tournament round, only occasionally prevented from attending by health problems.

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Anand: My Career, Vol. 1 by Viswanthan Anand

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Piet Zwart

Photo: ChessBase

Nowadays his tournament appears as such a monumental institution, as venerable and solid as our Royal House, that we tend to forget that there were times of severe troubles. Around 1975 a bad period started for the steel industry, which caused the sponsoring Hoogovens steel company to economise. The tournament was reduced in strength and range and it was even feared that it would be closed down forever. There were years when the Soviet boycott of tournaments with Viktor Kortchnoi among the participants caused problems. Many tournaments gave in to the pressure, themselves boycotting Viktor, but the Hoogovens kept an upright spine. Then came problems with FIDE, which had scheduled all its candidates matches to coincide with the tournament, and there also was a fortunately brief period of self-inflicted problems, when, in a misguided love for modish innovation, the tournament was arranged as a knock-out event, which turned out to be unpopular with both spectators and media. All these threats and problems were duly overcome and in 1999, the last year of Piet Zwart’s directorship, the tournament was stronger and, thanks in large part to Garry Kasparov’s brilliant performance, more spectacular

Anand: My Career, Vol. 2 by Viswanthan Anand

than it had ever been. Piet was an extraordinarily nice person. In 1979 I was on crutches, which wasn’t too much of a problem, except when the road from our hotel Hoge Duin (High Dune, a well-chosen name) down to the tournament hall in the village Wijk aan Zee, had become so icy and slippery that I couldn’t walk there anymore. Cars couldn’t go there either and so on my way to the tournament hall I was supported by Piet Zwart and his good friend Hans Bakker, chief of public relations of the tournament. Once again this showed that, apart from being an event for the world’s top players, it was also a friendly and democratic tournament. Of course elsewhere participants would be helped too, but the daunting task of supporting me on an icy road would probably be left to underlings. The road was really very slippery. Piet fell and later I was told that he had broken a rib. I felt guilty. My leg had been broken during the Olympiad in Buenos Aires in 1978, due only to my own foolishness. Now I had made another victim and I feared that I might have set a domino effect into motion by which the injured Piet somehow would bowl over another stone. As far as I know this did not happen and of course Piet never blamed me for his mishap; he was much too nice for that. Soon after his departure as director the tournament got another name, that of Corus. It remained what it had become during Piet’s time: with its combination of top class chess and chess for many hundreds of amateurs, the finest tournament in the world. From all the beautiful memories connected with the period of his reign, here is one. I still vividly remember my blissful bewilderment when I saw Vassily Ivanchuk’s 21st move pop up on the screen. Vassily Ivanchuk – Alexei Shirov Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee 1996 Semi-Slav [D44] 1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.c2-c4 c7-c6 3.Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6 4.Ng1-f3 e7-e6 5.Bc1-g5 d5xc4 6.e2-e4 b7-b5 7.e4-e5 h7-h6 8.Bg5-h4 g7-g5 9.Nf3xg5 h6xg5 10. Bh4xg5 Nb8-d7 11.e5xf6 Bc8-b7 12.g2-g3 c6-c5 13.d4-d5 Qd8-b6 14. Bf1-g2 0-0-0 15.0-0 b5-b4 16.Nc3-a4 Qb6-b5 17.a2-a3 e6xd5 18.a3xb4 c5xb4 19.Bg5-e3 Nd7-c5 20.Qd1-g4+ Rd8-d7 A well-known position in which previously everyone had played 21. Nxc5. But, as Ivanchuk later wrote in his annotations to this game in New in Chess, chess is truly inexhaustible. His next move is engraved in the collective memory of the chessworld. 21.Qg4-g7 When a chessplayer says ‘23...Qc3-g3’ another one will tune in with ‘LevitskyMarshall, Breslau 1912’ and a third will remark that the story of the golden coins connected with that move, is probably apocryphal. Likewise it is with ‘21.Qg4g7’. ‘Ivanchuk-Shirov 1996’ we will cry immediately, and someone will relate the stories about Ivanchuk’s often strange but always impressive performances when he demonstrated his wins in the pressroom of Hoogovens. 21...Bf8xg7 22.f6xg7 Rh8-g8 23.Na4xc5 d5-d4 Seven years later Shirov improved on this move by playing 23...Rxg7 in

Ponomariov-Shirov, Corus 2003. After 24.Nxd7 Qxd7 25.Rxa7 Rg6, Black went on to win after a hard fight. 24.Bg2xb7+ Rd7xb7 25.Nc5xb7 Qb5-b6 After 25...Kxb7 26.Bxd4, White’s mighty pawn on g7 would stay alive. 26.Be3xd4 Qb6xd4 27.Rf1-d1 But also here White has a clear advantage because Black’s king is in trouble. 27...Qd4xb2 28.Nb7-d6+ Kc8-b8 29.Rd1-b1 Qb2xg7 30.Rb1xb4+ Kb8c7 31.Ra1-a6 Rg8-b8 32.Ra6xa7+ Kc7xd6 33.Rb4xb8 Qg7-g4 34.Rb8d8+ Kd6-c6 35.Ra7-a1 1-0 Black resigned, as White will win the c-pawn and then his own pawns will decide.

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Kortchnoi Speaks On the YouTube website I type the word chess to see how many chess videos have been uploaded during the last 24 hours. It’s 62 this time, bringing the total score to an estimated 34,500. By far not all chess videos on the web find their way to YouTube. Anyway, there and elsewhere on the web, there must be a lot going on that you wouldn’t want to waste your time on.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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Of course there are many interesting chess videos. Type ‘Last days of Tal’ on YouTube and you will be moved to tears. At least I was. I liked the videos at www.nhchess.com, the website of the NH Chess Tournament that was played in August in Amsterdam. Half of them were made by Peter Doggers from Chessvibes.com, the others by Macauley Peterson from Chess.FM, a branch of the Internet Chess Club. Apart from being a chess journalist, Peterson is also a professional film maker, and it shows.

Chess is My Life by Viktor Kortchnoi

With some exaggeration the collection could have been titled ‘22 melancholy stories’. The tournament saw a team of ‘Rising Stars’ demolish a team that was tactfully named ‘Experience’ and many of the videos are about the sad things that old age will do to one’s chess strength. The star of the show is Viktor Kortchnoi. By the way, the nhchess site is one of the few places were his name is spelled correctly, the way Viktor does it himself.

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I once asked him how it should be done and he explained that after his defection from the Soviet Union he had to decide how his Russian name should be transliterated into the Latin alphabet. He knew how it was done in English, German and French and he decided that his name should be a mixture of these three ways: Viktor Kortchnoi. Neither exactly English, German or French, his name should be pan-European.

My Life for Chess Vol. 1 by Viktor Kortchnoi

In jubilation, sorrow or anger, Viktor is always a joy to watch and listen to. Look at the video called ‘Kortchnoi Speaks’. It starts with his rueful comment that the youngsters don’t believe that he still can play chess and that two Dutch players continued their games against him when they were a rook down. Then he remarks that the competition seems to have been set up – with a combined rating advantage to the youngsters of about 250 points – to end the series of these ‘old against young’ events for all time. They annihilate us, he says, and he stresses the fact that the word annihilate should be taken literally, because a man like him after four consecutive losses is on the brink of suicide. We should not worry too much, I think, for the laments are softened by the broad grin of the experienced warrior who after thousands of battles has learned to laugh about himself. He is never afraid to contradict himself. After this tournament we must work hard to learn to study with the computer, he says smiling and full of energy. But in another video he seems to despair of the possibility. What can we still learn, when we haven’t learned it yet in decades of top chess?

My Life for Chess Vol. 1 by Viktor Kortchnoi

He has praise for Fabiano Caruana, until he oversteps the time against him in a probably winning position and is seen barking at young Fabiano: “You’ll never play chess!” After that incident he criticizes Caruana for having put his hands in his pockets at the start of the game, a disrespectful and uncivilised attitude. We see a shot of Viktor himself, hand in his pocket, a nice touch.

L’Ami-Kortchnoi, in round 10

Source: www.nhchess.com

In the final video, ‘Kortchnoi lectures’, he generously lavishes praise on Erwin L’Ami, who had just defeated him in the final round, and we see him at the demo-board, smilingly explaining to the spectators what he had done wrong. Bravo! Among the rising stars, L’Ami was the one exception escaping Viktor’s wrath. Ivan Cheparinov for instance, he compared to a lumberjack who frantically splits his trunks, driven by joyless perseverance. Of course Cheparinov adamantly denied that chess was not giving him pleasure and indeed it would be a very gloomy man that wouldn’t derive pleasure from the following game. Kortchnoi - Cheparinov, NH tournament, Amsterdam 2008 King’s Indian [E99] 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Be2 0•0 6.Nf3 e5 7.0•0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Be3 For many years this has been a favourite set-up for Kortchnoi. In accordance with his character, it is the most ambitious method. 10...f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bf2 g5 13.Rc1 Rf6 14.c5 Nxc5 15.b4 Na6 16.Nb5 Rh6 17.Nxa7 Bd7 This natural move seems to have been new. In Ponomarenko•Shomoev, Tula 2001, Black went berserk and made a series of sacrifices: 17...Rxa7 18.Bxa7 Qe8 19.Bxa6 Qh5 20.h3 Bxh3 21.Kf2 Nf5 22.exf5 e4. This didn’t work out for Black, but the line gives an indication of Black’s possibilities. 18.Bxa6 After the game this move was sharply criticised. White gains c6 for his knight, but later he will miss his bishop dearly. 18...bxa6 19.Qc2 g4 20.Qxc7 Qe8 21.g3 This may be a decisive mistake. He should have played 21.fxg4 when after

21...Bxg4 the position would become very complicated. One important line would be 22.Bb6 (though losing an exchange after 22...Be2 the defensive move 22.Rc3 would also come into consideration) 22...Qh5 23.Nf3 Bxf3 24. Rxf3 Qxh2+ 25.Kf1 Rg6 26.Rc2 Rg3 27. Bg1 Rxf3+ 28.gxf3 Qh3+ 29.Ke2 Nf5 30.exf5 e4 31.fxe4 Qg4+ 32.Kf1 Qf3+ and Black gives a perpetual. Blood-stirring, as is normal in this variation of the King’s Indian. Watching the video ‘Kortchnoi lectures’ you will see that in a way this is a counterpart to his game against L’Ami. There, while attacking on the king’s wing, he wrongly closed the position and here as a defender he wrongly opens it. I can imagine Viktor appreciating the irony and bursting with laughter. 21...Kh8 After White’s last move Black is not in a hurry. He knows that the position will open up to his advantage and he can take his time to bring his pieces to their optimal positions. In the long run White will succumb because of the weakness of e4. 22.Rc2 Ng8 23.fxg4 Bxg4 24.Bb6 Qg6 25.Nc6 fxg3 26.Nd8 White’s position has fallen apart. After 26.hxg3, Black wins with 26... Qh5. 26...Rxd8 27.Qxd8 gxh2+ Here White overstepped. His position was hopeless, for after 28.Rxh2 Bf3+ 29. Rg2 Bxg2 30.Nxg2 Qxe4, Black would win easily.

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Chess in Alaska At the start of Michael Chabon’s acclaimed novel The Yiddish Policemen’s Union, which appeared in 2007, a man is found shot through the head in a shabby hotel room in Alaska.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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He has registered under the name of Emanuel Lasker. In the room there is a beat-up copy of Siegbert Tarrasch’s famous Three Hundred Chess Games and a chessboard with a position that is described like this: “It looks like he had a game going, a messy-looking middle game with Black’s king under attack at the center of the board and White having the advantage of a couple of pieces.” Black’s king in the middle of the board while White has a few pieces more. This seems an ideal situation for White that can only arise between very weak players. Does that fit with a man who has made a thorough study of Tarrasch’s book?

Three Hundred Chess Games by Seigbert Tarrasch

Later we are to learn that it actually does fit, as the position turns out not to be from a game, but a problem position. Chabon has used one of Vladimir Nabokov’s problems, the one that he describes in his book of memoirs Speak Memory. In his author’s note Chabon, an admirer of Nabokov, calls him affectionally ‘Reb Vladimir Nabokov.’ For the few who have never seen that problem, here it is. Mate in 2.

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The try is 1.b8N, which is refuted by 1... c2. This leads to the real solution, 1.Bc2, after which Black is in zugzwang, a condition in which the murdered man considered himself to be near the end of his life.

St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker

Chabon’s book is set in a fictional world in which history has taken a slightly different course than in our universe. In Alaska there is a semiautonomous Jewish district called Sitka – a place of refuge for European Jews during World War II – where Yiddish is the official language. There are some big differences but also similarities with our world. We have seen that Lasker and Tarrasch, whose careers happened before the split between Chabon’s universe and ours, have kept their prominent position, and also a much younger player from our world, born after the split, briefly appears: In 1980 Jan Timman loses a World Championship match in St. Petersburg – the demise of the Soviet Union occurs much earlier in Chabon’s universe – against one of the Jews from Sitka, a certain Melekh Gaystick, who later will commit suicide. In this fictional Jewish district chess players seem to have a hard life. There is the murdered ‘Emanuel Lasker,’ a highly gifted heroine addict who cannot live with the expectations of his admirers who see him as the Messiah. Two other members of the local Einstein chess club have committed suicide. The detective who will solve the crime has played chess as a child, but has come to hate the game as a drug for gifted people

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

bent on wasting their lives. Another chess player, the voiceless criminal Alter Litvak, scribbles insults on paper notes, just as – according to Denker and Parr in their book The Bobby Fischer I Knew – in real life the American coffeehouse legend George Treysman used to do. After reading about these sad fictional chess players I wondered if there is chess in the real Alaska. In the Netherlands one doesn’t hear much about it.

IM Bryan Smith

Photo: US Chess League

I found that IM Bryan Smith is considered by Jaan Ehlvest to be the best chessplayer ever from Alaska. Smith is now living in Philadelphia, working as a chess professional. There is certainly chess life in Alaska, but maybe not enough to sustain a professional player. Bryan Smith – Gregory Braylovsky World Open, Philadelphia 2001 Sicilian Defense [B80] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 d6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 e6 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Qd2 Ng4 8.Bg5 Qb6 9.Ndb5 Qa5 10.Be2 a6 11.Na3 Nge5 12.f4 Ng6 13.Nc4 Qc7 14.f5 As a result of the wanderings of Black’s knight, White has obtained a strong attack at an early stage. 14...Nge5 15.0-0 b5 16.fxe6 A strong sacrifice. For Black it is not attractive to decline it, as after 16...fxe6 he would be unable to castle short and after 16...Bxe6 17.Nce3, White would have a clear positional advantage. 16...Nxc4 The other way to accept the sacrifice was somewhat better, though after 16...bxc4 17.exf7+ Nxf7 18.Nd5 Qb7 19.Bxc4, White would have ample compensation. 17.Bxc4 f6 Here 17...bxc4 18.exf7+ would be very good for White. 18.Nd5 Qb7 19.Rxf6

Considering Black’s disorganised position it is no surprise that it can be taken by storm with a rook sacrifice. 19...gxf6 20.Nxf6+ Kd8 21.Nd5+ Ke8 22.Rf1 bxc4 The dying man is allowed to eat anything, as they used to say in my chess coffeehouse. 23.Rf7 Be7 Now 24.Nxe7 Bxe6 25.Nf5 would probably be good enough, but the move actually played is much stronger and clearer. 24.Rxe7+ Qxe7 24...Nxe7 25.Nf6+ Kd8 26.Qxd6+ Bd7 27.Nd5 would be hopeless for Black. 25.Nxe7 Nxe7 26.Bxe7 Kxe7 For the moment Black has enough material for the queen, but he cannot keep it. 27.Qg5+ Ke8 28.Qh5+ Kd8 29.Qd5 Ra7 30.Qd4 Always pleasing to the eye, this geometrical motif. White wins a Rook. 30...Re7 31.Qxh8+ Kc7 32.Qd4 Rxe6 33.Qxc4+ Black should have resigned here, but kept on fighting till move 64. White won.

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Café Odessa “To dream of playing chess denotes stagnation of business, dull companions and poor health.”

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This I found on a website devoted to the interpretation of dreams. I don’t believe it. There is no dictionary of dream symbols that can explain every man’s dreams in one big sweep. It’s always personal and the only one who can at least vaguely interpret a dream is the dreamer himself.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

But even if you don’t believe the voodoo, you can’t help but take it halfseriously for a brief moment. As when I read a horoscope – a Virgo does not believe in astrology – and against all my stubborn convictions I still wonder if this chance meeting that will change my life – if only till the next magazine’s instalment – will really occur. And so I wondered briefly if it could really be a bad sign that I had two chess dreams recently. I used to dream often about chess, but not anymore. But then there were two vivid chess dreams, one shortly after the other.

From London to Elista by Evgeny Bareev & Ilya Levitov

I dreamed that I had to give a lecture in Moscow on the history of world championship matches. I was nervous, because I expected a highly knowledgeable audience, but it turned out well.

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I could tell the Moscow chessplayers two things that they did not know. One was that Tigran Petrosian had prepared for his match against Mikhail Botvinnik in 1963, when Petrosian would become World Champion, by playing blitz games against all comers in the Moscow chess café Odessa. The other interesting fact I had discovered for the Moscow chessplayers’ enlightenment was that in all world championship matches the leaner guy had prevailed against the fat one.

St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker

After waking up, against my sober judgement I still wondered if there was any literal truth in my dream, so I did a Google search on Café Odessa in Moscow. Did it really exist? The only thing I found was a Café Moscow in Odessa. It was described as a Rock Café and chess was not mentioned. But if I will ever have the pleasure of visiting Odessa, a beautiful city with a rich history, I will certainly check out Café Moscow to see if there is any connection with Petrosian, to vindicate my dream. And what about the victory of the lean man over the fat man? There is certainly something to it. From the fine book From London to Elista, by Evgeny Bareev and Ilya Levitov, we learn that Vladimir Kramnik’s seconds gained confidence when they found in 2000, before his match against Kasparov, that he had lost weight. A sign of impending victory, they thought, and they proved to be right. But it is not an iron law. One contrary example is the first World Championship match in 1886 between Steinitz and Zukertort, where chubby Steinitz convincingly beat lean Zukertort. Nevertheless I studied the videos of the press conferences of Anand and Kramnik to see if my dream could have given me privileged information about the outcome of their match.

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Who was the fattest, the man bound to lose? Neither of them can be called fat, but I thought that Anand’s body was slightly the more rotund. Still he won. Soon afterwards I dreamt that I was one of the opponents of a master who gave a simul. In my dream I knew that I was a grandmaster myself, so that I should easily beat him. However, the position on my board was completely unfamiliar to me. I could not remember having played that way. What had happened? Apparently many moves had been played without me being conscious of them. I looked at my scoresheet. The moves were there and the handwriting was familiar, it was that of Tim Krabbé. Had he taken over for a while?

