chess

The Brussels Encounter

OHRA

William Hartston Willi Iclicki Roger Lancaster Annotations by:

Garry Kasparov Lajos Portisch John Nunn Raymond Keene Andrew Martin

BBC Chess Classic

© Chequers Chess Publications 1987 18 Chalk Farm Road, London NW1. First Edition 1987 ISBN 1-870207-40-8 (Limp) ISBN 1-870207-3 5-l (Hardback) Printed in Great Britain by Underhill (Plymouth) Limited, Plymouth.

FOREWORD and acknowledgments

The OHRA tournament, played in Brussels in December 1 986, was a chess event of exceptionally high calibre. Indeed, in terms of the average Elo ratings of the contestants it was the strongest tournament in the history of the game. In addition, it was the first tournament in which Kasparov had competed for three years, his first as world champion. For these reasons, the BBC chose OHRA Brussels for its new Chess Classic series. Using the 'voice-over' techniques made popular by the old Master Game programmes, viewers are given an opportunity to eavesdrop on the grandmasters' thoughts. We are indebted to the BBC for permission to reproduce extracts from these players' thought tracks in this volume. We should also like to thank Chess Classics Producer, Wendy Sturgess, for her encouragement in bringing this book out quickly, to coincide with transmission of the series. Thirteen games were covered by the BBC. This book includes those games as well as the other seventeen played in the tournament. Every game is annotated, as follows: Raymond Keene: Games 1 , 3, 4, 5, 1 1 , 1 2 , 1 3 , 1 4 , 1 6, 1 7 , 1 8 , 20, 24, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30. Andrew Martin: 2, 5, 7, 8, 2 1 , 24, 25 Lajos Portisch: 6, 8, 2 1 , 2 3 . Garry Kasparov: 10, 2 5 . John Nunn: 2 1 .

3

The story behind the OHRA tournament

From the very start, I had three objectives: 1. To find a great sponsor; 2. To ensure the participation of the world champion; 3. To make sure that the tournament had some exceptional dimension.

Already in 1 985, OHRA, a Dutch insurance company also established in Belgium, had sponsored a grandmaster tournament. When approached for an event in 1986, they were happy to agree to the suggested budget. As eo-sponsors, the Hyatt Regency Hotel provided the necessary facilities for the players and organisers. Next on the list came the world champion, whom I met in London before his match with Karpov. Kasparov indicated that he would be happy to play , as long as he retained his title, and provided the tournament was at least of FIDE Category 1 5 . Once Kasparov's pariticpation was assured, the rest followed easily - publicity for the event came easily, and the world's strongest players indicated their interest to compete against the champion. We invited Viktor Korchnoi, winner of the 1985 OHRA tournament, whose Elo rating of 2650 ranked him third in the world. Then we chose Robert Huhner, 262 5 , in joint fourth place in the world. Nigel Short, at 2 1 years old, was already rated top in England and ninth in the world at 26 1 5 . Lajos Portisch, 2605 , for so long a leading contender for the world title. Finally came John Nunn, at 2595 second in Britain and threatening to break through the Z600 barrier. Willi lclicki

4

Tournament organiser

CONTENTS Game No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30

Portisch v Short Nunn vKasparov Korchnoi v Huhner Short v Huhner Kasparov vKorchnoi Portisch v Nunn Nunn v Short Korchnoi v Portisch Hubner vKasparov Short vKasparov Portisch v Huhner Nunn vKorchnoi Korchnoi v Short Hubner v Nunn Kasparov v Portisch Short v Portisch Kasparov v Nunn Huhner vKorchnoi Huhner v Short Korchnoi vKasparov Nunn v Portisch Short vNunn Portisch vKorchnoi Kasparov v Huhner Kasparov v Short Huhner v Portisch Korchnoi v Nunn Short vKorchnoi Portisch vKasparov Nunn v Huhner Final Crosstable

5

Page 9 14 24 36 51 64 72 83 94 106 119 125 132 137 143 158 167 173 184 192 197 206 212 219 230 241 248 262 273 278 286

