COMPLETE COMMENTARY BY MOVE with: • Kasparov's analysis • board position for each move • The world team's analysis • Danny King's (Grandmaster and official commentator) comments • FIDE World-champion Alexander Khalifman's (Cologne) Grand Master Chess School Comments and analysis • Press articles • Anand’s comments and Interview • pictures of the event • chat with Kasparov • Kasparov's biography • MSN-Interview with Kasparov • In-Game Chat with Danny King • Comments by Vladimir Dvorkovich • Lectures by Garry Kasparov • broad coverage of the move #51 scandal with interviews and chats Garry Kasparov: The Man Behind the King "Chess belongs on the Internet. We're creating a virtual chess space where many events can take place, and I believe this gives chess a very good chance in the near future to become a public sport." – Garry Kasparov Garry Kasparov -- many articles have been written about him and many have interviewed him. But do many know of his great contribution to the world of Chess? How many of you know that behind this world champion is a mathematician, a computer expert, and an educator? Behind the king is a man – a person who is respected and appreciated for his contribution to the world. Behind-the-Scenes with Garry Kasparov Before the event, Garry Kasparov came to our MSN studios for a chat. He took some time to share with us his thoughts about the Kasparov vs. the World event, playing chess online, the future of the chess world, and the next generation of chess players. Zone: Could you please tell us who first introduced you to the game of chess, and how old were you? Kasparov: I had been watching my parents trying to solve some chess studies, and I was so amazed at this mysterious game that I tried to understand the rules, and I guessed some moves. Later, my father taught me how to play chess at age six. Zone: What qualities, attributes or skills do you have that has given you an edge in your reign as World Champion? Kasparov: First talent. That’s the number [one] quality you need to get to the top; also determination and my ability to work hard and to concentrate when it’s necessary. Zone: Tell us your thoughts about this Kasparov vs. the World event and how the Internet is changing the game of chess. Kasparov: This event on MSN.com opens a new era in the history of chess. Successful completion, in my opinion, will lead to the creation of a virtual chess space, where many other big events could take place in the future. Because the Internet is a very good “box” for chess. Chess belongs on the Internet. Here, anyone can participate, anyone can interact through the Internet, and that’s why I think modern technologies are giving chess the upper hand [over] the traditional physical sports. Zone: In this event, you’ll be playing against the upcoming chess generation – the young players who will continue to grow the chess community. What do you think about playing with the next generation of chess players? Kasparov: To play the next generation is always the challenge. I can remember, very well, the time when I was very young and I had to challenge all the players in the previous generation and then I played my generation. And now, I’m a very lucky world champion. I’m playing successfully against [the] next generation, and in fact, not only playing
successfully; I’m beating [the] next generation. I’m very proud to see how these young guys are dealing with [the] computer. Because I believe the ultimate success of the next millennium will be related [to] computers and to see how these young players are making the moves with computers is very important. Zone: Tell us how you think the Kasparov vs. the World event is different or similar to the Deep Blue competition. Kasparov: There are differences and similarities of me playing Deep Blue, and me playing the rest of the world on MSN.com. [The] Deep Blue match was a very tough event, a very competitive match. Here, we’re also playing a game, and it involves playing so many people -- hundreds of thousands of people. And I think it’s better playing with hundreds of thousands of humans rather than face 256 microprocessors. And I also think it’s important that anyone who joins the world chess team, no matter if you’re a novice, a chess expert, or even a grandmaster, has the opportunity to play. I think the whole atmosphere will be friendlier by definition than in the match with Deep Blue, which was hostile by definition. Here, despite the fact that I will try to win and I believe the rest of the world will push hard to win, I have no doubt that the overall atmosphere on MSN.com during the match will be a friendly one. And that will be a very good contribution for the game on the Internet. Zone: What do you think about playing games online, especially chess? Kasparov: Now on the Internet, chess as a game could exercise one of its greatest advantages. It can be played interactively by people sitting in their dining rooms, or from their offices, or the kids can play from their classrooms. And I think it gives chess an enormous advantage over traditional sport like tennis, basketball, or soccer, where you can just play with simulators, not with the real game. This interactive element will make chess very successful because I’m sure it will help us create a club atmosphere. Zone: Playing the game online eliminates “face-to-face” contact, which can intimidate players. Do you think a player’s chess skills will improve when they’re playing online, since they’re in a more relaxed environment, such as playing from home or in front of their computer? Kasparov: Playing online is very different from playing one-on-one, such as in a normal chess environment or normal tournament environment. I have to admit these games are quite different because the psychological role plays an important role in traditional chess. There is less psychology online. Also, anyone can use a computer to assist a player during the event. That’s why I think the future form of chess on the Net will be more like what I call advanced chess, man plus computer vs. the same combination. For many people who are not very good at chess, I think this combination gives a unique opportunity to feel part of something really big happening; a high quality of chess that’s being played and you are part of this process. Zone: Do you play any other games besides chess? Kasparov: I play many games. But I had to decide at one point to limit my other activities because I’m a chess professional, and every other game which is also attractive takes your time. And every minute taken out of chess is very damaging for your profession. Zone: So do you have a favorite game besides chess? Perhaps another game that you enjoy in your spare time? Kasparov: I don’t have a favorite game. I play many games. I play Backgammon. I play many card games. I play some of the mind games. But again, I also try to limit my involvement not to become very passionate about any other games because I have to reserve at lot of energy for my main game, chess. Zone: Do you have any superstitions? Kasparov: I think we all have superstitions. I think it just depends on the strength of the superstition. Some people are completely overtaken by that. Some of them are just following that but it does not occupy their mind. I have some superstitions. I like the number 13. I was born on April 13th. I’m the 13th world champion. So naturally, I look for anything related to the number 13 to make myself comfortable. But at the end of the day, I know that it’s just a superstition and maybe it’s not going to work. But if I discover something related to the number 13, it makes me happy. (Zone comment: He says this with a smile.) Zone: What are some of the new technologies that you are most excited about? Kasparov: I think the most exciting technologies are computer technology related to the Internet. Because I believe the Internet is the future because it gives a chance to all the people to interact. And I cannot imagine our life in the 21st century without interacting on a regular basis. Zone: After all these years of playing chess, what is it that makes this game continuously challenging for you? Kasparov: Obviously when you’re trying to climb to the top, that’s more exciting, but I’ve discovered when you defend this position on the very top of the mountain, it’s also quite exciting. I decided at one point that maybe it’s time to set up a new record and not just to defend previous generations or your own generation, but to beat, convincingly, the next generation which I’m doing successfully now. Zone: Do you think the World Team has a good chance to win? Kasparov: In theory anything can happen. I am vulnerable in a game of chess. And I would like to disregard the opinion that this game is a one-sided game and that Garry Kasparov is the clear favorite, and that he’s going to win easily because the majority will never vote for a good move.
I think with the support of these young players, [the] experts, the quality of the moves of my opponent or opponents will be enormously high and I will have to mobilize my resources and to play very carefully and to analyze each move, to play a steady game and to avoid any mistakes. Unlike in a tournament game, I cannot rely on the blunders of my opponent. There will be no blunders. And the combination of man plus machine, even if we’re talking about a not very strong player, but a good reasonable player, someone with a knowledge of the game plus very powerful chess software; this combination is dangerous. We’re going to see a very tough challenge on the world champion. We’ll see a very high quality game.
About "Kasparov vs. The World" "Kasparov vs. The World" is an online, interactive chess tournament hosted by the MSN Gaming Zone, part of MSN’s network of Internet services. Kasparov, playing as White, made the first move on June 21 and has made subsequent moves every 48 hours thereafter. Once Kasparov’s move is posted to MSN, the World Team, playing as Black, has 24 hours to cast its vote for a countermove. The move receiving the most votes is selected as the World Team’s move against Kasparov. Throughout the chess match, the World Team makes its moves under the guidance of four chess experts who act as World Team Analysts, suggesting moves and strategies to counter each of Kasparov’s moves. The World Team Analysts are next-generation chess champions who have gained recognition in the international chess community: • • • •
Etienne Bacrot, 16, won first place at the Championnat de France 1999 in Besançon last week. Two years ago Etienne became the youngest grandmaster in history at age 14. Florin Felecan, 19, is the highest-rated American chess player under 21. Irina Krush, 15, is the U.S. women’s chess champion and youngest member of the U.S. Olympiad team. Elisabeth Pähtz, 14, won first place on August 29 in the German Women’s Individual Championships at Chemnitz in the former East Germany. This victory makes her the youngest national champion in German history. Two years ago, at age 12, Elisabeth became Champion of the German Federal States in the under-20 category.
• The game will continue until one king is checkmated or the game declared a draw.
The analysts: Etienne Bacrot
Born on January 22, 1983 in Picardie, France, Etienne Bacrot began playing chess at age 4 and won his first junior championships in Hungary and Czechoslovakia at age 10. He has followed the teachings of internationally ranked players including Grandmaster Iossif Dorfman and World Champion Garry Kasparov. Bacrot surprised the chess world in 1995 when he qualified for the Intel Grand Prix in Paris and competed against the previous champion, Vladimir Kramnik. In that year he became an International Master and defeated Anatoly Karpov. Vassily Smyslov, a former world champion, said after his loss to Etienne, "I thought I was playing a child, but I am certain I played a Grandmaster." In March 1997, Etienne Bacrot became the youngest Grandmaster in chess history at Enghien-les-Bains, France at the age of 14 years and 2 months. He held that distinction until December of that year. Later this year, Etienne will compete in the French national championships and will challenge GM Alexander Beliavsky in the 27th Mondial. We are delighted to have this exceptional young player as one of our Chess Analysts. Stop in and meet Etienne in our Chat Room. --Art Fazakas
Florin Felecan
Born on April 7,1980, Florin Felecan began playing chess at age 8. Trained by his father, he entered his first tournament in 1989. From 1992 to 1994, he competed in the French Junior Championships at Bagneux and Capelle la Grande, and tied for first place at the European Junior Championships at Baile Herculane. In 1994, he earned the FIDE rank of Chess Master. Later, Florin won four first-place and three second-place prizes in the Romanian Junior National Championship, and in 1997 he became the Romanian Junior Champion. In 1996, Felecan's Romanian Golden Team won the Youth Olympiad. The next year, he and his family moved to the United States. He became National High School Chess Champion in 1998 and attended the University of Maryland, where he studied computer science and chess. Rated 2535 USCF and 2380 FIDE, Florin easily won Hawaii's Denker Tournament and the Intercollegiate Pan-American Championships in Dallas. This year, Felecan is increasingly involved in speed chess tournaments. We are very pleased to have him as a Chess Analyst. Art Fazakas, writer for the event, asked Florin a few questions about his life in chess. AF: Florin, do you play chess on the MSN Gaming Zone? FF: Yes, I do - but I found that the other cool games present on the Gaming Zone are too tempting for me. AF: Who are your favorite chess authors? FF: Kasparov and Karpov. AF: What do you think of Kasparov's strategy in general? FF: Garry is very tactical but he doesn't dislike a positional game. Overall he's very incisive and accurate in his play. AF: Do you think anyone can beat Kasparov? FF: Of course, he's the World Champion but he's still human. Players like Topalov, Adams, and Anand have a good chance of beating him. A very promising player is Peter Leko with a FIDE rating near 2700. AF: Do you think YOU might be World Champion one day? FF: Yes, I could possibly become the World Champion, but with so many young chess players, only the future will tell. AF: How do you like the life of a chess Grandmaster? FF: As the highest title in the chess hierarchy, the Grandmaster title gives you the feeling of being able to defeat any player in the world. AF: Do you like speed chess? Do you enter rapid chess tournaments? FF: Yes, I like speed chess and I'm entering speed chess tournaments as often as I can. --Art Fazakas Irina Krush
A review of 15-year-old Irina Krush’s chess victories and achievements would fill several pages. Born in Odessa, Ukraine, she became the youngest woman ever to compete in the U.S. Women’s Chess Championship at age 11, and won that event in 1998. A Chess Master at age 12, Irina is now the No. 1 woman chess player in the U.S., with FIDE rating 2375 and USCF 2448. She is the No. 1 Junior player under 18 in the U.S. and No. 2 Junior under 21. We are delighted to have Irina as one of our Chess Analysts in this event. Irina was the Gold Medalist in the 1998 Pan-American Youth Championships in Brazil with a score of 7-0. Her other achievements last year included the Bronze Medal in the FIDE Girls World Championship in Calcutta and the top score in the FIDE Women’s Olympiad in Russia. In January 1999, she won first place in the New York City High School Championship. Irina is making her mark in every corner of the world. This summer, Irina will play at the World Open in Philadelphia, Chess Superstore’s “Krush Challenge" in New Jersey, the Kingsport Fun Fest in Tennessee and the U.S. Junior Championship in San Francisco. September will find her at the Women’s World Championship in Moldavia. With relentless vigor, she tackles every opportunity she can cram into her schedule, and performs astoundingly well at all of them. Irina is clearly headed for a dominant role in the world of chess. Irina’s influence on chess extends beyond the board. Her “Krushing Attacks" chess videos are widely acclaimed, and her articles appear in Chess Life and Atlantic Chess News. “Young children learn quickly via visual stimulation and this suggests to me that chess videos and software have particularly beneficial effects on a child’s chess studies," she said. Irina recommends the Disney Chess Guide for very young players. Irina trains with a Dell Pentium II 300 Notebook loaded with ChessBase, Fritz, Chess Informant, Rebel and HIARCS -- challenging herself to the limit.
"I am always glad that more and more young girls are playing chess," she says. Many little girls see her photo on the Web and become interested. “Lots of girls are taking up the game and there’s going to be many, many more!" Krush is a young chess dynamo and seems unstoppable. Five years from now, will the World Champion be able to hold off her assault? --Art Fazakas Elisabeth Pähtz
Garry Kasparov was so impressed by Elisabeth Pähtz at the Hanover Trade Fair last year that he immediately called the German Interior Minister and demanded that she be given sponsorship and a stipend for training. “Rather than being intimidated by playing the World Champion,” he said, “Elisabeth thought very hard about her moves in our two games, and she solved her problems very well. She will be among the top five women in the world within a year.” Not bad for a 14-year-old. Elisabeth won her first tournament match at age 6, and by 1997 she was Champion of the German Federal States for players under 20. You wouldn’t expect an eighth-grader to have played chess in Austria, Hungary, France and Brazil, but she has placed in the top five in her age group in tournaments in all those countries as well as in her homeland, Germany. She practices chess three times a week for three hours with her father, a well-known Grandmaster and chess trainer in her home town of Erfurt. Her other interests are playing the piano and flute, drawing, mathematics and English. Elisabeth plays online chess with her colleagues in Poland and Russia. She follows her opponents’ games in ChessBase and analyzes them using the Fritz computer software program. Her favorite chess author is John Nunn. Now rated 2270, she especially likes speed chess. “It’s more a sport than a game,” she said, “where if you have a bad position, you can still win. For example, if you are down a rook, your opponent might make a mistake under pressure. Normally it’s impossible to win in that situation.” Kasparov has heavily promoted speed chess as an alternative to long games. Elisabeth is currently leading in five out of six rounds in a speed chess championship. Her thoughts on Kasparov’s strategy? “He’s a genius – holding the title for 14 years proves it.” She’s thrilled about her assignment as one of our Chess Analysts. What does she like about Garry (in addition to his brilliant chess)? “He talked about history during our entire lunch,” she said, “And he’s very funny!” Will anyone be able to beat him? “Not in the near future,” she said. “The only possibility might be a young genius like [Ruslan] Ponomariov now 14 years old, when he’s 21.” Or maybe Elisabeth Pähtz, when she’s 21. Garry faces a major challenge down the road. --Art Fazakas Danny King (Moderator)
Danny King, the Moderator for Kasparov vs. the World, became a professional chess player at the age of 19 and earned the rank of Grandmaster at 26. His achievements are impressive by any standards: Winner, Sydney (Australia) Open, 1988; Winner, Geneva Open, 1990; Winner, Calcutta Open, 1992; Winner, Dublin Open, 1995. A longtime member of a British National League team, he has also played in the German National League since 1985 and the Swiss National League since 1996. Danny helped England defeat the USA and the Soviet Union in the Visa Championships in Iceland in 1990. This year Danny is continuing his League chess activities and will visit New York for a press conference on Kasparov vs. the World. When asked if he has played against the four Chess Analysts, he said, "Heavens, no! They are all young, eager and talented - absolutely terrifying!" It's nice to know that our World Team has such big guns in its arsenal. Danny's work this summer as a guest coach at the Berkeley Chess School in California was interrupted by our upcoming event and by the arrival of his new baby! This new father's chess activities are in no way limited to playing in competitions. He has written eleven books, including "Kasparov-Deep Blue - The Ultimate Man v. Machine Challenge" published in 1997, and scripted chess CDs and videos. In 1994-1995, Danny was featured in Audi/Volkswagen's United Kingdom advertising campaign. As a TV chess commentator, Danny King has appeared in a long list of special feature programs including the World Championships held in London (1993) and New York (1995), Intel's Speed Chess Grand Prix, and events on ESPN, BBC, Channel 4 TV, Star TV in Asia and many others. He lectures on chess for IBM, Intel and Disney, and served as MC at Disney's World Championships for Kids in Paris last year.
Few players have contributed as much to the world of chess as Danny King. We are fortunate to have him as our Moderator. --Art Fazakas
Garry Kasparov: The Man Behind the King So the Wise Man cherishes the One, As a standard to the world; Not displaying himself, He is famous; Not asserting himself, He is distinguished; Not boasting his powers, He is effective; Taking no pride in himself, He is chief. – Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching Early Years Garry Kasparov was born and raised in Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan. At the early age of 6, he had already started playing chess and began to demonstrate his skills as a child chess prodigy. Kasparov’s brilliance and intellect captured the attention of Mikhail Botvinnik, former World Champion (1948-1957, 1958-1960, and 1961-1963). Kasparov was invited to attend Botvinnik’s exclusive chess school for gifted children. At the school, Kasparov studied and learned chess with some of the most talented chess teachers and students. Students included Anatoly Karpov, and Artur Yuspov, one of the coaches for Viswanathan Anand. At 13, Kasparov captured the Soviet Junior Champion title and in 1980, at age 17, he became the world junior champion and an International Grandmaster. His ability to think, analyze, calculate and study chess tactics and the tactics of his opponents was being recognized by the chess community. Making History In the 1984 World Championship in Moscow, Anatoly Karpov would meet the young man who would offer him the greatest challenge and take away his world title. Throughout the championship, both men demonstrated excellent strategy and intellect. After playing eight games, Karpov had taken 4 wins to Kasparov’s none. It looked like Karpov was on the road to victory; he just needed one more win to clinch the title. But then came a series of 17 consecutive draws. Kasparov wasn’t going to make this championship an easy victory for Karpov. Eventually, after five months, the World Chess Federation cancelled the match, citing exhaustion by both players. The very next year, Kasparov came back to beat Karpov and made history by becoming the youngest World Champion at age 22. Since then, Kasparov has defended his title against Karpov in 1986, 1987, and 1990. Kasparov also defended his title in 1993 against Nigel Short and in 1995, against Viswanathan Anand on the top floor of the World Trade Center, in New York City. Contributions to the Chess Community and Developing Technology Besides winning championships and tournaments, Kasparov has taken chess to a whole new level by using his own versatility and experience to become a one-man chess ambassador to the world. In 1997, Kasparov took IBM’s challenge to match wits against Deep Blue, a customized supercomputer. Throughout this event, he demonstrated the power of the human mind and pitted logical thought against the multiple algorithms of a supercomputer. The entire world watched when Garry Kasparov made a move. This event sparked people’s curiosity and imagination, man vs. machine, and it opened up new opportunities for chess players everywhere. Kasparov also brought rapid-chess tournaments to the spotlight in 1987, when he played a rapid chess match with Englishman Nigel Short. This attracted new attention from players and spectators and placed speed chess matches on television for all to see. Again, Kasparov managed to open people’s minds and made them rethink the possibilities of playing chess. Education and technology are important to Kasparov. The Deep Blue match heightened public understanding of
computers and their capabilities, and also pointed out some of their limitations. Kasparov himself is a computer scientist, and has written chess software programs that enable users to pit their wits against the finest chess mind in a home environment. In 1997, the Kasparov International Chess Academy was opened at the Sol and Sissy Mark Center in Tel Aviv, Israel. The goal of the school is to inspire and encourage students to learn chess sciences and theories. This academy gives teachers and coaches the opportunity to share their knowledge and identify future talent among the many chess students. Who knows? Perhaps some day, one of the students from the Kasparov Academy will become the next chess child prodigy and challenge the greatest chess champion of our time.
The Game begins: Kasparovs opening:
MOVE 1 Voting Results C7-C5 41% E7-E5 28% D7-D6 11% E7-E6 4% G8-F6 3% Millennium Chance That's great - every chess player in the world is given the chance to do the toughest job in modern chess - playing Gary Kasparov with Black pieces. Believe or not - life will be really hard for the entire chess world in the next month. Kasparov's superb record against the best grandmasters in the recent tournaments is the best proof for it. Grandmaster Chess School is not claiming the mentor role to the chess world. Still we believe that our recommendations can be useful for those braves who'll decide to take part in the event. We have no intention to insist that all remarks by GM School concerning this historical game would be absolutely correct. Chess is too complicated game and neither Kasparov nor DEEP BLUE is perfect. Please take a look at some ideas by GM School as an example of grandmaster preparation for a certain opponent in the tournament. We believe that might be interesting. "White Garry" Some ideas about the opening choice. First of all - we must understand properly what are the strong and weak points of our opponent. This understanding will surely help us to make the right opening choice. The following sentences may seem a bit subjective - but even when you disagree with them - they're based on solid personal experience. The main power of Gary Kasparov is his play in dynamic unbalanced positions when he has the initiative (material doesn't play great role then). He's very resourceful in this kind of play. It's very hard to stand him in the positions where he has space advantage and (or) dynamic pawn center and clear aggressive plan. His opening reperoire (very deeply analysed) is cleverly composed to get just this type of positions. His minuses, however, are, as it happens often, the logical consequence of his strong points. Some intuitive combinations of Kasparov are not absolutely correct - what's good in over-the-board play will not work perfectly when
the opponent has time to analyse the position. He doesn't feel very confident in technical positions where precise positional play is required, preferring to solve even technical problems by tactical means. So Kasparov's main aim in the opening will be rather getting clear positional edge in some lively position. His opening library seems to be better than ours. So what should we play? Kasparov plays 1.e4 Kasparov plays 1.d4 Recommended: Recommended: Benko!!! (1...Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5) - believe or not: Petroff (1...e5 2.Nf3 Nf6) - GM School's favourite, White can grab the pawn easily - he can't seize the Caro-Kann (1...c6 2.d4 d5) - maybe, especially with initiative that way. GM School's favourite. 4...Bf5, Orthodox Queen Gambit (1...d5 2.c4 e6) - very solid 1...e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 - would be OK in case of Ruy Lopez, although ultra-accurate play would be required in the but Scotch which was regularly used by Kasparov opening. recently might be not that good for us. Nimzo or Queen Indian (1...Nf6 2.c4 e6) - playable Pirc ( 1...d6 or 1...g6 ) - well, there can be some worse but considering possible Nimzo with 4.Qc2 we would choices... think twice. Not Recommended: Not Recommended: Sicilian - almost any line is connected with certain Gruenfeld or King's Indian - the easiest way to make risk to be buried right in the opening. - well, now him happy. we know it happened. No big surprise and no decisive Slav or Queen Gambit Accepted - too many lessmistake yet. WHAT TO DO KNOW? known forced lines. French - perfect for Kasparov's style. Dutch, Benoni, etc. - too passive (well it might be Rare openings ( Alekhine, Scandinavian, 1...Nc6 etc.) active against less experienced opponent - not this - just giving him what he wants. time).
KRUSH MOVE 1 COMMENTARY c5 to Kasparov's e4 I recommend 1...c5 (Black pawn to c5). This defense (the Sicilian Defense) provides Black with good counterattacking possibilities, and should create an interesting and dynamic game. PAHTZ MOVE 1 COMMENTARY c5 to Kasparov's e4 Since Kasparov started with the most common opening move, Pawn e4, I would play an aggressive answer, Pawn to c5 (c5). This is my favorite move. FELECAN MOVE 1 COMMENTARY d6 to Kasparov's e4 This opening is a Modern Defense. Black has a good game with Kasparov using this opening lately. Many players underestimate this reliable opening and it should be played more often. I'm comfortable using this against anyone, including Kasparov." BACROT MOVE 1 COMMENTARY c5 to Kasparov's e4 First step in the Sicilian Defense. DANNY KING MOVE 1 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.)
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx So we're on the crossroads again - at least three moves are worth attention. Even when World's first move was not recommended GM School choice there is nothing wrong. But still if we don't want to face deep trouble right in the opening we have to be very accurate choosing the opening system after Kasparov's 2.Nf3. Basic GM School recommendations are : 2...Nc6 ( FAVOURITE 1) or 2...e6 ( FAVOURITE 2 ) rather than 2...d6 as Paulsen, Sveshnikov or Scheveningen positions are more reliable to play with Kasparov than opposite-side castles in Najdorf, Rauzer or Dragon (oh,no!). All other moves seem to be more suitable for club play than for the game with World's No.1. Still d-pawn move is the most popular and we've got to foresee that THE WORLD would choose this favourite of Fischer and Kasparov himself. By the way - no doubt that 2...d6 would be recommended by MS Zone experts as it belongs to the opening repertoire of Etienne Bacrot, Irina Krush and Liz Paehtz. Oh, green years - they want just playing their lines instead of choosing something less pleasant for the opponent. So we're fairly ready that our recommendations wouldn't be tested practically this time and start preparing to recommend the lesser evil after 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 ( if WORLD will vote for 2...d6 these moves would follow almost automatically ). That's alright but - GM School friends - please consider our reasons - they're based on practical experience and current state of chess opening theory. We'd like to provide some stats which surely can't be the main reason for THE WORLD's decision but might contain some useful information Kasparov's record with White pieces in different Sicilian lines Kasparov's GM School remarks Variation results His favourite weapon when he plays Black. No Najdorf ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 +11 =9 -0 ( doubt he knows about Najdorf system much a6 ) 78% ) more than about any other line. Rauzer ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 +6 =5 -1 ( 71% This only loss happened in 1979 (!) when there Nc6 ) ) was another Garry. Only Piket and Topalov were bold enough to check Kasparov's knowledge of Dragon. Dragon ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 +2 =0 -0 ( Troubled waters of this system seems to be 100% ) g6 ) perfect for the player whose computerized opening preparation is the legend itself. Kasparov is author of the best opening book on Scheveningen we know ( together with Scheveningen ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 +3 =1 -0 ( Nikitin ). This book is very optimistic about 5.Nc3 e6 ) 87,5% ) Black's prospects. However, Garry's practice confirms that after 6.g4! ( Keres Attack ) Black is under pressure. Despite excellent results of Kasparov we have some feeling that he doesn't feel really Sveshnikov ( 2...Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 +3 =2 -0 ( 80% comfortable in Sveshnikov. By the way, the 5.Nc3 e5 ) ) resulting positions are usually hard to assess, therefore hard to use computers to analyse them with high efficiency. +2 =3 -0 ( 70% These options seem very promising. Alas! Paulsen ( 2...e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 ) another time, another day... )
MOVE 2 Voting Results D7-D6 62% B8-C6 15% G8-F6 9% E7-E6 4% D7-D5 1% So we're on the crossroads again - at least three moves are worth attention. Even when World's first move was not recommended GM School choice there is nothing wrong. But still if we don't want to face deep trouble right in the opening we have to be very accurate choosing the opening system after Kasparov's 2.Nf3. Basic GM School recommendations are : 2...Nc6 ( FAVOURITE 1) or 2...e6 ( FAVOURITE 2 ) rather than 2...d6 as Paulsen, Sveshnikov or Scheveningen positions are more reliable to play with Kasparov than opposite-side castles in Najdorf, Rauzer or Dragon (oh,no!). All other moves seem to be more suitable for club play than for the game with World's No.1. Still d-pawn move is the most popular and we've got to foresee that THE WORLD would choose this favourite of Fischer and Kasparov himself. By the way - no doubt that 2...d6 would be recommended by MS Zone experts as it belongs to the opening repertoire of Etienne Bacrot, Irina Krush and Liz Paehtz. Oh, green years - they want just playing their lines instead of choosing something less pleasant for the opponent. So we're fairly ready that our recommendations wouldn't be tested practically this time and start preparing to recommend the lesser evil after 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 ( if WORLD will vote for 2...d6 these moves would follow almost automatically ). That's alright but - GM School friends - please consider our reasons - they're based on practical experience and current state of chess opening theory. We'd like to provide some stats which surely can't be the main reason for THE WORLD's decision but might contain some useful information Kasparov's record with White pieces in different Sicilian lines Kasparov's GM School remarks Variation results His favourite weapon when he plays Black. No Najdorf ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 +11 =9 -0 ( doubt he knows about Najdorf system much a6 ) 78% ) more than about any other line. Rauzer ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 +6 =5 -1 ( 71% This only loss happened in 1979 (!) when there ) was another Garry. Nc6 ) Only Piket and Topalov were bold enough to check Kasparov's knowledge of Dragon. Dragon ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 +2 =0 -0 ( Troubled waters of this system seems to be g6 ) 100% ) perfect for the player whose computerized opening preparation is the legend itself. Kasparov is author of the best opening book on Scheveningen we know ( together with Scheveningen ( 2...d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 +3 =1 -0 ( Nikitin ). This book is very optimistic about 5.Nc3 e6 ) 87,5% ) Black's prospects. However, Garry's practice confirms that after 6.g4! ( Keres Attack ) Black is under pressure.
Despite excellent results of Kasparov we have some feeling that he doesn't feel really Sveshnikov ( 2...Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 +3 =2 -0 ( 80% comfortable in Sveshnikov. By the way, the 5.Nc3 e5 ) ) resulting positions are usually hard to assess, therefore hard to use computers to analyse them with high efficiency. +2 =3 -0 ( 70% These options seem very promising. Alas! Paulsen ( 2...e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 ) another time, another day... ) Modern Paulsen ( 2...Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 +4 =2 -1 ( 71% e6 ) )
KRUSH MOVE 2 COMMENTARY d7-d6 to Kasparov's Nf3 There are a number of playable alternatives for Black, including 2...Nc6, and 2...e6. However, rarer moves like 2...a6, 2...Nf6, and 2...g6 may not stand the "test of time." With 2...d6, we will maintain maximum FLEXIBILITY if Garry continues in Open Sicilian manner. Thus after 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3, we can play 5...a6 (the Najdorf Variation), 5...g6 (the Dragon Variation), 5...e6 (the Scheveningen Variation) - all variations which Garry has himself employed with Black, or 5...Nc6 (the Classical Variation of the Sicilian). Of course, there is a great deal of theory associated with all of these sharp systems, so we must conduct our opening research diligently. PAHTZ MOVE 2 COMMENTARY d7-d6 to Kasparov's Nf3 My second move is pawn d7-d6. I play this move because it is popular. Very often Kasparov also plays this move with success and I do too. P.S. 2. Sf3 is the best move in this position You can also play 2. Sc3, but I like Sf3 more. FELECAN MOVE 2 COMMENTARY d7-d6 to Kasparov's Nf3 Najdorf line - Pawn to d6. This is the most flexible line we can choose. This is a deeply analyzed line that still allows for creativity and new moves. Kasparov often plays this for Black. It will be interesting to see how he responds to his favorite Black response. He won a number of games recently against top grandmasters with this line. BACROT MOVE 2 COMMENTARY d6 to Kasparov’s Nf3 d6 is the most common move at this point, and I highly recommend it. DANNY KING MOVE 2 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.)