Manuel Aaron

Photo: ChessBase

I complained to the simul giver that I could not remember having made the moves that had wrecked my position. He turned out to be the Indian master Manuel Aaron. He smiled friendly and said that it was a very bad sign that I at my comparatively young age was not able to remember the moves that I had just made. He himself was born in 1930 and he had no trouble remembering chess moves at all. Of course I checked this too after waking up. My dream proved to be not too far from reality. Manuel Aaron was born in 1935 and according to Wikipedia he is still in fine shape. But why did he figure in my dream? I played him once, in the Indian city Bangalore in 1981, and I had not spent much thought on him since. I am not interested in interpreting dreams. Like most people I have a feeling that dreams can sometimes tell you things about yourself that you do not know consciously, but what these are you cannot formulate. If you could, they would not have been subconscious in the first place. Dream books, Freudian or otherwise, cannot help. Interpretation is fruitless, but I like to try to find a genesis of my dreams, though this may be a wild goose chase. Why Manuel Aaron? I think it must have a connection with his game against Max Euwe in the Olympiad in Leipzig in 1960. India was by far not the chess power that it is now and Aaron was completely unknown to us at the time. I was sixteen-years old when I read about that game in a newspaper and I was shocked that our Dutch hero Euwe was beaten by an unknown Indian. Euwe himself may have been shocked also, for he kept playing on for ten moves when he was a rook down.

Almost half a century later Manuel Aaron appeared in my dream, beating me in a simul. Somehow during all these years he must have been present in a back room of my mind as a scourge of Dutch chess.

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Better Toss a Coin During the World Championship match between Anand and Kramnik I was reminded of a story that Vlastimil Hort once told me.

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During a weekend tournament in England he had reached the following well-known position as Black.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Facing the World Champions by Vlastimil Hort

For many decades chessplayers have tried to find out which is the best move here, the Blumenfeld Variation, 10.e5, or the Reynolds Variation, 10.d5. Despite deep and complicated analyses a definitive verdict has not been reached.

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To Hort’s consternation at this point his opponent tossed a coin. What to think of such an outrageous gesture? Not being born yesterday – a favorite expression of one of my blitz partners when she makes a clever move – Hort had to suspect that in fact his opponent had made his choice already during his preparations and that the coin was only there to throw him off guard.

St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker

On the other hand, to decide between two equivalent possibilities, tossing a coin seems more rational than spending a lot of time on an unsolvable problem. Though I think that Hort won this game after all, the idea of coin tossing, not only in the opening, but also later in the game, seemed quite attractive, not only because of its psychological impact, but also as a timesaving device. I am sure it is illegal, though. Gentleman Kramnik did not resort to this trick in the diagrammed position, but as we all know, he would probably have been better off had he done so. In the latest issue of New in Chess the two match games with this line are annotated by Anand’s second Peter Heine Nielsen. One thing we can learn from his analyses is the enormous amount of work that had to be done by the team to prove that Anand’s novelty 14...Bb7 was viable. Kramnik,Vladimir (2772) – Anand,Viswanathan (2783) WCh Bonn GER (3), 17.10.2008 [D49] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 e6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Bd3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 b5 8. Bd3 a6 9.e4 c5 10.e5 cxd4 11.Nxb5 axb5 12.exf6 gxf6 13.0•0 Qb6 14. Qe2 Bb7

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

Formally this is not a novelty, as it had been played before. But as the move had never been taken seriously, the practical effect was that of a real novelty. 15.Bxb5 Bd6 In the fifth game Anand varied with 15...Rg8, which is also quite complicated.

Here Kramnik played 16.Rd1. Nielsen shows us what they had prepared against the move 16.Nxd4, as played in Döppner-Voigt, Germany 1992. His main line goes 16…Qxd4 17.Rd1 Bxh2+ 18.Kxh2 Qh4+ 19.Kg1 Bxg2 20.Bxd7+ Ke7 21.Kxg2 Rhg8+ 22.Kf3 Qh5+ 23.Ke3 Qc5+ 24.Kd2 Rad8 25.Rf1 Rxd7+ 26.Ke1 Rc8 27.Qe3 Qa5+ 28.Bd2 Rxd2 29.Qxd2 Qe5 + 30.Qe2 Qa5+ Quite impressive. Nielsen writes: This is the line given by the computers, leading to a draw by perpetual. I wonder from which starting point the computers calculated this complicated line. I gave my computers the position after 22.Kf3 and even left to their own deliberations for a long time, they did not come up with the perpetual. No doubt Anand’s team had better hardware and better software than I have, but even so I suspect that they had to goad the oracle strongly before it spoke clearly. After Kramnik’s 16.Rd1, the game went on 16...Rg8 17.g3 Rg4 18.Bf4 Here an important possibility was 18.Nd2 Ke7 19.Bxd7 Rag8 20.Bb5

Now according to Nielsen 20...Bxg3 is bad, but both 20...d3 and 20... Rxg3 should lead to a draw. The most complicated line that he gives is 20...Rxg3+ 21.hxg3 Rxg3+ 22.Kf1 Bg2+ 23.Ke1 Re3 24.fxe3 Bg3+ 25. Qf2 Bxf2+ 26.Kxf2 dxe3+ 27.Kxg2 Qxb5 “and the computers again say: draw!” Do they? Mine did, but only after I had fed them the moves 28.Nc4 Qg5+ 29.Kf3 Qh5+ 30.Kxe3 Qxd1 31.b3 and here they declared the position to be a draw by perpetual check. I think annotators are often too modest when they use expressions like

“the computer says...” They do not want to claim credit for variations that obviously are generated with help of a computer, but they may understate their own contribution to the result. Anyway, these two impressive lines give us a glimpse of opening preparation on World Championship level. Proposing a move like 14... Bb7 is easy. Backing it up with lines to prove that the move does not lead to a forced loss is extremely difficult. Surely what we have seen is only the tip of an iceberg. To return to Vlastimil Hort, who was born in the same year as I was, I was happy to see that early this month he had won a tournament. It was played in the Czech city Marianske Lazne, a double round Scheveningen-type competition between five old men and five young women. They called it “Snowdrops against Old Hands.”

Vlastimil Hort

The Old Hands were Anatoly Karpov, Wolfgang Uhlmann, Vlastimil Hort and Fridrik Olafsson. The Snowdrops were Anna Ushenina from Ukraine, Viktoria Cmilyte from Lithuania and Jana Jackova and Katerina Nemcova from the Czech Republic. Though the snowdrops took the lead early, the old hands finally won with the score 17½-14½. Hort had the best personal result with 6½ points out of 8 games. He deserved it. He was by far not the oldest of the old hands, but he is certainly the one who can make the funniest jokes about the dubious advantages of advancing age. Whenever I hear Vlastimil sweetly complaining about his age, I think of the film mogul Luis Bunuel, to my mind the greatest film maker of all time, who like Hort had a very special sense of humor. Apparently during his last years Bunuel had the habit of addressing strangers on the street and point out to them some decrepit old man who happened to pass by, crumpled and bent with age. “Do you see that poor guy?” Bunuel said then. “That’s the film maker Bunuel.” Isn’t it horrible what he has come to? Last year he was still walking upright...” I don’t think Vlastimil has gone that far and he wouldn’t have reason for it. In Marianske Lazne he played some fine games – the nicest one with black against Ushenina, I think – but the game that made the rounds was the spectacular first round loss of Anatoly Karpov against Jana Jackova.

Later Karpov did his duty and finished with the score of 5½ out of 8. Jackova,Jana (2360) – Karpov,Anatoly (2651) Snowdrops vs. Old-hands, Marianske Lazne CZE (1), 29.11.2008 [B43] 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Bd3 Nf6 7.0•0 Bd6 One of many ideas in this variation from Mark Taimanov, who played it in 1959 against Tal. Now Karpov probably does it only to get off the beaten track. 8.f4 Bc5 9.Nce2 Nc6 10.c3 d6 11.Kh1 Bd7 12.Qe1 0•0 Now White gets a very dangerous attack against the king, mainly because Black’s Bc5 doesn’t help the defence. In Lanka•Wahls, Hamburg 2002, Black played 12...h5, which doesn’t look safe either. 13.Qh4 Rfe8 Maybe 13...d5 14.e5 Ne4 was relatively safest. 14.Nf3 e5 Black makes natural moves, but he is already in great danger. 15.b4 To cut off Black’s bishop from the defence. 15...Bb6 16.fxe5 dxe5 After 16...Nxe5 17.Nxe5 Rxe5 (or 17...dxe5 18.Rxf6) 18.Rxf6, White’s attack is decisive. 17.Ng5 h6 After 17...Qd6, White would get a strong attack with 18.Bc4 (the direct 18.Rxf6 Qxf6 19.Qxh7+ is not clear at all) 18...Nd8 19.Ng3; for instance, 19...h6 20.Nxf7 Nxf7 21.Bxh6 with a clear advantage. 18.Rxf6 hxg5 His last chance was 18...gxf6. If White wants to play for a win, she would have to play the quiet move 19.Nf3, for after 19.Qxh6 fxg5 there is only a draw by perpetual check. 19.Bxg5 Be6 20.Nf4

After this beautiful move there is no defence for Black. 20...Ne7 After 20...exf4 21.e5, White’s Bd3 joins the attack decisively; for

instance, 21...Qxe5 (or 21...Ne7 22.Qh7+ Kf8 and now 23.Bh6 is the most elegant way to win) 22.Rxe6 fxe6 23.Bh7+ Kf8 24.Bg6 and to prevent mate Black has to give the queen with 24...Qxg5. 21.Nd5 Qd7 After 21...Bxd5 22.exd5, Black is helpless also. 22.Rh6 Ng6 1-0 Black resigned because of the crushing 23.Nf6+.

Postscript After 18...hxg5 in the game Jackova-Karpov, Stefan Bücker kindly informed me that contrary to what I wrote, White would also have a forced win after 18...gxf6. He writes: The position also appears in Alfred Diel’s column “Sie sind am Zuge” for Kaissiber #34 (which will come out in February). I checked it and the PC found: 19 Nh7!! Kxh7 20 Qxh6+ Kg8 21 Ng3 Bg4 22 Bc4 and wins; for example, 22...Nd4 23 Qg6+ Kf8 24 Qxf6 Ne6 25 Bh6+ Kg8 26 Bxe6 fxe6 27 Qg6+ Kh8 28 Qxg4 and now one of the nicer continuations is 28... Qh7 29 Qg5 Bd8 30 Bg7+! Qxg7 31 Qh5+ Kg8 32 Qxe8+ Qf8 33 Qxe6+ +–.

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Walking Down Planinc’s Path During the first week of the Corus tournament I had a walk on the beach of Wijk aan Zee. It was a rare opportunity. On previous days it had rained and the Corus flagpoles had groaned in an icy wind.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Only the Dutch IM Jan van de Mortel liked the weather. He is a chess teacher who lives in Chicago, but every year he comes over to The Netherlands to assist the Corus tournament press office. In Chicago it had been -24 degrees Celsius and feeling like -40. He said that when he had stepped out of Amsterdam Airport, he had felt as if he had arrived on the French Riviera. The rest of us felt quite differently. But then, one day the sun appeared briefly and the rain had stopped.

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Passport Travel Chess Set

On my way to the beach I met Jana Bellin, Chairman of FIDE’s Medical Commission, and Jonathan Speelman. Obviously they had come to Wijk aan Zee to deal with the case of Vassily Ivanchuk, who during the last Olympiad in Dresden had evaded – deliberately or not, that was the question – a doping test. “I suppose the tournament hall is somewhere in that direction?’’ Speelman asked. I was surprised.” “Can’t you remember?” He said that it had been ages since he had been there, in fact it had been in 1983, “When I lost every game and only won against you.” How time flies.

St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker

“It is for a sad reason that you have returned,” I said. Jonathan smiled and answered: “Sad indeed, but fortunately it won’t be too sad.”

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Later that day I sent an article to my newspaper, telling that the Medical Commission would be lenient. A good journalist brings you the news before it actually happens. In fact, the Commision proved to be even more lenient than I had expected, for while a had predicted a stiff warning, it acquitted Ivanchuk completely, because it had conveniently found some procedural mistakes that had been made in Dresden.

The Complete DGT Product Line The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

Albin Planinc, Amsterdam 1973

I went onto the beach, which is almost deserted and quite beautiful on a sunny winter’s day. After a while I returned to the village along the small path that is known to Dutch chessplayers as Planinc’s Path.

Recently Gert Ligterink has explained the origin of the name on the tournament’s website. To understand the explanation one should know that the Dutch words pad (=path) and pat (=stalemate) have exactly the same pronunciation. The path leads from the Hotel Hoge Duin, where in the past the top players used to stay, almost directly down to the tournament hall. One day in 1974, when arbiter Constant Orbaan and press officer Cora van der Zanden were walking along the path, as they had done hundreds of times, Orbaan asked Cora if she knew Planinc’s path, at least that’s what she thought he was asking. “Of course I know this path, but I didn’t know that it has that name,” she answered. In fact Orbaan had been talking about a stalemate that had just occurred in a game between Walter Browne and Albin Planinc. But since then, the path is known as Planinc’s Path. As Planinc (or Planinec, as his name is usually written nowadays, after the collapse of Yugoslavia) died in December last year, walking down his path I wondered if some chessplayer might have placed a memorial stone or a fake street sign, but there was none. “Shouldn’t there be one?” I later asked Tom Bottema, chief of the tournament’s press service. “It would be nice if we could make it official,” Tom said, and as he is an energetic fellow, he immediately phoned the town hall to request if the path could be officially named after Planinc. As it seems to have been officially nameless until this day, there is no serious obstacle and the public servants of the town hall found it an excellent idea. The final decision is up to the mayor, but there is a good chance that this path in Wijk aan Zee will really be named after Albin Planinc. It would be a small homage to great service to chess, as Albin Planinc, born in Slovenia in 1944, was during his brief chess career a brilliant and highly original player.

In the book Yugoslav Chess Triumphs, published in 1976, he is introduced with an anecdote about the Yugoslav championship in Novi Sad in 1975. In his game against Velimirovic, Planinc was offered a draw and after some hesitation he apparently answered: “No, I can’t accept a draw, Drasko, for my position is lost.” He played on and duly lost the game. In that book he is called a Don Quixote who takes on giants, forgetting about lesser opponents: “When inspiration fails, he can likewise lose one game after another to virtually unknown opponents.” His greatest succes came in the IBM tournament in Amsterdam in 1973,

which he won together with Petrosian, ahead of great players such as Kavalek, Spassky and Szabo. After his death I checked how I had done myself against Planinc. It is no wonder that I had no exact recollection of the score, for it turned out that I had made only one draw in four games. Obviously he had been too brilliant for me and his moves too unpredictable. After 1979 Planinc didn’t play chess anymore. He was suffering from severe depressions and had to be nursed in a mental institution. During the brief period that his star was shining, he played a number of unforgettable games, such as this one. Dragoljub Minic – Albin Planinc, Rovinj/Zagreb 1975 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4.Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5.0-0 b7-b5 6.Ba4-b3 Bc8-b7 A sharp variation, in accordance with his style. Often Black will follow up with Bc5, when both his bishops will be aimed at White’s king. 7.d2-d4 Nc6xd4 8.Nf3xd4 e5xd4 9.e4-e5 Nf6-e4 10.c2-c3 d4-d3 11.Qd1f3 Qd8-e7 12.Nb1-d2 0-0-0 A piece sacrifice, entirely voluntarily, as 12...Nc5 13.Bd5 Bxd5 14.Qxd5 c6 would be quite satisfactory for Black. 13.Nd2xe4 Qe7xe5 14.Rf1-e1 f7-f5 15.Qf3-g3 The only way to keep the piece. 15…Qe5-e8 16.Ne4-d6+ Bf8xd6 17.Re1xe8 Rh8xe8

So that was Black’s intention. For the sacrified queen he has a rook and a formidable free pawn. 18.Bc1-f4 In his notes to this game Minic indicated that he would have been winning after the the complicated variation 18.f4 Bc5+ 19.Kf1 Re2 20. Bd1 Bxg2+ 21.Qxg2 Rxg2 22.Kxg2 Re8 23.Bd2. This might be true, but it isn’t quite clear, as Black would have three – admittedly not very threatening – pawns for the piece and a slight initiative. 18...d3-d2 19.Ra1-f1 Re8-e1 20.Bf4xd6 Rd8-e8 21.f2-f3

21..Bb7-d5 Another beautiful move. Instead of taking a bishop, which would lose after 21....cxd6 22.Qxd6, Black puts a bishop en prise. 22.Qg3-f4 Better was 22.Bf4, when Black would be wise to take a draw with 22... Rxf1+ 23.Kxf1 Bc4+ 24. Kf2 Re2+. 22...Bd5-c4 23.h2-h4 Re1xf1+ 24.Kg1-h2 Re8-e2 25.Bd6xc7 Rf1-f2

Be careful! After 25...Bxb3, White would turn the tables with 26.Bb6, winning. However, it might seem that Black would be winning by force with 25...Rg1, but the computer shows an unlikely way out for White: 26. Kxg1 Bxb3 27.Ba5 d1Q+ 28.Kh2 and if Black doesn’t give a perpetual with 28...Rxg2+, White will do it after 28...d6 29.Qxf5+. 26.Qf4-d6 A grave mistake in time pressure, quite understandable in a game like this. He could have saved the game by 26.Bd1 Rxg2+ 27.Kh1 and though Black could go for an ending with opposite coloured bishops and two pawns up with 27...Bd5 28.Bb6 Rh2+ 29.Qxh2 Bxf3+ 30.Kg1 Rxh2 31. Kxh2 Bxd1 32.Be3 Bb3, it seems to be a draw. 26...Rf2xg2+ Now Black is winning. 27.Kh2-h3 Rg2-h2+ 28.Kh3-g3 Re2-g2+ 29.Kg3-f4 Rh2xh4+ 30. Kf4xf5 Rh4-h6 0-1

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Tabe Bas, 1927-2009 On January 29 Tabe Bas died suddenly and unexpectedly. He was one of my best friends in the Dutch chess world. This month he would have turned 82 and because of his invariable youthful vivacity we thought that he might be immortal. Professionally he was an actor and opera singer, not a bass as many people thought because of his name, but a baritone. Music and chess were his great passions.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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He was a good player who already as a young child had become a member of chessclubs and studied books and magazines. After World War II he was educated not only at the clubs, but also at the Leidseplein in Amsterdam, where as a beginning actor he was often rehearsing at the big theater there. In the café’s on the square he played blitz with the leading stars of the Amsterdam chess scene such as Donner, Barendregt and Orbaan, which must have been a stern education not only in chess, but also in making jokes and delivering witty repartees. Those who could withstand the verbal rough handling by Donner were steeled in a hot fire.

St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker

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Tabe Bas

Photograph courtesy of René Olthof

When I came to know Tabe well, around 1968 at a club for ‘artists and intellectuals’ in Amsterdam – chessplayers were supposed to qualify on both accounts –his career as a serious player was already behind him. In the fifties he had played for the first team of the club VAS (United Amsterdam Chess Society), at that time the strongest club in the Netherlands with a subscription to the Dutch championship. His best individual result was a victory in 1954 in what was then called ‘The Big Federation’s Competitition’. A year later this event was upgraded to ‘Open Dutch Championship’ so you could say that Tabe was an Open Dutch champion avant la lettre. But when we became friends he was already what he would be ever since. Not a serious chessplayer anymore, but still a passionate devotee who would play blitz, analyse game positions and endgame studies and recite the classics, such as the first paragraphs of Tarrasch’s Dreihundert Schachpartien, in fluent German. You had to stop him or he would go on for the full first page.

