John Henderson US-China Chess Summit Match Reports

Round 3 16th March 2001

CHINA SYNDROME

IT’S meltdown time for the USA! After holding on to a precarious one-point lead for two games, their hopes of taking something from this match despite being the underdogs ended in game three when the Chinese hit them with the chess equivalent of Three Mile Island.

I knew things were starting to get tough for team captain Nick de Firmian when he came into the press room just after the start of the fateful round looking for me, or, to be precise, my whisky! “A little whisky would be nice right now, John. Do you have any?”. I felt genuinely sorry for the guy. Being captain for a gig like this can’t be an easy job. Both he and his opposite number, Lin Feng, have probably worked – and sweated! – more than any of the other players there.

I really wanted to help sooth his pain. But, being a journalist, I told him it would be against my work ethic to be drinking on duty. Besides, we’d finished it all the day before. And, sure enough, as poor Nick struggled through the day seeing his lead in the match being overhauled, I guess he could have really done with a glass or two as he was left scratching his head as to what he can do to rectify the situation. Lin Feng, on the other hand, was also reported to have been looking for something to drink at the end of the day. Not whisky. Champagne!

Round three was a big day for China who, with a decisive 6.5-3.5 win, look as if they have an unassailable 16-14 lead after the third rubber. For two rounds they were looking more like paper tigers until suddenly, they roared. And roared so loudly even Jeff Sonas (chief number cruncher-in-charge of what’s left at KasparovChess.com) could hear them with a sigh of relief down the road in sunny California as another of his statistical predictions look as if its romping home (OK, Jeff, the money’s in the post).

And if they win big-time here in Seattle, could we be in at the start of something big for Chinese chess? Could this be the start of their road to being a chess superpower as they vie for overall supremacy in the game?

“Yes,” according to Chen Zu De, the president of the Chinese Chess Association. They have ambitious plans to dominate word chess by 2010 in much the same style as the 1950s Soviet Union. “Russia is the strongest nation. We have to catch up with them,” he declared. To that end, he explained that China's government was offering substantial material help, with children being a special target. “We recognize chess,” he explained, “as an educational tool. Chess and education mutually benefit each other. When the players are in school, they go to their chess training school once a week.”

And, in what looks ominous for the future, their juniors now dominate the Fide ratings for children aged under-12. The top ten players born after August 1988 are all Chinese - all with high ratings of 2270 or even over 2300, achieved when they were aged just nine or ten.

It’s all a far cry from when China’s top player Xie Jun was a junior. "She is the heroine of China," said Chen Zu De. "Everybody knows her." Paying tribute to their world champion at the opening ceremony, China’s Consul General, Wang Yunxiang, said: “Before Xie Jun there was only around 30,000 chess players in China. Now, thanks solely to her, that number has risen – and continues to rise – to over 3,000,000.” Yet, surprisingly, Xie Jun might never have become a chess heroine in China if she wasn’t so good at the Chinese version of chess, xiangqi.

At the age of ten, after becoming the Beijing Girls’ Champion at the start of the 1980s, the authorities decided that, since there was a better player from the city than her who had just become the National Senior Champion, one talent for the game in the city was enough, so instructed Xie Jun to immediately give up xiangqi and try her luck at international chess.

Knowing nothing about the game of chess, the rules were subsequently explained to her and, as an exception, she was admitted to the Beijing Team. The rest, as they say, is history. Her meteoric rise to stardom is virtually unprecedented in chess history.

As a teenager she won the national girl’s championships in 1984 and 1985 and obtained the national women’s championship title four years thereafter. By 1988 she was just a promising junior who had never even seen a grandmaster, let alone beaten one. But, such was her development in the game, by 1991 she had reached the pinnacle in the game when she ended the 13-year reign of Maya Chiburdanidze to become China’s first world champion.

Holding the crown until beaten in 1996 by Zsuzsa Polgar, the Chinese heroine successfully regained the title by defeating Alisa Galliamova and compatriot Qin Kanying last year.

It was Xie Jun who led the way for the Chinese tidal wave in the third round of the match, as she notched up the first win of the day for China when she defeated Alexander Ivanov.

