Round 6 5th May 2002

A FINAL CHANCE?

WITH 32 of the best players in the world assembled for the Eurotel Trophy here in Prague, you’d naturally enough think that all the action would be centred on the chess-board. Well, wouldn’t you?

Surprising not. All the interest this week has definitely been the off-the-board activities as the chess world perhaps gets a final chance at a reconciliation following the schism created by the Kasparov-Short world title match of 1993.

All week I’ve watched the players, politicos and fixers scurrying into dark corners of the Zofin Palace or the SAS Radisson Hotel to hold clandestine meetings. It has cost me a small fortune in alcohol being staked-out all-night at the bar of the SAS Radisson where all the players are billeted, watching all the comings and goings so as to get all the juicy gossip on exactly what’s happening. I’m sure when I present my totally (for me anyway) over-the-limit expenses to Malcolm Pein at the London Chess Centre and Frederick Freidel at ChessBase for all this serious investigative journalism, that they’ll understand completely.

The one great advantage we had here with a Knockout event is that at least more and more players each day “suddenly” found they had a lot of free time on their hands to discuss the proposals being put in front of them on Monday at the big powwow meeting (Incidentally: now changed to the larger venue of The Four Seasons Hotel off Charles Bridge with the same kick-off time of 9.30am for 10am - Bessel Kok, while waving a piece of paper in the air and proudly declaring “peace in our time”, to hold a press conference on the progress and any developments at 4.00pm).

The final weekend saw the arrival of the last piece of the jigsaw with the FIDE delegation, headed by President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, jetting in from Moscow after watching a football match. Believe me, there were some remarkable sights to be seen on the last day of the tournament as it resembled something out of The Godfather or The Sopranos when they have a good-old family get-together: everyone is being extremely nice and friendly with each other while conversing in idle chit-chat, though deep down really wishing they could have each other bumped-off – and the sooner the better.

Fortunately for the chess world we have an Elliot Ness-type hero in the form of Yasser Seirawan with a mission to clean-up the chess world. Way back at Linares in February, Yasser came up with a proposal called “Fresh Start” that attempted to unify the chess world. I was delegated with the task of passing it on to new FIDE world champion Ruslan Ponomariov, whose first reaction apart from asking if I had anymore DVD’s to loan him was “It’s too long”. When I reported this to Yasser, he immediately replied: “Why that’s because there are many, many problems in the chess world!”. Of course the proposals weren’t perfect: each side found something they didn’t like in the document. However in many ways this makes it ideal, because for it to work, I think everyone will have to live with something they don’t like.

Many fans out there believed the proposals had about the same life span as a snowballs chance in hell – and that was them being generous. Even Mark Crowther at TWIC didn’t think it would work. He went as far as suggesting to Yasser it stood “zero chance” of ever happening, so wasn’t really prepared to waste the time putting it up on his website. “Brilliant,” thought Yasser. “Just what the world needs – an Editor with attitude!”

But to be fair to Mark, who each week since 1994 has been at the htmlface of the chess news, he’d seen it all before. And, like many of us who eke out a meagre living writing on chess, his natural instincts were the same as ours: nice try Yaz, but be honest – like the Boston Red Sox winning the World Series or Chelsea winning the Premier League, it’s never going to happen, is it?

However, there’s one thing you quickly get to learn about Yasser: he can be very, very persuasive. It didn’t take him that long to convince Mark it should go on his site.

The hard part had to be persuading the other parties involved in the mess that’s loosely called the chess world to finally sit down and sort it all out – and the sooner the better. What’s not been generally know till now is the lengths Yasser and his team specially on loan from Kofi Annan at the UN have gone to to make sure that all the major parties involved came onboard.

