Round 7 2nd March 2002

JUST HOW MUCH WOOD CAN A WOODCHUCK CHUCK, CHUCKY?

IT surely can be no coincidence that the night before Vasily Ivanchuk "suddenly" sprang to life in Linares after an unbelievable round seven game with Mickey Adams, in the clear, Andalucian sky above there was the fullest of fullest moons on view.

Wrapping up warmly for a pre-midnight stroll (it gets quite chilly at night in Linares) after a late dinner with fellow journalist Arvind Aaron, we happened to bump into Big Chucky doing likewise - except he was going out with a pair of shorts on! Afternoon in Linares: yes. Nighttime Linares: definitely not! We speculated then that he would be looking for inspiration with a quick howl or two at the moon. There was even the case of a previous Linares where Chucky was discovered howling like a wolf in the park not far from the hotel - all in a desperate attempt to exorcise the demons of a bad loss.

Some may regard Linares as belonging to Garry Kasparov due to his many wins here. In reality, however, it actually belongs to Ivanchuk. He’s a very popular figure with the Linarese, who greet him warmly everywhere with a brief ‘Ivanchuk!’. Next to Kasparov who has six Linares titles, Big Chucky is next on the roll of honour with three wins here (1989, 1991 and 1995).

His second win, in 1991, was by far his greatest achievement - then at a category 17 the strongest tournament of all time when he came a half point ahead of Kasparov. In the space of two months, he had got married (to top WGM Alisa Gallimova - now sadly divorced), going literally straight from the alter to a Candidates victory over Leonid Yudashin, and then driving Southern Spain for Linares - arriving just a couple of hours before the first round started.

The victory at Linares 1991 looked set to put the Lvov star on a collision course with Kasparov for the world crown. However, plagued since his youth by instability and weak nerves, he never lived up to the early promise of a player who had a true insight into chess and would often "crack" under the mounting pressure. Many made light of his habits when he would withdraw into a world of his own; some even ridiculing him as the chess world’s answer to the village idiot. I don’t suppose his case was helped by admitting to the press and spectators during Tilburg 1992 that he often played chess with his dog!

His habit of staring anywhere but at the board during play is often the highlight of the tournament for the spectators and press - the press in particular who can fill many column inches with these exploits. We have an expression in Scotland "the lights are on but no one is home" about people who have such vacant looks. For Chucky, however, he’s not day-dreaming - the habit comes from his childhood when he taught himself to analyze positions in his head.

Sure, there have been many Chucky "moments" over the years. In Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam’s Linares! Linares!, Peter Svidler recalled a memorable moment at a bullfight that showed just how popular Chucky is in Spain. On the rest day he accompanied Chucky to a corrida in nearby Villanueva. Just when the first bull was about to be killed, they jumped up in excitement to applaud with all the other spectators. The unmistakable figure of Ivanchuk was immediately recognized by the crowd, who started shouting ‘I-van-chuk!’. Like a Mexican wave, it soon caught on and before they knew it the whole audience were on their feet applauding not the slayer of the bull but big Chucky! Even the bullfighters joined in on the cheering - one going as far as dedicating the kill to Chucky!

My own personal favourite, witnessed at first hand, came at the end of the 1994 Intel Grand Prix in London after he had beaten Vishy Anand in the final. Intel had decided to go into the PR of the tournament in a big way and had presented Chucky with a large cardboard cheque (about 3 ft x 4 ft) for $30,000, which before the ceremony they had quickly written his name on it with a black marker. After the photographers had finished taking their pictures and everyone started to leave the theatre, Chucky was left alone on stage still holding the presentation cheque. Looking a bit bemused by it, he stared at it for a priceless 10 seconds or so before attempting to fold it to get it into his wallet! You could hear the organizer frantically shouting to him "No! No, Chucky! The real cheque is in the envelope inside the trophy".

But Chucky is Chucky and we wouldn’t have him any other way - especially when he produces one of those special Chucky moments at the chessboard.

