Round 2 30th April 2002

THE KOK-UP THEORY

AFTER 50 heavy years of Communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the old system of government crumbled in 1989 in what was famously described as “The Velvet Revolution”, led by the unlikeliest of leaders: dissident playwright Václav Havel. The revolution that put Havel in power was named after his pal Lou “Take a Walk on the Wildside” Reed’s rock group – The Velvet Underground.

At the start of that momentous year, he had spent more than four months in jail after laying a wreath for victims of the Soviet invasion of 1968. By the end of it, and by popular acclamation, he found himself the president of the Czech Republic – and it wasn’t planned. He was the unlikeliest of leaders for a new country forged after the death of Communism – a leader with a sense of fun, a playful pixie of a man who was also a statesman of high moral purpose, who could be serious without necessarily being solemn.

One of his first acts as president was to personally go and tell the Communist-appointed “undercover” police that were left stationed outside his old apartment that they could go home now, as their services were no longer needed! Services that were needed however were those of highly-competent business leaders to rebuild the Czech Republic.

One that did arrive a couple years later to revitalise the ailing Cesky Telecom Company, was a certain André Frans Bessel Kok, who was also one of the worlds leading chess impresarios. It may be his knowledge of the game that has helped him to manoeuvre his way around the turbulent Czech business scene. He first visited Prague in 1964 as a student, writing a thesis about communist cooperatives – and then came back to transform a rigid state monopoly.

Immediately he arrived in Prague, he was – and still is to this day - mistaken for the great Havel himself - even by Whoopi Goldberg who immediately rose to her feet and called him Mr. President at the Karlovy Vary film festival. Being Havel’s doppelganger, however, does have its advantages: his company limousine is often escorted by mistake through the rush hour traffic in Prague!

Born in Hilversum in The Netherlands in 1941, Kok graduated in Economic Science from the University of Amsterdam. He started his professional career as financial adviser with COBEPA, the third largest financial holding in Belgium. By 1973, Kok was among four founders of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Transactions (SWIFT) where he went on to become Chief Executive Officer.

It was at SWIFT that we first really got to see Kok’s determination in organising top-flight tournaments with his memorable elite events that ran through the 1980s in Brussels - the 2nd SWIFT International in 1987 being the first time Kasparov, Karpov, and Korchnoi competed together; and where Karpov met Kasparov for the 100th time.

The ill-fated Grandmasters Association (GMA) under Kok’s chairmanship showed how chess should be organised with a professional circuit that hosted the memorable World Cup series under the tournament directorship of Lubos Kavalek. Unfortunately, if you believe the majority of players and officials involved, the GMA floundered when Garry Kasparov opted to withdraw from the organisation in the belief that he wasn’t getting a big enough cut. Talk to Garry, however, and you’d get a different story.

Since moving to Prague, Bessel has teamed up with promoter extraordinaire Serge Grimaux from Ticketpro to create more supremely well organised events in conjunction with Eurotel, a working partner with Kok at Cesky Telecom all involving in one way or another Garry Kasparov.

"Its getting better and better", remarked Kasparov during the grandiose opening ceremony attended by the First Lady of the Czech Republic, Dagmar Havel. And, not only is it getting better and better, it also looks as if the tournament is getting bigger and bigger since the Kok-Grimaux-Eurotel consortium first hosted a match in Prague between Kasparov and Jan Timman in 1998.

The event has now grown into one of the top tournaments on the chess calendar, which literally has had the crowds turning up in their droves to watch as all 10,000+ admission tickets for the week sold-out! On day one we even had the first case of ticket-touting (or scalping) at a chess tournament: someone tried to sell a handful of tickets to the waiting crowds who couldn’t get in and was duly arrested for his efforts!

Although many here are speculating what could or could not happen with regard to a possible reconciliation in the chess world, Kok has rightly maintained his silence on this subject so as not to detract from the tournament. However, come the end of it, he could be a very influential figure should the chess world finally reunify.

Many players, politicos, hacks and fixer have their own theory as to what may or may not happen at the “grand meeting” after the tournament. No one knows where the chess world could be heading - but Kok has his own theory that all will be OK in the end. He simply smiles and recites his favourite quote from Alice in Wonderland: “If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

Karpov,A (2690) - Kramnik,V (2809) [E15]

