John Henderson Linares Reports

Round 7 3rd March 2001

LINARES! LINARES!

WHAT sort of chess book has no games or diagrams in it? A bloody good one in my estimable opinion ...and its just arrived hot off the presses in Linares, along with its author: Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam, the little Dutchman with the big name in chess journalism!

For us, Dirk Jan, editor of the highly acclaimed New In Chess magazine, is the best chess journalist out there. He’s to writing about the game what Gazza is to playing it: the undisputed No.1. When Dirk Jan does an interview of a player, you know it will be well written and researched. No one escapes a Dirk Jan interview – not even the games biggest recluse, Bobby Fischer! Even he succumbed to the big interview during his return match with Spassky in 1992.

It was love at first sight with Linares and Dirk Jan. To him, Linares wasn’t that “Andalusian eyesore” as described by Dominic Lawson (influential sidekick to Nigel Short) in his book The Inner Game. Far from it. Linares had something – a magical something - that lured him back each year. From his first visit in 1990, he fell in love with it. From that moment he decided that every year he had to make the pilgrimage to the chess Mecca.

He loved the many stories about it, and the colourful characters that have become a legend here in Linares. So much so that he decided to write a book about all those intrigues and conflicts surrounding the tournament and the town, and you can find it all in the wonderful Linares! Linares! A Journey into the Heart of Chess (NIC, £9.99 or $14.95).

In it, you can meet the players and the aficionados. Why does Vassily Ivanchuk have trouble praying when he is thinking of God? Was Gata Kamsky's orange juice really poisoned? Why did Judit Polgar exclaim 'How could you do this to me?', when she confronted Kasparov in the lobby of the Hotel Anibal? Was it a coincidence that general Juan Perea's son got married in Mexico on the day when Manolete was killed in the Linares bullring? And perhaps the most intriguing question the author tries to answer: why does time come to a standstill in this provincial Spanish town when the chess players arrive?

Mauricio Perea and Ricardo Calvo

In part, Mauricio Perea, a good friend, confidant and neighbour of Vishy Anand, was Dirk Jan’s inspiration for writing the book. There are many memorable stories from this warm and charming tome. Tales of the legendary exploits of tournament director Don Luis Rentero, as he tried to bribe, threaten or cajole the players in an all-out effort to stop arranged draws. There was the time when striking workers from the nearby Suzuki factory decided to infiltrate the tournament hall during one of the rounds and, faced with an unpleasant scene, they were soon pacified by the quick thinking of the Spanish No.1, Miguel Illescas. The friction between Rentero and Ricardo Calvo that led to the latter being brutally assaulted in view of a full press room - and he still comes back each year.

Renteros: Senior and Junior

Despite all these controversies (and many, many, many more), you still come away from the book with a warm feeling. A feeling that makes you to want to join Dirk Jan in his annual pilgrimage to Linares. I was lucky enough to receive an advanced copy of the recent English translation before I left for “my pilgrimage.” It’s an easy and enjoyable read that gives you the full flavour of what goes on in and around Linares. And now, as they say in America, “A word from our sponsors…”: You can purchase the book over the Internet from either Chess & Bridge (email: chesscentre@easynet.co.uk or via the secure order form at: https://www.adgrafix.com/users/chesscen/orderform.htm Linares! Linares! A Journey into the Heart of Chess it costs £9.99 or $14.95 + post and packaging) or directly from New In Chess (http://www.newinchess.com/). Go on. Treat yourself!

One of the most memorable stories about Linares was the 1994 tournament, which proved to be a high point for Anatoly Karpov, and such a low point for his nemesis, Garry Kasparov. It was here that Kasparov first played Judit Polgar - in a game that descended into farce.

An innocent seventeen-year-old, she had to sit across from Kasparov during the famous “did-he-or-didn’t-he” take his hand of the knight incident as he retreated it back from its c5-square. Of course, a world champion wouldn’t do that to a young girl, would he? The evidence at the time was inconclusive – that was until they realised that a camera crew had video footage of the whole “incident”. The slow motion was conclusive: Kasparov had indeed taken his hand off the knight. It soon became the talk of the tournament – nothing else mattered after that fifth round incident. And, when he realised that the TV evidence was going to be unfavourable for Kasparov (who after all was a guest in “his house”, the Anibal Hotel), Rentero banned any such showing of the tape in the building.