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MEDIA ALERT: KASPAROV PLACES WORLD TEAM IN "CHECK" 25-6-99, REDMOND, WA
W
orld chess champion Garry Kasparov today placed the World team in check in the Kasparov vs. the World chess tournament on the MSN Gaming Zone. By playing the Moscow variation of the Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+), he has eschewed all the complications of the Dragon and the Najdorf in favour of a more positional line, thus backing the World Team in to a corner on only his third move. All is not lost, however, for the embattled World Team as options are available to escape this positional move by the World Champion. IM Steffen Pedersen, from Denmark, in the introduction to his new book (just released!) "Easy Guide to the Bb5 Sicilian", wrote about the Open Sicilian: "Those who are fortunate enough to posses fine developed calculating skills, and are tactically alert [like computers], will find themselves at ease in such positions - Kasparov being one such person. The Bb5 Sicilian leads to completely different positions, where it is more important to "understand" and "know" why and where to put your pieces…" The world champion wants to play "The World", not their computers! "One of the old masters once said: 'When I give check I fear no one!', but don't panic, we can get out of this one easily," said Danny King, international grandmaster and tournament moderator. Two of the world team coaches, Irina Krush (15) and Elisabeth Pahtz (14) have recommended the same move - 3...Nd7 a move that should appeal to the fighting player, though it is regarded as a bit risky. However, both Etienne Bacrot (16) and Florin Felecan (19) recommended what King calls "the most solid and reliable" move, 3...Bd7. The votes will be counted until 6am PDT Saturday for the World's next play, so anything can happen as the ultimate chess game unfolds. MOVE 3 Voting Results C8-D7 50% B8-D7 35% B8-C6 11% E8-B5 5% A7-A6 1% Big surprise - once more it proves that Garry takes this show very seriously - he wants to get something from the opening ( surely! ) but he doesn't want to show his main opening secrets before his forthcoming "Ultimate" ( why ultimate? there will be no more? is my English perhaps too bad? ) match with Anand. Objectively the bishop check must be less dangerous than 3.d4 - it's confirmed by practice. However, many players like this sideline - it has its own points and Black still has to be careful. Black is on the crossroads again: he has three possibilities ( those who'd like to send 3...Qd7?? might be probably sued by Microsoft for undermining the entire event ) - 3...Bd7, 3...Nd7 and 3...Nc6. NOW GM SCHOOL RECOMMENDS ... NOTHING!!! Or just anything you like. Let us explain. We think that all three moves are equally playable so your choice is completely the matter of taste now: - 3...Bd7 is the most popular and the most solid - White can hardly fight for more than very slight positional advantage. However, the play has too quiet character and Black's accuracy would hardly be compensated by more than half-point. However, it might be objectively the best - the official opening theory looks like that at least.
- 3...Nd7 is definitely less solid and more demanding - Black takes certain positional risks and White is often able to increase his development lead giving Black some other trumps ( like bishop pair, for instance ). However, if Black survives the post-opening stage without massive losses he can fight for the initiative sometimes. Well, it's definitely risky to give Kasparov the development lead but the game wouldn't be boring at any case. It's quite interesting that MS experts' votes now divided equally - boys voted for 3...Bd7; girls - for 3...Nd7. - 3...Nc6 is probably the golden middle - it's less solid and less boring than 3...Bd7 and at the same time more solid and less demanding than 3...Nd7. We like this move - at least "horror line" by Irina Krush 4.Bxc6+ bxc6 5.0-0 is nothing special because of 5...Bg4 6.d3 e5 7.Nbd2 Be7 8.c3 Nf6 and Black was doing well in Psakhis - Kharlov, New York 1997 - his slightly weakened pawn structure is well-compensated by bishop pair and good control over the centre. However, this move will be hardly chosen as it was recommended by none of MS "experts" - and so many members of the World Team are discussing Irina's T-shirt every night and never visit our website. So GM School gives no formal recommendation this time. Please make your choice! What follows below is the opening report automatically generated by ChessBase program using GM School Database of 1,7 million games. Some human grandmaster comments were added in red when necessary. Opening report 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ ECO - B51-52 6665 games in 'GM School Base' 1.Players Strong grandmasters who used this line as White: Gary Kasparov Score=2.5/3 Viswanathan Anand Score=1/2 Vladimir Kramnik Score=5/7 Vassily Ivanchuk Score=1.5/2 Alexei Shirov Score=2/4 Boris Gelfand Score=1.5/2 Michael Adams Score=4/5 Sergei Movsesian Score=1.5/3 Anatoly Karpov Score=1.5/2 Gata Kamsky Score=1.5/2 Sergei Rublevsky Score=14/22 Vladislav Tkachiev Score=14.5/24 Mikhail Ulibin Score=17.5/24
1992-1998 1994-1997 1994-1998 1991-1996 1994-1996 1994-1998 1994-1997 1999 1972-1973 1993 1993-1998 1989-1997 1990-1998
Elo-O: 2803 Elo-O: 2742 Elo-O: 2734 Elo-O: 2712 Elo-O: 2691 Elo-O: 2677 Elo-O: 2671 Elo-O: 2650 Elo-O: 2645 Elo-O: 2645 Elo-O: 2621 Elo-O: 2564 Elo-O: 2539
2. Statistics White scores below average (51%). White performs Elo 2395 against an opposition of Elo 2388 (+7). Black performs Elo 2354 against an opposition of Elo 2361 (-7). White wins: 2009 (=30%), Draws: 2716 (=41%), Black wins: 1939 (=29%) 3. Possible Moves a) 3...Bd7 4219 games, 1939-1999 Black scores above average (48%). Elo-O: 2385, 2831 games. Performance = Elo 2350 played by: Anand, 2767, 1/2; Kasparov, 2762, 3.5/7; Ivanchuk, 2690, 1.5/3; Almasi, 2665, 0/1; Short, 2665, 0.5/1; Main lines: ( after 4.Bxd7+ ) 4...Qxd7 5.0-0 Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 51%, 2360 652 games 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 53%, 2421 575 games 4...Nxd7 5.0-0 Ngf6 51%, 2429 780 games Critical line: 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 e6 7.0-0 50 % White. - that's too statistical conclusion. Nowadays the most critical line seems to be 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 Bg7!? invented by Kasparov himself ( Shirov - Kasparov, Erevan 1996 )
b) 3...Nd7 1417 games, 1940-1999, O=1990 Black scores well (53%). Elo-O: 2387, 1099 games. Performance = Elo 2369 played by: Kasparov, 2800, 3.5/5; Anand, 2750, 0.5/1; Gelfand, 2675, 1/1; Salov, 2670, 1.5/2; Almasi, 2665, 1/1; Main lines: ( after 4.d4 ) 4...Ngf6 5.Nc3 cxd4 6.Qxd4 e5 7.Qd3 h6 46%, 2403 146 games 4...Ngf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bxd7+ Nxd7 43%, 2384 121 games 4...cxd4 5.Qxd4 59%, 2421 189 games Critical line: 4...cxd4 5.Qxd4 e5 6.Qd3 h6 7.Nc3 43 % White. Alternative: 4.0-0 - also not so welcome by Sicilian players - after 4.0-0 Ngf6 5.Re1 the game looks rather often like some version of Closed Ruy Lopez. c) 3...Nc6 1027 games, 1940-1999, O=1988 Black scores above average (50%). Elo-O: 2398, 682 games. Performance = Elo 2355 played by: Karpov, 2780, 0/1; Tal, 2630, 2/4; Ivanchuk, 2730, 0.5/1; Polgar, 2665, 1/1; Zvjaginsev, 2635, 1/1; Main lines: (after 4.0-0 ) 4...Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 50%, 2426 256 games 4...Bd7 5.Re1 a6 40%, 2355 101 games 4...Bd7 5.a4 47%, 2326 115 games Critical line: 4...Bd7 5.c3 a6 6.Ba4 Nf6 7.Re1 50 % White. After 4.0-0 Black has an interesting possibility 4...Bg4 - still against Kasparov 4...Bd7 would be more reliable. KRUSH MOVE 3 COMMENTARY Nd7 to Kasparov's Bb5+ It appears that Garry wishes to avoid a theoretical battle in a main line Open Sicilian. Now we must make an early choice that will shape the outcome of the middlegame to come. Black's first alternative is 3...Bd7, but I think this variation can become boring even though it offers reasonable chances for equality. A second alternative is 3...Nc6 which is not so good a choice against Kasparov in my opinion, as White can (if he wishes) immediately compromise Black's pawn structure with 4.Bxc6+!? bxc6 5.0-0. The third alternative, and the one I highly recommend is 3...Nd7. Black avoids any weakening in the pawn structure, and simplification can result in Black obtaining the BISHOP PAIR at the cost of a small lag in DEVELOPMENT (in chess you have to give something to get something!). It is interesting to note that this is Garry's preferred treatment when he has this position as Black. More on this later on the 'Kasparov World Team Strategy Bulletin Board' if we go with 3...Nd7. PAHTZ MOVE 3 COMMENTARY Nd7 to Kasparov's Bb5+ This move is more aggressive then 3....Bd7, because white gets after 4.Bxd7 4....Nxd7 5.c4 a comfortable position. I hope that black makes the game more
interesting and more complicated with the move 3....Nd7. FELECAN MOVE 3 COMMENTARY Bd7 to Kasparov's Bb5 This is the most simple defense for the situation. BACROT MOVE 3 COMMENTARY Bd7 to Kasparov's Bb5 DANNY KING MOVE 3 COMMENTARY One of the old masters once said: "When I give check I fear no one!", but don't panic, we can get out of this one easily. Garry's own comment to his move is revealing: "It seems that young coaches are trying to force me to play against my favourite Najdorf! Due to forthcoming match with Vishy I have to refrain from public theoretical duel. So please forgive me for selecting unattractive 3 Bf1-b5+." Let me explain: In the latter part of the year, most likely October till mid November, there is a good chance that Garry Kasparov will be defending his World title in a match against the world no.2, Vishy Anand from India. At this moment both players will be beginning their intense preparation for the match, including research on their opening repertoires. It is therefore understandable that Garry wishes to reveal nothing of his future plans and so avoids the move which is generally accepted as the most critical - 3 d4 leading to an open game, rich in fighting possibilities for both sides - and turns to the bishop check, generally leading to a more closed position. The World Champion describes the move as 'unattractive', possibly because it could lead to the early exchange of pieces after, for instance, 3...Bd7, when ideally he would like to maintain as much tension as possible. Black has three acceptable ways to block the check. 3...Bd7 is the most solid and reliable - in this way none of black's pieces are blocked; 3...Nd7 is more complex - black aims at forcing white to exchange off the bishop for knight (possibly giving black a long-term advantage) but in so doing blocks his pieces temporarily; and 3...Nc6 is straightforward, though leaves white with several options. It's your choice: Go World! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Most solid choice - it proves that THE WORLD team is a worth opponent to the world's best player and MS experts' recommendations are carefully studied. Somehow we found some surprising figures in the stats given by Microsoft: Top three choices: 51% - 3...Bd7 - Recommended by BOYS ( Etienne Bacrot and Florin Felecan ) 34% - 3...Nd7 - Recommended by GIRLS ( Irina Krush and Elisabeth Paehtz ) 11% - 3...Nc6 - Recommended by the bunch of Russian GMs also known as GM School and by Argentinean correspondence chess grandmasters ( see Ajedrez del Estilo ) but heavily criticized by US female champion. New times - new heroes... Nothing's wrong about WORLD's CHOICE but it seems to be a little problem that 51+34+11=96 - not 100 !!! The fourth legal move in the discussed position was 3...Qd7?? So did remaining 4% really vote for it? Fairly strange... There is no need to be high-class prophet to foretell Kasparov's next move - 4.Bxd7+ as all tries to defend the bishop ( like 4.c4 , 4.a4 , 4.Qe2 and 4.Nc3 ) don't promise any opening advantage after, let's say, 4...Nc6 and bishop b5 is misplaced, and all bishop retreats are obviously illogical. So the basic question is: what way should we take back. Both 4...Qxd7 and 4...Nxd7 are playable options when 4...Kxd7? is surely not that bad as 3...Qd7?? but still very bad. We're really amazed how many votes will this move get. The special report on this opening line - to follow tomorrow. We don't have any special preference to 4...Qxd7 or 4...Nxd7. Most probably MS experts would recommend queen move as it used to be favourite of their hero ( = World's
opponent ). Nothing wrong - please consider that after 4...Qxd7 Kasparov will play 5.c4 definitely. It's objectively more poisonous than old main line with 5.0-0 and also the lion's share of Kasparov's knowledge on this system is based on his training sessions with young Russian grandmaster Sergei Rublevsky who's one of the greatest experts on 3.Bb5+ in Sicilian and his choice has always been 5.c4 ( after 4...Qxd7 ). After 4...Nxd7 Kasparov would play 5.0-0 - other move orders make less sense then. Very special remark - to players who voted for 3...Qd7 if they'll occasionally visit our site: please don't vote for 4...Kxd7!!! Try to improve your chess !
MOVE 4 Voting Results D8-D7 66& B8-D7 29% E8-D7 3% G8-F6 0.8% B8-C6 0.18% So after Garry's expected answer THE WORLD has the choice of two ( 4...Kxd7? is no matter to discuss - His Majesty wouldn't be the most active piece at this stage ) - both 4...Qxd7 and 4...Nxd7 are playable options with two different schemes of Black pieces' development. We don't give uncommon advice this time - in our opinion slight preference belongs to 4...Qxd7 - not because of objective strength but for two main reasons: 1) Queen move is more popular and THE WORLD can easily solve opening problems while following known examples of grandmaster play. 2) It would be chosen anyway - all MS experts have chosen this option as it used to be favourite of their hero ( = World's opponent ). Nothing's wrong about it - it's good when youngsters have role model - Garry's very special charisma is definitely appealing. Please consider that after 4...Qxd7 Kasparov will play 5.c4 definitely. It's objectively more poisonous than old main line with 5.0-0 and also the lion's share of Kasparov's knowledge on this system is based on his training sessions with young Russian grandmaster Sergei Rublevsky who's one of the greatest experts on 3.Bb5+ in Sicilian and his choice has always been 5.c4 ( after 4...Qxd7 ). After 5.c4 White is aiming to build Maroczy-like pawn center with d2-d4 c5xd4 Nf3xd4. It's not very dangerous - White can hope for very slight advantage in this case but Black would probably do his best with some tricky move orders preventing this structural transformation. Shirov - Kasparov ( Erevan 1996 ) went 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 ( otherwise Bf8-g7, and square d4 is under Black's control ) Bg7!? 8.d5 Bxc3+!? 9.bxc3 Na5 with very complicated play. There were some further developments in this line - so we'll need some time to analyse it accurately to recommend you something when it would be right time for responsible decisions like 7...Bg7!?. The only thing is for sure - after 5.c4 knight move to c6 would be the most flexible option anyway. Preventing d2-d4 with 5...e5 would be unfavourable for Black as his bishop will become pretty bad and White would get open hand on the queenside to prepare break-through b2-b4 with a lot of active possibilities. After 4...Nxd7 Kasparov would play 5.0-0 - other move orders make less sense then. Very special remark - to players who voted for 3...Qd7 if they'll occasionally visit our site: please don't vote for 4...Kxd7!!! Try to improve your chess ! So in a higher sense position after 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 is highly probable in 3 days. The following opening survey ( generated automatically by Chessbase program - some GM School comments added in red ) is calling for your attention. You're welcome to download some games on special "Kasparov - World " subjects.
Opening report 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ B52, 4.Bxd7+ ; 3843 games in 'GM School Base' It's pretty strange that nobody paid attention yet that the last move of THE WORLD defined ECO index B52. Is it a statistical coincidence or does "Bomb the Champ!" become the slogan of this game? 1. Players Strong grandmasters who used this line as White: Score=1/1 Gary Kasparov - just a simul game Score=4/6 Vladimir Kramnik Alexei Shirov Score=1.5/3 Michael Adams Score=2/3 Anatoly Karpov Score=1.5/2 Score=1/1 Gata Kamsky Score=1.5/3 Sergei Movsesian Score=0.5/1 Vadim Zvjaginsev Score=0.5/1 Zurab Azmaiparashvili Score=0.5/1 Vladimir Epishin Sergei Rublevsky - his games are worth serious attention Score = 9/16 Score=8.5/16 Vladislav Tkachiev Score=12/16 Mikhail Ulibin 2. Statistics White scores below average (52%). White performs Elo 2401 against an opposition of Elo 2387 (+14). Black performs Elo 2351 against an opposition of Elo 2365 (-14). White wins: 1123 (=29%), Draws: 1744 (=45%), Black wins: 976 (=25%) The drawing quote is higher than average. (15% quick draws, White wins are of average length (40). Black wins are of average length (42). Draws are short (30). 3. Moves and Plans a) 4...Qxd7
1994 1994-1998 1996 1994-1997 1972-1973 1993 1999 1998 1997 1995 1991-1998 1992-1997 1990-1998
Elo-O: 2805 Elo-O: 2737 Elo-O: 2686 Elo-O: 2671 Elo-O: 2645 Elo-O: 2645 Elo-O: 2650 Elo-O: 2650 Elo-O: 2645 Elo-O: 2640 Elo-O: 2621 Elo-O: 2568 Elo-O: 2539
2723 games, 1939-1999 Black scores above average (48%). Elo-O: 2380, 1808 games. Performance = Elo 2350 played by: Kasparov, 2770, 3/5; Anand, 2767, 1/2; Ivanchuk, 2695, 1/1; Short, 2665, 0.5/1; Almasi, 2665, 0/1; Main lines: ( after 5.0-0 ) Very statistical approach. Main line is definitely 5.c4 - choice of Kramnik and Rublevsky. Let's see tomorrow! 40%, 2322 217 games 5...Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Re1 e6 8.d4 cxd4 58%, 2400 292 games 5...Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.d4 293 games 50%, 2407 5...Nc6 6.c4 49%, 2380 355 games 5...Nf6 Critical line: 5...e6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Qe2 Nc6 8.d4 47 % White. By the way, after 5.0-0.Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 the only reasonable way to fight for the initiative is the pawn sac 7.d4!?. After 7...Nxe4 8.d5 Ne5! Black is ready to give his extra pawn back gaining good counterchances Alternative: 5.c4 That's what will happen. 5...Nc6 is the most flexible choice than; 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 reduces Black's options; 5...e5 is positionally dubious; 5...Qg4? is too greedy b) 4...Nxd7 1118 games, 1955-1999, O=1991 Black scores above average (48%). Elo-O: 2403, 803 games. Performance = Elo 2352 played by: Kasparov, 2742, 0.5/2; Ehlvest, 2660, 0.5/1; Shirov, 2658, 1.5/3; Oll, 2647, 0.5/2; Khalifman, 2643, 1.5/3; Main lines (after 5.0-0 ):
56%, 2507 128 games 5...Ngf6 6.Qe2 e6 7.b3 Be7 8.Bb2 0-0 45%, 2394 112 games 5...Ngf6 6.Qe2 e6 7.c3 Be7 8.d4 49%, 2405 240 games 5...Ngf6 6.Re1 e6 Critical line: 5...Ngf6 6.Re1 e6 7.c4 Ne5 8.d3 56 % White. The only unpleasant thing about 4...Nxd7 is White's tricky set-up with 5.0-0 Ngf6 6.d3!? e6 7.Ng5!?, aiming to play f2-f4 with the active kingside play. Otherwise knight capture would be perfect but this plan was played with good practical results in some recent games. KRUSH MOVE 4 COMMENTARY Qxd7 to Kasparov's Bxd7+ I recommend that the World plays 4...Qxd7 (Queen captures Bishop on d7). Garry has played the logical 4.Bxd7+, and our most natural response is 4...Qxd7, intending to eventually develop the Nb8 to c6 to fight for the important CENTRAL SQUARES on e5 and d4. The second alternative 4...Nxd7 is a less resilient option, as Black will have less influence over the d4-square. For example: 5.0-0 Ngf6 6.Qe2 e6 (6...g6 7.c3 Bg7 8.d4, with a STRONG CENTER favors White, although 6...Rc8!? as played in the past by Danny King is interesting) 7.b3 Be7 8.Bb2 0-0 9.c4, as played by Adams and Tal (among others), gives White a comfortable edge. There is a third option(?), i.e., 4...Kxd7? which could be described as a TN - No! Not a Theoretical Novelty but a Terrible Nightmare for the World (but sweet dreams for Garry!). Returning to my preferred option at move 4 - White has a number of interesting continuations after 4...Qxd7: A) 5.c4 - to establish a Maroczy Bind pawn structure, when Black can consider a development plan of g7-g6, Bf8-g7, Ng8-f6, 0-0, etc. White would in fact achieve a Maroczy Bind formation against a Dragon having dispensed with his weaker LIGHT SQUARED BISHOP (White's central pawns on c4 and e4 are on LIGHT SQUARES). Nevertheless, with accurate defense, Black has HOPES for equality. I have a feeling that Kasparov will tend towards this choice, as it will create a strategical battle aimed at splitting the votes among the analysts and their online World Team colleagues in an attempt to compel errors by Black. B) 5.0-0 - with two principle schools of thought, i.e., White builds a PAWN CENTER after the continuation 5...Nc6 6.c3 Nf6 7.Re1, intending d2-d4 (7.Qe2!? is interesting), or the interesting gambit line 7.d4!? Nxe4 8.d5 Ne5 (8...Nb8 and 8...Nd8 are convoluted methods for retaining the pawn at the cost of passivity) 9.Re1 Nxf3+ 10.Qxf3 Nf6 11.c4 e5 12.dxe6 fxe6 13.Bg5, and White has pressure and COMPENSATION for the pawn, and Black must defend VERY accurately to hold the balance - for a recent example, see Adams-Anand, Groningen (m/1) 1997. These lines are more forcing in nature, and make the World's immediate decisions somewhat simpler. For further analysis of the Adams-Anand game, please see
Smart Chess Online PAHTZ MOVE 4 COMMENTARY Qxd7 to Kasparov's Bxd7+
My comment on Garri's move Bxd7+: What else? White has no other possibility. For example 4.Qe2 4....L:b5 5.Q:b5 5....Qd7 with equality. White keeps a small advantage, because he has more space. This position I have to play for the time now. My answer is Q:d7, so we will be able to place the Knight on c6 later. FELECAN MOVE 4 COMMENTARY Qxd7 to Kasparov's Bxd7+ This is better than Knight takes Bishop on d7. Moving the Knight puts it on a passive square. If we take Kasparov's Bishop with our Queen, we can then move the Knight to C6 and have it control the center. I've had problems with a Knight moving to d7 against stronger players. BACROT MOVE 4 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) DANNY KING MOVE 4 COMMENTARY I'm delighted that the World has chosen to play 3...Bd7 (personally, I thought 3...Nd7 was a bit too risky). Many people have been writing in the bulletin board that this is a dull continuation, giving Black few winning chances. I disagree. It's all a matter of attitude: I often use this move to play for a win. I think it's important to bear in mind how one's opponent is feeling about the game. Kasparov is desperate to win. Anything else, a draw for instance, he will consider a failure. Therefore, why shouldn't the World play a solid continuation? You never know, we might see the World Champion overplay his hand..... If White is to get anything from this position he has to exchange the bishops on d7, otherwise he would fall behind in development. Now Black has a choice between two equally good continuations, 4...Qxd7 or 4...Nxd7. Personally I prefer to recapture with the knight but really it's just a matter of taste. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Please consider that after 4...Qxd7 Kasparov will play 5.c4 definitely. It's objectively more poisonous than old main line with 5.0-0 and also the lion's share of Kasparov's knowledge on this system is based on his training sessions with young Russian grandmaster Sergei Rublevsky who's one of the greatest experts on 3.Bb5+ in Sicilian and his choice has always been 5.c4 ( after 4...Qxd7 ). After 5.c4 White is aiming to build Maroczy-like pawn center with d2-d4 c5xd4 Nf3xd4. It's not very dangerous - White can hope for very slight advantage in this case but Black would probably do his best with some tricky move orders preventing this structural transformation. Shirov - Kasparov ( Erevan 1996 ) went 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 ( otherwise Bf8-g7, and square d4 is under Black's control ) Bg7!? 8.d5 Bxc3+!? 9.bxc3 Na5 with very complicated play. There were some further developments in this line - so we'll need some time to analyse it accurately to recommend you something when it would be right time for responsible decisions like 7...Bg7!?. The only thing is for sure - after 5.c4 knight move to c6 would be the most flexible option anyway. 5...Nf6 isn't bad but keeps less possibilities to choose from on the next moves. Preventing d2-d4 with 5...e5?! would be unfavourable for Black as his bishop will become pretty bad and White would get open hand on the queenside to prepare break-through b2-b4 with a lot of active possibilities. 5...Qg4? is just too greedy as after 6.0-0! Qxe4 7.d4! White stops counting the pawns and his attack can become decisive pretty soon. We're not pretending to give complete analysis of this position which happened in thousands of games. There are some sample lines: 5. c4 Nc6! and now 6.Nc3 is the only move to fight for some advantage: ( 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.f3 ( 8.Nc3 Qg4! = ) e6! aiming for d6-d5; 6.0-0 g6! 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 ( White can't build his perfect
set-up - knights on c3 & e2; bishop for some time on c1 where it has many options - as 9.Ne2 Ne5! is unpleasant for him ) Nf6 10.f3 ( 10.Nc3 Ng4! ) 0-0 11.Nc3 e6 = - d6-d5 is coming ) 6...Nf6 ( Kasparov's line with 6...g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.d5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Na5 is probably too risky ) 7.0-0 - and now it'll be time for major decision again. We don't know yet if 7...g6; 7...e6 or 7...Ne5!? would be recommended. So in a higher sense position after 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 is highly probable in 2 days. Then the world will have to choose between Kasparov's tricky move 6...g6 and classical 6...Nf6 More information about the current position will appear on this page when Kasparov's 5-th move will be officially announced.
