Tony Miles: "It's Only Me"

Contents Introduction Index of Openings Acknowledgements Foreword by Leonard Barden The Chess Career of Tony Miles "I played every night for a year until 1 got bored" "A cable"

5 6 7 9 11 23 51 78 93 109 128

16: 17:

"I pushed Karpov all the way for first place at Tilburg" "I beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games, very pretty" "J feel I'm overdue to win some tournaments" "I heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" (including Interview at Lone Pine 1980 - 133) "When 1 play close to home it's the complex-I play badly" "The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg Interpolis 1985" "I get bored with playing the same thing all the time" "I am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented" Problems Solutions to Problems Articles Memories of a generous soul, a great bloke' and a unique personality Tony Miles-one of my best and most loyal friends "Can you show me your game against Karpov

18:

where you played 1... a6, please Mr Miles?" "I have no style-I just make moves"

271 278

Tony Miles's tournament, match and England national team record Index of Opponents

284 288

1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15:

159 175 198 218 240 245 252 264 267

Introduction

I

n November 2001, the chessworld was shocked by the news that Tony Miles, England's first-and most influential-grandmaster, had died suddenly at his home in Birmingham at only 46 years of age. By way of tribute we have now compiled a selection of Tony's most interesting games with his own commentaries. Also included are some of his most memorable articles such as 'Has Karpov lost his marbles?' from Kingpin, together with a number of chess brain-teasers he set his readers and a rare interview he gave at Lone Pine 1980. The majority of the annotations are taken from Tony Miles's chess column in the New Statesman which he conducted from 1976 to 1981a period in which he developed into a world class player-and from his contributions to Chess magazine, first as a budding junior and later as a hardened campaigner on the gruelling chess circuit. In addition there are a fair number of good games which he never fully annotated in words but only with analytical symbols. Games from Tilburg 1984, probably his finest tournament victory, and thrilling Milesencounters such as Belyavsky, Tilburg 1986, one of his most famous wins, have been taken from his Informator and Chess

Player notes (where we have replaced the symbols with words). We were, however, disappointed not to find comments on more of his instructive games with the English Defence, perhaps his favourite opening. Surely he annotated more than those we have managed to unearth here?

Chapter headings come in the form of Miles quotes which highlight key aspects of his 30 year chess career or specific character traits. Meanwhile the tournament record will provide a basis for further research, since he undoubtedly played more events than those listed here. We have also endeavoured to give a glimpse of Miles the man, through our own personal recollections, particularly relating to his school years and his contributions to junior chess in the Midlands. Throughout the book, unless otherwise stated, any commentaries or quotes are by Tony himself. Finally, in case you didn't realise, "It's Only Me" is an anagram of Tony Miles, and was one of his handles on the Internet Chess Club. We feel fortunate to have known Tony and it has been a pleasure to compile this book in his memory. We do hope it does him justice and that readers will enjoy his colourful writing and chess annotations.

Acknowledgements

O

ur sincere thanks to Tony Miles's family, particularly to his cousin Pam and his late Aunt Dev, who unfortunately passed away shortly after Tony. They generously gave us their time and access to his archives. The following publications have given their permission to reproduce Tony Miles's work: New Statesman magazine Miles's chess column ran from mid 1976 to early 1981. Games 9, 22 to 25, 27 to 30, 32 to 35,38 to 41,43,44,46,51 to 68. Articles: 'Noise at Hastings', 'Russian Prodigy', 'Kasparov at the Olympiad', 'Making sense of chess books' Problem Numbers: 2 to 18. New In Chess magazine 'The Impossible Challenge'Tilburg Interpolis 1985 tournament report. Games 83 to 88, 114. Chess magazine Early games up to around the time of Dubna 1976, and again from around 1994 onwards: Games 3 to 8, 10 tol2, 19, 76 to 78,96,98 to 103, 105. 107 to 113. Article: 'Blindfold Simultaneous Exhibition 1984', 'Tony Miles says .. .'

Audio Chess 'Tony Miles Grandmaster'-Tony talking to Mike Basman about Dubna 1976. Games 15 to 18. 'Chess Cafe website' Miles's column started in 1999. Games 115, 117, 118. Article: 'The Holey Wohly?' Kingpin magazine Article: 'Has Karpov Lost His Marbles?' Book reviews: Unorthodox Chess Openings. Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings. Samurai Chess: Mastering the Martial Art of the Milld Informator Games 21. 36, 37, 45, 69 to 72, 75, 79 to 82. 89, 94, 95, 97, 104, 106.116. Inside Chess Games 90 to 93. 'The Chess Player' Series (Tony Gillam) Games 13, 14, (15 to 18 exclams). Part of the introduction to MilesLarsen. London 1980, is taken from LOlldoll 1980 by Tony Miles. Annotations have been reproduced from the following publications: Chess Express (defunct) Games 73, 74. Illternatiollal Chess (defunct) Games 42, 47 to 50. IBM Schaktoernooi Games 20, 31.

8 Acknowledgements

Main sources for quotes Miles's quotes are taken from the New in Chess interview with Miles in 1984, S.W.Gordon interviews with Miles from 1976 and 1980, Chess, British Chess Magazine, New Statesman, Chess Life, Best Games of the Young Grandmasters by Kopec & Pritchett, London 1980 by Miles, National newspapers, Birmingham Evening Mail, and BBC TV programs.

The following people have provided help and advice Jimmy Adams, Michael Basman, James Coleman, Chris Duncan, Malcolm Pein (Chess & Bridge Ltd), Leonard Barden, Bernard Cafferty, Roger De Coverly, John Donaldson, Tony Gillam, Bill Gordon, Stephen Gordon, Bill Hartston, Richard James, Nigel Johnson, Andrew Morley, Richard Parsons, Jodie Soame (New Statesman), Monica Vann, Roelof Westra.

References New Statesman magazine, Chess magazine, British Chess Magazine, New In Chess magazine and Yearbooks, Informator volumes,

Chess Cafe website, Kingpin magazine, The Chess Player Series, Chess Life (USA), Inside Chess (USA), Internet Chess Club, Chess Assistant: Miles's database (Monica Vann), The English Chess Explosion from Miles to Short Keene & Chandler, British Chess Botterill, Levy, Rice, Richardson, Best Games of the Young Grandmasters Kopec & Pritchett, European Junior Championship Groningen 1972 tournament book, Tony Miles Grandmaster audio cassette (Audio Chess UK), 1976 taped conversation with Stephen Gordon (National Open 1976), IBM Schaakto el'1looi 1976 tournament book, IBM Schaktoel'1looi 1977 tournament book, London 1980 Tony Miles, London 1980 Hartston & Reuben, Tilburg Interpolis 1984 tournament book, The Master Game James & Barden, The Master Game (book 2) James & Hartston, The Sicilian Dragon Miles & Moskow, The English Defence King, MCO Tenth edition Korn, Modern Chernev, A Opening Traps Complete Defelice for Black Keene & Jacobs, Best Chess Games 1970-1980 Speelman, Endgame Strategy Shereshevsky, Birmingham Evelling Mail/Post and national newspaper archives (Birmingham Central Library).

T

Foreword by Leonard Barden

ony Miles was the chess player who inspired English talent to defeat Soviet grandmasters and even challenge them for world supremacy. He was a competitive professional, a source of fresh and original opening ideas, a patient strategist ready to win in 100 moves, and a first prize winner at the highest level. Yet Miles never forgot his roots, competing on the English weekend circuit in his prime and later leading Slough to national team titles. I recall an early image of Tony and his fierce will to succeed, when he played Kuzmin in the England v USSR match in the European championship at Bath 1973. Kuzmin was a bruiser, hard-faced and muscular, while Tony already had his trademark mannerisms as he poured his glass of milk and placed his wristwatch over his score sheet to hide his notation, which he recorded in Cyrillic to Kuzmin' s evident bewilderment. They whipped out their moves staccato, and as time pressure loomed at the end of the session play became almost physical as they leaned towards each other like a couple of heavyweights. Tony's schoolboy talent blossomed around 1970 at just the right time for himself and for British chess. Older masters were retired or past their best, while a younger group

led by Keene and Hartston seemed unlikely to scale the heights. Abroad, Fischer and Larsen were defeating Russians in a style which excited the chess pUblic. The search was on for an Englishman who could also take on the Soviets. Jim Slater, then the City's most dynamic young financier, was already backing a talent programme and an English bid for the junior World Championship. After his money saved the Fischer v Spassky match in Reykjavik from collapse, he offered a £5,000 prize for the first English grandmaster. Slater considered going further with £10,000 for an Englishman reaching the world top 30, but decided to wait. Just as well, since his business collapsed in the next two years and the higher prize could not have been honoured. The race with Keene for the Slater award triggered a fresh advance in Tony's strength. In 1976 he tied for first with Korchnoi at Amsterdam, in 1977 he was second to Karpov at Tilburg and in the BBC Master Game, and in 1978 he brilliantly beat Spassky at Montilla. So Tony concluded that "the only thing left is to have a go at Karpov". I'm not sure if it was a wise move to make this public. As postglasnost documents revealed, the Soviets had a dedicated programme to try to stop Fischer, and I have the impression that after 1978 USSR

10 Foreword

grandmasters played specially hard against Miles. This clearly happened at the 1979 Riga Interzonal where Tony (whose preparation had typically been a few UK weekenders) started among the leaders but then fell back when he met the Russians. His famous win over Karpov at Skara 1980 was an exception to the World Champion's convincing victories in many of their other games at this time. Karpov's post-game fury when he branded 1 e4 a6 as lese ml1jesle is consistent with shame at letting the side down by failing to subdue the Western upstart. After Riga, Miles tacitly abandoned his pretentions to the world crown and played to his strengths as a top GM. He again beat Karpov in the BBC Master Game 1983, while his first place at Tilburg 1984 was the finest British tournament result by anyone up to that time. He totalled 81l1, was Ilh points clear of the field, and defeated three world candidates. At Tilburg 1985 he injured his back, played stomach down on a massage table, and reduced his opponents to a petition against the table. Miles's vintage period ended with his ill-health and his '22-eyed monster' defeat by Kasparov in 1986. A decade later, he relaunched

his career by combining tournament play with coaching, writing, and leading the Slough team. He won the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba three times, and gained many new admirers with his witty Chess Cafe internet column and his contributions to Kingpin magazine. He poked fun at the pretentious, and put forward constructive ideas to improve the world chess scene. The humour and warmth of Miles the man comes through in his writing. Tony's legacy to British chess can be seen in the successes of our players in the two decades after he won a world title and beat the reigning World Champion. He broke the barrier of over-respect for Russians, and set a high achievement target for his friends and contemporaries. Tony showed that in chess you have to demand the best from yourself, and that became the English chess ethos. Michael Adams, Nigel Short, Jon Speelman, John Nunn and Matthew Sadler are only the cream of many who over-fulfilled what could have been reasonable expectations from them when they were juniors. In his final years Tony was passionately involved in junior coaching, so I hope this book will help inspire future generations of English talent to aim for the heights.

T

1: The Chess Career of Tony Miles

ony Miles was born on St.George's Day-April 23 rd 1955, in Edgbaston, Binningham-the son of Jennie and Jack Miles. '/ learned to play from my father at age five. / played every night for a year until I got bored. I then 'retired' for three years. My life in chess really began as a type of accident, since I started playing at school when I was nine. There was a chess craze at the time and I found that / was good at the game. / always beat everyone, in eluding teachers.' From the age of II he played competitive chess several times a week. This was the beginning of a pattern of intense chess activity that was to last his whole career. The young Miles loved all kinds of sports-rugby, cricket, swimming, athletics-but in the field of chess came the realization 'I had something special. ' At II he won the Binningham Primary Schools Championship, and subsequently joined the Binningham Chess Club, where some of the stronger players encouraged the promising schoolboy-in particular Bernard Cafferty and Peter Gibbs, even if today they both tend to play down their role, saying he received no fonnal coaching. But one thing is certain-already apparent at this young age was Miles's independence of thought and self-reliance,

which was to become even more pronounced later. He seemed to prefer to go his own way, rather than heed the opinions of others. Miles attended King Edwards School in Edgbaston which set demanding academic standards. His school reports paint a clear picture of the pupil doing just enough work to get by, while concentrating on the more important matter of perfecting his skills at the game he played so well! One tart comment, from General Studies, gives the flavour of the reports: 'Perhaps one day he will realise there are more things in heaven and earth than chess. At the moment he cannot conceive of such a possibility. Thus his only creditable activity in this subject has been that he has turned up. Othe/wise he has said nothing, done nothing, and looked pretty bored. He needs to learn the inestimable value of intellectual humility. ' In 1967, he started playing in the Binningham Easter Congresses, run by Ritson Morry, the Midland and Hastings chess organizer. He won the West Midlands Under-I2 title but, more remarkably, finished runner-up in the Binningham Open Speed Championships. In his first national competition, aged 12, he scored 50% in the British Under-I4 Championship, losing to title winner John Nunn. In the Binningham Easter Congress 1968, he played no

12 The Chess Career of Tony Miles

fewer than four games a day, winning the Under-16 and Under-14 titles, the Boys' Lightning Championship and placing well in the Open Lightning event. Accompanied by his father, he went on to win the British Under-14 title in Bristol, though again losing to Nunn, and then, in 1969, to share 2nd place with Nunn in the British Under-18s, this time gaining his revenge in their individual game. By the age of 15, Miles was more than a match for national experts. Perhaps his first really significant result in adult competition was when he became the youngest ever Midland Open Champion at the 1970 Birmingham Easter Congress. After this he represented England Under-18s in the Glorney Cup, winning all his games, but, surprisingly, then made a disastrous showing at the Islington Junior. Apparently his accommodation was poor during the tournament and he vowed always to choose better lodgings in the future (indeed, throughout his career, there were shades of Bobby Fischer in his reports of complaints made to hotels around the world.) Miles surged ahead in 1971, registering his first international success at the Nice Junior Invitation, which he won on tiebreak from the World Junior Champion Werner Hug. He then added the British Under-21 trophy to his growing collection. In the 1971172 Birmingham and District League First Division, he scored a record 9 1h1l0, playing mainly on top board, and on his British Championship debut in 1972, he scored a respectable 50%. He made his first appearance for the full England squad in the Anglo-Dutch

match shortly afterwards, winning both his games on board nine. After famously saving the Fischer Spassky match from collapse, at the Hastings 1972/3 Congress financier Jim Slater announced, 'I am offering a cash prize of £5,000 to the first British chess player to become a grandmaster.• This was an enormous sum of money at the time, equivalent to something approaching £ I 00,000 today, and came at just the right moment for Miles's generation. Meanwhile, Miles represented England in the 1973 European Junior in Groningen. His second place behind Oleg Romanishin was a tremendous performance since he was two to three years younger than his main rivals. He then crossed the Atlantic to play in the US National Open and Lone Pine events, where his results exceeded expectations. In the latter he lost only in the last round-to American grandmaster Arthur Bisguier. This was followed by his best result so far when, in Birmingham, he not only became the 4'h youngest ever winner of an International Tournament but also obtained his first 1M norm. Here he gained his revenge on Bisguier and led by a whole point after 6 rounds. 'I stayed up half the night analyzing, tlying in vain to find a win, when I adjoumed against Carleton. I found it frustrating and tiring when I only drew that game.' Going into the last round. Miles shared the lead, half a of the British point ahead Champion, Eley. 'I knew how Eley would play, and decided that I would have to checkmate him before he offered me a draw. So I played aggressively to win, and it worked. '

The Chess Career of TOllY Miles 13

At the World Junior Championship 1973, Miles finished a close second to Russian IM Alexander Belyavsky, despite winning their individual game and despite having his luggage stolen at the start of the tournament! 'My worst momellt in chess was the despair I felt during the 1973 World JUlliol' Champiollship. About five rounds before the end, I knew I would 1I0t win and discovered that it meant more to me than I had realised. ' Tony Miles was a proud man, rarely asking for help from others, but after this personal disappointment he phoned Leonard Barden, seeking his assurance that Bernard Cafferty would be his second at the 1974 event. After finishing 4,h= in the British Championship he won a weak tournament in Malta with 11111 and then returned to England to come 3'd= in the strong London Chess Club Invitational. Showing no signs of fatigue, he jetted straight back to Malta, this time winning a stronger tournament there which included Belgian grandmaster O'Kelly de Galway. He again made a clean score of 11/11! By now it was time for him to attend Sheffield University as an undergraduate: , When I started to study mathematics I decided that I had to work at my studies at least for the first trimester. I didn't do anything, but I didn't play chess during those three momhs either. I drank a lot and weflf to discotheques a lot. But afterwards I played at Hastillgsand started with lout of 7. I simply couldn't play anymore. It was ollly in the secolld half of the tournament

that I got going. I made 41h out of 8, including a win from Kuzmitl. So it took me seven rounds to remember how I must play chess. ' At Hastings he also had the better of the play in a hard fought draw against the other Soviet entrant, former World Champion Mikhail Tal. He was fearless against the best players, simply stating that 'these gllys miss things.' Miles honed his toughness on the 1974 UK weekend circuit, sharing the £ I 000 Grand Prix with Gerald Bennett-'Swisses are different, but OK, because they make you aggressive. ' He was a frequent winner of weekenders, due in no small measure to his physical strength and sheer persistence, and was by now, to all intents and purposes, a chess professional. Miles's chess style was once described as a street-fighter's: 'I used that description once, becallse I learned to play chess mostly at weekend tournaments. Six rounds in one weekend, and you have to will all of those games, so that mealls you have to fight. Even if there is 110 way to fight you still have to find a way to win. But just ''fighter'' is enough, YOIl can drop the "street ". ' Miles's wish came true and Bernard Cafferty accompanied him to the 1974 World Junior Championship. Manila was rainswept and games were sometimes delayed for an hour while the competitors literally waded through floods to the tournament hall-but he triumphed brilliantly, clinching the title with a round to spare after defeating his main rival Kochiev in a scintillating Sicilian Dragon. Five years later he described this as his favourite game:

14 The Chess Career of Tony Miles

'No small part of my favouritism is due to the fact that it clinched the World Junior Championship for me -one ofmy best moments in chess. ' In 1975, Sheffield University awarded Miles an Honorary Master of Arts degree in recognition of his achievements in chess, particularly that of becoming World Junior Champion (to this day he remains the only Englishman to have won this coveted title). During 1975, while ostensibly a student, Miles again won the UK Grand Prix, this time outright. He also managed to fit in five international tournaments. Bearing in mind Slater's £5,000 otTer, Miles was pressing hard for a grandmaster result although Raymond Keene was widely expected to become England's first GM, having already achieved his first grandmaster norm the previous year. Miles's breakthrough came at the London International. He easily won the tournament, restricted to under-30-year-olds, beating three of the four grandmasters present and exceeding the GM norm by half a point. The quest for the title had suddenly become a two-horse race between Miles and Keene but in the following Teesside and Hastings tournaments they both fell short of the required norms. In 1976 Miles received an invitation to a strong tournament in the Russian town of Dubna. Despite the tough opposition and freezing temperature he remained on course for the GM title. But then he lost to Suetin and was left needing a win in the final round, with Black, against the untitled Kostro of Poland. The pressure was on the 20 year old English player, 'My nerves did a fair amount to counter the strength

of my opponent " and in a tense game he emerged victorious. And so Miles had become England's first grandmaster and, incidentally, the youngest in the world at that time. With hindsight this provided the springboard for English chess as more players aspired to the title and competed with confidence against the world's best. His early record against Soviet players was impressive and right after Dubna he said '/t's still about plus six, wins against Belyavsky twice, Bronstein twice, Kuzmin, Vagal/ian ... ' Before he left for Dubna, he had been asked by a friend in London, Eddy Penn, to send a telegram if he was successful in his quest for the title. A fortnight later he received one with the words: ' A cable-Tony Miles.' Miles's success was due in no small part to his superb play in several tough endgames. Respected Soviet trainer, GM Mikhail Shereshevsky, wrote in 1985: • The el/dgame play of grandmaster Miles is characterized by unhurried manoeuvring and the accumulation of small advantages, according to the principle 'do not hurry '. But when his advantage attains decisive dimensions, the English player is transformed, and he uses all his tactical skill to reach Iris goal by the shortest path, although quieter, more lengthy roads might be found. A player of the past who acted in this manner was the outstanding Russian Champion Alexander Alekhine.' Returning to England, he gave interviews at his parents' house in Birmingham, before departing for the USA: '/ expect / shall find myself playing chess for a living. I'm far

The Chess Career of Tony Miles 15

too lazy to do anything else. I really don't do enough work. It would be helpful if I knew more about the theoretical side of chess. I don't think I'm very temperamental though I am vaguely moody about my games. Sometimes I feel like playing, sometimes I don't.' Miles sensationally tied for first place with Viktor Korchnoi in the 1976 IBM Amsterdam tournament, ahead of nine GMs, thus emphasizing his ability to compete against the world's best. He represented England on top board at the weakened Haifa Olympiad in 1976, scoring well. He wrote: 'England's third place at the Haifa Olympiad has been widely acclaimed as a success. Personally, I am inclined to disagree. The result can be put into perspective by a comparison with the previous Olympiad at Nice. There England finished tenth. However, (because many of the top teams were missing) England effectively moved up from fourth to third. Thus, considering that the England team is supposed to be considerably stronger than ever before, the result can scarcely be regarded as a vast improvement. ' From 1977 to 1979, Miles concentrated on forging a career based on international tournament play and virtually abandoned weekend and open Swiss tournaments. As the world's youngest grandmaster he earned a good living from top level tournaments-it must be remembered that in those 'Iron Curtain' days the USSR would only send two players at most to any Western tournament. At Bad Lauterberg 1977 he lost in his first meeting against the reigning World Champion, Anatoly Karpov. In the

Soviet chess journal 64 Karpov wrote: 'Miles has a well-rehearsed opening repertoire and resourcefulness in critical situations ... which makes up for his lack of proper training and technique. He is an extremely nervous man and resembles Henrique Mecking, but once he finds himself in a difficult position, just like the young Brazilian, he forgets about all else and clasps his head in his hands. ' At the next IBM tournament in Amsterdam he repeated his success, winning by a whole point. Miles fared better in his meeting against Karpov in the BBC Master Game final, defending very well to draw the first game, and the replay. The rapid-play final game was a treat for viewers: Karpov had too little time to replace a newly promoted pawn, and at one stage in the furious finish missed a mate in one with his 'pawn', before eventually emerging triumphant. Shortly after this, Miles recorded a sensational second place in the world's strongest tournament, the Tilburg Interpolis, in 1977. Here he finished second behind Karpov and a point ahead of the rest of the field, sending a clear message that he had World Championship Candidate potential-and all of this within two years of qualifying for his GM title. After losing to Karpov with a dubious opening line, he described the World Champion's ease of play: 'Karpov's so thorouglzly prepared, he's got an opening repertoire that he knows absolutely inside out. It's almost impossible to gain an advantage from the opening against him. Once he realizes what's going on in a position he

16 The Chess Career of Tony Miles

seems to grasp it completely, and he'll just chum out move after move very quickly. 1t's as though everything's completely worked out in his head and he doesn't have to work out anything at all, he jllst walks around and comes back and plays the moves. Fantastic speed of play very frequently, even when he has a tiny advantage, nothing really significant. ' After all the excitement of 1977, the following year must have seemed like something of an anti-climax to Miles. For most of 1978 he was unable to win a single tournament. But he did register two beautiful wins against former World Champion Boris Spassky, employing his patented 4 il..f4 variation in the Queen's Indian Defence. These victories showed Miles's all-round strength-the first was a superb attacking display, the second a technical effort. Miles married Jana Hartston, an anaesthetist. Jana was Czech woman champion in 1965 and 1967 and regularly won the British Ladies Championship. Unfortunately this marriage broke up after three years. Speaking to the local Evening Mail newspaper Tony said 'We are more or less on speaking terms-I think this will put me off marriage for a while, though perhaps not for ever. Marriage is illogical anyway.' Tony and Jana remained good friends. Miles made his first attempt at the World Championship by competing in the Amsterdam Zonal 1978 and won an Interzonal place by finishing equal first with Timman. It was a good moment to register his only tournament victory that year. He performed solidly throughout 1979 without winning any

tournaments. In the British Championship he lost to a young Nigel Short, who himself almost won the title. The Riga Interzonal started soon after, leaving Miles with little time for preparation. Speelman was his second, though perhaps not an ideal choice since Miles was never at ease with those he viewed as rivals and the two players had a very different approach to the game. Much was expected of him, but, after starting well, his challenge faded as he lost six games to the top eight finishers. British chess fans were disappointed. Miles later said, somewhat enigmatically: 'It was supposed to be the biggest tournament of my life and I just did" 't feel like playing chess. I wanted to play, but the motivation just wasn't there. ' Shortly after Riga, Miles finished equal 2nd in the Buenos Aires Clarin event, with Spassky, Andersson, Najdorf and Gheorghiu, behind tournament winner Bent Larsen. 1980 proved to be one of Miles's most successful years. At the European Team Championship in the remote Swedish township of Skara he faced the World Champion Anatoly Karpov in the first round. In probably the most famous game ever played by an Englishman, Karpov opened I e4, whereupon Miles, fresh from a skiing holiday, replied with the unbelievable \...a6. The audience apparently could not contain their laughter and Miles scored a sensational victory. Karpov appears to have simply not adjusted to the shock of the opening. England's first grandmaster had achieved another 'milestone' in his career by beating a reigning World Champion!

The Chess Career of Tony Miles 17

'When / beat Karpov with 1... a6 and 2 ... b5 at the European Team Championship in 1980, he did not resign the game personally. The Soviet team captain signed the scoresheet. / heard from others that he felt insulted by my choice of opening. ' Mike Basman had played l...a6 frequently, calling it the St. George Defence, partly because Miles's birthday is on St. George's day! Miles himself suggested the Birmingham Defence, after his home town. His choice of opening was perhaps more than just a whim. At Montreal 1979, Larsen beat Karpov with the Center Counter Defence. Miles wrote: 'This game adds further weight to the suspicion that the World Champion is a little vulnerable to unusual openings.' He was the highest scorer on the top board at Skara and England made a breakthrough, capturing the bronze medal. Phillips and Drew, London 1980, was the strongest tournament to be held in England since Nottingham 1936, which had fielded five World Champions. Showing great determination, Miles shared first place with Korchnoi and Andersson, the first time he had taken top honours in an event of this calibre. His result was hailed by Hartston and Reuben as 'perhaps the greatest ever by a British player' . Back to his winning ways, he then tied for first place at Las Palmas with Petrosian and Geller, and also returned to weekenders-oJ always play in weekend tourtlaments just to keep playing.' Including weekend tournaments, his winning streak eventually extended to ten straight firsts, including Vrbas where he

triumphed ahead of Petros ian and Gligoric. But after losing to Short in the final of the BBC Master Game, Miles congratulated his young opponent, adding: 'Please try not to make a habit of it!' His stunning successes in 1980 had perhaps revived his World Championship hopes, but Miles declined his invitation to compete in the somewhat chaotically organized 1982 West European zonal, also stating: 'If / were ever to become the challenger to Karpov, / should be up against not an individual but a nation. ' It is somewhat curious that Miles only achieved a single victory in the British Championship and that was in 1982. He dominated the event and with further successes at L10yds Bank and Benedictine, boosted his score to record levels in his third UK Grand Prix win. Then, in 1983, he again sensationally defeated Karpov: 'One of my best moments in chess, winning a BBC television tOUl·nament by beating Karpov. / even had Black in that game!' In 1984 Miles again won the UK Grand Prix, taking his tally to four. After finishing bottom at Tilburg 1981, for the next two years he did not receive any invitation. But in 1984 he made no mistake and became the first Westerner to win this prestigious tournament which fielded half of the world's top ten players. 'Of course, my best result ever was winning the /984 Tilburg super-GM tourtlament. ' After a typically lethargic start, Miles hit top form with five

18 The Chess Career of Tony Miles

consecutive wins, including victories over Smyslov. Portisch and Timman, thereby surpassing his previous best at Tilburg 1977 where he won four straight games. In several games he showed great tenacity: 'A bad position does lIot discourage me, it's a coincidence that is WI aspect of your profession. Possibly with the exception of Kwpov, evelybody gets into a bad positioll once in a while, so that's not a reason at all to simply lose them. YOII also have to find a way to save lost positions and lIy to win them. if possible. It's the same as my game against Portisch. I don't remember who, but someone told me that it was a game typical for an Englishman, surviving a terrible position. I think it was a typical I-game. ' Of his recent form, Miles said: 'Things were wrong with me. I'd put 011 a stone and it wouldn't go away. My weight wasn't going back to normal. I'd lost presence and aggression. My physical condition was suddenly bad. I'd always been physically strong. For the past eight mOlllhs, I played like all idiot. (Theil I wall 31 consecutive games on the UK weekend circllit)-such training was like joining Alcoholics Anonymous. But if this is the result, well... I feel positive and much more healthy. I needed a boost. I can't win the British Championship with the Nigel Shorts and JOllathall Speelmans, but I can win the big aile at Tilburg. ' (laughing). What was Miles's board presence like? Well, his posture at the board was fairly typical of many players -he held his head in his hands, with his elbows resting on the

playing table and he covered his ears. He worked immensely hard at the board. 'That's the way it developed over the years and now I can't do otherwise. It looks velY concentrated, but I could just as well go to sleep. Sometimes when I'm tired I close my eyes. Then I lower my hallds a little so that nobody notices.' During play he had characteristic idiosyncrasies. He usually had a glass of milk beside him and used a large silver-strapped watch to cover up his moves on his scoresheet. He often wrote down his proposed reply soon after his opponent had moved but would usually analyse it further before actually executing it, and occasionally changed his mind. He constantly removed invisible specks of dust from the board, pointed his knights to his right, and wore a silver bracelet which he removed at the end of the game. He also tended to blow his nose during play: 'The handkerchief is a tic. Maybe I'm a bit too sensitive. I wear the bracelet out of superstitioll. It has some significance to me ... I can't e;rplain that. ' At the Thessaloniki Olympiad 1984 England won the silver medal, where John Nunn scored a remarkable 10/11 on board two, thereby jumping ahead of Miles on the Elo rating list. In the Tunis Interzonal 1985, Miles said that his problems began when he lost on time in a winning position with one move to make against Zapata. He seemed out of sorts, losing to the Interzonal winner Yusupov in only 24 moves. A couple of months later he found his

The Chess Career of Tony Miles J9

form, sharing first place with Portisch and Ribli, ahead of Smyslov and Gligoric, in the Vidmar Memorial at Portorozi Ljubljana. At Tilburg Interpolis in 1985, Miles's shared first place was achieved despite crippling back trouble. He played lying flat on his stomach for most of the tournament, on what was dubbed his 'massage table'! Various players lodged a protest saying that they felt distracted and this made Miles even more determined than usual. Feeling that his integrity was being questioned, he wrote a detailed tournament diary, 'The Impossible Challenge', published in New III Chess. Twice he beat Korchnoi, hitherto a difficult opponent for him-his first win being achieved in the conventional sitting position! At the Lucerne World Team Championship, England finished third and Miles won the silver medal on top board. He now lived in West Germany for much of the time as he not only played in the Bundesliga for PorziKoln but found it convenient for travelling to European tournaments. During the latter half of 1985 he played the huge number of 86 rated games, regained his spot as the top ranked British player, and rose to equal ninth in the world. In 1986 Miles contested a match against the new World Champion Kasparov. Although he had chances, he went down fighting 'h-5 Ih, commenting wryly 'I thought I was playing a World Champion, 1I0t a mOllster with 22 eyes who sees everything'. Many commentators believe that this result marked a turning point in his career and the following year he admitted:

'I dOll 't consider myself a contender for the World Championship-I don't consider myself to be quite that good. On a good day J could be about number three ill the world. To be better than that you'd have to be completely devoted to chess, which I'm 1I0t. ' At the 1986 Dubai Olympiad England came closest yet to capturing the gold medal, finishing half a point below the Soviet team. Then in 1987, after a ten year reign, Miles was overtaken as British number one by Nigel Short, who again qualified for the Candidates. At the Zagreb Interzonal Miles lost six games, three to tailenders. Around this time the well publicized Miles-Keene dispute broke out. At the Tunis Interzonal in 1985 Keene claimed to have acted as Miles's second for which he received a payment from the British Chess Federation. However Miles publicly announced that Keene was not his second and felt that the BCF did not investigate the matter fully. The controversy escalated and Miles commenced legal proceedings (which never reached court) and went so far as to indicate that he did not wish to be considered for future English team selection. In fact he transferred his allegiance to the USA. However the dispute took a heavy toll on him, his sleep was badly affected and he suffered a period of ill health which forced him out of chess for a few months. These were difficult times for Miles-he had never really taken any sort of break from competitive chess before. After some indifferent results, he recovered his form a little and shared first place at the 1988 Dutch Open. In Chess Life, he

20 The Chess Career of Tony Miles

summed up his unfortunate last place in the 1988 US Championship: 'I came in with flu and jet lag. They're II0t l'elY origillal excuses, bUI I IIever got going. It was lIIuch fiercer thall I expected. I gal carved up ill my first three games with Black. Well, that was the elld of it. It was only an J I-round tournament, and by the time 1 started playing it was too late. The last year has heen a disasTer for me. I'm just playing alld tlying to improve again. As you kilo 11", I was velY ill last year. I spellf (/ period of about three 1IIollths where I didn't sleep at all, alld my entire nervous system virtually collapsed. All sorts of things went wrong with me. It had nothing to do with my back. Just 1.1. serious cl.I.se of insomnia having enormous side effects. For a period of six to nine months, I just couldn't play chess at all. Whenever I tried, I dropped anolher 25 rating points. Now, I'm okay, but I've effectively been alit of chess for a year. My openings I.I.re a year out of dale. I'm rusty. My rating is at the lowest point in the last 13 years since I hecame a grandmastcr. It's :!50() /lOW; when I WI.I.S I.I.n 1M, it was 2510. Down used to be always 2550 and up over 2600.

I don't wallt to go on playing chess forever. but I dOll't intend to stop because I call 't play. I want to get back up there first. Then if I want to stop, I'll stop hecause I walll to, nol because J can't play any more. It's only a game. It's enjoyable. It's a nice way to earn a living. As a game itse((. it '.I' never had fallfastic importance to me. '

Miles did not take up residence in the USA but continued to live mainly in West Germany. Larry Hanken wrote in Chess Life: 'Miles, a true cosmopolitan, is a British subject who plays for a West German team alld lives in West Germany much of the year. He maintains residence in Andorra where he pays his ta.res, and unofficially represents the United States of America out of a New York state mailing address [the American Chess Foundation post office box]. , Miles met his second wife Jeannie in Adelaide. They married in April 1989 and moved to Birmingham but the marriage was doomed to failure and they separated in 1991. He seemed to come to terms with the fact that his globetrotting lifestyle would never allow him to be a conventionally ideal husband. Miles's form improved in 1989. At Los Angeles he tied for first, ahead of Tal, Larsen and Browne. Then, after a playoff subsequent to the US Championship, he qualified for the Manila Interzonal, where he finished half-way. In the early nineties he spent some time living in Australia, thanks to the hospitality of his friend and travelling companion Alex Wohl. At the end of 1991 Miles applied for, and was granted, British Chess Federation membership, and indicated that he now wished to play again for England in future events. After a string of wins in Australia, he resettled in Birmingham. Miles was a natural teacher and from this point on he actively encouraged many youngsters in the Midlands, mainly through his Presidency of the Checkmate Chess Club, for which he received no fees.

The Chess Career of Tony Miles 21

From now on he competed mainly in Open tournaments. A high point was at Seville 1993 where he made a 2800-result and received a standing ovation for his victory. He described this as 'the tournament of my life-so far!' One all-play-all in which he did compete regularly, however, was the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba, where he had an impressive record. In 1994, at Matanzas, he tied for first (Van Wely won on tie-break) and he also scored three outright victories, the most memorable of which was the 1996 event in which 12 of the 14 participants were Grandmasters and he defeated his five nearest rivals! In 1997 he finished second behind his friend, Peter Leko. In 1995, he won a strong all-play-all in Benasque ahead of Andersson and Psakhis, while at the PCA Intel Rapid Chess Grand Prix in London he scored a famous victory over Vladimir Kramnik in the quarter-final after a playoff in front of a partisan audience. At the end, he punched the air in delight. Miles first played for Slough in the Four Nations Chess League (4NCL) when they won their first national title in 1995/6. He became team captain a couple of seasons later and successfully guided the team to two further titles. In the 1997 British Championship he tied for first (Adams and Sadler won the tie-break) and in 1998 came 3'd, with wins in the last two rounds against Speelman and Short. In 1999 he was diagnosed with diabetes. His energy levels were affected and he reduced his playing schedule. At his final tournament, the British Championship 2001, he

withdrew prior to the final round due to illness. But he continued to captain and play for Slough in the 4NCL where he was laying a strong junior foundation for the club. In Birmingham he competed daily on the local bridge circuit, a game which he threw himself into with the same passion as he showed for chess. In November 2001, Tony Miles died suddenly from heart failure related to diabetes. He passed away at home after having spent much of the previous day with friends. A one minute silence was held in his memory at the start of the seventh round in the European Team Championships in Leon ...

Summary Tony Miles's chess career spanned over 30 years, commencing just as b~rormator was launched and long before the start of the computer generation. A strong junior, his rise was rapid from the age of 18. He won the World Junior Championship in 1974, gaining the International Master title. Then within two years he became a Grandmaster, England's first and the youngest in the world at the time. After impressive results in 1976 and 1977, Miles had aspirations for the World Championship. However, his results against the World Champion Karpov and top players such as Korchnoi, Portisch and Timman were perhaps not encouragingthese players were theoretically well prepared. In 1984, he commented on his approach to study: '(at University) The mathematical studies flopped-quickly, because it couldn't fascinate me. I could find

22 The Chess Career of Tony Miles

no impetus whatsoever to study for an examination that 1 would have to do in three years time. The same as chess, 1 can't study something abstract that does not have any practical significance for me at the moment. There must be a challenge, an opponent and some excitement.' After the Riga Interzonal 1979, it seems that he more or less abandoned hopes of challenging for the world title: 'I want to be among the top ten in the world. But how much do 1 want to improve? The World Championship is out of the question. 1 dOli 't have any concrete ambitions. 1 want to get to the Candidates and that's about it. ' (1980) Throughout his career Miles played frequently-he revelled in the fight. He won tournaments at the highest level-Tilburg Interpol is 1984 and 1985 are perhaps his best results. An original thinker, Miles was a sharp tactician and a chess artist with a high level of endgame technique. He played many beautiful games. He beat the reigning World Champion Karpov twice, scored wins against former title holders Spassky, Tal and Smyslov, and frequently defeated World Championship Candidates. He is one of the strongest players not to have reached the Candidates stage of the World Championship. Miles represented England on top board from 1976 to 1986, was the top scorer at the European Team Championships in 1980 and won the

silver medal at the World Team Championships in 1985. During this period the English national team enjoyed unprecedented success, winning bronze medals at the 1976 Haifa Olympiad and European Team Championships in 1980, and silver medals at the Thessaloniki 1984 and Dubai 1986 Olympiads. Miles's impact on the English game was immense and he ranks among the greatest ever English players. He was well liked and made friends the world over. He always amazed lesser players and amateurs by his willingness to talk chess matters to them, valuing their opinions. He is sadly missed. Against Anatoly Vaisser, at the Elista Olympiad in 1998, Miles played a game so bizarre that it appeared as if his sense of humour had taken over completely: 'That's my nature. I am 1I0t velY serious whell I play, 1 mean 1 do concentrate but that is only a part of it-I have a strong telldency to look at crazy things first. When promoting a pawn 1 prefer a bishop to a queen if that is possible. 1 am very fond of let us say, three rooks on the board. III a weekend tournament 1 had that once, and instead of resigning my opponent allowed himself to be mated beautifully in the middle of the board. That appeals to me. ' Tony Miles, England's First Grandmaster, 1955-2001.

2: "I played every night for a year until I got bored"

I

n this early game, 12 year-old Miles opens 1 e4 and faces the Sicilian Dragon, an opening which he later enthusiastical1y adopted himself: 1 A.J.Miles White P.K.Bissicks Black Sunday Times Schools Competition 1967 Sicilian Defelice

(notes by 12 year old Tony Miles) 1 e4 cS 2 ttJO d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ttJxd4 ttJf6 S ttJc3 g6 6 ~e3 ~g7 7 ~e2 ttJc6 8 f3 0-0 9 "d2 dS 10 ttJxc6 bxc6 11 0-0-0 Pinning the d-pawn. 11 ...~e612 eS Here come the pawns. 12 ... ttJd7 13 f4 "a5 14 g4l:tfd8 So as to play ... d4 and ~xa2. This was impossible before: 14 ... d4 15 "xd4 ~xa2 16 "xd7. IS a3 :tab8

Seemingly threatening ... :txb2, but ttJb5! wins. 16 ttJbl Relieving any danger. 16 ..... xd2+ 17 lbd2 ttJb6 To cover the a-pawn. 18l:tfl Threatening to advance the pawns. 18...~f8? Useless. 19 fS Charge. 19 ...gxfS 20 gxfS i.c8 21 f6 On they come. 21...exf6 22 exf6 ~h8 23 ~cS+

~xb2l:tb8+,

~e8

23 ... ~g8 24 :tgl+. 24~e7

Tearing open Black's position. 24 ... ~h3 If 24 ... l:td7 25 :tgl wins. 2Sl:tgl l:td7? 25 ... l:tdc8 26 ~a6 wins. 26 :tg8 mate.

...

,..

In the next junior encounter Miles gains his revenge against John Nunn, having previously lost twice to him in the British Under-14 Championships. The game fol1owed theory, known to Miles, and he only used five minutes on his clock:

24 "I played every nightfor a year until I got bored"

2 A.J.Miles White J.D.M.Nunn Black British U-18 Championship 1969 Max Lange Attack

1 e4 e5 2 1lJf3 llJc6 3 ~c4 llJf6 4 d4 exd4 5 0-0 ~c5 6 e5 d5 7 exf6 dxc4 8 %:tel+ ~e6 9 llJg5 ..wd5 10 llJc3 ..wf5 11 llJce4 ~b6 12 fxg7 %:tg8 13 g4 ~g6 14 llJxe6 fxe6 15 ~g5 h6 16..wf3 hxg5 1711Jf6+
18 1:be6!
• • • •

6 .....wc7 7 ~d3 e6 8 0-0 llJbd7 9 a4 b6 10..wf3 ~b7 II g4 It's useful to move Black's king knight to prevent a later ... dS. 11...11Jc5 12 g5 llJfd7 13 ~d2 On 13 fS 0-0-0 seems playable, after which White's king might become exposed. 13 ...g6 14 b4 An interesting idea, forcing the exchange leaving White with a space advantage and the open c-fiIe for the two bishops. 14 ... ~g7 15 llJce2 llJxd3 16 cxd3 0-0 17 %:tael ~d8 18 llJc6 ..we8 19 ~f2 %:tc8 20 llJcd4 llJb8 Trying to exploit White's exposed queenside pawns and tempt bS aIlowing the knight to come back to c5. 21 %:txc8 ~xc8 1f2l...~xc8 22 f5 looks strong. 2211Jf3 Now if 22 ... ~xa4 23 ~xb6 llJc6 24 %:tcl ~d7 2S ..wc7 picks up a pawn ( 25 .. J~d8 261hc6). 22...~d8 23 ~e3 liJd7 24 %:tel as

By the age of 15 Miles was more than a match for strong national players. He made his first real breakthrough when he won the Nice Junior Invitation in 1971: 3 A.J.Miles White P .Szekely Black junior International, Nice 1971 Sicilian Defelice 1 e4 c5 2 1lJf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 llJxd4 llJf6 5 llJc3 a6 6 f4 Rather than getting lost in a main line I decided on a slower variation.

This brings the game to life-if White aIlows Black to establish a knight on c5 life gets difficult-so I

"[ played every night for a year IIntil [got bored" 25

felt obliged to induce complications. (If 25 bxa5 bxa5 26 l:tc6 lLlc5! breaks out: 27 Sl.xc5 dxc5 28 ..wxc5 'Wxd3). 2S lLled4 axb4 26 lLlc6 'We8 27 i.xb6 b3 On 27 ... lLlc5 28 lLlxb4 lLlxa4 29 i.d4 keeps some chances, but ... b3 looks the best active chance as the b-pawn is extremely useful. 28 i.d4 eS At the time Black played this (with just over 10 minutes left to reach the time control at move 40) was furiously trying to calculate the consequences of 28 ... lLlc5 and if 29 i.xc5 ..wxc6 or 29 i.xg7 lLlxd3. Some days and much analysis later I eventually found: 29 i.xg7 lLlxd3 (not 1;xg7? 'Wd4+) 30 'iib6! lLlxcl (again if~xg7 'Wd4+) 31 i.f6! with a winning attack: 31 ... h5 32 gxh6 (threat lLlg5) 32 ... ~h7 33 lLlg5+ ~xh6 34 'iWf2 and wins. 29 fxeS dxeS 30 Sl.b2 i.a6 On 30...'We6 31 i.a3 l:te8 32 lLle7+ and Black's queen's bishop is loose. 31 i.a3 i.xd3 32lLle7+ Stronger than 32 i.xf8 i.xf8 when Black's pieces come to life and White's pawns are decidedly groggy. 32...~h8 33 %:tc8 'Wxc8 34 lLlxc8 %:txc8 3S 'Wd2 The point-Black's bishop and knight are skewered. 3S ... i.xe4 Black can save the piece by 35 ... b2. but after 36 i.xb2 lLlc5 37 ~e5, . the holes around his king begin to show up and his pieces are awkwardly placed .. 36 ·.xd7 i.fS 37 'ii'b7 e4 38 lLlel .i.d4+ 39 <;Pg2 Black resigned.

4 A.J.Miles White A.Dake Black Lone Pine 1973 Siciliall Defelice 1 e4 c5 2 lLlo lLlc6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lLlxd4 ~6 5 lLlb3 lLlf6 6 lLlc3 e6 7 Sl.d3 a6 8 0-0 i.e7 9 i.e3 'Wc7 10 f4 d6 Thus a common line is reached but with White a move ahead thanks to 4 ...'iib6. 11 'ii'o ~d7 A little passive, but being a tempo behind the normal line, it may be necessary. 12 ~hl lLlb4 13 a3 lLlxd3 14 cxd3 i.c6 IS %:tacl 0-0 16 ltJd4 l:tac8 Perhaps 16 ... 'Wd7 IS more accurate. 17 f5 eS Now if l7 ... 'Wd7 18 fxe6 fxe6 19 'ii'h3 wins a pawn: 19 ... e5?? 20 lLlxc6 bxc6 (20 ...'Wxc6 21 lLld5) 21 %:txf6! winning a piece. 18 ltJxc6 bxc6 19 lLld5 lLlxdS? This leaves Black with a totally static position. 19 ...'iib7 was much better, although White's position is still preferable. 20 exd5 c5 Now Black's bishop is terrible and he has no counterplay as White quietly masses on the kings ide. 21 l:tc4 %:tfe8 22 'WhS Sl.f6 23 %:tg4 'ii'd8 24 ~h6 The start of a quite pretty, and completely forced, winning line. 24 ...<;Ph8 If 24 ... <;Pf8 25 l:txg7 Sl.xg7 26 f6 winning. Or 24 ... g6 25 fxg6 fxg6 26 l:txg6+ hxg6 27 'Wxg6+ ~h8 28 %:txf6l:tc7 29%:txd6 winning easily.

26 "I played every night for a year until I got bored"

25 iLxg7+! iLxg7

White now has some difficulties. Possible improvements might be 18 g4 lDg7 19 iLe3 or 18 lDd2 preparing c4, but Black retains an edge in any case. 18... lXag8 19 lDg4 h5 20 lDe3 I must admit to being most unconvinced by this manoeuvre but I couldn't find much else. 20 ... lDh4

26 f6! ~xf6? I really was very disappointed at this move. I had been eagerly waiting for 26 ... i.xf6 (if ... iLfS 27 '-g5 or 27 ~xf7) 27 l:th4! 'it>g8 (27 ... iLxh4 28 lXxf7 forcing mate on 29 lXh6! iLg730 h7) 28 ~xh7+ lXg6! winning. 27 lXxf6 iLxf6 28 'i'fh6 Black resigned.

wfS

5 A.J.Miles White A.Bisguier Black Birmingham International 1973 RuyLopez 1 e4 e5 2 lDfJ lDc6 3 iLb5 lDf6 4 0-0 lDxe4 5 d4 lDd6 6 iLxc6 dxc6 7 dxe5 lDf5 8 ~xd8+ 'iti>xd8 9 lDc3 'it>e8 10 lDe2 iLe6 11 lDf4 iLd5 12 lDxd5 cxd5 13 lXel Up to here all 'book'. Now 13 g4 maintains an edge for White. The text is an effort to get out of the book line, but it's less accurate than 13 g4. 13...iLc5 14 iLf4 c6 15 l:tadl h6 16 h3 Dubious. 16 g4, as suggested by Bisguier, is probably best. Now Black takes the initiative. 16...g5 17 i.cl We7 18 lDh2

Now White is about to get squashed by 2l...g4, and if he exchanges on g4 then ... lDf3+ is a murderous threat. Clearly he must strike back in the centre immediately, since, for a moment at least, Black's massed forces are rather compromised, viz his queen's rook and knight cannot be regrouped without leaving the g-pawn hanging and the king's rook must wait for the queen's rook to move. My original intention had been 21 c4 but unfortunately Black can ignore this and play 2l...g4! and break through first. So there is only really one other way to hit back, and therefore it must be played. So .... 21lDxd5+! This certainly shouldn't win with best play-indeed, it may well lose-but over the board it must be the best chance.

"I played eve,y Ilight for a year IIlltill got bored" 2 7

21. .. cxd5 22 lhd5 b6 Black seemed to be rather taken aback by the sacrifice, and began to consume fairly large amounts of time without really finding the best moves. Here I expected 22 ... i.b4 23 :e4 'Oti>e6 24 :b5 i.e7 25 :xb7 with the possibility of l:ta4-a6+ with an obscure position. Also, not to be taken lightly is the immediate 22 ... g4 e.g. 23 lhc5 gxh3 24 :e3 l:txg2+ 25 ~h I :hg8 with winning threats, but 24 l:tc3 seems to hold. If Black wishes to continue as in the game then 22 ... .tb6 would avoid a few of the ensuing tactical tricks. 23 e6 Obviously the only continuation. If now 23 ... fxe6 24 i.xg5+ l:txg5 (other moves lose the knight) 25 1:hg5 with an interesting ending which White shouldn't lose. 23 ... f5? Since it's not clear how Black can save himself after this, the obvious 23 ... f6 must be alternative examined. After 24 :d7+ 'Oti>e8 White still has the possibility of 25 b4, but Black has better chances than with the pawn on f5. 24nd7+

24 ... ~f6? At the time Black's loss was attributed directly to this move.

my first After 24 ... ~e8 insane-looking suggestion was 25 b4 intending i. -b2-f6. A brief post-mortem produced the following hairy lines: (a) 25 ... i.xb4 26 l:tedl g4 27 i.b2 gxh3 28 i.f6 lOf3+ 29 ~f1 hxg2+ 30 ~e2 g I=lO+ 31 nxg I lOxgl+ 32 'Oti>f1 i.e7 33 :xe7+ ~d8 34 nxa7+ 'iPc8 35 i.xh8 with advantage to White. (b) but 25 ... g4 26 i.b2 gxh3 27 i.xh8 lOf3+ 28 ~f1 hxg2+ 29 'iPe2 lOd4+! winning. A slightly more extensive analysis produced some improvements: In (b) 26 bxc5 gxh3 27 c6! threatening c7 wins e.g. (i) 27 ... :xg2+ 28 ~fl h2 29 'iPe2 :gl 30 c7 :xe I + 31 'Oti>d3 nd I + 32 .td2 winning. (ii) 27 ... lOf3+ 28 ~f1 hxg2+ 29 'Oti>e2 gl=lO+ (if 29 ... lOd4+ 30 :xd4 gl=. 31 :xgl :xgl 32 c7 ~e7 33 i.a3+ ~xe6 34 nd8) 30 :xg I lOxgl + 31 'Oti>f1 ng4 32 c7 nc4 33 i.g5 winning. (iii) 27 ... hxg2 28 :e3 followed by c7. Also if after 25 b4 i.e7 26 nxa7 with the winning threat of na8+ e.g. 26 ... i.f627 l:tdl intending:dl-d7. So now the original line (a) must be re-examined. Indeed, instead of 3l...lOxgl+, 3l...lOd4+! 32 l:txd4 i.e7 with a level endgame. But White too can improve by 28 g3 threatening i.xh8 and i.f6. If now 28 ... i.e7 29 nxa7 or 28 ... lOf3+ 29 ~h 1 :h6 30 l:td8+ emerging the exchange up with a probably winning endgame. However the text does simplify matters. 25 i.d2!

28 "I played eve,y nightfor a year 1111 til I got hored"

6 B.Eley White A.J.Miles Black Birmingham International 1973 Sicilian Defelice

A crushing move which Black overlooked. The various threats based on ~c3+. e7 or b4 are impossible to meet. 25 ...~g6 If 2S ... Ac8 26 ~c3+ ~g6 27 Ag7+ ~h6 28 e7. Otherwise 26 ~c3+ ~g6 27 e7 followed by ~xh8. I had hoped for something like 2S ... aS 26 ~c3+ ~g6 27 e7 Ah7 (to answer e8='" with Axe8) 28 Ae6+ ~f7 29 e8=A+! (far better than mate in one) 29 ... ~e7 30 Adxe7 mate! 26 b4 If 26 e7 Ae8 27 b4 iLxe7 28 Aexe7 :xe7 29 Axe7 :c8 and Black can actually move some pieces. This way White gets four pawns for his piece and a crushing bind. 26••. iLfS 27 e7 iLg7 28 Ae6+ ~h7 29 iLxg5 tLlg6 30 :xa7 30 f4, apart from making Black virtually zlIgzwallg, would win back the piece by 31 Add6. but since I was slightly short of time, I decided to snatch another pawn. 30...Ae8 31 Ad7 tLle5 32 Ad5 Ahg8 33 f4 tLlc4 34 AxfS ~d4+ 35 ~hl tLle3 36 Ati+ Ag7 37 Ah6+ Black resigned. On 37 ... ~g8 38 Af8+ Axf8 39 Ah8+ decides.

1 e4 c5 This game was played in the last round. Before the round Eley had 6 points and I had 6th points, and the 1M norm was 7. In an earlier round I had used Petroffs Defence as a drawing weapon against Adorjan, but under the circumstances I felt that, if anything, it would be easier to win than to draw! 2 tLlo d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tLlxd4 tLlf6 5 tLlc3 g6 6 f4

6 ...tLlbd7 When preparing for this game it had been my intention to experiment with the 'Goodman line', 6 ......b6? (see The Siciliall Dragon-Levy) but upon a brisk examination of the lines I came across one of Levy's more amusing errors: "Slower positional methods are harmless e.g. (a) 7 ~e2 tLlc6 8 tLlb3 (not 8 ~e3 eS 9 fxeS dxe5 10 tLlfS "'xb2 11 tLlbS ~b4+!) 8 ... aS ... " Unfortunately he omits to mention that 10 tLlxc6 forces immediate resignation!

"1 played eve,y night for a year /lntill got bored" 19

7 ~e2 .ig7 8 0-0 0-0 9 ~f3 9 'iti>hl a6 10 .if3 eS II 4Jde2 exf4 12 'itxd6 gS is Eley v Whiteley Blackpool 1971. 9... a6 This may not be the most precise. For Black to obtain a comfortable position in this variation it is probably necessary to play ... eS at an appropriate moment. An immediate 9 ... eS can be met by 10 4JdbS. Then if 10... ~6+ II 'iti>hl 4Je8 (11 ... dS is interesting but insufficient) 12 a4 a6 13 4JdS 'itd8 14 4Jbc3 exf4 IS .ixf4 4JeS 16 as (or 16 .ie2) with a clear advantage to White. Probably best is 9 ... 4Jb6, although 10 eS is then worth consideration, or even 9 ...'itc7. 104Jb3 To restrain 1O... eS. 10 ...4Jb6 Somewhat inconsistent. But if IO ... 'itc7 II g4 obliges 11...4Jb6 anyway. Or 10 ... ~6+ II 'iti>hl eS 12 fS intending g4-gS, and Black has some difficulty completing his development. So the text seems best. 11 a4 Since this advance of the a-pawn achieves nothing concrete, perhaps White should go ahead with the kingside pawn storm immediately, by II g4. 11..•.ie6 12 a5 4Jc4 13 g4l:tb8 I seriously considered 13 ... bS here since any method of snatching the exchange leaves White's king dangerously exposed. Although I saw nothing convincing for White against this I decided to be cautious. Objectively, however, 13 ... bS may well be best. 14 f5 ~d7 15 ~e2 b5 16 g5 4Je8

174Jd4 If 17 4JdS Black seems to have time to grab the b-pawn, though it might be better to 'uncarcerate' the bishop by 17... i.e5 and continue with l8 ... 4Jc7 or 18 ... e6 to remove the white knight. 17.••4Jc7 18 h4 4Je5 19 ~e3 b4 204Jd5 If 20 4Ja4 dS! splitting open the centre. 20 ... 4Jxd5 21 exd5 'itc8 Obliging White to bury the bishop by 22 f6. I wasn't over-concerned about this at the time, since I'd had a fairly cramped position throughout, and the odd dead bishop here or there didn't seem to make too much difference. At least Black now gets some useful open linesthe c and e files and the c8-h3 diagonal-and with them some chances of getting at the white king. Also the positioning of the (other!) minor pieces-Black's well-placed knight on eS and White's two bishops on the open e-file which might be a tactical weakness-helps Black. Perhaps the best argument in favour of 21 ... 'itc8 is that there aren't really any plausible alternatives. 22 f6 exf6 23 gxf6 ~h8 24l:tf4!

30 "I played eve,y night for a year ulltill got bored"

This is a little _greedy. The more conservative 27 Wf2, to shield the dark squares, is safer. 27 ..."ii'c5

Obviously the game is now reaching its critical stage. If White succeeds in completing his development, defending his weak points and maintaining the wedge at f6 then Black's dead bishop is likely to be a decisive factor. Black, in tum. must act quickly to have a chance of preventing this. The text is a strong move, shielding g4 and indirectly c4 and simultaneously preparing to double/treble on the f-file and overprotect the f-pawn. One obvious alternative, in view of the game continuation, is to preface :'f4 with 24 .th6, but after 24 ... :'e8 25 :'f4 "ii'c5 the bishop is needed back in the centre. 24 ...:'e8 25 "ii'O? This seems to be the start of White's troubles. 25 "ii'd2 to defend the loose bishop is much better, as Black cannot play 25 ... lLlc4 (or g4) because of 26 .txc4 "ii'xc4 27 lLlc6. A likely continuation might be 25 ....,,7 26 lLlb3 (26 lLln lLlg4) 26 ... .tf5 27 :'afl .txf6 28 lLld4 and White has the better game. 25...lLlc4! A strong idea, forcing off White's dark-squared bishop and consequently building up rapid play on the weakened squares, particularly the a7-gl diagonal. 26 .txc4l:be3 27 .txa6?!

28.tc4?? White must have missed or completely underestimated Black's reply. Better was 28 "ii'c4 (or even 28 "ii'f2), and although after 28 ... "ii'a7 Black has the better chances White appears to be able to hold on with accurate play. e.g. (i) 29 .ib5? .txb5 30 lLlxb5 :'el+. (ii) 29 'ot>g2 l:tbe8 30 c3 bxc3 31 bxc3 (31 b4 c2) 31..."'S 32 .tb5 (32 "'4 "ii'dS winning the f-pawn) 32 ....txb5 33 lLlxb5 (if 33 'iVxb5 "ii'cS 34 li:le6! .txf6 35 l:lxf6 fxe6 with some advantas_e to Black e.g. 36 dxe6 :'8xe6 37 'iVd5 tr'xc3 or 36 l:lafl e5) 33 ... :'e2+ and White has no good move. If 34 ~fl :'b2 35 lLld4 :'h2 and 36 ....,,2 or 34 :'f2 then either 34 ... :'xf2+ or 34 ... :'2e4; finally 34 'ot>g3 "ii'd8 followed by :'8e3+. But, (iii) 29 :'afl(!) when Black has little better than 29 ...:'aS 30 .tb5 .txb5 31 lLlxb5 (31 "ii'xb5 .txf6) 31 ... l:tg3+ 32 'ot>h2 "ii'e3 33 "ii'd3 :'h3+ with a draw by perpetual check.

"[ played every night for a year until I got bored" 3 [

28 ... .txf6 Back from the 'grave', and with crushing effect. Now 29 l:txf6 'il'xd4 30 l:n (other moves cost a queen or a king) 30... l:g3+ 31 ~h I 'il'xh4+ 32 l:h2 'il'e4+ winning. 29 l:dl .te5

The final triumph for the bishop. White must now lose material. 30 a6 l:g3+ 31 ~h2 .txf4? 31...l:g4 would be more precise after White's last move-but an extra rook is adequate. 32 tr'xf4 l:h3+ 33 r.t>gl 'ir'xc4 34 .:ld6 'il'c8 35 l:n 'il'e8 36 'il'f4 .e3+ 37 'il'xe3 l:xe3 38 l:f6 lta8 39 l:d6 .te8 40 r.t>f2 lte4 White resigned.

symmetrical pawn formation might make things easier. 6 ... cxdS 7 d4 liJc6 8 liJc3 e6 9 0-0 1Le7 10 .te3? A horrible move. The object was to avoid blocking my queen's bishop by 10 e3 (the best move) and to follow up with 'il'd2 and later transfer the bishop to a better square (An immediate 10 .tg5 would be met by 10 ....'ii'b6). 10... 0-0 11 ltc1 liJd7 12 ~a4 Trying to restrain Black's intended action on the queens ide by ... ~-b6-c4 or ... a6 and ... b5. 12 ....tf6 Around here I rather belatedly noticed that my bishop on e3 was destined never to reach its "better square" and to make things worse, it prevented its colleague on f3 from becoming active. It was also apparent that this state of affairs could only be remedied, at the cost of half-a-dozen tempi, by the laborious manoeuvre .tg2, f3, .tn, e3, 1Ln, and .te l. 13 'ir'd2 l:c8 14 ~cS ~xcS 15 l:xcS 'il'b6 16 l:fc1 .te7 17 l:Sc2 l:cd8!

7 A.J.Miles White G.Kuzmin Black Hastings 1973174 Reti Opening 1 g3 dS 2 ~fJ ~f6 3 .tg2 .tg4 4

cot J.xf3 S .txfJ c6 6 cxd5 Against Garcia, earlier in the IOUIDaIIlent, I had played a more ah-mturous system with b3, but, since I was feeling rather cowardly .-I DOl: baying a particularly good ...-oament. I thought that a

Here I took a long look at the position and came to the conclusion that I was practically lost already!

32

"/ played every lIight for a year

Black's last move is very powerful and immediately threatens 18 ... ltJb4 winning the a-pawn. To meet this White is obliged to weaken his queens ide by 18 a3 or 18 b3 (the passive 18 l:ta 1 may be playable) whereupon Black can drive the rooks from the c-file by ... ltJ-a5-b3 or ... ~a3 respectively, then he takes it over himself and infiltrates the seventh rank, while White, with his kingside still tied up, can create no counterplay. 18 a3 a5? I felt that this was unnecessary. The two tempi consumed by ... a5-a4 give White valuable time to untangle his kingside. Also, as in the game, if White succeeds in untangling in time, then Black's queenside pawns may be vulnerable to the white-squared bishop. 19 ~g2 a4 20 OltJa5 21 'iie3 To prevent Black from playing 21 .. .l:tc8 immediately. 2l...ltJb3 22l:tdl ~f6 If 22 ... l:td6 then White seems to have time to ease his position by 23 "c7. Now 23 "c7 can be met by 23 .....a7 when the white queen must return. 23 ~f2 l:td6 24 e3 l:te6 25 'iid3 l:tfe8 26 l:txe6 'iWxe6

1111 til

1 got bored"

At the time I thought that 26 ... bxc6!? might be a better try, intending to apply more pressure by ... c5. However, White can probably stay alive with 27 e4. Now, for the first time, I felt I had reasonable chances of saving the game. 27 ~el The bishop arrives just in time to block the c-file. 27•••'iWe2 Now I was completely happy with my position, but it seems that Black has nothing better since 27 ... ~e7 is met by 28 ~fl. 28 'iixe2 28 ~c3 is also playable. I chose the text because it is more forcing, since, after... 28 ...l:txc2 29 ~c3 .., White threatens 30 ~ -fl-d3 (trapping the rook) or ~b5 picking off the a-pawn. So Black must act quickly. 29 ... ~e7 The only move. If 29 ... l:te2 30 ~fl l:txe3 31 ..t>f2 traps the rook. Or 29 ... b5 30 ~fl b4 31 ~xb4 (and not 31 axb4 a3 and Black wins) 3l...l:txb2 32 ~b5 and Black's position falls apart. 30 ~fl ~xa3 31 ~d3

"I played eve,y /light for a year 1111 til I got bored" 33

31...:xb2? This appears to be inaccurate. Probably best is 3 t...l:tcl 32 lbcl tOxc 1 33 .i.b5 tOa2 34 .i.xa4 tOxc3 35 bxc3 ~b2 reaching an opposite coloured bishops ending with an extra pawn. However, White should have no difficulty drawing especially since after 36 .i.d7 ~xc3 37 .i.c8 b5 (or 37 ... b6 38 .i.a6 and .i.b5) 38 .i.d7 b4 39 .i.a4 and 40 .i.b3 he can deprive Black of any entry squares on the queens ide. 32 .i.xb2 .i.xb2 33 .i.c2! Necessary to restrain the a-pawn. 33 ...tOcl! The point of Black's 31 st. Other moves lose fairly simply e.g. 33 ... b5 34 .i.xb3 axb3 35 :bl; or 33 ... i..c3 34 l:tbl .i.d2 (or 34 ...tOd2 35 :xb7 threatening mate) 35 'itf2 and in either case a pawn falls. 34.i.xa4 Forced, though I actually spent 40 of my remaining 45 minutes on this move, doing the analysis given before my 36th. 34 .•.tOe2+ 35 ~f2

35 •••tOc3 Here it is clear that after 36 .i.b3 (or c2) tOxdl+ 37 .i.xdl White should not have too much difficulty

holding the ending. Having established this I then started looking at the curious possibility 36 l:td3 tllxa4 37 l:tb3 whereupon Black has .i., to and t:, for :, but not only can he not maintain the extra pawn (if 37 ... b6 38 l:tb4) but his pieces are badly misplaced.

Firstly I examined the immediate attempts to extricate the pieces: 37 ... 'itfE-or any kingside pawn move38 :xb7 and now: (a) 38 ... .i.c3 39 :b3 (threatening :a3) 39 ... .i.d2 (if 39 ... tOb2 40 'ite2 but the best line, which I overlooked, is 39 ... e5! 40 :a3 tOb2! and Black stands better) 40 'ite2 .i.c I 41 'itd I .i.b2 42 :b4 tOc3+ 43 ~c2 .i.a I 44 l:tb8+ ~e7 45 :a8 and Black loses a piece. (b) 38 ... .i.cl 39 :bl ~b2! 40 'ite I 'ite7 41 ~d2 tOb6 drawing. (c) 38 ... .i.cl 39 :c7 .i.d2 (or 39 ... .i.b2 and White has little better then 40 l:tb7) intending 40 ... .i.b4 and the pieces escape. Then it occurred to me that the b-pawn wouldn't run away and that I might be able to improve by bringing my king to the queenside, before capturing it, and thus removing the bishop's escape route.

34 "I played every night for a year /llltill got bored" So, if 37 ... f8 38 e2 ~c3 (if 38 ... ~cl 39 dl) 39 lIxb7 threatening A-b3-a3, and now (d) 39 ... ~a5 40 :a7 ltlc3+ 41 d3 ~b4 42 Ab7 ~a5 43 c2 and Black has great trouble contending with the threat of:a7 and ~b3. (e) 39 ... ~b2 40 lIb4 ltlc3+ 41 d3 winning as in (a). (t) 39 ... e5! 40 ~d3 exd4 41 exd4 ~el 42 lIbl ~a5 43 Ab5 (Not 43 lIa I ltlb2+ and 44 ... ltlc4) 43 ... ~c7 with a level ending. Afler much analysis I was still unsure of the merits of the idea, but it seemed to give real winning chances, without too much risk of losing. I spent a further five minutes wondering if it was reasonable to expect to win an ending with rook against bishop, knight, pawn and GM. However, such considerations had never worried me in the past, so I took the plunge. 36 Ad3! ltlxa4 37 Ab3! gS Black opts to seek tactical chances by advancing his kingside pawns as rapidly as possible. The idea is positionally rather dubious though. 38 ~e2 eS 39 ~d3 fS(?) Consistent, but this was Black's last chance to play 39 ... exd4 (or 39... ~c3) 40 exd4 ~c3 transposing into line (t) but with his pawns rather more vulnerable to a rook on the fifth. Thus at the end of line (t) White has 44 Axd5 and if 44 ... h6? 45 lId7 ~b6 46 ~c2 and Black must lose a piece. Therefore he must give up his g-pawn leaving White with rook and two pawns v bishop and knight and fine winning chances. Now, observing that Black had lined up his pawns on the fourth, I decided that this might be a good place for my rook.

40 :b4 bS 41 lIxbS f4 Sealed, after prolonged thought, but the only move to cause White any real trouble.

4211xdS Possibly better is 42 l:tb4 and then if 42 ... fxe3 43 Axa4 exd4 as Kuzmin intended, White wins by 44 lIa7 when Black can only move his bishop between c3, b2 and ai, and White continues with Ad7, h4-h5 and f4-f5. If Black meets this with (i) ... h5 White plays Axd5 and lIxh5. (ii) ... h6 White plays 1I-d6 and Ag6+ and then either takes the h-pawn or runs his f-pawn depending on which way the black king goes. (iii) leaving his pawn on h7, White plays ~-h6 followed by 1I-g7+ winning in similar fashion. I found these lines during the adjournment but was concerned about tactical possibilities based on 42 ... e4+ though these probably fizzled out in a few moves. However, I had distinct memories of my previous encounter with Kuzmin, at Bath, which, by a strange coincidence, was also adjourned in a position where I had rook v bishop and knight and good

"I played evelY night for a year IIntii 1 got bored" 35

winning chances. On that occasion the Russian analysts produced a neat saving line. So I decided to snatch some pawns, since I was bound to get at least two---when I would have good winning chances. 42 ••. g4 At the adjournment I only looked at 42 ... fxe3 but when play resumed 42 ... g4 was the first move I considered. 43 exf4? Black's attempts to confuse matters at last bring some reward. As my opponent pointed out afterwards 43 l:lxe5 gxf3 44 Ag5+! 'ot>h8 (or 44 ...WfS 45 Af5+ and 46 l:txf4) 45 gxf4 leaves Black with no antidote to the central pawn mass. 43 ... exd4 44 Aa5 Attempting to improve the position of my rook and further misplace Black's pieces before capturing the pawn. 44 ... lllb6 Better than 44 ... lllc3 45 fxg4 when Black's pieces are hopelessly scattered and his d-pawn is indefensible. 45 l:lb5 llla4 46 Ab4 lllc5+ 47 'it'c4 i.a3 48 :b8+ 'it'n 49 Aa8 i.b2 50 Aa2

50 ... i.c1? A neat way of saving the piece: if 51 'ot>xc5 d3 52 Ag2? (naturally 52 fxg4 is OK) 52 ... gxf3 53 :gl i.e3+. But now White succeeds in misplacing the black pieces. Much better was 50 ... i.c3! (if 51 'ot>xc5 d3 52 i.e 1 and a pawn queens) when after 51 fxg4 Black keeps his d-pawn and can still cause problems. 51 :al i.b2 52 Abl i.a3 Now if 52 ... i.c3 53 'ot>xc5. 53 fxg4 Now the queen's pawn must fall and White is left with rook plus large pawn roller against two ineffective pieces. 53 ••.llle6 54 h4 i.e7 55 f5 tiJg7 56 An i.d6 57 l:t13 h6 58 'it'xd4 h5 A last trap. If 59 g5 i.xg3 drawing. 59 gxh5 i.xg3 If 59 ... lllxh5 60 g4 wins comfortably. I now sealed: 60 h6 And at breakfast the next morning my opponent, observing that I had overcome the main problem-that of struggling out of bed in time for the resumption-decided to resign. After 60 ... lllh5 61 h7 'ot>g7 62 f6+ Wxh7 63 f7 i.d6 64 fS='ii' i.xfS 65 AxfS White is left with an elementary win.

:12

8 A.J.Miles White M.TalBlack Hastings 1973174 Reti Opening Up until the World Junior Championship (1973) I had al most

36

"I played el'elY /light for a year ulltill got bored ..

invariably opened I e4 with White, but after eight rounds of the finals I was surprised to find that I had scored three draws and a loss with White and three wins (one against the Russian Belyavsky) and a draw with Black. In the next round I switched to I lbf3 against Stean, primarily to con him out of a Najdorf, which I duly achieved after I liJf3 g6 2 e4 .tg7 3 d4. With my last White of the tournament, I again ventured I lbf3 to which my opponent replied l...lbf6 and I was forced to play a genuine EnglishReti system, and proceeded to win in 26 moves. With my first White in the British Championship a few days later I returned to 1 e4 and was soundly thrashed by Pritchard. That was the last straw. Since I was still winning consistently with Black (to the extent of IOIJ2 points from my last 11 games) I decided that the only logical thing to do was to treat White as Black with a move in hand. Since then I have chosen almost randomly from 1 lbf3 and I c4 with the odd I e4, I d4 or I b3 creeping in. I have now a slight preference for 1 g3 since I find it gives a little more scope for originality, but since I had already used it four times in the tournament, (3W4!) I decided to change. 1 lbf3 lbf6 2 g3 g6 3 b3 I think I had played this system twice before this game. 3 ... dS 4 .tb2 cS S c4 d4 6 b4 This must be played immediately, otherwise Black prevents it with ... lbc6, when White's Queen's bishop is misplaced. 6 ... .tg7 7 .tg2 0-0 8 0-0 lbfd7 9 bxcS

I had delayed this move for as long as possible basically for nuisance value. I would have preferred to play 9 d3 here, but was unsure about the reply 9 ... 'il'b6 and if 10 a3 a5 when White must either sac a pawn, which is dubious, or play II b5 when although it takes Black some time to untangle his queens ide White has no target to undermine, his Queen's bishop is out of play, and Black's space advantage in the centre will soon become relevant. 9.•.lbc6 10 d3 lbxcs 11 lbbd2 .tg4 Perhaps it's better to prepare for ... e5 by 11 .. .l:teS. 12l:tbll:tb8 Probably necessary in view of the threat of .ta3 (12 ... 'i'a5 is met by \3lbb3).

13 a4 Preparing .ta3. Tal said afterwards that he was concerned about \3 il.a3 'i'a5 14 il.xc5 'i'xc5 15 l:tb5 'i'd6 16 'ir'b3 when White has active play but nothing concrete. Personally I prefer not to concede the bishop pair so lightly. 13 •.•'i'c7 14 ~a3 b6 ISlbgS(!)

"/ played every night for a year until/got bored" 3 7

"The only move"-Tal. As in similar Benoni positions White must eliminate the hostile horse at c5 if he is to hope for an advantage. The immediate 15 1t.xc5 bxc5 16 l:tb5 fails to 16 ... lLJa5 (one of the points of 13 ... 'tic7) 17 lLJe4 lLJb7 followed by ... 1t.d7 and White is driven back. 15 ...lLJa5 Of course not 15 ... lLJxd3 when 16 f3 or 16 h3 wins material. 16lLJge41t.d7(?) Around here Black's position begins to deteriorate quite considerably. If 16 ... lLJxe4 17 lLJxe4 White maintains a noticeable advantage. Best, I think, is 16 ... lLJab7 when although White keeps an edge it's nowhere near as great as in the game. 17lLJxc5 bxc5 ISlLJe4 Black's c-pawn is now an enormous liability, and in the event of mass exchanges he's likely to be left with his bad king's bishop. IS ...lLJb7 Not a pleasant move to have to play, but after 18 ... l:txb I 19 'tixb I :b8 (19 ... 1t.xa4 20 lLJxc5 is also good for White) 20 'tia2 lLJb3 21 m, I 1t.xa4 22 lLJxc5 lLJxc5 23 :Xb8+ 'tixb8 24 1t.xc5 White picks upa pawn. 19.c2.a5? Completely mlssmg White's reply. Best is 19 ...1t.c6 immediately. 2t .ell! Threatening l:txb7.

lL..c7 Forced. If 20 ...•xa4 21 1t.xc5 __ am-antage or 20 ...•xd2 21 ~ J.c8 22 hc5 winning.

21 a5? Too slow. As Tal pointed out after the game 21 'ir'f4! would probably give White a winning position. For instance: (i) 21 ... 'tixf4 22 gxf4 and now: (a) 22 .. .l::tfc8 23 lLJxc5 lLJxc5 24 l:txb8 ':xb8 25 1t.xc5 with an extra Eawn, or even 23 ':xb7 ':xb7 24 lDxc5 regaining the exchange with interest. (b) 22 ... 1t.xa4 23lLJxc5 lLJxc5 24 1t.xc5 winning a pawn e.g. 24 ... ':xb I 25 l:txb I 1t.h6 26 ':a l. In all such lines, once White has succeeded in exchanging his a-pawn for Black's c-pawn his position is practically won, even without an extra pawn. (ii) 21 ... e5 22 lLlf6+ ~h8 23 'tih4 and apart from mate in one White also threatens to exchange off lots of pieces and then take the c-pawn. (iii) 21 ... 1t.e5 (Probably the best try) 22 'tih4 1t.c6 (Black must contend with 23 lLJg5 and 23 'tixe7. If 22 ... f6 23 l:txb7-or 23 f4 is strong-23 ... .:xb7 24lLJxc5 ':b6 25 a5 ':d6 26 f4 winning) 23 lLJg5 h5 24 1t.xc6 'tixc6 25 'i'e4! 'tic7 (If 25 ...'tixe4 26lLJxe4 ~d6 then White simply doubles rooks by 27 ':b5 and Black's position collapses) 26 l:tb2! with the powerful threat of 27

38 "I played every night for a year until 1 got bored ..

llfbl. If now 26 ...lDaS 27 llxb8 lhb8 28 "dS winning a pawn. Best is 26 ... ~d6 but White still retains tremendous pressure. 2I. .. ~c6(!) Apart from 22 a6 White was threatening 22 llxb7 llxb7 23 lDxcs winning a pawn. The alternative 21 ... a6 would be met strongly by 22 llb6. 22 a6 ~xe4 23 ~xe4 23 axb7 would be good, were it not for the fact that after 23 ... ~xg2 24 ~g2 llxb7 2S llxb7 "xb7+ is check. 23 •••lDd6 24 ~g2 24 ~b7 is possible, reaching a position similar to the game with an extra pair of rooks. White has not wasted time with his "-(b2/d2) and Black's kings ide play is slower than in the game continuation. E.g. 24 ... hS 2S "gS lDrs (threatening ... ~h6) 26 "f4 ~eS 27 "e4 (threat 2S ~xcS) 27 ... ~d6 28 llbS and White is gradually taking over. 24 ...11fc8 25 llb2 llxb2 26 "xb2 l:tb8 27 ~b7 If 27 "d2, there is a distinct likelihood of White's advanced a-pawn disappearing in the near future. 27 ... hS Not 27 ... lDxb7 28 llbl acqumng an enormous passed pawn on b7. 28 l:tbl ~eS 29 "cl(?) Black seems to be O.K. now; White hasn't quite got enough room on the queens ide to achieve anything significant. Probably the last chance to cause Black any n.al problems was the tricky 29 e4! gaining space in the centre and threatening 30 f4 when Black's pieces run out of squares. (If 30 ... ~g7 31 eS lDfS 32 'i'bS).

If 29 ...gS then 30 "d2 is an embarassment, e.g. 30... ~f6 31 eS! or 30... f6 31 f4 gxf4 32 gxf4 lDxb7 33 fxeS lDd8 34 llxb8 "xb8 3S exf6 exf6 36 ~xcS with an extra pawn and a fine position. Unfortunately, being somewhat short of time at this stage, I totally overlooked the possibility of 29 e4!; I suspect that I wasn't the only one! 29 ... h4 30 "gS lDxb7 311hb7 If 31 axb7 then 3l...h3 is strong. 3I... llxb7 32 axb7 h3 33 0 Forced, in view of the threat of 33 .....xb7. 33 ... ~d6 34 "d5 White must preserve his b-pawn for as long as possible. If 34 "g4 "as 3S "xh3 'tt'xa3 36 "c8+ <Jih7 37 b8=" ~xb8 38 "xb8 as and Black's a-pawn gives him good winning chances. 34... e6 35 "e4 "as 36 <Jif2 "xa337"c6 Regaining the piece and simplifying to a drawn queen and pawn endgame. 37..... b2 Black could draw immediately by 37 .....cl but tries for more. 38 "xd6 "xb7 39 "xcS 'lbl

40"eS

"I played eve,y night/or II year until 1 got bored" 39

If 40 "xd4 "h I and Black wins the h-pawn whereupon his passed pawn is considerably faster than White's. On 40 "xa7 "hi 41 ""8+ 'ith7 42 g4 "g2+ 43 'ite I "gl+ 44 'itd2 We3+ 45 'itdl "gl+ 46 'itc2 "e3 draws. At this stage I felt that I might have some slight winning chances since my c-pawn is a little more dangerous than Black's a-pawn. 40 ..... hl 41 g4 "g2+ This was Black's sealed move, and at the adjournment it soon became clear that after ... 42 'itel "gl+ 43 'itd2 "al(!) White has no reasonable way of avoiding a draw by perpetual. So, having nothing better to do, I decided to set up a perpetual myself-just in case-while my opponent made a last attempt to squeeze something from the position. 44 gS as 45 "b8+ 'itg7 46 "eS+ 'itb7 47 "c7 "b2+ 48 'itdl 'itg7 49"e5+ Not 49 "xa5? when 49 .....b8 gr.·es Black good winning chances, oar 49 "d8(?) when 49 ... WbI+ 50 ~ '5b4+ 51 'itc2 "c5 follows md White has some problems proving a draw. 49_.'itg8 50 "d6! 'itg7 51 "e5+ ~7 52 Wc7 Draw agreed. A favourite game

9 A.Kochiev White A.J.Miles Black V'-odd Junior Championship 1974 Sicilian Drago"

ODe of the questions one

IS

_Meplly asked by reporters is

..... is your best or favourite

garneT 'Best' is always difficult to define, but I certainly do have a favourite and, as it happens, I have never annotated it before. No small part of my favouritism is due to the fact that it clinched the World Junior Championship for me. It was played in the penultimate round at Manila in 1974. 1 e4 cS 2 lLlfJ d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lLlxd4 lLlf6 5 lLlc3 g6 6 ~e3 ~g7 7 fJ 0-0 8 "d2lLlc6 9 g4

A sharp move which enjoyed a brief spell of popularity around the time of this game. I had met it once before in a county match against John Littlewood. At that time I continued 9... lLld7!? (as recommended in a theoretical article which appeared just before the game) 10 h4 lLlde5 II ~e2 lLlxd4? ( ...lLla5 is a better try) 12 ~xd4 ~e6 13 f4! and White won heavily. After that game I spent a while looking at 9 g4 and came up with an interesting idea. I analysed it for about half an hour and resolved to test it if the opportunity arose. Little did I expect that I would get my chance in such a crucial game! Over the board I sank into thought. So far my opponent had not stopped to think. Clearly he had prepared the line and was out for blood. After

40 "I played eve,y night for a year until I got bored"

twenty minutes I summoned up the courage to test my idea: 9•.• e6! This seems to me a very logical, if un-Dragon like, idea. Black treats White's g4. as a premature wing attack and Intends to exploit it in classical fashion with a counter-attack in the centre. White cannot prevent ... dS after which the opening of the centre should render White's push a weakness. Other moves which have been tried are 9 ... dS?! (lOgS), 9 ... lLlxd4, 9 ... .i.e6 and 9 ... e5?! 10 lLldb5?! After twenty-five minutes' thought, not a move I had considered. White tries for a direct refutation based on the weakness of d6. After the game it was widely suggested that White could have gained the advantage with 10 0-0-0 and II .i.h6. However, after 10 0-0-0 d5, the immediate II ~h6 is impossible (1I ... lLlxd4 12 ~xg7 lLlxf3 13 'iWh6 lLlxg4) and on II lLlxc6 bxc6 12 .i.h6 Black's strong p~wn centre, in my opinion, gives hIm the edge. Another possibility is 10 ~c4 playing to give Black an isolated d-pawn. 10 ... d5 1O... lLle8 is as horrible as it looks. II ~c5 White must be consistent. 11 ..•a6! A fine exchange. The alternatives Il...lte8(?) (12 tDd6) and ll...lLle7 (very passive) were clearly less attractive. 12 ~xf8 ~xf8

Not 12 ... 'iWxfS 13 lLlc7 and the knight surfaces on dS. 13 exd5 (?)

Probably White should try to avoid opening lines. However, if 13 lLld4 lLlxe4 14 fxe4 'iWh4+ 15 'iWfl 'iWxfl+ 16 ~xfl .i.xd4+ with a tremendous position, while on 13 lLla3 bS 14 tDdl b4 IS lLlbl .i.b7 and Black dominates the board (if 16 exdS just 16... lLlxd5). Even at this stag~ .1 remember looking round a~d notIcing that my other rivals, Dleks and Schneider, had none too g~od positio~s and it crossed my mind that I mIght be able to win the tournament with a round to spare. 13 ... exd5 14lLla3 Now if 14 lLld4 lLlxd4 IS 'iWxd4 'iWe7+!. and ... lLle4 or ... lLlg4 according to White's reply (15 ... lLle4 16 '1ib4+). 14... b5 15lLldi Forced. Both knights must retreat and b2 has to be defended. 15 ... b4 16 ttJbl ~xg4! Combinations flow from Black's position. Now if 17 fxg4 ttJe4 18 'Wg2 Wh4+ 19 ~e2 lLld4+ 20 ~d3 lLlcs+ 21 ~d2 ~h6+ 22 lLle3 lte8 and White is annihilated. 17.i.g2! The strongest defence. If 17 ~e2 lLle4 18 fxe4 'iWh4+ 19 lLlfl ~xe2 and 20 ... ~xb2 wins. Now, though, the bishop is threatened and White is ready to castle, 17 ... lLle4 is no longer possible (fxe4) so what is Black to do? 17 ... '1ib6!? is interesting, but after 18 fxg4 lle8+ 19 ~fl tDxg4 it is not clear that Black has enough. 17...'iWe7+! 18 'iWe3 Best. For example, 18 ~fl lLle4+! 19 fxe4 'iWh4+ 20 ~fl ~xd I 21 c3 (else ... ~xb2) 21...~a4 with advantage, or 18 ~fl lLle4! 19 Wd3 lle8! 20 fxg4 lLlg3+! 21 'iWxg3 We2+ 22 ~gl Wxdl+ 23 ~fllte2!

