Chess

The Azeri grandmaster Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has been distinguishing himself recently at both classical and speed chess time limits. Last month he emerged as the overwhelming winner of the elite tournament in Biel, taking first prize and defeating world champion Magnus Carlsen in their individual clash. Mamedyarov went on to St Louis where he took the bronze medal behind Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and in the process demonstrated an extraordinary originality in his choice of openings and power of attack. We join two of his games against former world title challenger Sergey Karjakin at the crucial moments.   Mamedyarov-Karjakin: St Louis Rapidplay 2018 (diagram 1)   18 Bh7 This proves good enough to win.

The mathematician Euclid once boldly informed King Ptolemy Soter I of Egypt that there was no royal road to geometry. However, a royal road to a UK visa does exist and it has just been granted to the family of nine-year-old prodigy Shreyas Royal, by means of the intervention of the Home Secretary himself.   A vigorous campaign has been in train for most of this year to prevent the Royal family from being deported in September. This included a charitable programme of chess tuition implemented by the experienced junior coach Julian Simpole, whose former pupils included Luke McShane and David Howell.

Perhaps the outstanding clash of the recently concluded British championship in Hull, supported by Capital Developments Waterloo Ltd, was the last round battle between grandmaster Luke McShane and David Howell. The former has twice thwarted the latter at the finishing post in the past year. At stake was a final shootout for the title with Mickey Adams, plus the prizes allocated for the victor, £10,000 and runner-up £5,000. Luke has generously provided insights into this epic struggle. Howell-McShane: British Championship, Hull 2018; Ruy Lopez 1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 d6 5 0-0 Bd7 6 d4 exd4 7 Nxd4 Nxd4 8 Bxd7+ Qxd7 9 Qxd4 Nf6 10 Nc3 Be7 11 Bf4 11 b3, to place the bishop on the long diagonal, is a more popular choice. 11 ...

Nine-year-old Shreyas Royal, widely regarded as the UK’s best hope to become a future world chess champion, is being deported from the country next month because his father, although in regular employment, does not have earnings that reach the necessary threshold of £120,000 per annum. The chess world is in uproar about this, not least because Shreyas has already been invited to make the ceremonial first move in the Carlsen-Caruana World Championship match to be held in London at the College, Holborn, in November. The case has attracted acid comment from John Cleese on social media and the former chess champion Rachel Reeves MP has written an eloquent plea to the Home Secretary Sajid Javid requesting clemency.

The recent successful revival of the musical Chess, by Sir Tim Rice and the men of Abba, featured some genuine extracts from play in the staged re-enactments of decisive games. One of the most impressive — and most easy to identify even from a distance without opera glasses — was Bobby Fischer’s infamous and very loud rook swoop against grandmaster Pal Benko, who has just celebrated his 90th birthday. Fischer-Benko; US Championship, New York 1963 (diagram 1) White has a powerful attack but his problem is that the natural 19 e5 is met comfortably by 19 ... f5, when Black has no problems. Fischer’s solution is startling. 19 Rf6! Fischer famously described this as ‘rolling a boulder in front of the f-pawn’. 19 ... Bxf6 20 e5 forces mate as the ...

This year’s British Championship commences today in Hull. Among a powerful field, which includes Michael Adams and defending champion Gawain Jones, Luke McShane stands out as a supremely dangerous tactician, who at his best can overrun any opponent. This week’s game shows him outmanoeuvring a leading contender from last year’s championship. McShane-Howell: British Championship, Llandudno 2017; French Defence 1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5 3 Nd2 It is not clear to me that the French Defence suits Howell’s style. In the later playoff game for the title McShane-Howell continued 3 e5 and White also won. 3 ... c5 4 Ngf3 cxd4 5 Nxd4 Nc6 6 Bb5 Bd7 7 Nxc6 bxc6 8 Bd3 White has a slightly more favourable pawn structure but the position is balanced. 8 ...