MOVE 5 Voting Results B8-C6 72.4% G8-F6 10.52 E7-E5 4.27 D7-G4 3.2 G7-G6 2.75 GM SCHOOL recommends 5...Nb8-c6 Right we were - he played 5.c4! After this move White is aiming to build Maroczy-like pawn center with d2-d4 c5xd4 Nf3xd4. It's not very dangerous - White can hope for very slight advantage in this case but Black would probably do his best with some tricky move orders preventing this structural transformation. Shirov - Kasparov ( Erevan 1996 ) went 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 ( otherwise Bf8-g7, and square d4 is under Black's control ) Bg7!? 8.d5 Bxc3+!? 9.bxc3 Na5 10.0-0 f6! 11.Nd2 b6 with very complicated play. There were some further developments in this line when Rublevsky invented 10.Nd2! in his game with Ehlvest (Polanica Zdroj, 1997) and this tricky line is probably not the perfect way to play with Kasparov as White definitely gets plenty of attacking chances here. The only thing is for sure after 5.c4 knight move to c6 would be the most flexible option anyway. 5...Nf6 isn't bad but keeps less possibilities to choose from on the next moves. Preventing d2-d4 with 5...e5?! would be unfavourable for Black as his bishop will become pretty bad and White would get open hand on the queenside to prepare break-through b2-b4 with a lot of active possibilities. 5...Qg4? is just too greedy as after 6.0-0! Qxe4 7.d4! White stops counting the pawns and his attack can become decisive pretty soon. By the way, we're a bit frightened by the recommendations of some self-made experts to take a pawn with 5...Qg4? It's a very clever trap set by Garry - he checks if he really plays the human world or the world of computers Somehow FRITZ, HIARCS, REBEL, CRAFTY etc all recommend 5...Qg4 and don't consider 6.00! to be the main answer. Sorry, this move is simply bad - it's proved by many practical games. There are 2 examples: Browne,W (2575) - Quinteros,M (2495) [B52] Hoogovens Wijk aan Zee (14), 1974
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Qg4 6.0-0 Qxe4 7.d4 cxd4 8.Re1 Qc6 9.Nxd4 Qxc4 10.Na3 Qc8 11.Bf4 Qd7 12.Nab5 e5 13.Bxe5 dxe5 14.Rxe5+ Be7 15.Rd5 Qc8 16.Nf5 Kf8 17.Nxe7 Kxe7 18.Re5+ 1-0 Hort,V (2600) - Rajkovic,D (2390) [B52] Sarajevo (10), 1972 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Qg4 6.0-0 Qxe4 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Nf6 9.Nc3 Qg4 10.Qa4+ Qd7 11.Ndb5 Nc6 12.Bg5 a6 13.Nd5 Rc8 14.Nb6 Qg4 15.Nxc8 Qxg5 16.Nba7 Qa5 17.Qxa5 Nxa5 18.Rfc1 e6 19.b4 Nc6 20.Nxc6 bxc6 21.b5 Kd7 22.bxa6 Be7 23.Nb6+ Kc7 24.Rab1 1-0 We hope these examples are convincing enough - grabbing pawns is not the most clever strategy in the game of chess. We're not pretending to give complete analysis of this position which happened in almost 1000 games according to our database. There are some sample lines: 5. c4 Nc6! and now 6.Nc3 is the only move to fight for some advantage: ( 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.f3 ( 8.Nc3 Qg4! = ) e6! aiming for d6-d5; 6.0-0 g6! 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 ( White can't build his perfect set-up - knights on c3 & e2; bishop for some time on c1 where it has many options - as 9.Ne2 Ne5! is unpleasant for him ) Nf6 10.f3 ( 10.Nc3 Ng4! ) 0-0 11.Nc3 e6 = - d6-d5 is coming ) 6...Nf6 ( Kasparov's line with 6...g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.d5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Na5 is probably too risky ) 7.0-0 - and now it'll be time for major decision again. We don't know yet if 7...g6; 7...e6 or 7...Ne5!? would be recommended. So in a higher sense position after 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 is highly probable in 2 days. Then the world will have to choose between Kasparov's tricky move 6...g6 and classical 6...Nf6. As usually we complete our comments with Chessbase - generated opening report with some GM School remarks in red. Opening report 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 B52, 5.c4 925 games in 'GM School Base' 1. Players a) Strong grandmasters who used this line as White: Score=5/9 Sergei Rublevsky Score=3.5/5 Vladimir Kramnik Score=1.5/3 Alexei Shirov Score=2/3 Jan H Timman Score=1.5/2 Alexander Morozevich Score=1.5/2 Sergei Movsesian Score=1.5/2 Mihail Tal Score=1/1 Gary Kasparov Score=1/1 Boris Spassky Score=1/1 Ferdinand Hellers Score=7/12 Vladislav Tkachiev 2. Statistics
1995-1998 1994-1998 1996 1993-1998 1995-1998 1999 1974-1982 1994 1974 1998 1992-1997
White scores averagely (55%). White performs Elo 2434 against an opposition of Elo 2398 (+36). Black performs Elo 2360 against an opposition of Elo 2396 (-36). White wins: 282 (=30%), Draws: 449 (=49%), Black wins: 194 (=21%)
Elo-O: 2644 Elo-O: 2743 Elo-O: 2686 Elo-O: 2630 Elo-O: 2615 Elo-O: 2650 Elo-O: 2620 Elo-O: 2805 Elo-O: 2650 Elo-O: 2605 Elo-O: 2567
The drawing quote is High. (15% quick draws) White wins are of average length (40). Black wins are longer than average (43). Draws are short (30). 3. Moves and Plans a) 5...Nc6 575 games, 1947-1999, O=1991 Black scores above average (47%). Elo-O: 2400, 425 games. Performance = Elo 2367 played by: Kasparov, 2802, 1/2; Anand, 2770, 0.5/1; Shirov, 2710, 0.5/1; Gelfand, 2685, 1.5/2; Polgar, 2665, 0.5/1; Main lines (after 6.Nc3 Nc6 or 5...Nf6 6.Nc3 Nc6 ): 58%, 2494 101 games 7.0-0 g6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg7 10.Nde2 0-0 11.f3 50%, 2431 57 games 7.0-0 e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Be7 10.Be3 0-0 50%, 2420 111 games 7.0-0 e6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Be7 55%, 2416 62 games 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 g6 9.f3 Alternative: 6.0-0 After 6.0-0 g6! White can't fight for the initiative as 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.Ne2? Ne5! is very good for Black. b) 5...Nf6 151 games, 1964-1999, O=1992 Black scores above average (47%). Elo-O: 2419, 116 games. Performance = Elo 2398 played by: Gelfand, 2685, 1/3; Polgar, 2675, 0.5/1; Shipov, 2635, 0/1; Geller, 2630, 0.5/1; Yermolinsky, 2625, 1/1; c) 5...e5 99 games, 1951-1998, O=1984 Black scores averagely (45%). Elo-O: 2393, 71 games. Performance = Elo 2351 played by: Ivanchuk, 2695, 1/1; Sadler, 2660, 1/2; Zvjaginsev, 2635, 0.5/1; Mecking, 2620, 0.5/1; Byrne, 2595, 0/1; Main lines ( after 6.Nc3 ): 6...Nc6 7.d3 g6 8.Nd5 Bg7 9.0-0 Nge7 10.Bg5 Nxd5 11.cxd5 6...Nc6 7.d3 Nge7 6...Nc6 7.d3 6...g6 7.d3 Bg7 6...Ne7
58%, 2569 64%, 2465 59%, 2467 36%, 2248 55%, 2331
12 games 14 games 43 games 14 games 10 games
Critical line: 6...Nc6 7.d3 Nge7 8.Nd5 Nxd5 9.cxd5 50 % White.Actually 5...e5 is often chosen when stronger player plays Black pieces and wants to keep position closed and outplay the opponent in complicated strategical fight. We guess it's main explanation of Black's satisfactory stats. In the game of equal opponents Black's position is not very pleasant after, let's say, 6.Nc3 Nc6 7.0-0 g6 8.a3 Nge7 9.b4!? d) 5...e6 4 games, 1981-1995, O=1989 Black scores below average (37%). Elo-O: 2385, 4 games. Performance = Elo 2330 played by: Ribli, 2585, 0.5/1; Petrosian,A, 2435, 0/1; Bordas, 2260, 1/2 e) 5...g6 51 games, 1947-1999, O=1989 Black scores below average (38%). Elo-O: 2375, 32 games. Performance = Elo 2290 played by: Topalov, 2630, 0/1; Geller, 2565, 0.5/1; Ilincic, 2565, 0.5/1; Kuzmin, 2560, 1/1; Sadler, 2535, 1/1 f) 5...Qg4 42 games, 1961-1999, O=1988
Black scores badly (25%). Is it worth it??? Elo-O: 2304, 24 games. Performance = Elo 2126 played by: Quinteros, 2495, 0/2; Schneider, 2450, 0.5/1; Jirovsky, 2420, 0.5/1; Chiburdanidze, 2400, 0.5/1; Rajkovic, 2390, 0/1
KRUSH MOVE 5 COMMENTARY Nc6 to Kasparov's c4 Garry has played 5.c4 to establish the Maroczy Bind formation. With 5...Nc6, we proceed with the DEVELOPMENT of our forces and aim to fight for the CENTRAL SQUARES d4 and e5. The pawn-grab line 5...Qg4?! is very dubious and should be avoided like the plague. White gains a large LEAD IN DEVELOPMENT and a dangerous INITIATIVE (6.0-0 Qxe4 7.d4! and Black can be quickly mangled - for example, Browne-Quinteros, Wijk aan Zee 1974 is a classic demolition job by White) by gaining TEMPI against the EXPOSED Black queen - exactly the kind of situation not to be in against KASPAROV. Work with me on this, my friends, "I will NOT play 5...Qg4. I will NOT play 5...Qg4." Repeat it to yourself as often as necessary, and return to examining 5...Nc6. A typical sequence after 5...Nc6 is 6.Nc3 g6 (also take serious note of the move 6...Nf6, which is an interesting move order as 7.d4 can then be met by 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qg4! and Black equalizes with alacrity. Therefore 6...Nf6 would likely be met by 7.0-0 g6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg7, and now for example, 10.Nde2 0-0, transposing to a line discussed below). After 5...Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4, Kasparov played the imaginative 7...Bg7!? against Alexei Shirov at the Erevan Olympiad in 1996. Play continued 8.d5 Bxc3+ (the point as Black aims to create a static pawn structure with potentially weak White doubled c-pawns as in the Nimzo-Indian Defense) 9.bxc3 Na5. Here Shirov played 10.0-0, and after 10...f6 11.Nd2 b6 12.Qe2 Qa4! 13.f4 Nh6 14.e5 0-0-0, a very complicated game ensued (eventually drawn). Later in Rublevsky-Ehlvest, Polanica Zdroj 1997, White found a more direct idea with 10.Nd2! (instead of 10.0-0) and after 10...f6 11.f4 0-0-0 (risky for Black as White still controls the a4-square with the queen on d1) 12.0-0 b6 13.a4! Nh6 14.Nb3, White had good play on the queenside and held the INITIATIVE. Kasparov's 7...Bg7!? in this variation is intriguing and will certainly receive further scrutiny, but I believe it would be better to remain in more usual lines, for example: 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.Nde2 (9.Be3 is possible) 9...Nf6 10.0-0 0-0, with a normal Dragon versus Maroczy Bind (minus light squared bishops) middle game in the offing, with good chances for Black to demonstrate equality. Black has a resilient and flexible PAWN STRUCTURE, and White has a slight SPACE ADVANTAGE. So I recommend 5...Nc6, and if 6.Nc3 by Kasparov, then we might investigate the flexible continuation 6...Nf6 (although 6...g6 is OK). PAHTZ MOVE 5 COMMENTARY Nc6 to Kasparov's c4. This is a normal move for this development. The black Knight now controls the square d4 and it might go to e5 on the next move. FELECAN MOVE 5 COMMENTARY
Nc6 to Kasparov's c4 We don't want our Knight on d7 because that is passive. Having the Knight on c6 will help control the center of the board. Especially the d4 square, which is important in the Sicilian Defense. We're just about to get into the interesting part of the game. Many new lines and improvements will be possible very soon. Kasparov is playing a very normal game so far, so we'll have to see what happens in the next few moves. BACROT MOVE 5 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) DANNY KING MOVE 5 COMMENTARY The centre, particularly at the beginning of the game, is the most important sector of the board. It makes sense: if you dominate the centre you dominate the whole board. So how should one best fight for central control? Answer: send out the infantry (the pawns) - the expendable cannon fodder - to gain ground and only then bring in the important warriors. The pawns win territory, and in so doing, provide essential cover for the more valuable pieces. This is why Kasparov has played his pawn to c4. He is attempting to establish a rock solid bind on the centre and only then will he bring out his pieces. In reply, Black has a clear choice. He can either act in the same way and block the centre with pawns (5...e5); or allow White to build a strong pawn centre in the hope of shooting it down from the side of the board (5...Nc6, 6...g6 etc). By the way, I would not recommend a wild pawn grab: 5...Qg4 would be too greedy. White castles (6. O-O), Black grabs his pawn (6...Qxe4) but loses too much time. White would get a crushing attack through the middle with 7. d4. It is too risky to use the Queen alone in the opening. Garry has played this whole line before with White and with Black. Here he chose to play 5...Nc6. It's your choice. GO WORLD!! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Normally White tries to build move Maroczy-like pawn center with d2-d4 c5xd4 Nf3xd4 in this variation. It's not very dangerous - White can hope for very slight advantage in this case but Black would probably do his best with some tricky move orders preventing this structural transformation. Shirov - Kasparov ( Erevan 1996 ) went 4...Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d4 ( otherwise Bf8-g7, and square d4 is under Black's control ) Bg7!? 8.d5 Bxc3+!? 9.bxc3 Na5 10.00 f6! 11.Nd2 b6 with very complicated play. There were some further developments in this line when Rublevsky invented 10.Nd2! in his game with Ehlvest (Polanica Zdroj, 1997) and this tricky line is probably not the perfect way to play with Kasparov as White definitely gets plenty of attacking chances here. Now 6.Nc3 seems to be the only move to fight for some advantage: ( 6.d4 cxd4 7.Nxd4 Nf6 8.f3 ( 8.Nc3 Qg4! = ) e6! aiming for d6-d5; 6.0-0 g6! 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 9.Be3 ( White can't build his perfect set-up - knights on c3 & e2; bishop for some time on c1 where it has many options - as 9.Ne2 Ne5! is unpleasant for him ) Nf6 10.f3 ( 10.Nc3 Ng4! ) 0-0 11.Nc3 e6 = - d6-d5 is coming ) 6...Nf6 ( Kasparov's line with 6...g6 7.d4 Bg7 8.d5 Bxc3+ 9.bxc3 Na5 is probably too risky because of Rublevsky's move 10.Nd2! ) 7.0-0 - and now it'll be time for major decision again. Most popular moves are 7...g6 and 7...e6 but probably 7...Ne5!? which stops d2-d4 radically is the most reliable move. Please notice that doubled pawns after 8.Nxe5 dxe5 .aren't weak at all - White d-pawn may become much weaker. 7...Nd4 with the same ideas is less playable because of Kramnik's gambit idea 8.b4! More information - to follow on these pages tomorrow when it will be WORLD's turn to move. You may notice that our reports are definitely shorter when it's Kasparov's move. It's so logical - we consult the WORLD - not the WORLD's opponent
6a
Russian Grandmaster Chess School recommends: 6...Ng8-f6 although 6...Nc6-d4! is better As foreseen, Kasparov played 6.Nc3 - the most accurate move order. Now there are some more or less reasonable answers for Black: 6...Nf6(!), 6...g6, 6...e6, 6...Ne5?!, 6...e5?!, 6...0-0-0?. The rest moves seem to be contradictory to basic strategical rules. Did you notice what we missed? Yes, there is a stunning novelty 6...Nd4! which has all pluses of 6...Ne5 but doesn't allow 7.d4 - see below. It equalises the game completely and it's probably White who must be worried after it. Why don't we recommend it? The reason is easy: there is no link from MS Zone to our consultation page so this move wouldn't be chosen anyway. Somehow if you want to vote for the best move - feel free to vote for 6...Nd4! - it's worth it. There are some possible lines after 6...Nd4! A) 7.b4 Nxf3+ 8.Qxf3 cxb4 9.Nd5 e6 =/+; B) 7.Nxd4 cxd4 B1) 8.Nb5 e5 B1a) 9.Qa4 Rc8 10.Qxa7 Rxc4 11.a4 (11.d3 Rc8 12.a4 d5!) 11...Rc8 12.0–0 Nf6 13.d3 d5=; B1b) 9.d3 a6 10.Na3 g6 11.0–0 Bg7 12.f4 Ne7=; B2) 8.Ne2 e5! 9.d3 g6 10.0–0 Bg7 11.f4 Ne7 12.Ng3 h5!; C) 7.d3 Nxf3+ 8.Qxf3 g6; D) 7.0–0 Nxf3+ 8.Qxf3 g6 9.d3 Bg7 10.Be3 Rc8= In all these lines Black is doing fine. Although 6...Nd4 is not the most conventional move ( Black moves already developed knight ) it has very good strategical basis: it stops d2-d4 and prepares harmonical kingside development with g6, Bg7, e6, Ne7, 0-0 etc. Full control over important d4 square is the most important idea of this position. By the way, the very idea Nc6-d4 in this line is not completely new - after 6...Nf6 7.0-0 Nd4 was played in some games but at this moment it's not so good because of Kramnik's gambit idea 8.b4! played by him against Judit Polgar and now after 8...Nxf3+ ( or 8...cxb4 9.Nd5! ) 9.Qxf3 cxb4 10.Nd5! White has very good compensation for the pawn. Well, this GM School novelty will not be played in this game for the abovementioned reasons anyway, so it's our present to all interested chessfriends. Now some ideas why 6...Nf6 is better than all the rest moves: 1)Black still doesn't define his development plan ( e6 or g6 ) and plays good developing move. The option 7.0-0 Ne5!? is also interesting after it; 2)Black finally gets rid of risk to follow well-known Shirov - Kasparov game ( Erevan, 1996 ) which went 6...g6 7.d4 ( otherwise Bf8-g7, and square d4 is under Black's control ) Bg7!? 8.d5 Bxc3+!? 9.bxc3 Na5 10.0-0 f6! 11.Nd2 b6 with very complicated play.There were some further developments in this line when Rublevsky invented 10.Nd2! in his game with Ehlvest (Polanica Zdroj, 1997) and this tricky line is probably not the perfect way to play with Kasparov as White definitely gets plenty of attacking chances here. Such a dynamic position with good attacking chances for White is just a nightmare to play with Kasparov. 3)6...g6 or 6..e6 are not bad but what's the reason to define your plan when there is no necessity? 4) The reasons why 6...e5?! is wrong were already discussed when Black was choosing his 5-th move. Black bishop is just getting too bad. 5)The move 6...Ne5?! is not bad strategically - by the way, it has the same strategical ideas as 6...Nd4! - it's main aim is to stop d2-d4. The only problem is that it doesn't stop it at all - after 7.d4! White has tangible advantage after 7...Nxf3+ 8.gxf3 cxd4 9.Qxd4 with the idea Be3 and 0-0-0 ( Rublevsky - Becerra , Lucerne, 1997 ), 7...cxd4 8.Qxd4 Nc6 9.Qd2 Nf6 10.0-0 g6 11.b3 Bg7 12.Bb2 - just a perfect set-up for the entire variation - not "minimal advantage" ( Belikov Golubev, Moscow, 1996 ). Finally, after 7...Nxc4 8.dxc5 dxc5 9.Qe2 White's development lead fully compensates his pawn deficit. 6)Finally, 6...0-0-0? is just committing suicide - after 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 with the following kingside castle White will face no problems to organize decisive attack. When Black quuenside has such a low protection level there is no need to be Kasparov to checkmate Black king. We hope that most probably 6...Nf6 would be chosen and then after 7.0-0 ( the only try - 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qg4! is perfect for Black ) THE WORLD would have an interesting choice of three - 7...g6, 7...e6 and 7...Ne5!? See you then!
MOVE 6 Voting Results G8-F6 49.92 G7-G6 28.37 C6-E5 5.2 E7-E5 3.15 C6-D4 2.48 KRUSH MOVE 6 COMMENTARY g6 to Kasparov's Nf3 In my previous posting, I indicated that Black has two good moves at this juncture, namely 6...Nf6, and 6...g6. Frequently, these moves result in the same (or similar) position after a further transposition of moves. If Black plays 6...Nf6, then 7.d4 is easily met with 7...cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qg4! and Black has equalized - of course, Garry would NEVER allow us to have such an easy time of it. After 6...Nf6, Garry will have little option but to continue with the main line 7.0-0, when 7...g6 creates a Dragon set-up (continuing with Bf8-g7, and 0-0 completing kingside DEVELOPMENT), in which Black can establish a very playable middle game. 6...Nf6 is OK. After further deliberation, I have chosen 6...g6 as my preferred continuation, when play might likely continue 7.d4 cxd4 (I don't believe we should tempt fate with Kasparov's line 7...Bg7!? - more details about this next time) 8.Nxd4 Bg7, when White must make a serious decision concerning the disposition of his knight on d4, for example 9.Be3 (developing while protecting the knight - the most principled reaction), or 9.Nde2 (a retreat to regroup). After: A) 9.Nde2 Nf6 (9...Ne5!? deserves serious attention) 10.0-0 0-0, or B) 9.Be3 (probably best) 9...Nf6 10.f3 (guarding against Nf6-g4) 10...0-0, we can look forward to a DYNAMIC and interesting middle game. I believe 6...g6 is the strongest and most flexible continuation. PAHTZ MOVE 6 COMMENTARY Ne5 to Kasparov's Nf3 With this move, Black wants to take the pawn on c4. Now white can play 7.d2-d4 or it will have to protect the pawn. If White takes the Knight on e5, Black will then have a good position, because after 7....dxe5 Black will control the square d4. After 7.d2-d4, Black should not take the pawn on c4, because of 8.dxc5 dxc5 9.Qb3 attacking White. But it might turn out as: 7....cxd4 8.Qxd4 8....Nc6 9.Qd2 Nf6 10.0-0 g6 11.b3 Bg7 12.Bb2 0-0 after which White has only a small advantage.
FELECAN MOVE 6 COMMENTARY Nf6 to Kasparov's Nf3 Here you have a few more lines to choose from. This would be the most popular main line. Ne5 is not really a safe position. I don't want to move the same piece three times in the opening. I want to develop more pieces at this point. After this, we should develop the Bishop and then castle on the King's side. BACROT MOVE 6 COMMENTARY Nf6 to Kasparov's Nf3 In the game between Kasparov and Shirov in 1996, Garry played 6...g6. The result was a draw, but it might be too dangerous to repeat this move now. So I propose 6...Nf6. DANNY KING MOVE 6 COMMENTARY The World has chosen to follow the analyst's suggestion of 5...Nc6, in my opinion the most sensible move, developing a piece towards the centre. Garry has replied in kind, also bringing his Knight out into the middle. All very sound. Now, the time has come to bring out some more pieces. World, in your democratic Army rules, every soldier has to play its part in the struggle. And when I talk about the pieces, I don't mean the pawns, I mean the Knights and Bishops and finally the Rooks. Pawn moves are mainly made in the opening for 2 reasons: to mark out territory in the center; and to enable the Bishops to move into the game. It's worth looking at what Garry Kasparov himself has tried before in this situation (he has played this exact position previously - from both sides of the board). Three years ago Kasparov played a game against Alexei Shirov which continued 6...g6 7 d4 Bg7 (Black more usually captures on d4) 8 d5, and after great complications the game was drawn. This so-called 'fianchetto' of the Bishop is quite standard: from g7 it exerts pressure on the center and prepares for castling. But is it wise to follow in Garry's footsteps? Be careful! The World Champion is an industrious worker away from the board and will have studied that continuation in great detail. I'm currently writing this from Frankfurt, Germany where Garry is taking part in the 'Frankfurt Giants', a speed chess tournament, along with Anand, Kramnik and Karpov - the world's elite (he's a busy man). It's a great event. In passing I said to Garry, "Hey, I think the World's going to repeat your play against Shirov!" He grinned like a crocodile who had just been introduced to his lunch... So, 6..g6 is undoubtedly a good move, and most players go down this route, but do it with your eyes wide open. Alternatively, Black could develop his Bishop in another way with 6..Nf6, followed by ...e6 and ...Be7. This is a solid and respectable way to proceed, though contemporary fashion has largely ignored it. It's your choice - good luck!
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx So the most popular move was played again. It's rather interesting statistically that up to now THE WORLD had chosen most popular moves 6 times in a row ( from 1...c5 till 6...Nf6 ). This seems to be a solid trend - so it's rather simple to predict what will happen in this game on some next moves. Please notice that the following moves are not GM School recommendation but just a little try to foresee what will happen: so it will be 7.0-0 g6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg7 10.Nde2! ( by the way, Kasparov's trend is playing the best moves - so it will be neither 10.Be3 nor 10.Nc2 - well, if it were Irina Krush - THE WORLD, it could be that way - but Kasparov is a very strong player and surely understands that knight position on c2 would be pointless, just making another knight vulnerable for many tactical motives ).10...0-0 11.f3 a6 12.a4. In this position 2 moves were played in almost the same number of games - 12...Qd8 and 12...e6 - so it's probably the end of our prophecy. The main result - in 10 days it will be complex middlegame position with a certain plus for White. Then if THE WORLD will agree on a certain sequence of good positional moves Black has a good chance to equalise. So it's probably good time to start analysing this critical position right now as all Black's interesting alternatives on moves 7-11 wouldn't be chosen for sure. Now as usually we continue with a bit of theoretical information about Black's options on the next move after 7.0-0 ( the only try - 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qg4! is perfect for Black ). 7...g6 with the following 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg7 will be definitely played, so we'll have some time to discuss this position later. This "Dragon-like" move is the most popular and probably the best as well. 7...e6 is another playable line and after the natural 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Be7 10.Be3 0-0 11.Qe2 White has the same safe mini-advantage as after 7...g6. Black can't organize equalising break-through d6-d5 immediately - so he has to manoeuvre accurately. Well, there are still some tries to prevent 8.d4 - 7...Ne5!? is the most interesting - now 8.d4?! is senseless after 8...Nxf3+ 9.gxf3 cxd4 10.Qxd4 g6 or 10...e6, and White's king position is very insecure. 8.Nxe5 dxe5 9.d3 e6 10.f4 Bd6 doesn't promise anything either. The most promising way for White seems to be 8.d3! Nxf3+ ( after 8...g6 White can, for instance, follow the same plan as after 8...Nxf3+ 9.Qxf3 g6 and after 8...e6 9.Ne1!? with the following f2-f4 and Ne1-f3 White has excellent prospects on the kingside even without playing d3-d4 ) 9.Qxf3 g6 10.Rb1! ( this plan is rare in this position but very unpleasant for Black - after 6...Nd4! which was recommended by GM School on the previous move it wouldn't work so well as Black still had his knight on g8, aiming for e7-e6 and Ng8-e7 ) Bg7 11.b4, and concrete threat 12.bxc5 dxc5 13.e5 is rather annoying. 7...Nd4 never dies? Too late! Sorry, friends, our highly respected 2,48% of all voters - after Kramnik's idea 8.b4! White becomes excellent chances in gambit-style play after 8...cxb4 9.Nd5! ( one more time we can see that knight f6 is not placed correctly ) Nc6 10.a3 ( Komliakov -Poluljahov Sochi 1996 ) . Judit Polgar in the stem game with Kramnik ( Dos Hermanas 1996 ) found an interesting reaction 8...Qg4 but both Vladimir's refined answer 9.Kh1!? Nxf3 10.gxf3 and rather primitive 9.Nxd4 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 cxd4 11.Nb5 ( 11.Nd5!? ) Kd7 12.Nxd4 are very good for White. Finally, 7...e5 is even more dubious than on the previous moves - it has the same drawbacks but also is poorly combined with Ng8-f6 - in that structure knight belongs to g7 so Black would play f7-f5 later without losing precious time. Hot discussion about our recommendation 6...Nd4! ( this move still seems to be completely sound ) and the voting results brought us many interesting ideas about this game ( how WORLD's decisions are taken, voters' chess qualification etc.) It might be rather interesting for the strategy of play but sorry, too late - this subject will be definitely discussed a bit later.
MOVE 7 Voting Results G7-G6 65.46
C6-E5 8.49 E7-E5 7.04 E7-E6 5.92 Castle Queenside 4.18 KRUSH MOVE 7 COMMENTARY g6 to Kasparov's O-O Despite the subtle strategic differences between the move orders 6...g6 and 6...Nf6 7.0-0 g6, I still prefer to steer the game into a Dragon formation for Black. Nevertheless, it is useful to examine the differences between 6...g6, and 6...Nf6 7.0-0 g6. After 7...g6, Black must be prepared to enter the complicated middlegame resulting from 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg7 10.Nc2! (or 10.Nde2). Note that White would not have this very interesting and effective redeployment of his knight to c2 in the line 6...g6 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bg7 as 9.Nc2?! would allow 9...Bxc3+ crippling White's pawn structure (DOUBLED ISOLATED c-PAWNS). In this variation, White would more likely have continued with the natural 9.Be3 Nf6 (here this development serves a real point as 10.0-0 is prevented because of the response 10...Ng4). Therefore White would continue 10.f3 (another point in this line is that White must expend another pawn move with f2-f3 - a valuable TEMPO - in order to complete his development) 10...0-0, and Black has a comfortable position as he has quickly and safely developed. Therefore, the move order 6...Nf6 7.0-0 g6, by virtue of being less aggressive and forcing than 6...g6 allows White more FLEXIBILITY and FREEDOM OF CHOICE in the ultimate disposition of his forces. Ironically, it is a pawn move (6...g6) which contributes to faster development for Black than a piece move (6...Nf6). Returning to the current critical line 7...g6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg7 10.Nc2! Black will bring his king to safety with 10...0-0, before commencing active operations. Of course 7...g6 is not the only option available to Black. Black can also make a defensive stance with 7...e6, creating the "little center" with pawns on e6 and d6, with a development scheme of Bf8-e7, followed by 0-0. For example, after 7...e6, play may proceed with 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Be7, when White has two primary plans - continuing development with Bc1-e3, or with b2-b3, followed by Bc1-b2. This course for Black, although playable, is inherently more passive than the FIANCHETTO system (7...g6) that I am recommending. Black will need to maneuver patiently to engineer the pawn breaks b7-b5 and/or d6-d5 in order to combat White's SPACE ADVANTAGE. This type of pawn structure for Black (pawns on d6 and e6) requires careful and studious handling if Black is to avoid being suffocated by White's space advantage. Therefore, the choice between 7...e6 and 7...g6 at this juncture is somewhat a matter of taste. I have received many e-mails from my World Team colleagues regarding some of the terminology used in my analysis posts and posts to the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. I would like to refer you to the following free resource (The SmartChess Glossary - an alphabetized listing of chess terms and jargon) located at my web site: http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/Smartchessguide/gloss.htm PAHTZ MOVE 7 COMMENTARY
g6 to Kasparov's O-O It's a pity that The World didn't want to play my suggestion on the last move 6...Ne5! Now the game is going to develop quietly - but I'm still going to try to liven things up with my next move - 7...g6. I like to bring my Bishop out to g7 onto the long diagonal because the game gets trickier. I do this in other openings, so it suits my style to try it here too. So, World, isn't it about time you picked one of my moves? FELECAN MOVE 7 COMMENTARY g6 to Kasparov's O-O Kasparov choose this line because he wants to play a positional and simple game. We need to get our Bishop onto g7 to control the long diagonal. Others may want to move e6 (pawn to e6) and have our pawns in the center, but I'm playing modern, which is a comparable strategy. BACROT MOVE 7 COMMENTARY Ne5 to Kasparov's O-O Kasparov chose the best continuation with 7. 0-0 8. d4 cxd4 9. Nxd4 Qg4! - equality. Now two moves are equivalent for The World: 7...g6 and 7...Ne5. I recommend Ne5 (Knight to e5) which should lead The World to a solid position. DANNY KING MOVE 7 COMMENTARY The World voted for the most flexible move 6...Nf6 and Garry has chosen to castle (7. 0-0) which is the most accurate continuation. In the vast majority of master games, both sides castle. This is an extremely effective move: with one stroke White removes his King from the centre of the board (where, believe me, we are going to see some action) to the side of the board behind the cover of three pawns. The King is the most important piece on the board but at the same time it has very little power (a bit like the British monarch?). The King only comes into its own once a great many pieces have been exchanged - in the ending. The other great benefit of castling is that the rook, stuck in the corner of the board, now emerges into the middle of the board. All that with just one move. Leaving the King in the middle of the board can be fatal, particularly against a player of Kasparov's calibre. I have just witnessed here in Germany how he demolished the World No. 3 player, Vladimir Kramnik, with a devastating attack. Kramnik tarried too long with his king in the centre and paid the price. Let me tell you, it was UGLY. Therefore, over the next few moves castling MUST be the aim of the World team. To castle Black must first bring out the Bishop on f8. There are two ways of doing this: either 7...g6; or 7...e6. followed by a Bishop move and castling on the Kingside. Objectively it is impossible to say which continuation is better. The most important thing is to get the King castled. By the way, I would not recommend Queenside castling. On that side of the board the King would be too exposed. World, it's your choice. question. It looks very much like that most of the players who voted for 6...Nd4! were visiting our site at least once - at
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MOVE 8 Voting Results C5-D4 85.28% C6-D4 4.22 Castle Queenside 2.21 F8-G7 2.07 E7-E5 1.19 KRUSH MOVE 8 COMMENTARY cxd4 to Kasparov's d4 I recommend that the World plays 8...cxd4 (pawn on c5 captures pawn on d4). With 8.d4, White has the positional threat of 9.d5, displacing Black's Knight on c6 and creating an imposing SPACE ADVANTAGE. The capture on d4 is therefore regarded as automatic, and is the ONLY correct move. After the forced 9.Nxd4, Black should continue his DEVELOPMENT with 9...Bg7. White has then a major choice between 10.Nc2 and 10.Nde2, when I can promise you some SURPRISES! PAHTZ MOVE 8 COMMENTARY cxd4 to Kasparov's d4 What else? Only with this move can The World (Black) avoid Kasparov's possible next move 9.d5 with its clear space advantage for White. So there is no other possibility for The World. FELECAN MOVE 8 COMMENTARY cxd4 to Kasparov's d4 This is the most normal move and is the only one that makes sense in this situation. We must play this. BACROT MOVE 8 COMMENTARY cxd4 to Kasparov's d4 This is the only move we should make - there is no choice. DANNY KING MOVE 8 COMMENTARY 8.d4 is the only way that Garry Kasparov can play for an advantage. By
throwing another pawn into the center, he hopes to establish even more control; as well as allowing his bishop to enter the game. In this position, White threatens to push the pawn again to d5, gaining space and time by attacking the knight. Therefore, before doing anything else, the World MUST exchange pawns in the middle. The question is: should this be done with the pawn or the knight? Check out the coaches' suggestions and I think you'll get the right answer! Over the next few moves - after Black has, hopefully, castled - I will be discussing the pawn structures and how this will (or ought to!)affect forthcoming play. It's your choice, World Team - do the right thing! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 9 Voting Results F8-G7 81.04 C6-D4 7.04 E7-E5 4.58 Castle Queenside 1.7 D7-G4 1.0 KRUSH MOVE 9 COMMENTARY Bg7 to Kasparov's Nxd4 The move 9...Bg7 is the only logical follow-up to playing g6. Black's Bishop is DEVELOPED actively on the h8-a1 LONG DIAGONAL. This development comes with TEMPO, as Black makes the threat of 10...Nxe4 exposing an attack on White's knight on d4 - hence winning a pawn. White's most common continuations are 10.Nc2 and 10.Nde2, to safeguard the Knight. PAHTZ MOVE 9 COMMENTARY Bg7 to Kasparov's Nxd4 I suggest we play 9...Bg7. The only alternative is 9...Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Bg7 11.b3, but after these moves the game can quickly become quite boring. I am currently in Hamburg visiting my friends at ChessBase. We looked in the giant database with 1.1 million games and found 109 games in which this position occurred. 9...Nxd4 was played in only three games. After 9...Bg7 Black scored 40%(37 losses and 16 wins), so our chances don't look too good. But after for instance 10.Nde2 0-0 11.f3, Black has a lot of interesting moves.
