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2006 Staunton Memorial
Monday, 14
August 2006, saw the start of the strongest international tournament
that has been held in the British capital for many years. This
is the fourth tournament in the series held to honour the memory of
that great British polymath and chess champion Howard Staunton, after
whom the modern pieces are named. Top players in the Staunton
tournament were to be Michael Adams, Jon Speelman, once a world
championship candidate, and the former World Chess Federation
Championship finalist, Jan Timman. |
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Kasparov himself
tacitly recognizes Staunton as a legitimate champion in volume one of his
series My
Great Predecessors. Here is one of Staunton's most advanced games:
Saint Amant – Staunton;
Paris 1843
Queen’s Gambit Declined
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With his next move Black launches a counterattack and
seizes the initiative: |
40 Rd1
White returns the exchange but it is hard to suggest a constructive idea.
40 ... Nxc3 41 Qxc3 Bf3 42 Rde1 Bxe2 43 Rxe2 Qe7 44 Qb2 Re6 45 Kf2 Re4 46
Qa2 Kf7 There is nothing wrong with the simple 46 ... Bxf4. 47
g3 Qb7 48 Qa3 Re8 49 Qc3 Qh1 50 h4 g5 51 Qe1 Qh2+ 52 Kf1 Qh3+ 53 Kg1 Qg4 54
hxg5 Bxf4 55 Bxf4 Qxe2 56 Qxe2 Rxe2 57 gxh6 c3 58 Kf1 Re4 59 Bc1 Kg6 60 d5
c2 61 Bd2 Rxb4 62 d6 Rd4 63 Ke2 Rxd6 64 Ke3 Kxh6 65 Ke2+ Kg6 66 Ke1 b4
White resigns 0-1
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This year
the fourth Staunton Memorial Tournament has been considerably upgraded
due to the generosity of Dutch chess lover Jan Mol. The first
six rounds were held at Simpson’s-in-the-Strand on the afternoons of
August 14-19.
The final
five rounds were played at Wellington College, Crowthorne, Berkshire,
to coincide with this year’s NATO Chess Championship. This game
is a strategic masterpiece by Howard Staunton – the eponymous great
whom the event honours. |
White: Howard Staunton
Black: Elijah Williams
Match, London 1851 Bird’s Opening
1.f4 e6
2.e3 f5 3.g3 Nf6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Nf3 c5 6.b3 Nc6 7.0-0 Bd6 8.Bb2 0-0 9.Qe2
Bc7 10.Na3 a6 11.Rad1
      
  
 
  
  
