John Henderson US-China Chess Summit Match Reports

Round 2 15th March 2001

WITH THE KIDS IN AMERICA

IN-BETWEEN persuading Bobby Fischer to do “his patriotic duty” to defeat the Russians by finally turning up to play Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Henry Kissinger also persuaded President Richard Nixon in 1971 to finally make official contact with the Chinese.

After twenty-five years of loudly condemning China and denouncing anybody who was suspected of being friendly towards the Chinese, suddenly the pair decided that, hey, China was okay after all!

Historians have never really been able to fathom Kissinger and Tricky Dickey’s radical change toward the Chinese during this period. One minute the US were the archenemies of the godless Chinese Communists, and the next their national Ping-Pong team were suddenly going head-to-head with the Chinese Ping-Pong team, and all in the name of diplomacy.

Kissinger further helped Nixon to cement the relationship in 1973 when the US president made his historic visit to China; and with it the gift to the US of a pair of pandas: Hsing-Hsing and Ling-Ling, who immediately became celebrities at the National Zoo in Washington D.C.

Nixon and Kissinger may have been responsible for bringing the Chinese in from the cold and international acceptance, but it took a Dutchman to put the Chinese on the chess map: the hapless Jan Hein Donner.

At the Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires in 1978, the Chinese made their first foray into the international arena. It was there that the lowly rated 2200 player Liu Wen Che - who even till this day remains something of a chess legend in his country - became the first home-grown Chinese player to defeat a grandmaster: the hapless Jan Hein Donner. The Dutch team had some difficulty holding the Chinese team to a 2-2 draw. Facing Liu Wen Che, Donner was mated in spectacular style with a stunning queen sacrifice in just 20-moves.

Liu Wen Che - Donner,J [B07]

Buenos Aires Olympiad, 1978

1 e4 d6 2 d4 Nf6 3 Nc3 g6 4 Be2 Bg7 5 g4 h6 6 h3 c5 7 d5 0–0 8 h4 e6 9 g5 hxg5 10 hxg5 Ne8 11 Qd3 exd5 12 Nxd5 Nc6 13 Qg3 Be6 14 Qh4 f5 15 Qh7+ Kf7

16 Qxg6+ Kxg6 17 Bh5+ Kh7 18 Bf7+ Bh6 19 g6+ Kg7 20 Bxh6+ 1–0

“Oh, well,” commented the philosophical Donner after the game, “at least when they hold the first international tournament in China, they’ll have to invite me after this.”

Alas, when the first international tournament on Chinese soil was held in Beijing a few years later, there was no invite for Donner. However, the participants did remember what he had done for the cause of Chinese chess. They sent him a postcard thanking him for what he had done! He was considered the godfather of Chinese chess: by once suffering the humiliation of being on the receiving end of a brilliant loss, he had helped to put China firmly on the map as a chess nation.

For China, who came 20^th out of 65 teams in Buenos Aires, this was the turning point in their game. A few days later, FIDE awarded them the status of “one-zone federation”; and, in 1990, the women’s team took the bronze medal and the men’s team came sixth. China had arrived. And continues to do so.

China went on to become the strongest Asian chess country. The Chinese team became a feared opponent for any country. Despite winning a silver medal in an Olympiad, the men’s team have always been on the verge of the big breakthrough. In women’s chess though, they dominate the game. There, they made it to the top with the help of their first world champion, Xie Jun.

In 1999, Bu Xiangzhi (not so much a name, folks, more a bad hand at Scrabble!) won a title in 1999 that once belonged to legends in the game such as Fischer and Polgar – he became the world’s youngest GM at the tender age of 13 years, 10 months and 13 days.

Born in Qingdao in 1985, he learned to play the game when he was just 6 years old, and started to compete in chess tournaments in 1993, when he won the Qingdao Junior Chess Championship. Since then he’s won a whole host of international junior tournaments, one of the highlights being in 1998, when he become the first Chinese junior to take a World Children’s Champion title.