�!Uii[S) /A\ Yllnllf'\V� AS"U�fl.NCES

VfRZEKERiNGrN

TOURNOI INTERNATIONAL D'ECHECS OHRA DU 12 AU 23 DECEMBRE 1986 DE 13 a 19 H

INTERNATIONAAL OHRA SCHAAK TORNOOI VAN 12 TOT EN MET 23 DECEMBER 1986 VAN 13 TOT 19 U HYATI REGENCY BRUSSELS- RUE ROYALE 250 KONINGSSTRAAT- BRUXELLES/BRUSSEL

ROUND ONE:

Portisch Nunn Korchnoi

1/z: lfz

0: 1 1:0

Short Kasparov Hubner

Far too often in tournaments of the highest class, many of the games end in quick draws. The combative spirit at OHRA, however, was excellent and the first round was typical of what was to follow. Perhaps the players appetites had been sharpened by a long and inconclusive argument about playing schedules the previous evening. Whatever the reason, only Portisch and Short showed normal first round caution. Nunn's opening experiment, the unusual 8 ..g,d 3 , was dealt with harshly by the world champion. Hubner was the unlucky man of the day, blundering on move 36 when in a better position.

7

OFF THE BOARD Chess tournaments , even grandmaster tournaments, do not have a reputation for being organised with military precision. Although a daily one o'clock start had been pre-agreed, some of the grandmasters decided on arrival that three o'clock would be more congenial. Protracted negotiations between the players, led by Kasparov, and the organisers followed with compromise factions on both sides prepared to settle for two o'clock instead. "If we take so long over agreeing such small things, how shall we ever agree over serious matters such as the Grand Prix money", lamented Lajos Portisch, whereupon everyone settled on three o'clock. Latest rumour was a US$2,000,000 Grand Prix prize fund. The opening ceremony was therefore late but all then went well until the time came for the players to be publicly introduced, which was due to happen in descending order of ELO seniority. The OHRA managing director successfully negotiated Kasparov, Korchnoi and Hubner but then omitted Short and moved straight on to Portisch . An immobile Portisch gesticulated at Short to move forward. Unfortunately, Short was facing the opposite direction so Portisch's gestures were completely lost on him. However, with the aid of a certain amount of nudging and pushing, the young Englishman was introduced to the audience followed in turn by Portisch and Nunn. The organisers breathed sighs of relief. Running a tournament is child's play compared with ensuring that opening and closing ceremonies are marred by nothing more serious than the odd minor hitch.

8

GAME ONE PORTISCH .. SHORT 1 d4 e6 2 c4 Q.£6 3 Q.£3 d5 4 Q.c3 Ae7 5 JigS 6 e3 h6 7 Ax£6 �x£6 8 .§.cl a6 9 a3 c6 10 �d3 Q.d7 1 1 0�0 b5 12 cxb5 cxb5 13 Ah1 �b7 14 a4 bxa4 15 Q.xa4 .§.c8 16 �d3 g6 1 7 b4 .Qc6 1 8 '{Wb3 Axa4 1 9 -lWxa4 Q.b8 20 Ad3 o�o

11z:1/z

9

GAME ONE PORTISCH .. SHORT

10

ll:z:ll:z

11

GAME ONE

Portisch .. Short The famous 'fight for tempo'. Portisch does not want to develop his King's Bishop and lose a tempo to . . . dxc4. He also hopes eventually to drop his KB back to a2 when it does reach c4. However, Short has a quite different idea in mind from . .. dxc4 . 9 �c2 seems more to the point than Portisch's a 3 . . c6 9 10 kd3 Now 10 ... dxc4 1 1 kxc4 b5 1 2 ka2 would favour White. 10 . . . Q.d7 1 1 0-0 1 1 cS e5! does not promise White much. 1 1 .. . b5! An excellent equalising idea. Portisch had probably been expecting 1 1 ... dxc4 12 Axc4 e5. 12 cxb5 cxb5 13 $ib 1 1 3 e4 dxe4 14 G.xe4 $ib7 1 5 Q.d6 $id5 is fine for Black , as is 1 3 a4 b4 14 Q.b 1 �b6 1 5 Q.bd2 $ib7. 13 . .. $ib7 14 a4 bxa4 Now that White has with­ drawn his Bishop to b 1 this is