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He was the king of kibitzers, always present at Dutch tournaments which were not too far from Amsterdam, listening to the commentators and giving his own comments. In my experience, where a chessboard was, was Tabe. As his comments were usually erudite and funny he was often quoted by Dutch chess journalists. Tabe told me that once he was introduced to someone who said: “What a pleasure to meet you. I play chess myself and I have read about you, but I had always thought that you didn’t really exist, but were a character invented by these chess journalists to help their articles along.” This reaction is understandable when you know that the name Tabe Bas sounds funny to Dutch ears, a bit like the name of a dwarf from a fairytale. Probably nobody in the Netherlands ever had the name Tabe Bas, except my friend and his father. He was an exuberant man, often bursting out singing an opera aria or reciting literature. At first my cats were afraid of him, but later they learned to appreciate his great friendliness, even though they couldn’t read the many books he gave me as presents. It was his habit to be always looking for presents to buy at bargain prices for friends or children and grandchildren of friends, with a great knack for finding the right ones. Once a child said that it was too easy for him to give a present, because he had a cupboard full of them, and this was true. On the other hand he found it difficult to accept things from other people. We used to meet once every two weeks at my place, to play blitz and mainly just to talk, and when he arrived our conversation always started like this: “What do you want to drink, Tabe?” “A fruitjuice, please.” Remarkably, having moved all his life in circles where alcoholism was almost the norm, he had never drunk one drop of alcohol. “Yes, but I have pear juice...” “Wonderful!” “Tomato juice...” “Delicious!” “and orange juice...” “That’s great!” “Ok, but what do you want, Tabe?” “Just what you have.” I told him that when I came to his place, I wasn’t as accommodating as that. “Beer, wine, vodka, doesn’t matter, they are all delicious and fine to me.” No, that’s not what we alcoholics say, we have a preference. Of course he understood that, but still you almost had to put him on the rack to make him declare his wishes. Despite his exuberance he tended to imply that he shouldn’t be taken too seriously. He never complained about serious difficulties in life, but only at the chessboard, in a way designed to make you laugh. When in a blitz game after 1.e4 e6 he played the move 2.d4 he would already lament that this pawn would be lost later in the game, and never would he put his bishops on the squares d3 and e3 without referring to Davidson-Alekhine, Semmering 1926, where the white bishops on the same squares had been badly misplaced. Apart from Davidson he liked to identify himself with ‘futile Willy,’ a character from bridge literature who understood just enough of that game to be always just off the mark. In a recent issue of the Dutch magazine Matten Tabe said that according to Donner his function in life had been that he knew everybody. And indeed that was true. At the big birthday parties he organised – probably after having been put on the rack by his wife – there were people from very different circles; chessplayers, but also actors, musicians, writers,

politicians and people who just lived in his neighbourhood. You saw that is was not just a matter of knowing each other. They loved Tabe and when they embraced him warmly you saw that a spark of his zest of life illuminated their own faces. There is an African saying that when a man dies a library is burned. The library of anecdotes and stories that went down with his death is immense. Who in the world will now be able to recite the first page of Dreihundert Schachpartien by heart? Maybe nobody. “When Tabe was here, there was always gaiety in our home,” said my wife, and that was true. Here is a small study that he published in 2004 in the magazine for endgame studies EBUR, with the caption “Finally, to bed.” Tabe Bas, 2004

1.b4 The only winning move 1...Ke2 After 1...Kf2 2.Kb2 Ke2 3.Kc3 Kf3 4.d3 White has a easier win than in the main variation. 2.Kc2 Kf3 3.d3 c3 The pawn sacrifice is Black’s only chance to put up resistance. 4.Kxc3 After 4.d4 Kf4 5.Kxc3 Ke4, there is a mutual zugzwang. 4...Ke3 5.Kc2 Kd4 6.Kd2 Ke5 7.Ke3 Kd5 8.d4 Kc4 9.Ke4 Kxb4 10.d5 Kc5 White also wins after 10...Ka3 11.d6 b4 12.d7 b3 13.d8Q. Tabe remarked that this line shows that the initial position moved one file to the right would be a draw. 11.Ke5 b4 12.d6 b3 13.d7 b2 14.d8D b1Q and White wins the black queens by some checks. Tabe wrote in EBUR: “Satisfied I wanted to go to bed when it occurred to me that after 1...Ke2 2.Kc2 Kf3 3.d3 c3 4.Kxc3 Ke3 5.Kc2 Black is not forced to play 5...Kd4. It is true that Black loses after 5...Kf3 6.Kd2 Kf4 7. Ke2 Ke5 8.Ke3, but for a moment I thought that it would be a draw after 5...Kf4.”

He saw that White wouldn’t make progress with 6.Kc3 Ke3 and that after 6.Kd2 Kf3 7.d4 Ke4 8.Kc3 Kf5 9.Kd3 Kf4 it would be a draw. Fortunately he quickly found that White would also win from the position of the second diagram: 6.Kb2 There might follow 6...Kf3 6...Ke3 loses after 7.Kc3 Kf4 8.Kd4 and after 6...Ke5 White wins by 7. Kc1. 7.Kb3 Kf4 8.Kc2 Now we have the position of diagram two, but with Black to move. 8...Ke5 Or 8...Kf3 9.Kd2 with a position that we have already seen. 9.Kd1 9.Kd2 Kd4 10.Kc2 Ke5 would take longer as White has to play then 11. Kd1 anyway. 9...Kd4 10.Kd2 Ke5 11.Ke3 and White wins. Having seen this, Tabe could really go to bed satisfied.

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Former Chess Paradise During the heydays of Yugoslav chess I often compared it to an empire where the sun never sets. As in the Spanish, British or American empire there was always a place with daylight, in the former Yugoslavia there was always or nearly always an international tournament going on and often several at the same time.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

There is a story about two concurrent tournaments in two nearby Yugoslav towns which I will call A and B, because I have forgotten their real names.

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The foreign masters and grandmasters who had been invited for the tournament in A were pleasantly surprised when already at the airport they were welcomed by the organisers. They didn’t know that these were the organisers from town B, who abducted them to their own tournament. Wonderful times, when organisers were scheming and fighting for chess masters. Usually the foreigners were hardly aware in which of the constituent republics they were playing. Belgrade was Serbia, Zagreb was Croatia, that was the extent of most of the visitors’ knowledge. I think that also for the Yugoslavs themselves this wasn’t so important an issue as it has become later.

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St. Petersburg 1909 by Emanuel Lasker

At the European Team Championship in the Hungarian city Debrecen in 1992 the “Yugoslav” team – Yugoslavia consisting then only of Serbia and Montenegro – was expelled from the tournament after the first round, purportedly to comply with a UN resolution. In that first round Yugoslavia, still in favor, had beaten Czechoslowakia, another country that was soon to be broken up, though peacefully. One of the teams in Debrecen that had urged for the boycot of Yugoslavia was, not surprisingly, that of Croatia. But at the time I heard that after the removal of the Yugoslav team, players from Croatia and Serbia joined each other at the bar, where they gloomily discussed the political situation. Orders from above had forbidden them to play against each other, but drinking together was still possible. Of course during the Yugoslav wars chess life there was badly hurt. Afterwards it more or less recovered, though its former glory has not yet been renewed. In 2006 the two strongest candidates to organise the Olympiad in 2010 were Budva in Montenegro and the Siberian oil town Khanty-Mansyisk. Budva is an attractive town at the Adriatic coast with a beautiful old center. In Khanty-Mansyisk it can be very cold. Ilyumzhinov, who should have been neutral, called Khanty-Mansyisk “our city” when he was explaining its victory in the bidding process. Apart from his use of the term “our city,” no further explanation for that victory would have been necessary. Recently Budva had a consolation prize, the organisation of the individual European Championship.

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As it became clear about halfway through the tournament that Sergei Tiviakov, champion of 2008, would not retain his title, I was hoping that he would pass on the baton to another Dutchman, Ivan Sokolov, who had been among the leaders from the start. In fact Sokolov finished in first place, but together with ten other players. In the tiebreaks he was eliminated by the Georgian Baadur Jobava, who beat him in both rapid games. The final four in Budva were Jobava and the Russians Ernesto Inarkiev, Vladimir Malakhov and Evgeny Tomashevsky. The occasional reports about the death of Russian chess seem very much exaggerated. The final of the tiebreaks between Malakhov and Tomashevsky was lost by Malakhov in the most pitiful way that can be imagined. After two rapid games the score was 1-1. Then came the deciding game, armageddon as they call it nowadays. White got 5 minutes, Black 4 minutes, with a draw counting as a victory for Black. Needing only a draw to become European champion, Malakhov obtained a winning position.

Here there is a forced mate starting with 48...Bb1+, but Malakhov blundered his rook with 48...Re1 and resigned after 40.Qxe1 Bg6 50.Qa1.

(l-r) Jobava (bronze), Tomashevsky (gold) and Malakhov (silver) Photo by Nebojsa Baralic at ChessBase.com

In a photo of the prize-giving ceremony, Malakhov holds his silver trophy with a faint smile on his face. No tears were dropping on his face, but his heart must have been weeping. Dutch patriots could be happy with the fact that apart from Ivan Sokolov, Friso Nijboer also qualified for the World Cup competition, that is to be held in Khanty-Mansyisk in November and December this year. On the other hand, qualification had been expected of Tiviakov and Loek van Wely and hoped for Jan Timman and Erwin l’Ami, but these four only shared 50th place with a host of other players, scoring a decent but unproductive 6½ out of 11. The most spectacular Dutch game of the event was played by Nijboer.

Alexander Motylev – Friso Nijboer, Budva 2nd round 1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.d2-d4 c5xd4 4.Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5.Nb1c3 d7-d6 6.Bc1-g5 e7-e6 7.Qd1-d2 a7-a6 8.0-0-0 Bc8-d7 9.f2-f4 b7-b5 10.Bg5xf6 g7xf6 11.Nd4xc6 Bd7xc6 12.Qd2-e1 Bf8-e7 13.Bf1-d3 Qd8b6 14.Kc1-b1 Qb6-c5 15.f4-f5 b5-b4 16.Nc3-e2 a6-a5 17.f5xe6 f7xe6 18.Ne2-f4 Qc5-e5 A well-known position where up till now everybody had played 19.Rf1. Among them was Nijboer himself, who had this in Nijboer-Acs, Corus B 2003, a game he won. 19.Qe1-f2 a5-a4 20.Bd3-c4 Bc6xe4 21.Rh1-e1 b4-b3 To each his own attack. Now White should have tempered Black’s initiative by sacrificing an exchange with 22.axb3 axb3 23.Rxe4 Qxe4 24. Bxb3, after which his own attack would become quite strong. 22.Rd1-d4 b3xc2+ 23.Kb1-c1 f6-f5 24.Nf4xe6 a4-a3 25.Re1xe4 a3xb2+ 26.Kc1xc2 b2-b1Q+ 27.Kc2xb1 Ra8-b8+ 28.Kb1-c1 f5xe4 29.Qf2-c2 Rh8-f8 Black’s attack was the more dangerous one, but here he should have played 29...Rc8. 30.Qc2-a4+ For now White could have forced a draw with 30.Ng7+ Qxg7 (after 30... Kd8 31.Ne6+ Black should repeat moves) 31.Qa4+ (only now) when White gives a perpetual. 30...Ke8-f7

White might have overestimated his chances in this position. He can give a discovered check in many ways, but none will give him a decent position. On the other hand Black is threatening to strengthen his own attack decisively with 31...Rfc8. 31.Ne6xf8+ Kf7xf8 White has regained his exchange, but his king is helpless. 32.Qa4-a7 Qe5-f4+ 33.Rd4-d2 Rb8-c8 34.Qa7-d4 Be7-f6 35.Qd4-d5 Qf4-f1+ 0-1

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A Newborn Wonder The third chapter of Vladimir Nabokov’s famous novel The Defense starts with the sentence: “Only in April, during the Easter holidays, did that inevitable day come for Luzhin when the whole world suddenly went dark, as if someone had thrown a switch, and in the darkness only one thing remained brilliantly lit, a newborn wonder, a dazzling islet on which his whole life was destined to be concentrated.”

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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The newborn wonder is a chess set that is briefly shown to him in his father’s study by a visitor. Soon afterwards Luzhin will learn how to move the pieces, he will learn chess notation and come to play real chess, holding himself against an experienced player. The chapter is about the wonderful time between wanting to play chess and really playing, the time when everything in chess is new.

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For me that time is closely connected with a German chess manual, Lehrbuch des Schachspiels, by Jean Dufresne and Jacques Mieses. It was not the first chess book that I read, but it was the first one that I ever saw, the only chess book in the home of my parents.

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I couldn’t really read it because I didn’t know German and certainly not German written in the old Gothic script. But I could look at the pictures, not knowing that they were called diagrams, but understanding that they pictured a position from a game. I tried to figure out if White or Black stood better and checked it with the real result. The words ‘Black resigns’ at the end of the game I could understand, even in Gothic German. I think the fascination of the book lay for a big part in the fact that it was almost incomprehensible to me, but not completely.

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The Berlin chess player and writer Jean Dufresne (1829-1893) published the first edition of his Kleines Lehrbuch des Schachspiels (Short Manual of Chess) in 1881. When, after his death new editions were adapted by Jacques Mieses, the word ‘kleines’ disappeared and rightly so. My copy, the one owned by my father, is of the 13th edition of 1935, which has 731 pages. Starting with the rules of chess it teaches openings, middlegames and endgames and something about the history of the game. The pages are small, which makes the book a handy object that can easily be carried in a pocket of an overcoat. I have often taken it with me to tournaments, as a talisman. Its front cover has fallen off and the back cover may follow, but for the rest it is in excellent condition. Although Dufresne was one of the best players in Germany, nowadays he is one of those masters, like Kieseritzky, Bardeleben and Rotlewi, who are mainly remembered because they lost an ‘immortal’ game, in Dufresne’s case the ‘evergreen’ game against Adolf Anderssen.

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Ralph Schiffman next to the gravestone of Jean Dufresne who is honoured now with a fine plaque. Photo: Ken Whyld Association

In 2002 members of the Emanuel Lasker Society, which is based in Berlin, were visiting the Jewish Cemetery in Berlin Weissensee, looking for the grave of Emanuel Lasker’s brother Berthold. By accident they also found Jean Dufresne’s gravestone, which more than a century after his death was badly damaged. They organized a collection for money to put a memorial plaque on Dufresne’s gravestone. Funds were not easily forthcoming, but in 2006 the plaque was placed. I am going to Berlin on holiday and I intend to visit Dufresne’s grave to honor the man who created the Lehrbuch, the book that more than fifty years ago incorporated my newborn wonder, the game of chess. Here is a game to show that as a player Dufresne was much more than just the loser of an immortal game. About Daniel Harrwitz, a German player from Breslau who later settled as a chess professional in London and Paris, The Oxford Companion to Chess writes that he was probably the world’s best active player in the mid-1850s. Jean Dufresne – Daniel Harrwitz, Berlin 1848 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.Bf1-c4 Bf8-c5 4.b2-b4 Bc5xb4 5.c2-c3 Bb4-c5 6.0-0 d7-d6 7.d2-d4 e5xd4 8.c3xd4 Bc5-b6 At the time they called this the ‘normal position’ in the Evans Gambit. 9.Bc1-b2 Ng8-f6 10.Qd1-c2 0-0 11.e4-e5 d6xe5 12.d4xe5 Nf6-d5 After 12...Ng4 13.Qe4, White’s attack prevails, according to Tartakower. I hesitate to contradict the great man, but this isn’t clear at all. One good answer seems 13...Be6, playing for the trick 14.Bxe6 Nxf2, with good play for Black. 13.Rf1-d1 Bc8-e6 13...Nce7 seems preferable, though White has a strong attack anyway. 14.Bc4xd5 Be6xd5 15.Nb1-c3 Nc6-e7 16.Nf3-g5 Ne7-g6 After 16...g6 17.Nce4 Black’s weakness on f6 is fatal. 17.Ng5xh7 Kg8xh7 18.Nc3xd5 Qd8-g5 19.Rd1-d3 c7-c6 20.Rd3-h3+ Kh7-g8 21.Rh3-g3 Qg5-h4 22...Qh5 would prevent White’s combination, but then 23.Nxb6 axb6 24. e6 is good for White.

22.Nd5-f6+ g7xf6 23.Rg3xg6+ f7xg6 24.Qc2xg6+ Kg8-h8 25.e5xf6 Now that the diagonal of White’s Bb2 has been opened Black is helpless. 25...Rf8-f7 26.Qg6xf7 Ra8-g8 27.Kg1-h1 Qh4-g4 28.Ra1-g1 Bb6xf2 29. Qf7-e8 Kh8-h7 30.f6-f7 1-0

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Ivanchuk's Angels and Demons Last Saturday the MTel tournament in Sofia ended. It was won by Alexei Shirov, who overtook Magnus Carlsen by beating him in the last round.

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Many fans will rejoice that the former fire-raiser on board has won this elite tournament. Carlsen also has a big band of fans, who might be slightly disappointed. But for me and many others, the main and sad news about this tournament was the downfall of Vassily Ivanchuk, who had been 3rd on the FIDE rating list as recently as January 2009.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The year 2009 has not been good for Ivanchuk and on the April list he had already dropped to 12th place. At the Grand Prix tournament in Nalchik, where he shared last place, he had won the special prize for the viewers sympathy, a consolation prize that may not have warmed his heart, as he is quite used to being the darling of the public. Levon Aronian, apart from winning that tournament, gained the special prize for sympathy of the women, as if he were the incarnation of Capablanca. Winning both the tournament and the ladies sympathy seems the perfect combination. Sofia was a disaster for Ivanchuk. He started out losing with White to Shirov in only 24 moves, after having made one mistake after another. In the next round against Wang Yue he lost an ending where he had the tiny advantage of the two bishops, which he could have traded at any moment for an extra pawn, but with opposite-colored bishops. Instead, he went into a pawn ending that was lost by force. Quite a nice pawn ending by the way, that will find its way into anthologies.