"I played eve,y night for a year until I got bored" 41

24 c3 i.d4+! mating, or IS 'ilr'e2 'ilr'c5 19 iVa l::teS+ 20 ~fI 'ilr'c4+ 21 ~g I lDe4! 22 fxe4 i.d4 23 lDe3 'ilr'c5 24 '1tifI ~xe3 and 25 ... 'iIr'c4+. IS ... lDe4!!

The climax of Black's attack. The white king is nailed firmly in the centre (19 O-O? ~d4). If instead IS ...iVd6 19 0-0 ~f5 20 iVd2 White still keeps his head above water. 19 fxe4? At last White begins to crack. If 19 fxg4 ~d4! 20 'ii'e2 (20 'ilr'h6+ ~gS 21 'it>fI l:teS or 21 lDe3 lDg5!) 20 .. J:teS and White has no move. E.g. 21 ~xe4 'ilr'h4+ or 21 lDd2 lDg3! The last chance to keep things interesting was 19 c3 'ilr'h4+ 20 ~fI and either 20...l:teS!? 21 fxg4 d4 with raging attack or just 20 ... ~h6. If 20 tt'la bxc3 21 bxc3 ~h6 22 iVe2 (22 'ifb6 l:tbS) 22 ... l:teS and White is helpless. 19.•.~xdl 20 lDd2 The fireworks die down. If 20 ~dl ~xb2 wins easily, while 20 c3 is answered by 20 ... d4 21 iVd2 dxc3 22 bxc3 i.a4 with decisive pressure. 20 ••• ~xe2 21l:tcl d4 Played quickly. With two pawns for the exchange, one a passed pawn on the fifth and likely to go further,

Black is clearly winning, but probably even more efficient would have been 2l...~a4! eg 22 b3 ~b5 23 'ilr'c5 ~c3! 24 'ilr'xe7+ lDxe7 25 exd5lDxd5! 26 ~xd5l:tdS winning. 22 'ilr'h3 d3 23 0-0 ~gS Threatening ... ~xb2, ~c3 and ... 'iIr'g5. 24 e5 Hoping to gain counterplay with the e4 and d5 squares. 24 ... l:tdS! Supporting the d-pawn and controlling d4 (if25 i.xc6 'ilr'c5+). 25 e6 The pawn is doomed so White jettisons it as best he can. 25 •.. fxe6 26 l:teel lDd4 27 ~hl lDf5 Defending the kings ide and renewing the threat to the b-pawn. 2Sl:te4 'ilr'g5! Undermining d2 and forcing the further advance of the pawn. 29 lDo 'Wh6 30 l:th4!

A spirited attempt at counterplay. In fact Black can defend successfully with 30 ... lDxh4 31 'ilr'xe6+ ~hS 32 'We7 l:tf8! 33 lDg5 l:txfl + 34 ~xfl ~f8! but it is far simpler to ignore the rook.

42 "I played every night for a year until I got bored"

30 .....e3! 3tl:hb4 Now if 31 1:txh7 d2, or 31 J:le I 'ili'xel+ 32lDxel d2. 31...d2 32 lDxd2 'ili'xh3 33 ~xh3 lhd2 All that remains is to reach the time control safely. 34 J:let ~f8 35 J:lb8 cj;fi 36 J:lb7+ ~e7 37 i.fl ~a4 38 J:lb6 ~d6 39 J:le2 J:ldl 40 cj;g2 ~b5 41 J:lf2 At this point the game was adjourned and a capacity crowd of about a thousand stood and applauded. The remainder of the game was rather an anti-climax, being played in a small room at the hotel. 41...~c5 42 J:lb7+ cj;f6 43 ~xb5 axb5 Not 43 ...~xf2 44 ~e2. 44 J:te2 :gl + 45 'it'h3 g5 46 J:tg2 J:tdl !

10 A.J.Miles White S.Matera Black Birmingham International 1975 Pirc Defence

IlDo g6 2 e4 Since Matera usually plays the Sicilian against I e4, I decided to transpose into a Pirc. 2... ~g7 3 d4 d6 4 lDc3 lDf6 5 ~e2 0-0 6 0-0 c6 In an earlier game against Matulovic, Matera played 6 ... ~g4 followed by 7 ... lDc6 and 8... e5. Apparently he changed his choice of variation in order to avoid the drawish possibility of White meeting ... e5 by dxe5 and exchanging all the major pieces. At this point in the tournament he needed only IIhl2 for a grandmaster norm. 7 a4 as 8 h3 lDa6 9 ~e3 lDb4

"cl

White resigned. There is no defence to the threats of ... J:ld3+ and ... g5 and ... g4+. By now Schneider had already lost, and soon after Dieks was forced to resign, thus rendering the last round academic and the title mine.

10 After the more natural 10 "d2 Black has the possibility of 1O... d5 II e5 lDe4 although after 12 lDxe4 dxe4 13 lDg5 he has problems defending his advanced e-pawn. e.g. 13 ... ~f5 14 g4 h6 15 gxf5 hxg5 (or 15 ... gxf5 16 lDxe4 fxe4 17 i.xh6) 16 fxg6 with some advantage to White. Possibly Black's best try is 13 ... c5 nibbling at the white centre.

"I played every night for a year until 1 got bored" 43

10••• dS!? As it's a little late to prepare ... eS Black tries the other plausible central advance. However White isn't threatening anything drastic so it may have been better to wait a while. 11 eS lLle8 Now ll...lLle4 12 lLlxe4 dxe4 13 lDd2 would just lose a pawn. 12lLlbi Taking measures against ... cS and/or preparing to expel the black knight. 12••. ~fS 13lLlei Defending the c2 and d3 squares and preparing c3 and f4. l3 ... cS 14 c3 cxd4 IS cxd4 f6 16 f4 Ilc8 17 lLlc3 The game has now become very similar to the variation of Alekhine's Defence: I e4 lLlf6 2 eS lDds 3 d4 d6 4 lLlf3 g6 S ~c4 lLlb6 6 ~b3 ~g7 7 lLlgS dS 8 f4 where White's central pawn wedge gives him a space advantage and keeps Black's theoretically "good" king's bishop out of the game. 17••.lLlc7 Possibly the best try was 17 ... ~e4 18 'ii'dl fS.

18••.lLld3? Losing an enormous number of tempi. 18 ... ~e4 was a gambit when after 19 lLlxe4 dxe4 20 ~xe4 lLlcdS 21 "d2 fS 22 ~b I e6 Black would have some play for his pawn. Also better than the text would be 18 ... ~e6 intending ... fS blocking the kingside. 19 "d2 lLlxel 20 l:taxe1 ~e6 21 "dl! lLla6 Necessary. If 21 ... fS 22 "WIt'b3 intending Wfxb7 or "WIt'b6. 22 exf6 The right time to change the nature of White's advantage. If 22 ~3 lLlb4 and, on other moves, ... fS. 22 •..exf6 23 ~d2 iLn Naturally if 23 .....d7 or .. J:te8 simply 24 lIxe6 and 2S ~xdS. Or 23 ...lDc7 24 1i'b3. 24 "b3lLlb4 2S lLlbS lLlc6 26 fS! Liberating the queen's bishop and preparing to drop pieces into d6. 26.....d7 27 ~g4 27 ~f4 is also possible but, after 27 ... l::tce8 28 ~d6 would be met by 28 ...lLlxd4.

18~f3

27•..gS If 27 ... hS 28 fxg6 hxg4 29 gxf7+ Ilxf7 30 hxg4 threatening l:tfS, and

44

"/ played every night for a year until/got bored"

if 30... fS 31 "d3! fxg4 32 l:txf7 (or 32 .....xf7 33 lDd6) 33 "h7! followed by :f1 + winning. 2SWf3 Not 28 ~xg5? hS! winning a piece. 2S ...l:eeS 29 h4! Not 29 ~hS ~xhS 30 "xhS l:xel and White must make the awkward capture 31 ~xe I. 29 ... gxh4 If 29 ... h6 30 hxgS hxg5 31 :xe8 :xe8, White can really play 32 ~xf7

The Dragon, and particularly this variation was doing rather well in this tournament, Mestel having already disposed of Janosevic and Matulovic with it. 120-0-0 lDe5 13 tOde2?! Matulovic tried 13 <Jilb I lDc4 14 ~xc4 :xc4 IS lDde2 against Meste\. Haag tries the same idea without 'wasting' a move with ~bl. 13 ... b5! Much better than ... lDc4.

~xgS. 30~h5

Eliminating Black's better bishop. 30... ~xh5 31 "xh5 1:[e4 The best try. 32 :xe4 dxe4 33 ~e3 lDe1 34 :f4 :eS 35 lDe3lDd5 Simplifying White's task but Black has run out of sensible moves. If for instance 35 ... :c4 simply 36 "xh4 and 36 ...lDxfS is refuted by 37 Wh3. Otherwise White plays g4 and either annexes the black e-pawn or organises a direct assault down the h-file by l:-f2-h2. 36 lDxd5 Wxd5 31 l:xh4 <JiltS 3S "xh1WgS White was threatening :g4 followed by ~h6. 39 "xgS+ ~xgS 40 l:xe4 Black resigned. II E.Haag White A.J.Miles Black Birmingham International 1975 Sicilian Defence 1 e4 e5 2 lDf3 d6 3 d4 exd4 4 lDxd4 tOf6 5 lDe3 g6 6 ~e3 ~g1 1 f3 0-0 S Wd2 lDe6 9 ~e4 ~d1 10 h4 :eSII ~b3 h5

14 ~xa1 Otherwise comes ... as e.g. 14 lDf4? as IS a4 bxa4 16 ~a2 a3 17 b3 lDeg4 18 ~gl (18 fxg4? lbc3! 19 "xc3 lDxe4 is killing) 18 ...:xc3 winning (Hodgson-Miles Woolacombe 1974). 14... b4 15 lDd5 tOxd5 16 exd5 "as On 16... lDc4 White must try the interesting 17 "xb4! since 17 ~xc4 l:xc4 is terrific for Black. However I could see nothing convincing against 17 "xb4! Hence the text. 11 ~d4lDe4?? A terrible move. I completely overlooked that White's reply was legal. Best was 17 ... :c7! with a fine game. IS "g5!

"/ played eve,y night for a year until I got bored" 45

Perhaps I've become overaccustomed to bishops coming this way rather than queens. This came as a great shock, and after some thought I could find nothing better than .. . 18...lDe5 Since on 18 ... i.f5 19 i.xg7 1;xg7 20 lDg3 is crushing or 18 ... i.a4 19 i.xg7 1;xg7 20 i.xc4 l:lxc4 21 b3 wins a piece for minimal compensation. 191;b1 Probably White can afford to take the e-pawn, but he's happy with one extra pawn. 19.•. i.a4 20 lDcl lIe7 21 :hel l:fe8 22 i.xe5?! Expecting 22 ... i.xe5 23 :xe5 dxe5 24 d6 exd6 25 'iWxg6+ when Black's king would begin to suffer from exposure. 22 ... dxe5! 23 d6 exd6 24 lbd6 24 "xg6 is possible but after 24 ... i.xb3 25 lDxb3 fxg6 26 lDxa5 :xc2 27 l:c I White has only a small edge in the ending. 24 .. .'.t>h7 25 :d5?? A pointless move which transfers the initiative to Black. Probably annoyed at missing my 22nd, White begins to drift. 25 ...'iWa8 26 :d3? Compounding his previous error and this time it's fatal. White's position was already very difficult, though. For example 26 :edl :xc2 27 i.xc2 i.xc2+ 28 1;al i.xdl 29 :txd I i.h6 winning a piece. 26 ... e4! Now the Dragon bishop really begins to breathe fire and White has more cause than ever to regret his unfortunate 22nd. 27 fxe4

27 .. .l:he2! 28 i.xe2 i.xe2+ 29 i.xd3 An alternative way of winning was 29 ... i.xb2+ 30 1;xb2 i.xd3 31 ~a 1! "a3 32 'iWd2 ~c2. 30 lDxd3 b3 White resigned. If3l lDb4 "a3 32 "d2 :c2. ~a1

12 S.Webb White A.J.Miles Black British Championship 1975 English Opening

1 lDo lDf6 2 e4 c5 3 d4 exd4 4 lDxd4

4... a6! This somewhat peculiar-looking move was, to the best of my knowledge, first tried by Forintos against Rashkovsky at Sochi 1974. The idea is to continue with ... d5

46 "I played every night/or a year until 1 got bored"

liquidating the centre before White has time to establish a space advantage (After an immediate 4 ...d5 White is supposed to retain some advantage by 5 cxd5 lDxd5 6 lDb5. Hence 4 ... a6). The game Rashkovsky v Forintos continued 5 lDc3 d5 6 cxd5 lDxd5 7 lDdb5!? (rather amusing since 4 ... a6 was designed to prevent this) 7... lDb4 8 "xd8+ ~xd8 9 lDa3 e5 10 g3 ~e6 II ~g2 lD8c6 and the game was soon agreed drawn. Later in the same tournament Suet in tried this line, also against Rashkovsky. This time Rashkovsky "improved" with 5 g3 d5 6 ~g2 e5 7 lDn e4 8 lDd4 dxc4 9 lDc3 ~c5 10 ~e3 0-0 II lDe6? "xd1+ 12 lhdl ~xe3 13 ttlxf8 ~b6 14lDxh7 ~xh7 and Black won. S lDc3 dS 6 e3 Possibly the best move here is 6 lDn as played by Olafsson against me in the Alexander Memorial Tournament a month after the present game. After 6 ... dxc4 (the alternative is 6 ... e6) 7 "xd8+ ~xd8 8 e4 e6 (8 ... b5 is possible) 9 lDe5! ~e8 10 ttlxc4 White had a small but lasting advantage. 6... eS 7 lDo e4 8 lDd2 Since White does not take the e-pawn next move 8 lDd4 would seem more sensible. 8... dxc4 9 ~xc4 9 lDdxe4 is consistent, but 9 .....xd I+ 10 ~xd I lDxe4 II lDxe4 b5 leaves Black with a dangerous queenside pawn majority e.g. 12 a4 ~b7 13 lDc3 b4 14 lLibl ~d5 15 lDd2 c3. 9... bS 10 ~e2 ~b7 Already Black has a slight advantage.

I1lDb3 Admitting the inaccuracy of 8 lDd2. 1l ...lDc6 120-0 Black's space advantage is less relevant with the queens off, so I think White should play 12 "xd8+ while he has the chance. 12... ~d6 End of chance! 13lDd4lDxd4 14 exd4 Not 14 "xd4 "c7! 15 g3 (15 ~xb5+ axb5 16 ttlxb5 ~xh2+ 17 ~hl "e5 wins) 15 ... %:td8 (or even 15 ... 0-0-0) and White's queen has no squares. If 16 "a7 ~c5 or 16 ltd I 0-0. 14 ... h6 15 ~e3 0-0 16 %:tel "d7 17 a3 Aad8 18 "d2 "e6 19 f4 exO I played this quite quickly, but in retrospect I think 19 ..... f5 might well be superior. 20 ~xO ~xO 21 ltxo lDe4 22 ttlxe4 "xe4

23~f4

Exchanging the bad bishop, and probably best. Another idea is 23 "c2 so that if 23 ... ltfe8 24 "xe4 ltxe4 25 Ac6 or 23 .....xc2 24 Axc2 ltc8 25 Aff2 or 23 .....d5 24 "c6,

"I played every night for a year until I got bored" 49

13 G.Sigurjonsson White A.J.Miles Black London International 1975 Sicilian Defence

Black threatens 44 ... c3 45 l:td3 ioc4 46 l:txc3 "xd4+ 47 l:te3 l:tal winning. White resigned.

I e4 c5 2 lLlo ltlc6 3 iob5 "as!? 4ltlc3 e6 5 0-0 ltlge7 6 b3?! 6l:tel 6... ltld4 7 ioc4 ltlec6 8 iob2 ioe7 9 l:tel 0-0 10 ion d6 Black is slightly better. 11 d3 iod7 12 ltld2 "c7 13 lLle2 iof6 14 e3 lLlxe2+ 15 "xe2 l:tac8 If 15 ... b5 then 16 ltlf3 intending d4. 16 f4 d5 17 g3?! 17 "f3! is equal. 17.....a5 18 e5 ioe7 19 ltlo d4!? 20 l:ted? 20 c4 b5 slightly favours Black. 20 •.•dxc3 21 ~xe3 'iib6 22 "12 l:tfd8 23 iob2 ltlb4 24 ltld2 ioc6 25 ltle4 "e7 26 l:tdl b5 27 lLle3 'iib7 28 a3ltld5 Black has a clear advantage. 29 l:tad lLlxe3 30 "xe3 iod5 31 d4 c4 32 b4 as 33 ioe3 axb4 34 ioxb4 i.xb4 35 axb4 l:te6 36 l:ta 1 l:ta8 37 "c3 l:tca6 38 ~12 l:ta2+ 39 l:txa2 1%xa2+ 40 l:td2 l:ta4 With a winning position. 41 ioe2 "a7 42 iodl l:ta3 43 "cl g6

Now a sharp tactical battle against a noted tactician: Miles sacrifices his queen for 3 minor pieces. 14 G.Sax White A.J. Miles Black London International 1975 Sicilian Defence 1 e4 e5 2 ltlo ltle6 3 iob5 'iib6!? 4 ioa4!? A new move with the idea 0-0, c3 and d4. 4... g6!? 4 ... e6 5 0-0 lLlge7 6 c3 d5 was about equal in Sax-Miles, Blitz! 50-0 iog7 6 e3 e6!? 7 l:tel ltlge7 8 e5 0-0 9 d4 cxd4 10 cxd4 f6! The position is unclear. 11 lLlaJ fxe5 12 lLle4 'iib4! 13 b3?! Better is 13 ltlcxe5 b5 14 iob3 "d6 and ... iob7 with equal chances.

13 .•.l:txf3! 14 ioa3 If 14 gxf3 then 14 ... lLlxd4 is strong-.....xel+ is the immediate threat. Or 14 iod2 l:td3!

"I played every night for a year until I got bored" 4 7

but 23 ... 'iWe6! is strong (24 "c6? l:tc8!). 23 ...:fe8 The only move to keep any advantage. 24 ~xd6 :xd6 25 :f4 If 25 :d I Black can tie all of White's pieces down to the defence of the d-pawn by 25 ... :ed8 26 l:td3 (Not 26 :f4 lbd4! 27 "xd4 l:txd4 28 l:txd4 "e 1+ 29 l:tn "e3+) 26 ... l:td5, when although White's position may not yet be lost, it is very uncomfortable. 25 .....e226l:tf2 26 "xe2 l:txe2 should win for Black e.g. 27 l:tc8+ 'it>h7 28 1:[xf7 l:txd4 threatening to double on the seventh and if 29 :cc7 l:td 1+ 30 l:tn l:tdd2. 26 :d 1 is possible, as is 26 l:tc2. In all cases Black keeps some advantage with queens on or off the board. 26 ..:'Wg4 26 .....xd2 leaves Black with reasonable winning chances but the text gives White more chances to go wrong ...

l:tc8+! 'iWxc8 29 'iixe2 and if 29 ... 'iWcI + 30 l:tn. Black can then choose between 27 ... 'iWe2 followed by taking the good rook and pawn ending, 27 ... 'iWh5 threatening 28 ... l:te2, and the tricky 27 .....g5. 27 ...l:te4! 28 d5 :e5 Threatening 29 ... l:texd5 30 'iWxd5 "xd1 +!-forcing a won pawn end-game. 29 l:tO Forced, since 29 l:tf4 is met by 29 ... l:texd5! 29 .....h5! 30 l:td3 :e2

31"c3 .If 31 ~ :g6 32 1:[g3 :xb2 Wins.

There is, though, an unlikely defensive try in 31 "f4 and if 31...l:tg6 32 .. n when the d-pawn gives White counterchances. The best line I can find for Black is 31...l:tg6 (31... ..g6 32 :g3 "c2 33 l:tn! "c5+ 34 ~hl "xd5 35 l:txg7+! 'it>xg7 36 "g4+ and 37 'iixd2) 32 ..n l:tf6 33 l:txg2+! 34 ~xg2 (or 34 "xg2 :xO and if 35 d6 :g3 36 "xg3 "xd 1+ 37 'it>g2 "d5+ 38 'it>h3 'it>f8 should win) 34 .....g4+ 35 l:tg3 (35 ltih 1 l:txO 36 "e2 "f4! threatening 37 ... :f2)

:0

27 :dl? ... and he duly obliges. Best is 27 lU4 when 27 ...:e2!? is met by 28

50 HI played every night for a year until I got bored"

14.••'ihc4! 14 ......c3 IS :cl "'d3 16 gxf3 is unclear. 15 bxc4 :xa3 Black is clearly better. 16 dxe5 i.xe5!? 16 ... b6? 17 f4 is roughly equal. 17 :bl 17 :xe5?! lLlxe5 18 "'d6l:txa4 19 "'xe7 b6 20 :el lLlfl with a winning position. 17..• b6 18 h4 i.d4 19 :e4 e5 20 i.b3 d6 21 c5+ d5 22 "'13 i.f5 23 :eel 23 :xd4 :xb3! 23 ...~g7 24 :bdl bxc5

25 "'g3 i.e4?! 26 :xd4! cxd4 26 ... lLlfS 27 'i'c3! lLlfxd4 28 f3 i.fS 29 "'xc5 is unclear.

27 13 i.d3!? 28 :xe5 :xb3! 29 axb3 lLlxe5 30 "'xe5+ ~17 31 "'xd4 i.b5 32 "'f4+ ~e8 33 "'h6 :d8 34 "'xh7 :d6 35 h5 gxh5 35 ... d4. 36 "'xh5+ ~d7 37 f4 a6 38 f5 d4 39 "ii'g4! 39"'fl d3! 40 f6 d2 wins. 39..•~e8

40 'i'f4? 40 'i'g7! threatening f6 should hold. 40 ... lLlc8! 41 f6 d3 42 "'f5 d2 43 17+ ~f8 44 "'xc8+ ~xf7 45 "'c7+ 45 'iVb7+ :d7 46 'i'f3+ ~e7 47 "'dl a5! and ... a4 wins. 45 'i'f5+ ~e7 wins. 46 "'c8+ :d7 45 •.. ~e6 (46 ... ~e7) 47 "'e8+ ~d6 White resigned.

48 "I played every nightfor a year until I gol bored"

35 ... lXxfl 36 lXxfl 'WWe4+ and ...'WWxd5 with a probable win. 31. ..lXg6 One fascinating possibility is 31 ... 'WWg6 32 lXg3 lXxd5. This almost wins (problem enthusiasts might be interested to know that it almost loses too! Viz: were the black h-pawn on h5 instead of h6 White would have the amazing 33 cJi>fl!! winning outright!) but I rejected it because of 33 'WWxg7+! 'WWxg7 (or 33 ... cJi>xg7 34 lXxg6+ fxg6 35 l:txd5 lXxb2 36 lXd7+ ~f8 37 lXa7) 34 lXxd5! lXxb2 (or 34 ... 'WWxg3 35 hxg3 lXxb2 36 lXd8+ cJi>g7 37 lXa8 lXb3 38 lXxa6 lXxg3 39 a4 b4 40 lXb6 drawing) 35 lXd8+ ~h7 36 lXxg7+ ~xg7 37 lXa8 lXa2! 38 lXxa6 b4 39 lXb6 bxa3 40 lXa6 with a theoretical draw. 32 lXg3

32 ...lXxg2+ The alternative is 32 ... lXxb2. Then if 33 'WWd4? lXxg3 34 hxg3 'WWe2 wins, or 33 'WWd3 lXxg3 34 hxg3 'WWe2 35 "xe2 lXxe2 36 d6 lXe8 should win, but 33 lXel(!) leaves the rook looking rather silly, although after 33 ... lXxg3 34 hxg3 lXa2! Black is probably still winning. However I was beginning to worry about what the queen might

do if things went wrong. 32 ... lXxg2+ had the reassuring quality of exposing the white king to the extent that there would always be a perpetual if necessary (always useful when one is short of time!) 33 ~xg2 'WWxdl 34 "c8+ ~h7 35 "f5! The only way to trouble Black. 35 .....e2+! 36 ~gl? This gives Black time to go pawn snatching. Better is 36 ~h3 when I intended 36.....e7! restraining the d-pawn and preparing to drive White back with 37...'iff6. So 37 lXxg6 fxg6 38 "d3 (Not 38 'WWe6?? "xe6+ 39 dxe6 ~g8) 38 .....d6 with good prospects of success, though there is obviously a lot of play left in the position. 36.....xb2! 37 lXxg6 37 "xf7 can be met by 37 ... 'WWf6. 37.....d4+! More accurate than 37 ... fxg6 38 "d3 "c1+ 39 ~g2 "g5+ 40 ~hl "e7 41 d6 "d7 42 "d5 with drawing chances. 38 ~g2 fxg6 39 'WWe6 irb2+ 40 ~gl "xa3 41 d6 "c1+ White now sealed 42 ~f2 but resigned without continuing since 42 .....d2+ 43 ~g3 b4 44 d7 b3 45 "e8 b2 46 d8=W 'WWxd8 47 "xd8 bl=" would leave Black three pawns ahead.

• • • • There follows a polished positional crush from London 1975, which Miles won outright, gaining his first Grandmaster norm. In the final position Miles's 'bad' bishop is stronger than Sigurjonsson's 'good' bishop.

3:

M

"A cable"

iles (AIM) analysed his wins at Dubna 1976, where he gained the title, with Mike Basman (MB) on the AudioChess cassette Tony Miles Grandmaster. 15 O.Averkin White A.J.Miles Black Dubna 1976 Benko Gambit AJM: "This tournament was held in Dubna, which was a small town about 80 miles from Moscow." MB: "How come you were playing in it?" AIM: "I got this strange invitation which came via various back doors and eventually landed in my letter box about a week before the tournament started. Consequently 1 had great trouble getting visas, but got there eventually." MB: "You didn't have any trouble in travelling or anything like that?" AJM: "Well, I turned up and my luggage didn't, but it arrived about 3 days later-so it wasn't quite that bad. Barcza was a little worse offhis didn't tum up at all." MB: "What about the tournament-was it a strong one?" AJM: "Yes, there were eight grandmasters, five international masters and the grandmaster norm was nine points out of fifteen." MB: "What about the prize money?"

AIM: "I got a few roubles-my prize was about 550, unfortunately you can't get them out of the country which is a slight problem." MB: "What about the other players in the tournament?" AIM: 'The tournament was won by Tseshkovsky who is one of the guys that the Russians consider to be one of their promising players for the next few years. Also Savon who was Russian champion some time ago, Suetin, and several other lesser known Russian grandmasters. Holmov is quite strong, also Gipslis." MB: "What about the tournament. How did it begin for you?" AIM: "In the first round I had White against Savon-the tournament hall was at this time rather cold, outside-well -20C was a warm day. This unfortunately overpowered the heating system, I spent the first round wrapped up in numerous coats and still shivering. I had a lot of pressure in the game all the way through and finally disposed of my pressure in convincing fashion and only drew. Second round, I played the Yugoslav player Knezevic-that was a relatively short draw. In the third round 1 again got a massive position against Holmov, another Russian grandmaster-again I repeated my earlier act and got rid of the advantage and only drew. Then we came to the following game:"

52 "A cable"

I d4 lbf6 2 c4 cS 3 dS bS MB: "That seems to blunder away a pawn ... " AJM: "That's right, commonly known as the Benko Gambit." 4 cxbS a6 S bxa6 g6 6 ttJc3 .i.xa6 AJM: "7 e4 is playable, but after the bishops are exchanged White can't castle and it costs him a move or two to get his king into a sensible place." 7 ttJf3 d6 S g3 .i.g7 9 ~g2 ttJbd7 100-0 ttJb6

MB: "What's the idea of Black's opening?" AJM: "Basically when Black castles he brings his king's rook over to the b-file with lots of play on the queens ide. Jnd particularly pressure against the pawn on b2, or the square if the pawn happens to run away. The tianchettoed bishop has a useful diagonal. The other black bishop is also well placed. whereas the white bishops-the one on g2 is not very actively placed because the pawn on d5 blocks it and the other white bishop doesn't have that much scope and tends to get kicked around a bit by the knights if it ever gets anywhere." lI11el 0-0 12 e4

AJM: "Guards the pawn on d5, but leaves his d3 square a little weak." 12 ... lbfd7 13 'Wc2lbc4!? AJM: "Quite strong-now if he plays 14 b3? 'WaS! and there's no useful way of defending the ttJ(c3)." 14l:dl 'WaS AJM: "Except that the white pawn was on h3, this is almost the same position I had against against the Dutch grandmaster Donner in an international match a couple of months ago. He played .i.f1 which is probably better than what A verkin now produced, which was a small oversight." IS ttJd2? ttJa3! AJM: "If 16 'Wb3 simply llfb8 when he has to take the knight and he's only lost another move." 16 bxa3 "xc3 MB: "Why didn't you take with the bishop?" AJM: "Because he might just play lbb3 and I might just lose a piece. I thought maybe that wasn't such a good idea!" 17 "xc3 ~xc3 MB: "You're quite happy to be in an endgame are you?" AJM: "Yes, they're not bad." ISl:bl c4! AJM: "This takes away the square b3 from White's pieces. If for instance l8 ... l:fb8 instead then White has 19 llb3 and he temporarily holds the position for a while on the queenside and can untangle his pieces." 19lbf311tbS 20 .i.e3 .i.b2! AJM: "This snuffs his rook out and prepares c3-c2." 21 lbd4 c3 22 .i.fl ttJeS 23 .i.xa6 llxa6 24 ttJc2

"A cahle" q

40 ... c2!

AJM: "Now I can play ... ttJc4 and win both the a-pawns quite quickly, but I didn't want to take all of the a-pawns yet since they're not very useful-I thought the e-pawn might be a bit better." 24 ... l:ta4! 25 ~fl A1M: "25 :'d4 ttJf3+ and the obvious move 25 i.d4 allows 25 ... ttJf3+ 26 ~g2 ttJd2 wins the exchange-work it out." MB: "I believe you! So he had to give up his pawn for nothing." 2S ...:'xe4 26 l:td4 1::txd4 27 i.xd4 ~8 28 ~e2 ttJc4 29 ~d3 ttJxa3 30 :el ~f8 31 l:te2 ttJb5 32 i.e3 .~f: "With the threat of i.h6+ md ..,g5 and I have some problems defending my e-pawn. So I decided 10 expand in the centre." 32 .•• e5?! 33 dxe6 fxe6 34 ttJd4!? ~7 35 "'h6+ ~f7 36 ttJO A1M: "Around here I began to n:alise it wasn't quite as easy as I ~t it had been for a while. I iIad -a reasonably long think and aIDe up with a plan of activating ~. ptcce5. particularly the bishop." .J6.......:.J.a2!? 37 ttJg5+ ~e7 38 ~7 ~! 39 i..g5+ ~f7 40 i.h6 .-UM: -Now I played the • ...... tioo which I'd been trying _tee lIP for the last few moves."

A1M: "If 41 l:txc2 ttJb4+ winning the exchange or 41 ~xc2 i.g7+ picking off some pieces. So instead he decided to counterattack." 41 ttJg5+ ~e7 (sealed) 42 l:txe6+ ~d7 43 'it>xc2 MB: "How much of the ensuing play did you see during the adjournment?" AJM: "Most of it, just about-most of the line was forced apart from a few early diversions." 43 ... i.f6+ 44 ~b3 A1M: "He must attack the rook, otherwise ... i.xg5 wins." 44 ...:'b2+ 45 ~a3 l:tb5!

A1M: "With the powerful threat of mate in two by ... i.b2 and ttJc3, and also threatens to discover an

54 "A cable"

attack on his llJ(g5). It also threatens ... iLxg5 attacking his rook. So he has to stop ... iLb2+-his next move is forced." 46 %:te2llJe3! 47 %:te2 iLd4! MB: 'That isn't obvious actually is it? It's obvious when you see it. One is generally thinking how to knock these bits off." AJM: "Threatening mate. This isn't easy to stop, there's only one way ... " 48 %:txe3 iLxe3 AJM: "Now his king is out of play, Black has an extra exchange and his d-pawn is very strong." 49 llJe4 iLd4 50 f3 d5 51 llJd2 iLe3 52 llJb3 'ite6 53 iLe3 %:tb8 54 'ita2 'itb5 White resigned. AJM: "Since the black king comes into c4 and the d-pawn queens rather quickly." MB: "That was certainly a very beautiful endgame." AJM: "Yes, the endgame was interesting. I feel I should have finished it off a I ittle bit earlier." MB: "Can you point to any point?" AJM: "No, I'm not sure of any wins I missed, but the opening looked so overwhelming I felt there ought to have been something a bit quicker. In Round Five I had a relatively short and painless draw against Zaitsev. Sixth round I had perhaps my most interesting game of the tournament against Donchenko---a very long game which finished four days later-we'll come to that later. In the seventh round I had another interesting but a little shorter game against the Czech master Plachetka. "

16 A.J.Miles White J.Plaehetka Black Dubna 1976 Siciliall Defelice I e4?! MB: "Was he surprised?" AJM: "Possibly, this is only about the second time I've played it this year". MB: "You used to play e4 quite a lot. " AJM: "Yes, I found I kept walking into peoples' pet lines." 1...e5 AJM: "This came as a bit of a shock to me because I didn't know he played the Sicilian. I'd seen various of his games where he defended Ruy Lopezes, but no Sicilians. I had no great confidence in my theoretical knowledge, I didn't want to go down any main lines because I wasn't convinced I knew too much about it. So I decided to play ... " 2 f4!? MB: "Nice move. You can't go wrong." AJM: "Less common." 2...tLIf6 3 tLIe3 d5 4 e5 d4 5 exf6 dxe3 6 fxg7 exdH 7 'ili'xd2 'ili'xdH 8 ii.xd2 ii.xg7

"A cable" 55

AJM: "This is very fortunate for me, it's the only line I happen to know of this opening. It's following a game Bisguier-Hartston from Hastings. For a long time this ending has been considered equal but in that game Black found considerable difficulty in holding the position. There's a similar ending coming from Alekhine's defence where the black pawn is on c7 and the white pawn is on fl, and that one I think is equal. But in this position, the black pawn on c5 seems to be rather vulnerable to quiet moves like ~e3, whereas the white pawn seems to be very useful for attacking purposes on f4. As the game goes on, this seems to prove this." 9 0-0-0 ~f5 10 tDe2! AJM: "Trying to exploit the position of the bishop by playing ttJg3 and then perhaps getting in on f5 or h5 or somewhere like that." 10... tDc6 11 ~e3 AJM: ''This stops him castling and also attacks the c-pawn. 11 ... b6 is probably best, even then White still has some advantage by playing his knight out to g3 and then ... ~d7 when I can either possibly go tDh5, or play the bishop to d3 and threaten to bring the knight into f5. Alternatively play ~b5 and dump the rook on e I and White has loads of things." 11...:c8?! 12 tDg3 AJM: "If I now play 12 ~xc5 then tDb4 is very strong. 13 ~xb4 :xc2+ 14 ~bl and he can win the piece back with some advantagein fact he might mate me, .. .in fact he will-there's another bishop lying around." 12 ... ~g4 13 :d5!

AJM: "Now there's a big threat of :g5 winning one of the bishops and also the c-pawn is now genuinely attacked. " MB: "You don't seem to play many automatic moves in this game-I mean your 10 tDe2 you thought about. The automatic move was :el here, you chose :d5." AJM: "Yes, well it seems to be a bit stronger." (laughing) MB: "That's your trademark." AJM: "What, playing strong moves?" (laughing) MB: "Well, playing nonautomatic moves that are a little stronger. " AJM: "That's because I'm not used to playing this opening you see, I don't know how to play it-I don't realise the automatic moves." (laughing) 13 ... ~d4 AJM: "The only way try and defend the bishops and keep the c-pawn." 14 ~xd4 cxd4 AJM: "If he plays 14 ... tDxd4 15 c3 and the knight has to move away. His bishop on g4 has chances of getting trapped by f5, his king's rook is out of play." 15~b5

56 "A cable"

MB: "That is actually a logical, automatic move." AJM: "Yes, that one's quite good as well! Now his d-pawn is in rather a lot of trouble." 15... iLd7 AJM: "Now if I take on c6 he recaptures with the bishop and then gets my g-pawn. I fou~d a much stronger move, namely ... 16lLJe4! MB: "If you were Black in this position, how would you defend?" AJM: "I wouldn't be Black in this position." (laughing) 16•••.:.d8

AJM: "This holds against almost everything-unfortunately the one thing it doesn't hold against is rather convincing." 17 iLxc6! bxc6 AJM: "If 17 ... iLxc6 guarding the pawn I have 18 lLJf6+! which is a little bit strong-after 18 ... exf6 19 ':'e I + and the king must move allowing ':'xd8+ with rather an easy win, exchange up, all the pawns falling apart. Hereabouts he noticed that continuation and turned a little red. " MB: "He hadn't noticed it before?"

AJM: "I think not, no." MB: "It's not that obvious is it?" AJM: "No, it's surprising-the whole e-file, there's no way of interposing on it." 18 ':'xd4 iLf5 19 ':'a4 ':'d7 20 lLJg3 MB: "Could you have gone to c5?" AJM: "Yes, I didn't think it did so much here." MB: "Interesting that-so on g3 you think it's better than on c5." AJM: "Yes, well c5 is the automatic move, so ... " (laughillg) 20 ••• iLe6 21 ':'d 1 ':'c7 22 f5 iLc8 23 ':'g4 MB: "Another cunning move." AJM: "Unfortunately gets rid of the last open file for his other rook. Now all of his pieces are looking quite terrible and he was running rather short of time now." MB: "If 23 ... h5 then 24 lLJxh5 now?" AJM: "Oh yes, that's legal-I don't think I noticed that one. I might just have played ':'g7." 23 ... e5 24 lLJe4 MB: "A nice blockader. What if ... iLxf5 here?" AJM: "I seem to have lLJd6+ ..... MB: "Good." AJM: ..... picking up the bishop--lucky that." MB: "Yes, it was rather." 24 .• .'jre7 25 f6+ ~e6 AJM: "Now I considered 26 l:d6+ but after 26 .. .';;f5 he's attacking my rook, so instead I played a quiet move" 26 h3

"A cable" 57

tournament, it lasted ten hours altogether and was played in two sessions:

AJM: "Now I'm threatening Ad6+ 'iti>f5 lLlg3 mate and he's rather short of defences against this. In fact he had about four minutes left on his clock and he thought for three of them, didn't find a defence, and resigned. In fact he has got 26 ...'iti>f5, the only move to stop mate." MB: "Then 27 l:td6?" AJM: "No-then 27 ... .i.e6. After 26 ... 'iti>f5 I kick his king back across the board with something like 27 l:tfl + 'iti>e6 28 lLlg5+ 'iti>d6 29 :d I + 'itr>c5 and then something like l:te4 and I'm winning at least a second pawn and his position is falling apart quite rapidly. So in fact his resignation was quite justified. Pity it wasn't a forced mate." MB: "Well I don't blame him for thinking it was a forced mate and resigning. " 17 A.Donchenko While A.J.Miles Black Dubna 1976 English Opening In the 6th round I had perhaps my most interesting game of the

1 c4 lLlf6 2 lLlc3 cS MB: "You like the Symmetrical do you?" AJM: "Not much, but I couldn't think of anything to play at the time." (laughing) 3 lLlo e6 4 g3 .i.e7 AJM: "The system I played in this game I'd never played before, but felt like playing something new for a change." S .i.g2 a6!? AJM: "Andersson has played this once or twice, vaguely similar to some Sicilian-not the other one(!}-setups. It gives White some advantage but lets Black have some play." 6 0-0 0-0 7 d4 cxd4 8 "'xd4 AJM: "If 8 lLlxd4 "'c7 and the c-pawn is a little uncomfortable." 8... lLlc6 9 "'f4 d6 loAd 1 i.d7 11 b3 "'as!? AJM: "This attacks the white knight, if 12 .i.b2 b5 gaining space on the queens ide. On the other hand if 12 .i.d2 then ......c? and the white bishop is slightly misplaced." 12 lLle4!? lLlxe4 13 "'xe4 l:[fd8 14 .i.d2 "'hS IS .i.e3 AJM: "Threatening to come into b6. Black can no longer defend this square, so I thought I better move the hole." IS••• bS AJM: "Now White started lashing out and came forward swinging wildly." 16 g4?! "'g6

58 "A cable"

AJM: "Black has freed his position somewhat. White had been playing for this oncoming selection of swipes" (laughing) "Presumably he wouldn't have played his last few moves if he'd realised that this combination was a bit unsound." 17 "xg6 hxg6 18 .i.b6 l:tdc8 19 c5 AJM: "Trying to break through the d-fiIe." 19 ... ds AJM: "Now comes the next of his hefty swipes, trying to blast his way through ... " 20 e4 AJM: "Being a gullible chap I took the pawn." 20 ...dxe4!? 21 ltxd7 exf3 22 .i.xf3 AJM: "This is where I came up with my wild swipe which hit him rather soundly on the chin." 22 ... .i.xcs!! . AJM: "This comes as a bit of a shock-it leaves almost everything en prise." 23 ii.xcs lDes

MB: "Hitting three white pieces." AJM: "Also one down!" (laughing) "Now the interesting point at the end of the main line is that if White now plays 24 .i.xa8 lDxd7 25 .i.b7 after the a-pawn. Now Black doesn't play 25 ... ltxc5 because of 26 .i.xa6, but plays 25 ...l:tb8 and now if 26 .i.xa6? lDxc5 wins the other bishop. So after 24 .i.xa8 Black remains a whole pawn ahead." 24 l::txf7 ~xf7 25 .i.xa8 l:txcs AJM: "Now the fireworks have died down. Black is left with two very active pieces against White's two rather scattered ones and also the black king is coming straight into the game. It's a very good endgame for Black." 26 h3lDd3 27 a3 as 28 .i.e4 MB: "He has got a bishop against a knight." AJM: "Yes, but the knight's better than the bishop. Black's certainly better." 28...lDf4 29 h4 'it>f6 30 gs+! AJM: "Otherwise Black plays ... g5 and White's getting crushed all over the place." 30 ...'itr>es 31 l:tel ~d4 32 .i.bl l:tes

"A cable" 59

AJM: "If Black plays the natural 32... e5? White has 33 l:tdl+! with perpetual check." 33 l:txe5 Wxe5 34 b4 a4! AJM: "I thought I was winning fairly easily here. Unfortunately he came up with a rather ingenious defensive idea which I'd overlooked. " 35 Wh2 ~d4 36 Wg3 e5 37 Wg4! AJM: "The king can't go anywhere from g4 can it? So I just played" 37... Wc3 38 i..xg6!

AJM: "I'd dismissed this as being inadequate. It's obviously the only move--whether it's desperate or he actually realised how good it was I don't know." 38.....'Llxg6 39 h5 ~b3? AJM: "Now if 40 hxg6 Black queens several moves ahead and wins easily." MB: "By the way, can you move the knight away, say ..'Llf8?" AJM: "Well, I have the choice next time. I must confess I didn't actually realise what was going on just yet. (laughing) I thought it was easy. Instead 39 ... ..'Lle7! 40 h6 Wb3! 41 ~h5 gxh6 42 gxh6..'Llg8! wins."

40 ~f5! AJM: "Now the knight has to move. I looked around and thought it didn't seem to matter. I thought White was going to play h6 and try and win my knight with his h-pawn, which looked rather slow. So ] just played" 40 ... ..'Llh8 AJM: "Around here, while he was thinking, I realised what actually was going on! White sealed" 41 g6!

AJM: "which came as a bit of a blow at first, because if I play 4l...Wxa3 then after 42 h6! ..'Llxg6 43 hxg7 the game is only drawn. After some thought I managed to find a way of scrambling some advantage. " 41 .....'Llxg6! 42 ~xg6 Wxa3 43 ~xg7 Wxb4 44 h6 a3 45 h7 a2 46 h8=-. al=. 47 -.f8+ AJM: "At first it looks as though White's drawing quite easily since the king doesn't have anywhere to hide." 47 ...~b3 AJM: "The amusing thing now is that if White didn't have his own f-pawn" the position would be drawn.

60 "A cable ..

MB: "Really?" AJM: "Yes, because I analysed where Black walks the king towards the f-pawn to try and shelter there but White merely gives it up and draws by perpetual. The black queen can never get in, but with the f-pawn Black has some more prospects-it gets in the way of the white queen." M~: "I'm a bit surprised about that. 48 'i'f7+ ~e2! 49 'i'r5+ AJM: "Now I have the possibility of 49 ... e4+. I analysed it for a long time during the adjournment and decided it only drew. Instead I had the finesse of playing first" 49•.•~d2! 50 'i'g5+ 'i!.>d3! AJM: "Now if 51 'i'e3+ the king manages to scramble out of the checks round the back of the b-pawn, finally lands on a safe square-work it out. Instead" 51..-r5+

AJM: "This time I did play" 51. •.e4+! AJM: "Now the king's guarding the e-pawn which effectively gains about a tempo." 52 ~g6 ..-a4 AJM: "Guarding both pawns."

53~g5

AJM: "I didn't really see any way of preventing f3 exchanging one set of pawns." MB: "Had this gone out of your analysis by now?" AJM: "Just about, yes." 53 ...'i'e4 54 f3 b4 55 fxe4 ..-xe4

AJM: "Now we get a theoretically very interesting ending of queen + knight's pawn v queen, which for a long time has been considered drawn but no-one's really sure now and it may well be winning. In any case I was quite looking forward to trying the good side of it, having to defend a similar ending for about sixteen hours at Hastings." MB: "There's a Russian computer that worked it out, it's Bronstein ... " AJM: "Yes I considered ringing him, but I didn't know his number!" 56 'Wfl+ <;te2 57 'i'f2+ ~e3 58 'i'r6+ 'i'd4 59 'i'e6+ ~b2 60 'i'g2+ ~cl 61 'i'e6+ 'i'e3 62 'i'hl+ ~b2 63 'i'e4 AJM: "After 63 'i'h2+ ..t>bI he's running out of checks again---64 'Wgi +? 'Wei +." 63 ... b3 AJM: "Progress at last."

"A cable" 61

64 'itr>h4?! AJM: "Really he should be going the other way with his king in the direction of h6, keeping as far away as possible." 64•••'iVcS! AJM: "Fixes the white king on the right side of the board and prepares to walk the king round the back. So now another series of checks:" 6S 'iVg2+ 'ita3 66 'iVa8+ 'iti>b4 67 'it'b7+ 'ita4 68 'i'a8+ 'i'aS 69 'i'c6+ ~a3

AJM: "Now he's out of checks again." 70 'i'D 'itr>a2 71 'i'n AJM: "Now I regrouped my queen on a central square." 71. .•'iVel+ 72 'ith3? 'iVe4

78 'i'al 'i'd3+ 79 'itr>h4 'i'c4+ 80 'ith3 AJM: "80 'itr>h5 'i'b5+ and ... b2 wins rather easily." 80 ... 'itr>d2 81 'i'a7 AJM: "If 81 'ii'b2+ 'it'c2 82 'it'a3 b2." 81 ...b2 White resigned. AJM: "Probably my most of the interesting game tournament. " MB: "Did you find the endgame more interesting or the middlegame?" AJM: "I think it was all very interesting-his initial wild thrusts, well, finding an answer to them was quite interesting. Then the ending was fascinating-I like these sort of endings, great fun." (laughing) MB: "You enjoy calculating them out do you?" AJM: "I don't calculate them, just play them!" (laughing) 18 J.Kostro White A.J.Miles Black Dubna 1976 Siciliall Defence

MB: "Had you been reading any endgame books on this?" AJM: "Oh no, it's not necessary-these things come quite naturally." (Iaughillg) 73 'iV.7+ 'itbl 74 'iVgl+ 'itc2 7S 'iVh2+ ~c3 76 'i'c7+ 'itd2 77 'it'aS+ We2 AJM: "Now he's out of checks pennanently-he's also got problems trying to stop the pawn going through."

AJM: "The game against Donchenko didn't actually finish until after round nine. My games in round eight and nine were both drawn - nothing madly adventurous. " MB: "Why were you drawing all these games then?" AJM: "Well after I'd beaten Donchenko I'd now got up to plus three, I'd won my three games which meant I only needed 50% from the rest to get the Grandmaster title. I wasn't too bothered about winning the tournament. As it

62 "A cable ..

happened after round nine I had four games against grandmasters and then I had to play against the untitled Russian Rashkovsky followed by the Polish master Kostro who wasn't doing too well in the tournament. So I thought it might be an idea to try and draw my way through the 4 grandmasters and then if anything went wrong I'd always got the last two at the en~ to make up for it. (laughing) As thtngs went I drew the first three quite easily and then of course the disaster struck and I lost to the Russian grandmaster Suetin. I was Black and got a lousy opening and nasty things happened. In t~e penultimate round I'd had White against Rashkovsky and I found out that he wasn't quite as weak as I thought he was when I'd been making my earlier plans. In fact he's rather a good player and recently won tournaments ~head of Karpov. He also beat Petroslan once in twenty moves with Black. He's not a bad player and although I had some pressure in that game, I eventually only drew it. So it was all on the last game with Kostro." MB: "Did you sleep well the night before?" AJM: "Noooo" (laughing) MB: "Probably cursing yourself." AJM: "Yes, cursing myself for several days before." MB: "Was Kostro aware that you needed to win this to get the GM norm?" AJM: "Yes, I think he was very well aware of this." MB: "He didn't offer you a draw on move three or anything because it was the last round?" AJM: "No, he seemed to be trying to beat me."

MB: "He gave you a chance." AJM: "Fortunately he was quite a useful player to be playing because he played to win all his games and lost most of them!" (laughing) "In fact he'd lost nine of his games. My nerves did a fair amount to counter the strength of my opponent." MB: "Yes, certainly." 1 e4 c5 MB: "You generally defend with the Sicilian do you?" AJM: "Quite often, especially when I need to win." 2lDo e6 AJM: "This is my improvement in the Dragon." MB: "Yes your Dragon does allow you sometimes to get bashed up against a theoretically well prepared player." AJM: (laughing) "Yes, this has happened on occasions." 3 d4 cxd4 4lDxd4 a6 MB: "The Paulsen line. You didn't play the ... 1Lc5 line which is on my cassette? I can't understand that. " AJM: (laughing) "No, I felt sure Kostro had been listening to your cassettes. I thought I better not." 5lDc3 "'c7 AJM: "Trying to play on the black squares, leave the pawns defending the white ones." 6g3 AJM: "I don't believe this much, it doesn't seem right. The fianchettoed bishop is rather passive -the /'}, (e4) gets in its way. I'm not convinced by this system, still it's quite popular." 6 ...1Lb4

"A cable" 63

alternative was 16 f5 when I have 16...d5 with lots of complications which I think are good for Black. Now I reacted with a normal central thrust. " 16..•d5 17 exd5

7 lDde2 i.e7 8 i.g2 lDf6 9 0-0 lDc6 10 b3 0-0 11 i.b2 AJM: "Now I want to play ... b5 but at the moment it allows lDd5 and a few things are ell prise down the long white diagonal. So I played a preparatory move." 1l ....:tb8 12 'fi'd2 b5 13 lDdl AJM: "I don't think this is such a bad move. At first I thought it was a bit artificial, but later I wasn't so sure. " 13 ... i.b7 14lDe3 d6 15 f4 AJM: "This looks a little I weakening, it's ambitious. expected 15 c4 when probably I just play 15 ... b4. The text prevents ... lDe5 which puts pressure on the e-pawn." 15....l:tbd8 MB: "Not the other rook?" AJM: "In some lines I want the square b8 for the knight to regroup and also in some lines White might play e5 and I won't be able to take because of the bishop forking my major bits. Also there are some possibilities of ... f5 opening the f-file when the other rook would be needed at home." 16 g4 AJM: "This looks a bit ambitious and I think it is a bit risky. The

AJM: "Now I think I made a slight mistake. I should recapture with the knight when I'm sure Black's somewhat better. I thought taking with the pawn was also good because it has the possibility of playing ... lDe4." 17... exd5 18 i.xf6 AJM: "Surprising, but I think it's very good. If 18 lDxd5 lDxd5 19 i.xd5 i.c5+. Now wherever White moves his king I have 20 ... .l:txd5 21 'fi'xd5 and knight on c6 moves somewhere. He's getting done over quite convincingly in most lines." 18... i.xf6 19 .:tadl AJM: "Not 19 lDxd5 ~xal when the lD(d5) is pinned. After the text I only found one move which seemed to defend the d-pawn successfully." 19 ... lDa5 MB: "Were you feeling a bit nervous here?" AJM: "A little yes, I was beginning to regret not recapturing with the knight."

64 "A cable"

20 liJd4 AJM: "Blockading thematically. If20 liJxd5 "c5+ 21 C;;hl Axd5! 22 ~xd5 Ad8. Now the main point of this variation is that if the knight had moved anywhere else instead of as White would now have ~xb7 getting lots of pieces for the queen, but now the knight can recapture on b7 after taking the queen and Black's winning. Also, if such things as "xa5 then simply ... Axd5 and White gets done to death down the long diagonal. So, this was my one method of defending the d-pawn. But, unfortunately White doesn't have to take the thing." MB: "Leave it there looking silly. " AJM: "Yes and also leaves the liJ(a5) and the ~(b7) looking silly." 20 ...AreS AJM: "Black always has the consolation that he has the two bishops which might be handy and White's kingside pawns are a bit advanced which I might be able to exploit later." MB: "You reckon probably White has the advantage here do you?" AJM: "Well I'm not sure but for the next few moves Black's pieces keep looking rather silly." 21 g5 ~e7 22 liJef5 ~c5 23 C;;h 1 ~cS

MB: "That's a good move." AJM: "White was already beginning to run rather short of time, which is fortunate." 24

"c3

b4 25 "d3 ~f8 26 liJe3

~b7 27liJg4

AJM: "At this stage I was rather worried that these knights were going to do nasty things, it's now

possible that the other one's going to come into rs." 27 ...AcS

2SliJe3 AJM: "This came as a bit of a relief." He'd played the last few moves very quickly and most of them had been good which rather worried me. This one came quickly as well which suggested he was running out of ideas and I began to feel a little happier about the situation now. I expected him to play 28 liJrs when I intended ... C;;h8 which is just about holding, but it looks a little unpleasant. " 2S.....bS MB: "He can't play 29 liJxdS here?" AJM: "Er... bit of fire down the long diagonal. In fact I'm far better off without the d-pawn in all positions. " 29 liJefS Ac3 30 "d2 "cS 31 Arel Axel+ 32 Axel AJM: "Now at last I got one of my two stupid pieces back into play, trying to undennine the blockade of d4 which has been the problem for a long time." 32 ...liJc6 33 liJxc6 ~xc6

"A cable" (j5

AJM: "He should stick his knight back on d4 and maintain the blockade. But fortunately for me he didn't." 34ltJe7+ MB: "Ah wins the queen almost." 34...i.xe7 35 Axe7

AJM: "Now 1 got in the thematic unblockading move" 35 ... d4 AJM: "Now all the black pieces come to life again and I've got a reasonable position at last. The kingside's looking rather shaky." 36 i.xc6 Wxc6+ 37 ~gl AJM: "Now I thought about taking his c-pawn, but 1 thought he might just take my rook and mate me, so 1 decided against it." 37...~f8 AJM: "Now he has to retreat his rook to guard the c-pawn." 38 Ae2 Wc5 39 ~g2 as AJM: "The Black position is probably winning because the white king is so exposed, so I just want to tidy up the loose bits of the position before ~oing round for the final assault.' 40~n

AJM: "White has no moves-he has nothing else than to move his king backwards and forwards." 40 ...Af3+

AJM: '1ust to pass the time away and reach the adjournment. He now sealed. 1 think it's winning now. The White king's very exposed and Black's got a bind on the queenside, pressure on the c-file-it's probably enough." MB: "When was this adjournment played om" AJM: "There was an hour's break and then it was played to a finish." MB: "Was this the last game to finish in the tournament?" AJM: "Yes, 1 think all of the others finished before the adjournment. " MB: "All sorts of quick draws?" AJM: "Well not all of them actually, a few quick losses!" MB: "I suppose they were waiting therefore for you to get your GM nonn?" AJM: "That's it, yes." 41 ~g2 Ac3 42 ~n g6 AJM: "This is to hide the king out the way somewhere safe." 43 ~g2 ~g7 44 ~n h5

66 "A cable"

AJM: "I want to hide the king on h7 before starting nasty things like .. :ii'd5 and then maybe ... d3. If he lets the king go to h7 I can start breaking through in almost any way I like, so he tries to get some counterplay by forcing f5." 45 J:tf2 AJM: "If I play ... 'it'h7 he plays f5 and if I take it he plays 'ii'e2 and my h-pawn might go with check." 45 ...Wg846 f5 AJM: "On other things just break through quietly." 46 ... gxfS 47 'ii'e2 'ii'c6 AJM: "Defending e8 and also threatening ... 'ii'hl mate." 48 Wgl J:te3 49 'ii'xh5 'ii'e4 AJM: "Powerful centralisation. Now the obvious try of 50 g6 and Black plays 50 ...J:te 1+ 51 lIfl 'ii'e3+ 52 Wg2 'ii'e2+ forcing the queens off with either a won rook and pawn ending or a won king and pawn ending, whichever White prefers." 50 h4l:lg3+ AJM: "Now if 51 'it'fl 'ii'h 1+ mates in about three." 51 ~h2 J:tg4

White resigned. AJM: "Whereupon he looked a little embarrassed."

MB: "Did he smile?" AJM: "Oh no, he never smiles!" (laughing) "If he plays 52 ~h3 then 52 ... 'iJ'h 1+ 53 l:lh2 'ii'f3 mate. That was the scrappy way in which I gained my GM title." MB: "Never mind, I think it was quite an interesting game." AJM: "Interesting, perhaps!" (laughing) MB: "Interesting, and you got the title, that's what counts." AJM: "So they say." MB: "Thank you very much Tony for showing us your games. There are some people, who aren't uninformed critics, who are tipping you for the world title chances. Do you think they have lost their mind, or have you also got hopes of this?" AJM: (Iaughillg) "Well, I'll think about it. Now it's not possible for me to win the world title within the next five years courtesy of the long qualification system and the fact that the British Chess Federation didn't nominate me for the first stage of this three year cycle." MB: "Didn't they reaIly?" AJM: "No." MB: "When did they nominate?" AJM: "Last year." MB: "Who did they put in instead, Keene and Hartston?" AJM: "That's right. Who else?" (laughing) MB: "Well, it will all be changed next time. You'll have to wait for about five years. You could presumably have an informal challenge against Bobby Fischer or something. " AJM: "Well, yes, but I think he's a bit frightened you know." MB: "Well we'll work on that."

"A cable" 67

19 A.J.Miles White J.Peters Black Lone Pine 1976 Nimzo-lndian Defence 1 c4 lbf6 2 lbc3 e6 This move causes me some problems, since I have played regular queen pawn openings as White scarcely half a dozen times in my life. Against Bisguier, two rounds earlier, I played 3 lbf3 but after 3 ... d5 4 d4 c6 it occurred to me that I knew nothing of the more complicated lines of the Slav, so I chickened out with 5 cxd5. Unfortunately my knowledge of Queen's Gambit theory is also non-existent, as I proved: 5 ... exd5 6 e3? (6 'iVc2 is the only try for any advantage) 6 ... ii.f5 7 ii.e2 lDbd7 and Black has at least equality. 3 d4 A new position for me! 3... ii.b4 4 ii.g5 Other moves have been analysed to death. 4 ... c5 A slight inaccuracy; supposedly, 4 .... h6 first is normal. S dS h6 6 ii.h4 I am told the correct continuation is 6 ii.xf6 'iVxf6 7 lIc I followed by e4, but am not over-impressed. During the game I was more interested in 6 ii.d2 when the black king's bishop is misplaced. 6... ii.xc3+ 7 bxc3 e5 8 e3 d6 9 ~d3

9 f3 may be better. 9...lDbd7 Normal and probably best is 9 ... e4. 10 lbe2 'iVe7

This appears to be wrong-IO ... e4 is preferable. lllDg3!

With the embarrassing threat of 12 lDf5. ll...g6 is uninviting, ll...lDb6 12 lDf5 ~xf5 13 ii.xf5 lDxc4? loses a piece, and ll...g5 12 lDf5 'iVf8 13 ii.g3 is horrible, so Black tried: 1l ... e4 12 lDxe4 g5 13 lDxf6+ 'il'xf6 14 ii.g3 'iVxc3+ 15 qg,n But White's position remains superior. The two bishops and Black's shaky pawn formation outweigh the temporary displacement of the white king. 15 ...lDe5 16 ii.e2 ~f5 Not 16 ... lDxc4 17 lIcl lDd2+ 18 qg,gl 'itb4 19 a3 'iVa5 20 f3 (trapping the knight and threatening 21 ii.e I) 20 ... c4 21 ~xd6 winning. 17 'iVel!

68 "A cable"

17 lIc I "b2 is annoying, but now the exchange of queens would only enhance the power of the two bishops, so Black must retreat, or hazard 17 ... i.c2. 17..... 8S 17 ... 'i1Vh4 is better, when I had intended IS f3 preparing e4 and l:tb I with advantage, so 17 ... i.c2 is perhaps the best practical chance, especially considering the tournament position (basically a win was worth $1500, a draw only $\00). Then if 18 i.xe5 "xeS!, but not IS ... dxe5?? 19 l:tb I! winning instantly. So 17 ... i.c2 IS a4! (threatening 19 :a2) IS ... ltJd3 19 "a3 "f6! (not 19 ... i.b3? 20 %:tbl nor 19 .....xc4? 20 lIcl). Also possible is IS ..."'3 (to meet 19 :a3 with 19.....b4). In either case I think White's a little better, but the advantage is nowhere near as clear cut as in the game. IS"b2 "c7 Forced. 19 f4 gxf4 20 exf4 ltJg6 21 "f6 Preventing the black king from escaping to the relative security of the queens ide. 21.. ...d7 If the bishop moves, 22 f5 wins a piece. 22 %:tel ~f8 On 22 ... 0-0 23 h4 is very strong. 23 ~f2 White's advantage is now of decisive proportions-the only piece Black can move is his queen's rook, and that has nowhere useful to go. 23 ... hS 24 i.h4 ~gS 2S i.gS a6 What else? 26 i.O

Rather more efficient is 26 a4 when Black has no more sensible moves. 26 ... bS 27 %:te3 27 i.e4 is also quite promising. 27 ... bxc4 28 %:thel Threatening 29 %:te7. 28 ... .td3 Not only preventing 29 l:te7 (29 ... ltJxe7 30 %:txe7 "f5) but also, more annoying, accidentally taking the sting out of my other 'threat' namely

29 :e6! I vaguely considered 29 g4?! hxg4 30 i.xg4 "xg4 31 l:teS+ lIxeS?? 32 lIxe8+ ltJf8 (or 32 .. 'ith7 33 "xf7 mate) 33 l:txf8+ ~xf8 34 "xhS mate, but 31 ... ltJf8 refutes that particular piece of nonsense (32 l:txaS lIxh2+ 33 ~e3 "g3 mate). Now the d-pawn must fall, when White will be ready to play f5, since e5 will no longer be available to the knight. 29 .....a4 A desperate attempt to gain counterplay against the white king. However there is nothing better. 29 ... fxe6 30 dxe6 followed by 31 i.xaS or 29 ... lIdS 30 "xdS+ "xdS 31 i.xdS fxe6 32 dxe6 and the

"A cable" 69

e-pawn wins a piece, e.g. 32 ... lbxf4 33 i.g5 ltJg6 34 e7 ~f7 35 i.d5+. 30 lIxd6 'ii'xa2+ 31 ~g3 31 ~g 1 was also possible, but I felt that the king might be more vulnerable on the back rank. 31...h4+ At the time I thought 3l...'ii'd2 was better. 32~g4

There's not much to choose let my between g4 and h3, so sense of humour decide. 32 •..'ii'fl 33 lId7 I looked at 33 l:td8+ lIxd8 34 'ii'xd8+ ~h7 (34 ... ltJfS 35 i.e7) 35 'ii'f6 lIfS 36 lIe8 but rejected it because of36 ...'ii'd4. After 33 l:td7 I analysed (a) 33 ... l:th7(?) 34 l:td8+ lIxd8 35 'ii'xd8+ cj;g7 (or 35 ... ltJfS 36 lIe8) 36 'ii'f6+ ~g8 (or 36... ~fS 37 lIe8+! ~e8 38 'ii'd8 mate) 37 lIe8+ ltJfS 38 lIxfS+ cj;xfS 39 'l'd8+ ~g7 40 i.f6+ ~h6 41 'ii'fS+ ~g6 42 Wg8+ ~xf6 43 'ii'g5 mate, and (b) 33 ... lIfS 34 l:te8! lIh7 35 lIdd8! with the following variations: (i) 35 ... l:txe8 36 lIxe8+ ltJf8 37 lIxfS+ mating as in (a). (ii) 35 ...'ii'd4 (to prevent .i.f6+ in the above line) 36 'ii'xg6+! fxg6 37 lIxfS+ ~g7 38 lIg8+ cj;f7 39 lIdfS mate. Confident that I'd 'got him' and feeling rather pleased with myself I went for a stroll round the room. On my return I was surprised to find that he'd played the rather more straightforward of the two lines. 33...l:th7! I quickly wrote down 34 lId8+ on my score sheet, and then spent a few minutes wondering why he'd played the 'easy' line.

Then it hit me. After 34 lId8+, 34 ... lIxd8 35 'ii'xd8+ ltJfS 36 lIe8 (36 i.e7 is also inadequate, 36...lIg7+ gives at least a perpetual and probably more) 36 ... f5+ 37 cj;h3 'Wxf3+! 38 gxf3 i.fl is mate! This, as one might imagine, came as a bit of a blow, all the more so since I had only about twenty minutes for the next twelve moves-normally plenty, but in this position I'd have preferred a couple of hours. Well anyway, I must still be winning-I thought-mustn't I? I mean, I can even play 34 lIa7 -doesn't do anything, but I can play it. Eventually I came down to earth and began to stare at my rook on el. If it moves along the first rank such things as i.e2 become worrying, if the queen retreats to defend it ... f5+ wins its partner, so that leaves the e-file-but there are no safe squares. Maybe 34 lIe6. Then 34 ... fxe6 35 "xe6+ ~f8 36 i.h6+ lIxh6 37 'ii'f7 mate, but what if Black ignores the rook and plays 34 ... lbf8? Help! Finally I recovered my selfcomposure sufficiently to find 34 i.h6!

70 "A cable"

Now obviously not 34 ... %:txh6 35 'ii'xf7+ and mates, and if 34 ... 'ii'xe 1 35 lIdS+ 'ii'eS 36 :xeS+ lIxeS when I think the most accurate sequence is 37 d6 :xh6 3S d7 1If8 (or 3S ... lIbS 39 f5 liJf8 40 'ii'xh6 liJxd7 41 f6 winning) 39 ~g5 (or 39 fS) 39... lIh7 (if 39 ... ~h7 40 dS='ii' lIxdS 41 'ii'xf7+ ~hS 42 '.t>xh6 mating, or 39 ... lIhS 40 fS ~h7 41 dS='iIt'! lIxdS 42 'ii'xf7 mate, or 40 ... liJe5 41 ~d5! liJxd7 42 'ii'g6 mate) 40 f5 and: (i) 40 ... liJhS 41 dS='ii' lIg7+ 42 'ii'xg7+ ~xg7 43 'ii'f6+ ~gS 44 ~h6 and 45 'ii'g7 mate. (ii) 40 ... liJe5 41 dS='ii' liJxf3+ 42 gxf3 %:tg7+ 43 'ii'xg7+ ~xg7 44 'iif6+ ~h7 45 'ii'h6+ ~gS 46 ~f6. (iii) 40 ... lIg7! 41 dS='ii' lIxdS 42 'ilt'xdS+ liJf8+ 43 ~f6 and Black has no reasonable defence to the threat of ~d5 followed by ~e7 or'ii'eS. Meanwhile, back at the game, Black tried 34 ...liJf8 35 lIde7 Not 35 lidS? lIxh6 but I was relieved to have solved the problem of my hanging rook. 35... ~g6 Now if 36 ~g5, 36... ~h5+ but

Incredible! Having successfully struggled through the preceding maze of complications I completely overlooked the trivial win of a piece by 39 f5. I started looking at 39 ... d3 40 d7 and only then noticed 39 f5. Slowly it dawned on me and I felt a sharp stabbing pain somewhere in the vicinity of my wallet. Unfortunately my opponent had also got back on the right wavelength and played 39...~c2! with the useful defensive resource of ... ~a4. The position is now, as they say, unclear. I now consumed almost all my remaining time without remotely beginning to understand the position. 40 ~e4 lIg7+ 41 ~f6 d3 42 %:tal! A fine move, preventing ... ~a4. 42...%:tg6+! The only chance. If 42 ... lIdS 43 d7 or 43 lIxa6.

36~g5!

ties up all the loose ends (with the possible exception of those of my frayed nerves) and leaves Black helpless against the threat of lieS. 36...'ii'd4 36 ... h3 can be met simply by 37 %:t7e2 forcing 37 ... 'ii'd4. 37 'ii'xd4 37 : 1e5 is aesthetically preferable, but I was a little too short of time for such flights of fancy. 37 ... cxd4 38 i.xf8 lIxf8 39 d6??

43 ~xg6? More accurate is 43 ~e5. 43 ... fxg6+ 44 ~e5 (!) Not 44 ~xg6? d2+ or 44 ~e6 d2 and ... ~f5+. 44 ... d2??

"A cable" 7/

44 ...lid8! is essential when it appears that White has nothing better than 45 lIxa6 followed by 46 l::taa7 with a draw by perpetual. However, having no time left, and being completely uninterested in a draw I would certainly have played 4S d7 which, remarkably, seems to lose e.g.: 45.A~f8 46 'ittd6 d2 47 lih7 (47 lie3 ~a4!) 47 ... ~g8 48 'ittc7 (48 lie7 i.a4) 48 ... ~xh7 49 'ittxd8 i.a4 followed by ... i.xd7 and ... c3 but SO l::txa4 may give drawing chances. 45 d7 Now all is we\l again. 45 ...i.a4 46 ~d4! lid8 47 lie8+ lIxe8 48 dxe8='ii'+ i.xe8 49 lidl Black resigned. The scattered black pawns fall.

a dubious move for Black. Ligterink told me that the whole variation is rarely played and that he did not know how to deal with White's strategy. 10 lDd2lDf4 11 0-0 fS 12lDe4 The point of White's plan. Wrong is 12 ~f3 because of 12 ... lDh3+ 13 gxh3 f4. Also 12 f3 'ii'gS is unpleasant for White. 12 •.. lDxe2+ 13 'ii'xe2 f4 14 i.d2 l:U6 15 lDbS g5 160 h5 It looks as if 16... lDa6 to stop i.b4 is better but after 17 g4 Black no longer has an attack because 17 ... fxg3 fails to 18 i.xgS. 17 i.a5 b6 18 i.b4 i.f8 19 lIael

20 A.J.Miles White G.Ligterink Black IBM, Amsterdam 1976 King's Indian Defence I d4 lDf6 2 e4 g6 3 lDe3 i.g7 4 e4 d6 5 i.e2 0-0 6 lDo e5 7 i.e3 e6 8d5 This game was only the second time that I played against this line of the King's Indian. The first time was a drawn game against Sigurjonsson in the second round of this tournament. Still, I don't know much about the theory. Why do I play it? To try to enrich my opening repertoire. Later I found out that 8 dS was not the theoretica\ly best move. More common is 8 0-0. 8 ...cxdS 9 exdS lDh5 The book line now proceeds 10 g3 f5 II exfS gxfS 12 tLlxeS f4 and Black stands well. I played a new move and in my opinion 9 ... lDhS is

19... i.a6 This is almost capitulation. The bishop should be helping in the kingside attack. Not possible was 19 ... lDa6 because of20 i.xd6 i.xd6 21 lDbxd6 lIxd6 22 lDxd6 'ii'xd6 23 l::txc8+ and "it'xa6. 20 a4 lDd7 21 "it'dl 1Dc5 22 i.el 'ii'd7 23 lDca3 i.b7 This is pure desperation but it was almost the only way to avoid the attack of White's pieces. 24 b4 lDa6 25 lin i.e7 26 life2 i.d8

72

"A cahie"

Black can hardly move a piece. After the game Ligterink admitted that at this point he was sure his position was lost. 27 ttJc4 :tg6 28 'it'h} It is difficult to find a move for Black and I have plenty of time to adjust my pieces. 28 .....e7 29 "d3 ttJb8 30 ~f2 g4? Played in time trouble. Black had to do something. Better is 30 ... ttJa6 doing nothing when I intended 31 "ii'b3 followed by as. I would have of probably won because Ligterink's clock but the position is not entirely clear. 31 fxg4 hxg4 32 "dl g3 33 ~gl gxh2 34 ~f2lDa6 35 "h5 It's not the white king but the black king that is in danger. 35...Wg7 More resistance is offered by 35 ... :tg5 36 "h6 ttJxb4 37 lIc3 "f6 38 "xf6 ~xf6 39 lIb3 ttJa6 40 ttJcxd6, or 39 ... a5 40 ttJcxd6. 36 ttJcxd6 :txd6 37 ttJxd6 "xd6

38 ltc6 .txc6 39 :txc6 Black resigned. He cannot avoid mate in the next few moves.

A fine performance from Miles's first Olympiad: 21 L.Kavalek White A.J.Miles Black Haifa Olympiad 1976 Benko Gambit

} d4 ttJf6 2 c4 c5 3 d5 b5 4 ttJO 5 a4 a6 6 ttJfd2?! bxc4 7 e4 e6 8 dxe6 8 ttJc3!? 8•.. dxe6 Black has an edge. 9 ttJc3 ttJc6 10 0 "c7 1O ... ttJh5!? II g3 ttJe5 12 ~xc4! 11 ttJxc4 lId8 12 "c2 iJ..e7 13 ~e3 0-0 14 "f2 ttJb4 15 :tel ~b7

15 ... ttJfd5! 16 exd5 exd5 17 "g3 "c8! 17 .....xg3+ 18 hxg3 dxc4 keeps an edge. 18 ttJa5 18 ttJe5 "e6! with a clear advantage. 18.....e6! 19 ttJdl 19 ttJxb7 "xe3+ 20 'it'd I (20 ttJe2 ttJd3+ wins) 20 .....d4+ 21 We2 iJ..h4 wins; Or 19 'it'f2 ~c8 20 iJ..f4 c4! with advantage. 19 ... ~c8 20 Wf2 "b6! 21 ttJb3 ttJa2! Winning. 22 ~xc5 "xb3 23 ~d4 23 ~xe7 ttJxc I 24 ~xd8 "c2+! wins. 23 ...~f6! 23 ...~h4. 24 ~xf6 1Wb6+ 25 ttJe3 "xf6 26 ltc5 26 :'c2 d4 wins. 26 .....d4 27 lIc2 ltfe8 28 f4 lte4 29 ~e2 lIde8 30 :tdl "xe3+ 31 "xe3 ltxe3 32 ~O ttJb4 33 :tc7 lIb3 White resigned.

"A cable" 73

How not to start a tournament The annual pagan festival is by now welI underway, stilI masquerading as the Hastings International Chess Congress. I seem to have inadvertently allowed myself to become involved in this ancient ritual, though whether on the side of the Christians or the lions remains to be seen----early impressions (this is written after round three) appear to indicate a Christian with slight cannibalistic tendencies. This year the main contenders for first place (under normal circumstances I would say second. but starting with two losses affects one's self-confidence a little) will probably be the two Russians. Vassily Smyslov and Oleg Romanishin, and the Hungarian Andras Adorjan, though I still have hopes of a revival. However. I suspect that the winning score will be relatively higher than usualRomanishin in particular normally scores very heavily against the middle and lower parts of the tournament table-which would not make my task any easier.

Adorjan which continued 4 dxe5 lDxe4 5 1fd5 ~b4+ with complications not unfavourable for Black. I decided to look for something different. 4lDo ~b4+ This seemed wrong to me. The exchange of bishops leaves Black's kingside very weak. 5 ~d2 i.xd2+ 61fxd2 Apparently an innovation. Afterwards Adorjan told me of a game (Polugayevsky-Tal) which went 6 lDbxd2 d6 7 dxe5 dxe5 8 lDxe5 1fe7 9 f4 lDbd7 with good play for Black. Knowing nothing of this I rejected 6 lDbxd2 as too artificial and recaptured with the queen instantly. 6... exd4 After 45 minutes thought. 7 eS lDe4 I prefer 7 ...'ike7. 81fxd4lDgS

22 A.J.Miles White A.Adorjan Black Hastings 1976177 English Opening 1 c4 g6 2 e4 e5 An unusual move with the intention of avoiding transposition into a normal King's Indian. 3 d4lDf6 At this stage vaguely remembered a game Polugaevsky-

NormalIy, in the first round of such a tournament I would not be too bothered about conceding a draw-it always seems easier to play well when one has already scored a few points-but with a position this good after only 8

74

"A cable"

moves I felt obliged to try to win. I half an hour now spent unsuccessfully trying to find a clear way of increasing my advantage before playing my original idea-a sure sign of being off-form. 9 ttJxg5 "iVxg5 10 f4 ttJc6 11 "iVd2 Perhaps II "iVf2 is better, as to meet II... "iVd8 12 ttJc3 0-0 13 0-0-0 d6 with 14 c5. 1l ..."iVd8 12 ttJc3 0-0 13 0-0-0 d6 The only way to untangle. 14 exd6 cxd6 15 "iVxd6 "iVa5 After 15 ttJd5 White would certainly stand better, but I didn't believe Black had enough for the pawn. But what to do now? 16 ~b I ttJb4 is uncomfortable, as is 16 Sit.e2 Sit.e6. It seemed sensible to retreat the queen and vacate d5 for the knight. So ... 16 "iVd5 "iVb6 17 "iVd2 Sit.e6 18 ttJd5 What else? 18 ~b I ttJb4 is still unpleasant. If 18 Sit.e2 l:tac8 followed by ... l:tfd8. 18... Sit.xd5 19 cxd5 ttJb4 20 ~bl l:tac8 Suddenly White is in great trouble. 21 a3 is met by ... ttJc2! and ... l:tc2 is threatened. 21 "iVd4 l:tc5! 22 Sit.e2? The last chance was 22 Sit.c4 l:tfc8 23 b3 (not 23 Sit.b3 l:tc I +! or 23 d6 ttJc2! 24 "iVd3 l:txc4 25 d7 l:td8 26 "iVxc4 ttJa3+) and now if 23 ... "iVa5 24 a4 b5 25 d6! bxc4 26 d7 l:td8 (or 26 ... cxb3 27 d8="iV+!) 27 l:the I! and White's winning! But the simple 23 ... ttJxd5 leaves Black clearly better (24 Sit.xd5 l:tc 1+). 22 •..l:tfc8 23 "iVe5 The threat was ... l:tc I + and if 23 l:td2 ttJxd5 24 ~f3 ttJc3+ 25 ~a I ttJe2! mates nicely.

23 ... ttJxa2! Oops! Now 24 ~xa2 l:ta5+ 25 ~b I "iVb3 forces mate. The remaining moves can be attributed to my reluctance to resign this early. 24 l:td3 ttJc3+ 25 l:txc3 l:txc3 26 d6 l:te3 27 d7 l:td8 28 'ifb5 "iVxb5 29 Sit.xb5 a6 30 l:tel ~f8 White resigned.

• • • • Three endgames from Hastings 1976177 This weekend sees the final round of the Hastings Premier tournament, and I expect (this column is written after Round 8) that first place has already been clinched by the Russian Oleg Romanishin. However, to continue the saga of my own (mis)adventures at Hastings. As I mentioned last week I decided to give the rest of the field 2 points start before actually beginning to play sensibly. The third round saw a change of fortune with the first of a fascinating trio of endgames. After 52 rather nondescript moves I reached the following position against Andrew Whiteley. (Game 23)

"A cable" 75

I continued with 53.ib5 Now the king and pawn ending is an easy win: White liquidates the queens ide with a5, brings his king to c5, plays f3 and e4 which Black must capture. Then White creates a passed d-pawn and uses it to divert the black king while his penetrates to f6. So Black avoided the exchange with 53 ... .i.a8! Here there are several tries: (a) 54 .i.e8 ~e7 55 .i.xf7? ~xf7 56 ~b5 ~e7 57 ~xb6 ~d6 followed by ... .i.c6 and Black wins! (b) 54 f4 .i.c6! and the king and pawn ending is no longer won. (c) 54 f3 (the most subtle) 54 ....ib7? (or 54 ... ~e7 55 a5! winning) 55 .ie8! ~e7 56 .ixf7! ~xf7 57 ~b5 ~e7 58 ~xb6 .ic8 59 ~c7! .i.a6 60 a5! and White wins. But unfortunately Black has 54 ... e5! and the possibility of .i.b7-c8 gives enough breathing space to draw. So I tried a 4'h move: 54 as bxa5+ 55 ~xa5 Jib7 56 ~b6 .i.c8 (now ... e5 is again threatened) 57 f4 .i.d7 58 .i.xd7 ~xd7 59 ~b7 ~d8 60 ~c6 ~c8?? (missing the point-he must head for g7) 61 ~d6 ~d8

62 f5! exf5 (or 62 ... gxf5 63 g6! fxg6 64 ~xe6 followed by ~f6 winning all Black's pawns) 63 ~xd5 ~d7 64 ~e5 ~e7 65 d5 ~d7 66 ~f6 ~d6 67 ~xf7 ~xd5 68 ~xg6 ~e5 69 ~f7 ~e4 70 ~f6 Black resigned. Next came a rook and pawn ending against the American Vuk~evic: (Game 24)

I (Black) now played

28...Af7 forcing the win of a pawn. The game continued 29 as Best. 29 ...l:txc3 30 axb6 The alternative is 30 Ad2. 30...Ac2+! 31 ~f3

76

"A cable"

31 ~h3? leaves the king vulnerable to threats along the 7th rank. 31...axb6 There is much (inconclusive!) theory on this type of ending with one pair of rooks and generally with the kingside pawns on f2/g3/h4 and f71g6/h5. But with another pair of rooks and the changed pawn formation, both kings are exposed to mating threats and tactics abound. 32 l:td8+ ~g7 33 l:tb8 Normally the best place for the rook-behind the passed pawn. 33 ... l:tb2 34 l:te6 l:td7! 35 ~e3? Not 35 l:tbxb6?? l:td3+, but 35 l:te2 was better.

35 ... l:txh2! Usually 3 pawns against 2 on the same side is drawn but here the g-pawn is vulnerable. 36 l:texb6 l:th3! 37 ~f2 If37 l:t8b7 l:txg3+ and ... l:td3. 37 .. J:td2+ 38 ~e3 l:td7 (time trouble) 39 ~f2 l:td2+ 40 ~e3 l:tg2 41 l:t6b7+ ~h6 and now White sealed 42 l:th8 but resigned without further play because of the forced line 42 ... l:thxg3+ 43 ~d4 l:td2+ 44 ~c5 (44 ~e5 l:te3+ 45 ~f6 l:td6+ and the white king interferes with its own rooks) 44 ... ~h5 and ... ~g4

when with the white king so far cut off the f-pawn is doomed. The last of the trio was against ex-World Champion Vassily Smyslov. (Game 25) Having experimented with Ponziani' s opening I obtained a sufficiently favourable position to decline an offer of a draw (I was not worse throughout as some press reports indicated!), but then went badly astray and reached the following position at the adjournment.

I sealed 41 l:tc5! with the clever (or so I thought) intention of 4\.. .l:te 3 42 liJd4! exd4 43 ~xd4 when the remarkable piece configuration prevents Black defending his pawn by ... ~c7, l:te5, l:ta3, or after 43 ... a4 by ... ~f5 intending ... l:te4+ and finally the bishop prevents ... l:th2 followed by ...l:th4+. Thus White forces a drawn rook v rook and bishop position. I was feeling rather pleased with myself (not to mention relieved) when suddenly over dinner, a horrible thought struck me: after 4l...l:te3 42 liJd4?? exd4 43 ~xd4 Black has 43 ... l:te5!! and now 44 l:txe5 ~xe5+ 45 ~xe5-the unfortunate position of the pawn on c3 prevents White from catching the black a-pawn. I narrowly avoided

"A cable" 77

choking and rushed off to find an alternative. Luckily there was one. The game continued 41 ...:e3 42 .!iJh4+ 'ii'f6 hoping for 43 .!iJg2 :e2! 44 .!iJxf4 exf4 winning-in a similar line after 42 ...'ii'g5 then 45 :xa5 draws. 43 :xaS! :xc3 44 :a6+ 'ii'gS 4S .!iJg6 :d3+ 46 'ii'c4 e4

47 l:te6! Forcing a remarkable study-like draw. If 47 ... c;t;>f5 48 :xe4!! 'ii'xe4 49 .!iJxf4 drawing, or 47 ... i..d2 48 :xe4 :c3+ 49 ~d4 'ii'xg6 50 :e2 :c2 51 'ii'd3! Smyslov looked gloomily at the position for 10 minutes and played 47...:f3 but after 48 'ii'dS conceded the draw, since on 48 ... e3 (48 ... 'ii'f5? 49 .!iJh4+) 49 .!iJxf4 'ii'xf4 50 'ii'd4 followed by :e4+.

To conclude this chapter a classic demolition of the White centre in the English Defence; even strong grandmasters found this opening difficult to handle.

26 I.Farago White A.J.Miles Black Hastings 1976/77 English Defelice 1 d4 b6 2 c4 i..b7 3 lDc3 e6 4 e4 i..b4 S 'tWc2 'tWh4!

6 .i.d3 fS 7 g3 'tWhS 8 .i.e2 'tWn 9 f3 fxe4 10 fxe4 .!iJf6 11 dS 0-0 12 .!iJf3 'tWg6 13 i..d3 "'hS 14 0-0 .!iJa6 IS a3 .i.xc3 16 bxc3 .!iJcS 17 Jte3 .!iJxd3 18 "'xd3 exdS 19 cxdS

19....!iJxdS 20 exdS :xf3 21 :xf3 'tWxf3 22 IIdl i..a6 23 'tWd2 .i.c4 24 .i.f4 d6 2S h4 :18 26 'ii'h2 .i.e2 27 :gl lIe8 28 :g2 i..c4 29 lin 'tWe4 30 'tWd4 .i.xdS 31 'tWxe4 IIxe4 32 hS h6 33 g4 :c4 White resigned.