 
A subtle and
deep move that creates potential pressure against Black’s pawn centre.
Seventy years later, Richard Reti – the apostle of hyper-modernism –
wrote: “As the opening is, in general, a struggle for domination in
the centre, the characteristic feature of every such new system will
be a desire to direct pressure against the centre without fixing the
middle pawns too soon.”
11...b5
12.c4 bxc4 13.bxc4 Rb8 14.Bxf6
A brilliant
move. Although it exchanges one of White’s best pieces, the
objective is to weaken Black’s pawn on d5.
14...Qxf6
15.cxd5 exd5 16.d4 c4
A natural
response but it proves inadequate in the face of the powerful tactical
sequence which now follows. He had to play 16...cxd4.
17.Ne5
Nb4
Black
appears to have everything under control, but White’s next move,
sacrificing his knight, exposes the rickety foundations of Black’s
edifice.
18.Naxc4
dxc4 19.a3
A neat point
for if 19...Nd3 20.Nxc4 when Black’s knight is trapped. Also
strong is 19.Qxc4+ Rf7 20.a3 Be6 21.d5.
19...Bxe5
20.dxe5 Qf7 21.axb4 Rxb4
Miraculously, Black has succeeded in maintaining material equality.
But White’s passed pawn and central initiative – combined with Black’s
scattered forces – still conspire to give White a win.
22.Rd6
Bb7 23.e6 Qc7 24.Rd7 Qc8 25.Qd1 Bc6
Or 25...c3
26.e7 Re8 27.Bxb7 Rxb7 28.Qd5+ and wins.
26.Bxc6
Qxc6
To conclude
his masterpiece, Staunton makes devastating use of his passed pawn and
total control of the open d-file.
27.Qd4
Rf6 28.Rd6 Qb5
If 28...Qb7
29.Rd8+ Rf8 30.Rxf8+ and mates.
29.Rd8+
Rf8 30.Rxf8+ Kxf8 31.Qd6+ Ke8 32.Rd1 Black resigns 0-1
Staunton’s City
(£16.95, Hardinge Simpole – see the website
www.hardingesimpole.co.uk for details) contains games and commentary on
the first three Staunton Memorial tournaments. The book is jointly
authored by Barry Martin and Clive Davey – honorary secretary and treasurer
of the Staunton Society, respectively – while I have provided some notes to
the games.
The main feature
of the opening rounds of the fourth Staunton Memorial Tournament was the
poor form of grandmaster Jon Speelman. Speelman was a former world
championship semi-finalist who either won or tied for first place in the
first three Staunton Memorial tournaments. To see him lose in a mere
20 moves was therefore more than somewhat a surprise.
White: Peter Wells
Black: Jonathan Speelman
Staunton Memorial, London 2006, Modern Defence
1.e4 g6
2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6
This leads
to a hybrid Modern Defence/Caro-Kann. Jon Speelman tends to favour
offbeat defences such as this, partly to provoke the opposition into
premature and unsound attacks and partly to escape from the beaten
tracks of opening theory.
4.Nf3 d5
5.h3 Nf6 6.e5 Ne4 7.Bd3 Nxc3 8.bxc3 c5 9.0-0 c4
Black drives
back White’s bishop from its fine square on d3. It would appear
that Black has emerged with a satisfactory position from his
outlandish opening, but I would balk at his next move, wrenching open
the centre while his development lags in the embryonic stage.
10.Be2 f6
11.exf6 exf6 12.Ba3 Kf7
Black cannot
castle, of course, but relies on exploiting his superior pawn
structure.
13.Rb1
Qa5
Black’s
attack has shattered White’s pawns but he has overlooked or
underestimated the coming shock tactic.
14.Bxc4!?
dxc4
I rubbed my
eyes in disbelief when I first saw the White sacrifice. It is
not at all clear that White gains a winning attack from this but in
practice the shock value is so great that accurate defence becomes
almost impossible.
15.Qe2
Qc7
Black panics
and commits the first inaccuracy. He has to plunge in here and
take more material in order to weather the storm, namely 15...Qxa3
16.Qxc4+ Ke7 17.Rb4 Qa6 18.Re1+ Be6 19.Qxa6 bxa6 20.d5 Kd6 or 17.Rfe1+
Kd8. In neither case can White demonstrate a win.
16.Rfe1
Bf8?
Black can
still survive the tempest if he retains a clear head – thus 16...Rd8
17.Rxb7 Qxb7 18.Qxc4+ Rd5 19.Qe2 Qd7 20.Qe7+ Qxe7 21.Rxe7+ Kg8 22.Re8+
Kf7 23.Re7+ and the best White can achieve is a draw by perpetual
check.
17.Qe8+
Kg7 18.Bxf8+ Rxf8 19.Re7+ Kg8 20.Qxf8+ Black resigns 1-0
Final Position
A whirlwind
victory against a powerful opponent. Here is another miniature from
this bloodthirsty event:
White: Tea Bosboom Lanchava
Black: Erwin L’Ami
Staunton Memorial, London 2006, English Opening
1.Nf3 c5
2.c4 Nc6 3.e3 g6 4.d4 Bg7 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 Nh6 7.d5 Na5 8.Qc2 0-0 9.h4
a6 10.h5 Ng4 11.hxg6 fxg6 12.Ng5 Rxf2 13.Rxh7
<img src="http://www.chessv
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