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It went from bad to worse. During the next days we watched him dropping down on the Live Top List website, where the provisional

A Legend on the Road by John Donaldson

Paul Morphy: A Modern Perspective by Valeri Beim

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ratings of top players are calculated every day. After the ninth round, with minus five, Ivanchuk dropped out of sight on that site because he had gone under 2700. The next day after the last round, when he had finally won a game, he emerged with a provisional rating of 2702.9 – is it really sensible to use decimals in ratings? – in 30th place. Still sad. In his column in the latest issue of New in Chess magazine, Garry Kasparov wrote, among other things, about Ivanchuk. He praised him for a few fine games and remarked that “poor Mayakovsky took his own life at 36 years of age, unaware of the benefits the seasoning of years can bestow upon genius.” Geniuses approaching middle age, take comfort from Ivanchuk and stay with us for a while! “But unfortunately for Ivanchuk and the chess world,” Kasparov writes, “his angels travel arm-in-arm with demons. Tragic time management, inexplicable blunders, you never know what to expect.” Kasparov thought about Ivanchuk when recently he saw the film Righteous Kill with Al Pacino, who plays a hard-nosed cop. In the opening credits, Al Pacino is giving an informal simul while reminiscing about Bobby Fischer. “He became world champ, didn’t he? But then he went bleeping nuts!” Kasparov concludes: “The great Vasily’s games rarely fail to provide pleasure and inspiration. But occasionally he just goes bleeping nuts!” This was written before he had seen the games in Sofia. As Ivanchuk is a great player, his failures can also have the sign of greatness. His draw against Dominguez from the fourth round showed enterprising opening play and fine middle game strategy, and it would have been a pearl of the tournament if he had not missed a clear win several times. I don’t know if the tragic time management mentioned by Kasparov played a role, but it seems likely. The next round saw a violent and complicated game against Topalov with mistakes being made by both players. On the way they may both have

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

been winning, but had it ended in a natural way with a drawn rook ending, the game would have been applauded as a great battle. Instead it left a bitter taste as Ivanchuk, the instigator of the wild adventure, blundered away the draw that had been in hand for a long time. Take a rest, is the prescription for Ivanchuk given by many commentators. This certainly seems good advice. Recently I have been rereading Botvinnik’s book of memoires, Achieving the Aim. Somewhere he writes that from September till April he had been playing too many games, 50!, with an exclamation mark, as if 50 games in 8 months were outrageous. I have not counted Ivanchuk’s recent games, but I think for him Botvinnik’s 50! would be abstinence. Siegbert Tarrasch used to condemn commentators who would write that certain positions were unclear. If a position was unclear, the commentator should not be satisfied until it became clear to him. Sounds good, but more easily said than done. Tarrasch himself often solved the problem by giving a strong opinion that he would squarely contradict not much later. I feel not qualified to give a deep analysis of this game. One thing is clear: Kasparov’s dictum that Ivanchuk’s angels and demons walk hand in hand, really applies here. Ivanchuk – Topalov 5th MTel Masters Sofia 1. e2-e4 c7-c5 2. Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3. d2-d4 c5xd4 4. Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5. Nb1c3 a7-a6 6. Bc1-g5 e7-e6 7. f2-f4 Bf8-e7 8. Qd1-f3 Qd8-c7 9. 0-0-0 Nb8d7 10. Bf1-d3 h7-h6 The main idea of this move, often played by Walter Browne in the 1970s, is 11. Bh4 g5 12. fxg5 Ne5 13. Qe2 Nfg4 which, n’en deplaise à Tarrasch, can only be called unclear. 11. Qf3-h3 Nd7-c5 A risky move. Browne used to play the safer 11...Nb6.

12. Rh1-e1 Rh8-g8 13. Bg5-h4 g7-g5 14. e4-e5 d6xe5 15. f4xg5 h6xg5 16. Bh4-g3 Nc5-d7

Up till here everything had been played before, but now Ivanchuk uncorks a violent novelty. 17. Nd4xe6 Qc7-b6 If Black would take the piece at once with 17...fxe6, White would follow up his attack with 18. Qh6. 18. Bd3-c4 g5-g4 Here Black had a rich choice of moves, all of them with unclear consequences: 18...fxe6 19. Ne4 or 18...Nf8 19. Bxe5 19. Qh3-h6 f7xe6 20. Bg3-h4 Be7-f8 21. Qh6-d2 Qb6-c6 22. Bc4-d3 b7b5

23. Nc3-e4 And here White had a choice. The best move was probably 23. Rf1, which some annotators have worked out to a clear advantage for White. There is also 23. Be4 or the nice 23. Rxe5, after which 23...Nxe5 would fail to 24. Bxb5, winning Black’s queen. 23...Nf6-d5 24. Re1-f1 Bc8-b7 25. Rf1xf8+ Beautiful. The piece sacrifice is followed by an exchange sacrifice. But is it sound? 25...Nd7xf8 26. Qd2-h6 Rg8-g6 27. Ne4-f6+ Another spectacular move, but Black could have obtained a clear advantage after this. Instead, 27. Qh5 has been recommended, playing for the attack a rook down in a totally unclear position. Well, who knows? 27...Rg6xf6 28. Bh4xf6 Nd5xf6 This should have led to a draw. Black had good reason to play for a win with 28...Qc7, with the idea of returning the piece by 29. Bg7 0-0-0 30. Bxf8 Nf4 with a clear advantage for Black. 29. Bd3-g6+ Nf8xg6 30. Qh6xg6+ Ke8-e7 31. Qg6-g7+ Ke7-e8 Here and later White can force a draw by perpetual, but he doesn’t want to and he doesn’t have to. 32. Qg7xf6 Ra8-c8 33. c2-c3 b5-b4 34. Qf6-g6+ Ke8-e7 35. Qg6-g7+ Ke7-e8 36. Rd1-f1 Qc6-c5

37. Qg7xb7 But this is a big mistake. He should have played 37. Qf7+ Kd8 38. Rd1+ Bd5 39. Qxe6. After 39...Qe3+ 40. Kb1 Qe4+ 41. Ka1 Kc7 42. Qxd5 Qxd5 43. Rxd5 the rook ending would be minimally better for White, but it would be a draw. 37...Qc5-e3+ 38. Kc1-c2 Qe3-e2+ 39. Kc2-b3 Qe2-c4+ 40. Kb3-c2 b4b3+

Oy, oy. This venomous little move had been overlooked by Ivanchuk. After 41. axb3 Qe2+, Black will take White’s rook with check. 41. Kc2-d2 Rc8-d8+ 42. Kd2-e1 Rd8-d1+ 43. Ke1xd1 Qc4xf1+ 44. Kd1-d2 Qf1-f4+ 45.Kd2-d1 b3xa2 Now White can only hope for the perpetual check that he had disdained for many moves, but it isn’t there anymore.

46. Qb7-c8+ Ke8-f7 47. Qc8-d7+ Kf7-f6 48. Qd7-d8+ Kf6-f5 49. Qd8f8+ Kf5-e4 50.Qf8-a8+ Ke4-d3 51.Qa8xa6+ Qf4-c4 52.Qa6-a7 g4-g3 53. h2-h3 Qc4-b3+ 54. Kd1-e1 Kd3-c2 0-1

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Kind, Talented and a Bit Lazy Rob Hartoch, 1947-2009 For some days after the Dutch IM Rob Hartoch died on May 28 at the age of 62, I searched in vain for an old newspaper clipping that I knew I had never thrown away. Not throwing away something is not the same as being able to find it.

Dutch Treat

It was an article about the junior players Hartoch and Ree, and I think that it appeared in 1960 or 1961. I might have been 17 years old and Rob 14, and I still remember that there was something about the photo of the two of us that didn’t please me.

Hans Ree

I looked serious in that photo, Rob had a broad smile. I would have liked to display that smile.

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A Legend on the Road by John Donaldson

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Paul Morphy: A Modern Perspective by Valeri Beim Coaching youngsters, here with Yassine Mouhdad. (Photo SBSA.)

His broad smile can also be seen on more recent photographs. These are not taken at tournament games, but at simuls, training sessions for youngsters, or when he served as an arbiter or as a commentator of other people’s games. All these things he enjoyed to do. He was a great chess talent with an unusual capacity to put the pieces intuitively on the right squares. When in 1965 he came in second in the Junior World Championship, behind Bojan Kurajica but ahead of players like Vladimir Tukmakov and Robert Hübner, a great future was predicted for him. Though Hartoch was one of the top Dutch players during the sixties and seventies, this promise was not quite fulfilled. One cause of that was his lifestyle, built on fixed habits. In the late afternoon he used to play cards and backgammon at the chess café and after that there were the evening bars, the night bars and often the early morning joints where those who were never tired used to meet after a hard night’s drinking. Quite often during these tours a chessboard was put on the table, but nevertheless this could hardly be called the systematic work ‘in the quiet of my study’ as propagated by the great Botvinnik. Another factor was Rob’s playing style. The fact that positional play came so naturally to him was both a blessing and a curse. Deep and exact calculation was often unnecessary for him and because of that he tended more and more to evade situations were it would indeed be necessary. His acute sense of danger, useful in itself, often detoriated into a fear of imaginary dangers. Then, after he had prematurely accepted another draw offer, the fear had gone and he could clearly explain that actually he had not been in any danger at all. His results declined, as with most older players, but with Rob they declined more steeply. Still, he kept playing in tournaments – his last being the Senior World Championship in 2008 – and sometimes he reproached me for not doing the same. Rob considered not playing tournaments anymore a betrayal of our great game. Resigning my membership of the Kring, a late night club supposedly ‘for artists and intellectuals,’ was also considered by Rob as a kind of betrayal. He missed his former chess comrades there, but on the other

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

hand, whenever I proposed to meet at another café nearby or at my apartment, only a five-minute-walk from his beloved Kring, he could not be persuaded. As I wrote earlier, he had his fixed routines. Sometimes I was a bit jealous because he did still receive quite a lot of invitations for simuls, while I did not. But I understood the reason: he was nicer to the organisers and to his opponents, not in order to ingratiate himself with them, but because it was in his character to be nice. During simuls he would not punish a bad move with a smashing refutation, but he would explain why the move was bad and let the opponent play a better one. Once every year he played a simul at a giant Ferris wheel at a fair. He would be sitting on the ground and his opponents were in the cabins, circling in the air with a chessboard in front of them. When they passed him by, Rob had to act very quickly to execute his move before his opponent went up into the air again. Such handicaps, and the informal atmosphere that brought them about, he enjoyed tremendously. Now and then, against his better judgment, he entertained the idea to embark on a second career as a serious top player. In the hospital, two weeks before his death, he told me about opening novelties that he had worked out during the preceding months. If, as he expected, he were to die soon, the computer file with these novelties would go to a chess friend who would see to it that talented youngsters would profit from it. Being in pain, as he had been constantly during the last months, he said that he had not been able to find a solid advantage for White in the Catalan, and that this was a pity. Here is a game where the win seems to come all by itself, as happened so often during his younger years. At the time when this game was played, Erwin l’Ami had almost 250 rating points more than Hartoch, but nevertheless there is the impression that Hartoch needed no effort at all. Rob Hartoch - Erwin l’Ami, ACT Open Amsterdam 2005 1.Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2.g2-g3 d7-d5 3.Bf1-g2 c7-c6 4.0-0 Bc8-g4 5.d2-d3 g7g6 6.Nb1-d2 Bf8-g7 7.e2-e4 0-0 8.h2-h3 Bg4xf3 9.Qd1xf3 e7-e6 10.Qf3e2 Nb8-d7 11.e4-e5 Nf6-e8 Black’s combination of Bg4 and Bg7 has not been a success. With the bishop on e7 his kingside would not be weakened and the bishop would have more influence on the queenside. From here on White will strengthen his position with quiet, natural moves and Black will not be able to create any counterplay. 12.Nd2-f3 Ne8-c7 13.Bc1-f4 h7-h6 14.h3-h4 Rf8-e8 15.d3-d4 Qd8-e7 16.c2-c3 c6-c5 17.Rf1-e1 Nd7-b8 18.Qe2-e3 c5xd4 19.c3xd4 Qe7-f8 20. Bg2-f1 Nb8-c6 21.Ra1-c1 a7-a5 22.Bf1-d3 Re8-c8 23.Kg1-g2 Nc6-e7 24.g3-g4 Nc7-a6 25.Bd3-b1 Rc8xc1 26.Re1xc1 Na6-b4 27.Rc1-h1 Nb4c6 28.h4-h5 g6-g5

After other moves Black will simply lose a pawn and his position will be in ruins. 29.Nf3xg5 After many quiet moves a very simple pseudo-sacrifice that flows naturally from the position. Easy does it. 29...Nc6xd4 Desperation. After 29...hxg5 30.Bxg5 Black is helpless against threats like 31.h6 or 31.Qd3. 30.Ng5-h7 Qf8-c8 31.Qe3xd4 1-0 A maximalist might play 31.Bxh6 with a decisive attack, but this is good enough.

Rob Hartoch’s favorite game was his victory over Paul Keres at the IBM tournament in Amsterdam in 1971. According to friends he always had the scoresheet of that game in his wallet. Here is the final phase. Rob Hartoch - Paul Keres, IBM Amsterdam 1971

After long and quiet maneuvers, Black has obtained an active position for his rook, but equilibrium has not been disturbed. 34...h7-h5 Too optimistic. According to Hartoch, Keres claimed a winning advantage for Black after 34...Ba6, but I think Hartoch is right when he writes that then 35. Bxf6 would be about equal. An interesting possibility suggested by Fritz is the piece sacrifice 34... Nfxd5 35.cxd5 Nxd5 36.Qxd5 Rxc2+ 37.Re2 Bb7 38.Qd1 Bxf3+ 39.Kxf3 Qc6+, with two pawns and a strong initiative for the piece. This looks good for Black. 35.f4-f5 Hartoch wrote that he should have inserted 35.Bxf6 Bxf6 before playing this move. In that case White would be better. 35...h5xg4 36.h3xg4 Nf6xg4 37.f5xg6 f7-f6 Much better was 37...Ne5. Hartoch himself even thought that White would be lost after that, but one of the many variations he gave seems liable to computer improvement: 38.gxf7+ Kf8 39.Nxe5 Bxe5 and now instead of Hartoch’s human 40.Rh1, the unlikely computer move 40.Kg1. After long thought, my Rybka came up with the line 40...Qg4 (or 40...Bd4 + 41. Qxd4 cxd4 42. Bg6 and White is OK) 41.Rxe5 dxe5 42.Qg6 Qd4+ 43.Kg2 Rxc2+ 44.Qxh2 Qxh4 45.Qg6 Bh3+ 46.Kg1 Qg4 47.Qh6+ Kxf7 48.Kh2 with a draw. A nice variation indeed, but far removed from what humans can calculate during a game. 38.Kg2-g1 Ng4-e5 39.Nf3xe5 d6xe5 40.Qd3-f5 Now White is on top again. 40...Qd7-e8 The last move before the time control. With 40...Qd6, Black might have put up a stiffer resistance, but after 41.Qh5 Rxc2 42.Rf1 White would have a winning attack anyway. 41.Qf5-h5

41...Bc8-h3 After 41...Rxc2 White wins by 42. Qh7+ Kf8 43.Bxf6 Bxf6 44.Rf1. 42.Bh4xf6 Bg7xf6 43.Qh5xh3 Qe8-e7 44.Bc2-f5 Again Hartoch shows his aversion to accuracy. After 44.d6 Keres might have resigned immediately. Of course in this case it didn’t matter, as White’s position is so overwhelming that everything wins. But in many other games it did matter.

44...Kg8-f8 45.Re1-f1 Kf8-e8 46.Ng3-e4 Bf6-g7 47.Qh3-h7 Bg7-f8 48. d5-d6 Qe7-g7 49.d6-d7+ Ke8-d8 50.Qh7xg7 And again, 50.Ng5 would win the house. 50...Bf8xg7 51.Ne4xc5 Nb6xd7 52.Rf1-d1 Ra2-a7 53.Rd1xd7+ Ra7xd7 54.Nc5xd7 1-0

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Some Stories from 1948 The death of the famous journalist Walter Cronkite on July 17 reminded me of a story that was told to me by the Dutch IM Nico Cortlever.

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Cortlever was one of Max Euwe’s assistants during the World Championship match-tournament of 1948, held in The Hague and Moscow.

Dutch Treat

For the Moscow part Euwe had agreed to provide reports for United Press International, which at that time and long afterwards was an important news agency. As he had obviously more pressing things on his mind than writing reports for the newspapers, Euwe passed on the job to Cortlever.

Hans Ree Max Euwe: The Biography by Alexander Munninghoff

Nico Cortlever

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Source: Arves

Once Walter Cronkite, who at the time was the head of the Moscow bureau of UPI, came to visit the Dutch squad and told them that they were doing something wrong. When for instance Cortlever had written that Smyslov had sacrificed a pawn, he should have written instead that the flamboyant 27-year old Muscovite had sacrificed a pawn, to avoid repetition of the name Smyslov and provide additional information.

The Reliable Past by Genna Sosonko

Among Dutch journalists, and probably elsewhere too, this quaint way of avoiding a harmless repetition is known as press agency language. The word flamboyant is also part of that language. It stands for red-haired. I don’t want to suggest that Cronkite had a quaint writing style. Probably he was just laying down the house rules. Another story that Cortlever told me about that championship concerned Samuel Reshevsky. As it was known that Euwe would take his wife with him to Moscow, Reshevsky had demanded that the travelling costs of his wife, by boat from the U.S. to the Netherlands, should be paid by the Dutch organisers of the first part of the tournament, in The Hague. That was agreed, but when Reshevsky arrived the organisers found that Mrs. Reshevsky’s bill for drinks, tips and laundry had run up much higher than they had expected. This was annoying, especially because in fact she had not accompanied her husband at all, but had stayed at home. Reshevsky explained that this detail was beside the point. The organisers had promised to pay him the price of an extra trip from the U.S. to the Netherlands. If his wife would have come with him, she would necessarily have incurred these extra charges, so these should be paid also. This argument was unanswerable, but as the Dutch organisers had very little money to spare, they conducted a strict investigation into the internal consistency of Mrs. Reshevsky’s virtual bill. Had she not been overtipping too generously? And these high laundry costs, couldn’t she have worn her clothes a bit longer if she had really been on the boat? I must say that I had some doubts about this story. As a Reshevsky story, it sounds almost too true-to-character to be really true. On the other hand, Cortlever was always the pinnacle of soberness, never embellishing a story for effect. For Euwe, the championship was a disaster. Two years earlier in Groningen, he had been in a race for first place with Botvinnik, finally gaining second place a half-point behind Botvinnik, but 1½ points or

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

more ahead of the rest of the field that included stars like Smyslov, Najdorf, Flohr, Boleslavsky and Szabo. At the World Championship in 1948, he scored only 4 points in 20 games. One factor contributing to his troubles may have been the fact that Euwe, according to Cortlever, took mind-improving pills. Beware that this was in the good old days when no mere official would be so impudent to deny a chessmaster the right to fortify his body and mind in the way he deemed best. Alas, there seemed to be no fortifying whatsoever. As Cortlever related, whatever it was that Euwe was taking, it had the effect to induce an almost euphoric and totally misplaced optimism. Once, in The Hague, Euwe and his seconds were in a taxi on their way to the hotel after Euwe’s game had been adjourned. Euwe was in a good mood, convinced that he had good chances to win the adjourned game. His seconds exchanged sad glances, as they had come already to the correct conclusion that Euwe’s game was beyond saving. It could not have been the game that is shown below, for there it is too obvious that Euwe was in a bad state at the adjournment. But in general this game indeed shows euphoric optimism. Euwe had outplayed Smyslov and could have decided the game simply in an overwhelming attack. Instead he sacrificed a knight, without real need. But the sacrifice is correct and should have been winning, but then Euwe sacrificed his other knight, and after that he just doesn’t have enough material left for the mating attack that had been there all the time, but which he squandered. Such a pity. It could have been a great game. Max Euwe – Vasily Smyslov World Championship The Hague/Moscow, 4th round 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.Bf1-b5 a7-a6 4.Bb5-a4 Ng8-f6 5.0-0 Bf8-e7 6.Rf1-e1 b7-b5 7.Ba4-b3 0-0 8.c2-c3 d7-d6 9.h2-h3 Nc6-a5 10. Bb3-c2 c7-c5 11.d2-d4 Qd8-c7 12.Nb1-d2 Na5-c6 13.d4xc5 d6xc5 14. Nd2-f1 Bc8-e6 15.Nf1-e3 Ra8-d8 16.Qd1-e2 g7-g6 After the famous game Fischer-Kholmov, Capablanca Memorial 1965, Kholmov’s active move 16...c4 became popular, more or less putting the variation with 13.dxc5 out of business. 17.Nf3-g5 Be6-c8 18.Bc1-d2 Kg8-g7 19.Ra1-d1 h7-h6 20.Ng5-f3 Bc8e6 21.a2-a4 Qc7-b8 According to Euwe, Smyslov refrained from the more natural move 21... c4 because he feared, without good reason, the answer 22. Nd5. 22.Bd2-c1 Rd8xd1 23.Re1xd1 Rf8-d8 24.Rd1xd8 Be7xd8 25.a4xb5 a6xb5 26.Ne3-d5

Now this is quite strong. After 26...Nxd5 27.exd5 Bxd5 28.Bxh6+ or 26... Bxd5 27.exd5 Nxd5 28.Be4, White would have a clear advantage. 26...Nf6-g8 27.Bc1-e3 c5-c4 28.b2-b3 Nc6-a5 29.Nf3xe5 c4xb3 30.Bc2b1 Qb8-b7 31.Be3-d4 Kg7-h7 32.Nd5-f4 Be6-c4

With all his pieces aiming at Black’s king White should win without undue exertion. Here Smyslov expected the simple but deadly 33.Qg4,

when White will crash through by taking on g6. Euwe gave 33.Qg4 Nf6 34.Qg3 Nxe4 35.Qe3, and after Black retreats his knight or protects it with 35...f5, White wins with 36.Nexg6. 33.Ne5xg6 In his book about the tournament, Euwe wrote: “This is also good and in any case more attractive than the previous variation.” That’s right, but... 33...f7xg6 34.Nf4xg6 Too much of a good thing, wrote Euwe. The second sacrifice is unsound. After 34.Qg4, White’s attack would decide quickly. 34...Kh7xg6 35.e4-e5+ Kg6-f7 36.Qe2-h5+ Kf7-f8 37.f2-f4 Euwe: “The sad acknowledgment that there is nothing to be had anymore. After 37.Bc5+ Be7 38.Qf5+ Ke8 39.Qg6+ there is the saving 39...Bf7.” Yes, of course. This line suggest that during the game Euwe had forgotten about Black’s Bc4, considering it to be just a big pawn. 37...Bd8-b6 38.Qh5-f5+ Kf8-e7 39.Qf5-h7+ Ke7-d8 40.Bd4xb6+ Qb7xb6+ 41.Kg1-h2 Qb6-e3 42.Qh7-f5 Na5-c6 0-1 This was Black’s sealed move.