Xie Jun (2557) - Ivanov,A (2582) [C95]

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0–0 Be7 6 d3 The Pilnik Variation. White wants to build-up a typical Lopez-like structure without risking the mainlines like the Open and the Marshall. It usually leads to a tense struggle which black has to be careful not to take the game into an ending too quickly. 6 ..d6 7 c3 0–0 8 Re1 b5 9 Bc2 Bb7 10 Nbd2 Nb8 Ideas like Re8 and d5 are more common in this system. Ivanov decides instead to play a sort of Breyer Variation with the repositioning of the knight on d7. 11 Nf1 Nbd7 12 h3 Re8 13 Ng3 Bf8 14 d4 g6 15 b3 c6 16 Bg5 Bg7 17 Qd2! Qe7 18 Rad1 Qf8 With the idea of h6 and Kh7. 19 Be3 Rad8 20 Qc1 Rc8 21 Ng5 h6 22 Nf3 a5 [The immediate 22 ..exd4!? 23 cxd4 c5 offered Black better chances.] 23 Nd2 exd4 24 cxd4 c5 25 d5 Ba6 26 f4 c4 27 bxc4 bxc4 28 Nf3 Just look at the coordination of Xie Jun's pieces compared to Ivanov's - she's now ready to strike with force in the centre. 28 ..Nc5 29 e5 Nfd7

30 e6! Nf6 [Black's only option now may well have been 30 ..fxe6 31 Bxg6 Nd3 32 Bxd3 cxd3 33 Qa3 exd5 34 Qxa5 Bc4 35 Nh5 with unclear play.] 31 Bxc5 Rxc5 32 Qe3 Kh8?! [Black was in a difficult position anyway, but this only helps his demise: 32 ..fxe6 33 dxe6 Nd5 34 Rxd5! Rxd5 35 Qe4 Rf5 36 Nxf5 Qxf5 37 Qc6! Qc5+ 38 Qxc5 dxc5 39 Bxg6 with a winning advantage, 32 ..Qe7 33 f5 Rxd5 34 Rxd5 Nxd5 35 exf7+ Kxf7 36 fxg6+ Kf8 37 Qf2! Qf6 38 Rxe8+ Kxe8 39 Qa7! Bc8 40 Ne4 and Black's in a mess.] 33 e7 Qg8 34 Ba4 Rxd5 35 Bxe8 Qxe8 36 Qb6 Bb5 37 Rxd5 1–0

Next to win was Xie Jun’s coach and top board, Ye Jiangchuan, who defeated Boris Gulko.

Ye Jiangchuan (2671) - Gulko,B (2622) [B82]

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 Nc6 6 Bc4 Qb6 An idea invented in the late 1950s from one of the original of thinkers in the game, the French-born American\Hungarian player cum composer, Pal Benko, who came up with the idea in an effort to stymie the Fischer favourite, the Sozin. 7 Nb3 [7 Nde2 e6 8 0–0 Be7 9 Bb3 0–0 10 Kh1 Na5 11 Bg5 Qc5 12 f4 b5 13 Ng3 b4 14 e5 dxe5 15 Bxf6 gxf6 16 Nce4 Qd4 17 Qh5 Nxb3 18 Qh6 exf4 19 Nh5 f5 20 Rad1 Qe5 21 Nef6+ Bxf6 22 Nxf6+ Qxf6 23 Qxf6 Nc5 24 Qg5+ Kh8 25 Qe7 Ba6 26 Qxc5 Bxf1 27 Rxf1 1–0 Fischer,R-Benko,P/Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade 1959/Candidates (27).] 7 ..e6 8 0–0 Be7 9 Be3 Qc7 10 f4 a6 11 Bd3 b5 12 Qf3 We've now transposed into the more conventional Scheveningen with an extra move on both sides. 12 ..Bb7 13 Qh3 0–0 [13 ..b4 and; 13 ..Nb4 are options here.] 14 Rf3 b4 [I much prefer bolstering up the kingside defence with 14 ..Rfe8 15 Raf1 b4 16 Na4 Nd7 17 Rg3 Bf8 1/2–1/2 Tisdall,J-Gulko,B/Reykjavik 1996/CBM 52 (17).] 15 Na4 a5 16 Rg3 Kh8 17 Rf1 Ba6 18 Nd2 [18 Bxa6? Rxa6 19 Nd2 Nd8! is good for Black.] 18 ..Bxd3 19 cxd3 Rab8 20 b3 Rb5 21 Rgf3 Nb8