Sporting commentators frequently resort to chess metaphors to convey the flavour of a particular contest. In the case of football, chess tends to be wheeled out as a comparison when nothing much is happening. Tennis commentators, in contrast, and somewhat more perceptively, deploy the chess metaphor to convey mental toughness.   I have for some time regarded Judit Polgar as the Serena Williams of the chessboard. A major difference, though, is that on the physical battlefield Serena would stand no chance against Djokovic, Federer or Nadal. On the mental plane, however, Judit has defeated, among others, Carlsen, Kasparov, Anand, Korchnoi and Short.   A new book, Strike Like Judit!, by Charles Hertan (New in Chess) recounts her many exploits.

This description of Viktor Korchnoi was coined (an oblique reference to Muhammad Ali’s nickname of Louisville Lip) by Ian Ward of the Daily Telegraph during the Baguio City World Championship of 1978.   During the pre-Kasparov mid-1970s and early 1980s, world title chess was dominated by the three great matches between Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov. During the second and longest of these, at Baguio in the Philippines, Korchnoi’s tendency to make outspoken remarks became more pronounced. There were moments when his outrageous comments came close to capsizing the match.

The second leg of this year’s Grand Tour was contested in Paris, almost immediately after Leuven. For Paris, Anish Giri was replaced by the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik, increasing the overall strength of the competition.   Final results and top prizes in Paris were as follows: Hikaru Nakamura 13 ($37,500), Sergei Karjakin 10 ($25,000), Wesley So 8 ($20,000), Lev Aronian 7 ($15,000). The overall standings after completion of the first two elements of the circuit are: Wesley So 21, Hikaru Nakamura 20, Sergei Karjakin 19 and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 15.

Over the course of this year Fabiano Caruana has scored splendidly in tournaments with classical time limits, notching up first prizes in the Berlin Candidates tournament, Baden Baden and Stavanger. The first of these triumphs qualified him to contest the World Championship match against Magnus Carlsen, the title holder, in London in November. In the second and third Caruana finished ahead of Carlsen himself on both occasions. Nevertheless, the worm in the fruit was that Caruana had to fight to the death with the white pieces to save himself against Carlsen at Baden Baden while in Stavanger Caruana actually lost his individual clash with the world champion, recovering brilliantly to take the overall laurels. Where Caruana has slipped up is in quickplay events.

Fabiano Caruana has won the elite Altibox tournament ahead of world champion Magnus Carlsen. This result might appear to give a promising boost to Caruana’s prospects for his world title challenge to Carlsen, which is due to take place in London in November. Alas, that is not the case. It is true that Caruana triumphed by a narrow margin over the champion in the main event, but in their individual clash it was the Norwegian who once again gained the laurels. This outcome further extends Carlsen’s already impressive lead over Caruana in their individual tussles. Carlsen therefore remains firm favourite to retain his title at the chess summit.

Viktor Korchnoi is the subject of a poignant new book from the distinguished pen of the Dutch grandmaster and former Soviet emigré Genna Sosonko. The title Evil Doer (published by Elk and Ruby) refers to the damnatio memoriae meted out by the USSR after Korchnoi’s very public defection to Amsterdam from the socialist paradise in 1976. Thereafter, Korchnoi combined the pursuit of a successful chess career, including two challenges for the world title, with the life of a persecuted traitor to the anointed heirs of Marx, Lenin and Stalin.   As a fellow ‘betrayer’ of the Soviet chess empire, Sosonko is well placed to chronicle the inner emotions, haunting fears and occasional huge triumphs of one of the most prominent personalities ever to defect.

Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana will be contesting their World Championship match in London in November. As I mentioned last week, there is no better guide to the entire history of the World Championship than the extraordinary series by Garry Kasparov. He catalogues the best games of every champion, demonstrating how each one represents the intellectual ethos of his day. This week’s game is the magnificent clash which led to Kasparov himself becoming the youngest ever world chess champion.   Karpov-Kasparov: World Championship, Moscow (Game 24) 1985; Sicilian Defence   1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 Nc3 a6 6 Be2 e6 7 0-0 Be7 8 f4 0-0 9 Kh1 Qc7 10 a4 Nc6 11 Be3 Re8 12 Bf3 Rb8 13 Qd2 Bd7 14 Nb3 b6 15 g4 This move signals the start of an assault.