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Canary of the Web I thought that Nigel Short had been playing up a bit too much on his age. During this year’s Corus tournament he told us almost every day that for someone of his advanced years the B-group was much more suitable than the A-group with its killer sharks. Then, when in the last round he spoiled a winning position, thereby missing an invitation for next year’s A-group, he looked shattered.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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A few months later, after winning the Sigeman tournament in Malmö by a big margin, he wrote in New in Chess that apparently there was still life in the old dog. Last year I related here an anecdote about the great film director Luis Buñuel, who, in his final years, used to accost strangers on the street, pointing out to them some random decrepit and shriveled old man and saying: “Do you see that poor fellow? It is the film director Buñuel. Isn’t it terrible what has happened to him?”

NIC Magazine, 2009/5

Winning Chess Middlegames by Ivan Sokolov Nigel Short

If Nigel intended to follow that road, a recent splendid success at the Staunton Memorial tournament in London may have stopped him. To celebrate the friendship or maybe the eternal rivalry between England and the Netherlands, the annual Howard Staunton Memorial tournament is traditionally an Anglo-Dutch event. This year it was played according to the Scheveningen system, providing an opportunity to the chess world to practice once again the pronunciation of a difficult world. “Schevenigen System” means that every Dutch player met every English player (twice). The Dutch team consisted of Van Wely, Ivan Sokolov, L’Ami, Smeets and Werle, the English team of Short, Adams, Howell, MacShane and Jones. Ivan Sokolov is a Dutch citizen, but he has switched his chess nationality back to his country of origin, Bosnia. The Dutch chess world considers him still one of its own and chief organizer Raymond Keene might have thought his participation indispensable to provide a drinking and talking companion to Jan Timman, who was playing in a second Staunton tournament, an all-play-all. For the opening ceremony Keene, an advocate of mind-improving methods, had combined some of his hobbies by inviting a nutritionist to give a lecture on this subject. Eat plenty of fish, was his recommendation, that immediately could be put into practice by the players, as both the tournament and the opening festivities were in the famous restaurant Simpson’s-on-the-Strand, Keene’s second home. By the way, last week in my hometown Amsterdam the American champion Hikaru Nakamura won a brilliant game against Alexander Beliavsky. Nakamura said that he had been sick and had thrown up twice during the game. So maybe it’s rotten fish that really does it for brilliance. On rating the Dutch and English were almost evenly matched, but the final result was 26½-23½ in favor of England, after a disastrous ninth (and next to last) round. Already a few rounds earlier things had threatened to go the same way. Then Jan Timman had jokingly said to Nigel Short that it resembled

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

Lucerne 1982, referring to that black day at the Olympiad when our Dutch team, with Timman himself at first board, was beaten 4-0 by England. I took it lightly. I was soundly beaten by John Nunn, but this day of shame was also the day that a woman I had met a week earlier came to visit me in Lucerne. We are still married. At the Staunton tournament, Nigel Short had a splendid score of 8 out of 10 against the cream of Dutch chess, where only Sergei Tiviakov was missing. No more coquetry about premature senility, I presume. The present world champion Anand will turn 40 this year; Ivanchuk, recently back into the top ten, has already reached that age and Gelfand is 41. I am not saying that chess life begins at 40, but there is certainly still life in the middle-aged dogs. The all-play-all tournament was won by Jan Timman (57), who lost only one game, against Viktor Kortchnoi (78). Early on during the tournament there had been a heated discussion on the Dutch (English language) website chessvibes.com about the organizers’ decision to charge five pounds for the live transmission of the moves. Understandably a foreign contributor wondered if it was a coincidence that this subject was of such great concern to a Dutch website. “In matters of commerce the fault of the Dutch is giving too little and asking too much.” That’s how the English see us. And here is another one, from the English shipping business, where traditionally a “Dutch wife” means a wooden plank with a hole in it. In general I find nothing wrong in the concept of charging money for web services. Writers can only profit when websites would be a source of income instead of a huge drain of money, as almost all newspaper websites are nowadays. But if feasible at all, I think that charging money for things that are not under copyright, such as chess moves without commentary, is doomed to failure. Keene defended the charge as a reasonable contribution to the cost of the live transmission, as a gift to charity and most interestingly as a sign of the times. In his view, now that the media tycoon Rupert Murdoch had announced his intention to let his newspapers charge money for the contents of their websites, the bell tolls for the antiquated providers of free services. As one of Murdoch’s newspapers is The Times, which has Raymond Keene as its chess editor. I wondered if Murdoch might have used him as a reconnaissance, just as coal miners used to take a canary with them and hang it in a cage on the ceiling of the pit, so that they could run away in time if the bird dropped dead because of mine gas. Chess used to be called the fruit fly of Artificial Intelligence, but it might get a second life as the canary of the web economy. Here is one game from the “Scheveningen” event. Of course as a patriot I picked a Dutch win. Gawain Jones - Erwin l’Ami 7th Staunton Memorial, London 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.d2-d4 e5xd4 4.Nf3xd4 Bf8-b4+ 5.c2c3 Bb4-c5 6.Bc1-e3 Bc5-b6 7.Nd4-f5 Bb6xe3 8.Nf5xe3 Ng8-f6 9.f2-f3 00 10.c3-c4 d7-d6 11.Qd1-d2 Nc6-e5 12.Bf1-e2 Bc8-e6 13.Nb1-c3 Kg8h8 14.f3-f4 Ne5-g4 15.Ne3-c2 Ng4-h6 16.0-0-0 a7-a6 17.f4-f5 Be6-d7 18.Qd2-f4 Bd7-c6 19.g2-g4 Nf6-d7 20.g4-g5 Nh6-g8 21.h2-h4 Rf8-e8 22.f5-f6 White’s preponderance on the kingside is so overwhelming that he could have won by more quiet means. 22...g7xf6 23.Be2-g4 Nd7-e5 24.Bg4-f5 Bc6-d7 Here and later Black might take pawn c4, but considering White’s attack it wouldn’t make much difference. 25.Nc2-e3 Bd7-e6 26.Kc1-b1 b7-b5 27.c4-c5 b5-b4 28.Nc3-d5 Ra8-b8 29.g5xf6 Black was in chains, but White’s last move gives him some freedom. A quiet move such as 29.Qg3 would be more pressing. 29...Ng8xf6 30.Qf4-h6 Be6xd5 31.Rh1-g1 Ne5-g6 32.Ne3xd5 Nf6xd5 33.h4-h5

A beautiful move, not touching Black’s Nd5 in order to attack the other knight. However, beauty arose from necessity as after 33.Rxd5 there would be the strong answer 33...Qh4 and after 33.exd5 Re2 34.h5 Qf6 35. Bc2 Rxc2 Black would have a draw at least. 33...Nd5-c3+ And here is a beautiful move by Black, though 33...Qh4 might have been better.

34.b2xc3 As the players found during the post mortem, White would still have a winning attack after the cool 34.Ka1. 34...b4xc3+ 35.Kb1-c1 c3-c2 36.Kc1xc2 And here White would still have at least a draw in the line 36.hxg6 cxd1Q + 37.Rxd1 fxg6 38.Rh1 Re7 39.Qxg6 Qg8 40.Qf6+ Rg7 41.Bxh7. 36...Qd8-h4 37.Rd1-d2 Re8xe4 Now Black’s pieces will fall all over White’s king. 38.Bf5xe4 Qh4xe4+ 39.Rd2-d3 Qe4-c4+ 40.Kc2-d2 Rb8-b2+ 41.Kd2e3 Qc4-e6+ 0-1 The most beautiful move from the Staunton tournaments was played by the new English champion David Howell. David Howell - Ivan Sokolov

As a “white to move and win” puzzle this position wouldn’t be suitable, as there is an abundance of winning moves, but Howell’s is certainly the most striking. 28.Qd4-h8+ Kf8-e7 After 28...Rxh8 29.Rxf7+, Black will be mated. 29.Rxf7+ 1-0 After 29...Rxf7 there is a mate in eight starting with 30.Qe8+, but White might well have settled for the simple win of the queen by 30.Rxf7+ Kxf7 31.Qxh2. Had he done so, computer-aided pedants might accuse him of having committed a “blunder” by missing a mate, but in the heat of battle it is wise to follow the advice of the experienced coach: if you can choose between giving mate or taking the queen, take the queen, for the mate might not be there. I might add another maxim: never resign when the opponent has the choice between two easy wins, for he might find a third one that doesn’t work.

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Kasparov as a Lion Tamer Would you like to watch a tennis match between Björn Borg and John McEnroe, if they were to meet again after many years to commemorate their past rivalry? All my tennis-playing friends agreed that indeed they would watch it with great interest, hoping to see some fine shots, but mainly to evoke old and cherished memories.

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The same with Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov, still able to fire the enthusiasm of the media and also that of seasoned chess watchers.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Imagine my surprise when a radio station called me to ask if I would like to fly to Valencia early this week to report on the present match of the two great K’s. It would have been nice, combining the job with some on the spot reporting for ChessCafe.com, but as it was I had booked a holiday already. I am not complaining, but I would have liked to do both.

NIC Magazine, 2009/5

It has been described as a grudge match, but it seems that any animosity between them belongs to a distant past. Rivalries tend to mellow with age. Lasker and Tarrasch, Botvinnik and Smyslov, they certainly had their fights, but in their old age they managed to almost become friends. Only the relationship between Botvinnik and Bronstein remained sour until the end. It is my personal experience that even chessplayers with whom I had troubled relations are now dear to me, just because they have been around for such a long time, sharing part of my life.

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Karpov has been quite active lately, not particularly successfully, but Kasparov’s appearances at chess events are rare. The last time before the present match was at a simul in Zürich, Sunday August 23. It was to celebrate the 200-year jubilee of the venerable Schach-Gesellschaft Zürich, the oldest chess club in the world.

Winning Chess Middlegames by Ivan Sokolov

There were many festivities, the main one being a rapid tournament won by Kramnik, a half-point ahead of Anand. Public interest went mainly to the simuls, which were held in the main hall of the central railway station. Except for Smyslov and Kasimdzhanov, who was playing in the Grand Prix tournament in Armenia, all living world champions participated. They all had twenty-five opponents. Play started around 2 p.m. and the two champions who took the most time, Karpov and Kasparov, finished their exhibition after 9 p.m. Usually simul givers do their rounds quickly and I have even seen them running, to be able to take the last train back to their home town. The video on YouTube of Kasparov’s display is amazing. He is pacing up and down, massaging his head, he approaches the board, recoiling as if in horror, and finally, groaning and moaning, he makes a move. You don’t see an ordinary simul giver here, but rather a lion tamer observing a dangerous animal, or a tormented action painter who from different angles is contemplating where to throw his paint.

The Life & Games of Akiva Rubinstein by John Donaldson & Nikolay Minev

One thing this video makes quite clear, for the few that didn’t know it already: whatever Kasparov does, he does with full commitment. Kasparov at the Champions Simul

It is certainly true that he faced strong opposition. Gabriel Gaehwiler’s rating is 2223 and if all twenty-five opponents had approximately that strength, it is no wonder that Kasparov needed seven hours for his excellent score of 21 wins and 4 draws. Garry Kasparov - Gabriel Gaehwiler Champions Simul Zürich Sicilian Defense [B52] 1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.Ng1-f3 d7-d6 3.Bf1-b5+ Bc8-d7 4.Bb5xd7+ Qd8xd7 5. c2-c4 Ng8-f6 6.Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 7.0-0 g7-g6 8.d2-d4 c5xd4 9.Nf3xd4 Bf8-g7 10.Nd4-e2 Qd7-e6 11.Nc3-d5 Ra8-c8 In the famous Internet game Kasparov vs. The World from 1999, which has a whole book devoted to it, The World obtained good chances with the exchange sacrifice 11...Qxe4 12. Nc7+ Kd7 13. Nxa8 Qxc4. Black’s move here is also quite acceptable. 12.f2-f3 0-0 13.Ra1-b1 Qe6-d7 14.Nd5-c3 Rf8-d8 15.Kg1-h1 e7-e6 16. Bc1-g5 Nc6-e7 This may look like a loss of time, but is has no serious consequences. 17.Qd1-d3 h7-h6 18.Bg5-h4 g6-g5 19.Bh4-f2 Ne7-c6 20.Qd3-d2 d6-d5 21.c4xd5 e6xd5 22.Rf1-d1 d5xe4 23.Qd2xd7 Rd8xd7 24.Rd1xd7 Nf6xd7 25.Nc3xe4

Black has played well and shouldn’t lose the endgame. 25…Nc6-b4 In itself this move is playable, but as part of a wrong plan it is the first step to perdition. After the simple and sound 25...Nde5, Black should have no worries. 26.Ne2-c3 Nb4-d3 And here after 26...b6, Black would still be alright. Instead he gives up a pawn for no reason. 27.Bf2xa7 Nd3xb2 Even so, after 27…N7e5 Black would have some pressure for the pawn. 28.Rb1xb2 Bg7xc3 Maybe the best way to keep some drawing chances was 28...b6 29. Bxb6 f5. 29.Rb2xb7 Black must have calculated that after 29. Rc2 he would escape by 29... Ra8, but after Kasparov’s simple move, White is a sound pawn up. 29…Bc3-a5 30.Ba7-e3 Nd7-e5 31.h2-h4 g5xh4 32.Rb7-b5 Ne5-c4 33. Be3xh6 Rc8-d8 Black was fighting for a lost cause, but after 33...Bd8 he wouldn’t be mated. 34.Ne4-f6+ Kg8-h8 35.Rb5-h5 1-0

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The Worst Luck in the World I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw the photograph in the October issue of the German magazine Schach. It showed Levon Aronian, winner of the Grand Slam final in Bilbao, together with his second, the Australian Alex Wohl.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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Alex Wohl, could that be? A strong player surely, but as a second for Aronian? Visitors of our café will know him from a fine article by Tony Miles, originally published by ChessCafe.com in January 2000 and recently resurrected from the archives. The title of that article was "The Holey Wohly"? and its subject the opening system that starts with 1...Na6, one of the bizarre openings investigated by Wohl. Because of my limited knowledge of English I thought originally that “holey” was an alternate spelling of “holy,” just as you have whisky and whiskey. I couldn’t understand the holiness of 1...Na6, but later I learned that holey means “full of holes.”

NIC Magazine, 2009/5

“When will Aronian play 1...Na6?” Schach wondered in its photo caption. Aronian is a man inclined to irony, but I think that even for him taking up the Wohly against the world’s top players would be driving irony to an unseemly extreme. In their crystal balls, chess watchers tend to see a future match for the world championship between Aronian and Magnus Carlsen. What to expect of the battle of the seconds? Would the collected knowledge of Garry Kasparov be deployed against the Holey Wohly and similar aberrations? Surely not. Play through and download the games from ChessCafe.com in the DGT Game Viewer.

As Schach’s reporter Dirk Poldauf notes, Aronian tends to replace his seconds often, not because he is dissatisfied with their work, but to be confronted with different styles and insights. With such variety, when it would really come to a match with Carlsen, he might hire Vladimir Kramnik, which in a way would give Kasparov and Kramnik the opportunity to repeat their match of 2000, this time as puppet players.

Winning Chess Middlegames by Ivan Sokolov

Of course speaking about puppet players is unfair and insulting. Recently Carlsen spoke about his relation with Kasparov on a Norwegian TV show. He said that Kasparov had much to offer, but as their styles were very different, Kasparov could also learn something from him. In their blitz games, the score was about even. “Neither of us – he especially – likes to lose the games.” Surely no puppet, this self-assured Magnus and of course the same goes for Aronian. In Bilbao, Aronian won one of his two games against Alexander Grischuk by means of a startling opening novelty – a piece sacrifice – on move ten. Grischuk told Poldauf that after that sacrifice he had considered to resign straightaway, as it was obvious that Aronian would have analysed all ramifications of his sacrifice. Here, I think, spoke the professional poker player Alexander Grischuk, who must be used to folding his hand when confronted with a spectacular bet that cannot be based on bluffing. After ten or fifteen minutes of agony the chess player in Grischuk prevailed, he didn’t resign, but put up a fine defense that brought him near to saving the game.

The Maroczy System by Sergei Tiviakov Save 10% Now!