4: "I pushed Karpov all the way for first place at Tilburg" 27 J.Timman White A.J.Miles Black Bad Lauterberg 1977 Sicilian Defence To commemorate the 100th anniversary of its founding the German Chess Federation are currently holding an extremely strong Grandmaster tournament at Bad Lauterberg. The 16 players are made up of the World Champion Anatoly Karpov, 12 other GMs, including Ray Keene and myself, and the three top players from the West German Championship. The event is in FIDE category 12 with an average tournament rating of about 2530 (241 on the English system) and the top 13 players average over 2560. Karpov virtually clinched first place in the opening rounds by starting with 5'12/6, conceding a draw only to his trainer Furman, and thus opening up a lead of IIJ2 points. The rest of the field is closely bunched and the other places are unlikely to be settled before the last round. I started in unconvincing fashion, scoring only one point from my first four games, due partly to the following disaster. 1 e4 c5 I have come to the conclusion that this is a mistake against Timman and that one should play something

boring such as 1...e6, 1...c6 or 1... e5. 2 lDo d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lDxd4 lDf6 5 lLlc3 g6 6 iLe3 iLg7 7 0 0-0 8 'ii'd2 lLlc6 9 0-0-0 This line has rather gone out of fashion in recent years. 9 iLc4 is more usual. 9••• d5 The alternative is 9 ... lLlxd4 10 iLxd4 iLe6. 10 exd5 lDxd5 11 lLlxc6 bxc6 12 iLd4 e5 13 iLc5 i.e6 14 lLle4 Ile8

IS h4 Following some old theory. One idea is now 15 ... f5 16 lLlg5 iLh6 as in Keres-Hartston-simultaneous display(!) when White now blundered with. 17 ~b I? i.xg5 18 hxg5 lLlc3+! with a raging attack. The text is more (over?) ambitious. 15...l:tb8 16 g4 f517 gxf5 gxf5 18 lLld6l:tf8 Up to here the game has followed Sigurjonsson-Miles from Wijk aan Zee 1977 which Timman apparently annotated for the tournament book! There I tried 18 ... i.f8 which was met by the very powerful 19 i.c4!! Later Timman told me that he had suggested 18 ... l:tf8 as an improvement. 19lLlc4 ~h8 In this position it is much more important to preserve the blacksquared bishop than the rook.

"I pushed Karpov all the way for first place at Tilburg" 79 20 .l:tgl i.f6 21 'ii'h6 l:ln 22 ~h3 Possibly better is 22 ~d6 when Black must try 22 ... e4. 22 ....l:td7 23 i.d6 This move came as a great surprise since I thought that I had prevented it! 23 ...lLIf4 Now 24 ~xb8 (or ~xe5) loses to 24 ... lLIe2+ and if 24 lLIxe5 Black can try 24 ... l:txd6, or 24 ... lLIe2+ 25 ~b I .l:txb2+ 26 ~xb2 l:txd6. Meanwhile White has two pieces attacked and 24 i.fl fails to 24 ... ~xc4 25 ~xc4 .l:txd6 26 .l:tg8+ 'ii'xg8 27 i.xg8 lLIe2+, so what is White to do? 24 l:ld2!!

'ii'xd2 'ii'xb8 and White can only force a draw by 29 'ii'd7! ttJd4 30 'ii'f7 'ii'd8 31 .l:tg8+! etc, and instead consumed practically all my remaining time before producing 24 ....l:tb5? when after 25 ~f1! all White's pieces are safe again and Black has no moves and no time. The game concluded. 25....l:td5 26 l:txd5 ttJxd5 27 ~xe5 .l:tn 28 'ii'g5 'ii'fS 29 ~xf6+ l:xf6 30 ttJe5 ttJe7 31 ~c4 ~xc4 32 ttJd7 Black resigned. Rook Endings The endgame is supposedly the most neglected part of the average player's game. This is caused, to some extent, by weekend events and league matches with quick play-offs and adjudications. However two rook endings from my recent games suggest that this deficiency is not confined only to weaker players. Consider the first position (Gerusel-Miles, Bad Lauterberg 1977): (Game 28)

This astonishing quiet move had a terrible effect on me. Mesmerised by such variations as 24 ... ttJxh3? 25 ~xe5 ~xe5 26 lLIxe5 ttJxg 1 27 l:xd7 ttJe2+ 28 ~dl winning, and 24 ... ~xc4 25 ~xf5 .l:tbb7 (or 25 ... ttJe2+ 26 .l:txe2 ~xe2 27 i.xd7) 26 i.xe5! ~xe5 27 'ii'xh7+!! .l:txh7 28 l:xd8+ i.g8 29 l:tgxg8 mate, I completely failed to find the only reasonable defence namely 24 ... i.xc4 25 ~xf5 ~e6, and now if 26 i.xb8 i.xf5! 27 l:xd7 i.xd7, or 26 ~xe6 ttJxe6 27 ~xb8 l:txd2 28

It is scarcely conceivable that this position can be won by either side--

,sf) "I pushed Kwpo\' all the lI'ayforfirst place at Tilburg" if anything White should be slightly better. Consequently my opponent was somewhat taken aback when I declined his offer of a draw. At first he did not take me seriously: 4l...h5 42 h4 ~f5 43 :b7 f6 44 J:tb8 e4 45 ~g2 g5 46 hxg5 fxg5 At last he stopped to think. A little late; his position is already difficult. Now, either refusing to believe it is possible to lose, or realising the problems and panicking, he blundered. 47 ~h3 :b2 48 :b5+ ~f6 49 J:tb6+ 'it>e5 50 J:tb5+ ~d4 51 :xg5?? 5) J:tf5 draws. 51. ..:xfl 52 lhh5 e3 53 :h8 e2 54 :e8 ~d3 55 :d8+ If 55 ~h4 J:tf3. 55 ...'it>c3 56 l:te8 ~d2 57 :d8+ ~el 58 g4 ~f1 59 :e8 el=fi' 60 :xel+ ~xel 61 g5 ~e2 62 ~g4 'it>e3 63 g6 ~e4 64 ~g5 ~e5 65 g7 :g2+ White resigned. The second position (from Sao

Pallia 1977) is equally drawn. Here I actually had an extra pawn but this time my opponent was stronger -us GM Pal Benko. (Game 29)

He demonstrated a different, rather unlucky, method of losing.

The basic principles are these: The position is drawn-sensible moves will suffice, but Black tries to 'overdraw', so to speak, i.e. he tries to analyse to a position which is completely trivial, often by means of complicated and ingenious ideas. This is impractical. Once I recognised my opponent's intention I decided to play quickly and give him as many alternatives as possible to examine in the hope that he would create problems for himself. 51 J:tc2 The only try is to return the pawn and activate the king. Otherwise Black simply plays ~g7-g6 and White can make no progress. 51...~g6 52 ~d2 ~f6 52 ... h5! is best, but Black has a 'clever' idea. 53 :c6+ ~g7 54 l1c3! :a2+ 55 ~d3 J:txh2 56 e4 fxe4+ 57 ~xe4 Now the idea is 57 ... ~g6!? 58 l:tc6+ ~h5! 59 ~f5 :c2! when 60 :xc2 is stalemate, so 60 :e6! :c3! (not 60 ...:e2 61 :e5!) but just in time he saw 61 ~f6!! l1xg3 62 ~g7! and 63 J:txh6 mate! 57.•. h5 (best) 58 ~f5 h4 59 l1c7+ No better than 59 gxh4 immediately-but it gives Black more options. 59 ... 'iii'h6 60 :c6+ ~g7 61 gxh4 g3!? After 6l...J:txh4 62 ~g5 and f5 looks worrying-but only draws. 62 :g6+~h7 Not 62 ... ~f7 63 J:tg4 and ~g5. 63 l1g4 'it>h6 64 ~f6 g2 65 f5 gl=fi' Here Black noticed to his embarrassment that his next fine intention 65 ... 'it>h5 is met by 66 :g8! 'it>xh4 67 ~e5! ~h3 68 ~f4!

"/ pushed Karpov all the way forfirst place at Tilburg" 8/

so he reverts to a line which he could have had with two more tempi-no matter, it still draws! 66 ltxgl J:bh4 67 l:tel lth2 68 ~f7 11a2 69 11e6+! (Best try) 69 ••. ~h7 70 f6

Now Black must play 11a8! drawing. Unfortunately he had taken so long to solve his earlier problems, that before he could find it he lost on time!

wins against the lower players, and, much to my relief, a share of first place. Of the Spanish players present, Garcia Padron deserves some mention. Whilst his final result was not spectacular, at nineteen he already has the scalps of Tal and Browne to his credit and surely has a promising future. As for the general organisation, it is a salutary thought that an island of 50,000 inhabitants can arrange an annual tournament rather better than anything this country can offer. My most (and possibly only) interesting game of the tournament: 1 e4 cS 2 ~f3 ~c6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ~xd4 g6 S ~c3 i.g7 6 .te3 ~f6 7 .tc4 0-0 8 .tb3 d6 9 f3 .td7 10 g4

30 A.Martin White A.J.Miles Black Lanzarote 1977 Sicilian Defelice The Las Palmas Tournament is traditionally followed by a second, slightly weaker event on the neighbouring island of Lanzarote. This year the twelve players included three GMs, two candidate GMs and two other IMs. After my recent performances (I think that is the most appropriate term for them) 1 have become rather bored with losing games (twenty in six months). Consequently 1 decided to modify my attempts to produce interesting chess in favour of scoring some points. This resulted in several short draws, some untidy

As 1 am supposed to be writing a book on the Dragon, 1 feel obliged to play the opening once in a while. Apparently there is a rumour that 1 am an authority on the subject. Unfortunately, it is some time since 1 played the system regularly, and 1 could remember nothing whatsoever about this line. 10...11c8 11 '6'd2 ~eS 12 0-0-0 ~c4 13 .txc4 11xc4 14 h4 "c7 IS hS l:tc8 16 hxg6 fxg6 17 ~bl

82

"/ pushed Kwpov all the way forfirst place at Tilburg"

Here I disliked 17 ... b5 because of 18 lLld5! when Black cannot defend h7 satisfactorily. So I produced a long queen manoeuvre to solve the problem. 17.. :iVa5 IslLlb3 'iVe5 19 ~d4 If 19 f4?! 'iVxc3!? 20 bxc3 lLlxe4 probably draws, but 19 ... 'iVe6 is a reasonable try for more. 19...'iVe6 20 'iVh2 'iVn 21 e5 dxe5 22 ~xe5 ~e6 23 lLld4 White stands better-so I decided to unbalance the position and give my opponent an interesting chance to go wrong. 23 .. Jhc3!? 24 lLlxe6? l::txc2 25 'iVxc2 1::txc2 26 l:.dS+ lLleS 27 lLlxg7 'iVxf3! Now White has problems. After 28 l:.xe8+ ~f7 29 ~xc2 'iVxhl 30 ~c3 'iVe4+ 31 ~b3 'iVxg4 White's pieces are hopelessly tied up.

2Sl:thdl If 28 l:.el l:.e2! 29 l:.xe2 'iVfl+! Or 28 l:.xe8+ cj;f7 29 l:.e I 'iVd3 (or.... l:.e2) 30 ~al 'iVe2! Now White hopes for 28 ...'iVe4? 29 lhe8+ cj;f7 30 l:.f8+!! ~xf8 31 lLle6+ cj;e8 32 l:td8+ and lLlg5+, but Black has better. 2S ...l:tcS!

Decisive. If 29 l:.xc8 'iVxd I + 30 l:tc I 'iVd3+ and .... lLlxg7, or 29 lLlxe8 'iVe4+. 29 ~c3 l:.xc3 30 lLlxeS l:.cs 31 lLlf6+ ~n 32 lLlxh7 l:.xdS 33 lLlg5+ ~f6 34 lLlxf3 l:txdl+ 35 ~c2 l:tO 36 lLld2 l:.f2 White resigned. 31 E.Torre White A.J.Miles Black IBM, Amsterdam 1977 Sicilian Defelice I e4 c5 2 lLlf3 lLlc6 3 ~b5 'ifb6 4 ~a4e6

In this position I played 4 ... g6 against Sax in London 1975. where I achieved my first grandmaster result. After the interesting line 4 ... g6 5 0-0 ~g7 6 c3 e6 7 l:te 1 lLlge7 8 e5 0-0 9 d4 cxd4 10 cxd4 f6 11 lLla3 fxe5 12 ttJc4 'iVb4 13 b3 l:.xf3 14 ~a3 'iVxc4 Black went on to win. Nowadays I am not so sure about 4 ... g6. 5 0-0 ttJge7 6 c3 d5 7 d3 The best reaction to Black's advance in the centre. In a speed game, also against Sax, he tried 7 exd5 ttJxd5 8 d4 cxd4 9 ttJxd4 which is better for Black. However Sax won the game because he is better at quick chess than I am. 7... ~d7 Sl:tel g6 A dubious move intending a pawn sacrifice, but also weakening the black squares. 9 exd5 ttJxd5 10 d4 cxd4 11 ttJxd4 ~g7 Black sacrifices a pawn. However 11... ~c5 was possible. 12 ttJxe6 ~xe6 13 'iVxd5 0-0 14 'ifb5

"[ pushed Karpov all the way for first place at Tilburg" R3

Forced. After other moves Black gains tremendous piece activity, for example 14 'iVdl l:tad8 followed by ... ttJe5. 14 ...'iVc7 15 ~b3 ~f5 16 'iVc5 lUe8

17 l:txe8+? Better is 17 ~e3 but Black still has sufficient compensation for the pawn e.g. 17 ... 'iVd8 18 ttJa3 (Not 18 llJd2 l:te5 followed by %:txe3) 18 ... ttJe5 19 l:tad 1 'iVh4 20 ~d4 ~f8 21 'iVd5 l:tad8 22 'iVxb7 l:te7 23 'iVa6 ttJg4 24 h3 l:txd4 25 hxg4 l:txg4 26 l:txe7 %:txg2+ 27 ~xg2 ~h3+ etc. During the game Torre did not believe that I had sacrificed the pawn. After 17 ~e3 he was afraid of 17 ... l:te5. However this doesn't give me a lot after 18 'iVc4 ~h6 19 llJd2. During the post mortem Torre repeatedly accepted the pawn sacrifice-when I showed him some variations, which were almost all to Black's advantage, he started to believe in it, but still remained very sceptical. After the text move I force him to return the pawn. 17•..l:txe8 18 ~e3 l:te5 19 'iVc4 ll6 20 ttJa3 Because of this forced development of the knight to a3

Black remains on top. Not 20 ttJd2 l:txe3. 20 ... ~xe3 21 fxe3 l:txe3 22 ttJb5 'iVe7 23 l:to

Black is clearly better, but how should he continue? (a) After the logical 23 ... ttJa5 there follows 24 'iVxf7+ 'iVxf7 25 ~xf7+ cj;xf7 26 g4. (b) I also considered 23 ... ttJd8 threatening ... ~d3, but rejected it because of 24 'iVc7-if then 24 ... ~d3 25 'iVxe7 l:txe7 26l:tdl. (c) Not 23 ... ttJe5 24 'iVf4 intending ttJd4. (d) 23 ... l:te2 is also playable. However it was not clear to me that the occupation of the seventh rank was to Black's advantage. The continuation 24 'iVxf7+ 'fixf7 25 ~xf7+ cj;xf7 26 g4 doesn't work because of 26 ... l:txb2 but 24 'iVf4 l:txb2 25 ttJd6 or the immediate 24 ttJd6 is unclear. Hence I chose 23 ... l:te4 24 ttJd4 ttJxd4 25 cxd4 'iVd7 26 l:tdl Not 26 ~c2 ~e6 and ... 'iVxd4+. 26 ... ~e6 Attractive is 26 ... ~g4 but White replies 27 'iVd3. 27 'iVd3 ~xb3 28 axb3 'iVf5!

84 "I pushed Kwpov all the way for first place at Tilburg"

A strong move-now White has difficulty holding the position. The immediate threat is .. J~el+. 29 lIn 'Wd5 30 l:tdllIg4 311Id2 On 31 g3 there follows 31 ... hS. 31...'We4 Forcing the exchange of queens because of the dual threats ... 'Wel+ and ... lIxg2+. 32 'Wxe41Ixe4 33 d5 White must try his luck with the d-pawn - otherwise ... f5, c,t,>f7-e6d6/d5 wins comfortably. 33 ... 'ittfS 34 d6 'itte8 35 lIe2 lIb4 36 lIe7 lIxb3 37 lIe7+ c,t,>f8 38 lIe7 'itte8 391Ie7+ 'ittd8 40 'ittf2 Relatively best. Instead 40 lIxf7 lIxb2 41 lIxh7 as wins easily. 40 ... a5! Keeps the white king shut out.

41 lIxti a4 421Ixh7 lIxb2+ The sealed move. I analysed the position as completely won for Black. 43 c,t,>O a3 44 h4 44 lIh8+ 'ittd7 45 lIa8 a2 lasts longer, but Black wins by simply pushing the b-pawn. 44 .•.lIb6 White resigned. He can no longer stop the a-pawn--45 lIh8+ 'ittd7 46 lIa8 lIa6. Grandmastery 32 A.J.Miles White G.Sosonko Black IBM, Amsterdam 1977 English Opening Most published Grandmaster games are smooth, flowing affairs. One side gets a slight advantage, increases it methodically, and applies a neat coup de grace. I would like to redress the balance a little with one that did not go exactly according to plan in Amsterdam this year. 1 e4 lLlf6 2 lLle3 e6 3 e4 An increasingly popular method· of avoiding the Nimzo-Indian. 3 •••d5 4 e5 d4 5 exf6 dxe3 6 bxe3 'Wxf6 7 d4 b6 7 ... c5 is more common. 8lLlo ~b7 9 ~d3!? A sharp choice. White invites ... ~xf3 when he would continue with gxf3 followed by 'We2-e4 with a strong initiative in compensation for the smashed pawns. 9... ~d6? Allowing a trick which I first saw at about the age of ten in a book of chess traps!

"/ pushed KaJpov all the way for first place at Tilburg" 85

10 ~gS!

lO ...i.xO 11 'i'd2! i.f4! Saving the queen but at considerable cost. 12 ~xf4 ~xg2 13 l:tgl ~b7 14 ~eS 'i'o 15 ~xg7 l:tg8 16 ~xh7!! l:txg7 17 l:txg7 'i'hl+ 18 'it'e2

18...'i'0+ The main idea was 18 ... 'i'xal 19 'i'f4! when I was dearly hoping for 19 ... 'i'b2+ (19 ... f5 20 ~xf5) 20 'it'd3 (though 20 'it'd 1 is simpler) 20 ... f5 21 ..iog6+ 'it'f8 22 l:tf7 + 'it'g8 23 l:tf8+ 'it'xf8 24 'i'h6+ 'it'e7 25 'i'g7+ ~d6 26 'i'f8+ 'it'c6 27 ~e8+ ttJd7 28 d5+ exd5 29 'i'f6+ 'it'c5 30 'i'e7+ 'it'c6 31 ~xd7 mate! One of the practical problems is that, after calculating such fantastic variations, if one's opponent puts up a serious

resistance it is rather difficult to come back down to earth and start working again. 19 'it'n ttJd7 20 'i'e3 'i'hl+ 21 l:tgl 'i'xh2 22 ~e4 White is the exchange ahead and should win, but the White king is a little insecure and there are some technical difficulties. 22 ...~xe4 23 'i'xe4 'it'h3+ 24 'it'e2 0-0-0 I confess that when calculating earlier I had the hallucination that 25 'i'a8 was mate here! 25 l::tg3 'i'hS+ 26 'i'0 'i'h7 27 'i'd3 'i'hS+ 28 'i'o 'i'h7 29 l:tcl On 29 'it'd2 I was worried about 29 ... ttJe5 (30 'i'e2 'i'f5). 29...'it'b8 30 a4? A pointless move. I played it quickly thinking that a4-a5 could do no harm and would bring me two moves nearer to the time control. In fact it just gives Black two tempi and opens the a-file for him! 30... eS 31 as e4 32 'i'hl 'i'f5 33 axb6 axb6 34 'i'h4 ttJf6 35 l:tal 'i'e6 36 l:ta4 White has great trouble coordinating his forces. 36... l:te8 37 'i'gS e3!

Commencing dangerous counterplay. I had anticipated the move and

86

"I pushed KOIpov all the way forjirst place at Tilbllrg"

(correctly!) thought that I could survive. 38 lhe3 lLle4 39 'Wf4 Not 39 'ikg2?? 'ikc6! 39... f5 Here I immediately wrote 40 l:tb4 (the best move) on my score sheet but having about 30 seconds to spare I decided to check that it was alright, and somehow produced 40 <;Pel? Now the position is drawn (after 40 l:tb4-threatening f3-White is still better) but it is White who has trouble proving it. 40 ...'ikg6 41 l:tb4 Now forced. 41...'Wgl+ 42 <;Pe2 'itb7(!) I had spent most of my time deciding that 42 ...'Wc I (inter alia) drew and had not considered this strong quiet move. 43 e5!? lLlxe3+ 44 ~d3 lLld5

45 'Wf3 l:te4! A move which I'd completely overlooked (of course). In contrast Sosonko was merrily bashing out adjournment analysis. 46 e6+! <;Pxe6 If 46 ... 'it>b8 47 l:txe4 followed by 'Wf8+. But 46 .. .'ita6 is fascinating:

47 l:txe4? fxe4+ 48 ~xe4 lLlxb4 49 'ika3+ 'itb5 wins. 47 'We2!? lLlf4+? 48 <;Pd2+ lLlxe2? 49 l:ta3 mate, but 47 ... lLlxb4+ wins for Black (48 ~c3+ ~a5). 47 l:ta4+? 'itb5. Best is 47 <;Pd2! ! when 47 ... lLlxe3? 48 'ike2+ 'it>a7 49 l:ta4+ <;Pb8 50 l:ta8+! or 47 ... lLlxb4 48 :'a3+ and 'Wxf5+ or 47 ... l:txe3 48 l:ta4+ and 'Wxd5+ are all satisfactory for White. 47 l:te4+ 'itb5 48 :'xe4 fxe4+ 49 ~xe4! 'Wg6+ 50 ~xd5 'ikd6+ 51 ~e4 'We6+ 52 ~d3 'Wxe4+ 53 'ite3

I felt confident enough to offer a draw-Sosonko declined. 53 •.•'itb4 54 'Wf8+ ~e3 55 'ika3+ <;Pe2 56 (4 Sosonko offered a draw-I declined! 56 •••'We6+ 57 ~f2 At this point the game was adjourned for the second time. I retired to a nearby bar to steady my nerves. Two or three pints later I began to see winning chances, e.g. 57 ... 'Wf5 58 'We3 b5 59 'We5 'Wd7 60 ~g3 b4 61 'Wc5+ <;Pb3 62 f5 <;Pa4 63 f6 b3 64 'We7 'ikxd4 65 f7 b2 66 'ike8+ and f8='W. However, when the game resumed, I found that Black had sealed the superior

"/ pushed Kmpov all the wayIor first place at Tilburg" 87

57 ...'iid5 So .. . 58 ~e3 In-In 33 M.Quinteros White A.J.MiJes Black IBM tournament, Amsterdam 1977 Queen's Gambit Accepted Amsterdam is rapidly becoming my favourite place. Last year, in the IBM tournament there I scored the best result of my career, sharing first place with Korchnoi. This year, in a slightly stronger tournament of the (the average rating participants was 2516----0r 240 in real money) I went one better. The tournament was a good deal closer than the result suggests. It was only after all the adjournments were finished, before the last round, that I emerged in the sole lead for the first time. Then I had 9 1 n points, Liberzon and Hulak 9 and Kavalek 8 1n. This was my last round game: 1 d4 d5 I can only recall playing this two or three times in my life, but I wanted to avoid anything that my opponent might have prepared. 2 c4 dxc4 3 ltJO ltJf6 4 e3 ~g4 5 ~xc4 e6 6 ""3!? A sharp line. 6... i.xO 7 gxO ltJbd7 8 'iixb7 c5 9 dxc5 ~xc5 10 ltJc3 0-0 11 f4 ltJb6 This, it seems, is an innovation. I prepared this opening before the game, but, having no appropriate literature with me, I had to work out some variations for myself. Fortunately I appear to have stumbled upon a good idea. 12 ~e2 ltJfd5

The point-<:utting off White's queen retreat. 13 0-0 Risky! However if 13 ltJxd5 exd5 threatens ~b4+ or d4, when the white king lacks cover. 13 ......h4

Planning a crude assault by ... f5 and ... l:tf6 and in some circumstances ... g5. 14 ~O l:tab8 15 "'a6 ltJxc3 16 bxc3 f5 17 ~g2l:tf6 18 h3 I expected 18 "'e2 or 18 l:tb I followed by "'e2. 18 ... l:tg6 19 ~hl 19 'it>h2 allows ... ltJd5 threatening ltJxe3 in many lines. 19 ...l:trs Here, seeing that Hulak had already drawn, and that Liberzon's position was not good I offered a draw which would give me first place. My opponent, a well known fighter, refused. 20 'iie2 l:tff6 21 ~d2 l:tg4! Building up dangerously. 22 l:tgl I now expected 22 ~e I l:tfg6 23 f3 when I intended 23 ... l:txg2 24 'iixg2 "'h5! 25 "'h2 ~xe3 (threatening ~xf4) 26 ~g3 ltJc4! and the threat of ltJd2 is decisive.

88 "/ pushed Karpol' all the way forjirst place at Tilburg"

22 ...:'fg6

Now if 28 'ilib7 i.xf4! 29 exf4 (otherwise 'it'xh3+) 29 ... lLld6 30 'it'xa7 l:txg2 wins; Or 28 'it'c6 eS 29 :'xf5! :'xg2! 30 l:txhS l:txgl+ 31 'ith2 exf4! forcing mate. 28 •.•l:txg2 29 'it'xg2 Or 29 'it'xhS l:txgl + 30 'ith2 :'6g2 mate. 29 ...:'xg2 30 l:txg2 1;(.18 31 :'xa7 'We2 32 l:tgl lLlxe3! 33 fxe3 'it'xe3 White resigned. On form at Biel

23 'Wf3 lLlc4 24 ~el h6! The intention is to prepare ... eS. First the king must be tucked away safely. 25 l:tbl i.d6! Not 2S ... eS 26 l:tb8+ <;Ph7 27 'it'dS. 26 l:tb7 'ith7 Intending 27 ... eS 28 fxeS lLlxeS 29 'WxfS 'Wxh3+ 30 1;(.xh3 l:txg 1+ 31 <;Ph2 lLlo mate. 27 :'17 Here Quinteros offered a drawtoo late! 27 ...'Wh5! Winning.

28 :'d7

34 A.J.Miles White K.Robatsch Black Bie11977 Modem Benoni Chess 'form' is a peculiarly unpredictable thing. One week one can play atrociously and the next well with no apparent explanation. In my case I had six months of awful results, and now suddenly I can do nothing wrong. Following a tentative shared first place in Lanzarote I went on to win the strong IBM tournament in Amsterdam with a point to spare. Immediately afterwards I played in Biel in a slightly weaker event. This time the result was even more conclusive: I Miles (England) III IS; 2 Andersson (Sweden), Hernandez (Cuba) and Pan no (Argentina) 9... My only loss, to Panno, came in the last round with the tournament already decided. I have just one theory for the sudden transformation. After several good results last year I decided to take the chess world by storm, trying to win all my games. In consequence I began to force matters too early and lost my sense of objectivity to some extent. About 20 losses later I concluded that something was

"/ pushed Karpov all the way for first place at Ti/hurg" 89

wrong and made a conscious decision not to try quite so hard and to take some short draws. Since then my results have not just returned to their previous level but improved. In the last three tournaments I have scored 20 wins, 19 draws and 2 losses. Doubtless there have been other factors involved, but I suspect there is some truth in my theory. 1 d4 lLlf6 2 c4 e6 3 lLlf3 c5 4 d5 exd5 5 cxd5 d6 6 lLlc3 g6 7 e4 i(.g7 S i(.g5 h6 9 i(.h4 0-0 Earlier in the tournament Hernandez tried 9 ... g5 against me, but after 10 i(.g3 lllh5 II i(.b5+ ~f8 12 e5! suffered a nasty fate. 10 lLld2 b6 11 i(.e2 i(.a6 12 0-0 i(.xe2 13 "xe2 a6 14 a4 l:teS 15 f4 "c7 16 l:taellLlbd7 17 ~hl Now it is difficult for Black to find a move. His queen's rook is tied to the a-pawn and ... b5 and ... c4 are impossible. 17 ...lLlh7 IS i(.g3! Removing the sting from ... g5 which is now met strongly by 19 lLlc4. Also if 18 ... f5 19 "d3! Black is almost zugzwang. IS ...l:te7 19 "d3 lLlhf6 20 e5! lLlhS 21 e6lLlxg3+ 22 "xg3 lLlf8 Or 22 ... lLlf6 23 f5. 23 f5 gxfS 24 l:txf5 ~h7 25 l:tefl! fxe6 26 dxe6 "dS 27lLld5! lhe6

2S l:txfS! i(.xfS 29lLle4! :xe4 Better is 29 ...~h8 and then not 30 lLldf6 i(.g7 31 'ifg6 "g8! (31 ... i(.xf6? 32 'ifxh6+ ~g8 33 'ifg6+ ~h8 34 l:tf5!) 32 lLlg5 :xf6 33 lhf6 hxg5 34 'ifd5, but 30 l:tf7! and now 30 .....e8? 31 :h7+! mates, so 30 ... l:txe4 is forced, when 31 lLlf6 leads to the same ending as the game (3l...l:te 1+ 32 "xe 1 ~g7 33 .e4) but with the black king on h8 which is better for him. White's position remains superior but Black has some defensive chances. 30 lLlf6+ 'ifxf6 31 l:txf6 l:ae8 32 h4 'itthS 33 l:tg6! l:t4e6 34 "c3+ ~h7 35 :xe6 l:txe6 36 "d3+ ~hS 37 'ifxa6 l:tel+ 38 ~h2 i(.g.1 39 "xb6 i(.e5+ 40 ~h3 hS 41 'WdS+ ~g7 42 "g5+ ~fS 43 "xhS l:e3+ 44 ~g4 :g3+ 45 ~fS l:txg2 46 ~e6 ~g7 47 .17+ ~h6 4S as Black resigned. 48 ... :xb2 49 a6l:ta2 50 a7 c4 51 a8="! l:xa8 52 ~f5 is a neat finish.

:f3

The Tilburg Interpolis 35 A.Karpov White A.J.MiIes Black Interpolis, Tilburg 1977 English Opening The most recent Interpo1is tournament, held at Tilburg in the Netherlands, in one respect at least made chess history. It was the first category 14 event (i.e. the average rating of the participants exceeded 2575) since the adoption of the current tournament classification system-in comparison the last two Interzonal tournaments were only category 12. The strength of the event is illustrated by the fact that the

90 "/ pushed Karpov al/ the way for first place at Tilburg"

ex-World Champion Smyslov could only finish 10th and failed to win a single game. My performance was reasonable, but I have some cause for disappointment. My customary lethargic start included an extremely amateurish loss to Karpov (see below) but four successive wins brought me into the lead. I started the last round half a point behind Karpov, needing to win to catch him, but never at my best at unearthly hours of the morning, I presented Andersson with his only win and had to settle for second place. I c4 c5 2 ttJf3 ttJf6 3 ttJc3 ttJc6 Even this move was a slip of the wrist, I intended to playa line with 3...d5 but thought I could just as well play it next move. 4 d4 cxd4 5 ttJld4 e6 6 g3 "b6 7 ttJb3 ttJe5 8 e4 .ib4 9 'ii'e2 So far, all well-known theory. Now I tried a line which has been played several times in this country (notably a game Miles-Nunn) with which I suspected Karpov would not be familiar. 9... a5 10 .ie3 "c6 11 f3 0-0 12 ttJd4 'ii'a6 13 ttJdb5 d5 Still following my game against Nunn, when (as White!), since the game was being played at a relatively fast time limit, my first reaction was to trust the rook sacrifice and look for a good alternative to 14 ttJc7. Thinking I had found one (14 cxd5 exd5 15 .id4) I played it, overlooking 15 ...dxe4 16 .ixe5 exf3 with a terrific attack. Consequently I never did examine 14 ttJc7. Had I done so, just for five minutes, I would not have gone anywhere near the line. As it was I vaguely recalled Nunn implying the correctness of the

sacrifice in his notes to the game, but I had not bothered to look at his analysis. Unfortunately, as I found out to my cost, it is absolute nonsense. 14 ttJc7

Of course! Only now did I seriously start to analyse. It came as a great shock to realise that I was already lost. 14.....d6 Nunn, I now discover, gives this a '?', recommending instead 14 .....c6 15 ttJxa8 ttJxc4 when he only considers 16 !'Ic 1. Unfortunately White has numerous other moves, the simplest being 16 .id4 (threatening e5) and if 16 ... e5 17 exd5 followed by 'ii'xc4. Black has no semblance of compensation for the rook. IS ttJxa8 dxe4 Alternatively 15 ... d4 16 O-O-O! .ixc3 17 bxc3 "'a3+ 18 "'2 'ii'xb2+ 19 'it>xb2 dxe3 20 .ie2 IS hopeless. 16 fxe4 ttJxe417!'Idl! Simple and decisive. If now 17 ... ttJxc3 18 bxc3 .ixc3+ 19 ~f2 wins. Black's position is resignable, but I have something against losing in 17 moves, so ...

"I pushed Karpov all the way forfirst place at Tilburg" 91

17 ... 'fie6 18 i.g2 lOxe4 19 i.d4 i.xe3+ 20 bxe3 f5 21 0-0 lOed6 22 lOb6 e5 23 lOxe8 Axe8 24 i.xe5 'fie5+ 25 i.d4 Black resigned. Two further games from Tilburg Interpolis 1977, Miles's best result to date, where he finishing second to Karpov, ahead of a very strong field: 36 A.J.Miles White S.Gligoric Black Interpolis, Tilburg 1977 Sicilian Defence I e4 e5 2 f4!? lOe6 3 lOO lOf6 4 lOe3 d5 5 e5 d4 6 exf6 dxe3 7 fxg7 exd2+ 8 'ikxd2 i.xg7!? 9 'fixd8+ lOxd8 9 ... ~xdS 10 i.b5+ i.d7 IO ... lOc6?! II i.bS. II i.xd7+ ~xd7 12 e3 f5 Intending ... lOf7-d6-e4. 13 i.e3 with a slight pull. I3 ...~e6 14 0-0-0 lOn 15 Ahel Aad8 IS ... lOd6? 16 i.gl lOe4 (l6 ... AheS 17 lOgS) 17 lOd2. 16 Axd8 l:.xd8 16... lOxdS 17 i.f2 i.f6/l:.eS IS lOeS+ and 17 ... e6 IS i.h4 both give White a distinct plus.

17 i.xe5!? 17 i.f2 Ad7 (17 ... i.f6? IS i.h4) IS i.h4 ~d6 19 a4 maintains a slight plus. 17...~xe5 18 Axe7 Af8 19 Axb7

i.f6! 19 ... a6 20 lOh4! c6 (20 ... i.h6 21 g3) 21 Ae7 20 Axa7 b6 21 l:.d7 ~e6 22 l:.d2 lOd6 23 l:.e2(!) 23 lOd4+ i.xd4 24 Axd4 AgS! 25 l:.d2 l:.g4 26 g3 h5 followed by ... lOe4 and ... h4 with compensation. 23 ...h5 23 ... AgS 24 l:.e6; 23 ... lOe4(!) with the idea ... AgS-g4. 24 h4 White has a slight advantage. 24..•lOe4 25 lOg5 ~d5 26 ~e2 Aa8 27 a3lDd6? 27 ... lDxc3 2S bxc3 Axa3 29 lDf3 Axc3+ 30 ..t>d2 28 Ae6! i.xg5 2S ... A£8 29 b3! with a clear plus. 29 Ae5+ e6 30 hxg5 h4 30 ... Aa4 31 g3 h4 32 ~b3 l:.c4 33 g6. 31 ..t>d3 Aa4? 3 J...AhS! intending 32 ... h3 33 Ae3 lOe4 32 b4! Axa3 32 ... l:.aS 33 a4 wins. 33 Aa5! Axa5 34 bxa5 lDe4 34 ... ~b5 35 ~d4 ~xa5 36 ~e5. 35 ~d4 ~d6 36 a6 lDe5 37 a7 lOe6+ 38 ~e4 lOe7 39 g6 e6 40 ~e5 Black resigned. 37 V.Smyslov White A.J.Miles Black Interpol is, Tilburg 1977 English Openillg 1 e4 e5 2 lDo lDf6 3 lDe3 d5 4 exd5 lDxd5 5 g3 g6 6 i.g2 i.g7 7 0-0 lDe6 8 lDg5!? S lDxdS 'fixd5 9 d3 0-0 10 i.e3 i.d7 II 'fid2 'ikd6 12 i.h6 l:.acS 13 a3 b6 14 i.xg7 ~xg7 15 b4 lDd4 16 Afcl? c4! 17 lDxd4 'ikxd4 IS 'fic3 'fixc3 19 l:.xc3 cxd3 20 Axd3 i.a4! gave Black a slight advantage in Larsen-Miles, BBe Master Game (London) 1977. 8.•• e6 S... lOb6 9 i.xc6+ bxc6 intending ... c4. 9 lOge4 b6 9... 'fie7?! 10 d3 10 'ika4 i.d7! 11 lDd6+ ~e7 12lDxt7 ~xf7 13 lDxd5 lOb4!; 11 lDd6+ 'iie7 12 lDxd5+

92

"J pushed Kwpov all the way for first place at Tilburg"

exdS 13 lDxf7 (13 'iVf4 i.eS; 13 lDb 7 'iVb8) 13 ... lDb4 ! 14 lDxd8 i.xa4 wins. II lLlxdS exdS 12 lLlc3 lLle7 with a clear plus in Browne-Miles, Lanzarote 1977. 10 ... 0-0 11 i.gS f6 12 i.d2 12 lLlxdS exdS 13 lLlc3 12 ... lLlde7 Intending ... fS. If 12 ... fS 13 i.gS 'Wd7 14 lLlxdS exdS IS lLlc3. 13 a3 fS 14 lLlgS h6 IS lLlh3?! IS lLlf3 IS ... i.b7 16 b4 cxb4 17 axb4 'iVd7 Black has a slight advantage. 18 'i' a4 l:tfd8 19 lLlf4?! 19 f4 lDd4 20 'iVxd7 :'xd7 21 i.xb7 l:txb7 22 l:ta2 was better, though Black retains an edge. 19... gS 20 lDhS i.h8 21 h3 lLld4! Black now has a clear advantage. 22 'iVdl 22 'Wxd7 l:txd7 23 i.xb7 :'xb7 24 :'a2 l:tc8; 22 i.xb7 'Wxb7. 22 ... i.xg2 23 IiPxg2 l:tac8 24 l:tel 24 e3? 'ilib7+ 2S f3 lLlxf3; 24 ~h2! 'ilib7 keeps the advantage. 24 ... lDd5 25 lLlxdS 'WxdS+ 26 f3 :'xel 27 i.xel l:tc8 intending ... l:tc2. 28 i.e3 'iVa2 29 h4 l:tc2 29 ...'iVxe2+? 30 'iVxe2 lLlxe2 31 hxgS; 29 ... lLlxe2 30 l:tf2. 30 :'f2 f4

With a wmnmg position. 31 i.xd4 31 gxf4 lLlfS 32 i.c I i.d4 threatening ... i.xf2 and 'iIib I. 31 i.c I 'iIib I. 31 ... i.xd4 32 gxf4 'Wb2 32 ... i.xf2 33 'itxf2 'ilib2 also wins. 33 fxgS 33 hxgS i.xf2 34 lLlf6+ 1iPf7 3S 'Whl i.h4 36 'Wxh4 l:txe2+ 37 'itfl l:th2 38 g6+ 'itxg6 39 fS+ exfS 40 'iVg3+ IiPxf6 41 'Wd6+ IiPgS 42 'Wg3+ IiPhS wins. 33 ... i.xf2 34 IiPxf2 :'cl 35 lLlf6+ 1iPf7 36 'iVa4 'i'd4+ 37 'it>g3 37 e3 'Wxh4+ 38 IiPg2 'Wh 1+ 39 IiPg3 l:tg I + 40 ..t>f4 'Wh4+ 41 lLlg4 (41 ~eS 'iVxgS+) 4l...'iVxgS+ 42 liPe4 'WdS+ 43 IiPf4 'WfS mate. 37 ... l:tgl+ White resigned. If 38 IiPh3 l:th I +.

5: "I beat Spassky twice heavily -lovely games, very pretty" 38 A.J.Miles White O.Panno Black Wijk Aan Zee 1978 English Opening This year's Hoogoven's tournament at Wijk aan Zee provided a fascinating opportunity to witness some of the better known, but rarely seen names of world chess in acti;n. Primarily there was Viktor Korchnoi playing his first real tournament since defecting. There was an insignificant event in Switzerland but that can hardly be counted. Secondly the young Brazilian Henrique Mecking. He, apparently, plays just one tournament every three years between Interzonals and Candidates matches, spending most of his time studiously preparing for the moment when the World Championship will be his. I will not bore you with my views on this practice but suffice it to say I consider it most unnatural and faintly unhealthy. Having said this I must confess that I've just lost to him without getting out of the opening! Then there was the amazing character Miguel Najdorf who, at seventy-ish, seems to disprove all known generalisations about chess players, particularly the one regarding silence. Add a smattering of leading GMs from all parts of the world and you had a fascinating tournament. As

Korchnoi was playing, 'all parts of the world' excludes the USSR and most of the Eastern Bloc, but surprisingly the Hungarian Lajos Portisch was taking part. Korchnoi started in dominating fashion, scoring 2112 out of his first three games, but after five rounds he was only sharing the lead with 3 1h. Personally I had one of those tournaments where I lose my bad positions and draw good ones. My best game, and my greatest sob-story, was the following. I c4 liJf6 2 liJc3 dS 3 cxdS liJxdS 4 g3 g6 5 ~g2 liJb6 6 d3 ~g7 7 ~e3 0-0 8 "'d2 eS 9 h4 hS 10 ~h6 lIe8 11 ~xg7 ~xg7 12 l::tel c6 Most of the previous play is based on the fact that ... liJc6 is always bad because of ~xc6. 13 liJf3 liJa6 140-0 liJc7 15 l::tfdl f6 16 e3 as 17 "'c2 "'e7 18 liJe4 ~g4 19 lId2 l::ted8? A mistake. 19 ... ~f5 was best. 20 .cS! "'xcS 21 liJxcs l::ta7 22 d4! White has a great advantage. The l::t(a7) is seriously misplaced-a fact which the opening of the centre highlights. 22 ...~xf3 23 ~xf3 f5 Hoping for ... e4. 24 e4! fxe4 25 ~xe4 a4 Or 25 ... lIxd4 26 lIxd4 exd4 27 l::td 1 with advantage.

94

"/ heat Spassky ".vice heavily-lovely games, velY pretty"

26lL'lxb7! I always get a little suspicious when things go so smoothly. Invariably something somewhere goes wrong. 26 ...l:xb7 27 l:xc6 l:xd4 28 l:xg6+ 11f7 29 lhd4 exd4 30 :h6 lIg7 31 :xh5 :a7 32 :h7+? The first mistake. 32 :c5 should win fairly comfortably. 32...lIg8 33 h5lL'lb5 34 :h6 I had intended to exchange rooks, but now noticed that it wasn't so clear. 34...lL'lc8 35 :g6+? The second: 35 ...:g7! 36 :a6 :a7 37 :xa7 lL'lcxa7 38 f4 lL'ld6 39 i.d3 lL'lc6 40 a3? An awful move in my opponent's time pressure. Anything else maintains the advantage. 40 ...lL'la5! 4111f2 Draw agreed. 4l...lL'lac4 42 i.xc4+ lL'lxc4 43 lIe2 lDxb2 44 g4 etc. Further comments are unprintable.

* * * * Ever since the Fischer-Spassky match of 1972 Reykjavik has had a great reputation in the chess world. Chess is one of the most popular

sports in Iceland and this is clearly shown by the number of spectators at Reykjavik. Last year the city staged the Hort-Spassky match, but the crowds were disappointed at the high number of short draws, so this year Icelanders decided to stage a slightly experimental tournament. Instead of the usual 40 moves in 2 1/2 hours, the time limit was 30 in 11/2 hours and then 20 in 1 hour, all in one five hour session. This was designed to speed up play, cut down on the number of adjourned games, encourage fighting spirit and 'lead to a clearer contest between the two players'. In these respects it certainly succeeded. In the first ten rounds there was just one 'grandmaster draw'-between the two Icelandic teenagers! It also led to a vast number of wild time scrambles which the spectators always enjoy. The tournament went in phases. Firstly Browne stormed into the lead with 3/3, winning his first two games from completely lost positions in time scrambles. Then he dropped back and Larsen and I took over with 5/6. Then I fell back and Larsen moved into a clear lead. With three rounds to play he was 1V2 points ahead of the field. He lost his next two games and Browne overtook him. With one round to play Browne had 8V2 and Larsen and I eight. I had White against Browne and Larsen, Black against the Icelandic tailender Petursson. Incredibly Larsen lost again and Browne and I were left to fight for the top two prizes. I had pressure throughout but was finally forced to concede a draw and first place. My favourite game was the following brevity.

"I beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games, very pretty" 95

39 L.Ogaard White A.J.Miles Black Reyjkavik 1978 English Defence

14...gxh4 IS fxeS lLlg4 16 i.f4 i.cs 17 "d2 lLlxeS 18 b4 h3! White resigned. The Wandering King

1 d4 e6 2 c4 b63 d5?! "h4! 40 A.J.Miles White L.Ljubojevic Black Bugojno 1978 Tarrasch Defence

4 e3 lLlf6 S a3 i.b7 6lLlf3?! Better is 6lLlc3. 6..... hS 7 dxe6 fxe6 8 i.e2 "g6 9lLlh4 "h6 10 i.f3?! 10 lLln. 10...lLlc6 11 g3 gS!

12 e4 Or 12 lLlg2 g4! winning-13 i.xg4 (or 13 i.e2 lLle5) 13 ...fiJxg4 14 "xg4 lLle5 12••.lLleS 13 i.g2 "g7 14 f4 The alternatives 14 lLln or 14 bg5 are no better.

With the current emphasis on sound position play at the highest level of the game the 'Wandering King' is almost a thing of the past. This week's game is a rare exception where the white monarch leaves his kings ide home via the front door and wanders all the way across the board to a normal castled position on the queenside. 1 c4 lLlf6 2 lLlc3 cS 3 lLlf3 e6 4 e3 dS S d4 lLlc6 6 cxdS exdS 7 i.e2 i.d6 8 0-0 0-0 9 b3 The alternative is 9 lLlb5 followed by dxc5 and b3. 9... cxd4 10 lLlxd4lLlxd4 11 "xd4 :e8 11.. ...c7 is not so good because of 12lLlb5! i.xh2+ 13 'lihl ~8 14 g3 and White is clearly better, or 13 .....e5 14 i.a3 :ed8 15 g3 i.xg3 16 fxg3 "xg3 17 :n with clear advantage. 12 i.b2 i.eS 13 'W'd2 i.g4 Ljubojevic thought for a long time over this move, so I suspected he had some interesting idea in mind, But the only possibility I could see was 14 i.xg4 i.xh2+, which I felt could not be sound and therefore resolved not to waste time looking at it. 14 i.xg4

96

"/ beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games, very pretty"

The only move. 19...lL'lfS+ 19 ... 'ii'xh 1 20 Axh 1 lL'lf5+ 21 ~f4 lL'lxd4 22 exd4 should win for White. 20~f4

14...~xh2+? So this came as something of a surprise. Only now did I start to analyse seriously. IS~xh2

15 ~h 1 also comes into consideration, but after 15 ... lL'lxg4 16 g3 'ii'g5 17 ~g2 ~xg3! Black is probably winning. IS•••lL'lxg4+ 16 ~h3! Not 16 ~gl 'i'h4 gives Black a strong attack whilst 16 ~g3 'ii'g5 is also unpleasant. 16...'ii'gS 17 'ii'd4! This seems to be most accurate. E.g. 17 g3 'ii'h5+ 18 ~g2 'ii'h2+ 19 ¢>f3 lL'lxe3, or 17 l:[hl d4! 18 lLldl (18 'ii'xd4 lL'lxf2+ 19 ~h2 'i'h6+ and lL'lxhl) 18 ... dxe3 with a strong attack. The text prevents the annoying possibility of d4, attacks the knight and casts an eye in the direction of g7. 17 ...'ii'hS+ After the game it was suggested that ... f5 was good, but then White can simply play g3 and walk his king to safety. 18 ~g3lL'lh6 On 18 ...'ii'h2+ White can safely play 19 ~xg4. 19Ahl

20 ...'ii'g6 21 'i'xdS Ae6 22 'ii'xfS A practical choice. 22 g4, for instance, is not so easy: 22 ... lL'le7 and if 23 'ii'h5 'ii'c2!, or 23 'ii'd2 l:[f6+ 24 ~g3 lL'lf5+. But 22 ~f3 should also win. 22 •..l:[f6 23 g4?! But this confuses matters. Simpler is 23 'ii'xf6 'ii'xf6+ 24 ~g3 when White should soon untangle. 23 ..•AxfS+ 24 gxfS 'ii'g2! 25 Aan Not 25lL'le4?? Ae8 26lL'lf6+ gxf6 27 l:[ag 1 l:[e4 mate. 2S ... gS+! 26 fxg6 Not 26 ~e5?! l:[e8+ 27 ~f6 h6! 28 Axh6 'ii'xfl 29 lL'ld5 'i'xf2, or 28 e4 'ii'f3! with the crushing threat of ... Ae6 mate. 26•.. fxg6 27 e4! The only way to get the king to safety. 27 ... AfB+ 28 ~e3 'ii'f3+ 29 ~d2 Ad8+ 30 ~c2 'ii'd3+ 31 ~cl Ac8 32l:[d1

"/ beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games. very pretty" 97

At this point Tal remarked that White has executed the rare manoeuvre of double-castling! 32.....xe4? Clearly Ljubojevic thought that he was losing the ending after 32 ...:xc3+ and hoped to get something better in the time scramble. He certainly stands worse after 33 i..xc3 "xc3+ 34 'iPb I and now either 35 Ad8+ or :h I-e 1, but this was surely his only chance of saving the game. 33 :d8+! Now it is the black king's tum to walk 33...'iPg7 34 :d7+ <;Pf6 35 :hxh7 "e1+ 36 <;Pel "xf2+ 37 <;Pbl "n+ 38 :dl 1Ig2 39 lDd5+ <;Pg5 40 i..f6+ Black resigned. Wherever the king goes lDe3+ picks up the queen.

"f3

my six wins no fewer than four were decided at that stage. The best two came in the first and last rounds. The first, against Panchenko, was awarded the prize for the best played ending. 1 e4 c5 2 lDo e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lDxd4 a6 5 lDc3 "c7 6 i..e2 b5 7 0-0 i..b7 8 i..o lDc6 9 :el i..d6! 10g3 On 10 lDxc6 dxc6 gives Black an easy game, while 10 lDdxb5? loses to 1O ... axb5 II lDxb5 i..xh2+ 12 <;Phi "'6! 10...lDxd4 II "xd4 .te5 12 "d3 lDe7 13 i..g2 0-0 14 r4?! Better is 14 i..d2. 14...i..xc3 IS "xc3 Or 15 bxc3 :fcS with slight advantage to Black. 15.....xc3 16 bxc3 Arc8 17 i..a3 <;Pt'8 18 :e3 Ac4! Tying White down to the defence of e4 and a2 (Aa4). 19 g4! The only chance of counterplay. 19...<;Pe8! 20 g5 If 20 :h3 h6 is good. 20...:ac8 21 i..b4 d5! 22 i..xe7 If 22 exd5 lDxd5 should win.

41 V.Panchenko White A.J.Miles Black Las Palmas 1978 Sicilian Defence My play often seems to produce a high number of interesting endgames and the Las Palmas tournament was no exception. Of

22 ...d4!

98 "/ beal Spassky twice heavily-lovely games, very prelly"

The decisive zwischenzug: on 23 cxd4 ~xe7 regains the pawn with a winning ending. So 23 :h3 ~xe7 24 :xh7 Ihc3! 2S ]:txg7 :xc2! The point of the combination begun five moves ago, is that White now has terrible trouble salvaging his rook. The immediate threat is .. .'~f8 followed by ... :xg2+. And on 26 i.O ~f8 27 Ah7 A8c3 wins (28 :f1 AxO ). If 26 i.hl Acl+ or 26 Ael Acl 27 Axel (or 27 ~f1 d3) 27 ... :xel+ 28 ~f2 Ac2+ and ... :xg2. 26g6 26 f5 meets the same fate 26 ... :xg2+ 27 ~xg2 i.xe4+ and ... i.xfS. 26...Axg2+ 27 ~xg2 i.xe4+ 28 ~g3 i.xg6 29 Adl Ad8

30 fS There is no answer to ... ~f6. 30... exfS 31 Ael ~f6 32 Axg6+ fxg6 33 Ae6+ ~eS White resigned. 42 F.Olafsson While A.J.Miles Black Las Palmas 1978 English Defence I c4 b6 2 lLlc3 e6 3 d4 i.b4

A small change from the normal 3 ... i.b7. 4 e3 i.b7 S lDge2 fS!? S... lLlf6 would lead to a Nimzo-Indian which Fridrik would doubtless know more about than I. 6 a3 i.d6!?

Steering the game into unusual channels. 6 ... i.xc3+ or i.e7 are more normal. 7 dS Alternatives include 7 b4 and 7 lDbS. 7...lDf6 SlLld4 Possibly 8 g3 is preferable. 8 ...0-0! A promising pawn offer. 9 dxe6lLle4! 10 "c2?! Probably best is 10 lDd5, but after 1O ... lLlc6 Black has at least an equal game. 10...lLlxc3 II "xc3 "f6 12 exd7 lDxd7 13 i.d2 lDcs In order to meet 14 0-0-0 with 14 ... lLle4. 14lLlo "g6 IS h4lLle4 16 hS If 16 "c21b3 i.g3! 17 fxg3 "xg3+ 18 ~e2 (\8 ~dI lLlf2+) "f2+ 19 ~d I lDg3 wins. 16.....g4! 17lLleS

"/ beal Spassky twice heavily-lovely games. very pretty" 99 Again if 17 ~ c2 i.g3! 17...i.xeS Not 17 ... lbxc3 18 lbxg4 lbe4 19 c5! lbxc5 20 i.c4+ 'if.?h8 21lbh6! as Fridrik pointed out after the game. 18 "'xeS .l:ae8!

24... cS! The point. In view of the threat of ... .l:e3+ White's next is forced: 2S ~b3 lie3+ 26 'if.?a2 i.c8! 27 .l:h4

19~h2

On 19 ~xc7 f4! gives Black a winning attack e.g. 20 ~xb7 (otherwise ... .l:f7) 20 ... fxe3 21 i.xe3 lbxf2 etc. 19... lbxd2 20 'if.?xd2 f4 21 exf4 .J:xf422 ~g3! On 22 f3 ~d7+ 23 q"c2 lid4 wins quickly. 22 ...:td4+ In combination with Black's next this seems a paradoxical decision but I could see no clear win with queens on. The apparently crushing 22 ...•f5 is met by 23 f3 and then 23 ....J:d4+ 24 ~c1 (not 24 q"c3 .l:e3+) 24 ... lied8 25 ~el! and if 25 ......f4+ 26 q"c2 intending ~b3-a2. It must also be noted that the immediate exchange of queens gives White drawing chances after 22 ... ~xg3 23 fxg3 lif2+ 24 q"c3 .l:e3+ 25 i.d3! i.e4 26 'if.?d4! as he will quickly activate his rooks when the king will be well placed. 23 'if.?c3 'W'xg3+ 24 fxg3

27 ..• i.g4! Keeping the last white piece out of play. 28 .l:c1 gS 29 hxg6 hxg6 Intending to walk forward with ...~g7 and ... g5, but 29 ... h5!? also comes into consideration. 30:tc3 It is also possible to prepare this by 30 a4 a5 but then after 31 lic3 .l:xc3 32 bxc3 .l:d2+ 33 'if.?a3 i.d7 34 :f4 q"g7 35 Af3 i.c6 36 :d3 :lxd3! 37 i.xd3 i.xg2 with a winning ending. 30...lixc3 31 bxc3 :ld2+ 32 'if.?al

100 "/ beat Spassky twice heavil~lovely games. very pretty" Not 32 ~b3?? .i.dl mate! 32... i.d7 33 1:f4 ~g7 34 1:13 i.c6 35 Ad3 1:12 36 Adl i.a4 37 Ael ~f6 38 i.d3 Axg2 39 An + ~g5 40 Af3 i.c2!

Forcing a won rook ending. 41 i.xc2 On 41 i.fl then 4l...Ah2. 41...lhc2 42 Ali If 42 ~b 1 Ad2 followed by ~-g4-h3.

round a win over Romanishin clinched the tournament. Short draws in the last round left Timman first with 9 1h/13 and Ribli second with 8 112. A further point back were Hort (Czechoslovakia) Dzindzi -hashvili (Israel) and Pfleger (W. Germany). I had a disastrous tournament. In one spell four consecutive good or winning positions were wasted, including one where I repeated a won position three times in time trouble. Two late losses to tail-enders deepened the gloom. My only positive contribution was the following effort. 1 ibf3 lDf6 2 c4 c5 3 lDc3 d5 4 cxd5 ibxd5 5 g3 g6 6 i.g2 i.g7 7 0-00-0 8ibxd5 "'xd5 9 d3ibc6 10 a3 b6 11 l:bl i.b7 12 b4?! The consistent continuation, but Black has a surprising and strong continuation. 12 ...... a2!

42 ...~g4 43 1:xa7 g5 44 Ab7 45 Axb6 g4 46 a4 ~h4 47 a5 g3 48 a6 g2 49 1:bl A12 50 a7 Ars 51 ~b2 Aa8 52 ~c2 and White resigned.

~xg3

43 Z.RibJi White A.J.Miles Black IBM, Amsterdam 1978 English Opening The annual IBM tournament at Amsterdam turned out to be a two-horse race between the Dutch champion Timman and the Hungarian GM Zoltan Ribli. By the sixth round they had opened up a lead of one point over the field, a gap which was never closed. For most of the time Timman led by half a point, but in the penultimate

13 i.e3ibd4! 14 i.xd4 cxd4 The bishop pair and the weak c3 square give Black a clear advantage. 15 1:al "'d5 16 "'a4 i.c6 17 "'c2 Aac8 18 Afcl i.d7 19 Wb2 i.a4 20 lDel "'d7 21 "'a2 Ac3 22 1:xc3 dxc3 23 Acl e6 24 e3 Ac8 25 d4 e5 26 d5 f5 27 i.n

"I beat Spassky twice heavilrlovely games. very pretty" I()I

If 27 e4 i.h6 wins. 27 ... e4 28lL'le2 l:td8 29lL'ld4 On 29 l:td I b5 leaves White hopelessly placed. 29 ..•i.xd4 30 exd4 e2 31 i.e4 'it>f8? 31. .. f4! threatening ... f3 (32 gxf4 "g4+ and .....dl+) would eliminate the technical difficulties. 32 i.b3 i.xb3 33 "xb3 "xd5 34 1i'xd5 Axd5 35 Axe2 'it>e7! 36 Ae4 Neither 36 Ac7+ Ad7 nor 36 Ad2 intending 'it>-e6-d5 IS l:td7 satisfactory. 36 .•. l:r.d7 37 h4 Or 37

fl ~e6 38

e2 'it>d5 39 l:tc I l:tf7! 40 'it>e3 g5 and ... f4+ wins. 37 •.• ~e6 38 b5! 'it>d5 39 Aa4 A clever defence. 39 ..• h6 40 'it>n g5 41 hxg5 hxg5 42 ~e2 f4 43 gxf4 gxf4 44 ~d2 l:te7 On 44 ... ~e6 45 'it>e2 'it>f5 White has 46 d5! ~e5 47 d6! 45 'it>dl e3 46 fxe3 O!

47 ~el? The move that worried me was 47 'it>d2! Then if 47 ... l:tc2+ 48 ~el ~e4 49 Axa7

xe3 50 Ae7+ or

47 ... 'it>e4 48 d5+! and l:tf4. Finally 47 ... l:tcl is met by 48 e4+! 'it>xe4 49 d5+! 'it>e5 50 'it>e3! 47•..'it>e4 48 l:tb4 The difference is that White does not now have 48 l:txa7. 48 •.. l:tcl+ 49 'it>f2 Ae2+ 50 ~el ~xe3 51 l:tb3+ 'it>f4 52 d5 l:te2+ White resigned. Anti-Nimzo-Indian Variation 44 A.J.Miles White B.Spassky Black Montilla 1978 Queen 's Indian Defence The 'Tomes del Vino' at Montilla-Moriles is one of Spain's leading annual tournaments. Despite being only a 10 player event it has considerable status. Two years ago Karpov won convincingly. and Michael Stean has twice scored GM norms there. This year the tournament was weakened by the last minute withdrawal of the US GM Kavalek; he was replaced by one of the organisers. there being no one else available After my recent form I felt I was overdue for a good result and I very nearly achieved one. Only an atrocious last-round blunder cost me a share of first place which. thanks to my generosity, went outright to Boris Spassky (USSR?) with 6 112/9. I was left to share second place with Hort (Czechoslovakia), Gligoric (Yugoslavia) and Bellon (Spain), half a point behind. However, I had the minor consolation of playing one decent game which was awarded the brilliancy prize:

J02

"/ beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games, very pretty"

1 d4lbf6 2 lbo b6 3 c4 e6 4 i..f4

My latest anti-Nimzo-Indian variation. It has the merit of being completely untried at master level (consequently unanalysed) and, having played it all of three times, I am now undoubtedly the world's leading authority on it. Indeed, after one or two more it will probably be named after me! 4... i..b7 S e3 i.e7 According to the Chess Encyclopaedia 5 .... lbe4 is good for Black. I, of course, disagree as, it seems, do my opponents. 6 h3 6 lbc3 lbh5! gives Black less trouble. 6 ... 0-0 7 tLlc3 dS S cxd5 exdS 8 ... tLlxdS 9 lbxd5 i..xd5 10 i..d3 is slightly better for White, as in Miles-Browne Amsterdam '78. 9 i..d3 cS 10 0-0 tLlc6 11 lbe5 c4!? 12 i..c2 a6 13 g4! b5 14 gS lbeS 15 -'g4 g6 16 l:tadl tLlg7 17 h4 i..b4? A serious mistake. Probably best is 17 ... b4 18 tLle2 f6 though White retains some advantage.

Islbd7! i..cS Forced. 18 ... i..xc3 19 tLlf6+ ..t>h8 20 bxc3 followed by h5 is hopeless. 19 tLlxd5 'it>hS 20 tLlSf6 .l:a7 Best. If 20 ... i..e7 21 i..e4 or 20 ...lbe8 21 i..e5. Now White must lose the lb(d7) but in the meantime he mounts a decisive attack. 21 dS!

21...lbe7 If 2 l...tL\a5 22 h5 and -.h4. 22 i..eS! Now 22 h5 is not so clear: e.g. 22 ... i..xd7 23 ~4 gxhS with ... tLlg6 to follow. 22 ••.l:txd7

"I beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games. velY pretty" 103

Not 22 ... i.xd7 23 'Wd4! wins. 23 h5! Not 23 'Wd4? lDc6! or 23 lDxd7 'Wxd7 and ... 'Wg4+. 23••. J:txd5 24 'Wf4 J:txdl 25 J:txdl "'a5 On 25 ...'lkb6 26 h6 wins easily. 26lDe8!

26 .•. f6 Or 26 ... l:txe8 27 'Wf6 J:tg8 mates quickly. 27 gxf6 q"g8 Or 27 ... l:txe8 28 f7 lDef5 30 'Wxf5 i.xf5 31 hxg7 28 lDxg7 Black resigned. 28 ... lDc6 29 hxg6 soon mate.

:f8

28 h6

29 h6 mate. forces

A few months later, Miles repeated his success with 4 i.f4 against the former World Champion. Spassky varies with 11...a6, and Miles wins an excellent game. Buenos Aires Olympiad By far the most memorable feature of the event was the organisation. We arrived to learn that the chief organiser had just

been 'kidnapped'. It later transpired that this was the one and only sensible thing he had arranged during the whole tournament. The choice of venue was inspired. The playing hall was a badly ventilated corridor inside the River Plate football stadium (matches once clashed!). The stadium also happened to be near the airport, on the main flight path, and immediately opposite a shooting club (matches often clashed!). The playing schedule was similarly thoughtful. Main sessions were from 4-9 p.m. The hotel was half-an-hour's drive away. The speed of service at dinner meant that one might finish by 11.30; then the adjourned position to analyse; with luck one might get to bed by I o'clock. The adjournments were played at 8.30 the next morning. Allowing for breakfast and the drive back, this just about left time for six hours sleep--and then another game in the afternoon! 45 A.J,Miles White B.Spassky Black Olympiad, Buenos Aires 1978 Queen 's Indiall Defence 1 d4 lDf6 2 lDD b6 3 c4 e6 4 i.f4 i.b7 5 e3 i.e7 6 h3 0-0 7 lDc3 d5 8 cxd5 exd5 9 i.d3 c5 10 0-0 lDc6 11 lDe5 a6 12 'it'D :e8 12 ... c4?? 13 lDxc6 i.xc6 14 i.xc4. 13 ]:tadl cxd4 14 lDxc6 14 exd4!? lDxd4 15 i.xh7+ lDxh7 16 ]:txd4 lDf6 is unclear. 14...i.xc6 15 exd4 White has a slight advantage. 15... b5 Intending ... b4, ...lDe4. 16 a3 lDe4! 17 i.bl! 'Wb6 18 %tfel lDxc3 19 'Wxc3 b4 20 'Wg3 bxa3 21 bxa3 i.a4?! 2J...g6. 22:cl

104 "I beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games. velY pretty"

39 g4 Ud3 40 f4 hS 41 fS Black resigned.

* * * *

22 ... 'ii'b2? 22 ... 'ii'xd4?? 23 ~e5 wins. 22 ... g6 is best with White maintaining an edge. 23 ~xh7+! 'iti'xh7 24 :xe7 lhe7 2S 'ii'h4+ 'iti'g8 26 'ii'xe7 'ii'xd4 27 .ieS! with a clear advantage. 27 .•. 'ii'b6 27 ... 'ii'd2 28 :c7 'ii'e I + (or 28 ... :f8 29 ~d6; 28 ... .ie8 29 :c3 and :g3 should be winning) 29 'iti'h2 'ii'xfl 30 'ii'g5 wins. Or 27 ... 'ii'd3 28 'ii'g5 'ii'h7 29 Uc3 is again very strong. 28 'ii'gS! 'ii'h6 28 ... f6 29 ~xf6 'ii'xf6 30 'ii'xd5+ wins. Or 28 ... 'ii'g6 29 'ii'xg6 fxg6 30 :c7. 29 'ii'xh6 gxh6 30 ':c3

The ending is close to winning for White. 30•.•'iti'fS 31 :cS! Ud8 3J...~b3 32 :c6. 32 ~f6 Ud6 33 Uc8+ ~e8 34 ~d4 :e6 3S Ud8 Winning a pawn and the game. 3S...'iti'g8 36 :xdS :el+ 36 ... ~c6 37 :c5. 37 'iti'h2 :dl 38 Ud8 'iti'h7

Now that the Karpov-Korchnoi match is over the World Championship cycle returns to square one to find the next challenger to Karpov's throne. The West-European zonal tournament was held recently in Amsterdam and, with only two players to go forward to the Interzonal, the competition was fierce. Once the early challenges from Sanz (Spain) and the British champion Jon Speelman had faded away the leading group of Timman and Sosonko (Holland) and Stean and myself (England) opened up a large lead over the rest of the field. After nine rounds I was sharing first place with Timman. half a point ahead of the other two. Being due to play two tailenders I had some hopes of consolidating my position. I duly won my two games, but to my great annoyance not one of my rivals had dropped so much as half a point. Thus the situation remained tight up to the last round. Then Stean crushed Langeweg quickly, but Sosonko was held by Speelman. So Timman and I were left to beat Rivas and Sanz respectively. Both games were hard fought but gradually both Spaniards cracked, and in an amusing finale both lost on time within moments of each other. The final scores were Timman and Miles 11 112/14, Stean II, Sosonko 10 112 Speelman 9, with Langeweg 7 112 heading the rest of the pack. Although I had the distinction of being the only unbeaten player in

"/ beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games, very pretty" / 05

the tournament, not everything went completely according to plan, My first round game was a real nightmare: 46 A.J.Miles White J.M.Belion Black West-European Zonal, Amsterdam 1978 Queen's Gambit Accepted 1 d4 ~f6 2 ~fJ d5 3 c4 dxc4 4 e3 ~bd7 5 .txc4 ~b6 6 .te2 .tf5 7 ~c3 e6 8 ~h4 .tg6 9 ~xg6 hxg6 10 e4 .tb4 II "d3 c5!? Now I had a long think over whether to play 12 .te3 or 12 a3 and, of course, made the wrong decision. 12 a3? 12 .te3 was very good for White. 12 ....txc3+ 13 bxc3 cxd4 14 cxd4 "c7! Here I spent some time pondering whether 15 g3 or 15 h3 was more accurate. 15 g3 15 e5 (unclear) was essential. Even now I was merrily planning all sorts of nasty things with my bishops when suddenly there came

Gradually I rubbed my eyes and woke up. Not only had I lost a pawn (16 "xe4? "c3+) but Black's knights now had excellent central posts, White was undeveloped and his king stuck in the centre. On the other hand, at least I now knew what was happening. 16 .tfJ ~d6 17 .tf4 ~d5 18 .te5 Even here it took some time for me to notice 18 .txd5? "a5+. 18 .....a5+ 19 'ii'n ~f5 20 l:tcl! Not 20 g4 ~h4 21 .txg7 ~f4! Now Black should just castle with a clear advantage. (If 20 ... f6 21 g4!unclear.) 20•.• b6? 21 g4 ~h4 22 .txg7 l:th7 23 .te5 ~xfJ 24 "xfJ l:td8 25 'ii'g2 f6 26 .tg3 l:te7 27 h4! Now the initiative had changed hands and it was the black king that was uncomfortable. 27 •. ,f5 28 h5! fxg4 28 ... g5 was the best chance. 29 "xg4 gxh5 30 "xh5+ 'ii'd7 31 "e5! l:tg8 Or 31 .....xa3 32 l:tc7+ wins. 32 "d6+ 'ii'e8 33 l:tc8+ 'ii'n 34 l:txg8 'ii'xg8 35 "d8+ 'ii'g7 36 .te5+ 'ii'g6 37 "g8+ 'ii'fS 38 l:th5+ Black resigned. On 38 ...'ii'e4 39 "g6 is mate.

• • • • The I.P.e.

15...~xe4!

The game Keogh-Sanz from the Amsterdam Zonal 1978 featured a new positional revolutionary concept-the I.P.C. After 1 e4 e5 2 ~c3 ~f6 3 .tc4 ~c6 4 d3 ~a5 5 f4 ~xc4 6 dxc4 .tb4 7 "d3 d6 8 ~fJ "e7 9 0-0 .txc3 White played 10 bxc3!

106

"/ beat SpassJ.:y twice heavily-lovely games. velY pretty"

White wastes no time in establishing the I.P.c. (Irish pawn centre). The tripled isolated pawns give White two extra open files down which to attack. In this game White, obviously an experienced handler of the I.P.c. uses it to subtle effect, to deflect Black's attention from the king-wing. While Black is struggling to combat the I.P.C White launches a full-scale assault on the other side of the board, and his opponent was fortunate indeed to survive. Only half a point, but clearly a moral victory for the I.P.c. 47 A.J.Miles White E.Keogh Black West-European Zonal, Amsterdam 1978 Gil/oco Piano Alert as I am to new ideas, I quickly realised the theoretical importance of this game and carefully studied the implications of the IPC that night. The next day I came to the board well prepared ... I e4 eS 2 ltJo ltJc6 3 ~c4 ~cS 4 c3 ltJf6 S d3 d6 6 b4 ~b6 7 a4 a6 8 0-0 0-0 9 i.gS i.g4 10 ltJbd2 h6 II ~h4 gS 12 ~g3 lllh5 13 ~a2 'ftf6 14ltJc4 ~a7 IS tUe3 ~xe3?

Correct is IS ... ~xf3 16 'ftxf3 'ftxf3 17 gxf3 ltJe7 with an unclear position. 16 fxe3 tUxg3 17 hxg3 'fte7 18 l:tf2 ~e6 On 18 ... '11i>g7 White can choose between the simple 19 'ftfl and the flashy 19 ltJh4. 19 tUh2! Seizing control of the important fS. g4 and hS squares. 19 ... i.xa2 20 l:taxa2 'fte6 2IltJg4 ~g7

Not 21...fS 22 exfS l:txfS 23 4Jxh6+. 22 tUf6 Otherwise ... fS. 22 ...4Je7 23 l:tal ltJg8 24 ltJhS+ ~g6 2S l:tfS f6 26 'ftg4 ~fi 27 l:tan ~e7 28 d4! Apparently threatening dS, but in reality White has a much more sinister intention. 28 ... c6 29 l:td 1 Seemingly renewing the threat. 29 ... 'ftc4? Taking the sting out of dS but falling into White's trap ... 30 dxeS!

"I beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games. very pretty" 107

And White has established the IPC. Immediately realising the hopelessness of his plight, Black resigned. The IPC is unassailable---on 30 ... fxe5 31 :lxe5+ dxe5 32 'ifd7 mate. 48 A.J.Miles White M.Rivas Black West-European Zonal, Amsterdam 1978 Queell 's Illdiall Defelice 1 c4 ttJf6 2 d4 e6 3 ttJO b6 4 j(,f4 j(,b7 5 e3 j(,e7 6 h3 On 6 ttJc3 ttJh5 solves most of Black's problems (MilesAndersson, IBM 1978). 6•••0-0 7 ttJc3 dS 8 cxdS ttJxdS 9 ttJxdS i.xdS 10 i.d3 i.b4+ 11 'iPe2 i.d6 12 ~xd6 i.xO+ Up to here all following Miles-Browne, IBM 1978, which went 12 ... cxd6 13 'ifc2 f5 14 'ii'a4 i.xf3+ 15 gxf3 with advantage to White. 13 ~xO A rather provocative experiment. After the nonnal 13 gxf3 White retains a workable advantage whichever way Black recaptures, but I wanted to avoid weakening my pawns and king-position(!?). As it happens the experiment turns out well, but I'm not sure if I would repeat it. 13 ...'ii'xd6 On 13 ... cxd6 14 'ii'c2 is clearly good. 14 'ii'c2 fS Otherwise White continues with IS 1:I:ac I and Black is very passive. 15 :lacl! f4

If 15 ... 'ii'd5+ 16 ~g3 is simple and strong, whilst on 15 ... c5 16 dxc5 'ii'd5+ 17 'it'e2 keeps the advantage. 16 'ii'xc7! Correctly calculating that Black's attack cannot reach serious proportions with his queenside undeveloped. 16...'ii'dS+ If 16... fxe3+ 17 ~xe3 'ii'd5 18 ~e4 'ii'g5+ 19 ~e2 wins. 17 ~e2 After the game my opponent pointed out the amusing possibility of 17 j(,e4?! 1i'h5+ 18 g4 fxg3+ 19 ~g2! 1:I:xf2+ 20 ~xg3 (20 ~gl !?) 20 ... ttJa6! and ... 1:I:af8.

17... ttJd7 An admission of defeat but there is nothing better, e.g.: (a) 17 ... 'ii'xg2 18 :lcgl f3+ 19 ~el wins. (b) I7 ... f3+ 18 gxf3 'ii'xf3+ 19 ..td2 'ii'xf2+ 20 j(,e2 and White is winning. If 20 ... ttJa6 21 'ii'c4! 1:1:f3 22 'ifxe6+ and :lhfl. (c) 17 ... fxe3 is interesting when I intended 18 'ii'e5! and then: (cl) 18 ... 'ii'xe5 19 dxe5 ttJd7 20 ~xe3 ttJxe5 21 i.e4 with a won ending.

J08 "I beat Spassky twice heavily-lovely games. very pretty"

(c2) IS .. .l:txf2+ 19 'ii'xe3 'ii'xg2 20 'ii'xe6+ and 21 :'cS with mate next move. (c3) IS ... 'ii'xg2 19 'ii'xe3 iOd7 20 .te4! :xf2+ 21 'ii'e I!! and Black's queen is trapped. 18 'ii'c6 'ii'h5+ 19 f3 Playing for a second pawn. 19 'ii'f3 was, of course, possible. 19.,.:ad8 20 'ii'xe6+ This gives some counterplay. Perhaps 20 e4 was more accurate. 20,..'ii'h8 21 e4 ttlr6 22 'ii'e5 'ii'g6 23 :'hgl An unfortunate necessity. White has no way of developing this piece properly. 23,..'ii'g3 24 :'e7 In order to exchange a pair of rooks. The alternative was 20 .Ji.bS to control eS. 24,..:re8 2S :e7 'ii'h2 A clever try which almost saves the game.

26 'ii'f2 is less accurate for two reasons: (a) 26 ... :xe7 27 'ii'xe7 :xd4 when White is forced onto the defensive, and (b) 26 ... ttlg4+ (which I comp'!etely overlooked!) and if 27 fxg4 Wg3+ and Black even wins, or 27 hxg4 'iVh4+ picking up the rook on e7 (unclear). 26,..:'xe7 27 'ii'xe7 :'c8 Now 27 ... .l:txd4 fails to 2S 'ii'f8+ ttlgS 29 i.c2! :'c4 30 i.b3 :'c I + 31 'ii'e2! :c2+ 32 'ii'd3. 28~f2

Forced-but White has a clever triangulation in mind. 28.,.'ii'g3+ 29 'ii'e2 'ii'h2 30 'iVb7! The point-Black's rook must leave the c-fiIe-30....xg I 31 'ii'xcS+ ttlgS 32 .Ji.c4 and there is no perpetual. 30 ...:e8 30... :dS 31 ~fl :'xd4 fails, as before, to 32 'ii'cS+ ttlgS 33 .Ji.c2. 31~n

Completing the triangulation and ending Black's resistance. 31 ...ttlhS 32 eS! Most precise. Now 32 ...~g3+ 33 1it>f2 ttlh I + 34 :'xh I .xh I 35 and if 3S... :'cS 36 'ii'fS or 3S ...:dS IbS/aS 36 'ii'fS g6 37 'ii'f6+ and .Ji.c4+, or 3S ... :'gS 36 .Ji.xh7! mating quickly. 32 ... g6 33 e6 'ii'g3 34 .Ji.b5 :g8 35 e7 ttlg7 36 'ii'dS a6 37 .Ji.d7 Black resigned. On 37 ...'ii'h4 38 .eS is overkill.

.til

26 'ii'0!

6: "I feel I'm overdue to win some tournaments" 49 A.J.Miles White J.Timman Black Wijk aan Zee 1979 Queen's Indian Defence 1 d4 ttJf6 2 c4 e6 3 ttJIJ b6 4 ~f4 ~b7 5 e3 ~b4+

The latest idea against ~f4. Black hopes to misplace the white queen's knight by 6 ttJbd2 when ... ~e7! followed by ... cS equalises (HiibnerAndersson, Buenos Aires Olympiad 1978). 6 ttJfd2! Crossing Black's plan. The other knight will come to c3 to control dS and e4. 6 ... 0-07 a3 Better than 7 ~d3 d5! 8 0-0 c5 with fine play for Black, MilesAndersson, Buenos Aires Olympiad 1978. 7... ~e7 8 ttJc3 c5?! Safer is 8 ... dS 9 cxdS ttJxdS 10 ttJxdS ~xdS II :'c I cS 12 dxcS ~xcS 13 ~c4! i.xc4 14 ttJxc4 with a slight advantage in MilesLigterink, Amsterdam Zonal 1978. 9 d5! exd5 I had naturally considered this position in home analysis, but had merely decided that 10 'ft'f3 was slightly better for White and 10 cxd5 might be even better. 10 cxd5

At the board I decided it was better. 10... ~xd5 Consistent. 10... d6 II e4 is clearly good for White (very bad Benoni) and 1O ... ttJxd5 II 'ft'f3 wins material. 11 ttJxd5 ttJxd5 12 'ft'IJ ttJc7 Forced.

13 'ft'b7! A strong move which Timman overlooked. 13 ... d6 14 ttJe4! Keeping the diagonal open for the king's bishop. 14...'ft'd7 If 14... fS? 15 ~c4+ 'it'h8 16 ttJxd6 .txd6 17 0-0-0 is winning, or 14 ...'ft'c8 15 'ft'xc8 l:xc8 16 ttJxd6 is clearly good for White, whilst if 14 ... ttJd7 simply 15 0-0-0 l:b8 16 'ft'c6! is tremendous.

110 "/ feel/ 'm overdue to will some tournamellts ..

IS 0-0-0 Less accurate is IS ~xd6 ~xd6 16 0-0-0 llJe6 (or 16 .. :~i'c6) 17 'ifxa8 llJc6 18 l:txd6 'ifxd6 and IS llJxd6 llJe6 16 'ifxd7 llJxd7 17 0-0-0 llJxf4 18 llJfS! ~f6! 19 l:txd7 llJg6! and ... llJeS allows Black to hold. IS ... 'ifc6 I expected IS ... llJe6 when I intended 16 'ifxd7 llJxd7 17 ~g3! preserving both bishops with a clear advantage. Not however IS ... llJc6? 16 ~bS. 16llJxd6! The knight is remarkably well placed on b7. 16 ...'ifxb7 17 llJxb7 llJe6 18 ~g3 a6 Unfortunately 18 ... llJc6 would allow a decisive infiltration on the white squares (19 ~bS and l:td7). 19 ~c4

On 2l...oUd8 White can take a pawn with 22 llJxf7 as the llJ(b8) hangs, or the whole position with 22 llJfS. 22 ~xe6 fxe6 23 oUxd6 The ending is a simple win---extra pawn and better position. 23 •. .'li'f7 24 l:txb6 llJd7 2S l:td6 c4 26 l:thd 1 llJcs 27 'it>c2 'it>f6 28 l:tld4 llJd3 29 l:te4 l:te7 30 oUxa6 'iti'fS If 30 ... llJcs 31 l:txc4. 31 f3 oUb7 32 oUaS+ 'iti'f6 33 ~eS+ llJxeS 34 oUaxeS l:tcb8 3S l:txe6+ 'iti'f7 36 'iti'c3 l:tb3+ Or 36 ... l:txb2 37 l:te7+ 'it>f8 38 l:te8+. 37 ~xc4 l:txb2 38 g4 l:c2+ 39 ~d3 l:txh2 40 l:te7+ ~f8 41 oUa7 l:ta2 42 l:tc4 oUb3+ 43 ~e4 Black resigned.

SO A.J.Miles White J.Nikolac Black Wijk aan Zee 1979 French Defelice

Supporting the passed knight on the seventh! 19 ... l:ta7 20 ~dS oUc8 Loses a pawn, but on 20 ... bS 21 l:td2 White's positional advantage is already probably decisive. 21 llJd6 ~xd6

1 e4 e6 2 d4 dS 3llJd2 b6!? A rarely seen move, but by a strange coincidence I had analysed it for some time with Stean last year. 4 exdS The move that, I think, best crosses the idea of ... b6. By transposing to an exchange variation White renders the move at best useless and possibly a weakness. The bishop has no future on b7. However, the white llJ(d2) also gets in the way a bit, and the variation does not pose Black serious problems. Therefore, on practical

"I feel I'm overdue to win some tournaments" III

grounds, 4 lDgf3 or 4 i.d3 were perhaps more aggressive choices. 4..• exdS Actually, 4 ...'itxd5!? may be possible. S lDdl3 On 5 i.d3 Stean's idea was ... i.a6, but I don't believe it. I was more concerned about 5 ... i.d6 and if 6 lDgf3 'ite7+ is irritating. S..•.td6 6 .td3 .tg4!? A double-edged choice. The weakened queenside white squares (b7-b6) might prove important in the absence of the bishop, but on the other hand it is not at all easy for White to develop his kingside. 7 c3 The beginning of a rather long-winded plan to expel the troublesome bishop. Here, or on the next move, lDe2 came into consideration. After 7... i.xf3 8 gxf3 White has the bishop pair, the g-file, and maybe attacking chances on the kings ide, but on balance I distrusted it.

7...lDd7 8 -.c2lDgf6 9 i.gS h6 Weakening the g6 square, and thus faIling in with White's plot. On 9 ... 'ite7+ 10 'iii'f1 (10 'iii'd2?!?) is unclear. 10 i.e3 Not 10 i.h4 'ite7+ and ...0-0. Now White is ready for h3 and g4. 10... cS! A good vigorous reaction, at last putting ... b6 to some use. II h3 i.e6 12lDe2 It would be nice to avoid this move, but I saw no reasonable way of doing so.

12 ... c4 13 i.fS i.xfS 14 'itxrs g6? A mistake. On 14 ... 'itc7 White has no advantage. Now Black has trouble with his h-pawn. IS 'itc2 'ite7 I expected 15 .. .'~f8( -g7) but White is still on top.