22 g4! Qc2 23 g5 Nfd7 [23 ..Ng8 was called for.] 24 d4 [24 g6! Nf6 (24 ..fxg6 25 Qxe6 Re8 26 Qc4!) 25 gxf7 Qc8 26 Nb6 Qc7 27 Nbc4 Qd7 28 e5 Nd5 29 f5 crashes through for White.] 24 ..d5 25 g6 fxg6 26 Qxe6 dxe4 27 Nxe4 Rh5 28 R3f2 Qc8? [Black's only chance of survival was 28 ..Qd3 29 Ng3 Bh4 30 Rd2 Re5!] 29 Qxe7 Re8 30 Rc2 1–0

On December 31 and January 1 (until about three weeks ago), Ye Jiangchuan took on 1004 opponents in a world record, 28-hour-plus simultaneous exhibition in Tian Yuan, Shangxi province as part of the Chinese Chess New Century Festival. He won 912 games, drew 76 and lost 1. It is significant that the event spanned two centuries.

Anna-Maria Botsari exceeded Ye's record less than three weeks ago in Kalavrita, Greece, by playing 1102 opponents in a little over 30 hours.

When things are going badly, it’s Murphy’s Law (we are, after all, celebrating St Patrick’s Day here in the US!) that they tend to go badly in full view of the cameras. This was just what happened Irina Krush, the US’s top female player.

Right now she and her manager, GM Ron Henley, are taking part in a documentary on chess for National Geographical. To this end, she had a special automatic video camera permanently rolling during her game with Wang Lei. Only the loss wasn’t in the script.

Wang Lei (2473) - Krush,I (2380) [D13]

1 d4 d5 2 c4 c6 3 Nf3 Nf6 4 Nc3 a6 Thanks to some pioneering work from the likes of Shirov, Dreev and Hodgson, this line of the Slav has become popular. It's also become something of a Krush speciality. 5 cxd5 Rather than get embroiled in a theoretical debate in some of the topical lines, Wang Lei simply transposes into an exchange Slav. 5 ..cxd5 6 Bf4 e6 7 e3 Be7 8 Bd3 b5 [8 ..Nh5!?, exchanging off the dark-squared bishop was worth a try.] 9 0–0 Bb7 10 a4N

Though never been played before, this is an entirely logical move. White is looking to create weaknesses in the ending. 10 ..b4 11 Nb1 Nc6 12 Nbd2 Rc8 13 Qe2 Qb6 14 Nb3 Na5 Trying to prevent White from playing a5, which would leave Black vulnerable in the ending due to the stranded pawn on b4. 15 Nxa5 Qxa5 16 Nd2! Again heading for b3 and a bind on the game with a5. 16 ..0–0 17 Nb3 Qb6 18 a5 Qa7 19 Rfc1 Rxc1+ 20 Rxc1 Rc8 21 Rc7! Rxc7 22 Bxc7 Nd7 23 h4 Qa8 24 h5 Qc8 25 Qc2 h6 26 f3 f5 [The position was not without its dangers in the ending should the knight move from its outpost on d7: 26 ..Nf6 27 Bb6 Qxc2 (27 ..Nxh5 28 Qxc8+ Bxc8 29 Bc5! Bg5 30 f4 Bd8 31 Bxb4) 28 Bxc2 Nd7 29 Kf2 Kf8 (29 ..Nxb6? 30 axb6 Bc6 31 Bd3 Bd8 32 Na5 wins) 30 Nc5 Nxc5 31 dxc5 with the threat of Ba4 and c6 31 ..Bc6 32 Bd3 Bb7 33 c6 Bxc6 34 Bxa6 and the a-pawn wins the day.] 27 Be5 Qxc2 28 Bxc2 Nxe5 29 dxe5 Kf7 30 Bd3 Ke8 31 Kf2 Kd7 32 f4 Kc7 33 Nd4 Kd7

