Mind-bending analysis and instructive comment from a man who has participated in world chess at the very highest levels World championship candidate and three-times British Champion Jon Speelman annotates the best of his games. He is renowned as a great fighter and analyst, and a highly original player. This book provides entertainment and instruction in abundance. Games and stories from his: • World Championship campaigns • Chess Olympiads • Toi>level grandmaster tournaments, including the World Cup Jon Speelman is one of only two British players this century to gain a place in the world's top five. He has reached the sem>finals of the world championship and is one of the stars of the English national team, which has won the silver medals three times in the chess Olympiads. Jon Speelman's Best Games Jon Speelman B. T. Batsford Ltd, London First published 1997 © Jon Speelman 1997 ISBN 0 7134 6477 I British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data. Contents A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, by any means, without prior permission of the publisher. Introduction 5 Typeset and edited by First Rank Publishing, Brighton and printed in Great Britain by Redwood Books, Trowbridge, Wilts Part I Growing up as a Chess player for the publishers, B. T. Batsford Ltd, Juvenilia 7 583 Fulham Road, I JS-J.Fletcher, British U-14 Ch., Rhyl1969 9 London SW6 5BY 2 JS-E.Warren, Thames Valley Open 1970 11 3 A.Miles-JS, Islington Open 1970 14 4 JS-Hanau, Nice 1971 18 5 R.O'Kelly-JS, Cambridge-Middlesex 1971 23 6 JS-J.Nunn, British U-21 Ch., Blackpool 1971 27 7 JS-G.H.Bennett, Islington Junior A 1971 31 8 J.Mestel-JS, Hastings Challengers 1971172 35 9 Holtzl-JS, Hastings Challengers 1971172 38 10 M.Basman-JS, British Ch., Brighton 1972 40 II JS-Schauwecker, Hastings Challengers 1972173 43 International Titles 49 12 JS-T.B.Bennett, Lloyds Bank, London 1977 51 13 JS-J.Fedorowicz, Hastings 1977178 56 14 JS-H.Ree, Lone Pine Open 1978 63 15 JS-M.Stean, London 1980 69 16 JS-G.Sosonko, London 1980 76 17 JS-V.Kovacevic, Maribor 1980 86 18 JS-A.Kuligowski, Maribor 1980 93 A BATS FORD CHESS BOOK Seven Days in London 100 Editorial Panel: Mark Dvoretsky, Jon Speelman 19 JS-N.Short, London (1st matchgame) 1988 104 Commissioning Editor: Paul Lamford 20 N.Short- JS, London (2nd matchgame) 1988 108 General Manager: David Cummings 21 JS-N.Short, London (3rd matchgame) 1988 112 22 N.Short- JS, London (4th matchgame) 1988 123 23 JS-N.Short, London (5th matchgame) 1988 134 Part II Four Themes Introduction Skirting the Precipice 137 24 M.Chand1er-JS, British Ch., Edinburgh 1985 137 25 L.Psakhis--JS, Hastings 1987/88 144 26 G.Kasparov- JS, Linares 1992 150 'Reginicide' 160 27 J.Levitt--JS, British Ch., Torquay 1982 160 When, more than five years ago, a book of my games was first 28 JS-A.Martin, British Ch., Torquay 1982 164 mooted, I realised at once that this would be a serious project. A 29 JS-V.Knox, British Ch., Torquay 1982 168 professional, even then, for a decade and a half - now more than 171 Prelate Power two decades - I wanted to incorporate not only my (more or less) 30 JS-G.Sax, Thessaloniki Olympiad 1988 171 mature output: but also some indication as to how the apparently 31 JS-M.Petursson, Novi Sad Olympiad 1990 182 somewhat 'vegetarian' adult animal developed. Some of this mate­ 32 JS-J.Eh1vest, Linares 1991 197 rial dated back as far as 1969. There was no way that the traditional chronological approach could do justice to such a body of work. Blood on the Board 204 Unwilling immediately to commit myself to such a large under­ 33 JS-A.Mi1es, British Ch., Morecambe 1975 204 taking, I turned to 'masterly inactivity'; failing actually to sign a 34 V.Korchnoi--JS, Brussels World Cup 1988 213 contract for the work until a few weeks before I finally delivered it 35 Zsu.Po1gar-JS, Dutch League 1993 219 and initially taking refuge in a long succession of lists. 