16 'itcl! Highlighting the problem. If now 16 ... h5 White obtains two excellent stables on g5 and, after a subsequent exchange of bishops, f4. 16... gS Probably best, but now the f5 square beckons. 17 lDd2 0-0-0 18 'itc2 l:tde8 19 'itfS 'itc6 20 h4 Trying to loosen the kings ide further, and tie the lD(f6) to the defence of the g-pawn. 20 ... g4 21lDfl i.c7! Black untangles satisfactorily. 22 lDfg3 -'e6 23 0-0 White intends to open the f-file. In the event it doesn't tum out too well, but what else is there? 23 ...lDe4 24 l:tael This seems natural, but is probably inaccurate. However, after 24 'itxe6 l:txe6 25 lDfS ~d8 the

/ /2 "/ feel I'", overdue to win some tou,.naments ..

knight is soon expelled and White can claim no advantage. 24 ... ~df6 25 'i'xe6+ Consistently misguided, but now it is hard to suggest alternatives. 25... fxe6 26 ~xe4 ~xe4 27 fJ

Third thought: 29 ~f4. Then if 29 ... d7 30 h5! and ~g6 will solve the g-file problem and if 29 ... .Ji.xf4 30 .Ji.xf4 and the bishop will settle on e5. So ... play it.

gxfJ

Now the light began to dawn. On 30 ~xe6 .Ji.g3 is unpleasant and 30 h5? drops a piece to 30... ~g5, ... .Ji.xf4 and ... ~h3+. Well, Black isn't actually threatening anything (30 ... l:txh4 31 ~g6). apart from l:thg8. So 30 l:te2 l:thg8 and what next? Or even 30 ... ~g3 with ... l:thg8 and ... l:txh4 to follow? Pause for panic-have to rely on his time trouble. What causes most problems? Back to 30 tDxe6. Now 30... .Ji.g3 31 l:tefl l:txh4 32 i.f4 ought to hold, but what about 30...l:thg8 31 l:te2 ~g3 and 32 ... l:txh4. A careless chap could easily get mated here. 32 l:tc2 l:txh4 and how can I stop 33 ... l:th I + and 34 ... l:tfl mate? 33 .Ji.f4 makes a loophole. but 33 ... l:th I + 34 f2 ~e4+ is horrible. What about 32 l:te I? That stops the mate. 32... ~e4 33 Ue2 only repeats and 32 ...:xh4 I must be able to do something with the spare movel:tf8+ maybe-at least its murky. If I'm really desperate I could always try 31 ~xc7 l:txg2+ 32 h I xc7 33 l:tgl. Anyway, there really aren't any other moves to offer much of a fight. 30 ~xe6 then and, since he's short of time, throw in an offer of a draw-he might waste a few seconds considering it! 30 ~xe6 .Ji.g3 Slight relief, definitely more worried about ... l:thg8 and ... ~g3.

Not 27 ... ~g3 28 ~xg3 .Ji.xg3 29 .Ji.f2 i.xf2+ 30 ~xf2 and White has an edge.

28l:hfJ

This was the pOSItIOn I had misguidedly aimed for. I hoped the f-file and Black's backward e-pawn would give me the advantage. I had noticed that Black's minor pieces were none too badly placed, but .Ji.f4 would soon get rid of one. The next couple of moves soon disillusioned me. 28 ... l:teg8! By now my opponent was rather short of time, so I wanted to move quickly. The first thought was 29 l:tefl. I didn't quite remember why this was rejected, probably 29 .. .l:tg4. Second thought: 29 .Ji.f4. This was certainly rejected because of 29 ... l:tg4.

29~f4l:tg4!

"/ feel/ 'm overdue to win some tOllmaments" 113

Now my moves are forced so play them quickly. 311:1:efl1:l:xh4 32 ~f41:1:g8 Maybe this line isn't too easy either. 33 ~xg3 ttJxg3 looks unpleasant: 34 J:tfS+ 1:I:xfS 35 1:I:xf8+ ~d7 36 ttJf4 J:th1+ 37 ~f2 ttJe4+. No, just 36 ... J:txf4. But again what is his threat? 33 ... ~xf4 34 J:txf4 is OK. Oh no-33 ... ~d7. The knight is trapped. Help! How can I get it out? 33 i.e5? No, 33 ... ~xe5 34 dxe5 ttJg3 is the same. I'll lose a piece to ... 1:I:h I +. What about 33 1:I:e3 ~d7 34 1:1:fT3? But 34 ... ~xe6 35 ~xg3 IIhg4 is horrible. So 33 J:te3 ~d7 34 i.xg3 ttJxg3 35 J:tf7+ perhaps. Looks messy-it'll do! 331:1:e3 'ito>d7 34 ~xg3 J:txg3? 34 ... ttJxg3 was certainly well worth consideration. 35 1If7+? ~d6 (or even 35 ... ~e8) and ... J:tn mate rears its ugly head. 35 ttJf8+ ~c6 also leaves the odd question unanswered ( ... 1:I:h I +) and 35 1:I:fe I ttJe4! is embarrassing. Lucky that! Meanwhile, back at the board ... 35 ttJf8+ Forced. 35 ...~e8 Of course not 35 ... ,*e7?? 36 J:txg3 ttJxg3 37 ttJg6+. 361:1:f13 Grimly clinging on; the worst is over now. 36•. .lb:fJ 37 .zhfJ 1:I:g4 38 ttJe6 ~d7 39 ttJf4 '*d6

On 39... lDd2 40 J:tf2 ttJe4 White can play on with 41 J:tn and if 4L.~ 42lDxdS. "'~2:g7

Safely reaching the time control. but Black's position is not what it was. 41 1:I:f5 Here the game was adjourned. At first I thought I had some winning chances, but after an hour and a half's analysis I concluded that Black's advanced c-pawn gave him sufficient counterchances. 41.••1:I:g5 Necessary, in view of the threat of 1:I:h5 and ttJf4. 42 1:1:1"7 a5 43 ttJf4 Making it difficult for Black to hold his h-pawn. Passive play such as 43 ... h5 gets squeezed by 44 1:I:h7 ttJf6 45 IIb7 ~c6 46 1:1:f7 ttJe4 47 1:I:h7. 43 •••1:I:g4? I had only considered 43 ... b5! and if 44 l:th7 b4 45 J:txh6+ '*d7 46 ttJe2 1:I:f5 and Black is not worse (e.g. 47 1:1:h4 ttJf2 ), or 44 a3 ~c6! (or 44 ... b4) 45 1:I:h7 b4! 46 axb4 axb4 47 J:txh6+ ~b5 48 cxb4 ~xb4 49 J:tb6+ ~a4 with a drawn position; the extra pawn is fairly meaningless. Consequently I had pretty much given up hope of winning. With the text Black hopes to defend by keeping the knight under surveillance. 44 J:tf5(?) Played mainly for psychological reasons-I wanted to establish that Black was only trying to draw. 44 •••1:I:g5 4S 1:1:f8 Avoiding the repetition on principle. From his previous play it seemed clear that Black would spend a few minutes establishing

114 "I feel I 'm overdue 10 win some loumumenls"

that the rook on f8 made no difference and then replace his rook on g4. In fact I got a small bonus here; Black thought for twenty minutes during which time I realised what actually was happening. 45 ...1:g4 46 1:f5 First the rook must get back to f7. 46 •..1:g5 47 1:17 Trying to look innocent. 47 .•.1:g4? Thank you! Last chance for ... b5! 48 a4!

Would you believe zugzwang!? 48 ... ~c6 What else? The knight is tied to f6 and the rook to the white knight. 48 ... 1:h4 (to meet 49 1:f5 with 49 ... l:h1+!) allows 49 llJg6 1:h5 50 llJe5 and 50 1:b7. 491:f5! The point. If 49 ...1:g5 50 llJxd5! wins. 49 ... llJd6 50 1:f6 1:h4 SI g31:g4 52 ~g2 h5 53 llJxh5 ~d7 54 ~f3 1:g8 5S llJf4 1:xg3+ 56 ~xg3 ttJe4+ 57 ~g4llJxf6+ S8 ~f5 llJe4 Or 58 ... ~e7 59 ~e5 and the black pawns fall like ripe plums.

S9 llJxdS llJd6+ 60 ~e5 llJfi+ Or 60 ... ~c6 61 llJxb6 llJf7+ 62 ~f6 llJd6 63 ~e6. 61 ~f6 Black resigned. The Philadelphia Story 51 J.Ostos While A.J.Miles Black World Open, Philadelphia 1979 Sicilian Defence I rarely play in weekend Swiss type tournaments these days, but for a change I decided to take part in the pretentiously titled World Open -a 10-round Swiss in Philadelphia (J confess the $5,000 first prize had something to do with it). At two rounds a day and no blitz finishes the schedule seemed almost relaxing by English standards. The three rounds on Saturday always used to shatter me. Despite dropping a draw in the second round (jet-lag is my feeble excuse) I cruised to 5 112/6 without any undue problems, at which point I was sharing the lead with the Rumanian GM Gheorghiu. I had slightly the better of our game but failed to win, so we were joined in the lead by four others. In the eighth round Gheorghiu and I both won, as did the relatively unknown Icelander Angantysson. The ninth round pairings seemed to make me a gift of the tournament. I had White against Angantysson and Gheorghiu Black against Walter Browne. However, disaster struck: I mishandled a winning position and was brilliantly swindled out of half a point. The other two also drew, but only Arthur Bisguier joined us in the lead.

"/ feel I'm overdue to win some tournaments" 115

In the last round caution prevailed with Gheorghiu and I both having Black. The Rumanian, typically, suggested a package deal. After some thought, and with not a little distaste, I took the cowardly course and agreed. This finally resulted in a seven-way tie for first place between the four of us, GM Browne and IMs Zuckerman and Fedorowicz (who beat Quinteros in the final game). 1 e4 cS 2 llJo e6 3 d4 cxd4 4 llJxd4 a6 S llJc3 'ifc7 6 ~e2 bS 7 0-0 ~b7 8 11el?! A surprise: My opponent - a Venezuelan 1M, incidentally completely ignores the attack on the e-pawn. 8... b4911Ja4 I half expected llJd5?! 9...~d6 10 f4 ~xe4 11 ~O ~xO 12 'ifxo llJc6 13 llJrs ~f8!? 14 ~e311Jf6

If 14... 'ifa5 15 llJd4 'ifxa4 16 b3 and llJxc6. IS lladl11b8! 1611JcS? Falling into my trap. 16...11bS!

17 ...11g8 might be even better, but with my opponent short of time I decided to settle for simple lines. 18 llJxg7+
Now White had only seconds left on his clock, so I chose a deliberately messy continuation. 23 ...'ifeS 24 1:.del llJe4 2S 1:.f7+
Suddenly all White's knights are en prise. If 17 'iff2 llJg4. 17.g311xcS

The 5th Vidmar Memorial tournament, held at Bled and Portoroz in Yugoslavia recently, turned out to be one of the most exciting events I have played in for some time. Having been much impressed by Korchnoi's successes-I confess I

116 "1 feel I'm OI'erdlie to lI'in some tOlll'lluments"

had never really been able to understand his thought processes-I resolved to try and broaden my style. With no particular preparation I deliberately headed for the type of tense complex positions I had always shied away from in the past. The result was very nearly sensational. I won six games, all fairly convincingly, but lost four. Of these four two came from totally winning positions-in one I just had to find two good moves to force my opponent's resignation. Instead I found three bad ones and forced my own, the second I give below and in the other two I had slightly better 'completely unloseable' positions and committed amazing atrocities. Consequently the overall result was nothing special, but for the first time in many years had the feeling that I was actually learning something. and maybe even improving. 1 d4 ttJf6 2 e4 eS 3 dS g6 4 O!? Korchnoi beat me with this at the Olympiad. 4 ... d6 5 e4 ~g7 6 ~d3 0-0 7 ~e2 e6 8 ttJbe3 exd5 9 exd5 a6 10 a4 We7 II b3!? An unusual try at restricting Black's queenside play. I I...ttJbd 7 12 0-0 ttJeS I3 .i.e 2 lIe8 14 ~hl :lb8 15 a5 b5 16 axb6 lIxb6 17 ~d2 e4?! 18 .te3 :b8 19 ~gl ttJfd7 20 bxe4 ttJxe4 21 :.td4 ttJdeS 22 :ta2! Guarding the second rank. maintaining pressure against the a-pawn and preparing to take o .... er the long diagonal. 22...~h6 23 ~a4 ttJd7 If 23 ...lIe7 24 1'4 ttJg4 25 'i'a I! threatening 26 f4 ttJge3 27 1:f3. 24 'WWal! 1If8 25 ~xd7 'WWxd7 26 f4 ~b7 27 ttJa4

Eyeing the c-file, 27 ...lIfe8 28 ttJg3 l:tbe8 29 %:te2 'WWg4?! Time trouble approaching. 30 'WW cl! ttJeS Or 30 ... ttJa5 31 ~c3 ttJc4 (31...ttJb3 32 'tib2) 32 ~al. 31 lIxe8 ~xe8 32 ttJb6 ~d7 33 'WWe7 Quinteros later pointed out 'WWd I but the text is just as good. 33 ... Ji.bS 34 fxeS ~xn 35 e6! :lf8 If 35 ... fxe6 36 ttJd7 JLg5 37 ttJf6+ mates. 36 e7? Time trouble. 36 tLld7, inter aliu, wins immediately. 36 ...:e8 37 ttJd7 ~gS 38 'WWxd6 Ji.bS 39 -8f6+ Ji.xf6 40 'WWxf6 'WWdl+ 41 .1g1 :c8

Here the game was adjourned, I could draw immediately by tLlf5, or play trickily for the win with 42 'irg5 (lIc)? ttJe2!), Instead I sealed the horrific 42 h3?? Completely overlooking 42...%:tcl 43 'WWb6 'WWxgt+ 44 'WWxgllIxgl+ 45 ~xgl f6

"I feel I'm overdue to

with a won ending for Black. The rest is too painful (and long) to recall. I resigned 25 moves later: 46 tOn ~f7 47 tOd2 a5 48 ~f2 a4 49 tOb! i.d3 50 tOa3 ~xe7 51 ~e3 i.n 52 ~f2 i.d3 53 ~e3 i.n 54 ~f2 i.a6 55 h4 ~d6 56 ~e3 ~e5 57 g4 h6 58 tObl i.c8 59 tOa3 ~d6 60 ~d4 i.xg4 61 tOc4+ q;e7 62 d6+ ~e6 63 ~c5 i.e2 64 tOa3 ~d7 65 ~d5 i.a6 66 Q;c5 g5 67 hxg5 hxg5 68 tOc2 g4 69 Q;b4 g3 70 tOe3 i.n 71 e5 fxe5 72 tOg4 and White resigned, Chinese Chess 53 Chi Ching Hsuan White A.J.Miles Black Vidmar Memorial 1979 Sicilian Defence One interesting aspect of the Vidmar Memorial tournament was the presence of a sizeable contingent from China. Their star player Chi Ching Hsuan took part in the tournament, and though his result was not particularly good, he showed great fighting spirit, drawing only one game, and scoring a fine win over Larsen. The player that stole the limelight, though, was a young girl, one Lui Shi Lan. She looked about 14, but turned out to be 17 and the Chinese women's champion. On learning that my wife was quite a strong player she eagerly asked to play some training games. Jana politely agreed, and a series of ten minute games was arranged. Hardly expecting any real competition from an unknown teenager, Jana didn't take the first few games too seriously and was a couple of points

will

some tOllmaments" 117

down before it became apparent that this was no walkover. Even when she began to take the game seriously the Chinese girl still held her own. Whilst it would be rash to draw any conclusions from ten minute games it is clear that Liu has an exceptionally quick eye for tactics and, more surprisingly, an excellent feeling for position, far beyond her years and non-existent international experience. Unfortunately I do not have the score of any of her games, so this week's game is my own piece of disruption to Anglo-Chinese detente: 1 e4 c5 2 tOn d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 tOxd4 tOf6 5 tOc3 g6 6 i.e3 i.g7 7 n 0-0 8 .-d2 tOe69 i.c4 i.d7 10 h4 :c8 11 i.b3 h5 12 0-0-0 tOe5 13 i.h6 i.xh6 14 'ihh6 :xc3 15 bxe3 ike7 16 g4!? 'i'xe3 17 ~bl a5 18 a3?!

Up to here nothing original. It's all occurred before in SomebodySoltis (bad memory for detail) and Janosevic-Mestel Birmingham '75. Previously played was 18 gxh5 a4 19 hxg6 axb3 20 cxb3 etc. Mestel told me that it is a forced draw. I don't quite remember why, but he

I 18 "'feel I'm overdue. to win some tournaments ..

knows about these things. (Chi incidentally, didn't, so I was already an hour ahead on the clock.) 18... 8419 ioa2 :a8?! 19 ... 'iWxa3 was good for Black, but I thought that the text, threatening :a6-b6+, just won. Now Chi's tactical flair really becomes apparent. 20 g5! 20 gxh5 was much too slow. 20 ... ltJe8 If 20 ...:a6 21 gxf6 :b6+ 22 iob3 exf6 23 'ii'd2 is fine for White, and on 20 ... ltJxe4!? either 21 fxe4 :a6 22 ioxf7+! or 21 :d3! 21ltJfS! ioxf5 Not 21 ... gxf5 22 g6. 22 exfS :a6 23 fxg6 :b6+

24 ~cl!! This was the resource overlooked on move 19. I had observed that it left most of White's position en prise with check: 'ii'e3xa3xf3xhl etc, but failed to appreciate that I still had no win. I thought that 24 iob3 was forced when 24 ...:xb3+! 25 cxb3 fxg6 and the threats to the white king and white queen should win completely. Chi now had 7 or 8 minutes left to

reach move 40; I had an hour or so more. I spent all but IS minutes of it convincing myself that the position was completely drawn. 24 ...'iWe3+ 25 :d2 'iWxa3+ 26 ~dl'ii'xf3+27~c1!

Now 27 ...'iWa3+ 28 ~dl 'iWf3+ would be a fine logical end to the sporting contest as the Russians like to say. However I didn't feel like a fine logical end so relying on his time trouble, I took the sort of gamble one should normally reserve for five-minute games, weekend swisses, the British Championship and that sort of thing. 27...'iWa3+ ~8 ~dl :b1+ 29 ioxbl 'iWf3+ 30 ~c1ltJxg6??! There was still a perpetual with 'iWa3+. At this point the hitherto inscrutable Oriental became decidedly flustered. After all, isn't Black almost two rooks down? Sweat poured from his brow and he seemed to almost slip off his chair -all the more so after 31 :ddl?? Of course not 31 :hd I 'iWa3 mate, but on 3 I :e I, though Black can confuse matters with 31 ... 'iWa3+ 32

"I feel I 'm overdue to win some tournaments" JI9

'iPdl 'ji'},2 33 'iPe2 'iWc3 (or ... lbc4) objectively White must be winning. 31..:~We3+

And now White is lost. 32 :td2 If 32 'iPb2 a3+ 33 'iPa2 'iWc3 and 'ji'},2 mate. 32 .. :ifa3+ 33 'it'dl 'iWO+ 34 'iPc1 'iWxhl+ 35 :tdl 'i'o 36 ~a2 e6 37 :td3 'iWf4+ 38 'iPb2 lbg7 39 c3 'ifxh4 40 :to 'iWe4 41 :tf6 'ife2+ 42 'iPa3 'ifc2 43 c4 lbe5 44 g6 lbxc4+ 45 ~xc4 'i'c3+ 46 'iPxa4 'iWxc4+ White resigned. A tough game 54 J.S.Speelman White A.J.Miles Black British Championship 1979 Modern Benoni Reversed As promised last week, my most interesting game from the British Championship: Ilbo d5 2 c4 d4 3 d3 c5!? Already very sharp. Black invites transposition to a Modem Benoni reversed, where one would think the extra move would be important. The safe move was 3 ... lbc6. 4 e3 lbc6 5 exd4 cxd4 6 g3 e5 7 ~g2 ~d6 8 0-0 lbge7 9 a3 as 10 lbbd20-0 11 :tbl a4 12lbe4 ~b8 Not 12 ... ~c7 13 lbc5 winning the a-pawn. Now if 13 lbc5 'ifa5. 13 :tel 'iPh8 14 ~d2 b6 Threatening ... f5. 15lbh4 Seemingly very logical. White Black's intends to expose apparently retarded development by

f4. In the meantime 15 ... f5 would be met by 16 lbg5 h6 17 'iWh5 with a strong attack. 15...~d7 16 f4 exf4 17 gxf4 :ta7!

A useful move eliminating long diagonal dangers and preparing to defend laterally. One possibility now is 18 lbg5 h6 19 'ii'h5 ~e8! with the threat of ... f6/f5. 18 b4 axb3 19 :txb3 lbg6 20 lbxg6+ fxg6!? Starting concrete play against White's f-pawn at the cost of diminished control of e6 and d5. 2Ilbg5!? The anticipated sharp reaction. The passive :tfl was the alternative. Now 2l...~xf4?! 22 ~xf4 :txf4 23 lbe6 ~xe6 24 :txe6 is good for White. 21...lba5! 22 :tb2lbb7! A fine regrouping manoeuvre. The knight comes to c5 and suddenly all White's pawns are weak. There is also the tactical justification in 23 ~d5 lbc5 24 lbf7+ :txf7 25 ~xf7 ~a4 and the :t(a7) shows its usefulness (:txf7). 23 'iWo It is hard to suggest a good move. Of course 23 lbe6 is met by ~xe6

/20 "/ feel/ 'm overdue to win some tournaments .,

24 1:.xe6 lbc5. White was now heading into serious time trouble and I felt I was now clearly on top. 23 ...lbc5 24 'iVg3 h6 25 ~dS??! Actually a complete oversight. White forgot that on ... hxg5 26 fxg5?? leaves his queen ell prise. However. .. 2S ... hxgS

Now with only five minutes on his clock and a piece down I was just waiting for his resignation. Instead Jon used half of them to find 261:.e5!! A remarkable resource. It shouldn't be good enough but it certainly makes life difficult. 26 ... ~xeS 27 fxeS g4 The threat was ~xg5 and 'iVh4 mate. 281:.xb6! The only move to get the rook into play. Now my original intention had been 28 ... ~e6 29 ~xe6 lbxe6 30 1:.xe6 llat7 when the initiative passes to Black, but then I got worried about 29 l:he6! lbxe6 30 ~xe6 when the bishops look just as good as the rooks (It should be noted, by the way, that White threatens 291:.b8!).

28 ... g5 Speelman had hoped for 28 ...1:.f3 29 'iVh4+ 'Wxh4 30 1:.b8+ <;Ph7 31 .i.g8+ with a draw by perpetual check! 29llg6lbe6 By now I was also seriously short of time and wanted to return a piece to ease the pressure. 29 ... <;Ph7!? (30 ~xg5 'Wb8!) might win. 30 'Wxg4 Here I became most irritated at my opponent's persistence in taking pawns and ignoring pieces. 30 ...lla6?! If 30 ... lbf4 31 e6.

31 ~xgS? Correct was 31 'iVh5+ ~g8 32 .i.xg5 unclear. Now both sets of nerves really begin to crack. 31...lbxgs 32 'iVh5+ lbh7 33 :xa6 'Wc8?? Complete panic. My first thought was 33 ... ~h3!? but 34 'iVxh3 'iVg5+ 35 ~g2 avoids the mate (35 ......d2 36 ~f3 unclear), though with the clocks as they were his seizure of the initiative would have been decisive. However, 33 ... 'Wb8 wins outright. If 34 'iVe2 ~h3 and White

"I feel I'm· overdue to win some tournaments II 12/

is in a mating net. The text is horrible. completely overlooking 34l1a8! And White offered a draw. Now 34 ... i.h3?? 35 lId8 and the rook is pinned. With White's flag apparently about to fall I declined, playing 34.....eS?? 34.....xa8 was essential (unclear!) missing completely And still in the time scramble White offered a draw. Feeling fairly sure that we had passed move 40 I stopped to think and, noticing that I was almost lost. accepted. In fact the position is drawn: 43 ... ltlc5! 44 i.b7! i.f5! 45 a6 ltlxa6 46 i.xa6 i.xd3 followed by fiP-g6-f5 or fiP-t7-e6, and White will be left with the wrong rook-pawn. Draw agreed. 3S i.e4! forcing mate. However, with both sides having only seconds left 3S...g6 Offering a draw!? 36"xg6? 36 i.xg6 mates in a few moves. 36.....e7 37 lIxf"8+?? 37 "xh7+ wins easily. 37...lDxfS A bit of a shock to White who thought that the knight was still pinned. Now the position is drawn. 38 'ii'h6+ fiPg8 39 i.dS+ i.e6 40 i.e4 "g7+ 40 .....xa3 41 "g5+ with a perpetual check was more sensible. 41 'ii'xg7+ fiPxg7 42 a4 lDd7 43

as

55 A.J.Mestel White A.J.Miles Black British Championship 1979 Sicilian Defence 1 e4 eS 2 ltlo e6 3 d4 exd4 4 lDxd4 a6 S e4 ltle6 6 lDe3 i.b4!? 7 i.d3 "e7 8 0-0 lDf6 9 i.e2!? O-O!?

122 "I feel 1'111 overdue to win some tournaments ..

The usual continuations are 9 ... ltJe5 and 9 ... ltJxd4 10 'ifxd4 ltJg4. The text move is mentioned by opening books, but they quote only an obscure Yugoslav game which went 10 i.g5 ltJxd4 II ~xf6 (II 'ifxd4 ltJg4) ll...gxf6 12 'ifxd4 "e5 13 'iVd3 with clear advantage to White. However no mention is made of 11 ... ltJxc2 gullibly taking a piece. Naturally after 12 'iVg4 White has some attack but it is by no means clear that it is sufficient. 10 ~hl ltJxd4 II 'iVxd4 ltJg4 12 f4 i.c5 13 'iVd3!? More drastic than 13 'iVd2 ltJe3 14 :f3 ltJxc2 ( ... ltJxc4 looks risky) 15 "xc2 with an unclear position. 13 ...ltJf2+ 141hf2 i.xf2 15 e5 g6 16 ltJe4 ~h4 17 i.d2 b5 18 ltJf6+ This seemed to make the defence easier. I was more frightened of a less direct approach. 18... i.xf6 19 exf6 ~b7 20 'iVh3 ~h8 21 1:.el 'iVxc4 22 i.d3 Reaching the position of a problem set in my Nel1' Statesman column.

Here I played 22 ...'iVxa2 In our post mortem we considered this to be a mistake but in the light of readers' analyses. predominantly

that of Mr J.D. Taylor, it probably isn't. Alternatives: (a) 22 ... 'iVd5 23 1:.e5 'iVxg2+ (23 ... 'ikc6?? completely overlooked 24 1:.g5! when there is no defence to 25 "h6 ':g8 26 'iVxh7+-viz 24 ...1:.ac8 25 :i.c3 b4 26 "h6 :g8 27 'iVxh7+ ~xh7 28 1:.h5 mate) 24 'iVxg2 i.xg2+ 25 ~xg2-good for White as Black's rooks have no scope and his d-pawn alone has little effect. (b) 22 ... 'iVc6 23 i.e4 and now 23 ... 'iVxe4!? 24 1:.xe4 i.xe4 is hard to evaluate. White can no longer achieve anything by direct attack and Black has a material advantage. However White's pieces are active and the advanced f-pawn ties Black down. A draw maybe? 23 1:.e5 1:.ac8 creates back rank threats e.g. 24 ~c3 b4 25 :g5 (intending 'iVh6) 25 ... 'iVa4!. and 23 i.c3 has no threat (~xg6 "xg2+) so Black can continue happily with ...1:.ac8. (c) 22 ... i.xg2+!? is a bit too dramatic. After 23 'it>xg2 'iVd5+ simply 24 'iff3 leads to a good ending. Back at the game (after 22 ..... xal)

Mestel continued with 23 'iVh6

"/ feel I'm overdue to will some tournamellts " 123

At the time I was more worried about 23 ~c3 (threatening ~xg6) but there are several possible defences: (a) 23 ... d6 24 i.xg6 fxg6 25 17+ (25 f5 is an interesting try-gxf5? 26 17+ e5 27 l:txe5 'Wx17 28 l:te7+ ~g8 29 'iVg3+-but perhaps 25 ... 'ilkd5 26 fxe6 ~g8 holds) 25 ... e5 and now 26 fxe5 l:tx17 27 e6+ <j;g8 28 exf7+ 'iVx17 and 26 l:txe5 'Wxf7 27 l:te7+ ~gS are both unclear. (b) 23 ... 'iVd5 24 l:te5 'ilkxg2+ 25 'iVxg2 ~xg2+ 26 ~xg2 when the absence of the a-pawn shifts the balance of power to Black. (c) 23 .. .l::tg8 24 l:te3 'iVal+ 25 ~e I and now instead of the stupid 25 ... h5?? (26 'iVh4-g5 mating) Black still has 25 ... ~f3! 26 'iVxf3 'Wxb2. White has better chances than in the game as his pieces are coordinated, but he has no clear-cut line of play and Black's queens ide pawns soon become effective. 23 ...l:tg8 Incidentally, 24 l:te5 is now met by 24 ... 'Wal+ 25 .iel 'iVd!. 24l:te3 Thinking the threat of'Wxh7+ and l:th3 mate to be unstoppable but 24 ...'ilkal+ 25 i.el ~f3!

A nice interference theme. 26 gxf3 26 l:txf3 'iVxel+ 27 ~f1 'iVdl stops everything so White must capture with the pawn, blocking the attack. 26... d6 Necessary in view of the threat of l:te5. If 26 ... l:tac8 27 l:te5 l:tc5 28 l:txc5 'Wxel+ 29 ~g2 'iVd2+ 30 ltig3 and now 30 ...'iVe I + 31 ~h3 'Wf2 32 'Wxh7+ ~xh7 33 l:th5 mate or 30 ... 'ilkxd3 31 l:tc8! mating. There is, though, an alternative in 26 ... 'iVd!. Mr Taylor then suggests the remarkable continuation 27 h4 d5 28 h5 d4 29 ~h2!! dxe3 30 hxg6 fxg6 31 ~c3 l:tac8 32 f7+ :xc3 33 f8='iIk ':c2+ 34 ~xc2 'Wxc2+ drawing. 27 'ilkh4? Shocked at missing 25 ... ~f3 White cracks. The only saving chance was 27 h4 :ac8 28 h5 l:tc I 29 hxg6 :xel+ 30 :xel 'iVxel+ 31 ~g2 'ilkd2+ and either 32 ~g3 'We I + or 32 ~h3 fxg6 33 f7 'iVxd3 34 f8='iV 'iVxf3+ drawing. 27 ...'iVxb2 Now White's pieces have lost all coordination and the initiative is firmly in Black's hands. The rest was rather one-sided. 28 :e2 'iVd4 29 .ie4 :ae8 30 ~f2 :cl+ 31 ~g2 'iVe4 32 l:td2 d5 33 'iVh6 'iVe3 33 ... dxe4?? 34l:tdS. 34 :d3 'iVe7 35 l:ta3 dxe4 36 l:txa6 'ilke3 37 fxe4 'Wxf6 38 e5 'Wf5 39 l:ta3 g5 40 :g3 g4 41 l:te3 :ee8 42 .ih4 l:tg6 43 ~f6+ 'iVxf6 44 :h3 (it had been trying to get there all game!) and White resigned.

124 "lfeel I'm o\'erdue to lI'ill some toumamellts ..

Chess by Telephone 56 G.Botterill White A.J.Miles Black Confravision 1979 Queell's Gamhit Accepted Chess by telephone and, more recently, by telex, has become quite commonplace. Neither medium has me as particularly struck satisfactory. The major difficulty is. of course, the time lost in transmission of moves but the aspect I dislike most is the lack of atmosphere brought about by the absence of one's opponent. However. I was interested to receive an invitation to the tirst Confravision tournament. ConfravIsion is basically a set of conference studios scattered around the country linked by close circuit television. The tournament. sponsored by the Scottish Telecommunications Board, was a sort of mini Home International Craig Pritchett Championship. represented Scotland from Glasgow. George Botterill Wales from Bristol. Paul Henry Ireland from Manchester (as yet there aren '{ any studios in the latter two countries) and I represented England from Birmingham. Each player had 15 minutes per game. When either player was thinking. the monitors would show both players and clearly visible clocks recording their thinking times. \Vhen a move was played the monitors would switch to the demonstration boards on which were transmitted. the moves Transmission times were creditably low---even my tirst round game which lasted 79 moves took scarcely more than 50 minutes and

technically the event was a great success. I needed only to draw the tinal game to avoid a play-off. Sinking to the occasion I produced a stream of exceedingly boring moves very quickly until Pritchett. down to his last five seconds, had the bright idea of offering a draw. With Henry beating Botterill in the remaining game this len me tirst with 2Ih/3, Pritchett second ' .... ith I Ih and Botterill and Henry third equal with I. 1 d4 dS 2 c4 dxc4 3 .!tJrJ .!tJf6 4 ~a4+!?

An unusual line presumably intended to surprise me. 4 ... ~c6 5 ~:c3 !Dd5!? Black wants to hang on to the gambit pawn with ... It:\b6. Probably White should try 6 e4 iDb6 7 ~dl with some play. 6 '''xc4?! !2db4! \'ery embarrassing! 7 'ib3 e5!?

Not a bad move at the best of times, but in a quick game almost decisive. 8 a3? Taking the pawn is a better try. 8 ... i.e6 9 ~dl exd4 10 iDbS

"/ feel I'm overdue to wi" some tournaments" 125

On 10 axb4 ~xb4 with a solid extra pawn. Now if 10 ...ttJdS II ttJbxd4 and White's alright. But 10 ... a6! 11 ttJbxd4 Now if II axb4 axbS 12 lIxaS 'ii'xaS and 13 lLlxd4 is impossible owing to ... ~xb4+. 11...lLlxd4 12lLlxd4 'ii'xd4! Now White noticed that 13 axb4 allows 13 ... ~xb4+ 14 ~d2 O-O-O! (but not ... lIdS?, 'ii'a4+) mating quickly. 13 'ii'xd4 Resigns is slightly more accurate. 13... lLlc2+ 14 'it'dl lLlxd4 15 b4 0-0-0 16 ~d2 ttJb3 17 lIa2 ~e7 18 e3 ~f6 19 'it'e2 lLld4+ 20 exd4 ~xa2 21 ~e3 ~xd4 22 g3 ~c4+ 23 'it'd2 ~xe3+ 24 'it'xe3 lIhe8+ White resigned. S7 A.J.Miles White L.Perecz Black Dortmund 1979 Reti Opening Problem 132 in New Statesman was taken from my game against the Hungarian player Perecz from Dortmund. The opening moves (I was White) were 1 lLlo d5 2 g3 lLlf6 3 ~g2 ~f5 4 0-0 c6 5 d3lLlbd7 6lLlbd2 e5!? One of those moves which one is never sure whether to allow, and if it is allowed, whether to play it or not. Has Black got a bad Pirc reversed or a good centre? 7 b3 ~c5 8 ~b2 'ii'e7 9 lLlh4 The logical attempt to exploit ...eS. White tries to take control of 5. 9 ... ~g410 h3

Here Black sank into thought. Somehow I had the feeling he was considering the ridiculous-looking ... gS. Walking round waiting for his reply 1 commented to the Czech GM Jansa that I felt sure he would play it. Jansa gave me an incredulous look, but sure enough 10 ... g5!?

II lLlhO ~h5 This move 1 had underestimated. Now on 12 lLlxgS l:[gS 13 lLlgf3 e4 and ... e3 gives Black excellent chances. So I returned to the fight for fS. 12 e4 dxe4 13 lLlxe4 lLlxe4 14 dxe4 0-0-0 15 'ii'el g4 16 lLlh4 gxh3 17 ttJf5 'ii'e618 ~xh3 Mission accomplished, but Black has some counterplay. 18... lIdg8 19 'it'g2 ~g4 Necessary in order to create some squares for the rooks. 20 ~xg4 lIxg4 21 lIhl h5 22 'ii'e2 lLlf6 23 f3 lIg6 24 lIh4 lIhg8 25 lIdllLld5! A good move, stirring up complications and getting the knight on a better circuit. 26 'it'h2

/26

"/ feel/ 'm overdue to win some toul'Ilaments ..

and now we reach the position of the problem given in my New Statesman column.

Black continued

26 .. :ii'f6 and, as in the opening, 1 felt sure he meant to meet 27 lhhS with the apparently crushing .. .l::th8. Seeing a little further into the position I duly played 27 AxhS and after the expected 27 ••• Ah8 28 f4! and Black could find nothing to do but resign. His position falls apart at the seams. During the post mortem Georgadze suggested instead of 26 ... 'iff6, 26 ... llIe3 and after 27 ttJxe3 ~xe3 28 'ii'xe3 Axg3 we could find no more than a draw for White ('ii'xa7 gets a perpetual easily so there is no danger). So thinking it an interesting position I used it for a problem. 1 was naturally aware that the position was messy, but I scarcely expected my analysis to be torn to shreds by quite so many people in so many different ways. Firstly 26 ... ttJe3.

Now 27 ttJxe3 ~xe3 28 'ii'xe3 Axg3 29 'ii'xa7 is a draw, but 27 ... Axg3! (Messrs Bradley, Cornforth, Deshmukh, Sahasrabudhe and Thorat (!» wins for Black. (I was over-preoccupied with eliminating the white knight rather than just deflecting it.) For example 28 llIfS 'ii'g6 29 Ad2 (or 29 ttJxg3 'ii'xg3+ 30 'it'hl ~f2! 31 Ah2 _gl+! Sahasrabudhe) 29 ...Agl! with the unstoppable threat of Ah 1+ and 'ii'g 1 mate, or 28 ttJg4 hxg4! 29 'it'xg3 gxf3+ 30 'it'xf3 'ii'f6+ or 28 ~cI 'ii'g6 29 ttJg4 hxg4 winning. White can, however, survive by 27 Ad3 and if 27 ... ttJxfS 28 exfS 'ii'xfS 29 'ii'xeS 'ii'xeS 30 ~xeS ~f2! draws. Mr Thorat had a nice idea against this in 27 ... Axg3!? 28 ttJxg3 'ii'g6 29 'ii'el? ttJfl+ winning beautifully, but unfortunately 29 l:h3 ruins it-29 ... h4 30 Axe3 hxg3+ 31 'it'g2 and White wins. Mr McSheehy had the same idea but in a different order with 26 ... Axg3!? 27 ttJxg3 'ii'g6 28 'ii'el (but not now 28 Ah3? ttJf4) 28 ... ttJe3 and, if 29 Ad3, 29 ... ttJfl+ again, but this time 29 ~xeS! defends everything. Even after 26 ... 'ii'f6 27 Axh5 (27 exdS, incidentally is no better than 'unclear') improvements were suggested. Mr Taylor had the idea

"I feel I'm overdue to will some tournaments" 127

of 27 ... ltJe3 now. Then 28 ltJxe3 ~xe3 29 "'xe3 lIxg3 30 lId2? "'g6 wins, but 30 ~xe5! "'g6 31 l:th6! bangs on: 31 ... lIg2+(31 ... l:th3+ 32 ~3 "g2+ 33 ¢'h4) 32 ¢'hl! (but not 32 ¢'h3? l:th2+! 33 ~xh2 "'g2+ and .....h2 mate) and the black queen is trapped! (32 ... l:th2+ fails to 33 lIxh2). The most embarrassing line I have saved until last. After 26 ......f6 27 lIxh5

given that 27 ... l:th8 IS superficially crushing. but fails to 28 f4!. Messrs Carr. Johnson and Sahasrabudhe put two and two together and produced the simple but brilliant 27 ... ltJf4!! just blocking the f4 square. 28 gxf4 (others lose material) 28 .. .l::th8! Now there is no f4 so 29 lIh3 lIxh3+ 30 ~xh3 "'h8+ 31 ibh4 ~e7 32 and now not 32 ... ~xh4? 33 "'xh4 l:th6 34 l:td8+! or even 32 ... lIh6 33 ¢'g2 when White stays alive. but 32 ......h5! (Mr Carr deserves a special mention as the only entrant to spot this) threatening ... ~xh4 and .....xf3+. and if33 lIgl ~xh4 wins. or 33 lId3 (or lift) 33 ... exf4! and ... lIg3+. So it seems after 27 ... ltJf4!! would have been completely lost!

"'f2

7: "I heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" Karpov defeated

l...a6!?

S8 A.Karpov White A.J.Miles Black European Team Championship, Skara 1980 SI George's Defence Having to write a column when there is nothing much at hand to write about is a common journalistic problem. The best solution seems to be to create some news oneself. So it is this week. 1 had just returned from a skiing holiday, oblivious of events in the rest of the world (I heard a TUmour that one or two English players did well in the Sussex Open but I had no details). Consequently, aided by having Black against the World Champion in the first round of the European team championships, 1 set about making some news. 1 e4 Karpov is always at home in well-known theoretical lines so it is best to avoid them. A couple of years ago I had a ridiculous(?) idea of an all-purpose defence to anything but as yet had not found a suitable opponent to test it on. Now, I decided, was as good a time as any.

2 d4 b5

By this time the spectators' laughing was becoming embarrassing. 3 lbf3 ~b7 It's only 1... b6 with a bit more space really!? 4 ~d3 iDf6 5 "'e2 e6 6 84 e5 7 dxeS If 7 eS c4 is unclear. 7... ~xeS 8 iDbd2 b4 9 eS lbd5 10 iDe4 ~e7 11 0-0 I expected 11 .i.gS. 11...iDe6 12 .i.d2 Now if ~gS, f6 and a quick 0-0-0. 12......e7 13 e4 bxe3 14 iDxe3 iDxe3 15 .i.xe3 iDb4 16 .i.xb4 .i.xb4 17 ttac1 1Wb6 18 .i.e4 0-0

"/ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 129

Black has a perfectly reasonable position. Now White tries to force matters prematurely. 19 ltJg5 h6 20 ~h7+!? ~h8 21 .i.bl ~e7 22ltJe4 l:tac8 23 'it'd3? Presumably an oversight. The battery looks threatening but never gets time to operate. 23 .• .lbcl 24l:txcl "xb2 25 l:tel 25 l:tc7 was the alternative but even then Black has a wide choice of strong continuations. 25 .....xe5 26 "xd7 ~b4 27 l:te3

.cIS

Forcing a wInmng ending. The is technique. 11 .xd5 ~xd5 29 ltJc3 l:tc8 30 eel gS 31 h4 ~g7 32 hxg5 hxg5 D .i.d.3 a5 34 l:tg3 ~f6 35 l:tg4 .AM 36 ~ ~e5 37 ~el l:th8 38 ftSl

f4 gxf4 39ltJxf4 ~c6 40 ltJe2 l:thl+ 41 ~d2 l:th2 42 g3 ~O 43 l:tg8 l:tg2 44 ~el ~xe2 45 ~xe2 l:txg3 46l:ta8 and now I sealed 46 ... ~c7 but Karpov resigned without resuming. Aided by this and a superb win by John Nunn over Polugaevsky, England held the USSR to a 4-4 draw. Indeed, over the top six boards we won 4-2 and but for some superb defence from Petros ian would have won all the top 3 boards!

• • • • 59 A.J.Miles White Michaelides Black Lone Pine 1980 King's Fianchetto The main trouble with the problem set in New Statesman was working out the position (see 2nd diagram on next page) as black pawns on queens ide black squares had become almost totally invisible. As it happens it was just about possible to deduce the position. My introduction implied that material was level and by a process of elimination the missing pawns must have been the blurs on c7 and a5 (a7 and c5 are out because of the suggested moves ltJa7 and c5, and d6 would leave the knight en prise). In fact the position came from an instructive game Miles-Michaelides from Lone Pine this year. After the opening moves 1 g3 e5 2 ~g2 d5 3 d3 ltJf6 4 ltJo ltJc6 5 0-0 lLe7 6 a3! a5 7 b3!? 0-0 8 ~b2 e4 9 dxe4ltJxe4 10 c4! dxc4 11 "c2! lLf6(!) 12 bxc4

~f513

"c1

130 "I heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

19...'ii'eS 20 lZ'lxg6 hxg6 21 l:tbl l:tab8 22 l:tab2 'ii'xf4 23 gxf4 lZ'ld4 (a good try) and we have reached the position of the problem set last time.

Superficially White's pOSItIOn looks a wreck-he is behind in development and the queen-side is weak. However. I felt quite happy as I saw a clear plan to fight for the initiative. First the key move l:ta2, destined for b2 to hit the focal point on b7, then undermine the lZ'l(e4) and force it to move ('ii'f4 and lZ'lh4 being the likely moves to accomplish this), then complete development with lZ'lc3 eyeing the weakened d5 and b5 squares followed by doubling rooks with strong pressure (Note that much of White's play is based on the weakness of Black's as advance. The b5 square is important, and an eventual ... b6 can be undermined by c5.) It is tempting to attribute the fact that everything goes exactly according to plan to the relative understanding of the two players, but even in the post mortem Black was unable to find a clear way to equalize and within a couple of very natural moves he is clearly worse. 13•. .l:le8 14 l:ta2! 'ii'e7 15 'ii'f4! ~g6 16 ~xf6lZ'lxf6 17lZ'lc3 l:ted8 18 lZ'lb5 l:tac8 19 ~h3 was threatened. 18lZ'lbS lZ'le8 19lZ'lh4! Unveiling the long diagonal and eliminating Black's best minor piece.

In fact White has two strong continuations. First the lesser moves: (a) 24 lZ'lxd4 l:txd4 25 :xb7 :xb7 26 :xb7 :xc4 gives White nothing. (b) 24 e3llJxb5 25l:txb5 (25 cxb5 is nothing special) 25 ... llJd6! 26 l:txa5llJxc4 27 :a7 b5! and Black is comfortable. (c) 24 lZ'la7 :a8! 25 l:txb7llJxe2+ 26 ~fl llJxf4 is fine for Black. However (d) 24lZ'lc3! is good. E.g. (i) 24 ... b6 25 c5 lZ'le6 26 lZ'ld5! 'it>f8 27 cxb6 cxb6 28 e3! (but not 28 l:txb6 :xb6 29 :xb6 llJf6! with counterplay) winning a pawn, or (ii) 24 ... lZ'ld6 25 cS llJc4 26 :xb7 l:txb7 27 l:txb7 llJxa3 (or 27 ... lZ'le6 28 ~d5! llJxc5? 29 :xc7) 28 l:txc7 llJe6 29 l:ta7! and if 29 ... llJxcS 30 :xa5 wins a piece. In the game I was not completely confident about the complications of the last line and so chose (e) 24 cS! Play continued

"/ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" /31

24 .. .liJe6 Forced since 24 ...lbxb5 25 1:IxbS wins a pawn eg 25 ... b6 26 ~c6 etc. 25 ltJa7! lbxc5! 2S ...1:Ia8 261:1xb7 ltJxcs 27 1:I7bS! 1:Ixa7 28 1:Ixcs White is positionally winning owing to the superior minor piece, the stupid black rook and weak pawns. 26 ltJc6 ltJa4 27 ltb3! ltJc3! 28 lbxd8! ltJxbl 29ltJxb7! 29 lbc6 was tempting but after ... ltJd2 the rook has no safe square! Now, in my opinion the dislocated Black forces and his weak queens ide pawns give White a decisive positional plus. The conclusion was 29 ...ltJd2 30 1:Ic3! Keeping the knight fenced in. 30...a4 31 ~c6lbb3 321:1c4! lbf6 33 1:Ixa4 ~h7 34 ~n lbd2+ 35 ~el lbde4 36 1:Ixe4! ltJxe4 37 ~xe4 lta8 38 ltJd6! Black resigned. If 38 ...1:Ia4 39lbxf7 1:Ixe4 40 ltJgS+.

Geller's defeat There is no doubt that in the past Efim Geller has been one of the strongest players in the world but in the last few years he has really looked past his best. Until, that is, the last few months. First he annihilated the Soviet championship, winning by a full point, then he took a board prize at the European team championship, and with one round to play at Lone Pine he was sharing the lead-all without conceding a single loss. With $10,000 at stake I figured he was due for one.

60 A.J.Miles White E.Geller Black Lone Pine 1980 Reti Opening I c4 e6 2 g3 d5 3 ~g2 ltJf6 4 lbf3 ~e7 5 b3 0-0 6 ~b2 c5 7 0-0 ltJc6 The last time we played (at Wijk aan Zee 77) Geller tried 7 ... d4 8 b4 as but I won that too. 8 e3 d4 9 exd4 cxd4 10 ltel

Holding up ... eS. The position resembles a reversed Modem Benoni, with the difference that the white queen's bishop is misplaced, but it costs Black several tempi to arrange ... eS. I think White has an edge. 10...l:te8 Fairly obvious but apparently an innovation. Encyclopedia gives 10 ...'iib6 (from yet another Geller game!). II a3 a5 12 d3 ~c5 13 lbbd2 e5 14lbg5 ~g4 15 ~f3! Parting with this bishop may seem strange but it greatly improves White's piece coordination and gives good play on the light squares. 15... ~xf3 16 'ii'xf3 h6 17 lbge4 lbxe4 18 ltJxe4 ~f8 19 ~c1 1:Ie6 Not just guarding the third rank but preparing to contest the crucial

132 "I heard that Karpol' felt insulted by my choice of opening"

f5 square. Ideally Black would like to arrange ... f5, but normally White can simply prevent it by g4. The text has the idea of ...'iVd7 and if g4, l:tg6. So 20 h4 ~e7 21 h5 'iflll An interesting try threatening ... f5 and tying White down to his a-pawn. 22 'iVf5l:lb8 Counterplay! Clearly White must now play for a direct kingside attack. 23 g4! b5 24 ~h2! 24 g5 is premature. 24 .•• bxc4 25 bxc4 l:lb3 Perhaps ... lDd8 (to meet l:lgl with f6) was more realistic. Maybe Black's play on the b-file would balance White's positional grip. 26l:tgl

Now g5 is coming with a bang. 26... ~xa3 Seems a strange pawn to take, but he hopes to defend by freeing e7 for the knight. On 26 ... l:lxd3 27 g5 looks decisive (naturally White wants more than the exchange). For example 27 ... hxg5 28 ~xg5 ~xg5 29 lDxg5 or 28 ... lDd8 29 ~f6 or 28 ... g6 29 ~f6 'iVh6 30 l:lxg6+!

fxg6 31 'ifxe6+ ~f8 32 lDg5! 'ifxh5+ 33 ~g2 winning. Of course there are many variations but it seems that the While attack crashes through. 27 l:lxa3 l:txa3 28 ~xa3 'ifxa3 29 g5

29 ...'iV1ll An admission of defeat, trying to bail out into a tenable ending. The point that Geller missed at move 26 is that 29 .. .tiJe7 allows 30 'iff3! and suddenly back rank mates loom on a8. The threat is 31 gxh6 l:lxh6 32 lDg5 and it is hard to see a constructive move for Black. The only real try is 30 ... ~f8 but then White has the nice shot 31 lDf6! and (a) 31...gxf6 32 gxh6 e4 (else 'iVa8+ or h7) 33 h7! exf3 34 h8='iV+ lUg8 35 l:lxg8+ ~e7 36 l:ld8 (or c8). (b) 31...e4 32 gxh6! gxh6 (32 ... exf3 33 hxg7 is mate, or 32 ... l:txf6 33 hxg7+) 33 'iVf4! (c) 31...l:lc6 (blocking the diagonal) 32 gxh6 gxh6 33 lDd7+ (or "g2) 33 .. .'~e8 34 lUxeS with, in all cases (as anyone who has seen Geller will appreciate), collapse of stout party. Also the immediate 29 ... ~f8 fails to 30 gxh6 l:txh6 (30 ... gxh6 31 lDf6

"/ heard that Kwpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" J33

'j;e7 32 tDd5+ etc) 31 'ifc8+ cJi;e7 32 lIxg7 l:txh5+ 33 cJi;g2 and Black is helpless against the threat of'ifc7+. 30 tDf6+! A simple combination but one which I considered for a long time. Clearly White wins the queen but the resulting ending is not so easy. Only when I saw the second phase assault (moves 35 onwards) did I feel safe.

I remember, while thinking about this move, glancing up at the ma~y spectators-I could almost read In their eyes 'What on earth are you thinking about you idiot, isn't it obvious?'. 30... gxf6 31 gxh6+ cJi;h8 32 l:tg7 'ifxg7 33 hxg7+ cJi;xg7 This is the position for which both sides had been aiming. White has a queen, but Black's mass of central pawns and solid pieces seem to give good defensive chances. However... 34 'ifg4+ cJi;h7 3S h6! The real point of the combination. 3S... cJi;xh6 36 'ifg8 The queen gets into the heart of Black's position and his structure collapses. 36... l:te7

Short of time Geller plays the simplest move. Afterwards the kibitzers suggested 36 ... tDb4 37 'ifxf7 Aa6 but that too is inadequate. White plays straight for mate with 38 cJi;g3 (heading for f5) and if 38 ... a4 39 cJi;g4 (simpler than 'iff8+) 39 ... 5+ (else ~f5) 40 ~xf5 a3 41 'ifg8 l:ta7 42 'ifh8+ l:th7 43 "f6+ and mate next move. Similarly on 38 ... tDxd3 39 cJi;g4 achieves much the same end; 38 ... cJi;g5 39 'ifg7+ cJi;h5 40 f4! is yet another variation on the same theme. 37 'ifc8! Ae6 If the knight moves 38 'iff8+. 38 "'h8+ Black resigned. The little queen manoeuvre has picked up the necessary tempo and with it the game. On 38 ... cJi;g6 39 "'g8+ cJi;f5 (else 'ifxf7) 40 cJi;g3 e4 41 "'g4+ cJi;e5 42 'iff4 mate. After beating Geller, Miles was interviewed by the AnchQrage Times chess columnist, Stephen Gordon (SG): SO: I got the impression you haven't been thrilled with your play lately. Is that right? AJM: I feel I'm overdue to win some tournaments, yes. I haven't won a tournament since the zonal at the end of '78. It's a hell of a long time, you know. I get some sort of mediocre results, I really want to win one. SG: What do you think the reason for that is? AIM: I haven't been playing so well. Form goes up and down and lately it's been going down. SG: Have you been studying? Do you work hard at the game?

134 "I heard that Kwpov felt insulted by my choice of opening .,

AJM: No, I never have done and I still don'1. You must have got that in an earlier interview! SG: I thought you might have changed since-that was 1976, when you were a brand new GM. AJM: No I don't change. suppose it was, yes, it was in Vegas. SG: What was your best game here in Lone Pine? AJM: I only played one good game, against Geller. SG: What was your worst game? AJM: My opening against him was pretty bad (laughing, pointing at Ermenkov who is walki/lg by), I gave him two pawns and a position start and managed to draw. SG: What did you think about the young Americans you played? AJM: I was very grateful to most of them in the middle (Miles beat Whitehead and Wilder in rounds 7 & 9). Fedorowicz beat me in a nice game in the first round. It was quite a good game-I didn't realise it at the time, but it was. Ermenkov: You didn't see "'g3? AJM: Against? I don't even remember llVg3. Ermenkov: You outplayed him positionally then you played ......g5. AJM: Oh yes! Yes! I underestimated it, I didn't overlook il. Yeah the ending was OK for him. The position is not so good for me. If I play slowly he plays b4, b5 and my bishop has to go to e8. Ermenkov: Maybe a move like ... h8? AJM: Yeah, I know, I wanted to, but I don't think I have time. That's what surprised me, I thought I was going to win the game. Afterwards I

wasn't sure where I went wrong After "'g3, if he doesn't have the exchange sac I'm still much better But still, ok, sorry ... SG: In the Interzonal (Rig~ 1979), it seemed to me that the result ... AJM: I played terribly. SG: I wouldn't say terrible. AJM: No, I know. I would-it was terrible. The Interzonal was really horrible because it was supposed to be the biggest tournament of my life and I JUS! didn't feel like playing chess. I wanted to, but the motivation JUS! wasn't there. I didn't feel like playing. I won some games I los! some games. I just couldn't make myself play. I played terribly. It felt very strange. I played really badly. I just didn't feel like playing chess al that time. SG: Is the overall ambition to be a Candidate there? AJM: Well, I suppose so. Overall ambitions-winning the World Championship isn't really realistic. I suppose Candidates is a reasonable ambition, I imagine I ought to be capable of that and it's a decent size. SG: I remember you saying right after you won your GM title. that you wanted to go as far as you could. You said "I'm not much good at anything else, might as well." I think that's the correct quote. AJM: (laughs) Yes, probably. These days they are breeding the super kids, the Kasparovs and the Shorts. The machine type creatures. I don't think a human being can win the World Championship anymore And I prefer to be human. I don·1

"/ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 135

care to dedicate that much of my life to chess. I'm not that interested. SG: Are Kasparov and Short both tunnel-vision types? AJM: No, Short isn't-I'm being unfair to him. And I don't know Kasparov. But the way they are producing him I get that impression. Short is quite a reasonable guy so he probably won't win the World Championship either. SG: Were you surprised that Short became an 1M recently? AJM: That's a very good result, yes. SG: I hear you are playing in London next. You say you don't play in England very much, is it difficult for you to play there, are there a lot of expectations on you? AJM: They don't organise any good tournaments worth playing in. This time they have, so I'm playing. SG: You don't like playing at Hastings? AJM: (laughs) '76 was before I wrote my article about Hastings, I should send you a copy. I attacked Hastings rather maliciously. Everything was accurate and true. I won't be invited while the current people are in charge and I don't want to be-it's played underneath a pantomine, you can hear the organ music during the rounds, things like that. Golombek wrote a letter in reply. If you're interested in the argument, it's a bit out of date now, I pointed out that virtually none of the three English GMs play at Hastings. The East Europeans play because it's a sort of pilgrimage, a few Americans play because they have trouble getting invitations because they're a long way from Europe, and virtually no European

grandmasters compete in Hastings. Golombek tried to argue with this, he wrote firmly 'Of the 24 Western Grandmasters, 23 have played at Hastings.' So I looked up the list, and sure enough they had, but only 6 were grandmasters when they played, the rest were IMs desperately seeking grandmaster norms, which was one of the points I made in my first article. It's improving but it's never got past category 10, which is mediocre. SG: Do you make a good living? AJM: Well, I won't be retiring too soon. I make a living and it's a nice way to make a living. SG: Where are you playing next, after London? AJM: I don't know. SG: You don't have hordes of invitations? I thought Miles was well sought after. AJM: Miles IS going down because he hasn't won so many tournaments lately you see. The top tournaments are getting snobbish now they only want 2600 Elo-rating. They don't bother if you play exciting and interesting chess, they just want your Elo points. So I've got to start collecting those now (laughing). SG: You played at Bugojno, a super-tournament. AJM: That was two years agothen I was popular. One of the things that bugs me is Tilburg-I played there twice. The first year I pushed Karpov all the way for first place. Second year I came third equal. Both years I had more decisive games than anyone else in the tournament and more interesting games. Next year my Elo rating

136 "I heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

goes down and they don't invite me because my Elo rating's too low. They do invite Kavalek and Hort who the previous year had both drawn 10 out of II games in under 20 moves, just because they had about 2600 Elo rating. That sort of really annoyed me, so I vowed this year I'm collecting Elo points. My real ambition, and I hope this doesn't get back to them but you can print it if you like, is to get a 2600 rating, get invited to Tilburg and draw all II games. (laughing) SG: That's being spiteful isn't it? (laughing). AJM: Slightly, yes, but I mean considering the way I played there you know, I thought it was a bit spiteful not to invite me. SG: I remember you came second in '77, a last round loss. AJM: Yes, well I had nothing to play for. SG: Have you thought about working as a second in the Candidates, do you think that would help your play? AJM: No: (a) I haven't been asked, and (b) it doesn't appeal to me very much. It might help my play, yes~od! ... being stuck at a WorId Championship match for three months. SG: I'm just surprised you're not more serious about improving. AJM: Well, as I say, I don't think it's a realistic possibility to win the World Championship. How much do I want to improve-I want to be a good player, I'd like to get, say, in the top ten in the world. My ambition this year is to get my Elo rating over 2600, so I get invited to the tournaments I want to be invited to. Other than that, I don't really

have any concrete ambitions. Candidates matches I'd like to get into, but the trouble is I have absolutely no match experience, so what chance have I got? And, there is no way I'm going to get it-in Holland Timman's got lots of sponsors who provide him with matches against Spassky, Hort and Polugayevsky-everyone-there's no way I could get that in England. Winning the World Championship is just not realistic to me-so, I'd like to improve. SG: What about informal matches against Stean, Nunn or Mestel? AJM: What's the challenge? It would be embarrassing to lose to them, there's nothing to prove there. The point of having a match is to play someone really strong and get some tough match practice. SG: Horrors if you should lose? AJM: Well, I don't play so well against the English players. I find that close to home, if I give a simultaneous exhibition near my home town, all these people I remember ten years ago that actually beat me over the board. It's terrible, if they were anywhere else they'd be fish, I'd smash them flat ... it's a psychological problem, get me far away from home, no problem, I kill people. SG: Leonard Barden has said that maybe Miles isn't the best in England. Do you feel motivated to remain the best player in England? AJM: Oh, I hadn't read that! Who's he saying is now? SG: He says it's becoming unclear now-Stean has had some good results and Nunn is pushing you on the Elo list.

"/ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 137

AJM: Yes, they are both playing well and improving. But...er... well ... when they start beating Karpov and winning tournaments OK fair enough. I don't worry about whether I'm the best player in England. I sort of aim a little bit higher than that. SG: You don't feel pressured? Or don't you worry about it? AJM: I'd worry about it if I thought it was realistic-probably retire if I thought it was realistic (laughing). No, I have some pride-I do want to remain the best player in Britain. The others, both Stean and Nunn have had very good results, but I think if you asked Stean and Nunn personally what they thought-I heard Nunn saying in an interview about his prospects, that he thought the furthest he would go was the Interzonal, maybe. But he didn't see how he'd get there because there were only two places in our zone and as far as he could see Timman and I were going to occupy them. I think I am generally accepted as English number one and staying there unless Short maybe improves a bit in ten years. SG: But, you have had troubles at the British Championship. AJM: Yes, I told you, the thing playing close to home, it's the complex, I play badly. Also the thing about the British is I don't want to win it, I want to smash it flat. I want to score 11-0 there and I play for that. And that's why I don't win. If think if I just played to win it, I'd win it. But, what do I prove if I win that? SG: Are you playing again this year?

AJM: No, I shouldn't think so. SG: Why did you play last year? AJM: Because they had an appeal, it was support for the Interzonal. So I felt I should make an appearance, sort of show my face, a little show of appreciation. SG: ... Where was I again? AJM: You were at Hastings and with Barden saying I'm no longer any good and I'm over the hill-I know I'm too old. (laughing) SG: How old are you? AJM: Me? That's a secret. I feel about 86! SG: Why is it you beat Spassky all the time now? AJM: There's been a couple of draws since-I beat him twice heavily, lovely games, very pretty ... (pause), sorry, what do you want me to say about them? (laughing) SG: I wondered if there was any special reason? AJM: No, I just played a couple of nice games-I do it every now and then, not very often. SG: Who are difficult opponents for you outside of Karpov? AJM: Korchnoi! Portisch, Hort, and I don't know if Timman is still a problem. I have stopped my rot against him and I've stopped my rot against Hort as well. SG: Who's particularly easy for you, that's a really good grandmaster? AJM: I wouldn't insult anyone by calling them easy. SG: Well, someone you enjoy to play against then-that's a nicer way to put it.

J38 "J heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice ofopening"

AJM: Who enjoy playing against? I don't know ... I enjoy playing Spassky, Larsen. SG: Geller? AJM: Well, I've only played him three times, I have 21h against him. No, I'm taking enjoy literally-who you get interesting games against. Larsen, I suppose, because he always plays interestingly, he always plays to win. He's fun to play against. Oh, Hort. SG: What do you think of players like Romanishin and Ljubojevic? is very AJM: Romanishin talented, I have always been very impressed by Romanishin because I've played with him ever since junior tournaments. Ljubojevic, I was extremely impressed by in South America last year. I played with him in Buenos Aires and he really really played well there. He killed everybody. He was fantastic. Korchnoi, who tied for first with Ljubojevic, was grovelling and swindling all the locals in endings. Korchnoi looked tired and jaded. If you had to pick who was the better player there you'd say Ljubojevic by a mile. But, then in the Interzonal... maybe he just felt the pressure was on him because he'd been playing so well. He just played like a moron. SG: How did he take it? AJM: He was coming apart. You could see him sitting there shaking his head. He didn't know what was happening. I didn't know what happened-I felt sorry for him. The way he had been playing all year I thought he was favourite to qualifY but he had a disaster-that's the way it goes.

SG: How do you think you will do in London? AJM: I shall play. You know me, I play. As I say, this year I'm trying to accumulate Elo points. When you do that, you win tournaments accidentally I find. I'll find out what my expected score is, I'll aim for a point or so more, I shall play solidly and I'll win the tournament accidentally! (laughing). London 1980 The Phillips and Drew King's tournament held in London last month was the strongest event to be staged in England for half a century. It was also the scene of an astonishing (for this calibre of event) amount of fighting chess. The lead changed hands more times than I can remember. I nearly got the tournament off to a sensational start by leaving my whole position ell prise against Short. First one pawn went, then two, then my king was kicked right across the board. In the adjournment session I blundered a piece as well, but Short just took another pawn instead. Luckily the position was so won that he spent most of the second session playing 'space invaders' and was eventually punished when I jettisoned my fourth(!) pawn to activate my three remaining pieces for a monstrous swindle (see problems chap/e,~. (Miles won consecutive victories compatriots Nunn. over his Speelman and Stean in roullds 4 to 6). My pet Dragon breathed fire all over John Nunn. He tried Karpov's latest idea but my improvement (I6 .. .l:hc4!) seems substantial.

"/ heard that Kwpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 139

\Vbite was dead from the opening. Actually I had won almost the same game two weeks earlier at Lone Pine! (Nunn said after the game: "/t 's pretty bad when yOll can't even trust the World Champion"). In round eight I tried the unusual 2... bS!? against Browne and the game rapidly transposed to the dreaded Birmingham defence. As against Karpov I soon obtained a comfortable position (and an extra half an hour on the clock). This time I decided not to push my luck and offered a draw to consolidate my tournament position. Browne thought for forty minutes-making me regret my offer-before wisely accepting. Against Korchnoi, in round ten, I offered a draw. He ignored it, replied 19 ... dS? and went for a walk. I pondered, puzzled, for a few minutes before playing the obvious 20 cxdS, after which my advantage, though small, is clear and safe. Korchnoi returned to the board: "Excuse me, but they (who? was it advice!?) tell me you offered a draw? I did not hear."-"I did" I affirmed-short pause-"Well I would like to play a few moves." (The only correct way out being to decline since I had not repeated the offer and it was therefore no longer valid.}--Another short pause--20 ... exdS and offers a draw! Objectively I should play on a little, but after some minutes mildly bemused thought I decided not to bother. In round ten, a classic Andersson victory with his knights whirring round Larsen's head until it fell off three days later! Such games were never meant to be annotated, merely played through in awe. Round eleven-Ulf the unstoppable-five

in a row! And another 'Ulf special' -this time Browne conceded an isolated queen pawn from the opening and Ulfs eyes lit up! Walter had the two bishops as compensation, but that did not deter the Swede. He fiddled and twiddled happily for 15 moves and persuaded Browne to part with his good bishop. He still had only a miniscule advantage but just after the adjournment the queens came off and immediately the American blundered. With two rounds to play the contenders had been reduced to four. Korchnoi and Sosonko had 7thlll, I had 7 and Andersson had 7 plus an adjournment against Larsen which was thought to be drawish. At this point Sosonko seemed to have the tournament at his mercy, his remaining opponents being Speelman who, though having a fantastic tournament, seemed a chance for a point, and Stean who until then had not won a single game. In contrast Andersson had to play me and then Korchnoi, with Korchnoi's remaining game against Gheorghiu and mine against Ljubojevic. The next day there was hardly a predictable event. Again I knew I had to win to get in contention for first place and again I did! From one of Ulfs own favourite variations I got a safe edge and energetically increased it in the direction of the black king. A pawn sac left me with a dominant position and sustained pressure. Gradually the Swede cracked to give me the birthday present I most wanted-a point and a share of the lead! Speelman crushed Sosonko, and Korchnoi adjourned in an overwhelming position against Gheorghiu. (You

14()

HI heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

may think the last predictable, but read on.) In the adjournment Andersson won from Larsen, but Korchnoi missed a string of wins, one of which was study-like with the main variation a mate in two(!) and drew. So with one round to play Andersson, Korchnoi and I had 8 and Sosonko 71/2. Andersson had White against Korchnoi, I Black against Ljubojevic and Sosonko White against Stean. If there is one thing I like about tournaments it's winning them, and equal first I count as winning. Korchnoi headed straight for a drawing variation against Andersson. So I was happy to draw but Ljubojevic had White and wanted to play. Not enough, though. to prepare well, and his ad-libbing was awful. By move ten I was already better. I decided to offer a draw on the principle that if he turned it down it would motivate me sufficiently to beat him! Also, as Portisch once wrote, when you've worked hard all through a tournament to get a good result, it's terribly difficult to risk it all on one game-I had not won a tournament for a long time (or one this strong ever). Ljubojevic reluctantly came to his senses. The other two drew soon after and Stean did us all a favour by lurching into action and beating Sosonko. So, the first(!?) Phillips and Drew King's tournament was over, with a three-way tie between Korchnoi, Andersson and mysel f, and a well-deserved GM norm for Speelman. It was the first event of this calibre to be held in Britain for over half a century. It is greatly to

be hoped that we do not have to wait quite so long for the next. 61

A.J.Miles White B.Larsen Black London 1980 Old Indian Defence From round seven, a powerful crunch against Larsen. On move ten, via a little con trick, I secured a bigger advantage than would have accrued from the 'best' move. He missed his last real chance to keep his head above water-with 19 ... b5. 1 d4 ttJf6 2 c4 d6 3 ttJc3 eS 4 ttJf3 ttJbd7 5 e4 i..e7 The Old Indian is rarely seen nowadays. but by no means a bad opening. 6 i..e2 c6 7 0-0 a6!? An interesting (new?) idea. Black postpones castling in the hope of creating rapid play on the queenside. However White's next is crucial. 8 ttJh4! The threat of ttJf5 is a real headache. 8 ... g6 9 i..h6 "'b6 10 ttJf3?!! ? objectively, !! psychologically. Correct is 10 dxe5 dxe5 I I l:tb I ! (intending b4) with advantage, and I knew it. After the text Black's best is 1O......xb2! when after II ttJa4 "'a3, in view of the threats of ... b5 and ... ttJxe4 White must force a draw by 12 i..c I 'it'b4 13 i..d2 etc. However, Larsen was not doing too well in the tournament and. knowing the fighting Dane, I was sure he would avoid the draw. So this way I maintain the tension and get an even bigger advantage! 10...ttJg4

"/ heard that Kwpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 141

Told you! 11 Jtcl 0-0 12 h3liJgf6 13 c5! Now White's advantage is serious. 13 .....c7 14 cxd6 "xd6 IS Jte3 AeS 16 'iic2 Also promising was 16 dxe5 liJxeS 17 liJd2! followed by f4 and e5. 16•.•exd4 17 Jtxd4 c5 IS Jte3 Not 18 eS 'iic7 and White's advantage vanishes. IS .....c7 19 Aadl

19...b6? The crucial error. As will soon become clear 19 ... bS was essential. From now on the Dane from Spain goes plainly down the drain (forgive me-put it down to silly elation). 20"d2! With the destructive plan of Jtf4 and eS. 20 ... Jtb7 21 Jtr4 "c6 22 e5 liJh5 23 Jtc4! With a good old-fashioned assault on f7-the need for ... bS is now apparent. 23 ..•liJf8! Larsen resists stoutly. Weaker is 23 ...l:tad8 24 JtdS and e6. 24 Jtg5!

Not an easy move to find. The immediate occupation of dS is not so clear. First White must soften up the kings ide dark squares. 24...l:tadS 25 liJd5! Jtxg5 26 "xg5 ~g7! Still finding the best moves. Now White must be careful. The obvious 27 g4 allows 27 ... h6 28 'iie3 b5! with strong counterplay and the tempting 27 liJh4 is also not clear after 27 ... liJe6. The solution is quite simple once you've seen it, but I was sweating at the time! 27liJf4! Continuing to remove the king's defenders. 27••.liJxf4 2S "xf4! But not 28 l:txd8? liJxh3+! 29 gxh3 l:txd8 30 "xd8 'iixD. Now White crashes through to f7. 2S ... l:td7 If 28 ... liJe6 29 "f6+ and Jtxe6. 29 l:td6!

Splat! 29 .....c7 30 "f6+ ~gS 31 liJg5 l:tde7 32 e6! I was also tempted by 32 l:tfdl bS 33 liJxf7! l:txf7 34 .l:d7!! but being short of time I decided not to be too clever. In the post mortem

J42 "J heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

Ljubojevic spotted the amusing counterswipe 34 ... ~d5!! It loses a rook to 35 'iixf7+ but in time trouble it might have given me a heart attack! 32 ..• fxe6 33 lLlxe6 Black resigned-everything falls apart. 62 F.Gheorghiu White A.J.Miles Black London 1980 Nimzo-Indian Defence had a good day. After three nondescript games I was detennined to make up ground. By move 14 Gheorghiu offered a draw but he was already worse. By move 30 and after less than 3112 hours play he was mated. 1 d4lLlf6 2 c4 e6 3 lLlo b6 4 lLlc3 Gheorghiu has for some time played 4 a3 here with great success, Skara Polugayevsky but at introduced the interesting idea 4 ... c5 5 e3 g6!? and Timman had used it to beat Browne in the first round. I knew Gheorghiu was scared of this -apart from anything else he made the ridiculous mistake of telling me! The text is a sneaky trick hoping for 4 ... ~b7 5 a3! 4..• ~b4! Can't fool me! 5 ~g5 h6 6 ~h4 g5 7 ~g3 lLle4 8 "'c2 ~b7 9 e3 ~xc3+ 10 bxc3 The game has now transposed to a sharp variation of the Nimzo-Indian. The fashionable continuation is now 1O... f5 II ~d3 d6 12 d5 (!) (Korchnoi had tried 12 a4!? against Timman but it wasn't very impressive) as was played In

Gheorghiu-Speelman. Black did well in both these games, but it's all a bit sharp for my taste. Preparing for the game I wondered if Black could avoid the loosening pawn moves ( ... f5, ... d6) and simply develop - naturally - exchange twice and play ... lLlc6, ...'iie7/f6 and either ... 0-0-0 or leave the king in the centre. I looked up my idea in ECO and found the "refutation"an obscure Russian game which made no sense at all to me. So, after a short look, I decided it was worth a try: 10... lLlxg3!? 11 hxg3 lLlc6 12 .l::tbl!? Encyclopaedia gives '12 lLld2 "!" 12 ......e7 13lLlb3 0-0-014 a4 d6 15 a5±'. If you believe that you'll believe anything. 12 ......e7 13 c5 h5! There is no hurry to castle. The text is a useful prelude to a kings ide attack. What strikes me about this whole variation (with ... lLlc6 and ......e7) is that the black king is always safer than his opposite number. He can hide either on the queens ide or in the centre, but where can the white one go? 14 ~e2 Here my choice of opening was vindicated when Gheorghiu offered a draw. But Black is already better-he has the sounder structure and safer king ... 14... lLla5 15 lLld2 ~xg2 16 l:xh5 0-0-0 ... and now a strong attack. 17 cxb6 axb6 18 .l::txh8 .l::txh8 19 ~O

This is clearly unsatisfactory, but White has no good movesprobably he is already lost.

"I heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 143

19••. ~xf3 20 llJxf3 "f6! 21 ~e2

~4!

Black's game plays itself. 22 "a4 d5 23 llJxg5 Winning a pawn, but losing the game. However Black was already threatening various nasties, for instance 23 ... g4 24 lLlh4 l:xh4! etc, and on 23 "a8+ ~d7 24 "a4+ either ... ~e7 or 24 ... ~d6 25 'iWb4+ ~c6 and ... ~b7. 28 ...lLlxe3+! 29 fxe3 "xg3 30 .l:th2+ White resigned. 31 ~d3 'i1Vg6+ 32 e4 ("After e4 White's game is in its last throes" -Reti(?).) 32 .....xe4 mate. (How true!) To quote the tournament bulletin: "A wonderful game" - Miles(!). "Don't put that quote in" - Miles. I didn't say anything of the kind -1 said brilliant, not wonderful. ~e2

23 .••~b7! Simple but absolutely decisive. 24 lLlf3 "f5! 25 .l:tcl 25 'ifb3 makes no difference. 25 •. :ikg4! The pin is killing. The immediate threat is ... lLle5! and ... e5 is always in the wings. White's reply is forced. 26 "dl 1:.h5! 27 ~fl 27 ~d3 al\ows ... lLlb2+ and otherwise Black would continue 27 ...1:.f5 28 'iWh1 e5 winning the knight. 27 •••.l:thl+ 27 ... 00+ is also good, but 1 prefer the text-it's more elegant, and also mate! 28 lLlgl

A tough opponent 63 A.J.Miles White V.Andersson Black Las Palmas 1980 King's Indian Fianchetto, Exchange Variation The Swede, Ulf Andersson, is generally regarded as being one of the hardest people to beat in international chess. His uitracautious style, never creating the slightest unnecessary weakness or taking an unavoidable risk, can often be exploited to save bad positions but to beat him is another matter entirely. Before this year I had only succeeded once and that in rather dubious fashion. However, at London 1 finally managed to

144 "1 heard that Katpov felt iI/suIted hy my choice of opening"

produce a good game against himon my birthday as it happened-and at Las Palmas the bubble was well and truly burst. 1 g3 I like this move; in these days when the average club player knows his pet line of the Sicilian or King's Indian to move thirty it is nice to be able to start play on the first move. Of course it can transpose to regular openings but even then you usually gain 10 minutes on the clock! Another great advantage of I g3 is that it deters l...b6! Deters? Well, actually it doesn't prevent it; as Black I once won a nice blitz game with 1 g3 b6 2 ~g2 lLlc6 3 b4!? ~b7 4 ~b2?? 'i'c8! 5 b5 lLld4! Resigns-in disgust! Meanwhile back at Miles-Andersson ... l...c5 2 ~g2 lLlc6 3 lLlo g6 4 c3 Heading for what is considered to be a drawing variation, but I have great faith that White can keep an edge, and have played it many times. 4 ... ~g7 5 d4 cxd4 6 cxd4 d5 At London, a month earlier, we reached a similar position, but with ... lLlf6 instead of ... lLlc6. Then I continued 7 lLle5! (note 7 O-O? 0-0 8 lLle5 is ineffective owing to 8 ... lLlg4! Now 7 ... lDg4? fails to 8 'ir'a4+. Doubtless delaying 0-0 is not original but I am sure its importance is not widely recognised.) 7 ... 0-0 8 lLlc3 e6 9 ~g5 h6 10 ~f4 lDfd7 11 'ir'd2 lLlxe5 12 ~xe5 lLlc6 13 ~xg7 ..txg7 14 0-0 with a small advantage. After 14 ...'ir'f6!? 15 Aad 1 Ad8 16 Afe 1! (almost zugzwang!) 16... ..th 7 17 e4 dxe4 18 lLlxe4 'i'g7 19 'i'f4 f5 (I9 ... g5 20 lLlf6+ ..th8 21 'i'D lLlxd4 22 Axd4 %:txd4 23 lLlh5 'i'g6 24 'i'c3 'ir'd3 25 'ir'c5 ..tg8 26 lLlf6+ ..tg7 27 lLle8+

g8 28 'ir'e5 is fun.) 20 d5! it turned into a big one. 7lLlc3 e6 7 ... lLlf6 8 lLle5! is known to give an edge-there is no good way to avoid a backward c-pawn. 8~f4

White must play accurately. If Black gets in ... ttJe7-f5 quickly then e3 will be forced and White will have nothing. 8 ...lLlge7 9 'ir'd2! 0-0 The point is that 9 ... lLlf5 is met by 10 lLlb5! 0-0 II g4! and White keeps an initiative. 10 ~h6 I considered 10 g4!? but decided to play quietly. ulr doesn't like having his good bishops exchanged! 10... ~xh6 11 'ir'xh6lLlf5 12 'i'd2 b6

13 %:tdl A useful semi-waiting move. At first sight it may seem passive, but it isn't. Firstly if White plays 'naturally' with 0-0 and %:tacl Black will simply oppose on the c-file, rooks will be exchanged and the game will soon be drawn. Consequently I wanted to start operations on the kings ide, but first it is necessary to stabilise the centre.

'" heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" '45

The move has several points: First it supports d4 so that the defence ...'IIto does not come with tempo, secondly after a later ttJeS, ttJxeS, dxeS White will have tricks ttJe4 or e4, and lastly it waits for the bishop to move away from protecting e6. 13 ... ~a6 14 h4! The real plan. 14 ...ttJaS?? A terrible, perhaps even the losing move. Not so much that it ignores the kingside but that it gives away control over eS. It may seem hard to believe but Black wiIl never get time to retrieve this knight. Instead Black should consider 14 ... f6 (Petrosian) but IS .th3 gives an edge, 14 ..... f6 (probably safest) or 14 ... Ac8. Note, however, that 14... hS is dubious-White continues with IS "f4 followed by either .th3 or g4 according to Black's reply. IS g4! ttJd6 The problem is that IS ... ttJc4 allows 16 "d3, threatening 17 b3, and on 16... ttJce3 17 "xa6 ttJxg2+ 18 ~f1 ttJfxh4 19 ttJeS (ttJh2!?) the black cavalry might be charged with desertion. Perhaps he can survive e.g. 19 .....gS 20 "d3!? f6 21 ttJc6 'ii'xg4 22 Wh3! but I doubt it. 16 hS Crude but effective. 16..... f6 17 hxg6! The correct time for the exchange. Black has an unpleasant decision. 17...fxg6 If 17... hxg6 18 gS! and if 18 .....g7 19 "f4 followed by ttJeS-d7/g4-f6, or 18 ...'ii'e7 19 'ii'f4! (intending "h2) 19 ... ~g7 20 'ii'eS+ f6 21 gxf6+ Axf6 22 tDxdS! wins, and of course l7 .....xg6 18 'ii'f4 and Ah6 is horrible.

18 'ii'h6 An Alternatively (a) 18 ...'ii'g7 19 "xg7+ ~xg7 20 ttJgS. (b) 18 ...'ii'f7 19 "h4! and ttJgS. (c) 18 ... 'ii'e7 19 ttJeS intending ttJxg6 or ttJxdS.

19 gS! 'ii'g7 If 19 ...'ii'f4 20 Ah4! "fS 21 .th3 wins, or 19 ...'ii'fS 20 ~h3. And 19 ... 'ii'e7 20 ttJeS Aff8 or g7 21 ttJxdS is curtains. 20 ttJeS 'ii'xh6 If 20 ... Ab7 21 e4! or 20 ... Aff8 21 ttJxdS! 'ii'xh6 (21 ... exdS 22 ~xdS+ ~h8 23 ttJxg6+) 22 ttJe7+ or A anywhere else 21 ttJxdS! 21 Axh6 AO'8 Again if 21 ... l:lb7 22 e4 or else ttJxdS. 22 ttJd7 l:ln 23 ttJf6+ ~h8 24 .th3! Useful, preventing ... ttJfS from gaining a tempo. Now if 24 ... Ae7 2S .txe6! or 24 ... ttJfS 2S .txfS gxfS 26 ~d2! ttJc4+ 27 ~c\ l:lc8 28 Adhl Ace7 29 ttJe8! and g6 wins. (if 27 .. Jlb8 28 Adhl l:lbb7 29 lDhS will suffice). So there is only one, albeit ugly, move. 24 ... .tc8 2S ~d2!

146 "I heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

Threatening simply l:th I, ~xe6 and l:txh7+ mating. 2S ...l:tg7 Intending ttJf7. 26 f4l:tb8 27 l:thl ttJac4+

28 'lti'd3(!) l:tbb7 29 b3 ttJa3 ... ttJa5 makes no difference. 30 e4! The final assault. 30... dxe4+ 31 ttJcxe4 ttJxe4 32 'lti'xe4 ttJb5 If 32 ... l:tbc7 still 33 'lti'e5! e.g. 33 ... ~b7 34 l:th2 l:tcl 35 ~f5! l:te I + 36 ~e4 winning. 33 'lti'e5! Stops ... ttJd6 and threatens d5. 33... l:tbe7 34 ~fl!

Black resigned. There is no answer to ~d3.

World Open 64

A.J.Miles White B.Kogan Black World Open, Philadelphia 1980 Queen's Gambit Declined Recently I took part in the "World Open"-really just a pretentious week long Swiss-in Philadelphia. With an entry of around 500, the vast disparity of strength and rapid time limits are bound to produce their share of incidents. Indeed, as early as the first round the top-rated Rumanian GM Gheorghiu lost to an unknown American. However, nine rounds is enough for class to tell and he won his next six to draw level with Dzindzihashvili, Alburt, Bass, Kogan, Kudrin, Benjamin, Seirawan and myself in the lead. Incidentally, with all the outcry over the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan I really think it is high time Jimmy Carter began to pay attention to the Soviet invasion-or infiltration-of the USA. Of the above named the first five (!) are all Soviet emigres. On top of that Seirawan is of Libyan (via England) origin so the only genuine American was Benjamin. Another example: a few months ago an under-14 match over four boards was held between England and the USA and the first three boards of the American team were all of Soviet origin! Anyway, back at the tournament Gheorghiu disposed of Benjamin and Kogan beat his better known compatriot Alburt. My strenuous efforts to beat Bass very nearly rebounded completely but eventually I salvaged a draw. The Dzindzihashvili-Seirawan encounter caused chaos. The game started at

"[ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 147

II am and from the opening Dzindzi was clearly bener but encountered serious resistance. The game went on and on and on. The last round was scheduled to start at 6.30 but at 8.30 (!) they were still playing, numerous clear wins and draws having been missed. Finally, when it at last became clear that Dzindzihashvili was winning, the controller decided that the game should be adjourned so that the last round could start. Predictably Gheorghiu and Dzindzi drew quickly and strangled Kogan competently to join them. The North American contingent finally came to the top when Christiansen (USA) and Day (Canada) won their last round games to create a five-way win. 1 d4 lLlf6 2 c4 e6 3 lLlo d5 4 lLlc3

To the average player it might seem that Black has equalised but, in fact, White has a significant advantage. It lies in two things: firstly the restricted state of the black bishop and secondly the vulnerability of his b-pawn. 20 ... ~d7 21 'iie4! l:tb8 22 l:tdl ~e8 23 h3 'ii'e7 24 a4 l:tc8 25 ~e2 b6 26 'iid4! 'ii'c7 27 ~O e5 28 'ii'd5 'iti'f8 29 'ii'e4! 'iti'g8 30 i.g4 l:tb8 31 l:td5! f6 32 'i'd3 'i'e7 33 l:td6 ~g6 34 'ii'd5+ ~f7 35 i.e6 ~xe6 36 l:txe6 'ii'f7 37 'i'd6 Decisive, if 37 ... l:tb7 38 'i'd8+. 37...'ii'fS 38 l:te7 'iti'h7 39 'i'c7 l:ta8 40 l:tf7

~e75~f4

Since my opponent was about 40 and originally Russian, I guessed he had been weaned on orthodox Queen's Gambit Declined-hence the text. 5...0-0 6 e3 c5 7 dxc5 ~xc5 8 'ii'c2 lLlc6 9 a3 'i'e7 10 l:tdl l:td8 11 b4 ~d6 12 ~g5 dxc4 13 ~xc4 as 14 b5 lLle5 15 lLlxe5 ~xe5 16 l:txd8+ 'i'xd8 17 lLle4! h6 18 lLlxf6+ i.xf6 19 .ixf6 'ii'xf6 20 0-0

40 ...'ii'g8 41 l:txf6 'i'd8 42 'i'xd8 l:txd8 43 l:txb6 l:td1+ 44 'iti'h2 l:tal 45 l:te6 l:txa4 46 l:txe5 l:tb4 47 b6 a4 48 l:ta5 and (eventually) Black resigned. 65 J.Rizzitano White A.J.Miles Black World Open (Philadelphia) 1980 Sicilian Defence Two problems from my New Statesman column came from one of my games from the World Open in Philadelphia which gave rise to several difficult practical decisions.

