Chess

The Caro-Kann Defence, 1 e4 c6, has always appealed to me. It has the advantage of staking a claim in the centre by means of ... d5, without the disadvantages of the Centre Counter (1 e4 d5) which brings out Black’s queen prematurely, or the French Defence (1 e4 e6 2 d4 d5), which locks in the black queen’s bishop. A new book by Jovanka Houska, Opening Repertoire: The Caro-Kann (Everyman), details Black’s strategies against the dangerous Advance Variation, while in the main line she recommends the early development of Black’s queen’s bishop, as in the following game.   Tal-Keene; Simultaneous Exhibition 1964; Caro-Kann Defence   1 e4 c6 2 d4 d5 3 Nc3 dxe4 4 Nxe4 Bf5 5 Ng3 Bg6 6 N1e2 e6 7 h4 h6 8 Nf4 Bh7 9 Bc4 Nf6 10 0-0 (diagram 1) 10 ...

Last week in a perceptive piece for the Times, Will Pavia animadverted upon the fact that the USA appears to be actively recruiting top chess grandmasters. Pavia focused on attempts to persuade world-ranked no. 2 Fabiano Caruana to defect from representing Italy, and switch allegiance to the USA. Even more indicative has been the effort made to entice the former Philippine grandmaster Wesley So to adopt the stars and stripes. As far as I can see, this enterprise has been successful, and it is not hard to detect the hand of the eminence grise of American chess Rex Sinquefield, behind a prima facie attempt to reconquer the Olympiad gold medal (which they have won five times overall) and the individual world title (last held for American chess by Bobby Fischer).

The boat race for the brain, as it has become known, took place at the Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall, London last Saturday. The 133rd Oxford v Cambridge Varsity chess match was generously hosted by Henry Mutkin, the life president of the club, and the club itself, represented by their new chess circle chairman, Stephen Meyler. Among the chess experts present were grandmasters Luke McShane, Michael Stean, Jon Speelman and Julian Hodgson, while the wider world of chess enthusiasts included Tony Buzan of mind-mapping fame, Daniel Johnson, editor of Standpoint magazine, and Barry Martin, former vice president and captain of the Chelsea Arts Club chess team.

On Saturday 7 March the annual Varsity Match between the teams of Oxford and Cambridge takes place. The contest is at the Royal Automobile Club starting at noon, and spectators are welcome, though anyone wishing to attend should bear in mind the dress code of jacket and tie with no trainers or jeans. As usual, the match is supported by both the RAC and the doyen of RAC chess, Henry Mutkin, himself a former Oxford player in this match. The notes to the game this week are based on those in the book Cambridge Chess by Richard Eales, published by Hardinge Simpole. The puzzle is a win by a top board player for Oxford.   James-Sugden; Cambridge 1972; Sicilian   1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 e6 3 d3 Nc6 4 g3 g6 5 Bg2 Bg7 6 0-0 Nge7 7 c3 e5 7 ... d5 is simple and good.

The elite tournament at Zurich, which finished last week, has adopted a system for determining the ultimate trophy winner which seems to me virtually impenetrable. Zurich consisted of three separate events, a blitz, a rapidplay and a classical tournament, all of them involving the elite group of Nakamura, Anand, Kramnik, Aronian, Karjakin and Caruana. For the general public, victory in the classical tournament would be the chief honour. But Zurich’s complex system ignores the blitz results, includes the classical section, adds on points scored in the rapidplay, and ends with an armageddon game in the event that two leaders have tied for first place. As it was, Aronian won the blitz and Anand won the classical, while Kramnik triumphed in the rapidplay.

Magnus Carlsen has added another trophy to his cabinet by taking the honours at the Grenke tournament in Baden Baden, Germany. As at Wijk aan Zee, the world champion had to surmount an early loss with Black, on this occasion against his chief rival for glory, the German grandmaster Arkadij Naiditsch. But Carlsen clawed his way back to a share of the lead and finally emerged triumphant after a closely fought tie-break playoff.   A key moment of Carlsen’s fightback came in this tense position against former champion Anand. Here Anand appears to have a powerful attack, but Carlsen broke the back of his offensive with a stunning counter-coup.   Anand-Carlsen: Grenke Chess Classic, Baden Baden 2015 (see diagram 1)   33 ...