Grischuk went on complaining to Poldauf about his bad luck, meeting deadly prepared variations not only against Aronian, but also against Karjakin. In this respect he considered himself “the unluckiest chess player in the world,” and he concluded his lament with the dramatic words: “I am the new Van Wely.” Poldauf, with special greetings to his Dutch friends, commented tongue-incheek that this was indeed terrible, an uncomparable tragedy... Of course, it isn’t really. Recently on a Dutch website I saw a photo which showed Loek van Wely, helping his girlfriend into the saddle of a horse that he had just given away to a horse-loving society. As long as you’re in a position to give away horses, your life is not too bad. The other game between Aronian and Grischuk in Bilbao was a sharp antiMoscow gambit, won by Grischuk as white. A few weeks ago Aronian had his revenge in the same variation. This game was played in the European Club Cup tournament in the Macedonian city Ohrid. As the complete Armenian team that had won the Dresden Olympiad was playing for MIKA from Yerevan, this club may have been considered a strong favourite, but eventually MIKA finished second behind Economist from Saratov. Grischuk,A (2733) - Aronian,L (2773) 25th ECC Ohrid MKD (6), 09.10.2009 Semi-Slav [D43] 1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 3.c2-c4 c7-c6 4.Nb1-c3 e7-e6 5.Bc1-g5 h7h6 6.Bg5-h4 d5xc4 7.e2-e4 g7-g5 8.Bh4-g3 b7-b5 They had had this position already twice in 2009 and both times Grischuk had been victorious as white. 9.Nf3-e5 Bc8-b7 10.h2-h4 g5-g4 11.Bf1-e2 Nb8-d7 12.Ne5xd7 In Bilbao the game went interestingly: 12.Bxg4 Rg8 13.Nxd7 Qxd7 14.Bf3 00-0 15.Qd2 Rxg3. 12…Qd8xd7 13.Bg3-e5 Qd7-e7 14.0-0 Rh8-g8 15.b2-b3 Nf6-d7 16.Be5-g3 b5-b4 17.Nc3-a4 c4-c3 18.Qd1-d3 This also had been played before by Grischuk, against Gelfand in the rapid tournament in Odessa 2007. After 18...e5 19.Rad1 Bg7 20.d5, White obtained an advantage. 18...h6-h5 19.a2-a3 a7-a5 20.a3xb4 a5xb4 21.Na4-c5 After many complications this will lead to a position where White has to fight for the draw, something that was quite difficult to see at this stage. Maybe White could have tried 21.Ra2, intending to double his rooks. 21...Ra8xa1 Now after 22.Rxa1 Black would defend himself by 22...Nxc5 23.dxc5 e5, intending to meet 24.Ra7 by f6 and Rg7. But White has something else in mind, which at first sight looks quite strong. 22.Nc5xb7

Now what? 22...Nd7-e5 A fine rejoinder. Black couldn't insert 22...Rxf1+ 23.Bxf1 and then play 23... Ne5, for then 24.Qa6 would give White a tremendous attack. 23.Rf1xa1 Ne5xd3 24.Ra1-a8+ The endgame a pawn down after 24.Nd6+ Qxd6 25.Bxd6 Bxd6 might be defendable, but it would be highly unpleasant for White. 24...Ke8-d7 25.Be2xd3 White has only two pieces for his queen, but he is attacking, so it is still an open fight. 25...Qe7-f6 26.Bg3-e5

But this will be nicely refuted. There were several ways for White to reach an endgame with two pieces against a rook, but these positions would be good for Black because of his powerful queenside pawns. White's best would have been 26.e5 Qh6 27.Ra7, when Black cannot prevent perpetual check. 26...Bf8-d6 An unexpected and spectacular move, leading to a winning endgame. 27.Be5xf6 Rg8xa8 28.Kg1-f1 A bit more resilient would have been 28.Nxd6. 28...Ra8-a1+ 29.Kf1-e2 Ra1-a2+ 0-1 White resigned, the c-pawn will cost him a piece.

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Dangerous Brains At the European team championship that was recently held in Novi Sad a nice light-weight game was won by Luke McShane against Ivan Cheparinov.

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McShane, born in 1984, was second on the world ranking list for juniors in 2004, when Teimur Radjabov was first, but nowadays he doesn’t play very often. Checking his bio on Wikipedia, I found that after finishing his studies – philosophy and mathematics at Oxford – he found a job as a trader at the famous, or if you wish, infamous bank, Goldman Sachs.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

In some respects his new career will certainly be preferable to that of a professional chess player, as I read that Goldman Sachs has set aside $16.7 billion this year to pay bonuses to their employees. They really care for their breadwinners. Though one shouldn’t begrudge Luke McShane his new niche, Goldman Sachs’s gain is the chess world’s loss.

The Black Lion by Leo Jansen & Jerry van Rekom

The Chebanenko Slav According to Bologan by Victor Bologan

Play through and download the games from ChessCafe.com in the DGT Game Viewer. Luke McShane

A few months ago the American humorist Calvin Trillin explained in The New York Times, half seriously and half for fun, that the financial crises of the past decades arose because bright people had started to work for Wall Street. He means chess players, I thought. Were there then no bright people on Wall Street in the past? According to Trillin there were not. His experience had been that, in the good old days, his university’s alumni had income inversely proportional to their academic accomplishments. The really bright students had become teachers or professors of, let’s say, physics or mathematics. They had a profession that was the joy of their life and financially speaking they had a secure life, with all the traditional middleclass longings comfortably fulfilled. The less gifted went to work in the financial sector and became rich. This way everybody was happy. The idyllic division of work, satisfaction, and income ended because on one hand, the comfortable middle-class existence of the intellectual class came under severe pressure, and on the other hand, the riches of the people on Wall Street became so monstrously big that they became alluring even for intellectuals. The bright people began to migrate to Wall Street, with devastating effects.

Winning Chess Middlegames by Ivan Sokolov

The new generation of clever youngsters invented ingenious financial products, supported by razor-sharp computer programs aimed at reaping a rich harvest in split seconds, something that had been far beyond the intellectual powers of the simple and relatively innocent plodders, their elders who were still nominally the bosses of a world they couldn’t really understand anymore. These plodders could only sit back, happily noticing that they were becoming as rich as never before because of the financial wizardry of their underlings. So, my reading of Trillin’s article suggested that it had been the chess players who had caused the financial crisis, the chess players and their like. Luke McShane is only one example of a successful chess player who went into finance. There are many, and among my own friends there is Jeroen Piket, who gave up a fine chess career to nurse the fortune of the chess patron Joop van Oosterom, sponsor of the yearly Amber tournament and many others. If Trillin is right, the world can only be thankful that most chess professionals have stuck to their jobs, oblivious to the lure of the mammon. The quirky genius Alexander Morovzevich has sometimes hinted that he might be tempted by other occupations and we can only shiver when we think of what he might be up to in the great world outside. As a nuclear physicist, he would find a way to let the universe disappear into a black hole and as a financial wizard, he might find the blueprint for a perfectly working economy, completely trimmed of the messy presence of human beings. To come back to the game of Luke McShane that instigated this train of thought, it is a fine example of “gifted amateur beats professional.” The amateur has no time to study the intricacies of modern opening theory and he realizes that against a specialist such as Ivan Cheparinov, it would be senseless to try. When he triumphs with a simple common sense scheme, amateurs rejoice, while many professionals would echo the famous lament of Aron Nimzowitsch, addressed to Milan Vidmar, who apart from a world-class chess player was also an electrical engineer: why don’t you go back to your transformers? McShane, L (2615) – Cheparinov, I (2667) 17th TCh-Eur Novi Sad SRB (3), 24.10.2009 Sicilian Defense [B21] 1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.d2-d3 Nb8-c6 3.f2-f4 g7-g6 4.Ng1-f3 Bf8-g7 5.Bf1-e2 d7-d6 6.0-0 Ng8-f6 In Larsen-Fischer, sixth game of the candidates’ match, Denver 1971, Fischer played 6...e6 7. Na3 Nge7. Black’s knight on f6 gives White more possibilities for a kingside attack, but for the moment Black has no reason to worry. 7.Qd1-e1 0-0 8.Qe1-h4

“To be honest” – a favorite expression of Anand’s, just like “I must admit,” when there is nothing devious to admit – White’s attack looks quite primitive.

A primitive weapon in the hands of a man who is not primitive at all, will turn out as a devastating weapon. 8...c5-c4 9.Kg1-h1 c4xd3 10.c2xd3 Bc8-g4 11.Nb1-c3 Bg4xf3 12.Be2xf3 Qd8-b6 13.Bf3-d1 So much for primitivism. This is a subtle move. The bishop will be redeployed to great effect. 13...Qb6-a6 Too optimistic. The queen was well-placed at b6 and he should have played a normal developing move; e.g., 13...Rac8. 14.Rf1-f3 Rf8-c8 15.Rf3-h3 h7-h5 16.f4-f5 Nc6-e5 17.Bc1-g5

Now it is clear that Black’s queen should be at b6. Not only because in that case b2 would be attacked, but in some variations the move Ne5-g4 would hamper White’s attack. 17...Kg8-f8 A sure sign of trouble. There is no good defense anymore against White’s attack. 18.f5xg6 f7xg6 19.Bd1-b3 Ne5xd3 20.Rh3-f3 1-0 After 20.Rf1 Nc5, Black would be able to eliminate White’s Bb3, but now it’s over. After 20...Ne5 21.Bxf6 Nxf3 22.Bxe7+ Ke8 23.gxf3, White would win easily.

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In the spirit of the holiday season, we are pleased to offer ChessCafe. com readers the opportunity to purchase the International Series Ebonized Chess Set at a discount of $14.00 from suggested retail price. Just add the item to your shopping cart and enter the coupon code "ebonized14" (without the quotes) to purchase this fine set at the amazingly low price of $25.95. This offer expires December 31, 2009.

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The Art of Drawing

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Article C.06.10.e of the FIDE Handbook states, "Where it is clear that games have been prearranged, the CA (chief arbiter) will impose penalties." Though this article is a dead letter in practice, it makes it obvious that one cannot do what Sergei Tiviakov did at the start of this year's Dutch championship: after the drawing of lots, he told the arbiter that he wouldn't be able to attend the last round and therefore had already agreed a draw with his opponent of that round Sipke Ernst.

My Life for Chess Vol. 1 by Viktor Kortchnoi

No, he couldn't expect the arbiter to condone this behavior. Even when robbery is only very rarely brought to court, as is the case in the Netherlands, one cannot enter a police station and demand a license for stealing. After lengthy deliberations, the arbiters and the tournament directors refused to accept Tiviakov's request. Tiviakov became very angry and dropped out of the tournament.

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A penalty for breach of contract was duly imposed by the Dutch Chess Federation: Tiviakov was not included in the Dutch team for the European Team Championship. As this championship coincided with a much more profitable small tournament in Hoogeveen, where Tiviakov would be playing against Ivanchuk, Judit Polgar, and Anish Giri, the penalty had no practical effect at all, but decorum had been upheld.

My Life for Chess Vol. 2 by Viktor Kortchnoi

The comparison between a prearranged draw and a crime such as robbery which I just made will seem too harsh to most chess players. I didn't really mean it. There are surely some chess pros who in their whole career have never prearranged a draw – I think Bobby Fischer was one of them – but they are a tiny minority, to which I have not the honor to belong. Look – or rather please don't look – at my games against Vila (nine moves) and Kaplan (eleven moves) at the Olympiad in Skopje in 1972. All the Dutch games in the matches against Albania and Puerto Rico were drawn after about five minutes of play, as our captain had shrewdly calculated that with 2-2 in our final two matches in our qualification group, we would reach the A Group finals. I was duly punished, though not by an arbiter. At the end of the Olympiad, it turned out that winning against the weak Vila, or not playing at all against him, would have secured a grandmaster norm for me. The five-minute draw had killed it. I am not saying that prearranged draws occurred only in my praxis on captain's orders. More often it was when I played in a foreign tournament together with a Dutch colleague. You analyze adjourned games together, you eat and drink together, you draw together. The usual practice is to play a few dull moves of a well-known opening variation, exchange some pieces, and then shake hands. This is the practical way, but a proud person who considers it a basic human right to determine his

My Best Games, Vol. 1 by Viktor Kortchnoi

tournament strategy himself, will find it undignified to go through the motions of a transparent illusion of a real game. At the student Olympiad in Graz in 1972, the game Hübner-Rogoff was drawn after 1.c4. This was not accepted by the arbiters and the players were ordered to play a new game. They obliged with a ridiculous game in which both players gave away all their pieces as quickly as possible. This was not accepted either and Hübner and Rogoff were ordered to appear at the board for the third time. For Hübner, who had already compromised his principles by playing the second time, this was more than he could accept. He didn't appear for the third time, so Rogoff was declared winner. Ken Rogoff had been the more practical one, so it stands to reason that not much later he gave up his chess career to become an economist of world-wide fame. This year in a tournament in Berlin the following game was played. Elisabeth Pähtz (2474) - Raj Tischbierek (2447) Berlin, 09.07.2009 Tartakower System [A41] 1.d4 d6 2.Qd2 e5 3.a4 e4 4.h3 f5 5.Qf4 Be7 6.Qh2 Be6 7.Ra3 c5 8.Rg3 Qa5 + 9.Nd2 Bb3 10.d5 Bh4 11.c4 e3 12.f3 f4 stalemate ½-½

In fact this is a well-known construction of the American puzzle king Sam Loyd, not the fastest stalemate possible, but the fastest with all pieces and pawns still on the board. Tischbierek had played exactly the same "game" at the 1990 East German championship against Thomas Pähtz, Elisabeth's father. This time there was a fury from the Internet crowd, which was not able to appreciate the little joke. "Die Volksseele kochte" (the popular fury was at boiling point) wrote Tischbierek in his magazine Schach. He humbly admitted that it had been a very bad example for the young and promised never to do it again. Hübner and Tischbierek were rather quixotic in their insistence of making it crystal clear that their games were not real. A more practical attitude has been displayed by Viktor Kortchnoi, who in his autobiography Chess is my Life wrote: "... it would appear that the English have never in fact learned to arrange draws beforehand. In a way that you can't find fault, because it's done so well. As a textbook example for the English and for others who are equally uneducated in this respect, I will give without commentary one partly forgotten game." It was this one: Viktor Kortchnoi - Mark Taimanov Hastings 1955/56 Sicilian Defense [B67] 1.e2-e4 c7-c5 2.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 3.d2-d4 c5xd4 4.Nf3xd4 Ng8-f6 5.Nb1-c3 d7-d6 6.Bc1-g5 e7-e6 7.Qd1-d2 a7-a6 8.0-0-0 Bc8-d7 9.f2-f4 Ra8-c8 10. Nd4-f3 Qd8-a5 11.Kc1-b1 b7-b5 12.Bf1-d3 Nc6-b4 13.Rh1-e1 Nb4xd3 14.

Qd2xd3 b5-b4

15.Nc3-d5 e6xd5 16.e4xd5+ Ke8-d8 17.Bg5xf6+ g7xf6 18.Qd3-d4 Kd8-c7 19.Qd4-a7+ Kc7-d8 20.Qa7-d4 Kd8-c7 21.Qd4-a7+ Kc7-d8 ½-½ Indeed, this is the way to do it. Some experts may have been slightly suspicious, but most of the spectators will have enjoyed it for the supposedly short time it lasted. Kortchnoi also relates that later Taimanov, in a book about his games, boasted about the high quality of that game in Hastings. That is going to far, I think.

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Beware, Chess Players Crossing! At the opening ceremony of the Corus tournament in Wijk aan Zee, I met the 98-year old Johan van Hulst, who would take part in the group of former and present members of parliament, as he does every year.

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He is an admirable man, honored by the Israeli organization Yad Vashem for his resistance work during World War II, when he was able to save many Jewish children.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Later he used to be a senator for the Christian Historical Union, a group that was to merge later into a much bigger Christian political party. His CHU was always considered to be "conservative," but not as the word is often used nowadays, as a code for radicals of the Right, but in the classical sense, where moderation is one of the hallmarks of conservatism. As in other years, I had meant to greet him saying something like "So, professor, still above ground?" for I know that he enjoys a playful reference to his venerable age. But my frivolities were stopped by the fact that for the first time I saw him in a wheelchair.

Reggio Emilia 2007/2008 by Mihail Marin & Yuri Garrett

This can happen to someone who would turn ninety-nine during the Corus tournament, but I found it difficult to accept the fact. And so did he, for he explained that I shouldn't think that he was always using that wheelchair; it was only occasionally, and at home he was still able to do everything himself and in no need of help.

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Next year he would celebrate his hundredth anniversary, like Lilienthal, he said. Both will be great birthday parties, I said. Circumstances permitting of course, he added laughingly. A few days later he had won his politician's group together with Jan Nagel, father-in-law of Yasser Seirawan. Though Van Hulst regretted that in a few games he had let his opponents off the hook, he realized that he shouldn't be so ambitious anymore as to be set on winning the group alone. Yes, they mellow with age, but not to the point of self-effacement.

Play the Ponziani by Dave Taylor & Keith Hayward

Monique van de Griendt, who wrote down his words for the tournament website, also interviewed another former Dutch politician, Henk Vonhoff (seventy-eight), a member of the liberal party, which in Europe means right of center. Vonhoff was sad because only former members of parliament took part, not present members. He had some ideas about the reason for their absence, which he didn't want to divulge, but nevertheless did: "If I would develop my ideas they would come to plain insults. Something about the intellectual level of our present members of parliament." A harsh judgment on our political life. Because I knew that the French Senate organizes chess events regularly, I was jealous of the French. For another article Monique van de Griendt interviewed people who live in the village Wijk aan Zee about their opinions of the tournament. They all liked it, one reason being that bars and restaurants flourish during these weeks, though one man said that they had to be careful with the chess players running loose, as they would cross the street absentmindedly right in front of one's car. He said that car drivers in Wijk aan Zee would warn each other when the chess players were bound to arrive. I am writing this article after the seventh round of last Saturday. Alas, no

Bobby Fischer: His Approach to Chess by Elie Agur

glorious deeds of the Dutch contingent can be mentioned yet. When Alexei Shirov had consecutively beaten Tiviakov, Smeets, and Van Wely, my colleague Gert Ligterink wrote in the newspaper de Volkskrant that the Dutch trio had served as a three course dinner. As a chess player, remembering my own struggles with the world's elite, I found it beastly cruel, and as a journalist I was jealous that I hadn't thought of this simile myself. What came to my mind was a line from Mozart's The Abduction from the Seraglio, "first beheaded, then hanged, then spitted with hot skewers..."

