All-English battle
All-English battle
By Kristianus Liem
This is the seventh of eight articles on the World Chess Championships held in Groningen, the Netherlands in December last year.
JAKARTA (JP): British chess players have always been in a category of their own, but that both Nigel Short and Michael Adams should survive to round six of the World Chess Championship in Groningen, the Netherlands, Dec. 8 to Dec. 30, 1997, must be regarded as a real surprise! They are accompanied by Viswanathan Anand from India and Boris Gelfand from Belorussia. So, there are only three countries represented among the four players at the semifinal.
When the event started, the most participants came from Russia with 17 players, but no one survived to round six or the best of four (champion Anatoly Karpov of Russia was seeded directly into the grand final). England, which started with only four players, still had two players left in the field!
But one of them was bound to be eliminated because they played each other.
This all-English battle was a fantastic struggle. In a tough, tough tiebreaker, Adams had a little bit more in reserve and he edged out his countryman. Adams won 4-3. Here is their first game.
White: GM Michael Adams
Black: GM Nigel Short
Closed Sicilian Opening
1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 e6 3.Nf3 a6 4.g3 b5! 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.d4 Nf6!? 7.Bg5 cxd4 8.Nxd4 h6 9.Bxf6 Qxf6 10.0-0 Nc6 11.Nxc6 dxc6 12.Qe2?!
This is far too slow. White has to be careful that Black doesn't gain a long-term advantage from his two Bishops. White should play 12.f4 or sacrifice 12.e5!? Qxe5 13.Re1 Qc7 14.Qd4!? in order to capitalize on his developmental edge.
12...e5 13.a4 b4 14.Nb1 a5! 15.Qe3 Bd6 16.Nd2 Qe7 17.Nb3?! c5! 18.Nd2 Ba6 19.Rfd1 c4!
Nigel has pursued his plan of getting his dark-squared Bishop activated with dogged determination. If White is allowed Bg2-f1 and a blockade of the c4 square, he'll just win.
20.Bf1 Bc5 21.Qf3 Qe6 22.b3 Bd4 23.Rab1 c3 24.Bxa6 Rxa6 25.Nc4
Usually Adams' Nc4 should be much stronger that Short's Bishop, but Black's space advantage on the queen-side plus the dominant position of his Bishop give him all the chances in this position.
25...0-0 26.Ne3! g6 27.Re1 Rc6 28.Rbd1 Rc5 29.Kg2 f5?!
There are no further building moves to be had. After 29...Kh7 30.h4 White is able to disrupt the ...f7-f5 break.
30.exf5 gxf5 31.Nc4 Rxc4! 32.bxc4 Qxc4 33.Qb7! Rf7!? 34.Qb8+ Kh7 35.f4?!
Errors sometimes win games, too. Here Adams could have secured a draw with 35.Rxe5 Qc6+ 36.Kh3 Bxe5 37.Qxe5 Qf3 38.Rd8 Qg4+ 39.Kg2 but he completely overlooked Short's next move.
35...Qa2! 36.fxe5
See diagram.
36...Qxc2+??
This is one error too many, though. Much better was 36...f4 with the ideas 37.e6 Qd5+ 38.Kh3 Qh5+ 39.Kg2 Qd5+ or 37.Rxd4 Qxc2+ 38.Kh3 fxg3 39.hxg3 Qf5+ 40.Kh4 Rg7! 41.e6 Qf2! (a crushing move, as Black hits both Rooks and threatens ...Qf2-h2 mate) 42.Rh1 Qxd4+ 43.Qf4 give Black his choice of wins.
37.Kh3 f4 38.e6!
The move Nigel had forgotten about. White defers on the Bishop capture and instead opens up a defensive route for his Queen.
38...Qf5+??
The final mistake. Black can bail out with 38...fxg3 39.exf7 (39.Qxg3 Rg7 40.Qd3+ is a bit too bold) 39...Qf5+ 40.Kxg3 Qf2+ 41.Kg4 h5+ 42.Kh3 Qf5+ 43.Kg2 Qf2+ and a perpetual check.
39.g4 Qd5 40.Rd3!
Either because of time trouble or a simple hallucination, Nigel seems to have missed this defensive resource and the game is over.
40...Rf6 41.Qc7+ 1-0
Black resigned here because he would get mated in a small number of moves after 41...Kg6 42.e7.