In his first game against IM Vinay Bhat, Bu was lucky to secure the full point after his opponent erred in a bad way in a rook and knight ending. In their second game, it was the turn of Bu to suffer at the hands of 16-year-old IM Vinay Bhat.

Until recently, Bhat held the record of being the youngest player to achieve IM status in the United States. He’s been a formidable force in the scholastic chess arena for many years. In 1994, at the age of ten, he set a new record by becoming the youngest player to achieve the title of National Master. In addition, Bhat has captured first place at numerous international, national and state tournaments.

Bhat,V (2415) - Bu Xiangzhi (2558)

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ The Moscow Variation. 3 ..Bd7 4 Bxd7+ Nxd7 [4 ..Qxd7 as in Kasparov vs. Irina Krush - sorry, The World - is more reliable - and adventurous - for Black.] 5 0–0 Ngf6 6 Qe2 g6 7 c3 Bg7 8 d4 cxd4 9 cxd4 e5 10 dxe5 dxe5 11 Rd1 Qb8

I don't like this position at all. White has got all the play and the opening lines. To use a good Kasparov quote, "this position smells". 12 b3N [12 Bg5 0–0 13 Nc3 h6 14 Bh4 Nc5 15 Bxf6 Bxf6 16 Qe3 Ne6 17 Qxh6 Bg7 18 Qh4 Rd8 19 Nd5 Nf4 20 Nf6+ Bxf6 21 Qxf6 Nd3 22 Rxd3 1–0 Husted,P-Rasmussen,J/DEN 1991/EXT 2000 (22). ] 12 ..0–0 13 Ba3 Re8 14 Nc3 Bf8 15 Bb2! Why swap off the good bishop? 15 ..a5 16 Rac1 White has got a commanding position - just look at how good the White pieces are compared to the Black camp. 16 ..Ra6 17 Qb5 Bd6 [Black's only chance of counter-play is: 17 ..Rb6! 18 Qa4 (18 Qxa5? Bb4!; 18 Qd3 Rd6 19 Qe3 b5 with roughly equal chances.) 18 ..Rb4 19 Qxa5 b6 20 Qa6 Nc5 21 Qf1 Ncxe4 22 Ba3 Nxc3 23 Rxc3 Rf4 with a defendable position.] 18 Nd5! Nxd5 19 exd5 Nf6 [Black's all tied up, his only slim hope now is to go in for 19 ..e4 20 Qxd7 exf3 21 g3 Bf8 22 Qg4 but White still has a big plus.] 20 Nd2 e4 21 h3 Bf4 22 Nc4!

22 ..e3 [22 ..Bxc1 23 Rxc1 and Black is going to suffer on the a1–h8 diagonal.] 23 fxe3 Bh2+ 24 Kf1 Ne4 25 Rc2 Ng3+ 26 Ke1 Nf5 27 Re2 Rd8 28 Rd3 Ng3? [The last chance to salvage something - anything? - was 28 ..Nd6 29 Nxd6 Bxd6 and grovel on.] 29 Be5 Qc8 30 Rf2 Re8 31 d6 Qe6 32 Rf6 1–0

The youngest player in the Chess Summit Match, 13-year-old Hikaru Nakamura, recently took Bhat’s record of being America’s youngest IM. He earned his 3^rd and final International Master Norm in Eger, Hungary, at the Europe Chess Eger International Round Robin in February. Not only did he achieve the norm, but he also won the tournament with 7.5 points out of 9, greatly exceeding the 6 points needed for the norm.

Success in the chess world is not new to Hikaru; under the watchful eye of his stepfather and coach, Sunil Weeramantry, he has been a chess prodigy for several years. Starting out in 1995 with an initial rating of 700, he rapidly ascended the chess ladder, becoming a National Master within a short two and a half years. Hikaru has also earned the distinction of becoming one of the youngest players to defeat a Grandmaster, when he defeated GM Alexander Stripunsky at the Land of the Sky Open in Ashville, North Carolina, in February 1999.

Hikaru hopes to continue his record-setting ways, as he pursues a career in chess, moving on to his next goal, achieving the Grandmaster title.

