World Chess Championships 1993

WORLD CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP KASPAROV -- v-- SHORT DANIEL KING and DONALD TRELFORD I CADOGAN CHESS LONDON, NEW YORK Alma Park Industrial Estate. Copyright © 1993 Daniel King and Donald Trelford All Rights Reserved. First published 1993 British Library Cataloguing-In-Publication Data A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British. mechanical. electrostatic. New Jersey 08075. photocopying. Fax: 0476 590223. recording or otherwise. Fax: (609) 764 9122. Printed in Great Britain by Redwood Books. Tel: (609) 461 6500. Riverside. without prior permission in writing from the publishers. Trowbridge. USA/CANADA/LATIN AMERICA/JAPAN Distribution: Macmillan Distribution Center. ISBN 1 85744 0668 Cover photo by Fabio Biagi. stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic.Cadogan Books Distribution UK/EUROPE/AUSTRALASIA/ASIA/AFRICA Distribution: Grantham Book Services Ltd. Edited by Andrew Kinsman. magnetic tape. Front & Brown Streets. USA. Isaac Newton Way.l. Typeset by ChessSetter. No part of this publication may be reproduced. Wills . Grantham. Lines NG31 9SD. Tel: 0476 67421.ibrarv. Contents Introduction Game One Game Two Game Three Game Four Game Five Game Six Game Seven Game Eight Game Nine Game Ten Game Eleven Game Twelve Game Thirteen Game Fourteen Game Fifteen Game Sixteen Game Seventeen Game Eighteen Game Nineteen Game Twenty 5 16 25 33 39 45 49 54 61 67 73 79 84 88 93 99 104 109 114 118 123 . In the text the division is clearly indicated by the use of a single-column layout for Donald Trelford's material and double-column for Daniel King's. Other symbols and abbreviations 0-0 0-0-0 X + ! !! ? ?? !? ?! (D) Castles kingside Castles queenside Captures Check Good move Brilliant move Bad move Blunder Interesting move Dubious move Diagram follows . Thus the square on the bottom left hand side is known as 'al' and the square on the top right as 'h8'.About this book World Chess Championship is the story of the Kasparov-Short match which took place in London in September/October 1993. or perhaps acquainted only with the older 'English descriptive nota­ tion'. For those unfamiliar with chess notation. Donald Trelford wrote the introduction and background to each game. there follows a brief explanation.. For those in­ terested in which author was responsible for which sections. Each square of the chessboard has a co-ordinate.. No figurines are used to denote pawn moves. working on a very similar principle to an A-Z road atlas. so l. The notation used to record the chess moves in this book is known as 'figurine algebraic notation'.d5 would be a pawn move for Black. Every other square on the board also has a unique co-ordinate as shown by the diagram. whilst Daniel King was responsible for the game annotations. The pieces themselves are indicated by figu­ rines of the individual pieces. Thus on the first move White might per­ haps play llt:'lf3. FIDE arranged a rival match. Commercial support for the Short-Kasparov encounter. The Times. This caused a certain bitterness to surround the event.Introduction The British challenge Of the 13 world chess champions since the title was formally intro­ duced in 1886. The Times used the occasion to cut its price by 50 per cent to 30p on the day before the match in an aggressive marketing gambit against its rivals. Before Nigel Short. Channel 4 also had exclusive interviews with the players after the game. which they also called 'the world championship'. five-eighths of which would go to the winner. though drummed up in haste after the break with FIDE. and the Dutchman Jan Timman. as well as massive promotional spending to stage the event and acres of space in the newspaper itself. and concentrated an unprecedented public and media spotlight on the event and on the game of chess. Jon Speelman and Daniel King. was not such a prob­ lem. which had exclusive rights to live film of the match and gave extensive coverage in a popular format. which meant that the challenger received less patriotic support than he might other­ wise have expected. especially in this coun­ try. both of whom had been beaten by Short on his way to the fi­ nal. To add to the general air of controversy. British play­ ers and chess organisations were divided over this move. but ran into repeated difficulties over sponsorship. designed to make chess more accessible to the general public. no Briton had even challenged for the crown. A co-sponsor was Channel 4. not one had come from Britain. The programme was fronted by Carol Vorderman and featured Grandmasters Raymond Keene. 7 million. with in­ ventive use of graphics. part of Rupert Murdoch's world-wide media empire. It was also the first championship for more than 40 years to be con­ tested outside the aegis of the world chess body FIDE (Federation In­ ternationale des Echecs). between the Russian former champion. Short's challenge was there­ fore a unique and historic aspect of The Times world chess champion­ ship of 1993. This began in Holland the day before the London match. the two players having broken away to form a new Professional Chess Association of their own. put up a prize fund of £1. Anatoly Karpov. . The Frenchman. chaired by News­ night presenters Peter Snow and Francine Stock. irrespective of the state of the match. alas. champion since 1985. set out to unravel the intri­ cacies of the game like the politics of Bosnia or the Middle East. Teleworld Holding BV. Then came Howard Staunton. who were later to fall out in public over the match. By the time the company withdrew its sponsorship. which brought the chess crown . Philidor. it was his sixth world championship match. Asked at an earlier stage who would be his challenger. Alexander McDonnell. the Rus­ sian grandmaster had said: 'It will be Short and it will be short. The sooner he gets beaten the better. this format had been set and could only be changed by agreement between all parties. but his first against any other opponent than Karpov. It was agreed that all the games would be played out. An Irishman. there was no official world champion. are world chess championships invariably played. It was seen as a test of the game's mass appeal. The world championship of 1993 coincided with the 150th anniver­ sary of Staunton's historic Paris victory. the greatest British player of the nineteenth century. played a long series of games against La Bourdonnais in 1834. editor of The Spectator and a close friend of Short's. The world title Until 1886.6 World Chess Championship In response. though various play­ ers had dominated the chess of their time. Thursday and Saturday) between 7 September and 30 October. in Paris in 1843. all recorded for posterity. and their requirements for a Predict-a-Move competition determined the form of the match. in which the Frenchman had the advantage. The BBC. BBC2 put out an evening programme.' For his part. For Garry Kasparov. Pierre St Amant. in contrast to Channel 4. Deschapelles and La Bourdon­ nais. Be­ tween them the two channels provided nine hours of coverage a week. more than had ever been devoted to chess before. with comment by William Hartston and Dominic Lawson. to be played on three days a week (Tuesday. He established his ascendancy in a famous victory over the Frenchman. who sponsored the standard chess pieces used to­ day. fol­ lowed by two of his fellow countrymen. Short had said of the champion: 'He is a very nasty guy. were early sponsors of the event. a media technology group based in Rotter­ dam.' In such a spirit. but then became too ill for a return match. was widely acknowledged as supreme in the eighteenth century.a total of 24 games. Leading British players and offi­ cials wrote to The Times on the opening day of the match to seek some permanent commemoration in Britain of Staunton's contribution to the game. having surrendered his title to another German. Smyslov and Tal. Jose Raoul Capablanca. One of his most important contributions to the game was to organise the first international chess tournament at the Great Exhibition in London in 1851. Kasparov's favourite player. who was to spend the last two decades of his life in a state of clinical depression. losing finally to the eccentric American genius. . Bobby Fischer was by no means the first chess champion to create such problems over the terms on which a challenge match would be played. Steinitz. al­ legedly while he was the worse for drink. Capablanca was toppled six years later by the white Russian emigre. the venue or the prize fund before putting their titles at risk. for the next two decades. The interruption came from a Dutchman. who held the title. was beaten in turn by Boris Spassky. Morphy. Max Euwe. who defeated his great German rival. who in the next 15 years lost and regained the title twice from his fellow countrymen. died penniless in a New York lunatic asylum in 1900. was a young prodigy and dominated the chess of his age. who had been born in Prague and lived in Vienna. Alexander Alekhine. who lost the most contentious and highly publicised chess challenge of all time to the eccentric American genius. In those days there was no formal procedure for defending the world ti­ tle and champions naturally hung on for as long as they could. Adolf An­ derssen.Introduction 7 over the Channel for the first time. with one brief interruption. Paul Morphy. won by the Soviet player Botvinnik. the championship was settled at a tournament split between The Hague and Moscow in 1948. six years before. in 1921. He died two years before the official world championship came into being in 1886. This was won by the German master. The crafty Armenian. but conceded the crown in a return match two years later. who beat the Russian in 1935. creating difficulties over the date. Tigran Petrosian. a great defensive tactician. Johannes Zuk­ ertort. The first man to claim the official title of world chess champion was Wilhelm Steinitz. at Reykjavik in 1972. Bobby Fischer. Emanuel Lasker. at St Louis. in 1963. who went on to play several famous challenge matches. When Alekhine died after the war. before los­ ing to another. Lasker reigned for longer than any world champion in history until he was beaten by the Cuban genius. His father. His talent for chess took him first to the Pioneers' Palace in Baku. named after the fanner world cham­ pion. was an Armenian engineer/electrician who worked for a research institute until she gave it up to support her son's career. The Rus­ sian established his credentials with two bitterly fought victories over the defector. brought up with a family of Kasparovs. Clara. They were a family of musicians. . Victor Korchnoi. to the Botvinnik school. In 1975. was a Jew­ ish engineer in the Caspian oilfields who had died of cancer when his son was seven. He is Garry Weinstein. Leonard Barden. on the shores of the Caspian Sea. but not before he had taught him the moves in chess. named after the Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin. wrote: 'In my opinion there is a very clear favourite for world champion in 1990. The young Weinstein. adopted their name in his teens. on 13 April 1963. and remained champion for a decade un­ til he was unseated after two marathon battles by Garry Kasparov. he made such an impression at the USSR junior championship at Vilnius that the Guardian's chess correspondent. The full list of world champions is as follows: 1886 1894 1921 1927 1935 1937 1948 1957 1958 1960 1961 1963 1969 1972 1975 1985 Wilhelm Steinitz Emanuel Lasker Jose Raoul Capablanca Alexander Alekhine Max Euwe Alekhine Mikhail Botvinnik Vassily Smyslov Botvinnik Mikhail Tal Botvinnik Tigran Petrosian Boris Spassky Bobby Fischer Anatoly Karpov Garry Kasparov The champion Garry Kasparov was born in Baku in Azerbaijan.World Chess Championship 8 When Fischer persistently refused to agree on tenns for a defence of his title. His mother. when he was still only 12. and then. by the age of ten. Kim Weinstein. FIDE named Anatoly Karpov as champion in 1975. but Kaspar­ ov's mother. choose to become another defector like Korchnoi. a member of the Soviet sports committee. For the next four years Kasparov was engaged in a hidden battle with the Soviet bureaucracy for the right to challenge Karpov. half-Jewish. Garry won the world junior championship at Dortmund. Kasparov always remembered this early en­ counter and sensed that the bespectacled Englishman would one day be his challenger. why his progress was being blocked. an individualist southern rebel. Having gone four and then five games down in Moscow.' Although 13 years were to pass before they finally met in the world championship. they feared. The dispute culminated in the breakaway by Short and . but it was remarkable nonetheless. His worst fears were confirmed in the match itself. herself a powerful and attractive personality who had de­ voted herself to her only child's future after her husband's early death. he still suspected that the Soviet authorities were against him. dates from this time. never felt such energy and concentration. having defeated Korchnoi and the former world champion Smys­ lov in the eliminating rounds. Chess players have a natural affinity for mathematics. who had become the court favourite with his Cold War victories over Victor Korchnoi.' Barden's prediction turned out to be five years late. he fought back through a long series of draws in an historic rearguard ac­ tion that took Karpov to the brink of a nervous breakdown. When he asked Nikolai Krogius. who was to say later: 'I have never faced such an intense player. to abandon the match. insisted that Garry should be taught languages and literature to give him a more rounded education. Kasparov was prevented by various forms of red tape from playing in the overseas tournaments he needed to broaden his experi­ ence. He suspected FIDE of colluding with the Soviet Chess Federation to keep Karpov on the world throne. Kasparov's epic dispute with FIDE and its Filipino president. With the score standing at 5-3 to Karpov FIDE intervened. At 17. he was told: 'At the moment we have a world champion and we don't need another. who appeared to adapt too easily to Western style and manners and might therefore.Introduction 9 from Baku. just one and a half points ahead of a certain Nigel Short. When Kasparov finally won his opportunity to challenge Karpov in 1984. such will and desire burning across the board to­ wards me. Florencio Campomanes. Kasparov was seen as a potential threat to So­ viet orthodoxy. half-Ar­ menian. with the support of the Soviet chess authorities.' In contrast to Karpov. as I know personally from writing a book with him during the Gorbachev years. Kasparov kept in close touch with events by tele­ phone from his Regent's Park headquarters and through CNN and the BBC. an advantage denied to his western rivals. that the Soviet chess authorities tried to bribe Kasparov's sec­ onds to betray his opening plans. It was through the personal frustrations he suffered in his career that Kasparov came to have doubts about the Soviet system and to put his trust in the early Gorbachev reforms. His chess coaches. when he hired a plane at his own expense to fly out refugees from the 'ethnic cleansing' by Azeris. This charge was way off the mark and also remarkably insensitive . There have since been indications. his fitness trainers. a player who has been subsidised and trained at the state's expense from an early age. Lubomir Kavalek. Kasparov. supported by former KGB of­ ficials. all came from the Soviet state. Only later did he come to re­ alise that the Soviet Communist system itself was incorrigible and that democracy held out the only hope for his countrymen. be­ coming in the process the highest rated player in the history of the game. He never wavered in his belief that the Russian leader was on top of events and pursuing the right policy. is that he is probably the last great product of the Soviet chess machine. and then de­ fended the title against him three times over the next five years. a peppery character.10 World Chess Championship himself to stage their own world championship event in London in 1993.a lapse only to be explained by the fact that Short was listening too closely to his fiercely anti-Soviet trainer. is a genuine democrat who put his own life and reputation at risk in the anti-Armenian pogrom in his native Baku in 1989. and the travel and living expenses of him­ self and his family. In the run-up to the world championship Nigel Short accused Kas­ parov of remaining an old Soviet Communist at heart. Kasparov finally beat Karpov in the re-match in Moscow in 1985 to become the youngest world champion at the age of 22. Yelt­ sin's bloody showdown with the Russian Parliament took place during the London match. was to disappear there again after only a few games of the London match. He has never returned to his home re­ gion since. . He sees Boris Yeltsin as a powerful and essential transitional figure between the old Soviet system and genuine Russian democracy. 'Lubosh'. who had escaped to the United States from Czechoslovakia after the 'Prague Spring' of 1968. What can be fairly said about the Russian grandmaster however. plays football and lifts weights in the gym. Maria lives mostly in Helsinki with her Russian parents while her husband is globetrotting. as well as in his chess career. with Shakharov to look after his computer database. his long period at the top. the Muscovy Company. He also had two fitness trainers who doubled as bodyguards. They have developed a mutually beneficial business partnership. really believe that Short could ever beat him. Grandmaster. by his friend and business manager for many years. with whom he has a daughter. His friends were also concerned that he might not take the British challenge with quite the seriousness it seemed to deserve. Even without the support of the Communist system. as well as en­ dorsing computers and clothing. Even Short.Introduction 11 After a n early. since he could not. He earns vast sums playing exhibitions in places like South America. that is well placed to profit from the thaw in Russia's relations with the West. As he began his fourth title defence. Match abandoned. Qualifies for world championship cycle. Kasparov has now settled down to marriage with a trans­ lator. For the London match his chess coaches were the Russian grandmasters Belyavsky. He goes cycling. Andrew Page. Kasparov's career record in summary: 1975 1979 1980 1982 1984 1985 USSR junior champion (aged 12). in his heart of hearts. not a notably athletic figure. Maria ('Masha'). Although they have a flat in central Moscow. Wins first international tournament at Banja Luka. the only questions hung over the champion's personal commitment. Azmaiparashvili and Makarychev. and the psychological effect of the breakaway from FIDE. jogging. an Englishman who was formerly an actor and racing driver. went swimming every day as he prepared for the match. World junior champion. . He has been greatly assisted in these commercial activities. as well as his mother to supervise the kitchen. Wins re-match to become youngest world champion at 22. much-publicised dalliance with a famous and much older actress. given the worrying upheavals in Russia. Challenges Karpov for the world title. Kasparov still manages to maintain a substantial apparatus to provide the backing for his chess. Kasparov has always believed in diet control and exercise to build up the physical stamina needed for the many hours of concentration re­ quired at the chessboard. first in journalism. Compared with the sleek. Short was depressed at losing a vital game that had lasted eight hours. Short comes over like a spotty adolescent. Nigel Short. during the semi-final against Timman. The family crossed the Penni­ nes to Sheffield. Short has gained in confidence since marrying his Greek-born wife. Defends title against first British challenger. Nigel was not outstanding at school. Dominic Lawson. Eagle Star. this image is not helped by the challenger's precise. then in public relations. spiky hair and general air of gawkiness have led to him being described as resembling 'a computer nerd who has accidentally hacked into the Pentagon'. Rea. cosmopolitan Kasparov. he did not apply himself to . Rea fixed her husband with a glare: 'I will give you the ad­ vice my Spartan countrywomen gave their men as they left for battle. Rea's influence may be gauged from an incident witnessed by Short's friend and confidant. Although his chess talent was discovered while he was very young. Kasparov seeming much plder in his appearance and general de­ meanour. a psychoanalyst who is seven years his senior. He was born at Leigh in Lancashire. the polished and voluble Russian outperforms the hesitant. and earned brief notoriety by playing the bass guitar with a punk group called 'The Urge'. Ties with Karpov in Seville. but the differences go beyond that.World Chess Championship 12 1986 1987 1990 1993 Successfully defends title against Karpov in Leningrad and London. rather strangulated mode of address. though he strikes outsiders as much less mature. then returned to Atherton. following his father's job. The challenger At 28. Beats Karpov in New York and Lyons. apparently playing down his natural cleverness. Though doubt­ less unfair. When the two speak at a press conference to­ gether. Short's National Health-style glasses. Come back either with your shield or upon it!'. The parents divorced when the boys were in their teens. then went out and won. This is partly physi­ cal. Short gulped. The expenses of the coach were met by a com­ mercial sponsor. with his silk suits and male model chic. and through his as­ sociation with Kavalek. Nigel Short is only two years younger than the champion. Both are married with baby daughters. stammering Englishman in his own language. Nigel is the second of three brothers. retaining title. 'He surrounds himself with people who are almost his slaves . Short is candid in responding to this charge: 'Maybe it's not very noble. which led one writer to speculate that he had been brought in because he could an­ swer the riddle of the Sphinx. Short's career record in summary: 1977 1979 1980 Youngest player (12) to qualify for British championship. charging the champion with all sorts of character defects. where he defeats Jonathan Penrose. who believed he had sacrificed his integrity in breaking away from the game's governing body simply. a player he indulges in unethical behaviour. Short entered the match with a patchy tournament record and a relatively low world rating. Misses British title on tie-break. an expert in Egyptian hieroglyphics. he did not command the full backing of Britain's lead­ ing players and officials. as well as a killer instinct. losing to his fellow British grandmaster.' Short's overriding problem. Kavalek brought a more rigorous professionalism to his chess prepa­ rations.' Kasparov proudly refused to rise to these allegations in the pre­ match banter. . This made him not only the leading home player since Howard Staun­ ton. Until he suffered a serious professional reverse in 1988. It is pure intimidation. . He was saving his spanking for the chessboard.Introduction 13 developing it with the same single-minded dedication that Kasparov and other Russian prodigies were encouraged to do. in a world championship eliminator. he seemed to be coasting on his talent.' he claimed. Awarded International Master title. AP. . 'Garry Kasparov was not spanked enough as a child. relying on his re­ markable positional flair and instinct rather than working at the de­ tailed chores of chess analysis. to make more money for himself. ten-times British cham­ pion. but I have decided that the best way I can promote chess in Britain is if I become world champion and look after my own interests.a weakness he countered by bluster on the eve of the match. however. but also the country's first chess millionaire. as they saw it. For the championship. was a fatal lack of confidence when confronted by Kasparov's formidable record. Nonetheless. but he had proved his competitive strength as the first Briton in history to mount a challenge for the world crown. Jon Speelman. Short also had the help of Speelman and of Robert Hubner. Germany's leading grandmaster. the Russian had at first gone along with the choice of Manchester. Kasparov had doubts as to whether more sponsorship money could in fact be raised in a period of recession. But how could they raise the money? It was here that Raymond Keene. He per­ suaded the Murdoch group to put up the money and he persuaded the . It may have been in his mind that Bobby Fischer had been promised a much higher sum by a Yugoslav banker for his re-match with Boris Spassky in 1992 (though the banker appears to have fled be­ fore all the money was paid). then still bidding for the Olympic Games in 2000 AD. Qualifies as Britain's first-ever world championship candidate. but he had failed to persuade his fellow grandmasters to join him in aputsch. More than once after that he had tried to break away from the world body. but that the financial proposals could be bettered. He rang Kasparov in outrage. claiming not only that he had been in­ sulted by the failure to consult. or to have Campomanes overthrown. Reaches world championship semi-final. but he could hardly ignore such a call to arms. if the players could organise their own world champion­ ship without the services of FIDE. made a decisive intervention. Defeats former world champion Karpov. was out of contact in Greece at the time and claims that FIDE never con­ sulted him about the bid. regains British title. Short. The breakaway Kasparov's distrust of FIDE goes back to 1985. Beats Timman for right to challenge Kasparov.1 million. Loses to Speelman in world championship quarter-final. or with the chess bureaucracy of the former Soviet Union. Qualifies again as world championship candidate. When the arrangements were announced by FIDE for the 1993 world championship. the British grandmaster and chess correspondent of The Times. This could never have happened with Karpov. who appeared to be in league with Campomanes. Now. who had offered a prize fund of £1. wins British champi­ onship. it would be a devastating blow on be­ half of player power. however.World Chess Championship 14 1984 1985 1987 1988 1991 1992 1993 Britain's youngest-ever grandmaster. when his first challenge for the world title was abandoned in circumstances that have never been fully explained. Here was the chance he had been waiting for. At last the world's two leading players had it in their power to cock a snook at FIDE. Originally the home of the D'Oyle Carte operas. with a production of 'Patience' by Gilbert and Sullivan. A bonus was that the players did not have to pay FIDE its usual 25 per cent commission out of the prize fund. It was in this historic and welcoming environment that the draw for the match took place. For the price of a shilling a Victorian gentleman could approach the famous Di­ van and smoke a cigar and enjoy a game of chess. it had opened in 1881. freedom for individuals to com­ pete for proper rewards. eight years ahead of the hotel it­ self.indeed two stages . and where the media and the world's grandmas­ ters made their headquarters.' The paper thundered on: 'There is a big idea behind this match: it is freedom from Cold War bureaucracy. 7 Sep­ tember. The arena In London the stage was that of the Savoy Theatre. A few doors along was the famous restaurant.' Other commentators were not so sanguine. which had recently been restored after a fire in 1990. so stripped them of their international chess ratings and called on Timman and Karpov to play for the 'vacant' world title. The stage . FIDE did not take these developments lying down. They decided that Kasparov and Short had expelled themselves from the world championship. The Times declared in a rousing editorial: 'London is once again the capital of world chess. which had been a popular gathering place for chess players in the nineteenth century.were thus set for a showdown over the whole future control of international chess.the first electric light in a public building in the capital. this liberation of world chess will continue. . The Spectator caught a rather different mood in a signed piece by Dominic Lawson headlined 'Fear and Loathing at the Savoy'. now also part of the Savoy group. On the opening day of the match. the democratic freedom that comes from max­ imising the advantages of modem communications to popularise the game. This had been launched with an added attraction . Simpson's-in-the­ Strand. Whoever wins the Kasparov-Short match.Introduction 15 players to accept it. said his friend. who was immediately pursued by the microphones and asked about the chess. Some had travelled by train from out­ side London. you'll see'. who wondered what was going on. The newly restored Art Deco theatre was nearly full. One of these diners was David Mellor. 'I'm a great fan of Short's. 'It will be 12-6'. I found only one man in the queue. said he was 'in raptures' at the thought of seeing the chess. the audience were not let into the theatre until just before the opening. as had been wickedly rumoured. was anybody's guess.Gamel Kasparov-Short Roy Lopez. who believed the British challenger could pos­ sibly win. The realists were estimating how far Nigel Short would get before Kasparov reached the 12 points he needed to retain his title. though how many had been packed in by the sponsors to fill the seats. . The busy scene puzzled the more smartly dressed clientele leaving the hotel after a good lunch. unsurprised by the media attention. which meant that they overflowed the pavement by the Savoy taxi rank as television cameras buzzed among them. catch a glimpse of the legen­ dary Kasparov and say they'd been present at this historic event.' he said crisply. Because of an extended security search. also confessed to an addiction to the game. an air traffic controller from Gatwick. even guessing at the likely opening moves. 'Will it be a King's Indian. he said in the tones of a foot­ ball manager sitting on top of the league. from the Central Council of Physical Recreation. 'No. at least to see their man put up a good show. Richard Doubleday. 'especially now that he's no longer SDP and is a Tory. a distinguished QC. it will be closer than that. a Queen's Gambit or just a Nimzo-lndian?' I heard someone say to his companion. the former Minister. 