The Tradewise Masters in Gibraltar has been won by the American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura, with the British co-champion David Howell in clear second place. This is possibly a career best for Howell, whose forte turned out to be remarkable resilience in difficult endgames. Last week the puzzle showed Nakamura defeating the pre-tournament favourite and highest ranked competitor, Veselin Topalov. This week’s game from Gibraltar is a fine win by a grandmaster who was trained in the classical Soviet tradition.

The veteran world championship contender, Victor Korchnoi, has accused the reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of hypnotising his opponents. Plainly unimpressed by the overall quality of Carlsen’s play, the ever-controversial Korchnoi ascribes Carlsen’s successes to mental influence rather than superlative moves. In the past, similar accusations were levelled against Alekhine, when he beat Bogolyubov in 1934, and against Tal, when he won the Candidates tournament in 1959. Winning streaks often come in sixes and sevens. Fischer defeated Taimanov and Larsen by six to zero in each case, in his celebrated run in 1971.

Magnus Carlsen has won first prize in the elite Tata Steel tournament at Wijk aan Zee, Holland. Leading scores out of 13 were Carlsen 9, then Giri, So, Ding Liren and Vachier-Lagrave all in hot pursuit half a point behind. This week’s puzzle shows a crucial variation from one of Carlsen’s best wins. The player who made the greatest mark, apart from the world champion, was 20-year-old Anish Giri, who is maturing into a truly dangerous prospect, notching up himself a four-game winning streak. I kick off this week with a Giri victory from London against a former world champion.   Giri-Kramnik: London Classic Rapidplay 2014   In this last example from the Rapidplay, the former world champion Vladimir Kramnik takes opportunism a bridge too far.

Britain’s leading grandmaster, Michael Adams, started well in the London Classic, with a beautiful win against the rising star Fabiano Caruana. After that, Adams ran out of steam, finishing in next to last place. Fortunately he made up for this with an excellent performance in the Blitz section, where he tied for first place and won the trophy on tie-break. Scores out of ten were: Adams, Nakamura and Kramnik 6; Giri 5; Anand 3½; Caruana 3.   Adams-Nakamura: London Classic Blitz 2014 (see diagram 1)   As the great teacher and world champion Wilhelm Steinitz taught in the 19th century, it often pays to delay castling.

The exciting American grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura compensated for his somewhat lacklustre performance in the London Classic section, held at Olympia just before Christmas, with an overwhelming victory in the Rapidplay arena. The top final scores were Nakamura 9½ and Giri 8½, while those on 8 included Kramnik, Caruana, Anand and Short. By its very nature, Rapidplay chess tends to be exhilarating rather than accurate and favours those who have a buccaneering spirit and a talent for opportunism.   Nakamura-Anand: London Classic Rapidplay 2014 (see diagram 1)   First off we see Nakamura outmanoeuvring former world champion Viswanathan Anand. It is axiomatic that a bishop in the endgame, unless heavily restricted by its own pawns, will tend to outgun a knight.

The key feature of the London Classic, which finished shortly before Christmas, was the resurgence of Viswanathan Anand, the former world champion. One might have expected him to be demoralised after his second drubbing at the hands of Magnus Carlsen, but he played steadily and his single victory, without loss, sufficed to share first prize and win the trophy on tie-break. The tie-break method centred on rewarding victory with the black pieces. The wins by Giri and Kramnik were both with White, while Anand defeated Adams with Black. The final scores (on the 3-1-0 system) were: Anand, Kramnik and Giri 7; Nakamura 6; Adams and Caruana 4. Also notable was the continuing poor form of Fabiano Caruana, whom I eulogised in last week’s column.

2014 was the year in which Magnus Carlsen confirmed his position as world champion, and also the year in which the dynamic new star, Fabiano Caruana, rose to the rank of world no. 2. For my game of the year I am choosing the crucial encounter from the Carlsen-Anand world championship match where Anand failed to spot a winning opportunity and went on to lose. This was a massive turning point, ensuring that a contest which had seemed within Anand’s grasp was decided in favour of the reigning champion. Traditionally, my game of the year is a brilliant example of the creative heights to which chess can aspire. In this instance, the sporting importance of the game outweighs its aesthetic defects, making it the defining moment in global chess from last year.

