Round 13 9th March and Round 14 10th March 2002

AN UNLUCKY EXPERIENCE

I’M a firm believer that it is bad luck to be superstitious. Round 13 at Linares had to be unlucky for someone. It turned out that way for my ‘good friend’ Rustan Ponomariov…and me.

So, why was the last report late, I hear you ask? Well, I arrived ahead of the Germans to get my trusty ThinkPad on a prime spot in the press room for the big game of the year, settled down and turned my computer on to write Report 12 for all my fans out there (Hi Mom!). Having recently upgraded from Windows 2000 to Windows XP, everything seemed A-OK…until.

Suddenly my computer took what I can only describe as a seizure, spurting out 'ACCESS VIOLATION 0062A2AB'. Hmmm, I thought - that doesn't sound too healthy. It then took me the best part of 15 minutes to restart the computer as everything (even the Solitaire) literally froze on me; and on restarting insisted on doing a disk check. For the next hour or so I went through the computer version of Groundhog Day as this permanent loop of ACCESS VIOLATION 0062A2AB left me pulling out what little hair I have on top.

Now I've been a loyal Windows man since the first version, Windows Etch-A-Sketch. Every year or so, Microsoft comes out with a new version, which Microsoft always swears is better and more reliable, and like a fool I always buy it as if it's my personal duty to keep Bill Gates in the life in which he's accustomed to. I bought Windows 2.0, Windows 3.0, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 98SE (This Time It's Personal), Windows ME, Windows YOU, Son of Windows, The Return of Windows, The Best of Windows, Windows Strikes Back and all-time favourite, Windows Let's All Help to Make Bill Gates a Squillionaire - all of them requiring more patches than an over-the-top production of The Pirates of Penzance.

The funny thing is that Windows XP, which according to everybody is the "most reliable Windows ever", had, up to this point, impressed me with some of its innovative features - particularly the new decks of cards in Solitaire.

By this time the Kasparov-Ponomariov showdown was well underway. Here was I, much like young Pono, struggling for survival. Hmmm, I thought, maybe the ChessBase boffins over in Hamburg can solve the problem for me. I immediately phoned their 24-hour helpline (a.k.a Freddie Friedel’s house). After listening very, very carefully to all the symptoms for 5 minutes, while simultaneously trying to calm me down, he immediately gave me his diagnosis: “Hmmm…do you have a hammer?”.

I insisted on a second opinion and he referred me to that nice Dr. Mathias Feist at ChessBase. A couple of phone calls and three emails later, Mathias (thank you so, so much!) managed to crack the problem for me – finally allowing me to get into my beloved ChessBase to write the report.

Meanwhile, back at the chess, Ponomariov was badly in need of his own ‘opening patch’ as he struggled to contain Kasparov. A twelfth round victory for Pono over Spain’s Paco Vallejo put the young Ukrainian Fide world champion into a tie for first place on 6/10 with Kasparov - and a fateful round 13 showdown between the two.

Unfortunately for Ponomariov, the omens also didn’t look good for him from the start. Kasparov, who is very superstitious, regards no.13 to be his ‘lucky’ number: he was born on April 13, and, in 1985, he was crowned the thirteenth world champion.

I could instantly tell in the Kasparov camp that they were overjoyed at winning – Klara Kasparova immediately kissed the Linares organiser twice, and good old Yuri even managed to break into a smile.

Kasparov,G (2838) - Ponomariov,R (2727) [C10]

1 e4 e6 (This is the first time Ponomariov has played a French, as far as I can see from a quick scan of the latest super-doper ChessBase MegaBase 2002. His second, Viktor Bologan, explained to me that they had to surprise Kasparov with something - this was it. Since he had researched in detail this line to play as white against Anand, he felt he could also handle the black side.) 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Nd7 (The Rubinstein Variation...or is it?) 5 Nf3 Ngf6 6 Nxf6+ Nxf6 7 c3 c5 8 Ne5 [Crafty Kasparov - this is also a position that is usually reached via a c3 Sicilian!: 1 e4 c5 2 c3 d5 3 exd5 Qxd5 4 d4 e6 5 Nf3 Nf6 6 Na3 Qd8 7 Nc4 Nc6 8 Nce5 Nxe5 9 Nxe5, where usually 9 .. a6 or ..Qa5 is played to stop the strong Bb5! Ponomariov expected 8 Be3 as was seen in Adams-Anand from round six, and after 8 ..Qc7 9 Ne5, Anand immediately played 9 ..a6 to prevent 10 Bb5.] 8 ..Nd7? (A truly bad mistake - and one which Ponomariov never fully recovers from.) 9 Bb5! Bd6