FELECAN MOVE 9 COMMENTARY Bg7 to Kasparov's Nxd4 We should continue by developing the Bishop now that we have cleared space to move and can control the long diagonal. Afterward, we should castle on the Kingside, which is faster and safer. To castle Queenside, we would have to move our Queen from its current position. After castling we may begin our counter play much faster. BACROT MOVE 9 COMMENTARY Bg7 to Kasparov's Nxd4 This is the only possible move. DANNY KING MOVE 9 COMMENTARY Garry had no choice on the last move, he simply had to recapture with the Knight to restore the balance. With this last exchange of pawns, a situation has arisen which has been disputed on many previous occasions: the World Champion has constructed the so-called 'Maroczy Bind' against the World's Sicilian formation. Maroczy? What or who is that? Born in 1870, Geza Maroczy from Hungary (pronounced, for English speakers 'Marotzy') was one of the most successful players of the early 20th century. He employed this formation of pawns on e4 and c4 against the Sicilian to great effect, so much so that it was once thought to automatically give White a good game. White's aim is to control as much space as possible with the pawns in the centre, preventing Black from breaking out from behind the first three rows. Theoretical opinion has shifted since the days when Maroczy was playing, and it is now thought that Black's counter chances are perfectly adequate. So, don't be too concerned, World, there are going to be plenty of ways to fight back, as I'm confident the Analysts are going to show. Once development is complete, I'll be speaking more about the kind of strategies that black should be looking to try. For the moment, let's deal with this specific position. You'll notice that it is possible for Black to capture the Knight on d4. Is this a good idea? Answer: I don't think so. White would simply recapture with the Queen (so black doesn't win material) and Her Majesty stands well in the centre. For Black, priority no.1 MUST be to bring out all his pieces and get his King to safety (look and learn from Garry!). Therefore, there is really only one decent move here; I won't be shocked if the coaches all make the same recommendation, and that will be for a good reason. World, do the right thing! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 10 Voting Results
D7-E6 52.97 Castle Kingside 36.91 Castle Queenside 1.4 F6-G4 1.18 E7-E5 1.15 KRUSH MOVE 10 COMMENTARY Qe6 to Kasparov's Nde2 I highly recommend that the World plays the NEW MOVE 10...Qe6 (queen on d7 to e6). "WHERE DO YOU WANT TO GO TODAY?" Let's take a long hard look at our OPTIONS at this important and CRITICAL moment in the game. THE OLD MOVE 10...0-0 (Conservatism Reigns?) Theory considers the usual move at this stage to be 10...0-0 (kingside castling). Difficult middlegames usually follow, for example: 11.f3 a6 12.a4 Rfc8 13.b3 Qd8 14.Kh1, etc, when White already has a SLIGHT ADVANTAGE and an enduring INITIATIVE. If you choose 10...0-0, you will certainly risk playing into the very sharp teeth of Kasparov's vaunted OPENING PREPARATION. I am advising AGAINST playing this move (and playing into Garry's hands) because I think we have a serious alternative in 10...Qe6!? at our disposal (see below). THE WEAK MOVE 10...Na5?! (Imaginative but Lacking - "Knights on the Rim are Dim") Experimenting last week, I tried to make the unusual idea of 10...Na5?! work. I was happy with 11.Qd3 (known) 11...Qc6! 12.b3 Nxe4! (novelty) which is promising for Black. Unfortunately, I was unable to resolve all of Black's problems after 11.b3! (novelty), for example: 11...a6 (11...Nxe4?! 12.Nxe4 Bxa1 13.Bxd2 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bg7 15.Bc3! is good for White) 12.a4 Nxe4 13.Nxe4 Bxa1 14.Bd2 Nxb3 15.Qxb3 Bg7 (or 15...Be5 16.N2c3! leads to White's advantage) 16.Nf4, which favors White. 10...Na5?! should DEFINITELY be DISCARDED. THE NEW MOVE 10...Qe6!? (A New Path in the Sicilian Labyrinth!?) Last week, during the World Open in Philadelphia, I showed the THEORETICAL NOVELTY 10...Qe6!? to my trainers GM GIORGI KACHEISHVILI and GM RON HENLEY (the latter via phone). I had been looking at various options for Black in the eventuality that "The World" played 6...Nf6 7.0-0 g6, instead of 6...g6. I had based this idea on an old game of GM Jan Smejkal's that I had seen in my database. I believe this new move, 10...Qe6, is a DYNAMIC and PRACTICAL SOLUTION to Black's opening play. Below you will find a sample of what I believe are the most important variations. White has two ways (11.Qb3 or 11.Nd5) to meet the SIMULTANEOUS attack on his c- and e-pawns (there is no compensation for White if he jettisons his c-pawn with 11.f3 Qxc4). I am pleased that 10...Qe6 has also earned the important and independent ENDORSEMENT from the strong Russian GMs ALEXANDER KHALIFMAN and KONSTANTIN SAKAEV of the Grandmaster Chess School (http://www.gmchess.spb.ru/kasparov-world.html) - a fine chess academy in Russia. Some of the key positions from the analysis of 10...Qe6 given below have been illustrated at the Barnet Chess Club web-site (http://www.gtryfon.demon.co.uk/bcc/) - one of the best educational chess sites on the Web. WORLD TEAM - take note! We have many wonderful resources to draw upon in our battle with Garry - use them all! The following is based on analysis I have already posted to the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board (http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/index.asp), during the last few days. THE LINE 10...Qe6!? 11.Qb3 (White Queen Sortie) If White plays 11.Qb3, Black has two ideas: A) 11...Rc8 (alternative 1 which seems less active for Black) and now: A1) 12.Ng3 0-0 (12...Nd7!? with the idea 13.Qxb7 Nc5) 13.Qxb7 Qxc4, with an edge for Black. A2) 12.f3 0-0 13.Nf4 Qd7, with perhaps a small edge for Black. A3) 12.Qxb7 0-0, for example: A3a) 13.Nb5 Qxc4, with a clear advantage Black. A3b) 13.Qb5 Nxe4 14.Nf4 Qe5 15.Qxe5 dxe5, with the following possibilities: A3b1) 16.Nxe4 exf4 17.Bxf4 Bxb2, equal.
A3b2) 16.Nxg6 Nxc3! 17.Nxf8 Ne2+ 18.Kh1 Kxf8, is good for Black. A3b3) 16.Nfd5 Nxc3 17.Nxc3 Nb4 18.b3 (18.Be3 Rxc4 19.Bxa7 Ra8 20.Be3 e4, favors Black) 18...e4!? (18...Rfd8 is equal) 19.Bd2 Rfd8 (19...f5 is at least equal for Black, and possibly the strongest) 20.Nxe4 Bxa1 21.Bxb4 (21.Rxa1 Nd3 is good for Black) 21...Bf6 22.Nxf6+ exf6, is good for Black. A3c) 13.Qa6!? Nxe4 14.Nf4 Qf5 15.Ncd5 Qd7, with level chances. B) 11...0-0! (alternative 2 - even better than 11...Rc8, as this leads to a stronger placement of the Black rooks) 12.Qxb7 (otherwise it seems difficult to justify 11.Qb3) 12...Rfc8 13.Qa6, and now: B1) 13...Nxe4 14.Nf4 (14.Nxe4 Qxe4 is good for Black) 14...Qf5 15.Ncd5 Qd7, with an edge for Black. B2) 13...Nb8!? (what a funny move!) 14.Qb7 Nc6! renewing the attack on c4 and enticing White to a DRAW by repetition! In summary, Black's chances seem good after 10...Qe6 11.Qb3. White's queen is unhappy on b3. THE LINE 10...Qe6!? 11.Nd5 Qxe4! 12.Nc7+ Kd7 13.Nxa8 Qxc4 (Introduction) If White plays 11.Nd5 then 11...Qxe4! (very forcing) 12.Nc7+ (12.Re1 is best met with 12...0-0) 12...Kd7 13.Nxa8 Qxc4 14.Nb6+!? (the horse on a8 was headed for the glue factory anyway. An anonymous poster on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board called "Mid_Sized" has suggested 14.b3!? which can transpose to the "Kastner Line" after 14...Qh4 15.Nb6+ axb6 - see below - although 14...Qa6!? 15.Bb2 Rxa8 seems possible to me) 14...axb6, leaves Black with TWO pawns for the Exchange - i.e., DYNAMIC MATERIAL EQUALITY. After 15.Be3, Black is well-placed after 15...Ra8 (making use of the HALF-OPEN a-FILE) or 15...Nd5! (CENTRALIZATION!). It is somewhat amusing that the White c- and e-pawns which constituted the KEY elements of the Maroczy Bind formation so carefully constructed by Garry are both ELIMINATED in this sequence. At minimum, I believe Black has EQUALIZED after 15...Nd5 in this variation. As always, we should look at some variations to give ourselves more understanding of the position. FURTHER ANALYSIS IN THE COMPLEX LINE 10...Qe6!? 11.Nd5 Qxe4! 12.Nc7+ Kd7 13.Nxa8 Qxc4, after 14.Nb6+!? axb6 White plays 15.Be3: A) 15...Ra8 16.Nc3 b5!? 17.a3 Ke8 (with the plan of d6-d5!) 18.Bg5 (18.Rc1 b4 19.Ne2 Qa2! destroys White's queenside) 18...Ne4 19.Nd5 (Is White coming around for second helpings with Nd5-c7+!? Instead 19.Nxe4 Qxe4 20.Re1 Qf5, with advantage to Black, as the tactics after 21.Bxe7 Nxe7 22.Qxd6, are in Black's favor, for example: 22...Qd7 23.Qxd7+ Kxd7 24.Rad1+ Ke8 25.Rd5 Bxb2 26.Rxb5 Bxa3 27.Rxb7 Bd6, and Black has a material advantage and excellent winning chances, as he can attack without risk.) And now after 19.Nd5, Black has the interesting 19...Nxg5!? A1) 20.Nb6 Qf4 21.Nxa8 Nh3+!? (this is how they play chess in Latvia!), with: A1a) 22.Kh1 Nxf2+ 23.Rxf2 (23.Kg1 Bd4, wins for Black) 23...Qxf2 24.Nc7+ Kd7 25.Nxb5 Bxb2 26.Rb1 Be5 27.Qa4 Qf5, and Black is clearly better. A1b) 22.gxh3 Be5! 23.Kg2 Qxh2+ 24.Kf3 Qxh3+ 25.Ke2 Nd4+ 26.Ke1 Nf3+ 27.Ke2 Nd4+, with a DRAW by perpetual check. Instead, White should play: A2) 20.Nc7+! (Isn't that so funny? Same fork, different knight and different rook!) 20...Kd8! 21.Nxa8 Bxb2 22.Rb1 Bxa3 23.Nb6 Qc5 24.Qd3 (24.Qd5 Qxd5 25.Nxd5 b4, is good for Black) 24...Nd4 25.Ra1 Nc2 26.Ra2, and now: A2a) 26...Nb4? loses to the beautiful 27.Qxa3 Nxa2 28.Qa7!! and White wins (but not 28.Qxa2? Qxb6, and it is Black who wins). Better for Black is: A2b) 26...Qxb6! 27.Rxc2 (27.Rxa3? Nxa3 28.Qxa3, and Black wins) 27...Bc5 28.Ra1, with an UNCLEAR position Black has a BISHOP + KNIGHT + FOUR PAWNS versus TWO ROOKS. However, more SOLID for Black than the picturesque 19...Nxg5!? is 19...Rd8 20.Rc1 Qd4, with level chances, as Black need not fear an exchange of queens.
In summary 15...Ra8 is very sharp, and TACTICAL in nature. Instead of 15...Ra8, a move which is more in keeping with my own personal style is 15...Nd5! (likely best) - a move which is more STRATEGICAL in nature, as the Black knight becomes CENTRALIZED. For example: 16.Qd2 Nxe3, and now: A) 17.fxe3?! Ra8 18.a3 (18.b3 Qb4 19.Qxb4 Nxb4 20.Nd4 f5, is good for Black) 18...Ra5! and Black has an edge. B) 17.Qxe3 Qc5 18.Qb3 (18.Qf3 Bxb2 19.Rab1 Bf6 20.Qb3 d5 21.Qxb6 Qxb6 22.Rxb6 Kc7 23.Rfb1 Rb8, and White has not equalized) 18...e6 19.Rac1 Qb4 20.Qf3 Ke7 21.a3 Qb5, with an edge for Black. White plays 15.b3!?: (The "Kastner Line") FM Jeff Kastner has suggested the move 15.b3!? on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board - this is a very logical idea where White recovers a tempo against the Black queen for a possible future development of the White bishop on b2. His analysis continues 15...Qh4 (threatening 16...Ng4 and a double attack on h2 and a1) 16.h3 Ne4 17.Rb1 Ra8 18.a4. This position is unclear and very volatile. For example: 18...e6 19.Bb2 (or 19.Be3 Nc5, is unclear) 19...Bxb2 20.Rxb2 Rd8, with an unclear position and a battle between Black's ability to control the center with his knights and central pawns and White's efforts to activate his rooks ensues. White plays 15.Nc3: (Improving the White knight!?) 15.Nc3 b5!? and now: A1) 16.Be3 Rd8 17.Rc1 b4 18.Na4 Qb5 19.Nc5+ Ke8, with an edge for Black. A2) 16.a3 Rd8 17.Be3 (17.Bg5 Ne4 18.Nxe4 Qxe4, is equal) 17...Ke8 18.Rc1 b4, and Black has an edge A3) 16.Bg5 Ne4 17.Nxe4 Qxe4, and now the following possibilies: A3a) 18.Qb3 Qc4 19.Qh3+ (19.Qxc4? bxc4 is obviously fantastic for Black) 19...Qe6, as Black should welcome the ending after 20.Qxe6+?! Kxe6. A3b) 18.Re1 Qf5 19.Be3 h5!? with a nice position for Black. THE LINE 10...Qe6!? 11.Nd5 0-0?! (11...Qxe4! is STRONGER) After 11.Nd5 don't be misled by 11...0-0?! (weak) - the idea is to enable the king to be shielded on the kingside and to maintain the integrity of Black's queenside pawns after 12.Nc7 Qxe4 13.Nxa8 Rxa8, and White's c-pawn is too weak to maintain. Unfortunately, in this LESS forcing line, White can play 12.f3! SECURING the e4-point and returning to the business of BUILDING the White position. Therefore, after 11.Nd5, the move 11...0-0?! is INFERIOR to 11...Qxe4! In summary, Black's chances appear good after 10...Qe6 11.Nd5 Qxe4. THE LINE 10...Qe6!? 11.Nf4?! (Hidden Resources for Black - "Parting With the Lady") Finally, after 10...Qe6, what if Black tries (in gambit-style) the move 11.Nf4?! Here Black can calmly play 11...Qxc4, and here is a sample variation: 12.Nfd5 0-0 13.b3 Qc5, and if 14.Be3 (14.Na4 Qa5 15.Bd2 Qd8 maintains an EXTRA PAWN for Black), Black has the beautiful QUEEN SACRIFICE 14...Nxd5!! and now: A) 15.Nxd5 Qa3 16.Rc1 (16.Bc1 Qa6! 17.Nc7 Qa5 18.Nxa8 Bxa1 19.Bd2 Qxa2, and Black wins, for example: 20.Qxa1 Qxa1 21.Rxa1 Rxa8, or 20.Nc7 Bg7 when in each case, Black has two EXTRA pawns) 16...Qxa2 17.Rxc6 bxc6 18.Nxe7+ Kh8, is winning for Black; B) 15.exd5 Qxc3 16.Rc1 Qb2 17.Rc2 (17.dxc6 bxc6 is good for Black) 17...Qa3 18.dxc6 bxc6, with a clear plus for Black; C) 15.Bxc5 Nxc3 16.Qe1 dxc5 17.Rc1 Nxa2 18.Rxc5 Rfd8, with a clear advantage for Black - three minor pieces and a pawn (a MATERIAL ADVANTAGE) - plus lots of BOARD CONTROL in return for the queen. In summary, Black stands well after 10...Qe6 11.Nf4?!
YOUR MISSION - SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT I have not found any refutation of 10...Qe6!? - nor have a number of well-known grandmasters (see above) - the move appears to create a dynamic situation (unclear in some lines). The move 10...Qe6!? certainly leads to more ENERGETIC and TENSE chess than the mundane 10...0-0. However you decide to vote, I think many of you might agree with me that the discourse that has taken place on the Microsoft World Team Strategy Bulletin Board over the last few days has been fun and educational. Our time has arrived to try and set the Champion NEW and perhaps unexpected problems to solve. Let's put the weight of THE WORLD on Garry's shoulders and PLAY 10...Qe6!? and TAKE THE BATTLE to the World Champion! I believe 10...Qe6 is a wonderful way to celebrate this HISTORIC chess event. REFERENCES (with thanks to "Barry" for his help) (A post on 10...Qe6 11.Nd5 Qxe4 12.Nc7+ Kd7 13.Nxa8 Qxc4 14.Nb6+ axb6) http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/posts/jj/6327.asp (A post on 10...Qe6 11.Nd5 and brief comparison to 10...0-0) http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/posts/pf/6229.asp (Another post on 10...Qe6 11.Qb3) http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/posts/uf/6234.asp (A post on 10...Qe6 11.Qb3) http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/posts/bs/5877.asp (A post on 10...Qe6 11.Nf4?! and 11.Nd5) http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/posts/pq/5839.asp (GM Ron Henley's comments) http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/posts/bc/6137.asp (The Russian GM Chess School site with 10...Qe6 comments.) http://www.gmchess.spb.ru/english/kasworld/sici13.html (UK's Barnet Chess Club) http://www.gtryfon.demon.co.uk/bcc/ then click on "Kasparov vs. World" and then on "Current Analysis". PAHTZ MOVE 10 COMMENTARY Qe6 to Kasparov's Nde2 My reply to Garry's 10th move is 10...Qe6 (queen from d7 to e6). At first I considered 10...0-0 or 10...Rc8, which are the moves most often played in this position. Black's chances are not too good. But when I went into the Microsoft chat room, where Irina is very active, I saw that she was discussing a novelty, 10...Qe6. I found this move very interesting, and analysed a number of continuations with the program "Hiarcs 7.32". The variations look more promising for Black. So I decided to go for 10...Qe6. I hope that this time for once The World will side with the girls. FELECAN MOVE 10 COMMENTARY 0-0 to Kasparov's Nde2 Otherwise we would have to move the Queen to castle on the other side and this wouldn't be a good place for her. White probably has a slight advantage in this position, but we should be fine. BACROT MOVE 10 COMMENTARY O-O to Kasparov's Nde2
We need to complete our development by castling Kingside. DANNY KING MOVE 10 COMMENTARY Well done, World Team! You have forced a slight concession from the World Champion: the Knight has been forced away from its strong central position. As I suspected, the World Team coaches were united in their choice on the last move: 9...Bg7. And no wonder. The Bishop hits a great diagonal and if Garry hadn't retreated, the Knight on d4 would have been the victim of a nasty tactical shot. Incidentally, instead of 10 Nde2, it would not have been desirable for white to exchange Knights on c6: Black would have recaptured with the pawn,increasing his control over the centre, and opening up the b-file for a Rook. Remember, as a general rule, the more centre pawns you have, the better. Although such tiny positional gains might seem insignificant, long-term it could be the deciding factor in the game. This is how most modern day victories are achieved, by the accruing of small positional advantages, and rarely with a quick thud and crash through to the King. To win this game the world needs patience! Now, let's take a look at the options available to black here. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been emphasizing the need to get DEVELOPED bring out all your pieces) and CASTLED (to get the King out of the middle) before attempting anything rash. Here, looking at my database of previous master games, the vast majority of black players have castled before doing anything else. There remains, however, an interesting option, much discussed on the Bulletin Boards, which goes against these classical principles (I don't want to mention it in case none of the coaches nominate the move!). All I am going to say about it is this: consider the situation with the utmost care before you decide to plunge into the mire of complications. Patience World! Patience! Garry Kasparov`s reaction: Congratulations for a new move! The world is making valuable contribution for the opening theory! That is completely refuting the notion about low quality of the moves selected on the majority basis! I also think that my comment after 3...Bd7 (chess is still macho game, remember?) played certain role for the last choice. This time boys attempts to play a quiet solid game have totaly failed under girls pressure to complicate the position! Whatever happens, chess is going to be enriched by the exciting game! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 11 Voting Results
E6-E4 71.66 O-O 6.61 a8-c8 5.51 E6-D7 4.06 OO-OO 3.67 KRUSH MOVE 11 COMMENTARY Qxe4 to Kasparov's Nd5 I strongly recommend that the World plays 11...Qxe4 (queen on e6 captures pawn on e4). 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.Bb5+ Bd7 4.Bxd7+ Qxd7 5.c4 Nc6 6.Nc3 Nf6 7.0-0 g6 8.d4 cxd4 9.Nxd4 Bg7 10.Nde2 Qe6 Sicilian B52 "World Variation" As we could have expected, the World Champion has played the most FORCING move after our novelty 10...Qe6. White's alternative 11.Qb3 does not test the variation (easy game for Black), and 11.Nf4?! is very dubious. We have no CHOICE but we do have a PATH As we have seen from previous posts in the Analysis Section and the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, Black's move in this position is the FORCED move 11...Qxe4. This move initiates the forced sequence 12.Nc7+ Kd7 13.Nxa8 Qxc4, when Black will win White's TRAPPED KNIGHT on a8 to restore the MATERIAL BALANCE. http//www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/ PAHTZ MOVE 11 COMMENTARY Qxe4 to Kasparov's Nd5 Whoever says 'A' must then say 'B'. Black is now forced to sacrifice the 'exchange' (Rook for Knight) on a8. Instead, the passive defensive move 11...Rc8 is, in my opinion, poor. Of course, it prevents the Knight fork on c7, but after 12 f3 leads to an advantageous position for Garry: the Black Queen would be out of position on e6, and at the mercy of enemy threats. I am delighted that The World has chosen to listen to some feminine advice and voted for the more creative move ...Qe6. With this, play is going to become more lively, and the World Champion must be on his guard! FELECAN MOVE 11 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) BACROT MOVE 11 COMMENTARY Qxe4 to Kasparov's Nd5 The move 10...Qe6 is very interesting, as the position is now unclear. I recommend that we play 11. Qxe4. This is the best move because if The World castles Kingside 11....O-O that would be followed by Garry's 12. f3, protecting the pawn on e4. DANNY KING MOVE 11 COMMENTARY The game is starting to smoke! You, The World, have voted for 10...Qe6, the recommendation of Irina and Elisabeth. Ladies, this is WILD.
Normally, it is extremely risky to move the Queen out at such an early stage of the game. Why? Because the Queen is the most valuable piece on the board (worth roughly 9 points) so every time she gets attacked by another piece, she will just have to move away. The Queen normally only enters the thick of the battle once a few pieces have been exchanged and it is clear there is a safe square available. Moreover, Black's King remains in the centre of the board providing another target for White to aim at. Irina and Elisabeth are, even at the ages of 13 and 15, very experienced players, so you would think they ought to know better. Why did they want to embark on such a plan? Answer: only after a thorough analysis of the position had led them to believe it was safe. Let's examine the last two moves more closely. After 10...Qe6 Black was threatening to capture two pawns, the one on c4 with the Queen and the pawn on e4 with the Knight. Now we understand the motive - pure greed! Well, not entirely. On the last turn Garry could have saved material, but in so doing would have been forced to make some positional concessions (11 Qb3). Instead he has chosen to fight fire with fire (no surprise there) and has gone on the attack. Garry's last move, 11 Nd5, threatens a lethal KNIGHT FORK on c7. The black King would be in check, and the Queen and Rook attacked - all at the same time. How should the World counter the threat? Let's look at some of the obvious ways. 11...Rc8 prevents the Knight check but would leave Black in a poor position after the simple move 12 f3, defending the e-pawn. Then the Queen would be left looking silly on e6, biting on White's solid pawn chain. Soon she would be attacked and forced to retreat, having gained precisely nothing. Okay, instead of that, what about capturing the Knight with 11...Nxd5...? Sorry, but that one is no good either. White recaptures with the pawn, 12 exd5, setting up another 'fork': the pawn threatens both the Queen and the Knight so Black must lose a piece. There is only one playable possibility for Black, as I am sure you will see from the coaches' suggestions. 11...Qxe4 is forced, grabbing a pawn in the middle, even though it allows that check on c7. There is simply no turning back. The continuation over the next few moves is likely to be: 12 Nc7+ Kd7 13 Nxa8 Qxc4. Black loses the rook but by way of compensation has grabbed a couple of centre pawns, and the Knight in the corner isn't too long for this world. In other words a dynamic material balance will have been reached. Once the position has settled I'll be discussing this in greater detail. This is an extremely sharp continuation requiring the utmost accuracy from both sides. My advice is to check out the Analysts' suggestions carefully before deciding on your move. But for the time being I just want to say 'Well done!' for taking this brave path. Whatever the outcome of the game I believe we will be forcing the best from Garry. This is going to be a treat to watch. Stay tuned! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 12 Voting Results E8-D7 92.52 % E8-D8 4.28 E8-F8 0.82 E8-G8 0.65 E8-C8 0.37 KRUSH MOVE 12 COMMENTARY Kd7 to Kasparov's Nc7+ I recommend that the World plays 12...Kd7 (king on e8 to d7). With 12.Nc7+, White FORKS Black's King and the Black Rook on a8. Our move is FORCED as we must CONNECT our rooks. Although the Rook on a8 is lost, the White Knight will become TRAPPED and in turn it will be lost after 13.Nxa8 Qxc4, and Black will successfully recover his/her material, as White cannot save his Knight on a8. PAHTZ MOVE 12 COMMENTARY Kd7 to Kasparov's Nc7+ It is the only possible move in this position. The Rook on h8 must be free to move. FELECAN MOVE 12 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) BACROT MOVE 12 COMMENTARY Kd7 to Kasparov's Nc7+ It is the only move to make. DANNY KING MOVE 12 COMMENTARY I don't know whether to laugh or to cry. Irina was so inspired by a suggestion I posted on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board that she wrote me a poem. Golly gee! Only problem is, the verse was terrible. What does that say about my idea? Thanks Irina, it is nice to see you so committed. And by the way, if you would like to get into a detailed discussion on the game, I can recommend the Bulletin Boards. They are fun, and sometimes even instructive!