148 "/ heard that Katpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

1 e4 cS 2 d4 cxd4 3 c3?! liJf6 I do not believe that White's third move is sound and in a nonnal international tournament I would certainly take the pawn. However, playing to a fast time control I had no wish to walk into any prepared analysis. 4 eSliJdS 5 cxd4 e6 6liJO b6!? 7 liJc3 ~b7 8 ~d3 liJxc3 The alternative is 8... ~e7 and hold the strongpoint on dS but I wanted to clarify the central situation. 9 bxc3 'Wtc7 10 ~d2 d6 II 0-0 liJd7 12 l:el dxeS 13 liJxeS liJxe5 14 l:xe5 ~d6 15 l:hS g6

and now we have the position of the first problem. If White simply retreats his rook then Black can castle queens ide aJld break open the centre with ... eS with a good position. So, instead, he tried 16 ~bS+!? Now king moves are unpleasant on principle and even more so in analysis: 16...~e7 17 'ii'g4! and if 17 ... gxhS (there is no good move) 18 'WtgS+ q;,f8 (or 18... f6 19 'ii'g7+) 19 'Wtf6 ~xh2+ 20 ~f1 ~xg2+! 21 q;,e I! :g8 (or 2 \... q;,g8 22 ~h6) 22

~h6+ wInmng, or 16... q;,f8 ~h6+ q;,g8 18 IIh3. So

17

16... ~c6 Now an exchange of light-squared bishops would highlight the weaknesses on dS and c4 and favour Black. Therefore White must try 17 'ii'f3! and if 17 ... lIc8? 18 ~xc6+ 'Wtxc6 19 'ii'f6 is crushing, but Black has the counterstroke 17... 0-0-0 winning the exchange. However, White's light square control and Black's split pawns give good compensation so the basic assessment of 16 ~bS+ IS •interesting'. 18 ~xc6 As the Bombay contingent has pointed out, White can also try 18 'ii'xc6 'ii'xc6 (or 18 ... gxhS 19 'Wta8+ drawing) 19 ~xc6 gxhS 20 ~gS l:df8 21 ~f6 IIhg8 22 ~e4 IIg6 (!) (there is no good way to hang on to the exchange) 23 ~xg6 hxg6 with perhaps a faint edge to Black thanks to the hanging pawns. 18... gxhS 19 a4 a6 To contest at least a couple of the light squares and hide the king on a7. 20 ~e4 q;,b8 21 'Wtxh5 ~f4 22 ~el!

The exchange of bishops would give Black clear play. Now White prepares g3 followed by ~g2 and 'ii'f3. 22 .•.fS 23 ~d3 q;,a7 24 'Wte2 Perhaps he should have tried 24 g3 first. Now after 24 ... ~xh2+ 25 q;,hl

"I heard that Karpov felt iI/suited by my choice of opening" 149

.i.e4 it is not clear that Black has anything convincing. 26 ... hS! Much stronger than ... .i.xg3. 27 xh2 h4 28 ~gl The threat was ... hxg3+ followed by g2 and :th 1+ . 28 ... hxg3 29 fxg3

we reach the posItIOn of the second problem, the critical stage of the game. White's threats are numerous: .i.xa6 followed by as blasting open the queens ide, 'ii'xe6 just taking Black's pawns and g3 trapping the bishop. It is clear that there is no way to defend the position and, consequently, Black must go for all out attack. Hence I chose 2S ...:tdg8! I still believe this to be best though the outcome is uncertain. Of the more plausible alternatives 2S ...'iWf4 is met by 26 g3 'iWh6 27 'iti>g2 f4 28 .i.xa6 and White's play is coming quickly. 2S ... eS looks too slow after 26 .i.xa6 followed by as; 2S ... l::thg8 copes better with 26 'ii'xe6 but after 26 g3 hS ( ... .i.xg3 probably suffices to draw) 27 'iti>xh2 h4 28 "0 I don't see how Black breaks through. 26 g3? This does seem to be the fatal mistake. Also bad is 26 .i.xa6 :xg2!! 27 'iti>xg2 l:lg8+ 28 'it>h3 'ii'f4 (or .....g7) 29 "hS .i.gl! 30 'ii'f7+ Wxa6 31 "xg8 "h2 mate; 26 as is interesting but after ... bS it is not clear who the difference favours. White's best defence, though, is 26 'ii'xe6! when, although 26 .. Jlg6 27 'ii'xfS :th6 looks dangerous, after 28

29 ...:txg3+! The decisive breakthrough. 30 ~xg3 'ii'xg3+ 31 "g2 "e3+ 32n Or 32 'iWf2l::tg8+. 32 ...'ii'xd3+ 33 ~f2 "d2+ 34 'iti>n 'ii'f4+ 35 'iti>el 'ii'c7 36 :tel:th2 and White resigned. Chess circuit incidentals 66 A.J.Miles White O.Panno Black Puerto-Madryn 1980 Queen's Indian Defelice All South Americans are crazy. Maybe it's just the way they organise things but I don't think so. h was a Friday night and I had gone to bed early with a case of severe jet-lag. I was looking forward to a month of peace and quiet after one too many tournaments. Sometime

150 "1 heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

after midnight the phone rang. I reached out into the darkness, more to kill the noise than anything else. There was a distant crackling on the line and then a vaguely familiar voice: "Ello ... Mice?" (RentokilNo. Spanish speakers always have trouble with Is so I have grown accustomed to this fonn of address.) I grunted. "Eez Miguel Quinteros" he added uncertainly. I grunted again. "You want to play tournament?" "When?" I yawned. "Y ou get here Thursday?" (here being Buenos Aires). I forget my exact words but they weren't printable. However, at the mention of a well-known currency with a sufficient number of zeros behind it, my month of peace became a thing of the past. The tournament at least sounded a pleasant affair: a double-round quadrangular with Ljubojevic, Panno and Quinteros. At this point one might be forgiven for thinking that the fun was over and, until Madrid, it was. Personally I have always liked DC lOs. Usually enough people are suspicious of them to create an adequate number of empty seats for a decently comfortable snooze on a long flight (In future my view may possibly change!). Literally seconds after take-off there was a distant bang to my left followed by a noticeable smell of burning. This turned out to be an engine exploding and had it occurred a few seconds earlier the NS might well be looking for a new chess columnist. The laudable calm in the captain's voice as he announced that we would be returning to Madrid airport due to a "slight technical problem" was hardly borne out by the expressions on the faces of the rest of the crew. Fortunately the

landing was uneventful but the engine was enough of a write-off that all the passengers, after a day's delay, had to be transferred to other flights. In my ignorance I had assumed that the tournament would be played in Buenos Aires-wrong. On arrival I was whisked through customs at VIP speed and into a car for the national airport, an hour's drive away. The connecting flight left in fifty minutes but, as I have learned from my mildly terrifying experience, any self-respecting Argentinian driver can cut a third off any journey by ignoring one-way streets and driving along central reservations. So it proved and, after a further two-hour flight and another hour's drive, the small town of Puerto Madryn was reached. As it was only a four-player tournament I had hoped, in my innocence, that the first round might be postponed for a day to allow for recovery. Wrong again. "You play at 9 pm" (!) I gulped, grabbed a sandwich and went to bed for a precious couple of hours rest. Thereafter, remarkably (or maybe not-what else could go wrong?) it was plain sailing. I started with 2112/3 and only a piece of over-ambition meant that I had to be content with sharing first place with Ljubojevic on 4/6, with Panno 3 and Quinteros 1.

I d4 lDf6 2 c4 e6 3 tDfJ b6 4 a3 5 tDc3 dS 6 cxdS exdS 7 ~f4

~b7 ~d6

Ever since the Tal-Portisch game from Montreal this move has been popular, but it is by no means clear that it is better than the older 7... ~e7. 8 ~g3 a6

"] heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" ]5 J

The alternative is an immediate 8 ...c5 but Panno was concerned about 9 lDb5. 9 e3 0-0 10 :cll:te8 11 i.d3 'ike7 Now if ll...c5 12 dxc5 bxc5 13 ~4 is unpleasant. 12 b4(!) Establishing a useful grip on the queenside. 12...lDbd7 13 'Wb3 c6 The problem is that if Black plays, say, 13 ...:ab8 White has 14 hd6 Wxd6 15 b5! with a clear advantage. 14 0-0 a5 15 i.f5(!)

A useful little move-taking away the e6 square and retaining the possibility of exchanging to a good knight v bad bishop situation. 15..•axb4 16 i.xd6 'ii'xd6 17 ub4:a7 Very natural, but White has a strong rejoinder: 18 :al :ea8 19 :xa7 l:txa7 20 e4! dxe4 Virtually forced. 21lDg5! And suddenly there IS no good way to defend f7. 2l. •.We7

Again forced. On 2l...lDd5 White has numerous powerful moves: 22 lDcxe4 followed by Wh3 or i.xh7+; 22 lDxd5 and Wh3; 22 i.xh7+ etc.

22 lDxf7! lDd5 Of course if 22 ...Wxf7 23 i.e6, so this is the only move. 23 lDxd5 cxd5 Here if 23 ...'ikxf7 24 lDf6+! wins (but not 24lDe7+ 'iti'f8). 24 i.xd7! If24 'ii'h3, lDf8 hangs on. 24 ...'ikxd7? A difficult decision, but in my opinion 24 ...'ikxf7 was better though after 25 'ii'h3 Black's game would be very difficult. Note in particular that his bishop is almost trapped. 25lDe5 'ikd6 26 f3! Forcing a decisive opening of lines. 26 ... i.c8 Desperation, hoping to survive a pawn down. can be Clearly 26 ... exO 27 dismissed on purely positional grounds (as 1 did during the game) -good knight v bad bishop, open f-fiIe, exposed black king,

-.0

152

"/ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

misplaced rook-but the analysis is entertaining. for example: (a) 27 ... i.c8 28 ltJf7! 'fie7 29 ltJg5 (threatening "xd5+) 'iid7 (or 29 .....d6 30 l:tel "d8 31 "iVxd5+ 'fixd5 32 .:le8 mate) 30 ltJe6! h6 31 'fif8+ ~h7 32 'i'f5+ ~g8 33 'fie5! and Black is helpless. (b) 27 ... i.a8 (looks stupid, but not so easy to refute) 28 ltJfl "iVe7 (if 28 ... 'i'xb4 29 ltJh6+ gxh6 30 'fig3+ ~h8 31 'ib8+ wins) 29 'fig3 'iie8 (or 29 ... l:tb7 30 ltJh6+ ~h8 31 'fie5! and amusingly Black cannot defend his back rank) 30 l:.e I! Now: (i) 30... 'i'd8 31 tDd6 and :'e8+. (ii) 30... .:le7 31 ltJh6+. (iii) 30...'i'xfl 31 'ib8+, or (iv) 30...'i'f8 31 ltJh6+ ~h8 32 'fid6! 'iic8 (forced) 33 l:.fl and .:lf8 wins. (c) 27 ... i.a6 allows the simple 28 :'a 1 or even 28 tDfl again. The only other try to bailout is 26 ... e3 but 27 :'el wins a pawn whilst maintaining all the positional advantages. 27 fxe4 i.e6

28 :'cl! The move that Black overlooked. The switch to the c-file with the threat of :'c6 is crushing. If

28 ... dxe4, 29 :'c8+ mates. By now Panno was also in serious time trouble, but it does not matter-the position is beyond repair. 28... h6 29 :'c6 :'al+ 30 ~f2 'i'e7 31ltJf3 Simultaneously defending the kings ide and consolidating the extra pawn. 31...i.n 32 e5 "iVa7 Allowing a pretty finish. 33 l:tc8+~h7

34ltJg5+! If now 34 ... hxg5 35 'i'd3+ with an elegant trilemma: 35 ... 'itih6 36 :'h8 mate; 35 ... i.g6 36 'i'h3+ i.h5 37 'fixh5 mate, or 35 ... g6 36 1Vb3+ ~g7 37 'fih8 mate. 34 ...~g6 35 l:.c6+! ~xg5 36 'fig3+ ~f5 37 'fif3+ 'itig5 38 ~g3

"[ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of openillg" 153

And to my annoyance Panna M'erstepped the time limit. 38 ... lZa3 39 h4 mate would have been Ibe appropriate conclusion.

A talented tactician 67 A.J.Miles White L.Karlsson Black Gausdal 1980 Queell 's Indian Defelice

11 b4 as 12 'ii'b3 Perhaps a little tame. After the game my opponent suggested the more critical 12 bS cS 13 ttJe5 threatening to penetrate to c6 and if J3 ... ttJxeS 14 dxeS ttJe4 IS ttJxe4 dxe4 16 'ii'c2. 12... b5 Not giving a second chance. Black needs his queen's knight for c4.

Undoubtedly my best game from my recent Norwegian tournaments

was the following encounter from Gausdal. My opponent, Lars Karlsson, is currently ranked oumber two in Sweden behind Ulf Andersson. He has a particular gift for obscure positions and is very talented tactically. Last year he scored some sensational results and at the European team championship in January he even beat probably the greatest tactical genius of all time, Mikhail Tal, virtually at his own game. 1 d4 ttJf6 2 c4 e6 3 ttJO b6 4 a3 d5 An interesting wrinkle. The usual move order is 4 ... ~b7 S ttJc3 dS. This way Black preserves his options for the queen's bishop-maybe a6 or even elsewhere after an exchange on dS. Anyway, seeing no particular method of exploiting it, I steered the game back to normal channels. 5 ttJc3 ~e7 6 cxd5 exd5 7 g3 I have played 7 ~f4 with some success but decided to try this for a change. 7... 0-0 8 ~g2 ~b7 9 0-0 ttJbd7 10 ~f4 c6 A slow treatment in keeping with style-cS is the Karlsson's alternative.

From now on the central theme of the game is the relative qualities of the opposing minor pieces. Up to now all have been reasonable; with this choice Black commits his queen's bishop to being 'bad' in compensation for making his queen's knight 'good'. 13 :'acl axb4 Not 13 ... ttJb6 14lDxbS! 14 axb4 :'a6 15 :'al At the cost of two tempi White has established the queens ide situation. 15...'ii'b6 If IS ... 'ii'a8 16 'Wb2 and White will take the a-file. 16 :'xa6 'Wxa6 17 ttJel! It is essential to guard the squares on the a-file or Black would invade with ...:a8 and ... 'Wa3.

154 "/ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

17 ...ttJb6 IS ttJc2 ttJc4 19 J:tal "'b620e4 Beginning to undennine Black's good knight, whilst opening the position. 20 ...dxe4 21 ttJxe4 ttJd5 22 i.c1 Also interesting was 22 i.g5 to tempt ... f6.

Time for a reappraisal of the minor pieces: Good: Both black ttJs, white ttJ(e4), white i.(g2), black i.(e7). Reasonable: white ttJ(c2), white i.( c I) (this one could easily become either good or bad). Bad.' black i.(b7). 22 ...i.cS 23 ttJc5 i.f5? A serious error. In trying to get rid of his bad bishop Black mis-assesses the overall situation. He should play ... i.xc5, exchanging off White's good knight, with roughly equal chances. 24 ttJe3! Now one of Black's good knights must go for White's medium one. In addition White obtains a dangerously mobile centre. 24 ... ttJcxe3 25 fxe3 Now White is clearly better. The threat of e4 driving Black back is essentially unstoppable. Then, at a

stroke, all White's minor pieces will be good and none of Black's more than mediocre. Typically Karlsson tries to solve the problem tactically. 25 ••. i.xc5 26 bxc5 "'dS 27 e4! It's a bluff! 27 ...ttJf6 Forced. If 27 ... ttJf4 28 i.b2! ttJxg2 29 exf5 wins a piece. 2S"'d3

Now any fool could tell you that \Vhite stands better-he has the bishop pair and an imposing pawn centre-but any lesser fool might mention that pawn centres aren't always as good as they seem. Thus, if Black can pressurise the king's pawn sufficiently to force e5 then he will play ...lDd5 and even have the advantage. Similarly, if White can d5 under favourable force circumstances Black should collapse. Thus 28 ... i.g6 would appear 'obvious' but then White would play 29 i.g5 and although he would have to surrender one of his bishops the pawn mass would be secure and should win! So Black tries a more obscure method. 2S .•. i.e6 29 i.b2 Of course i.g5 was still possible but I never could resist a raking queen's bishop.

"[ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice ofopening" 155

29•• ~e4 30 'Wf3 :1e8 31 'Wf4

.Ll3 . Knocking at the back door. (If lIIStead ... 'We7 32 'ii'd6 is strong). 32 dS! Not a move that demands much calculation. White's whole build-up bas been directed towards this break and if it is bad then the entire concept is wrong, and that I couldn't believe. 32 ... ttJxe4 It is fairly easy to see that 32 ... ~xe4 33 ~xf6 'Wxf6 34 'Wxf6 gxf6 35 ~xe4 :1xe4 36 :1a8+ q;g7 37 d6 :1d4 38 :1c8 is a trivial win thus the text is forced. ' 33 dxe6 Karlsson was more worried about 33 d6 though after ...'Wd7 it is not clear how White should continue. Anyway the text is thematic: when you have the bishop pair, open lines! 33 ...'WdS Completely missing my reply, but probably best anyway. The threat of c7 was rather strong.

34 'WeS!! Such moves are always satisfying to make, especially when the

opponent has clearly overlooked them. Aggressive personalities would thump the queen down with a bang-I prefer a quiet push myself. Actually, though, flashy as it looks, the move is purely positional. White just wants to exchange queens and support the advance of his c-pawn. Karlsson, however, turned slightly red and spent half his remaining time recovering his composure: 34 ...'WxeS+ 35 'WxeS I toyed with ~d4 but ... 'WfB is a nuisance. 3S ...ttJxeS 36 c7 The struggle is still not over. Ideally Black would like to bring back the bishop, then the knight, but unfortunately this is impossible viz if36 ... ~f5 37 ~c6 ' (a) 37 ...:1c8 38 :1dl (with the twin threats of :1d8+ and :1d5) 38 ... ttJe6 39 ~e5 f6 (what else?) 40 ~d7!

(b) 37 ... ~d7 38 ~xd7 ttJxd7 39 :1d I ttJb6 40 l:td8 q;( or:1)fB 41 ~a3+.

(c) 37 ... ttJd7 38 l:tdl. (d) 37 ...:1fB 38 ~a3. 36 ••. ttJa4 A reasonable try, blocking the a-file and hoping to help the defence from b6. 37 ~e6 :1e8 38 ~eS ~fS 39 :1dl f6 Forced. Now my first thought was 40 l:td8+ q;f7 41 ~d5+ q;g6 (4l...q;e7 42 ~d6 is a nice mate) 42 ~e4 but Black has 42 ... ttJb6 and if he loses only a piece there are still technical difficulties. But there is a better way: 40 :1d8+q;n

156

"[ heard that Kwpov felt illSulted by my choice of opening"

41 ~e8+! ~e7 42 ~d6+ ~e6 43 ~d7+! ~xd6 44 ~xfS+! Black resigned.

6 ~e3 ~g7 7 fJ 0-0 8 'ii'd2 lLlc6 9 iLc4 ~d7 10 h4 :c8 11 ~b3 hS This line, seeking to stop White's kings ide attack by the simplest means, was pioneered by the American master Soltis in the sixties. Sosonko dabbled with it more recently producing several interesting ideas, but now it is mainly championed by Jonathan Mestel and myself. 12 0-0-0 lLleS 13 iLgS The 'trendy' line. The main alternatives are 13 ~b I, 13 ~h6 and 13 g4!? 13...:cS

The Maltese Dragon (Voted top game ill Illformator 30) 68 L.Ljubojevic White A.J.Miles Black Malta Olympiad 1980 Sicilian Defence 1 e4 cS 2 lLlfJ d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 lLlxd4 lLlf6 5 lLlc3 g6 Ljubojevic and have a long-running battle with the Dragon. In our earlier encounters he tried obscure moves, but without success. Only in the Interzonal at Riga did he first try the main line of the Yugoslav attack. Although he got a good position he went astray in the complications and lost. The game was fascinating and it was dissected in various analytical articles, particularly one in a Soviet magazine claiming a forced win for White in the main lines. Since that game he has tried 6 f4 (at Skara) and 6 ~c4 (at London)-both before the publication of the Soviet analysis and both without successbefore returning to the main argument:

Sosonko's move seeking to advance the queens ide pawns whilst preparing to double (or treble) on the c-file. However, 1 consider that both 13 ... lLlh7 and 13 ... lLlc4 are better than their reputations. 14 f4 lLlc4 IS 'ii'd3 bS 16 eS lLlg4(!) Still following our game from Riga. Gufeld won a nice game against A.Rodriguez with l6 ...'itb6, to which he appended an '!' when annotating it in ["formator. However, I distrust the move. Amongst other things 17 ~xf6 exf6 18 e6 leaves Black with problems on the white squares. Ljubojevic at

"/ heard that Kmpov felt insulted by my choice of opening" 157

last paused for thought here, which pleased me. With a slight shrug of the shoulders he continued with the published 'refutation'. 17 ttJe4 :tc8(!) Better than .. J::td5 as in Our Interzonal game, but still thoroughly analysed by the Russians. 18 exd6 f6 19 :the 1 The key move of the Soviet analysis which now gave reams of variations to show that White was winning. (Unfortunately I can't find the article to quote it). However, my powers of perception are not that deep. All I could see was a bishop on g5 that wasn't going to live long and the fact that after 19...exd6 20 lLlxd6 no mention was made of the simple 20•• .'~h7! I did not analyse in depth. I merely observed that White was going to lose at least two pieces for a rook for an attack which was by no means clear. Much to my relief Ljubojevic now sank into a deep sleep.

21 f5! The only consistent choice. On 21 ttJxc8 Black can simply recapture the knight-either 'itxc8 or ... ~xc8

(probably 'it is preferable) or go for the whole piece with ...ttJf2. I can see no refutation of any of these and in the absence of a bright idea for White ... ttJf2 might just win a piece for nothing. 21. •• lLlxd6 A difficult decision. 21 ... fxg5 was also tempting (opening the diagonal for the Dragon bishop) but 22 fxg6+ ~h8 23 ttJf7+ lhf7 24 gxf7 with the threats of'itg6 and ttJe6 looked dangerous. 22 fxg6+ ~h8 23 ~f4! Virtually forced. but this simple move gives Black considerable problems. His minor pieces on the d-file are vulnerable and if the white queen ever gets near h5 ... Meanwhile, all White's pieces are beautifully posted.

23 ... ttJe5! Possibly the only move. Black hopes to solve his problems by replacing the knight with the bishop whilst blocking the central files. Unpleasant altematives were (a) 23 ... ttJc4 24 ttJf5! and if 24 ... ~xf5 25 'itxf5, or 24 ... ~c6 25 ~xc4 bxc4 26 'ita3 '6b6 27 l:te7 l:tg8 28 ttJd6 or 24 ... ttJce5 25 ~xe5 ttJxe5 26 'ite2 ttJg4 27 ttJxg7 ~xg7 28 'ite7+.

158 "[ heard that Karpov felt insulted by my choice of opening"

(b) 23 ... lLlb7 (to eliminate the ~(b3)) 24 lLlfS lLlc5 25 'ii'd5.

(c) 23 ... lLlf2 24 'ii'f3. (d) 23 ... 'ii'b6 24lLlf3 orlLle6. 24 ~xe5 Else ... ~g4 and Black untangles. 24 .•. fxe5 25 lLlo If 25 lLle2 Black can hold everything with l:tc6 and ... ~g4. 25 lLle6 is very interesting. In that case I had intended a little retaliation with 2S ... ~xe6 26 ~xe6 'ii'f6! 27 ~xc8 (If 27 'ii'xd6 e4, or 27 'ii'e2 ~h6+ and ...'ii'xe6) 27 ... e4!, and now if 28 'ii'b3 l:txc8 with two pieces for a rook and a strong initiative, so 28 'ii'xd6 'ii'xb2+ 29 ~d2 'ii'c3+! 30 ~e2 (if 30 ~cl 'ii'a3+ 31 ~d2 ~h6+ 32 ~e2 'ii'e3 mate) 30 ...'ii'c4+! 31 ~d2 (if 31 ~e3 ~h6+) 3 \"'~h6+ 32 l:te3 l:tf2+ and mate next move.

25 .•• e4! Dragon thematic--opening the long diagonal with little regard for material. If instead 25 ... l:tc6 26 lLlxe5 is horrible anyway. 26 'ii'xd6 exO 27 l:te7 On 27 'ii'xd7 the ending after 27 ... 'ii'xd7 28 l:txd7 fxg2 is fascinating: 29 fif7! (only move) 29 ... l:tcd8 30 l:tb7! (must be a white

square) and now 30 ... ~d4 is met by 31 ~b3 and the bishop must return. while 30... l:txf7 31 gxf7 i..h6+ 32 ~b1 ~e3 fails to 33 l:te7! However all this is irrelevant since Black has the simple, crude. but crushing 27 ... 'ii'f6!: (a) 28 c3 l:xc3+! 29 bxc3 (29 ~b 1 :lcl +) 29 ... 'ii'xc3+ 30 ~c2 'ii'a3+! 31 ~d2 ~h6+ mating. (b) 28 l:td5 'ii'xb2+ 29 ~d 1 'ii'a 1+ 30 ~d2 ~h6+. If 31 l:tgS ~xg5+ 32 hxg5 l:tcd8 and when the dust settles White has a lost ending, whilst 31 ~d3 'ii'c3+ mops up everything. Now White has the terrible threat of 28 'ii'e5! but he has overlooked Black's reply: 27 ... ~g4! 28 'ii'e5 The exchange of queens would be hopeless for White. For example 28 gxf3 'ii'xd6 29 :lxd6 :lxf3 threatening :lf1 + and ~h6+. So there is nothing else

28 ...'ii'xdl + Not exactly difficult to calculate but nonetheless a pretty finish. 29 ~xdl fxg2+ 30 ~d2 l:tfd8+ 31 ~d5 Else the pawn queens with check. 31. ••:lxd5+ White resigned. On 32 'ii'xd5 g 1='ii' is curtains.

8: "When I play close to home it's the complex-I play badly"

A

game where Black's king appears to live dangerously in the centre -but the white king also comes under fire ... 69 J.Nunn White A.J.Miles Black London 1982 Sicilian Defence

I e4 e5 2 lLlo d6 3 d4 exd4 4 ~ lLlf6 5 lLle3 g6 6 f4 lLle6 L.~7; 6 ... a6; 6 ... .i.g7 7 e5lLlh5! 7 ~c6 bxe6 8 e5 ~d7 9 exd6

aII6 10 .i.e3 lLlf6!? New move. lO.J..e7; 1O .. :~e7. II 'ifd2 .i.g7!? lI-te7. 12 0-0-0 dS 12 ... .i.g4!? Il .i.c:5 With advantage to White according to Geller. 13 ... .i.e6 Black . . good central control and stands sIiIbdY better. 14 'ifd4?! If 14 .i.e2 ~ with a queenside attack. ~.aS IS .i.b4 Intending .. :ifb6 16 .A.c5 draw. 15...'ife7! Threaten~ _.~5. Black is now clearly ~.16 g3 :b817 .i.a3

17...:g8! (Threatening ... lLle4) 18 'ifa4 'ifb6 19 .i.g2lLld7! 19 .. :~e3+ 20 :td2; 19 ... lLlg4 20 :txd5! with counterplay. 20 l:td3 .i.fS! 21 :e1+ ~d8 22 22 lLlxd5 .i.xb2+! 23 ~b I! cxd5 24 :b3 .i.xc2+! 25 ~xc2 'iff2+ wins. 22 ... :te8 23 :xe8+ ~xe8 24lLldllLleS 25 :e3+ ~d8 26 .i.xeS 'ifxe5 27 e3 d4! Black has a won position. 28 .i.e4 29 :f2 dxe3 30 .i.xe4 exb2+ 31 c.t>d2 bl='if 32 .i.xbl :xbl 33 33 'ifc2 l:tb2! 33...:tb4 34 :d3+ c.t>e7 35 'ifa3 as 36 lLle3 .i.f8 37 'ifc1 'iff2+ 38 c.t>dl "'g1+ 39 ~e2 'ifxel White resigned.

:0

:0

:0

* * * * From Miles's only victory in the British Championship: a nice endgame with delicate minor piece play. 70 R.D.Keene White A.J.Miles Black British Championship 1982 Queen's Indian Defence 1 d4 lLlf6 2 e4 e6 3 lLlo b6 4 g3 .i.b4+ 5 .i.d2 .i.xd2+ 6 'ifxd2 .i.a6 7 lLla3(?!) 0-0 7 ... .i.b7! equalises. 8 .i.g2 e6 8... .i.b7 9 0-0 d5 10 lLle5 10 :acl gives an edge. 10...lLlfd7 11 lLlxd7 lLlxd7 12 :tael :e8 13 exdS? 13 :c2 keeps a slight advantage. 13 ...exdS 14 :xe8 "'xe8 Black has a slight pull-White's minor pieces are out of play. 15:tel 'ifb8 16 e3 16.i.fl 16... lLlf6 17 .i.n lLle4 18 'ife2? 18 'ifd 1 .i.xfl 19

J60

.. Whell J play close 10 home iI's the complex-I play hadly "

~xfl

%lc8 Black has an edge. 18...l:te8 19 ~xa6? Axe2 20 l:txe2 tDd6 21 tDb5 tDxb5 21 ... ~f8 22 h4 22 l:te8+? 22 ~xb5! g5! Black has a slight advantage. 22 .. :ii'xe8 23 ~xe8 tDd6 With a good endgame for Black-White's bishop is restricted and his queens ide is slightly vulnerable.

38...'iPxe5 39 f4+ ~e6 40 i..b3 tDe4+ White resigned. If ~: ~g2/e2 ~d6 and ... 'itc5 wins.

• • • • In the next game Black's king 15 misplaced early on. He graduall~ pushes White back until he dominates the whole board. 71 R.Bellin White A.J.Miles Black British Championship 1982 Sicilia II Defelice 1 e4 e5 2 ltJf3 d6 3 tDe3 ltJe6 .$ d4 exd4 5 tDxd4 g66 tDd5?! ~g7 tDbS ("!-with advantage"Polugayevsky!?; 7 ~e3) 7.. .l::tb8 8 tDbc7+

24 ~a6 24 ~d7 b5 ~f8-e7-d8-c7; 24 ... a5!? ~a4 tDc4) 25 a4 b4!

(intending and if 25 threatening ... tDc4 winning. 24 ... b5 25 b3 ~f8 26 a4 ~e7! 26 ... bxa4 27 bxa4 ~e7 28 ~fl ~d7 29 i..d3! h6 (29 ... ~c6 30 ~xh7) 30 ~e2; 26 ... b4 27 axb5 27 ~fl ~d7 28 axb5 ~c7 29 ~e2 ~b6 30 ~d3 ~a5! 31 ~c3 tDxb5+ 32 ~xb5'~xb5 33 h3 h5 34 h4 'iPa5 35 ~c2 ~b4 36 ~b2 a6 37 ~c2 ~a3 38 ~c3 a5 39 ~c2 ~a2 40 ~c3 ~b I 41 b4 a4 wins; 27 ~xb5 tDxb5 28 axb5 ~d7 29 'iPfl ~c7 30 ~e2 'iPb6 31 ~d3 ~xb5 wins. 27 ... tDe4! 28 b6 Forced. 28 ... axb6 29 ~d3 tDd2 30 b4 tDf3+ 30 ... e5!? 31 ~hl h6 32 ~e2 tDd2! 33 ~g2 ~d6 34 b5! 34 f4 tDc4! 35 'iPf2 ~c6 wins, or 35 ~xc4 dxc4 36 ~f3 ~d5 wins. 34 ... eS 35 ~dl! ~e6 36 f3!? tDe4 37 ~f2 tDd6 37 ... exd4 38 exd4 tDd6 39 ~a4! ll'lf5 40 g4! tDxd4? 40 ~e3 wins. Instead 39 ... h5 is better when Black stands well. 38 dxe5? Time trouble. 38 ~a4

8 ... 'iPf8 9 tDb5 a6 10 ltJbe3 e6 II tDf4 New move? II liJe: Velimirovic? 11 ... b5 Black IS already better. 12 a3 ~b7 13 .i.d} ltJf6 14 0-0 ~e7 15 tDh3 :e8 15 ... d5!? 16 f4 ~f8 17 'ifel If 17 fS exf5 18 exf5 '6b6+ when Black' 5 central control gives a clear plus 17...~g8 18 ~hl ltJg4! With the idea of f5 with pressure down the h l-a8 diagonal, especially again;: e4. 19 ~d2 f5 20 exf5 If 20 -.e.: tDf6 and ... d5 (20 ... d5 21 e5 d4 -IS

.. When I play close to home it's the complex-I play badly" 161

also good.} 20 ... exfS With a clear ad\1lIltage. 21 "g3 dS! 22 l:tael 23 ltJgS ltJf6 24 "h3 d4 :!4.. ':bd8 25 ltJdl l:tbd8 26 a4! h6 nubS axbS 28 ltJo "dS 29 ~gl 29 ~ ttJe4 30 ~xe4 fxe4 31 f5 e3 31 .i.xe3 gave some chances. 19_1Oe4 30 l:te2 l:te6 31 l:tfe1 ltde8

.d7

Black's space advantage is decisive. 32 ~c1 hS (plans ... .i.f6. ~1, ttJb8-d7) 33 liSf2 ~f6 34 ~!? fxe4 35 ltJd2 e3 36 ltJo ~! 37 fS l:tf6! 38 fxg6 l:tef8 (.-ending ... l:txf3) 39 l:tn 39 ltJh4 kS or ... ltJe7. 39...ltJeS winning . • :eel ltJxO+ White resigned. If .. I gxf3 l:txf3 42 l:txf3 l:txf3 43 "g2 :p! wins.

ltJxdS 12 ... ~f5 13 ltf4! with a clear advantage. 13 cxdS ltJeS 13 ...1£1e7 14 d3 with the better game. 14 d3! fS 14 ... ltJxd3+ 15 ~xd3 exd3 16 "xd3 followed by .i.d2-c3 and 0-0-0 with the better game. 15 ~d2 ltJg6 16 lthS ~d7 17 .i.c3 cS 18 dxc6 bxc6 190-0-0 White has a big advantage. 19... dS 19 ... f4 20 dxe4 ~g4 21 ~c4+ d5 22 l:thxd5! wins. 20 ~e2 "e7 21 g4! "17 22 l:tdh 1 ltJf8 23 "dl! l:tac8 24 :gS, l£lg6 24 ... g6 25 gxf5 ~xf5 26 dxe4 l:txe4 (26 ... ~xe4 27 "d4) 27 ~d3 wins. 25 gxfS ~xfS 26 dxe4 dxe4? 26 ... il.xe4 27 f3 .if5 28 g4 "e7 (28 ...~d7 29 ~d3! l:txe3 30 l:txh7! l:txd3 31 ltxg7+! "xg7 32 "xd3 wins; 30 ...'i1r>xh7 31 ~xg6+ "xg6 32 'Wh 1+! "h6 33 l:txg7+ wins) 29 gxf5 "xg5 30 fxg6 "xe3+ 31 ~b I 'jWxe2 32 gxh7+ 'i1r>h8 33 ~xg7+! 'i1r>.xg7 34 h8="+! l:txh8 35 l:tgl+ wms.

* * * * Some unusual rook manoeuvres bl to a beautiful positional -.-king display:

72

A.J.Miles White S.Kindermann Black Biel 1983 English Opening I ~ eS 2 ltJc3 ltJc6 3 e3 ltJf6 4 ~.t.b4 S ltJdS e4 6ltJgl 0-07 a3 ..... I ~2 New move. 8... ~eS &....,;eg. 9 ltJg3 l:te8 10 'W c2 ~xg3

1L-d6?! 11 hxg3 d6 12 l:th4!

27 ltxfS! "xfS 28 ~c4+ ~h8 28 ... lte6 29 'Wd7 wins, or 28 ... 'i1r>f8 when 29 "d6+ and 29 :xh7 both win. 29 lthS! 29 l:txh7+ ~xh7 30 'Whl+ l£lh4 31 "xh4+ 'i1r>g6 32 "g3+ "g5 33 ~f7+ 'i1r>f5 34 'Wh3+ "g4 35 'jWh7+ g6 36 ~xe8 is also winning. Black resigned. If 29 .....xf2 then 30 l:txh7+ ~xh7 31 'Wh5 mate is an attractive finish.

162 "When 1 play close to home it's the complex-I play badly"

73 A.Karpov White A.J.Miles Black BBe Master Game Final, Bath 1983 Caro-Kann Defence 1 e4 c6 No thanks, I don't want to see your latest refutation of the Dragon. 2 d4 dS 3 liJd2 dxe4 4 liJxe4 liJf6 5 liJxf6+ gxf6 Actually I played this variation for the first time a week earlier in a weekend tournament, but it's a good, sharp choice to avoid giving the little man his customary painless edge. 6 liJlJ ~f5 7 ~f4

An innovation? Of course 6 ~c4 and 7 ~f4 has been playednotably in a crushing Tal win over Larsen-but as far as I know in this position it's new. The objective is to keep the queen from her natural home on c7. 7 ...liJd7 If 7... lib6 8 i.d3 is a promising gambit. However, 7... liJa6-c7 was an alternative. 8 c3 'ifb6 Now virtually obligatory. 9 b4

A surprise. I only anticipated 9 lib3 e6 (or 0-0-0) with nothing special for White. 9... eS! The thematic central thrust to counter premature(?) wing play. In any case, it is essential to commit the ~(f4). If now 10 ~e3 '*Ic7 is comfortable for Black while 10 dxeS fxeS II liJxeS ~g7 is clearly perilous for White. So ... 10~g3

But now Black has potential counterplay with ... hS. 10... 0-0-0 11 ~e2 hS! The bishop on g3 is not entirely happy. 12 0-0 ~e4 A critical decision and perhaps the wrong one. The other choice was 12 ... ~g4 when I considered 13 ~h4 to be forced. After 13 ... ~xf3 14 ~xf3 exd4 Black can take a pawn but at distinct cost in both momentum and structure--I didn't like it. 13 liJd2 Not now 13 ~h4 :lg8! (planning .. J:tg4) and White's in real bother. 13 ... ~dS Another difficult decision and they were eating up my time, half an hour over the last two moves. 13 ... ~xg2 14 ~xg2 h4 IS ~f4 exf4 I judged to be equalish. I'm sure Black can stir up some trouble on the kingside with ... h3+. Karpov said in his commentary though, that White was clearly better. The other possibility is 13 ... ~g6 (14 liJf3 ~e4 draw!?) 14 ~xhS Practically forced since his centre is going to disintegrate anyway.

.. When I play close to home it's the complex-I play badly" J63 14... exd4 IS c4 ~e6 16 a3 Up to here all forced. Assessment of the position is difficult but both players shared the opinion that White had an edge (bad black queen and somewhat looser structure) but his central control and d-pawn gave good scope for counterplay. I wasn't too worried about the position. What did scare me was the speed at which Anatoly was moving. 16... ttJe5 Best. 17l::tel Played instantly. 17 ... d3 Intending .....d4. 18 c5 By now I had less than half an hour to reach move 40 (he had almost an hour). I took a conscious decision to stop trying analyse things out and just play natural moves fast and hope. 18.....b519l::tbl As expected, but much to my relief, only after 30 minutes thought so the clock times were about level. In the post mortem Anatoly pointed out the line: 19 ~xeS fxeS 20 l:txeS ~g7 21 ~xf7 ~xeS 22 ~xe6+ ~b8 23 ~c4 ~xh2+ 24 ~f1 ~eS draw! Also interesting (and not a little frightening) was: 19 ~xeS fxeS 20 ~g4! l::th6 21 l:txeS ~g7 22 ~xe6+ fxe6 23 l:te4 ~xa I 24 a4 "a6 2S .xa I with an excellent position for the exchange. 19... ~h6 20 a4 "a6 21 f4 This surprised me, though I'm not sure what I expected, probably 21 bS. 2I. ..ttJc4 22 b5 cxb5

23l::txb5 And this I hadn't even considered, though 23 axbS "a2 doesn't seem at all bad for Black. At this point I felt my position was at least OK and possibly very good. So, being ten minutes ahead on the clock (I :48-1 :39) I used them trying to work out what was going on. I first thought: 23 ... ttJxd2 24 Wxd2 1i'xa4 2S l::tebl "c2 26 "as d2 27 ~dl ouch. Hmph. Then what about 23 ... ttJa3 24 l:tb2 ttJc2 (planning ttJd4)? I can always meet ~f3 with ~dS, my pieces seem to be getting very active ... looks worth a visit. 23 ... ttJa3 24 l:tb2 In the post mortem, which was joined by two mucky paws belonging to W.S.Browne Esq, all of sacrifices with manner c6/l:txe6/fS etc, were tried but generally I managed to take everything and survive. 24 ..•ttJc2 In retrospect a preliminary ... ~f8 might be very strong (preventing l:te7). By now Karpov was down to about two minutes (I'd never seen him in such time trouble before) and I had four or five. 25 ~f3 ~d5 26 l:te7 ~f8

164 .. When 1 play close to home it's the comple.x-l play badly"

Anticipating 27 ~xd5 l:txd5 28 l:texb7 ~xc5+ 29 ~h 1 ~b6 30 l:txt7 ll'Ie3 when Black's active pieces give him tremendous chances. In the post-mortem Karpov revealed that 29 ~f2 is a considerable improvement. Sample lines: (I) 29 ... ~xf2+ 30 ~xf2 "xa4?! 31 l:tb8+ ~c7 32 l:txh8 "d4+ 33 ~g3 "xb2 34 "g4 l:td8! but 31 "g4+ f5 32 "g5! with terrible threats. (2) 29 ... ~b6!? 30 l:t7xb6 (or 30 l:txt7) can safely be assessed as unclear. Basically, no one really had a clue what was going on and lengthy analysis probably won't do much to alter this. Perhaps I should mention that I considered 29 .....xb7 to be drawish and was looking for more, while Karpov thought this continuation might favour White. 27 ~xd5 l:txd5 28l:tbxb7? Amazingly, just an oversight, but it must have cost me a good minute to believe it. He just forgot about the rook. Anyway, the position is still a mess. 28 ... ~xe7 29 l:txe7 "c6! Black must be winning now. 30 l:txfi l:txc5?! Objectively, I should play ... f5 killing any counterplay and I knew

it, but couldn't resist the temptation to tee up all sorts of cheapos with ... ll'Ie3 or .....xg2+ with his flag hanging. 31 "g4+ Oops. Suddenly 31 ... ~b8 32 fS+ ~a8 33 "g7 wins for White-so 31 ... f5 32l:txfS ~b8. Messy, though the d-pawn still gives Black the better chances. 31 ... f5 32 "g7? He didn't take it!! Incredibly his nerves had really gone. 32 ... l:te8 33 h4? Even worse. but by now it is over. For instance, on 33 h3 Black can even play 33 ... ll'Ie3 34 ~f2l:tc I + 35 ~h2 "xg2+ 36 "xg2 ll'Ixg2 37 ~xg2 l:tc2 reaching a simple win.

33...ll'Ie3! Splat! The rest is carnage. 34 ~f2 l:tel + 35 ~h2 ll'Ig4+ 36 ~g3 ll'Ixf2 37 ll'If3 If 37 ~f2 l:te2+ and "xg2 mate. 37 ...ll'Ie4+ 38 ~h2 d2 39 ll'Ixd2 ll'Ixd2 At this point White's flag fell and Anatoly extended his hand. As no one knew if 40 moves had been played I took this as resignation and not a loss on time. Not that it matters much anyway ...

.. When I play close to home it's the complex-I play badly" 165

74 S.Jackson White A.J.Miles Black Lewisham 1983 (Back to earth) Nimzovich Defelice Ever short of something to write about and new records to set, it was with some interest that I found my first round pairing at the LewishamlAccountancy Age International was against Sheila Jackson. How long, I thought, can it have been since anyone beat the World champion and then lost to a woman (apologies for any incidental sexism-but I can't think of any better way of phrasing it) in successive games? Surely never. What an opportunity! Well, I tried, I really did try. 1 e4ibc6 I like playing this in the first round of swisses. Future opponents -waste lots of time preparing for it!

2 d4 eS 3 dxeS ibxeS 4 ibo .i.b4+!

7....i.d6 8 .i.e3 b6! I was rather proud of this move. Odd points are: a) 9 e5 .i.c5 10 .i.xc5 bxc5 II 1i'd5 lXb8 hitting b2. b) 9 1i'd5 lXb8 10 .i.c4 1i'h4+ II g3 1i'e7 and ... .i.b7. 9 .i.d3 1i'h4+ 10 g3 1i'h3 11 .i.n 1i'e6 12 1i'dS 1i'xdS 13 exdS ibf6

This position must be verging on won but I decided not to let that deter me. 14 .i.g2 0-0 IS 0-0 .i.a6 16 lXdl lXae8 17 .i.d4 .i.e2 A stupid oversight. I simply overlooked that White's next two moves were possible. 18 lXel .i.c4 19 ibd2 .i.xdS 20 .i.xf6 .i.xg2 21 ~xg7 ~xg7 22 ~xg2

5 c3 .i.d6 5... ibxf3+ 6 1i'xf3 .i.c5 IS eminently playable but the text injects more tension. 6ibxeS .i.xeS 7 f4 Overstretching a little.

Now Black has nothing. 22 ... bS 23 ibe4 ~e7 24 lXadl fS 2S ibd2 .i.f6 26ibo lXxel 27ibxel d6 28 ibc2 ~g6 29 lXdS a6 30 ibb4 lXa8 31ibc6 lXe8 32 ~f2 lXe4? Rather ridiculously hoping for 33 ibd4? leading to a lost king and pawn ending. 33 a3! hS?? 34ibb4 Just winning a pawn. 34... .i.e7 3S ibxa6 c6 36 lXd3 ~n 37 ibb4 cS 38 ibdS .i.d8 39 ibe3 Sealed. 39...~e6 40 ~o

166 "Whenl play close to home it's the complex-l play badly"

Threatening lL'If5. 40••.1:la4 Forced. 41 lidS :le4 42 :ld2 lIa4 43 h3 With the vicious threat of 44 lL'Ixf5 'it>xf5 45 lIxd6. 43 .•. .i.f6 44 :le2 .i.d8

45 g4? The first sign of hope. I hadn't bothered to analyse this, dismissing it as giving me a sporting chance. A slow look at the position had revealed that I'm in absolute zugzwang and consequently 45 :lei! wins outright: (a) If 45 ... .i.ffi 46lL'1c4+. (b) If 45 ... .i.c7 46lL'1g2+ ~f6 47 :le8 and lL'Ih4 with decisive penetration. (c) If 45 .. J::ta6, a7 or a8, 46 lL'Ig4+ ~fl 47 lL'Ih6+ ~f6 (not 47 ...~g6 48 :le6+) 48 lle8. Note that the immediate 45 lL'Ig4+ is answered by ... lle4! (d) 45 ... 'it>f6 46 lL\d5+ 'it>fl and only now 47 g4! is annihilation. 45 ... fxg4+ 46 hxg4 hxg4+ 47 lL'Ixg4+ 'itld7 48 l:te4 d5 At least the minor piece ending would offer counterchances against b2. 49 lle5 .i.e7

At last diverging from Bellin'; analysis, (Thank goodness' However, it's only a bluff. 50 lbf6+ 50 llxd5+ 'it>e6 51 llxc5 :xt~52 ~e3 .i.d6 53 llg5 llc4 or a4 s.:. ~d3 just wins. 50 ...~e6 51 llf5? And this really throws it away. ~. lle6+ .i.d6 52 ~g3!! wir.: outright-no defence to tLle8. 51. .•d4 52 lbe4 .i.b6 53 :f6~e7 54 lbd6 b4! Drawing. 55 axb4 Sealed again but it doesn't matter 55•..dxc3 56 bxc3 56 bxc5 c2 wins for Black. 56•..cxb4 57 cxb4 lIxb4 58 lLe-I .i.d4 59 lle6 llbl 60 lbg5 'it>d7 61 f5 lIal 62lbe4 Drawn.

• • • • An exquisite game: 75 A.J.Miles White S.Makarychev Black Oslo 1984 English Opelling 1 e4 e5 2 lbc3lbf6 3 lbOlbe6 " d3 d5 5 cxd5 lbxd5 6 g3 lbde7 -: a3 g6 8 b4 .i.g7 9 i.b2 0-0 10 i.g2 lbd4 II lbd2! With a slight

.. When I play close to home it 's the complex-l play badZl''' J6 7

.. age to White. 11 ... a5!? 12 . . ub4 13 axb4 l:hal 14 ~xal . . . . 5 b3 ~d7?! 15 ... ~e6 16 e3 116 17 ~c4 ~d6 18 ~h2 ~c6 19 _ _ ~xc6 20 'ifb3 ti:Je7 21 ti:Je4! . . . . 22 dxc4 'iWc8 23 l:ldl nd8 24 ~ b6 24 ... b5! intending ...'iWa8 . . . counterplay. 25 l:lxd8+ 'iWxd8 • .a4! White has a slight .......ge. 26... h6 27 g4 'it>h7 28 .f!&J .d6 29 b5?! 29 'iWe8 'iWc6+ 30 ~ ~xc6 gives White a slightly '-er endgame. 29 ...'iWd3 30 ~b2 ~ 31 ~a3 ~h4? Better is JI_~g8 intending ... ~h4. 32 ~xe7 .A.7 33 'iWa2 'it>g7 34 'iWe2 'ifbl?! 34_e4!? 35 'ii'O! ~h4 36 'ii'e4! . . . 36 ... 'ii'xe4+ 37 ti:Jxe4 with a pod ending.

37 ti:Jhl!! With a clear advantage. Not 37 ti:Je2? 'ii'e 1. 37 ••.~2 38 ~I 39 'ii'xc7 'iWe4+ 40 ~h2 115 41 'iWc6 'iWc2 42 gxh5! 42 ~g2 ~g5 43 'ii'd5 h4!! 44 'iWxe5+ ~f6 .-ben the knight is out of play and Black has counterplay. 42 ...'iWf5 42 ... ~xf2 43 'ii'g2, or 42 ... gxh5 43 ~ ~g5 44 ~g3 wins. 43 'iWg2 .xh5 44 c5! bxc5 45 b6 'iWdl 46 .c6! ~e7 47 ti:Jg3 c4 48 b7 ~d6 49 ti:Je4 ~b8 50 'iWc8 'ii'o 51 "xb8 .xe4 52 "c7 'ii'o 53 'it>gl 'ii'dl+ 54 'it>g2 "d5+ 55 ~g3 Black resigned.

.c6

A Blindfold simultaneous display On May 20'h 1984. Miles took on 22 opponents in a blindfold simultaneous display. In 1994 he described his experiences in Chess magazine: Some months ago I read that Paul Littlewood, having played eight boards blindfold simultaneously, was clearly the country's lc::ading exponent of this probably deservedly obscure exercise. Anyway, I felt compelled to point out that in 1984 I played a similar exhibition in the small German town of Roetgen near Aachen against 22 opponents of average rating about 1900, scoring + I 0 = I 0 -2. This little-known feat has belatedly attracted some attention, so, here is an equally belated report and some thoughts on the subject of blindfold chess in general. The Roetgen simul came about for me completely by accident. The Roetgen Chess Club had decided to celebrate its centenary, I believe, by staging some sort of special event and, for reasons best known to themselves, they set their sights on breaking the German blindfold simultaneous record which had stood at 21 for about 80 years, set by Pillsbury. I know little about that performance except that he won just three of the twenty one games, though his opponents were reputed to be strong-though how strong I have no idea. Perhaps at this point I should mention that my memory is basically extremely average-quite good for faces and phone numbers, hopeless with names. I am though, at the risk of stating the obvious, quite accustomed to remembering

168 .. When I play close to home it's the complex-l play badly"

chess positions. Frankly the thought of remembering which of 13 pieces (taking nothing as a piece) is on any one of 1,408 squares at any given moment does sound impossible, but remembering 22 positions does not! I suppose it is not dissimilar from an actor remembering his lines. Back at Roetgen the would-be organisers took their first step by contacting the nearest available exponent of the practice-my then German c1ubmate Vlastimil Hort. As it happened they did this at a Bundesliga match at which I was present. Vlasti has done a few 20-board displays before, but did not feel inclined to do so again. Out of nothing more than curiosity I joined the discussion and asked Vlasti about his experiences. "Oh, it is easy Tony" he said, in his inimitable way, "You could do it easily". Moved by such simple faith in my ability and the considerable experience of the fact that Hort's memory is every bit as bad-well probably the more accurate term is scatty-as my own, I agreed with the Roetgen delegation that I would have a trial run at home, and let them know if I thought it was possible. One long-suffering girl-friend with twenty four chess sets on the floor later, I concluded that it was, and a date was duly arranged for the attempt. The Roetgen organisation was, I must say, extremely professional. A sound-proof booth was specially constructed which contained simply a microphone for communication, a table for refreshments and a comfortable sofa. The last item was my choice-I had practised at home

simply lying on the settee with ~ eyes closed, and found th~ arrangement most pleasant. AI~ one of the sponsors of the event w~ a computer company, GMI 0: Aachen, and all the games were immediately put on disk ane recorded for posterity, so the genuiness of the performance ane quality of the games can be readit. checked. A few weeks before the event i had a trial run at the Roetgen clutover ten boards with the person wh" had been chosen to relay the moves The organisers had even chosen thIS man carefully as a fluent English speaker who would not get his e's and a's crossed during play. The rehearsal went smoothly with a score in the region of 8-2 in abou, five hours. The rules are quite simple, but should be specified since some earlier 'records' are somewhat open to question. I was given simply the board number, my previous mo\ e and my opponent's reply. NormalI:this was just abbreviated to board number and move, but if I required clarification my own previous move was also given in full algebraic notation. There was no 'safety net" such as the score-sheet available if I forgot anything. For anyone thinking of trying such a performance, I should explain that the critical phase is the opening. The absolutely essential thing is to separate the positions so they each develop their 0"...11 individual character, and become memorised as pictures rather than strings of details. For this purpose it is necessary to have some sort of system. Hort told me that when he played against the

"When 1 play close to home it's the comple.'(-I play badly" 169

first Sicilian he would play 2 c3, against the second 2 ll'lf3 the third 2 ~3 and so on. In my naivety I did DOt develop anything so refined. I decided to store the games in sets of five. On boards one and three I would play I e4, two and four I d4 and on five I c4. The same again for the next five, but with I ll'lf3 on ten, and so on. I would then try to classify each opening by a letter, using vowels as frequently as possible in the hope that the set of five would be a pronounceable sound. For example I e4 e5 would be e, I e4 e6-f(for French), I d4 d5-d, I d4ll'lf6-u (for usual) and so on. Thereafter I played pretty much my normal openings. Generally things went very smoothly though there were a couple of hiccoughs and two nightmares. The first nightmare came quickly and was completely due to my lack of detailed planning. Without my realizing it was happening, suddenly four games transposed from I d4, I c4 and 1 llJf3 into Queen's Gambits Declined, and I had the terrible task of re-separating them. The second nightmare was the one all blindfold simul givers must dread-I simply completely forgot a position. I don't know why, but whenever this happened in practice it was on board 17, 19 or 23. Maybe I have something against prime numbers, but sure enough on board 19 my move had been 22 lld 1xd5 and the reply was ... h7-h5. My mind was a total blank. I knew the opening had been a QGD (of course!) but other than thatnothing. After a while I went to the

toilet, threw some cold water over my face and had some fresh air. Still nothing. I went back to the booth and gave serious consideration to l:d5-d I and a draw otTer! Finally though, after what seemed like an eternity but was probably around ten minutes, the position came back. Everything had b~en exchanged in the centre and there was simply no positional structure to remember. It was with considerable relief that I forced a draw a few moves later. The hiccoughs were two illegal moves. Ironically one each. Mine came on the very last game to finish. I was walking my king out of some checks to the safety of a6 when I thoughtlessly announced ~b4-a5, forgetting I had moved my a-pawn there some moves before. I quickly corrected my mistake when the move was queried. The second came when the man who was transmitting the moves became slightly over-immersed in one position. It was clear that I had to eliminate a back rank weakness and I played g2-g4 which had a secondary function. Unfortunately the intermediary had been expecting h2-h3 and played that instead. The error was discovered a few moves later when one of us tried to do something impossible. Luckily the man immediately realized his mistake and no harm was done. The games themselves were relatively normal--out of necessity rather more controlled than a non-blindfold display. My two losses were to one move blind spots. In the first I blundered a rook a few moves after declining a draw, but in the second I walked straight into a neat trap.

17() "When I play close to home it's the cOlllplex-1 play badly"

76 Miles White Myrenne Black

Black played the cunning l...ngS! 2 .l:tdS ng4 and I walked into the sucker punch 3 b3?? nd4! 0-1! The wins were relatively normal -no mates in 23 of the sort one reads about from bygone days-Qdd tactics, reasonable technique, nothing special. For statisticians. the shortest game was drawn in 20 moves after about six hours-the longest won in 68 after II p.m. I played a total of 674 moves, averaging 31 per game. A couple of examples: 77 Miles White Conradi Black Sicilian Defence

1 e4 cS 2 f4 d6 3 tDo tDc6 4 ..ibS ..id7 5 0-0 e6 6 tDc3 ..ie7 7 d3 a6 8 ..ixc6 ..ixc6 9 'iVe1 tDf6 10 b3 tDd7 11 ..ib2 f6? Unnecessarily passive and weakening. The natural 11 ... 0-0 was better. 12 "g3 l:r.g8

Hoping to evacuate his king to the queens ide, but 12 ... 0-0 13 'Wh3 fS was better. 13 "h3 tDrs 14 fS eS? 15 tDd5 ..ixdS?

Positional capitulation, but life was not easy. Now White has a crushing light square bind. 16 exdS ~d7 17 tDd2 h6 18 e4 tDh7 19 a3 White methodically opens the b-file. 19... aS 20 ..ie3 b6 21 b4 'iVe7 22 'iVg4 tDrs 23 tDe4 White's pieces dominate the board. 23 .....d8 24 buS bxaS 25 nabl .l:tb8 26 ..ius White is not completely blind. 26 .. :~c8 27 ..id2 tDh7 28 h4 Denying Black any vestige ot" activity. Such things are important because they minimise the risk ot" time-consuming complications. 28 ... ~c7 29 a4 nb7 30 'iVg6 Simple and decisive . 30 ...tDrs 31 'iVf7 tDd7 32 Wxe7 "b8 33 'iVxd6+ ~d8 34 tDxcs Just to make the point that I knew what I was doing. Black resigned.

"When I play close to home it's the complex-l play badly" 171

78 Miles White Ehrig Black Grullfeld Defelice 1 d4 lDf6 2 e4 g6 3 lDe3 d5 4 lDf3 J.g7 5 e3 0-0 6 b4 e6 7 ~b2 b6 8 ~b7 9 exd5 exd5 10 b5 An important move to restrict Black's queenside minor pieces. 10•.. e6 11 ~e2 lDbd7 12 0-0 lie8 IJ 84 l:tb8 14 lifcl ~f8 15 ~a3 haJ 16 .-xa3 'We7 17 .-xe7 lixe7 lIa5 The simplifications have not eased Black's problems. White has a strong initiative. IS.. .l::tee8 19 a6

"'3

Positionally decisive. On 19 ... ~c8 invades on c7 while the allemative leaves the bishop dead bever. 19_..ia8 20 lDa2 libe8 21 lixe8 :Xdl22 licl .Simple technique-the more piICCCS are exchanged, the more !lpificant the dead bishop kcomes. 22...:1C1+ 23lDxcllDe4 24lDa2 Ii 25 ~n <:J;n 26 <:J;el e5 27 ~dl Preferring to pressurise d5. 17_~e6 28 <:J;e2 <:J;e7 29 lDd2 ~30ltJe3 e4

.rule

Losing a pawn, but Black's position was already cracking. 31 ~b3 f5 32 ~xd5 ~xd5 33 lDxd5+ <:J;e6 34 lDe3 lDf6 35 f3 exf3+ 36 gxf3 h6 37 e4 fxe4 38 fxe4 lDd7 39 <:J;d3 g5 40 e5 lDxe5+ On any knight move, <:J;e4 and the pawns roll. 41 dxe5 'it;lxe5 42 lDc4+ lDxc4 43 ~xe4 <:J;d6 44 ltJd5 Black reSigned. Probably the most prohibitive aspect of such displays is the time factor. I started at noon and finished at 11.30 pm, and I think that about half an hour per game is a reasonably normal rate. Perhaps with a photographic memory or a lot more practice it is possible to play faster, but the risk of 'losing' a game from one's memory and thus ruining the whole display makes this dangerous. I have to say that I agree with Hort, and I did find the performance basically easy. It was tiring of course, and with hindsight doing it a in a week before playing grandmaster tournament at Bugojno may not have been wise. I started there by losing my first four games with White! In the meantime I was scoring plus two (Spassky and Tal!) with Black. I have no explanation for this phenomenon. My impression is that something like thirty boards is reasonably humanly possible. Three years later I talked to probably the most famous exponent of blindfold play, George Koltanowski. His record is 34 and this I believe is legitimate. Najdorfs 45, he told me, was with access to the score-sheets ("I could do a hundred like that" he said, and I think I believe him), and Flesch's 52 was performed in about five

172 "When 1 play close to home ii's the complex-l play badly"

hours and included many suspiciously short games. Perhaps I do him an injustice and it was genuine-are there any witnesses around? If so I would regard it as superhuman. I promised Kolty I would try to break his record one day. He, like Hort, was of the opinion that it was not difficult "If you can play 22, you can play 36". Probably I will not do it now. It does seem like hard work, and no-one has since shown any interest in organizing such a feat. And the thought of 36 poor souls having to sit there for 18 hours cannot seem too enticing. Lastly, from time to time one comes across the theory that blindfold chess is dangerous to one's mental health. Whilst various BCF officials and Times columnists like to doubt my sanity from time to time, I do not know of any connection with the Roetgen display! Furthermore anyone who has ever met Najdorf, or particularly Koltanowski, who when I last met him was the most lucid and mentally alert nonagenerian I have encountered will testify that if it does drive you crazy it does so very slowly!

tDe4 1O... dxc4!? II bxc4 eS. 11 l1ael New move. 11 •••f5 12 .i.bl 12 liJa4!? 12.. JH6 Black has the initiative on the kings ide. 13 tDxe4 dxe414 tDe51:1h6 15 g3 IS f4? exf3 16 liJxf3 .i.xf3 and h2 drops. 15 ... .i.xe5! 16 dxe5 'ir'g5 Black has a strong kings ide attack. 17 b4 17 l1fdl .i.c6! with ideas of ... tDfS-g6 and ... tDcS-d3. 17... tDfS (intending ... tDg6-h4) 18 ~hl Forced. 18 cS .i.c6! 19 cxb6 .i.bS 20 b7 .i.xe2 21 bxa8='ir' .i.f3 wins. 18... .i.c6 19 l1g1 1:1d8 19 ... .i.e8 20 f4!? 20 1:1g2 .i.e8 21 g4! Forced. 21 f4 exf3 22 'ir'xf3 .i.hS 23 'ir'f2 -"g4 with a won game. 21...'ir'h4 22 1:1cgl 1:1d7 22 ... ~h8 23 f3!? 23 bS! axb5 24 cxb5 .i.g6 25 1:1d 1 lln 26 1:1d4 'ir'h3 27 1:1d8 llh4 28 .i.a3 1:1xg4 29 J:[xg4 fxg4 Threatening ... g3. 30 ~gl 'ir'h5 Threatening 31 ... g3 and 31 ... 'ir'xeS. 31 'iWb2 'ir'f5 321:1c8? h5 33 i.xfS l:bfS 34 llxc7? 34 1:1xfS+ 34... h4 With a winning position. 3S l1c4 'ir'f3

• • • • At Bugojno, Miles, with Black, beat two former World Champions: 79 B.Spassky White A.J.Miles Black Bugojno 1984 Queen's Indian Defence I d4 liJf6 2 tDf3 e6 3 c4 b6 4 e3 .i.b7 5 .i.d3 d5 6 b3 tDbd7 7 0-0 .i.d6 8 .i.b2 0-0 9 tDc3 a6 10 'ir'e2

White resigned. 80 M.Tal White A.J.Miles Black Bugojno 1984 Caro-Kann Defence I e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 tDd2 dxe4 4 tDxe4 .i.f5 S tDg3 i.g6 6 h4 h6 7

.. When I play close to home it's the complex-I play badly" 173

~fJ lbd7 8 hS i.h7 9 i.d3 ~xd3

10 "'xd3 "'c7 II ~d2 e6 12 0-0-0 ~gf6 13 lbe4 0-0-0 14 g3 lbcs IS t2:xcs ~xcS 16 c4 ~b6 17 ~c3 New move. 17 ...l:he8 18 ~bl a6 19 "'c2 %:te7 20 lbeS ~aS 21 b4!? 21 c5 lbd5! (2l...~xc3 22 bxc3 when the b6 square is weak.) 22 !2k4 ~xc3 23 bxc3 b5 gives an edge to White. 21...~b6 22 a4 ~8! Intending ... ~a7 or ... i.c7. 23 f4 "'a7 24 %:td2 ~b8 24 ... i.xd4? 25 :hd 1 is strong. 2S as ~c7 26 g4 ~a8!

Intending ... 'itb8, ... lbe8, ... f6 with pressure against the f4-pawn. The chances are equal. 27 gS?! lbe8 Intending lbd6-f5 with pressure against d4. 28 cS? 28 g6 fxg6. 28......b8! With strong pressure against the weak f-pawn. 29 g6 f6 30 lbc4 30 lbf7 %:td5. 30 ... ~xf4 31 :e2 lbc7 32 ~b2 lbbS 33 %:thel ~xd4 34 ~xd4 %:txd4 3S %:txe6 :xe6 36 %:txe6 "'d8 Black is Vo·inning. 37 %:tel ~a7! 38 a2 ~d2! 39 l:bl "'dS 40 b3 %:td3+ White resigned. After 4 I ~a4 %:tc3! 42 "'xd2 "'xc4 and ... 'ti'b5 mate. At the 1984 Tilburg Interpolis tournament Miles scored the best result of his career, finishing well

clear of the field which included half of the world's top ten players. 81 L.Portisch White A.J. Miles Black Tilburg Interpolis 1984 Queen's Indian Defence I d4 lbf6 2 c4 e6 3 lbfJ b6 4 lbc3 ~b7 S a3 dS 6 cxdS lbxdS 7 e3 lbd7 8 .i.d3 cS 9 e4lbSf6!? IQ ~f4

a6!? New move. II dS!? exdS 12 exdS lbxdS 13 lLlxdS ~xdS 14 i.xh7! "'e7+ 14 ... %:txh7 15 "'xd5 is very strong. 14 ... i.xf3 15 "'xf3 %:txh7 16 O-O-O! with threats of"'e4, %:txd7 and %:the!. 14 ... lbf6!? IS fl ~c4+? 15 ... lbf6! 16 ~d3 'itb7 is unclear. 16 ~gl! 16 ~d3 '-e4 17 ~xc4 'ii'xc4+ 18 'ii'e2+ is only equal. 16... 0-0-0 16... %:txh7 17 'ii'c2; 16... ~e2 17 "'d2 and l:e!. 17 .-a4! lbb8 17 ... ~b5 18 i.d3!! 18.-xc4 18 ~f5+! ~e6 19 %:te I with a clear advantage. 18... %:txh7 19 h3 19 ~xb8 'iti>xb8 20 '-xa6 when "'c7, l:h6 and ...'itb7!? all give some play for the pawn. 19... bS!? 20 "'c2 l:hS 21 a4 Wb7 22 axbS axbS 23 h2 ~d6! 24 ~xd6 %:txd6 2S %:thel lbc6 26 %:te8+ c7!? 27 'ii'e4 b6! Unclear. 28 lba8 Intends b4. 28 ... b4? 28 ... %:thd5 29 b4 cxb4 29 %:tec8! l:hdS 30 'ii'e8? 30 'ii'c4 (intending "'a2) 30 ... :'d7 31 %:ta6+! wins. 30 ...'ii'd7

J 74 "When J play close to home it's the complex-I play badly"

31 'i'e2 'i'b7 32 1:tg8?? 32 'i'c4 32 ...lLld8! 33 1:tal f6! Protects e5. 34 1:te8 1:td7 35 g3? Time trouble. 35...l:td3! 36 1:te3 1:txe3 37 'i'xe3 'i'd5! 38 'itgl lLlc6 39 'i'e2 'i'd3 40 'i'e6 40 'itfl c4 with a clear advantage for Black. 40 ...1:td6 40 ... l:te7 41 'i'g4 'i'e2 Black is winning. 42 l:tel 1:tdl 43 1:txdl 'i'xdI+ 44 'itg2 'i'c2 45 'i'xg7 'i'xb2 46 g4 46 h4 b3 47 h5 'i'c3 4S h6 (4S 'i'd7 'i'xO+; 4S 'i'h6 b2 49 lLld2 'i'd4) 4S ... b2 49 h7 (49 'i'g6 'i'xO+) 49 ... bl='i' 50 hS='i' 'i'cd3 wins. 46 ...'i'c3 47 g5 fxg5 48 'i'xc3 bxc3 49 lLlel lLlb4 50 f4 gxf4 51 h4 c2 52 lLlxc2 lLlxc2 53 h5 lLld4! 54 h6 lLlf5 55 h7 lLlh4+ White resigned.

82 A.J.Miles White J.Timman Black Tilburg 19S4 English Opening I c4 e5 2 lLlc3 lLlf6 3 lLlfJ lLlc6 4 g3 d5 5 cxd5 lLlxd5 6 ~g2 lLlb6 7 0-0 ~e7 8 a3 0-0 9 d3 ~e6 10 b4 f6 11 lLle4 'i'd7 12 ~b2 a6 New move. 12 ...1:tfdS is usual. 13 'i'c2 13 lLlc5!? 13••• ~h3 14 lLlc5 ~xc5 15 ~xh3! 'i'xh3 15 ... ~xf2+?? 16 'itg2. 16 'i'b3+ ~h8 17 bxc5 lLld7 IS d4! IS 'i'xb7? 'i'e6 19 'i'xc7 lLlxc5 threatening ... 1:tfcS. IS... l:tabS!? If IS ... e4 19lLld2 when the b7 and e4 targets give White a good game; IS ... exd4 19 'i'xb7! 'i'e6 (I9 ... lLlde5 20 lLlxe5 is also good) 20 lLlxd4 is strong for White; IS ... lLlxd4 19 lLlxd4 exd4 20 ~xd4 with an edge. 19 dxe5 lLldxe5

19 ... fxe5 20 1:tad 1 with pressure along the d-file and long diagonalthe e-pawn is weak. 20 lLlxe5 fxe5!? 20 ... lLlxe5 21 ~xe5 fxe5 22 l:tadl is good for White. 21 1:tadl 1:tf6 21...1:tf5 22 'i'e6!? 22 f4!

22 ...1:txf4 If 22 ...1:th6 then 23 1:tC with ideas of'i'f7 and 1:td7. Better is 22 ... 1:tbf8! 23 1:txf4 exf4 24 'ir'n 1:tgS 24 ... 'i'g4 25 1:tfI! (25 'i'xc7?! I 25 ... 'i'g5 26 1:txf4 with an attack. 25 1:tfl! 'i'g4 25 ... fxg3?? 26 'i'xg7-' 1:txg7 27 1:tf8 mate. 26 1:txf4 'i'g5 Not 26 ...'i'g6? 27 'i'xg6 hxg6 28 1:th4 mate. 27 ~g2? 27 1:te4' 27 ...'i'xc5? 27 ... lLldS 2S 1:te4! With three threats: 1:teS, 'ir'xg7 and ~xg7 2S ...'i'fS Forced-if 2S ...'i'g5 29 1:teS wins. 29 'i'h5! Intending 1:th4_ Not 29 'i'g6? 'ir'f1 +! 29 ••.lLle7 Forced. 30 'i'g5! lLlg6? If 30 ... lLlfS 31 :f4 lLle3+ 32 'itO wins, or 30 ... lLlc6 31 1:th4 (threat l:txh71 31...'i'f7 (31...'i'eS 32 'i'fS! 'i'xe233 'ith3 wins) 32 'i'h6! 'i'fS 33 e4 wins, or 30 ... lLlcs 31 1:th4 'ir'e8 (3l...'i'f7 32 'i'h6 wins) 32 'ir'fS 'i'c6+ 33 'ith3 h6 34 1:tg4' (threatening 35 ~xg7, 35 1:txg7 and 35 l:tg6) 34...lLle7 35 'i'f7 wins. 31 'i'xg6 Black resigned.

9: "The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg Interpolis 1985"

I

(abridgedfrom Nell' ill Chess)

rarely write tournament reports. I don't find them interesting. Also I find it difficult to annotate other players' games to my satisfaction. So whatever this is, it is certainly not a tournament report. It is more a personal diary of what started off for me as a chess tournament and developed into one of the most traumatic months of my life. The appropriate place to start is at my birth. I was born with a minor fault in my spine. It's nothing special, just a slight irregularity around the fourth vertibra. Millions of people have such a condition, yet most go through their lives without even discovering it. The next one and a half decades need not concern us, but at the age of fifteen I strained my back, around the right side of the pelvic girdle, playing cricket. This has often been a source of trouble for me. Normally two or three times a year I experience some discomfort from it. (As it happens the last occasion had been at the Ohra tournament in Amsterdam). On these occasions I simply wear one or two thick leather belts very tight to support the back, take painkillers when I play, lie on my back as much as possible and after a few days the problem disappears. The relevance of this injury to chess is simply that my

playing posture which after about twenty years I find psychologically impossible to change-is just about the worst possible position for such a complaint. I get tonsilitis a lot, too! So much for my medical history. Let us now move on to Tilburg. The omens for this tournament were not good. I had just played in Berlin (a nine round open swiss) and scored my worst result for years, 5 1n out of 9 against the sort of opposition which, with all due respect to them, I expect to annihilate in a blindfold simultaneous display. I had not had a week without a tournament for four months, and felt utterly exhausted and tired of chess. That, I assure you, is no way to approach the dreaded Interpolis. For this reason I actually travelled to Tilburg, or Oosterwijk to be precise, four days before the tournament was due to start. I wanted to try and relax in the countryside, and forget all about chess and the outside world. To try, as Smyslov would put it, to feel again in some sort of harmony with myself, to find a little peace and tranquillity. With hindsight this was probably my most sensible move of the tournament. Each day I went for walks in the nearby woods, kept my pocket set firmly closed, and just about achieved my objective.

J 76 "The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Interpolis J985 "

August 27 At the opening ceremony somebody asked me if I was going to repeat my previous year's success. Bearing in mind Berlin and my chess-exhaustion I replied 'if I survive the first week I might. ' (After the first week there were many rest/adjournment days). When I used the word survive I would never have believed how close to the truth I was. The drawing of lots, was presided over, in the absence of any 'grandmaster of honour'---or horror -by Alexander Munninghoff. He introduced the players, giving me the sort of build up usually reserved for poor quality boxing promotions: ... .the streetfighter, the reigning Interpolis champion, the beast of Birmingham (Good God, I've never heard that one before) ... Tony Miles.' I drew a number Two. I was paired with Korchnoi in the first round, and Timman in the second, certainly the two players I feared most. August 28 83 A.J.Miles White V.Korchnoi Black Round One, Tilburg 1985 Queen 's Gambit Accepted 1 d4dS Oh well, that's my opening preparation out of the window. I can hardly recall Korchnoi meeting I d4 with anything but ... li'lf6. 2 c4 dxc4 3 li'ltJ cS

New to me. I presume it is directed against 4 d5 e6 when Black avoids the problem of the comparable position I d4 d5 2 c4 dxc4 3 li'lf3 li'lf6 4 li'lc3 c5 5 d5 e6 6 e4 exd5 7 e5! Anyway I had no wish to test his preparation in this case and could see no reason to avoid the natural developing move 4li'lc3 e6 After 16 minutes thought, so maybe I was right about his preparation. On 4 ...cxd4 I intended 5 'ifxd4 with an enduring edge. S e4 cxd4 6 'ifxd4 I also considered 6 li'lxd4, but the text seemed to ensure a safe lead in development or slight pressure in any ending. 6....i.d7 After a further 20 minutes thought, which seemed a sure sign that he felt at least a little uncomfortable. (After the game Viktor attributed the entire idea to Seirawan.) 7li'leS! Clearly best. 7...li'lf6 7 ...li'lc6 8 'ifd7 is obviously unpleasant. 8li'lxc4 Now Black has a soft spot on d6. 8 ...li'lc6 After a reluctant further 35 minutes. I was feeling happy. 9 ~d6+ .i.xd6 9 .. .f1;e7 10 'ifc5 b6 11 'ifa3 doesn't look much fun. lO'ifxd6'ife7

"The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg IlIlerpolis 1985" J 77

Another 20 minutes. Doubtless Black would have preferred IO .. :tlfb6 followed by 0-0-0 with some activity at least. But positionally it's hard to justify. White can just continue with 11 ~e2 and in the long term the black king will only be in the firing line on cS. However, the ensuing ending is only for masochists. 11 'tIfxe7+
Not 23 ... lLld4 24 ~xd4 and :c7. 24 a3 'iii'd8 25 ~c4 lLle7 26 b4 lLlbc6 27 ~b2 lLld4 28 l:tdl 'iii'c7 29 :d2 Avoiding any possible nonsense with lUfS. 29 ... gS

Looks, and is, desperation, but he was down to his last three minutes. 30 a4 Intending to undermine d4 with ~c3 and if necessary b5. 30... lLlg6 31 ~c3 lLlh4 32 bS lLle6 331:a2 Of course 33 1:xd6 ~xd6 34 ~f1 followed by ~b4 and a5 is tremendous, but I saw no reason not to cause even more trouble down the a-file. 33 ... lUd4 34 ~b4 lLlg6 In such positions there is nothing to do. 35 as bxaS+ 36 ~xaS lUf4 37 ~b4~b8

38 g3! Time to finish the job. Now if 3s ... lLlg6 39 ~d5 is murder. 38 ...lLlfe6 39 ~xe6! Simplicity is always best. 39.. Jbe6 40 ~xd4 exd4 4J :a6! :e7 The pawn ending 41 ...:xa6 42 bxa6
178 "The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg Interpolis 1985"

Sealed. Not 42 lhf6 Ad7 with counterplay. Now Black has nothing. 42",:17 If 42 ... g4 43 :xf6 gxf3 44 roitxd4 winning two pawns. Or 42 ...:d7 43 ~d3 :b7 44 :xf6 :xb5 45 f4 and the e-f duo is decisive. 43 ~xd4 h5 44 roitd5 :b7 45 ~e6 :xb5 46 ~xf6 g4 47 f4 J::tb2 48 e5 ~b7 49 :al :xh2 50 e6 Black resigned. It is not something about which I am particularly proud, but this was the firs't time in my life I had beaten the terrible Viktor. Perhaps there's something in that country air. After drawing with Timman I could hardly be dissatisfied with my start, one and a half points from my two most feared adversaries. Could I really repeat last year's success?? August 30

(Miles's back problem started during his Round Three loss to Romanishin.) It was quite clear to me that my back problem was worse than usual. Knowing I had no really strong painkillers with me I tried to phone my ex-wife Jana for advice. Being a doctor, chessplayer and well acquainted with my back she is uniquely qualified to advise me on such matters. The trouble with nonchessplaying tournament doctors is that either they are reluctant to prescribe really strong drugs even when necessary, or they innocently prescribe ones with unfortunate hallucinatory side effects. Unfortunately I was out of luck. Jana had just left to playa weekend tournament.

August 31 Adjournment day I still assumed that my physical ailments were the nonnal variety and turned up optimistically equipped with belt and painkillers of a mild variety. Luckily none of the results was in any real doubt so there was no great problem. However, I did notice that the painkillers were ineffective. During the break between my games with Korchnoi and Romanishin (with Timman a draw was agreed without resumption) I disappeared quietly into one of the disused Interpolis offices and lay out on my back on the floor to ease the pain (It's absolutely the only position that does). At one point Ljubojevic came into the room. He looked bemused and asked what I was doing. 'It's my latest fonn of yoga' I replied, straight faced. He shrugged and left, shaking his head. After a loss to Hubner in Round Five I succeeded in phoning Jana. Never one to mince words she gave me a list of four possible, very strong painkillers, and then virtually ordered me to get my next game postponed and rest solidly for as long as possible. Frankly I consider postponing games to be morally incorrect (So, one player is ill. So what? What if when the game eventually has to be played the other has become ill? It happened to me once). I have never before requested a postponement though I have frequently acceded to such requests from opponents. But, simply at this time I could not go on-the only alternative would be to withdraw from the tournament. I consulted the tournament rules and

"The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg II/fe/polis 1985" 179

discovered that one postponement was possible provided the tournament doctor considered the illness to be of a sufficiently serious nature. I duly officially requested, and was granted, a postponement of my fifth round game against Polugaevsky. This gave me two clear days to rest and let the medical profession do their worst. Previously one of the most tortuous times had been the taxi journeys to and from the tournament hall. Henceforth I confiscated the full back seat of the taxi and spent the journey lying flat on my back.

September 4 I spent the day in bed with the exception of the visit to the chiropractor. He instructed me to get on to what subsequently became referred to universally as his massage table (it wasn't the massage table, of course, just a relative). He then took a firm grip on my contorted body. I was beginning to feel like a wrestler who had been instructed to throw a fight. Then suddenly he gripped me tightly. My spine crunched three times rapidly. There was no pain, just the sound, quite clearly audible, of click, click, click. I waited apprehensively wondering if I would be paralysed from the nose down or something. Nervously I waggled a toe or two. They seemed to be working. 'That's better' said the maestro. 'Try standing up.' Incredulously I got to my feet. The pain had virtually vanished. I could scarcely believe it. It seemed like a miracle. On the way out he

said something like 'You can come back in two days. If you have any pain I can give you a painkilling injection.' Unfortunately, hearing the words I mispunctuated them as 'You can come back in two days if you have any pain. I can give you a painkilling injection.' Thus his meaning was that [ should return, while my interpretation was that I could if I found it necessary. Ten minutes later, though, I began to feel pain returning. Later that evening I phoned the Interpol is organisers. I was still clearly not able to play sitting. My last observation was that as there was nothing (well, no more than usual) wrong with my head, I should, in theory at least, be able to play chess. My only idea was that it might be possible for me to play lying down, perhaps in a separate room, I didn't know. It was just a last desperate thought. 84

A.J.Miles Whife L.Polugayevsky Black Round Six, Tilburg 1985 Nimzo-Indian Defelice

1 d4 ltJf6 2 c4 e6 3 tUc3 ..ib4 4 ..igS I had only employed this variation twice before in my life, but my instinct told me it was the right sort of line to ruille Polu's feathers. Preparing the previous night, I could find only one game where he had met it. I was fairly sure he would follow main line theory.

4... cS 5 dS h6 6 ..ih4 ..ixc3+ 7 bxc3 d6 8 e3 eS 9 ..id3 Timman, the arch-guru of this line, invariably prefers 9 f3. The

180 "The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Interpolis 1985"

text is considered slightly inferior because of 9 ... e4. My instinct, though, was that Polu would avoid such a committal advance so early with Black.

9.••ttJbd7 Good instinct!

10 f4 (!) As far as I can find in opening manuals this is an innovation. But that is absurd. It's completely consistent with White's strategy. Black can no longer break the pin with ... g5 so easily.

10...'it'e7 11 ttJe2 gS!? A drastic, but not entirely satisfactory solution. The following sequence is virtually forced.

12 fxgS ttJg4 13 ttJg3 ttJxe3 14

'it'D hxgS IS 'it'xe3 gxh4 16 ttJfS 1H6170-0

The situation is clear, White has excellent compensation for his gam bitted pawn. Black must play with the utmost care.

17...ttJlS 18110 i..d7 Played only after fifty minutes thought. I guess we were both analysing the same line.

1911afl White will have no difficulty regaining his pawn, but I was after

bigger game. Now though came an unfortunate incident.

19 ... 0-0-0!? 19 ... 0-0-0-a!? Or to be more precise 19 ... 0-0-0 but moving the rook first! 1 was rather taken aback that Polu should have forgotten that under the current state of the rules this is illegal, and in theory I could insist on a rook move being played. Mainly out of surprise I said in a purely joking way 'You know you're not supposed to do that these days'. Polu grunted something in an angry voice. Again I was a little shocked. In a misguided attempt to lighten the atmosphere I turned to the only other person in the room, the runner transporting moves to the press room. 'Did you see that?' I enquired, knowing fuJI well that he was much too far from the board to have seen anything. He shook his head. At this moment the arbiter Geurt Gijssen re-entered he room. Realising that something had happened he looked enquiringly at me. 'What are the castling rules these days, Geurt?' I asked. He looked quizzical. 'He moved his rook first explained. 'Well, if he denies it there's nothing you can do.' 'I know'. 'You just wanted to make the point that the rule is stupid?' 'Yes', and the game continued. I took the whole incident as a complete joke. To me the above conversation did not, and still does not, sound in the least bit serious. Only much later, after many articles had been written about my disgraceful breach of etiquette did I consult first Polu and then Geurt to discover that they had both taken my complaint seriously.