Judit was angry. Garry had let her down – he had reassured her that he hadn’t released the piece on that losing c5-square. Doors were slammed and things were said in the heat of the moment – all of which resulted in Polgar and Kasparov not talking to each other for three years.

Of course, Judit and Garry have now patched up their differences. It’s been amazing to see the two in battle with each other in this tournament – with the form Judit’s in just now, Kasparov realises that’s she’s the only thing that stands between him and first place. As the old saying goes: It takes a woman to do a man’s job – none of the other players have the balls for the job.

The two games between Kasparov and la Polgar have been highly entertaining skirmishes. Garry realised that he’d missed something in the position. Later that evening during dinner, he shouted across the restaurant to Judit, “I found it! I found it! 27 ..Ba3! It’s amazing – all the tricks work for me. You should have a good look at it!”

Yes, thank you, Garry! That saved me a bit of time later in the evening when it came to annotating the game!

Polgar(2676) - Kasparov(2849) [B90]

1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be3 Again the English Attack. 6 ..e6 7 f3 b5 8 Qd2 Nbd7 9 0–0–0 Bb7 10 g4 Nb6 11 Qf2 Nfd7 12 Bd3 Rc8 13 Nce2 Be7 14 h4 0–0 15 Kb1 Na4N [A novelty from Kasparov. The standard continuation here is 15 ..d5: 15 ..d5 16 g5 dxe4 17 fxe4 Nc4 18 Bc1 Qb6 19 Qg2 Nde5 20 h5 Rfd8 21 Bxc4 Rxc4 22 Be3 Bc5 23 Qg3 Nd7 24 g6 hxg6 25 hxg6 fxg6 26 Qxg6 Nf8 27 Qh5 Bxe4 28 Rdf1 Nh7 29 Qf7+ Kh8 30 Nxe6 Rg8 31 Bxc5 Rxc5 32 N2f4 1–0 Adams,M-Georgiev,K/Elenite 1993/CBM 38] 16 g5 Ndc5 17 Ng3 Qc7 18 Nb3 d5 19 e5!

[Attack was the only form of defense - especially against Kasparov! Sitting back and trying to defend this position wasn't really on for Judit, so she opts for counter-attack by opening up some lines towards Kasparov's own king. Her other form of counter-attack wasn't so hopeful: 19 exd5 Nxd3 20 Rxd3 Bxd5 21 Nf5 Bb4! 22 Rxd5 exd5 23 Bd4 Nc5 24 Nxg7 (24 Bxg7 Nxb3 25 axb3 Rfe8 26 Bd4 Bc5) 24 ..Nxb3 25 axb3 Bc5!, with no direct route through to Black's king.] 19 ..Qxe5 20 Bd4 Qc7 21 f4 Ne4 Attempting to blockade some of those open lines. 22 Bxe4 dxe4 23 Rhe1 Bd6 24 Nh5 e5 25 c3 [25 Bxe5? Bxe5 26 fxe5 Qxe5 27 Nd4 Rc4!–+] 25 ..f6 26 gxf6 exd4 27 Nxd4

27 ..g6? [27 ..Ba3!! 28 fxg7 (28 Ne6 Qf7! 29 Qg3 Nxb2 30 Rd4 g6 31 f5 Na4 32 Re3 Bc5 33 fxg6 hxg6 34 Nxc5 Nxc5 35 Nf4 Kh7 36 h5 Qxf6 37 hxg6+ Kg8 38 Qh3 Rc7–+; 28 bxa3 Nxc3+ 29 Ka1 Nxd1 30 Rxd1 g6 31 Ne6 Qc3+ 32 Qb2) 28 ..Rf7 29 Rd2 Bxb2 30 Rxb2 Nxb2 31 Qxb2 Qxc3 32 Qxc3 Rxc3–+] 28 f5 gxh5 29 Ne6 [The most obvious must have been tempting - but good for Kasparov!: 29 Qg2+ Kf7 (29 ..Kh8 30 Ne6 Rg8 31 Qd2 e3 32 Rxe3 Qc4 33 Qxd6 Rg2–+) 30 Qg7+ Ke8 31 Ne6 Nxc3+ 32 bxc3 Qxc3 33 Re2 Bd5!] 29 ..Nxc3+ 30 bxc3 Qxc3 31 Rxd6 Qb4+ 32 Ka1 Qc3+ 33 Kb1 Qb4+ 34 Ka1 Qc3+ 35 Kb1 ½–½

After that final high of Linares 1994, Karpov has fallen on hard times. Gone is the confidence he once had in his own calculations at the board. Now, he uses so much time on the clock as he has to check and recheck his analysis – all of which invariable leads, like this game, to him having precious time left on his clock and the inevitable mistake at the crucial moment.