The game has followed the predicted course. The World had to capture the pawn on e4 with the Queen - there was really no turning back - and as he was a pawn down Garry had to leap in with his knight FORKING king and Rook. This is one of the most lethal weapons in the attacking arsenal. The King must move out of check, and then the Knight is free to capture the Rook in the corner. The best square for the king is undoubtedly d7, as I'm sure all the Analysts have recommended. That way, after the Rook is captured, the other one can swing over to take the Knight - but not immediately! The following sequence represents best play over the next couple of moves: 12...Kd7, attacking the knight; the Knight captures the Rook in the corner - 13 Nxa8 - and now instead of taking the knight immediately, Black cleverly takes another pawn - 13...Qxc4 - and only then goes back for the Knight. The point is that the Knight in the corner is not running away, it is still trapped, so Black can afford to swipe a bit more loot before taking care of the Knight. Is it a problem that Black's king is stuck in the middle of the board? That depends! (You can always rely on me for a straightforward answer). At the moment Black's CENTRE PAWNS provide excellent cover for the king, so it isn't in too much danger, indeed, if the Queens are exchanged then the king will be ideally placed to support the pawns in their march down the board. The only problem I can foresee is if White manages to mobilise his forces quickly and gets an attack, but that is not easy to do. However, if there is anyone who can succeed here, it is Garry. He loves to play this kind of dynamic positions. It is going to be a tense fight over the next few moves. Good luck World! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 13 Voting Results E4-C4 86.69 H8-A8 9.69 F6-G4 0.86 C6-B4 0.39 F6-H5 0.21 KRUSH MOVE 13 COMMENTARY Qxc4 to Kasparov's Nxa8 I strongly recommend that the World plays 13...Qxc4 (Queen on e4 captures pawn on c4). FORCED MOVES can be GOOD MOVES Once again, our move is FORCED. White's Knight on a8 is TRAPPED and won't run away. With 13...Qxc4, we complete the short-term TACTICAL and STRATEGICAL goal of the "World Variation" - the OBLITERATION of White's "Maroczy Bind" PAWN CENTER. A LESSON IN LOSING (THE BAD 13...Rxa8?) You may ask yourself, why Black should not capture immediately on a8, as White has no good way to save his cpawn? 13...Rxa8? is UNSOUND, as the position becomes opened too quickly, and Black is unable to COORDINATE
his pieces effectively and rapidly enough to defend himself. The following variations (after 13...Rxa8?) will give you an idea of how quickly Garry will be able to break down the door to the hen-house and start killing all of your chickens: After 14.Qb3! Ne5 (14...Na5 loses to 15.Qb5+ Kc8 16.Qxa5 Qxe2 17.Re1 Qxc4 18.Bd2, or if 17...Qg4 18.Rxe7, etc.) 15.Be3 Nxc4 (15...Qxc4?? loses immediately to 16.Qxb7+) 16.Ng3, and now: A) 16...Qd5? (loses a tempo) 17.Rfd1 Qc6 18.Rac1 b5 19.Ne2, with: A1) 19...a6 20.Nd4 (White is clearly better) 20...Qe4 21.Nxb5! Nxe3 (21...axb5 loses to 22.Qxb5+) 22.Rxd6+! and Black's position is destroyed. A2) 19...Ng4 20.Nd4 Bxd4 (White wins after 20...Qb6 21.Rxc4 bxc4 22.Qa4+) 21.Bxd4, and Black will not survive the pressure. B) 16...Qc6 17.Rfc1!? d5 (17...b5? allows 18.a4! with an overpowering attack for White) 18.Bd4 Qa6 19.Bxf6! Bxf6 20.Ne4! Rc8 21.Nxf6+ exf6 22.Qh3+, and White has a winning advantage. Providing this kind of attacking opportunities to Garry Kasparov is GUARANTEED to end in DISASTER, and we must conclude 13...Rxa8? is a VERY BAD MOVE. STAY ON COURSE! (THE CORRECT 13...Qxc4!) Instead, with the CORRECT 13...Qxc4, we are about to enter a complex, sharp middlegame with good chances for Black. Now, from our extensive analysis sessions on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, we expect Garry to play 14.Nb6+. However, IF Garry selects the tricky 14.Nc7, my next post will contain an important WARNING to my fellow teammates (thanks to some superb analysis by contributors to the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board - see you there!). PAHTZ MOVE 13 COMMENTARY Qxc4 to Kasparov's Nxa8 This move wins a second pawn. It is not necessary to recapture the Knight on a8 immediately, because it has no square to escape. Kasparov will probably move the Knight to b6 check(14.Nb6+)in order to force 14...axb6. This makes our pawn structure on the Queenside a little ugly. But I think it doesn't matter too much because the structure will give us a lot of dynamic play for the minor pieces. FELECAN MOVE 13 COMMENTARY Qxc4 to Kasparov's Nxa8 Since Garry's Knight is trapped on a8, we can use some extra time to take a pawn even though we are giving away the pawn structure(14.Nb6+ axb6). Black is trying to hit with the "b" or "d" pawn (personally I'm going with the "d" pawn because White doesn't have a centre anymore). One possible line would be: 14.Nb6+ axb6 15.Nc3!? (to attack the weakness on b6) 15...d5! followed by d4 and Nd5. BACROT MOVE 13 COMMENTARY Qxc4 to Kasparov's Nxa8 I propose the intermediary move Qxc4. In any case, the Knight on a8 is trapped. So The World will get a Knight and two pawns in exchange for the Rook. DANNY KING MOVE 13 COMMENTARY "I have no choice..." was Garry's comment as he played his last move 13 Nxa8. Over the past week The World has been calling the shots, forcing the World Champion to play down a particular sequence of moves if he wants to hope for an advantage. For the moment he just has to ride it out, then try
to win back the initiative in a few moves time. The World was in check from the Knight so was obliged to move its King that's the rules of the game. Over 90% of The World Team wanted to play the King to the best square, d7, attacking the Knight, and at the same time allowing the Rook on h8 into the game. Good choice! As the Knight was threatened by the King, Garry had to move it, and the obvious thing to do was to capture the Rook in the corner. There is a rough scale of values for the chess pieces which helps us to determine what is a good exchange and what is bad. According to this, the Knight is worth three points and the Rook five, so this is definitely a good trade for the Champ. But don't worry, the Analysts have it all figured out. While the Knight made a raid into the corner to get the Rook, The World's Queen is on the rampage in the middle of the board, swiping as many pawns as possible. I would check out the Analysts' recommendations carefully on this next turn. The obvious move is to take the Knight in the corner with the Rook, but there may be something better... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 14 Voting Results A7-B6 97.73 D7-C7 0.7 D7-E6 0.36 D7-E8 0.15 D7-D8 0.08 KRUSH MOVE 14 COMMENTARY axb6 to Kasparov's Nb6+ I recommend pawn on a7 captures Knight on b6. We must play our fourth consecutive FORCED move. Black must capture the Knight and restore the MATERIAL BALANCE. Black has obtained a KNIGHT plus two CENTRAL PAWNS for a ROOK. After 14...axb6 we arrive at the first CRITICAL position of the "World Variation." Naturally, Garry decided to create a potential weakness in Black's QUEENSIDE PAWN STRUCTURE by using his trapped Knight as a DESPERADO with 14.Nb6+. White has a number of interesting ways to play his fifteenth move - we have studiously analyzed the alternatives we consider the most important on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. What is White's best move now? Garry will let us know TOMORROW! PAHTZ MOVE 14 COMMENTARY
axb6 to Kasparov's Nb6+ What else? The White Knight has to be taken. FELECAN MOVE 14 COMMENTARY axb6 to Kasparov's Nb6+ My move is obviously 14...axb6 taking the jumpy Knight. No comments since this move is totally forced. BACROT MOVE 14 COMMENTARY axb6 to Kasparov's Nb6+ This is the only move; we must take the Knight. DANNY KING MOVE 14 COMMENTARY What's this? Is the World Champion giving a Knight away for nothing? Is it a GIFT HORSE, or something more sinister, a TROJAN HORSE perhaps? Let's work through this one logically. The black King is in check, and there are only two ways out: move the King or take the Knight. If the king moves, then the Knight takes the Queen - and without the most powerful piece on the board the game is over! In other words there is no real choice here. I normally hesitate from giving concrete advice but, World Team, here you have no alternative - YOU MUST TAKE THE KNIGHT. Come on guys, I want to see 100% on this one. The real question is, why exactly is Garry making us this gift? The point is that the beast is for the chop anyway - the Rook is about to swing over to take it - so it throws itself away causing the greatest amount of damage in the process. Once the Knight is captured, the pawns will stand in front of one another - they will be 'DOUBLED' in chess jargon - and that constitutes a slight but significant weakness. The pawns can no longer protect each other, so the rest of Black's army has one more thing to take care of. As Garry himself says, 'At least Black's pawn structure will not look intact any more'. That comment also gives us a clue to one of the Champ's concerns. He needs targets to aim at in Black's position, and at the moment they aren't obvious; Black's pawns provide a solid, and at the moment impregnable, wall of cover for the King. But now Garry has created a tiny chink in Black's armour. By the way, The World's last move, 13...Qxc4, was very coolly played. Instead of rushing in to take the Knight it was far better to swipe another pawn first as the Knight in the corner couldn't escape its doom anyway - as we have just seen. The Knight's suicide mission on this last turn was fairly easy to predict, but it is Garry's next move which is harder to foresee. He has several interesting options - which all demand an accurate response. This is a crucial moment in the game for both sides. Stay tuned! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 15 Voting Results H8-A8 48.15 B6-B5 14.71 H8-D8 10.99 D6-D5 4.93 F6-E4 4.22 KRUSH MOVE 15 COMMENTARY Ra8 to Kasparov's Nc3 I recommend that the World plays 15...Ra8 (rook on h8 to a8) As was widely predicted on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, the World Champion played 15.Nc3! - clearly the strongest move at White's disposal. For the first time since move 10, Black has an important decision to make (moves 11 through 14 were practically forced). Before we subject Black's various CANDIDATE MOVES to a rigorous analysis, I would like to commend the untiring efforts of my TEAMMATES during the last week. Collectively, we have tested HUNDREDS of variations and ideas and forged them on an analytical anvil the likes of which has never been seen before on the Internet. YOUR tireless efforts have been instrumental in carrying the fight to the World Champion. Your combined energy has in particular been the driving force behind the formulation of my recommendation to you at Black's move 15. STRATEGIC CONSIDERATIONS AFTER KASPAROV'S 15.Nc3 After introducing an interesting theoretical novelty at move 10, the World has accompanied the World Champion down a narrow path until we have arrived at the position after 15.Nc3. Material: The sides have MATERIAL EQUALITY - Black has a KNIGHT + 2 PAWNS for a ROOK. However, this dynamic material balance creates different strategic problems for each side. King Safety: White's king is safely tucked away on the KINGSIDE. Black's king is in the CENTER, behind his wall of CENTER PAWNS (Black's extra pawns as a result of the volley of forced moves that have occurred since move 10). We are taught early in our chess careers that leaving the king in the center of the board during the opening phase of the game is not a wise course to follow. However, there are exceptions to every rule, and for the short term while White is lagging in DEVELOPMENT, Black's king is apparently not exposed to any imminent knock-out blow. Nevertheless, one of Black's long-term strategies will involve the gradual advance of his central PAWN MAJORITY (expanding Black's influence in the CENTER), and for this to be achieved, Black must plan on improving his king position with a MANEUVER such as Kd7-e8-f8-(g8). Piece Activity and Development: Black, for the time being, has a LEAD in DEVELOPMENT. This is a direct consequence of Garry's forced knight raid to a8. No less than nine of Garry's first fifteen moves have been knight moves (Ng1-f3xd4-e2-c3, and Nb1-c3-d5-c7xa8-b6)! Note also three moves by White pawns (none of which are on the board anymore), and two moves by a White bishop (since departed). This opening is very unusual, don't you think? Black's pieces are active - Black's QUEEN is centralized (although it may soon acquiesce to a loss of tempo as White unravels - for example, when White plays Ra1-c1); Black's DARK SQUARED BISHOP holds sway over the a1-h8
DIAGONAL; Black's KNIGHTS control key CENTRAL SQUARES, and further centralization is possible (e7-e6, Nf6-d5). Black's ROOK is poised to enter the action (for example at a8 or d8 as circumstances dictate). For the moment, White has a compact but solid position confined to his first three ranks. White has yet to CONNECT his ROOKS, and it is not yet clear how he should post his QUEEN. In order for White to be able to take the INITIATIVE, he must find a way to activate his heavy pieces (QUEEN and ROOKS). Although the c-FILE is open, and the d- and e-FILES are half-open, Black's plans include the neutralization of the White rooks by blocking the CENTER with his pieces and pawns (for example with e7-e6 and Nf6-d5). White has to make some decisions regarding his QUEENSIDE PAWN STRUCTURE - can he create open lines for his rooks on the queenside - for example, by playing a2-a3 in response to the advance of a Black pawn to b4, or will this merely allow Black to LIQUIDATE his weakness, and reduce White's opportunities for an advantage? Pawn Structure: For the moment, White enjoys a slight advantage in PAWN STRUCTURE. White has two compact PAWN ISLANDS. Black has a solid array of pawns stretching along d6-e7-f7-g6-h7. However, Black has DOUBLED b-pawns. This latter deficiency is partly compensated for by the fact that Black can pressure White's queenside pawn structure along the half-open a-FILE and the a1-h8 DIAGONAL. Black can also use his front b-pawn to gain SPACE on the queenside, and in certain circumstances rid himself of the doubled pawn by exchanging it for White's a-pawn. The absence of White center pawns reduces White's chances for an attack on the Black king, as White has no central PAWN LEVERS with which to attack Black's central pawns. White's attacking chances primarily lie in active piece play. Which pieces to exchange: In principle, White should try to AVOID EXCHANGES of pieces as his chances lie primarily in the MIDDLEGAME - although an exchange of a pair of ROOKS can be of benefit to White in many situations (the "redundant rook" theory). On the other hand, Black should try to INITIATE EXCHANGES, especially QUEENS and BISHOPS, and in many cases a pair of KNIGHTS. By exchanging pieces, Black will diminish White's attacking chances and enhance Black's prospects which are primarily in the ENDGAME - thanks to his potentially powerful CENTER PAWNS and CENTRALIZED KING. Many 2R + N versus 1R + 2N endgames are in Black's favor. THE "NUTS AND BOLTS" Armed with this STRATEGIC knowledge of the position, and cognizant of the problems facing BOTH sides in this uniquely rich and complicated middlegame, it is necessary to test our ideas with CONCRETE ANALYSIS. I have identified six CANDIDATE MOVES that in some way or other attempt to address Black's ambitions (I do not believe there are any other candidate moves that look to advance Black's plans in the position after 15.Nc3). A) 15...Ne4? - VERY BAD This move attempts to exchange White's potentially dangerous knight on c3 without further ado, but after 16.Nxe4 Qxe4, White immediately targets two UNDEFENDED Black pawns (on b6 and f7) with the strong 17.Qb3. Black has no good answer and stands worse. 15...Ne4? should be discarded. B) 15...Nd4? - VERY BAD This was a suggestion by "Will" on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. The move had the laudable idea that after 16.Be3 Nd5 17.Nxd5 Qxd5 18.Qa4+ (or after 18.Bxd4 Bxd4) 18...b5 19.Qa7 Nf5, Black had a playable game. However, Francis Monkman supplied a very effective refutation. White plays 18.Qd2! - White has a clear advantage, and Black has no reasonable answer. 15...Nd4? should be excluded from your consideration. C) 15...d5? - VERY BAD For a brief time, this central advance occupied my attention. After all, one of Black's positional trumps is his PASSED d-PAWN. Would it be possible to expand in the CENTER and at the same time maintain a sufficient defensive perimeter for Black's centralized king? Black might further advance with d5-d4, with the maneuver Nf6-d5 in mind, cramping White's efforts to mobilize his forces. Continuations like 16.Bg5 e6 17.Rc1 Ra8, or 17...Ne4 18.Nxe4 Qxe4, seemed none to clear - I could find no clean refutations of Black's play. Against the more subdued 16.Be3, I found variations like 16...d4 17.Rc1 Nd5 (17...Rd8!? 18.b3 Qa6 19.b4 Ke8 20.b5 Qa8 21.bxc6 dxe3 22.cxb7 exf2+ 23.Kh1 Qxb7 24.Qe2, also seemed OK for Black) 18.Nxd5 (Black is fine after 18.Ne2 Qb4 19.Nc3 Qa5!) 18...Qxd5, to be very unclear. Nevertheless, if it walks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck - it's a duck! My general feeling of uneasiness about 15...d5? was confirmed when one of my teammates found a convincing refutation of 15...d5? After 16.Na4! Kc7, White has 17.Bg5! with a clear plus - Black's defenses will buckle under the pressure. After this brutal refutation was
discovered by "GeneStar", it was clear that my brief affair with 15...d5? was over, for example after 17.Bg5! b5 18.Nc3 d4 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Ne4, I have no faith in Black's position - a line also noted by Karl Juhnke. D) 15...Rd8? - A VERY DUBIOUS ALTERNATIVE FOR BLACK This flexible move was a suggestion by GM Ron Henley very early on in the development of 10...Qe6, and has been explored by many analysts. As we saw from our "Strategic Considerations" Black's remaining rook can be ideally placed on d8, where it provides additional DEFENSE for our king, and is dutifully placed "behind the candidate" - our PASSED d-PAWN - "Rooks Belong Passed Pawns!" This flexible continuation seemed viable, as we would be playing a move that was frequently necessary or desirable, without making any serious commitments, and we would be preparing a maneuver Kd7-e7-f8, securing KING SAFETY before making an advance of our d-pawn (and possibly also our e-pawn), for example 16.Qf3!? Ke8, is harmless to Black. D1) We found that after 16.Be3 b5 17.Rc1 b4 18.Na4 (18.b3 Qa6, is OK for Black) 18...Qb5, we would TRANSPOSE to the variation 15...b5 16.Be3 Rd8 17.Rc1 b4 18.Na4 Qb5 (see Variation F), which is considered to offer Black good chances. D2) After 16.Bg5 Ke8 17.Rc1 (17.Re1 transposes to 16.Re1 Ke8 17.Bg5 - Variation D3b - see below) 17...Qb4 18.b3 Qa5 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Nd5 Bd4, everything looks OK for Black. D3) After 16.Re1, Black logically continues with 16...Ke8 (intending Ke8-f8), and now: D3a) 17.Be3 Qb4!? 18.a3 (18.Qb3 Qxb3 19.axb3 Nd7, leaves White with nothing) 18...Qxb2 19.Na4 Qb5 20.Rb1 Qf5 21.Rxb6 Rd7 22.Qb3 Na5 23.Qb1 Qxb1 24.Rexb1 Ng4, gives Black a good game, while after; D3b) 17.Bg5 (not 17...b5?! 18.a3 Kf8 19.Rc1! and White transposes to the variation 15...b5 16.a3 Rd8 17.Re1 Ke8 18.Bg5 Kf8 19.Rc1, which after intense analysis on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board has been shown to be very good for White) 17...d5! when ter Haar as shown that Black has an equal game after 18.Rc1 Kf8 19.b3 Qc5 20.Qd3 d4. Unfortunately, I have NOT found a solution to the idea: D4) 16.Na4, which looks very troublesome for Black, for example: 16...Kc7 17.b3 Qb5 (17...Qd5 18.Be3, or 17...Qa6 18.Be3 is very good for White) 18.Be3 Nd7 19.Rc1, and I think Black has problems. Therefore, 15...Rd8 is NOT recommended. E) 15...b5?! - A SHARP AND LIKELY DUBIOUS CONTINUATION - FOR PRACTICAL REASONS I DO NOT RECOMMEND THIS MOVE Early on in my own studies of the opening variation initiated with 10...Qe6!? I gave the natural-looking move 15...b5?! very close scrutiny. I returned time and again to this candidate move, as my attempts to rejuvenate or uncover alternatives seemed to bear no fruit. With 15...b5?! Black immediately puts his weak DOUBLED PAWN COMPLEX to work. Black gains SPACE on the QUEENSIDE, and often threatens to gain more space with the advance b5-b4, displacing the White knight on c3 and creating a nice OUTPOST on b5 for the Black queen. Rigorous analysis of the position after 15...b5, with vital feedback from my teammates on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, has convinced me that this is a RISKY borderline-playable continuation for Black which is NOT THE BEST APPROACH to solving the demands of the position. Although I am NOT going to recommend you play 15...b5, it is worthwhile acquainting yourself with the myriad of tactical motifs which lay in hiding waiting to ambush the unwary, as these motifs are also present in other variations (including 15...Ra8). A MORE DETAILED EXAMINATION OF 15...b5?! - AND WHY I DECIDED TO LET GO OF MY OLD FAVORITE E1) 16.Be3 Rd8, and now: E1a) 17.a4!? b4 18.Nb5, is a very artificial maneuver by White, which does not appear dangerous. After the logical 18...Nd5, Black has a good position. White has voluntarily misplaced his knight, and in return Black has made use of White's knight losing contact with the d5-square to post his knight powerfully in the CENTER. Note the knight can be supported with e7-e6, and therefore not only does it act as an excellent shield for our king, but the move b2-b3 by
White (taking the White b-pawn out of the glare of Black's bishop on g7) is also inhibited as White would be weakening his c3-square - an invitation for an eventual visit with Nd5-c3. E1b) After 17.Rc1, Black plays 17...b4, when 18.Na4 (threatening 19.Nb6+) is met by 18...Qb5, and Black has a very sound position, which has stood the "acid test" of various tactical assaults, for example: E1b1) 19.Rc5 Qa6 20.Qb3 b5! (20...Ke8! is also very good for Black) 21.Rxc6 (21.Qxf7 bxa4 22.Rxc6 Qxc6 transposes to 21.Rxc6) 21...Qxc6 22.Nb6+ (22.Qxf7 bxa4 23.Qxg7 Qd5! Gives Black a clear advantage, while 22.Rc1? bxa4 23.Qxf7 Qd5, is also very good for Black) 22...Ke8, and now: E1b1a) 23.Rc1 Qe4, when either 24.a3 Ng4, or 24.Rc7 d5, is good for Black. E1b1b) 23.Qxb4 Nd7 24.Nxd7 (24.Rc1? fails to 24...Nc5!) 24...Qxd7, and Black is clearly on top. E1b2) The attempt 19.Qb3 Ke8 20.Nb6 d5 21.a4 Qa6 22.Bc5, makes no progress for White after 22...Ne4! 23.Nxd5 Qa5, for example: 24.Nxe7 Nxc5 25.Nxc6 bxc6 26.Qc2 Nd3! 27.Qxc6+ Kf8 28.Rcd1 Nxb2 29.Rxd8+ Qxd8 30.Qc5+ Qe7 31.Qc8+ Qe8 32.Qc5+ Kg8, and Black is in charge. E1b3) 19.Bb6? is ineffective due to 19...Ra8 20.Nc5+ (20.b3 Rxa4 21.bxa4 Qxb6, just wins for Black) 20...Kc8! and Black is simply winning. E1b4) 19.Nb6+?! is also dubious after 19...Ke8 20.a4 (After 20.f3 d5 21.Na4 d4, Black is clearly better, for example: 22.Rc5 Qa6 23.Bg5 b5 24.Qd3 Na7! is winning for Black) 20...bxa3 21.bxa3 d5 22.a4 Qa6 23.Qb3 d4, with a clear advantage for Black. E1b5) 19.Re1 Ke8 (planning to tuck the king away) is OK for Black, for example 20.f3 allows 20...Nd5 21.Bf2 Nf4, with advantage to Black. E1b6) 19.Nc5+ Ke8 20.Nb3 Nd5 21.Qd2 Nxe3 (21...Kf8 22.Bh6 e6 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Rfd1 Ra8 25.Ra1 Ne5, favors Black) 22.fxe3 Ra8, and Black is much better. E2) Instead of 16.Be3, White can try the more active 16.Bg5, when Black has the excellent response 16...Ne4! (TEMPO!) 17.Nxe4 Qxe4, and now: E2a) 18.Qb3 Qc4 19.Qh3+ (19.Qxc4? bxc4, is obviously fantastic for Black) 19...Qe6 20.Qd3 (Black welcomes 20.Qxe6+ Kxe6, as his chances are preferable in the endgame) 20...Qc4 21.Qh3+ Qe6, with a draw by repetition most likely; E2b) 18.Qd2 (A suggestion of "Plain English") is countered by 18...Qd4 19.Qe2 (19.Qxd4 Bxd4, is at least equal for Black) 19...Ra8 20.Qxb5 Qxb2, and Black has an edge; E2c) 18.Re1 Qf5 19.Qd2 (Black has a nice position after 19.Be3 h5!?) 19...Ra8 20.Rad1 Be5 21.a3 (21.b3 b4 22.f4 loses to 22...Bd4+ 23.Kh1 f6 24.Bh4 Bc3, as there is no longer any mate to worry about) 21...Ra4! and Black has excellent play as given by GM Ron Henley, for example: 22.Be3 Rc4!? when I think Black even has a tiny edge. E3) The variation 16.a4 b4 17.Nb5, briefly caused some concern on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, but I don't share it. White has misplaced his knight, and after 17...Nd5, Black is doing well, for example: 18.Qf3 Ne5 19.Qh3+ f5!? 20.Bh6 (20.f4? Nd3 is good for Black), and now either 20...Bf6, or 20...Bxh6 21.Qxh6 Nf4, leads to excellent play for Black. E4) 16.a3 has attracted considerable attention, and various suggestions have been explored and found wanting (for example 16...Rd8 17.Re1! is very dangerous for Black). GM Danny King found the effective and perfectly logical 16...Ne4! which forces the exchange of the White knight on c3 (Nf6-e4 is thematic in many variations. White's Nc3 is a potentially very dangerous piece and should be exchanged off). After 16.a3 Ne4! (17.Nd5 allows either 17...Qd4, or 17...Bd4!? with a comfortable game for Black - King) 17.Nxe4 Qxe4 18.Re1 Qc4! and Black is OK (King). Now 19.b3 would allow Black to exchange queens with 19...Qd4! E5) 16.Qf3 is harmless, for example: 16...b4 17.Na4 Qb5 18.Qh3+ e6 19.Bh6 Bxh6 20.Qxh6 Rd8 21.b3 Qh5 22.Qxh5 Nxh5, with an easy game for Black.
E6) We complete our analytical survey by examining what I believe is White's most dangerous try - that is 16.Re1! Logically, play continues 16...b4! (but not 16...Rd8? transposing to another line known to be dangerous for Black) 17.Na4 Qb5, and now: E6a) 18.Be3, when the original suggestion of 18...Rd8? had to discarded in light of 19.Bb6! (An important difference between this variation and Variation E1b3 (after 16.Be3) is that White already has a rook posted on the half-open efile) 19...Ra8 20.Nc5+ Kc8 (20...Ke8 loses to 21.Qxd6 Rc8 22.Rac1 Qxb6 23.Rxe7+! and Garry is eating our lunch!) 21.Rxe7! Qxb6 22.Qxd6 Bf8 (22...Qd8 loses to 23.Nxb7) 23.Rxb7 Bxd6 24.Rxb6 Kc7 25.Rb7+ Kc8 26.Rxf7, and White is better and will win the endgame after 26...Bxc5 27.Rxf6 Nd4 28.a4 bxa3 29.bxa3 Rxa3 30.Rxa3 Bxa3 31.Rf7, etc. However, Black has a simple (and desirable) solution with 18...e6! Black plans to entrench his Nf6 on the d5OUTPOST, for example: 19.Rc1 (Neither 19.Nc5+ Ke7 20.Nb3 Ra8, nor 19.Nb6+ Ke7 20.Rc1 Rd8, make an impression on Black) 19...Nd5, when Black has a comfortable game - the knight on d5 forms an impenetrable central BARRIER. If White plays 20.b3?! (to safeguard his b-pawn from Black's bishop on g7), Black can play the unpleasant 20...Nc3, further utilizing the advance of the Black b-pawn, for example 21.Nb6+ (21.Nxc3? bxc3 is horrible for White) 21...Ke7 22.Qd2 Ne4! 23.Qe2 (23.Qd1? d5! is good for Black) 23...Qxe2 24.Rxe2 d5, and Black can be happy with the situation on the board. E6b) 18.a3!? Rd8 E6b1) 19.Bd2 ("zenith") 19...bxa3 20.Rxa3 (20.bxa3 Ke8 21.Rb1 Qa6 22.Rb6 Qa8, is fine for Black) 20...Ke8 21.Nc3 Qf5, and Black is OK; E6b2) 19.axb4 Qxb4, and now: E6b2a) 20.Be3 Ke8 21.Bb6 Ra8 22.Bc7 Kf8, with the following possibilities: E6b2a1) 23.Nb6 Rxa1 24.Qxa1 Ne8! 25.Rf1 Nxc7 26.Nd5 Bxb2! 27.Nxb4 Bxa1 28.Nxc6 (28.Rxa1? loses to 28...Nxb4) 28...bxc6!? 29.Rxa1 Ne6, and Black has a clear plus; E6b2a2) 23.Re3 Ne8 24.Rb3 Qf4 25.Rf3 (25.Rxb7?! is bad in view of 25...Bd4 26.Qe1 Ne5! with the idea Ne5-d3 ("Peshee"), for example: 27.Bb6 Bxb6 28.Nxb6 Rxa1 29.Qxa1 Ng4, and White is being overrun) 25...Qb4 26.Rb3 Qf4 27.Rf3, forcing a draw. E6b2b) 20.Bd2 Qb5 21.Nc3 Qb6 22.Qe2!? (or 22.Na4 Qb5, with a draw by repetition) 22...Ke8 23.Be3 Qc7 (Patience is called for) 24.Nb5 Qd7, and Black is solid, for example: 25.Bb6 Rc8 26.Na7 (26.Nd4 Nd5 27.Nxc6 Rxc6 28.Ra8+ Rc8 29.Rxc8+ Qxc8, is equal) 26...Nxa7 27.Rxa7 Nd5, and Black is fine. E6b2c) 20.Re3!? Ke8 (note that 20...Ng4?? loses instantly to 21.Re4!) 21.Rb3 Qh4 22.Qf1 (as given by Chernoff; but not 22.Rxb7? Ng4, and Black is on top), and now 22...Rd7 (Henley) is a tough nut to crack, despite my repeated efforts to break through Henley's defenses in training games and analysis sessions. For example: E6b2c1) 23.Nc3 d5 24.Ra8+ Nd8 25.Rba3 e6, with an unclear position, in which Black's chances do not appear worse, but I do not like the nature of the position for Black. E6b2c2) 23.Nb6 Rd8 24.Ra4 Qh5 25.Rb5 d5 26.Ra8!? (White can force a draw with 26.Na8 Rd7 27.Nb6 Rd8), and now centralization with 26...Qe5 is seemingly OK for Black. For example: E6b2c2a) 27.g3?! (weakens f3) 27...Rxa8 28.Nxa8 (28.Bf4 is crushed by 28...Qe4 29.Nxa8 Nd4) 28...Nd4 29.Rxb7 Qe2! with danger for White. Instead White must play; E6b2c2b) 27.Rxd8+ Kxd8, and here is a sample variation: 28.Be3 e6 29.Nc4 Qb8 30.Na5 Nxa5 31.Rxa5 Ng4, and now White can force a draw with 32.Bb6+ Ke7 33.Bc5+ Kf6 34.Bd4+ Ke7 35.Bc5+, etc., or play for complications with 33.f4 (instead of 35.Bc5+), when Black has the answer 33...g5! with sufficient counterplay when Black's chances are not worse. Again, I do not like the nature of the position for Black, as this entire line is fraught with difficulties, and laced with unseen tactical minefields. Black appears to be teetering on the edge of an analytical abyss. REMEMBER you will be standing on the edge of this abyss with an opponent who knows how to push a position and an opponent to the maximum. The whole variation stemming from an early Rf1-e1 just feels like you are pulling a hungry tiger by his tail!