My Great Predecessors is an indispensable guide to the achievements, style and best games of the former world chess champions. It is a monumental series, consisting of five volumes, written by probably the greatest champion of them all, Garry Kasparov. In Modern Chess and Kasparov on Kasparov there are several more volumes, and in the latter Kasparov documents his own bouts for the title as well as his major career highlights. All titles are published by Everyman Chess. Kasparov’s oeuvre amounts to the most complete history of chess ever written.   This year’s World Championship match between Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana is set for London in November.

On 10 May, Britain’s most famous grandmaster, Nigel Short, chose the pages of the Times to announce his surprise candidacy for the post of president of Fidé, the World Chess Federation. It is high time indeed that someone had the courage to attempt the clean-up of this organisation, whose bank account has recently been terminated with extreme prejudice by UBS.   It will be essential for Nigel’s prospects that he receives the fullest backing of the English Chess Federation and its highest officials. To stiffen their resolve in the face of foreign blandishments, I urge ‘all who love the game’ (in the ringing words of the Times editorial in support of Nigel) to encourage the ECF to summon up their courage.

Chess, the musical by Sir Tim Rice and the male half of ABBA, Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, runs at the London Coliseum until 2 June. I cannot recommend it more highly, especially for chess enthusiasts who recall the defections, alcoholism, protests, match terminations and paranormal interventions of the age of Tal, Spassky, Fischer, Korchnoi, Karpov and Kasparov.   The current generation of championship aspirants seems remarkably free of such controversy. In November, clean-living Fabiano Caruana challenges equally clean-living Magnus Carlsen in London for the world title.   Their recent exploits in Shamkir and St Louis indicate that after the next round of musical chairs, Carlsen will retain the sole seat at the chess Olympus.

Matthew Sadler was the star of the evening on the night of the Royal Automobile Club annual dinner which I mentioned in this column on 14 April. It is traditional that a grandmaster takes on the assembled forces of the RAC, who this year won the Hamilton Russell Trophy. On this occasion it was Matthew who put to the sword 30 opponents simultaneously.   He also distinguished himself this year by defeating the British champion Gawain Jones in the semi-final, and the former champion Jon Speelman in the final.   Thanks to Matthew for his notes to this game, upon which my comments are based.   Sadler-Jones: King’s Head Blitz memorial 2018; English Opening   1 Nf3 g6 2 c4 Bg7 3 Nc3 c5 4 g3 Nc6 5 Bg2 d6 6 0-0 Bf5 Adventurous. Black could aim to maintain symmetry with 6 .

The Grenke Chess Classic, played in Karlsruhe and Baden Baden, has been won by Fabiano Caruana, who also won the World Championship Candidates tournament in Berlin (see Chess, 21 April). In his most recent success Caruana finished ahead of the world champion, Magnus Carlsen, by a clear point. Although Carlsen must remain the favourite for the forthcoming World Championship match between the two in London in November, the fact that Caruana can dominate a powerful field in this way and leave the world champion in his wake adds weight to the idea that he may be able to triumph then.   This week, some important milestones from Caruana’s latest laurels in Germany.

The Vienna variation of the Queen’s Gambit is notable for a line in which the pieces conduct an elaborate dance around respective captures on opposite sides of the board. The variation has come into prominence as a result of a game from the recently concluded Berlin Candidates tournament. On the whole, in spite of the tactical complexities, Black appears to be emerging with safety, as is explained in the new book Queen’s Gambit Declined: Vienna by Krzysztof Panczyk and Jacek Ilczuk (Everyman Chess).   Ponomariov-Ivanchuk; Fidé World Cup, Khanty-Mansiysk 2011; Queen’s Gambit Declined, Vienna Variation   1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 e6 3 Nf3 d5 4 Nc3 dxc4 5 e4 Bb4 6 Bg5 c5 7 Bxc4 cxd4 8 Nxd4 Bxc3+ 9 bxc3 Qa5 This is typical of the variation.

The Berlin qualifying tournament to determine the challenger to world champion Magnus Carlsen has ended in victory for the American grandmaster and Olympiad gold medallist Fabiano Caruana. Caruana will be the first homegrown American contender since the days of Bobby Fischer in 1972. The world championship match will take place in November in London. This is the first time it will have been held in London since 2000. (Before that, they were held there in 1986 and 1993.)   It is clear that mental preparation will form a key part of Carlsen’s approach to the London shootout.