'Garry's in good shape. quietly confident'. ex­ cept that not enough of them were female. Kasparov's manager. They were also talking excitedly about chess.' Andrew Page. appeared with his wife and son. despite gloomy predictions. Anti-Marshall The crowds outside the gleaming chrome entrance to the Savoy Thea­ tre might have been queuing up for its usual dramatic repertoire. John Beveridge. said one spectator firmly. if not with extravagant hopes of a British triumph. After a welcoming speech by Raymond Keene. it was the sort of furniture you might expect to see in a Terence Rattigan revival. in keep­ ing with his stiffer personality . A stagehand ap­ peared to make a swift substitution. chess's answer to Nigel Kennedy. Unfortunately. against Karpov in 1986. which had committed so much money to the event. . the one originally intended for Kasparov. but she had kept her hands off the chessboard. On such questions of detail have previous world championships foundered. they would have heard their next moves being predicted by the ex­ perts. very upright. the editor of his paper. Kas­ parov had a lower. Short had chosen a red leather carver. with a flashing light to show the latest move. Like everything else. the British grandmas­ ter who had done so much to bring the match to the Savoy. but were not allowed to talk to anyone. some studio laughter spilled out of the head-sets into the air round the players. it was hard to tell who was winning. where Nigel had been portrayed across a double-page spread as a punk guitarist.Game One 17 The price of seats had been reduced and special offers made through the Murdoch papers. The stage set included a giant knight on an angle and illuminated chessboards on the wall by each player. as the giant display boards blinked away without revealing any clues.as somebody said. including (improbably) to readers of the Sun. including T-shirts. I had no difficulty buying a seat at the box office. The players had had their first disagreement about the seats. Had they listened more carefully. The head-set commentary was good. Both players kept going off-stage between moves to their rest-rooms. so that they could hear a running commentary by grandmasters to find out what was going on. surprisingly jolly and rela­ tively easy for follow. Chess books and all kinds of souvenirs. When the curtain rose on the action. however. The first thing the audience had to master once they'd found their seats was the technology to make the head-sets work. Peter Stothard. were on sale in the theatre bars. more modern affair in black leather and chrome. in fact. racier. Kasparov's last defence in London. pawn to e4. had been opened by Margaret Thatcher. Short's chair was green. made Kasparov's first move for him to mark the formal opening. where they could keep in touch with the chessboard through monitor screens. who both looked up crossly to trace the source of this irreverent and unman­ nerly breach of their concentration. Without it. even for non-chess experts. so it couldn't have been a sell-out. The Times. could barely contain their contempt for their colleague's unprofessional lapse. who was helping Short's preparations. too. Just look at him. Some people thought Kasparov had lost.' said one.' Speelman. 'Pure panic. . washed down by mineral or tonic water. Sports. said later: 'It was a disgusting way to lose. amid the crowded warren of winding stairs that con­ stitutes the backstage world of the theatre. especially Tony Miles. Kasparov prefers chocolate. he may not look like a man of des­ tiny.' Meanwhile. Short. likes chocolate. The experts . On-stage. Although both were clearly rushed. Short lost it. and the Channel 4 cameras. 'looked as elegant. the situation was not looking hairy for either player. He misman­ aged his clock completely. or in the ornate. In The Times Daniel Johnson described Short as 'that rare figure: a British hero. Silent. sitting silently at their table. but insists that it has to be Swiss.' Another said grimly: 'Kasparov didn't win it. British grandmasters. but no ham.whether heard through the head­ sets in the theatre. back at the chessboard. shrouded in black cloth.' This was a reference to a bizarre interview Short had given to a Ger­ man magazine. lost in thought.were agreed that the game seemed to be heading towards a draw as the players scrambled to complete their 40 moves in two hours. He also has sandwiches. It was the worst possible start to what was bound to be a long and gruelling ordeal. in addition to the players. in which he had said of the Russian: 'He some­ times behaves like a primate. More than one fe­ male has expressed curiosity about the hairy body about which Short seems to know. in the Grandmasters' room in the basement of the nearby restaurant. 'The world champion. his hand trembling and failing to make the time control. high­ ceilinged press room two floors up . he's covered from head to foot with hair.' he added. intense and sexually magnetic as ever. He runs around like a gorilla. were the two arbiters. It was clear that something unexpected had happened.' Here is Daniel King's commentary on the first game of the match. Simpson's-in-the-Strand.' That was certainly true. 'there's no possible excuse. Yuri Averbakh and Carlos Falcon. it came as a total surprise when the arbiters solemnly approached the table to confer with the players.18 World Chess Championship the refreshments had been carefully prepared to meet each player's re­ quirements. The TV studio was right behind the stage. but then it became sickeningly clear that it was Short's flag that had fallen dramatically. Kasparov used it to score two brilliant wins against Karpov at decisive moments in their world championship matches. . He usually essays 1 e4 when he is reasonably cer­ tain as to how his opponent will reply. Short may continue in classical fashion with B . he avoids a direct battle of pre-game preparation. so he would naturally be at a tremendous dis­ advantage: it is quite possible to be mown down by home analysis in this complex and heavily ana­ lysed variation. and chooses a safer . . whip out the dreaded Marshall Gambit with 8 d5. the editor of The Times.Game One In a scene reminiscent of a boxing world title fight. Peter Stothard. the chal­ lenger Nigel Short from stage right. but when he reached the higher echelons of the chess world he began to defend the Black side of the Ruy Lopez. 3 4 5 6 7 a6 i. which is the case here.. 1 ... was then invited by Kas­ parov to play the first move of the match. or an indication of Short's aggressive mood? If Kas­ parov now plays 8 c3.b3 �f6 i. First. d6.a4 0-0 l:te1 i. to thunderous applause and a blitz of camera flashes. Raymond Keene. Kasparov would not have been able to predict that Short would want to go in for this. Sensibly. e5 For many years Short played the French Defence almost exclu­ sively.e7 b5 0-0 Is this bluff. but has to sur­ vive a tremendous attack before he will be able to use it. After seeing the e-pawn flash forward on the giant screens behind the two players. the two contest­ ants were heralded on stage by The Times chess correspondent. did Mr Stothard hear Kasparov correctly? 1 e4 Kasparov plays 1 d4 more often than this. fol­ lowed by the world champion Garry Kasparov from stage left. or. after 9 exd5 �xd5 10 �xe5 �e5 11 :Xe5 White is a pawn to the good. . more likely.b5 l006 The Ruy Lopez or Spanish Opening is named after Ruy Lopez de Segura. a Spanish priest who was arguably the strongest player in Europe in the sixteenth century. He once told me that he feels at his most comfort­ able when he has a strong point in 19 the centre of the board (he was actually speaking about the Queen's Gambit.. but the same could well apply to this move). 2 tDf3 3 i. The players shook hands in a manner which might even be de­ scribed as friendly-there was lit­ tle evidence of the eyeballing and crushing handshakes which Kas­ parov and Karpov used to indulge in as part of the pre-game ritual. my first thought was. but on reflection it is no great surprise. It has a reputation of being rather wimpish-running the gauntlet of the Marshall is the principled way of playing the position-and if Black plays accurately he should equalise the position with­ out too many difficulties. 8 . 11 . Our speculations as to the extent of Speelman's involvement with the preparation for this game were broken off when he confessed that he couldn't remember how his game with Smyslov had contin­ ued.. 9 d3 Kasparov continues his cau­ tious approach.e6 A sensible move. Pushing the b-pawn is more committal­ it leaves some squares on the queenside slightly weakened. like some Russian Cold War spy.xb3 12 . as Short himself played against Anand last year. perhaps an indication that he will now send his seconds away to do some work on the Marshall. 'I have discov­ ered some information'. in particular c4. Kasparov sank into thought at this point. playing for a slight advantage rather than try­ ing to blast open the centre with 9 d4. 9 10 a5 . blocking out White's dangerous bishop. i..World Chess Championship 20 continuation. I wonder if we will see its refutation in a later game? 8 a4 The so-called 'Anti-Marshall' prevents Black playing the dreaded gambit mentioned above. 10 ..i.b7.. i. The most com­ mon way of dealing with the threat to the b-pawn is actually 8. 11 ••• Ab8 Smyslov played ll. After the game he muttered darkly. Jonathan Speel­ man---on e of Short's seconds-an­ nounced that he had had this position a couple of months ago. as White. b4 Short played this quickly... against Vassily Smys­ lov in the Biel Interzonal.. d6 An annoying move for Black: the b-pawn is cut off from protec­ tion by the a-pawn. A plan is needed here rather than a specific move.!Dxb3 in the above-mentioned .!Dbd2 Capturing on e6 would only strengthen Black's centre and open the f-file for a rook. Hereabouts. an indication that he was still in his home preparation.•.. virtually forcing 18 £3. lbd4 and had intended 17 ..d7 i.d3. which hardly alters the na­ ture of the position: Speelman was slightly better though the game ended in a draw. 14 lbe3 lbd4? This is a mistake. Black manoeuvres the knight to e6 and if necessary plays . lbd4 to close the centre. . c5 Kasparov now had a critical . Unfortunately.Game One game.. Short had missed that after 17 .xc4 h6 There was a threat of 23 i. or e3. as he thought... eyeing the outposts on f5 and d5. From f1 it may leap to g3. The pawn on £3 obstructs the queen's path and therefore disrupts the smooth 17 18 i. From this moment on Kaspar­ ov assumes control.b5 i.xa6!.i. 15 lbxd4 16 lbd5 17 exd5 exd4 lilltd5 Short had foreseen this posi­ tion when playing 14..e8 Perhaps a little too routine­ Short was still moving quickly.d2! 19 :XeS+ 20 'ii'e2! i. Instead.i. 12 13 lM1 ••• 21 flow of the rest of White's develop­ ment. l:.g4.. tucking the bishop out of the way of the ma­ rauding knight.xc4! 14 dxc4 lbd8!.:tel 22 dxc4 i.c4 In order to be able to move the knight on d2. 23 b3 A tidy move. After the game Kasparov indi­ cated the correct way for him to play: 13 . b3. and only then 18 ..xc2 20 i. as well as . 13 . 'ii'c8 The knight chugs off on its fa­ miliar Spanish route.. i. which in turn blocks the bishop on c1.i.. ruling out the possibility of .. White takes posses­ sion of the one open file in the po­ sition.xb4 so the back-rank problem had to be solved. 12 i..i.xd1 19 i. White must first move the bishop.. i..xc8 i.d7. 23 .... and if 18 .g4 White has the tactical blow 18 i. 20 21 .. it was possible to play 14 ..fG i. a standard retreat..c5 and ....xe8 While Black's queen and rook are tied up defending the weak a­ and b-pawns.f8...d7 wins material. with an accept­ able position.. i. moving . then 27 "ir'f5. l:te2 'ii'f3! l:te4 "ir'e2 g6 . 31 . which accounts for Kasparov's next move-it has no real purpose. 24 . in my view unfairly. and more to the point...i.g5 :cs With hindsight this is not the best square for the rook. and the threat of the rook penetrating down the e-file is more worrying for Black than the queen. for it allows White to engineer a break­ through on the kingside. 26 27 28 29 30 24 25 h3 26 "ir'e4 "ir'd7 l:td8 Emphasising White's control of the open file and looking to­ wards the kingside. This enables the queen to support the g4 break. The one weakness in Kasparov's position-the pawn on a5-is so far offside that Short cannot afford the time to capture it. but has cleverly swapped around the po­ sition of his queen and rook. Particularly when Kasparov is piling on the pressure with moves like . pin-pointing a fresh weak­ ness. but waiting was also not a terribly attractive proposition. 30 . . True enough. for instance.. . ••• h5 This was criticised after the game. he played it quickly. "ir'c7. . Black is actu­ ally running very short of decent moves. Kasparov could have played 27 g4 and begun a slow and painful press on the kingside anyway.f4! .i. 26.22 World Chess Championship decision to make. with the idea of 27. By this point both players were running seriously short of time: both had just six minutes to play 14 moves. but freeing Black's position? In the end he chose not to.f8 Kasparov still maintains con­ trol over the open file. . leav­ ing the b-pawn weak. and with hindsight it can be seen that his judgement was correct: Short finds himself under enormous pressure and.• "ir'c7 The threat to the a-pawn forces Kasparov into activity. creeping into Black's position. If.g7 ... what's more.i. has no chances for counterplay.xd6!.i."ir'xa5 28 . Should he cap­ ture this pawn en passant. but as he has com­ plete control of the position it cer­ tainly does no harm. He shook his . 37 ••• l:tg8! This allows the king to slip safely to the queenside. �e7 40 'ifh4+ and 'ifhS+ wins a rook. he could simply give up his queen. retaining excellent attacking chances.. 35 'ifxh3 The most natural move... Any other chessplayer would have simply recaptured the pawn here. Kasparov cracks open the other wing. 'ifxa5 39 lhf'7 �xf7 40 'ife6+ wins) 39 'ifxcS+ :XeS 40 .. almost reminis­ cent of Karpov. and now if 39. giving up a pawn but gaining time in his lunge for the king. Black must play 3S.. 32 g4! While Short's queen and rook are redundant on the queenside.ig7.. Kaspar­ ov gambles.. �e5 40 'ifg5+ f5 41 f3! and l:te4 mate..ixg7? 32 33 . .'ifcS (3S . 33 hxg4. �xg7 36 ••• 37 l:th4 This looks decisive. or 39.xg7 3S 'ifh6+ �f6 39 l:tf4+. Short should have blocked out the bishop immedi­ ately with 34..ixg7 q.ig7 36 l:th4 'ifd7 37 . preventing the heavy pieces from coming across to defend the king.• 36 .ixg7 �xg7 41 l:td7 with excellent winning pros­ pects for White.Game One to aS immediately would have been better.. . this dynamic sacrifice of a pawn is pure Kasparov.. 23 33 34 'ifg4 ••• gxh3 . in his terri­ ble time pressure he must have missed that after 35 l:te7. It was quite clear from Kasparov's pained expression that he had over­ looked this defence. is left behind.. With just a couple of minutes left to reach move forty and Short down to his final minute. . Kasparov persists with his at­ tack. .. to reach a position where White is unable to break through-it is a positional draw.l:ta8? A mistake. His domination of the e-file effectively cuts Short's position in two.ig7 35 •. 35.. The slow build-up of the earlier part of the game.if6!? hxg4 This came as a great surprise. but with just seconds left on his clock Short finds the only defence.. but later analysis confirmed that 36 l:te7 was correct.-txffi 36 l:txc7 l:txc7. but Kasparov claimed afterwards that 35 'ifg5 would have been decisive: 35. d7.llxc2. The score: 1-0 in Kasparov's fa­ vour.. .g4 This is a 'pass' move. but the most important thing was that it was made instantly.. Black can begin to exploit his extra pawn. fxe6 41 llxc7 exd5 42 cxd5 llf8!. but this leads to a winning endgame for Black: 40. and as he did so. . and even stayed to analyse a cou­ ple of critical moments with Kas­ parov. and when Kasparov made a mistake in the execution of his at­ tack. .. . A tragedy for Nigel..e6+. or perhaps just .. Averbakh stepped to the front of the stage and an­ nounced that Short had lost on time.. with the idea .. Short hesitated for a mo­ ment before playing: 38 .. The arbiters. With a clear pawn more. but as he pressed the button on top of the clock... . .. Just a mo­ ment's hesitation at the end cost him the game-though of course Kasparov must take great credit for keeping up the pressure on Short's position. but this allows Black to slowly unravel with 40.. took his chance.llf3-c3 and . Instead of 40 _. Yuri Averbakh and Carlos Falcon. �e8d8-c7.. saw that he was down to his final minute and bashed out his next move .. Short reached for his king. White could wait with 40 'ii?g2.... Nigel put a brave face on it. and his king running to safety.World Chess Championship 24 head. then glanced at the clock. but hesitated for a split second before playing: 39 ••• 'ii>e8 He played the move. lW8 He didn't bother to reply to Kasparov's draw offer-he hardly had time to. In the final position Kasparov declared that he would have played 40 _. He was un­ der great pressure but kept his head. Once the king reaches safety on the queenside. ... his flag fell. and . the onus is on Kasparov to prove that his attack is good enough. . After the players had signed the scoresheets. 11£'8.e6+. llxd5. 38 ID17+ . 39 . offered a draw. llf5 and . stepped in and it was quickly es­ tablished that Short had failed to make the required forty moves. In his own case. 'Early Victory Slips from Short's Grasp' was one headline. and strum­ ming his guitar. Raymond Keene had written before the match: 'One of Short's strengths. which Short had declined be­ cause he was one pawn ahead. His wife. is his immense resilience. followed the next day by an even more optimistic note. He might have had a win. Kiveli. perhaps his great­ est. yet he had ended up with a humiliating defeat. It also emerged (which Kas­ parov had not revealed at the press conference after the game) that he had offered a draw in the time scramble. he had gone . Short's supporters were putting a better gloss on events. 'I feel the better poker player won. herself a psychotherapist. So.' He was clearly having to call on that re­ silience rather earlier in the contest than he had planned. On the other hand. the veteran chess writer who had marked out Kasparov as a future world champion at the age of 12. It struck me that Short's mind must now be in turmoil. began to present the first game in a wholly dif­ ferent light. Some British players who knew Short well were admitting already to fears that he might think himself jinxed. Kasparov pointed out. Kasparov chose not to contest this view. though.' After overnight analysis there was a growing consensus among the grandmasters that Short might have had a winning position if only he had cleared the hurdle of the time control. doubtless con­ tent with his real one. The Times. had doubtless also played her part in lifting what must have been a profoundly unset­ tled mood. In their last 15 games he had drawn four and lost eleven. in the space of 48 hours. Rea. that every player feels the pressure of his first game in a world championship. as he had always seemed to be in the past when playing Kasparov. however. naturally eager to sustain the illusion of a close spr>rting contest. he could certainly have had a draw.Game2 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf By the next morning. 'Was it a moral victory?' asked Leonard Barden. a disaster had been transformed into a 'moral victory'. A friend said Short had consoled himself in his hotel by playing with his two-year-old daughter. 'Short Cam­ paign Claims Moral Victory in Defeat by Clock'. Short had a habit of losing the first game in all his big matches and coming back off the floor. Although he put Kasparov under pressure. was heard to say: 'You ain't seen nothing yet.' At the table Kasparov would rub his nose or scratch his ear.' Nobody felt disposed to argue with that. his manager. Short sits stiffly. as if to shut out insistent inner voices. the BBC are out of there . avoiding the so-called KGB handshake he sometimes practises. He had also been scrupulous in his con­ duct at the chessboard. looking tense and stern. Leonard Barden described him in the Guard­ ian as 'a model of correctness. He has a habit of hold­ ing his hands over his ears. As Keene put it. As far as we are concerned. Of the challenger's performance. in which he grasps his rival's hand until he can establish penetrating eye contact. but his most common pose was holding his head in his hands and staring through them tunnel-like in fierce concentration at the board. with grandmas­ ters disagreeing afterwards as to which player had the advantage. which had exclusive rights to film the live action. He shook hands briefly. there was paranoia behind the scenes when Channel 4. said grimly: 'We expressed our displeasure to the Savoy. Mike Miller.' Short arrived in a black suit to play White in an aggressive opening to the second game. as if in search of inspiration or to see his board position from a different perspective. a com­ plex. He made no attempt to gaze at the Briton during play. a colleague said to me in the press room: 'Have yot\ noticed how the champion is behaving himself?' It was true. . 'Chess is a game that invites paranoia.or there will be trouble. he would have lost. a schoolboy trying out the headmaster's chair. Had his first challenge been restricted to the 24 games scheduled for this match.26 World Chess Championship 5-0 down against Karpov in 1984 and did not score a win until the thirty-second game. Kasparov had not risen to any of the pre-match insults hurled at him by his opponent. He looks round quite often at the display boards. occa­ sionally looking up abstractedly at the audience without really seeing them. found that the BBC had set up shop in the theatre manager's office. and the whole of modem chess history would have had to be rewritten. . fluctuating game ended in an honourable draw. the chan­ nel's commissioning editor. a throbbing vein in his forehead. and not without justification.' Meanwhile. As the second game was in progress.. Michael Stean. . This is the sharpest of all White's sixth move options. once again con­ cerned that he could get caught in Short's home preparation. Although initially White would seem to have the better attacking prospects. 6 i. The Sicilian . Kasparov steers ••• clear of the most critical continu­ ation (6. Black relies on his ex­ cellent pawn structure to hold the fort.. named after Miguel Najdorf. returning the pawn immeiiately. 2 3 4 5 lbf3 d4 lbxd4 tLic3 d6 cxd4 tl)f8 a6 27 more often than not they are the result of painstaking home analy­ sis before a single move is played in an actual fight. a German master..d7 h6 g5!? The Najdorf Variation. Since then. 8 0-0-0 9 f4 10 i. 1 1 fxg5 tLig4 This is the trick: Short cannot move the pawn on g5 because of . who developed the system (inde­ pendently) for White in the 1930s.. the Polish­ Argentinian who was one of the strongest players in the world in the 1950s. who developed some of the key ideas. 12 tLirn Nigel selects a sensible con­ tinuation. but Not as crazy as it looks. e6). Wxh4.•• Defence is poorly named: 'Counter­ attack' would be more accurate. c5 1 AB does Kasparov.g5 Short shows that he is ready for a fight. tLic6 6 AB in game 1.h4 i. most nota­ bly Bobby Fischer. its uncom­ promising stance (based on the sacrifice of development for bet­ ter pawn structure) has attracted many strong players. a Russian. A prag­ matic and sensible decision. named after Kurt Richter. while launching counterplay on the queenside. and Vsevolod Rauzer. A great deal has been written about Kasparov's daring openings.Game Two 1 e4 Short opens with his favourite first move. The idea is to break up White's dan­ gerous central pawn front-and of course the move has been seen before. but retaining long- . 7 'ifd2 e6 The game has transposed into a 'Richter-Rauzer'. It was possible to play a more critical continuation (from a theoretical point of view) but why risk walk­ ing into some of Kasparov's home analysis? 12 13 i. 16 :tdfi The rook comes to the open f­ file. 19 :thfl . 17 lbxe5 Short spent about a quarter of an hour on this move. The clock times at this point: Short had . It is clear that another time scramble is brewing. and some counter-attack­ ing chances down the open c-file.e7 . they slowed up over the past few moves as they delved into the complexities of the middlegame.. b5 Beginning operations on the queenside..f4 e5 15 i. hxg5 This is forced. Nigel thought for a few agonising moments be­ fore making his move.e3 lBxe3 16 'ifxe3 i. though giving those of us watching a heart at­ tack.g3 ••• 16 . 13 i.. 18 :tf2 lbxe5 This is the idea: Short wants to double rooks on the f-file. f6 14 i. f6 Short remains consistent to his plan.xg5.e2 tBge5 Both sides can be satisfied with their opening: Short has open lines for his pieces and therefore some attacking prospects against Black's king. whilst Kasparov has an excellent square for his knight on e5. 18 . but I'm sure he would have been tempted by 19 h4 attempt­ ing to open the kingside.World Chess Championship 28 tenn attacking prospects. Although both players were moving reasonably quickly in the early part of the game... l:tc8 Kasparov brings his rook to the open c-file in typical Sicilian fash­ ion... 13 . a compact central pawn structure (an asset in the long term). then Black wins material in surprising fashion: 13 . . and the queen is pinned against the king. i. presum­ ably just familiarising himself with the variation. 17 .h6. Chances are balanced. 14 i. pointing in the direction of Black's king. and at the same time vacates the d1 square for the knight in case Kasparov should push the pawn to b4. and it was time well invested: he has come up with a plan which is straight­ forward and strong. but in so doing he burns his boats: the king can no longer es­ cape to the queenside by castling if Short launches an attack in the middle. If White takes the pawn... increas­ ing the pressure on Kasparov's king. 15 . 15 �b1 'fucking the king in the corner before deciding on a middlegame plan. The bishop is biting on reinforced . followed by landing a big check on g6.. A good il­ lustration of White's attacking prospects.f5? An incomprehensible move­ even to Short after the game.Game Two used 1 hour 19 minutes. 22 ..xffi+! . Kasparov's next rules out this possibility. 2l.b4.:.. i.�18 24 i.g..xe5 fxe5 25 i. �a3+! wins a pawn.b7 .i. 25 i.b4 and . 23 .. . Before two hours is up they must both have made forty moves or they forfeit on time-as Short did in the first game. and Kas­ parov 1 hour 15 minutes.h5+ �d7 (23 .. 23 'ifd3 19 20 a3 •. Kasparov was clearly worried about the attacking po­ tential of Short's light-squared bishop and on the next move forced its exchange-even at the cost of giving up his beautifully centralised knight.el suggests itself instead.. but Black's central pawn mass and two bishops will be strong assets if the queens are exchanged. e5 The position is still dynami­ cally balanced: White's king is more secure than Black's (better pawn cover).xe4. 22 . . 20 .b4 22 axb4 .. A natural plan for Black now would be to play 20 ..h5+. though its purpose is uncertain.c6 Necessary.l:. 22 i...xe6+ and 'ilg4 mate. e. as well as lDd5!.txffi 26 'ifxd8+) 24 i. 21 'ildl! with similar variations to the pre­ vious note.g4! with the threat of i.Xb4 23 i. 29 played it very quickly. To add to the compli­ cations both players are running perilously short of time. but then White might well consider 21 'ildl threat­ ening i.b8 with the idea of breaking open Short's king position with . 21 h3 Most onlookers were baffied by Short's choice of move here: he then lhc4 Short is toying with the idea of playing e5.xe5 dxe5 25 l:. He sends the rook up a blind alley from which it can only return­ thus costing him two moves.e2 'ilc8 25 l:..... as Kasparov was threatening to play 20. In view of Kasparov's reply... 24 l:. 21 ..xc4 �4! If instead 22 'ifdl. would have been more to the point.• i.. Kasparov admit­ ted that: 'There were perhaps better moves. with the idea ... He mentioned instead 28 .. l:r..c6. b4 breaking open the queenside. 25 ••• :Xc3 A classic Sicilian exchange sac­ rifice-Black removes one of White's most dangerous attack­ ing pieces and at the same time shatters the queenside pawns. as we felt that Black would have the initiative in the end­ game playing against the doubled c-pawns. 29 l:r. though in so saying I'm contradicting the mighty Gazza himself.fi! 'ii'e6 'it>d7 At least Short is able to admit his mistakes: the rook does noth­ ing on f5.. 29 'ii'xc4 Short leapt at the chance to ex­ change queens here: in distinc­ tion to the previous position. White's problem is that it is very difficult to find any weak­ ness in Black's position to aim at. and possibly . but I think it was a good practical choice as I had lit­ tle time left. which looks inse­ cure.. rather than Black's. It is suddenly White's king. 26 27 'it>b2 28 l:r.' Certainly Short looked sur­ prised at Kasparov's decision...i. with attack­ ing chances. With the queens re­ maining Short still has chances to attack Kasparov's king if the posi­ tion breaks open-though it's a gamble because his own king is insecure. After that my moves are very easy to play. a5. but admitted afterwards that he had 'underestimated the sacrifice'. applauded in the television stu­ dio. if only to keep Black's rook busy.World Chess Championship 30 concrete on the g3 square. 26 bxc3 Short chooses to keep the queens on-a decision which we 28 ••• 'ii'c4? Kasparov was quite damning about this move after the game­ 'a terrible mistake'-though given that he was approaching serious time pressure I think his desire to simplify the position is under­ standable.hl with the idea of 30 h4 sug­ gests itself.b8 and . I cannot believe that White stands worse here. and will eventually find a more useful diagonal on the queenside. his . But was such drastic action necessary? Immediately after the game when interviewed on Chan­ nel 4 television.. but the bishop clears out of the way of the rook. . is more dangerous for Black than White.d5 41 h4. f5. For the first time in the match we began to feel truly opti­ mistic about Short's chances: Kasparov had less than five min­ utes to make his remaining nine moves-and the position looked to be turning against him.c6 30 <Ji>a2 ..b6.i.a5 The exchange of rooks is fa­ vourable to White in positions of this kind (rooks generally work very well with bishops).xd5 35 l:xe5!.Game Two weak c-pawns are masked by a black pawn. the white king trapped in the corner unable to prevent their advance.g.i. Black's centre pawns are stymied. f5 38 exffi+ �f5 39 . Black's bishop pair is his most important asset.i.i. Kasparov finds the only correct way to expel the rook. but Kas­ parov had to go in for it: Short was threatening to exchange bishops with 34 . lle8! 32 . but it reduces White's own winning chances. A night­ mare scenario. . 36 We6 37 g4? I must admit that I applauded this move when it was played­ the pessimist in me could only picture Black's centre pawns screaming down the board.. . It's true that the advance of the g-pawn prevents Black breaking with . 