Based on my analysis of the situations arising from 16.Re1! b4 17.Na4 Qb5 18.a3, I have decided that I CANNOT in good conscience recommend this DANGEROUS variation (with 15...b5?!) to my teammates. F) 15...Ra8(!) - A DYNAMIC ALTERNATIVE FOR BLACK This move was a suggestion of one of England's top grandmasters - Jonathan Speelman, although it appears that he had in mind a different follow-up to the one I will summarize in the following analysis. F1) 16.Be3, and now F1a) 16...Ra6?! is Speelman's idea (This looks like a strange move - tying a whole rook down to cater to the straggler on b6). After 17.Rc1 Ne4 18.Nxe4 Qxe4 19.Qb3 Qe6, White plays 20.Rc4! (not 20.Qb5? Qxa2, or 20.Qxe6+? Kxe6 with a clear advantage to Black) 20...Bxb2 (20...Rxa2?? loses quickly to 21.Qxa2 b5 22.Qa8) 21.Bxb6 (21.Rb1 Bg7, is good for Black, for example 22.Bxb6? Rxb6 23.Qxb6 Qxc4 24.Qxb7+ Ke6 25.Qc8+ Kf6, and Black wins) 21...Bg7 22.Be3, when I feel the position is good for White - his heavy pieces are becoming more active and are gravitating toward the Black king, and the QUEENSIDE is beginning to open up in an ominous manner. In this line if Black should play 17...Ng4?! (instead of 17...Ne4), White has 18.Nd5! Nxe3 19.fxe3 Qxa2 20.Rxf7 Qxb2 21.Nxe7! Ke8 22.Nxc6 bxc6 23.Qf1, which is much in White's favor. Nevertheless, there is a more DYNAMIC way of playing the position, in my opinion: F1b) 16...b5! (analyzed often by Francis Monkman & Krush/Henley), and now: F1b1) 17.Rc1 Ke8, F1b1a) 18.b3?! Qh4, F1b1a1) 19.Nxb5 Rxa2 20.Rc4 Qh5 21.Qxh5 (21.Ra4 Qxd1 22.Rxd1 Rb2, is equal) 21...Nxh5 22.Ra4 Rb2, is equal; F1b1a2) 19.Qe2 b4 20.Nb5 Kf8 21.Rc4 Qh5, equal; F1b1b) 18.a3 transposes to 17.a3 Ke8 18.Rc1 (Variation F1b3). F1b2) 17.Re1 (Chernoff's suggestion) is best met by 17...e6! 18.a3 (If 18.Rc1, Black has the very strange-looking but perfectly acceptable solution 18...Nd5! 19.Nxd5 Qxd5 20.Qxd5 exd5, and despite his newly doubled e-pawns, Black is much better because White's queenside pawns are under heavy fire), and now the direct 18...Ng4 gives Black very good play. It was a review of the unusual "doubled pawn" variation in this line, that turned me towards my final recommendation (15...Ra8). F1b3) 17.a3 Ke8 18.Rc1 b4!? 19.b3 (19.Na4? is bad because of 19...Qb5 20.Nb6 Ra6, with advantage to Black, while after 19.axb4 Qxb4 20.Qe2 Kf8, Black is OK, for example: 21.Ra1 Ra5! 22.Rfd1 d5 23.Rxa5 Qxa5 24.Qf3 e6 25.Bg5 Nd7 26.Qh3 h5, with a slight edge for Black) 19...Qg4 (also good is 19...Qa6 20.axb4 Nxb4) 20.Nb5 Kf8 21.a4 (or 21.Qxg4 Nxg4 22.axb4 Nxe3 23.fxe3 Bh6! 24.Rc3 Nxb4 25.e4 Nc6, and Black is better) 21...Qxd1 22.Rfxd1 Ne4! with at least equal chances for Black. F2) 16.Bg5?! is weak because of 16...Ra5 17.Bxf6 (17.Qd2 Nd5! favors Black) 17...Bxf6, and Black is better. F3) 16.Re1 Ra5 17.a4 (17.Be3 Nd5 18.Nxd5 Rxd5 19.Qe2 b5, is fine for Black, and is an illustration of Black's idea to ACTIVATE his rook along the fourth rank) 17...Rf5! as analyzed by "Bondiman" & Krush/Henley. Now: F3a) 18.Nb5 Rd5 19.Qf3 Qg4! 20.Qxg4+ (on 20.Ra3, Black can even consider 20...Nb4 - Francis Monkman) 20...Nxg4, with easy equality for Black. F3b) 18.Be3 Nd5 19.Nxd5 (If 19.Nb5 Nxe3 20.Rxe3, and now I like 20...Re5!? 21.Rxe5 Bxe5 22.Rc1 Qh4 23.g3 Qf6 24.b3 e6 25.f4 Bd4+ 26.Nxd4 Qxd4+ 27.Qxd4 Nxd4, and Black has an edge) 19...Rxd5 20.Qe2 Qxe2 (also good is 20...Qb3!?) 21.Rxe2 b5! 22.axb5 (22.a5?? fails to 22...Nxa5, as White has BACK RANK PROBLEMS) 22...Rxb5, and Black stands a little better F4) 16.a4!? is critical, White intends Nc3-b5 to try and lock out the rook. Even though White achieves this, he is unable to prevent Black from obtaining a playable game after 16...Ra5 17.Nb5 (17.Be3 Nd5 18.Nxd5 Rxd5 19.Qf3 Rf5, is fine for Black - "Stan") 17...Nd5, for example: F4a) 18.Bd2 Bxb2! 19.Rb1 (19.Bxa5 Bxa1, is great for Black) 19...Bc3, and now:
F4a1) 20.Rc1 Nd4, with; F4a1a) 21.Nxd4?! Qxd4 22.Bxc3 Nxc3 23.Qf3 (23.Qxd4 Ne2+ 24.Kh1 Nxd4, and Black is clearly better) 23...Rc5 24.Qxb7+ Rc7 25.Qf3 f5, with a clear plus for Black; F4a1b) 21.Nxc3 Nxc3 22.Bxc3 Ne2+ 23.Kh1 allows 23...Rh5! (Francis Monkman) 24.h3 (24.Qc2?? Rxh2+! 25.Kxh2 Qh4 mate; 24.f4 Nxc1 25.Qxc1 Rc5, with an edge for Black, as White's a-pawn is weak) 24...Nxc1 25.Qxc1 Rc5 26.Bb2 Qxa4, and Black has the favorable chances. F4a2) 20.Bxc3 Nxc3 21.Nxc3 Qxc3 22.Rxb6 Kc7 23.Qb1 Ra7 24.Rb5 (24.Rb3 Qd4, favors Black - weakness on a4 while 24.Qb5 Nd4 25.Qb4 Kb8 26.Rb1 Qxb4 27.R1xb4 Ne2+ 28.Kf1 Nc3, is good for Black) 24...Qa3 25.Re1 Qxa4 26.Qb2 e5!? and Black has an edge. F4b) 18.Re1 e6 19.Bd2 Ra8 20.b3 Qh4 21.Rc1 Ne5! (Koval) gives Black good counterplay, for example: 22.g3 Qg4 (22...Qh3!? is possible) 23.Qxg4 Nxg4 24.Bf4 Be5, with equal chances. Black's chances in this variation were the final pieces of the puzzle for me in putting forward my recommendation of 15...Ra8. The continuation 15...Ra8 not only appears sound but is a dynamic response with active piece play and excellent endgame prospects in keeping with the spirit of the 10...Qe6 system. The hyperactive 15...b5?! should be AVOIDED, while plainly inferior moves such as 15...Rd8? 15...Ne4? 15...Nd4? and 15...d5? should NOT even enter your consideration. I will therefore go with my preferred choice of 15...Ra8. This analysis, formulated in large part via interaction with my teammates on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, has led me to RECOMMEND the move 15...Ra8 for Black at this juncture. PAHTZ MOVE 15 COMMENTARY b5 to Kasparov's Nc3 15...b6 to b5. Over the last few moves, there was no going back for either side. Black bravely went chasing after pawns with his Queen. In return, White picked up the Black Rook on a8 with a fork. At the moment Black's central pawns on e7 and d6 provide excellent cover for the uncastled Black King. So at the moment, there is no danger. Now we, The World, have to be on our guard. Garry's strengths now come into play, for he loves wild positions which promise double-edged play. However, if we keep cool, then we can get him. The intention of the advance of the bpawn is to drive the Knight from its ideal square on c3, moreover, Black seeks to rid himself of the doubled pawn. FELECAN MOVE 15 COMMENTARY d5 to Kasparov's Nc3 My next recommendation for black is 15...d6-d5. It looks risky but it may be the only way to prevent white from putting pressure on Black's weaknesses on the queenside. Possible 16. Bc1-e3 d5-d4 17. Ra1-c1 Rh8-d8! followed by Kd7- e8(I don't like 17... Nf6-d5 because of 18. Nc3-e2 Qc4-b4 19. a2-a3! Qb4xb2 20. Rc1-b1 and black's position is worse because of his exposed king). I believe that we have to push our passed pawn as quickly as possible in order to limitate white's options before heading into an ending. BACROT MOVE 15 COMMENTARY Rd8 to Kasparov's Nc3 I don't like this move: 15...Ra8 because of the line: 16. Be3 e5 (advancing The World's pawn forward two squares) then 17.Rc1 Ke8?! 18.Bg5 giving White a better position. Maybe in this line: 17...e6 would be playable. So I prefer the safer move 15...Rd8. DANNY KING MOVE 15 COMMENTARY
The percentage of votes for The World's last move, 14...axb6, was a massive 97.73%, not quite the blank-out I asked for, but I'm satisfied all the same! In reply, the World Champion has chosen to move his Knight to a slightly more aggressive post on c3. More on this a little later. For the moment, let's consider the position as a whole. This is the first time that the position has stabilised since the remarkable move 10...Qe6, so it is a good opportunity to sit back and take stock. First let's take a look at the balance of pieces. In the flurry of captures over the last few moves Black has gained a Knight and two pawns, and that is matched by White, who bagged the Rook in the corner. Going by the standard chess values, a Knight is worth three points and the pawns one each (a total of five) which is equal to a rook, worth five on its own. In other words, a roughly EQUAL EXCHANGE has taken place. Now let's weigh up the pros and cons of the White and Black positions. The most obvious difference between the two sides is THE POSITIONING OF THE KINGS. White's is tucked away in the corner behind a barrier of pawns, totally safe; black's, on the other hand, is still in the middle of the board. Normally this would not be a good spot for the Black King castling, as Garry has done here, is standard practice in top games - but here the World can get away with it as the King also has a shield of pawns for protection. In fact it is these pawns which give black, potentially, an excellent position. Right at the start of the game I spoke about the importance of CONTROLLING THE CENTRE, and the best way to do that is WITH THE PAWNS. Imagine if those two central pawns on the d and e files were to roll down the board: they would be tremendously powerful as there are no white pawns to oppose them. At the moment such a plan is simply IMPOSSIBLE. Black's King would suffer from the X-factor - EXPOSURE. Very nasty indeed. However, if the Queens were exchanged, so reducing white's attacking chances, then the pawn advance would become a possibility. Aside from the pawns, how about the positioning of the other pieces? Black is actually better developed than White, in particular that Bishop on g7, searing across the long diagonal, has great potential. For the moment it is far better than its counterpart on c1. Garry's last move, 15 Nc3, was partly directed against that Bishop as it blocks the diagonal. This Knight also casts an eye in the direction of the pawn on b6. Remember how White's Knight carried out a suicide mission, giving itself up on b6? The point is now revealed. The pawn on b6 is a little vulnerable to attack as it cannot be supported by another pawn. In chess jargon the pawns on the b-file are DOUBLED and ISOLATED. Sounds painful and, believe me, it can be. Garry will be looking to attack the pawn on b6, possibly with the Knight, and perhaps with the bishop from e3. Once the Bishop emerges, White can also move the rook to c1 with an indirect attack on Black's Queen. The next few moves are going to be crucial. Garry is looking to mobilise his army as rapidly as possible to begin an attack on the King and the Queenside pawns; while The World's aim must be to neutralise that attack, possibly by exchanges, perhaps by skillful piece positioning, with the hope that in the long-term he will emerge with the superior pawn structure. Check out the Analysts recommendations carefully on this turn and join in the discussion on the bulletin boards if you have time; you need to make an informed choice here as it is really not clear what the best move is for Black. I am still optimistic about Black's long-term chances - so long as The World can solve the short-term difficulties. Good luck!
Kasparov with the Entire World It’s three weeks since the unprecedented battle has started in the headquarters of the Microsoft computer monster in the USA: the World Champion Garry Kasparov made his first move in the game “versus the whole World”. The Internet that has impetuously burst into our lives at the very end of the 20th century lets us realize some boldest projects. Informational breakthrough, that was fraught with real catastrophe, turned out to be bridled by electronic means with their compact wrapping and a possibility to store huge databases in extremely small volumes. Possibilities of computer technologies were soon noticed by the chess players: at first they used them to systematize theoretical and practical database, and then created more convenient means of looking through and sorting these bases out; and at last, there appeared chess programs, which are not only able to help the chess player, but can also successfully compete with him in tournaments and matches. And still chess fight should stay human's lot, human brain should not compete with tireless electronic memory - trying to run after a motorcycle or to lift up more than a hoisting crane is absurd. One can achieve emotional satisfaction only in a live dispute, let it be a speechless one, as it usually is over the board; it should be a dispute with a man and not a machine, which anyway does not care if it is defeated or if the result is drawn. While it is both useful and interesting to exercise the computer when preparing for the game or analyzing it. Garry Kasparov was one of the first to feel the boundless opportunities of cooperation with computers, though he suffered from it not once, wittingly admitting unjustified experiments. He is like a doctor-innovator, who first carries out experiments on himself, and then recommends others what has already been tested beforehand. It was so in his matches versus Deep Blue and Advanced Chess. At last, now he ventured to play a match with a vast number of adversaries, who have old chess libraries, computer databases, playing programs, and most modern analytical modules at their disposal. The giant of computer technologies, the Microsoft Company, quickly realized what immense advertising perspectives such match would provide, and decided to carry out this project in practice. Overwhelming majority of observers and experts in various fields of politics, economics, culture, and sports have immediately paid their attention to this grandiose project. The biggest PR-agencies and mass media pay tribute to this event. But of course, some of them, due to their mentality or other qualities… can not get to grips with what's actually happening. J.Damsky, correspondent of the "Maiak" radio station, has burst out the following tirade on the pages of "Moscow News" newspaper: "It seems to me that the World has gone crazy. Otherwise, what would be the reason for all TV channels to pull this news out of other sports events and put it above various political decisions of national importance? Otherwise, why would a respectable newspaper (without which, they say, bankers and businessmen can not enjoy their morning porridge) interview circus directors and chess historians in order to find out if Garry Kasparov is stronger than a crowd of chess amateurs, with who he has started a correspondence chess match via Internet… Alas, all this hullabaloo comes from incomprehension of the simplest… – only one head is of use in this ancient game. And what can be worse than a hundred? Moreover, Kasparov is able to hold a blind simul with those young chess talents, who will propose one-two or even three basic moves for choice, even if he has a medicine dropper in his vein or if he is dead drunk. He'll win anyway." It's somehow strange to comment on this nonsense. Indeed, the entire world has gone crazy, but not Damsky, he managed to avoid this lot. Besides the fact that this sports commentator has shown a rare for modern times ignorance as regards to software, he has not even found time to get to grips with the technology of the game itself, and mentioned some chess toys that have fallen out of use long ago. The office of the "New Time" magazine is situated just opposite that of "Moscow News", and it has published an article "Intermate" (№26 1999) by a less famous journalist Igor Riabov, who turned out to be a better erudite and got hold of the events. These are the lines from his article: "…Kasparov has once again decided to convince the world that chess has changed. The World Champion has always promoted the idea that chess should present an enthralling sight. The spectacle should rise former interest to the old game, increase commercial value, and guarantee mass character. Leaders of World's business have become Garry's partners in his revolution. This match is unique for many reasons. It has no concrete geographical position. There is a server address www.zone.com, where the match is shown. Here you can see a popular Internet site for the fans of computer games. The organizers seem to stress that chess will soon become an ordinary Net game that would not differ from the rest… Kasparov promises that "ideal chess" will triumph in this match, that there will be no accidental mistakes, but only best possible moves and best calculated lines." The Champion's forecast has already begun to justify itself: only ten moves have been made in the game so far, and we have already witnessed so many interesting moments. Several times Garry's partners were on the crossroad and made an optimal choice, until, at last, they surprised the champion with a novelty – 10…Фе6!? Along with official young experts, there is also an experienced moderator, grandmaster Daniel King, and many leading chess players of the world have also joined the analysis. Russian St. Peterburg site "Grandmaster Chess School" volunteered to help the world. At first they published all Garry's games, games played in the Sicilian Defense, games with the line 3…Cb5+; then there
followed concrete expert evaluations and recommendations. In one word, an all-world brainstorming of not the most popular but worth serious theoretical attention line began to show. And how many interesting things are still ahead! The logic of Damsky will undoubtedly be disgraced and he will certainly be sorry for what he has written, but his selfexpression is rather characteristic of the fading school of dilettante comment. I'd like to finish with the words from I.Riabov's article: «This match is a huge PR, popularizing action. Hardly had the match started that it has already fulfilled its function, as it attracted All-World's interest. Chess has a good future. At least, it is going to be almost the only computer game that can be played in real world." I can only add that it is not the match of Kasparov against the rest of the World, but of Kasparov with the entire World! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 16 Voting Results F6-E4 50.33 C6-D4 14.06 A8-A5 12.81 D6-D5 8.11 F6-G4 2.39 KRUSH MOVE 16 COMMENTARY Ne4 to Kasparov's a4 I recommend the World plays 16...Ne4 (Knight on f6 to e4) SUMMARY After countless hours of examining all the viable-looking alternatives for Black (16...Ra5, 16...Ke8, and 16...Nd4), I am recommending that the World CENTRALIZES and further ACTIVATES its forces with the move 16...Ne4. This move is designed to exchange off White's knight, and to initiate further exchanges and/or create active play against the White king. ANALYSIS With 15...Ra8, Black ACTIVATED his rook and threatened the MANEUVER Ra8-a5-f5. White responded with 16.a4 intending to meet 16...Ra5 with 17.Nb5, keeping our rook "boxed in". It is always important to examine EACH position without prejudice, and look at all of our options each and every move through the eyes of innocence. The move I am proposing - 16...Ne4 is a logical continuation of the strategy commenced with 10...Qe6, which led to a sequence where Black cleaned out White's center. We then activated our rook, which completed our DEVELOPMENT and provoked the weakening advance of the White a-pawn. With 16...Ne4, Black offers to exchange White's only developed piece, and opens the long diagonal for his dark-squared bishop. Black's queen, bishop, and knight on c6 all exercise an authority over the d4-square, so Black will be able to post a piece firmly in the center at a time of his choosing.
Let's analyze my proposal: 16...Ne4!? and now: A) 17.Qd5?! Qxd5 18.Nxd5 Ra6 19.Be3 Nc5, Black has a small edge. B) 17.Qg4+?! seems to have no point. After 17...f5! Black is fine, when 18.Qh4 Nd4 looks great for Black. The critical line is: C) 17.Nxe4 Qxe4 18.Qb3 (This is not the only thing White can do, for example, White can play 18.Re1, but after for example 18...Qb4, I feel Black has a nice position), and now 18...Nd4! is very pretty, for example: C1) 19.Qxb6?? Ra6 20.f3 (20.Qb4 loses the White queen to 20...Ne2+) 20...Qd5 21.Qb4 Nc2, with a winning fork. Notice how the magic ingredient 19...Ra6 is available because we played 18...Ra8. C2) 19.Qxf7? Nc2 20.Ra3 (20.Ra2? is just crushed by 20...Ne1!!) 20...Nxa3 21.Qxg7 Nc2 22.b3 Ne1!? 23.f3 Qe2 24.Qb2 Qxb2 25.Bxb2 Nd3, and Black with an extra pawn stands better. C3) 19.Qh3+, and now probably simplest is 19...Qf5, and if 20.Qxf5+ Nxf5, Black has a nice position. Note that White cannot take our h-pawn in this variation with 20.Qxh7, because of 20...Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Rh8 22.Qxg7 Rxh2+! 23.Kxh2 Qh5 mate! I believe that with the move 16...Ne4 (a logical follow-up to 15...Ra8), Black is demonstrating equality. PAHTZ MOVE 16 COMMENTARY Ra5 to Kasparov's a4 My recommendation is 16...Ra5. With 16.a4, Garry chose the best move. Now after 16...Ra5 he is intending 17.Nb5 to block The World's Rook. Nevertheless, I think The World should go for this, because after the Knight moves to b5, The World will gain the d5 square for its Knight. From this beautiful position in the centre of the board, The World's influence extends over many important squares. FELECAN MOVE 16 COMMENTARY Nd4 to Kasparov's a4 My next move is 16...Nd4. I was analyzing 16...Nb4 but after 17.Be3 Nfd5 18.Nxd5 Nxd5 19.b3 Qe4 20.Rc1 e6(premature 20...f5 21Re1!)21.Rc4 followed by 22.Qc1 or 21.Qe2 gives White a clear advantage. After 16... Nd4 I considered that White has two options: either 17.Be3 or 17.Ra3 After 17.Be3 black can play 17...Nb3 18.Ra3 Nc5 19.Qb1(interesting but probably not enough)19...Nfe4(interesting 19...Qb4!?)20. Nxe4 Qxe4 with a good play for Black; 21. Qxe4 Nxe4 22.Rb3 Rxa4 23. Rxb6 Kc7 24.Rc1+ Kb8 After 17. Ra3 black has a very powerful blow with 17...b5! 18.Nxb5 Nxb5 19.axb5 Rxa3 20.bxa3 Qxb5 and Black has a better position because of his active pieces, especially the Queen and the Bishop. The ideas behind 16...Nd4 are to control the b5 and b3 squares and to find a better place for the Knight on c5 via b3-c5 or e6-c5. BACROT MOVE 16 COMMENTARY d5 to Kasparov's a4
Yesterday, The World chose a move which one I don't like much (15... Ra8). Now there are two main lines: 16...Ra5 (with idea Nd5) 17.Nb5 Nd5 18.Bd2 Ra8 with reciprocal chances. 16...d5 17.Nb5 d4 18.Re1 Qd5 19.b3 Ne4 with a good position in the centre. I recommend the more active move 16...d5 DANNY KING MOVE 16 COMMENTARY On the last turn, the World chose to bring its last inactive piece into the game with 15...Ra8, swinging the rook to a socalled SEMI-OPEN FILE (more chess jargon!). This is good strategy. In chess, like in other sports, to be successful you need to use all your team. Can you imagine playing a football game with half your men sitting on the bench? Garry has responded by advancing the a-pawn, which is solidly protected by his Knight, Rook and Queen; in other words it is in no danger of being taken. Why has he done this? It is partly to neutralise the effectiveness of the Rook on a8 (though it can still enter the game via a5); but, perhaps more significantly, Garry's pawn advance FIXES THE PAWN ON B6. I have already discussed how the DOUBLED PAWNS on the b-file can prove to be weak as they are no longer able to defend themselves. By playing 16 a4, the World Champion ensures that THE BLACK PAWN CANNOT ADVANCE WHEN ATTACKED - it will just be taken by the Knight. A static target is far easier to hit than a moving one! So, for instance, moving the Bishop to e3 to attack the pawn now comes into consideration. Moreover, White might, in some circumstances, consider planting his Knight on the b5 square, solidly supported by the a-pawn. All-in-all, 16 a4 is a clever, multi-purpose move. Does it have any drawbacks? I think so - in chess nothing is ever black and white! Although the a-pawn's advance has won some squares, it has also conceded some. For instance, the b4 and b3 squares are now a little weaker as they can no longer be protected by a pawn. That means that Black might find a stable square for a piece on one of them a little later. All this fighting for squares and identifying weaknesses might seem a little too subtle for some tastes, but is quite typical of top games nowadays. A century ago one might have got away with a lightning assault on the King, but times, and defensive techniques, have changed! Good luck with your next choice. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 17 Voting Results C4-E4 95.9 D7-E6 0.69 C6-D4 0.43 F7-F5 0.35 C4-F1 0.26 KRUSH MOVE 17 COMMENTARY Qxe4 to Kasparov's Nxe4 My recommended Queen on c4 captures Knight on e4 is A FORCED move, as we must recapture the Knight on e4. PAHTZ MOVE 17 COMMENTARY Qxe4 to Kasparov's Nxe4 The Knight must be taken back, so the only move is 17...Qxe4. FELECAN MOVE 17 COMMENTARY Qxe4 to Kasparov's Nxe4 It is the only move for us to make, since we have to recapture the Knight. What Garry prepared for his 18th move is interesting; possibly 18.Qb3 with a double attack on b7 and f7. Then we have to consider 18...Bd4!? with the following 19.Qxf7 Ne5 and Ng4. Anyway, with Black's 16...Ne4, the game develops (or deviates) to the tactical(resources)stage. BACROT MOVE 17 COMMENTARY Qxe4 to Kasparov's Nxe4 There is nothing else to do - we have to take the Knight. The critical position will arise after 17...Qxe4 18.Qb3 Nd4 19.Qxf7, and we will have to play very precisely to hold our equality. DANNY KING MOVE 17 COMMENTARY Just when I thought the position was about to settle down to some subtle maneuvering, we plunge once more into a mire of complications! It was interesting that each of the Analysts, all experts, recommended a different move, which attests to the complexity of the position. Often in a game of chess there is not one objectively best move; it can just be a matter of taste what one plays - within limits of course. If you have a penchant for giving away your pieces you won't last long! The World chose to play 16...Ne4, offering to exchange Knights. This is a very principled decision. I have mentioned previously how in the SHORT-TERM WHITE has dangerous ATTACKING CHANCES, but in the LONG-TERM, with his powerful CENTRAL PAWN MASS, BLACK has good prospects. With every exchange, the pawn mass becomes more potent, and white's attacking prospects are reduced. In particular an EXCHANGE OF QUEENS would be highly DESIRABLE FOR BLACK. That would instantly minimise the (potential) danger to Black's King; indeed it would be well placed to support the centre pawns. An exchange of Knights brings The World a step closer to the long-term goal of an ENDGAME - a position with just a few pieces on the board. Yes, in principle, 16...Ne4 is STRATEGICALLY a good move. My only concern is, does it work TACTICALLY? In other words, is there a short-term shot we are
missing? Garry has chosen to go in for the exchange with 17 Nxe4 - he could have avoided it with 17 Nd5 - so I have a funny feeling he has something up his sleeve on the next move. Let's see. Once again, the next few moves are going to be absolutely critical for both sides; though you shouldn't have too much trouble with this next one... xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 18 Voting Results F7-F5 43% C6-D4 35% E7-E6 9% C6-E5 3% G7-D4 3% KRUSH MOVE 18 COMMENTARY f5 to Kasparov's Qb3 I highly recommend that the World plays 18...f5 (pawn on f7 to f5). SUMMARY At each and every turn in such a sharp chess middlegame, there awaits a microcosm of seemingly unending complications and secrets waiting to be explored. Over the last few days, on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, we have witnessed a fascinating debate over various possibilities for Black after White's 18.Qb3. Why could we expect such a move from Kasparov? Because 18.Qb3 is the most direct approach at White's disposal to combat Black's dynamic new opening system. I have actively participated in discussions on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board on three candidate moves for Black. Each of these moves held some appeal, but under close scrutiny failed, in my opinion, to fully meet the demands of Black's position. In my Analysis Section, I will briefly indicate why I eventually declined to recommend any of these moves to my teammates. In more detail, I will present a case for my recommendation - the enterprising and dynamic 18...f5 - an analytical project initiated by the GM Chess School, and collaborated on by me. ANALYSIS SECTION - WHY I WON'T RECOMMEND 18...Bd4, 18...e6, or 18...Nd4 A) 18...Bd4 I realized the option 18...Bd4? was not viable, as after 19.Qxf7 Ne5 20.Qb3 Ng4 (or 20...Nd3 21.Qb5+! Kd8 22.Bd2, leaves White clearly better), and now the straightforward 21.Qb5+ Qc6 22.Qd3 Qd5 23.Ra3! Rf8 24.Qe2, leaves White with a clear advantage. B) 18...e6?! A second alternative for Black involves keeping the f7-point intact with 18...e6?! After 19.Qxb6 Nd4 20.Kh1, White will stand better, for example: B1) 20...Qc6 21.Qxc6+ bxc6 22.Ra3! c5 23.Bd2 Nc2 24.Rf3 Ke8 25.b3 Nd4 26.Rd3 Rb8 27.Bc3! and White has an advantage;
B2) 20...Ra6 21.Qb4 Qc6 22.Rd1 Rb6 (22...Nc2 23.Qf4, is good for White) 23.Qd2! and White keeps an edge, for example: 23...Nb3 24.Qf4, with a clear plus for White; B3) 20...Nc2 21.Qb5+ Qc6 22.Qxc6+ bxc6 23.Ra2 c5 24.b3 Nd4 25.Bb2, and White is better. C) 18...Nd4?! After this sharp response, White continues with 19.Qxf7, and now Black has a choice between 19...Bf6, 19...Nc2, or 19...Ne6. C1) 19...Bf6!? (GM Chess School) remains with unresolved problems after 20.Ra3! for example: C1a) 20...Nc2 21.Rf3! Ne1 22.Rg3 Be5 23.Bd2! with a clear advantage for White. C1b) 20...Rxa4 21.Rxa4 23.Be3 Qb5 24.Re1 Qxb2 25.Qd5! Nd4 26.Qxb7+ Ke8 27.Qd5! and White has a clear advantage (and threatens to clean house with 28.Qxd6!); C1c) 20...Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Nxc1 (21...Ra5? loses to 22.Re3) 22.Rxc1 Rc8 (not 22...Rxa4?? 23.Qg8, and White wins) 23.Raa1, and White is clearly better, for example: C1c1) 23...Qxa4 24.Qxh7 Rxc1+ (24...Bxb2? loses to 25.Qh3+) 25.Rxc1 Bxb2 26.Re1 Be5 27.Qxg6, is good for White, and; C1c2) 23...Rxc1+ 24.Rxc1 Bxb2 25.Qc4 Qxc4 26.Rxc4, and White is clearly better in the endgame, and should win. C2) Instead, after 19...Nc2 (my original suggestion), we have 20.Bd2! (White's strongest continuation, found by "Martin"), and now: C2a) 20...Bxb2 21.Ra2 Bf6 22.Qb3 Nd4 23.Qxb6, with a clear plus for White, "Martin". C2b) 20...Bd4 21.Rab1 Rxa4 22.Qxh7 Qf5 23.Bc3 Bc5 24.Rbd1 Rf4 25.Rd2 Ne3 26.Re1! Nd5 27.Rxd5! Bxf2+ 28.Kh1 Qxd5 29.Qxe7+ Kc6 30.Qe8+ Kc5 31.Rc1! winning for White. C2c) 20...Nxa1, and now a series of mutually forcing moves: 21.Re1 Qh4 22.Qd5 Rf8 23.Qxb7+ Ke8 24.Qc6+ Kf7 25.Qd5+ Ke8 26.Qb5+ (Protects White's b-pawn) 26...Kf7 27.Rxa1 Qd4, and now: C2c1) 28.Be3 Qxb2 29.Qxb2 Bxb2 30.Rb1 Bc3 31.Rxb6 Ra8 32.Rb3, or C2c2) 28.Qb3+ Ke8 (28...e6?! 29.Re1 Re8 30.Qf3+ Kg8 31.Qc6 Rf8 32.Be3 Qb4 33.Rb1 Bd4 34.Qd7 Bxe3 35.Qxe6+ Kg7 36.Qxe3 Qxa4 37.Qxb6, with a solid extra pawn for White) 28...Ke8 29.Be3 Qxb2 30.Qxb2 Bxb2 31.Rb1 Bc3 32.Rxb6 Kd7 33.Rb7+, leads to ROOK + BISHOP endgame, where White enjoys the advantage of having an OUTSIDE PASSED PAWN. Although Black can hope to generate counterplay with his passed d-pawn, Black will have many TECHNICAL PROBLEMS to overcome in order to hold the game. This variation clearly illustrates Black's weakness on the LIGHT SQUARES after sacrificing his f-pawn. C3) Finally (after 18...Nd4 20.Qxf7), there is 19...Ne6?! (threatening 20...Rf8). This falls short after 20.Bg5! Nxg5 21.Qxg7 Ne6 22.Qh6! leading to a clear White advantage. MY RECOMMENDATION TO MY TEAMMATES - 18...f5 For the last few days, I have been in contact with my friend GM Alexander Khalifman, who had worked long and hard at the GM Chess School on a fourth possibility that, in my opinion, is the best continuation for Black - namely 18...f5. Following a number of analysis sessions and with feedback from Alexander and the GM Chess School, I began to deeply study and appreciate the quality of the move 18...f5 and its strategic goals. The analysis that follows is the result of collaboration between myself and my friends and colleagues at GM Chess School and SmartChess Online. As an analyst, I have a responsibility to make use of all the resources "The World" has to offer. Let us examine the strategic and tactical ideas behind this energetic thrust with our f-pawn. What do we accomplish? a) By moving our f-pawn from under attack, we do not allow White the opportunity of tearing the tapestry of our KINGSIDE PAWN STRUCTURE apart with Qb3xf7. It is far better to jettison the doubled b-pawn for active piece play and initiative than allow the VITAL f-pawn (which comprises part of our central pawn mass and king shield) to