Making his debut in the match, young Hikaru soon set the match alight with some enterprising play in a complicated line of the Scheveningen, as he went down in a blaze of glory.

His opponent, 17 year-old FM Ni Hua, was born in Shanhai and learned to play the game at six. He won the S.T. Lee Cup for under 14 year-olds in 1996 and 1997 and repeated the performance in a higher age group in 1999. Last year he played in his first Olympiad in Istanbul, where he scored 5.5/9.

Ni Hua (2534) - Nakamura,H (2364)

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 e6 7 f3 b5 8 g4 h6 9 Qd2 Bb7 10 0–0–0 Nbd7 11 h4 b4 12 Na4 Qa5 13 b3 Nc5 14 a3 Nxa4 15 axb4 Qc7 16 bxa4 d5 17 e5 [17 Bh3 Qc4 18 g5 Bxb4 19 Qd3 Qa2 20 Qb3 Qa1+ 21 Qb1 Qa3+ 22 Qb2 Qxe3+ 23 Kb1 Bc3 24 Qxb7 0–0 25 Nc6 Qf4 26 Ka2 Rab8 27 Nxb8 Rxb8 28 Qxa6 Rb2+ 29 Ka3 Qc7 30 Qa8+ Kh7 31 Qf8 Qc4 32 Ra1 Nd7 33 Bf1 Qd4 34 Rd1 Bb4+ 0–1 Sulc,D-Makaj,M/Bizovac CRO 2001/The Week in Chess 329 (34). ] 17 ..Nd7 18 f4 Nb6 Kasparov's move, which he first played against Topalov in Linares 1999. 19 f5 Nxa4

[We reach the crossroads of this fascinating line of the Scheveningen. In the past, Nc4 has been relied on. Now, Black puts his faith in capturing on a4. 19 ..Nc4 20 Qe1 Nxe3 21 Qxe3 Bxb4 22 fxe6 0–0 23 g5 Bc3 24 Rd3 Rac8 25 Rxc3 Qxc3 26 Qxc3 Rxc3 27 gxh6 gxh6 28 Bd3 Ra3 29 Rg1+ Kh8 30 Kd2 Rxa4 31 e7 Re8 32 Nf5 Rf4 33 Nxh6 d4 34 Rg8+ Rxg8 35 Nxg8 Bc6 36 Nf6 a5 37 h5 a4 38 Kc1 Rh4 39 Kb2 Rh3 40 Bf5 a3+ 41 Ka2 Re3 42 Bd7 1–0 Hracek,Z-Stohl,I/SVK 2000/EXT 2001 (42). ] 20 fxe6 Nc3 21 exf7+ Kxf7 22 Bd3 Bxb4 23 Qf2+ In the Shirov-Anand Sydney Olympics Exhibition march, Shirov played 23 Rdf1+ first and then Qf2; though this game soon transposes back into their game. 23 ..Kg8 [23 ..Ke8? 24 Bg6+ Kd7 25 Qf5+ wins.] 24 Rdf1 Ba3+ 25 Kd2 Ne4+ 26 Bxe4 dxe4 27 g5 [27 Qf5 Bb4+ 28 Kd1 Qc4 29 Ne6 Qd5+ 30 Ke2 Qc4+ 31 Kd1 Qd5+ 32 Ke2 Qc4+ ½–½ Anand,V-Gelfand,B/Shenyang CHN 2000/The Week in Chess 305 (32). ] 27 ..Rc8!?N