32 . with the idea of38 h4. while the h­ pawn is an express.d8 31 llbl! 32 llb8l It is essential to get some active play before Kasparov is allowed to advance his central pawn mass-their time has almost come. 29 bxc4 . creating an outside passed pawn.i.e7 d5 39 lle3 ••• .i.i. for example: 37 . 33 .d8 37 38 �cl . e. and it is useful to have the option of moving to b8. Upon re­ flection 37 g3 !.f2 . .i.i. 34 q. <Ji>c7? 33 l:b4 d5 34 exd5 .b8! �e6 40 lld2! . Kasparov was now into his final 31 minute and Short had only a little more.xe8 35 wf7 36 A bizarre-looking move..i. . has­ sling the rook. . there were certainly plenty of chances to go wrong. . �e4.32 World Chess Championship <hd5 40 exd5+ The time control has been made-with just seconds to spare. the bishop pair is potent.txg4 52 ltxg5+ fxg5 53 .b. . . . Interviewed after the game.3 45 :xh4 . both players seemed reasonably satisfied.l . . Black's e-pawn is dangerous. 41 �b2 .:. More than adequate compensation for the exchange. . 'ifile6 41 42 .:.td7 cati>d5 50 :h2 If Short passively defends the g-pawn with 5 1 l:g2. The problem is that his king is tied to the defence of the a­ pawn.2 a4 49 .tf4 . then he risks losing after 5l.td4 a5 48 . .tb6 .3 . gxh4 43 e4 44 .tg5 47 . 51 :b5 Instead of dragging the game out with 51.te3 �e5 54 . The score: 1lh-lh to Kasparov. and in­ deed that he would have to play carefully in order to hold the draw..txg5 reaching a barren ending. Kasparov shrugged his shoulders and offered a draw which Short accepted immedi­ ately. Looking at the monitor in his rest room.• 46 . . the h3 pawn is weak. Kasparov was visibly relieved that he had held the game and generously praised the challenger's play.. instead he wisely forces simplifi­ cation into a drawn ending.:.:.b. and exited the stage to cool off for a few moments.b. Short played his 41st move after little reflection ..b. and Short can take heart from the fact that he had worried the champion and came close to winning. . he must have realised that the mo­ ment had passed for him.e3 and 52 .td6 43 h4! Short cuts his losses and takes steps to simplify the position. but that the innate chess logic of the position was in his favour. as I recall. These signs of a 'bunker mentality' were not en­ couraging. especially so soon into the match. At this level there are all sorts of hidden.or 'truth' . who once said: 'The good chess player is always lucky. he didn't really believe in it. In the Daily Telegraph I had quoted some British grandmasters who feared that Short might be 'whitewashed'. though the champion admitted af­ terwards to 'a little luck'.Game 3 Kasparov-Short Roy Lopez. shared by his two-year-old daughter. Anti-Marshall Short. A foreign chess writer of philosophical bent took me aside in the press room. even without understanding all its impli­ cations. as he revealingly called them.' Novelist Julian Barnes. in an inter­ view immediately after the third game: 'I always felt that the truth was on my side. truth.' he declared. went like this: 'When a player makes the right move. This fear was not.' He was unconsciously echoing the Cuban genius. who was covering the event for the New Yorker. by which they meant he might not win a game. half-remembered factors in making a move that have nothing to do with luck and everything to do with instinct and experience. This in­ furiated him. Kiveli. because they might well have made a mistake under the pressure . half-conscious.or. she was to prove mistaken and Kaspar­ ov won his second game out of three. 'Most of these people don't know what they're talking about. They are a part of what we mean when we talk about a talent for the game.' What he meant was probably not metaphysical at all. who was heard to say loudly after move 20 in the Grandmasters' room: 'Daddy is winning!' Alas. His general thesis. apparently. had become openly contemptuous of his critics . Capablanca. Like Short and Capablanca. 'my enemies'. it still isn't luck if it succeeds. by this time.of his position. was reflecting quietly in the Grandmasters' room on the role that luck played in chess. Short responded sharply: 'You make your own luck. One began to fear for him. and said of Short's attacking gambit in the third game: 'Nigel might have got away with that against most players. He clearly thought that Short's attack in the third game had been too risky. not for the first time.' Kasparov introduced another abstract concept. not supported by the objective reality . e1 b5 0-0 7 .te7 6 l:.or whether this was the hopeless slog of an already defeated man. By delaying the d-pawn's advance. d6 is a more usual continu­ ation. The champion has a reputation for playing the most critical lines in the opening.' Short's loyal friend. . . b4. Against all predictions.tb5 lZJf6 4 ....e8 9 . and has a better reputation than the perhaps over-committal 8 . d5 in one move. didn't he?' 1 e4 e5 2 lt:Jf3 lOOG a6 3 .tb3 So far. 8 . . preferring to build the tension rather than lock antlers at an early stage. Kasparov repeats his quiet open­ ing from the first game.ta4 5 0-0 . said 'the attack blew like a hurricane through the champion's apparently invulnerable kingside defences. drew analogies with other games.34 World Chess Championship Short created. A common manoeuvre. 'The question that we and Short must address is whether this was a strong. like Ian Botham at Headingley in 198 1. 9 d3 l:.. The bishop drops back one square al­ lowing the rook more influence over the centre. a more sceptical soul raised a laugh when he remarked: 'Yeah..tf8 10 . . OK But he still bloody lost. . 10 lt:Jbd2 The theoretically recommended move for White in this position is 10 lt:Jc3. The question is: will Kasparov take on Short's Marshall Gambit? 8 a4 No.' Reading that aloud from the Daily Telegraph to the press room at large. Short is perhaps hoping to play . wondering if Short was already playing like a man who knew his only chance of a comeback was to throw caution to the winds. a subtle sports writer for The Times. This is the most common method of replying to 8 •. so his approach here goes against the grain. Karpov would never have done that. . You can't base your game against Kas­ parov on the hope that he will make a mistake. but not Kasparov. but Kasparov continues his cautious approach from game 1. . confident and bold piece of counter-attacking play that didn't quite come off . Dominic Lawson. h6 11 c3 .• a4.. I am not indulging in hyperbole when I say that the audience in the Savoy Theatre was gasping in disbelief at the audacity of Short's sacrificial attack. everything as game 1.tb7 Short is the first one to deviate from game 1.' Simon Barnes. 14 . 14 liJg6 It is still possible to speculate on an attack with 14 'ii'f3 . The champion's next move disabused us of such .. but so far no one has been able to find a satisfactory defence for Black. Short's position was solid enough. but 35 did he have something better? Debate in the press room was cen­ tred on the possibility of 13 axb5 axb5 14 'ii'b3 ! threatening the pawns on b5 and f7.. There is no doubting the strength of Kasparov's move. liJe7 14 'ii'f3 !. The bishop moves out of range of the knight on c6...taG 16 .txf7+! and 17 l:txa6. . . ..b4 would have been better..d5 fails to 12 exd5 ltJxd5 13 d4 (13 . preventing a pos­ sible liJg5 attacking f7 (although at the moment this point can be defended by . 11. l:te7). and leaves Black searching for a meaningful plan.h6 creates a slight weakness which Kasparov pounces on in a couple of moves. 'ii'd7 13 . d6 Kasparov has two promising continuations after this.Game Three A safe move. The vari­ ations are extremely complicated... 'ii'd 7 15 'ii'xb5 . just to add to the mystery.ta2! This subtle move is terribly strong... but rather making a hit and run raid to exchange off knight for bishop..l:ta5 16 'ii'xb7 l:tb8 17 'ii'xb8 liJxbB 18 . in spite of Kasparov's possession of the bishop pair.txd5). leaves Black in a terri­ ble mess..:. 15 liJxf8 Most of us watching the game felt that. with a material advantage. Both players refused to com­ ment on this possibility after the game. 13 liJh4! The bishop on a2 makes its presence felt. but years of playing against Karpov have taught the champion to prefer a long-term advantage to a short-term initia­ tive. 12 . . However. and he should have reasonable defensive chances. .. Note that 1l. .. Attempting to stop the knight's invasion lands Black in even worse trouble: 13 ... for example: 14. 12 .txh6. with hindsight.txf7 + and 19 . 12 . or 15 .exd4? 14 l:txe8 'ii'xe8 15 . with the idea of 15 liJfl threaten­ ing . Kasparov is not launching a violent attack. or per­ haps 14 h3 preventing a queen exchange.Xa5. i. If Short doesn't break through.£2! lbxg2 28 .i. axb5 20 axb5 21 . but it is also a high-class waiting move. wait­ ing to see where Short puts his pieces before deciding on a plan. As Short himself said the following day in The Times: 'This is an excellent move.' White has several plans to choose from in the position-per­ haps breaking with d4.i. he has gained control of the queenside. I did not see this coming but now I recall that Kas­ parov did something similar in a brilliant game [Game 1] against Karpov in their last champion­ ship match at New York in 1990.i. perhaps moving the knight to f1 or b3and it is terribly important to keep options open.36 World Chess Championship comforting thoughts.:e6 Blunt and risky-but the only chance. this subtle pawn ad­ vance is the strongest move of the game. 16 .b1 lbh51 Kasparov's bishops look pas­ sive on the back rank. . but when­ ever the position breaks open they will rule the board. and actually loses material straightaway: 25 .. dxe5 26 'ii'xd7 . Short makes an accurate assessment of the position and realises that his only chance lies in a direct attack on the king. It bolsters up Kasparov's centre and places a granite block in the path of my queen's bishop. disconnected from the rest of its forces. Allowing an ex­ change of queens would be hope­ less because of the weakened queenside.i..c5+ and 29 .c8 19 . the rook will be stranded offside. and thanks to the excellent knight manoeuvre lbd2-b3.:gG 24 <ith1 If instead 24 dxe5? Wh3 ! is the end for White. He thought for fifteen minutes before playing: 16 f31 For me. 23 d4 .e3 lbh4 22 .xd7 27 .i. 16 rn not only bolsters the e4 pawn. 22 .:Xe5! The only try.:xg2.:adS 17 b41 lbgG 18 lbb3 . The rook maintains control over the open a-file as well as defend­ ing the king-and another point to the move 16 rn is revealed.:a21 An excellent defensive move.• .:es 24 25 dxe5 . 26 g41 Played on intuition more than ••• •. d2! i. would have been a simple way to thwart the attack. . ••• 31 dxe5? With no time left on his clock.h3 ! (preventing :d3) 34 lDc5! l:.Wf3+! first. and indeed with precise play might still escape with his extra piece: 33 l:. with so little time. . Kasparov would have been hard pressed to defend. lbxf3 28 i. . But would Kasparov have found such a string of exact moves ••• Moving the knight back to ffi would mean the end of the attack. Black has no good discovered check at his disposal. 27 . lDf4 28 lD£5! and Black is in a mess. for example. 27 i. He had obvi­ ously totally overlooked Short's spectacular reply. 27 lDd4. 27 lDg3+! Kasparov looked shocked at this move. Of course. . If he had flicked in 3 1 . it would not be possible to bring the knight over to defend the king (as happened in the game): 33 lDd2 Wxc3! and with three pawns for the piece Black is surely in great shape. 28 hxg3 lDxf3 Wxg4 29 i.xe5 Threatening . After 32 �gl dxe5. ••• . Kaspar­ ov's next move is forced. White has better than 33 lDd2. .d4? Kasparov must have only cal­ culated 27 . . Short makes the obvious recap­ ture.c2! and amazingly. still keeps himself together.Game Three anything else. . but it's a mistake. ltf6 26 37 30 :h2 lDxeU 31 'ifxe1 If 3 1 'ifxg4 :n mate. . so Short is forced to improvise.xe5 Wxg4 29 :gl! with an overwhelming material advantage. but with just a minute left. the pawn blocks out the rook and queen from the attack-for the time being at least.'ifh3+. It's not just that Black's knight is attacked.g6 35 �h2! 'ifh5 35 i. as Malcolm Pein pointed out in the Daily Thle­ graph. defending f3. .:. A disappointment for Short who missed a good chance in time pressure. half of Moscow would have been engaged to find a win..tc2 .txc6 55 .' Perhaps he was a little too gen­ erous. h4 58 he4 59 gxh4 And Black resigned..d5 58 lDe7+ and lDxg6..e7 f6 52 lDd3 53 lDb4 f5 54 .:.. <t. but it could easily have been the other way round. in time pressure he made one mistake which might have jeopardised the win. Maybe. ....Xd6 'ifxd6 39 'ii'c5 'ifxc5+ h5 40 bxc5 The time scramble is over. He outplayed Short from the opening and played a superb mid­ dlegame.td7 � 44 lL}f3 45 c4 bxc4 46 .. He didn't put much effort into the remaining moves. � 41 lDd2 42 'OW2 �e7 43 .tg4 48 .tb3 .ta4! . .38 World Chess Championship with only a few remaining sec­ onds on the clock? 32 lDd2 After this excellent defensive move.:... Short can make no further pro­ gress with his attack and his pieces are driven back in disarray.d2 38 . and the smoke has cleared to reveal an endgame in which Short has just two pawns for a piece. 32 .td7 50 lDel! �e6 51 .txc4 . but there must have been the thought in the back of Short's mind that if the game were to be adjourned. but thereafter he held his nerve.teG �g8 34 �gl 35 ll)fi 'ii'g5 36 'ii'e3 'ii'd8 c6 37 ..te2 ..teG 47 . Overall this was an excel­ lent performance from Kasparov. the game is effectively over.ta4 fxe4 .txc6 �e6 56 ltJxcG+ 57 �e3 g5 Or 57 ...tb3+ <t.dG 33 .. Kas­ parov claimed afterwards that it would have been very difficult to win with correct play from Black.tdl! g6 49 . Kasparov was mag­ nanimous in victory: 'The score is two and a half to a half in my fa­ vour. The grandmasters moved rather faster than that. but by cautious counterplay in response to aggresBive attacks by Short. who used the information to flesh out their extensive game analysis. So did Kasparov.852. They gave interviews to Channel 4. What surprised many observers was that this had not been achieved by the champion's own daring and imaginative play. taking a minute for each one. now coaching Short. It was a reminder of the infinite variety of a game of chess. If you wanted to work out each possible variation after four moves.000 years. Among Fischer's seconds on that occasion was Lubomir Kavalek. giving him three wins out of the four games played. stories also seeped out through of­ ficials and friends and friends of friends. and little stayed secret for long. it has been calculated that the process would last 600. in the way ofthe chess world.Game 4 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf This was the game of 'the poisoned pawn'. when the Russian had used it to achieve one of his rare sweeping victories. They spoke privately to Ray Keene and other staff of The Times. despite the diligent efforts of the franchise-holders to retain their . The winner (both players if it was a draw) appeared at a press conference after the game to answer journal­ ists' questions on the Savoy Theatre stage. What was going on here? The players' own opinions on their performance and the state of the match emerged in various ways. As soon as this variation of the Sicilian Defence was deployed. who won a resounding victory just after the two­ hour time control. Had 'Lubosh' remembered this gambit and brought it out and polished it for Nigel after 21 years? Whole books have been devoted to the theory and practice of'the poi­ soned pawn'. as people had come to expect. After three moves it is nine million. But. the mighty minds at the Grandmas­ ters' table went back to the Fischer-Spassky match in 1972. so the grandmasters were in their element in the base­ ment bar at Simpson's-in-the-Strand. moving pieces swiftly around their boards and shouting suggestions to each other as they tried to work out where the many options might lead. After two moves by each side the number of possible positions on the board is 71. So. It is possible to defend the pawn. One journalist who happened to shake hands with Short soon after his ill-fated fourth game. for exam­ ple.. Remarkably. we knew who to blame: as ever. 10 i.. how will Short play? Will he put a brake on today.. Black seems to get away with it-for most of the time at any rate. with the score at 3.d2 9 lLlb3 •xb2 9 l:tb1 is more usual. 6 i. In outrageous fashion. No wonder one of his friends described him as being 'in a trough of depression'. The body language said it all. 1 2 3 4 5 e4 lLlf3 d4 lbxd4 lLlc3 c5 d6 cxd4 lLlf6 a6 The Najdorf Variation once again: Kasparov is eager to take up the fight.. leaving the rest of his pieces on the back rank. but this takes away a dangerous at­ tacking piece from the centre and is not a serious test of the open­ ing. a favourite of Kaspar­ ov's and before him Fischer. 8 lLlb3 is the best way. but Short obviously has something evil pre­ pared. who had apparently been pressuring Short to play too sharply. and his king exposed to a violent at­ tack from White's mobilised forces. it was all the fault of the media. Black's queen makes an early sortie for just a measly pawn. said: 'It was like being given a handful of spaghetti.' There was no need for an exclusive quote to know that the challenger was in bad shape. Kasparov courts one--after four days' preparation: 6 . but Nigel was to remain true to himself and willingly entered into a bloody battle. and freely sacrifices the pawn.5 to 0. This time. instead of backing off from a theoretical fight. But Short is ready for a fight. By now the bookmakers were refusing to take any more bets on Kasparov winning the match. Whole books have been written about its wild complications-without com­ ing to any definite conclusion. Odds on Short were 12-1 and you could get 3-1 on him not winning a single game. 9 . 7 f4 e6 'iib6 The notorious 'Poisoned Pawn' Variation.xf6 •aa gxf8 By doubling the pawns.g5 And Nigel repeats this aggres­ sive bishop move from game 2. or will he con­ tinue his aggressive policy? There were many who counselled cau­ tion. 8 _. After such a shattering start. .World Chess Championship 40 expensively acquired exclusivity. White ensures that Black's king will re­ main in the centre for some time: the kingside is too full of holes.5. and at the same time it eyes the b6 and d6 squares. 14 :c8 � 15 lDe3 16 c3 Short was still playing his moves quite quickly as though all this was part of his opening preparation. but if it can hop round to c4 (via e3) then there are chances to attack Black's queen.Game Four tOO& 11 �e2 �d7 12 0-0 h5 13 �h1 Ruling out the possibility of White playing the bishop into h5. or playing more cautiously by re­ treating the queen immediately. At this point the clock times were. This position has been seen several times before. if any. . it is a moot point as to how much advantage White has.. The knight move looks bizarre at first sight. Short's next move has been played once before. but following all the ex­ changes on d6. We were amazed by this cap­ ture in the TV commentary room. With Short moving quickly and confidently. Lubosh Kavalek. 14 lDd1 41 Kasparov plunged into thought after Short's new or. routing Fischer in just 31 moves.. Kaspar­ ov: 1 hour 11 minutes. most nota­ bly in the 11th game of the 1972 world championship match in which Spassky played 14 lDb1!? here. Kasparov de­ clared that he was actually more . Short: 22 minutes. had worked with Fischer in Reykjavik in 1972. One of Nigel's seconds. in an obscure Soviet game from 1963. After 16 . there were many players predict­ ing that Kasparov's blood would be spilt: Nigel must have it all worked out. . After the game. Improvements were later found for Black in this particular line.'it'b6 17 lDc4 'it'c7 18 l:tfd1 White may regain the pawn on d6. but the mysteries of the whole position have not yet been fully explored. Kasparov has a choice between grabbing another pawn and braving the attack. resurrected idea. 17 �d3 Also played quickly by Short. though from this moment the game is really off the beaten track. 'it'xe4 16 . and there was speculation that this was the fruit of their la­ bours-and that the idea was only being seen after 21 years. perhaps I should say. "ii'a4 17 18 . d5 26 g3 27 i.c7 Nigel thought over his next move for 24 minutes. "ii'a3 19 .l:lxc4 21 lbc4 22 i. Short should take the draw. but this is not as dangerous as it appears. a rough material balance.!Uc4.!Uc4 l:. . What had gone wrong? Kaspar­ ov later said that objectively. 18 .l:lae1 ltJe71 . He admitted in The Times the next day: 'I have over-reacted by trying to annihilate him and been caught on the rebound. though 17 . 22 h4 23 i. during which time we were wondering as to exactly where his home prepa­ ration had finished. and yet up to this moment he had been playing his moves quickly.... and instead of swallowing his pride and tak­ ing the draw-which at such an early stage in the match would not have been greatly signifi­ cant-he continued the struggle. It would have been more prudent to keep my head down.. but from this moment Short's position de­ teriorates. f5 23 i. . Playing the bishop back to e2 im­ mediately would have saved time.World Chess Championship 42 afraid of 17 . Perhaps there has been too much media pressure of the "Go on Nige.!Ub6 ••• .f3? •.d3 Short was worried about the knight coming into ffi. we could see nothing bet­ ter for Short than to take a draw by permanently attacking Kas­ parov's queen with the knight­ though this would hardly have been a triumph for his homework.e2 25 c4 h31 Now White's king is perma­ nently exposed. go in and get him" type.!Ud8 creates a square for the queen to drop back to on c6. Here. with a pos­ sible sacrifice on g3.xc4 Kasparov has given up rook for knight but has two extra pawns.' 20 . He doesn't like to admit that he has made a mistake.l:lc7 can­ not have been a surprise. . But it is not in my character to wimp out of sharp positions.g7 24 i. Sweet dreams. . .. which both win. but the ending after 39 . 'ii'e4+ 40 'ii'g2 'ii'xg2+ 41 �xg2 lL!e5 should be winning with care. cxb3 29 l:txb3 'ii'c5 30 l:txb7 with counter­ play. Here White resigned. He finds a way to continue the strug­ gle. ... 39 . ..£3 keeps White in the game.�e5. :Xb3 40 fxg6 'ii'c6+ ••• *I R ··­ ••• ··­ · �'if. but Kasparov took just a minute to play instead: c3 28 29 :Xc3 ••• •. lL!d5 29 j. Short's move is based on a miscalcula­ tion. Short misses his last chance. ..tr>£8 3 2 'ii'xc6 bxc6 3 3 l:td8 mate. but really his position from here on is hopeless. 34 .'ii'e 7. 39 lL!d4. . though after 28 . In reality it is White's king that is the more exposed. 27 cxd5 lL!xd5 28 j.. deliver checkmate with 30 'ii'xd5 �c6 3 1 l:tfe1+ . lL!g6 35 gxf5 exf5 36 'ii'xf5 'ii':xa2 37 'ii'xh3 'ii'c2 38 f5 l:tc3 39 'ii'g4 In time pressure. or 3l. 29 �xc3 0-0 30 'ii'xc3 l:tc8 31 l:tgl j.. 28 l:te3 A shallow trap. Black can play either 3 1 . " tf?Js � • • '� • • • 6<&tf 'd0. or 41 'ii'g2 'ii'xg2+ 42 �xg2 fxg6.· � • • • • • . . . Instead of 3l.c6 32 'ii'f6 33 �xc6 :Xc6 34 g4 It is easy to defend against this attack. .• 43 The passed pawn was too strong to be left. . . 0-0 Kas­ parov has the better position due to his powerful bishops. . and after 28 ..Game Four The decisive mistake. If4 1 l:tg2 l:tb1+. 27 dxc4 Short thought that he could now play 28 l:td1... If 28 .t>f8.·if-·.xd5 exd5.. Nigel looked devastated. but now Short is two pawns down for nothing. When interviewed by Channel 4 TV after the game.44 World Chess Championship A curious and disappointing game from Short: where exactly did his preparation end. not super-aggressive. and which move of Kasparov's did he miss? Having had his opening inno­ vation defused. . The score: 3lh-'h in Kasparov's favour. He should have been cautious at the begin­ ning. eventu­ ally making an appalling blunder. he then failed to re-adjust to having no real initia­ tive and played too boldly. A world cham­ pionship match is totally differ­ ent from anything Nigel has experienced before.' . Kasparov made the prescient comment that Short had been listening to 'too much bad advice . . never felt such energy and concentration. What mattered to the challenger in the fifth game was simply stopping the rot. felt obliged to ask the question.' He was clearly more at ease with himself. Kasparov spent an hour and a half to Short's 11 minutes. Its own answer. which happened to be republished in a book of his essays during the London championship.' Now. to read Martin Amis's essay on the Kasparov-Karpov battle of 1986. The tall.' Nobody bothers to ask. predictably. expansive gestures. He threw his arms and legs about the place. a con­ trolled explosion. one of the biggest differences in a world championship game that anyone could remember. 'He was a victor: he had conquered himself. For he had turned back the tide of defeat. was: 'Not at all. According to Simon Bar­ nes. ofcourse. he is quoted as saying: 'I'm not afraid of him any more.' It is interesting. I have never faced such an intense player.it's hard to de­ scribe.' An unusual feature of the game was the comparative amount oftime the players took to play it. I found his presence uniquely disturbing. just another game. The champion. Short described it as 'an aggressive draw. made a series of weird. Then it was business as usual. joked afterwards: 'I have now played five games while Nigel has played four. which had so far given the challenger the benefit of every doubt. ifKasparov is afraid of Nigel Short. not to mention defeatism. 'Short was like a victor.' he wrote. it took me half an hour to get over my awe at playing the world champion. such will and desire burning across the board at me. his body language was in sharp contrast to his demeanour after the previous game. bespectacled. This he achieved convincingly with an agreed draw after only 18 moves in a game that Short appeared to have prepared well with Speelman's help.' . though. Short is quoted as saying: 'When I played Karpov. some years later. who spent most of the time on-stage wiping his brow and holding his head in his hands. however.Game S Kasparov-Short Nimzo-Indian Defence 'Is Nigel Short afraid of Kasparov?' Even The Times. long­ haired Speelman appeared in the Grandmasters' room with a knowing smile during the game. With Kasparov . an opening system developed by Aron Nimzowitsch. carefully prepared and skilfully executed. one of the strongest players in the world during the 1920s. once took half an hour to make his first move. he prefers to maintain the tension in the position to keep the pressure on Short. 4 d5 5 cxd5 exd5 6 i. Nobody knew precisely what this fore­ told.. 1 d4 Having essayed 1 e4 in his first two White games. If Short had wanted to steady the ship after a couple of losses. his king was cut to ribbons. 1 2 c4 e6 i. 4 'iVc2 The move of the moment. but after 8 . and Bot­ vinnik. Kasparov's early mentor. The longest thinking time ever recorded is two hours and twenty minutes by the Brazilian IM Trois. c5 7 8 dxc5 This variation has many fa­ mous precedents. Kas­ parov's revival of 4 'iVc2 . one might have expected him to play a solid Queen's Gambit (3 .£5 13 e3 l:. Keres played 8 0-0-0. as Keene put it. 'trying to obliterate the champion with his bare hands'.. who drew with the great Botvinnik in a world championship duel he should have won in 1951. suggesting that he had finally over­ come his early stage-fright and emerged from his 'trough of depres­ sion'. •. Kasparov de­ cides to broaden the front.b4 3 l003 Short accepts the invitation to play the Nimzo-Indian Defence. . . with the white pieces. One of the first games with it was between Keres. i.h4 If Kasparov had wanted to play it safe. Short's performance. His supporters were relieved that he was no longer.c8.g3 cxd4 11 'iVxd4 lDc6 12 'it'a4 i. from the Absolute Soviet Cham­ pionship of 1941. In view of the score.formerly regarded as a tame continuation . then he could have ex­ changed on f6. and also one of the game's most profound think­ ers.xc3 9 1Vxc3 g5 10 i.has led to a renaissance in 1 d4. Word got about atnong the professionals that Short had worked this game out without Kavalek's assistance. was impressive after his run of defeats.g5 h6 7 i. . Victor Korchnoi once took an hour and a half over a single move. Now Short will have something more to think about when preparing to play Black. but this is hardly a test for Black. d5) rather than this poten­ tially double-edged opening.46 World Chess Championship In the subsequent chat at Simpson's someone recalled that the So­ viet grandmaster.. David Bronstein. ..!006 12 . lDxe5 13 .'iVxc5! threatening e3 and d5. Black reinforces the pressure on the pinned knight on c3. .. but Nigel's next move convinced us that all was still well: 14 . however.txb8 'iVffi! (10 . . but. then he has good chances to counter-attack due to Black's ragged pawn structure (the weak d-pawn and the pawn on g5). has it all under control: he was still moving instantly while Kasparov's clock had pushed past the hour mark.tg4! Black prevents White from bringing his king to safety on the queenside. 11 0-0 12 . .txd7+ lDxd7 13 lDge2.td3 . de­ fending the knight on c3 and at the same time attacking Black's rook on h8.txf3 15 lbf3 16 .ie5 Kasparov thought for 25 min­ utes over this sensible move. 'iVffi had been previously played in Gol­ din-Lautier.. A sample line: 10 . Palma de Mallorca 1989. then 15 . If now 15 f3. . .txf3 ••• .llxb8 11 'iVa4+ and 'iVxb4) 11 'iVa4+ .. 1 1 . lDe4 9 .txe4 14 .Game Five This game is typical of the vari­ ation: Black has a strong initia­ tive which puts White under great pressure. forcing White to defend when he would really rather be developing his kingside pieces.. 10 . Instead of this. 'ii'a5 10 This logical continuation is the ••• 47 first new move of the game. as mentioned in the previous note.tb5+ .td7 12 .tg3 10 e3 . Nigel. but that allowed White to solve the problem of his develop­ ment by playing 11 . White could have taken on b8. lDxc3 13 .. this is a risky move: Black must maintain his initiative or he will regret this rash advance. but if White is able to survive.td7 12 'iVxb4 'iVxf2+ 13 'iPd1 'iVxfl+ 14 �c2 'iVxal . initiating tre­ mendous complications.th7 mate. .. would not have been too bright. g5 8 Black has to break the pin on the knight if he is to launch an at­ tack.txd5 It seemed to those of us watch­ ing that Kasparov had thought his way through Short's opening preparation. . . There was already a look of revenge in his eye: 'I have some homework to do. which Short ac­ cepted at once.. and the game fizzles out to a draw. Kasparov included. .txc3 19 bxc3 'ii'c 7! 