.. The Impossible Challellge. Tilhwg Illte/polis 1985" 181

In my defence 1 can only point out that a) Polu was never even asked to deny that he moved his rook first and b) at no time did 1 make any request that he should play a rook move instead of castling. The press had a field day. I subsequently both explained and apologised to Polu, for any disturbance I might have caused him. As a purely separate thought on the stupidity of the current rule consider the following hypothetical case: White can castle, but both the f- and h-files are open. White plays nfl, suddenly realises he has missed a much stronger move and quickly moves his king to g I. As the rule stands his opponent or, as happened in a recent Soviet event, the arbiter can insist on a rook move. White calmly plays the winning nhl-h8. Surely if castling has been completed, then the rook move too has been and the move must be nfl-the piece has been released after all (in the Soviet games ngl was played). Anyway, back at the ranch ... 20~e4

The line I, and 1 suppose Polu, had spent so long. analysing was the fascinating 20 ltJe7+!? Wxe7 21 :xf7 'ii'e8 22 ~e4 (necessary to prevent the freeing ... e4). Then on the natural 22 .. .'.t>b8 comes 23 'ii'g5 ~c8 24 ne7 'ii'a4 (best) 25 nxb7+ c;tJxb7 26 'ii'xd8 'ii'd7 (what else) 27 'ii'f6 (maybe 27 'ii'a5) threatening ~f5 and nb 1 with a raging attack for the piece. The problem was that Black has 22 ... ~a4! and the possibility of

... ltJd7 keeps him alive (and winning!). Thus the text is easy to understand. 1 hoped for 20 ... ~b8 21 ltJe7! transposing but avoiding ... ~a4. Polu. though. had not been wasting his time and had prepared a brilliant defence. 20 ... ltJg6!! 21 0.e7+ 'ii'xe7 22 nxf7 'ii'xf7! 23 nxf7ltJf4

The dominant position of the knight assures Black of full compensation for his queen. 24 ~h7 How else can White guard the g-file. If 24 ~f5 ~xf5 25 nxf5 ndg8 and g2 is doomed (26 g3 hxg3 27 hxg3 nxg3+). 24 ... :tdf8 2S ng7 nf6? But this is a critical mistake. On 25 ... lt:lh5 26 ne7 ltJf4 White scarcely has anything better than 27 ng7 repeating. Later Dzindzi opined that Black could even play to win with 26 ... nf4. He might be right. The text allows an unusual penetration: 26 ~g8! A multi-purpose move. The attacking point will become clear. Defensively Black is prevented from doubling on the f-file and ... ltJh5 runs into 'ii'g5.

182 "The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Interpolis 1985" 26...1%1'8 27 ~e6! The crucial but rather unusual point is the opening of the h l-a8 diagonal for the queen! 27 ... .ixe6 If 27 ... lDxe6 28 dxe6 .ixe6 29 'iWe4! .id7 30 'iWg6 ct;c7 31 1%e7 leaves Black paralysed. 32 'iWg7 is a threat, and 3l...:hg8 loses to 32 'iWe6. Black will almost certainly be squeezed into parting with his precious h-pawn. Even so, it might be the best chance. 28 dxe6 1%fg8 29 :m Now g2 is of no importance. 29 ...1%xgH 30 'ltf1lIhg8 Else 31 'ir'e4 comes. 31 e7 q;.d7 32 e8=1%+ I always like to underpromote. It appeals to my silly sense of humour. Here though, it had a practical reason: To get a queen would have required climbing off my massage table to go to another board! Note here not 32 1%xf4 intending 32 ... exf4 33 e8='ir'+ 1%xe8 34 'iWh3+ because of 32 ... :gl+! 33 q;.f2 (not 33 q;.e2? exf4! 34 e8='iW+ llxe8 pinning the lost queen) 33 ...1I I g2+ with repetition of moves. 32 ... 'ltxe8 33 :xf4 Now, though, it's over. 33 •. J:hh2 34 :12 1%xf2+ 35 'ltxf2 1%f8+ 36 'ltg2 llf4 37 'ir'h3 q;.d8 38 'ir'e6 q;.c7 39 a4 a5 Otherwise there comes a5 and 'iWe7-d8-c8. 40 'iWe7+ q;.c6 I now sealed the open move 41 'ir'e8+ to choose between 41 ...q;.c7 42 'iWb5 and 42 'l'e7+ ct;c6 43 'ir'd8 (my intention). Polu duly resigned without resumption.

So the first cycle was over. Just half a point separated seven of the eight players. Hubner, Korchnoi and I had 4 out of 7, Polu 2 and the rest were on 50 percent. September 5 In the morning I received a call to tell me that the problem had been dealt with. I arrived at the tournament hall to find my chair replaced by a full sized massage table at just the right height for me to see the board from my normal angle. From a chess playing point of view it was ideal for me. My head and shoulders, at least could adopt their usual pose and all the weight was taken off my back. From a medical point of view. I later learnt, it was far from good. The enforced curvature of my spine was definitely not recommended But for me it was fantastic. I could play chess again. 85 L.Ljubojevic White A.J.Miles Black Round Seven, Tilburg 1985

I had sealed 49 ... 'ltb6 just to make sure that the march up the a-file would achieve its desired objective.

"The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Intelpolis 1985" 183

I was surprised to hear that the position was widely considered to be completely drawn-in the demo-hall Hans Bouwmeester couldn't even understand why I played on. Ljubo, too, believed this to be the case. But I remembered a game of his where he had two bishops and three pawns against rook and three pawns. Then he thought it an easy win. However the pawn structure was h4, g3, f4 versus h5, g6, f5, and the solitary weakness on g6 proved insufficient to make progress. In the current posItIon the presence of two targets-f2 and d3 -makes it a trivial win. A brief analys.is over dinner was sufficient. September 6 The game was quickly concluded: 50 :b8+ lfi'a5 51 :b7 ~a4 52 :b8 ~a3 53 :b7 If White tries to defend on the 6th rank by 53 l:td8 ~b2 54 :d6 ~c2 55 :c6+ .i.c3 56 :d6 then 56 ... g5! is absolute zugzwang. If 57 11d5 or 57 Ad8, 57 ....i.d4 and the d-pawn goes. 53 ....i.e6! 54 :g7 On 54 11b8 comes 54 ... ~d5-f3 (then ....i.c3 if necessary )-d I-b3 and ~b2-c2 as in the last note. 54 ....i.d5 55 11xg6 .i.t3+ 56 ~f1 ~b2

The black king marches remorselessly across the board. 57 Aa6 ~c2 58 :e6 d2 59 11e8 ~e2+ 60 ~g2lfi'el 61 Af8 .i.n+ All that remains is to avoid the Slalemate tricks.

62 lfi'gl .i.xd3 63 :17 .i.e4 64

~h2~n!

Not 64 ... .i.xf2 651bf2. 65 111'8 i..f3 White resigned. At the end of the first session someone had asked Ljubo how it felt playing against a prostrate opponent. He replied that it was a little off putting for the first few minutes, but after that he hardly noticed. September 7 The only official rest day. But not for me, as I had to play my postponed game with Polu. As it happened Polu was the one remaining player in the tournament I had never beaten. But he was having a terrible tournament. I toyed with the idea of a short draw. Two things dissuaded me. The first was my win the previous day. The second was the realisation that a win would bring me right back from the depths of despair to actually share the tournament lead. Gradually it dawned on me that I could still win this tournament. There are few things that motivate me more than a challenge, but there is one, and that is an impossible challenge. From this moment on I needed no further incentive. I felt utterly determined. The impossible challenge was clear: to win Interpolis despite being a virtual cripple. September 8 (Miles again defeated Korclllloi after the latter blundered badly in time trouble.)

184 "The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg Interpolis 1985"

September 9 After breakfast I happened to meet Korchnoi. He had seemed a little upset at the end of our game, so I asked if he had found playing against me in such a fashion disturbing. He replied that he had, because he had the feeling he was playing a handicapped person. My response was that he was playing a handicapped person, but physically handicapped, not mentally. At that time I had no idea of the troubles that were brewing. As it happened I had run out of the painkillers I had been taking, so naturally I had asked for a fresh supply. I was assured they would be delivered to the hotel that morning. Then, without any explanation, I was asked to come early to the next round to see the doctor. I assumed that this was just to be a routine check before replenishing my supply. On my arrival at the Interpolis building I was ushered into Jan Rennings' office where I was surprised to find all the tournament officials and someone who was introduced to me as the 'official' tournament doctor, though I had had no meeting with him before. At first it seemed like some sort of board meeting until the doctor began to examine me in none-too-gentle fashion. At one point he suddenly and without warning applied considerable pressure to the side of my back known to be causing most pain. I was stunned. 'Did that hurtT, he enquired. I narrowly resisted the temptation to knee him in the groin and ask the same question. Here I at last came to my senses and asked what the hell was

going on. It was explained to me that there had been some unofficial complaints about my massage table. Apparently I moved my legs occasionally and someone didn't like it. I promised to try not to let it happen again (It's not easy lying on your stomach for hours on end without moving your legs, try it some time). 'But couldn't you try sitting normally again just for one day? To see if you can?' My reply was simple and forthright: 'I already did try sitting normally for four days and my condition has not improved sufficiently for me to repeat the test. I accept that you have a perfectly reasonable right to insist that I play from a normal chair, but if you do so I am afraid I will have no alternative but to withdraw from the tournament.' I later asked that, if any such meetings should prove necessary again, they should be held in the evening and not half an hour before play. During my Round Nine game against Timman I still felt somewhat angry at the pre-game proceedings. 86

A.J.Miles White J.Timman Black Round Nine, Tilburg 1985

"The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Illterpolis 1985" J85

38 c6! bxc6 39 ~c2 ltc8 40 ltcS? A final time trouble error. Just 40 ~b3 c5 41 ~c4 must win easily. White continues with a6 and ~b5. The black b-pawn can always be stopped by the white rook. 40...~e6 41 ~b3 (sealed) Here the game was adjourned for two days. The general opinion, shared by Timman and his Candidates second Hort, was that ltc5? had thrown it all away, and that the position was now an easy draw. My investigations suggested otherwise. At the adjournment I asked Jan, thinking of the pre-game meeting, if he had been disturbed by me. With characteristic good humour and honesty he replied. "No. Frankly I was much more concerned by my position.' Play continued: 41...~d6 42ltgS! Naturally this was not my intention when playing either 40 :c5 or 41 ~b3, but there's no rule against changing plans. On 42 ~xb4 ltb8+ 43 ~c4 ltb2 44 ~xd4 :Xf2 is a likely draw. According to Timman the best is 45 f5 gxf5 46 a6, but he had found a precise defence. I quickly concluded that the threat of f5 gave Black more trouble. 42 ... cS The only move. On 42 ... lta8 43 ~b4 gains a decisive tempo on the previous move note: 43 ... ltb8+ 44 ~c4 ltb2 45 a6! (since there is no threat of ... ltc2) 45 ... lta2 46 f5 and White will emerge with two safe extra pawns. 43 fS f6!?

A typically tricky Timman try. The alternative 43 ... gxf5 also requires surprisingly accurate though less complex play. My main line ran: 44 ltxf5 lta8 45 a6 ~e6 46 1::txc5 ltxa6 47 ~xb4lta2 48ltxh5! ltxf2 49 ~c4 and now: 49 ... ltg2 50 ltg5 f6 51 ltg8 ~e5 52 h5! and if 52 ... ltc2+ 53 ~b5 (heading for d7) 53 ... lth2 54 lth8! and White wins. 49 ... f6 50 lth8 with similar play. 44ltxg6 ~eS Timman's original intention was 44 ... lta8 but at the board he realised that 45 ltxf6+ ~e5 46 l:Ib6ltxa5 47 f6 lta3+ 48 ~c4 ltc3+ 49 ~b5 ltxd3 50 f4+! (the move he had missed) and 51 f7 queens. Even so, maybe 47 ... ~d5 was worth a try. 4Sltg7lta8 46 ~a4 c4! A good attempt to stir up complications. I must admit I had underestimated it. 47 dxc4ltd8 48lte7+ ~d6 If 48 ... ~xf5 49 f3! shuts the black king out completely. 49 l:Ie2 ~cS SO ~b3 d3 SI ltd2 ltd7!

When Jan played this I thought it was a brilliant defensive try, but

186 "The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg Interpolis 1985"

after the game he thought there must be something better. His main suggestion was 51 ... l:td4 but after 52 f3 the rook must retreat to allow 'It>d4-e3, but the two tempi lost mean that effectively things will go much as in the game. The main point of the text is that 52 a6? fails to 52 ... l:td6! 53 a7 !ta6 54 l:txd3 :a3+ 55 'It>b2 !txa7 and Black is back in business. The truth is, I believe, that White just has too many pawns in all lines. The following sequence is fairly forced. 52 g4! hxg4 53 h5 'It>d4 54 h6! g3! 55 fxg3 'it>e3 56 l:tdl 'It>e2 57 l:tal d2 58 'It>xb4 dl="i!i' 59 !txdl l:txdl 60 a6 :d8 61 a7 'It>d3 62 'It>b5 'It>d4 63 c5 'It>d5 64 'It>b6 !ta8 Here the game was adjourned again, I sealed openly 65 h7 and Timman resigned without resumption. September 10 I arrived at the tournament hall at about 12.50 to find my board, massage table and all had been transferred to a private room. I was informed that an official protest had been filed, signed by four of the players, and was asked if I objected to the move. I replied that I was quite happy to play anywhere that was wished. I did enquire about the contents of the protest and the signatories. Eventually I got to see a copy. It was handwritten by the Dutch journalist Jules Welling, directly copied from Korchnoi's original he explained, because his handwriting was better. The text was as follows: Sept. 10, 1985

Dear Sirs, The players (A) of the nineth Interpolis Tournament express their strong concern about the situation in the tournament. Grandmaster Miles. lying on a massage table, while playing his games, totally changes the view of the playing hall. Everyone who plays Mr.Miles or even watches him playing. experiences a rather unpleasant odd feeling: the psychological equilibrium of the players is out of balance. In a tournament of this standard all players should play under equal (B) conditions. We know, that Mr.Miles is able to sit in a chair as proved in a restaurant (C) as well on a number of other occasions(D). We apply to the organising committee with an urgent request to change this situation. Yours truthfully LjubojeviC Dzindzihashvili Korchnoi Hubner My comments on the protest: Notes: A) for 'The players' read 'Half the players' B) 'Equal conditions'. In my opinion asking me to play in severe pain while my opponents are in complete comfort does not strike me as 'equal conditions'. I would like to stress that the word used is 'equal', not 'identical'. It is clear that under the circumstances 'identical positions' would be impossible, but perhaps 'equal' if somewhat unbalanced conditions might be possible.

"The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg bIte/polis 1985" /87

In retrospect maybe Dzindzihashvili came closest to achieving equal conditions by effectively handicapping himself in a similar manner to me. C) Certainly I sat on a chair to eat dinner in the evenings. The hotel did not have room service. I sat in the restaurant, in some pain, but I did not consider it necessary to try to prove this to my colleagues. Naively I thought they might trust my integrity. D) I can recall no other occasions. Specifically I never even sat to eat breakfast. I ate it standing or walking as this was less stressful. By one o'clock Romanishin had still not arrived. The arbiter asked if I had any objections to the clocks not being started. Naturally I had none. At 1.05 Romanishin arrived and was ushered into Jan Rennings' office. To pass the time I obtained and read a copy of the protest. After about a quarter of an hour a flushed Jan Rennings emerged and went off in the direction of the tournament hall. As the door was left open and Oleg was sitting alone I took the opportunity to talk to him. Simply, and in my opinion quite reasonably, he had refused to play in a private room and objected to the fact that he had not even been consulted beforehand. We quite understood and were sympathetic to each others position. He, of course, was not one of the protesters. Only after the tournament did I learn that neither Soviet player had even been asked about their views. At the closing dinner Jan Timman told me that he had twice been approached by Korchnoi and Ljubojevic who tried to explain to him that he was

being distracted by me without his realising it! After a while Jan Rennings returned and suggested that our game be postponed. Oleg objected and I supported him. Having read the protest carefully since my opponent was not one of the protesters the only objection I could see on that day was the actual sight of me. I suggested this might be remedied by placing a screen in front of the dreaded massage table so that only my opponent would face the terrifying prospect of having to look at me. This was rejected as impractical/ unreasonable. The protesters were hurriedly consulted. Ljubo, I am reliably assured, said that wording was not what he had meant at all, and it was far from clear that anyone had any objection to my presence except when playing me. All games were duly suspended while board, set, massage table and all were rapidly returned to their usual place. The games eventually started 45 minutes late. At 6.30 an extraordinary meeting commenced. The official report reads: On Monday September 2nd Miles requested the arbiters to postpone his game against Polugaevsky, which had been planned on Sept 3 (sixth round), because of his back problems. He pointed out an article of the tournament regulations which makes such a postponement possible. After taking one of the tournament doctor's advice it has been decided to fulfill this request. It was decided that the game would be played on Sept 3 or 4 depending

188 "The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg Interpolis 1985 "

on the fact whether Miles or Polugaevsky would have an adjourned game. On Sept 5 Miles played Ljubojevic on a research table, which e.g. is used by doctors. None of the players protested against this. For information: I. The regulations don't prescribe in any way in which posture a game has to be played, but the player's attitude mustn't be a disturbing one. 2. The tournament doctors, including a specialist, had the opinion, independent of each other, that to play chess sitting would be a very painful posture for Miles. On Sept 8 and 9 Miles played Korchnoi and Timman respectively on the research table. On Sept 10 (approx. 11.20) a protest was lodged by Korchnoi, also on behalf of Dzindihashvili, Hubner and Ljubojevic in Hotel Bosrand. The protest stated that everybody who plays Miles or even looks at him while he is playing, is getting an unpleasant feeling: it throws off the psychological balance. By handing over the protest Korchnoi requested to settle the case before 12 p.m. The Russian Grandmasters Polugaevsky and Romanishin didn't know about the contents, while Timman distanced himself from the protest. The tournament committee and the arbiters had a meeting in the Interpolis building at noon. I. The game Romanishin-Miles, Miles playing on his research table, was to be played in a different room, in order to comply with the objections of the protesting players,

that facing Miles, playing lying down, puts them out of balance. 2. If there would be any objections by Romanishin and/or Miles because of playing under the conditions of point I, the game would be postponed. 3. At 18.30 there was to be a meeting with all eight grandmasters, the tournament committee and the arbiters. At 12.50 p.m Miles arrived, who had no objection. At 13.02 p.m. Romanishin arrived, who refused to play under these circumstances. He demanded that his game be played in the playing-hall, alongside the other games. After that it was decided, to conform with point 2, to delay the game. Romanishin objected against this decision. Ljubo, who had heard about this delay, said that he wouldn't have any objection if the game Romanishin-Miles was played in the playing-hall. He didn't have the intention with the protest to stop Miles playing his games in the tournament hall. Also Hubner, Dzindzihashvili, and Korchnoi didn't have any objection that the game Romanishin-Miles would be played in the tournament hall. After that, the clocks were stopped. The old situation was restored. The game Romanishin-Miles started at 13.45p.m. The meeting of 18.30 was presided over by tournament manager J.Rennings and opened with the announcement that the problem was clear, but that the tournament committee and the arbiters didn't have a solution. Miles explained why he could only

"The Impossible ChalJenge, Tilbllrg Intelpolis 1985" 189

play lying down, and if this wouJdn't be allowed anymore he would have to withdraw. Some players refused to play Miles lying ~. Hubner would withdraw (if lie would be forced to) since he toew in advance that he couldn't play a game under these cin:umstances in a nonnal way. (Relevant in this case is, that the lDUrDament committee (B) and the arbiters have the opinion, that a-erything that's possible should be done, without hanning the .wvidual interest of the players, in erder that none of the players will leave the tournament prematurely). )tiles remarked, that it had been written in the protest letter, that he ... been seen sitting at several .a:asions. He asked which were the .c:QSions, apart from the restaurant Hotel Bosrand. He didn't get a reply. Korchnoi remarked, that different liods of tournaments exist: women lDUrDaments, tournaments for the Wiod, tournaments for the disabled CIt.. but here we are talking of a lDIImament of healthy players. TlIDDllln answered that in 'nonnal' aunaments blind people, disabled persons, women etc. are able to play. Hubner remarked that he was 1riIling to agree a draw prematurely (C). Miles accepted this proposal (0). Dzindzihashvili preferred to play standing up against Miles lying ~. Ljubojevic and Polugaevsky ~ to play against Miles lying ~ under conditions, which they would discuss personally with him (E). The audience agreed (F) with 6e solutions. Lastly it was agreed, that nobody • the audience would make .aouncements about what was said

in this meeting. Mr.Vael was delegated by the meeting to infonn the press (G), that every grandmaster who still had to play Miles, will make a personal agreement with him. G.Gijssen, arbiter C.Orbaan, arbiter 1.Rennings, chainnan Well, as players meetings go, that was certainly unique in my expenence. My observations on the official report: A) Then why the hell had he signed it? B) And myself, since you mention it. C) 'Prematurely'. To be specific: here and then. With no option on either side, even if my physical condition recovered sufficiently to allow a 'nonnal' game to recant. At first this might (and did to me) sound somewhat extreme, but on reflection it's not unreasonable. Otherwise I could theoretically at least wait and if the tournament situation demanded it claim I felt much better and wanted to play. The arbiters pointed out that in principle such an arrangement was completely irregular, but under the circumstances ... well, practical considerations seemed to override regularity. D) Reluctantly, and specifying that he did so solely because it was apparently the only way to avoid a withdrawal. (By a curious coincidence ten years earlier at Teesside 1975 Hubner had forfeited against me in the last round. The

190 "The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Illlerpolis 1985 ..

reason was that in his official invitation, months before the event. the timetable gave the last round as starting at the same time as the others. At the start of the tournament he was given a program which gave the last round as starting, in obscene British tradition. at 9 a.m. He flatly refused to play. Thus I had no doubts about his sincerity in this case. E) Specifically Polu asked that I play from a separate table, coming to the official board only to make my moves, but in the case of the last hour say. or time shortage my massage table could be brought to the official table. This I agreed to. As it happened on the night before our game he asked about my health, and then kindly offered to let me play under my 'normal' conditions I gratefully accepted. Ljubo agreed to play under m~ 'normal' conditions as it was 'for my health'. The night before that game he too had a change of mind. deciding to play himself from a separate table. 'Agreed', I think 'accepted' is the more appropriate word. 'That every ... him'. Read 'as little as possible'!

September 12 (In Round Eleven Miles drew wilh Dzilldzihashvili, who preferred not 10 sit at the board during play.) In the evening I spoke to Hubner and asked what he wanted to do about OUT 'game', whether he

wanted to play just one or two moves to make it clear the result was prearranged, or to trundle out the customary phoney dozen. He answered that he was quite content to play just two. The tournament organisers approached us in friendly fashion and asked if we could play a few more 1JlO\'es, for appearances. Still later I met Geurt Gijssen, the arbiter 'Please make the moves s.ensible' 'Of course', I replied. I told Hillmer of the latest request. 'Oh 00', he said 'it was always my intention that the moves should be utterly stupid'. 'Well, okay', I said I'll play S
September 13

87 AJ_\liles White R.Hiibner Bluck Round Twelve, Tilburg 1985

I d4 e5 I had had the slight fear that Robert might really do the job properly with I...f6 and .. g5. I had two ideas against this. The first was to avoid 2 ~4. The second, which I would probably have adopted, was to play 2 e4 g5 then pick up my queen slam it down on h5 and then 'j"adoube' it to g4. 2 dxeS '~n4 3 lLln 'iii' a4 4 lbc3 'ili'a5 5 e4 Drawn. 'Scandal' screamed certain factions of the press. 'Insult to the tournament' .

"The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Interpolis 1985" 191

The public at first seemed bemused, but soon understood. Hubner had made his protest, though what exactly it was directed against was not clear. I suppose in a way I had made my own protest too. I just wanted to be able to play normal chess, and in this case I was not permitted to. I visited the chiropractor again and returned to the tournament hall for a short time before going back to my hotel room. As it happened I shared the taxi to Oisterwijk with Hubner. We discussed the problem perfectly amicably. His viewpoint, protest or whatever was undoubtedly sincere. He genuinely found (or would have found) it deeply disturbing to play against someone in my condition. I posed a hypothetical question: It's unlikely, though quite possible that a severely disabled person will become a strong chess player, but it's quite feasible (especially with my driving) that a top grandmaster could be badly injured, say in a car crash, and be forced to play in some such unusual fashion. Should he be barred from playing? (A non-hypothetical instance also occurred to me. I know a spastic chess player in England. His chess is of club player standard, but he is completely physically uncoordinated and can move the pieces only with his mouth. Chess is the great joy in his life. Wouldn't it be inhuman to ban him?) Robert's reply was straightforward. If such a player was to participate in a tournament, others should be informed in advance. He, then, would refuse the invitation.

September 14 That evening I received a phone call from the German player and journalist Jakoby, a good friend of Hubner (though I intend no improper inference in this Observation). He wanted an interview for Der Spiegel that night. 'Well', I explained 'I'm sorry, but I don't give interviews in the middle of tournaments. I'd be delighted to at the end.' 'But I have to return to Germany tomorrow.' 'But there are things I've promised not to discuss. I probably couldn't answer most of your questions anyway. After the tournament would be much better'. 'Well, if there are any questions you can't answer we'll leave those and I'll phone you after the tournament.' Eventually I agreed. Why? Well, with all the pressure and hostility I had experienced in the preceding days I really felt the need to justify myself. As far as possible I had remained silent throughout all arguments, and acceded to very request bar one-that I could. But there is a limit to how long one can go on without defending oneself, and I finally succumbed. As for the interview, it started with the sort of question (,Where were you born?') to which the interviewer knew the answer perfectly well already, and progressed to certain things which were frankly none of Herr Jakoby, Der Spiegel, or anybody else's bloody business. I felt after an hour or so somewhat upset and not a little angry.

192 "The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Interpolis J 985 ..

September 15 Round 13 (or was it Friday I3 'h postponed?)

(Miles lost badly to Polugayevsky in Round Thirteell) To make matters worse Dzindzi had blundered against Hubner and Ljubojevic had slaughtered Timman. As I left the tournament hall dejectedly, Michael Stean, who had just arrived to visit the tournament for a few days, told me that Korchnoi was losing to Romanishin. I was shattered, depressed, mentally and physically, exhausted. In one stupid tired game I had blown the whole tournament-not just the tournament, the fighting perfonnance of my life, the again impossible chaIlenge. Psychologically I was broken. The last round would start with Hubner and myself on 71/2 and Ljubo and Romanishin 7, with the last round pairings Romanishin versus Hubner and Miles versus Ljubojevic. A nerve-breaker if ever there was one. Suddenly the news came that Korchnoi had turned the position round in time trouble and won. Quickly I recalculated. Assuming Korchnoi drew his unfinished game with Polu, and this was something I always had forbodings about-I've seen Viktor scrape points from too many 'dead drawn' positions-it would be Hubner and myself 71/2 Ljubojevic and Korchnoi 7. Korchnoi had Black against Timman in the last round. That, at least, wouldn't be easy for him. My morale was about as low as it could go. I tried to rationalise my

way back to life. 1 had White. Ljubo is a player I usually score well against. A draw might well be sufficient, almost certainly in fact (I would now settle for sharing first place) Hubner had Black against Romanishin. He hadn't won a game with Black in the entire tournament. He'd draw. Or maybe even Oleg the fighter would do him over. My holding Ljubo would keep him out of it. Korchnoi, weIl you can never write him off, but in a one-off situation to win against Timman with Black is a stiff task. And even then he would only catch, not overtake me. On the other hand if I lost... No, don't even think about it.

September 16 The last adjournment day. In the afternoon I was (as usual) lying on my hotel bed. I recognized voices in the corridor outside. Michael Stean was talking to Viktor. 'I must be your lucky mascot I heard him say. My heart sank. I knew there was no need to make the journey to the door to check, but I did. Polu had blundered incredibly and lost. So now it was Hubner, Korchnoi and myself 71/2, Ljubo 7. I had mentally prepared for this eventuality and concluded that it was the one circumstance where I should really try to beat Ljubo. There was now too much risk of one of the other results going wrong. Five years before I wrote 'If there's one thing about tournaments 1 like, it's winning. Second I hate'. It still applies. I tried to rationalise again. There were still two factors in my favour.

No wonder the knight became Tony's favourite chess piece!

Miles v Kostro. Dubna 1976: the win that made Tony the first English Grandmaster.

\11UIIII

The hardened tournament campaigner, here playing former World Championship candidate Bent Larsen in the Clarin Tournament, Buenos Aires 1979.

The sensational win against Karpov WIth I.. .a6 in the 1980 European Team Championship.

Equal first at the Phillips and Drew Tournament in London (from left to right): Nigel Shan, Michael Stean. Viktor ~oi. Jan Timman, Vlf Andersson, Ljubomir Ljubojevic, Toov Miles and his wife Jana. Jonathan Speelman, Harry GoIombek. Florin Gheorghiu, Frank Leonard (Phillips & I)mr.). Stewart Reuben (organiser) and his mother.

l'a:mer World Champion Vassily Smyslov presents Tony with his fiI5l prize at Cappelle la Grande in 1994.

Tony at Wijk aan Zee 1987.

"The Impossible Chullenge. Tilburg Intefpolis 1985" 193

Firstly I had White, and my rivals all Black. Secondly Ljubo clearly had to go all out to win. He had nothing to lose. The fifth place player was lost in the distance. Surely I could use this factor. But a loss '" no. I was sharing the lead. I had White against Ljubo - probably my favourite opponent of the tournament to come. Things weren't so bad. If I'd been asked three weeks before if I'd accept this situation, I'd have jumped at it. Gradually my self belief began to grow again. More rationalisation. A draw was not so bad. It would probably share first. But Ljubo would have to go all out to win. I briefly toyed with the idea of offering an obscenely early draw to really put all the pressure on him. Anyway I decided on the opening. A quiet ultra-solid Reti-English giving Black as little active playas possible. Nothing messy. Keep it simple and stifle him. He'd have to stir up trouble himself, and then I'd go for him.

3 e4 d6 4 d4 i.g4 It was clear that Ljubo was adlibbing. 5 dxcS Avoiding the tension of a Benoni (5 d5). 5... dxcS If 5 ... .i.xf3 6 'Wxf3 dxc5 7 'Wc3! is embarrassing. 6 'Wxd8+ 'it>xd8 7 lLleS i.e6 8 ltJc3 .tg7 9 i.f4 By now I was very content with my position. I noticed, though, that Timman had played a gambit line which I knew to be dubious. It looked like all the games would be real fights. 9... g5 Another surprise. I don't believe that the weakening of the kingside can be justified. 10 0-0-0+ ~c8 11 i.g3 tLlf6

September 17 88 A.J.Miles White L.Ljubojevic Black Round Fourteen, Tilburg 1985 English Opening

1 tLlf3 cS 2 c4 g6 A slight surprise. The Black side of a Maroczy bind is not the easiest 6ing in the world to win. I noticed *at Romanishin had opened I e4. It worried me a little. He always !ICCIJlS a better player with other ..,mings.

12 i.e2 Naturally I spent some time considering 12 tLld5. I rejected it for two reasons: Firstly I could see nothing more than a draw after 12 ... tLlxe4 13 tLlxe7+ ~c7 14 tLld5+ ~c8. For instance 14 tLlxf7+ tLlxg3 15 tLlxg5 tLlxh I 16 tLlxe6+ and tLlxg7 would be good but 15 ...i.h6 wrecks it. The second was the

194 "The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Illtelpolis 1985"

simple 12 ... Ae8. The e-pawn hangs and I saw no good continuation. 12 ..• h5 Yet another sl ight surprise, but this one I understood. On the obvious 12 ... lLlfd7 13 lLlxd7 ~xd7 14 lLld5 lLlc6 15 ~h5! is extremely unpleasant. 13 h4 g4 14 f4? Natural enough, but as I played it, suddenly realized that 14 Ad3! might be murderous. The point is that 14 ... lLlfd7 15 lLlxd7 ~xd7 16 lLld5 lLlc6 17 Aa3! with the threat of lLlb6+ wins on the spot. Probably Black must try 15 ... lLlxd7 16 lLld5 ~xd5 17 exd5 but his position is miserable. 14 ...lLlfd7 This too I had not expected, thinking that the preliminary 14 ... gxO 15 gxO was necessary. The surprise was not entirely unpleasant as after 15lLlxd7 ~xd7 16 e5 the position is clarified. The bad bishop on e2 will be good on e4, and White has a pleasant space advantage. Even better, Black has zero counterplay. His mild grip on the d4 square can easily be challenged and the bishop on g7 is shut out. 16...lLlc6 17 ~d3 lLld4 18 Ahel ~c6

The attempt to free the kings ide by 18 ... f6 runs into 19 e6 (19 ... lLlxe6 20 lLld5, or 19 ... ~xe6 20 l:1xe6lLlxe6 21 ~f5). 19 ~e4 Simple stuff-the idea IS Just to leave Black with the cripple on g7. 19 ... ~h6 Better is 19 ... ~xe4 20 lLlxe4 b6 when 21 b4 is met by 21...lLlf5 22

bxc5 ~h6! but 21 ~f2 shifts the knight and preserves a handy plus. 20 ~xc6 bxc6 Consistent, but such structural weaknesses can hardly be justified White now calmly sets aboUl removing the one good black piece from d4. The first step is Ieoverprotect f4 and regroup the ~(g3).

21 Ae4! lLlf5 22lLle2 e6

This seemed a sure sign that I

W3..>

winning-~f2 will win somethinf

and Black's position remains a wreck. The minimal counterplay or: the g-file was, I calculated, nothinf important. 23 ~f2 g3 The only pretence to activity. El~ White plays g3. 24 lLlxg3 lLlxg3 I expected 24 ... l2Jxh4, but "'\, lLlxh5 is winning. 25 ~xg3 l:1g8 26 Ad3
The last target is h4, but that lex can be protected. 30 l:1el ~e7 31Ahl

"The Impossible Challenge. Tilburg Intelpolis 1985" 195

Black has totally run out of moves. White will quietly untangle with :h3, :d2, 'iPf3, ~el and g3. 31 ... a5 Senseless, but avoiding 31 ... f6 because of 32 f5. After 31 ... 'iPc8 32 :h3 f6 White can just play 33 :e3 and if 33 ... fxe5 34 :xe5 :xg3 35 :xg3 ~xh4 36 :eg5 with a winning ending. 32 l:th3 ~c8 33 ~O .id8 In time trouble Black can find no plan. 34 a4 Fixing yet another weakness. 34 ... ~e7 35 :d2 White's preparations for ~el and g3 are complete so Black lashes out. 35 ... f6 36 exf6 ~f8 If 36... ~xf6 37 :d6 picks up the e-and the h-pawns. 37 l:te2 ~d6 38 :xe6 'it1d7 39 :f8 40 ~h2 Now White must take the scenic I route but with two pawns more there are no problems. 40 ..Jhf6 I now sealed 41 :e4, and briefly surveyed the room. Korchnoi and Hubner had also both adjourned, also both apparently winning, though I was informed that in fact

:e3

Korchnoi stood worse. I decided to concentrate on my own game. There was a two hour break. 41 :e4 :f8 42 b3 First tidying the queenside. If 42 ... :b8 43 'iPf2. The only forcing try is 42 ... :fg8 43 :g3 :b8 but I had analysed 44 :xg4 :xb3+ 45 :e3 hxg4+ 46 'iPe4 :b4 47 'iPf5 :xc4 48 h5 as an easy win. 42 ...:f6 43 g3 :f8 44 'iPf2 White only has to avoid ... ~xf4. 44 ...:b8 45 :e3 :bg8 46 :0 'iPe6 47 ~gl :4g7 48 :hl 'iPf5 49 'iPg2 :e8 50 ~f2 :b7 51 :el

If the rook moves 52 ~xc5 wins everything. Black might well be forgiven for resigning here-Ljubo decides to continue his •protest' . 5t. .. :xel 52 ~xel :a7 53 :d3 ~e7 54 'iP0 ~f6 55 ~f2 ~e7 56 ~e3 :b7 57 ~d2 :a7 58 ~c3 :a8 59 :d7 ~e6 60 :b7 :e8 61 ~xa5 ~f6 62 .ib6 ~d4 63 :h7 ~f6 64 :xhS :e3+ 65 'it1g4 :xb3 66 ~xcS ~c3

Did you ever see Monty Python and the Holy Grail? The scene with the man trying to continue a fight after his arms and legs have been chopped off. Ljubo fights on with his false teeth.

196 "The Impossible Challenge, Tilburg Inlelpolis 1985" 67 l:th6+ ~ti 68 'it>f5 ~d2 69 l:t(6+ 'lPg7 70 ~d4 'it>g8 71 l:td6 Black resigned. Korchnoi had won and Hiibner was just finishing too. I climbed from my massage table for the last time, the sense of relief was overwhelming. I was congratulated by all and sundry. I noticed the handshakes. Some were perfunctory and formal, a few a little reluctant and begrudged, but most came with enormous warmth and sincerity. I made for Jan Renning's office. His bar is always well stocked. September 18 I woke up with raging tonsilitis. Postcript A) Medical The diligent reader will have noticed that at no point in this article have I actually explained what was wrong with my back. The reason is that I had no idea and none of the doctors told me. After the tournament a specialist informed me that it was 'lumbago due to a prolapsed disc'. B) Personal 'Generally speaking there are nothing but good relations between top players' -Jan Timman in the issue of New in Chess that came out during the tournament! Well, it's true, still! In all professional sports nerves can get frayed in the heat of battle, and players can become less than rational. I recall remarking at one

time that it didn't seem like a chess tournament anymore, more like war. And that wasn't in reference solely to the players. One could sense journalists and others beginning to take sides, looking the other way as I came into a room and the like. As for the protesters, well Hiibner's viewpoint I understand easily. He is exceptionally sensitive to surroundings. Dzinzi's, rightly or wrongly I can only take as a joke. With Korchnoi and Ljubo it's more difficult. As I understand it their rationale went: At first, I had a back problem. Then I won a game or two lying down. The back recovered but I saw the massage table as a great psychological weapon to disturb them, and so continued to 'fake' the injury. The opinions of the three doctors, one physiotherapist and one chiropractor they neglected. I must say that I would never sign such a protest myself, and bitterly resented the wording. Were the players really disturbed? Well frankly I find it hard to believe that by merely lying down I could demolish some of the best players in the world. When one starts playing one is aware of the opponent, but once the game gets underway only the pieces are seen. Korchnoi's fighting SpIrIt is renowned. One has only to consider his three final wins. But from many a World Championship and Candidates match it is also clear that it can extend beyond the chess board. I don't regard it as malicious, merely a part of his personality that is necessary to sustain his over the board aggression. Ljubo, I believe was disturbed, not by me though, but by himself. His anti-massage table ploy of

"The Impossible Challe"ge. Tilburg iIltelpolis 1985" 197

playing from a separate board in my opinion only handicapped himself. Even at the closing dinner he was clearly bitter. From a nearby table he called across acidly 'Ah Doctor Miles (I'm not but it's his customary form of address) 'I see you are very happy. Probably you are the most happily sitting person here'. If anything really hurt me, it was that comment. But two days later as I drove (Yes, I know driving requires sitting. It's an unfortunate necessity. As it happens my car seats have a particularly good shape for supporting the back!) away he smiled and waved goodbye cheerfully. (Maybe he was just glad to see the back of me?! Ooh, sorry). So it is. Chess is a competitive sport and such things happen occasionally. I bear no animosity, and expect none. The next tournament will be back to normal.

Generally speaking there are nothing but good relations between top players. Lastly I would like to thank Messrs. Polugaevsky, Romanishin and Timman for their behaviour and understanding. Particularly Polu. Temperamentally if anyone was likely to be disturbed by me, it was him, yet he made no complaint. If I had to lose a game in the closing stages-and that was certainly not my intention-I find it quite appropriate that he should be the beneficiary . Final Placings (Tilburg 1985) Miles, Hiibner, Korchnoi 81hi14 Ljubojevic 7 Polugayevsky, Romanishin, Timman6 Dzindzihashvili Sin

10: "I get bored with playing the same thing all the time"

M

iles's theoretical novelty 18 f4!! leads to a briIIiant attacking display.

89 A.J.Miles White A.Belyavsky Black Tilburg 1986 Nimzo-Illdian Defelice 1 d4 lbf6 2 c4 e6 3 lbo b6 4 lbc3 Ji.b4 5 Ji.gS Ji.b7 6 e3 h6 7 Ji.h4 gS 8 Ji.g3 lDe4 9 "-c2 d6 10 Ji.d3 Ji.xc3+ II bxc3 f5 12 d5 lbc5 13 h4 g4 14 lDd4 'Wf6 15 0-0 lDxd3 16 'Wxd3 e5 17lbxf5! ~c8

18 ...1Wxf5 18 ... Ji.xf5 19 e4 and fxe5 with a winning position. Interesting is 18 ... gxD!? with the alternatives: (a) 19 lDd4!? lba6 (19 ... exd4~ 20 l:txD and exd4 with a winning initiative; 19 ... Ji.g4!?) 20 l:txD 1Wg~ 21 Ji.xe5!? dxe5 22 lbe6 1Wg4 forced 23 l:tafl Ji.xe6! 24 dxe6 lbcs forced 25 1Wd5 1We4 Black wins. (b) 19l:txD! Ji.xf5 (19 ... lba6 20 ttJe7!! wins-if then 20 ...'Wxe7 21 1Wg6+, or 19 ... ttJd7 20 lbe7! 1Wxe-:" 21 'Wg6+ 'it'd8 22 ~f7 1We8 23 h5 threatening ~h4) 20 ~xf5 1Wg7 21 Ji.xe5! ! (N unn) 21...dxe5 22 d6' with a winning initiative: (b I) 22 ... l:tg8 23 1We4 wins; (b2) 22 ... c6 23 1We4 lbd7 24 1Wxc6 l::td8 25 l:tafI (25 1WdS) 25 ... l:tg8 26 1Wd5 1Wg6 27 l::tf6~ WInS;

18 f4!! 18 e4? Ji.xf5 19 f4 gxD! 201hD lbd7 21 lhf5 1Wg6 is uncJearBlack has strong counterplay along the g-file. 18 lbd4 was played previously, in Gligoric-Popovic, Yugoslav Ch 1986.

(b3) 22 ...lbd7 23 'Wd5 0-0-0 24 l:tf7 wins; (b4) 22 ... 'Wd7 23 l:txe5+ (23 1Wd5 ttJc6 transposes to see bS below) 23 .. .'~d8 24 ~dl wins-Van Mil, Grooten. 24 1Wg6 also wins; (b5) 22 ...lbc6! 23 'Wd5 1Wd7 24 l::txe5+! lbxe5 (24 ... ~d8 25 l::te6 wins) 25 1Wxe5+ 'it'f7 26 l:tfl + 'Otg8 27 l:tf6! wins-Nunn. 19 e4 'Wh5 19 ...1Wg6 20 fxe5 and either exd6 or e6 win.

"I get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 199

20 fxeS dxeS 21 cS! 'iPd8 21 ... ~a6 22 c4 intending 1:[f5 wins, or 2l...bxc5 22 'Wb5+ 'it>d8 forced (22 ... lLld7 23 'ifc6 and 1:[f5) 23 'ifxc5 lLld7 24 'ifc6 1:[b8 25 1:[f5 'ife8 26 ~xe5 winning, or in this line 22 d6 also wins, intending 23 dxc7, 23 d7, 23 'ifd5. 22 d6! 'ife8 22 ... c6 23 d7! intending 'ifd6 and 1:[f5. 23 dxc7+ 'it>xc7 24 'ifdS lLlc6 2S 1:[fi+ ~d7 26 1:[afl! White is winning. 26 .•. Ad8 27 1:[lf6

27 ••.'iPc8 28 exb6 axb6 29 'ifbS Black resigned. After 29 ... lLlb8 30 'ifxb6 wins, or 29 ... 'ifxf7 30 'ifa6+! 'it>c7 31 ~xe5+! lLlxe5 32 'ifa7+ 'it>c8 33 lhb6 White wins.

From Dreams To Nightmares Did you ever have one of those tournaments that went like a dream? And then suddenly you woke up and found it was a nightmare? Well, the World Open was like that for me:

90 A.J.Miles White M.Hennigan Black World Open, Philadelphia 1989 Pirc Defence This game was played in the second round. I vaguely knew my opponent, a young English player, but I guessed he had improved a little since I last saw him especially since he had defeated Soviet GM Mikhail Gurevich in the first round. I d4 g6 2 e4 ~g7 3 lLlo Though I actually knew nothing of Hennigan's preferred repertoire, the order of his first two moves suggests he might like to delay ... liJf6 in favor of a more "modem" approach. I decided to trysuccessfully as it turns out-to imitate him by delaying lLlc3 myself. 3... d6 4 ~e2 Here, Black sank into thought, which confirmed my intuition. Afterwards, he admitted his preference for an early ... c6 and ... b5, but, with no lLlc3, such an approach is unsuccessful. The white knight can happily come to d2. 4 ... lLlf6 With distinct reluctance. S lLlc3 0-0 6 0-0 e5 Black is not happy with the normal main lines, which I have played with both colours for more than 15 years. The text was originated by Korchnoi in the fateful and fatal last game of his match with Karpov in Baguio in 1978. At the time I had an idea I wanted to try against it, though I never had the chance to use it-until this game. 7 dXeS dxeS

200 HI get bored with playing the same thing all the time ..

S i.e3 Amazingly, this is an innovation. Several games have continued 8 'ilfxd8 lIxd8 9 i.e3 b6 10 Afd I lLlc6, which gives White nothing. My idea is that by omitting the exchange of queens, White can either gain a tempo (8 ...'ilfxdl) or embarrass the black queen. S... b6 9 "'cl The point. After a subsequent lId 1, the black queen will have no comfortable post, whereas after, say, a subsequent i.h6, the white queen is quite well placed. 9 ...i.b7 10 lId I 'ilfcs Forced. At this point I tried to remember my 11-year-old analysis and failed. The continuation II e5 lLlg4 12 i.g5 lLlc6 13 lLld5 lIe8 14 i.bS lLlgxeS IS lLlxeS i.xeS 16 i.xc6 'ii'xc6 17 lLlxe7+ lIxe7 18 i.xe7 'ilfxg2 mate didn't seem too promising, so I decided on lLldS, though I admit my enthusiasm for the "new" idea was waning. II lLldS l:leS Perfectly good, though after the immediate ll...lLlxdS 12 exdS lLld7, White doesn't have much. 12 i.f4 If 13 i.bS then 13 ... i.c6 is fine, so I tried to cause a little embarrassment with the text.

12 ...eS? With success! The line 12 ... lLlxd5 13 exd5 lLld7 was mandatory, after which, again, White wouldn't have much. 13lLlxf6+! The simple refutation. Not. though, 13 i.xe5 lLlxdS 14 i.xg7 xg7 15 exdS lIxe2, losing a piece. 13 ...i.xf6 14 i.h6 Natural and strong, though after I played it I began to wonder if 14 :tg5 might not be even better: 14 ... i.xgS 15 'iIf xg5 ! (this I had initially neglected) IS ... i.xe4? 16 lLlxeS and the simple threat of lLlg4 puts the Black position on the critical list. Also unpleasant is 14 ... .tg7 1.5 lLld2, heading for d6. Nor IS 14 ....txg5 IS "'xgS lLld7 very enticing, as 'ifh6 and lId6 hang in the air. 14....txe4 Brave, but since lLlg5 and .tc4 are coming anyway, I suppose he may as well have a pawn for his trouble. lSlLlgS i.b7? At the time, I didn't think it would make much difference what Black played, but it turns out that there is one defensive try. Let's look at two lemons first. The line IS ... .txgS is probably as bad as it looks: 16 'ilt'xgS (l6 ......c6? 17 i.bS! and .f6) 17 'i'h4, threatening i.g4. And if, say. 17 ... i.b7 then 18 .tg4 "'e4 19 f3 'ilfc6 20 lId8 and then either (a) 20 ... lLla6 21 i.d7 or (b) 20 ... f5 21 'ilfe7 mating. Second, I S... i.fS looks miserable after 16 i.c4 when White has the extra option ofa timely .tdS. However, \5 ... i.c6 is worth a try. Then 16 i.c4 i.xgS! (I6 ...lIe7 17

"'f5

"[ get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 201

:Id6 is horrible for Black: if then 17 ...liJd7 [17 ... i.g7 18 i.xg7
91 A.J.Miles White Y.Grunfeld Black World Open, Philadelphia 1989 English Opening 1 c4 liJf6 2 liJc3 e6 3 e4 A spur of the moment choice rather than preparation. I used to play this a lot ten years ago, but it got just about played out until Kasparov added his weight to the White side last year. 3 ... cS 4 eS liJgS S ltJO Less creative players tend to prefer the move 5 d4 . S...liJc6 6 d4 cxd4 7 ltJxd4 liJxeS SliJdbS r6 I vaguely remembered that 8... a6 is supposed to be more accurate, but I couldn't remember why. So ... 9 i.e3 a6 10 liJd6+ i.xd6 11 iVxd6liJe7 12 i.b61tJrs

IS iVe7!! Splat. Unfortunately for Black, the i.b7 hangs. The conclusion is forced. IS••.i.c6 19 l:ldS liJa6 20 :IuS :IxaS 21 l:ldl! Black resigned. There is no defence to :Id8.

13 iVcS! Kasparov's improvement on my older 13 i.xd8 liJxd6 14 i.c7 1;e7 15 c5 liJe8 16 i.b6 with which I beat L.Bronstein, drew consecutively with Polugaevsky, Hubner, and Karpov, then claimed a three-fold repetition and gave the line up. Keeping queens on, despite being

202 "I get bored with playing the same thing all the time"

costly in the time department, maintains a healthy initiative for the pawn. 13 ...'ilfe7 14 'ilfaS hS? I suspect this move will not be nominated for the TN of the Year award. Black wishes to maintain his knights on their attractive posts, but in doing so destroys the kingside as a haven for his king. IS 0-0-0 At first I felt a slight temptation to play .i.e2, just irritate the h-pawn, but on balance it seemed better to let Black continue his plan -whatever it might be-without disturbance. IS ...~fi Yeeuch! Really, ... d6 was mandatory. 16 c5! The exclam is solely for effect rather than depth or brilIiance of play. With d6 nailed-16 ... d6 17 cxd6 tUxd6 18 .i.cs wins-Black doesn't have a queenside. 16...tUc6 17'ilfa3'ilfe8 18tUe4 18 tUbS would force ... axbS, but who wants to win that thing on a8? 18... dS Forced. If Black allows tUd6(+), he is for alI intents and purposes two pieces down. 19 cxd6tUeS Threatening ...'ilfc6+. 20 tUc3! The knight has done its job. Now it gets out of the way in preparation for '5'b3, f4, .i.c4, llhe I, and the obliteration of e6. 20 ....i.d7 21 f4tUg4 22 .i.d3 Keeping the knights under control. Now if 22 ... tUge3 then 23 :d2 and 24 llel.

22 ...'ilfc8 23 .i.xfS The simple way. By capturing the knight, White ensures that its colleague can never join in the struggle. 23 ... exfS 24 lthe1 lle8 2S lle7+ ~g6

If 2S ... llxe7 then 26 dxe7 followed by penetration to d6 and d8. 26~bl

Quietly preparing to throw the knight into the fray with ltJdS. which wiII in tum open the whole third rank for the queen. 26...'ilfc6 27 h3 Forcing home the attack. Now 27 ...tUh6 28 ltJds threatens 'ilfg3,... Any attempt at counterplay by ...ltad8 may be snuffed out by .i.e7. Equally pitiful is 27 ... 'ilfxb6 28 hxg4, with the twin threats of llxd7 and gxhS +. 27 ...llxe7 28 dxe7 '~i'xb6 29 hxg4 .i.c6 30 gxf5+ So that if 30 .. .'~f7, 31 'ilfd6 will threaten both .d8 and 'ilfe6 mate. Thus the black king is fished out of his hole. 30...~xfS 31'ilfd6 The threat of .d8 is still a problem. 31 ... lte832tUdS'ilff2 What else? 33 tUc7'ilfxg2 Hoping for some counterplay for the exchange, but I'm still not interested in the rook. 34 'ilfcS+! ~xf4 The g-file is inaccessible, thanks to llgl. 3StUe6+

"[ get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 203

nothing. I played a solid Caro-Kann, and after 38 moves reached the following position for which I had more or less aimed, assessing it to be harmless. 92 A.Ivanov White A.J.Miles Black World Open, Philadelphia 1989

35...
Considering the white rook's immobility and Black's hold on the e-fiIe, I sensed no real danger. There followed: 39 g5 fxg5 If 39 ... lId7 40 gxh6 gxh6 41 lIdS! and f5 leaves the white h-pawn a winner. 40 fxg5 bxg5 41 :'xg5 Only now did I take a long look at the position and realize to my great shock that I was virtually helpless! Black has no plan, and the game continuation illustrates precisely the problems. 41. ..
204 "/ get bored with playing the same thing all the time"

43 ...lIeI 44 ltd6+ b7 45 lId7+ a 8 An unfortunate necessity, since going forward mates the monarch and ... c8 drops the b-pawn. Now, all White has to do is push his king toward c6. Black does his best to deter this. 46 lIn lIhI 47 lIf5 lIeI 48 lIf8+ b7 49 lIn+ a8 50 ltd7 lthl 51 ltd5 lIel 52 g4 Played with apparent reluctance, which gave me a slight hope. 52 ...lIbl What else? 53 i.e5 And this made me really {well, relatively} happy. I was terrified of 53 f5 lIxb3 54 'itre6. Ivanov rejected this because of 54 ... lt£3 and now 55 ltd8+ ~b7 56 l:.d7+ a8 57 lIn i.e3. I, too, was aware of this, but I had realized that after 58 1:.f8+ b7 59 i.d6, the bishop ending would be lost even with an extra pawn. I also realized that if I didn't go into this line, the white king would continue its trek. 53 ...lIxb3 Clearly the only chance. 54 i.xd4 The possibility of 54 i.xg7 was also giving me worries, though I was wondering if 54 ... i.e3 might survive {probably not, in retrospect} . 54 ... cxd4 55 lIxd4 Here, for the first time in 15 moves, I felt I would survive. However, now the problem was the sudden-death finish. Years of experience have taught me that one should not get stuck with one's king on the back rank in such positions. Hence I chose ...

55 ...b7? which costs a priceless tempo. Post mortem analysis suggested that 55 ...1Ib4 might hold: 56 'itrg5 lIxa4 57 g6 lIa I 58 xg7 lIg I +, etc. 56 lId7+ c6 57 lIxg7 ltc3 58 h6 ltxc4+ 59 g5 Only now did I realize that 59 ... lIcl is met by 60 ltg6+! and 61 h7. Black is dead. 59 ... l:tc5+ 60 ~g6 %tel 61 h7 %thl 62 lIn ltgl+ 63 'itrf6 lthl 64 g7 ltgI + 65 f8 lIh 1 66 g8 b5 67 lIf6+ c5 68 ltf5+ b4 69 axb5 lIgl+ 70 n lIhl 71 ~g6 a4 72 lIh5 lIgl+ 73 'itrh6 Black resigned. That finished around I :30 a.m. Fellow sufferers will understand that I didn't sleep too well that night. I got up in the morning rather dopey and was crushed in 25 moves by Lev Alburt. Ivanov took a half-point bye! (I confess it crossed my mind too, but it didn't really seem "right".) In the next two rounds, I failed to beat either GM Balinas or Richard Polaczek (in fairness to the latter, I should point out that he came closer to beating me than I him). In the last round, I was paired with White against Steve Odendahl-a compet-

"I get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 205

ent 1M, but not an opponent that Grandmaster technique couldn't handle. A win would still get into the prizes. Just look what happened: 93 A.J.Miles White S.Odendahl Black World Open, Philadelphia 1989 Queen's Gambit Declined I d4lLlr6 2 c4 e6 3 ltJf3 dS 4 ltJc3 i.e7 S'ilfc2 An irritating transpositional little move, championed mainly by Eingom and me. It has the merit of avoiding certain popular Black systems (5 i.g5 h6, for instance). S...cS After some thought. 6 dxcS ltJc6 7 e3 White could try for more with 7 cxd5 exd5 8 i.e3 or i.g5, but I was content with a pleasant edge. 7 ... i.xcS S a3 as 9 b3 0-0 10 i.b2 'ilfe7 11 ltJa4! If II i.d3 then 11 ... d4! solves Black's problems. 11... i.a7 12 i.d3 dxc4 13 bxc4! The structure with a white pawn on c4 and a black one on b7 favours White. 13... i.d7 14 J:dl eS IS ltJc3 tIacSI6 'ii'bl With the powerful threat of lLld5. 16...:reS I said "powerful." Didn't you hear me? 17iDdS Of course if White wants a safe edge, either 17 lLlg5 or 17 0-0 (17 ... e4 18 lLlxe4) would be fine, but doesn't this just win a pawn?

17... ltJxdS IS i.xh7+ If 18 cxd5 e4. IS ...WhS 19 cxdSltJd4! The first surprise. I expected 19 ... e4 when 20 d6! 'ilfe6 21 lLlg5 'ii'g4 22 h4 looked tremendous: 22 ... 'it'xg2 23 .i.xe4, or 22 ... f6 23 .i.xe4. or 22 ... f5 23 'ii'al! 20 j,d3 20 tLlxd4 exd4 21 i.xd4 i.xd4 22 :txd4 g6 is far from clear-in fact, it just looks bad, but surely there can be nothing wrong with the text (of course not 20 exd4 exd4+ 21 fl 'ii'e2+ 22 Wgi d3). 20 ... ltJxf3+ 21 gxf3 White has a healthy extra pawna big, fat passed d-pawn at that-a solid wall of pawns around his king, and no bad pieces. The rest is just a matter of technique, isn't it? 21 ...'ilfh4! 22 '1tte2 Obvious, forced, and therefore best.

22.. ..i.xe3!!! A thunderbolt. Obviously complete desperate nonsense; in the words of tennis star John McEnroe, "You cannot be serious." 23 fxe3 Less appealing is 23 ~xe3 'ii'f4+ 24 e2 e4!

206

"I get hored with playing the same thing all the time"

23 .•.e4! 24 .i.xe4 Of course I realized that a timelv .i.xg7+ would refute Black:s insanity. I considered tossing it in here, but concluded that after 24 .i.xg7+ ~xg7 25 .i.xe4 ~xe4 26 fxe4 .i.g4+ 27 'itrd3 .i.f3, things might not be as clear as I would like. Anyway, there's always time after 24 .. .l:he4. 24 ... .i.b5+! Around here I considered giving up hope in predicting my opponent's moves. Surely the try 24 .. .l:he4 was forced. 25.i.d3 Not 25 lId3 lIxe4! 26 fxe4 ·.·xe4 with something which passes for Black counterplay. 25 ..:ifg5 Crude and clearly woefully inadequate. 26.i.xg7+! At last the thematic counter clearly illustrates the superiority of White's play. Now 26 ... <:txg7 27 Rhgl or 26 ... 'ifxg7 27 .i.xb5 'ifg228 'itrd3 and Black is out of ammunition. 26 ...<:tg8! Comically, when considering this possibility some time in advance. both players had the hallucination that it was refuted by 27 .i.h7+!?an impossible move! 27 e4 And of course it's over: 27 ... 'ifg2+ 28 <:te3 'ifg5 + 29 f4 Resigns. Thanks for the game. Nice try, but you can't really expect such things to work in real life. So how much is the prize? 27 •• .l:txe4+

In writing this article, I tried in vain to find some Informator symbols to summarize this move. I believe the aforementioned ~1r.~1cEnroe had one or two handy epithets for such occasions, but I fear our esteemed editor might refrain from printing the more appropriate ones. 28 be4 'ii"g2+ 29 'itre3 'ifg5+ 30 tie2 "'g2+ 31 ~e3 'ifg5+ 32 <:tf3 'i1l5+ 33 ~f4 'ifh4+ 34 ~f5 'ifh5+ 35 tif" 'i'h4+ 36 'itrf3 'ifh3+ 37 tin "114+ 38 'itre3 Drawn by perpetual check.

* * * * The following game, a mating attack without queens, looks deceptively simple: 94 A.J.Miles White B.Lalic Black Seville 1993 Queen 's Indian Defence I d4 .!2lf6 2 lLlf3 e6 3 c4 b64 lLlc3 .ib7 5 a3 g6 6 g3 A new move. 6 ... d5 6 ... i.g7 is better. 7 cxd5 lLlxd5 8 lLlxd5 'ifxd5?! 8 ... .i.xd5 is better. when White keeps an edge. 9 .i.g2 c5 10 0-0 .i.g7 If IO ... cxd4 II lLlh4 'ifd7 12 .i.xb7 'ifxb7 13 'ifxd4 is strong. II dxc5! 'ifxd I II...'ifxc5

"I get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 207

12 .i.e3 with advantage. 12 ltxdl bxcS 13 .i.e3! It)a6 13 ... .i.xb2? 14 l:Iab I. Better is 13 ... lt)d7 though White has a clear advantage. 14 It)gS! .i.xg2 IS 'itrxg2 Threatening lId6. IS ...e7 16 It)e4! With the threats of lId6 and It)xc5. 16... .i.xb2 17 lIabl l:thb8 If 17 ... .i.xa3 then 18 lIa I wins a piece. 18 .i.f4!

White is winning. 18••• eS 18 ... ltb6 19 ltxb2 :'xb2 20 .i.d6+ e8 21 It)f6+ d8 22 .i.e5+ wins. 19 .i.gS+ fS 20 lId7! 20 ltd6, exploiting the position of the black knight, also wins. 20 ... ~g7 Forced. 21 .i.f6+ ~g8 22 It)gS lIb6 23 lIxfi Black resigned.

* * * * Knight manoeuvres lead to a beautiful display: 95 A.J.Miles White J.Nunn Black L10yds Bank, London 1993 King's Indian Defence 1 d4 It)f6 2 It)f3 g6 3 c3 .i.g7 4 .i.gS 0-0 S It)bd2 dS 6 e3 It)bd7 7 .i.e2 lIe8 8 0-0 eS 9 It)b3 A new move {?)-9 b4 is usual. 9... c6 9 ... e4 10 It)fd2 and c4 with an edge. 10 lIcl as 11 c4 a4 ll...exd4!?;

I 1.. .dxc4 12 .i.xc4 a4 13 It)bd2 exd4 and ... It)b6. 12 It)bd2 exd4 13 lLlxd4 'ilVaS 13 ... lt)e5!? 14 cxdS 'ifxdS IS .i.f4 White is slightly better. IS ...lt)eS 16 'ifc2 16 h3 is better. 16... .i.g4 17 .i.c4 'ilVaS 17 ... lt)xc4 18 It)xc4 with control of b6. 18 h3 i.d7 19 i.e2 Maintaining a small plus. 19 ...lIac8?! Planning ... b5 and ... c5. 20 lIfdl bS 21 lLl2f3! With a clear advantage.

21. .. lLlxf3+ 2l...lt)d5 22 .i.xe5 .i.xe5 23 It)xe5 ltxe5 White has pressure against c6, and a strong square at c5. 22 .i.xf3 It)dS 22 ... c5 23 .i.b7! cxd4 24 i.xc8 lIxc8 25 'ilVxc8+! .i.xc8 26 l:txc8+ .i.f8 27 .i.h6 It)d7 28 lIxd4 wins. 23 .i.d6 'ifb6 24 'ilVcS! 'ilVxcs 2S .i.xcs It)f6 26 .i.a3 The pressure against c6 gives White a decisive advantage. 26 ...l:b8 26 ... lLle4 27 .i.xe4 lIxe4 28 lLlxb5 wins. 27 .i.d6 ltb6 28 lLlxc6 .i.xc6 29 .i.xc6 ltc8 30 .i.b4 i.fS 30 ... lIbxc6 31 lIxc6 lIxc6 32 ltd8+ .i.f8 33 lIxf8+ <1;g7 34 l:tb8 wins. 31 .i.xfS xfS 32 i.f3 ltc4 33 <1;f1 e7 34 e 1 It)d7 3S .i.dS lIxcl 36 l:txcl b4 37 lIc7 d6 38 lIa7 lLleS 39 .i.xfi It)d3+ 40 d2 It)xfl 40 ... lt)xb2 41 c2 41 ltxa4 lLle4+ 42 e2 lIb7 43 lIa6+ cs 44 .i.b3 lId7 4S l:taS+ Black resigned.

208 "I get bored with playing the same tiling all the time ..

96 S.Atalik White A.J.Miles Black Heraklion 1993

King's Indian Defence 1 d4 iDf6 2 e4 g6 3 iDe3 ~g7 4 e4 d6 5 f3 0-0 6 ~e3 e5 I like this answer to the Samisch. It tries to prove that 5 f3 is simply a bad move weakening the dark squares and taking the iDgl's best square. Twelve years ago I heard that Fischer believed the Samisch to be the refutation of the King's Indian. 6 ... c5 had scarcely been tried then. 7iDge2 Of course 7 dxc5 is critical. whilst 7 d5 leads to a Modem Benoni where f3 is a bit early. but at the moment Black is doing alright in the theoretical argument. 7 ...iDe6 S 'ifd2 e6 A useful waiting move which fits in whether White chooses 9 d5 or 9 dxc5. 91Idl?! This I find fishy-9 0-0-0 is consistent and 9 d5 still sensible. Now how is White going to develop his kingside? 9 •.• b6 Finally protecting the c5 pawn. 10~g5

Not impressive, but neither is 10 ~f2 which I am told has been played by Gheorghiu here. 10... ~a6 Instead 10... h6 II ~xh6 iDxe4 12 iDxe4 'ifh4+ 13 g3 ti'xh6 14 ti'xh6 ~xh6 15 iDxd6 looked unclear. 11 d5

Perhaps a more realistic choice would have been II dxc5 dxc5 12 ·.f4 'W'b8 13 'ifxb8 lIaxb8 14 iDb5 and White might be able to equalise, which is a fair indication that his opening has not been a success. 11...~5 12 b3 Instead I:! dxe6 fxe6 13 ti'xd6 '''xd6 14 :Xd6ltJf7 15 ~xf6iDxd6 16 .i.e~ .!2Lxc4 is clearly good for Black. 12 ... b6 13 .i.e3 ~ow \3 .i..xh6 iDxe4 is obviously bad. 13._exd5 14 ltJxd5 ltJxd5 15 ~xd5 b5! Logically blasting open the position. 16 nb5 If 16 "6'xd6 'ifa5+ 17 ~d2 (\ 7 ~d.2 0.d3 mate) 17 ... b4! threatens .. '=fd8 and nails the white king in the c~ntre. 16.. ~xb5 17ltJcl ~e6 Again offering the d-pawn. IS-.cU If 18 'iixd6 "'a5.,. 19 ~d2 ti'a3 (19 .....b6 20 .i.e3) 20 ~e3 and now simply 20...:fd8 21 'ifxd8+ llxd8 22 :'xd8- ~h7 leaves the Black queen much more effective than the rooks. IS ... f5! 19 'ifxd6 ~ow there is no choice since 19 exfS is met by 19 .. ,~xf3. White hopes to make something out of the exposed black king. 19 ...'ifeS! A very effective square. 20 'ifxe5 What else? 20 ... fxe4 21 f4

"[ get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 209

21 ...lLld3+ The alternative was 21...lLlg4 with the idea of 22 .te2 :f5 23 'ifc4+ .td5! 24 :xd5 lLlxe3 winning the exchange. I reJected it because of 22 h3 23 "c4+ .td5 24 hxg4! .txc4 25 .txc4+ with excellent compensation for the queen. 22lLlxd3 In my opinion 22 .txd3 exd3 23 0-0 was a better try, though after 23 ... %:tf5 24 'WIVc4+ ~h7 25 :fe 1 .tb5 Black has more than enough compensation in the shape of his light square domination and big passed pawn. 22 ... exd3 23 ~f2 :c8 Completing mobilisation and threatening to penetrate to c2. 24 'ifc4+ ~h8 25 'ifxd3 More or less forced. Now the obvious 25 ... .te4 is met by 26 'ifd7! when 26 ...:c2+ 27 .te2 'WIVe5 28 :he 1 leaves Black with assorted draws ( ... .txg2, ...:xf4+) but no more. The curious point, though, is that White is virtually in zugzwang, which led me to the winning idea. 25 ... g5!!

:f5

Simply adding the options of ... 'WIVh5 and ... gxf4 to Black's armoury. Now ... .te4 is a real threat too. 26%1cl After much thought. The main point is that 26 ~e2 runs into 26 ... .txg2 27 ~xg2 :c3 and the white king is blown out of the water. Now White intends to meet 26 ... gxf4 with 27 .td4, so ... 26 ... %1d8 27 'WIVe2 gxf4 28 .tc5 f3 29 'WIVxe8 fxg2+! 30 ~xf8 Or 30 'ifxf8+ %:txf8+ 31 .txf8 gxh 1='WIV winning. 30 ... gxhl=lLl+ White resigned.

Since 31 Wg I .td4+ mates beautifully and otherwise ...:xe8+ mops up.

210 "I get bored with playing the same thing all the time"

Employing one of his all-time favourite lines, Miles gambles all on attack: 97 Z.Almasi White A.J.Miles Black Groningen 1994 Nim::ovich Defence 1 e4 lLle6 2 lLlo d6 3 d4 l!Jf6 4 lLlc3 ~g4 5 ~e2 e6 6 b3 ~ 7 cIS exdS 8 exdS ~xO 9 ~xO 0.e5 10 ~e2 ~e7 11 0-0 0-0 12 a4 .6 13 ~e3lLlfd7 14 as lLlg6 15:'" ~ 16 l:[a3 16 :b4 l:[b8 is equal. 16... ~gS!? l6 ... :e8 17 1>4 lDd7 or 17 'Wd2 give White an edge. 17 ~xeS! 17 ~xgS "xgS is equal. while 17 f4 ~f6 gives counterplay -e4 and e3 are weakened. 17_ dxcS 18 lLle4 ~e7 18 ...:e8 19 lLlxcS? 'We7; 19 ~f3. 19 l:[c3 19 ... b6 20 axb6 cxb6 21 d6 is 200d for White. 20 ~3 20 lLlxc5? .ixc5 21 l:[xc5 'We7 wins. 20... ~d6 21 lLlxeS 'Wh4 With counterplay. 22 lLlxb7 22 lLld3 22 ... ~e5 23 :b3 lLlf4 Threatening ...lLlxh3+ winning. 24 g3! 24 l:[e 1 ~d4! 25 l:[xe8+ l:[xe8 26 "d2 ~xf2+ with advantage. 24 ......xh3 25 d6?? 25 lLlc5 l:[ad8 with compensation. 25 'Wd2! 2S ... l:[e6!!

:es

26 dxe7 If 26 d7 then 26 ... l:[d8! 27lLlxd8l:[h6 28l:[el "'h2+ 29 ~fl

~xhl l:[xhl mate. 26••~xc7 27 "d7 l:[ae8! 27 ... f5 28 "'xe6+ liJxe6 29 ~d5 gives counterplay. 28 l:[e3 Forced-28 "xc7 + 29 ~xfl l:[e 1 mate. 28~e3 29 "xb3 lLlxh3+ 30 ~g2 ::to White resigned.

Whl+ 30

"xf1

98 G.Gareia White A.J.Miles Black Capablanca Memorial, Matanzas 1995 Nim::ovich Defence

1 e4lLlc:6 Considering the amount of PR work I do for black horses, I find Lloyds Bank's decision to end its chess sponsorship most ungrateful. Last year it appealed to my sense of humour to try and win the Capablanca Memorial with Alekhine's Defence. I scored 2112/3 with it. This time I changed horses and got half a point more. 2 d4 eS 3 dxeS lLlxe5 4 lLl3 J.b4+ S lLlbd2 A new move. Most people prefer 5 c3 liJxf3+ 6 'Wxf3 ~c5 though it doesn't promise much. At the Mexican town of Linares last year Gildardo continued with 7 b4 ~b6 8 liJd.2 toe7 9 a4!?, achieving his first ambition of getting an interesting position, but not his second (0-1,41). 5••.lLlx3+ By no means necessary, but I was curious to see how he intended to exploit the omission of c3. 6 "x3 lLle7 7 a3 ~aS I was beginning to get the idea. Not 7... ~c5?? 8 "'c3! winning. 8 b4 ~b6 9 ~b2 0-0 10 ~e4!? Sharpest, though 10 lLlc4 and 10 c4 also came into consideration.

"[ get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 211

Had this game been played in the last round at nine o'clock in the morning it might well have come to an abrupt end: 10... d6?? II Wc3! 1-0. Fortunately I was awake and, having spotted this possibility, very alert. Often the existence of such a plausible disaster is a bad sign, but I could not believe I had done anything seriously wrong. My assessment was correct but it was necessary to find two precise moves to prove it. 10...lLle6! The only move. The point is to block the al-h8 diagonal on d4 (11 "g3 or "c3, 11 ... ~d4). lllLlb3 Consistent. 11.....h4! But this completely takes the sting out of White's position, preventing the white queen from reaching an active post. Much less accurate would be II.....g5 12 h4, or II...d6 12 "g3 lLle5 13 f4. 12 g3? Trying for too much. It was time to bail out with 120-0 d6 13 "g3. 12 .....h6! The queen is ideally placed here, protecting g7 and preventing o-o-O! 13 1:dl d6 14 1:dS?

Way too optimistic, though it is already hard to suggest a good move. 14... ~e6! It turns out that it is the white rook not the black queen that is embarrassed. Now if 15 ~c I "g6! (Garcia was also worried about ...Wh3) 16 1:g5 lLle5! and the white queen has no good square. IS 1:hS "g616 ~e2 Sadly the only move. 16... fS! And White is routed. The 1:h5 is left stranded. 17 exfS ~xfS 18 0-0 1:ae8 19 ~dl ~e4 20 "e3 lLleS 21 lLld4 ~xd4 22 "xd4 ~13!

Understandably White could not bring himself to play 23 1:h3-it's at least as bad as it looks-and so had to surrender the exchange. The rest is not interesting. 23 1:xeS dxeS 24 "e3 ~xdl 2S 1:xdl "f7 26 We3 W13 27 1:el "xe3 28 1:xe3 e4 29 1:e3 1:f7 30 ~cl 86 31 ~e3 1:e6 32 ~n 1:d7 33 ~e2 ~ 34 1:e4 1:e6 3S 1:xe6 bxe6 36 e3 ~e6 37 ~d4 ~dS 38 ~e3 1:f7 39 h4 1:13+ 40 ~e2 g6 41 84 eS White resigned.

2 I 2 "/ get bored with playing the same thing all the time"

99 D.Lima White A.J.Miles Black Matanzas 1995 The horses of darkness had a field day against Lima. The luckless Brazilian has failed to win a game in two years at Matanzas. He has a tendency to self-destruct in time trouble however good his position.

31 c6 No better is 31 cxb6 cxb6 32 l::th2 and now either 32 ... l::td5 or first 32 ... lLlg4 33 l::th4lLl8f6. 31...l::tde7 32 l::th2 l::te6 33 lLlo l::txc6 34 l::tc1 l::tc5 35 lLld4 lLlxh5 36 ~xc7 l::txc7 37 l::txh5 l::te3 38 ~f2 1:exc3 39 l::txc3 l::txc3 40 lLlb5 l::tc2+ 41 ~ 86 White resigned. 100 A.J.Miles White A.Sorin Black Capablanca Memorial, Matanzas 1995 Scotch Game

In this posllJon White had just played h4 trying to free his position by h5 and f4. My first reaction was to stop him with 23 ... l::tf5, but then 24 l::th2 prepares g4 and also introduces the possibility of lLlg5. A closer inspection revealed that White's freedom will not solve all his problems. So ... 23 •..l::te8! 24 h5 lLlfB 25 f4 exf4 26 ~xf4 lLlg8! Quite a neat winning manoeuvre. Eventually a knight will settle on f6 and the white kingside will disintegrate. 27lLld2 lLlh7! 28 c5 Desperation, but 28 lLlf3 lLlgf6 doesn't help. 28 ... dxc5 29 'ii'xd7 lhd7 30 bxc5 lLlhf6! And as promised White's position falls apart.

1 e4 e5 2 lLlo lLlc6 3 d4 An unusual choice of opening for me. Since Kasparov's adoption of it, the Scotch has become quite popular, and as I sometimes stumble into it from I e4 lLlc6 2 d4 e5 3 lLlf3 I decided to learn something about it. Having done so it seemed reasonable to try the White side now and again. Actually most of my opening preparation consisted of browsing through Peter Wells' book on the Semi-Slav. Not that I actually played it in any games, but at 304 pages it's a lot more substantial then most opening books and therefore much more useful for swatting mosquitoes. 3 ... exd4 4lLlxd4 lLlf6 5 lLlc3 5 lLlxc6 bxc6 6 e5 is more critical, but I haven't sorted that out yet! 5 ...~c5 A reasonable alternative to the normal ... ~b4. 6 lLlxc6 bxc6 7 ~d3 d6 8 0-0 lLlg4 9 ~f4 Slightly provocative. 9 h3 is simple and safe.

"/ get bored with playing the same thillg all the time" 213

9... gS!? Sorin is not a player who needs much encouragement to attack. In the post mortem he commented that I was an optimist. I can't help feeling that I am not the only one. 10.i.d2 Not 10 .i.g3 h5. 10.....f6 11 "e2 "eS 12 g3 'it'e6?! This seems to be too artificial. The threat of ... lDxh2 is not really 12 ... h5 and serious. Both 12 ... aS!?-to preserve the ~c5-are more promising. 13lDa4! It is essential to get rid of the .i.c5. 13•.•.i.d4 If 13 ...lDxh2 14lDxcs "h3 White has time to move the knight and meet ....!Og4 or ... i.g4 with f3. 14 c3 "h6 IS h4 .i.f6

I was expecting 17 ... 'it'h3 though 18 gxf6 is fine (18 ...:g8 19 .i.f4). Less convincing though is the 'positional' 18 .i.e4 when 18 ... .i.a6! is a problem: 19 'it'xa6 .!Og4 20 'it'XC6T q;e7 and when the checks run out ... 'it'h2 will mate. 18 f4 'it'h3 19 ~e4! Now this is decisive. White protects the kingside and prepares to mop up on the long diagonal. 19 ..... xg3+ 20 "g2 'it'xg2+ 21 Ji..xg2 ~h6 22 fxe5 Ji..xd2 23 ~xc6+ ~d7 24 ~xa8 .txa4 25 exd6 cxd6 26 ':(2 ~g5 If 26 ... ~e3 27 l:.e I. 27 :el + ~f8 28 ~d5 ~e8 291:f5 f6 30 h5 31 c4 h4 32 l:.b3 ~f4 33 :xe8+ Black resigned.

:13

Linares Zonal 1995 101 A.J.Miles White M.Godena Black Linares Zonal 1995

I opened up a clear lead of a whole point by beating Godena when he cracked in time trouble:

16 eS! The thematic refutation. Black's king turns out to be more exposed than White's. 16....!OxeS On 16...dxe5 17"f3 followed by .i.f5 and .!Oc5 is destructive. 17 hxgS .i.xgS

Black's pieces have temporarily lost their coordination so I played the tricky 31 a4! when Black missed the possibility of 31 ... lDxa4 32

214 "I get bored with playing the same t/zing all the time"

lLlxa4 'llVxa4 33 :d8+ IU8 34 :xfB+ ~xfB 35 'Wc5+ ~f7 36 'Wxe5 'Wd I + 37 ~cl 'Wd3+ 38 ~a2 'Wc4+! with a perpetual. Instead he played 31...'llVe2 and after 32 :d2 "c4 ( ... 'llVg4 is a better try) 33 IId8+ 34 llxfS+ ~xf8 35 a5 'Wxcl+ 36 ~xc1lLlc4 37 b3 b6 38lLld3 he lost a piece and the game.

punished one day. Instead both 7... lLle5 and 7... lLlb8 are interesting.

:18

In the sixth round I extended my lead by beating van der Sterren. Going into the free day it looked as though one of the five qualifying places was reserved. A week. though, is a long time in a zonal tournament, and the next round brought a shock:

102 M.Illescas White A.J.Miles Black Linares Zonal 1995 Nimzovich Defence

1e4 IIlescas had been playing I d4 so far, so I knew that if he switched to I e4 he would have spent the free day preparing for I ... lLlc6-it had so far netted me 2112/3. Clearly the practical decision was to change defences, but with a 1112 point lead I decided to 'see' his preparation. 1...lLlc6 2 lLlo d6 3 d4 lLlr6 4 lLlc3 ~g4 5 ~e3 e6 6 h3 ~h5 7 d5 lLle7? A serious case of trying to put a square peg into a round hole-if God had intended this knight to go to e7 what on earth did he have in mind for the ~(fB). The problem was that though I had won two games with it before I had never really analysed it thoroughly. Such negligence was bound to be

8 .... b5+! A massive improvement on the 8 24 .t26 9 dxe6 fxe6 10 lLld4 e5 II ~ - "d7 12 lLlxfB :xfB of Jaracz-Miles. Biel 1995 and 8 ~e2 exdS 9 exdS ~xf3 I 0 ~xf3 lLlf5 II ~g5 ~e7 120-00-0 13 lIel lLld7! of Klovans-Miles, Groningen 1992. The positional point is that the .t(h5) leaves the queenside light squares vulnerable. 8...c6 8... lDd7 9 g4 ~g6 10 dxe6 fxe6 II lLlg5 does not look like much of an improvement. 9 dxc6 bxc6 And here 9 ... lLlxc6 10 g4 ~g6 II ltJd4 'llVc7 12 f3 (for want of anything more conclusive) would leave a Sicilian type structure where the ~(g6) is horribly misplaced. 10 ~a4! The pressure against c6 makes life very uncomfortable. 10...'Wc7 II 'We2lLld7 Probably 11 ... ~xf3 is relatively best, but I frankly have no interest in defending the position any more. 12 g4 ~g6 13 0-0-0 e5

"I get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 215

The main problem is that 13 ... lLlb6 walks into 14 ~xb6 (the immediate lLlb5 also is not to be sniffed at) 14 ... axb6 (or 14 ...'ii'xb6 15 IIxd6) 15 lLlb5! winning outright. Hence the text is more or less forced in order to prevent lLld4. 14 'ii'c4 lIe8 15 ttJh4 ttJb6 16 ~xb6 axb6 17 Ad3 Now 17 lLlb5 is not 100% clear as 17 ... cxb5 18 ~xb5+ lLlc6 and Black will defend c6 grimly by ... ~d7. After White's choice Black gets slight counterplay, but not enough. 17... d5 18 exd5 ~xd3 19 ~xd3 Ad8 20 Adl g6 21 d6 ~h6+ 22 ~b 1 'ii'b8 23 lDe4 b5 Instead 23 ... 0-0 24 dxe7 Axd3 25 exfS=~+ 'ii'xfS 26 cxd3 (!) leaves White with a winning advantage. Now Black goes down in a ball of flames. 24 ttJr6+ ~f8 25 dxe7+ ~xe7 26 ttJd7! bxa4 27 ttJr5+! gxf5 28 'ii'a3+ 'it>e6 29 gxf5+ 'it>xf5 30 'ii'O+ Black resigned. A nice game, unless you happen to be Black. However it took an extra significance by virtue of being on the only demonstration board. Why so, you may ask. Well, further down the room the Luxemberger Alberto David had Black against Apicella. His first mistake was to tum up ten minutes late, during which time Apicella had little better to do than watch the demo board that he happened to be facing. His second, inspired by a first round thrashing at my hands, was to play 1... lLlc6 for the first time in his life. By this time IIIescas and I had played ten moves, so the opportunistic Apicella simply followed the script in front of him. The games continued identically for some time, the only noticeable

difference being that Apicella consumed noticeably less time than the other three protagonists. In fact after 13 ... e5 the Frenchman decided he could manage on his own, and the game concluded abruptly 14 ttJh4 lLlc8 15 'ii'c4 ttJc5 16 ~xc5 dxc5 17 'ii'd5 1-0. In the ninth round I picked what seemed like a good moment to produce my best game. 103 J.Piket White A.J.Miles Black Linares Zonal 1995 Slav Defelice Jeroen has been going through a miserable patch recently. coming last in the Donner Memorial and losing matches to Timman and Judit Polgar. I don't know if there is something wrong with him. but when he came to the board his eyes looked slightly glazed, the expression on his face was grimhis whole demeanour felt wrong. 1 d4 d5 2 ttJO ttJr6 3 e4 e6 4 e3 Not his usual preference but 4 ttJc3 had brought him nothing against Sadler two days before. He played the move quickly with the air of one who is not taking the game too seriously. Strange, but a draw would leave him very well placed to qualify. 4 ... i.f5 5 ttJe3 e6 6 ttJh4 ~e4 Probably this is better than the more common 6 ... ~g4. Now 7 ttJxe4 dxe4 followed by ... ~b4+ gives Black no problems. 7 ~b3 'ii'b6 8 c5 'ii'c7 9 0 ~g6 Considering the tournament position, and curious about Piket's intentions I offered a draw here, though I think Black is already better.

2 I 6 "/ get bored lVith playing the same thing all the time"

10 g3 b6 Black immediately sets about demolishing the white pawn structure. 11 cxb6 axb6 12 ~d2 fLe7 13

lLlxg6 hxg6 14 f4 c5 IS .Jte2 ~c6 160-00-0 17l:[fcll:tfb8 IS 'W'dl Here the draw back-much too late.

offer

came

IS ... ~d8 19 lLlb5 lLle4 20 .i.el l:[c8 21 a4 g5 37 :cl :a4 38 .:te2 ~h7 39 b3 And this means that the c-file cannot be permanently blockaded.

39.. ':a7 40 O l:tc7 41 h4 :\n understandable attempt to get some play but White's position is not good enough to justify it. 41...~g8

42 :h2 ~g7

Threatening ... fS.

By now White's beyond repair.

position

IS

22 ~O gxf4 23 gxf4 cxd4 24 exd4 lLld6 25 ~hl ~f6 26 .i.e3 lLlxb5 27 axb5 l:[xal 2Sl:[xal '2,e7 White is left with five weak pawns. Virtually no ending is tenable so it is just a matter of time before something drops.

29 i.g4 g6 30 'llVd3 'llVd6 31 ~d2 'W'd7 32 ~d3 ~g7 331%gl l:h8 Round here any pawn move will further weaken White so I began provoking some.

34 h3 This loosens White's king posltton and eliminates any h-file counterplay via h3.

34...1%aS 35 ~g2 'W'e8 36 lIel 'W'h8

43 tig3 .i.h6 44 ~b4 lLlf5+ 45 .i.l.f5 gl.f5 46 l:g2 ..ti>h7 47 i.d2 ·"f6 48 ~h3 l:c8 49 ~e3 'llVe7 50 b5 ·tic7 51 :gl 'W'c3 52 l:dl 'W'b2 53 J..d2 J..1.(4 White resigned. So. with two rounds to play I led with 7 9. IIIescas and Renet had 6',·1 with the field a further point behind. At this point I thought I was safe. I had not lost a game with White all year and the possibility of losing my last t".. o games did not seem realistic. My sense of danger had gone completely, and I was only interested in collecting some more Elo points. Such an approach can have two effects. The first is that it can work. The second unfortunately happened. I played the opening against Van Wely carelessly, lost a pawn, and crumbled rapidly. IIIescas assumed the lead by eliminating poor Piket and Renet drew rapidly.