become compromised. By playing 18...f5 we preserve the INTEGRITY of our PAWN STRUCTURE! (We maintain the chain of pawns from h7-d6). b) On f5 this pawn serves the double duty of protecting our Queen on e4, and prevents a possible Qb3-h3 check. c) With the further advance of this pawn to f4, this valuable little helper will deprive the enemy Rooks and Bishop of the e3-square, and the enemy Rooks and Queen of the g3-square. d) The further advance to f3 (Supported by the Black Queen and Knight) could actually lead to AN ATTACK ON KASPAROV's KING! e) Much later down the road (after the exchange of Queens in many variations) this pawn has already advanced up the board and is in position to help his teammates on the e- and d-files as they combine to storm the White position in the endgame! Now let us look at some of the possible variations following 18.f5. D) 18...f5 D1) If White plays the aggressive 19.Bg5, Black has the powerful CENTRALIZING move 19...Qd4! For example: D1a) 20.Rfd1 Qxb2, is good for Black as 21.Rxd6+? exd6 (21...Kc7!? also wins but there is nothing to fear as White's Rook on a1 will be HANGING) 22.Qf7+ Kc8, and Black is winning; D1b) 20.Rad1 Qxa4 21.Qxb6 (21.Qf7 Bxb2 22.Qxh7 Qg4, is good for Black, for example 23.Qxg6 loses to 23...Ne5) 21...Qb4, and Black has an edge; D1c) 20.Qf7, when the White Queen is ejected with 20...Rf8, and Black is better; D1d) 20.Be3 Qxb2, is just good for Black; D1e) 20.Rab1 Rxa4, with advantage to Black; D1f) 20.Rfe1 Be5, and Black is OK. Alternate modes of development by White allow Black good play for example: D2) 19.Be3 Qb4 20.Qxb4 (if 20.Qf7 Be5! with the idea f5-f4) 20...Nxb4 21.Bxb6 Nd3 22.a5 Rc8 (but not 22...Nxb2? 23.Rac1, with a plus for White) 23.Rab1 Nxb2 24.Be3 d5 25.Rfc1 Rc7, and Black is OK. D3) 19.Ra3 Nd4 20.Qf7 Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Bd4 22.Bg5 Nf4 23.Bxf4 Qxf4, with dynamic play. In Chess "To get something you have to give up something"! Thus it is true in this position (after 18.Qb3 f5!), as in order to obtain all the positive benefits associated with maintaining our VALUABLE f-pawn, we must be willing to part with his weak brother on b6. HOWEVER, although surrendering this pawn may well be the "Acid Test" of 18...f5, nonetheless it gives Black TIME and EXPOSES the WHITE QUEEN to POTENTIAL DANGER. D4) 19.Qxb6 Nd4! This Knight leap into the center allows our Queen on e4 to defend our pawn on b7, and indeed threatens 20...Ra6 trapping the White Queen! (note 21...Ra6 22.Qb4 Ne2+ discovered check is a recurring motif). And now: D4a) 20.a5 is a clever resource based on tactics which allows White to extricate his Queen while avoiding heavy casualties: 20...Ra6 21.f3 (Counterattacking the centralized Black queen is White's "Saving Grace") 21...Qd5 (The Black Queen must maintain the protection of the vital b7-pawn) 22.Qb4 b5! This classy and dogged pursuit of the INITIATIVE demonstrates the power and use of centralized and coordinated pieces versus simply playing for short-term tactical tricks. Now Black renews the threat of 23...Nc2, while squeezing the White pieces. For example: D4a1) 23.Rb1 Nc6 24.Qd2 (Attacking the Black pawn on h7 with 24.Qh4, would merely allow Black to force the exchange of Queens with 24...Qd4+ 25.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 26.Kh1 Rxa5, with the ideal big endgame advantage for Black)
24...Qd4+ 25.Kh1 Rxa5, when Black has recovered his sacrificed pawn (the b6-pawn), and with the better DEVELOPMENT he is poised to exchange Queens and reap his reward in the ENDGAME! D4a2) 23.Qd2 Qc4! (Unpinning our Knight so we can threaten the fork with 24...Nb3. White also has to be concerned about nasty secondary threats such as 24...Nc2 followed by 25...Bd4+, when his Rook on f1 may be hanging to the Black Queen on c4) 24.Qd1 (if 24.Qf2 Nc2 25.Rb1 Bd4, and Black wins) 24...Nb3 25.Rb1 (Forced as 25.Ra3? Nxc1 26.Qxc1 Bd4+! 27.Kh1 Qxc1 28.Rxc1 Bxb2 is a COMPLETELY WON ROOK ENDGAME for BLACK: 29.Rca1 Bxa1 30.Rxa1 b4 31.Ra4 Kc6 32.Rxb4 Rxa5, etc.); D4a3) The attempt to use "Lateral Defense" with 23.Rf2 to defend the c2-square would fail tactically to 23...Nc2 (23...Nb3!? may well net more MATERIAL for Black) 24.Rxc2 Qd1+ 25.Kf2 Qxc2+ 26.Kg3 Qc4! winning for Black; D4a4) The attempt to promote a pawn by sacrificing a Rook with 23.axb6 loses by force to 23...Rxa1 24.b7 Nc6 25.b8=Q Nxb4 26.Qxb4 Qd4+! 27.Qxd4 Bxd4+ 28.Kh1 Bxb2, etc. D4b) With 20.Bd2, White develops his Bishop, connects his Rooks, and most importantly provides a "Protected Square" on b4 so his Queen may safely retreat. After 20...Ra6 21.Qb4, Black has the powerful Queen retreat 21...Qc6! which takes full advantage of the wonderful range of the centralized Black pieces (The d4-Knight in particular), and introduces the threat of 22...Nc2, recovering the Exchange under FAVORABLE CIRCUMSTANCES for BLACK. Note White can't challenge the Black Queen with his Rooks on c1, as that would allow the alternate Knight fork (Nd4e2 check). Some sample variations: D4b1) 22.Rfc1? Ne2+ 23.Kf1 Nxc1 24.Rxc1 Rxa4! 25.Rxc6 Rxb4 26.Bxb4 bxc6, with a WINNING two pawn plus BISHOP ENDING; D4b2) Trying to remove the White Rook from the "Fork Square" on a1 while keeping his a4-pawn protected with 22.Ra2? would allow the Black Knight to "Strut some more of his Stuff"! after 22...Rb6 23.Qa5 (23.Qc3? loses to 23...Ne2+) 23...Nb3 (The third (!) square the Black Knight can fork on!) 24.Qa8 Nxd2, and Black has an OVERWHELMING MATERIAL ADVANTAGE; D4b3) White could simply RETURN THE EXCHANGE, and try to bind the Black Queenside with 22.a5?! but after 22...Nc2 23.Qb3 Nxa1 24.Rxa1, White would be CLEARLY ADMITTING DEFEAT in the OPENING for WHITE, and Black has a pleasant choice of 24...b5 or 24...e6 with a small but definite advantage. D4c) With 20.Kh1, the White King deftly steps out of harm's way from the dangerous Black Kngiht. This prudent course of action seems to be the real "Litmus Test" of Black's play. Here, the GM CHESS SCHOOL, offers the following interesting Queen maneuver which is designed to again exploit the several WEAK LIGHT SQUARE points (c2, b3, f1) in the White camp. 20...Qd5!? 21.Ra3 (Pinning our Knight with 21.Rd1?! will boomerang on White: 21...Qb3! - Attacking the White Queen on b6 and the White Rook on d1, thus forcing a favorable exchange of Queens - 22.Qxb3 Nxb3 23.Ra2 b5! and Black has a clear advantage. Using the PIN on the a-file to recover our sacrificed pawn, and leaving us with a dream endgame!) 21...Ra6 22.Qb4 Qc6!? (Eyeballing the White pawn on a4, while threatening the fork on c2. Note that the Knight fork on c2 would be premature as after 22...Nc2? 23.Qb3! Black has lost his initiative) 23.Qc3 (23.Qd2 Rxa4, favors Black) 23...Qxc3 24.bxc3 Nc6, and Black has FULL COMPENSATION for the equivalent of a pawn, for example, after 25.c4 Na5 26.Rh3 Nxc4 27.Rxh7 Bf6, Black would achieve a clear advantage. I believe the harmony created by the moves 15...Ra8 and 16...Ne4, is enhanced with the move 18...f5, and reflects the harmony in cooperation between our good friends at GM Chess School and SmartChess Online. I have greatly enjoyed my recent rapport with GM Chess School. PAHTZ MOVE 18 COMMENTARY Nd4 to Garry's Qb3 I propose 18....Nd4. Now Garry will probably play 19.Qxf7. After this move Black has the interesting possibility 19....Nc2, exchanging his Knight against White's Rook on a1. FELECAN MOVE 18 COMMENTARY
Nd4 to Kasparov's Qb3 My next try is 18...Nd4. My previous thought was 18...Bd4 but White might have a slighty better position after 19.Qxf7 Ne5 20.Qb3 Ng4 and now 21 Bd2; it's still a lot to be analyzed but I think Black has better chances with 18...Nd4. After 18...Nd4 White is practically forced to move 19.Qxf7 since 19.Qxb6 is losing immediately after 19...Ra6! 20.f3 Qd5. After 19 Qxf7 Black has an option of either 19...Ne6 or 19...Nf5; 19...Rf8 is insufficient because of 20.Qxg7 Rxf2 21.Kxf2 (21 Rxf2?? means checkmate in three moves 21...Qe1+ 22 Rf1 Ne2+ followed by 23...Qxf1 checkmate!)21...Qf5+! 22 Bf4! followed by 23 Kg1). After 19...Ne6 the only move for White to save his position would be 20.Bg5 threatening e7 and forcing Black to play 20... Nxg5 21 Qxg7 Ne6! 22 Qh6! (the only move to keep the balance) 22...g5! with a good play for Black. After 19...Nf5 White's best chance is still 20 Bg5 but here black can reply 20...Rf8 chasing away the Queen, 21 Qb3 Nd4 22 Qxb6 Rf5 with a complicated game. If we are going to choose 18... Nd4 as The World's Move, 19...Ne6 after White's 19 Qf7 may well be Black's only alternative. Good Luck in choosing the best available move, Florin. BACROT MOVE 18 COMMENTARY Nd4 to Kasparov's Qb3 We have no choice, the move 18...Nd4 is forced. Now the World Champion will probably play 19.Qxf7 (not 19.Qxb6 Ra6) and we will have to chose between 19...Bf6 and 19...Nc2. DANNY KING MOVE 18 COMMENTARY It's crunch time. Garry Kasparov has brought his Queen out attacking two pawns simultaneously - on b6 and on f7. Does this mean that The World is in trouble? In my commentary two days ago I spoke of how the move 16...Ne4 was strategically desirable: with every exchange, Black comes closer to an endgame where the two central pawns, supported by the King, really come into their own. My only doubt about the move was whether it could be justified tactically - whether there was a short-term hit that puts the move in doubt. With this Queen move Garry is now putting the move to the test. I write my commentary without knowledge of the analysts' recommendations, but I very much hope that there is not unanimous opinion on this move - I would like you all out there to do a bit of work before you decide on your vote! I can see TWO CONTINUATIONS which are both highly plausible for Black. Let me give a short summary of the options:Over the last few days, analysis on the bulletin boards has concentrated on the move 18...Nd4, leading to obscure complications after White plunges in and captures the pawn on f7 with the Queen. No firm conclusions have been reached, but I would just say that this dynamic position is just the kind which would appeal to Garry. Instead of this, 18...e6 has also been mentioned, keeping black's five beautiful pawns from h7 to d6 intact. Of course White's Queen can take on b6, 19 Qxb6, but then black gets tremendous piece activity with 19...Nd4. In this position Black even threatens to win the Queen with 18...Ra6. White can crawl out, but Black can force an endgame, and, as I have mentioned before, this is where Black's positional strengths - the centre pawns supported by the King - come into play. I like this kind of position, it is rather typical of the Sicilian Defence that Black gets a majority of pawns in the centre. You don't have to be too skilled at interpreting my code to realise which move I would prefer to play! However, let me repeat what I said the other day. In many positions in chess there is very often not one objectively best move; it comes down to a matter of style and taste. So look at both
moves carefully, see what the Analysts are recommending, then decide for yourself. One thing I am convinced of: the World's position is fundamentally sound and with correct play the World Champion should not win. See you at the Zone theatre chat room at 2 pm PST (10 pm GMT) for a discussion of this fascinating position. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 19 Voting Results E4-B4 35.09 C6-D4 33.85 E4-D4 13.08 H7-H6 3.27 G7-D4 1.99 KRUSH MOVE 19 COMMENTARY Qb4 to Kasparov's Bg5 I recommend the World plays the move 19...Qb4 (Queen on e4 to b4) SUMMARY Every moment in a chess game, there are problems to solve, and pit-falls to be wary of. When I was analyzing the move 18...f5, it was clear that Black needed an answer to White's most aggressive course 19.Bg5 (threatening 20.Rfe1). I made the initial suggestion of centralizing with 19...Qd4, and if 20.Rfe1, then 20...Be5 (shielding the e-file), after which GM Chess School explored the position further on their web-site, establishing in many lines that Black was holding the position or would achieve sufficient counterplay. However, on further review of a piece of that analysis, I have come to the conclusion that I must instead propose a different move, i.e., 19...Qb4. ANALYSIS SECTION On further review of the analysis on the GM School site, and by "listening in" on teammates on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, I focussed my attention on one particular line that troubled me. After 19...Qd4 20.Rfe1 Be5, there is 21.Rad1 (This is the problem with 19...Qd4 - White develops this ROOK with TEMPO) 21...Qxb2 22.Qf7 Rxa4 23.Qxh7, after which there are two important lines: A) 23...Rg4 24.Qxg6 Nd4, Here GM School gave only 25.Rxe5 Nf3+ 26.Kh1 Nxe5 27.Qxf5+ e6 28.Qf8 Rd4, "and Black has an extra pawn and chances to win." (Note that 24...Bxh2+? loses to 25.Kxh2 Qxf2 26.Rxe7+!) Here they (as did I) apparently overlooked 25.Rxd4, and now after 25...Rxd4 (25...Qxd4 loses to 26.Qxf5+ e6 27.Qf7+ Kc6 28.Qe8+) 26.Qxf5+ Kc7, White has 27.Qh7, with a clear advantage.
In situations like this, you simply look to strengthen your play and your resolve, and I turned my attention to an alternative to 23...Rg4, i.e., 23...Ra2. The critical line after 23...Ra2 is 24.Rf1! and now there is the idea 24...Bd4!? I saw on the Bulletin Board ("WDThompsonJr"). After 23...Ra2 24.Rf1 Bd4, the critical lines are: A) 25.Rde1? loses to 25...Bxf2+. B) 25.Qxg6? allows 25...Bxf2+ 26.Kh1 Qe5, and Black is better. C) 25.Bh4 Qe2 26.Qxg6 Qg4 27.Qf7 (27.Qxg4 fxg4, is fine for Black) 27...Re2 28.Bg3 Qe4, and I think Black is OK. D) 25.Rd2! when after 25...Qb3 however, I did not come to a conclusion as to whether Black was OK after 26.Rxa2 Qxa2 27.Qxg6 Qc2 28.Be3. While lurking and responding "anonymously" on the Bulletin Board, my attention was turned to the line 19...Qb4!? 20.Qf7 Be5 (20...Qxb2 seems too dangerous to me, and has the potential misfortune to possibly transpose into the 19...Qd4 line, after 21.Rfe1 Be5 22.Qf7 Rxa4). This new line was being discussed by Jason Van Eaton ("Curious") and Brian McCarthy. The critical lines are: 20.Qf7 Be5, and now: A) 21.Rfe1? h6! is good for Black, as the Black queen on b4 is put to good use controlling the d2-square. B) 21.Rae1 h6!? and now: B1) 22.Bc1 Qh4 23.h3 (if 23.g3 or 23.f4, Black plays 23...Qf6) 23...Qf6, or; B2) 22.Be3 f4 23.Bc1 g5, with a complicated position. C) 21.Rfd1 Qg4, seems fine for Black, hitting the Bishop on g5, and threatening Ra8xa4 in some instances. D) 21.h3 (with this move White deals with the little problem on h2), and now 21...Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 Bxb2 24.Qxg6 Qe4, is unclear. Finally, E) 21.f4 Bxb2 22.Rae1 Re8 23.Qxh7 Qd4+ 24.Kh1 Qg7, with an unclear position. So then! 19...Qb4 is my recommendation. I will be playing at the US Junior Championship for the next 12 days, and I am fortunate to have my trainer GM Giorgi Kacheishvili assisting me at the tournament, and helping me in my analysis of this game. Because of my change in time zone and my needs to prepare during the tournament, you will see me at later times on the Bulletin Board, and as ever, I look forward to your input, encouragement, and camaraderie. PAHTZ MOVE 19 COMMENTARY Nd4 to Kasparov's Bg5. I hope the move Nd4 will be accepted now. Garry probably will answer with 20.Qf7 Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Bb2. White has many moves now. (20.Qb6:Ra6!-+) FELECAN MOVE 19 COMMENTARY Nd4 to Kasparov's Bg5 My recommendation is 19...Nd4 again, and that is because we have to force White's Queen to move from such a strong position on b3. Meanwhile we have to develop our counterplay before the White Rooks can come into play. The only active move left for White would be 20. Qf7 threatening the Bishop on g7 and putting more pressure on the pawn on e7. Black can reply with 20...Ne2+ (check), opening the long diagonal for the black bishop on g7 and trying to use the Knight as a shield on the "e" file. White is forced to put his King in safety with 21. Kh1 and Black has enough time to
capture one more pawn with 21...Bxb2. Here White can try 22.Rae1 - since 22. Rab1? fails to 22...Bd4 23. Qxh7 Rh8 24. Qxg6 Qg4! with the powerful blow 25...Nf4!. After 22. Rae1 Black can attack the rook with 22...Bc3! 23.f3 ( or 23.Bxe7) 23...Qe5 and now 24.Bxe7 looks as the most promising for White in this position: 24...Qxe7 25. Qxe7 Kxe7 26. Rxe2(getting his piece back) 26... Kd7. Here White can try either 27. Rc1 or 27. Rc2, in both cases with a comfortable play for Black: 27.Rc1 Bd4 28.Rc4 Bc5, or 27.Rc2 Bd4 28. Rc4 Bc5 29. Rd1 Kc6! 30. Rh4 d5(or 30...h5)31. Rxh7 Rxa4. BACROT MOVE 19 COMMENTARY Qd4 to Kasparov's Bg5 I have to say that I don't like our position much. I have analysed four lines of moves: -19...Qg4 (a desperate attack) 20.Qxb6 Rc8 21.Be3! f4 22.f3 Qf5 23.Bf2 Black position is hopeless. -19...Qb4 20.Qf7 Bxb2 21.Tab1 with a clear plus for White. -19...Nd4 20.Qf7 Ne2+ 21.Kh1 Bxb2 22.Rab1 Bd4 23.f3 Qe5 24.Rfe1 Bc3 25.Bxe7 Qxe7 26.Qxe7 Kxe7 27.Rxe2+ Kd7 28.Rxb6 Rxa4 29.Rxb7+ and in this endgame White is clearly better off. -19...Qd4 probably the best choice but now the World champion has two ways to continue his attack: -20.Rae1!? Be5 21.Qf7 Qxb2 22.h3 or 22.h4 with good prospects for White. -20.Rfe1 Be5 21.Qf7 Qxb2 (if 21...Qg4 22.f4 is strong ; 21...h6 22.Be3 Qh4 23.h3 Qf6 24.Qb3 big advantage for white) 22.Rad1 Rxa4 23.Qxh7 and now: -23...Rg4 24.Qxg6 Nd4 25.Rxd4 follow by Qxf5+ with active play for White -23...Ra2 24.Rf1 and black's defense is difficult. I hope the other Analysts will find a defense for Black. DANNY KING MOVE 19 COMMENTARY Well folks, one cannot always be right! Yesterday, I wrote that there were two main options for Black on move 18 - and, naturally, the World played a third. Actually, I confess that I had seen this move, 18...f5, but felt it was a bit too risky. I was reluctant to even point out the possibility when Black had a sound option in 18...e6. Perhaps I ought to stop being so crafty! I should repeat again that I don't see the Analysts' recommendations before writing my commentary (a good thing) so there is no question of me being partial. There is no doubting that 18...f5 is the most ambitious continuation: Black safeguards the wonderful pawn mass, and even begins to roll it forward a little; but in so doing creates a few chinks in his defensive armour. The big question is: can Black survive the coming onslaught? It comes as no surprise to me that Garry decided not to take the pawn on b6 - it was more trouble than it was worth. After 19 Qxb6 Nd4 he would have been put on the defensive immediately; Black would threaten ...Ra6 winning the Queen, and although she could be extricated, an unpleasant defensive task awaited. This is certainly not Garry's style: he would rather give up material and attack than make a greedy grab and defend. Besides, objectively, I think Black simply had the better game. Instead, the World Champion has chosen to play 19 Bg5, bringing out the Bishop to the most aggressive square, pressurising the e7 pawn, and at the same time 'connecting' White's rooks. That means they now protect each other, making Rfe1 possible, attacking Black's Queen and increasing the pressure on the e-file. Moreover, while 18...f5 prevents the pawn from being taken, it does not stop the Queen from zipping down the diagonal to
f7 hitting some potentially tender spots. That's the bad news; now the good news. Black still has a superb pawn structure so, as before, if the Queens were to be exchanged then those centre pawns supported by the king would give Black the advantage. Therefore, Garry is going all out for the attack, though with Black's King protected by two pawns, and the Knight on c6 providing solid support, it is not easy to see how he is going to break through. Moreover, if the World Champion wishes to use all his forces in the assault, he will probably have to give up his pawns on the queenside - then he really will be burning his boats. The game is becoming more and more tense. Once again, consider the analysts options carefully. That's all for now I'm going to spend the afternoon analysing the position. For those of you interested in my conclusions, join me in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm GMT). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 20 Voting Results g7-e5 75.52% b4-b2 8.71% g7-b2 6.99% b4-d4 2.04% g7-d4 1.27% KRUSH MOVE 20 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7 I recommend the World plays the move 20...Be5 (Bishop on g7 to e5) SUMMARY With the move 20.Qf7, the World Champion avoids an exchange of queens, and aims to bring PRESSURE to bear on the Black e7-point, following up at an appropriate moment by putting a ROOK on e1. There are two candidate moves for Black in the position, namely 20...Qxb2, and 20...Be5. After feedback from the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, and from analysis in the last FAQ prior to my deadline before making my move suggestion, I came to the conclusion that 20...Qxb2 is incorrect. Instead, I propose the move 20...Be5. On the e5-square, the Black bishop will clog the e-file as a holding action against the activity of a White Rook coming to e1. Another idea of 19...Qb4, and 20...Be5 is to create play against White's Bg5 with h7-h6 (and/or f5-f4) at opportune moments. ANALYSIS SECTION After 20...Qxb2 21.Rfe1
(In my opinion, alternatives for White are less exact, for example after 21.Rad1 Rf8, or 21.Rab1 Qd4 22.Rfd1 Rf8, the "White Queen ejection" plan gives Black a fine game. This plan for Black was developed on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board by Jason Van Eaton). Black has two ideas: A) 21...Qxa1 22.Rxa1 Bxa1, leads to an endgame where Black has a ROOK + KNIGHT + 2 PAWNS against White's QUEEN. It was necessary to study this plan with great interest, as the two BBS analysts who first proposed it have consistently demonstrated their strength in analyzing complex positions throughout the course of the game. In this endgame (first explored by "FastIM" and Otto ten Haar), Black must demonstrate his counterplay from advancing his PASSED b-PAWN is sufficient against the advance of the White PASSED h-PAWN. The idea shows great courage and imagination. However, I was unable to overcome a plan for White examined by GM Ron Henley - namely White blockades the Black b-PAWN with his QUEEN on b3, and proceeds to engineer a trade of bishops (the Black bishop is the natural long-range defender of the White QUEENING SQUARE on h8). After this, Black's only remaining minor piece (his short-range KNIGHT) will not be able to fight on both sides of the board. This conclusion was based on available analysis at the time of writing this report. B) Instead 21...Be5 22.Rad1 Rxa4, transposes to heavily analyzed variations emanating from 19...Qd4. According to the latest FAQ (as I write this), problems still exist for Black in this variation. Hence I maintained my attention on 20...Be5. Black plans to create play against White's Bg5 with h7-h6 (and/or f5-f4). White can play 21.h3 (safeguarding his h2point, and directed against the Black plan of h7-h6 - ejecting the White bishop -followed by Qb4-h4 (TEMPO on h2) and Qh4-f6, securing the g6-point, and challenging the White queen on f7, while at the same time placing more "juice" on the h8-a1 DIAGONAL. After 21.h3, Black must consider the ramifications of the sharp endgame resulting from 21...Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 Bxb2 24.Qxg6 Qe4, or securing the kingside h7-point with 21...Rh8, intending to work against White's bishop with f5-f4, and h7-h6. Irina http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/ PAHTZ MOVE 20 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7. Intuitively, I like this move the best as the bishop establishes itself on a great central square, eyeing up the pawn on h2. In my opinion, the alternative move 20...Qxb2 is, at the moment, still too risky. FELECAN MOVE 20 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7 I think that this move is the strongest move avaiable for black in the given position. Wrong it would be to reply 20...Bxb2 since white can pin the bishop with 21.Rab1! Qg4 - because white threats 22.Bf6! - 22Bxe7!. Interesting but I doubt that it is enough it is 20...Qxb2?! since after 21.Rab1 black doesn't have a good square for the queen and white activates his rooks with an increasingly pressure on black's weakness on b6, b7 and e7. After 20...Be5 I analyzed two of the white's moves: 21.h3 - threatening to capture the pawn on h7 - and 21.f4 being the most "kasparovian". After 21.h3 black can play 21...Rxa4 - which leads to an unclear position: 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 and 24.Qxg6 or 21...Rh8 , the safe alternative, most
widely recommended by computers: 22.Ra2 - removing the pin on b2 and protecting b2 and a4 - 22...f4!? - my first choice move - and 22...h6!?. I do not analyze this variation more in depth in here because I do not belive that this move is going to be try by Kasparov in our game. Anyway, black has at least an equal game in all of the lines. So, let's move on to the next option for white: 21.f4 - the most agressive and probably the best move for white; other tries like 21.Re1 or 21.Rc1 are met by 21..h6 and Qh4 - 21...Bxb2( because now we can escape the pin with a check on the diagonal g1-a7)22.Rae1 Re8 23.Qxh7 Qd4+ 24. Kh1 Qg7 25.Qh3 Bc3 followed by 26...Bd4, Rh8, Rh7 and possibly a doubling on the "h" file leave black with a nice game and some winning chances. We have to play 20...Be5 now, as being the only move which can keep the balance, and see which move we are going to play against, analyze (re-analyze!) it, find a plan and move accordingly. BACROT MOVE 20 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7 As White has a big advantage after 20...Bxb2 21.Rab1, I recommend to play 20...Be5 even if Black is worse off after, for example, 21.h3. DANNY KING MOVE 20 COMMENTARY Phew...it's a hot day in London, and it's a hot one on the chessboard too. The World offered an exchange to relieve the pressure, but Garry was having none of it, sliding the queen down the diagonal, deep into the heart of Black's position. The bishop on g7 is now under attack; and the queen and bishop are lined up against Black's pawn on e7 - though for the moment it is guarded by the knight on c6. The World's 19...Qb4 was by no means a forced move. Debate raged on the bulletin boards and in my Zone theatre chat to determine the best way to counter Garry's attack; and we had no less than three different moves recommended by our analysts. The complexity of the position and the lack of conclusion in our discussions was reflected in the voting percentages: 19...Qb4 topped the poll with just 35.09%; closely followed by 19...Nd4 with 33.85%; and 19...Qd4 scored a respectable 13.08%, which still leaves almost 20% of the votes going to other moves. Although White is taking the initiative, I feel that Black still ought to be holding his own. However, the past couple of days have shown that even 18 hours can be insufficient to reveal the best continuation, even with the help of computers. Incidentally, I have found that my analysis has been far more productive WITHOUT the help of a chess-playing computer: in this kind of strategically unbalanced position their assessments are often way off the mark; though they do come into their own when checking tactics or sacrifices. My tip is this: analyse the position on your own to start with, then, if necessary, go back and check the variations using one of those infernal cans of silicon. Let's get down to specifics. The World Champion is attacking the bishop on g7 with the queen, so it must move, or be protected. At first glance there are three plausible moves: 20...Bxb2; 20...Qxb2; and 20...Be5.
Straightaway we should dismiss 20...Bxb2. This just exacerbates Black's problems. White would reply with 21 Rab1, PINNING the bishop to the queen. The bishop would be unable to move as the rook would then take the queen, so Black would have to waste more time untangling, with 21...Qa3 for instance, to prevent White snaring the bishop, and then quite simply 22 Qxh7 followed by 23 Qxg6. My advice: DON'T GO THERE. 20...Qxb2, protecting the bishop on g7 and swiping a pawn in the process, is much better, though it is still an open question whether this is too greedy: White's rooks have wonderful open files. The alternative is 20...Be5, blocking the e-file. This has received a lot of attention on the bulletin boards. The point is that 21 Qxh7 (not clever) can be met by 21...Rh8 followed by 22...Bxh2+ and Black wins. Instead of 21 Qxh7 White has a number of alternative ways to try to break Black's position. So far, nothing absolutely concrete has been found for White, though in many cases I think it looks quite terrifying for the World. So is to be 20...Qxb2 or 20...Be5? This is the crunch decision. I'll let you know what I think the best move is in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10GMT) today, then you'll have to make up your own mind. Good luck! Danny King xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 21 KRUSH MOVE 21 COMMENTARY Ra4 to Kasparov's h3 I recommend the World plays the move 21...Rxa4 (Rook on a8 captures pawn on a4) SUMMARY The World Champion has played the prophylactic 21.h3 (safeguarding his h2-point, and directed against our plan of h7-h6 - ejecting the White bishop - followed by Qb4-h4 (TEMPO on h2) and Qh4-f6, securing the g6-point). At this moment in the game I consider there to be three CANDIDATE MOVES worth consideration (namely 21...Rh8, 21...f4, and 21...Rxa4). In my Analysis Section, I will indicate my reasons for recommending 21...Rxa4 to my teammates. ANALYSIS SECTION In my opinion, Black has a choice of three moves after Kasparov's 21.h3.