20 .:txc5. At the end ofthe game the clock times showed that Kasparov had used 1 hour 30 minutes.' snarled the world champion ominously.48 World Chess Championship Kasparov thought for almost twenty minutes before resigning himself to this prudent.e4 f5! and Black crashes through on f3. AB Short said afterwards: 'The final position was not unfa­ miliar to me.the time that it had taken for him to walk back on stage before making each of his moves. .txb7 . and Short just 11 minutes .g.i. Black will then regain his second sacrificed pawn. if necessary by doubling rooks on the c-file. .. The score: 4-1 in Kasparov's fa­ vour.' In their post-match TV inter­ view Nigel looked distinctly chuffed.. . capture. that the whole game was home prepa­ ration. while Kasparov fidg­ eted uncomfortably. 16. clearly em­ barrassed that one of his main opening weapons had been neu­ tralised with such ease. He realised that he would find himself in dire trouble if he tried to keep winning chances alive with 16 gx£3. but life­ less.:ac8 17 0-0 l:txc5 18 . It was obvious for all to see. e. 16 �+ J:lac8 17 gxf3 18 0-0 With this move Kasparov of­ fered a draw. After 18 . and much more interesting.' Nonetheless.' He attacked the press for suggesting other­ wise: 'Too many of them seem to imagine chess is somehow a simple game. Chess is a much more difficult. or great defensive play by the champion? The grandmasters agreed in their daily bulle­ tin : 'It is a tribute to Kasparov that even where calculation failed him.' Lawson claimed. sustaining his recovery and forcing the champion into a position from which he was visibly relieved to manage a draw. that he had forced the champion onto the ropes but settled for a draw instead of delivering the expected knock-out. his intuition proved a sturdy second line of defence. denied this. Eric Schiller. Punch' (Sunday Times). game than that. But was it a failure of nerve. the Canadian chess expert. 'Short's approach to this match proves he is over-confident. 'Short Misses Another Chance' (Guardian).from playing the perfect move at every turn. At move 26 there was a loud groan among the grandmasters as the challenger failed to press home his advantage af­ ter Kasparov had made a palpable error a few moves before. the nagging doubt remained in the Grandmasters' room that Nigel had missed a good chance of a win. saying that over 350 . and that it is only neurosis which prevents a player like Short ­ or Kasparov for that matter .O. Generous applause greeted the end of what Nathan Divinsky. in charge of the press room. He's psyched out.' The headline writers reflected this widely held view: 'Kasparov is Let off the Hook' (Daily Telegraph).' The champion himself admitted that he had 'panicked' at one point in the game and insisted: 'Short is back on track.Game 6 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf Could Short keep it up? In the sixth game he launched what Speelman called 'a vicious attack' and Keene 'a violent onslaught'.' Dominic Lawson argued that confidence was not the challenger's problem. Interna­ tional Master Andrew Martin was blunt: 'Short would have played the winning move against anyone else in the world. there was a growing feeling that the apparent inevita­ bility of a Kasparov victory must be turning off the media. 'If anything. 'Short has Kasparov on Ropes but Fails to Deliver K. Even so. described as 'the most exciting day of the championship'. however. If Black doesn't take action in the centre he is likely to be over­ run on the kingside.. .g. Un­ til about five years ago everyone automatically played 7 . blocking the bishop's diagonal. and can chop off White's threatening bishop if it looks too dangerous. The 6 .. . . e6 A sensible move. e.. e5 1 1 .. For instance. 13 g4 . but this move indicates that Short is toying with the aggres­ sive idea of putting his king on the queenside.fd8 17 g5.indeed Kasparov re­ cently won a beautiful game on the White side against Gelfand in Linares. White would love to play 13 g4 and g5 as in the game cited above. but Black's pressure on e4 is too much.. 6 . and Short wheels out his next weapon against the Najdorf. b5 12 lLlde2 Every move counts in the posi­ tion.. no matter what the score is at the end. 8 f4 lLlc5 The knight stands well on this square. In the past few years the system has enjoyed a revival ._a5 13 0-0-0 e5 14 lLlde2 lLlxb3+ 15 cxb3 . It attacks the e4 pawn. playing the Black side!).tc4 So 6 . White would have castled by now (on the kingside). though anti­ dotes to it were later found (no­ tably by Fischer himself. b5 here instead.td7 12 g4! .50 World Chess Championship journalists were still accredited to the match and that it 'may go down as one of the most interesting ever.tb3 lt'lbd7 The latest word in fashion. bolsters the e6 square. .f3 0-0 11 .tc6 16 lLlg3 l:. and White won in just a few more moves with a direct attack on Black's king..te7 9 f5 10 .' c5 1 e4 d6 2 lLlf3 cxd4 3 d4 lt'lf6 4 lt'lxd4 a6 5 lL'lc3 6 . the game Winants-Christiansen.tb7! 14 .tg5 has gone back into the garage for some repair work.tc4 variation was honed into a fear­ some attacking system by Bobby Fischer in the 1960s. 7 .tea Normally. Holland 1993: 11. He gave a sam­ ple line the next day in The ••• .d5 14 b41? I couldn't believe this move: it looks so ugly. In view of the critical nature of the position. so control over d5 is. . This is cer­ tainly not best play for White. an amaz­ ing amount of time when one con­ siders that he can only have been one or perhaps two moves out of his home preparation. idea: %:tb8 13 i. and forc­ ing Black's knight back relieves the pressure on e4. 51 All this is being said with a great deal of hindsight. but it does give an indication of Black's resources in the position.and of course Short was very well aware of that. I am a strong be­ liever in Black's position and I was deeply pessimistic about White's chances at this point. for the time being. 'it'c7 he would have had a large advantage.. but inspired. maintained. leaving himself with just 17 minutes to play the remaining 20 moves that would bring him to the time control at move 40. The pawns on e4 and c2 are usually White's biggest headaches in the Najdorf. claiming that af­ ter 20 .xc5 dxc5 15 g5 c4!. and if that goes then the c2 pawn is exposed. . . b4 to come.the knight on c3 has lost its support. What he is trying to do is buy himself enough time to mount an attack on the kingside: Black's pawn push to b4 is ruled out. When Short finally surfaced he pro­ duced a bizarre. . That's the minus side . and didn't emerge for 51 minutes. Even 'normal' continuations don't look particularly promising for White: 13 0-0 lbxb3 14 axb3 i.Game Six i.xd5 19 tbxd5 tbxd5 20 :Xd5 Kasparov now thought for a quarter of an hour over his next move. The pawn move per­ manently weakens White along the c-file .b7 with .b7 16 tbxd5 17 lbec3 lbf6 Black must challenge White's control over d5 before undertak­ ing anything else.. at this point Nigel went into the tank. 14 l00d7 15 0-0 tbxd5 i. 18 %:tad1 i.:cs and . :cs 20 Kasparov criticised this move after the game. As a Na­ jdorf devotee. But there is method in his madness. then 21 c3 would be possible to hold up Black's play. 2 1 l:.xg7 24 f6 wins for White. and at this point had just under forty minutes left. . If he goes on the defensive. l:. But why didn't he take longer over this move? He had the time (about twenty minutes) and could have at least delved into the position to make absolutely sure that there was nothing better.. He spent six min­ utes over this move.c5!. 22 :.ffi 23 . 21 'ifg4 Short did not hesitate before playing this bold attacking move.g6 •xe4 II ld l *tB 27 . . 23 l:. 21 l:f2 'ifc4! hits all four of the weak pawns. leaving himself with just ten minutes to make the remaining eighteen moves before the time control.i..g8+ . 28 . White does not need to be so co-operative.i.fB. was .i.i.. . 23 l:.h6 .f7 24 'ii'h5 h6 25 . then the initiative will have passed over to Black and his attack will never get off the ground.c4. and the weaknesses along the c-file begin to tell. Naturally.h3 Crude but effective: Short aims the heavy guns down at Kaspar­ ov's king. .g6 � 26 .World Chess Championship ftMHt ll ••4 f8 22 1lf3 •xc2 23 lhl lf'7 i4 �5 h8 25 . For instance. moving quickly and confidently. and now the move that Short had missed.i.xg7 .t'3 :Xc2 The world champion looked un­ comfortable...c4!.... f6 21 Forced.. followed by . If instead 21 . Now the drawbacks of 14 b4 are plain to see. .txh6 gxh6 28 lxh8 *•8 29 1lh7 .xh6 Nigel played this after little thought. resigning himself to forcing a draw .albeit in a rather spectacular manner. The problem is that White cannot really allow himself to fall back on the defen­ sive as his queenside is so weak.i...f2 l:. then 22 . but this variation does indicate that it would not be possible for Short to play in the same va banque man­ ner as the game. Short.c7. Kasparov realised during the game that he would have been in trouble had White played 26 � 7 �e8 (forced) 27 . Black cannot prevent the breakthrough on d6.xc2. on the other hand..i. If the pawn were still on b2.. For in­ stance. . 30 _. 26 27 lhh6 28 :c5 ••• .. etc.Game Six e..td8 Giving the king an escape square. Instead of 27 .but with Kasparov run­ ning short of time it would be more likely to happen to him. it is White's king rather than Black's which is now in trouble. as White has a perpetual check. 28 53 �e7 And the players agreed to a draw. aggressive game from Short. Strangely. In­ stead. Short forces a draw.. . but he is able to launch a vicious counter-attack with 2B . who pushed Kasparov to the brink.tfB.it is pleasing nonethe­ less. he comes to grief if Black just takes the rook. e... . giving the king a flight square on d6. 29 :118+ Now if White makes the vain winning attempt. :£8. Black may play 27 . . . Nevertheless. dxc5. .g.. Back to the game.xh7+ � gxh6 'irb6+ It is a shame that this astonish­ ing move is only enough to make a draw. Black can actually defend bet­ ter than this. which at first glance looks disastrous after 2B 'ii'xg7. anything could happen . 30 :h7 31 .c7 29 llhd3! dxc5 30 :dB+ 'ii'xdB 31 :XdB+ �dB 32 'ii'x f7.l:. 28 .f2 mate. . . 32 �B+ �f7 33 �7+ �fB 34 �B+. A bold.'ii'c 7!. 30 . Kaspar­ ov still leads by three clear points: 4lh-Ph. with good winning chances for White. Although it is forced any­ way .xh7+ .gB. . or 2B �hl :cl mate ..2B �fl _.g. . The punsters had a field day. 'I'm afraid I can't talk about that. Dominic Lawson and his socialite wife. though Lawson kept bending down to whisper a commentary into the Royal ear. as they put it .' She didn't stay long .though. He apologised afterwards for his lese-majeste: 'I am very sorry.25 minutes on my count . which headlined a sketch by Bill Mouland 'Diana Checks in at the Chess'. Rosa. and clearly enjoyed the idea of the glamorous princess 'watching paint dry'. but I dashed round to check. There she was. I didn't notice the princess.Game 7 Kasparov-Short Ruy Lopez. which meant that she couldn't follow the play. I resisted the temptation to dash up for an impromptu interview in the street. No. up in the Royal Box (where else?) with Short's wife Rea. It went on: 'White Queen from W8 to WC2 keeps Short in check. presumably to avoid disturbing her hair. so they had to race round to catch up on the story. I asked Dominic af­ terwards if she played chess. . I was sorry to see that she had declined to use the head-set. as one writer pointed out. The pop papers had not been tipped off about the visit. to describe chess like that is insulting to paint. who sold the princess jewellery at Tiffany's. I happened to exit from the theatre just as she did and came across her looking remarkably shy. Anti-Marshall I first heard the excited buzz in the press room: Princess Diana had turned up without warning to watch the match in the Savoy Theatre. My tabloid colleagues would have been disgusted at this shameful lack of professionalism. It was apparently the first recorded instance of a member of the Brit­ ish Royal Family ever attending a chess event. The one man in the theatre who seemed totally oblivious of this historic occasion was Garry Kasparov. evidently still breathing refined air from his lofty en­ counter. lonely and vulnerable as she waited on the pavement for her car to tum round and pull up. just in case. However. It seemed an unlikely excursion. So I suppose I could have asked her the same question myself. The game took too much of my concentration.but it was the most talked-about feature of the day. none more so than the Daily Mail.' he said rather grandly. Leonard Barden said he would have to rethink entirely his strategy with the black pieces. 'Yeah. the Dutch grandmaster who was beaten by Short on the way to the final. with doubts ex­ pressed as to whether Nigel Short could possibly merit the £650. But could it really be said that were they enjoying themselves? Was Short. Michael Adams.' Divinsky. People normally go for fun.' he said. the prize fund of £1. in particular. The implication of much of this comment was that the players should not be paid a fortune just for enjoying themselves.7 million attracting adverse comment. but he's just outclassed.' Nigel's bubble had burst once again.Game Seven 55 White Queen from WC2 back to WB. enjoying the public roasting he was getting as he went yet another game down? Jan Timman.' Nobody doubted it. the British number three. through this very narrow way. the Canadian chess sage. That is my only goal.' he replied. 'I know people like to see a close race. If it is not a close race.' The champion was pressed afterwards about the fact that the match was becoming too one-sided. Malcolm Pein. I leave all pleasure behind. had seen it coming and exclaimed af­ ter move 20 at the Grandmasters' table: 'Black's getting stuffed. the English number two. It was a mas­ terpiece by Kasparov. 'but I am playing the world championship and I have to defend my title and I want to do it convincingly. The Times. I'm sorry. executive editor of CHESS Monthly. as much as £4 million. Grandmaster Julian Hodgson. There was much talk of money by now. for pleasure. but I want to win.' It was widely interpreted by the press as a desperate publicity boost for a tournament that was said to be costing the sponsors. 'was about as unlikely as Prince Charles wearing a baseball cap and munching a burger at Planet Hollywood. expressed his fear in the Daily Telegraph that the challenger was in danger of being routed.' he said afterwards. was quoted as saying: 'Nigel's trying his best. 'This was my best game yet. It is a time without pleasure.' Despite the encouragement of the princess's visit.000 or so he would get as the loser. Kasparov mounted a sustained attack on Short's king and broke through to an impressive victory in 36 moves. once said of the expe­ rience of playing a big chess match: 'Chess is a narrow way. . try to get to God.' Her sudden appearance at the chess. but chess players. said the writer. Short was over­ whelmed in a blistering attack by the champion from a Ruy Lopez po­ sition known as 'the Spanish torture'. was asked if Nigel had done anything wrong. 'he sat down today. . 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 lt)f3 . It seems as though White's forces are bottled up.ic2 . He and his seconds clearly had some work to do before essaying 1 d4 again. and White has a winning material ad­ vantage of two minor pieces for a rook. and allows the bishop to drop back to c2. . so why not again? 8 9 d3 10 lbbd2 At this point Short sank into thought . Al­ though there is little for the queen to attack at the moment. it worked well enough in those. He played this move quickly and confidently . not wishing to concede Short the satisfaction of appearing stumped by his new move. for instance. Black's prob­ lems if he makes the seemingly natural break in the centre. 11 12 axb5 ••• lbc5 axb5 If instead 12 .• 14 . After 15 exd5 'ii'xd5 16 d4! exd4 17 cxd4. . . because the bishop on e7 hangs to the rook on . 13 .ib3 a4 e5 lbc6 a6 lbf6 . White would always have to stay on his guard. .ia4 0-0 l:te1 . d5.which had us baffled in the commentary room: White's moves had looked natural up to this point. lbxb3 13 bxc6 lbxa1 14 cxb7 l:tb8 15 'ii'a4.ixa8 13 The most solid continuation.'ii'xa8 ap­ pears to be a better move. Black cannot take the pawn on d4. The players continued rattling out their next few moves with little pause for reflection.ie7 b5 0-0 Kasparov repeats the quiet 'Anti-Marshall' variation from games 1 and 3. Take. but in view of the mess Short soon finds himself in. 1 1 c3 This controls the key square d4.ib7 dG lbd7 Nigel is the first to vary from Game 3. keeping the queen in the centre. surely he must still have been in home preparation? .56 World Chess Championship 1 e4 13 lba8 After the embarrassment of game 5. 14 . but they possess great potential energy. Kasparov returns to 1 e4.and Kas­ parov replied in the same manner. .ib5 . •. 19 . . but Kas­ parov has other options. but this is too casual.tb3 and d5 wins a piece. putting pressure on the e4 pawn.tf6 Black prevents White from playing the pawn to d4. 17 lDe3 An excellent square for the knight: it might land on d5.tf6 23 trucf6 bagging the bishop pair. the e4 point is secure. lDe6. f5.Game Seven e1. It is undoubtedly risky to throw a pawn up in front of the king like this . 22 lDe3 Immediately pin-pointing the shortcomings of Short's last move: the f5 square is a chronic weak­ ness in Black's camp. 57 Continuing to re-route the bishop. For that reason. The first world champion. g6. 20 h5 21 lbc:l5 �h8 The threat is 22 h6 .. ... but here White hasn't pushed the pawn to d4. and the knight is forced to re­ treat to a horrible square. I would suggest 19 .gxh5 was the best chance. Wil­ helm Steinitz. fl pawn complex. 22 . . or perhaps g4.. though Black's king is in for a rough time. 17 . ..tb7 Normally Black's bishop is well placed on the long diagonal in the Ruy Lopez. g6 18 .White has the possibility of prising open the position with g4 at some point but I think this is preferable to Nigel's aimless ma­ noeuvrings over the next few moves. then 18 . lDf4 Maybe Short had been relying . 18 . 14 . ••• 15 b4! 16 lMJ.h5 instead.tb3 Now we can see the point to 15 b4: the dreaded 'Spanish' bishop is able to return to this searing di­ agonal. Both Kasparov and Short concurred afterwards that 2l. There is great similar­ ity between this game and the third. for if 17 . and thus the bishop has no useful role to play. Short decides to redeploy it via c8 to a more useful diagonal. lDe6 .. ... .tg7 19 h41 The traditional way of attack­ ing the h7.tc8 21 g5? This is horrible.. was playing in ex­ actly this way over one hundred years ago.. cutting the Gordian knot: Black can have the pawn on h5. it should be pointed out that Short could have put up a much stiffer resistance if he had played 26 . lLlf6 27 �4 28 . �£'6 26 l:. . once again. .txd8 'ifxd8 3 1 'ifxh5.te7 l:.... 26 . . h6? Giving White a whole tempo.. lLlf6 in this position. played a perfect game. but Kasparov thought for less than a minute before playing . with the idea of 27 lLlh4 d5 . . . If 26 .txf6 .. 2 3 g3 .txf6 .World Chess Championship 58 on this sally to hold his position together. or 27 ... In order to diminish the force of an .txffi 30 'if£3. at the end of which stands Black's king. . 24 �f5 lLlxh5 Jonathan Speelman thought that Black was 'busted' at this moment. but his queen has found its way over to Black's weakened kingside... . but cut and dried it is not..txf5 25 exf5 'ifd7 Compared to the variations we had just been looking at. .td5! wins material. then 27 . 24 . and White crashes through on h7. and what follows bears this out.. 'ifd7 28 lLlh4 lL!f6 29 . . It would seem that 24 �g2 was more convincing.'ifxf5.th8 3 1 lLlfl.. .g5. ..txg51 Kasparov obviously had it all worked out. this po­ sition didn't appear to be quite as clear. but this only opens the h-file. In the Grandmaster's analysis room the following variation was mooted: 24 �g2 g4 25 �h2 (25 �h4 looks just as good to me) 25 . White must be preferred because of the bishop pair. threatening 25 llhl.h1 'ifd7 27 �£5 �e7 28 �xg7 �g7 29 'ifd2 �g6 30 'ifh6+ . White's attacking pros­ pects are actually improved by the fact that there are opposite­ coloured bishops on the board. with the unstoppable threat of 32 i.. though there were many who thought that the simplest way for White to continue was 24 �g2.txf6 29 'ifh5 White has given up the bishop pair. So Black cannot win the f5 pawn. But before we are blinded into thinking that Kasparov has.e8 29 lLlh4 'ifd7 30 . 26 . . If now 26 �xg5 lL!f6 27 'if£3 d5! and Black is fighting back. ... for example: 27 . lLld8 28 . 23 ... . Having played his last few moves at speed. bang..tffi. Short char­ acteristically grabs a pawn and 59 hopes for the best. 34 ltJg4 Surprisingly there is no answer to White's threats.• 35 ttJxhG! If now 35 .ixf6 36 i. .c2+ �g7 37 'iVffi lle8 38 'iVh7+ <iii>fB 39 :Xe8+ 'iVxe8 40 'iVxg8+ <i!i>xg8 41 ltJxf6+. . Kasparov indicated after­ wards that 33 . 32 33 cxd4 ••• exd4 . he finds a way to keep the position fluid. Other­ wise. 30 ltJg2 The knight needs to be re-de­ ployed and this turns out very well. This pawn break opens the e-file for the rook. . for in­ stance: 34 .Game Seven attack it is necessary to exchange off pieces. 35 36 . wallop' kind. . �h7 29 ••.txd4? With about eight minutes left to reach move forty. . 34 �g7 . and it is not obvious to see how White will continue the at­ tack. though later Kasparov criti­ cised the move.ic2+ winning. Kasparov now sank into thought. Had the world cham­ pion blown his chances? 32 d4!? A move typical of Kasparov's style: just when it seems as though his initiative is fading. .tf8 .ic2 setting up a lethal pin). ltJe7 3 1 d4! opens up the posi­ tion for the bishop and rook (Black cannot take on f5 because of . . but merely moved another piece into the at­ tack.ig5 was the only way to put up a defence.'iVd8 35 f6! . White will play 35 f6. with a winning endgame. threatening 'iVg7 mate as well as .ixf71 . winning a piece. as well as the b 1-h7 diagonal for the bishop. Perhaps Kas­ parov's reply was difficult to see because it was not of the 'crash. . but how is it possible to remove the bishop on b3? It is this piece that is the key to White's at­ tack in so many variations. but that runs into 35 'iVxh6+ ltJxh6 36 ltJxffi+ �g7 37 ltJxd7. ltJe 7 30 ••• 31 ltJe3 ltJgS Bringing the knight over has shored up a few holes around the king. . so that after 30 . •. filling those of us supporting Short with some optimism. The move which ought to hold up the attack is 34 . ttJxh6 36 'iVg5+ �h7 37 ffi. He recommended instead 30 ltJ£3. 60 World Chess Championship It i1 fitting that this bishop the Spanish bishop - should de­ liver the killer blow: its influence has been felt through the whole game without it ever coming into direct contact with the opposing forces - until now. If 36 . . . lbf7 37 ..,g6+ and ..,xg8 mate; likewise 36 . . .lt:)xh6 37 ..g6+ �h8 38 ..xh6 mate, so Short resigned. A splendid game from Kaspar­ ov. He played the first part in the style of his arch-rival Karpov, pa­ tiently manoeuvring and building up an attack, and finished it off like the old Kasparov with a dy­ namic and unexpected pawn sac­ rifice, which unmasked a lethal attacking potential in his forces. Kasparov has now won three - Ruy Lopez games in very similar style: a slow build-up from the opening, outmanoeuvring Short in the middlegame, then turning on the heat between moves 30-40. Although one cannot talk of Kas­ parov's brilliant opening prepara­ tion - he is still avoiding a theoretical discussion on the Marshall Gambit - it is becoming clear that he has analysed Short's entire style and pin-pointed cer­ tain weaknesses. He even hinted at this in the Channel 4 interview after the game: 'Nigel does not feel comfortable when he has no clear plan, when he has to ma­ noeuvre his pieces on the back rows.' The score: 5lh-llh to Kasparov. Game S Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf The morning of Thursday, 23 September, opened with a sensation. Short had lost his chief coach, Lubomir Kavalek, who had decamped in mysterious circumstances to the United States. Michael Stean, Short's manager, sought to reassure everyone: 'He has gone home for family reasons and he will be back.' Kavalek himself was quoted as saying: 'I have no plan at the moment to return to London, but eventually I might.' Both statements were greeted with scepticism in the press room, where it was generally believed the two had fallen out over Short's con­ duct of the match. There was also a persistent rumour, never con­ firmed, that there had been a disagreement over money. Kavalek had told someone after the seventh game: 'I feel very sorry for him . The match should not have been like this. It didn't need to be so bad.' Kavalek, who had escaped to the United States from Czechoslovakia after the 'Prague Spring' had been crushed by Soviet tanks, was cred­ ited with putting backbone into Short for his matches against Karpov and Timman. He had introduced more aggression into his play and a healthy dislike for Russians. The effect on the challenger of losing the man who had been described as his 'Svengali' at such a crucial time was incalculable. It then became known that Short had been struggling on in secret without his chief mentor since the third game. The Spanish arbiter, Carlos Falcon, had noticed that Short appeared distressed when he shook hands with him before the fifth game and had passed on the tra­ ditional greeting: 'I wish you good luck from your second, Lubosh Kavalek.' This had evidently bothered Short at the time and the arbiter was asked not to repeat the greeting. Short must have been seriously inconvenienced by Kavalek's depar­ ture. His other main supports were the German grandmaster, Robert Hubner, who had once played Kasparov in a match himself, and Jon Speelman, who was busy writing about the match and appearing on television as a member of the Channel 4 commentary team. Kasparov, in contrast, had his full set of coaches, including formidable former So­ viet grandmasters of the calibre of Alexander Belyavsky and Zurab Azmaiparashvili. World Chess Championship 62 The champion had had mysterious problems of his own with his coaches in previous matches against Karpov, when suspicions arose as to whether one of them had supplied some of his opening plans to his opponent. Now, however, all seemed to be running smoothly at the Re­ gent's Park house he was using as a training camp. After the news about Kavalek it was possible to look back at Short's disastrous fourth game defeat and understand why he had played so badly. His skilful preparation for the fifth game also had to be seen in a new and even more surprising light. In former world championship matches it would have been possible for him, in a situation like this, to call a time-out to put his house in order. The rules for this match, how­ ever, with the tightly organised television schedules and ticket sales, made this impossible. With the news of his coach's departure breaking to the media on the eve of the eighth game, it must have been very hard for Short to play. In the event, he did well enough to draw, albeit playing with the white pieces. At a key moment in the game, when Kasparov took an hour over move 14, a grandmaster commented on Nigel's response: 'He looked as though he had been shot.' In the event, he survived, but he was now los­ ing by six points to two, taking the champion half-way, in less than three weeks, to retaining his title. 1 2 3 4 5 e4 lLlf3 d4 lLlxd4 lLlc3 c5 d6 cxd4 lLlf6 a6 B"oth players are prepared for a fight: Short feels most comfort­ able with double-edged, attacking positions where his objectives are clear, while Kasparov enjoys the counter-attacking possibilities which will present themselves. 6 i.c4 7 i.b3 8 f4 e6 lLlbd7 lLlc5 So far, everything is the same as game 6, but now Short varies from his previous 9 ffi. 9 e5 This aggressive thrust was first played and analysed by the Ukrainian grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin, so it must be well known to the Kasparov camp. The idea is to open up lines against Black's king with great speed, hoping to catch it with a quick attack, particularly as Black has hardly any pieces de­ veloped. The drawback is that af­ ter . . . 9 10 fxe5 dxe5 White's e-pawn is isolated from the rest of its pawn chain, and could tum out to be a weak­ ness. So, the battle-lines are drawn: White must hope that his but at the moment this is the best thing to do. . perhaps 63 indicating that he was not totally familiar with the position. .Game Eight attack breaks through or he will stand worse due to his inferior pawn structure.txd8 �xg4 17 .• 1 1 . I would say. At the post-game press conference Kas­ parov revealed that he had briefly analysed this move a couple of years ago with Anand .. they were dispelled when we found 15 0-0-0!. yes: he gave every appearance that he was improvising . but Short's move is much more ag­ gressive. First of all. ..tf4 b5 It looks suicidal to ignore the development of his kingside.te7 12 'ii'g 4! 0-0? 13 i. However. let's take a look at what would happen if White captures the g­ pawn: 15 . 12 'ii'g4 Previously. and a fur­ ther five over 13 . . and I would prefer to play Black because of the centre pawns and excellent diagonals for the bishops. if we had any pessi­ mistic thoughts about Nigel's po­ sition. Likewise. 14 •. so he may as well do something about his queenside forces which for the moment are badly bottled up.. with the idea 15 .• g5 . 12 13 'ii'g3 14 'ii'g4 h51? h4 Kasparov thought for eight minutes over 12 .. Throwing the h-pawn up the board has little point to it unless followed up by .which is really chancing it.txg5 �e5 is slightly better for Black..h5. and the length of time he was taking on these opening moves.but can that really be the extent of his preparation for this wild posi­ tion? On the basis of how the game turned out. 12 'ii'e2 had been played in a couple of games. The chaos starts here. 15 'ii'xg5 'ii'xg5 16 . gxf4 16 �e6! �e6 17 .. he now had less than an hour to make the re­ quired forty moves. over which Kasparov thought for forty minutes.. ll . aiming at the e6 pawn as well as g7. h4.txg5? �e5! .. when White has nothing better than to go in for 16 .tg5 .txe6 fxe6 18 'ii'xe6+ with a crushing . �fd7 10 .h6. Black's king is just as safe in the centre as on the kingside.. winning material. For instance. . In other words.tb7. lDxe5 21 lDffi+ �e7 22 :hd1!. the world champion shifts gear: if before his play had been hesitant and he ap­ peared uncomfortable. ••• The ending after 16 'iVxg5 is now more palatable for White as his king is already castled. If he plays 20 . ex­ posed to a vicious assault from White's remaining pieces.tb7 Short got up from the board and left Kasparov sitting in ag­ ony. .. Short played it. though this would hardly be a tri­ umph for his opening. Black has many ways to attempt a defence.. .1Vxe4 21 . . but it is one­ way traffic. But from this moment on. shaking his head. 24 lb:f'7+ It seems as though it is all over: Kasparov's king is laid bare. .. After the game he admitted that he thought he was lost at this moment.txg5 20 l:[d6!1 'iVxc6 . but naturally it is all planned.and he began to play with authority and confidence. he now visibly regained his composure perhaps he felt that the outcome of the game was no longer in his hands . Instead Short thought for half an hour and came up with: 16 l0061 17 axb3 �b3+ 'iVc5 White must give up a piece. He stared at the board in disbelief. The next ten moves he banged out .01 However.:Xe6+ is crushing. or 20 . . 