Ivanchuk,V (2717) - Adams,M (2742) [C88]

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 (When in Spain...) 3 ..a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0–0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0–0 8 a4 (The Anti-Marshall - Chucky doesn't want a theoretical duel with Adams with the main-line Marshall.) 8 ..Bb7 9 d3 Re8 10 Na3!? (Not a novelty - but very rare. There are many moves been played here, such as 10 Nc3, 10 Nbd2, 10 c3, 10 axb5, 10 Bd2 and 10 Bg5 - however, only two games with 10 Na3. It must have come as something of a shock to Adams, who reacts with the most direct move.) 10 ..Bxa3 [10 ..Bc5 11 Bg5 Nd4 (11 ..Na5 12 Ba2 b4 13 Nc4 Nc6 14 c3 h6 15 Bh4 g5 16 Bg3 bxc3 17 bxc3 d6 18 Na3 Ne7 19 Qb3 d5 20 Qxb7 Rb8 21 Qxa6 Rb6 22 Qa5 Nd7 23 exd5 1–0 Hechtlinger,J-Olson,D/Philadelphia 1995/EXT 2000.) 12 Nxd4 Bxd4 13 c3 Bb6 14 Qf3 Bc6 15 Nc2 bxa4 16 Bxa4 Bxa4 17 Rxa4 Re6 18 d4 h6 19 Bh4 Qe8 20 d5 Rd6 21 Na3 Nh7 22 Nc4 Rg6 23 d6 Ng5 24 Qd3 Ne6 25 Qd1 Nf4 26 Bg3 Qe6 27 Bxf4 exf4 28 Qf3 Re8 29 b3 a5 30 Rd1 Bc5 31 dxc7 Qc6 32 Rxa5 Qxc7 33 e5 Ree6 34 Qd5 d6 35 b4 f3 36 g3 Ba7 37 exd6 Bxf2+ 38 Kxf2 Qd7 39 Qf5 Qc6 40 Rc5 Re2+ 41 Kf1 Qa4 42 Rcd5 Qa2 43 Nd2 Qa7 44 Qxf3 Rf6 45 Kxe2 Rxf3 46 Nxf3 1–0 Kupreichik,V-Dueball,J/Germany 1993/GER-chT2.] 11 bxa3 d5 12 exd5 Nxd5 13 Bb2? [13 Ng5! gives white a small advantage and would have avoided all the coming complications - thank goodness Chucky didn't play it!] 13 ..Nf4! 14 Bc1 (A sure sign that his previous move was bad.) 14 ..Nxg2!

15 Ng5 [15 Kxg2? Nd4 was an easy win.] 15 ..Nxe1 16 Qh5 Qd7! [At least Adams is willing to make a fight of it. He could have bailed out immediately with 16 ..h6 17 Nxf7 Qf6 18 Ng5+ (18 Nxh6+! Kf8 19 Nf5 Re6! 20 Bxe6 Qxe6 21 Bh6 gxh6 22 Rxe1 Qg8+ 23 Kf1 Qg5 and white has lost a lot of wood.)) 18 ..Kh8 19 Nf7+ Kh7 20 Ng5+=] 17 Bxf7+ Kf8 18 Be3 [We were all hoping in the press room for the rather adventurous - and serious - king-hunt option of 18 Nxh7+!? Ke7 19 Bg5+ Kd6 20 Rxe1 Nd4 21 Re3 Nxc2 22 Nf8!

22 ..Qf5 a)22 ..Rxf8? 23 Qg6+ Kc5 24 d4+ exd4 25 Re5+ Bd5 26 Be7+!; b)22 ..Qc6 23 Qg6+ Kc5 24 Nd7+! Qxd7 25 d4+ exd4 (b)25 ..Nxd4? 26 Rc3#; b)25 ..Qxd4? 26 Qxc2+ Kb6 27 Rd3!; b)25 ..Kxd4? 26 Rd3+ Kc5 27 Rc3+ Kd4 28 Qd3#) 26 Qxc2+ Kb6 27 a5+ Kxa5 (b)27 ..Ka7? 28 Qc5+ Kb8 29 Rxe8+!) 28 Bxe8 Qd5 29 Qxc7+ Ka4 30 Qc2+ Ka5 31 Qc7+ Ka4 32 Qc2+=; 23 Be7+ Rxe7 24 Qxf5 Rxf8 25 Qg6+ Kd7 26 Be6+! Rxe6 27 Qxg7+ Ke8