Eurotel Trophy Prague CZE (2.2), 30.04.2002

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 b6 4 g3 Ba6 5 b3 Bb4+ 6 Bd2 Be7 7 Bg2 c6 8 Bc3 d5 9 Nbd2 Nbd7 10 0–0 0–0 11 Re1 c5 12 e4 [All standard stuff, and a line Karpov is very familiar with. And, in a way, not the sort of position you should allow a wily old fox like Karpov to play: these days you really have to "take him on" in a highly complicated theory line as he doesn't do much opening research - in his dotage, he relies on simple position he has a wealth of experience in, allowing him to go into auto-pilot mode - which for him comes with an increases in his rating by a 100 or so points.] 12 ..dxe4 13 Nxe4 Bb7 14 Nfg5 cxd4 15 Bxd4 Nxe4 [ 15 ..Qc7 16 Nxf6+ Bxf6 17 Bxb7 Qxb7 18 Ne4 Bxd4 19 Qxd4 Rad8 20 Rad1 Qa8 21 Qc3 Nb8 22 Nf6+ 1/2–1/2 Kasparov,G-Karpov,A/Moscow 1984/MainBase (22).] 16 Nxe4 Qc7 17 Nc3N [ 17 Qh5 Rad8 18 Rad1 h6 19 Qe2 Rfe8 20 Qg4 g6 21 Bb2 Kh7 22 Qe2 f5 23 Nc3 Bb4 24 Nb5 Qb8 25 Bxb7 Qxb7 26 Nd6 Bxd6 27 Rxd6 Nc5 28 Red1 Rxd6 29 Rxd6 Ne4 30 Rd3 Ng5 31 h4 Nf7 32 Qd1 Kg8 33 Rd7 Qe4 34 f3 Qe3+ 35 Kg2 e5 36 Bc1 Qc5 37 Rxa7 e4 38 fxe4 fxe4 39 Qd7 Rf8 40 Bxh6 Qh5 41 Bxf8 Qf3+ 42 Kg1 1–0 Panno,O-Zarnicki,P/Buenos Aires 1992/TD (42).] 17 ..Rad8?[ 17 ..Bxg2=] 18 Nd5! Bxd5 19 cxd5 e5 20 Rc1 [Vintage Karpov! He could play this position until the cows come home.] 20 ..Qb8 21 Bb2 Bc5 22 a3 a5 23 Rc4 f5 24 b4 axb4 25 axb4 Bd6 26 Qd2 e4 27 Rc6! [Karpov soon hones in on the weakness on b6.] 27 ..Rde8 [ 27 ..Ne5 28 Qd4! is decisive.] 28 Bd4 Ne5 29 Rxb6 Qd8 30 Rxd6 Qxd6 31 Bc5 Qd7 32 Bxf8 Rxf8 33 Qd4 Qd6 34 b5 Rb8 35 Rb1 Rb6 36 h3 h6

37 g4! [Allowing the bishop to finally come into the game with devastating effect.] 37 ..fxg4 [ 37 ..g6 38 Rb3! and the black king is going to come under pressure when the g-file opens.] 38 Qxe4 gxh3 39 Bxh3 Rb8 40 Be6+ Kh8 41 b6 Nd7 42 Bxd7 Qxd7 43 Qe6 Qb7 44 Rc1 [ 44 Qc6 Qe7 45 b7 Qg5+ 46 Kf1 Qh5 47 Qc8+ Kh7 and Black can start thinking of salvaging a draw with the threat of a repetition in the air.] 44 ..Qa6 45 Rc6 [The rest is simply a matter of technique.] 45 ..Rf8 46 Qe7 Rg8 47 b7 Qb5 48 Rc8 Qb1+ 49 Kh2 Qb2 50 Kg2 Qb4 51 Qxb4 1–0

Kasparov,G (2838) - Polgar,J (2677) [B51]