15 0-0.64 World Chess Championship attack. lDxg4 23 l:[d7+ mates. Kasparov thought for just a couple of minutes before playing: 'iVe7! 15 this tremendous move. And after a fifteen minute think. 18 lDe4 19 . dis­ gusted that he had overlooked 20 21 lt:md6+ 22 .txd6 � �e5 'ifd5 Black's queen covers f1 by 'X­ ray'. . and if22 ..:n 23 'iVxe6 . for instance: 38 l£1e5? �7!.. . as well as 28 l£1g5+ and 29 -. but 36.ie5 . 24 25 . 34 . . 35 .. but later Kasparov found a miraculous defence. 31 ... JZ...e5+! �g4 37 h3 mate.if6+ �h6 Side-stepping 32.�xg5 36 -.f6+ 1Vh5 �g8 �g7 �g8 Short repeats the position here. .�g6 37 •f6+ �h7 38 •g7 mate. though it transpires that it might actually be a blunder.g5+! 37 -.idS!! 41 �d2 �f3 ! 42 �c3 .-. or 38 -.g6 mate. -.e7+ �g6 36 .e6+ �g7 32 .ixh8+ �h6 Probably the best winning chance. A curious position: I must admit that I had to stare at it for some time before I convinced myself that White could make no progress...e7 -.e7 was suggested in­ stead.. . now if 36 .xg5+ �xg5 38 g3 hxg3 39 hxg3 �g4! 40 . and at move 33.. .tB! 39 . but it seems as though Black may defend himself in a similar way to the previous vari­ ation: 35 .txh8 . �g8! saves the day for Black.te4! and White is unable to create a second passed pawn on the queenside.. 33 l£1f7+ 'iio>h7 65 considered that 34 l£lxh8 was winning...xh8 38 . 27 28 l£Jg5+ 29 . . .... lbh8! 35 -.xg2 Kasparov cracked this pawn off.ag8! 36 l£1f7+ �g6 37 lDxh8 l:. There is only one move that prevents both. Beautiful.�g6 33 . If instead 35 ..ixh8. Nigel had had no opportunity to think during his opponent's time.xb7 . as he was beginning to run a little short of time.g5+ 39 'iWxg5+ �xg5 etc.f6+ �g4 35 h3 mate. . The main variation runs: 34 . .Game Eight instantly.:. 36 lDf'I+ �h7 37 -..ie7+ 26 . putting all the pressure back on Short.g6 mate. 35 ••• -.e6+ 30 .. Instead the bizarre-looking 37 . 35 -.ga The only move. As a result of Kasparov moving so quickly..xh8 37 -.xb7 is a winning endgame for White.ie5+ �xg5 34 -. . relieved that he was finally getting a sniff of White's king. or 36.f6+ 27 l:fucn White threatens 28 �6+ and 29 -. moving his threatened bishop and defending the h-pawn. . on the whole. Short plays it safe. An excellent attacking game from Short. Perhaps Short did have a win somewhere along the line. If Black checks ran­ domly: 38 . While everything in White's camp is guarded. The score: 6-2 in Kasparov's fa­ vour. with a probable draw. 38 �e5 With less than five minutes left to get to move forty. and finding it over the board proved impossible. Kasparov may now deliver perpetual check. is a serious winning attempt. and his king suddenly under attack. accurately. 38 �d4!.. and I'm not even sure that one could say un­ equivocally that Black was lost. avoiding the many traps in the position. but even with the benefit of a great deal of hindsight it is still not en­ tirely clear. 'iffl+ 39 �d2 'ifg2+ 40 �c3 l::tc B+ 41 �b4 a5+ 42 �a3 b4+ 43 'iti>a2.66 World Chess Championship lbe5 l::tfl+ 40 �d2 'ifd6+ 41 lbd3 �xhB. but Kasparov moved quickly and. 'iffi+ 'iff2+ 'iff3+ 'iff2+ There is no escape from the checks. the king finds refuge and then it is White's turn to at­ tack again.. There were several occasions when it seemed that re­ signing was a sensible option. preventing the per­ petual check by controlling some key squares. There are many com­ plicated variations. so the players agreed a 38 39 'iti>d2 40 �d3 41 �d2 draw. but it would have been a severe test for Kasparov. but perhaps Kaspar­ ov's defensive play was even more impressive. He claimed that the sponsors 'did not understand what they were buying' and that the match had been a commercial disaster. where one might have expected it. published what is known in the trade as 'a knocking piece'. visibly downhearted as he conceded after 52 moves. 'The chess-playing public recognise hype when they see it. and had finally been axed. The London Eve­ ning Standard. not from The Times. poked gentle fun at the idea that chess could ever be exciting or fun. which had attracted only 2.' The inevitable counter-blast came.000 on offer. Hartston was not alone in his comments. but to no avail: there was 'no bloodshed. One of the strongest swipes came in the Independent in an article by William Hartston headlined 'Paper is Mated by its own Hype'.' he added. who accused Hartston of perpetuating a personal feud with Keene that went back to their days at university. was plainly hostile. The fact that the great British hope was trailing so badly gave more fuel to the detractors. He cited the vaunted Predict-a-Move service.000 calls for the first three games against the projected 20. which had made Short's failure all the more of a let-down. no gig­ gles and no fun. inspired by ri­ vals wishing to damage The Times.Game 9 Kasparov-Short Nimzo-Indian Defence When Short slumped to his fifth defeat in the ninth game. which had been disappointed in a bid ofits own to spon­ sor the match. 'It would be appropriate.' This was typical of much negative comment on the match. He claimed that the first month's genuine ticket sales were only about 600 of the 26. The consensus in the Grandmasters' room was that Hartston was right about the 'hype'.' he said. He concluded this blast with the observation that Ray Keene was due to name an elephant at London Zoo. Some of the criticism. 'if it were large. claiming that 'all the tricks known to the promotion of boxing were applied to chess'. white and named The Times World Chess Cham­ pionship.000 calls a day.' . but from Dominic Lawson in the Daily Telegraph. pro­ voked by what they regarded as the massive 'hype' of the sponsors. Others. one commentator noted that 'the play is ceasing to have any sporting significance and is becom­ ing more of an exhibition for the champion. exuding a strong whiff of sour grapes: 'The chess establishment is making hay while the sun shines.' One writer likened the chess to Pinter. often with big egos.of Raymond Keene. it seems. AP. in one piece to Nigel Mansell ('This could yet be remem­ bered as the year of the two Nigels') .' Even The Times. which they saw as opportunistic and mercenary and not in the best interests of the game. 'Moonlight'. rather implausibly. John Nunn. he said: 'The thing you have to understand about chess players is that they are individualists. but unfortu­ nately it had its hours too. which had gone out of its way to keep the chal­ lenger's hopes alive in the minds of the public . whose new work.ked about this. Accord­ ing to Leonard Barden. like the central figure in the new Pinter play. Keene himself has at least four books riding on the match. acting as PRs and on the reception desk. a leading English grandmaster.began to lose heart. They devote their lives to a game and then you find they start playing games with their lives. was conspicuously absent from the match. based on a principled objection by many senior British players to Short's breakaway from FIDE. Or Sa­ muel Beckett: six hours of silence and body language. it had its moments.as most ofit is . Those on whom the man smiles are in the commentary box. Nigel Short ap­ peared to be on his death-bed. well. The fact that he was losing so badly only added insult to injury. as Si­ mon Barnes put it.' And.' To make things worse. evi­ dently as a personal protest. for the game itself. but this time Kasparov was ready for it. only those who are friends. 'a matter of great silences and minute gestures. . Short had missed a chance of a draw. relatives or proteges . It headed its report on the ninth game: 'Challenger Paralysed by the Power of Kas­ parov's Mind'. when the champion saw Short's tenth move. but. His twelfth move stunned Short.' The match was certainly.likening him. Some of the growing hostility to the match was more deeply rooted. had just opened in London: 'The script is pure Harold Pinter. Short had evidently tried to repeat the successful opening he had used in the fifth game. 'he raised his eyebrows and smirked. and the hours came first.68 World Chess Championship It also targeted Keene personally. After three weeks. the challenger was back on the rack. with an ending that no-one expects or understands. who pondered for 46 minutes before replying.' The article con­ cluded: 'AP. .. The next day. Short was now on his own. 0-0 or 4 . option.tf5 69 Setting up some nasty threats based on a discovered attack against White's queen. commented to me that if anyone thinks for more than twenty minutes over a move. . Kasparov and his team of analysts have such a fear­ some reputation that getting in­ volved in a theoretical discussion struck those of us watching as be­ ing more foolish than brave. the chief arbiter. . c5. At any rate.th4 c5 8 dxc5 g5 tLle4 9 .. the world champion gave a smile like a crocodile who had just spied a lamb gambolling innocently by the river bank. . 12 0-0 Played after 42 minutes.tg5 h6 7 . d5 4 On seeing this move. Yuri Averbakh. but uninspired. 5 cxd5 exd5 6 . then the result is bound to be a blun­ der. squirmed uncomfortably in his seat: he ad­ mitted that no one in the team had considered this move. is blocked in. He selects a safe. for although its comrade on c3 is given some addi­ tional support.tM a iDea 4 'ii'c2 Kasparov shows a willingness to repeat the variation from game 5.te5 Played instantly. where Short made a draw with ease using prepared analysis. In the Chan­ nel 4 studio Jonathan Speelman. but not presenting . thereby avoiding the most criti­ cal variations. both of which are reasonable moves. Short ap­ peared unimpressed and quickly played: 11 . one of Short's seconds. There is more than a grain of truth in the remark. I suspect that is what hap­ pened to Short here. . After a while variations just spin round in one's head and it is no longer possible to think clearly. the bishop on fl. One would have thought that a danger sign would start flashing in the challenger's head. the big improvement. It was still not too late to vary with 4 . but . At first sight the knight move ap­ pears clumsy.tg3 'ii'a5 10 e3 1 1 tLle2 Here it is. . ••• . 12 .Game Nine tLlf6 1 d4 e6 2 c4 . . and considered that both 18 �d2 and 18 lDb3 gave good winning chances . and Black. ffi looks the soundest move.. 'ii'd8 15 i.I have barely touched upon the possibilities in the posi­ tion and I'm getting confused. . i. . lDg3 13 'ifb3.he had truly taken revenge for being out-pre­ pared in game 5.g6!? is crazier. and now the modest retreat 14. or transpose into an ending a clear pawn down. 12 .xc3 is a far from silly queen sacrifice. i. as suggested by the Daily Tele­ graph correspondent Malcolm Pein. . and Black's rook in the corner can still be taken.d7!.xc3+ b6 17 bxc3 . it was hardly sur­ prising that he became a little confused. If 14 . Unfortunately. .d3!. and it is actu­ ally White who has the better at­ tacking chances. .g6 13 lDd4 14 lDb3 Short has an unpleasant choice before him: either retreat the queen.xc3 i. No wonder Nigel short-cir­ cuited .. The most obvious moves to try are those which attack White's queen. Short has a chance to save the position because his development is slightly better. 12.70 World Chess Championship Kasparov with any particular problems. . 14 lDxc3 15 i. After the game Kasparov revealed that he had had this position on his board at home. Kasparov said that h. with the idea that if 13 i.xh8 lDxc3.xc3 15 i.xc2 16 lDxa5 i. After almost twenty minutes thought he chose the lat­ ter. lDxc3 13 'ii'xf5 lDe4+ 14 �d1.xb8 l:xb8 14 lDd4. given the complexity of the position.e and his team had worked for many days on the position with­ out coming to a definite conclu­ sion. is perhaps Black's best op­ tion. bxa5 18 �d2 19 �c2 l:c8 . they are not terribly good: 12 . then 13 i. or 12 . 'I said I would do my homework!' he chuckled on the Channel 4 interview after­ wards.. and now 14 'ii'xc3!? i. still a pawn down and facing a strong attack on his king (how he wishes he hadn't moved his g­ pawn!) could go down without a fight. i. losing the initiative. Although a pawn down. However. . :.h4! The only move to keep going.c2 39 .d7+! �6 36 .ahl is dreadful for Black.d4! �h7 26 .txc4+ li:)g4 27 .. ltlx:g4 30 .:.:.te6. If instead 24 . and the long range bishop is better than the knight. .:.a5+ .ffi ll:)f7 32 lhg4+ �f8 33 ..n 28 �d2 l:ab8 If instead 28 .f5+ �d6 41 . li:)e4 25 . .tc4. . g5 coming home to roost.:. quelling Short's counterplay and gradually simplifying down to a winning .:.td3+ �g8 3 1 . . but the last variation 71 is indicative of the problems he now faces: his king has no pawn cover. . lillch6 29 g4! with the idea 29 .txd7 �g5 37 .:.xg2 . and could.taG . but Kasparov finds some precise moves to consolidate his advan­ tage.:.:.:. .h2 33 �e2 li:)h1 34 'iW3 Humiliation. Moreover his remaining pawns are chronically weak. dxc4 25 .:. if he is not care­ ful.b2+ 29 lhf5 30 �d3 .gf4 .dl is the end. . ••• Short has done well to struggle on this far. trud2 23 c4 f5! 24 .:. lbd7 20 lDxc5 21 hxg5 2l.. or 29 . become exposed to attack. winning material. .hxg5? 22 :h5 ffi 23 .Xd7 35 .tc6 �e7 40 .h5 Until this moment Kasparov's technique has been good: he has controlled the game.:..c7 34 .:.:.c7 31 .:.te6 li:)f2+ 32 lha5 .c7 24 .d2 42 . li:)e4 22 gxh6 Short has some counterplay.:..x&7 � 38 .:.:.:.:. fxg4 30 . .Game Nine 20 h4! The weakness of .td5 . :th8 and the position is drawn. was a more certain way of finishing off the game.�a7 57 �c7! and l:tal mate) 57 . refuting Short's opening.t>e3 l:tf8 51 a7 l:ta8.a5 'iti>d4 52 'iti>f5 �c4 53 'iti>e6 �b4 54 :tal 'iti>c5 55 'iti>d7 'iti>b6 56 . J:tc5 would have drawn: (a) 47 l:ta3 l:tc4 48 a5 .:.b7 . A tremendous psychological blow for Kasparov. �f5 47 e4+ �e5 48 'iti>e3. for if 58 l:tb8 lth7+ wins the pawn. . and either king or rook must retreat. driving the king to a poor position. . even though the game was marred by a mistake at the end. 47 �e3 �d6 48 �d4 �d7 49 �c4 �c6 50 �b4 l:te5 'iti>b6 51 . It was clear from the way that both players were rattling out their moves that they both considered the result beyond doubt.:tc4 And Black resigned.:. The score: 7-2 to Kasparov.:Xe4 49 a6 l:tf4+ 50 . 43 e4! ltJ£2 44 �e3 l:tb2 45 l:th6+. . or 46 .cs 50 a7 l:ta8 5 1 . 43 :xhl 44 a4 45 l:tal :Xd5 l:ta5 �e5 46 e4?? An appalling error. . ••• (b) 47 a5 is more complicated: 47 . . e.. 46 l:ta3 still wins if White is careful. 46 . .:tc3+ 48 'iti>g4 'iti>xe4 49 a6 . . . cutting off Black's king. �e6?? 46 46 .:tbl+ �c5! (56 . . . . but that is when careless­ ness sets in.:tel+ 52 . 'iii>d5 47 'iti>f4 'iti>c4 48 e4. But with his next move he begins to slip.World Chess Championship 72 position. fol­ lowed by marching the king over and taking the pawn.g.:. The rook remains on c4. and White's king marches round and ferries the e­ pawn to the eighth. portray them­ selves as better at chess than Nigel Short.' The official bulletin even asked cheekily if Short had seen fit to take William Hill's odds against him winning a single game.' Barden said Short had 'let slip another commanding position'. Pro­ fessor G.' Again Lawson referred to Short's 'enemies'. in some sense. Keene said Kasparov 'rose from the dead'. simply by disappointment that he seemed. rather than his critics. The general view was the Short had snatched a draw from the jaws of victory. It was left to Dominic Lawson. rightly or wrongly. and hinted that the challenger might be consulting libel lawyers. I submit. I understand. it seemed to me. It was rather like the football fans' rage at Graham ('Turnip') Taylor for the . who felt he had been given the benefit of too many doubts. even though Short raised the watchers' hopes with a startling queen sacrifice that appeared to give him numerous chances of a win. The consensus in the Grandmasters' room was that the challenger had seemed afraid to win. They can. were not motivated by enmity at all. 'dismal'. self-deluding moment. for one brief. chest-puffing.Game 10 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf Things did not look up in the tenth game. Many of the comments being directed against Short. they are actually better calculators than the strongest British chess player of the twentieth century. he can't win anything. The reason. a psychologist and it is in­ teresting to speculate on the psychological motives of those who rush into print to claim that they would have won games which Short has only drawn. Short's hesitant showing in this game was the last straw for many people. One of them said: 'If he can't win that. 'Professor Spencer-Brown is. is that it is a wonderful way for such people to feel that. Spencer-Brown wrote an exasperated letter to the Telegraph in which he attacked Short's performance as 'a disgrace'. Malcolm Pein was scathing in the Telegraph: 'Nigel Short missed win after win last night as he followed up a brilliant queen sacrifice with one of the most blunder-filled sequences ever seen in a world championship. as ever. 'in­ ept' and 'the worst performance of any contender in any world chess championship'. to rush to his friend's defence. not to be playing to his full potential. Here. The immediate point ofthe move is to prevent White from playing the knight into c6. Simon Barnes attempted to explain this phenomenon: 'Each contestant aims to destroy the other: that is what all games are about. That is the beginning and end of it.74 World Chess Championship failures of the England team.. This early queen move makes castling long a serious option. 10 f5 . 1 1 fxe6 This capture does not look cor­ rect. the more we looked at the posi­ tion the less we liked it for White and Short must have been think­ ing the same.. however. During that time.. Chess can set off violent emotions in players and spectators alike. on b7. a gamble.. The point is the ultimate simplicity of victory.. No. Or defeat. too. of course. however. with White making an early assault on the e6 square. or wonderful intellectual patterns. That. or to reach that strange landscape where games and mathematics and even music combine. 11 12 . By game ten. But chess is basically an image of war.tc4 . 0-0 (D) If White does not attempt some quick action he will stand worse. They are trying to win. was destined to reach a peak before the chess match was over. for the reasons given above. 13 14 e5!? .td7! When White's queen stands on f3 in the Sicilian. and at any moment Black may take the bishop pair.' By game five Nigel Short appeared to have lost his initial fear oflos­ ing. b5 Mter fifteen minutes thought.te7 Played after an agonising 52 minute think. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 e4 ll)f3 d4 lt:Jxd4 liJc3 . however. the bishop is better placed on d7. which seems strange in such an outwardly pacific game.. The two pawns on e6 and d6 prevent White's knights from penetrating. he had apparently failed to conquer an even more insidious inhibition: the fear of victory. Short's move is. 9 . it is usual that Black places his bishop opposite. so it was better to leave the pawn on f5 as a possible spearhead for an attack.. and . and the trumpets of war are never distant from a world championship.tb3 f4 c5 d6 cxd4 ll)f6 a6 e6 liJbd7 ltJc5 'it"f3 The first deviation from their previous match games.tg5 13 0-0-0 fxe6 . It is impossible to put more pressure on the e6 pawn. Short and Kasparov are not seeking to create beauty... l:. guaranteeing a promising game.l:. .ic6 e5 One step closer.ixe7 tt)xe4! exd6 tt)xb3 'ii'xe7 :xt'3 c!Uxb3+ 'ii'f8 The flurry of tactics has pro­ duced a position in which Short has rook. Normally. Perhaps he was being too gloomy. The coming queen sacrifice he was happy with. 19 . .•. The bishop on b3 is locked out of the game and Black has good attacking chances on the queenside. . so he starts to make as much trouble as possible. Kasparov considered that his position was lost at this point.l:. li)fe4 Kasparov admitted afterwards to being lulled into a false sense of security by Short's long cogita­ tion at move 13. . The aim of this move is to break the . but the problem was that in this position he saw no answer to 14 .. Otherwise he would surely have contented him­ self with 14 . the best that White has is to play 15 .Game Ten 75 19 gxf3 he was aware of that at the time. . 22 23 .d6 ••• . It is an indica­ tion of how bad the alternatives were that Short considered this his best option when examining his 13th move. 15 16 17 18 . li)d5 ! .. and he failed to appreciate the strength of the queen sacrifice.he1 22 d7 .. 14 . with the idea of playing the bishop to d5 to cut off the rook's support. . 19 'ii'xf3 20 li)ec5 21 .ixe7 li)xe7 16 'ii'e3 d5!. but here the pawn on d6 is so powerful that it is actually White who has the up­ per hand.ic6 would have put up a bet­ ter defence than the game. knight and pawn for Kasparov's queen. . li)d5. hence the brooding over 13 0-0-0.d8 a5!? Kasparov knows that his posi­ tion is lost. such a material balance should not fa­ vour the pieces.. but with Short having just five min­ utes left. 26 27 lt:)d3 . While this position must be winning. �xh2 (D) 28 lt:)xe5 29 �6! This should win by force. it will still be necessary to play some accurate moves to finish off . The bishop sets up mating threats.. �xd7 34 lt:)fB+) 34 d8�. �g4 (threatening mate on dl) 36 . For in­ stance.!Llxb3 �el+ 35 �c2 axb3+ 36 �d3 �dl+ actually wins for Black.b3 Kasparov continues to play in 'swindle mode'.. 34 .£3 was given by Kasparov afterwards. 24 a3 25 lt:)d2 26 c3 a4 �g2 Giving the king an escape square.Black's h­ pawn could still be a problem and with just a few minutes left Short decided to go for a 'cleaner' kill. �4! Black is still thrashing around. Kasparov stepped up the pressure by making his moves almost instantly.!Lld3 �gl+l Short had used up most of his time in reaching this position. . He now discovered that his intended 35 .!Llel loses to 35 .. Now Short can go for the kill. assessing the position as unclear. . Short's reply is safe and strong. 29 30 l:e8+ 31 �d8+ 32 l006 �xd6 <M7 �gG Short could have simplified the position by playing 32 l:te6+ i. 32 . 34 . but I still do not see why the pawn cannot be taken : 24 lt:)xa5 �f4+ 25 �b l �4 26 l:tedl i. �h8 33 . . . while Kas­ parov had 25 minutes. At this point Short had eight minutes left to reach the time control at move forty.!Llxb3 �xd7! ... but after 33 .World Chess Championship 76 co-ordination of White's pieces in the hope that something will drop off. convinced that Black had no move.xe6 33 �e6 �xe6 (or 33 . . and in view of his time shortage probably most prudent. 33 lM4+ �2 It has been suggested that 33 l:fB was a clearer winning move. . but why not 27 lt:)c6? Then I see no defence for Black.• i.d5 i. and I do not see how White continues. . preventing the knights wandering too far. it was a miracle that he had made the forty moves at all.xh7 44 lDffi+.. 'ir':ffi 38 o!De4 'ir'xd7 39 l:.g7 43 l:txh7+ c. now into his final minute. I felt that from this mo­ ment Short was not going to do it.h1 + 'it>g6 37 o!De5+ 'it>:ffi 38 lDc6.U.i. Missing this fiendish trap threw him. The saddest picture was of the white queen which Short had placed at his side of the board during the time scramble.el The simplest win is 36 l:. 36 o!De5 Now it's more tricky.e6 .xh7+! 'it>xh7 41 lDffi+. The d­ pawn promotes on the next move.it is impossible to see with nothing on the clock.e7 Short made the time control with just four seconds to spare. and with practically no time left. unable to calculate.f2 ! ! (threatening 42 l:.i. let alone found a win. but to force it through would involve taking the knight away from defending the king. 40 l:. still standing there at the end of the game.Game Ten Although he still has a winning position.. .d2) The d-pawn is still on the verge of promotion. leaving it exposed to checks from the queen. ready to make a queen.h1+ 'it>g7 40 . . Having been clearly thrown at move 34. 37 . down­ right problematic. 37 38 lDf7+ 39 lhf7 . that he still had a play­ able position. 40 41 l:[f7 'ir'd6 'ir'd3! 'ir'g5 35 l:. 77 41. 36 .:. That's just for the record .. . .n g6 37 o!Dc6! wins beautifully after 37 .i. his brain froze.'ir'xd7 42 l:lli2 + lt. Short is simply relieved to have any kind of posi­ tion left after the time scramble and forces a draw. and having got there.xf7 'ir'd5 White now has a similar win to the previous variation: 40 o!De4 'ifd3 4 1 l:. ' He looked ab­ solutely shattered. In the words of Aus­ tralian Grandmaster Ian Rogers. Kasparov.' The score: 7�-2lh in Kasparov's favour. He must now be­ lieve that he can risk almost any­ thing and still get away with it. . on the other hand. Maybe a draw is the cor­ rect result anyway. In the Channel 4 TV interview immediately after the game he admitted: 'At the end I did not have it in me to play on. 'Kasparov makes Lazarus look like an amateur.World Chess Championship 78 42 ll'le4 43 ll'ld2 'ife3+ 'ifd3 And the players agreed a draw. There was general admiration for the world champion's resourceful­ ness in a position which looked beyond hope. I can even lose such a position if I try too hard. was delighted. back in Moscow. His manager. but saw no cause for alarm. where I was working. the KGB station in London. Gordievsky's testimony is significant and ap­ pears to bear out Kasparov's own belief that the Soviet chess authori­ ties at that time. Short. whether he was critical of his opponent Karpov. As Nikolai . and whether he was dropping any hints about the role of the Communist Party and the Soviet State. told me that the champion was staying in touch with events. the growing crisis between Boris Yeltsin and the Russian Parliament was reaching a violent showdown. Boris Pankin.' I thought of these machinations at the Russian embassy when the ambassador. I had defended Kasparov against these charges in the Daily Telegraph. through their links with the KGB. since Yeltsin seemed to be on top of things. had made great play of Kasparov's Communist affiliations in some pre-match statements that were now looking rather naive. Andrew Page. and was grati­ fied to receive support in a letter from the former KGB defector. They con­ tained instructions to spy on all movements and statements of the young chess player and to report immediately on all "suspicious cir­ cumstances" connected with him and his "surroundings". far from being a Kremlin stooge. He wrote: 'Donald Trelford is right to say that Moscow had doubts about Garry Kasparov. I had little doubt that Mr Kasparov was an independent. Oleg Gordievsky. nonconformist and even rebel­ lious individual. When Mr Kasparov visited Britain for the first time in 1983.Game 11 Kasparov-Short Scotch Opening Meanwhile. saying merely that he had every confidence that Yeltsin was doing the right thing. doubtless at Kavalek's instigation. were trying to find grounds to disqualify him from the world championship cycle that re­ sulted in his challenge to Karpov in the following year. he had been viewed with the gravest suspicion. Moscow wanted to know what he was saying publicly. He said little about this at the press conferences. saying that. There was speculation that Kasparov would be put off his game by the bloody events back home. was swamped by alarmist sounding cables from headquarters. turned up to see the match and visited the Grandmasters' room. We don't need another. sat down and made the first move all in one brisk movement. More likely. Kasparov successfully employed this relic from the nineteenth century in his 1990 world championship match against Karpov. giving the impression that he didn't need to try very hard. wearing a smart busi­ ness suit. or was it just an accident? Keene took the view that it was 'psychological warfare'. in order to humiliate his opponent. 3 4 fud4 5 ltJxcG exd4 . it didn't succeed. He admitted afterwards: 'I am very tired. The Times described the scene at the Savoy Theatre in a faintly dis­ approving tone (the champion was. the clocks had already started be­ fore he sat down to make the opening move as White. Theoretical debate has centred on 5 .tc5 A slight surprise. had told him: We've got one world champion. burst onto the stage. If it was a mark of supreme confidence. the chess official on the Soviet Sports Committee. In the endgame the Grandmasters thought it was Kasparov who was fighting for the draw. . which was interpreted as over-confidence. proving that there were still a great many undiscovered possibilities.te3 in the last couple of years. 'wearing a sports jacket and tightly knotted tie that made him look like a gangling schoolboy. for despite an unexpected Scotch opening by the champion..80 World Chess Championship Krogius. it was caused by a traffic jam. as Leonard Bar­ den pointed out. who were quoting Short's chances at 150-1 longer odds. It was as though he had just ar­ rived from the airport and was fitting in a quick game of chess before a much more important engagement elsewhere. We are fighting in every game. late for an event that was costing them a great deal of money): 'Kasparov. If it was.' Kasparov turned up late for the next game.' Maybe.' Was this gamesmanship by Kasparov. it was shared by the bookmakers. had been sitting at the chessboard fiddling with his hands and wondering what to do. There are no time-outs and we are playing a faster time­ control than in any previous world championship match. it occurred to me. than against the discovery of the Loch Ness monster! Whatever the reason for the delay. Short managed a draw on move 50 when there were insufficient pieces left on the board for either player to win. after all. shook hands.' Short. "ii'f6 5 . that remark provides a clue to his late ar­ rival: could it be that the champion simply overslept? - 1 e4 2 ltJrJ 3 d4 e5 lOOG The Scotch cannot have come as a surprise to Short. meanwhile.. (b) 13 .d4 tDe7?! Not an incisive move. . and only then does Black capture the knight. Kasparov admitted to be­ ing 'too optimistic. 6 . .e5 12 f4 wins. then simply 12 tDxb6 axb6 13 .-xc6 has been played before. 9 . It looks outlandish to put the knight out at the side of the board. Short opts for an ending .-xa4 The best of a bad choice. :d8 8 . Black's bishop does not have a good square to retreat to.e2 and the bishops will reign supreme._d2 dxc6 Short places piece activity higher than pawn structure.i. l l c3 Kasparov thought for almost half an hour over this move.i.d3 10 0-0 . White must contort himself in order to defend f2.b6. though with hindsight this judgement was too pessimistic.