News release Saturday 10th December 2011 LONDON CHESS CLASSIC 2011: ROUND 7 John Saunders reports: Chess is a Cruel Game “For he that hath, to him shall be given: and he that hath not, from him shall be taken even that which he hath.” Chess is a cruel game. Once you‟ve been identified as off-form or otherwise not up to par, you can expect no mercy as your opponents target you. The tally of decisive games soared to 15 out of 28 in round seven as the three tail-enders were put to the sword once more, as they were on Thursday. We‟ve now reached Saturday and the last time someone other than Adams, Short and Howell suffered defeat was last Tuesday when the world champion memorably lost to Nakamura - even then two Englishmen bit the dust the same day. However, before we Brits are tempted to overindulge our favourite national pastime of self-loathing and whingeing, I should point out that the player currently in first place on tie-break is also English - GM Luke McShane, who is billed here as „the world‟s strongest amateur player‟ (although someone who visited the VIP room yesterday also has a claim to that title - Garry Kasparov). Much of the attention in the commentary and VIP rooms was focused on the game between Nigel Short and Luke McShane, perhaps because Nigel decided to be romantic and offer his opponent a King‟s Gambit. This bit of Victorian whimsy was toute la rage a century or so ago a few miles up the road at Simpson‟s Divan but it faded from view during the Hypermodern and Soviet school eras that followed and is now rarely deployed in elite events. The modern view is that it is „wrong but romantic‟. Nigel quite often wheels it out when in a „devil may care‟ mood and he recently used it to beat Garry Kasparov in a blitz exhibition game. One of the good things about the King‟s Gambit is that battle is often engaged very quickly. It is also one of the bad things about it. It was probably just as well that the players couldn‟t hear what the guests in the commentary room were saying about the game. The first guest was Viktor Korchnoi, who launched into a fascinating monologue on the opening, why it is not suited to elite tournament chess, how much he thought the players knew about it (not much, seemed to be his verdict) and then, perhaps regretting his harshness on the players‟ opening capabilities, how much he liked them as people, even though they had the discourtesy to beat him over the board now and again. After several minutes of this entertaining soliloquy, GM Dan King tried to reassert his authority as anchorman: “Mr Korchnoi, can I ask a question?” Came the answer - “no... no...”, uttered not in an angry way but with an air of incredulity that anyone should think it sensible to interrupt his stream of consciousness. Of course, Viktor Lvovich can be genuinely testy on occasions but he also has a wicked, teasing sense of humour and here he was just playing to the crowd. Dan was finally permitted to get a word in edgeways. With reference to the book which Korchnoi co-wrote with Zak on the King‟s Gambit, many moons ago, he asked Viktor: “have you played the King‟s Gambit very much?” “No... well... I played it a couple of times by mistake.” (laughter) “For me it is a good joke to play the King‟s Gambit.” Round 7 N.Short - L.McShane King’s Gambit 1 e4 e5 2 f4 “Time to punt it... I did beat Garry Kasparov with it a few weeks ago, so I thought it was worth a try” (Nigel Short). Nigel related an anecdote of a conversation with Morozevich at the World Blitz Championship. The Russian asked Nigel whether he should play the King‟s Gambit and Nigel said „“why not?”. Morozevich replied “but how do I equalise after 2...exf4?” Luke McShane, for his part, thought the King‟s Gambit was the least likely line he was going to face. 2...exf4 3 Nf3 h6 The Becker Defence - but, as Nigel helpfully pointed out, not named after the tournament‟s recent visitor Boris Becker, but the Austrian IM Albert Becker (1896-1984). 4 d4 g5 5 Nc3 d6 Viktor Korchnoi joined the commentators during the early stages of the game and gave some interesting asides on a violent line beginning 5...g4 6 Ne5 Qh4+ 7 g3 fxg3 8 Qxg4 g2+ 9 Qxh4 gxh1Q 10 Qh5 Rh7 11 Bg5 d6 12 0–0–0 where White obtains compensation for the rook sacrifice. He was merely exemplifying the range of things players have to know before embarking on such a dangerous line in an elite tournament. There was more than an element of disapproval about the grand old man‟s comments on the subject. 