For the last three months Yasser has been employing the famous Henry Kissinger shuttle diplomacy of the 1970s by having pre-big powwow meetings with everyone concerned in various different countries and time zones. His efforts have been rewarded by them all at lest starting to talk to each other without anyone reaching for a weapon or threatening to go away in a huff. Why they’re all such good friends these days that they even gave me the exclusive picture of the Five K’s in Prague (I know: it sounds a bit like a Jazz Band on tour) - Kirsan, Kasparov, Kramnik, Karpov and Kok - sitting down in the privacy of the cordoned off balcony of the Zofin Palace while idly chit-chatting about what each other has been doing since they last met. Funnily enough, after taking the piccies, they all came to me in private and asked for a copy so that they could have it framed and sent on to one of the other in the group with love and best wishes. I told them just to do what everyone else seems to do with my photos – just pinch them from TWIC or ChessBase and pass them off as your own work!

In private yesterday, Garry had a nice long chat with Uncle Kirsan telling him how it was all a big, big mistake in leaving the FIDE Family and he regretted being talked in to it by “Nasty Nigel” Short. Next up was Kramnik. Big Vlady slipped out to a private room for a little 30 minute tête-à-tête with Kirsan – and I don’t think it was just to congratulate him on the Kalmykian football team that he owns, Umelan, winning the Russian Cup on Saturday after beating Spartak Moscow 2-0 in the final!

We can only hope that something positive comes out of the big Monday meeting. I believe that the major players involved in the discussions all realise that everyone is getting nowhere very fast under the present circumstances. I think they appreciate the enormity that lies on their shoulders. At least we have the diplomatic skills of Yasser Seirawan to thank for finally getting them to the table to at least try to sort out this mess of their own making.

So, who’s going to be at the meeting? Well, as far as I’m led to believe, this is the line-up: At the head of the table will be Bessel Kok flanked on either side by his lawyer, Eric Keyser, and Yasser Seirawan; Kirsan Ilyumzhinov will be accompanied by FIDE officers Emmanuel Omuku and Marat Orlov; Garry Kasparov will have his agent Owen Williams; while Vladimir Kramnik will also have his agent Carsten Hensel. Also in attendance will be any of the 32 players who were competing in the Eurotel World Trophy and opted to take advantage of the generosity of the sponsors to stay on after being knocked out – this will include the likes of Vishy Anand, Anatoly Karpov, Veselin Topalov, Michael Adams, Boris Gelfand, Peter Svidler, Alexander Khalifman, Alexander Grischuk, Loek Van Wely, Judit Polgar, Jeroen Piket, Ivan Sokolov, Mikhail Gurevich, Artur Jussupow, Teimur Radjabov and Jan Timman. Also among this group will be two FIDE-invited GMs who were not playing in the tournament, and they are Jaan Ehlvest and Zurab Azmaiparashvili.

Let’s just keep our collective fingers crossed and hope something positive comes from the meeting other than everyone agreeing that they like milk chocolate Hobnobs. And if it does, may I suggest that with all the troubles in the Middle East just now, coupled with Dubya Bush and Tony Blair being rather gung ho at the moment, there’s no obvious candidate this year for the Nobel Peace Prize. Perhaps we can start the campaign now for it to be awarded to Yasser Seirawan?

Anand,V (2752) - Karpov,A (2690) [C42]