-xd4 A tremendously strong move.. For Nigel's improvement see game 17. from this moment on._c2! b5 .c2 bxa4 There were many people watch­ ing who considered that Black's position was already lost._e2!.the knight on c5 is untouchable. 7 t003 8 tDa4!? . though he revealed after the game ••• .' Indeed.. 11 12 cxd4 13 .i.which is also fairly mis­ erable. followed by advanc­ ing the f-pawn. . . .bxa4 14 . it was Kasparov who spent more . but. I'm sure Nigel would really have liked to castle queenside. no doubt he was just checking the tactics in the complex variations that arise after 11 c3. I was looking for something that was not there. If 1l. Instead. 13 This is Kasparov's new idea.-xd3 14 . . 14 . but somehow it pays off. .. un­ fortunately.. that one is illegal.-xa4 15 .Game Eleven The approved response.i.i.e6 81 that he had already analysed this exact position in his preparation._xd3 :xd3 15 tDc5 is very pleasant for White in spite of being a pawn down ..i. but in that case White is able to use the d5 square for a knight. . .. and after the game he made it clear that he thought his position was quite tenable. . Nigel likes grabbing material.i. or 1l. 6 . In­ stead: (a) 13 . c61 Kasparov had obviously missed this one. At this point he had just over ten min­ utes left to reach move forty. before the king comes marching in.xf7 35 a3. f6 23 e5. 22 i. Although a pawn up.xc5 30 Ad5 31 f5 l004 lbxb2 i. As well as cutting out the i. scything across Black's king. The position ... and looked disgusted with himself for not making more of his advantage. and just as Kaspar­ ov is running out of time. 22 23 �f2 24 e5 h5 :b6 c51 At a stroke Short improves his co-ordination and hinders Kas­ parov's.d5! 34 exf7 i.b5 l008 ltJb6 lhd1 a6 ltJd7 The bishop looks good here.82 World Chess Championship time over his moves.d4 was perhaps stronger with the idea 22 . .e3 i. while Nigel played quickly and confidently.c5 Aad1 Axd1 f4 i. Moreover.a3 i.£5 Ad2 i. Black's queenside pawns are a mess. and the bishop pair can be a lethal weapon. whereas Short had half an hour.c4 i. 32 Ad2 Simplifying the position with 32 l1d8+ might have been more prudent in view of the time situ­ ation: 32 . but Short soon blunts its force. and sometimes the bishop may drop back to c6.�xd8 33 fxe6 i. .c2 �g3 Ab6 g6 Ae6 lLlb61 Breaking out at exactly the right time. 29 i. White's king­ side pawn majority has great po­ tential. the pawn move allows the rook to swing across into play. bishop. 25 26 27 28 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Ae1 i. breaking the position open for the bishops. Game Eleven should be a draw, though Black must be a little careful. I suspect that Kasparov was still thinking of winning when really he has lost his advantage and ought to be steering the game to a draw. 32 33 34 35 36 �4 .:.e2 .txf5 .td3 gxf5 t004 f6! .:.xe5 .td5 Nigel's pawns are terrible split, isolated and doubled - but he does have two more of them than his opponent, so by now the advantage has swung in his fa­ vour. 37 .td4 Kasparov's hubris keeps him playing for the win, but he ought to have played 37 .txc4! .txc4 38 .:.Xe5+ fxe5+ 39 �e5 .txa2, reach­ ing an ending where he is two pawns down, but because of the bishops of opposite colour the po­ sition is drawn. 37 38 .txe2 39 .txh5 40 .tdl .:.Xe2 �e7 .txg2 Kasparov was down to his fmal minute, but even so, this was not an impressive move. 40 .te2 .td5 41 .tc5+ �e6 42 a3, safeguards the a-pawn and guarantees the draw. 40 ••• a3! Fixing the pawn on a light square enabling the bishop to at­ tack it. Now Short is definitely playing for the win. 83 41 b4 42 b5 43 b6 .td5 lDe5 .txa2 Setting up an amusing trap. If 44 h7 .tbl 45 h8... lDg6+; or 45 h8lD!? a2, and there is nothing to stop the king marching over and capturing the knight, resulting in a position with excellent winning chances for Black. 44 .tc5+ 45 .tc2 After this White can force a draw. In order to maintain any winning chances Black must play 45 . . . lDg6+, but after 46 �e3 .tc4 47 .txa3, I cannot believe that it will be too difficult to defend: the h-pawn is still a problem, and the bishops cope easily with Black's split pawns. 46 h7! �g7 47 .tf8+ 48 .te7 49 .t:xf6+ 50 .txe5 And the �b8 .td3 �7 .txc2 players agreed a draw. White simply marches the king to al, and can even give up the bishop for the c-pawn. In spite of a poor opening, this was a more confident performance from Short who fought back well from a difficult positior:t. Afterwards Kasparov looked visibly tired, perhaps as a result of his Herculean defence in the previous game. Can Short take advantage of it in his next game? The score: 8-3 in Kasparov's fa­ vour. Game 12 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf So far in the fourth week Short had fought back with two strong draws. The experts were beginning to talk about a 'mini-revival'. The Savoy Theatre was noticeably fuller on the Saturday than for some time, per­ haps because people hoped to be present at that long-awaited moment when the Englishman finally won a game. Alas, it was not to be, though the audience broke out in spontaneous applause as the players made it three draws in a row. What the audience were applauding was an intense tactical ex­ change leading to an exciting endgame which grandmasters thought was well played on each side. Kasparov said afterwards: 'There is a lot of psychology in this type of match. The kind of chess we are playing is unusually ferocious and intense for a world championship match.' Speelman praised Short's performance, saying it had been 'his best week. He has matched the champion blow for blow and if he can put past disappointments behind him he has a good chance of finally win­ ning a game.' A different picture of the challenger's prospects emerged over the weekend, however, as grandmasters were quoted in the press as saying that Short's campaign was 'on the verge of collapse'. The Sunday Times, itself part of the sponsoring Murdoch empire, ran a headline: 'Short "Near to Collapse" as His Chess Camp Feuds'. The story went on: 'Short began the championship as David fighting Goliath: he is now being compared with Eddie "the Eagle" Edwards, Britain's skiing no­ hoper.' It claimed Short had thrown away so many opportunities to win or draw games that his preparation was clearly defective, casting doubt on his backroom team. With Kavalek gone, he had been forced to rely on Hubner and Speelman, neither of whom could spare him enough time. Some critics. it said, 'fear he may be so badly affected that the championship could end his career. Others claim that his performance is an embarrassment.' Murray Chandler, editor of the British Chess Magazine, put some of the blame on Lawson. 'I think Dominic Lawson is probably brighter than me in 99 per cent of the things he does, but when it comes to beat­ ing Kasparov you have got to be somebody who knows how to do it. It is not about wafile and bullshit. It's about playing the moves on the board.' Lawson insisted that he was not providing technical advice and dis­ missed the complaints as sour grapes and jealousy. Short wrote to the Game Twelve 85 paper in defence of the friend who had defended him so often. Grand­ master Tony Miles, never one to mince his words, dismissed the friend­ ship as 'mutual social climbing'. Of Short's play, he said simply: 'He is out of his depth. Having said that, most people would be - against Kas­ parov.' 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 e4 lDf3 d4 l2Jxd4 lDc3 i.c4 i.b3 c5 d6 cxd4 l2Jf6 a6 e6 l2Jc6 Kasparov is the first to vary from previous games in the match where he played 7 . . . l2Jbd7. 8 f4 9 i.e3 i.e7 0-0 10 'ii'f3 Short signals his intention to castle on the queenside, but Kas­ parov sets his counterplay going before it gets there. 10 11 i.xd4 ltJxd4 b5 Black plans . . . i.b7 and . . . b4 with an attack on the e4 pawn. It is possible to prevent this with 12 a3, but after 12 . . . i.b7 Black is do­ ing well because the centre is im­ mobilised. Short decides to take action before getting pinned down. i.xf6 12 i.xf6 13 e5 14 g3 i.h4+ :tb8 15 gxh4 16 l2Je4 17 :tg1 i.b7 d.:xe5 Kasparov was still bashing his moves out, which must have been a little disconcerting for Short. Afterwards he said that he knew that this piece sacrifice was a rec­ ommendation of the Grandmas­ ter Shamkovich, but he couldn't remember any of the analysis. So much for the great memories of chessplayers. It is possible for White to bail out here by playing: 15 0-0-0 i.b7 16 lLle4 i.e7 17 exd6 i.xd6 18 'ii'd3 i.xe4 19 'ii'xe4, with a level posi­ tion. However, it is not in Short's nature to back down from a fight, and he accepts the sacrifice. Clearing the rook from the long diagonal and setting up threats against g7 makes sense. If Black now plays 17 . . . 'ii'xh4+, then 18 'ii'g3 ! 'ii'xg3+ 19 lLlxg3 exf4 20 l2Jh5 g6 21 lDxf4 gives White the better endgame. is a new move and shows the depth of Kaspar­ ov's opening preparation. or go for an ending in which he could push his pawns down the board? He Opinion was divided over who stood better here. i. ·'· . Kasparov was understandably worried that if he ever tried to advance his pawns. Y. the more we looked at the position. plumped for the latter..xe4 The super-subtle 18 .86 World Chess Championship 17 g6 ••. .. but in the middle of the chaos.� /� . though I'm not convinced that Black's po­ sition after 19 'ii'e2 is better than the game.. A m1 t£:!. �/� .'ii'e7 was recommended by American GM Joel Benjamin with the idea of 19 'ii'e3 exf4 20 'ii'xf4 'ii'h4+.. ..� . apparently.. but it takes four times longer than usual to move them down the . - � - � �4. :!! � V 1":"\ � � / -"l. the more we liked Nigel's chances.. 18 l:d1 '· .lt. ... he takes time out to make a quiet de­ fensive move. Four connected pawns can be powerful.' ' "'� • '. . with the major­ ity on the side of the pawns. -• :W4 t•� 10Ji � � -�. A piece down for just one pawn. . ----- �% • .. but had to admit after the game that he made the wrong decision. . �ffii u 0 @fg]%� 0 . .J�' 08 0 � /. He was at the crossroads: should he keep the queens on and play against White's exposed king. �% . 24 lhd8+ 25 'it>xf4 :Xd8 • . 20 21 l:g2 22 'ii'xf4 23 <iW3 'ii':xh2+ 'ii'xf4 exf4 l:fd8 Keeping the f4 pawn is impos­ sible: 23 . �' " �-: . . . However. . .. .. 19 'ii'xe4 20 �e2 'ii'xh4+ Kasparov thought for 35 min­ utes over his next move..// /?( " / � . it would seem that Black should be continuing the attack to get compensation. It is an extraordinary move. . 20. This. then his king would be vulnerable to attack with queens on the board.. .'fi'. . -·� . A' fi '· :!( �-: u � Y. • • • . e5? 24 l:g5 l:be8 25 l:e1 and llxe5 ..� /' � . exf4 2 1 l:g2 is quite playable for White.. . Having said that... ... with a drawn position.Game Twelve board. 35 . and the rook is ready to hassle White's king.behind the passed pawn. .l:lxc5 43 . if 35 .Xb2 e4 Here Short offered a draw which Kasparov accepted imme­ diately.l:lxg6.l:ld4+. though in many vari­ ations White was able to pene­ trate with a rook.l:la6 . 35 36 . �g7. while White hastens to create a passed pawn on the opposite flank. The score: 8Y. . but it is difficult to suggest alternatives.:.ig2 37 �g3 38 .ixa4 h4 30 c5 31 .ib7 winning the a­ pawn. or sometimes even transfer the king to the queenside. should White be able to create one. However.e1!? ap­ pears dangerous because of 39.. Kasparov's next move is an admission that caution is neces­ sary on Black's part. Instead 38 c6+ <j.. Black charges down the kingside.l:lc2 42 .l:ld2+ �d7 Heading straight for the draw. We had all been considering the 'natural' 25 ..l:ld8 . Moving the king across to e7 is directed against that.ct h3 e5 h2 a51 Preventing possibilities such as b4 and . .ih1 f5 36 c6 e4! . he must waste a move before ad­ vancing on the queenside because of .ic61 33 �f2 34 . as well as being ready to blockade a passed pawn. 39.:.c7 39 . e4 is still drawn. .!-3Y. 31 32 . For instance.ffi 40 �xh2 l:txb2 41 �g3.! in Kasparov's favour. •.l:lc2 llh8 The best place for the rook .:.. A plausible conclusion might be 41 �g1 . A�d6! 40 'ifi>xh2 f5! intending to cut off the bishop with .:. �e7 h5 The race is on. cutting out the bishop. 26 27 c4 28 a4 87 This has been criticised for al­ lowing Black's rook into the game..l:lxa5 f5 .id5 38 39 'ifi>xh2 40 . 28 bxa4 29 .. 25 �f8 An excellent move.• 26 �e3 Unfortunately for White.at . and always asks for it whenever he can as his room number in hotels around the world.Game 13 Kasparov-Short Slav Defence The fourth week of the match opened amid growing speculation that Short would be put out his misery as soon as Kasparov had retained his title. Kasparov's camp let it be known. had reached the end of its tether and wrote a devastating leader calling for the match to be called off. but at least he managed to draw with Black after what a Grandmaster called 'a brilliant display of tactical fireworks'. They made it seem like a doctor insist­ ing that a course of antibiotics must be completed in full even after the flu symptoms have gone. once the result had been settled. in order to popularise this version of the game with the large television audi­ ence. that the champion would not be averse to playing a speed chess chal­ lenge over the last few games. . the chess writers too were distracted. This makes it all the more painful to see him mauled thrice weekly by the li­ ons in a half-empty coliseum.' AB the televised scenes of the bloody assault on the White House in Moscow carne up in the press room. arguing that the 24-game format had been agreed in ad­ vance and was part of the rules. In fact. having been born on 13 April and becoming the thirteenth world champion. I have spent more time watching CNN than looking at the chessboard. Nigel Short is not only British: he is a sympathetic and decent man whom we were proud to claim as our own chess columnist.' It went on to say the match 'now inspires the sensations that cause sensitive pet owners to decide that it would be kinder to have the poor creature put down. however. It's a distraction and it's upsetting because lots of people died. which was now seen as a formality.' Game 13 proved no luckier for Short than what had gone before. On this occasion he seemed distracted and admitted afterwards: 'Ob­ viously the events in Moscow took some of my attention. however. The Daily Telegraph . But the sponsors would hear none of it. it seems a reasonable assumption that it is a turkey. It was headlined 'Sheer Embarrassment' and began: 'If it gobbles like a turkey and tastes like a turkey. saying it was 'more than flesh and blood could bear'. Kasparov regards thir­ teen as his lucky number. g6 0-0 One of Kasparov's opponents captured the pawn .i.' I said. six draws. using it to defeat one of the young pretend­ ers.xc3 11 bxc3 lbxe4 . . I replied: 'Do you mean about Nigel?' 'No. lbf6 d. no losses) there were many who thought this was not the right moment for its de­ but. and in view of Kasparov's excellent record as White against this opening (11 wins. . 'I can see Yeltsin fin­ ishing off his enemies. a foreigner of a philosophical turn of mind who had often come up to me before. 5 •. Too often Kas­ parov's opponents have been caught out by his painstaking opening preparation. envisaging a sharp pawn sacrifice which Short quickly declined. but I can't see Nigel finishing off Kasparov. 3 l003 4 lbf3 5 a4 It is the weakening of the b4 square which makes the position playable for Black: it gives him a vital toe-hold for his pieces in the enemy camp. pointing at the screen. .10 .• i.' he said.' 'That's rather easier to be hopeful about.f5 Black develops the bishop be­ fore playing the pawn to e6 to avoid blocking it in. He has also employed 9 "ife2 before. . .xc4 Preventing Black from protect­ ing the pawn on c4 with .though had cause to . I think Short's choice was good.xc4 e6 i. 2 c4 c6 Short has never before played the Slav Defence.Game Thirteen 89 One of them. 6 e3 7 i.. Vishy Anand from India. said suddenly and rather dramatically: 'Can you give me any hope?' Not quite knowing what he meant. so to frus­ trate him by 'running' from a theoretical discussion has to be good psychology.' 1 d4 d5 There is general relief that Nigel decides not to continue the battle of home analysis in the Nimzo-Indian Defence.b4 9 10 e4 .• i. b5. 'I meant about the world. Nevertheless. 8 0-0 9 "ife2 lbbd7 Kasparov has also played 9 lbh4 in this position. . c5! 14 lbe4 Breaking down White's centre. is hard to meet in a sensible manner.hxg6 14 lbe4. taking with the f-pawn is not so daft: the f-file can be a source of counterplay for Black.90 World Chess Championship regret it later. but now he went into a think .a3 preventing Black from cas­ tling kingside.l:. with the idea lbfg5 and 'ii'f3-h3-h7 mate.. Kasparov feels com­ pelled to take action in the centre before his opponent.. Therefore. c5 breaking them apart. If 13 . as does White on e4.e3 would guarantee him a clear advantage . . while protecting the b-pawn with the grovelling 15 . and anyway. 'ifa6!? 15 An original idea. In the Channel 4 studio. but here the weakness of Short's pawn structure is com­ pensated for by the activity of his pieces. doubled and isolated pawns are frowned upon. White gains excel­ lent compensation in the form of the two bishops. not Short's style.i..i.i. lbd5 12 . starting with 12 . but Short has worked out a good defence in advance.d1 ••• ••• . we were having difficulties solving the problems of the position..ab8 is hardly in the spirit of the position. Black's pieces exert formidable pressure on them. Anyway. lbxe5 19 .d3 White's central pawns are not as powerful as they might appear at first sight. bxa6 16 'ii'xa6 17 lbg5 Kasparov criticised his own move afterwards saying that he believed 17 . 'ii'a5 11 .. Normally.he was clearly at the end of his home prepara­ tion.fb8 The white knights are terribly imposing. and there is little that White can do to prevent . 12 e5 This is a trade: Black gains a superb square for his knight on d5.xg6 This recapture is essential. 15 . .l:.i. It is a shame that they were not to debate the posi­ tion in a following game. cxd4 17 18 lbxe6 . for the simple rea­ son that they cannot protect them­ selves..which Short disputed. cxd4 16 lbxd4 ltJc5 17 'ii'g4 is not at all appetising for White. J:. . fxg6 13 . 15 lbd6 Until this moment Short had been moving quickly. 28 &i:Jd4.i.Game Thirteen 91 the game with 26 . however.c5 Although Short has weak a­ pawns. .i. Short. For instance if White plays as in 28 29 .. has seen further. White has the better chances due to his dominating pieces and su­ perior pawn structure..xd6 21 . Conclusion: Kasparov has made nothing of his advantage of the white pieces. . The bishop defends both weak pawns and Black's pieces cannot improve their positions. keeping the rook from c2.i:xa7 Kasparov now expected the continuation 20 . 22 23 . I might add) were wrong again.&Dc4 are po­ tent threats.i. It is necessary to keep the b-file open with 25 .. Instead. &Dd3 or 26. .. llb6! lhd6 Not 22 llxe5 lldl mates. 25 &Db3 . . and mean­ while 26 .i.but whether it would be enough to win is another matter.• llc2 It seemed as though Kasparov had got his cake and was about to eat it. Instead Short finds a way to exchange off Kasparov's active pieces... Although not absolutely clear. 26 .d4 •.llb8! is strong.i.:Xd5 &i:Jfl.e3 &Dd3 20 :Xd4 27 llbl 28 .e3 then 26. namely the pawns on f2 and b2. would preserve some chances for White . White should draw by picking up the a7 pawn.i..i. 20 21 :Xd5 22 lhd6 llc8 Why not grab the pawn? None of us watching could see a reason not to. he also has some targets to aim for himself. we (and Kasparov. 29 ••• �f7 . but as it turns out.f4 24 &Dd4 . .xd6 lle8 .i.b4 A poor move.f8. but that is all he can hope for.i.because of Black's weak pawns . and his pieces are more active than White's. 31 l:tdl 32 llJal lbxb2 lbxdl Not 32 .. Kasparov decides to force a draw.e7! Realising that the bishop is White's key defensive piece.fG 34 i.. and the knight is trapped. Short simply intends to exchange it off. 33 llJxc2 i. After it goes.. Another good day for Nigel. which Short accepted in view of the continuation 34. with a barren position.l:te2 33 �fl llJxdl 34 �e2.World Chess Championship 92 30 h3 i. then both the f2 and b2 pawns will hang.gxf6 35 a5 llJb2 36 lbb4 lbc4 37 lbxa6 lbxa5.. He neutralised Kasparov's early in­ itiative and forced a draw. Instead of falling back on the defensive. He fi­ nally looks as though he is playing in the same league as the world champion. The score: 9-4 in Kasparov's fa­ vour. .xf6 And Kasparov offered a draw. following the moni­ tors showing the state of the game or talking with authority in the Grandmasters' room in the bar downstairs. for he is a great aficionado. Straight ahead is the down­ stairs restaurant. On the table are two chessboards on which up to a dozen or so itinerant experts make the moves the players are thinking about in the theatre. the buzz can be heard half-way up the stairs. If it's heading for a boring draw. Wine. where chess play­ ers of the nineteenth century gathered to play and smoke a cigar. 'What can be the point of a restau­ rant like this if it's just to shovel out plates of food to tourists and busi­ nessmen? It's our purpose here to encourage the intelligentsia.' The grandmasters have a large table with a notice firmly discourag­ ing anyone from sitting down who is oflesser standing than an inter­ national master. Alongside them is a smaller table. are offered for sale by a man who appears to be wearing an RAF tie. As they do so.Game 14 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf The smell of meat and burgundy is unmistakable as you go through the swing doors at Simpson's-in-the-Strand. You can tell the state of a game as you walk in.' he has been quoted as saying. no less important. or if either player has made an innovative or surprising move. the tail-coated manager. many rare and valuable. laden with plates of sandwiches to feed their motor minds. In the room is a bar and a set of tables at which people watch the monitors and play the moves on their hand-held chess sets. chess: they all go together. Now the waiters in white aprons down to their ankles push their silver wag­ ons from table to table. Brian Clivaz. the mood is down. moves from room to room talking about the chess. As they do all this. the room used to launch the match and choose the colours. knock someone's idea on the head with a laugh or offer a variation. they shout to each other cheerfully. There is a table in one comer at which old chess books. their comments are recorded on a lap-top computer which taps out the official bulletin. 'This is the Mecca of the mind. . unrolling the lids to reveal saddles of lamb and barons of beef. If it's nearing the time-control. good food. Posters about the chess are everywhere. which was once known as the Great Divan. did Kasparov offer the draw? 'I wasn't in the right mood' was his uncharacteristic reply. telephones and television monitors.ie3 c5 d6 cxd4 ltJf6 a6 e6 ltJcG . Short admitted after­ wards that it was 'very stupid' and Kasparov maintained that the right move then could have beaten him. The Times. 'this is the first instance in the match where the game ended well be­ fore the play was exhausted. it seems impossible that anyone could take it down at such speed. was in no doubt about this game: 'He lost his nerve. then.ib3 . it all turned sour on Short's move 34.' 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 e4 ltJf3 d4 ltJxd4 ltJc3 . thankful for the small mercy Short had granted him. Would this finally be the day he made the long-awaited breakthrough? He was playing White and people expected big things from the chal­ lenger. her skirt slashed nearly to the waist. too. which made it all the more surprising when he of­ fered the draw. as they saw him seize an early initiative. .' Why. Short grabbed it eagerly. though it didn't stop both players rattling out their replies until move 17. Kasparov has admitted to being tired. Telephone calls are made in nearly every known language. There was an expectant mood in the Grandmasters' room. A waiter brings round beer and sandwiches. Suddenly. 'As far as I can tell.ie7 9 f4 10 0-0 0-0 Short is the first to deviate from game 14 where he played 10 'it'f3. The grandmasters were still puzzled. Every move is shouted across the room. I've seen Garcia's shaven bald head at chess tournaments from Leningrad to Dubai. After that the champion seemed to have the advantage. When Leontxo Garcia is dictat­ ing his copy to El Pais in Madrid. always ready to give the challenger the benefit of the doubt. There was a sense of anticipation in the press room during game 14 as Short patiently built up what seemed to be a winning position. he settled for what he had got.ic4 . knowing that his winning chances had gone.World Chess Championship 94 Two floors up is the ornate press room. with its computer screens. His assistant brightens up the room each day with exotic clothes. Having been let off the hook.' said one. The line has been well known since the early 1970s. but his stated match strategy of playing for a win with White and going for the win with Black only if it falls in his lap is not going to sit well with the public. which was greeted with a cascade of incredulous boos by the experts. Let's hope this doesn't become a trend. as one might expect. rec­ ommend that White plays 17 l:f2 here. which will significantly fortify Black's attacking poten­ tial.and 17 We2 Short chooses to ignore Kaspar­ ov's advice which. 18 i. Kasparov strives to attack White's centre straight away with . saying that 'The fundamen­ tal danger for White lies not in the direct threat of mate at g2. lax:d4 b5 AB in game 14. and just as in that game. writing f-pawns.Game Fourteen and Kasparov has even written about it in an openings survey. 12 e5 13 fxe5 14 lLle4 95 i. 10 11 �xd4 . . set the world champion thinking. most players of the white pieces now preferring to re­ treat their bishop to e3 . . . 17 e5 This is the theoretically ap­ proved move.. 15 tDd6 16 exd6 This several games.�b7..e3 Wg6 19 l:ad1 <it>h8 20 h4 ffi! 21 h5 Wffi 22 a4 f4! with a strong attack brewing on the kingside. b4 and .. . . d6 systems (Batsford) in 1982. but Black has a com­ pact position which is very hard to crack. Short evolves a plan of pushing his queenside pawns..c3 This is more purposeful than 18 i. .with negative consequences.•• dxe5 lLld7 i..b7 White's build up appears im­ pressive. 18 19 l:adl 'ii'g6 <it>h8 .xd6 Wg5 position has been seen times before in master Kasparov and Nikitin.' The further progress of the game bears out their assessment exactly. Short is forced to advance. but in the advance of the e. Take for instance Browne-Donner from 1974: 18 i. in Sicilian . e6 and .e3. l:1ae8 winning a piece. if the knight remains there.U.fdl �xd5 'ir'e6 . White cannot play 20 �xe5 because of 20 . With the rook on c8. . 23 a4 runs into 23 .:. when the whole of Black's queenside might drop off. then the bishop could just look offside.' a reference to the Bulgarian's habit of agreeing quick draws and hitting the beach. Ray's nor­ mally elephantine memory let him down on this occasion. though he did offer a plausible excuse: 'Most of Spasov's games were over before people sat down. Indo­ nesia 1982 . was actually participating.World Chess Championship 96 Kasparov is playing consequent chess. . If Black's knight is ever dislodged then the bishop is in the perfect place to shepherd the d-pawn to the queen­ ing square. miles from the action on the kingside. . Both players take time out to create an escape square for their kings in the event of a check on the back rank.:. .fc8 The players were unaware that they were actually following the game Christiansen-Spasov. . .fc8. 25 26 c4 ••• . . Instead of 22 .:. but that seems poor on account of 23 a4 bxa4 24 :as. His last two moves enable him to throw his f-pawn up the board. f5. Kasparov finally gets around to pushing his kingside pawns.a tournament in which my co-commentator on Channel 4. holding the a-pawn and hitting the d­ pawn. bxa4 24 :as :tc6. for he couldn't remember the game at all. 25 �c7 Manoeuvring the bishop to c7 is a double-edged idea. 23 �a5 24 b3 :lc6 :ac8? Carelessly wasting a whole move: Kasparov plays the rook to e8 to support the e-pawn on the very next turn. 26 27 bxc4 bxc4 28 h3 h6 29 'ifc2 30 'ifa4 e4 ••• f5 Having secured his queenside. Spasov played 22 . . Raymond Keene. but I think this fa­ vours Black more than White. 20 �d5 21 llxd5 22 . . It would have been better to chug round with the queen straight away. .es Setting in train the queenside pawn majority. however. Vx:f8 41 :n Vg8 .:. but then I saw a variation which lost and I simply decided to play safe. . My first intention was to play 34 c5. and he there­ fore keeps the d-pawn securely blockaded. For a moment I lost my sense of balance.g6 (D) 33 34 'Wd2? Short said afterwards: 'This was a very stupid move. l:c5 30 lbxc5 31 lb:c5 32 1fc6 lLld7 Over at the Grandmasters' analysis room we were examining the consequences of 32 . lLlffi 36 'Wc4 f3 37 'Wfl ! holds the fort long enough for White to push the pawns. one would never ex­ pect best play. . Spot on. (b) 34. particularly as both players were running low on time.. oth­ erwise the c. . By this stage we were very much more optimistic about Short's po­ sition. Years of playing against Karpov has taught the world champion that playing cautiously has its merits too.c5 which he had considered during the game). Nige. . The problem is that in this position there are no safe moves. .Game Fourteen 97 It was essential for White to try and dislodge the blockaders. here is a resume of the analysis so far after 34 c5: (a) 34. Now the most amazing line which Kasparov gave was 37 cxd7 l:b2 38 g4 fxg4 39 'WeB 1ff5 40 Vffi (40 :n 1fc5+ 41 'ii>h 1 1fc2 wins the point of playing the rook to b2 and not c2) 40. which is not clearly bad for Black. but I see that as moot: in a situation as compli­ cated as this. A great many trees had to be felled in the days follow­ ing the game for Kasparov to try and prove that he wasn't actually losing this position. whatever the consequences.. . . you just have to keep going. or 35 .:.. . 34 c5 simply had to be played.' .and d-pawns are go­ ing nowhere. . Black cannot contemplate exchanging queens because there would be nothing to stop the c-pawn marching to pro­ motion .e5 35 1fa8+ 'it>h7 36 c6 l:b5! (this was Kasparov's im­ provement on 36 . f4 35 c6 f3 36 g4 f2+ 37 'ii>xf2 e3+ 38 'it>g1 ! wins for White. and certainly gives good hacking chances. 