28 Rxe5! Rxe5 29 Qxe5+ Kd8 30 Qc5 (30 axb5? Rg8+! 31 Kf1 Bg2+ 32 Ke2 Re8 wins.) 30 ..Re8! 31 f4 (31 h4 Ne1! 32 f4 Re2 33 Kf1 (33 h5 Bg2! 34 Kh2 Be4+ 35 Kh3 Nxd3 36 Qf8+ Kd7 37 Qf7+ Kc6 38 axb5+ axb5 and the black pieces are much better - the white king is in extreme danger.) 33 ..Bf3) 31 ..Re2 32 axb5 axb5 33 Qg5+ Kd7 (33 ..Kc8? 34 Qg4+!) 34 Qxb5+ Bc6 35 Qf5+ Kd6 36 Qg6+ Re6 37 Qg7 Re2=] 18 ..Nd4 19 Rxe1 [White can also punt (or should that be a euro these days?) the idea of 19 Nxh7+!? Ke7 20 Rxe1 Nf3+ 21 Kf1 Nxh2+! (21 ..Kd6? 22 Ng5 Qg4 23 Qxg4 Nxh2+ 24 Ke2 Nxg4 25 Bxe8 Rxe8 26 Rb1 and it's white with the advantage.) 22 Qxh2 Kxf7 23 Ng5+ Kf6 (23 ..Kg6 24 Qg3; 23 ..Ke7 24 Bf4! Kd8 25 Rxe5 Rxe5 26 Bxe5 Kc8 27 Qh8+ Qd8 28 Qxg7 Bd5 29 Ne4 with an unclear position - I don't think white is any worse.) 24 Nh7+ Kg6 25 Ke2! with another unclear position - despite the extra material, black may not be able to find a safe haven for his king.] 19 ..Nf3+ 20 Kf1 Nxg5 21 Bc5+ Re7

22 Rxe5! (Unbelievable - just how much wood is Chucky going to chuck?) 22 ..Nxf7 23 Rxe7 Qxe7 24 Bxe7+ Kxe7 25 Qc5+ Kd7 26 Qd4+ Ke7 27 Qxg7 (The dust has cleared somewhat with black having a material advantage. However, his pieces (and king) are not in ideal squares to work together - the defence is going to be very tough.) 27 ..bxa4 28 Qc3 Kd7 [28 ..Rc8 29 Qb4+ Nd6 30 Qxa4 and h7 or c7 will fall next.] 29 Qd4+ Nd6 30 Qxa4+ Ke6 31 Qg4+ Nf5 32 Qc4+

32 ..Bd5? [Perhaps black should try and dig in with 32 ..Kd7 33 Qc5 Nd6 34 Qh5 Rf8 35 Qxh7+ Rf7 36 Qh3+ Rf5 37 f4 Bd5 38 Qg4 Be6 39 c4 Ne8 with the idea of trying to build a fortress with Nf6 - I'm not saying it saves the day, but it looks a better try. However, after all the complications that went on before, Mickey had less than a couple of minutes to work out a plan.] 33 Qxc7 h5 34 c4 Bh1 [Another seriously misplaced piece - but black had no option: 34 ..Bf3 35 Qf4! Bb7 36 d4 Rf8 37 Qe5+ Kd7 38 d5 and c5-c6 is unstoppable.] 35 f4 Rf8 36 Qb6+ Kf7 37 Qa7+ Ne7 38 Qxa6 Rb8 39 d4 (Black can't stop the pawns - the only way to do so requires serious material loss.) 39 ..Rb1+ 40 Ke2 Rb2+ 41 Kd3 Rb3+ 42 Kd2 Rh3 43 d5 Rxh2+ 44 Kd3 Nxd5 45 cxd5 Bxd5 46 f5 Ra2 47 Qa7+ Kf6 48 Qd4+ Kg5 49 Qxd5 Rxa3+ 50 Ke4 1–0 A fantastic game. And like most fantastic games, it takes two players to produce one - Well done Chucky and Mickey!

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.