e6 1 d4 2 c4 Declining the invitation (via 2 e4) to a French, one of Nigel's first loves. (}.f6 2 d5 3 Q.f3 4 G.c3 ke7 0-0 5 $;,.g5 6 e3 h6 7 kxf6 Kasparov's favourite. Axf6 7 a6!? 8 .§cl

•

Short e q u a l ises easily enough with this bizarre move against Portisch, one of the greatest exponents of 1 d4. Significantly though, Nigel did not repeat this innovation when he faced Kasp arov l ater i n the tournament. 9 a3 12

•

neutralise any shred of White advantage on the Q-file. ah8 19 tt'xa4 20 Ad3 Drawn. That is the way Capa­ blanca and Karpov could easily draw the teeth of strong opponents playing White. Short's 8 . . . a6!? needs further testing as a possibly viable antidote to Kasparov's favourite line.

a good alternative to . . . b4. .§.c8 15 Gha4 16 tt'd3 g6 17 b4 Jtc6 18 tt'b3 White only i n v i tes problems for himself with 18 tt'xa6? ab8! 18

Axa4

A practical decision, giving up the nebulous advantage of the Bishop pair in order to

Nigcl Short faced with a familiar position.

13

GAME TWO NUNN KASPAROV ..

1 e4 c5 2 Qlf3 d6 3 d4 cd 4 Glxd4 Qlf6 5 Glc3 a6 6 Ag5 e6 7 f4 t;'b6 8 t;'d3 t;'xb2 9 .§ b 1 t;'a3 10 f5 Ae7 1 1 Ae2 Glc6 1 2 fe fe 13 Glxc6 be 14 e5 de 1 5 Axf6 gf 16 Ah5 + f8 1 7 "tWd2 g7 18 .§b3 t;'aS 1 9 o.o .§ g8 2 0 h1 h8 21 t;'h6 t;'ds 22 G.e4 fS 23 Af7 t{fs 24 t;'hS .§ g7 25 Ae8 aS 26 Axc6 Aa6 27 .§ f2 .§dB 0: 1

14

GAME TWO

NUNN- KASPAROV

15

16

GAME TWO

Nunn

..

Kasparov

1 e4 c5 2 Glf3 d6 cxd4· 3 d4 4 Glxd4 Glf6 a6 5 Glc3 6 Jd.gS Nunn appears ready for a theoretical duel. Against Kasparov this is a very dangerous game to play. e6 6 . �b6 7 f4 8 �d3!? Usual is 8 �d2 8 �xb2 �a3 9 !!b1 10 f5 Ae7! •

dxeS 14 jixf6 gxf6 1S Ae2 of: a) 1 S . . . Jd.e7 Van der Wiel­ Gavrikov London 1 98S and; b) 1 S . . . id.cS 1 6 Jd.hS + �e7 1 7 �g3 !"!g8! (but not 1 7 . . . Ad7 18 �g7 + �d6 19 !!d1+ Jd.d4 20 !!xd4+! exd4 2 1 �g3 + �cS 22 Gle4 + �b4 23 c3! + 1 Nunn) 1 8 �xg8 �xc3 + with perpetual check. I think that the advantage of 10 . . . Ae7 is that it allows K asparov to fa vourably transpose to V an der Wiel­ Gavrikov without allowing the possibiiity of 14 !!b3! �d6 ( 1 4 . . . �aS 1S Axf6 gxf6 1 6 �f3) 1 S �f3 ! with the idea of id.xf6 and Gle4. Such long and complicated analysis is typical of the Poisoned Pawn. One slight mistake by either side is often enough to decide the game. 1 1 Ae2 After 1 1 fxe6 ( 1 1 �c4 0-0) fxe6 1 2 �c4 0-0! 1 3 �b3 �cS 14 Glxe6 id.xe6 1 S �xe6 + �h8 1 6 �xe7 Glc6 it's the White King that is in greater danger. 11 Glc6 fxe6 1 2 fxe6 13 Glxc6 bxc6 14 e5

.

