Round 4 2nd May 2002

THERE’S ONLY ONE “K” IN - KARPOV!

OLD chess players never die…they just lose their mating ability. The exception to this rule, of course, is none other than tournament veteran Anatoly Karpov (51 on the 23rd of the month), who seems to be on the chess equivalent of Viagra.

As the other “K’s” fell by the wayside to give them more time to think about the future of chess at the much-vaunted reconciliation meeting next Monday, the tournament veteran has been the revelation of the week – and despite playing under protest!

In the hour or so before the official opening ceremony, Karpov lodged a protest with organiser Bessel Kok, complaining that if he beat Nigel Short, he would have to play Kramnik in the second round – this wasn’t fair, according to Karpov. Taking none of the nonsense, Kok immediately rejected Karpov’s appeal by telling him that if he didn’t want to play, then they’d just default him. “OK,” said Karpov in that high, thin and reedy voice that immediately struck terror in Kok and sent the dogs running for cover, “but I have to let you know that I only play on in the tournament under protest!”

Short, Kramnik, Morozevich and Shirov have now had to contend with Karpov playing under protest! If he beats Anand in the final, I wonder if he’ll say in his winning speech that he only won the tournament under protest? And, if his semifinal encounter with Shirov was anything to go by, then one of his biggest cheerleaders in the final could come in the unlikely form of old rival and best buddy, Garry Kasparov!

Knocked out by big Chucky who went on to lose to Vishy Anand, Kasparov chose the Karpov-Shirov encounter to make a sudden appearance in the VIP Room in his off-duty leisure gear, suitably topped with a Nike baseball cap. Many wondered who exactly Garry would be rooting for. However, it soon became clear as the match started when he orchestrated the strongest group of kibitzers ever assembled - Kasparov, Topalov, Adams, Polgar, Radjabov, Piket, Seirawan, Sokolov, Jussopow etc - to give an impromptu commentary as the old boy was saving game after game with Shirov: he was rooting for the only “K” left in - old foe Karpov!

Karpov,A - Shirov,A [D20]

Eurotel Trophy (4.1)

1 d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 e4 Nf6 4 e5 Nd5 5 Bxc4 Nb6 6 Bd3 Nc6 7 Be3 Nb4 8 Be4 f5 9 exf6 exf6 10 a3 N4d5! This looks like a major improvement over the usual 10 ..f5 ] 11 Qh5+ [Surprised in the opening by Shirov, Karpov spends nearly 10 minutes deciding his options here, and goes for the critical line. At the end of the game, his big think cost him on the clock and somehow he stayed in the game by playing his last 20 moves with around only 20 seconds on the clock! Instead, the only other game with this new, interesting move, went: 11 Nc3 f5 12 Bf3 Be6 13 Nge2 Bd6 14 Nxd5 Bxd5 15 Bxd5 Nxd5 16 Qb3 Nxe3 17 Qxe3+ Qe7 18 Qf3 0–0 19 0–0 c6 20 Rad1 Rae8 ½–½ Gomez Esteban,J-Ivanov,J/Mondariz 2000/EXT 2001.] 11 ..g6 12 Bxg6+ hxg6 13 Qxh8 Qe7 14 Ne2 Bf5 15 Nbc3 0–0–0

[Black has excellent compensation for the exchange - and the extra time on the clock is just the icing on the cake. However, the wily old fox proves to be very resourceful.] 16 0–0 Nxe3 17 fxe3 Qxe3+ 18 Kh1 Bxa3! 19 Qxf6 Bxb2 20 Rf3 Qe8 21 Raf1 Nc4 22 Qg5 Bxc3 23 Nxc3 Rxd4 24 h3 Nd2 25 Re3 Qd8 26 Qxd8+ Rxd8 27 Rf4 a5 [ 27 ..c5 followed by c4 may have been better for Shirov.] 28 g4 Bd7 29 Kg1 Bc6 30 Rf6 g5 31 Re7 a4