[The stem game for this variation is the aforementioned Shirov-Anand game, where Vishy first of all decided to cover f7 with Bd5, whilst simultaneously continue the attack with a potential ..Bc4+: 27 ..Bd5 28 gxh6 Bb2 29 Rb1 Bc3+ 30 Kc1 Bxd4 31 Bxd4 e3 32 Qxe3 Bxh1 33 Rb6 Rc8 34 Qb3+ Qc4 35 hxg7 Rxh4 36 Rb8 Qxb3 37 Rxc8+ Kxg7 38 cxb3 Rxd4 39 Rc7+ ½–½ Shirov,A-Anand,V/Sydney AUS 2000/The Week in Chess 307 (39). ] 28 Qf5! Qc3+ [Now 28 ..Bd5 29 e6! is good for White. However, this may be Black's best now:; 28 ..Qc4!? 29 Qd7! Bd5 30 e6 Qb4+ 31 Ke2 Bc4+ 32 Kf2 Rf8+ 33 Kg2 Bxf1+ 34 Rxf1 Rxf1 35 Kxf1 Qe7 (35 ..Qf8+ 36 Ke2 (36 Kg2? hxg5 37 Bxg5 e3!) 36 ..hxg5 37 Bxg5 Kh7 (37 ..e3 38 e7 Qf2+ 39 Kd3 Qf1+ 40 Ke4 Qh1+ 41 Ke5; 37 ..Qb8 38 e7 Qh2+ 39 Kd1 Qg1+ 40 Kd2 Qf2+ 41 Ne2 Kh7 42 e8Q Rxe8 43 Qxe8 Bb4+ 44 c3 Bxc3+ 45 Kxc3 Qxe2 46 Qe5) 38 Qd5 Qa8 39 Qf5+ Kg8 40 Qf7+ Kh7 41 Nf5 wins) 36 Qxe7! Bxe7 37 g6 Kf8 38 Nf5 Rg8 39 Ke2 a5 40 c4 Ke8 41 Bd4 and Black is in much the same sort of situation as he has in the game - the rook on g8 is rendered useless. There's many, many more interesting sidelines to the above analysis - too many to publish here - that's fun to play through. Both Lubosh Kavalek and myself spent the best part of 2 hours annotating this interesting game, and we're sure there's much, much more that we could have missed, so happy hunting!] 29 Kd1 Bd5 30 e6 Qa1+ 31 Ke2 Bc4+ 32 Kf2 Qxf1+ 33 Rxf1 Rf8 34 g6 [Also winning was 34 Qxf8+! Bxf8 (34 ..Kxf8 35 Rb1 Ke7 36 Rb7+ Kd6 37 Rxg7 hxg5 38 hxg5) 35 Rb1 hxg5 36 Rb8 Kh7 37 hxg5 g6 38 Rc8 Ba2 (38 ..Bd5 39 c4) 39 Nb3 Bxb3 40 cxb3 Bd6 41 Rc6] 34 ..Rxf5+ 35 Nxf5 Bxf1 [35 ..Bxe6 36 Kg3 Kf8 37 Bd4 Bxf5 38 Rxf5+ Ke7 39 Kf4 and White soon mops up the pawns.] 36 Kxf1 Kf8 37 Bd4 Rg8 38 c4 Black is simply paralysed. He can only sit and wait for White to win. 38 ..Ke8 39 Ke2 Rf8 40 Nxg7+ Ke7 41 Ke3 Rd8 42 Kxe4 a5 43 c5 a4 44 Ke5 Rg8 45 Nf5+ Kd8 46 g7 1–0

Kaidanov,G (2607) - Peng Xiaomin (2648)

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 cxd5 Nxd5 5 e4 Nxc3 6 bxc3 Bg7 7 Bc4 c5 8 Ne2 Nc6 9 Be3 0–0 10 0–0 Bg4 11 f3 Na5 12 Bxf7+ The so-called Seville Variation. Once thought to be bad, the line was rehabilitated by Anatoly Karpov when he used it to good effect against Garry Kasparov in their 1987 World Championship match in Seville. 12 ..Rxf7 13 fxg4 Rxf1+ 14 Kxf1 cxd4 15 cxd4 e5 The most topical line. Black blockades the white pawn centre and prepares counterplay along the c- and f-files. 16 Kg1 [16 d5 is more common.] 16 ..exd4 [16 ..Qd6 17 Qd3 exd4 18 Bxd4 Rd8 19 Rd1 h6 20 Rd2 Kh7 21 Qb5 b6 22 Bc3 Qe7 23 Rxd8 Qxd8 24 Bxg7 Kxg7 25 Qe5+ Qf6 26 Qc7+ Qf7 27 Qc3+ Kh7 28 e5 Nc4 29 Qb3 Nxe5 30 Qxf7+ Nxf7 31 Kf2 Kg7 32 Ke3 Kf6 33 Nf4 g5 34 Nd5+ Ke5 35 Nb4 a5 36 Nc6+ Kd5 37 Nd4 a4 38 Nb5 Kc4 39 Na3+ Kb4 40 Nc2+ Kc3 41 Nd4 0–1 Rijsterborgh,R-Aubel,J/Hengelo 1996/EXT 2001 (41). ] 17 Bxd4 Bxd4+ 18 Nxd4!