Eurotel Trophy Prague CZE (5.1), 04.05.2002

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 [Karpov wields out the trusty old Petroff Defence again. On the bright side, at least it saves me going into great detail with the analysis - you can find the mainline of the variation used elsewhere in the reports!] 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 0–0 Be7 8 c4 Nb4 9 Be2 0–0 10 Nc3 Bf5 11 a3 Nxc3 12 bxc3 Nc6 13 Re1 Re8 [Karpov comes up with a new plan to avoid any Anand preparation from his encounter with Shirov. 13 ..dxc4 14 Bxc4 Bd6 15 Ra2 was Shirov-Karpov from the semi-final.] 14 Bf4 [ 14 Bf1 Qd7 15 cxd5 Qxd5 16 Ne5 Qd6 17 Bc4 Nxe5 18 Rxe5 Bg6 19 Qe2 Qd7 20 Be3 Bd6 21 Rxe8+ Rxe8 22 Bd3 Bxd3 23 Qxd3 b5 24 a4 1/2–1/2 Pfreundtner,B-Buerger,C/Germany 1996/EXT 98.] 14 ..dxc4 [ As was 14 ..Na5 15 cxd5 Qxd5 16 Ne5 c6 17 c4 Qd8 18 Bh5 g6 19 Bg4 Bg5] 15 Bxc4 Bd6 16 Rxe8+ Qxe8 17 Ng5 [Vishy's intentions are clear from the off - he intends to hone in on the f7 weakness.] 17 ..Bg6 18 Bxd6 cxd6 19 h4 Qe7 [ 19 ..h6? 20 h5! Bxh5 21 Qxh5 hxg5 22 Bd3 g6 23 Qxg5 with an easy game with ideas like Kf1 and Re1 in the offing.] 20 Qg4 h6 21 Nh3 [ 21 Ne6 was the spectacular condition first suggested by commentators Kavalek and Sosonko to the assembled guests in the VIP Room, which was immediately shot down in flames by Teimur Radjabov: 21 ..d5! 22 Bxd5 fxe6 23 Qxg6 exd5 and White has just lost a piece.] 21 ..Qf6 22 Re1 Bf5 23 Qf3 Kf8 [Black has to contest the e-file before White takes over total control of the position.] 24 Nf4! Bd7 [Very frustrating for Karpov - it prevents the immediate Re8: 24 ..Re8? 25 Rxe8+ Kxe8 26 Nh5 Qg6 27 Qxf5!! Qxf5 28 Nxg7+ winning; 24 ..Qxh4 25 Bxf7! Kxf7 26 Qd5+ Kf6 27 Re6+!!] 25 g3 Re8 26 Rxe8+ Bxe8 [ 26 ..Kxe8 27 Qe4+ Kd8 ( 27 ..Kf8 28 Qh7) 28 Nh5 wins a pawn and with it the game.] 27 Qe4 g5 28 hxg5 Qxg5 29 Bd5 Bd7 30 Qh7 Qf6

31 Bxf7 [Splat!] 31 ..Ne7 [ 31 ..Qxf7 32 Ng6+ Ke8 33 Qh8+ Qg8 34 Qxg8#] 32 Bb3 Bf5 33 Nh5! Bxh7 34 Nxf6 Bg6 35 Ng4 Kg7 36 Ne3 Be4 37 g4 Kf6 38 Kh2 b6 39 Kg3 [Anand's technique is superb - look how he stops Karpov's knight from getting into the game.] 39 ..Kg5 40 Bf7 Kf6 41 Bc4 Kg5 42 Bb3 Kf6 43 f3 Bg6 44 f4 Be4 45 Bc4 Bc6 46 Bd3 Bb7 47 Kh4 Bf3 48 Nc4 Nd5 49 Kg3 Bd1 50 Nxd6 Nxc3 51 Nf5 Kg6 52 d5 Ba4 53 d6 Bd7 54 Kh4 a5 55 Ne3+ Kf7 56 Kh5 b5 57 Kxh6 Ke6 58 g5 Kxd6 59 g6 1–0

Karpov,A (2690) - Anand,V (2752) [D46]