"/ get bored with playing the same thing all the time" 2/7

Meanwhile Matthew Sadler finally broke his run of six draws, but not as he intended, when he ovell'ressed against Van Der Sterren. With one round to play the scores were Il\escas 71;'2, Miles and Renet 7, Van Wely 61;'2 with seven people including Peter Wells on 6. In the last round Illescas would play van Wely and Renet and I would float down to the chasing pack. Almost any result was possible. I remember Renet commenting to me that the only thing we were sure of was a play-off. I wish he had kept his mouth shut. In a nerve-racking last round we both lost miserably to Van der Sterren and Apicella-I simply couldn't readjust after the previous loss-Van Wely drew quickly, and Van der Wiel, and Peter joined the group by beating Mikhail Gurevich and Magem respectively. So, remarkably, only Illescas had qualified and the next seven players had to have a rapid play-off for four places. In order to avoid writing a whole new report I will restrict myself to the climax of this. With one round to play Van Wely and Van der Wiel were safe with 31/i, Apicella had 2112/5, Van der Sterren, Renet and I had 2/5, while Wells had finished with 21/2/6. The last round pairings were Van Wely-Apicella, Van der Wiel-Renet, and Miles-Van der Sterren. The tie-breaks meant that if I won I would qualify unless both Frenchmen won, while a draw be sufficient if either of them lost. I decided to try to win, got outplayed and lost, only to watch in frustration as both Frenchmen went down thus handing the fourth

qualifying spot to the spectating Peter. Thus Illescas, Van Wely, Van der Wiei, Van der Sterren and Wells will play in the Interzonal.

* * * * A nicely calculated finish, where Black is allowed to gain two queens. \04 A.J.Miles White J.Hodgson Black Hastings 1995/6 SICII'Defence I lLlrJ dS 2 d4 e6 3 c4 dxc4 4 e3 bS 5 a4 e6 6 nbS cxbS 7 b3 ~b4+ 8 ~d2 ~xd2+ 9lLlbxd2 as 10 bxc4 b4 11 lLleS lLlf6 12 -.a4+!? New move. 12...lLlfd7 l2 ... lLlbd7? 13 lLlc6 wins, or 12 ... ~d7 13 lLlxd7 with advantage. 13 cS 0-0 14 lLlec4 lLlf6 14 ... .Jtb7 15lLld6 ~c6 16 ~b5 ~xg2 17 lIgl is unclear. 14 ... e5!? 15 ~e2 lLldS 16 ~rJ ~d7 17 1!i'c2 Jl.bS 17 ... ~c6 and ... lLld7. 18 lLld6 ~a6 19 lLl2c4lLlc6 20 0-0 -.c7 21 l%fc1 ~xc4 22 lLlxc4 With a clear advantage. 22 -.xc4 a4! 22 ... lLlce7 BllI'b3 :la7 24 g3! lIb8 25 q;g2 h6 25 ... g6. 26 lIe2 lLlc3? 26 ... g6. 27 lIuS! :lxaS 28 lLlxaS 'iWxaS 29 l%xe3 bxe3 30 1!i'xb8+ ~h7 31 -.b7! fS 32 -.xe7! c2

33 -.xe6 cl=-. 34 1!i'xfS+ g6 35 ~h7 37 ~dS -.hl+ 38 ~xhl Black resigned.

-'ti+ q;h8 36 -.f8+

11: "I am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented" 105 J.Hellsten White A.J.MiJes Black Malmo 1996 English Defence With two rounds to go, Korchnoi and I were in the joint lead with 617. In round eight Korchnoi had a clearly losing position against Zeigler while I had an equally strong winning position against Pia Cramling. Somehow both games turned completely around and I lost while Korchnoi won. In the final round I needed to beat Korchnoi to share first place. But, after completely outplaying him for a large part of the game on the Black side of an Exchange French, I eventually let him get away with a draw. My most entertaining game came in round seven ...

1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 83 g6!?/!

been played after 3... ~b7 4 d5. believe there it is an invention of Jim Plaskett. I suspect that 3 ... g6 may well be best. 3 a3 really 'wastes' a move to prevent ... ~b4 so Black instead aims for the best diagonal, hoping to get a little mileage out of ... e6. The game illustrates the concept admirably. 4 lLlc3 ~g7 5 ltJo ltJe7 6 e4 ~b7 On 6 ...0-0 maybe 7 h4. 7 ~e2 0-0 8 0-0 f5 Already it is hard to suggest moves for White. 9 ~d3 is hardly impressive. 9 eS h6! 10.!:lei On 10 h4 d5, or 1O... d6 leaves the white h-pawn looking silly. 10 ... gS 11 d5 ltJg6 12 ~f1 g4 13 ltJd4 ~xe5 14 dxe6 On 14 ~xh6 the simple 14 ... .!:Ie8 is strong. 14......f6 15 ~xh6 .!:Ie8 White's position is collapsing. He has no good way to hold d4. What then, I was asked, was White's mistake? Probably getting out of bed this morning was not a great idea. 16 lLldbS dxe6 17 "'d2 ltJc6 18 "'gS Just about the only try. If 18 ~g5 "'h8 19 :txe5 "'xe5 20 l:te I "'g7 WinS.

Probably this is new in this position, though it has certainly

Now all Black has to do is to protect c7 and White can resign. For example 18... .!:Iac8 19 a4 a6 0- I . Mentally I chalked up the point and,

"[ am lIostalgic for the days before computers were illvellled" 219

bored and impatient to get the game over with, played ... IS .. Jle7?? After 19 AxeS! I got a slight shock. Clearly after 19.. .'.xg5 20 .i.xg5 lLlcxe5 21 .i.xe7 lLlxe7 22 lLlxc7 :lc8 23 lLlxe6 lLlxc4 Black has compensation for the pawn and should sUlvive. But I wanted more. Taking into consideration that White had barely five minutes to reach move 40 (to my 1 hour 20 minutes) I conceived the mind-blowing ...

White can survive is fairly academic-at this point he's brain dead. The rest is oflittle interest. 24.i.e3 To meet 24 ... l'.th8 with 25 .i.d4 Aeh7 26 Axe5lLlxe5 27 :le 1. 24 ...lLlti 25 .i.c4 If 25 .i.d4+ e5. 25 .•.l:hS 26 g3 lLld6 27 .i.a2 .i.fJ Not 27 ... Axh2 28lLld5+. 2S h4 lLlxh4 29 lLldS+

ti 30 .i.d4 Or 30 lLlxe7 lLlg6 31 .txe6+ ~e8. 30... l:h631l'.td3 Or 31 .i.e3 :lh7. 31 ...exdS 32 l:xe7+

xe7 33 l:e3+ ~d7 34 gxh4 Axh4 35 l:xf3 gxfJ 36 .i.r6 l'.tg4+ 37

n ~e6 3S .i.dS lLlxbS White resigned. Personally I'm not terribly interested in artificial intelligence, but the day a computer produces either my 18th or 19th moves mankind is in big trouble.

• • • • 19...~ti This move defies !s and ?s. Black ignores the minor setback of blundering a piece and continues as if nothing had happened. Psychologically [ didn't feel White had a chance of adjusting to the changed circumstances. 20 l:eel a6 21 l:adl? The best way to refund the piece was 21 lLle4 fxe4 22lLlc3. 21 ... axbS 22 "xf6+

xf6 23 cxbS lLlceS Now Black has excellent compensation for a pawn and simply returns to his plan of attacking the white king. Whether

Powerful positional play from a quiet opening: 106 A.J.Miles White A.Rodriguez Black Yopal 1997 Ellglish Opellillg I c4 lLlf6 2 lLlc3 eS 3 lLlfJ lLlc6 4 e3 .i.b4 5 "c2 0-0 6 lLldS AeS 7 "(5!? d6 SlLlxf6+ "xf6 8... gxf6!? 9 "xf6 gxf6 10 a3 .i.cs II b4 .i.b6 12 .i.b2 as 13 bS lLle7 14 d4! A new move? 14....i.g4?! IS cS! 15 dxc5 16 dxe5. 15....i.a7 16 b6! .i.xfJ 17 gxfJ .i.bS IS l:gl+ ~f8 To keep f7 protected. 19 Adl!!

220 "/ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented"

Eyeing d7- -White has the better game. If 19 cxd6 cxd6 intending ... lLld5/c8 with counterplay, or 19 dxc5 fxc5. 19 ... c6 19 ... exd4 20 cxd6 cxd6 21 ~xd4 with a winning advantage, or 19 ... cxb6 20 dxe5 dxe5 21 cxb6 lLlc8 22 ~b5 wins. 20 dxeS fxeS 21 cxd6 lLldS 22 e4! lLlxb6 23 f4! 23 i.c I :e6 23 •.. f6 24 fxeSlLld7 24 ... fxe5 25 :d3 wins. 2S ~c4 Black resigned.

Miles of Moves and one 'Short' win The British Championship (1998) was a strange event for mesomehow I never really got interested until it was over. A mix-up over accommodation led to me spending the weekend before the start scouring the streets of Torquay for something suitable. Eventually I gave up and settled for a cupboard next door to the venue. Cupboards, though, are by nature a bit claustrophobic-particularly if you spend two weeks in them-and this certainly affected my mood. Before moving on to the chess I must comment on the British Championship Preview in the July Chess. 'Spread on number of

endgame grinds 2.1-2.4' opines the anonymous pundit. Hmm, I resent the implication that my chess is anything less than sparkling. As it happens my first round game was not overly thrilling. I include it here not because it is of any particular interest-merely that it gives a certain symmetry to this article. 107 D.Tebb White A.J.Miles Black

The game had meandered along until I made the dubious decision to force my opponent to sacrifice the exchange. Fortunately for me he got a bit too optimistic and eventually stumbled into the diagrammed ending. The game concluded: S9 ~bS :h6 60 ~cS :h2 61 ~d6 1:Xxg2 62 ~xeS :f2 63 ~fS :xf3 64 ~xgS :c3 6S ~fl f3 66 eS f2 67 a6 68 ~d3 fl='if 69 ~xfl :xfl and Rowson just about beats Adams and Emanuel Lasker, as the alliterative Piket would doubtless put it. 70 a7+ ~xa7 71 e6 ~b7 72 e7 :el 73 ~f6 ~c7 White resigned. Okay, so perhaps I was a bit of an endgame grind ...

:c1

"[ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented" :1:1 I

Round two produced a relative miniature of 53 moves of ... er '" rook and knight ending. At this point my tournament stalled horribly with three consecutive unimpressive draws. Aware that a win was essential to stay in touch. I at last produced a mating attack.

Anyway, after 33 moves, I was staring at the following rather grim position. 109 M.Sadler White A.J.Miles Black

\08 A.J.Miles White B.Kelly Black

There is no good answer to 34 ~h4.

Having had Black on the ropes for a (very) long time, I broke through with 125 ~xb5! cxb5 126 c6 ~c8 If 126... ~xc6 127 l:te6 wins, while 126... ~e8 meets a similar fate to the game. 127 'Wc5 'Wfi 128 'Wxb5 ~h8 129 'Wc5 The threats of 'Wa7+, l:te7+ and b5 leave Black helpless. 129...l:th7 130 b5 ~b8 131 b6 ~g7 132 'Wd6+ ~a8 133 'Wd8 Black resigned. What did you say? The move number? Er.... yes. it was one hundred and twenty five I wouldn't want to launch a premature attack, would I?! The second week started badly. Perhaps playing the Slav against Matthew Sadler when he has just written a book on it was a dubious choice, but I was curious ...

If 34 ... f6 35 ~xf6 gxf6 36 'Wg4+ wins a pawn and wrecks Black's kingside, while 34 ... ~d6 35 'Wg4 has the double threat of liJf6+ and liJxb4. Gloomily I tried to make 34 ~h4 l:td6 35 'i'g4 ~h7 work (36 'Wxb4 ~xd5. or 36 liJxb4 f5) but really it's hopeless. But why was Matthew thinking so long? I couldn't understand. Eventually after using 17 of his remaining 24 minutes he produced ... 34liJc7 After the game I asked why he had rejected 34 ~h4. The answer was 34 ... l:td6 35 'Wg4 l:tg6 36 'Wxb4 'Wxb4 37 liJxb4 ~e4. but 38 liJd5 wins on the spot! Seriously mystified I tried to readjust. If he has rejected 34 ~h4 he must surely think 34 liJc7 is winning. I soon spotted the idea: 34 ... l:txdl + 35 ~xd I ~b8 36 liJxa6! bxa6 37 ~xb8 'Wxb8 38 ~d7 and

222 "I am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented"

the seventh rank is decisive. Given that, Black's choice is limited. And so ... 34...:e7 Now 35 or 36 'i'xb7 lLlb5 is far from clear. 35 :xd8 'i'xd8 36lLld5 Even worse would be 36 :d I 'i'xd I + 37 'i'xd 1 :el +. Afterwards Matthew admitted he had earlier overlooked both this and Black's next move. 36...:el+ 37 Axel ~xe1 And suddenly Black is completely safe and even fractionally better thanks to the White queenside. 38 b4 To add to everything else White had just 20 seconds for the last two moves (to my 20 minutes). Under any other circumstances I would have played 38 ... lLlc6 immediately, but after 39 'i'e4 White is holding fairly comfortably. Unable to believe my luck-but very willing to push it-I decided to be slightly more tricky. 38.....e8?? Preventing 'i'e4 and threatening ... .ixb4 but totally overlooking the paradoxical 39lLlc7! and Black cannot protect both b7 and e3. Disgusted, I felt like resigning on the spot, but staggered on: 39 ...'i'c6 40 "e3 ~xb4 41 "xa7 .ixa5 42 ~8+ ~h7 43 lLle8 b5 44 lLld6 f6 4S 'i'a7 ~b4 46 lLlfS ~f8 47 'i'f7 'i'c8 48 lLld4 .ial 49 lLle6 'i'g8 50 'i'd7 'ith8 51 .ie7 ~b4 52 f4 .ic3 53 f5 b4 54 .id6 Black resigned. Actually, apart from the rapid play-off game against the same

opponent last year, this was my first loss in the British since 1984 (Admittedly I haven't played that many!). If I was unmotivated before this, you can imagine my level of interest now. However the next round saw me paired against Keith Arkell. Not the easiest person in the world to beat, but over the years I have had rather a good record against him. I can recall losing a pawn around 1974 or so and having a draw offer declined about 5 years ago (both games were drawn anyway) but otherwise it has been very much one way traffic. So, in the interests of retaining a customer, I felt obliged to try. 110 A.J.Miles White K.Arkell Black

After 22 moves I reached this promising position. White has lots of small pluses-the slight vulnerability of f7, b6 and c6--the uncomfortable positions of Black's minor pieces, some forking potential on d6--but its hard to see a clear win. Direct pressure against c6 fails tactically, for example 23 AcI :c8 24 'i'e4 lLle5 or 'i'e5; while 23 ~g2-to threaten lLld6--is met by ... l:dS. I considered 24 'i'c2 then,

"/ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented" 223

but there is no threat. Eventually, after half an hour's thought I came up with the right idea. 23.i.f3!! Slightly hard to find, because the bishop seems vulnerable here, but the point soon becomes apparent. The first threat is It:ld6 and any knight move runs into a fork on d6, e.g. 23 ... lt:le5 24 .i.xb7 'Wxb7 25 It:ld6lt:lf3+ 26 ~h 1. 23 .. J~d8 24 :ld8 .xd8 Not 24 ... lt:lxd8 25 'Wd4+. 25.f4! Renewing the focus on d6. Now the difference between 23 .i.f3 and .i.g2 becomes clear-there is no problem on the back rank. 25•. JWf6 26 ltJd6! 'Wlf4 27 gxf4 .i.a8

And Black is paralysed! 28 .i.d5 f5 Not a move that Black wants to play, but others tend to lose the kingside. Now White could easily pick up a pawn by 29 b4, say, but 29 ... axb4 30 axb4 b5 would free the Black pieces and give good drawing chances. So I preferred to tighten the noose. 29 f3 ~f6 30 ~f2 g5 Understandable since Black is in zugzwang, but the only real effect is to weaken f5.

31 <:'>g3 h6 32 a4 Not necessary, but I was impatient to run him out of legal moves. Perhaps 32 h3 was more accurate/sadistic. 32... ~g6 33 h4 My first thought: 33 fxg5 hxg5 34 f4 would have been much simpler-getting rid of the only weakness in the White position. If 34 ... g4 35 ~h4, and otherwise White creates a passed h-pawn. 33... gxh4+ 34 <:'>xh4 ~f6 35 ~h5 <:'>e7 Black has run out of moves.

36lt:lc8+?? Terribly careless-I simply overlooked Black's reply-a bit embarrassing considering his number of legal moves. Instead 36 It:lxf5+ would win trivially. 36...<:'>d7! Suddenly Black has real counterplay and I was beginning to regret not only 36 It:lc8+ but also 32 a4. The next few moves are fairly random as first mild time shortage and then mutual dissatisfaction with the game took effect. 37 It:llb6+ ~d6 38 .i.f7 .i.b7 39 It:lc4+ ~c5 40 <:'>xh6 ~b4 41 It:ld6 .i.a8 42 It:lxf5 It:ld8 43 .i.g8 .i.xf3 44lt:ld4 .i.dl 45 f5 .i.184 46 ~g7?

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A further error. 46 f6 .i.e8 47 still looks good enough. 46.••lDb7! I completely forgot that the knight could reach d6! At this point I stopped punting and sank into thought. Clearly Black cannot be prevented from giving up his knight for the f-pawn, when White will have a hard time winning with his one remaining pawn. I managed to make the best of a bad job. 47 f6lDd6 48 i.e6lDe8+ Understandable-Keith thought he was drawing. 49 ~g6lDxf6 50 ~xf6 i.dl I f the game continuation is correct this position might make a reasonable endgame study.

~g7

51lDc6+~b5

Not 53 i.a2 i.e2! and ... .i.c4. 53 ... i.c2 Suddenly to his horror Keith realized that 53 ... i.b3 runs into 54 lDc7+ ~b4 55 lDa6+ and 56 i.xb3. Black is out of ammunition. 54 lDc3+ ~b4 55 lDa2+ ..te5 56 ~e5

Heading for home. 56 ... i.bl 57 i.g8 Played to reach the time control. 57 ...i.g6 58 i.e6 i.h7 59 lDc3 i.e2 Or 59 ... ~b4 60 ~d4 a3 6IlDa2+. 60 .i.a2 ~b4 61 ~d4 Black resigned. If 61....i.b3 62 .txb3 ~xb3 63 lDxa4 ~xa4 64 ~c4, or 61 ... a3 62 lDd5+ ~a4 63 ~c3! winning. The next day saw more silliness. With an hour on the clock and the better position against Peter Wells, I didn't feel like playing sensibly and instead opted for a few speculative punts. When the dust had settled we reached the following position. 111 P.Wells White A.J.Miles Black

52lDe7!! Not the most obvious move but it reroutes the knight to the right circuit d5-c3-a2! 52... a4 If 52 ... ~b4 53 lDd5+, or 52 ... .i.e2 (heading for c4) 53 ~e5 i.c4 54 i.d7+ ~b4 55 lDc6+ wins. Now White must beware of 53 ... a3 54 bxa3 ~a4. 53lDd5

Brian is buggered but the Rowsons are almost good enough to

"/ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invellted" 225

win on their own. The game staggered to its conclusion: 41...lhb3 4l...l:tb8 was worth a thought. 42 ~f2 l:tb2+ 43 ~e3 l:tdb8 44 .ic6 ~g7 45 .ie4 l:t2b3+ 46 ~d2! l:ta3 47 l:.xa5 l:.b2+ 48 'it'c1 l:th2 Speelman thought 48 ... l:.e2 might be a better try but it still doesn't seem to be enough. 49 l:ta8 l:ta1+ 50 i.bl .ih7 51 tUxh7 :h1+ 52 ~d2 l:taxbl 53 tUf6 l:thd1+ 54 ~c2 l:tdc1+ 55 ~d2 l:tdl+ 56 ~c2 l:.dc1+ Drawn.

Round Ten brought the White pieces against Jon Speelman. This is never a pleasant pairing. Nothing to do with chess-just the eternal nightmare of having to sit opposite the second most fidgety player on earth (Walter Browne is the first in case anyone is wondering). Sadly the experience was doomed to be a long one when Jon horribly mishandled the opening. 112

A.J.Miles White J.Speelman Black Modern Defence 1 d4 g6 2 tUf3 .ig7 3 c4 d6 4 tUc3.ig4 In my preparation I had noticed that this system was part of Jon's repertoire, but I had also observed that he tended to get fairly normal King's Indian positions from itsomething which he does not often play however-so I was quite satisfied with these developments. 5 e3 tUc6 6 .ie2 e5 7 d5 tUce7 8 e4tUf6

This both surprised and pleased me-now we do have a normal King's Indian position except the Black bishop is on g4, which absolutely does not help his cause. I had expected something more imaginative, though, to be honest, I had no idea what! 9 .ie3 .ixf3 Now the imagination arrives-but it's not too good. 10 .ixf3 h5 of exchanging The plan is dark-squared bishops well-known, but here Black has wasted too much time. 11 0-0 ~f8 Not a happy choice, but 1l....ih6 is met by 12 .ixh6 l:.xh6 13 'Wd2 l:th8 14 .id 1 when f4 is a terrible threat and .ia4 will prevent a black knight reaching e5. 12 'Wd2tUeg8 Even uglier. 13 h3 .ih6 14 .idltUd7 15 .ia4 tUb616 c5 Now there's no need for f4. 16... .ixe3 17 'Wxe3 dxc5 18 'Wxc5+ .-d6 19 'We3 a6 20 l:tacl tUf6 21 .ib3 ~g7 22 tUbl l:tac8 23 tUd2 l:thd8 24 tUf3 l:te8 25 l:tfdl tUbd7 26 l:tc4tUb8 27 l:.dc1

226

"/ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented"

The key to the position-the third rank gives White's pieces great co-ordination which, combined with the uncomfortable black king and w~ak pawns, feel like enough to Win.

35...g5 36 ::laJ W'c5 37 W'b8+

~g7 38 ~c3 'i'd4 39 ""'7 'i'd6 40 ~h2

Probably it was stronger to playa few more preparatory moves like a3, but I was vaguely concerned about allowing ... it'b6 at some moment-though in hindsight I find it hard to explain exactly which moment! 27 ...c5 I admit I had been thinking more about 27 ... c6 when White has the additional possibility ofit'b6. 28 dxc6 l:hc6 If 28 ... lLlxc6 29 it'b6 is annoying, with "'-a4 to follow. 29lLlg5 White must convert his advantage quickly, before Black settles on d4. 29 .. .lte7 30 ~xc6 lLlxc6 31 lLlxfi! :xfi 32 "'-xfi ~xfi 33 ""'3+ ~f8 34 W'xb7lLle7

35 :c3!

g4 41 :83

Here Black sank into thought for 40 minutes. Knowing Jon, I deduced two things from this: (a) he is lost, and (b) he is going to come up with some nasty tricks that I've overlooked. 41...gxh3 42 ::lxa6 I don't know what Black would play after 42 gxh3, but since I had calculated that the text was winning, I decided to take the dubious step of backing my tactical ability. 42 ...lLlg4+ 43 ~xh3 lLlxf2+ 44 ~h4 'i'd8 45 ::le6 At this point I noticed that one of my earlier considerations 45 ~xh5 leaves something to be desired45 ...'i'dl+ and 46 ... 'i'g4 mate! Also 45 1:a7 ~f8 46 :a8 lLlc8+ leaves the white king short of a hiding place. 45 ... ~f8 Tricky. On 45 ... ~f7 the sil!.lple approach is 46 1:xe5 and if ......d6

"/ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented" 227

the emergency exit "/l:he7+ seems sufficient. 46:H6+~g8

lDxf6 54 ~f5 lDd7 55 a4 is a trivial win. Now it's all over, 52 'ita7+ ~h8 53 'ii'b6 "d2+ 54 ~h4 "xg2 55:f2 "xe4+ 56 ~g3 'itd3+ 57 :0 'ii'bl 58 ~h2 'itxa2 59 ~h3+ ~g7 60 "c7+ ~f6 61 :0+ ~g6 62 'itd6+ ~h7 63 :h3+ ~g7 64 'itd7+ ~f6 65 :0+ ~g6 66 ~g3+ ~f6 67 'itg7+ Black resigned. This result set up the last round pairing that certain sections of the crowd had been waiting for. 113

47"b3+ Not 47 :xf2 lDf5+ 48 ~xh5 'ith4+ 49 ~g6lDe7+. 47.••~h8 As my opponent pointed out afterwards. 48 lhf2 is the simplest here. Instead I noticed that 48 'itf7 lDf5+ was not impressive: 49 exf5 'itd4+, or 49 ~xh5?? "dl+, or 49 Wg5 lDxe4+ 50 ~xf5 lDxf6. But I thought my choice was conclusive. 48 'itO However... 48 ...~g7! Oops! Missed that! Now if 49 :f7+ ~g8 50 'itf6 lDg6+ 51 Wxh5 lDf4+ 52 ~h4 lDxg2+ 53 'it>h5 'itd I + and White has to be careful to draw, but 50 'itxf2 seems to spoil Black's fun. Slightly rattled I chose a more scenic route. 49 ~xh5 'ite8+ 50 'it>g5 lDg8 51 'itxf2! At last! 51.••'itd8 Instead 51...'ite7 does win the rook but 52 'itf5 'itxf6+ 53 "xf6+

A.J.Miles White N.Short Black Reti Opening Before moving on to the game I must correct some erroneous publicity concerning the encounter. Firstly, 'Miles hadn't beaten Short for 20 years'-M.Pein. Actually I haven't beaten him for 16 years, but then he hasn't beaten me for 14. In fact, I had much the better of our only meeting in that period. The relevance of this is that I didn't suffer any psychological problems playing him because I lost a few games when he was still in nappies-for the simple reason that I can't remember them. Secondly, 'The two are not on speaking terms'-again M.Pein. Not true. I said good morning to Gump as recently as 1994 in Moscow. Never the fastest or most fluent of orators, I assume he is still trying to think of a witty retort. IlDO The thing about players who spend ten years playing in Category 25 tournaments is they tend to be more than averagely up-to-date with developments in trendy main lines, having analyzed them extensively

228

"[ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented"

with their seconds, firsts and 'house-guests' to use Gump's phrase. I presume that designation makes them cheaper! Anyway, I prefer to play just one opponent, sO will skip the theoretical discussions for today. 1. .•d5 2 c4 e6 3 g3 ~f6 4 ~g2 ~e7 5 b3 Again, I was content with the choice of opening. I have played this system several times, while my database did not tum up any examples of Gump playing the Black side. He started staring into the distance with the air of one who is trying to remember what he looked at many years ago. 5 ...0-0 6 0-0 c5 7 ~b2 ~c6 8 e3 b6 9 ~c3 ~b7 10 cxdS ~xdS 11 ~xdS 'iVxdS 12 d4 An old line which doesn't give White much, of course, but still I was a bit surprised at his choice. The height of Black's ambitions is to exchange off some pieces and shake hands. 12...~aS 13 dxcS ECO recommends 13 ~a3 but I was content to leave the ~a5 looking slightly silly. 13...~xcS 14 'iVxdS ~xdS 15 ~fdl

So does White have anything? Well a slightly better king, after the inevitable exchange on g2 and that knight on a5. What is it worth? Maybe a tempo or two: i.e basically nothing, but still more than Black has. IS ...l:tfd8 I prefer 15 ... ~ac8 first. 16 %:tact ~c617 ~d4 Giving Black a wide choice of things to exchange. There are many ways to more or less maintain the balance but Gump's choice is the last one I would have gone for. 17...~xg2 18 ~xg2 ~xd4 19 ~xd4 ~xd4 20 lhd4 ~xd4 21 exd4

So we reach a simple rook ending, but one in which White's rook is vastly the more active. Black will always have to suffer here. 21...gS Banged out immediately with the air of one who knows how to draw such positions by grabbing some kingside space. 22 ~c7 This impression was a little undermined, though, when he sank into thought for 15 minutes here.

"/ am nostalgic for the days before computers lI'ere invented" 229

22.•Jld8 23 l:txa7 l:txd4 24 l:tb7 lld6 24 ... l:tb4 was also possible but he prefers to keep the white king from the queenside. 25 a4 ~g7 26 ~f1 g4 27 ~e2 h5 28 b4 e5 29 as Since 29 'it'e3 would be met by 29 ... lIf6 I went for the simple approach. 29 ... bxa5 30 bxa5Itd4 Clearly 30 ... Ita6 31 Itb5 followed by heading the king towards b5 is unpleasant. 31 a6 lla4 32 a7 ~g6 33 'it'd3 f6 34 'it>c3 'it'f5 35 ~b3 Ital 36 Itc7! This is the position I had in mind when playing 29 as. Black's counterplay is stopped dead since if 36...~e4? 37 Itc4+ and 38 Ita4. 36...'it>e6 37 ~c4 'it>d6

38 l:tti (?) Careless. I didn't see what he was doing. To some extent that's understandable since he isn't doing anything. But 38 l:th7 was correct and if 38 ... ~c6 then 39 ::tn, or 38 ... 'it>e6 39 'itb5 ~f5 40 Itc7! again, or 40 ~b6. 38...~e6 39Ith7?

Still 39 lIc7 'itd6 40 Ith7 was fine. 39...'it>f5 Here it dawned on me that my shallow observation that ... ~f5 would leave h5 en prise with check was not entirely relevant. Oh well, nothing to do. 40 'itd5Ita5+?? An astonishing blunder-pretty much the only way to give back the tempo White had lost. Furthermore, it was not attributable to time trouble since he still had eight minutes left after playing it. 41 'itc6 'ite4 42 'itb6 1:a2 43 Ith8 Itxa7 Best. Presumably, Gump thought this was drawing, but Rowson and Kasparov perform some nifty footwork. 44 'itxa7 'itO 45 'itb6 ~xf2 46 'itc5 e4 47 l:txh5 e3 48 l:tf5+ 'it'g2 49 Itxf6 'itxh2 50 ~d4 e2 51 lle6 'itxg3 52 'itd3 Simplest-though simply 52 llxe2 is good enough: S2 ... ~f3 53 l:te3+ 'it>f2 54 'ite4 g3 SS Itf3+. Black resigned. My shortest win of the Championship! I don't know if 644 moves is a record but I'm certainly glad I didn't do it in the days of adjournments! Anyway this game still leaves the question: Ignoring the exchange of exchange of stupidities on moves 39 and 40, where exactly did Black go wrong? Let's go back to the position after my 36'" move.

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Obviously Black has problems, but something that didn't occur to me during the game-for obvious reasons-is what if it was White's move here? If 1 ~b4 ~e4 2 l:tc4+ ~f5! and White has to repeat. Also if I l:tb7 l:ta6 2 ~c4 ~e4 3 ~b5 l:ta 1 and Black has gained a vital tempo. So surprisingly, White would be in zugzwang! If White can get his king to b5, though, he does win e.g.: 36 ... ~e6 37 'it>c4 ~f5 (or 37 ... ~d6 38 l:th7 ~e6 39 ~b5 ~f7 40 l:tc7) 38 ~b5 l:tbl+ (as good as any) 39 ~c6l:tal 40 ~b7l:tbl+ 41 ~c8l:tal 42 ~b8 ~e4 43 a8="+ l:txa8+ 44 ~xa8 ~D 45 l:tc2 f5 46 ~b7 f4 47 ~c6 ~g2 48 ~d5 ~xh2 49 ~e4 etc. This leads to the interesting conclusion that Black could have drawn on the previous move. Instead of 35 ... l:tal, either 35 ... l:ta5! or 35 ... l:ta6! would have lost the necessary tempo to escape the zugzwang! So does this mean that the diagram posItIon is really zugzwang? Hard to believe? At this point, it is necessary to apply the Clintonian Improbability Principle: That 'which is hard to believe is generally untrue.' (As opposed to the Clintonian

Impossibility Principle: 'That which is impossible to believe is generally President of the United States'which has little relevance to chess, though)-combined with Sherlock Holmes' theory of escaping from zugzwang: 'When you have eliminated all the plausible moves, you'd better play what you have left quickly, before you lose on time.' The result is 36 ... h4 but 37 gxh4 ~g6 38 ~c4 ~h5 39 ~b5 ~xh4 40 l:th7+ ~g5 41 ~b6 ~f4 42 l:tt7 (slowing things up a bit) 42 ... f5 43 l:tf8 still seems to win for White. At this point, I think I will tell you that I am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented, so Fritz and his friends haven't checked any of this. I leave it to you, gentle reader, to sort it out and find the mistakes!

* * * * A funny game

114 A.J.Miles White A.Vaisser Black Elista Olympiad 1998 Dutch Defelice Olympiads can be rather long affairs, and sometimes one doesn't really feel like playing normal chess. On a good day one's team captain can be persuaded to arrange a free day, but sometimes it just isn't possible. This was one of those days: 1 d4 e6 Predictable, since it is a major part of Vaisser's repertoire and also avoids the traditional English hangover cure 1...liJf6 2 i.g5. 2liJf3 f5 Now any normal move will permit Black to transpose to his favourite Stonewall. On an average

"/ am lIostalgic for the days before computers were invented" 23 J

day I would be happy to be given the eS square so early, but on this occasion I just wasn't in that sort of mood. In fact there is virtually only one move to escape Black's intentions. 3 dS!? Not a move that conforms to many general principles, but it has a few points. I have used it before successfully, which if anything made me hesitant to repeat it. My apprehension was increased when Vaisser bashed out the next few moves immediately. 3... exdS 4 'ir'xdS d6 S liJgS The point-for what it's worth. S...'ir'e76liJxh7 There is no turning back now. White wins a pawn, but at the cost of rather a lot of tempi, and having to keep a straight face while playing a sequence of ridiculous-looking moves. 6... c6 7 'iWb3 l:txh7 If 7... ~e6 8 'ir'g3 l:txh7 9 'ir'g6+. 8 'ir'xg8 l:th4 9 'iWb3 liJa6 The direct 9 ... i.e6 can be met by

10 ~gS.

At this point both players at last started to think. Afterwards Vaisser told me that he had looked at the

line briefly ten years ago and concluded that Black had plenty of play for the pawn. That was pretty much the same as my preparation which concluded that I had a pawn for a bit of play. I suspect we both also imagined that if we ever reached this position it would not be against a terribly serious opponent. Perhaps this assessment too was not entirely inaccurate. 10 'ir'e3 Seems best. to tempt the black rook to e4 where it will be hit by the white knight. IO ... l:te4 11 'ir'd2 Again most reasonable-White needs to keep an eye on c2. 11...liJb4 Now my first thought was 12 a3 liJdS (not 12 ... l:td4 13 'iWc3! as 14 b3) 13 liJc3 but after 13 ... liJxc3 14 'ir'xc3 ~d7 (or ~e6) followed by 0-0-0 Black does have plenty of compensation. 12 'ir'dl Aesthetically forced, but also quite sensible. If White can play tiJd2-f3 Black will not have much. Vaisser thought for a long time and found a neat response:

12 ... l:td4! 13liJd2

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Or 13 ~d2 f4. 13 ... f4 Threatening ... .i.f5. 14 a3 The positionally desirable 14 c3 is not entirely effective here. 14... ltJdS IS c3 Trapping the errant rook? IS ...ltJe3!

16 fxe3 'ir'h4+ 17 g3 fxg3 18 ~g2 gxh2+! Sad. When examining this line earlier I had anticipated 18 ... ~h3 19 exd4 (19 cxd4 is better in the main line but allows a draw by 19... gxh2+ 20 'it>f1 ~xg2+ 21 ~xg2 'iWg4+ since 22 'it>xh2? d5 and the :(a8) reaches h8) 19 ... ~xg2 20 ltJf3! ~xf3 21 exf3 g2+ 22 'it>e2 gxh I ='iW 23 'ir'xh I and White has a good extra pawn! 19 'it>fl 'ir'f6+! 20 'it>e I Unfortunately if 20 ~f3 ~h3+ and ...'ir'h4 mate. 20 ...'ir'h4+ 21 ~fl Drawn. The Best Endgame? The chess world has been fairly quiet of late. Kasparov is not

playing Anand just yet, and the new World Champion Alexander Khalifman has only been seen turning out for his club team in the European team championship. He was at least promoted to board one-last time I noticed he was on three-but given the less than world championly task of drawing with Jaan Ehlvest, his team apparently being confident of victory on the lower boards. This he managed with some comfort. Anyway, this lack of activity is my excuse for boring you with one of my own games-well actually just an ending. At the end of the Capablanca Memorial in Havana this year I was surprised to be awarded a prize for the best endgame of the tournament. The surprise was not due to false or real modesty, but to the fact that 1 didn't realise there was a prize! Also since the game had only been played a couple of days before, and the crucial part had only lasted a few minutes, I had given no real thought to it. However with the benefit of hindsight and the analyses of several players (I am particularly indebted to Jon Speelman for sending me a copy of his) it does tum out to be quite a fascinating position. The game was played in the penultimate round and turned out to decide first place-the two protagonists were tying for the lead at the time. White handled the opening miserably and got a horribly cramped position, but then a piece of carelessness by me allowed him to reduce the damage to a minimum.

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115 W.Arencibia White A.J.Miles Black Capablanca Memorial 1999 Slav Defence I d4 d5 2 e4 e6 3 liJe3 liJf6 4 e3 a6 5 .i.d2 b5 6 exd5 exd5 7 a4 b4 8 liJa2 a5 9 liJe I e6 10 liJo .i.d6 II .i.b5+ .i.d7 12 i.d3 0-0 13 i.e2 liJe6 14 liJd3 'ir'b8 15 0-0 .i.e8 16 l:te I i.a6 17 l:te I l:te8 18 .i.b I liJe4 19 h3 h6 20 liJf4 l:ta7? Instead g5 keeps White tied down. This gives him a chance to relieve his position by exchanges. 21 i.d3 .i.xd3 I had thought this to be impossible because of some permutation of i.f4 and liJf2, but now noticed that this was not so... 21 ... .i.xf4 22 .i.xa6 i.xe3 23 .i.xc8 .i.xf2+ 24 ~fl i.xel 25 l:txc6 and 2l...liJxf2 22 'it>xf2 i.xf4 23 exf4 i.xd3 24 l:txc6 l:txc6 25 liJe5 both favour White. 22 liJxd3 l:tae7 23 "'b3 "'b6 24 l:tedl 'ir'a6 25 i.el liJb8 26 l:txe7 l:txe7 27 l:tel l:txel 28 4Jxcl liJd7 29 'ir'dl 'ir'e6 30 liJd3 'it>f8 31 b3 f6 32 "'el 'ir'xcl 33liJxcl 'it>e7 34 'it>fl e5 35 liJgI .i.b8 36 liJge2 i.a7 37 o liJd6 38 liJd3 g5 39 .i.f2 i.b6 40 liJel ~e6 41 g4 e4 42 f4 f5 43 gxf5+ liJxf5 44 fxg5 hxg5 45 liJg3 i.e7 46 liJxf5 ~xf5 47 liJg2 liJf6 48 liJel 'it>g6 49 'it>g2 'it>h5 50 i.g3 .i.xg3 51 'it>xg3liJd7 52 liJe2liJb6 This was the ending both sides had aimed for. I trusted that the bad white knight would be sufficient for me to win, and Walter hoped that the reduced material would let him hold.

53 'it>f2 Not 53 liJe I? liJxa4 and the b-pawn queens. 53 ...~h4 54 'it>g2 The first critical position. Black can try to make progress on the kings ide by exchanging the g- and h-pawns and laying siege 10 e3. However once the black knight drifts too far from the queens ide White can play liJb4 and run the a-pawn. Hence I chose the more violent approach ... 54 ... liJe4 My selection was rapidly rewarded when Arencibia declined the offer with ... 55 ~h2 liJd2 56liJxb4 Or 56 liJa I liJfl + winning. 56... axb4 57 a5 liJe4 White resigned. Since 58 bxc4 b3 59 a6 b2 60 a7 b I ='ir' 61 a8='ir' 'ir'b2+ 62 ~g I 'it>g3 forces mate . Fine... Or was it?? Let's take a look at what happens if White does take the knight, 55 bxc4 dxc4 (not 55 ... b3 56liJa3).

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My first thought was that 56 d5 b3 57 ltJa3 c3 58 d6 c2 59 d7 (59 ltJxc2 is hopeless: 59 ... bxc2 60 d7 c1='i' 61 d8='ir' 'i'c2+ 62 'it'fl 'ir'xa4 63 'ir'h8+ ~g3 64 'ir'e5+ ~xh3 and 'i'xg5 is impossible because of 'ir'd 1-f3-g3) 59 ... cl ='ir' 60 d8='ir' 'iib2+ 61 'it'g 1 'ir'xa3 and the black king runs towards a I. However, as Speelman points out, 61 'it'fl 'ir'xa3 62 'i'h8+ 'it'g3 63 "'e5+ ~f3 (63 ... 'it'xh3 64 'ir'f5+ doesn't help) 64 'i'f6+! (I had overlooked this check!) 64 ...'it'xe3 65 'ir'c3+ forces a perpetual. Even more interesting, though, is 56 ~f2. Speelman gives this an !, which is curious, suggesting White is trying to win?! The point is that White can catch the queens ide pawns, for example 56 ... b3 57 ltJa3 c3 58 ~e2 'it'xh3 59ltJb5! and now best seems to be 59 ... b2 60 ltJxc3 g4 61 'it'd2 g3 62 'it'c2 g2 63 ltJe2 'it'g4 64 d5 'it'f3 65 ltJg 1+ 'it'f2 66 ltJh3+ 'it'g3 drawing. However Black can also try 56 ... ~xh3 when Speelman gives 57 d5 b3 58 ltJa3 c3 59 'it'e2 g4 60 d6 when Black is struggling to draw. But Black can improve with 59 ... b2 and if 60 d6 b 1='ir' 61 ltJxb 1 c2 wins. So 60 'it'd 1 g4 61 d6 g3 62 d7 g2 63 d8='ir' gl='ir'+ 64 'it'c2. Now the simple 64 ... 'ir'c 1+ 65 'it'b3 bl='ir'+ 66 lLlxbl 'ir'xbl+ 67 Wxc3

'ifb4+ is probably enough to win, but even clearer is 66 ... 'i'b2+ 67 ~c4 ~+ 68 'it'd5 'ir'xb I. The point is that White can never take the c-pawn, e.g. 69 'ir'h8+ 'it'g3 70 'ir'xc3 'ir'd3+ 71 'ir'd4 'i'xd4+ 72 ~xd4 'it'f3 and wins, so the black king walks out of the checks and the c-pawn decides. This is still not the end, though, as White too can improve by 57 'it'e2! threatening ltJe I, when Black has to go for 57 ... b3 58 ltJa3 when 58 ...c3 59 ltJb5 draws as above, and 58 .... g4 59 d5 is no better. So, was the whole position drawn after all?? Well, before we give up let's just go back to the position before 54 ... ltJc4, and consider the quiet approach.

54 ... ltJc8 55 ltJel ltJd6 56ltJc2 (If 56 ~h2 ltJc4 wins.) 56 ... ltJf5 57 'it'h2 g4 58 hx.,g4 'it'xg4 59 'it'g2 ltJh4+ 60 'it'f2 lllf3! (Not 60 ... 'it'h3 61 ltJxb4. Now though the knight stays within range of a8 [ltJf3-g5e6-c7], thus preventing ttJb4) 61 'it'g2 (61 ltJal 'it'h3 will transpose.) 61...liJd2 62 ltJa I 'it'h4 63 'it'f2 (Not 63 ~h2 ltJfl+) 63 ...'it'h3 64 'it'e2 ltJb 1 65 ltJc2 (65 ~f2 ltJa3 wins the king ending, with the white knight trap.ped.) 65 ... 'it'g2 66 ltJe I + 'it>g 1 67 lllc2 ltJc3+ 68 ~el ~g2 69ltJal 'it'f3 70 ltJc2 (Or 70 ~d2 ltJb 1+ 71 'it'c 1 ~xe3 72 'it'xb 1 'it'd2 73 ltJc2

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e3 winning.) 70 ... ltJbl (Even ... ltJe2-g3 is good enough.) 71 'it'd I ltJa3 winning easily. So what does this all prove?? Well, fairly clearly that the best endgame prize was not merited! That my judgment is better than my play? (Not a surprise with advancing age and laziness.) That violence doesn't pay-except in practice? Probably just that fortune favours the lucky.

for the pawn. 23 l:tbl l:tfb8 24 ltJdl 24 dxe6 ~xe6 24 ... exd5 25 cxd5 25 exd5? ':xd3! 26 'iVxd3 ~f5 wins. 25 •..ltJf4 With a strong attack. 26 ~xf4 26 ~c2 ltJxg2! 27 ~xg2 ~xh3+ 28 ~gl (28 ~xh3 'iWf3 mate) 28 ... 'iVf3 mates; 26 ~fl ':xa3 with advantage to Black. 26... gxf4 With an attack down the ventilated g-file. 27 ~e2 27 ~fl l:txa3.

* * * * A ferocious attack, vintage Miles:

116 A.Baburin White A.J.Miles Black 4NCL, England 2000 Ellglish Defelice I d4 e6 2 e4 b6 3 a3?! Weakens b3. 3•.. g6 4 ltJc3 ~g7 5 e4 ltJe7 6 ltJo ~b7 7 ~d3 d6 New move. 7... d5; 7 ... 0-0 8 0-0 ltJd7 9 l:tel 9 ~e3 h6!? 10 d5!? 9 ... h6!? 10 h3 a6 11 ~e3 gS 12 l:tel 12 d5 ltJg6 with control of e5. 12 b4!? 12... eS 12 ... 0-0 13 b4; 12 ... ltJg6!? 13 dS 13 b4!? 0-0 (13 ... cxd4!?). 13 ...ltJg6 Black has strong squares e5 and f4. 14 ~e2 'iVe7 15'iWd2 0-0 16 l:ted! 16 dxe6 fxe6 17 l:ted I ltJde5 18 'iWxd6 'iVxd6 19 l:txd6 ltJxc4; 17 ... l:txf3!? intending ... ltJh4 or ... ltJe5. 16... ltJdeS 17 ltJxeS ~xe5 18 ~d3 Intending ~fl and hindering ... b5. If 18 g3 'iVf6 threatening ... ltJf4. 18...'iVf6!? 19 ltJa4 l:tab8 20 ltJxb6 ~c8 20 ... ~c6!? 21 dxc6 l:txb6 is unclear. 21 ltJa4 21 ltJxc8 ':xb2 22 'iVa5 l:txc8 23 'iWxa6 l:tcb8 with compensation for the pawn, intending ... ~d4 or ... ltJf4. 21. .. ~d7 22 ltJc3 l:tb3! Black has good play

27 ... l:txh3! Wins. 28 gxh3 ~h8 28 ... f3 29 'it>h I 'iVh4 30 ':gl + ~h8 31 l:tg3 ~xh3 also wins. 29 0 29 'it>fl 'fi'h4! (29 ... ~xh3+ 30 ~e2 f3+ 31 'it'd3 ~d7 32 'it'c4!; 29 ... f3 30 l:te3) 30 ltJe3 (30 'it'e2 f3+) 30 ... ~b5+ 31 ~d3 'iVxh3+ 32 ~e2 'iVh5+ 33 f3 fxe3. 29 ...l:tg8+ 30 'it'hl 30 'it'fl ~xh3+ 31 'it'e2 l:tg2+ 32ltJf2 ~d4 33 l:tfl 'iVh4. 30 ..:it'h4 White resigned. 117 Wagner White (Le Perroux, 2390) A.J.Miles Black (Vandoeuvre ... How would I know what my rating is these days! Too many lists!) French League 2001 Queen's Gambit Accepted Miles Variation It seems quite a while since inflicted one of my own games on you. This is largely because I have hardly played any lately, but now

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seems as good a time as any to make amends. A couple of weeks ago, I made my debut in the French league (slightly surprising that I haven't appeared there before ... but I am open to offers!). I was playing for the second division (weILl am just an old man you know) leaders Vandoeuvre, and produced the following entertaining little game: 1 d4 dS 2 tDO tDf6 3 c4 dxc4 4 tDc3 Six years ago I invented a system against this line which I used to great pecuniary advantage to knock out in consecutive rounds of the London PCA (remember them??) Grand Prix Messrs. Kramnik (whatever became of him??) and Van Wely. Thereafter I wrote an article about the variation and then obeyed Larsen's maxim that when you write about a variation you must immediately stop playing it. Well... At least I tried to stop playing it. In one game in Bermuda a few years ago Joel Benjamin played the QGA against me, which at the time was not really part of his repertoire, so I banged out 4 tDc3 safe in the knowledge that he would not play my own line against me. Wrong! He did, and I had trouble scrambling a draw! On another occasion an opponent played 4 tDc3 rather confidently against me. so expecting preparation, I ducked into a Slav with 4 ... c6. In the six years since I introduced my idea, quite a few strong players have adopted it... Korchnoi, Van Wely himself, Nikolic, Tkachiev and others. Anyway, partly for old times sake, and partly because I had forgotten whatever I knew about the line, I decided to wheel it out again! 4 .•. a6 5 e4 bS 6 eS tDdS 7 a4 e6 8 axbS tDb6

The stem position of the line. Black gives back the extra pawn, but in return gets the excellent square d5 for his pieces, and preserves the pawn on c4, which does an important job-keeping the .i.f1 from its most aggressive post on d3. White has space on the kingside, but the inability of the white light-squared bishop to join an attack means that the black king will be quite safe on the kings ide. 9 ii.e3 Experience has shown that this is the most critical. White prepares tDd2, both attacking the c4-pawn and allowing his queen to go to g4. 9... .i.b7 Korchnoi, presumably dissatisfied with this move, has tried both ... 'ikd7 and ... .i.b4 here, while the Spanish GM Magem Badals has successfully employed axb5. aesthetically establishing his king knight on a8. 10 tDd2 axb5 11 l:txa8 .i.xa8 12 tDxbS I reached this position as White in the above mentioned game against Benjamin. My memory was that at this point he sank into thought, and I came to the conclusion that 12 ... .i.b4 was the only move, while he decided that 12 ... .i.d5 was forced! The post mortem concluded

leJ am nostalgic for the days before computers were invented" 237 that both were unclear, but that was all I could recall. In fact checking my database, I now find that I had got it the wrong way round! Thinking I was showing eternal lack of confidence in my own assessments I now chose... 12....i.dS The alternative 12 ... i.b4 13 "g4 (I played the less incisive 13 lDc3) 13 ... 0-0 was tried recently in a game Gormally-Krush, Oakham 2000. when White preferred 14 .i.e2 to the tempting 14 .i.h6, but went on to win anyway. Further tests are. as they say, needed. 13"g4 The preliminary 13 lDc3 is the major alternative. 13... hS Black exploits the fact that g7 is still protected to make White make a decision over the future of his queen. 14 "h3 At the time, this seemed like the correct choice to me. f4 doesn't seem a very useful square, and on "d 1, the pawn on h5 does not inconvenience Black that much. He can still arrange to castle after g6 or even h4. 14... .i.b4 Taking advantage of the gain of time to develop optimally. IS lDc3 Necessary sooner or later. On 15 .i.e2 Black could even consider 15 ... .i.xd2+ 16 .i.xd2 .i.c6 winning d4. Is•..lDc6 Active piece play! There is no need to fear 16 li)xd5, as after 16.....xd5 White will have trouble guarding d4 and his king will be caught in the centre.

16.i.e2lDe7 Wheeling the knight around towards the excellent squares of d5 and f5. Now 17 lDxd5 is well met by 17 ... lDexd5. 170-0.i.xc3! 18 bxc3lDrs Suddenly Black's plan begins to materialise. How exactly is the white queen going to join in the game?? Shadows of ... g5-g4 begin to rear their heads ...

19:al I expected 19 lDf3 to take care of the g5 nuisance, though while g4 is still not a threat it is not urgent, and .. ...a8 would have been a consideration. Incidentally, note that 19 g4 would really not help White after 19...lDh4.

19...~d7! My favourite move of the game, and one that my opponent overlooked. Black's only bad piece is his king-it blocks the coordination of his major pieces -and it certainly cannot find a home on the kingside. But by heading the other way, towards c6 or c8 or b7, it is quite safe and far away from the stranded white queen, allowing the l:th8 to take an active part in proceedings and putting ... g5-g4 well and truly on

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the agenda. Suddenly Black's whole position makes sense. 20 g3? A slight panic reaction. I would have preferred the more restrained tiJf3 to control g5, when I was thinking of maybe ... 'Oti>c8 to prepare a possible ... f6 and ... g5 perhaps. With the text White hopes to reactivate his queen via fl, but Black has a simple way to cut across this plan. 20 ...tiJxe3 21 fxe3 'iWgS 22 'it>f2 Clearly tiJfl has the drawbacks of losing control of e4, and putting the 'iWh3 back in her coffin. 22 ... fS! Another powerful move. Instead, 22 ... f6 is less clear. After the text White has an unenviable dilemma: Leaving the pawn on f5 leaves Black in permanent control of d5 and e4; 23 'iWfl runs into 23 ... h4 (no g4 re.ply); and 23 'iWh4 is met by 23 ...'ifh6 when 24 tiJf3 loses a piece to 24 ... ~f3 followed by ... g5-g4. Hence, as my opponent observed after the game, he chose to die quickly! 23 exf6 IIfS 24 ~el The best try. Now 24 ... 'iWxe3 25 fxg7 is not so clear, or else White gets in e4. Time for some accurate calculation! 24... lIxf6 2S e4 'iWe3! The key move. Getting the d5-square back is well worth a piece! And with c3 and e4 attacked, White has no choice but to accept. 26 exdS 'iWf2+! Important. After 26 ... tiJxd5 27 'iWg2 'iWxc3 28 :b I tiJe3 29 'iWe4 I am not sure that Black has more than a draw. 27 'Oti>dl tiJxdS

Now the threats of 28 ... tiJxc3+ and 28 ...tiJe3 29 'Oti>c I 'iWe 1 leave White with only one, very ugly defence: 28 tiJbl Now Black finishes neatly: 28 .•.tiJe3+ 29 ~d2 tiJg2! The major threat is now 'iWel+. 30 'iWxhS 1If5! And the queen has no square. My opponent thought until he had one second remaining on his clock and then produced 31 'iWg4 but resigned immediately. 3l...'iWel mops up everything, including the king. 118 R.Gerber White A.J.Miles Black Crans Montana 200 I

In this posItion I continued, as planned, with 1... ~xe3 2 ~xe3 'Oti>f6 forcing White to exchange on g6. 3 fxg6 fxg6! Preparing to set up a decisn~ outside passed pawn. 4~f2

Nor would 4 f4 help: 4 ... exf4~ 5 ~xf4 g5+ 6 ~g4 (else ... hS and ... ~e5) 6 ... 'it>g6 followed by ... h5

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and .. .'it>f6-e5 with an easy win. Also inadequate is 4 h4 g5 when 5 hxg5+ 'it>xg5 gets the black king in to f4, while 5 h5 ~g7 and 'it>h6 just rounds up the h-pawn. 4 ... ~gS S ~g3 b6 The next step is to use up White's tempo moves on the queens ide. 6 c4 If White plays h4 at any time it will just lead back to the game. 6 ... cS 7 bS 7 bxc5 bxc5 8 b3 a5 does not make any real difference. 7 ... axbS 8 cxbS c4 9 h4+ If White retreats his king then 'it>f4 followed by advancing the h-pawn wins easily. 9 ...'it>f6

And White is in zugzwallg. If ~g4 (or 'it>h3) ... h5 followed by ... g5 sets up the outside h-pawn. However, if it were Black's move here, ... h5 would be met by f4 and White would control g5. 10 f4 h6 11 'it>g4 exf4 12 'it>xf4 gS+ 13 hxgS+ hxgS+ 14 'it>g4 'it>eS IS 'it>xgS 'it>xe4 16 'it>f6 'it>dS and White, who was also on the point of losing on time, resigned. At the time I was quite pleased,

thinking I had played quite a competent ending. It was only when the game was published that I got a couple of emails pointing out that the final position is not winning!! My first reaction was incredulity, but these days anyone who runs Fritz while playing through games can come up with something unexpected, so I took a look. The rather surprising point is that after 17 'it>e7 'it>cS 18 ~d7 'it>xbS 19 'it>d6 'it>b4 20 'it>c6 if Black plays 20 ... 'it>b3 then 21 'it>b5 draws immediately. Hence 20 ... bS (20 ... 'it>a5 21 'it>d6 doesn't help, but not 21 'it>d5 b5!-see later) 21 ~b6 'it>a4 22 'it>cS 'it>aS 23 ~dS!

and the position is mutual zugzwang! White to play would lose: 'it>c5 'it>a4, or 'it>d4 'it>b4, or 'it>c6 b4. But Black to play can do nothing. A remarkable resource, and despite having edited a large chunk of the Encyclopaedia of King and Pawn Endings many years ago, not one I have seen before. So where did I go wrong? In fact it was only my last, careless, move that is the mistake. Instead of 16 ... 'it>d5 either 16 ... 'it>d4 or 16 ...'it>d3 followed by ... c3 wins trivially. For example: 17 'it>e6 c3 18 bxc3 'it>xc3 19 'it>d6 'it>b4 20 'it>c6 'it>a5 and wins.

12: Problems A selection of problems, mainly taken from Tony Miles's New Statesman column (the exceptions are the first and last positions).

1: Miles - Marshall Wolverhampton 1968

3: Korchnoi - Gheorghiu London 1980

White to play and mate ill 3

White to play and win

2: Simultaneous display 1978

4

White to play and mate in 4

White to play. How should the game go?

Prohlems 241

5

7: Miles - Gonzales Mestres Las Palmas 1980

How should the game go?

White to play and will

6

8

White to play and win

White to play. How should the game go?

242 Problems

9: Mariotti - Miles

11: Blitz game

Baerum 1980

White has just played ~(d2)14. Is this (a) bad, (b) good or (c) desperate? How .~/lOlild Black continue? How should Black not continue (plausible lines only)?

From a blitz game of mille. Black to play. How should the game go?

10: Miles - de Firmian

12: Miles - Schneider

Baerum 1980

Philadelphia (World Open) 1980

White, to play, made a move. Black made the most obvious reply. White moved again and Black resigned. What were the moves and why did Black resign?

White to play and win

Prohlems 243

13: Miles - Sanguinetti

IS: Miles - Sosonko

Sao Paulo 1977

Tilburg 1978

Black to play. How should the game go?

White to play has all extra pawn. but does he have allY real chances?

14: Miles - Bellon

16: Plaskett - Miles Kettering 1980

Las Palmas 1977

White. to play. call choose between a. d8= 'if b. :tc2 c. :d2 d. :.12 and e. anything else. Which. if any. win. which draw and why?

Black to play has various possibilities: 23 ...liJxe5. 23.Ji:J7b6. 23 ...ti:J7j6. 23 ... b5. alld others. How should the game go?

244 Prohlems

17: Miles - Short London 1980

19: Tony Miles's favourite study!?

White to play-how call he swilldle his way to a draw? Assllme that Black's first move is the obviolls cooperative olle...

A remarkable endgame posItion that I was shown recently (1995). It is not clear if it is a game or a composed study. I suspect a study inspired by a game. White is to play and draw. Despite the limited material and very few possibilities the solution is strangely elusive. and there is a plausible trap along the way. Consider yourself extremely talented if you can solve it in under half an hour.

18: A rook and pawn endgame Longthorpe - Miles Hull 1980

Black to play. Call he win and how sholiid the game go?

13: Solutions to Problems (All solutions are by Miles with the exceptio II of No.1)

1: White mates in 3 by 1 "d8+!

~xd8 2 ~g5+ ~e8 3 l:td8 mate.

2: White mates in 4 by 1 "xf8+! ltJxf8 2 l:te8+! ltJxe8 3 ~g5+ ltJf6 4 ~xf6 mate. 3: Incredibly Korchnoi played I :c6? and only drew. Instead 1 l:td7! wins beautifully: l...~xd7 (or 1... l:txd7 2 "xfB mate) 2 "xf7+. Apart from this, though, as Mr Sahasrabudhe points out, White can simply play 1 l:tcd 1 (threatening l:td8+) 1... l:tb8 (the only defence) 2 :d7! also winning instantly-an astonishing miss! 4: This was a good old-fashioned queen sac and king hunt: 1 "a8+ tLlb8 2 'ii'xb7+!! (of course 2 ~a7 is playable but it does give Black a breathing space after 2... gxf2+ and ... ~xb5 and can hardly be compared to the text) 2...<;t>xb7 3 ~xd7+ ~a8 (or 3... ~a6 4 ~c8+ <;t>a5 5 ltJc4+ ~a4 6 l:tb4 mate) 4l:txb8+! ~xb8 5 l:tb1+ ~a8 6 ~c6 mate and, being an old game, doubtless gold sovereigns were showered on the pitch. 5: Another goldie. This time both rooks go with 1 l:td8+! "xd8 (on l...~h7 White doesn't bother with the queen but continues merrily with 2 l:txh6+! gxh6 3 "e7+ ~g6 4 h5 mate) 2 "e6+ <;t>h7 3 l:txh6+ gxh6 4 "17 mate. It is true that I

Wb3+ ~h7 2 "f7 (threatening l:txh6+) is strong but Black has 2.....e8 and it certainly doesn't score any points. 6: This came from an old, but to me not well-known, brilliancy. White mates by 1 l:txf5! exf5 2 "xh6+!! 'itxh6 (2 ... gxh6 3 ltJf6+ ~h8 4 l:tg8 mate) 3 l:th1+ <;t>g6 4 ~f4! (a nice touch, threatening ~h5+ xf7 mate) 4.....e6 (or ... l:te6), the only defence 5 l:th8! and Black cannot prevent ~h5 mate. 7: Black had just played l:t(e8)-e7 hoping to be able to oppose the c-file from c7. Unfortunately this created a momentary back rank weakness which I quickly exploited with I ltJxb6! "xb6 2 l:tc8+ l:td8 (2 ... ~h7 3 "f5+ g6 4 'ii'f6 l:td8 5 a5 is just a worst variety of the same disease. However 4 'ii'xd5 though also good, did not get full credit.) 3 as! and Black must surrender his queen. Probably the best way is 3 .....c7(!) but he was not that imaginative and the game concluded 3...l:txc8 4 axb6 l:tc6 5 'ii'f5! ~e6 6 "as! Black resigned. (A pity really-I hoped for 6... d5 7 b5 axb5 8 "a8+ l:tc8 9 b7.) 8: This was elegant but not difficult: White wins with 1 ltJxd5! ltJxd5 (or l...l:txd5 2 ~xd5 ltJxd5 3 ~e4! still traps the knight) 2 ~e4! and if 2... ltJb6 3 :xf7+ or 2 ... ltJf6+ 3 'ite5! So Black could find nothing better than 2...ltJe7 with a hopeless ending.

246 Solutiolls to Problems

9: (When the problem was published in New Statesman. the second questioll-How should Black not cOlltilllle?-was unfortunately omitted) Unfortunately the gremlins got at my introduction. The relevant piece should have read 'How should Black continue? How should Black not continue (plausible lines only),. Somehow the second question disappeared. Luckily quite a lot of solvers found how Black should not continue! I i.(d2)-f4 is desperation since White is lost anyway. The knight will fall and Black will have an overwhelming material plus. Obviously Black should avoid 1... lDxf4 2 l:tc7+ ~xa8 3 l:taxa7+ drawing. Credit though for l...~xa8 which, although messy, should win. The point I, or rather Mariotti, was fishing for, is that Black appears to have a trivial win with 1... e5 2 i.xe5 i.xb4 completing his development with a winning position. Fool that I am, I played l...eS?? only to be stunned by 2 .l:ta5!! The knight on d5 is undermined and then there is no way to keep the white rooks from the 7th rank. The game concluded 2•..lDxf4 3 l:tc7+ ~xa8 4 :axa7+ drawing. Had I sat on my hands for a while I should have realised two things: first that the lD( d5) is the cornerstone of my position and second (psychologically hard to realise over the board) that I i.f4 does absolutely nothing! (2 lDc7 will be met by lDxf4). Hence Black should simply play 1... e6! supporting the knight, winning the b-pawn and a piece, when White can safely resign.

10: I played 1 :a3! (I l:tc6 is clearly weaker. After, say, ...:e8 there is nothing decisive.) 1.. :it'g6 This is, in my opinion, the most obvious defence since 1... ~e8 loses trivially to 2 'ii'bS+-some credit for this though-and on 1... 'ii'g7 2 'ii'xh5 White's massive positional plus should win. Perhaps 1... 'ii'e8 is the best try but it is far from obvious. Here the game was adjourned but when I pointed out 2 'ii'c5! Black resigned since there is no answer to the threats of :f3+ and l:txa7 viz. 2 ...'ii'e4+ (2 ... ~e8 3 'ii'c8+ ~f7 4 l:tf3+ rJ;;g7 5 'ii'fS mate. or 2 ... 'ii'g7 3 l:tf3+ rJ;;g8 4 'ii'c8+, or 2 ... 'ii'e8 3 .l:txa7) 3l:U3+ rJ;;e8 4 'ii'c8 mate. 11: This came from a blitz game of mine. White has dangerous play himself so clearly the only try for Black is l...'ii'fl+ 2 ~hl f4! Now 3 i.xg6 fxg3 and 3 gxf4 lDh4! clearly lose outright and 3 e7 lDxe7 4 'ii'f3 fxg3 leaves Black with a fairly easy endgame win, so 3 'ii'o is forced. Then 3 ... fxg3 4 'ii'xfl gxfl 5 i.e2 (not 5 rJ;;g2 lDf4+ xh5-f6) 5... rJ;;g8! 6 i.f1 lDf4 with a winning ending. White can try 6 ~g2 but the king and pawn ending after 6... lDf4+ 7 ~xfl lDxe2 8 'it>xe2 ~f8, although not trivial, is lost. A sample line: 9 ~e3 ~e7 10 ~d4 ~xe6 11 ~c5 'it>d7 12 ~b6 rJ;;c8 13 h4 g6 14 ~c5 (if 14 ~a7 ~c7 followed by ... c5) 14... rJ;;c7 15 ~d4 'it>d6 16 ~e4 ~e6 17 ~f4 ~f6 18 'it>g4 (or 18 ~e4 ~g7-h6) 18...~g7 19 ~g5 c5 20 'it>f4 'it>h6 21 rJ;;g4 c4 22 rJ;;f4 'it>h5 23 ~g3 g5 etc. 12: This must rank as one of my greatest Houdini impersonations. Not long before the problem

Solutions to Problems 247

position I had been two pawns down for absolutely nothing (Black having a pawn on e4 with my e-pawn being on £2). However, my pin on the back rank had caused sufficient annoyance for him to run short of time and return one pawn by ... e3 in an attempt to expose my king. This plan only succeeded in activating my knight which had been tied to h3(!) and finally Black had just committed the exceedingly unfortunate blunder of .:(d I )-fl to meet 1 :xb3 with 1.....e5. Sadly for him there now occurred 1 "xf8+! "xf8 2 lLle7+ ~h7 3 :xf8 b2 4lLlg6!!

whereupon the drawback of the rook's position became apparent and he resigned. The main point of the problem, though, is that Black has a much better defence in 3...':el! The refutation is elegant: 4 ~f5! and now if (a) 4 ... b2 5 lLlg6! again, since 5... fxg6+ 6 hxg6 is mate, so (b) 4 ... g6+ and here either: (hI) 5 'it>e5 b2 6 ':xf7+ ~h8 7 hxg6 :xe4+! 8 'it>f6! winning, or (b2) 5 ~f6 (threatening :xf7+, lLlxg6+ and :xg7 mate) 5... ':fl + 6 ~e5 b2 (or 6 .. .'~g7 7 :g8+ 'it>h7 8

hxg6+ and :b8) 7 hxg6+ <3;g7 (7 ... fxg6 8 ':xfl) 8 :g8 mate! (c) 4 ...':fl+ 5 ~e5 doesn't help -unless, as an afterthought5... :hl has any chances. 13: After 1... d4 queen moves can be dismissed quickly, Black's position is considerably superior after the simple 2... dxe3 though he may well have better. Also 2 exd4 lLlf4 gives Black a raging attack. Consequently we are left with 2 lLlxd4 then 2... lLlxd4 is met by 3 i.xg4. So 2...:xd4 3 exd4 i.xe2 4 ~xe2 lLlxd4+ 5 'it>f1 (it is not hard to establish that that the white king would soon die from exposure on the d-file) 5.....a6+ 6 "c4 ':c8! 7 "xa6 :xc I mate. All very neat. Too neat unfortunately for most solvers who, having found this line, were convinced that it was the solution and failed to look for a better defence. Therefore my congratulations to Mr C.McSheehy on being the only entrant who noticed 3 f3! Best play is somewhat obscure. 3... i.h3! 4 :g I! (not 4 /ixh3 "h4+; or 4 exd4 i.xg2 5 ':gl lllf4! with a terrific attack.) 4 ... i.xg2! (Black must check with his queen to unpin the rook) 5 ':xg2 (again not 5 exd4 lLlf4) 5.....h4+ 6 ~fI :d5 and Black's pOSition is preferable because of White's weak kingside. Instead the game continued 3... ':e84 0-0 (fxg4 is also possiblc:) 4... lLlf4 5 i.c4! lLlh3+? (best is 5... :xc4! and if 6 "xf6 lLle2+! 7 'it>£2 lLlxc 1, so 6 1Wxc4 lLlh3+ 7 ~h I! i.d7 8 gxh3 "xb2 with some play for the exchange) 6 gxh3! :xc4 (if 6 ... i.x either pawn, simply 7 "xd4) 7 1Wxf6 ':xcl 8 1Wd4 :xfl+ 9 ~xfl i.xf3 10 "xa7 and White won. Mr McSheehy's

248 Solutions to Problems

diligence gains him first prize in the June competition. 14: It is simple to establish that (a) only draws. As one entrant commented, if (a) won then the position would not be set as a problem. E.g: (8) I dS=W :XdS 2 ~xdS g4 3 ~e7 g3 4 'itvf6 ~g4 5 ~e5 ~f3 6 :b3+ ~f2 7 ~f4 g2 S :b2+ 'it>f1 9 'itvf3 g IdlH and White cannot win. It is important to realise that this position is drawn since it can occur in most lines. The next straightforward line is: (d) I :f2! The advantage of this move is that when White wins the rook he will control the crucial f-file enabling him to approach with his king. Thus I :f2! g4 (l...:aS is also insufficient 2 :f8 lla7 3 ~d6 etc) 2 llf8 :g7+ 3 ~e6 (I confess that when setting the problem I ~)Verlooked the trick 3 ~f6! winning mstantly-3 ...:xd7 4 llhS+ mating. Luckily for me, it does not alter the result) 3 ...:xd7 4 ~xd7 ~h4 5 ~e6 g3 6 llgS ~h3 7 ~f5 g2 S ~f4 ~h2 9 llhS+ ~gl 10 ~g3 ~f1 II :f8+ 'itvgl 12 :as ~hl 13 :hS+ ~gl 14 l:th2 wins. Naturally Black can force this line by 1...~h4 and 4 ... g4. The real test was to prove the result of (b) and (c). In fact, in the game (Miles-Bellon Las Palmas 77), I played the wrong move: (e) I :d2 I analysed (i) 1... g4 2 dS='if :xd8 3 :xd8 g3 4 :g8! ~h4 5 ~f6 ~h3 6 'itvrs winning as in the I :f2 line, and (ii) (which occurred in the game) l...~g4 2 d8=W :xdS 3 :xdS ~f3 4 :f8+! ~e3! 5 :gS! ~f4 6 ~f6 g4 7 'itvg6 Resigns as the white king runs down the h-file. What I did not realise until afterwards was that Black could

draw with I ... g4 2 dS='if :xd8 3 llxd8 ~g5! 4 ~e6 ~f4! etc. So much for (c), and: (b) is also insufficient: I :c2 ~g4! (but not \...g4? 2 :c8 :g7+ 3 ~f6! winning) 2 :c8 :g7+ 3 ~e6 :xd7 4 ~xd7 ~f3 and White's king is a crucial square further away than in the game so Black draws! So 1 ll12 was the only move to win. .15: ~hite has an extra pawn, but, wIth hIS rook and king tied to the defence of weak pawns, a win seems unlikely. I :a4 llxb5 2 :xa7 ~e6 is a theoretical draw, as is I b6 axb6 2 :xb6 :'c2+ 3 ~g3 llxa2 4 :g6 :a3+ 5 'itvh2 ~e5, whilst I a4 :c2+ 2 ~g3 :c3+ 3 'itvh2 lla3 (threatening ...~c5) is no help: so, I asked does White have any real chances? After half an hour's thought I found the only move to trouble Black, the surprising decentralising 1 'itvgl! The idea is simply to tuck the king away on h2 before improving on the queens ide. Clearly Black cannot just pass \... ~e5 2 ~h2 ~d5 3 a4! and the black rook cannot reach the a-file in time eg: 3...:c 1 4 as ~c5 5 b6! 'itvxb4 6 b7 wins. Any kingside counterplay must be based on ... f4. In the game Black tried the immediate l...f4? and lost to 2 h4! :'e1+ 3 ~h2 ~e5 4 :e4 gxh4 5 :xf4 ~xb5 6 84+ ~e6 (or 6 ... 'it>a5 7 :xh4 :al S :f4 :xa4 9 :xa4+ 'itvxa4 10 g4 wins) 7 :xh4 etc. of Two modified forms counterplay also fail: (a) I ~gl :c\+ 2 'itvh2 :c2 (intending ... f4-f3) 3 :a4 f4 4 :xa7 f3 5 ~g3! fxg2 6 ~h2 winning.

Solutions to Prohlems 249

(b) 1 ~g 1 'it>eS (preparing ... f4 whilst avoiding h4) 2 ~h2 f4 3 a4! :c2 4 as f3 S b6 ':xg2+ 6 ~h 1 and White queens with check. The best defence is 1 'it>g 1 ':c2! 2 ':a4 ':cS! (but not 2... ~cS 3 :xa7 'iitxbS 4 a4+ and :g7) and if 3 :as a6! 4 a4 :c 1+ and ... axbS should draw. So 3 :xa7 :xbS 4 :g7 :b2! S ':xgS ~e4! 6 a3 :b3! 7 h4 (or 7 a4 :a3) 7... :xa3 8 hS :a7 and Black holds. Careful passive defence may also survive. Mr J.D.Taylor suggests 1 ~g 1 ~eS 2 ~h2 :c2 3 :a4 :cS 4 :as ~f4! S a4 :c7 6 :a6 :d7! (otherwise ':c6 with tempo) and although White has greatly improved his position it seems he cannot win, eg: 7 :c6 ':d4! 8 as ':b4 etc. 16: Of the various suggestions all but 1... lLlxeS can be dismissed fairly quickly. (a) 23 ... lLl7b6 24 lLlxb6 ..tcS 2S lLlxa8 or 2S ..ta3. (b) 23 ... lLl7f6 24 ~fl (or £2) 24 ... lLlhS 2S :xdS lLlf4 26 :d4! lLlxe2 27 :xb4 and the knight is trapped. (d) 23 ... bS 24 :xdS bxa4 2S :xd7. (e) of the other possibilities 23 ... lLlc3 is the only reasonable selection, simplifying to a draw. So (c) 23 ...lLlxe5 is most interesting: 24 :xd5 and now 24 ... lLlg4!? at first sight seems crushing. For instance 2S :xe8+ :xe8 26 :d 1 (if 26 g3 :e 1+ and ... lLle3+ or 26 ~g7+ ~g8) 26 ... bS 27 h3 (if 27 lLlc3 ..tcS+) 27 ... lLle3 28 :d4 lLlc2. But White has a saving resource which can be Elayed in either of two ways: 2S llJc3! :xe2 26lLlxe2 :e8 27 ..tg7+!

~xg7 (if 27 ... 'it>g8 28 ':gS forces a draw) 28 :gS+ ~f6 29 ':xg4 ..tcS+ 30 ~fl holding, or the immediate 2S ..tg7+! ~g8 (better is 2S ... ~xg7 26 lhe8 and ':gS+ transposing) 26 :gS! when in view of the possibility 26 ...:xe2 27 ..tc3+ Black is in trouble. I confess I overlooked all this during the game, but nevertheless I saw a way to keep an endgame edge. I played 24 ...llJf3+(!) 25 ~f2 lLlxh2! (much more accurate than 2S ... ':xe2+). Now White regained his pawn with 26 ':xe8+ ':xe8 27 ':h5 but after 27 ... ~d6! 28 ':xh7 lLlg4+ 29 ~f3 lLle5+ 30 ..txe5 ':xe5 Black, with bishop for knight and the better coordinated pieces had a small but clear advantage which was duly converted into a win.

17: New Statesman solvers are traditionally of the endgame study type rather than the swindlingkiddies-out-of-points variety. The position came from my notorious encounter with Nigel Short from London 1980. I know I said in my preamble that you should assume Black's first move was the 'obvious cooperative one'. However, it is a real game, so I did not mean 'compose a help-mate'. Thus 1 lLlfS?? ~a I?? 2 "xa I + ~h7 3 "g7 mate did not get much credit (co-operative yes, but obvious???). 1 lLlg4 was mildly plausible e.g. l...hxg4 2 :h 1+ ~h6 3 "e7 but 1.....xa7 is also a fairly obvious reply after which White is not doing well. Also worth a try is 1 ..tb3 :xc I + 2 "xcI "xa7 3 "c8+ ~h7 4 ..tg8+ ~h6 S "cl gS 6 "a3 but 6 ... 'It'd7 holds everything.

250 Solutions to Problems The solution is in fact 1 ~dS! ltxcl+? (this is co-operative: on I ... ltd8 White still has plenty of problems) 2 "xci "xa7 3 "cS+ ~h7 4 tLlfS! This is the real point. White threatens "g8 mate and 4 ... gxf5 5 "xf5+ ~h6 6 "f4+ is a perpetual as 6 ... ~g6?? 7 ~xe4 is mate. Black's only remaining try is 4... ~eS(!) but even this proved inadequate: 5 tLlxg7 (this piece must be eliminated) S.....d7 6 "xeS "xdS 7 tLle6 "b3+ S ~cI "c3+ 9 ~dl "f6 (necessary to stop the mate threats). Now on quiet moves Black maintains chances but White has yet another trick: 10 tLlgS+! "xgS (else tLlxe4 draws easily) II "n+ ~h6 12 "f8+ ~h7 13 "n+ with a perpetual check. IS: Of the problems set, this caused most trouble as I expected. The general reaction was 'surely Black can't win', which is indeed correct, but the point was that there is an extremely good try, and the problem was to find both it and its countermeasure. The try itself is slightly elusive as it is in fact the problem position, but with White to move! All the White pieces are optimally placed-the rook attacking both pawns and the king within reach of both sides of the board. So Black begins with 1... lth3 2 ~g2 ltd3 3 ~e2 ltc3. Note that White has no good way of avoiding this sequence: his king can have no better square, on the back rank it would allow the black king to advance with mating threats, while g2 and e2, as we shall see, both have their drawbacks. Lastly note that the drastic 2 f5!? is by no means a clear draw: 2... gxf5 and (a) 3 lth6+ ~g4 4 ltxh3 ~xh3 5 g6 b2 6 g7 b I ='if 7 g8=" (with the

defending king in front such a position is normally a total drawthis, though, is the exceetion) 7.....c2+! 8 ~e3 (or 8 ~f1 "ifdl+ -d4+) 8.....e4+ 9 ~f2 (if 9 ~d2 "g2+ wins) 9..... f4+ forces the exchange of queens with a simple win. (b) 3 g6 ~h6 4 ~g2 ltc3 5 ~f2 ltc2+ 6 ~e3 ltb2! with excellent winning chances. If 7 ~f4 ltbI and ... b2, or 7 ~d3 ltbl 8 ~c3 and Black has a choice between such moves as ... ltcJ+, ... f4, ... ltgJ. Probably best, though, is a preliminary 8... ~g7 (to prevent ltf6) followed by ... ltgl. One possible continuation: 9 ~d4 ltgI(!) IO ltxb3 J:tg4+ II ~e5 ~xg6 and with the white king cut off behind the pawn Black should win. Return to the position after 3 ... ltc3, what should White do? Clearly 4 ~g2 ~g4 is bad: 5 ltxg6 ltc2+ and ... b2. Apparently the rook must remain on b6 so White, not sensing any danger, played 4 ~e2 lth3 5 ~f2? allowing S...~g4. Now if 6 ltxg6 b2 7 ltb6 lthl! (a recurrent trick) wins, and with 6 ltxg6 impossible Black's newly activated king decides the issue. The game concluded 6 ltb4 ltd3(!) 7 ~e2 lte3 (again losing a useful tempo) S ~f2 (he can't run too far from the kingside) S... ltc2+ 9 ~e3 b2 10 ~d3 ltf2 11 ~e3 ltf3+ 12 ~e2 lth3! 13 ~f2 lthl! (again) White resigned. On 14 ltxb2 lth2+. So, that's the winning try. There are two possible defences. The first, which I saw during the game, is (l...lth3 2 ~g2 ltd3 3 ~f2 ltc3) 4 ~e2 lth3 5 f5! gxf5 (otherwise fxg6) 6 lth6+ ~g4 7 ltxh3 ~xh3 8 ~d2! (but not g6?) and, after both sides queen, Black loses his last

Solutions 10 Problems 251

pawn. The second, suggested by I.Cornforth, is 4 l1b5! and on 4 ... <;t>g4 5 f5! gxf5 6 g6 when White's pawn costs Black his b-pawn with a simple draw. Quite a fascinating ending. Unfortunately very few entrants realised the seriousness of the 'try' and thus the finer points generally went undiscovered.

19: In 1996 Miles said this was the most beautiful problem that he had ever seen.

I c4! b4! If 1... bxc4 2 ~d2 draws. 2 ~dl! 2 ~d3! transposes. 2... ~c5 3 ~d2! (Zugzwang) 3 ...~xc4! 4 ~c1 ~a2 5 ~d2! The brilliant point. The trap is 5 ~b2? ~b3!! 6 cxb3+ ~d3 winning. Now if 5.•. ~c5 6 c3 b3 7 ~c1-b2 draws, while 5 ... ~bl 6 ~cl repeats the position. Tony was a bit disappointed that 2 ~d3 also holds. but still liked the position. He showed this study to a few players during Hastings 1995/96, including Luke McShane, who solved it quickly.

14: Articles Has Karpov Lost his Marbles? (from Kingpill 1986) As it happens I am in a position to reveal exclusively to Killgpill readers (unless, of course, someone else actually offers to pay me) the true and tragic story of why the invincible Anatoly failed to dispose of that young upstart Kasparov. I first recognised the symptoms when browsing through a copy of the lightweight epic Learn from VOllr Defeats published by Batsford, 'translated by Eric Schiller. •A Batsford Book. Adviser: R.D. Keene GM OBE. Technical Editor: P.A. Lamford'. Typeset, I notice, by Hope Services!? I turned quickly to Skara 1980 to discover what exactly the little man had learned from I e4 a6. In the introduction I was confused to read: 'Actually it is easy to see that Black's extravagant opening got him into trouble' (Oh yes!? Then why ... ). •Besides, in my next seven games with Tony Miles the British GM also tried to undermine the centre from the nank, but he only managed to achieve a single half point'. Well, I know nostalgia tends to blur the memory, but I really didn't think things had been that bad. Fortunately this monumental and diligently researched tome comes equipped with a tournament record.

Carefully I added up my next seven scores: 1/2 +0 +0 +1/2 +1/2 +1 +0 = 1/2 !? Oh well, I suppose it must be the new FIDE scoring system. Intrigued, I turned to the BBCfN~R final from Bath 1983. I was qUIte relieved to find that I had actually won it, though the venue had been changed to London and again the introduction was mysterious: 'This tournament was played at an accelerated time limit. Each player received one hour for forty moves, and then half an hour for the rest of the game.' Gazing at the framed score sheet over my bed I see that the rate of play was in fact forty in two (the proposed new FIDE rate) and the rest (had there been any) in an hour. It's interesting what one can learn from one's defeats. When next I met Karpov, at the OHRA tournament in Amsterdam, I pointed out these . minor inaccuracies. The first he saId was all the translator's fault. He had meant the seven games before, not afterwards. I still couldn't remember things being quite so bad. Well maybe, he thought, the TV draws were omitted because they were played at a fast time limit. I briefly considered enquiring if he had also left out the even faster win, but decided that that would only be diverging further. Instead I produced a copy of the book and

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together we checked from his own r~cord. It was still not true. The second point was clearly his ailing memory. When he thought the game was played in Hamburg. wrote London when in fact it was Bath, what chance could he have of remembering the time control? Anyway, muttering gently about libel laws I politely requested a publishable apology. Anatoly quickly agreed. Now what I had in mind was something along the lines of 'Grovel, grovel... Terribly sorry. grovel, grovel etc.' On the last day of the tournament I received the following:

Amsterdam, July the 26th. Regarding my book Learn from your Defeats (Bats ford, 1985) I would like to point out the following: In the introduction to my loss to Tony Miles at Skara 1980 the book wrongly states: 'Besides in my next seven games with Tony Miles the British Grandmaster also tried to undermine the centre from the flank, but he only managed to achieve a single half point'. The mistake was made by a translator who confused times, because in my manuscript I mentioned the score before Skara and not after it. In my loss to grandmaster Miles from the BBCINDR tournament at Bath (not Hamburg) the introduction states: 'This tournament was played at an accelerated time limit. Each player received one hour

for forty moves and then half an hour for the rest of the game. ' This is incorrect. I wrongly pointed out here the conditions of the previous TV cup which took place in Hamburg. The time control in Bath was in fact 40 moves in two hours and then the rest in one more hour. Giving my apologizes [sic] to grandmaster Miles I want to thank him that he found out incorrect facts which will be taken into consideration in the next edition of the book. Anatoly Karpov A nice touch, I thought, to stress before and after when we had already clearly established that his statistics were not correct before, after, or for that matter at any other time. I toyed with the idea of asking for an apology for the apology, but decided I would only be wasting my energy. You just can't win against Karpov.

* * * * The Holey Wohly? (from Chess Cafe 2000) It has been brought to my attention that so far this column has not exactly been on the cutting edge of opening theory. Well, fair comment I suppose, so this month I intend to remedy that. About twenty years ago US 1M John Watson wrote an excellent set of four volumes on the English opening. In a brave effort at total completeness he even considered in reply to 1 c4, \...g5, \...a6, l...lba6 and even 1... Resigns (as in Fischer-Panno, Palma de Majorca 1970).