10 Qg4! (Very aggressive, and very strong. Black has serious problems with the kingside.) 10 ..Kf8 [Forced: 10 ..0–0? 11 Bxd7! cxd4 (11 ..Bxd7 12 Bh6!) 12 Bg5 h5 (12 ..Qc7 13 Bf6 g6 14 Qf4!) 13 Qxh5 Qc7 14 Ng4! with the threat of Nf6+ winning.] 11 0–0 (With black lagging somewhat in development, white chooses the right moment to sacrifice a pawn to exploit the open d-file.) 11 ..Nxe5 12 dxe5 Bxe5 13 Bg5 Bf6 [13 ..h5 14 Rad1 Qb6 15 Qc4; 13 ..f6 14 Rad1 Qc7 (14 ..Qb6 15 Be3! Kf7 16 Bd7!) 15 Qh5 g6 16 Bh6+ Kf7 17 Qh4 a6 18 Be2 f5 19 Rfe1 and black has big problems. ] 14 Rad1 Qc7 [Black's best by now was 14 ..Qe7!? 15 Bxf6 Qxf6 16 Rd3! and white is soon going to be ready to strike.] 15 Qh4! (Black is going to have to make some serious concessions to plug the big weakness on the d-file.) 15 ..Bxg5 16 Qxg5 f6 17 Qh5 g6 18 Qh6+ Kf7

19 Rd3! a6 20 Rh3 Qe7 [20 ..axb5 21 Qxh7+! Rxh7 22 Rxh7+ Ke8 23 Rxc7 and all the black pawns also fall; 20 ..Bd7 was probably a good a try as any. Ponomariov just didn't want to have his queen cut off from everything: 21 Be2 f5 22 Rd1 and he's going to get hit in much the same way as the actual game.] 21 Bd3 f5 [Just how bad is the black position? Well, try developing the white-squared bishop: 21 ..Bd7 22 Rd1! Bc6 23 Qxh7+!! Rxh7 24 Rxh7+ Kf8 25 Bxg6 Qxh7 26 Bxh7 f5 27 Bg6 and the h-pawn is going to be a killer.] 22 g4! Qf6 [here's simply no respite - Kasparov is all over him like a bad rash: 22 ..Qf8 23 Qf4 Bd7 24 gxf5 gxf5 25 Bc4 Rg8+ 26 Rg3 Rxg3+ 27 fxg3 Kg6 28 Rd1 Qf7 29 g4!] 23 Rd1 b5 [23 ..fxg4 24 Re3 b5 25 f3! gxf3 26 Be4 with a big advantage.] 24 Be2 e5 25 Rhd3

25 ..Ra7?! [It was probably his best hope by now, but even taking on g4 posed long-term difficulties: 25 ..fxg4!? 26 Rd6 Qf4 27 Rxg6! (27 Qh4 g3!) 27 ..Qxh6 (27 ..hxg6 28 Qxh8 Qf6 29 Qh7+ Qg7 30 Qxg7+ Kxg7 31 Rd8 Kf6 32 Bxg4 Bb7 33 Rd7 Kg5 34 Rxb7 Kxg4) 28 Rxh6 and black has too many pawn weaknesses in the ending.] 26 Rd6 Qg7 27 Qe3 Rc7 28 a4! (The final piece in the jigsaw - if white gets in a Bc4+, black is totally busted.) 28 ..e4 29 axb5 axb5 30 Bxb5 Qe5 31 Qg5 Qe7 [31 ..c4 32 Bxc4+! Rxc4 33 Rd7+ Bxd7 34 Rxd7+ Kf8 35 Qd8+ Qe8 36 Qf6+ Kg8 37 Qg7#] 32 Qh6 Be6 33 Qf4 (Black's paralysed and, with Kasparov only having a couple of minutes on the clock till the time control, he repeats moves a couple of times.) 33 ..Bc8 34 Qh6 Be6