33 'Wd5 Centralising the queen and clearing the path for the c-pawn to fly down the board. .. . . .so he must pin his hopes on his kingside counterplay. For those of you interested.. lLld3. is even stronger.c5 36 l:r. Kasparov replied: 'I didn't see a clear win. Kasparov offered a draw which Short accepted instantly. moreover. White's bishop looks completely out of play if the pawns aren't moving.' But if he had had more energy and motivation then he would have been looking harder for it. When asked im­ mediately after the game why he had offered the draw. . quite uncharacteris­ tically. it is too early for a definite conclusion to be reached and my deadline approaches. 34 . . After 36 . The score: 9lh-41h in favour of Kasparov. . So. . . . threatening . l:r. while Black's on the kingside are mobile. Therefore Kasparov brings the king round to defend the queen. .b5. . 'it'f7. Preventing the moving forward. but 35 .f7 38 a4 39 'it'f2 e3 And here. l:r. 'iftg8 37 rj.•.xc4 38 'it'b3. l:r. . f4. 'it'xc4 and .e5 pawn from 'it'e6 This is good for Black. Kasparov be­ lieved that 37 'it'xa6. so that g2 could be defended by the rook. gxh3 44 'it'h8+ 'iftxh8 45 d8'it'+ 'ifth7 46 'it'd6 l:r. . . bringing the queen back to f1 to defend would lead to a draw. so enough is enough. while Jonathan Speelman recommended 37 'ifthl.cl 37 l:r.g2+ 47 �hl l:r. Back to the game. . where Kasparov quickly assumed the upper hand. There is no doubting Kasparov's advantage: White's pawns on the queenside are blocked.c2 So that if 37 . 35 'it'e3 l:r. . He appeared ex­ tremely tired.World Chess Championship 98 42 d8'it' 'it'xa2 43 d7 (covering the h2 square with the bishop) 43 .g6 48 'it'h2 'it'g2+ 49 'it'xg2 hxg2+ wins. Game 15 Kasparov-Short Queen's Gambit Declined Perhaps all Kasparov needed was a good night's sleep, for he emerged from this weary mood on the Thursday to win with White in what the experts called 'a clean kill'. 'A packed audience,' said Keene, 'thrilled to Kasparov's sparkling technique.' So much in chess at this level turns out to be about motivation and energy. And yet, if the general public were asked to name the most impor­ tant quality in a chess champion, they would probably say 'brains'. It is by no means clear, even to doctors, what kind of brain is needed. The owner may or may not succeed in normal academic pursuits ; some champions have been conventionally clever, others less obviously so. It was once said of the American prodigy, Samuel Reshevsky, that he was 'living proof that you could be a world champion with an IQ ofless than 100.' An American psychologist reported the case of a mentally retarded inmate at an institution for 'congenital idiots', as it was then called, who could beat people of normal intelligence over the chessboard. Psychologists have tried many experiments to pin down the mental characteristics of a chess champion. They have generally concluded that the essential talent is an exceptionally high level of visual and spatial intelligence, which is traced to the left-hand side of the brain. Conventional intelligence comes from the other side of the brain. Over the years a chess champion like Kasparov is thought to build up a men­ tal encyclopaedia containing up to 100,000 significant chess patterns ­ comparable, according to one estimate, with the number of words in Shakespeare's vocabulary. What has never been adequately measured is the degree to which characteristics such as 'courage' can affect these mental equations. For Kasparov, whose attitudes were moulded in the trauma of his first marathon battle against Karpov over the winter of 1984-85, courage ­ or, as he usually calls it, 'fighting spirit' - means a great deal. When he was five games down and on the brink of defeat, he used to play the songs of Vissotski, Russia's Bob Dylan, in his ear to give him the inspi­ ration to go out and play. The tone of these poems may be gauged from this extract, which Kas­ parov quotes at the beginning of his autobiography: 100 World Chess Championship 'You can take an easier route, But we chose one that is the most difficult And dangerous like a path of war.' Many of Vissotski's songs are in the same heroic vein. One wonders what songs could be found at this late stage to inspire Nigel Short to the single victory for which the whole world of chess is now willing him. 1 d4 2 c4 d5 e6 Short continues his policy of switching his openings. The Slav has done its job and he reverts to the Queen's Gambit Declined, one of his most successful openings over the last few years. Naturally Kasparov would have prepared well for it in the months leading up to the game, but then, so would Short, and this is a solid and sound opening. 3 iDeS lbf6 9 10 b4 ••• iDf8 This pawn cannot be taken: 10. . . .i.xb4? ll .i.xffi gxfO 12 lDxd5! 'ii'xd5 13 'ifa4, forking bishop and rook. 10 a6 4 cxd5 The Exchange Variation is an old favourite of Kasparov's: he has scored some brilliant victo­ ries with it and Short must have been expecting it. 4 5 6 7 8 .i.g5 e3 .i.d3 lDge2 exd5 .i.e7 0-0 lDbd7 �e8 White has a choice between castling on the kingside; or play­ ing 9 'ifc2 and castling queenside - a much riskier alternative. 9 0-0 As Kasparov has proved before, White has good chances to build an attack from this position as well, but he does so from a solid basis. 1 1 a3 This gives us a clue to Kaspar­ ov's middlegame intentions. White has two plans in this position: to advance his b- and a-pawns to weaken Black's queenside; and to advance in the centre with f3 and e4. If Kasparov had wanted to carry out the first mentioned idea, then he would have played 11 l:b1 and 12 a4. 11 c6 12 'ifc2 13 f3 g6 Game Fifteen Mikhail Botvinnik, fonner world champion and Kasparov's early mentor, was one of the first to em­ ploy this plan of advancing in the centre with e4. 13 14 �h4 ••• lDe6 Kasparov revealed that he had already played exactly this posi­ tion against one of his seconds, Alexander Belyavsky, in a rapid tournament a few years ago. That game bears a frightening similar­ ity to this, and leads one to ques­ tion exactly what Short had been looking at in his opening prepara­ tion. Belyavsky played 14...ltlg7 here, eventually getting stormed on the kingside; Kasparov even em­ ployed some similar manoeuvres to this game, including the star move 21 ltlf4. 14 15 �xe7 16 'ii'd2 lLlh5 llxe7 Subtle. Once White plays e4, the queen will look down on the weakened dark squares around Black's king. 16 ••• b6 Kasparov criticised this move afterwards. As he proved in the game, this pawn is a permanent weakness; if there were still a pawn on a7 it would be a different matter, but in this case it is al­ ways vulnerable to an attack by White's knight coming to a4. 17 l:.ad1 18 �b1 �b7 lLlhg7 101 19 e4 Eventually Kasparov will be looking to push this pawn to e5, and then begin a pawn stonn with f3-f4-f5 as in the above men­ tioned game against Belyavsky. But for the time being there is no rush. Black usually cannot afford to capture on e4 anyway, as it would open the f-file. • ... . illii - •• %� . . .... _ - · - · · · · -�· · · f� Wt�1 • &B - 8 ::.G !'\;�-� � . fW' f� � ��02 � _% " �� · � · &Q;;. � • • ¥§fJ: %,J-,; �ltj· -�" �2 •.t• : a : = 19 20 �a2 21 ltlf4 l:tc8 lld7 This unlikely move is the best of the game. Normally, if your op­ ponent is cramped, the last thing you want to do is exchange pieces and relieve the pressure, but Kas­ parov realises that Black's knights are very good defensive pieces, so he exchanges one of them off. At the time we were sceptical about this move, but the course of the game proves that Kasparov's judgement is simply on a higher plane to the rest of human-kind. 21 ••• ltlxf4 An illustration of the problems No fun at all for Black. 30 31 'iff2 32 e5 J:lcd7 ltle6 c5 A desperate attempt to compli­ cate which gets the treatment it deserves. . The e-pawn is attacked. 'ifd8 35 �g7 36 lLlfG+ J:lxd7 37 ltlxd7 ltle6 38 J:lxc5 39 J:lccl And Black resigned. 28 dxe4 Short only spent a couple of minutes deciding on this disas­ trous capture. he was looking for a way to complicate the position. There is.World Chess Championship 102 that Black experiences with the weakened pawn on b6 is shown in the variation: 21. but then it was Kasparov's intention to play 29 e5.. hanging over Black's head. A brilliant game by Kasparov. followed by ltle4 to ffi. and then push the f-pawn. play the bishop back to bl. Kasparov wrapped up the rest of the game with panache. ltle6 J:le7 "ikc7 ltlg7 'ifd8 J:lcc7 'ife8 This is the big idea. . 30 ltlc3 Kasparov played this instantly.J:lcd7 was better.. supported by the bishop on a2. though there was noth­ ing better. Encouraged by Kas­ parov's shortage of time (he only had just over five minutes to make it to move forty). White's pawns dominate the cen­ tre. 33 bxc5 34 d5 35 ltle4 (D) bxc5 ltld4 Game over. he has the open f-file to attack down. 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 'ife5 'ifg3 ft4 J:lcl J:lfdl l004 28 . and as he described it afterwards. how­ ever. and there is the threat of e5.. a pathetically simple defence.'ifg5? 22 �e6 'ifxd2 23 J:lxd2 ltlxe6 24 ltla4! win­ ning material. and if 30 J:lel c5 ! opens the line from Black's queen to the knight on a4. rather than sit and do nothing while the world champion quietly improved his position. 22 'ifxf4 29 fxe4 The exchange also allows White's queen to penetrate into Black's camp along the dark squares. Although he was running short oftime. Game Fifteen his 'cleanest' of the match so far. to make him solve new problems? Playing over this game again. what exactly had Short been looking at in his pre-match prepa­ rations? The Queens Gambit De­ clined is a sound opening for Black. but where was the new idea to catch Kasparov off his guard.. the world champion looked like he was on auto-pilot.. there is no problem with the choice. The score: 10'h-4'h in Kaspar­ ov's favour.' All of which begs the question. 103 of position years ago and I have won many nice games with it. though he added: 'I don't have great creative satisfaction from this game I analysed this kind . . all the more satisfying in that the game had shown every sign of becoming the most boring of the match. It was like the fall of the Berlin Wall. then quit the stage abruptly. Short seemed to have a serious chance.Game 16 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf Rea Short had been keeping a bottle of champagne on ice ever since her husband's challenge began on 7 September. It was a big moment in British chess. It was an awful moment for the lookers-on. a negative ploy which the two players circled around warily. Kasparov muttered something. but the gap of seven years since he had last taken a tournament game off the champion. the nov­ elist and a keen chess follower. Suddenly. leaving the English­ man alone under the spotlights with the media to relish his first moment of glory in the match. almost daring each other to do it.' Keene was beside himselfin the commentary box. It was finally uncorked on the night of Tuesday. when he . but the assured manner in which it was achieved.then left because it seemed to be a drag. Nigel was brutally honest about himself. it's a killer. in the Grandmasters' room. What cheered Short's supporters was not just the fact of the win. he seemed to hesitate. had appeared for the first time in the match . The audience in the Savoy Theatre erupted in warm applause which gave way to cheering. when Short had the obvious check at his finger-tips. It was his first defeat at the chessboard by anyone for a year. the general prediction had been a draw. Then. There was general disbelief among the grandmasters that Kas­ parov's defences should finally collapse so quickly after so many es­ capes. Earlier. What gave it a special flavour was not just the delay of five weeks. 'Go on. Then the hand moved and the deed was done. Martin Amis. then backed away. though. It was a new experience for the cham­ pion to slink away to an inquest with his advisers. His hand wavered for a moment in the air over the piece as the experts shrieked back­ stage. 12 October. He was held to have outplayed the champion from a broadly equal position with a blazing fi­ nal attack. to mark his first win. Speelman had moved the pieces around and declared that it seemed to be going nowhere. after an innocent-looking knight manoeuvre on the queen's side. A key moment came with a possible exchange of queens. the same Dr Siegbert Tar­ rasch who had once written: 'Chess. We now expect the result will revitalise interest and a lot of money will be going on the next couple of games.lbc6 in games 12 and 14. Marshall.' Kasparov's final comment on the game was: 'I made the British public happy. even though he knew he had won. . Short had avoided the first 'whitewash' in a world championship since the one inflicted on Emanuel Lasker by the Cuban. Lasker in his turn had whitewashed three chal­ lengers. you can do it'.ic4 .000 they would have had to pay out if he had failed to win a single game.1. has the power to make men happy. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 e4 lLlf3 d4 lLlxd4 lLlc3 .' What an­ noyed him was not so much losing a game. but not myself. 'I had almost forgotten what it was like to beat Kasparov. which was bound to happen at some time. He waved triumphantly to the crowd like a boxer. lLlbd7 which he played in games 6. He said afterwards that when he watched the replay of the historic last moments of the game on video he couldn't help jumping up and down shouting 'Go on. Apart from laying a ghost and regaining some self-respect.' said Graham Sharpe. in 192 1. but what he described as the 'stupid' play that allowed it to happen. The sense ofjoy and relief was reflected all over the challenger's face.Game Sixteen 105 admitted that he hadn't realised he was winning until near the end. The odds on him winning the match were halved to 500.' Nigel Short may have come to doubt that theory in the course of this match.8 and 10. When Bobby Fischer first began playing this variation for White. Antidotes were even­ tually found for Black.ib3 c5 d6 cxd4 tLlfG a6 e6 b5 Kasparov varies from 7 . but not tonight. We were very happy to see him win. . It took him 32 games to win his first one at world level and I did it twice as quickly. saving William Hill the £10. when 'it was too late to throw it away'. like love. Jose Raoul Capablanca. like music. of Hill's. Pushing the b-pawn down the board is classic Najdorf strategy: if the knight on c3 can be pushed away. . and from 7 . Janowsky and Tarrasch . and the .' Short said disarmingly that he could hardly sign the scoresheet since his hand was trembling so much. Short did the bookies a favour. . then the e4 pawn will be vulnerable. he used to throw his f­ pawn down the board to f5 to try to break open the diagonal for the bishop on b3. 0-0 tt:le8 This is only a temporary incon­ venience for Black ... and has a solid. . but don't imagine that he does this lightly. 9 . but now it will be impossible to reinforce an attack by swinging the rooks over to the kingside on the third rank. He has developed his pieces harmoniously.e1 13 a3 i. Kasparov had used un­ der half an hour to get to this po­ sition. it would simply be a mistake for White to grab it: 12 "ii'xg7 l:tgB 13 "ii'h6 tt:lxe4 14 'it>h8 i. . Now Kasparov may safely castle.:. 10 "ii'g3 The queen takes up a strong at­ tacking position.h6 . 1 4 f3 A solid move. bearing down on g7. and Black has re­ gained the pawn and has an at­ tack to boot. an indication that it was all home analysis. !f in­ stead 14 "ii'xg7? l:tgB 15 "ii'h6 d5! 16 exd5? tt:lxd5 17 tt:lxd5 . . anyway. attacking the rook on aB and knight on f6. rather than pawns. 10 . and the best he can come up with is .g5 18 "ii'xg5 For the next three moves Kas­ parov leaves the g-pawn so that it can be taken.. 12 .• l006 Exchanging off White's aggres­ sively placed knight before it does any damage.. Short must waste a move before going on the attack as Kasparov has not yet committed his king. On this tum. 8 0-0 9 "ii'f3 i.xg5 tt:lf6 The opening has been a success for Kasparov.b7 l:td8 This looks odd but is in fact a subtle plan that defuses White's attacking potential.Xd5! with a decisive attack on g2. 11 lbxc6 "ii'xc6 tt:lxe4 "ii'xe4. In each case he would gain persistent pressure down the g-file.l:. compact pawn structure.. "ii'c7 If now 10 e5 dxe5 11 "ii'xa8 exd4 the complications favour Black. for instance. prevented Short from mounting an attack.World Chess Championship 106 modem way of playing the posi­ tion is to try and attack using the pieces.the bishop must soon retreat. this kind of position has been seen quite a few times before from this opening.e7 This threatens e5. 16 �h1 17 i. 14 15 i. runs into 27 ttJxe6! 'ii'xf2+ 28 � fxe6 29 . though as Kasparov's next move emphatically shows.. White's im­ mediate threat is 27 .i. . destroying Black's position. Perhaps mak­ ing a 'pass' move was Kasparov's way of offering a draw. bearing down on Black's only weakness. At this point a draw was being universally predicted. . but considering 30 . but it hardly changes the position very much. . There seems to be nothing in particular going on in the position. Afterwards even Short admitted that the game was looking like the most boring ofthe match. g6.xe6+ �g7 30 .. The onus is really on Short to make the offer as he is playing with the White pieces. 22 . 20 2 1 l:led1 22 'it'e3 l:lfd8 'it'c5 If White exchanges on c5 then he would stand worse in the end­ ing as Black's queenside pawns could constitute a threat. a5 3 1 l:lb6.Game Sixteen 107 23 r. Kasparov drops his guard for one fatal moment.xc6 30 l:lxc6. g6? 25 ttJe2 It is extraordinary how a game can tum on just one move. . It's a good job he didn't. without being seen to 'beg' for one. there is little likelihood of the pawn ever being won. only to discover that 27 l:lc3! 'ii'a7 (or 27 .i. �g8. 'ii'xf2+ 26 �xf2 'iPe7 is completely equal.a8 Most of us found that one baf­ fling.xe6 fxe6 28 ttJxe6+. . so his king appears mis­ placed on fB. and per­ haps half expecting Short to offer a draw.tg1 24 'it'f2 19 l:lad1 20 l:ld3 l:ld7 Short can think of nothing bet­ ter to do than double rooks on the d-file.•. so it seems sensible to move the king towards the centre of the board. 26 ttJd41 Black can no longer exchange queens. . and the natural move to prevent this. In­ stead of 25 . 'iPg8 An ending is on the cards.. e5. Of course Black can bail out into an ending with 29 . . It's a matter of pride. 'iW8 . g6 looks ugly and weakening. I would guess that Kasparov had intended to meet 26 ttJd4 with 26 . he must lose a pawn. ..i. 26 .xd7 l:lxd7 3 1 l:lxd6. and 25 . the pawn on d6. 25 . . . . 'ii'b6 28 ttJe6+!) 28 ttJc6 'ii'xf2+ 29 � l:lc8 30 �e5! wins mater­ ial. and that he was just shuffling his pieces round.. .i. too lazy to offer a draw.i.. Making the b-pawn a target. but he had regained some honour and self-respect. .. 34 .. and is finally getting stuck into the middle. A clean kill. .' . If 38 . 28 29 30 31 32 c3 i. not ruffled by Kasparov's build up on the kingside which.d4 a4! h5 axb5 Short's approach. all he can do is charge ahead and hope for the best. should not be at all dangerous.exf5 38 exf5 liJe4 39 . 27 l:r. or 37 .g. Kasparov's opening preparation was clearly superior and he equalised the po­ sition with little difficulty.. is con­ sistent and strong. and Black's defences are destroyed.-f4 37 _. as he correctly judged.ti>f8 40 ..ti>xh2 g3+ 38 .. Optically this looks fine.. exffi 39 exffi+ . g4 Short has nibbled around the edges of Kasparov's position.xh2+ 37 ..xb5 34 . h4 (D) 'Black's position is so yucky. �e8 38 exd5.ti>xf2 leaves White a pawn up for nothing. The queen has no decent square. g5 Short plays superbly during the next phase of the game. 37 lDffi+ also wins. . 35 liJd4 36 :Xb5 36 . Afterwards.el Threatening 28 f4. . but Short proves that the queen is vul­ nerable in the centre of the board. The score: 101h-51h to Kasparov. . continuing his assault on the b-pawn. but Short held his nerve. 37 .ti>gl gxf2+ 39 .American grandmaster Joel Benjamin writ­ ing in the official match bulletin.. played sen­ sibly.-e5 26 ..xh4. He knew the match was beyond salvation. and one error from the world champion was enough for him to take control and force a win in convincing style.Xe4.. .. ma­ noeuvring patiently on the queen­ side. and induc­ ing Kasparov to weaken his king position further.xh4 d5 Nice and simple. . Short looked re­ lieved and delighted. .. A well played game.108 World Chess Championship . If 36 . .-xf6. 32 33 a. ..l:b4 36 . .:. 37 . e.... and 37 . ft5 38 liJf5+ And Kasparov resigned.c2 liJb3 l:.. 27 .. Game 17 Kasparov-Short Scotch Opening Remarkably. England lost 2-0 to Holland. 'I feel it was a pity to win this game. Next time I play him in a long match. in fact. putting them virtually out of contention. whatever . The win had certainly done wonders for his self-confidence. the England manager. in the last eight games Short's score has been level with Kasparov's. things will be different. Could he finally go one better and win a second game. He would not allow the champion to blame his errors in the sixteenth game on the fact that he had been 'tired and emotionally exhausted'. the very next day. not games eight or ten. 'He can't tolerate the fact that I have been playing on equal terms with him. though.' The British victory had lifted the cloud hanging over the match and altered the tone in which it was covered in the press. who had been branded .it's the reverse. far from suffering the psychological collapse many had feared after his catastrophic start. though he had to admit that his chances of doing so on this occasion were as slim as those of England reaching the finals of football's World Cup. prov­ ing to the sceptics that. he had come back fighting and even gaining in mental strength. It's not modesty at all . 'I feel very much at ease.' he added. as the bookies had predicted? It would be a splendid final flourish. My chances of winning this match are minute. He told Daniel Johnson that he now believed 'for the first time' that he was ca­ pable of wresting the world championship away from Kasparov.he would win every game.' He said Kasparov had been 'bloody fortunate' to avoid losing before. It was no longer a national embarrassment just to mention it. Maybe for the first time I've started to imagine that I could become world champion. though. Short was no longer talked about like Graham Taylor. Now something has happened. and I think I can do it again. He likes to think that if only he didn't have these worries . when I felt I played better.' he said. politi­ cal.personal. because it can't be something right with me. 'He's used to me collapsing. 'I've deserved to win several games earlier. as I used to do before this match. but that won't stop me trying. So he thinks it has to be some­ thing wrong with him. in the 17th game. . If the bishop on d4 is attacked by the pawn moving to c3.. .d2 lt::lc3 lt::la4 �d3 0-0 . however . Soldiers carried a set in their battledress. Kasparov was closing for the kill. calling out the moves to a man across the ward. 'Men played in bombers over Germany. But he was right..fG dxc6 �e6 l:td8 �d4 a6 Short's improvement on game 11. . I actually achieved one brief game in a tank. which could be played anywhere .and no sudden death . He had died in the night. I played Ac­ tion Chess in hospital. which was inevitably an anti-climax after Short's much­ heralded win. the players are repeating the same arcane variation of the Scotch as game 11. check. lt::le7 and quickly stood worse.. Against all predictions. He recalled using a pepper pot. a6 is a sensible move. army canteens. But the challenger played well to block Kasparov's at­ tempted march to victory with White. his bed was empty. the champion needed only one more point to retain his title. a coffee spoon and even a prawn from his salad as makeshift pieces on a square-patterned tablecloth (the poi­ soned prawn?). l 2 3 4 5 e4 lt::lf3 d4 lt::lxd4 lt::lxc6 e5 lt::lc6 exd4 �c5 The match is beginning to look like a series of training games more than a w<Jrld championship final.in tuck­ shops at school. I shall never forget the triumph in his voice as he cried out one evening.110 World Chess Championship a 'turnip' by the Sun. "Rook takes queen. you bastard. and get out of that. then it can always drop back to the a7 square. where he played 10 . The popular papers started talking about family chess and encouraging people to play it. In the Telegraph Michael Green recalled Action Chess in the Thir­ ties." When I woke up in the morning.. YMCAs and railway waiting-rooms.' There was no checkmate. Forties and Fifties. It was checkmate. 5 6 7 8 9 10 . Despite Short's belated recovery. 10 . The match score was now 11-6. ' commented England's num­ ber 2. Once more the Russians proved better prepared. once more. Afterwards the world champion was dismissive of Short's idea. Kasparov could also have played 14 'ifg3. ti:)gG As in game 13. maintaining that 18 19 . and that he was impressed by it. 14 'ifx:f6 gx:f6 15 ti:)g3 16 �e2 h5 h4 The h-pawn gives Black good counterplay.J:I. threatening both g7 and 16 l:a1 winning the queen. Jona­ than Speelman confessed to me off air. . 11 12 ti:)e2 000 ti:)e7 �b6 It is best to drop the bishop back here rather than a7.that their team had missed this retreat. By ex­ changing queens he hopes to ne­ gate the effect of Black's active pieces. . �xb2 fails to 13 �xb2 'ifxb2 14 llab1 'ii'xa2 15 'ifc3. It is more a matter of taste than anything else. 13 000 111 it was simply incorrect. while Nigel was rather proud of it: he was breaking the rules again and. a discussion which Kasparov is eager to revive. but he now has the bishop pair. 17 l2Jf5 �xf5 18 exf5 White has traded one long­ term advantage for another: his pawn structure is also damaged. 13 'iff4 The one thing that White has going for him in this position is his better pawn structure. but this calm retreat began to win the pundits round . but hopes that the activity of his pieces will compensate for it. Short accepts a damaged pawn structure. and looks forward to push­ ing his sound majority of pawns on the kingside.particularly as the alternatives were even worse. Instead of the principled queen exchange. 12 . I should add .Game Seventeen 1 1 ti:)c3 'Hardly the manoeuvre of the year. he gets away with it. Michael Adams. over in the Grandmasters' analysis room. threatening 15 �g5.e1 20 �f4 ti:)e5 cJi>f8 20 a4 was strongly advocated by Michael Adams in particular but Kasparov said afterwards that . In the TV studio. to keep the c7 pawn covered. an idea which is just as promising as the game continu­ ation. When analysing this position with us in the TV studio after the game.. it is.xe5.tf2. It is much safer to keep the bishop.. . .:. 22 .tf3!? .e4 h:xg3 The strange thing about this blunder is that Kasparov had seen that 24 hxg3 was a mistake because of24 .tf21 I have never seen Kasparov look so unsettled by a move.:.a3 !? .' a reference to his superior pawn structure. AI!. and in view of Black's damaged struc­ ture.XC4+ ). ..d4. which in this case is a .:.:.dl. �f6.Xe2 28 � 29 b3 l:hl+ . . .:. White can no longer create a passed pawn on the kingside (compare with the game). but had failed to realise that 24. 'This is my dream after the opening.:. Short was cooler about White's prospects. but after 30 .xg3 .Xdl A lesser player than Kasparov might have been thrown by miss­ ing a shot like 24. but that is all. It was possible to play 29 .:. After 22 hxg3.i.:. and muttered angrily to himself in utter disgust.Xel 26 .World Chess Championship 1 12 he had rejected it on account of 20 .. but he did not dispute that the advan­ tage would have been with Kas­ parov.d4 �g7 An inaccuracy. . but to his great credit.xg3 . ..i..t£2 would still be strong even if it wasn't captur­ ing a pawn.d2 with pres­ sure.:.:. He loses a pawn. .. it is not enough to win the game.. Opinion was divided on how large White's advantage would be after 24 . .hxg3. unable to believe what he had just done. .xel :dB 27 .:. a5 2 1 . luck is on his side. when White is tied to the defence of the a­ pawn 20 21 g3 ••• .exe2 26 � 27 . saying. .:.xh2+ 25 �x:f2 .:. when White is forced to recapture with the h­ pawn (22 .:. .txf2. White must still work to draw...txe5 fxe5 30 . 24 . or 22 fxg3 .adl 23 �g2 24 fxg3? . . It was better to play 2 l . Kasparov suggested the line 24 . he readjusts to his new task of playing for a draw rather than a win with great speed. Black should be strug­ gling to draw. which has given him a passed pawn on the kingside. He shook his head violently as if try­ ing to wake from sleep. .:.he8 25 .:.. . Another good per­ formance from Short. but with the king stuck way over on the kingside it is all in vain.ws rtlv.•.•. . The score: 11-6 to Kasparov. 30 31 i. 37 i. and in the complications Kasparov lost his way. 37 38 39 40 41 <J.Game Seventeen clearly superior piece knight.e7 g4 i. 113 With such a restriction.c7 a3 .xd2 . 29 •. . . 30 l:d2l Exchanging rooks is the surest way to draw. Black is unable to play for a win.t . saying that he liked his doubled pawns.d6+ i.:.ws 36 . Naturally. Kasparov's claims that he stood better in the endgame sound more like the protestations of a man who can't accept that he has been caught out by such an unor­ thodox idea. In a sense it is rather a point­ less argument. and that chances were 'balanced'. Short of­ fered a draw.