36 JS-Z.Azmaiparashvili, Spanish Team Ch., Menorca 1994 226 Eventually I decided on a mixed approach, including some 37 P.van der Sterren--JS, Moscow Olympiad 1994 229 chronological material but also several chapters devoted to par­ 38 J.Hjartarson-JS, Copenhagen (Politiken Cup) 1996 235 . ticular themes. As With most such books, the material wasn't writ­ ten in the order in which it finally appeared. I began with the games Bibliography against Tony Miles (Game 33) and Zsuzsa Polgar (Game 35), Chess for Children Raymond Bott and Stanley Morrison (Collins, 1982) worked my way through the match with Nigel Short, 'Prelate The Chess Apprentice Raymond Bott and Stanley Morrison (Collins, 1982) Power' and 'Reginicide' and only towards the very end took in London 1980 Stewart Reuben and William Hartston (Pergamon, 1980) 'Juvenilia' (my thanks to my editors - I'd always assumed the third The Pirc for the Tournament Player John Nunn (Batsford, 1980) vowel was an 'a') and 'International Titles' before a final burst of The Pirc Defence Raymond Keene and George Botterill (Bats ford, 1973) 'Blood on the Board'. Developments in the Pirc and Modern Systems 1984-87 Nigel Davies While the initial material was written extremely episodically, the (TUI Enterprises, 1987) �ody of t�e book only took shape over the last year. During this The English Defence Raymond Keene, James Plaskett and Jon Tisdall . time, despite certam residual Luddite tendencies (as an enthusiastic (Batsford, 1987) if very occasional Linux user, I'm certainly not a huge Windows Informator fan) I moved on from using Chessbase 4.0 in DOS and a DOS text The Chess Player editor to the more integrated environment of Chessbase for Win­ British Chess Magazine (BCM) dows and eventually even Microsoft Works for Windows so that I New in Chess Magazine could see the diagrams embedded in the text. I hope both that this Die Schachwoche 6 Introduction has provided for smoother analysis and that the excellent editing has homogenised the text so that the older material isn't too readily apparent. Nowadays, I try to analyse - if not to play - chess in a fairly epi­ sodic way. Quite long tracts of play involve natural moves, which 1 one could perfectly well find in a five-minute game; but then there Juvenilia will be moments which require deep investigation. These can occur when a plan has to be chosen, complex tactics have to be negotiated or on the cusp between results as the game passes from a draw to a win or vice versa. These are always the most tense moments of a game, in which one's body exhibits ·the most stress; and have tended to call forth a torrent of analysis as I've sought, even away I was taught chess at the age of still treasure it. from the cordite, to lay the game to rest. I realise some of these six on Boxing Day 1962 by my In order for a player to be­ analyses are obsessive; and beg the reader's indulgence for the teenage cousin. Naturally I im­ come really strong at chess, product of sleepless nights. mediately wanted to play a there should be some period of There are many people I should like to thank for spurring me on. game; and equally naturally I his life in which he (or she) is in Firstly, everybody at Batsford and in particular the present incum­ succumbed to scholar's mate - love with the game. It doesn't bents Dave Cummings and Paul Lamford who've guided the book the one where the queen lands have to last; you can't expect through its final moments. Byron Jacobs and Andrew Kinsman of on 'bishop two' (presumably he somebody who's been a profes­ First Rank Publishing who did the editing and typesetting. John let me start, so it was f2). sional player for twenty years to Nunn for his gentle chivvying when he was a Batsford adviser. Bob Despite this outrage, I was feel the same devotion as a Wade for endless encouragement and the use of his wonderful li­ fascinated. I saw the game as a child. But it is only tlrrough this brary. And last, but far from least, Lindsay and Lawrence who had very hard puzzle; and to some obsession that one can suck the to endure several months of a rather less domesticated animal than I extent continue to do so to this essence of the game into one's would usually wish to present at home. day. My first chess book was very being. Chess for Children by Bott and For me this lasted right Jon Speelman Morrison, soon followed by tlrrough my childhood, from London their sequel The Chess Appren­ soon after I learnt the moves August 1997 tice - retitled years later, with right up to my early teens. In crashing mundaneness, More common with quite a lot of Chess for Children. strong players, I lost my father I pestered my mother into extremely young - in my case buying a fairly decent chess set just fifteen months - and my and on the same day also ob­ obsession with chess to some tained my first 'real' chess extent filled the emotional void book: Bob Wade's account of left by his absence. (Many years the 1963 world championship later, I developed a much better match in which Petrosian de­ understanding of this after feated Botvinnik.