Grischuk,A - Karpov,A [B12]

1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 e5 Bf5 4 Nc3 Qb6 After the carnage inflicted by Kasparov in round 5, Karpov wisely sidesteps any possibility of repetition by avoiding the main-line. 5 Nf3 e6 6 Be2 Ne7 7 0–0 Bg4N More often seen is 7 ..Nd7, but there is no real difference here as the line tends to go 7 ..Nd7 8 b3 Bg4. 8 Na4 Qc7 9 b3 b5 This may be a bit too committal - Grischuk can take advantage of Karpov's lack of development to open the game now. Maybe the cautious 9 ..Nd7 was to be preferred. 10 Nb2 Nd7 11 c4! bxc4 12 bxc4 dxc4 13 Ng5 Bxe2 14 Qxe2 Nb6 15 Nxc4 Nf5 16 Rd1 Be7 17 Nf3 [There was an option that took advantage of the bad, black pawns: 17 Rb1!? 0–0 18 Qc2! Nxc4 (18 ..Rfd8 19 g4 Bxg5 20 gxf5 Be7 21 fxe6 fxe6) 19 Qxc4 White's got nice and easy play here.] 17 ..Nxc4 18 Qxc4 Qd7 19 g4 Nh4 20 Nxh4 Bxh4 21 g5!

21.. h6 [21 ..Qd5?! 22 Qxd5 cxd5 23 Rb1 h6 (23 ..0–0 24 Rb3!) 24 gxh6 gxh6 25 Rb7²] 22 d5! hxg5 23 Qxc6 Rc8 24 Qxd7+ Kxd7 25 d6 f6 The locked in bishop on h4 causes Karpov trouble. 26 Be3 a5 27 Rab1 Rb8 28 Bb6 [Grischuk misses a good opportunity: 28 Rbc1!? Rbc8 (28 ..Rhc8 29 Ba7 Rxc1 30 Rxc1 Rb7 31 Bd4 g4 32 Rc5 fxe5 33 Bxe5 Bf6 34 Rxa5 Bxe5 35 Rxe5²) 29 Bd4 g4 30 Kg2 and White's much better in the ending.] 28 ..fxe5 29 Rdc1 e4 30 Rc7+ Kxd6 31 Rxg7 Rhc8 [31 ..Rhg8 32 Rh7! Rbc8 (32 ..Rh8 33 Bc7+ Kc6 34 Rc1+ Kb7 35 Rd7!±) 33 Bc7+ Kd5 (33 ..Kc6 34 Bxa5 Rgf8 35 Bb6²) 34 Rd1+ Kc5 35 a4²] 32 Rd1+ Ke5 33 Be3?

[Much better was 33 Bc7+! Kf6 34 Rdd7 Rb1+ 35 Kg2 with chances - though probably drawn with careful play.] 33 ..Kf6 [Karpov's habitual time trouble is his own downfall. I suppose if he had more than the 50 or so seconds he had on the clock, he may well have discovered he had much better!: 33 ..Rc2! 34 Rf7 Rb5! 35 Bd4+ Kd6 36 Ba7+ Kc6 37 Re7 Rbb2 38 Rxe6+ Kc7 39 Re7+ Kc8 40 Re8+ Kb7 41 Rd7+ Kc6!µ] 34 Rdd7 Rd8 35 Bxg5+ Bxg5 36 Rdf7+ Ke5 37 Rxg5+ Kd4 38 Ra7! Rb1+? [Missing the main chance to save the game: 38 ..e3! 39 fxe3+ Kxe3 40 Re5+ (40 Raxa5 Rd1+ 41 Kg2 Kf4!=) 40 ..Kd4 41 Raxa5 Rb1+ 42 Kf2 Rb2+ 43 Kg3 Rg8+ 44 Kf3 Rf8+=] 39 Kg2 Rb2 40 Raxa5 Rf8? [Desperation to make the final move at the time control: Karpov had to play 40 ..Rd5 41 Rgxd5+ exd5 42 Kg3=] 41 Ra4+! Kd3 42 Rg3+ Kd2 43 Rxe4 The rest is academic now: White easily wins. 43 ..Rxa2 44 Rxe6 Ra4 45 Rd6+ Kc2 46 Rdd3 Raf4 47 Rgf3 Rxf3 48 Rxf3 Rh8 49 Rf4 Kd3 50 h4 1–0