Anish Giri

But we relish the success of our fifteen year-old Dutch champion Anish Giri in Group B. We cannot call him a product of the Dutch school of chess, as he was born in St. Petersburg and has lived only a few years in the Netherlands, but at least we can say that he has flourished on Dutch soil. Giri is leading in his Group and up till now he has beaten, seemingly without effort, fine players such as Harikrishna, Nisipeanu, and Sutovsky. See how he beat Pentala Harikrishna in the first round. Last year New In Chess published the English version of the book about the three world championship matches between Botvinnik and Smyslov, played from 1954 till 1958. Apart from Botvinnik's analyses of the match games, it also contains his notebooks, the record of his opening preparations, written before the matches of 1957 and 1958. One of the positions studied by Botvinnik when he prepared for the match of 1958, is the one that occurred after Black's tenth move in the game Harikrishna-Giri. As we can see in his notebook, Botvinnik's intention had been to play 11.e3 followed by 12.e4. These are good moves, but what Giri did against Harikrishna, the immediate 11.e4, was much stronger. When I saw that game I thought that Giri's opening preparation had been better than Botvinnik's, of course not because he was the better player, but because he could use the engines. But I was wrong. Later Giri said that he had never prepared for this sideline of the Slav and that he had seen at the board that 11.e4 was winning. So it had not been Fritz or Rybka that had been superior to Botvinnik's preparation, but just some minutes of thinking at the board by Giri. Had the position occurred in Botvinnik's match, I would like to think that he would also have improved on his preparation. A Dutch writer once said that five minutes typing would provide more ideas than hours of thinking, and so it is with chess. At the board we are in a pressure cooker, much more alert than during our preparations. Giri,Anish (2588) - Harikrishna,Pentala (2672) Corus B Wijk aan Zee NED (1), 16.01.2010 Slav Defense [D17]

1.d2-d4 d7-d5 2.c2-c4 c7-c6 3.Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 4.Nb1-c3 d5xc4 5.a2-a4 Bc8f5 6.Nf3-e5 e7-e6 7.f2-f3 Bf8-b4 8.Ne5xc4 Nf6-d5 9.Bc1-d2 Qd8-h4+ 10.g2g3 Qh4xd4

11.e2-e4 The way Botvinnik intended to play, first 11.e3 and only then 12.e4, as already played in 1939 by Mikenas, is also good, but Giri's move is much more incisive. 11...Nd5xc3 After 11...Bxc3, White has 12.Nd6+ Kf8 13.bxc3 Nxc3 14.Qc1 with advantage. 12.b2xc3 Bb4xc3 13.Ra1-a2 Bf5xe4 Black could play 13...Bh3, but after 14.Qb3 Bxf1 15.Rxf1, White would be fine. 14.Qd1-c1 Be4-d3

After 14...Bxf3 15.Bxc3 Qe4 16.Kf2, White wins material; e.g., 16...0-0 17. Nd2 Qd5 18.Bc4 Bxh1 19.Bxd5 Bxd5 and Black's rook and four pawns are not enough for the piece. 15.Qc1xc3 Qd4xc3 16.Bd2xc3 Bd3xf1 17.Rh1xf1 O-O 18.Ke1-e2 Black has three pawns for the piece, but they are not dangerous. White's pieces are active. He must be winning. 18...b7-b6 19.Rf1-d1 Nb8-a6 20.Rd1-d6 Rf8-c8 21.Nc4-e5 c6-c5 22.a4-a5 Na6-c7 23.a5xb6 Nc7-b5 24.Rd6-d3 a7xb6 25.Ra2-b2 Nb5-c7 26.Ne5-c4 Rc8-e8 27.Nc4xb6 Ra8-a6 28.Ke2-d2 e6-e5 29.Nb6-d5 Nc7-e6 30.Bc3xe5 c5-c4 31.Nd5-b4 Ra6-a1 32.Rd3-e3 Re8-d8+ 33.Kd2-c2 Ra1-h1 34.Re3-e2 Rd8-d1 35.Kc2-c3 Rd1-f1 36.f3-f4 h7-h5 37.Kc3xc4 h5-h4 38.Nb4-d5 Rf1c1+ 39.Rb2-c2 h4xg3 40.h2xg3 Rc1xc2+ 41.Re2xc2 f7-f6 42.f4-f5 Ne6-f8 43.Be5-f4 g7-g6 44.f5xg6 Kg8-g7 45.Rc2-a2 Kg7xg6 46.Ra2-a6 Nf8-h7 47. Kc4-d3 Rh1-e1 48.Nd5-e3 Nh7-f8 49.Kd3-e4 Nf8-d7 50.Ra6-d6 Nd7-f8 51. Ke4-f3 Re1-b1 52.Kf3-g4 Rb1-e1 53.Ne3-d5 Nf8-h7 54.Bf4-g5 Re1-e5 55. Nd5-f4+ 1-0

Black prolonged the game for a while, but now he resigned.

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The King's Gambit, Still Kicking The German Lieutenant-Colonel Adolf Rosentreter (1844-1920) is almost forgotten as a chessplayer and with a quick search, without going through old magazines, I could find only one game by him.

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The Rosentreter Gambit is almost forgotten also, which may be a good reason to study it, according to Viktor Kortchnoi's motto "everything that is well forgotten, is new."

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

The game by Rosentreter that I found was important for opening theory. At the time it was played everyone thought that after 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Bg5 h6 8.Bh4 g5 Black had a good position, until Rosentreter showed in a game against a certain Höfer, played in Berlin in 1899, that after the fine move 9.f4 White has a big advantage. But this line is not what is known as the Rosentreter Gambit; that goes 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 g5 4.d4. The last time I checked my database there were 152 games in which this gambit was played, which is practically nothing.

Wojo's Weapons by Jonathan Hilton & Dean Ippolito

To play for an advantage White must be willing to sacrifice a piece and the position after 4...g4 5. Bxf4 gxf3 6. Qxf3 showed up thirty times. Somewhat surprisingly, considering the lack of popularity of the line, in two of these games top players were involved. Fedorov-Adams (1997) was won by White and Morozevich - Alexandrov (2008) was won by Black.

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For many years Alexei Fedorov was the most prominent Knight of the King's Gambit and his results were excellent; he scored about sixty-seven percent with white. A few years ago he stopped playing the gambit, probably because he didn't want to be too predictable, to the great regret of many admirers.

King's Gambit, Part One by Andrew Martin

King's Gambit, Part Two by Andrew Martin

Emre Can

The Rosentreter Gambit reappeared at the World Team Chess Championship that was held in January of this year in the Turkish city Bursa. It was played in the match Turkey - Armenia by the young Turkish player Emre Can against the redoubtable Gabriel Sargissian. White lost in twenty-one moves. This may appear to be bad news for the lovers of gambit play, but here appearances deceive. On his way to a quick defeat, Can had reached a position that may be called a gambiteer's dream. The extent to which the Rosentreter Gambit has passed into oblivion can be

judged by the fact that a prominent Internet journalist who commented on Can's game, called it the Muzio Gambit, which is a related piece sacrifice with far different consequences. Can, Emre (2442) - Sargissian, Gabriel (2680) WchT 7th Bursa (3), 07.01.2010 King's Gambit [C37]] 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.f2-f4 e5xf4 3.Ng1-f3 g7-g5 4.d2-d4 This is the Rosentreter Gambit. The Muzio Gambit is 4.Bc4 g4 5.0-0. 4...g5-g4 Just as in the variation with 4.Bc4, 4...Bg7 is a good and solid move. 5.Bc1xf4

This was already recommended by Paul Keres around 1950, but according to my database it took until 1987 before it was actually played in a tournament of some importance. The main variation, if the term can be used for such a rare line, went 5.Ne5 Qh4+ 6.g3 fxg3 7.Qxg4 g2+ 8.Qxh4 gxh1Q 9.Nc3 and White, a rook down, may be better. However, as Keres indicated, Black can spoil the fun with the sober 7...Qxg4, when the endgame is certainly not worse for him. 5...g4xf3 6.Qd1xf3 d7-d6 7.Nb1-c3 Nb8-c6 8.0-0-0 Fedorov - Adams, European team ch 1997, went 8.Bc4 Qh4+ 9.Bg3 Qf6 10. Qxf6 Nxf6 11.0-0 and here Black felt forced to return the piece. After 11... Nxd4 12.Rxf6 White had a small advantage and went on to win. 8...h7-h5 9.Qf3-f2 In Morozevich-Alexandrov, FIDE World Cup 2000, White played 9.e5. 9...Bc8-g4 10.Rd1-d2 Bf8-h6 11.h2-h3 Bg4-d7 12.e4-e5 White has a dangerous attack. 12...Bd7-f5 Putting his bishop on an undefended square, which could have cost him dearly.

13.Bf1-c4 Missing his first chance of a direct hit. After 13.exd6 cxd6 14.Nb5, Black would have big problems, as the attempt to protect d6 by 14...Bf8 would fail after 15.d5. 13...Ng8-e7 14.e5xd6 Now White's attack peters out. White would still have a good game after 14. Bxh6 Rxh6 15.Rf1 with the threats 16.g4 or 16.Qe3. 14...Bh6xf4 15.Qf2xf4 Qd8xd6 16.Qf4-f2 White has nothing; he is just a piece down. 16..a7-a6 17.Rh1-e1 0-0-0 18.d4-d5 Nc6-e5 19.Rd2-e2 f7-f6 The pedant computer prefers 19...Nxc4 20.Rxe7 Be6, but White doesn't need acrobatics. His simple human move ends it quickly. 20.g2-g4 h5xg4 21.h3xg4 Bf5xg4 0-1 Though this game may not be an effective advertisement for the Rosentreter Gambit, the fact that Fedorov beat Adams with it and Can obtained a fine position against Sargissian suggests that this forgotten variation has some merit. Trying to learn more about it I consulted back issues of Kaissiber, the German magazine of ChessCafe's columnist Stefan Bücker, but even this treasure trove of unusual opening variations had nothing on the Rosentreter Gambit. I found a photo of Rosentreter and some biographical information, but this was connected to the gambit line in the Italian opening that I mentioned earlier. There is much material on other variations of the King's Gambit in Kaissiber and in the latest issue of January-March 2010, the Dutch player Michiel Wind presents a spectacular novelty. While going through the recent book, The Fascinating King's Gambit, by Thomas Johansson – an excellent work says Wind – he came to the following variation: 1.e2-4 e7-e5 2.f2-f4 exf4 3.Bf1-c4 Ng8-f6 4.Nb1-c3 c7-c6 5.d2-d4 The usual move is 5.Bb3, which is alright but not very exciting. 5...Bf8-b4 After 5...d5 6.exd5 cxd5, White can transpose to the main line with 7.Bb3, but more logical seems 7.Bb5+, winning back the pawn at f4 immediately. 6.Ng1-e2 A novelty of Johansson, who calls it the Humble Gambit.

6...Nf6xe4 7. 0-0 Ne4xc3 8.b2xc3 Bb4-e7

Here Johansson gave 9.Nxf4, with some compensation for the pawn, but Wind's Rybka came up with a stunning sacrifice, turning the "humble" gambit into a ferocious hitman. 9. Bc4xf7+ Ke8xf7 10.Ne2xf4 With good reason Wind remarks that it will not be immediately apparent to humans that White is winning here, but with Rybka's aid he came to the conclusion that in fact White's attack should triumph. What a surprise after only eight natural moves. If true, this would mean that Black should not play 8...Be7, but 8...d5 with a more or less equal game. However, Johansson pointed out in an email to Wind that White could sacrifice one mover earlier: 8. Bxf7+ Kxf7 9.bxc3 and here 9...Be7 would transpose to the line that is supposed to be losing for Black, while after 9...Rf8 10.cxb4. White has a good game. To avoid all this, instead of 7...Nxc3 Black has a choice of different moves, all covered in Johansson's book. So it seems that the King's Gambit, a hospital patient according to Spielmann and an offense against the justice of chess according to Lasker, can still inflict some vigorous blows occasionally.

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From Adolf Anderssen to Global Warfare In May 1994 a news item appeared to the effect that during a championship of candidate masters in Moscow a certain Nikolai Titov had racked his brain so strenuously that his head exploded, thereby spraying four other players and three officials with blood.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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The story was originated by Weekly World News, an American magazine that specialises in news that the establishment media do not dare to publish; e.g., that Osama bin Laden is a dwarf who is assisted by a clone of Hitler and that the fairytale writer Hans Christian Andersen was in fact a child-hater who used to dine on human flesh. Despite the dubious source the stark image of an exploding head came often to my mind when a chess player, after long and deep thinking, did something silly. It did so when at the Corus tournament in 2004 Peter Svidler, after a long think, resigned his game against Vladimir Kramnik in a drawn position.

Sicilian Kan Variation by Valeri Lilov

Queen's Gambit Accepted by Valeri Lilov

Probably Svidler had calculated that if he were to protect his pawn on a5, this would not save the game. In itself this was a fine piece of analysis, as it is not obvious at all. But in fact the only thing needed to draw the game was to keep his bishop on the a7-g1 diagonal, not caring for pawn a5. As long as he kept White from playing c4-c5, it's a trivial draw. A donkey doesn't bump into the same stone twice, but at the Amber tournament, held in Nice these weeks, it was suspected for a while that Svidler had outbumped the donkey. If you find the comparison disrespectful, be aware that Svidler is an extremely modest man who would hasten to stress that the comparison of him with a donkey could only be disrespectful to the donkey. At the Amber tournament, Svidler resigned his game in the third round against Magnus Carlsen in a position where the engines, having found a perpetual, screamed 0.00. Had Svidler again resigned in a drawn position? Not really.

Chess on the Edge, Vol. 1 by Bruce Harper & Yasser Seirawan

This looks indeed bad for White, but after 26.Nd7, a move that Svidler obviously had not considered, Black would have to play very accurately to save some advantage. The main variation is 26...Nh3+ 27.Kg2 Qc6+ (27...Nf4+ gives a perpetual check) 28.Bd5 Qxd7 29.Rxd4 e6 30.Kxh3 Bxd4 31.Bc6 (after 30.Bxd4+ comes 30...e5+) 31...Qa7. Although White, with two pieces against rook and pawn, even has a small material advantage, his position is precarious because of his weak king. He might not have saved the game this way, but of course nobody would consider resignation here. Earlier in the Amber tournament, Magnus Carlsen had done something strange. Often at the start of a tournament live transmission of the games is far from perfect and when I saw that Carlsen had started his blindfold game against Vasily Ivanchuk with 1.a3, I thought it had to be a computer bug, soon to be corrected. But no, he had really played so. No wonder, I thought, that his cooperation with Garry Kasparov had been minimized. I am sure that Kasparov would consider 1.a3 an affront to serious chess. Carlsen was quickly and brutally punished by Ivanchuk for his insolence. Of course, 1.a3 is not that bad. White is playing as if he were black, with a little extra move that is useful in many variations and should guarantee an equal game if White plays carefully. Carlsen did not, he went on playing as ambitiously as if he had chosen a conventional opening. From Peter Doggers of chessvibes.com, who is present in Nice, I learned that Carlsen had not just clicked on his a-pawn on the spur of the moment. Some preparation had been done. He was intending to answer 1...c5 with 1.e4 and 1...d5 with 2.f4. Ivanchuk played 1...Nf6. The move 1.a3 is named after Adolf Anderssen, who introduced it during his match in 1858 in Paris against Paul Morphy. Anderssen called it a crazy move, but he didn't do badly with it. Soundly beaten by Morphy (-7 =2 +2) in the match, he had a reasonable score with 1.a3, winning one game, drawing one, and losing one game in which he had been completely winning. Later Anderssen was to apply 1.a3 four times in important events, winning all four games, though not because of the opening. I searched my database for a modern example, starting with Bent Larsen, but it turned out that even for a great experimenter as Larsen, the Anderssen opening had been off-limits. But Michael Basman, Prince of Unorthodoxy, will never let you down when you search for the weird and outrageous. Late in his active career he often opened with 1.h3 followed by 2.a3. I'll settle for that, calling it "Anderssen opening by a different move order." In his 1991 book, The Killer Grob, Basman calls the combination of the two little moves in his habitual militant way "Global Warfare" and in a grandiose piece of pseudo-logic he explains the reasoning behind it: Traditionally the center is first occupied by the pawns, later by knights and

bishops, only then by rooks and queen and much later by the king. The more valuable the piece, the more exposed it is in the center, and therefore pieces go into the center in reverse order of strength. Basman goes on: "Having decided that the pawn is the weakest piece, we should consider, 'What is weaker than a pawn?' The answer is, clearly, that NOTHING is weaker than a pawn. It follows, with inexorable logic, that you should place NOTHING in the centre at the start of the game." I can well imagine Michael chuckling contentedly while writing this down. Anyway, it leads to entertaining games. Here is a bewildering example of his "inexorable" logic in practice. Basman, Michael (2360) - Janssen, Ruud (2270) Donner Memorial Open Amsterdam 1996 [A00] 1.h3 e5 2.a3 d5 3.c4 A dubious gambit, I would say, but Basman always managed to get positional compensation for the pawn in similar situations. 3...dxc4 4.e3 Be6 5.Qc2 Qd5 6.Nc3 Qa5 7.Nf3 Be7 8.d3 cxd3 9.Bxd3 Dominance of the white squares, a recurrent theme when Basman was playing white. Just as with black his move g7-g5 was aimed at conquering the squares e5 and d4. 9...Nd7 10.0-0 h6 11.b4 Qb6 12.Bb2 c6 13.Bf5 Bxf5 14.Qxf5 g6 15.Qg4 Ngf6 16.Qg3 Nh5 17.Qh2

"Curiouser and curiouser!" cried Alice. From her hiding place the white queen will exert great influence on the course of the game. 17...f6 18.Rfd1 Rd8 19.Ne4 0-0 20.Rd2 Nb8 Despite the extra pawn and the strange position of Qh2, Black has no easy life. His last move was a bit careless. 21.Nxe5 Rxd2 This was forced, for 21...fxe5 22.Qxe5 would give White a very strong attack. 22.Nxg6 He is playing va banque. Objectively better was 22.Nc4 Qd8 23.Ncxd2 f5 24. Qe5 with a strong attack for the piece that White is going to lose. 22...Rxb2 23.Nxe7+ Kf7 Better was 23...Kh7, remaining a rook ahead. White would have some attack, but a rook is a rook.

24.Nf5 With the funny move 24.Nc8, White could have regained his material. After 24...Qd8 (24...Rxc8 25.Nd6+ is good for White) 25.Qxb8 Kg8 26.Ned6 Qd7, a strange position would arise with two white knights that look threatening, but for the moment are unable to move. 24...Qd8 25.Ned6+ Kg6 26.Rd1 It is hard to believe that White would have enough for the rook, but still Black's position is not easy. 26...Nd7 Now White is OK. 27.g4 Ng7 He should have returned some material. 28.Qf4

Suddenly White has a winning attack. 28...Nxf5 29.Nxf5 Even stronger was 29.Qxf5+ Kg7 30.Qh5 when the threat 30.Nf5+ is deadly. 29...Rh8 30.Qd4 Continuing the attack with 30.Qe4 would decide more quickly, but this is good enough. 30...Ra2 31.Qxd7 Qxd7 32.Rxd7 Because of the mating threat Black is forced into a lost endgame. 32...Rg8 33.Ne7+ Kf7 34.Nxg8+ Kxg8 35.Rxb7 Rxa3 36.Kg2 Ra6 37.Kg3 Rb6 38.Rxa7 Rxb4 39.Rc7 Rc4 40.f3 Rc3 41.e4 Rc4 42.Kf4 Rc5 43.h4 h5 44.g5 fxg5+ 45.hxg5 Kf8 1-0

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The Rise and Fall of a Chess Patron Generous chess patrons are usually dear to my heart, but if the Serbian banker Jezdimir Vasiljevic would have to spend a considerable amount of time in jail, I will not shed tears.

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Last year he was arrested in the Netherlands and in March of this year he was extradited to Serbia, where he was imprisoned in Belgrade.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

Chess players know Vasiljevic as the organizer of the match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1992 to which he contributed $5 million in prize money. The first half of that match was held on the little island of Sveti Stefan, which had been bought by Vasiljevic from the government of Montenegro. There he was always surrounded by bodyguards. The locals called him Mr. Big or Boss Jezda.