Eurotel Trophy Prague CZE (2.2), 30.04.2002

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 Bb5+ Nc6 4 Bxc6+ bxc6 5 0–0 e5 6 c3 g5 [Typical Judit! She always believes in taking Garry on in an aggressive line - and this obscure move in the Moscow Variation certainly being the most direct route to a slugfest.] 7 d4 [ 7 d3 h6 8 Be3 Bg7 9 Na3 Ne7 10 d4 cxd4 11 cxd4 d5 12 dxe5 dxe4 13 Nd2 Bxe5 14 Nac4 Bg7 15 Nxe4 Be6 16 Qxd8+ Kxd8 17 Rac1 Bd5 18 Rfd1 Kc7 19 Nc5 Rad8 20 Bd2 Nc8 21 Ba5+ Nb6 22 Na6+ Kb7 23 Nc5+ Kc7 24 Na6+ Kb7 25 Nc5+ ½–½ Belikov,V-Degraeve,J/Cappelle la Grande FRA 2001/The Week in Chess 330. ] 7 ..g4 8 Nfd2 cxd4 9 cxd4 exd4 10 Nc4 c5!?N [ 10 ..Bg7 11 Bf4 Be6 12 Nxd6+ Kf8 13 Nd2 Ne7 14 Nb3 Qb6 15 Rc1 Ng6 16 Bg3 h5 17 Nf5 Rd8 18 Bd6+ Rxd6 19 Nxd6 Nf4 20 Nc5 Kg8 21 g3 Nh3+ 22 Kg2 Ng5 23 Nxe6 fxe6 24 Qd2 Nf3 25 Qf4 Qc7 26 Ne8 Qxf4 27 gxf4 Bh6 28 Rxc6 Bxf4 29 Rc8 Rh6 30 Rd1 Kf7 31 Ra8 Rg6 32 Nc7 Bxh2 33 Rxa7 Kf6 34 Ne8+ Ke5 35 b4 h4 36 Ra5+ Kxe4 37 b5 h3+ 38 Kh1 Be5 39 b6 g3 40 fxg3 Rxg3 41 Rxe5+ Nxe5 42 Nf6+ Kf5 43 Rf1+ Kg6 44 b7 Nc6 45 Nd7 Rg5 46 a4 d3 47 Nf8+ Kh6 48 Nxe6 Rd5 49 Nf4 Rd7 50 Nxd3 Rxb7 51 Rf6+ Kg5 52 Rxc6 Rb3 53 Nc5 Ra3 54 Rd6 Ra2 55 Rd2 Ra1+ 56 Kh2 Kg4 57 Rd4+ Kf3 58 Rc4 1–0 Rublevsky,S-Stripunsky,A/Kazan 1995/CBM 51. ] 11 Re1 Be6 12 Nba3 Be7 [ 12 ..Bg7 13 Bf4!] 13 e5 d5 14 Nd6+ Kf8 [ A radical step, but removing the knight also created problems: 14 ..Bxd6 15 exd6 Qxd6 16 b4! and Black has too many weaknesses to defend against] 15 Bf4 h5 16 b4 c4 [ 16 ..cxb4 17 Nc2 h4 18 Nxb4 and d4 and d5 will soon fall.] 17 Qxd4 h4 18 Nab5 Rh5 19 Qe3 [Taking on a7 also looked good - but Garry likes the idea of the two knights cemented in d6 and c6. I must admit, it does have a certain aesthetic look to it.] 19 ..Qd7 20 Nd4 Bd8 21 Qd2 Ne7 22 b5 Ng6 23 Nc6 c3 24 Qc1 g3 [24 ..Bb6 25 Be3 and Black's in a very bad way. What Judit is trying to do is open up some lines to try and generate some activity - and it nearly works!] 25 fxg3 hxg3 26 Bxg3 Bb6+ 27 Kh1 Kg7 28 Qxc3 Rah8 29 Rf1 Kg8 [The little king pirouette from Judit allows her to - somehow - triple her pieces on the h-file - much to Kasparov's annoyance!] 30 Rae1 [ 30 Rf6 would have stopped any black chances - unfortunately Kasparov had overlooked Polgar's next move.] 30 ..f5! 31 exf6 Qh7 32 f7+ [Correct was 32 Nd4 Rxh2+ 33 Kg1 Qh5 34 f7+ Kf8 35 Qb4 Rh1+ 36 Kf2 Qg4 37 Be5! and white's winning this crazy position.] 32 ..Bxf7

33 Qxh8+?! [Kasparov panics with the threat of mate down the h-file: 33 h3? Rxh3+ 34 gxh3 Qxh3+ mating. But, fortunately there's a salvation in the unlikely looking; 33 Bh4! Rxh4 34 h3! and, as unbelievable as it seems, Black's totally lost] 33 ..Nxh8 34 Ne7+ Kf8 [ 34 ..Kg7 35 Ndf5+ Kf8 36 Bd6! Bd8 37 g4 and the Black king is caught in the mess - She'll need to give back a lot of material to survive.] 35 Nec8 Qd3? [ Black misses her best shot: 35 ..Bc5! 36 Re8+ Kg7 37 Re7 Kg8! 38 Rexf7 Nxf7 39 Ne7+ Kf8 40 Rxf7+ Qxf7 41 Nxf7 Bxe7 winning.] 36 Rf3 Qc2 [ 36 ..Qg6 37 Nxf7 Nxf7 38 Nd6 d4 39 a4 d3 40 Re8+ Kg7 41 Re7! d2 42 Rfxf7+ Qxf7 43 Rxf7+ Kg6 44 Rf1 and white wins.] 37 Nxf7 Nxf7 38 Nd6 Qg6 39 Rxf7+ Qxf7 40 Nxf7 Kxf7 41 Re5! [The kingside pawns win the day.] 41 ..Rxe5 42 Bxe5 d4 43 Kg1 Ke6 44 Bb8 Kd5 45 Kf1 Kc4 46 Ke2 d3+ 47 Kd1 Kxb5 48 h4 a5 49 Be5 Bf2 50 h5 Be3 51 Bg7 1–0

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.