Eurotel Trophy Prague CZE (5.2), 05.05.2002

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nc3 Nf6 4 e3 e6 5 Nf3 Nbd7 6 Qc2 [No real great surprise here - this is a long-standing Karpov favourite against the Semi-Slav, and indeed both players have duelled in this line on numerous occasions - including a good old Candidates Match in 1991, and a new-fangled FIDE World Ch KO in 1998] 6 ..Bd6 7 Bd3 0–0 8 0–0 dxc4 9 Bxc4 a6 10 a4 [ However this is a first for Karpov, who usually opts for 10 Rd1 first 10 Rd1 b5 11 Be2 Qc7 12 Ne4 Nxe4 13 Qxe4 e5 14 Qh4 Re8 15 Bd3 h6 16 Bc2 exd4 17 Qxd4 Bf8 18 b3 Nf6 19 Qh4 g5 20 Qg3 Qxg3 21 hxg3 c5 22 Bb2 Bg7 23 Rd6 Be6 24 Rad1 Rec8 25 Bxf6 Bxf6 26 Be4 Ra7 27 Bd5 Bxd5 28 R1xd5 Kg7 29 Rd2 Be7 30 Rb6 Bd8 31 Rbd6 Be7 32 R6d5 a5 33 Kf1 a4 34 Ke2 axb3 35 axb3 Ra3 36 b4 Rc3 37 bxc5 R3xc5 38 Rxc5 Rxc5 39 Nd4 Bf6 40 g4 b4 41 Rb2 Rc4 42 Kd3 Rc3+ 43 Kd2 Bxd4 44 exd4 Rc4 45 Kd3 Rc3+ 46 Kd2 Rc4 47 Kd3 Rc3+ 48 Ke4 b3 49 f3 Kf6 50 d5 Rc4+ 51 Kd3 Rf4 52 Rxb3 Ke5 53 Rb6 Kxd5 54 Rxh6 Ke5 55 Ke3 Ra4 ½–½ Karpov,A-Anand,V/Lausanne 1998/CBM 63. ] 10 ..c5 11 Rd1 cxd4 12 exd4 Qc7 13 Qe2 Re8N [13 ..b6 14 Bg5 Bb7 15 d5 exd5 16 Nxd5 Nxd5 17 Bxd5 Bxd5 18 Rxd5 Nc5 19 Rad1 Rfe8 20 Qc2 Bf8 21 Be3 Rac8 22 Ng5 g6 23 b4 Ne6 24 Qxc7 Rxc7 25 Ne4 Be7 26 Bxb6 Rc4 27 Nd6 Bxd6 28 Rxd6 Rxb4 29 a5 Rb5 30 g3 Rc8 31 Rd7 h5 32 h4 g5 33 hxg5 Rxg5 34 R1d5 h4 35 Rxg5+ Nxg5 36 gxh4 Nf3+ 37 Kf1 Nxh4 38 Ra7 Ng6 39 Rxa6 Nf4 40 Be3 Nd5 41 Bd2 Rc2 42 Ke1 Ra2 43 Rd6 Nc7 44 Rc6 Nb5 45 Rc4 Kh7 46 Rb4 Nc7 47 Ke2 Kg6 48 Rc4 Nb5 49 Kd3 f6 50 Rc6 Kf5 51 Rc5+ 1–0 Adianto,U-Gurevich,M/Batumi GEO 2001/TWIC 359.] 14 Re1 b6 15 Bb3 Bb7 16 Ne5 [The e5 square becomes the lynch-pin of White's attack.] 16 ..Nd5 17 Bd2 Nxc3 18 Bxc3 Nxe5 19 dxe5 Bc5 20 Rac1 Qe7 21 Qg4 Rad8 22 Bc4 g6 23 Bf1 Qd7

24 h4! h5 25 Qf4 Qd5 26 b4 Be7 27 Re3 [White has a small advantage. While I can see Karpov beating a much weaker player from this position, his advantage is not sufficient enough to beat a player of the calibre of Anand.] 27 ..Rf8 28 Rce1 Qb3 29 b5 axb5 30 Bxb5 Rd1 31 Rxd1 Qxd1+ 32 Kh2 Rd8 33 Be2 Qc2 34 Bf3 [34 Bf3 Qxf2 35 Re2 ( 35 Be1? Qf1 36 Bg3 Rd1 37 Kh3 Bc5 38 Rc3 Qh1+ 39 Bh2 Rf1 with a big advantage) 35 ..Qc5 36 Re3 Bxf3 37 Rxf3 Rf8 with both sides at an impasse as Black has to defend f7, and White has to really continue attacking f7 - therefore drawn.] ½–½

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

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