34 Be2! Angling for g4 and mounting up on the weakness on e6. 34 ..Bc5 Black's now forced to exchange on d4 in order to save the e6 pawn. Regardless, the ending is lost. 35 g4 fxg4 36 Bxg4 Bxd4 37 exd4 Bc8 38 Ke3 Kc6 39 Be2 Kb7 40 Kd2 Bd7 41 Kc1! A beautiful little finesse. Wang Lei wants to put her king on b3 without allowing a Ba4+, so she takes the long road via b1–a2-b3. 41 ..Be8 42 Kb1 Bd7 43 Ka2 Ba4 44 Bg4 Kc6 45 Bxe6 Bd1 46 Bf7 Kb5 47 e6 1–0

Only Larry Christiansen and Gregory Kaidanov managed to salvage some pride for the USA as the Chinese ripped through their team. With wins against Zhu Chen and Peng Xiaomin, they at lest have given the US something to fight for in the final day.

Christiansen,L (2566) - Zhu Chen (2538) [A28]

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 e5 3 Nf3 Nc6 4 d4 exd4 5 Nxd4 Bc5 6 Nxc6 bxc6 7 e3 [Like most things English, 7 g3 is more standard.] 7 ..0–0 8 Be2 Qe7 [8 ..d5! is best now.] 9 0–0 Ne4?! 10 Nxe4 Qxe4 11 Bd2 Qe7 12 a3 Bd6 [12 ..a5 13 Qa4! and Black's got problems.] 13 Qc2 c5 14 Bd3 Qh4 15 f4! Bb7 16 e4 f6 17 Rf3 h6 [Black doesn't really have time for this. She has to play the immediate: 17 ..Rae8 ] 18 Raf1 Rae8 19 Rg3 Kh8?

[19 ..Qh5 had to be played.] 20 Qd1! Black's queen is now in grave danger as its retreat has been blocked off. 20 ..f5 21 e5 Be7 22 Be1 The rest is academic now - Black can't save her queen. 22 ..Bd8 23 Rxg7 Qxe1 24 Rxe1 Kxg7 25 Bxf5 Re7 26 Qh5 Kg8 27 Re3 Rg7 28 Rg3 Bg5 29 Qg4 Bf6 30 Qh3 Bg5 31 fxg5 Rgf7 32 gxh6+ 1–0

Peng Xiaomin (2648) - Kaidanov,G (2607) [C02]

1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 c5 4 c3 Qb6 5 a3 [5 Nf3 first is more conventional in the Advance French.] 5 ..a5 6 Bd3 [Again 6 Nf3 was better. The reason being we'll soon see.] 6 ..Bd7! White's wasted a move putting the bishop on d3. Gregory now plans Bb5 to exchange off the white-squared bishops - traditionally the problem piece for Black in the French. 7 Ne2 Bb5 8 Bxb5+ Qxb5 9 0–0 Nc6 10 a4 Qb6 11 Na3 cxd4 12 cxd4 Nge7 Black's definitely won the opening skirmishes: He's got rid of the troublesome white-squared bishop, and he's now got permanent pressure on d4. 13 Nb5 Nf5 14 g4 Nh4 15 Qb3 Qd8 16 f4 h5!

17 f5 [17 g5 Nf5 18 Bd2 Rc8 leaves Black in control. White - unwisely - decides to mix it rather than be left defending a difficult position.] 17 ..hxg4 18 fxe6 fxe6 19 Qg3 [19 Nf4 Nf3+ 20 Rxf3 gxf3 21 Nxe6 Qh4 22 Nbc7+ Kd7 23 Qxf3 Qxh2+ 24 Kf1 Rb8 25 Qxd5+ Kc8 26 Nb5 Bb4 and Black's winning.] 19 ..Nf3+ 20 Rxf3 gxf3 21 Nf4 Kd7! 22 Nxe6 Qh4 23 Ng5 Nxd4! 24 e6+ Nxe6 25 Nxf3 [It's all hopeless for White: 25 Qxh4 Rxh4 26 Nxf3 Bc5+ 27 Kg2 (27 Kf1 Rf8) 27 ..Rg4+ 28 Kh3 Rb4] 25 ..Qxg3+ 26 hxg3 Bd6 27 Kg2 Rac8 0–1

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

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