Boris Spassky: Master of Initiative by Alexander Raetsky & Maxim Chetverik

The American journalist Ivan Solotaroff, who was assigned by Esquire magazine to cover the match, noticed that Vasiljevic always held a rectangular briefcase, never letting it out of his hands. Later, at the airport for his flight to Belgrade, Solotaroff had the journalistic good fortune to see Vasiljevic presenting his case at the check-in to be inspected. It contained a Heckler & Koch machine gun.

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Not that it has anything to do with that match, or with chess in general, but Ivan Solotaroff briefly appears in Philip Roth's fine novel Operation Shylock as the son of the famous journalist Ted Solotaroff, a good friend – in the novel and in real life – of the protagonist, whose name is Philip Roth, like that of the author. Later Ivan was present at the match between Kasparov and Anand in New York in 1995. In the press room, at the top floor of one of the Twin Towers, he renewed his acquaintance with the Dutch IM Gert Ligterink, who had met him in Sveti Stefan.

My Best Games by Yasser Seirawan

In 1995, Ivan visited the championship match because of personal interest, not to write about it. He told Gert about his next assignment for Esquire, a big article about casino gambling. How envious we were when he mentioned the fee and especially his expense allowance, to be freely squandered at the casino tables – or not. What a difference between the good and generous people from Esquire and the stingy treasurers from the media that we were working for! As it was suspected in 1992, and later confirmed, Vasiljevic supplied money and arms to the private Serbian military gangs that played such a sinister role in the Yugoslav war. Later he said that he was forced to do so by Milosevic. His bank Jugoskandic prospered for some time by way of a Ponzi scheme that allowed him to pay fifteen percent interest per month to his customers. Until the money ran out, as it unavoidably does with Ponzi schemes. Vasiljevic fled from his creditors by way of Israel. Already in 1992 he had said to Solotaroff that unbeknownst to most people he was a Jew. From there he proceeded to Uruguay, but later he returned to Serbia, where he was locked up, then freed and even able to run as a candidate for the presidential elections in 2004. In 2007, free on bail in Serbia, he fled again and now he has been delivered

Five Crowns by Yasser Seirawan & Jonathan Tisdall

by the Dutch authorities to Serbia, where presumably he has fewer influential friends than he used to have in the past. A good catch, I would say. So that's the man who gave us the so-called "World Championship Match" in 1992. Being reminded of that match, I browsed through Yasser Seirawan's match book No Regrets. The defiant title probably refers to the fact that the match was held in a warn-torn Yugoslavia and organized by an arms dealer. All games of that match are easily found on the web, so here I'll only touch on one with some analysis by Fischer, as recorded in Seirawan's book. Fischer - Spassky, eleventh game, after White's seventeenth move.

[FEN "r4k1r/pb1q1p1p/3N2pN/8/1p2P3/8/ 1bP2PPP/R2QR1K1 b - - 0 17"]

Here Spassky played 17...f6 and he lost the game after a long and difficult fight. Seirawan wrote, "The next day Bobby, Eugene Torre, Svetozar Gligoric, Yvette Nagel, and I spent a late afternoon analyzing this position. It is an excellent position for practical work. I suggest you take a few minutes and look at the lines following 20.Qxh7 and 20.Qg7." That is, after the alternate possibility of 17...Bxa1 18.Qxa1 Qxd6 19.Qxh8+ Ke7, which Spassky obviously found too scary. Bobby, Eugene, Svetozar, Yvette, and Yasser looked at an abundance of variations, without coming to a firm conclusion, until they reached the following position. After 17...Bxa1 18.Qxa1 Qxd6 19.Qxh8+ Ke7 20.Qxh7 Rf8 21.Qg7 Qd2, from the previous diagram.

[FEN "5r2/pb2kpQ1/6pN/8/1p2P3/8/ 2Pq1PPP/4R1K1 w - - 0 22"]

Seirawan: "Bobby now uncorked his killer: 22.Qa1!! What a shot! Suddenly White has a crushingly coordinated attack." Indeed, after 22...Qxh6, White wins easily with 23.Qxa7 and after most other moves White gets a winning attack playing 23.Nf5+. Black can try to save himself in an endgame playing 22...Qc3, but after some further analysis the group headed by Bobby decided that this endgame was

winning for White. I am not sure that Fischer's 22.Qa1 is the only way to win, but it might be the cleanest way. Anyway it shows a peculiarity of Fischer that was noticed both by the Canadian grandmaster Peter Biyiasis and by myself, after playing blitz games with the great Bobby: his predilection for ultra-long queen moves.

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High-level Conspiracy In an interview with ChessBase, Anand revealed who had been his helpers during his match against Veselin Topalov. We had already known that Nielsen, Kasimdzhanov, Ganguly, and Wojtaszek had been with him in Sofia. These were the same people who had assisted him two years ago when he played against Kramnik. But surprisingly it turned out that there had been other helpers, very special ones.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

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Before the match, Magnus Carlsen had visited Anand for a few days to play training games with the opening variations that had been prepared for the match. Garry Kasparov assisted Anand before and during the match using Skype. He answered a long list of questions, prepared by Peter-Heine Nielsen, about opening problems. And then after four match games, of which three had featured opening variations from Vladimir Kramnik's repertoire, Kramnik himself contacted Anand and gave valuable advice.

Wonderboy by Simen Agdestein

All three had offered their services on their own initiative. It was an unprecedented cooperation between three world champions and one possible future one, four hunters concentrating on one prey. Why did they do it? One can well imagine Kramnik being so angry at Topalov and his manager Danailov that he gladly offered his services to Anand. But Kasparov and Carlsen, why did they get involved? One can only speculate that they feared a reign of terror of the Topalov-Danailov tandem with more toiletgates or other tricks if Topalov became world champion. Play through and download the games from ChessCafe.com in the DGT Game Viewer.

Apart from Carlsen, Kasparov, and Kramnik, there was also the fifteen-year old Dutch champion Anish Giri, called the "baby grandmaster" by ChessBase, who had played training games with Anand in March.

Bullet Chess by Hikaru Nakamura & Bruce Harper

With such an over-kill of high-class manpower in the fight against Topalov, one would almost pity him. But Topalov was not without special help either. In an interview with Chessdom, he explained that before and during the match he had exclusive access to an IBM 112-core supercomputer with 8192 processors. I give the technical specifications without really understanding them, but they appear awesome. A special version of Rybka 4 had to be developed that could make good use of the gigantic calculating power, but that problem was solved. "Come on, boys, it's only chess," I feel like screaming. But of course, a player who competes for the world championship has a duty to do that as well as possible. Nevertheless, I am glad that at a slightly lower level there is still room for frivolity.

NIC Magazine, 2009/6 by New In Chess

Hikaru Nakamura

A few years ago Hikaru Nakamura evoked sharp critical comments when he adopted the frivolous move 2.Qh5, after 1.e4 e5, or, even more outrageously, after 1.e4 c5. He has grown out of that now, but at the U.S. Championship in Saint Louis, against one of his strongest rivals, he did this as white: 1.e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3.f4 d5 5.exd5 Nxd5 5.fxe5 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Qh4+ 7.Ke2. That last move reminds one of the Steinitz Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.f4 exf4 4.d4 Qh4+ 5.Ke2, an opening that already for more than a century has been considered a dangerous plaything for atavistic romantics. One great game played with this variation is "Steel-N.N. Calcutta 1886," which in fact was not a real game, but an opening analysis by Robert Steel, a British administration officer in India. In an earlier article on ChessCafe.com, I described how this game played a crucial role in the movie La Partie d'Échecs, with Cathérine Deneuve playing the principal part and a character called Howard Staunton as the villain of the piece. Nakamura's game is a good excuse to show once again the three-mover that was composed by the American puzzle king Sam Loyd in 1903 as the "Steinitz Gambit." This may be the problem that is most often published in chess literature, the "Morphy vs Duke & Count" of problem chess, though on a much higher level as a piece of chess art. Loyd, always spontaneous and quick, composed it on a ride from his home downtown to his office. I do not shrink from showing a classic for the umpteenth time, because that's what classics are for. Sam Loyd, First prize Checkmate Novelty tourney 1903 Mate in Three

[FEN "4r1b1/1p4B1/pN2pR2/RB2k3/1P2N2p/ 2p3b1/n2P1p1r/5K1n w - - 0 1"]

The name "Steinitz Gambit" gives the key move already away, and if this were not enough, here is what Sam Loyd wrote himself about his problem: "The originality of the problem is due to the White King being placed in absolute safety, and yet coming out on a reckless career, with no immediate threat and in the face of innumerable checks. The freedom of the Black King to move, or to capture the knight, constitutes a pretty feature of what may be looked upon as a remarkably bold theme." Hikaru Nakamura – Alexander Onischuk ch-USA Saint Louis, fourth round Vienna Game [C29] 1.e2-e4 e7-e5 2.Nb1-c3 Ng8-f6 3.f2-f4 d7-d5 4.e4xd5 The standard move is 4.fxe5. 4...Nf6xd5 Black has a rich choice. Other good moves would be 4...e4 or 4...exf4. 5.f4xe5 Nd5xc3 6.b2xc3 Qd8-h4+ 7.Ke1-e2

[FEN "rnb1kb1r/ppp2ppp/8/4P3/7q/2P5/ P1PPK1PP/R1BQ1BNR b kq - 0 7"]

It is hard to believe that this is an acceptable position for White. The first game in my database with this position is Hamppe (of Hamppe-Meitner fame) - Steinitz from 1859. Steinitz won. After that game there is a gap of 130 years in my database before an intrepid white adventurer tried it again. The best that can be said about White's play is that Vasily Ivanchuk did it this way in a blitz game against Peter Svidler at the World Blitz, Moscow 2009, and won. 7...Bc8-g4+ 8.Ng1-f3 Nb8-c6 9.Qd1-e1 Qh4-h5 10.Ke2-d1 White has spent some time having his king and queen exchange places. 10...Nc6xe5 Ultra solid. Black regains his pawn. A more interesting way to get his pawn back was 10...Bxf3+ 11.gxf3 Qxf3+ 12.Be2 Qd5, but apart from that there were many ways to play for a promising attack a pawn down. 11.Bf1-e2 0-0-0 12.Nf3xe5 Bg4xe2+ 13.Qe1xe2 Qh5xe2+ 14.Kd1xe2 Now the endgame may be a tiny bit better for White. 14...Rd8-e8 15.d2-d4 f7-f6 16.Bc1-e3 f6xe5 17.d4-d5

[FEN "2k1rb1r/ppp3pp/8/3Pp3/8/2P1B3/ P1P1K1PP/R6R b - - 0 17"]

Strangely enough all this had been played before. In Shirazi - Laurent, Metz Open 2008, Black played 17...Be7. White won that game. 17...Bf8-d6 18.c3-c4 b7-b6 19.a2-a4 Rh8-f8 20.a4-a5 Kc8-d7 21.Ke2-d3 According to the tournament website, after 21.axb6 axb6 22.Ra7 Onischuk had intended to sacrifice the exchange with 22...Rf4. That is indeed a beautiful move. But does the advantage of the exchange really count for nothing anymore? 21...Rf8-f6 22.Rh1-f1 e5-e4+ 23.Kd3-e2 Bd6xh2 24.Rf1xf6 g7xf6 25.Ra1h1 Bh2-d6 26.Rh1xh7+ Re8-e7 27.Rh7-h8 Re7-g7 28.Ke2-f1 Bd6-c5 29. a5xb6 It seems to me that after 29.Bxc5 bxc5 30.Ra8 there would still be something to play for, but maybe I am wrong, as Nakamura doesn't think this line is worth pursuing. 29...a7xb6 30.Be3xc5 b6xc5 ½-½

Comment on this month's column via our Contact Page! Pertinent responses will be posted below daily.

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Strange Happenings at the Dutch Championship

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This year's Dutch championship, won by Jan Smeets, was announced by the Dutch chess federation as the strongest ever. Though this was not quite true, it was a fine championship, with an attractive mixture of youngsters and old hands. Not really old, but let's say mature; Loek van Wely, six times Dutch champion, was born in 1972.

Dutch Treat Hans Ree

There were three players who are only fifteen-years old: Anish Giri, Dutch champion in 2009; Benjamin Bok; and Robin van Kampen. Giri cannot be called a promising youngster anymore. As the highest rated fifteen-year old player in the world, his promise is already well-fulfilled. Of the other two teenagers the Dutch have great hopes. It seemed a defiant gesture to have the championship at the same time as the FIFA World Cup soccer championship, which guaranteed that in the Netherlands there would be no television coverage at all, and only minimal coverage in the newspapers.

Botvinnik's Complete Games 1924-1941 by Mikhail Botvinnik

Let the masses watch football, while the elite plays chess. But that wasn't really the federation's attitude, as they bowed to soccer by postponing the next-to-last round by two hours, so that everyone could watch the soccer match between the Netherlands and Japan. For Jan Timman, always a firm upholder of the dignity of the game, this deviance from the normal schedule was one of many reasons why he didn't participate in this championship. New In Chess, 2010/2 by New In Chess

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Loek Van Wely

The dignity of chess was under heavy fire during this championship. In the second round, Loek van Wely was absent, as he had received permission to postpone his game to a free day, in order to participate for his club SG Porz in the German team blitz championship that was being played in Bavaria, about 400 miles away from Eindhoven, where the Dutch championship was held. Van Wely helped his team to the blitz championship with a fine score of 23 out of 25 on second board, and then hurried back to the Netherlands, which left him little time to prepare for his next-round game. It showed. As white against Wouter Spoelman, another Dutch youngster, Van Wely, usually well-prepared, was lost after twenty-one moves, moves that had already all been played at the Olympiad of 2008. Losing a game in this way happens to amateurs, or to strong professional players who interrupt a serious

The Botvinnik and Moscow Variations by Loek Van Wely

championship to play a strenuous blitz tournament in another country. Van Wely, Loek (2653) – Spoelman, Wouter (2580) Dutch Championship, Eindhoven (3), 13.06.2010 Slav Defence [D11] 1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 Bg4 5.Nc3 e6 6.h3 Bxf3 7.Qxf3 Nbd7 8.Bd3 Bb4 9.Bd2 0-0 10.a3 Ba5 11.0-0 Te8 12.cxd5 exd5 13.b4 Bc7 14.b5 Nf8 15. bxc6 bxc6 Spoelman had this position earlier in Cybrowski-Spoelman, Eppingen 2010, where Black was fine after 16.e4 Ne6. 16.Rfc1 Ne6 17.h4 After 17.Na4 Ng5 18.Qf5 Nfe4 19.Be1 h5, White's queen would be in trouble. One variation, hardly to be taken seriously, is then 20.Rxc6 g6 21.Rxg6+ fxg6 22.Qxg6+ Kh8 23.Qxh5+ Nh7, when White's four pawns do not compensate for the rook. 17...c5 Van Wely too had some earlier experience with this line. In Van Wely-Potkin, Dagomys 2008, White had a small advantage after 17...Rb8 18.Bf5. 18.dxc5 d4 19.Ne4 After 19.exd4 Nxd4 20.Qd1 Nb3 21.Qxb3 Qxd3, Black has good compensation for the sacrificed pawn. 19...dxe3 20.Nxf6+ gxf6

[FEN "r2qr1k1/p1b2p1p/4np2/2P5/7P/ P2BpQ2/3B1PP1/R1R3K1 w - - 0 21"]

21.Qxe3 The decisive mistake. White could save himself with 21.Bc3 Qxd3 22.Qxf6 exf2+ 23.Kh1 followed by a perpetual check, as in a game Papin-Vysochin, Lipetsk 2008. After the game, Loek said that at this point he had wondered what Black's intention could be, as it seemed to him that Black was lost. 21...Ng5 Here is the answer. White has to give up material. 22.Rd1 In Iotov-San Segundo Camillo, Olympiad Dresden 2008, White played 22. Bxh7+ Kxh7 23.Qb3, which after 23...Rb8 24.Bb4 Ne6 offered even less chances than Van Wely's choice. 22...Rxe3 23.Bxe3 Ne6 24.Bxh7+ Kxh7 25.Rxd8 Rxd8 With only two pawns for his piece, White is lost.

26.Kf1 Kg6 27.Ke2 Nd4+ 28.Bxd4 Rxd4 29.Rb1 Rxh4 30.Rb7 Be5 31.g3 To harass Black's bishop with f2-f4, but it doesn't work. 31...Ra4 32.Kd3 Rxa3+ 33.Kc4 Rf3 0-1 Curiouser and curiouser became the championship when at the start of the next round a scientific team applied all kinds of measuring instruments to Van Wely's body to monitor his emotions during his game against Benjamin Bok. In itself this might be interesting. Several decades ago there was a scientific congress in Germany, Chess and Medicine, where they did all kinds of similar experiments. In one game, Spassky against Pfleger, Pfleger played under the influence of beta blockers, which are supposed to calm you. Indeed it worked. As Pfleger related in an article, he experienced no stress and blundered calmly and serenely right after the opening, without any of the unpleasant feelings that would normally accompany such a blunder. I would like to know if one could spot a bad move by the body reactions of the chess player. In many cases the body notices important things earlier than the brain, so one might imagine the body noticing a blunder while the brain is still blissfully unaware of it. If so, players might do well to train themselves to tune in to their heartbeat, blood pressure or the electrical resistance of their skin. Probably these things have been well-studied in the past by psychologists of the Soviet chess federation. A national championship, however, is not the right place for such experiments and though I do not want to tread on Geurt Gijssen's territory, I think that FIDE rules were violated here, as in fact Van Wely provided a running commentary on the state of his body and mind during the game. My view on the FIDE rules is that communication between players and public is simply not allowed Not only the external circumstances, but also the game between Bok and Van Wely itself turned out to be bizarre. After sixteen moves, a three-fold repetition had occurred. Time to claim a draw, by either player, one might think. But no, they went on till move thirty-seven, thereby repeating the position thirteen times. On the way, Bok had offered a draw several times, but Van Wely declined, not because there was any possibility for him to escape from the repetition, but because he was angry at young Benjamin Bok for playing for a draw as white. He wanted to force him to claim the draw, which eventually happened. A few rounds of normal chess followed and then in the seventh round there was the fainting incident.

Anish Giri

Early during the game Giri-Nijboer, Giri noticed that there was blood on his

hands and then he almost fainted with fright when it seemed that there was also blood from his ear. Put horizontally with his head on a cushion Giri received medical attention and it turned out that he had only cut his finger at the sharp lid of a soft-drink bottle and then inadvertently touched his ear. In the meantime a first-aid team had arrived. It was slightly misinformed and turned its attention to Nijboer, thinking that he was the man who had fainted or almost fainted. Nijboer protested that there was nothing wrong with him, but the team insisted on a thorough check-up, just to be sure. It took some time before they realized that they had the wrong man. Then Giri and Nijboer found it wise to agree on an early draw. As far as I know – I was on holiday and followed the championship from afar – no weird incidents occurred during the final two rounds.

Jan Smeets

Through most of the tournament it had been a race for first place between Jan Smeets and Anish Giri, a race that was decided in the penultimate round, when Van Wely beat Giri. At the start of the last round Smeets was a full point ahead of Giri and Sipke Ernst and the championship was quickly decided when Van Kampen-Smeets went 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 draw. Smeets scored 6½ out of 9 with strong and solid play, never being in serious danger. Giri, who beat Dimitri Reinderman in the last round, finished second, a half-point behind Smeets. It had truly been an eventful championship.

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