32 Rxc6! [As Blackadder would say: "As cunning as a fox that's just been made professor of cunning at Oxford University!" Karpov immediately seizes his only chance of saving the game - the crucial, doubled c-pawns.] 32 ..bxc6 33 Nxa4 Rd5 34 Kf2 Nc4 35 Nc3 Rd2+ 36 Re2 Rd3 37 Ne4 Rxh3 38 Nxg5 Rh2+ 39 Kf3 Rxe2 40 Kxe2 Ne5 41 Ke3 Nxg4+ 42 Kd4 Kb7 43 Ne4 Kb6 44 Nc5 Nf6 45 Kc4 Ka7 46 Ne6 Kb7 47 Nc5+ Kb6 48 Kb4 Nd5+ 49 Kc4 Ne3+ 50 Kb4 Ka7 51 Ne6 Kb6 52 Nc5 [The knight and king combine nicely to stop Black advancing the pawns - Karpov would have had to envisage this sort of defence when he sacrificed the exchange on move 32.] 52 ..Nd5+ 53 Kc4 Nf6 54 Kb4 Ka7 55 Kc4 Kb8 56 Ne6 Kb7 57 Nc5+ Kc8 58 Kd4 Nd7 59 Na4 [ With practically no time left on the clock, it's dangerous to stop for a moment and think: 59 Nxd7 Kxd7 60 Kc5 is just an easy draw as Karpov has the opposition. However, it's much easier to just shuffle the knight around.] 59 ..Kd8 60 Nc3 Ke7 61 Ne4 Ke6 62 Ng5+ Kf5 63 Ne4 Nf8 64 Ng3+ Ke6 65 Ne4 ½–½

Shirov,A - Karpov,A [C42]

Eurotel Trophy (4.3)

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nf6 3 Nxe5 d6 4 Nf3 Nxe4 5 d4 d5 6 Bd3 Be7 7 0–0 Nc6 8 c4 Nb4 9 Be2 0–0 10 Nc3 Bf5 11 a3 Nxc3 12 bxc3 Nc6 13 Re1 dxc4 [13 ..Re8 14 Bf4 Na5 15 cxd5 Qxd5 16 Ne5 c6 17 c4 Qd8 18 Bh5 g6 19 Bg4 Bg5 was he aesthetic position reached between Shirov and Karpov in their second semifinal game, which was drawn in 66 moves. Karpov was under the cosh slightly in this game, so decides to go down a different variation - and should have regretted it!] 14 Bxc4 Bd6 15 Ra2 Qd7 16 Ng5 Na5 17 Bd3 b5 18 Qf3 Bg6 19 Rae2 Nc4 20 a4 a6 21 h4 h6 22 Ne4 Rae8 23 h5 Bh7 24 axb5 axb5

25 Nf6+? [Shirov's playing all the right moves, but not necessarily in the right order! The strongest group of kibitzers ever assembled were in the VIP Room - Kasparov, Topalov, Adams, Polgar, Radjabov, Piket, Jussopow etc – and quickly found what Shirov should have played: 25 Bxh6! Bxe4 26 Rxe4 Rxe4 27 Qxe4 f5 28 Qd5+ Kh8 ( 28 ..Rf7! 29 Bxc4 bxc4 30 Qa8+ Rf8 31 Qd5+ Rf7=) 29 Bf4 Re8 with a winning advantage.] 25 ..gxf6 26 Bxh6 Rxe2 27 Rxe2 Bxd3 [We suspiciously suspected that this was where Shirov had miss-analysed his combination. It was highly probably he thought Karpov had to move the rook first, which allows him the flashy finish: 27 ..Re8 28 Qg4+!! Bg6 ( 28 ..Qxg4 29 Rxe8+ Bf8 30 Rxf8#) 29 Bxg6! Unfortunately, it seems he hadn't reckoned on Karpov taking on d3 - now all the mates are protected and he's just a piece to the better.] 28 Qxd3 [ 28 Qxf6 Qg4 29 Bxf8 Bxe2 30 Bxd6 cxd6 31 h6 Qg6!] 28 ..Re8 29 g3 Rxe2 30 Qxe2 Qe6 31 Qf3 Kh7 32 Bf4 f5 33 Bxd6 Nxd6 34 Qd1 Qe4 35 Qd2 f4 36 gxf4 Nf5 37 Qa2 Kg7 38 Qa6 Nh4 39 Kf1 Qd3+ 40 Kg1 Qf3 0–1

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.