"My grandfather plays more interesting chess than Peter...and he's been dead for years!" So wrote a humble Olive Farmer from Greece (aka Nigel Short) on the ICC recently. Well, this was at least a spirited effort from young Mr Leko in an attempt to dispel the "boring" tag - but he does seem to prefer the draw to the win when given the option!

Shirov(2718) - Leko(2745) [C88]

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0–0 Be7 6 Re1 b5 7 Bb3 0–0 8 h3!? A Shirov, Anti-Marshall speciality. 8 ..Bb7 9 d3 h6 10 Nc3 Bc5N Up to now, 10 ..Re8 or ..d6 has been the only moves here. However, Leko's move fits in with his Archangel\Moeller set-up with ..Bb7. 11 a4 b4 12 Ne2 Na5 13 Ba2 d5 14 Nxe5 dxe4 15 d4 Ba7 16 Be3 Bd5! Common sense, really. Leko has to do something about the knight on a5, and his move (challenging the Shirov's strong, white-squared bishop) makes way for the knight to come back into the game via b7 or c6. 17 c4 bxc3 18 b4 Nc6 19 Nxc6 Bxc6 20 Nxc3 Nd5 21 Bxd5 Bxd5

22 Bxh6!?! It's Planet Shirov time! 22 ..gxh6 23 Qg4+ Kh8 24 Qh5 f5 [The draw is inevitable: 24 ..Be6 25 Qxh6+ Kg8 26 Rad1 Bxd4 27 Rxd4 Qxd4 28 Nxe4 f6 29 Qg6+=] 25 Qxh6+ Kg8 26 Qg6+ Kh8 27 Qh6+ Kg8 28 Re3 Shirov still has some trick's left before the draw. 28 ..f4 29 Qg6+ Kh8 30 Qh6+ Kg8 31 Qg6+ Kh8 32 Nxd5 Nothing boring about this draw! 32 ..fxe3 33 Qh6+ Kg8 34 Qg6+ Kh8

And we all sat back getting ready for the final repetition...or so we thought. 35 Rc1?? They have a saying in Spain: "Tirar la casa la por ventana." (Throwing the house out of the window). Fortunately for Shirov, Leko throws the house back through the window! 35 ..Qh4?? [Incredulous! Leko turns down a rock-solid win in preference for a draw. It's clear though what was going through his head: For the last dozen moves or so he's been ready for the draw. 35 ..exf2+! Spotted by everyone - including probably Nigel Short's grandfather! 36 Kf1 Qh4! Eh, where's the repetition, Alexei? 37 Rxc7 Bxd4 38 Nf6 Bxf6 39 Rc5 e3 40 Rh5+ Qxh5 41 Qxh5+ Kg7 42 Qg4+ Kh6! 43 Qf4+ Bg5 44 Qd6+ Rf6–+] 36 fxe3 Rg8 37 Nf4! Bxd4 [37 ..Raf8 38 Qxe4 Qg3 39 Qe5+ Rg7 (39 ..Qg7?? 40 Ng6+ Kh7 41 Qh5+ Qh6 42 Nxf8+ Rxf8 43 Rxc7+ Kg8 44 Qxh6+-) 40 Rc6 Rxf4 41 Rh6+ Kg8 42 Qe6+ Rff7 43 Qc8+ Rf8 44 Qe6+=] 38 Qxe4 Bf6 39 Qxa8 Rxa8 40 Ng6+ Kg8 41 Nxh4 Bxh4 42 Rxc7 Be1 43 b5 ½–½

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