6 g3 Viktor was scathing: “Nigel Short is playing like a beginner. g3... what is the point of g3? 6...fxg3 Viktor went on: 6...g4 7 Nh4 f3 8 Be3 “I‟m not sure Nigel Short knew this line... whether he had played it before” (VK). 7 hxg3 7 h4!? was the line suggested by tournament director Malcolm Pein. “I didn‟t think of it,” admitted Nigel. Of the King‟s Gambit in general: “I slept well last night so felt fresh and ready for action.” The continuation of Malcolm Pein‟s line was 7...g4 8 Ng1 Be7 9 Bg2 which is give as advantageous to Black by analysis engines but may give White some practical chances. 7...Bg7 8 Be3 8 Bc4 was another more direct possibility. Having expressed something close to outrage about his choice of opening, Viktor went on to say how his relations with Nigel Short were good, and also with Luke McShane “even though he has beaten me a couple of times - he‟s OK!”. 8...Nf6 9 Qd3 Ng4 10 0–0–0 c6 11 Re1 Nigel got excited by 11 e5!? but then spotted the reply 11...Bf5! which takes the sting out of it. 11...Nd7 12 e5 “I just got too excited here” (NS). 12 Bh3 is a steadier alternative. The players quickly looked at 12...Nb6 13 Bg1 Qe7 14 Nd5 but there may be better moves. 12...dxe5 13 Bh3 13 Nxg5!? looks aggressive but 13...hxg5 14 Rxh8+ Bxh8 15 Qh7 Qf6 and Black can enjoy his extra material. 13...Nxe3 Hikaru Nakamura joined the commentary around here. Lawrence Trent asked him as a joke “who‟s winning?”. But Hikaru was perfectly happy to answer seriously and state that Black was winning. He felt that Nigel Short had gone into the game with the „devil may care‟ attitude that Hikaru himself displayed against Anand in their epic King‟s Indian Defence game, but that Nigel had become tentative as early as move seven in the opening. 14 Rxe3 0–0 Now that the dark-squared bishop is off the board, Luke feels he can risk castling. 15 Ne4 15...Nf6! Luke rejected 15...exd4!? because of 16 Nfxg5 dxe3 17 Bxd7 but now the amazing 17...f5! was found in the VIP room and corroborated by Garry Kasparov. The text move may not be as objectively strong but it is more practical and prevents all the flashy tactics. 16 Bxc8 16 Nfxg5 Nxe4 17 Nxe4 Bxh3 18 Rxh3 exd4 19 Re2 Qd5 and now the desired deflection 20 Rxh6 with a view to forking king and queen on f6 doesn‟t work because 20...Bxh6+ is check. 16...exd4 17 Bxb7 dxe3 18 Bxa8 Nxe4 19 Qxe4 Qb6! A useful intermezzo, threatening Qxb2+. The commentators concluded Black was winning, though both players only had around 12–15 minutes for their remaining 21 moves. 20 Ne5 Luke McShane wondered about 20 b3!? for his opponent here, and 20...Rxa8 21 Re1 Qc5 22 Rxe3 Qa3+ 23 Kd2 Qxa2 24 Qxc6, etc. 20...Rxa8 21 Qxc6 Qxc6 22 Nxc6 Re8! 23 c3 Re6 24 Nxa7 24 Nd4 is the last chance but “pretty grim” (Short) 24...Bxd4 25 cxd4 Kg7 26 Kc2 f5 and it is easy to see that the kingside pawn avalanche will be fatal. 24...Be5! “Badnewsville, Tennessee! Harry the horse disappears.” (Short) The principal threat is Bxg3, facilitating the advance of the e-pawn. 25 Nb5 After 25 Kd1, Black has 25...Bb8!, preparing e2+ and Bxg3 winning. 25...e2 26 Kd2 Bxg3 27 Re1 Playing on to entertain the crowd only. 27...Bxe1+ 28 Kxe1 h5 29 Nd4 Ra6 30 a3 h4 31 Kxe2 g4 32 c4 h3 33 Kf2 h2 34 Kg2 Rh6 35 Kh1 g3 36 Nf5 g2+ 0–1 The bye player today was Hikaru Nakamura and, following Viktor Korchnoi‟s session, he joined the commentary team. The game had reached move 13 - quite an early stage in proceedings - when Hikaru arrived. Commentator Lawrence Trent asked him jokingly “who‟s winning?”. But Hikaru replied, in all seriousness, “Black”. Later Nigel Short was honest enough to concur with the American GM‟s assessment. The opening gamble had not been a success. See the game notes for further comments by the GMs. Incidentally, Hikaru is a great commentator and I urge you to watch his session in the commentary room in its entirety. On a website near you... Mickey Adams is having a torrid time at Olympia. Today was his fourth loss in five games - surely unprecedented in his long and distinguished career, though Black against Carlsen is always going to be a tough ask.