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Well, believe it or not, not long after that I was genuinely intending to play 1...gS against Karpov should he open 1 c4. Sadly he never did. 1... a6 was included solely so that "when Basman or Miles starts using it, I won't be accused of overlooking the possibility". Of 1... lLla6 he was even more dismissive. "A player approached me just recently and asked if my book had anything on 1... lLla6. He then explained that he'd been playing it with great success and that there were some 'really interesting ideas' behind it. I should be the last to deny this, and 1...lLla6 may now be considered officially entered in the manuals of opening theory ..... I have never yet tried I ...lLla6, but I promise you, I will. Well, gentle reader, to change subject a little, how many games would you think Alex Yermolinsky loses with White in a year? Not a lot I guess, the fingers of one hand might well be sufficient. And what about Jesus Nogueiras? Probably not many more... So how would you react if they both lost in the space of one week to the same opponent-not named Kasparov-in the same opening? Must be a good line huh? Well, without further ado, let me present to you-with apologies to Belgian afficionado de Bruyckerthe Holey Wohly:

"If anyone wants to clap" said Eeyore, "now is the time to do it." (The house at Pooh ComerA.A.Milne) For those not au fait with the latest theoretical developments, I should point out that this is an all-purpose defence (suicide is a defence to a lot of things ... ) to anything, extensively researched by its Australian inventor and myself. (If I d4 lLla6! or I e4 c6 2 d4?! lLla6). If you think it's a total joke I would point out the game Yermolinsky-Wohl, Los Angeles (0-1) played a week before this one! 3 e4 c6 4 c4 d6 5 lLlc3 Jig7 6 Jie2 lLlc7 7 0-0 lLlh6!

J.Nogueiras White A.Wohl Black Merida 1999

1 lLltJ g6 2 d4 lLla6!

This was my donation towards theory. If you are going to look

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silly, you might as well do it properly! 8 h3 0-0 9 Ael f5 10 .id3 This is not a success. 10... f4 Given another move Black will play e5 with a favourable King's Indian set-up. lIeS dxe5 12 dxe5 If 12 .!ilxe5 'ii'xd4. 12 ... .!ile6

And Black has an excellent position. The white e-pawn is definitely weak rather than strong. 13 b3 .!iln 14 .ib2 'ii'c7 15 'it'e2 .id7 16 .!ilbl Aad8 17 .!ilbd2 .!ilc5 18 .ic2 .if5 19 i.xf5 gxf5 20 .id4 .!ile6 21 .ic3 'ii'd7 22 Aael 'ii'd3 23 .!ilh4 'ii'xe2 24 Axe2 .!ilfg5 25 .!ildf3 .!ile4 26 .ib4 .!il6c5 27 .ia3 e6 28 .!ilel An 29 .!ilhf3 Afd7 30 Acc2 Adl 31 <;t>h2 Aal 32 .ixc5 .!ilxc5 33 ':'cd2 Adl 34 ':'xd8+ ':'xd8 35 .!ilc2 .!ile4 36 ~gl Adl+ 37 l:tel Ad7 38 .!ilcd4 ~n 39 .!ilc2 <;t>e7 40 <;t>fl .!ild2+ 41 <;t>e2 .!ilxf3 42 ~xf3 Ad2 White resigned. If 43 l:te2 Ad3+ 44 ~xf4 i.h6 mate! A strange game... Which side looked like the experienced Grandmaster?? A week later came

Hodgson-Wohl, Las Vegas, and on the same day and place Browne-Hjorth (a recent expatriate Aussie convert), and even more recently Rashkovsky-Wohl and Delchev-Wohl, Linares 2000, both 0-1. As jokes go, it's not clear if it's funny! My own first experience of this system came about 20 years ago. With White against the Yugoslav Grandmaster Sahovic I essayed - unusually - 1 e4. My opponent sank into 15 minutes' thought before producing 1... c6 2 d4 .!ila6!! Why?? Well, his two main defences to e4 were I ... .!ilc6 and 1.... b6!! So, what is the point? Indeed, is there any point? Well, .!ila6 is a developing move, and if White adopts the e4-d4-c4 centre it's quite easy to reach a respectable King's Indian set up. If White avoids c4 then Black gets a slightly odd Modem (or 'Rat' as it was christened in Canada when Suttles played it 30 years ago). A curious feature, which is my main donation to the line, is the possibility of developing the g8 knight on h6 and playing a Basmaniac Dutch with ... f5. My first serious attempt with it was against Gufeld in Beijing 96 . The opening went I e4 c6 2 d4 .!ila6 3 .!ilf3 g6 4 c4 d6 5 .!ilc3 .ig7 6 .ie2 .!ilc7 70-0 .!ilh6 8 d5 0-0 9 .if4 f5 10 'ii'd2 .!ilfl II exf5 .ixfS 12 Aad I e5 13 dxe6 .!ilxe6 14 .ie3 and now after ... 'ii'f6 Black stands well, though I went on to lose. What really sticks in my mind, though, is that at breakfast the next morning Gufeld spent fully two hours yelling at me "I hate you, my friend". (Honestly!!) "You are destroying chess with your stupid ideas!" You may think that I exaggerate, but

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there were several witnesses! You may also wonder at my sanity for liste'lling, which I would understand, but frankly I was so shocked I just sat transfixed. Goof has not spoken a civil word to me since, and at our only subsequent encounter even the customary handshake was missing. Such a reaction is surely testament to the opening's surprise value ... Heaven help me if I had won. I would probably not still be alive ... A slightly more amusing conversation followed the game Wahls-Wohl, Arco 1996. That game opened 1 e4 e5... and Black eventually won the game and the tournament. Afterwards a well prepared Wahls asked "But why didn't you play 1... c6 and 2 ... ltJa6?" The reply was "Well, I was afraid you would play 1 e4 c6 2 ltJc3 preventing ttJa6" (no 'ii'a5+ after .ixa6). The German muttered "Our minds work in very different ways!" and wandered off to the bar shaking his head. Well, since this is my column, and I wouldn't like to miss the chance to print one of my wins, here is my best donation to date:

10 dxe5 dxe5 II f4 e4 12 ltJd4 ltJf6 13 h3 Black's problem is that castling kingside will inevitably run into g4. I came up with an original solution. 13... .id7 14 'ii'f2 b6! IS .ie2 ltJe7 16 <Jr>bl O-O-O! 17 l1d2 e5

And the better central control gave Black the edge. 18 ltJe2 .ie6 19 l:thdl 'ii'n 20 ltJa3 l1xd2 21 l:txd2 l1d8 22 .in ltJfe8 23 l1xd8+ cJi>xd8 24 'ii'd2+ ~e8 25 .ie2 'ii'g6 26 .idl .irs 27 'ii'e2 ltJd6 28 g4 'ii'g8 29 b3 .ig7 30 ~e2 ltJa6! 31 ltJab5ltJb4+ 32 ..to>bl ltJxb5 33 It)xb5 'ii'd8 34 .id2 a6 35 .ie3 .irs! 36ltJa3

119 A Suetin White A.J. Miles Black

Cappelle-la-Grande 1997 I should point out that this was a bit of a grudge match for me. Our only previous meeting had been at the tournament where I got my GM title, and a late loss to Suetin almost cost me it! I e4 e6 2 d4 ltJa6!? 3 e4 d6 4 ltJe3 g6 5 .ie3 i.g7 6 'ii'd2 e5!? 7 ltJge2 'ii'e7 8 0-0-0 f5!? 9 exf5 gxf5

Now then. who has the silly knight??

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36... liJd3! 37 i.c2 liJxf4 38 'il'e3 liJd3 39 gxf5 i.xf5 40 "g3 i.d6 41 'il'g7 "d7 42 "g8+ c.t>b7 43 -.d5+ c.t>a7 44 h4 liJb4! 45 -.d2 liJd3! 46 i.xd3 exd3 47 c.t>b2 -'e7 48 -.12 "e4 49 'il'xel 50 i.xel i.g3! White resigned.

-.e1

So, the opening for the next millennium?? Well, maybe not... What about its name? As I said, the Belgian player de Bruycker has been playing it for years, but personally I think these recent results take precedence. In view of the Australian connection one suggestion was the Didgeridoo, as in "Did-ya-really-do-that?" Alex suggested the Drunken Roo, leading to the Double Roo if ...liJh6 comes, but personally I am going for the Holey Wohly!

* * * * Russia's Prodigy (from New Statesman 1979) The Grandmaster tournament held at Banja Luka in Yugoslavia recently, produced one of the most sensational results in chess history. The event was quite a strong one; of the 16 players 14 were GMs, and one 1M. The average rating of the 15 titled players was over 2520, though the official tournament average is under since the other player started the tournament without a rating, and would therefore normally be taken as 2200. This other player was Gary Kasparov (Weinstein) the 15 yearold Russian whom I mentioned in this column in January. The results speak for themselves. First was Kasparov with I I WI 5(!!) second

Ulf Anderson and Jan Smejkal (Czech) 9 1/2/5, fourth ex-world champion Tigran Petros ian. with 9. The list goes on: Adorjan 8 1/2, Knezevic 8, Matanovic and Browne (many times US champion) 7W?, Bukic 7, G.Garcia, Vukic, Marovlc and Marjanovic 6 1/2/5, Hernandez and Kurajica (this may drive my point home to many as Kurajica is well-known in England) 6 and Shibarevic 4. The scores are stunning (frightening!?) enough in themselves, but in fact Kasparov started with 9/10 and then, deciding he had done enough, quietly drew his remaining games. Even so, at .a rough calculation I make hIs tournament rating about 2735. Karpov's current rating is 2705. I repeat Kasparov is just 15, a":d ridiculous though it sounds, hIs games show it. They. are ~ener~lIy scrappy tactical affaIrs wIth htt~e positional polish. Furthermo~e thIS was his first tournament outSIde the USSR-usually a nervous occasion. Heaven only knows what will happen when he matures a bit. My final thought on the subject comes inadvertently from Karpov. When succeeding to the title in 1975 a journalist asked him how long he wanted to or would-I forget the phrasing-remain world champio~. He replied nine years. Kasparov IS out of the current cycle (he was not selected for the zonal) so his first chance will be 1984!

* * * * Noise from Hastings (from New Statesman 1978) The annual Hastings congress is again under way. This year, of the grandmaster participants two are

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Russian (Petros ian and Sveshnikov), one Czc:ch (Hort), one Hungarian (Sax), one Israeli (Dzindzihashvili ~x-USSR) and two Americans (Shamkovich~x-Israel~x-USSR

and Tarjan). You will notice a complete absence of West European GMs. This might seem strange for an event staged in England, but, on examining past Hastings premiers, I find it is quite common. Apart from myself (197617) there have been only two Western GMs in the last 5 years-Sigurjonsson (Iceland) in 1975/6 and Andersson (Sweden) in 74/5. Before that one must go back to 1972/3 when Larsen won. So what is the explanation for this? In my opinion it is Hastings' ever-growing reputation as one of the worst tournaments in the world. Where else could one find a chess tournament (of any kind) played directly underneath a pantomime to the accompaniment of organ music and the thundering of hundreds of tiny feet? Add to this the noisy demonstration boards, the traditionally foul weather, the necessity for keeping a supply of pennies and a few other oddments and you will see why Hastings is not the most attractive place for any player who is free to choose. Even the leading English players no longer take part. Admittedly Keene and Stean are otherwise engaged at present, but last year they both preferred smaller events on the Continent. In consequence Hastings is preserved only by players from the Eastern bloc (particularly Russia) who have little or no say in where they do or do not play, and from North America, who by virtue of their geographical location receive just a few invitations to be divided

between many players and thus must take what they can get. In passing I must explain that I have confined my survey to GMs, since aspiring IMs and others must also accept whatever invitations come their way to have a chance of the higher title. Thus several leading Western players have appeared at Hastings as IMs, but not as GMs, and of the few who have only one, to my knowledge, has returned. Larsen, for one, vowed 'Never again!' In my opinion it is high time the Hastings organisers either abandoned the pretence of a high-class tournament, replacing it with a weaker event where British players would have more chance of achieving title norms, or found a better venue and drastically overhauled the organisation. (I once suggested the latter, but was informed that Hastings had no reasonable venue. Move from Hastings perhaps? Would the MCC move from Lords?) Oh, my tip to win this year's tournament? Petrosian-not because he's ex-World champion, but because he's deaf.

* * * * Making Sense of Chess Books (from New Statesman 1978) One of the perils of writing a is that one chess column periodically receives copies of new books for review. As a general rule I browse through anything the postman delivers, and, if it happens to be interesting, 1 may even write about it. Lately though, it seems to me, the general standard of chess books has declined markedly, both

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in production and diligence of analysis. My favourite example is a recent publication which begins with a lesson in notation. The lesson contains a game score, and, near the end, a diagram for the reader to check that he has followed it correctly. Unfortunately, not only does the score contain mistakes, but also the diagram is wrong. On further perusal I found 50 (!) more mistakes. Inspired by this, and with apologies to the author, I would like to offer a short, light-hearted quiz on understanding chess books! Answers are 011 the next page.

Question 2: After 1 ll'lf3 ll'lf6 2 g3 g6 3 b3 i..g7 4 i..b2 c5 5 i..g2 ll'lc6 6 0-0 0-07 d4 cxd4 8 "'xd4? "How does Black exploit White's mistake?" The helpful author adds "You will need to find more than one good move to prove White's eighth was a mistake." Correct Question 2. Solve Question 2.

Question 3 (see diagram):

Question 1 (see diagram):

For the last page White has been playing wonderfully, shedding three pawns for a winning attack. He now concluded bri11iantly, mating in 3. (a) How? (b) What's wrong?

(a) "Can you see how White wins by force?" (b) ..... and the defence to the try I i..xh6?" (c) Given that the 'solution' is "I llxd7 "'xd7 2ll'lf6! and if2 ... gxf6 3 "'g2 or g4 or if, say, 2.....c7 3 "'xh6+! gxh6 4 llg8 mate. If I i..xh6!? g6! may defend," can you work out what the diagrammed position should be?

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Answers: I (a) "I i.f6!! l:r.xf6 2 g3 any 3 l:r.xh4 mate." (b) l...l:r.xg7 and Black wins. 2 (a) 8 ... ll"lxd4 perhaps. (b) Omit 5 ... ll"lc6 6 0-0. (c) 8 or rather 7 ... ll"lh5 8 "a4+ b5! 9 "a3 b4 10 "a4+ i.d7 wins. 3 (a) Personally, not clearly, but I i.xh6 looks worth a try. (b) Oh! Again, not clearly. On I i.xh6 g6 simply 2 i.xfS l:r.xfS (ll"lxfS lDd6) 3 ll"ld6 l:r.ad8 4 h4 looks very strong. (c) Personally, no. The only square from which the queen could get to g2, g4 and h6 is h3, but then I l:r.xd7 allows mate by 1.....xc2+.

Score one point for each correct answer. If you scored 8: Well done Tim! 5-7: You have great patience, and if you would care to send a stamped addressed envelope I would be pleased to recommend further reading matter. 0-4: Have you ever considered writing a chess book?

• • • • Russian temperament (from New Statesman 1980) The most bizarre incident of the Olympiad came in the USSRBulgaria match on bottom board where the dreaded Kasparov had Black against Georgiev. Kasparov likes sharp variations and that always involves the risk of a prepared line. This time the Bulgarian was well and truly ready. The game opened 1 e4 c5 2 ll"l0 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 ll"lxd4 ll"lf6 5 ll"lc3 86 6 i.g5 e6 7 f4

"c7 8 "0 b5 9 0-0-0 b4. I neither know nor wish to know how much of this has occurred before. I suspect all, and probably the next few moves as well, but from Kasparov's reaction something, somewhere, came as a big surprise. The fireworks commence. 10 e5 i.b7 11 ll"lcb5 axb5 12 i.xb5+ ll"lfd7. In view of what follows perhaps ll"lbd7 should be preferred though doubtless that runs into some more analysis. 13 ll"lxe6! fxe6 14 "h3 ~f7 Forced. 15 f5! Now Kasparov sank into deep thought. The natural move is 15 ... 111xe5 and a refutation is not obvious e.g. 16 fxe6+ g8 17 e7 i.xe7 18 "e6+ fS 19 l:r.hfl+ ll"lf3. Anyway, when he woke up the young GM produced 15... i.e4. However, unless he was already completely lost he missed the strength of 16 fxe6+ g8 17 "b3! when after i.xc2 18 "xc2 "xc2+ 19 xc2 ll"lxe5 20 e7 White regains all his material with a winning position. It was now that the amusement began. Kasparov played 20 ... i.xe7 and, as White went to play 21 i.xe7, he insisted that Georgiev had touched his d-pawn and must therefore play 21 l:r.xd6! This was really rather a silly stunt since it was blatantly obvious to anyone who knows how to move the pieces that White has only one move. However, there were four eye witnesses: two Russians who saw Georgiev touch the pawn, one Bulgarian and a non-aligned bystander who saw him playing i.xe7. One would have thought that the matter could have been settled quickly and quietly, but no. First the local arbiter arrived, then a more

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senior one and then the chief controller, Lothar Schmid. Soon there were at least half a dozen controllers and thirty onlookers clustered round the board in noisy debate. Unfortunately I happened to be playing on the adjoining table. After 10 or 15 minutes of failing to concentrate I asked the controller that the melee be moved to the analysis room (which seemed an exceedingly sensible idea) or for permissiol1 to stop my clock. The latter was, slightly grudgingly, granted. Meanwhile the disturbance continued for something like half an hour with games around still trying to continue. Eventually Georgiev was allowed to play 21 ~xe7 and a disgruntled Kasparov went on to lose. Such an incident scarcely reflects well on Kasparov-who clearly has not learned how to lose--or on the controllers. That a relatively trivial dispute could go on for so long was ridiculous; that it did so, noisily, in the middle of the tournament hall and all the other games, quite absurd.

• •• • Tony Miles says ... (from Chess 1995) Reluctant though I am to join the current Nosher (Nigel Short. a.k.a. Gump. or Nosher-anagramatically Nosher L. Git) v The Rest of the World mudslinging contest, may I point out a few things... Regarding Nigel's complaints about the 1986 Olympiad selection, I did not in any way use my position as a selector to ensure that I remained on top board. The truth is that at the time, no-one, not even

Nigel himself, suggested that he play on board one yet. As for the statistical argument, it is not of earth shattering importance, but my January '86 rating was actually corrected from 2610 to 2615 which means that my weighted average from the two 1986 lists was still ahead of Nigel's, contrary to his claims. The idea that he was "far and away the best player" by merely equalling my previous rating seems a teeny bit premature. Anyway, if Nosher considers that selection committees were unfair to him, perhaps he would care to explain that of the 1992 Olympiad when he and the then International Director Ray Edwards effectively picked the teams without even consulting two of the selectors (John Nunn and Susan Lalit). He further writes that Murray Chandler, Julian Hodgson, John Nunn and myself form a "hard core of those who are fundamentally opposed to me"(!) Well, I must say I had never considered him on a par with nuclear warfare before. As far as I know I have done nothing to harm Nigel beyond doubting the wisdom of some of his decisions, though I am beginning to appreciate that that too is up there with genocide. It's nice to know that the strongest team has been selected for Moscow. I can't wait to sample the team spirit!

• • • • Miles occasionally reviewed books in Kingpin: Unorthodox Chess Openings By Eric Schiller. Cardoza Publishing, 520 pp, £\8.95. Utter crap. TOllY Miles

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Secrets of Minor-Piece Endings by John Nunn, Batsford, 304pp, £17.99. 'Our reviews have been getting bland lately,' wrote Kingpin's Editor, 'lay into them a bit.' Not the easiest of tasks with Doc's books, but here goes ... The cover is disgusting-a tasteless blend of yellow and black that would make the average bee vomit. And whoever came up with the sentence 'GM John Nunn is a key member of the three-times silver medal-winning English Olympiad team, for whom he has also won four individual gold medals' deserves to, well, write covers for Batsford. Whoever he is, he has clearly not read the book since he also writes: The book also provides definite answers to some of the puzzles that have taxed the greatest chess minds for centuries: precisely when do two knights win against a pawn ... ?' Yet on page 265 we find that 'I have decided to omit (2ltJ v ~) after discovering that the pre-database work of Troitsky and other analysis is astonishingly accurate.' I should explain that this is the first of Doc's endgame books that I have read, and it probably will be the last. For me, chess is a fascinating and in some way living game. When Secrets of Rook Endings came out I took the view that producing what was in effect a print-out of exactly the most accurate way to play certain endings was just killing a chunk of chess. On a positive note, I enjoyed the section on 2i. v ltJ, probably because it included a few ideas!

Otherwise, the whole thing is pretty indigestible-if 79 pages of ltJ + ~ v ltJ is your idea of fun then this is the book for you. At £17.99 this is a book you should get your local library to stock. At a Hungarian tournament recently I saw a copy reduced from £2.50 to 25p! There were still no takers! The book is more or less what it sets out to be-a definitive reference workand as such it is excellent, but to me it's just a lump of dead chess. Tony Miles

Samurai Chess: Mastering the Martial Art of the Mind by Michael Gelb and Raymond Keene. Aurum Press, 224pp. £15.95. Frankly I wish I'd never agreed to review this book. Criticism of it will inevitably seem like gratuitous Mondo knocking, and praise will be seriously misplaced. Actually I quite like the cover. If you want something to leave lying about on a coffee table it's just the job. However, opening it is not recommended. The fly-leaf sets the tone. Raymondo, we learn, is 'the world's leading authority on chess and mind sports'. Really? He is also the 'winner of 14 separate British championship titles'. That's twelve more than are generally known about. Even more impressively, he is 'an enthusiastic student of martial arts, recently awarded his sixth kyu certificate in aikido'. We later learn that 5th and 6th kyu are the equivalent of 'beginner' or under 1200 Elo, though it is not specified how far under 1200. Co-author Michael Gelb, of whom I knew nothing, is 'internationally recognised as a

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pioneer in the fields of creative thinking, mind-body coordination and leadership development'. The two met at the Liechtenstein Global Trust Academy, a concept of Tony Buzan, sponsored by His Serene Highness Prince Philipp von und zu Liechtenstein, where Mondo was invited to teach chess, mind sports, and the history of genius and strategy. One wonders about HSH. The purpose of the book is supposedly to develop one's talent as a strategic thinker, and in so doing dramatically improve one's chess skill. Well, I didn't expect to learn much about chess from this epic but I was curious about the martial arts angle. However, apart from a liberal supply of quotes from the likes of Sun Tsu and Musashi, there is little of substance. The only unusual section is a fifteen-page chapter on 'Harnessing your Physical and Mental Powers'. This includes such things as diet-a Mondo speciality (come to think of it, it's strange he doesn't lecture on that too )-meditation and warm-ups for chess! The last of these includes the immortal instruction 'Keep your eyes open to avoid dozing.' This might well have been mentioned more often. Also, 'notice the distance between your feet and the top of your head. You may be surprised to discover that it has expanded'(!) Without, I hope, the use of a Samurai sword.

Apart from these highlights there is a copious supply of the standard Mondo warne. A section on notable chess players includes Tony Buzan (see above), purveyor of Mondo teaching, Brian Clivaz, former supplier of food to Mondo at Simpsons, Sir Tim Rice, former neighbour of Mondo, Carol Vorderman, presenter of Channel 4 chess programmes starring Mondo, Derek Wanless, old univ.ersity acquaintance of Mondo ... It goes on. I'm surprised his Serene Highness didn't make the list. Maybe the next edition. The section on 'Perfecting Mind and Body' gives the real recipe for success: 'Practise, practise, practise. Play at every opportunity, take a portable chess computer with you on trips, and read the daily chess column in The Times without fail.' Well, I think you get the general idea, but I do have one last thought. The much-quoted Musashi's great claim to fame, apart from his writings, is that he retained his ability as a swordsman to a remarkably advanced age. If Mondo is remotely serious about the claims made in the book, he could quite simply prove his case. Don'l hold your breath.

Tony Miles

15: Memories of a generous soul, a great bloke and a unique personality by Mike Fox

F

oolishly, I once swanked about my chess in front of Tony Miles. 'Sorry, Tone, I can't go down the gym this afternoon. I have a... ' (swaggering slightly) ' ... county match' 'Really?' He was genuinely surprised. 'Which team is that then?' 'Er, the under ISO's' I mumbled. 'Oh yes! County chess for the mentally challenged. ' Collapse of patzer. Or again: I occasionally teach an unsighted chap, and was incautious enough to mention this to Tony. His response: 'Ah, the blind leading the blind eh?' Tony might not have been the strongest grandmaster this country ever produced (though his record in the late seventies/early eighties make him a contender for that title) but he certainly was the funniest. I'm not qualified to write in detail about Tony's remarkable chess career; I am however, qualified to write about him as a bloke. First, I want to scotch some of the garbage that was written after his death describing Tony as if he Were the Hermit of Harborne.

'Loner' was a word that cropped up a lot in the Land of Make Believe, sometimes known as the National Press. But in the real world, there was a very different view. If you asked the guys at Warley Quinborne Chess Club, or the parents and kids at Checkmate Junior Chess Club, or the cognoscenti down the Fallow and Firkin, or his numerous bridge-playing mates, then 'Gregarious', 'Game for a laugh', 'One of the lads' would be typical of the responses you'd get. I knew three Tonys. Tony One was the dedicated President of Checkmate Junior Chess Club. That began in the early nineties with a phone message: 'Ring Mr. Miles.' It didn't click. I returned the call. This guy wanted to help with the kids' club. You have to be careful about people wanting to get involved with children, so I was stand-offish: 'Do you have any chess experience?' A pause, then: 'A little. ' Impatiently:'Look, do you have a grading of any kind?' 'Well, last time I looked, my Elo was 2580.' And thus began a most fruitful relationship.

Memories of a generous soul. a great bloke and a unique personality 265

Tony came along to Checkmate every Saturday when he wasn't playing. He did simuls. He coached superstars like Ameet Ghasi, Sabrina Chevannes, and Li Wu. He played games with dozens of ordinary juniors (there was a myth among the kids that anyone who beat Tone was onto a £1000 prize. We never had to debate the point. though Ameet came close a couple of times). He gave out prizes. He helped put the sets away. He inspired everybody. And he nel'er charged Checkmate a cent! How many Grandmasters can you think of who would do the same? Tony Two was the ferocious opponent at games. Tony and I were both games freaks. We played darts, pool, bar billiards, chess variants, computer games, whatever was handy. The score overall was massively in Tony's favour. The intensity with which he played pool or pinball (he told me Karpov was red hot at that too) was awesome-and made you see why he was so scary over the chessboard. The only game I regularly beat him at was Go (the Japanese board game). I've played Go for 35 years; so I taught Tony, looking for some easy wins. After the third lesson I had to stop accepting a handicap; by the fourth, it was even stevens. We never played a fifth. En passant, I should mention here Tony's swimming. I'm not bad. Tony was terrific. We used Birmingham University pool. I stayed in the 'medium' lane. Tony was always in the fast lane, along with the University stars. He was like a blooming torpedo, and

the slickness of his tumble tum had to be seen to be believed. Tony Three was the convivial dining companion. I had dozens of meals with Tony. They were always entertaining, always fun. I recall the first vividly. Trying to make conversation (I was still a little nervous at chatting to a GM) I asked: •Played any good games lately?' 'Well this wasn't bad' he replied and I sat gobsmacked as he picked up my tatty pocket chess set and took me through the sparkler he'd played against Atalik the previous month. (Game 96). Most regular were the meals at our local Chinese, with 1M Geoff Lawton. The conversation was frequently in the stratosphere: two titled players talking recondite points of opening strategy, while I sat there nodding, pretending to understand. When this got too much, I would pull out the aforesaid pocket set and challenge the great man to a game of some obscure chess variant (three check chess, two king chess) that I'd been practising all week, in preparation. Infuriatingly, Tony (and often Geoff) would suss out the correct strategy within a couple of games, and I was back to being the patzer again. But one meal with Tony sticks in my mind. After Tony's (too late in my opinion) withdrawal from his disastrous last British Championof medication ship, because Wilf Morgan (a problems, Checkmate regular) and I took him for a Chinese-to cheer him up.

266 Memories of a generous soul, a great bloke and a unique personality

This as it transpired was quite unnecessary. You would not have guessed that he had just had the worst tournament performance of his career. We had a terrific evening, and Tony even managed to feign interest in WiIrs and my accounts of our brilliant exploits in the British Seniors (this, from two patzers whose combined grading was somewhat lower than Tony's). My last image of him couldn't be happier-or more characteristic. It was, fittingly, after a Checkmate session, the day before

he died. He'd just played a game against Keiran, a promising junior, graded 90. I was telling Tony about some moderately amusing mishap that had happened to me earlier in the day, and Tony was doubled over with laughter, clutching one of the tables for support. There's much more I could write about Tony-but I feel that's a nice note to end on. of those Tony was one unforgettable people you meet once in a lifetime. Knowing him was an honour, a privilege-and a lot of laughs.

16: Tony Miles-one of my best and most loyal friends by Malcolm Hunt

I

first met Tony in September 1966 when he arrived at King Edwards School, Binningham ('KES'). This is the leading local school which was, at that time, a direct grant school and Tony had a free place like the vast majority of other pupils. KES had a long-standing reputation for chess having produced C.H.O'D. Alexander who, apart from being part of the Bletchley team which cracked the 'Enigma' code in the war, was one of the leading British players for many years in the 1940' sand 1950's and whose finest result was to tie for first at Hastings in 1953 with David Bronstein who had just tied a match for the World Championship with Mikhail Botvinnik. Other alumnae included Malcolm Barker who finished runner-up in the first World Junior Championship in 1951. The school team regularly won the Binningham & District School League and the first team regulars (including such names as George Swatridge, Chris Shephard, Paul Prescott etc.) soon heard that a promising young player (the Binningham Primary Schools Champion) had joined. It is fair to say that we did not, initially, welcome Tony with open anns. He

was a cocky little so-and-so who was not afraid to tell us how good he was. This happened every year and we were quite accustomed to putting young upstarts in their place. Unfortunately, in Tony's case, it was not quite so easy! The simplest solution was to ignore him and to hope he went away but, as many found later, he was also a highly persistent lad. His talent shone through and by early 1967 he had found his way onto the lower boards of the KES first team. Chess was played in the Dining Room which was a building detached from the main body of the school. Most nights of the week, but particularly Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays, groups of boys could be found there playing house competitions, individual knock-out competitions, school matches, 5-minute games, analysing together or simply talking chess. From his early days Tony was a regular member of this set on the nights he was not playing rugby or fives or swimming. This was, in my opinion, almost the perfect breeding ground for a future champion. There was a large collection of intelligent boys, talented chess players who were anxious both to score points from each other but also to learn from each other. The only thing missing was an experienced coach who

268 Tony Miles-one of my best and most loyalfriellds

might have guided our work more constructively. Chess books were a rarity in those days and very different to those found today. We all pooled resources and learned from each other and I particularly remember his copies of a book on the Petroff and another on King and Pawn endings which he loved and devoured-in later years when teaching promising juniors the latter was always one of his first recommendations. Another familiar figure was Jack, his father, who was often seen peering through the windows trying to work out when might be an appropriate time to drag Tony off to eat his evening meal or do some prep. Jack was a tremendous supporter of us all-he never interfered or commented on our chess in any way (at that age we doubted whether he could play!) but he was always in the background offering a word of encouragement or comfort. I was perhaps closest to Tony in age and ability at that time and he soon introduced me to Birmingham Chess Club, then the leading local club which was headed by Bernard Cafferty and Peter Gibbs who both spent many years in the upper reaches of the British Championships. They both spent many hours with Tony helping him to develop his game and were the nearest Tony ever had to coaches. They both formed strong bonds with Tony which continued up to his death, Bernard playing a pivotal role by acting as his 'second' when he won the World Junior and also advising Tony when he became diabetic (Bernard having suffered the same problem for many years). Peter and Bernard both had chess columns in

local papers and never missed an opportunity to sing Tony's praises and also to support other juniors which was a great encouragement. So, with regular activity at school and the introduction to adult competition, chess was well on its way to becoming an obsession. Tony loved the competitive world and his early tournament activity was at the Warwickshire Junior Championships held at Portland School organised by W. Ritson Marry, one of the unsung heroes of British chess who is best-known for running the Hastings Tournament for many years. Ritson always supported juniors and despite an unprepossessing appearance somehow managed to inspire us all to work at the game. In his early school years Tony won most of the Warwickshire Junior Championships and was obviously destined for higher things. The problem was how high? It seems extraordinary to report but, in the mid-1960's Britain could boast only two 1M's (Penrose and Wade), Tony was unlikely to meet these two so how was he able to advance having shown himself to be already one of (if not the) leading Midlands players. Ritson came up with the solution which was to run a Birmingham International Tournament and invite a number of strong players including those with titles. This was very small beer in comparison with tournaments today but it is interesting to note that Tony once said that he never saw a GM in the flesh until he was 16! I suspect that Ritson personally funded much of the costs of this tournament which saw Tony (and John Nunn) doing battle with Vlf Anderssen and Bojan Kurajica the Yugoslav 1M. In

Tony Miles---Olle of my best alld most loyal friends 269

later years Ritson persuaded Arthur Bisguier to come, leading to Tony's first International victory. By the time 1 left school in 1970, Tony was established as the leading junior in the country and it was apparent that he was thinking of making a living at the game. Certainly he never ever mentioned any possibility of pursuing a conventional career. KES were backing his efforts to the full though they were also getting excellent publicity as a result. Their Chief Master (no Headmasters at KES!), the Rev. Canon Ronald G. Lunt, was considered by most to be an autocratic driver of a business with little time for the boys under his wing. However he was so excited by Tony's achievements that he helped personally with the financing of his first major international trip to Lone Pine. School reports from that period indicate that not all of his masters agreed that his chess should be promoted. There is complete unanimity that he had an excellent brain and was a very capable scholar but most complained that he did no work whatsoever and should spend less time playing chess. It is quite apparent that, whilst he had a retentive mind which could recall any facts which needed to be learned, he found such displays very boring, particularly if the topic did not interest him. He was much more interested if he could apply his analytic skills to the subject, hence his ongoing interest in Mathematics. Suggestions that he •scraped through' his A levels are very wide of the mark (for the record, A, A and E in Maths, Physics and Further Maths). I was never sure why he

turned down Oxford who offered him a place but would suggest that he feared that the perceived academic climate might restrict his chess ambitions. By this time 1 was pursuing my career and only bumped into Tony KES occasionally. A fellow schoolmate, Paul Hanks, has reported on his Sheffield University career. In academic terms he states: '1 believe Tony attended a few mathematics lectures in the early months but he quickly became disenchanted because he thought the mathematics was learning by rote and failed to see the ingenuity that had to be displayed in its proper application. ' Of more interest is a report of the Sheffield University progress in the National Club Knock Out in 1976. They were due to meet Luton at a neutral venue (Nuneaton). Luton were expected to have Bob Wade on top board so Tony was required. Tony seemed unusually evasive, particularly given that he had been planning to return to Birmingham that day. However, Tony had his arm twisted, Paul drove him to Nuneaton and put him up at his parents house. Next day Tony set off for Dubna!! I now hardly saw Tony at all for many years but made contact with his parents after I read a distressing article about him in the Sunday Times in 1991. Tony's father remembered me well and seemed more interested in what I was up to than telling me that Tony was well and (as usual) playing in a tournament abroad. Tony made contact on his return, we went for a beer and found that we lived less than a mile apart.

270 Tony Miles-one of my best and most loyal friends

From that moment, whenever he returned to Binningham we would go out and put the world to rights. He resurrected my love of chess which I had stopped playing competitively owing to pressures of work. He also introduced me to Geoff Lawton and Mike Fox at Checkmate Chess Club which provided the stimulus for my current occupation as a chess coach within local schools. Tony had recently taken up bridge which I had played periodically on a competitive basis so we were natural partners. However I overlooked the extent to which Tony could become passionately involved in such a game. I could not really afford (and was not sure I wanted) the four nights a week we played together-this was not enough for Tony however who found another partner in John Roberts who quickly became as exhausted as me. After he had worn

one of us out he would then spend most of most nights playing bridge on the internet. The day before he died I saw him at Checkmate with Geoff and Mike but I had to go away to play a County match. I gave David Cooper a lift and, on our return to Binningham suggested we drag Tony out for a beer. We had several(!) during which Tony was fascinated by David's pet line in the Scotch which Tony had not considered previously though he rapidly offered some highly pertinent observations. After a very pleasant evening I took him home expecting to play bridge with him a couple of nights later... Others are much better qualified than me to describe Tony's contribution to British chess but, having been at school with him, he has simply been one of my best and most loyal friends for many years.

17: "Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played 1... a6, please Mr.Miles?" by Geoff Lawton

I

first properly met Tony at the Checkmate Junior Chess Club, Birmingham, in early 1994. He seemed slightly shy at first, but friendly nevertheless and with a firm handshake. Tony was interested in acquiring a chess database, so I bravely invited him round to my house for a demo as I'd purchased 'Chess Assistant' from Monica Vann. One reason Monica ran her chess software business, if she will forgive me for saying so, was in the hope of meeting some strong players-a lowly 1M was one thing, but Tony Miles quite another matter!

Not knowing Tony very well, I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but I needn't have worried as he was very laid back, self-effacing and cracked jokes frequently. He liked the product but I felt slightly awkward because of Tony's obvious lack of computer awareness. It therefore came as some relief, and surprise, when he admitted ''I'm pretty useless with computers". Needless to say, I hadn't expected to hear this confession from such a strong grandmaster! "What's it got on the Slav?" he asked. We looked up an opening trap he'd played-after I d4 d5 2 c4

c6 3 lOc3 e6 4 ~f4, where, if Black continues in AbrahamslNoteboom fashion with 4 ... dxc4 5 e3 b5 6 a4 ~b4 7 axb5 axb5, then 8 'ii'f3! 'ii'd5 9 'ii'g3 surprisingly wins a piece. Tony laughed when he admitted he'd once nearly gone on to lose this position as White! Anyway he duly bought 'Chess Assistant' from Monica, who later became not only his computer consultant, but also a close friend of both him and his parents. I'd actually crossed paths with Tony on odd occasions before 1994. Ten years previously, although not really acquainted, we had analysed his adjournment against Torre in the London Phillips & Drew Kings tournament, 1984. Having both arrived early to playoff unfinished games at County Hall (where I was competing in the 'Knights' event), we found the venue virtually deserted and so I asked Tony about his position. I was surprised when he invited me to look at it with him-after all, Karpov, Timman & co were playing in his tournament! However I didn't feel too much out of my depth, probably because my suggestions Tony took seriously, and we soon noticed that Torre could make a promising exchange sacrifice. However, while calmly accepting that his position

272 "Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played 1... a6"

may well be lost, Tony was keen to try and exhaust his resources. Fortunately, when play resumed, Torre missed the exchange sac and Tony salvaged a draw. I was amused when during our analysis Tony repeatedly referred to two of Torre's pawns as "Bonzo" and "Fido", tapping them on their squares-J assumed it must be a grandmaster thing. In Birmingham, I occasionally popped round to Tony's house, which was just an ordinary three bedroomed detached property he'd bought in the late eighties. The first time I visited was in 1995 with Mike Fox, around the time of the Kasparov-Anand match. Tony lived like a typical bachelor (this really is the pot calling the kettle black!) and apologised for the lack of seating space. The settee and chairs were littered with chess paraphenalia and broadsheets open on the sports pages. The living room coffee table was decked out in similar fashion and there was the odd chess trophy perched on a shelf. A brightly coloured chess memento from, I believe, Egypt was hanging on the wall and with New in Chess, lnformators and other chess books and magazines strewn all around it could truly be called a chess player's paradise. After the shock of Tony's death, we helped his family sort out his effects. Tony's family are lovely people, almost oblivious to his chess successes in that to them he was always just 'Tony'. They amused us with stories of him as a youngster -a bundle of energy, he apparently kept his mum very busy(!) and had lots of interests, chess being just one of them. They spoke fondly of

Tony's parents who were very loving and caring of their only child; his father Jack was an executive with GEe and tirelessly ferried Tony around in his early chess years. His mother Jennie was a skilled seamstress, making many of the clothes for the close family circle. Tony's chess study, upstairs, was of crammed with hundreds scoresheets, spanning his prolific 30-year ches8 career, with those up to the mid-1990s filed away neatly in ring binders but the remainder rather disorganised. We eventually found Karpov-Miles from the European Team Championships, Skara 1980-it was Tony's original scoresheet, signed by Tony and the Soviet team captain. This was a little unusual, as most of the scoresheets were carbon-copies. Tony had also kept the original scoresheet to the game that secured his position as England's first grandmaster-his final round win from Dubna 1976 in a tense game against Kostro of Poland. All of Tony's score sheets from Dubna were originals, although several of them were missing, such as his only loss, to Suetin-one that got away! On his noticeboard there was a newspaper cutting of him giving a simultaneous exhibition, and a few of Mike's junior training progress letters-obviously Tony's most treasured possessions! In 1997 Tony introduced me to the Internet Chess Club. He apologised for the location of his lap-top---on his living room carpet, almost in the doorway because the lead wasn't quite long enough to reach the table! There was no mouse so it was impossible to move

"Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played l...a6" 273

quickly. Lying stomach down, a la Tilburg, he played a couple of blitz games; I noticed he opened 1 e4 which surprised me, and then I had a go. "You don't mind me playing as TonyM?"-"You can't do any worse than me." He didn't mind me losing a bundle of rating points and he later arranged a free handle for me and I became a member on ICC. Playing on ICC was an interesting experience. I usually chatted to Tony, when his greeting, day or night, would always be "Mornin'!". Playing blitz on ICC was a little bit disconcerting while Tony was watching as he would invariably send comments during the game "Umm .... ", "Yeeuch!" "Er... " ..... 'iVd4 mate was better", "I like your big pawn on b2", "Good technique!", "Ahah!", "Oh wellimpressive speed ... ", ... This sort of thing doesn't happen every day of the week does it? After a hard day at work, you get home, have a cup of tea, and then play a game on ICC -and Tony Miles is commentating on your strategy and moves. What are you to do? Ignore his remarks and just play the game? This just wasn't possible so I would end up discussing the play and trying to justify my moves, while I lost on time! It was the same story when playing over-the-board blitz against him-he always kept up a running commentary. At first I found it a bit off-putting (my chess upbringing was of the 'do not speak while the game is in progress' type), but once I got used to it, I realised that it was a great coaching technique! Tony captained Slough in the 4NCL and in the 2000/2001 season won the best game prize for his win

against Baburin. We managed to beat Wood Green despite being outgraded on most boards and were all in high spirits after the match. Tony, as Biack, played to win using his favourite English Defence, opening with 1 d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 a3 g6!? His 'Australian amigo' Alex Wohl had a hair-raising game against John Emms, which was eventually drawn, while I was pleased to beat Paul Littlewood. At the end Tony gave me his customary firm handshake and congratulated me with a sincere smile-I always liked that. During the match, when I got up from the board, Tony asked "How's it going?". I was used to this by now but after replying "OK." I was surprised by the additional comment "OK. We could do with a win-give it a go." Tony's game became very complicated and, perhaps just as he was gaining the upper hand, Baburin offered him a draw. The reply was "My captain's told me I must play for a win!" After the match, Tony, Alex and I went for a Chinese meal. Out came Tony's pocket set and we analysed our games. We looked at mine quickly and then Alex's ridiculously complicated game against John Emms. In a double rook and knight endgame, John pushed his connected passed pawns right down the board, while Alex's only defence was to attack the king. What surprised me was just how many of the tactics Tony had seen during the game. In fact it was total tactics all the way and he saw stacks of them. And I thought he had enough on his plate with his own game! We moved on to Baburin-

274 "Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played 1... 06"

Miles. Tony loved this type of game where his unusual play could confuse an opponent. I asked him how on earth he could play like that against a 2600-GM and 'get away with it'. He simply said that Baburin was very strong technically and, wanting to win with Black, he decided to mix it. Tony was good company and naturally I was completely in awe of his chess erudition. This wasn't simply because he was TOllY Miles -it was more because whenever any of us analysed a position with him, we had to concede to the correctness of his assessments. He helped our club, Quinborne, win the first division title in 2000/2001 and he often dropped into the club on a Thursday night to watch games in progress. You knew he'd arrived when you spotted a bushy mop of hair just inside your line of visionthen I used to really concentrate and try to look as if I was taking it all very seriously. But I would play my move only after Tony had passed on to another game, not that he showed any sign of emotion when we made our moves. Mike Fox said it was bad enough having an 1M watching his games, never mind Tony Miles! Tony often popped upstairs to the bar at the club where there was usually a football match on satellite TV. I too would sometimes nip up there for a drink and invariably saw him chatting to Malcolm and Mike. Then he might ask "How's it going?-it looked good earlier." After the session, he would analyse the adjourned positions with us. Of course he was an excellent analyst, determined to look for ways to continue the struggle in our favour. It was all too easy to take Tony for granted since when you analyse

frequently with someone that strong you start to believe that you understand a lot yourself. Only later, on your own, when things don't seem so clear, do you realise that Tony came down to your level-he must have done, or he'd have completely confused us. Most positions he dismissed at a glance. His assessments usually came very quickly, although the odd one did require some consideration. In this case he would spend, say, half an hour, trying to come to a conclusion. He particularly enjoyed endgames and other positions where our prospects looked hopeless and I was always amazed at some of the ideas that he found in situations that appeared almost resignable. In the critical match that season we adjourned three games. On ICC I promised to mail him the positions, then forgot to send them. "What's happened to those positions?" he asked. Apologising, I quickly mailed them to him and his verdicts came back within a couple of minutes: "The first two are fairly easy-nothing much happening there. I'll get back on Dave Cooper's game." I added that the team members would be analysing that evening, round at Simon Dighton's house. Tony said he had a heavy cold and unfortunately wouldn't be able to make it. So I was surprised when later on, accompanied by Malcolm, he turned up at Simon's house. Tony concentrated on Dave's game-it looked bad and we needed a draw. We were not very hopeful but, after an hour or so, he had found a few ideas and this helped put Dave on the right track. Later Dave fed it to Fritz and the story had a happy ending when he secured the draw

"Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played l...a6" 2 75

and effectively the title for Quinborne-the first time the club had ever won top honours in the local league! I enjoyed analysing with Tony. It is always fascinating to see how a top grandmaster sees things. Tony visualised positions with ease and calculated quickly, but generally I felt he relied on his intuition (this is 1994 onwards). Perhaps his speed of thought came from his huge experience of a wide range of chess positions. He seemed to have an insatiable appetite for the game. I once asked him, around 1994, what targets he had in chess. He replied "To be 2600." Tony was full of fresh ideas in the openings, and had a vast knowledge of endgame positions, those of the king and pawn variety being his favourite. I particularly enjoyed discussing minor piece issues with Tony. When assessing positions he often mentioned the structure and the relative value of the various pieces. Aside from tactical prowess, somehow this sort of thing always seemed to me central to really understanding chess. In 2001, I adjourned a local league game against David Anderton. I had queen and two bishops against queen and two knights in a fairly open position where the bishops had more options than the knights, which lacked real outposts. This amounted to a few standard landmarks, but I didn't see any more than that. Perhaps you know the sort of thing I mean: your intuition tells you one thing and, although your analysis tells you another, you'd really much prefer to believe your hunch. Unfortunately Tony was abroad at the time and in the end I tried trading pieces and

scrambled a win in a queen and pawn endgame. I felt disappointed that I never asked Tony for his verdict, he would have understood the position. Tony was a natural teacher, I like Mike's description that he was always "happy to show the knight's move to a ten-year old". At the Checkmate Junior Club he helped encourage youngsters. I think that Tony liked the company of children and enjoyed Mike's boundless energy and enthusiasm for everything (not just chess!). Tony had an easy manner when looking at chess, often using gestures to explain a point. The club, held in a local community centre, had an informal atmosphere and was a nice place to drop into. In fact many of the parents also got to know Tony well. When Tony died, one of the older club members, Rohan Hartley, said he would always remember Tony's good-natured laugh. The children would frequently challenge him to a game and he happily played against them, while imparting his chess wisdom. One member, Omar, repeatedly asked Tony to show him how to checkmate. He started with two bishops v lone king. Then, when Omar had mastered that one he proceeded to ask how to mate with bishop and knight v lone king. If Tony was away from the club, playing abroad, Omar would instead ask whoever else would show him -but each time Tony returned Omar would pin him down like a bolt of lightning. Tony would then quietly explain the same thing over again. Omar disappeared from the club for a few years but briefly turned up again-this time asking about the two bishops v knight

276 "Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played l...a6"

endgame(!). This one was more like hard work but Tony treated it with the same level of seriousness as he did the previous requests. Tony thought the world of Mike. As mentioned earlier he even kept some of Mike's eloquent junior training progress letters pinned to his chess study notice board. I distinctly remember one particular day at the club when Mike, looking a tad bewildered, came over to me and confided "I just mentioned to Tony that I'm playing in a lower division county match this afternoon. He replied 'Ah-yes, chess for the mentally deficient!' " But Mike took it as it was intended -a joke. I was in stitches. Tony loved the King's Gambit. I was surprised to learn that he had played it during his early school days, along with lots of other sharp systems such as the Max Lange attack. These lines seemed to be a far cry from the White structuretype of play he employed later in his career. He even wrote an article in New In Chess advocating 2... lbc6 3 lbf3 f5 for Black which, I think, Alex Wohl showed him. Tony, Mike and I often played bar biIliards down our local. During one game, Mike happened to mention an idea of Wagenbach's after 2 ... exf4 3lbf3 and now 3 ... h5!? Tony had never seen it before and was absolutely fascinated. Play was virtually suspended while we took a look at it. We also analysed down at our local Chinese. One evening, at the Old Maestro's instigation, we looked at Eric Schiller's King's Gambit book. I guess that Mike was aware of the infamous book review, and, if he will forgive me, it made a nice change from watching Tony

refute his latest winning line in the Vienna! We checked a few lines quicklynothing untoward-then became curious about the recommendation for White in the Kieseritsky variation. Some years previously, King's Gambit expert Mark Hebden mentioned to me that his crushing win as Black against Richard Holmes in a British Championship game had given Joe Gallagher some cause for thought in his King's Gambit book. Gradually our (Tony's!?) sceptism subsided-the suggested line seemed OK for White. Perhaps slightly the worse for drink, we eventually decided that Schiller's line didn't quite work. Our analysis was generally pretty light-hearted, at least that's how I viewed it. So I was surprised when Tony called the following evening: "Do you remember the critical line? At the end White can play 'iVg6!!-it wins beautifully. When I arrived home I carried on looking at the line for a couple of hours." "Amazing-does that mean the line is good for White after all then?" "Yes, probably." Tony had countless trophies in his house, with his World Junior award taking pride of place. But what was his most treasured possession? Well, aside from his coin collection and, of course, Mike's junior coaching letters, it was probably a close-call between his brand new Mercedes and his pocket chess set. Which reminds me. On arriving home one evening after dropping Tony back at his house, the phone rang almost the moment I walked through the door. "Hi again, it's

"Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played l...a6" 277

Tony. I left my wallet set in your car· -it's under the seat-I've had it for years, could you just check please and ring me back?" Curious, I went straight out to the car and sure enough there was the ancient set, almost falling apart, with pieces and squares that were virtually unrecognisable. I rang back: "It's here, Tony."-"Great-are you down at the club tomorrow, any chance you could perhaps drop it in for me?" Tony excelled in all types of positions. Whether they were complex middlegames or so-called simple endgames he was equa\1y at home. He enjoyed different aspects of the game, but I had the feeling that his favourite type of chess was the exploitation of a seemingly insignificant advantage. In 1998 after his return from the Capablanca Memorial in Cuba, he explained: "Against Nogueiras I had nothing, this much," (pinching two fingers together) "but it was enough." On the day before Tony died, we were all down at the Checkmate Club. It was just another nonnal Saturday morning. Tony was in his usual good spirits, busy on the local bridge circuit most of the time but sti1llooking at chess as energetically as ever. He was examining the outcome of an opening line-a complex queenless middlegame with an unbalanced structure-with Malcolm and one of the club members, Amar. He played some blitz with myself and then another club member, Kieran. I remember him typically asking after my sons, "How's the brats?", while his gaze

remained fixed on the chessboard. At the end of the session, Mike told a story which had Tony in stitches. Then the four of us, Tony, Mike, Malcolm and myself, tried to arrange a Chinese meal, but unsuccessfully as our dates clashed. In the car park outside I asked Tony how his bridge was going and he replied "It's quite easy really-you just play a lot and accumulate points." We said goodbye and he left with Malcolm, spending the evening with him and Dave Cooper. Then, early Monday evening, Malcolm gave me the tragic news of Tony's death. It didn't seem real, Tony was so young. I was concerned that Mike might learn the news on the internet but managed to contact him early the next morning. He was distraught. My lasting memory of Tony will be the help he so freely gave to the youngsters at the Checkmate Junior Club. Mike often announced to the children: "£1000 will be deposited in a Swiss bank account to anyone who can beat Tony!" This became a serious possibility when 8-year-old Ameet Ghasi, and his twin brother Sumeet joined the club, around 1995. When the boys met Tony for the first time, Ameet almost immediately asked "Can you show me your game against Karpov where you played ... a6, please Mr. Miles?" Looking obviously pleased, if perhaps slightly taken aback, Tony, who made no secret of not being at his best first thing in the morning, struggled a little before reconstructing the whole game. The boys were absolutely beaming ...

18: "I have no style-I just make moves" A brie/guide to Tony Miles's openings

P

laying with the White pieces, Tony Miles's approach to chess was primarily classical. And indeed his positionally aggressive style led to some beautiful games such as Miles-Andersson, Las Palmas 19S0. Although he had a keen tactical eye, he tended to avoid sharp lines as White, preferring to develop quietly, manoeuvre, and preferably leave book lines as early as possible. He was incredibly astute at spotting seemingly insignificant changes in a position, often playing according to the pawn structure and grinding opponents down with his fine technique. On the other hand, with the Black pieces, he often sought to seize the initiative by employing off-beat systems, a policy which became his trademark. During a game he usually tried to keep ahead on the clock but, when the opportunity arose, the chess artist within him was aroused and he strived to create a masterpiece. Miles's early style was aggressive and he adopted systems that offered sharp play and the prospect of a quick kill. He played open games (I e4 e5) with both colours and, as White, employed romantic lines such as the King's Gambit and Max Lange Attack (see Miles-Nunn,

British U-IS Championships 1969). Many of the systems he practised as a junior gradually disappeared from his repertoire, although a few notable ones remained. His first reference book was Modern Chess Openings J(fh edition, published when he was 9 years old. It contained jotted notes on some of his favourite lines-no, nothing on the Dragon though! After I d4 f5 2 c4 tOf6 3 tOc3 e6 4 tOf3 he wrote "4 ... tOc6! intending tOe7, then tOg6-the AJM Attack", in a very young hand. His fondness for knight manoeuvres was apparent even then. In his library, Chernev's Winning Chess Traps and Keres's Handbooks looked well read. He appears not to have modelled himself on any particular player, though when questioned as a new GM in 1976, he remarked "I have some regard for Lasker"-a player noted for his ability to improvise and play the man as well as the board-adding ''I'm pretty ignorant about chess history." As Black, he also favoured aggressive weapons, his principal choice being the Ruy Lopez Bird's Defence (3 ... tOd4). In fact the young Miles played this offbeat line for a period of four years. Against I d4 he liked the Dutch Defence, rather incompatible with his positional outlook on the game but,

"I have no style-I just make moves" 279

then again, such noble considerations may not have been that high on the list of priorities of an II-year old! During his junior phase, he quickly cottoned on to the practical value of little-explored lines. Playing unusual systems in order to unsettle his opponent came easily to him. He dabbled with openings such as Grob's Attack (l g4), Bird's Opening (I f4), and the Nimzovich Defence (l...c!Llc6). He also liked Owen's Defence (l...b6---even playing this at the top level!) and the RetilNirnzovich Attack (I c!Llf3, 2 b3), because, as he later wrote, "I never could resist a raking queen's bishop". As White, he played the Open Sicilian (see Miles-Szekely, Nice Junior 1971), but was not too comfortable with this type of position where the need for memorisation was much greater. The structure did not really suit him, since White has a pawn less in the centre which he felt gave Black a firm positional foundation. He was not that interested in studying long variations, the idea of making his first move on move 20 never really appealed to him! Even at a young age, he competed frequently and, with school work to do, it is not clear how much time he actually spent on opening study. In view of the wide variety and nature of his early preferences, perhaps the II year-old Tony chose his openings by scanning MCa, picking out sharp lines which occupied the least number of columns, and then quickly checking them over before actually playing them! The less theory the better as far as he was concerned and if in addition the

opening broke an established rule then that added to its appeal. The Ruy Lopez Bird's Defence is described in MCa as "violating the principle of moving the same piece twice in the opening". Evidence of Miles's fresh, almost rebellious view of established theory and his lack of respect for the opposition shines through in many of his early games. He once ventured 1 e4 b6 2 d4 ~b 7 3 c!Llc3 and now the astonishing 3 ... e5 4 dxe5 ~b4. He liked this development of his bishops on b7 and b4 (shades of the English Defence). He was British Under-14 Champion when he played this particular idea which even then revealed his impish sense of humour... In 1973 he won Ritson Morry's Birmingham International using 1 e4, but during the World Junior that summer he was already switching to other systems. By the next World Junior the following year he had well and truly turned to English and Reti systems as the main strings to his bow. See his notes to Miles-Tal, Hastings 1973/4, where he explains this change in his White repertoire. These White systems, which he played from the age of 18, reflected the structure-type of play which permeated the rest of his career. He felt that these lines played more to his strengths, towards positionally aggressive chess, and it was harder for opponents to spring their home preparation on him. Two years later, as a GM, 1 e4 had all but vanished from his games. He used it just once when he qualified for the GM title at Dubna 1976, soundly defeating Plachetka (see game). See MilesSorin, Capablanca Memorial 1995 for a rare outing with 1 e4 from the later part of his career.

280 "I have no style-I just make moves"

With White, he played orthodox queen-pawn openings. Perhaps the best known of his theoretical contributions was the then little investigated Queen's Indian Defence with 4 .i.f4 which he used to defeat Spassky twice(!) in 1978. He spotted this in a footnote in ECO and it was his 'latest anti-NimzoIndian' variation. In Informator 26 there were nine consecutive Miles games with 4 .i.f4--a record? He also made a contribution to the theory of the King's Indian Fianchetto Exchange variationsee Miles-Andersson, Las Palmas 1980. Additionally, with White, he sometimes played positions which appeared at first sight to offer few winning chances-one example is the seemingly drawish symmetrical structure in the Queen's Gambit which occurs after the 'c' and 'd' pawns have all been exchanged. He said "I seem to play these positions well." (See Miles-Kogan, World Open 1980). In common with other strong GMs Miles varied his play against the King's Indian. At one time he championed the old Classical main line and the Samisch variation, but in later years he tried Larsen's little known 9 ~hl in the Classical variation. In the nineties he even adopted the King's Indian himself, winning a tremendous attacking game against Atalik at Heraklion 1993, which featured a typical Miles underpromotion to a knight in the final mating combination-a game which Miles described as the most entertaining he had ever played. He steered clear of the main lines as Black, opting for 7 ... exd4 in the Classical variation. With the Black pieces, he remained true to his early approach

of choosing sharp systems leading to unbalanced play. These choices were mainly designed to cope with the win-at-all-cost demands of Swiss weekend tournaments. Against I d4 he adopted the Benko Gambit (see Averkin-Miles and Kavalek-Miles), while against I e4 he briefly essayed the super sharp Ruy Lopez Schliemann variation (3 ... f5), which he used successfully to win the Nice Junior Invitation in 1971. By 1973 he took up the Sicilian Dragon, which he said was the only opening he'd ever really bothered to try and learn properly! He used it as a GM and became one of its leading exponents, defeating top class players with it. He helped to mould Black's treatment in the Soltis variation of the Yugoslav Attack-see his commentary on the game Ljubojevic-Miles, Malta Olympiad 1980. One story goes that he took Levy's book on the Dragon with him to the 1974 World Junior Championship in Manila and, having nothing else to do on the plane journey there, memorised a few key lines. He then used it to defeat his principal rival Kochiev in a game which clinched the World Junior title for him and remained a life-long personal favourite. He also employed the Dragon successfully when he tied and won respectively the UK Grand Prixs of 1974 and 1975 at the start of his professional career. On the other hand, he tended to suffer with the Dragon when faced with theoretically well prepared players such as Karpov and Timman. The Dragon served him well but eventually he became disillusioned with the growing amount of theory in the Yugoslav Attack.

HI have no style-Ijust make moves" 281

At the highest level he continued to employ less well-known systems. Along with other leading English players such as Speelman and Keene he was quick to appreciate the virtues of the English Defence, catching many opponents unawares and scoring some crushing victories. This opening, initially developed by the Leicester player P.N.Wallis, was truly revolutionary, often involving moves which blatantly disregarded conventional dogma. Not satisfied with merely conceding the centre in true hyper-modem fashion, this system also broke the 'knights before bishops' rule, sometimes ignored king-safety and frequently involved early queen excursions by Black. It was tailor-made for a player with Miles's unorthodox outlook on the game. Farago-Miles, Hastings 1976/7, is a classic demolition of the White centre in this opening and is typical of the difficulties even experienced GMs encountered when faced with the English Defence. Miles's love for extreme chess was exemplified by his adoption of the line I c4 b6 2 d4 e6 3 e4 .i.b7 4 .i.d3 fS S exfS .i.xg2 6 ""S+ g6 7 fxg6 .i.g7 8 gxh7+ 'if;f8. Despite losing badly to Walter Browne, an international contemporary, he obviously could not resist all this and two decades later repeated it against the same opponent in the 1999 US Open in Reno, drawing a hair-raising game where his king eventually walked to the relative safety of the queens ide. The two players apparently enjoyed their post-mortem, entertaining a captive audience. In Baburin-Miles, 4NCL 2000 after I d4 e6 2 c4 b6 3 a3 he played 3 ... g6!?, another pet variation and one which was

probably his very own idea in this exact position. The game was vintage Miles, with his attack ultimately crashing through (see the game and also the debut with this move, Hellsten-Miles, Malmo 1996). Also Olafsson-Miles, Las Palmas 1978 makes a powerful impression and was voted as an Informator 'Golden Game'. When playing the English Defence, Miles was careful with the move-order. Whilst he was happy to play 1 c4 b6, he tended to pick his opponents when it came to 1 d4 e6, preferring this option only when he could reasonably expect his opponent to avoid 2 e4 as the French Defence was not really to his taste. Coincidentally, Miles's path briefly crossed with that of the inventor of the English Defence. In a 1970 Leicester v Birmingham National Club match, P.N.Wallis opened I d4, and IS year old Miles won well with his faithful Dutch Defence. Throughout his career he had an amazing knack of finding playable off-beat lines or at least of making them look playable. Miles seems to have had a special affection for knights so it is no surprise that he l...lL\c6, adopted Nirnzovich's thereby causing his opponents many headaches. He often said that if Alekhine's Defence is playable then 1 e4lL\c6 must be too! After 2 d4 he preferred 2... eS, first playing it as a 12-year old and later, as a GM, popularising this continuation. Here he liked the move ... .i.b4+ (see Jackson-Miles, Lewisham 1983), which he also favoured in the Scotch Game. After 1 e4 lL\c6 2 lL\f3 he frequently played 2 ... d6 (see Almasi-Miles, 1994) until his loss to IIlescas at the Linares Zonal 1995

282 "I have no style-I just make moves"

(see the game), after which he seems to have lost faith in it and switched back to an Open game with 2 ... e5 instead. He also tried l...ltJc6 against 1 d4. Tony seemed to have a constant supply of ideas in the openings. At the Checkmate Club, the day before he died, he found himself 'moveordered' in a blitz game after 1 d4 e6 2 e4. There followed 2 ... d5 3 ltJc3 dxe4 4 ltJxe4 upon which he uncorked 4 ... a6!? saying "If Morozevich can play it later then it's probably worth a try here." Throughout his career Miles also employed many orthodox systems -for example the Queen's Gambit Accepted and Caro-Kann appear regularly in his praxis. He tended to play little-tried variations, avoiding main lines. Against Karpov, Bath 1983, he essayed 4 ... ltJf6 in the Caro-Kann (see games), a line which he had rarely played previously. He devised his own idea in the Queen's Gambit Accepted, using it successfully against Kramnik in the Intel Grand Prix, London 1995 (see his comments to the game Wagner-Miles, French League 2001). He also liked the flexible Kan variation of the Sicilian, with his GM title-clinching game against Kostro from Dubna 1976 demonstrating his faith in this chameleon system. Even by his own standards Miles tried some fairly strange systems. Developing his knights via a6 and h6 was another favourite-I d4 ltJa6 or I e4 c6 2 d4 ltJa6 were two favoured sequences, perhaps cultivated under the influence of his good friend 1M Alex Wohl! He once toyed with the idea that "knights might be more flexibly placed on c7

and f7 than on c6 and f6". See his article "The Holey W ohly?" which includes Suetin-Miles, 1997. Miles developed his chess style on the English weekend circuit and had a deadly grasp and love for endgame play. In fact his endgame ability was of the highest calibre and his writings show his immense interest in this area of the game. Conventional wisdom generally held that swiss tournaments were not a proper training ground for an aspiring international player, yet Miles went on to score many major international victories. And, in turn, it was on the international circuit that he learned to temper his win-atall-costs philosophy. Most chess players tend to rely on memory in the opening stage. But, with the possible exception of the Sicilian Dragon, this never really appealed to Miles. Of course he knew about openings but he had his own theory, tricky little off-shoots from the main-lines which reduced the amount of preparation required. He sometimes picked up lines from watching games on the circuit-see Donchenko-Miles, Dubna 1976, where he adopted a line he'd seen Andersson play. Malcolm Hunt competed alongside Miles in school and house matches, always playing his beloved Lopez Berlin variation. During the nineties he eventually convinced Tony to try it himself and it duly became a permanent part of his repertoire. This system allows an early queen exchange, displacing Black's king, and reflected Miles's acceptance of temporary discomfort and a cramped position, so long as the basic structure remained sound and offered long term prospects to out-manoeuvre his opponent. He

"I have no style-Ijust make moves" 283

had a field day commentating on ICC' when Kramnik gave the Berlin his official seal of approval by utilising it in his match against Kasparov! Incidentally, Tony also adopted a similar philosophy when playing a pet system from his school days: after 1 d4 d5 2 c4 e5 3 dxe5 he liked 3 ... dxc4, again allowing an early queen exchange. Indeed Tony called this 'The Queen-Pawn Miles Defence'. But why didn't Miles just confonn and learn a few main lines instead? The evidence seems to be that he did not like to prepare anything, unless it was for a specific, imminent encounter. He needed "an opponent, a direct challenge" and perhaps without that he felt unable to study too hard. He described Mecking's approach of shutting himself away to study for the World Championship as unhealthy. Unusual systems suited his maverick personality. He was an excellent improviser and aimed to embarrass his opponent even if it meant running the risk of falling short himself. Sometimes these lines may have simply appealed to his sense of humour, or perhaps he just wanted something to write about... A remarkable example of this is his shock win over Karpov at Skara 1980 with the extreme opening move l...a6 (see the game). You get the impression that Miles really wanted to believe in these off-beat systems but deep down he had his

doubts. Indeed he cheerfully confessed that he even questioned his sanity after some losses, which led to subsequent soul-searching and sticking the variations back together again! But it should not be forgotten that although the prospect of outplaying an opponent with ridiculous looking moves appealed to him, he also saw great beauty in exploiting a miniscule advantage in classical fashion. For Tony Miles the game of chess tended to start after the opening, though this didn't stop him from scoring many quick victories. He summed up his philosophy by stating that too many players spend too much time on the opening phase trying to find killer moves when the position simply doesn't warrant this. So in his own games he usually preferred to focus on developing his pieces and getting them into position before starting any tactics, thus saving time and energy for any future critical moments that might arise. Original opening play fitted his game plan perfectly, even if it was prompted by a tongue-in-cheek self-confessed laziness or a desire to avoid an opponent's preparation or even the fact that he did not have time for profound study of opening theory because he was playing so often. The net result, however, was that his games had a unique character, truly reflecting his fierce independence of thought and buccaneering spirit. And of course his lifelong love of chess.

Tony Miles's tournament, match and England national team record Bold = First places, Un. = unplaced, (w) = weekend event. cat = category of all-play-all. ~

Birmingham Primary Sch.Ch I" 1967 Warwicks & Midlands U·14 2noJ = Warwlcks & Midlands U-12 I" British U-14 Championship 9'1.= 1968 - British Under-14 Champion Warwicks & Midlands (;·16 1" Warwicks & Midlands U-14 I" Staffordshire 'Candidates'(w) I" British U-14 Championship I"

4/4 5/9 7 1/0)8 51/:111 8/9 7/9 .) 91/:111

~Q2

Midland Open '? 4/7 ? Warwicks & Midlands U-18? Staffordshire (w) I"? 4/5 2nd = 8/ II British U-18 Championship 1970 - Youngest Midland Open Champion Midland Open I" 617 Staffordshire (w) 4"'= 3/5 4/4 Glomey Cup (Boards 4 & 5) British U-21 Championship 6"'= 61/:111 Islington Junior 8'h= 20)8 1971 - Nice Junior win. British U-2\ Chamoion :'01 Ice Junior 1"= 7/9 Warwicks & Mlds lJ·III Ch. I" 6/7 Staffordshire (w) 1"= 4/5 Manchester (w) 1"= 5/6 21J:i3 Glomey Cup (Board 2) British U-21 Championship I" 9/ II Hastings Challengers 6'1.= 611 0 1972 - Slater £5000 offer at Hastings 72/3 Birmingham International 4"' 71/:114 Staffordshire (w) ? 4/6 4"'= 41fJ6 Manchester (w) Hereford (w) ? 41,6 British Championship 16'1'= 5 1/:/11 Forrest Cup (Midland KO) I" Munich Junior Team Ch. 6 1/0)7 (Board 2) England v Holland (Board 9) 2:0 v Baljon 1973 - 1M norm at Birmingham European Jun' Ch (Groningen) 2noJ 6 1/0)9 Las Vegas (:'Ilational Open) 12'1.= 6/8 4,1,= 5/7 Lone Pine Birmingham (w) I" 41/:15

Birmingham International I" 71J:iII 3'd= 4 1fJ6 Staffordshire (w) Forrest Cup (Midland KO) I" Birmingham Post Cup. Lost to Cafferty European Team Ch. - Bath IIfJ4 World Junior Ch. (Teesside) 2.... 8/11 British Championship 4"'= 7111 Malta I" 11111 London CC Invitation 3'·= 31/:15 Malta I" 11111 Anglo-Dutch match I: I v Hartoch. Cutty Sark KO Semi-Finals Hastings 13'1. 51J:i13 1974 - World Junior Ch ... UK Grand Prix!=) II/.:: 1,6 Anglo-German match v Darga Birmingham (w) 1"= 4 1/0)5 Birmingham (2'001 1M norm) 1" 7lfJIO Jersey I" 6 1/0)7 lIford (w) 1"= 5 1/:16 World Junior Championship I" 7/9 (1M title) Enfield (w) 1"= 5i6 Thanet (w) 1"= 41fJ5 London CC Invitation 4"'= 3 1/0)5 Kettering (w) 4'1.= 4 1/0)6 Glasgow Invitation 8'1. 2/5 Chelmsford (w) I" 5 1/.:/6 Woo lacombe (I'.') 3'·= 4/5 Southampton (w) I" 5 1/0)6 London LARA (w) 1"= 5/6 1"= 5/6 Islington (w) Hastings International 7"' 8'/.:/15 1975 - GM norm at London. UK Grand Prix Luton (w) I" 5 1/0)6 Enfield (w) ? ? London (w) I" ? Birmingham t;niversity (w) 1"= 5 1/:17 Dublin I ~= 5/6 BIrmingham Europa (w) 1"= 50)6 Birmingham International 2nd = 10/15 Rhyl (w) I" 5/5 lIford (w) I" 6/6 BBC Master Game 3'd= Charlton (w) 2nd = 5/6 Manchester (w) 2,001= 5/6 ? ? Hereford (w) British Championship 2....= 7111 London (first GM norm) I" 7 1/0)10

Tony Miles 's tournament. match and England national team record 285 Tecsside International (cat 12) 10th 6'I-JI4 Kettering{w) 2""= 5/6 2""= 9'I-JI5 Novi Sad London LARA (w) Un. 4/6 European Team Ch. Qualifier l'I~:'h v Williams Islington (w) 7"'= 4'I-J6 Hastings International S"'= 7'f.J15 1272 - QM title at Ollbna. Ties KQrchnQi at

lIlM Dubna (nnal GM norm) 3"'= 9115 Las Vegas (National Open) 1"= 7/8 Lone Pine 2n"= 5/7 I~ 6/7 Dublin 8/11 3'" Dortmund I· 5'f.J6 Ilford (w) I· 5'f.J6 Cbarlton (w) IBM Amsterdam (cat II) 1"= 9'f.J16 London (Evening Standard)(w) 2""= 5/6 7'"= 6 '/>J I I British Championship I~ Stockbolm SW9 BBC Master Game 2nd series 3"'= (lost to Nunn in semis) I" ? Cardlff(w) London - New York Match 'h-'h v Shamkovich. 9/12 Haifa Olympiad (Board I) England 3'd I? Brltlsb Llgbtnlng Cb. Hastings (cat 9) 7WI4 6th 1977 - IBM again, ~Sl
BledlPortoroz (cat 12) 6"'= S'j.J15 BuenosAires-K.Canon (cat 10) 4th= 7 'I-J I 3 British Championship 4th 7'f.J11 Riga Interzonal (cat 12) S"'= 9/17 3,d Master Game 4th series Buenos Aires - Clarin (cat II) 2""= S/I3 I ~!!O - Beat Ka!JlQv - Wins tcn evs:nts in a ~

European Team Ch (Skara) (Board I - top scorer) Reykjavik (cat 10) Lone Pine London (cat 13) Las Palmas (cat 9) PbOadelpbla (World Open) Puerto Madryn Sandwell (w) Gausdal Baerum Kettering(w) Hull (w) Vrbas (cat 12) Baden (cat 12) Malta Olympiad (Board I) Islington (w)

.!.W.

4'f.J7 3"'= 7/13 2"" 6W9 I~= S'fJ13 1"= S'/>JII 1"= 7W9 I~=

4/6 6/6 7/9 I~ 7/9 I5W6 I~ SIS I7/11 10"'= 7/15 6/12 2""= S/6 I· I·

2"" Master Game 6th series (lost to Short in final) lOth 5/12 Wijk Aan Zee (cat 12) ARC Young Masters (w) 3"'= 5/6 Blackpool (w) 1"= 4'/>J5 Harrogate (w) 2""= 5/6 I~ Scuntborpe (w) 5W6 Amsterdam,lBM (cat 13) 8"'= Sill 1·= 4'/>J5 Bristol (w) 1-= 9 '/>J I 3 Baden-Baden (cat 9) S/9 Vancouver (West Canadian) I" Vancouver (International) 1"= 7'fJIO 1·= 7/9 London (Lloyds Bank) I7W9 Mancbester (Benedictine) Last 3/11 Tilburg Interpolis (cat IS) I· SIS Blrmingbam (w) 2""= 6'f.J9 Ramsgate 1"= 5/6 Islington (w) 2"" SWII Porz (cat 9) 19!!2 - ~riti~h ChaWl!iQn, UK Qrand Prix Surakarta, Ocnpasar (cat 9) Sth 15/2S European Team Cb Qualifier 1:1 v Schussler London (cat 14) S"'= 6WI3 4"'= 5'f.J7 London Highbury Rapid I· SIS Bristol (w) 5'" Amsterdam 5W9 I" 9/11 Brltisb Cb London (Lloyds Bank) 1"= 7/9 1"= 7W9 Mancbester (Benedictine) City Quickplay Un. I" SIS Barnstaple (w) 6112 Lucerne Olympiad (Board I) IWolverbampton (w) SIS

286 Tony Miles's tournament, match and England national team record

1983 -

Beat~

Kamgv again -

Ma~tcr

Qame winner 4'f.JS S'f./IO 6'.IoJ8 7/9 2';': \110 417

1"= Cardiff(w) Linares (cat 14) 4"'= 1"= New York Open 1"= MJ!tz Match v R.Mckay European Team Ch. (Plovdiv) (Board I) 1"= 8/11 Biel (cat 10) Gjovik (cat 12) 4"'= Slf.J9 Niksic (cat 14) 5"'= 7'f.J14 Bath (Master Game) I" S:S Exhibition Match v Hort 1984 - Tilb!!rg InteDlQli~ UK ~hand Prix Wijk Aan Zee (cat 13) 5"'= 6'IoJI3 4'h= 4'IoJ6 ARC Young Masters (w) 2""= Slf.J9 Oslo (cat 13) 91h = 5 'f.J 13 London (cat 14) 10"'= 6/13 Bugojno (cat 14) 2'f-; \110 USSR - Rest of the World Grangemouth (w) I" 515 Esbjerg (cat 10) 4"'= 61f.J11 Hitchin (w) I" 5/5 6"'= 7111 British Championship 1"= 7/9 London (L1oyds Bank) I" Bangor (w) 5/5 Kettering (w) I" 6/6 I" Tilburg Interpolis (cat 14) 8/11 6/12 Thessaloniki Olympiad (Board I) England 2"" I" Griesbach 71f.J9 I" Slf.J6 islington (w) Reggio Emilia (cat 12) 7"'= S0JII 128~ - R~lleats Till!l!rg l!!t!;nlQliS (=) Bad Worishofen 3'"= 7/9 Linares (cat 14) 6"'= SIf.JII 1"= 7'f.J9 Metz 10"'= 8/16 Tunis Interzonal (cat II) Portoroz-Ljubljana (cat 12) 1"= 7/11 1"= 7/9 Biel 4"' Amsterdam (cat 14) 4 'IoJ I 0 2"" 8/11 British Championship West Berlin Un. Tllburg Interpol\s (cat 15) 1"= 81f.J14 1"= 7/9 Ostend 1"= 6/7 Mendrisio World Team Championship (Board I - Silver Medal) SI7 2'· 8/9 Porz 1286 - Ka~lla[Qv matcb 2.... = 7'IoJII Reykjavik Lugano 21"= 6/9 3'd= 61f.J11 Brussels (cat 13) 2"d= 7/11 Dortmund (cat 10) Match v Kasparov Lost ';':5';' 7'h Bugojno (cat 16) 6/14 Biel (cal 12) 5"'= 6/11 Ostend I" 71f.J9 Utrecbt Group 2 I" 4lf.JS

Tilburg Interpolis (cat 15) 4"'= 7/14 Dubai Olympiad (Board I) 4'f.J9 England 2"" 4"'= 8'f.J II Adelaide 1987 - !;nd Q( vintag~ IlcriQd Wijk Aan Zec (cat 13) 5"'= 7/13 Ter Apel (cat II) 4'" 21f.J5 9"'= 7/9 New York Open Philadelpbla (World Open) 1"= 8/11 14'h 6'f.116 Zagreb Interzonal (cat 12) North London (w) ? 4'fJ6 1288 - rlal1s I!nder US flag, liv!:~ io W!:st ~ Metz Un. 5'1J'9 4"'= S'IoJ9 Amsterdam 2'd= 7/9 Ostend 1"= 7/9 Dleren US Championship (cat 12) Last 4111 16"'= 6/9 Belgrade 2""= 61f.J9 Groningen 1982 - fQrm rllturns 7"'= 6'IoJ9 Wijk aan Zee (cat 13) I" Los Angeles (Tool works) 61f.J8 2""= 7'foJ9 Bad Worishofen 3"'= 61f.J9 Lugano New York Open 24"'= 5/9 1"= 71f.J9 Metz 51"= 4'IoJ9 MoscowGMA Philadelphia (World Open) Un. 4"'= 7/14 Biel (cat 14) I" Seefeld 71f.J8 3'd= 7/9 Chiasso 6"'= 6/8 Long Beach (US Open) US Ch (cat 12) 5"'= 81f.JIS 2""= 7/9 Palma De Mallorca (GMA) 2""= 61f.J9 Groningen

J..22Q I" Rome 1"= Bad Worishofen glh= Kusadasi 35"'= Moscow GMA San Francisco (Zonal playoff) I" Manila Interzonal 29"'= Biel (cat 14) 3"'= 2""= Ostende 2'"= LeTouquet 1"= Adelaide 1221 - slleods time in Au~tralia Sydney (cat 10) 2""= Beijing 1"= 3'·= Los Angeles (US Open) 2""= Forli Ostend I" Australian Ch (Melbourne) S"'= 1222 - [Il!:l!ms tQ liv!: in Englimd Auckland (Netway) I" Kuala Lumpur 1"= Kamotlnl I" Katerini 7"'= 3'· Biel (cat 16)

7/9 7'foJ9 6/9 40JII 21f.J4 6'foJ13 71f.J14 7/9 6';'/9 81f.J11 61f.J9 7'IoJI0 91f.J 12 61/~9

8/9 7/11 10/11 6'IoJ9 7/9 61f.J9

Tony Miles's tournament, match and England national team record 287

European Team Championship 31J.J7 ? lraklion 5'89 Groningen (cat 14) 4"'= 519 1223 - R~~iv~~ iI ~tandiDIl QvatiQD at S~vill~ Dublin zonal 13"'= 6'811 Zaragoza 8"'= 6'tY9 I" Seville 8110 Aegina 7"'= 6/9 Arhus (cat 9) 2""= 5';')9 Sandwell I" 51fJ6 London (LJoyds Bank) 2'"'= 8/10 Ostende 6"'= 61f.J9 Munster 1"= 71f.J9 Heraklion I" S/9 Wolverhampton (w) ? ? Beijing ? 81f.J 11 Tilburg Reached last 32 1224 - 'Iillf ~at:!al!laDca MemQrial 1"= 71f.J9 Seville Calcutta 2'"'= Sill CappeUe la Grande 1"= 7/9 Villeneuve Tolosane ? 7/9? I" 4';')5 Cbicago 19"'= 6/9 New York Open Las Vegas (National Open) ? 6/7 Matanzas(cat 10) 1"= 71f.J II I" Qulnborne (w) 51f.J6 7';')9 Andorra I" 3"'= 7/9 Benasque London (LJoyds Bank) 3"'= 71f.J10 I" 8/9 Montpelller Horgen (cat 16) 10"'= 4/11 4"'= 71f.J13 Linares 2';')5 Moscow Olympiad 1225 - !:allill!!ancg Mllmo[jal QUtrigbt 1"= S/II Calcutta Cappelle la Grande 1"= 7/9 3'·= 7/9 Bad Worishofen 3'·= 6';')9 Metz I" I 01f.J 13 Matanzas (cat II) Andorra 6"'= 61j.)9 I" 6';')9 Benasque (cat 13) 37"'= 61f.J I I Biel Semi-final PCA Rapid London IS"'= 6';')9 Hamburg 1"= 61f.J9 Isle Of Man Linares Zonal 2'"'= 7/11 Linares Playoff 6"'= 2/6 4"'= S/9 Hastings (cat 13) 1226 - Cal!al!laDlla MllmQ[jal S~QDd win II'" 4/11 Wijk aan Zee (cat 10) Las Palmas 1"= 617 Madras (cat 9) I" 9/11 Clenfuegos (cat 12) I" 91f.J13 Malmo (cal 12) 2'" 61f.J10 Biel Last Beijing (cat 10) Last 2';')9

Areo Las Palmas Groningen 1997 Linares Ubeda CappeUe la Grande Bad Worishofen New York Open Las Vegas (National Open) Waiklki Cienfuegos (cat 12) Yopal (cat 12) Benasque Britlsb Cbamplonsblp British Ch Playoff Agols Nlkolaos lraklion Szeged (cat 13) Groningen

3"'= 6/9 2""= 6',1.)9 I 0"'= 71/-) II 2""= 7',·1,)10 2""= 7'810 1"= 7/10 2nd= 7/9 22""= 71fJ10 12'''= 4';')6 1"= 7';')10 2'"' 7/11 4"'= 4';')9 1"= 71f.J9 1·= &III 3'"= 1"= 6'/)-9 4"'= 6';')9 4"'= 519 4"'= 8111

l.2.2B.

Linares 2'"'= 7';')10 Bermuda 4"'= 4/5 Cappelle La Grande 31"= 619 Havana (cat 12) 4"'= 6'tY11 I·... 7/9 Andorra Schweiz 2"" 7/9 British Championship 3'" S/II Shengyang 4"'= 7/11 Elista Olympiad 5/7 Esc:ades Zonal 1"= qualified in playoff Hastings 7"'= 3'1-)9 1999 - Cat:!ablanca MllmQlial bat-w!;k Alushta (cat 10) 3"= 7/11 Havana (cat 12) I" SIf.J 13 Philadelphia (World Open) 23"'= 6/9 Los Angeles 1"= 5';')7 FIDE World Ch. Qualifier Round 2 Reno 7"'= 7/9 MerIda 1"= 7/9

2QQQ Nova Gorlca South end Redbus KO Varadero British Championship Mondariz Zonal Mondariz Playoff Istanbul Olympiad Merida

1"= 7/9 Round I Sd,= 7/13 7d'= 7/11 6"'= 61fJ11 Did not qualify 11f.)4 ~'= S'tY9

2QQl

Crans Montana 2'" (lost to A.Sokolov in final) Capablanca Memorial 6"'= 6112 Individual European Ch. 90"'= 6'tY13 British Championship 31"= SIf.JIO (withdrew after 10 rounds)

Index of Opponents (numbers refer to games)

Adorjan Almasi Andersson Arencibia Arkell Atalik Averkin Baburin Bellin Bellon Belyavsky Benko Bisguier Bissicks Botterill Chi Ching Hsuan Conradi Dake Donchenko Eley Ehrig Farago Garcia Geller Gerber Gerusel Gheorghiu Gligoric Godena Grunfeld Haag Hellsten Hennigan Hodgson

22 97 63 1I5 110 96 15 116 71 46 89 29 5 I

56 53 77

·'.4 17 6 78 26 98 60 118 28 62 36 101 91 11 105 90 104

Hubner 87 IIIescas 102 Ivanov 92 Jackson 74 Karlsson 67 Karpov 35,58,73 Kavalek 21 Keene 70 Kelly 108 Keogh 47 Kindermann 72 Kochiev 9 Kogan 64 Korchnoi 83 Kostro 18 Kuzmin 7 94 Lalic Larsen 61 Ligterink 20 Lima 99 Ljubojevic 40,68,

85,88 Makarychev 75 Martin 30 Matera 10 Mestel 55 Michaelides 59 Myrenne 76 Nikolac 50 Nunn 2,69,95 Odendahl 93 OgaardLr./'"r l~'; '. $ 39 Olafsson 42 Ostos 51

Panchenko 41 38,66 Panno Perecz 57 Peters 19 Piket 103 Plachetka 16 Polugayevsky 84 Portisch 81 33,52 Quinteros Ribli 43 Rivas 48 Rizzitano 65 Robatsch 34 Rodriguez 106 Sadler 109 14 Sax 113 Short SigUljonsson 13 25,37 Smyslov Sorin 100 Sosonko 32 Spassky 44,45,79 Speelman 54, 112 Szekely 3 Tal 8,80 Tebb 107 Timman 27, 49, 82, 86 Torre 31 Vaisser 114 Vukcevic 24 Wagner 1I7 Webb 12 Wells III Whiteley 23