After 10 . . . �aS !? 1 1 �c4 �d8 1 2 id.d2 �cS Jadoul­ Nunn Brussels 1 98S, Nunn gives 1 3 fxe6! bS 14 �d3 fxe6 1 S a4 ! with a winning position for White. Why not 1 0 . . . Glc6? Black then has a choice after 1 1 fxe6 fxe6 12 Glxc6 bxc6 1 3 eS 17

1 4 0,0 is met by t;'c5 + and 14 Ah5 + is repelled by 14 ... G.xh5 1 5 Axe7 Q.f4! 1 6 t;'g3 e5. dxe5 14 15 -'xf6 gx£6

17 . �g7! Kasparov aims to safety his King with .. : .§. g8 and r:tih8 and then win with his extra pawn. White must do some­ thing quick . 18 .§. b3 1 8 ae4 :§.d8! 18 .. t;'a5 18 . . . t;'cS 19 ae4 19- o�o .§. g8 20 �h1 �h8 •.

.

•

The Black King hides under a sturdy screen of pawns and Bishops. 1 5 Axf6 i s dangerous, eg. 1 6 Ah5 + g6 1 7 Axg6 + 1 6 J.ih5 + �£8 1 7 �d2? We're still following the V a.n d e r W i e l g a m e mentioned earlier but here Nunn deviates from the 1 7 0-0 e4! 1 8 t;'h3 f5 1 9 �h 1 .§.g8 20 .§.b3 t;'cS 2 1 G.e4 �xc2 where Black had an advantage. 1 7 �d2 threatens 1 8 �h6 + but as this is easily frustrated White may have to try 1 7 !!f1!? if he wants anything; eg. 1 7 �fl .§.f8 1 8 .§.f3 r:tlg7 1 9 .§. h 3 'itd6 20 'itf3 fS 2 1 Af7! But perhaps t h i s p osi t i o n i s fu l l y defensible for Black anyway.

Black is crouching, ready to hit back. It's difficult for White to attack any more. �d8 2 1 �h6 £5! 22 ae4 23 A£7 23 .§.d3 l;igS! t;'£8 23 . . . .§.g7 24 �h5 White has shot his bolt. Nunn tries to hustle a mistake out of Kasparov with a Bishop lurch, but Black calmly co-ordinates and that is that. aS! 25 i).e8 Preparing jtc8-a6 26 �xc6 Aa6! 18

�ds 0: 1 Not at all premature. White's a pawn down and he doesn't have any .g ood 27

!! f2

moves. Against the Wodd Champion that is quite enough. Martin - Gutman

OFF THE BOARD Naturally, world champion Gary Kasparov was the centre of media attention when he arrived in Brussels with scarcely a break from competing in the Olympiad at Dubai. Nunn, Portisch and Short had also played there but Kasparov, in particular, felt fatigued. He attributed this partly to the chess games and partly to a political dimension for, once his game had finished; Kasparov often found himself negotiating a particular objective in a quite Dubai hotel room. It said something for the champion's stamina that his score of Blfz/ 1 1 was calculated, at ELO 2753 , the most meritorious at Dubai. The world champion nevertheless expressed the hope that he would win the Brussels event and, sure enough, time was to prove that he would do so with a two-point margin. It was also remarked upon that, instead of being accom­ panied by Gurevich as expected, Kasparov was seconded by the older master, Nikitin. Andrew Page, Kasparov's business· manager, later exp­ lained that Gary's mother had suggested that, in Belgium, the young world champion might benefit through having at hand someone who was more of a father figure.

19

NUNN KASPAROV ..