35 gxf5! (It's all over now - Be2-h5+ is unstoppable.) 35 ..gxf5 36 Be2 Qf6 37 Bh5+ Ke7 38 Rxe6+ [38 Rxe6+ Qxe6 (38 ..Kxe6 39 Rd6+ Kxd6 40 Qxf6+ Kd7 41 Qxh8) 39 Qg7+ Qf7 40 Qxf7#] 1–0

If 13 proved unlucky for Ponomariov, how do you think lapsed Latvian Alexei Shirov must have felt in the final round? ALL of the numbers have proved lucky for Kasparov when facing Alexei. As it stands, Kasparov had a +13 record (with no defeats) against him. It didn’t take Gazza long to get win 14 safely tucked under his belt. Shirov was hit be the legendary Kasparov last round onslaught – a win that guaranteed him his seventh Linares title, and tenth successive elite tournament victory in a run that’s stretches back to Wijk aan Zee 1999.

Poor Alexei was left punch-drunk by it all as he slumped to one of his worst tournament performances, finishing bottom.

Shirov,A (2715) - Kasparov,G (2838) [B33]

Again no handshake. Since Wijk aan Zee 2001, both players have not shaken hands due to the infamous Shirov accusation that Kasparov's title match with Kramnik would be 'fixed'. 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nc6 (A surprise already. Kasparov rarely - if ever - plays 2 ..Nc6, instead preferring the Najdorf.) 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 e5 6 Ndb5 d6 (The Sveshnikov) 7 Bg5 a6 8 Na3 b5 9 Bxf6 gxf6 10 Nd5 f5 11 Bxb5!? (This speculative sacrifice became popular in the late 1970s due to John Nunn.) 11 ..axb5 12 Nxb5 Ra4! (Both sides need to play very precisely in this variation, and 12 ..Ra4! is easily black's best) 13 b4!?

13 ..Qh4!? [A move with a British pedigree! Strangely, up to a couple of years ago, this move had never been played. When Luke McShane did uncork it against Luther at Lippstadt 2000, he described it as a 'natural move'. And, with just two games with it in the database (three now after this game), it's black's safest bet to avoid all the complications of the big main-line with 13 ..Rxb4: 13 ..Rxb4 14 Nbc7+ Kd7 15 0–0 Qxc7 16 c3 Rxe4 17 Qh5 Kd8 18 Nxc7 Kxc7 19 Qxf7+ Be7 20 Rab1 Ba6 21 Rfd1 Rf8 22 Qb3 Rb8 23 Qe6 Rxb1 24 Rxb1 Bd3 25 Rd1 f4 26 Qd5 Bc2 27 Rc1 Re2 28 a4 e4 29 a5 Bd3 30 Ra1 Rb2 31 c4 Rb7 32 a6 Ra7 33 f3 Ne5 34 fxe4 Bxc4 35 Rc1 Rxa6 36 Rxc4+ Nxc4 37 Qxc4+ Rc6 38 Qf7 Kd8 39 Qg8+ Kd7 40 Qxh7 Rc5 41 Qf7 Rc1+ 42 Kf2 Rc8 43 Qf5+ Kc7 44 Qe6 1–0 Shirov,A-Topalov,V/Leon 2001/CBM 84.] 14 0–0 Rg8 15 f4? [White has gone astray already. Kasparov, needing just a draw to secure the title, had probably worked out that Shirov would have played down this line (hence 2 Nc6), and was prepared to take the half-point. However, this move changes everything. Instead, he should have opted for 15 c3 f4 16 Qxa4 Rxg2+ 17 Kxg2 Qg4+ ½–½ Luther,T-McShane,L/Lippstadt 2000/CBM 78.] 15 ..Kd8! (One very precise move later, and Shirov is struggling. From d8, the black king nicely side-steps out of the way of all the trouble with potential knight forks on f6 or c7.) 16 c3 Ra6 17 a4 fxe4 18 f5 [18 Ndc7 Rb6 19 Qd5 Qh5 20 a5 (20 Qxe4 Bb7 21 Ra2 Nd4 22 Qe3 Nf3+ wins) 20 ..Rxg2+! 21 Kxg2 Bh3+ 22 Kh1 Qe2 23 Qa2 Qxa2 24 Rxa2 Rxb5 25 Nxb5 Bxf1 26 Na3 exf4 and the body count is quite high.)] 18 ..Bb7 19 Ra2 e3 [Quicker was 19 ..Nd4 20 Nxd4 (20 cxd4 Bxd5 21 dxe5 Bxa2) 20 ..Bxd5 21 Nf3 exf3 22 Qxd5 Rxg2+ 23 Rxg2 fxg2 24 Qxg2 Rxa4 wins with ease.] 20 Nxe3