The London Chess Classic, graced by two former world champions Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, as well as the world number two, Fabiano Caruana, is nearing its close. Full details can be found on www.londonchessclassic.com and there is still time for chess fans to visit the event at Olympia, since it runs to 14 December. The London Classic continues the great tradition of outstanding events and superlatively creative games which have been played in the capital. London has been the home to such outstanding champions of the game as Andre Philidor, Wilhelm Steinitz and Emanuel Lasker while Steinitz himself claimed that two of the supreme creative masterpieces of his time were played in London. Those two examples cited by Steinitz are given this week as the main game and the puzzle.

London chess fans are about to enjoy a great treat. The London Chess Classic will run from the 10-14 December with a tremendous line-up: Viswanathan Anand, fresh from his title challenge against Magnus Carlsen in Sochi; former world champion Vladimir Kramnik; world no. 2 Fabiano Caruana; as well as grandmasters Anish Giri, Hikaru Nakamura and Britain’s no. 1, Michael Adams. The venue, as usual, is London’s Olympia (www.londonchessclassic.com). London has been the scene of outstanding chess ever since the celebrated André Danican Philidor moved here during the late 18th century and dazzled London audiences with his displays of blindfold chess.

The Tiger of Madras has gone the way of the sabre-toothed tiger. Viswanathan Anand, world champion from 2007 to 2013, has now suffered his second consecutive match defeat at the hands of precocious Magnus Carlsen from Norway. On Sunday night Carlsen scored his third win, which clinched the World Championship title in his favour by the overall score of 6½-4½. Anand performed better than in their clash last year but kept failing to seize his opportunities as they arose. Symptomatic was the key moment of game six, which I published in last week’s column, where Anand missed a coup with his knight which would have shaken White’s position to its foundations. A victory there for Anand would almost certainly have reversed the overall result.

For reasons unknown, the world championship in Sochi between Carlsen and Anand is turning into a catalogue of disastrous blunders by both sides. Last week we witnessed Anand’s instantaneous implosion with one catastrophic move in game two, when he could still have resisted, while in game three Carlsen returned the favour, blundering material in a difficult, but not yet hopeless, situation. The nadir came in game six, when Carlsen committed a spectacular faux pas in a highly advantageous position. Anand could have wiped him out with his response, but without much consideration swiftly selected an alternative which handed victory straight back to the defending champion.

The common feature of the first two games of the World Championship match between Viswanathan Anand and Magnus Carlsen in Sochi has been that play was decided in a major piece endgame consisting of a queen and rook each. I have often maintained that Emanuel Lasker (world champion from 1894 to 1921) has been the role model for Carlsen’s style. Lasker was the leading exponent of such refined endgames where manoeuvring and filigree technique was of particular importance. In major piece endgames the slightest inaccuracy can spell either reversal of fortune or complete disaster, as we shall see from these extracts.

On Saturday 8 November the first game will be played in the three-week long rematch between defending world champion Magnus Carlsen and the man from whom he took the title last year, Indian grandmaster Viswanathan Anand. When Carlsen seized the title from Anand in Chennai last year, the magnitude of his victory was so immense that it would appear to have terminated Anand’s career at the top. Surprisingly, Carlsen then proceeded to display feeble form as world champion, losing a couple of games to lesser lights in this year’s Olympiad and turning in a lacklustre performance in the Sinquefield Cup in St Louis.

Tension has always existed between games of skill, such as chess or draughts, and games seemingly based on chance, like backgammon and poker. The Russian grandmaster and chess historian Yuri Averbakh has suggested that different kinds of games mirror changing human attitudes towards life, the universe and everything. So games of chance indicate the idea of the gods being in control, whereas games of pure skill suggest the start of the human assumption of responsibility. Of course, devotees of ‘chance’ games like backgammon would say skill is involved, in spite of the random element of the dice throw. An interesting new development is that poker and chess have started to ally themselves.