• to the l:d7 In order to defend the c7 pawn.c7 Preventing Black's king from moving over to the queenside. The course of the game demonstrated that the posi­ tion was sufficiently murky for White not to get a grip on it. which Kasparov accepted immediately. rather any objective truth seeker.. Short disagreed with him..WS Having satisfied himself that there was no possibility of mak­ ing further progress.Xd2+ c5 Desperately trying to make something of his queenside pawn majority. Game 18 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf In their pre-match forecasts. which left open the question ofwhat should hap­ pen in the remaining games. so in theory it could still be changed if both play­ ers agreed. aiming to score points and win. however. To give itself credibility outside FIDE. 19 or 20. the PCA had to show the world's leading players that it was capable of . natu­ rally . When he had talked about being tired. he had played the match as a normal world championship bout. he found his attention straying constantly to the news coverage on CNN to learn the latest developments. even though they would be played out as an undramatic anti-climax. He had many other matters on his mind. Until game 9. with total concentration. It was beginning to look as though they would be proved right.in Kasparov's favour. the breakaway organisation set up by Short and himself to stage the world championship. most British grandmasters had esti­ mated that the match would be concluded . The situation in Russia occupied more and more of his waking thoughts. Short was still insisting on the full 24 games. The experience of playing more games with Kasparov would doubtless assist his long-term chess edu­ cation. He wanted to change the format into something more entertaining for the players and public alike. Kasparov had long ago regarded the whole match as an extended training session. he had meant it. though the three-days-a-week format was unrelenting. For his part. however. which had been a flop.by games 18. Since then. with 'all passion spent'. he and his seconds had been engaged in higher chess analysis. The exhaus­ tion was not just a result of the chess. sometimes taking Short's openings and playing them back to him with new developments and variations. At this stage. as part of a sponsorship deal which was now inoperative. Al­ though he never doubted that Yeltsin would succeed in seeing off what he regarded as the remnants of the Soviet Communist system. which had now gone on long enough. The 24-garne format had been set originally for the needs of Predict­ a-Move. He was also involved in the detail of the new Professional Chess AB­ sociation. when he knew that with five wins his title was in the bag. Earlier in the year he had played exactly this position as White against Boris Gelfand. He was there during the White House crisis and was surprised to see how little it had affected the lives of ordinary Russians. Short was playing White. In addition to that. tt:lc6. They were pressing for finn information about the first PCA tourna­ ment. which made a final denouement less likely. Page had to take time off from the match to go to Moscow to handle it.Game Eighteen 115 organising its own tournaments and raising its own sponsorship. It was business as usual. too. Kasparov and Page had a business to run. Afterwards Short de­ nied that he had been reluctant to take risks for fear oflosing both the game and the match. in which Kasparov played 10 . . due at Groningen in Holland in December. In order to defy FIDE. .b3 0-0 'ii'f3 c5 d6 cxd4 tt:lf6 a6 e6 b5 i. and in the absence of a secretariat to service the new organisation most of the PCA's work fell to the cham­ pion and his manager.' Kasparov said: 'There was a lot of underneath tension in this game. the grandmasters needed reassurance that the PCA was really a going concern. 'I am prepared to take risks to win in the remain­ ing games .' 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 e4 lbf3 d4 lDxd4 tt:lc3 i. He is employing some subtle psychology. Spain. as Keene put it.c4 i.if they are justified. Maybe I can now finish the title in just one game. but Kasparov. the highest pinnacle in chess. as Kasparov pressed for the win that would retain his world title. but these people needed an answer. The experts gave Short a slight advantage as he massed for attack. .' Short chipped in: 'I have a different opinion. and not just a vehicle to enrich Kas­ parov and Short. Kasparov might be playing a world championship match. There was also a speed chess tour round the world to be sponsored and planned for 1994. 'erected a Maginot line of defensive fortifications' in front of the black king that eventually frustrated him. who went about their business as if nothing re­ markable had happened. Their Muscovy Trading Company had set up an air charter firm in Russia which had just clinched its first contract.e7 'ii'c7 10 'ii'g3 0-0 The first deviation from game 16. Andrew Page. I feel rather good and I'm starting to play rather well. in the Savoy Theatre. at the elite grandmaster tournament in Linares. f6 Short now has some highly tempting attacking continuations at his disposal. but the audacious 17 . On the negative side. . intending .. and the pos­ sibility for White to break with e5 is also ruled out.. b4. . ••• this looks way too slow if White lunges straight away with 16 e5.World Chess Championship 116 winning a beautiful game. lbf6 1 9 tDd2 I felt that White ought to have the better chances here.. but it is certainly very difficult to prove. lba6. Black's knight returns to its natural square on ffi . for the sake of prudence.i. which. 17 lbd3 Defending the b2 pawn. but got clobbered after 14 lbe2 a5 15 lbf4. a5 13 14 a4 Also recommended by Gelfand.h6 lbe8 12 l:lad1 i. 18 i. particularly as it was evi­ dent that Kasparov was still in his home analysis. though this can be countered by playing the bishop to e6. followed by swinging the rook into the attack via d4.e3 Covering d4 in readiness for lbd2. Here Gelfand tried 13 . .xb2! is fine in view of 18 e5 lbxe5 19 i.xg7 lbxf3+ and 20 . 14 b4 15 lbe2 lbc6 We were examining the blunt plan of 15 . This closes the position down. 1 1 i..•. e5 17 . It was ominous that he was bashing out his moves.. i. and Kasparov soon crashed through on e6. 16 lbf4 i. . he chose to ig­ nore... . I think his judgement was correct. .xg7. Kas­ parov wants it proved.d7 13 lbf3 Short is following Kasparov's own recipe. The most obvious try is 17 lbh5. b3 and a4.e7! A strong re-grouping.lDc5 hitting e4. It is al­ most as though he is playing against himself. who assessed this position as be­ ing slightly better for White. 18 i. it does weaken the d5 square and open the diagonal for the bishop on b3. Kas­ parov plays the move recom­ mended by Gelfand after the game. White's knight on d3 cannot re­ turn to the kingside. while Nigel was using up a good deal of time.. However. so a draw was the inevi­ table result..fel l:tac8 23 'iWrJ The shuffling is done. he might have tried something like this.:.::tal 33 l:te2 Kasparov has the better posi­ tion because of his pawn centre and pressure on the c2 pawn. The situation is extremely complicated.Xe5 . lDg4. 33 d4 .::txb2 39 h4 .l:.Game Eighteen The approach Short selects in the game is too slow. . if he had really wanted to win then this is what he would have tried: the potential strength of Black's d-pawn out­ weighs any problems he might have with his king. A com­ plicated middlegame was reached. Kasparov is happy to inch closer to the magic 121h points.. . 24 �b6 Simply 24 exd5 was more sen­ sible than this. and im­ possible to evaluate.:. He actually has a forced line at his disposal: 34 l:. d5! 23 . After thinking for a quarter of an hour he played .xe5 'iixc2 37 'iixc2 . but it is very difficult to make any­ thing of it. which was accepted by Short after little reflection.. 117 28 .Xd5 . but neither player was prepared to take any great risk in playing for a win. and then how about 2 1 lDc4!?. Kasparov now gets the better game. exd5 was more ambitious. and offered a draw.:. . with a technical draw.ael lDd5 (threatening .::tfe8 20 f3 �e6 21 'it>hl 22 l:. A disappointing game. so perhaps 20 f4!? is indicated. but he was anxious that after 29 lDe4 lDxb3 30 lDxffi+ gxffi 31 cxb3 his king would be slightly ex­ posed. .Xe5 36 l:r.xb3 40 . However. . The score: lllh-61h in favour of Kasparov ••• . while Short does not wish to lose another game. . and now it is time for action. . .:. 24 'iib8 �xc5 25 �c5 lDd4! 26 ltJxc5 fxe6 27 ltJxe6 ltJxb3 28 exd5 . but his play in this game shows signs of extreme tiredness. Kasparov stated that it was his intention to meet that with 20 .. If Nigel had had more energy.Xd4.lDe3) 35 . exd5 29 lDxb3 30 lDxa5 'iia8 'iixa4 31 lDb3 'iic6 32 .::txc2 38 . He had felt he was losing control of the position and wanted to play safe. in fact.' It was true that he had stayed level with Kaspar­ ov in the second half of the match. we don't have a clue what's happening. Had he stayed level with Kasparov over the first 12 games instead. . that nobody could tell who held the advantage. But I have exposed weak­ nesses in his game .it was in truth a bit of an anti-climax. Short could not prevent Kasparov from acquiring the half­ point he needed to retain the title. Kasparov confirmed that a draw had been the correct outcome. even though he was a pawn up playing White.in which case Kasparov se­ cured the half-point he needed to retain his title . Short accepted the draw reluctantly. Even the commentators were assuming that. many of them thinking Kasparov must have won the game. because Short would either accept . As the players shook hands on stage after agreeing the 26-move draw. If we were to start again now. The position on the board was so confused. The champion admitted that Short was playing better than he had at the beginning. Either way Kasparov had nothing to lose. that would have been a very different story. 'At the same time. my chances would be very much better. For all the artificial drama built up by The Times . because it brought an end to his dream of capturing the world title.' Short told Daniel Johnson after this game: 'Kasparov is still a fan­ tastic player.Game 19 Kasparov-Short Roy Lopez. but this was only after the result had been effectively settled. but he ensured that the champion would have to wait at least two more days before he could pocket the winner's £1 million cheque.' he added. Offering a draw at that point was a good option for him. The Daily . Short finally exclaimed: 'Let's face it.or he would use up valuable time on the clock thinking about it. a worthy world champion. .'Short Goes Down Fighting' and so on . the audience applauded.' With the benefit of overnight analysis. as the contestants themselves concluded after a lengthy post-mortem. 'I don't think that the problems he is facing are equal to the problems I managed to bring to the table in the first nine games. set­ ting up a real sporting contest. Steinitz Variation Deferred In the event. ' Garry Kasparov now has lPh points. it reported with some satisfaction.if we didn't know them to be men of substance and great charm . and one more win to fin­ ish the match and bag the major share of the £1.' The Guardian was equally bleak. and saturation TV coverage.. editor of the Spectator.' Peter McKay. and Peter Stothard. I doubt it.' Cathy Forbes. said the problem was 'Nigel's attitude.7 million prize fund. who wrote Short's biography. People resolutely stayed away . 'The twentieth game. I'd like to cause Kasparov some dam­ age. audiences had dwindled.Game Nineteen 119 Mail said the match had 'failed to capture the nation's imagination. His rela­ tions with fellow British grandmasters had been soured. and decided now to put his work to good use.' Meanwhile. saying Short's challenge had been 'scarred by failure on the board and off-stage recriminations'. editor of The Times. rallied to his defence: 'I think the people who are carping are jealous that Nigel is challenging Kasparov and they are not. did little to enliven the battle.. though. 'I can't remember a day in the last week when I've met someone who has not known what was happening in the match. He is attended by two journalists who . TV will never be able to ignore a major chess event again. The suggestion is that they have increased Nigel's latent nerdishness. It is quite possible that Nigel had recognised the vi­ ability of the opening when pre­ paring for Timman. I refer to Dominic Lawson. The most notable adherents of this system in top­ level chess are the Hungarian grandmaster Lajos Portisch. Short throws Kasparov off familiar territory by playing the so-called 'Steinitz Variation Deferred' for the first time in his life. He says some terribly nerdish things that make you cringe. 'is thought to have lost at least £2 million on the venture. Even a visit by the Princess of Wales. and Jan Timman.' she said. 'is important. bxc6 5 �xc6+ exd4 6 d4 Black can also maintain the . even though he was standing on the brink of certain de­ feat. It seems simply to be his character. the Predict-a-Move competition had been cancelled through lack of interest. Surely he would go for a win today with the advantage of the white pieces? e5 1 e4 �c6 2 �f3 3 �b5 a6 4 �a4 d6 A good choice. He needs a draw to retain his title.' he declared.have every appearance of being nerds themselves. of the London Evening Standard. and The Times. the challenger maintained his defiant posture. Kas­ parov believes he stands better because of Black's split pawns on the queenside.:Z.e7 9 e5 A well-motivated move. .xd8 12 l2Jxe5 . 7 1Vxd4 ltJf6 This is slightly unusual. break­ ing up Black's cluster of pawns.feS. Holland 1990.xa2! winning a pawn be­ cause of the back-rank trick.d6 16 l2Je7+ j.ffi.xe7 . continued instead 13 l2Jc3 j_f5 14 l:r. I wish Nigel had played this. 12 j. the ••• first new move of the game. .b7 21 c4 22 :Xd8 It began to dawn on us that the position was not looking at all rosy for Black. :fe8 15 h6 16 h3 17 j. The discussion continues.b4 :adS 18 l2Jdf3 g5 19 j_g3 j. . It can be useful to take the king off the back rank. j.:Z.:Xd8 23 llJc6! fairly quickly.e6 15 l2Jd2 It is essential for White to de­ velop all his pieces before taking any action. 15 l2Jd7!? l2Jxd7 ! 16 j. Tim­ man likes to play his knight to e7 to avoid the danger of White push­ ing on in the centre with e5. Thrilling. and concentrated on trying to .World Chess Championship 120 centre with 6 . Van der Wiel-Portisch. .e7 13 :e1 According to my sources. For instance.h2 l2Jf4 22 j_xf4 gxf4 should be examined. 8 0-0 j. It is not immediately apparent how to take advantage of Black's ruinous pawns. l2Jh5 21 j. but wasn't there something more ac­ tive? For instance. if only to wind Gazza up. c5 9 10 1Vd3 dxe5 1 1 1Vxd8+ j. but Short has had good results with that posi­ tion from the White side.d5 20 :ad1 �g7 This rather puzzled those of us watching. . whilst Short be­ lieves that his possession of the bishop pair and active pieces fully compensate. and the game was agreed drawn.xe7 :res 17 j_g5 j.e1 0-0 15 l2Jc6 j. if Black wishes to take the policy of wrecking his pawn structure to an extreme then 20 . and pre­ fers to release the central tension instead. 0-0 13 14 j_g5 j.xe7 17 . We rejected 22 . e5+ 'it>g6 29 l:txa6+ 'it>f5 30 . With every exchange the weakness of the doubled c-pawns becomes more pronounced. which made us reconsider our earlier as­ sessment of 'winning for White': he must have seen that Short could develop some counterplay. the more we looked at the position.xc6 23 l006 :tdl + 24 lb:e7 �e4 25 'it>h2 Kasparov thought for a long time over his next move. lhd8 22 What has Nigel got in mind? The prophets of doom were al­ ready predicting an early presen­ tation ceremony. 121 Raymond Keene.d7 (this has to be Black's starting move. some of these variations which Kasparov demonstrated after­ wards: 26 . so . the more it seemed that Black's counterplay was sufficient.i..Game Nineteen defend the ending after 22 . Take. Or alternatively. However. and frankly. for instance. When it be­ came clear that a draw had been agreed. .. . and Black has a screaming attack.. . the threat is . with a positional draw. limiting the freedom of White's pieces before attacking.. 26 .i.i. I'm buggered!'. there was consternation. .xd8 23 �d3. cutting White's rook out of play) 27 l:ta7 h5 28 :Xa6 f6! (a cunning move.. My co-commentator on Channel 4. The problem for Kasparov is that his king is boxed in and cannot easily escape from Black's attack.c3 g4 31 hxg4 hxg4. instead of 28 lha6 in the above line. 28 . . I was amazed that Short wasn't too . though it certainly wasn't a barrel of laughs for Black. h4 and trud2. exclaimed on air. 'Well.i. There was great confusion and some spectators believed that Short had resigned. .i.:Xc7 Suddenly the game was over. . ) 29 h4 g4 30 �gl �xg3 3 1 fxg3 lld2 32 l:ta7 'it>g6 33 �e2 lhe2 34 :Xd7 lhb2. physically and men­ tally.I don't understand it though. I don't like taking risks. Kasparov: 'Because of the match situation I hoped to go for a quiet game today. They were both drained at the end. Afterwards the players were asked why they had been content with a draw. I respect my op­ ponent. Black can build the attack slowly and carefully. then they would have played the posi­ tion on. The opposite-coloured bishops help Black here. and now just needs another half point from the next five games to win one million pounds.' Short: 'My best chance was in the final posi­ tion . I haven't got a clue what is going on. The score: 12-7 to Kasparov who thus retains the title.' I have a feeling that if either player had had more energy. for they make it more difficult for White to exchange off the attacking pieces.Ill World Chess Championship In these lines I find it extraor­ dinary that even when one or two pawns down. . At the end it was ex­ I couldn't tremely complicated - evaluate the position. by any stretch ofthe imagi­ nation.5. and the match finally reached its predictable end on Thursday. the highest figure ever recorded.did neither him nor the match any favours. This time it was Short who offered the draw after 36 moves when he found himself with no real winning chances. Their heroic inflation of the challenger's chances . satirical columnist in the Independent on Sunday. put this point across beautifully: 'Nigel has. Yet the supercilious critics will simply not ac­ knowledge the fact. That would have been fine if those expectations had not been raised to unrealistic levels by the tireless 'hype' generated by The Times.there is no question as to who is the rightful victor. Nigel Mansell. The last world rankings of the two players.Game 20 Short-Kasparov Sicilian Najdorf The damage promised by Short after the last game proved not to be fa­ tal. who is now visibly wilting under the pres­ sure.against the dread Russian Kasparov. and 2665 for Short. when the two players agreed on a draw in front of about 200 people. 'From the point of view of the audience in the Savoy Theatre . before FIDE deprived them of their official status. so as to suggest that Kasparov is ostensibly "winning". played quite remarkably well .often well into double figures. preferring to play the simple "numbers game" and to point to the final scores. to argue that Short's performance was something like one point ahead of expectations. were 2805 for Kasparov. In every single game they have played. it . incidentally .linking him with 'the other Nigel'. Kasparov has been out­ classed time and again by the sheer temerity and intellectual stamina of the Battling Briton. therefore. for example.5 points to 7. and describing his defeats as moral victo­ ries . which is roughly where the experts guessed it would be at the start. That put the score at 12. the smallest audience for the whole event. Wallace Arnold. The effect was to make the scale of Short's subsequent defeat more disap­ pointing than it needed to be. the motor racing wizard. A statistical projection based on that gap of 140 points would give Kasparov victory by a slightly higher margin than the one he achieved. For sheer bravura and good sportsmanship. Oc­ tober 21.brilliantly even . It is possible. such as Danny King and Cathy Forbes. who had been free with his opinions throughout the match. The alarm might well have been set off by the heat generated in that morning's Times by Daniel Johnson. Grandmaster Tony Miles. . including Martin Amis and Julian Barnes. or the spiritus rector of the whole event. if I were The Times. as Leonard Barden put it. In­ stead. especially Nigel Short and The Times. The players finally agreed to call a halt to the match when the winning post was reached and not to go through the motions of the final four games that were scheduled.' he wrote. Dominic Lawson. starring opportunities for some of the chess understudies. 'Over the past seven weeks. . Having been relegated to delivering his commentar­ ies in one of the Savoy Theatre bars. In fact. The second diversion was a fire alarm. raged at those commentators.' I won't respond to Mr Johnson's impertinence.' There was one blessing. Kaspar­ ov agreed to play at each session against five members of the audience. cameo roles for character actors like the Spectator's editor. Hartston and Spanier. I noted that this par­ ticular item of news was not thought worthy of inclusion the next day in The Times's otherwise blanket coverage of the event. except to say that I don't mind in the least being bracketed with the likes of Messrs Bar­ den. who had dared to present the match as anything less than a triumph for all concerned. though. was dismissed from the commentary box for making negative remarks about the sponsor. they settled for a speed chess challenge and.124 World Chess Championship simply has to be Nigel. and others who missed no oppor­ tunity to tell readers at inordinate length that the match was a bore. but nonetheless emptied the theatre very fast. 'In the background was the doleful wail of a chorus of carping com­ mentators: some were chess journalists. I'd be worried . which turned out to be a mal­ function. he repeated the offence and again. in addition. 'a circus gathered around the two central figures: walk-on parts for celebrities like Stephen Fry or Clive Anderson or politicians like Jim Callaghan and Michael Fallon. who would be chosen by the drawing of lots. having apparently absorbed some of his father Paul's notorious bile. including this one. Short leaving the stage before he had time to seal his next move. others were cynical old hacks like Donald Trelford and Peter McKay . a whole posse of novelists. such as Leonard Barden. 'suffered redundancy'. Raymond Keene. with the untrustworthy Russian trailing way behind. Wil­ liam Hartston and David Spanier. who. There were two unscripted diversions on the final day. He has played safe in the last six games. Karpov had overwhelmed Timman in the FIDE side­ show described as a contest 'between a has-been and a never-was'.apart. Professor Nathan Divinsky. however. from the monster Californian computer Deep Blue .Game Twenty 125 that such a sage and experienced group of chess experts. So the match ended as it began. Britain is proud ofyou. You are a hero in our household and to thou­ sands of young people. The comparison was not all that encouraging for Short. the Russian was now a shadow of his former self and surely offered no further threat to Kasparov. it was hard to see who or what . Although he looked happy enough the next day.' In an editorial the paper claimed: 'It proved to be one of the most attractive events for the media ever sponsored by The Times. who turned to him and said: 'You have been cool under fire. said: 'This is the beginning of the end for the Kasparov era. who had lost to Fischer by the same margin in 1972. As a grandmaster observed.500 cheque and a Waterford crystal trophy.' Despite Divinsky's intimations of mortal­ ity. with bad temper and recriminations . the Chess Olympus he had first climbed eight years before. along with the praise of Peter Stothard. the Canadian chess historian.062. He had not been well ad­ vised. he had said some silly and regrettable things. He had received no tournament invitations. for the Russian was never to regain his world title. For the first time in his career. should be so criti­ cal of the event and the paper's coverage of it. and even sillier . voices were raised to suggest that he would climb no further and might soon begin the descent that all world chess champions have had to face in the past. perhaps.could beat him in the fore­ seeable future.' Kasparov was back on top of his own Everest. for once. no world championship would be complete without Garry's ritual denunciation of 'Campo'. editor of The Times. almost comparable to the conquest of Ev­ erest. all devoted to the game and among its most distinguished writers. He had fallen out with his fellow grandmasters in Britain. Nonetheless. between the players themselves (or at least not in public).500. he has shown fear at the board. Kasparov reserved his anger for FIDE and his old foe Cam­ pomanes. Short received his cheque for £637. taking draws where in the past he would have gone hammer and tongs for a win. 'Failure Leaves Short's Next Move in Doubt' was the Guardian's headline on his prospects. whom he attacked at the post-match reception even as he re­ ceived the £1. smiling for the cameras in a flat cap in Regent's Park. The beaten challenger was being likened to Boris Spassky.though not. unsettling the knight. they bowed out with a good fight.h6 i.c4 7 i. 13 a3 prevents Black pushing the pawn down to b4. but. c5 1 e4 d6 2 lt.126 World Chess Championship things were said on his behalf. he had earned a for­ tune. he was the one who had to go out into the Coliseum three times a week and face the lion. On the other hand. And. He also happened to be the greatest nudger of a chess piece the world has ever seen. and in spite oftheir evi­ dent tiredness. 13 14 lbxc6 15 i.Jf3 cxd4 3 d4 lt.xc6 . he enjoyed the supreme confidence of having appeared in six world championships and had never been beaten in any of them. His opponent admittedly had many in-built advantages denied to the British challenger.d7 12 l:ad1 All the same as game 18. not least those many years of subsidised train­ ing at the highest level as the last great product of the Soviet chess ma­ chine. Short will use his lead in development and more harmoniously placed pieces to constrict Black.e7 8 0·0 9 "ikf3 "ikc7 10 "ikg3 0-0 t'Lle8 1 1 i.JfG 4 lbxd4 5 lbc3 a6 e6 6 i. He had comported himself there bravely. Instead of attempting to rip Gazza's lungs out. Furthermore. it strikes me as a sound way to play the posi­ tion. and this time it is Short who is the first to vary. And who was to say he didn't deserve it? He had worked for many years at his chess for little reward.b3 b5 i. 13 a3 Ray Keene described this as 'wimpish'. He was now independently rich enough to sustain those benefits from his own purse.f4! lbc6 i. though in the event. especially in those early games where the match was won and lost. combined with Short's 15th move. if not always wisely. There were rumours flying around before the start of the game that the players were going to agree a quick draw. above all. and the whole building evacuated with more amusement than panic among the spectators. I was hoping to . The persistent pres­ sure on g7 makes it difficult for Black to organise his forces. trying to ex­ change off the dark-squared bish­ ops. Black cannot move the knight from e8: 15 . "ilb7 15 a5 16 l:Ue1 While Short was thinking over his next move. lM6 25 . Therefore Black's forces must remain bot­ tled up for some time. As it was. A blown fuse un­ der the stage was later deemed to be responsible. . tLlf6 16 �xd6 �xd6 17 'ii'xd6 'ii'xd6 18 l:txd6 �xe4 19 l:tfd1!. It must have been very difficult for the players to keep their concentration. with Short maintaining his pressure. Short said: 'When Garry played . and thus relieve the pressure on his position. with great advan­ tage in the endgame. 18 �fG 19 l:td4 l:td8 20 l:txd8 �xd8 127 . dxe5 17 e5! 18 �xe5 (D) This bishop is White's key at­ tacking piece. I pre­ ferred his more controlled ap­ proach. The interlude added to the 'end of term' feel to the day. .. tLlf6 I was optimistic. but 26 tLlxc6 'ii'xc6 27 �b4 traps the rook and wins the exchange. the game staggered on.Game Twenty 15 f4 was on the lips of a great many brutes (mine included). but when I saw Short's move.•• 21 tLle2 a4 22 �a2 b4 'ii'xb4 23 axb4 "ilb7 24 �c3 25 ttJd4 Kasparov would very much like to play 25 .. . Play was stopped. �f6 here. the fire alarm went off in the theatre. and I was half expecting them to agree a draw after the break.•• Interviewed afterwards. . who could see no evidence of flames licking up from behind the safety curtain. . and now. and the bishop slightly loose. though I wouldn't like to bet a lunch on this one. . either way. The final score: Kasparov 12Y.i.xf6 lDxf6 33 'ikd2 h6 34 l:d4 'ii'h6 35 c3 a3 The last chance for Short to go for a win is by 36 b4. but in fact it was a good defensive move. . but protects the pawn on b2 as well. . .. after 36 . Short offered a draw which Kasparov accepted immediately. then I imagine that Black can defend. with excellent attacking chances. but leaving a pawn on a3 was not to his taste.e7 27 l:dl .e5+ �f7 3 1 lDxd8+ J:xd8 32 'ikg7 + �e6 33 'ikxb7 winning. Somehow it was predictable that Short wasn't going to chance it. He didn't want to risk the shame of finishing with a loss.i. If any­ thing.t Short 7Y. . Black has the better of it as the pawn on c3 is weak..i. Short tries his best but it is all to no avail. 29 .. but while the one on a2 bites on the e6 pawn.Xa3.'ikf7 28 lDxg7! 'ikxa2 29 lDffi+ �f7 30 'ikg7+ �e6 3 1 lDd4+ �d5.. and was only playing for a win so long as Kasparov had no chances at all. 'ika6 31 l:c4 32 ..i.:. lDf6 de­ pends on whether Short can blast his way through to Black's king with 26 lhe6 fxe6 27 lDxe6. for instance.as 28 h3 lDe8! 29 l:d4 . which is not only a powerful attacking piece.' The assessment of 25 ..xd5 lDxd5 29 . l:e8 30 .128 World Chess Championship mate directly.i.t. though. though the world champion saw no reason to prolong the match for no tangible reward. and is finally in a position to ex­ change off the bishop on c3.f6r 30 'ikd3 Kasparov has re-grouped neatly.:. There are now two principal variations: (a) 27 . - . considering that White must take time out to de­ fend against the threat of the back-rank mate with 32 h3. 36 bxa3 AB he played this move. 'ii'xc6 26 lDxc6 White has the nominal advan­ tage of the two bishops.d5 28 . (b) 27 . this counts for little. .i.i.xg7. . But this was no ordinary match . a book which every chess player will want to read . covered the match for the Daily Telegraph. and a chess match began. the former editor of the Observer and Kasparov's biographer. politics and psychological ploys were stripped away.' N igel Short 'It will be Short . Donald Trelford. was N igel Short. 6-8 1111 11111111111111111111 1 9 781 857 440669 . Once the match began. presented Channel 4's extensive television coverage. What was al ready p romising to be a dramatic encounter exploded into an event of u n precedented proportions with the breakaway of Kasparov and Short from the world ' s govern ing body. World Chess Championship is the gripping story of one of the most controversial sporting events of modern times.Garry Kasparov was defending h i s World Championship title against a western challenger for the fi rst time. Together they have produced the definitive record of this dramatic encounter. who earned the right to fight for the c rown with a string of outstan d i ng match victories over the worl d ' s chess elite. H i s opponent. leaving the world's leading gladiators of the mind on a stage of sixty­ four squares. author of How Good is Your Chess ?.' Garry Kasparov 'Only if Garry Kasparov works really hard for the match might he be able to force me to go the whole distance. ' Garry Kasparov (predicting h1s challenger a n d the result) On 7 September 1 993 a phoney war ended. FIDE.and it will be short. Grandmaster Daniel King. and an ongoing war of words between the two players. however. the first British challenger this century.'I don't know of a single person who would say that Garry Kasparov is a good man.' N igel Short JNigel's tragedy is that fate brought him into the world only two years after Kasparov.