20 ..Qe4 (The pressure on g2 is soon going to tell as Kasparov blows open the position.) 21 Re1 Nxb4 22 cxb4 Bh6! 23 Kh1 Bxe3 24 Qe2 Rc6 25 a5 Qxb4 26 Nxd6 Rxd6 27 Qxe3 Qd4 28 Qc1 Qd5 0–1

Unfortunately there were was no traditional Kasparov press conference after the tournament – he felt he’d said it all before. However, the hacks did want to ask him a few questions about what he thought of Pono, particularly now that he knows what he looks like. Still, we weren’t to be disappointed – Super-Mario, ably assisted by the translation skills of his second, Victor Bologan, decided instead to give us a ‘mini’ press conference after his last round draw with Anand that secured him second place behind Kasparov.

He stormed into the press centre bouncing around like Tigger from Winnie the Pooh. Inevitably the first question was on his immediate reactions to Yasser Seirawan’s proposals for peace, love and harmony in the chess world. “Unfortunately I’ve had no time to read his document yet – it’s quite long. I’ll give an opinion later after reading it at home,” he explained. So what did he make of his performance at Linares, and what was his best game? “My play was more or less normal – what we expected. As for best game, that has to be first round against Ivanchuk”.

We then moved over to the time-control question. Which did he prefer, Fide or classical? “I like Fide 4-hour controls better – it’s less tiring. The difference with the 7-hour session, like Linares, is that you have to work longer at the board and its physically demanding. Maybe an extra rest day would help. But tournaments like Linares and Wijk aan Zee have their traditions – as professionals we just have to accept them.”

And Kasparov? What did he make of his first meeting and ‘that’ game yesterday? “All my life I wanted to play Kasparov, it was a dream come true to do so. Yesterday’s game I just blundered into an inferior position after making a mistake in the opening. He won’t have it all his own way in the future – I’ll soon grow up!” How has his life changed since becoming Fide world champion? “Oh, in many ways, but it’s led to much tension in my life right now – I think I need a good rest to recover from the strain!” And what would be his next event? “Nothing signed officially yet, though I should be playing in the forthcoming Fide Grand Prix in Abu Dhabi and Bessel Kok’s event in Prague.”

It was here I decided to ask young Pono the question everyone really wanted to know the answer to: What was the best DVD film he had watched during the tournament? Laughing, he replied “The one I watched last night after losing to Kasparov – the martial arts one, Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon!” And with that he bounced out in much the same way as he came in.

His overall performance at Linares proves he’s going to be here for the long run – and he’s got time on his hands. He’s not, as Kasparov would say, a ‘tourist’ who suddenly found himself in Linares. In three short months he’s jumped into the top-ten, become the youngest world champion of the game, and came second at Linares behind Kasparov. Already players like Morozevich, Adams and Anand are nervously twitching over their shoulders as he gains more and more Elo points to challenge their positions in the top-ten.

Remember the Kasparov remark after he beat Chucky in the Fide final? The one about ‘not knowing Ponomariov if he sat down beside me’? Well, in stark contrast to the Opening Ceremony a couple of weeks ago when Kasparov and Ponomariov did sit down together without a word between the two, the Closing Ceremony was a different affair. Kasparov NOW knows who Ponomariov is and what he’s capable of – and I think he quite likes him! The two sat beside each other again and the body language between the two was the opposite of the Opening Ceremony. They happily chatted and joked their way through the Ceremony – it was almost as if Garry was showing the youngster the ropes. Or maybe preparing to put one around his neck?

And, before Kasparov went up to collect trophy No.7, the press played their part in what could become the start of a beautiful relationship by voting the Kasparov-Ponomariov game from round 13 as the best game of the tournament – both players going up to receive their prizes of a wristwatch each. Just to make Garry feel really happy and not short of a spare wristwatch, we also voted him as the best overall ‘fighter’ at Linares, the prize a second watch.

Who knows, maybe in the next year or two it could be Ponomariov collecting all the prizes? The Test Of Time will soon tell. You know, that could make the title of a good book!

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

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