[Because of the weakness on the white squares in the Black camp, this is much stronger than exchanging off the queens: 18 Qxd4 Qxd4+ 19 Nxd4 Rd8 20 Nf3 b5 21 Rc1 Nc4 22 a4 a6 23 axb5 axb5 24 Rb1 Rb8 25 Rb4 Re8 26 Rxb5 Nd6 27 Ra5 Nxe4 28 g5 Re7 29 h4 Kg7 30 Kh2 Nf2 31 Ra4 Nd3 32 Rd4 Ne1 33 Ng1 Nc2 34 Ra4 Ne3 35 Nh3 Nf1+ 36 Kg1 Ng3 37 Kf2 Ne4+ 38 Kf3 Nd2+ 39 Kf4 Rf7+ 40 Ke5 Re7+ 41 Kd5 Nf1 42 Kd6 Re8 43 g4 Nd2 44 Ra7+ Kh8 45 Nf4 Nc4+ 46 Kd7 Rf8 47 Nd5 Nb6+ 48 Ke7 Rb8 49 Nxb6 Rxb6 50 Kf7 Rb8 51 Re7 Rg8 52 Re6 Rg7+ 53 Kf6 Rg8 54 h5 Rf8+ 55 Ke7 Kg7 56 Rd6 Ra8 57 Rd7 gxh5 58 gxh5 Kg8 59 Rd6 Ra7+ 60 Kf6 Ra8 61 Kf5 Rf8+ 62 Rf6 Ra8 ½–½ Bykhovsky,A-Marcelin,C/Herzeliya ISR 2000/The Week in Chess 306 (62). ] 18 ..Qg5 19 Nf3 [19 Qf3!? Nc4 (19 ..Rf8? 20 Qxf8+! Kxf8 21 Ne6+) 20 Rf1 Qe3+ 21 Qxe3 Nxe3 22 Rf4 Rd8 23 e5 with a clear advantage.] 19 ..Qe3+ 20 Kh1 Qxe4 21 Rc1 Nc4? A difficult position for Black. White's pieces dominate the board, but this just pins a piece. 22 Qb3 b5 23 Qxb5 Nb6 24 Rc7! Rd8 [24 ..Qxg4 25 Qb3+!] 25 Qb3+ Qd5 26 Qxd5+ Rxd5 27 Rxa7 Black's just two pawns down. The rest is simply down to technique. 27 ..Rd1+ 28 Ng1 Nc4 29 Re7 Rd3 30 h3 Ra3 31 Re2 Ne3 32 Nf3 Nd5 33 Rb2 Ra7 34 Ng5 Nc3 35 a3 Rxa3 36 Rb8+ Kg7 37 Rb7+ Kf6 38 Nxh7+ Ke5 39 Re7+ Kd4 40 Ng5 Nd5 41 Re6 Ne3 42 Nf3+ Kd5 43 Rxg6 Ra2 44 Nh4 Ke5 45 Kh2 Nf1+ 46 Kg1 Ne3 47 Rg8 Kf4 48 Rf8+ Kg5 49 Nf3+ Kh6 50 Re8 Nxg2 51 Re4 The knight has no squares. White will be able to usher his two pawns up the board. 1–0

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