Rd2

- The Players TV commentaries

c5 1 e4 d6 2 G1f3 cd 3 d4 4 G1xd4 G1f6 a6 5 G1c3 6 l;t g5 KASPAROV: This is the first time in my praxis to play against l;tgS . Of course I have prepared it carefully, but Karpov always played l;te2 and quiet positions in Scheveningen var i ations. Now I have my first chance to show my preparation in the sharpest line of the Najdorf variation. e6 6 7 f4 KASPAROV: t1'b6 ts the most principled line. Of course I have analysed other lines in this variation, but this is, in my opinion, the most principled. I am a little worried because I know that John is big specialist in this line. t1'b6 7 NUNN: This is a rather unpleasant surprise for me. I play this variation myself with Black and over the years I've been trying to convince myself that it really is good for Black and now I've got to try and convince

myself it's good for White. I could, of course, play the main line here; with t1'd2 we play 20 moves of theory, then we play five moves of chess and the game's over. But perhaps I can give him a little surprise myself. It's the unusual move t1'd3 , which has been played by the Dutch grandmaster van der Wiel with some success. Yes, let's go out on relatively unexplored paths. t1'xb2 8 t1'd3 9 .§. b 1 t1'a3 NUNN: In this position we must both be thinking about what differences it makes having the queen on d3 rather than d2 . In some ways the queen's better on d3 - it can swing over to the king­ side to g3 . Perhaps in some lines it can even go to c4 , but on the other hand the knight on c3 is difficult to move because I'm a pawn down and cannot allow exchange of queens. The move I think probably is best is to play just as if the queen were on d2 and to play f5 . 10 f5 KASPAROV: I suspect that I know this position much better than John could have 20

expected. I remember a game when John played t!"a5 here. It's a bad move - after t!"c4 Black's pos1t1on is very dangerous, maybe losing. G a v r i k o v p l a y e d Q. c 6 against van der Wiel. Maybe it's the best in this position. But in my opinion there is another move, iii.e 7. The idea is to play after 11 t!"c4, 0-0 and it's impossible to take on e6 because 12 fxe6 fxe6 13 Q.xe6 and then b5. That is the idea. i!i.e7 10 1 1 i!i.e2 Q.c6 NUNN: Yes, that's a very natural move. He wants to exchange my knight or poss­ ibly put his knight on e5, so I 'v e re ally got t o do something forcing immed­ iately here to try and make use of my lead in develop­ ment. Quite often one exchanges on e6 then on c6 in such positions. I wonder if here that leads to a strong attack or whether it just leads to nothing. But in fact I t h i nk I ' m a l r e a dy committed, I can't see any other way to continue the attack other than to make this series of exchanges. 12 fxe6 fxe6 13 Q.xc6 bxc6 NUNN: I'd really like to play i!i.h5 + in this position but I see now something I didn't notice a couple of moves ago. 21

Black can play 14 . . . Q.xh5 and after 15 i!i.xe7 he can play 15 . . . Q.f4 and then after my reply 16 ti"g3 he has the rather unpleasant move 16 . . . e5, which prevents me taking on g7 because my knight on c3 would be undefended. Unfortunately I didn't notice this move 16 . . . e5 a couple of moves ago, so my i;i.h5 + plan will now have to be abandoned. I'll fall back on my reserve scheme, which is to play e5. 14 e5 KASPAROV: In my opinion simply 14 0-0 was stronger. I would have played 14 . . . t!"a5 . Now I should play 14 . . . dxe5 because 14 . . . Q.d5 is very dangerous for me. He takes 15 Q.xd5 t!"a5 + and 16 t!"c3 t!"xd5 17 i;i.f3 is bad for me. That's why I should take on e5. But now I have two extra pawns. dxe5 14 15 i!i.x£6 gx£6 NUNN: By a curious trans­ position we've reached the game between Gavrikov and van der Wiel. Now I wish I could remember something about this. I do remember van der Wiel telling me that ti"d2 for White would have been a good move in some position. I can't exactly remember which posltlon but I'm sure I'll be able to work it out when I get there.

Anyhow, there's only one consistent move here' and that's to force Black to move his king by playing ii.hS + . 16 i;ih5 +