A) THE "PASSIVE" 21...Rh8 This was a continuation that I was working on with a number of players (including NM Brian McCarthy) while I was 'lurking' on the BBS. I have to say I really don't like the idea of passive play initiated with 21...Rh8. With 21...Rh8, Black defends his threatened h-pawn (tying down material worth five points to cater to a unit worth only 1 point!). After White's strongest continuation 22.Rad1, there follows 22...Qxb2 23.Rfe1, I view this position as a "Kasparov-Kill" position. White has centralized his ROOKS to bring maximum pressure to bear on the d- and e-files. Indeed it is not easy to find a logical continuation for Black in this position. After 23...Qc3 24.f4 Bd4+ 25.Kh1, White's INITIATIVE reaches dangerous proportions, for example: A1) 25...Bf6 26.Qe6+ Kc7 27.Rxd6! (27.Rc1 also looks good) 27...Bxg5 28.Rd7+ Kb8 29.fxg5, and White has a clear advantage, or; A2) 25...Be3 26.Re2, and again White is clearly better, as he plans to DOUBLE ROOKS on the e-file. In my opinion 21...Rh8?! is dubious, and is asking for exactly the kind of trouble the World Champion knows how to provide. B) THE "STRANGE" 21...f4 Why would I consider this move "strange"? After all, one of the ideas behind 20...Be5 is to embarrass the White Bishop on g5 with h7-h6, and/or f5-f4 at an opportune moment. In the critical line, Black temporarily sacrifices a pawn to reach a tenable ending, with reasonable drawing chances with precise play. After 21.h3 f4!? 22.Qxh7 Qf5 (after 23...Bxb2 24.Rfe1 Qf5 25.Qxf5 gxf5 26.Rab1 Bd4 27.Bxf4 Rxa4, Black may be able to hold the ending, but I believe it is Black who must prove the draw), 24.Qxf5+ gxf5, White has two ways to defend his b-pawn: B1) 25.Ra2 Nd4 26.h4 (if 26.f3 - with the idea of retrieving the Bishop with Bg5-h4-f2 - then 26...Rh8 27.Rd1 Ne6, when White is forced to play 28.h4 anyway. After 28...Bd4+ 29.Kf1 Bc5 30.b3 Nxg5 31.hxg5 Rg8 32.Rb2 Rxg5 33.b4 Be3 34.Rc2, White holds a tiny edge) 26...Ne6 27.Rc1 (The continuations 27.b4 Nxg5 28.hxg5 Rg8 29.Rc1 Rxg5, and 27.Rd1 Nxg5 28.hxg5 Rg8 29.b4 Rxg5, also leave White with a little endgame edge, while 27.b3 Nxg5 28.hxg5 Rg8 29.Rc1 Rxg5 transposes) 27...Nxg5 28.hxg5 Rg8 29.b3 Rxg5 30.f3 Bd4+ 31.Kf1 e5, with perhaps a small White edge. B2) 25.Rfb1 Nd4, and now: B2a) 26.f3 (again the idea Bg5-h4-f2) 26...Nc2 27.Ra2 Nb4 28.Ra3 Nc2 29.Rb3 (29.Ra2 Nb4 30.Ra3 Nc2 would be a draw by repetition) 29...Rxa4 30.Kf1 (not 30.Rxb6?? Bd4+, Black wins) 30...Ne3+ 31.Ke2 Ra6 32.g4 d5 33.Rd3 Ke6, and the position is a little unclear. B2b) 26.h4 (More logical) 26...Ne6 27.Ra3 Rg8 28.Rb3 (28.Rd3 Nxg5 29.hxg5 Rxg5, is equal according to Pete Rihaczek) 28...Nxg5 29.hxg5 Bd4 30.Rd1 e5, when Black must take into account, the transition to a ROOK ENDING after 31.Rxd4!? exd4 32.Rxb6 Kc7 33.Rb4 f3 34.gxf3 Rxg5+ 35.Kf1 d3, when Black will lose his d-pawn, but the doubled f-pawns could preclude any serious winning chances for White.The move 21...f4!? is interesting, but does not pose White any major problems to solve. In my opinion it is Black who must play with technical precision to hold the worse side of a draw, so I don't recommend this line of play for Black. THE "ACTIVE" 21...Rxa4 - MY RECOMMENDATION TO MY TEAMMATES C1) "THE PAWN RACE ENDGAME" I have been studying this continuation for quite a while - nearly a week and, and the BBS has generated interesting dialog concerning this move and its goals (including postings by Ross Amman, GMC_Witali, and others). Here are my findings with 21...Rxa4, with the conclusions that prompted me to recommend this move to my teammates. Any assessment of the merits of 21...Rxa4 must begin with an examination of the endgame arising from the sequence 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 Bxb2 24.Qxg6 Qe4. What has happened? The two sides have voluntarily exchanged pawns (White's a- and b-pawns for Black's g- and h-pawns). The complexion of the game has changed dramatically, as the battle has changed from one of White pressuring Black's king through the center to one which is now a battle of PASSED PAWNS (White's h-pawn versus Black's b-pawn). Both sides will strive to increase the value of their passed pawns by safely advancing them to PROMOTION on the eighth rank, while also playing to control and impede the passed pawn of the enemy. In most critical lines of this endgame, I believe Black obtains sufficient play by combining
his own threats to promote a pawn with COUNTERPLAY directed at the White King. I have focussed my attention on three candidate moves for White (25.Qf7, 25.h4, and 25.Qg8), during my studies with my trainers GMs Giorgi Kacheishvili and Ron Henley. The most critical lines involve White trying to force home his h-pawn, with Black countering with the advance of his b-pawn: C1a) 25.Qf7 (GM Alvarez) 25...d5 26.h4 Bd4, we transpose to Variation C1b2 (25.h4 Bd4 26.Qf7 d5). C1b) 25.h4 Bd4! and now: C1b1) 26.h5 Ne5 27.Qh7 (27.Qg7? loses immediately to 27...Ng4) 27...Ng4 (threatening 28...Nxf2 and 28...Qe5) 28.Bh4 (instead 28.Bxe7 Qxe7 29.Qxf5+ Qe6, is good for Black) 28...Qe5 29.Rd1 Bc5! and Black has a strong attack. Note here that the natural impulse is to play 29...Qh2+, but after 30.Kf1 Qxh4 31.Qxf5+ e6 32.Qf7+ Kc6 33.Rxd4 Nh2+ 34.Kg1 Qxd4 35.Kxh2, the QUEEN ENDING is unclear. C1b2) 26.Qf7 d5 (preventing White from playing Qf7-b3 to stuff Black's b-pawn), and now: C1b2a) The White simplification plan of Rf1-d1, and Bg5-e3 doesn't work, for example: 27.Rd1 b5 28.Be3 b4 (better than the lackluster 28...Bxe3) 29.Bxd4 Nxd4 30.f3 Qe3+ 31.Kh1 Kd6!? 32.Qg8 b3 33.Qd8+ Kc6 34.Qc8+ Kb6, and I prefer Black's chances.C1b2b) After 27.h5 b5, the race begins: 28.h6 b4 29.h7 b3, and now: C1b2b1) Bad is 30.Qh5? b2 31.Qd1 f4! 32.Qb1 Bxf2+! 33.Kh1 Qxb1 34.Rxb1 Bd4 35.Bxf4 Na5 36.Be3 Bh8, and Black is winning because of the threat of 37...Nc4, followed by Nc4-a3, or Nc4-d2 as circumstances allow. For example after 37.Bc5 Nc4 38.Bb4 to prevent Nc4-a3 or Nc4-d2, the ACTIVE, CENTRALIZED Black King plays a winning role with 38...Kc6, threatening 39...Kb5 dislodging the overworked White Bishop from its defensive post. C1b2b2) 30.Be3 Be5 31.Rd1 (Instead 31.Bh6 b2 32.Bg7 b1=Q, is winning for Black, for example 33.h8=Q Qxf1+! 34.Kxf1 Qb1+ 35.Ke2 Nd4+ 36.Ke3 Qc1+ 37.Kd3 Qc2+ 38.Ke3 Qe2 mate) 31...Kd6 32.Qg6+ Kc7 33.g4 Qf3 34.Rf1 Qh3 35.Qh5 Bh2+ 36.Kh1 Qxf1+ 37.Kxh2 b2 38.Qxf5 (38.h8=Q b1=Q, wins for Black) 38...b1=Q 39.Qxb1 Qxb1 40.h8=Q Qe4, and Black has a clear advantage in the endgame (EXTRA PAWN). C1c) 25.Qg8 (as suggested by GM Chess School, is logical, as from g8, to the White queen keeps contact with the White h-pawn's QUEENING SQUARE on h8, threatens to return to the queenside with Qg8-b3 to impede the advance of Black's b-pawn, and can also initiate counterplay against Black's weak b7-pawn). Therefore, Black continues with 25...d5 keep the White Queen from returning to b3. GM Chess School now gives the continuation 26.Rd1 Bd4 27.Qa8 Kc7 28.Qe8 b5, as unclear, but it seems White must be careful, for example, after 29.h4 b4 30.h5 b3, White is in some trouble. There is an earlier word that must be mentioned about this endgame. "GMC_Witali" noted that after 22.Rxa4 Qxa4, White can play 23.b3!? The idea of this move is to prevent Black's Queen from reaching the e4-square to defend the f5pawn. However, he demonstrated that after 23...Qb4 24.Qxh7 Qxb3 25.Qxg6 Nd4, Black had good counterplay, and very good chances. From this examination, I concluded that the endgame after 21...Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 Bxb2 24.Qxg6 Qe4 offers Black good counterchances and prospects for good play. But this not the end of the story. We must not forget that 22.Rxa4 is by no means forced for White! White can play (after 21...Rxa4), the following moves declining the exchange of Rooks: 22.Rad1, 22.Rae1, and 22.Rac1. C2) WHITE DECLINES THE ROOK EXCHANGE ("THE ROOK ON a1 SIDESTEP") C2a) The least effective way of declining an exchange of Rooks is 22.Rab1. After 22...Qc4! 23.Qxh7 Qe6 24.Rfe1 f4, Black has an excellent position.C2b) Another ineffective way of declining the exchange of Rooks is 22.Rad1, when Black has 22...Qc4! 23.Qxh7 Qe6 24.Rfe1 (24.f4 Bxb2 25.Rfe1 Re4, is good for Black) 24...Re4 (Black can also play 24...f4) 25.Rxe4 (25.f4?? loses to 25...Bd4+) 25...fxe4, and Black is better. C2c) 22.Rae1 Qc4! (This is the best way to secure the vital g6-point, while maintaining central harmony amongst the Black forces. It would be wrong to play 22...Qxb2, when after 23.Qxh7, Black's pieces become disjointed. We have a responsibility to maintain the cohesion of our well-coordinated pieces!) 23.Qxh7 Qe6, and Black has a nice game, for example: 24.f4 Bd4+ 25.Kh1 Be3! 26.Rf3 Re4. C2d) After 22.Rac1, Black can play 22...Bxb2 (Black can also consider 22...f4!? and perhaps the tempting 22...Bf4 to exchange material), and now: C2d1) 23.Rxc6 bxc6 (Black can consider 23...Kxc6!? as a winning attempt) 24.Qxe7+ Kc8 25.Qe8+ Kb7 26.Qd7+ Ka6 27.Qxc6 Qe4 28.Qxd6 Rc4 29.Be3 Qc6, and although Black has an extra pawn, the chances are about equal.C2d2)
23.Rce1 Bc3 24.Rxe7+ Nxe7 25.Qxe7+ Kc6 26.Qe8+ Kc5 27.Qc8+ Kb5 28.Qe8+ Kc4 29.Qe6+ Kb5 30.Qe8+ Kc4, with a draw. C2d3) 23.Rb1 Qd4 24.Qxh7 Qg7 25.Qxg7 Bxg7 26.Rxb6 Nd8! and the game is equal.D) OTHER WHITE CANDIDATE MOVES AFTER 21...Rxa4D1) White can play 22.f4. This is dealt with swiftly and surely with 22...Rxa1 23.Rxa1 Qxb2, and Black is winning.D2) Finally, there is the deflection motif 22.Bd2!? After 22...Qc4! 23.Qxh7 Rxa1 24.Rxa1 Qd3 25.Bc3 Bxc3 26.bxc3 Qxc3 27.Ra8, Black has at least a draw with 27...Qc1+ 28.Kh2 Qf4+, etc. So then! 21...Rxa4 is my recommendation to my teammates. I believe that this active move represents the best interpretation of Black's position. Let's continue taking the fight to the World Champion! Irina http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/ PAHTZ MOVE 21 COMMENTARY Ra4 to Kasparov's h3 This leads to an unclear position, but I think it is forced. We must go our way. Show courage, world. Now White can follow 22. Ra4: Qa4: 23. Qh7: Bb2: 24. Qg6: Qe4. FELECAN MOVE 21 COMMENTARY Rh8 to Kasparov's h3. I think that 21...Rxa4 might offer some more for Black but I don't want to give the "h" and "g" pawns and let White have a passed pawn. Even with that it looks very attractive for Black to play 21...Rxa4 22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 Qe4 24. Qxg6 Bd4 followed by Ne5 , f5-f4 with very good play for black. Somewhat better for White might be 22.Rad1 followed by 23.Qxh7 and 24.Rfe1 trying to put the black monarch in danger. Anyway, after 21..Rh8 the most probable move for white is 22.Rad1 (how could anybody suggest 22. Ra2? or 22. Rfd1?) and here 22..f4 (h6 creates a weakness on g6) with a complicated play. I will give more information as fast as I can but not before being verified. Sice we do not know how 21...Rxa4 ends its better for us to make a safe move as 21...Rh8. keep the position complicated and look for better opportunities. BACROT MOVE 21 COMMENTARY Rxa4 to Kasparov's h3 I think that 21...Rxa4 is the only reasonable way to get counter-play. Now the World Champion may play: -22.Rxa4 Qxa4 23.Qxh7 (23.b3 Qb4 24.Qxh7 Qxb3 25.Qxg6 Qd3 26.Re1 b5 with an unclear game) Bxb2 24.Qxg6 Qe4 with chances for both sides. -22.Rae1 Qc4 (22...Qxb2 23.Qxh7 Ra2 24.Qg6 advantage for White) 23.Qxh7 Qe6 24.f4 Bd4+ 25.Kh1 Be3 with a playable position. DANNY KING MOVE 21 COMMENTARY COMMENTARY after Garry Kasparov's 21st move You will have to forgive an Englishman for talking about the weather (our
national pastime) but this position reminds me of a heat-wave where the temperature builds until the tension is unbearable - then the heavens open, there's thunder and lightning, the rain pours, and we all cool down again. At the moment, in our game, we have had a few skirmishes, but over the past few moves there have been some quieter options chosen. But these moves have not dulled the position; on the contrary, they have only served to intensify the pressure. I feel that in a few moves time the storm is going to break. Garry's last move, 21 h3, illustrates this perfectly. You might well be asking what that weedy pawn push has to do with attacking. Quite a lot. One of the ideas is that White's queen now threatens to hack off the pawn on h7, then the pawn on g6, followed by the pawn on f5...enough already! The reason this wasn't possible on the last turn (21 Qxh7) was that Black had a deadly counter-attack with 21...Rh8 22 Qxg6 Bxh2+ - and wins! Now we can see the point of 21 h3: it prevents the Bishop capturing on h2, so Qxh7 is now a serious threat. The question is, how does the World best meet this threat? It is impossible to move the h-pawn away as the g6 pawn could then be taken by the queen, so that leaves two possibilities: Black can counter-attack (capture something on the other side of the board); or defend the h-pawn with 21...Rh8. Let's take a look at the counter-attacking possibilities first. Black can capture either pawn on the Queenside, but, as on the last turn, he should be wary of doing so. For instance 21...Bxb2 is a mistake as the PIN with 22 Rab1 is awkward; alternatively 21...Qxb2 can be met by 22 Qxh7, when I don't see that Black has sufficient counterplay to off-set the demolition of his Kingside. That leaves 21...Rxa4. Now 'the storm breaks': there would follow: 22 Rxa4 Qxa4 23 Qxh7 Bxb2 24 Qxg6. A double-edged position has arisen where White has a dangerous passed h-pawn, but Black has counterplay on the queenside with his own passed b-pawn. (Incidentally a 'PASSED PAWN' is one which has no opposition pawns impeding its path through to the Queening square on the eighth rank). Instead of the above, Black may play more solidly with 21...Rh8, simply protecting the pawn on h7. Then the tension increases as White looks for another way to try to break into Black's position. Over the past couple of days I have been examining 22 Rac1; and 22 Rfc1 was a very interesting suggestion made by one of the participants in my last Zone theatre chat. In both cases White is looking to eliminate the Knight on c6 with Rxc6, removing the defender of the pawn on e7, and so breaking through to the king. And there are other tries too, equally dangerous. What you have to decide is this: do you think that Black's King is secure enough to withstand an assault by Garry's pieces after 21...Rh8; or should you give up the Kingside pawns in hope of counterplay on the other side of the board? It's a tough choice. In both cases one has to look deeply into both possibilities before coming to a decision. I'll let you know what conclusions I come to tonight in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm GMT). The storm is about to break - let's try not to get hit by lightning. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 22 Voting Results KRUSH MOVE 22 COMMENTARY Qxa4 to Kasparov's Rxa4. I recommend the World plays the move 22...Qxa4 (Queen on b4 captures Rook on a4) FORCED move. PAHTZ MOVE 22 COMMENTARY Qxa4 to Kasparov's Rxa4 22.... Qxa4 to Kasparov's Rxa4. What else? We must take the White Rook. FELECAN MOVE 22 COMMENTARY Qxa4 to Kasparov's Rxa4 22...Qxa4 is the forced alternative for black since we have to get our Rook back. Interesting if Black goes for Qc2 or Qe4 later in the game. If I find something wrong with Qe4, I'll have to switch back to Qc2. Anyway, it looks like Black has enough compensation for the exchange with Bxb2 and Bd4, putting some pressure on white's king and preparing the "b" pawn's march but as I said before it is risky to awake Garry from his "Deep Blue" sleep with 21...Rxa4. Good Luck! BACROT MOVE 22 COMMENTARY Qxa4 to Kasparov's Rxa4 The World Champion decided to change Rooks, so now our move 21...Qxa4 is forced. DANNY KING MOVE 22 COMMENTARY The more I look at this game, the more I realise how complex it is. Snap judgements just won't do. I have spent hours trying to come to a conclusion on the 'correct' line of play for both sides, and I keep changing my mind as to what that is!
The World has chosen to grab one of the pawns on the Queenside; Garry has exchanged Rooks, and will probably hoover some pawns on the other side of the board with his Queen. The tension has broken with these exchanges, and we are most likely about to run down a forced line over the next few moves. Then it will be time to think again. From Black's viewpoint, one thing I do find encouraging is that with every exchange his king position becomes safer. The World's King is less likely to fall prey to an attack in the middle of the board with fewer pieces on the board. World, you only have one serious option here: work it out for yourself and, if in doubt, read the analysts' recommendations! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 23 Voting Results e5-b2 89.31% a4-e4 1.66% a4-c4 1.16% f5-f4 0.93% a4-b5 0.90% KRUSH MOVE 23 COMMENTARY Bxb2 to Kasparov's Qxh7 I recommend the World plays the move 23...Bxb2 (Bishop on e5 captures pawn on b2) For all intents and purposes, Black's move is essentially forced. Finesse attempts to avoid or delay Be5xb2 are bad, for example: 23...Qc4? when White gladly plays 24.Qxg6 Bh2+ 25.Kxh2 Qxf1 26.Qxf5+, and the resulting endgame is winning for White - as here the White h-pawn is far too dangerous. Also insufficient is 23...Qe4? - an attempt to quickly activate the Black Knight - which allows 24.Qxg6 Nd4 25.Qf7 Ne2+ 26.Kh1 Bxb2 27.Bxe7 forcing a winning liquidation for White after 27...Qxe7 28.Qxe7+ Kxe7 29.Re1. After 23.Qxh7 Bxb2, White will likely continue 24.Qxg6. At that time we must studiously examine all of our options. PAHTZ MOVE 23 COMMENTARY Bxb2 to Kasparov's Qxh7
We have reached an intresting and unclear position. Now Black has various possibilities. One is to centralize the Queen with 23.... Qe4. But we can do it one move later too. So I will propose 23....Bxb2. Now Garry will take the g-pawn with his queen (24. Qxg6) and than we can save our f-pawn with 24...Qe4. And our b-pawn is ready to march! FELECAN MOVE 23 COMMENTARY Bxb2 to Kasparov's Qxh7 Because we have to make the "b" pawn a passed pawn. And we also have to fight back for the "h" pawns. This is what I recommend: 23...Bxb2 24.Qxg6-Qe4 and then Black is fine. BACROT MOVE 23 COMMENTARY Bxb2 to Kasparov's Qxh7 We have to take the pawn 23...Bxb2. Now White's obvious move is 24.Qxg6 (24.Re1 Qb4!) Qe4 when we have some counter-chances. DANNY KING MOVE 23 COMMENTARY Well, folks, sometimes one's plans on the chess board don't run as smartly as one would like. Bit like in life really. I'm waiting for the ferry to arrive, and I don't have enough change for the phone, so my comments today are going to be short and sweet. Garry's beginning the demolition of The World's Kingside pawns, but don't fear. The World is eliminating HIS pawns on the other side of the board, so the position remains finely balanced. We'll have a more detailed discussion when I reach Dublin. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 24 Voting Results a4-e4 88.76% c6-d4 2.41% a4-c2 1.63% c6-e5 1.56% f5-f4 0.96% KRUSH MOVE 24 COMMENTARY
Qe4 to Kasparov's Qxg6 I recommend the World plays the move 24...Qe4 (Queen on a4 to e4) I believe this is Black's most logical move - centralizing the Queen, and defending the f5-pawn. White's strategy includes advancing the passed h-pawn combined with pressure against the Black King (e7- and b7points). Black's counterplay includes the advance of the passed b-pawn (and d-pawn) combined with pressure against White's King (f2-point). The position after 24...Qe4 has been subjected to much analysis on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board with unclear assessments prevailing. PAHTZ MOVE 24 COMMENTARY Qe4 to Kasparov's Qxg6 Now we have reached a very unclear position. We must save our pawn f5. So I will propose Qe4. The Queen stands in the center and controls the square b1, the finish line of our b-pawn. I think that in the coming moves we will see a very hot race between the Black b-pawn and the White h-pawn. FELECAN MOVE 24 COMMENTARY Qe4 to Kasparov's Qxg6 The move that I recommend is 24...Qe4 because we protect the f5 pawn, we centralize the queen and our Q + B + N are cooperating very well. Now we have to analyze the three most probable moves for white: 25.h4, 25.Qf7 and 25.Qg8. First, we have to clear something; regardless of how Black is playing, the White pawn will get to h7, but it depends on us whether he is going to Queen on h8 or not. Second, we have to make sure that our "b" pawn is strong enough to keep the balance. If White plays 25.h4, 25.Qf7 or 25.Qg8 Black can respond with 25...Bd4 because we move the Bishop to a protected square, we are still controlling the long diagonal a1-h8, and we exercise more pressure on White's King. Meanwhile we can search for new moves and ideas or we can perfect the exising ones. We have to keep in mind that a good setup for Black can be achieved via Bc3, b6-b5 and b5-b4 ; we have good squares for the Bishop (d4, c3 etc.) and the Queen ( from e4 it can jump anywhere on the board) but we have to find a place for our Knight (e5 maybe). With the game running toward its end, I'm trying to give to you directions move by move, with an accent on ideas. BACROT MOVE 24 COMMENTARY Qe4 to Kasparov's Qxg6 This is a forced move. DANNY KING MOVE 24 COMMENTARY A change of location for me. Greetings from Ireland! The last two moves were very much as predicted. The World swiped the last of Garry's pawns on the Queenside (more chess jargon - that is, the side of the board where the Queen stands at the BEGINNING of the game); and Garry has responded in kind by taking another pawn on Black's Kingside.
The first question to ask yourself when it is your move at the chessboard is, 'DOES MY OPPONENT'S LAST MOVE THREATEN ANYTHING?' The answer here is clear: White's Queen is threatening to take another pawn, the one on f5. Serious enough. Then the next task is how to prevent that threat. First, what happens if the pawn is moved forward with 24...f4...? No good. White plays 25 Qf5+, Black gets out of check, then White captures the pawn with 26 Qxf4. Okay, if the pawn can't move out of trouble, that means it must be defended somehow. Let's take a look at 24...e6. That won't work as it exposes the King. White's Queen gets in there right away with 25 Qf7+, the King moves and the pawn on e6 drops off. Disaster. What about defending the pawn with 24...Nd4 instead? Looks better, but in fact White has the crafty riposte 25 Re1, threatening the pawn on e7 with the Rook and Bishop, and Black is in desperate trouble. For instance, 25...e5 loses swiftly to 26 Qf7+ Kc8 27 Qf8+ Kc7 28 Qd8+ Kc6 29 Qe8+ - and Black's Queen on a4 is lost. The only piece we haven't used to defend the pawn is Black's Queen ; now that looks a bit easier. There are several squares the Queen could find to defend the pawn on f5, some better than others. It is best to try to think what White would like to do next before deciding on where exactly to play the Queen. Apart from capturing the pawn on f5 (that's the obvious idea) Garry would also like to play his Rook to e1 to threaten Qe6+ and an attack on the pawn on e7. So, the problem is this: can you find a Queen move which meets both White's threats, Qxf5 AND Re1? There are actually two possibilities, though one is much stronger than the other. Before looking at the analysts' recommendations, try to solve the conundrum yourself. Good luck! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 25 Voting Results b2-d4 69.99% d6-d5 9.05% c6-d4 3.97% b6-b5 3.89% b2-e5 3.37%
KRUSH MOVE 25 COMMENTARY Bd4 to Kasparov's Qf7 SUMMARY I recommend the World plays the move 25...Bd4 (Bishop on b2 to d4) The World Champion played 25.Qf7 - maintaining his pressure on our e7- and f5-points, while creating the option of bringing his queen to the QUEENSIDE with Qf7-b3 in order to impede the advance of Black's PASSED b-pawn. From f7, the White Queen assists in the advance of White's PASSED h-pawn. I am recommending that Black proceeds with the CENTRALIZING move 25...Bd4. From d4 (a square firmly under Black's control since the opening battle) the Black bishop radiates its influence in several important directions: it pressures White's sensitive f2-point; it prepares for the advance of Black's b-pawn (crucial to our counterplay) to b2; the MANEUVER Bd6-c5 becomes a possibility (shielding the c-file and lending additional defensive support to the Black King); it maintains coverage of the h8square (the queening square of White's h-pawn). ANALYSIS SECTION After 25.Qf7 Bd4, we can examine two main options for White, which illustrate the basic ideas in the position: A) White's Queen returns to the queenside, for example 26.Qb3 Bc5 (also possible is 26...Kc7 27.h4 Bc5 as given by GM School) 27.Be3 Kc7 And now; A1) 28.Re1 allows 28...f4 29.Bd2 (29.Qxb6+? loses to 29...Kc8) 29...Qd4 30.Re2 d5, intending e7-e5, and Black has a nice position; A2) 28.Rc1 f4 29.Bxc5 (29.Rc4 Qe6 30.Bxc5 bxc5, and Black is at least equal) 29...bxc5 30.Rb1 Nb4, with an unclear position; A3) 28.Qb1 Qe5 29.Re1 (as given by GM Danny King), and now 29...Qf6 30.Qb3 (30.Bxc5?! bxc5, favors Black) 30...f4, and Black is fine; A4) 28.Rb1 Na5 29.Qb5 Nc4 30.Bxc5 (30.Bc1 d5, is good for Black) 30...bxc5 31.Rc1 Nb6, is unclear. White can repeat the position with 32.Rb1 Nc4. B) White advances his passed pawn, for example: 26.h4 b5, and now; B1) 27.Qb3 b4 28.h5 (28.Rb1 e6!? looks nice for Black) 28...Qg4, and Black is OK. B2) 27.h5 b4 28.h6 Qe6 29.Qxe6+ (or 29.Qh5 b3 30.Be3 Bh8 31.Re1 b2 32.Qd1 Qc4 as given by Spiriev. I believe this favors Black, for example: 33.Qh5 Qc2) 29...Kxe6 (with an endgame I have studied with my trainers GM Henley and GM Kacheishvili) 30.Bd2 (or 30.Rb1 Bc3, with an unclear endgame, in which I think Black's chances are fine) 30...Kf7 31.Rb1 Bc3 32.Be3 (but not 32.Bxc3? bxc3 33.Rc1 Nd4 34.Kf1 c2 35.Ke1 b5, and Black is winning) 32...d5, when the endgame is unclear, but again I feel Black is doing fine. PAHTZ MOVE 25 COMMENTARY d5 to Kasparov's Qf7 Black has various possible plans in this difficult position. One is Nd4 to centralize the Knight. But it seems the Knight is better on c6 to protect the Black King and control the square e7 and the other squares in the centre (e5, d4, b4). I will propose the move d6-d5. With this, we will close the diagonal g8-a2 and the White Queen doesn't return to b3 or a2. Now this can follow: 25. Be3 d4 26. Rd1 Kc7 and Black is better off. Better for White is 25. Rd1 and now Bd4 or Kd6 and if now Qg6+ the King will go to c7. The King and the Knight are now a perfect pair.
FELECAN MOVE 25 COMMENTARY Bd4 to Kasparov's Qf7 I think that the best move in the given position is 25...Bd4 because we clear the way for the "b" pawn and we put more pressure on White's King. The Knight's move on d4 looks to me like an anxious move pretending to be active and dangerous. Against 25...Bd4 White has two options: 1) to have complete faith in his "h" pawn and therefore advance it, or 2) to try to stop us from advancing our passed pawn while slowly improving his position. After 26.h4 Black can play 26...b5 27.h5 Qg4 28 Be3 and now 28...Ne5 doesn't look sufficient for Black because of 29.Qd5 Bxe3 30. Qxb7+ Ke6 31.Qc8+, but we still have other options as 28...Qe4!? or even 28...Bf6 with an intricate line. Another interesting option for Black might be 27...Qe6 to exchange Queens, so the danger to our King is decreased and we can transfer our King to guard White's passed pawn while we keep trying to push our passed pawns. Anyway, there are a lot of moves to be considerated but I think that all should start with 25...Bd4 otherwise we can find Black's position defenseless. BACROT MOVE 25 COMMENTARY Bd4 to Kasparov's Qf7 The position is very difficult because White is ready to push his h pawn. I recommend that The World put its Bishop at the center of the board by moving Bd4. DANNY KING MOVE 25 COMMENTARY The World's last move, 24...Qe4, was undoubtedly the best. The pawn on f5 was threatened, so the Queen moved over to protect it; and at the same time she returned to the centre of the board preventing, for instance, White's rook from occupying the e1 square. Such CENTRALISATION is classic chess strategy. From the centre of the board the Queen controls more squares than it would at the side, so has a greater influence on the game. In reply, Garry has played 25 Qf7, which was one of the many moves considered here by World Team members on the bulletin boards. This position has been the subject of much debate over the past week as it looked more and more likely that this was where we were heading. Therefore, it seems a good moment to take stock of the situation. Taking a straight piece count, we can see that there is still a dynamic balance between the two armies. The only difference between them is that the World has a Knight and two pawns (three + two points) against Garry's rook (worth five points) - so from that viewpoint there is equality. Therefore we have to look at other factors in the position to gain a better understanding of what is going on. Both sides have PASSED PAWNS, that is, pawns which are not obstructed in their path to the other side of the board by other pawns. We can see that Garry has a passed h-pawn; and the World has passed b-pawns and a passed d-pawn. As more pieces are exchanged, the power and influence of these passed pawns increases as it becomes easier for them to move down the board. Remember, if a pawn gets to the eighth rank they promote to a Queen - which could easily decide the game. I think this partly explains Garry's last move, 25 Qf7. He appreciated that as Black's Bishop was so well placed on the central diagonal it would
be impossible to get his h-pawn safely home; on the other hand, Black's b-pawn, once the Bishop moved out of the way, would have been extremely dangerous. Therefore, he has nudged his Queen over so that it is ready, if necessary, to move back to b3, firmly preventing the b-pawn from rolling forward. Black could consider playing the passed d-pawn forward instead, but that just feels too loose to me. At the moment the king is comfortably placed behind the two central pawns. Pushing either of them forward would expose his majesty unnecessarily. From f7 White's Queen also keeps up the pressure on the e7 pawn, preventing Black's Knight and Queen from roaming too far. By the way, just a few moves ago I was advising that it would be highly desirable for Black to exchange Queens to reduce the pressure on his King. Now the situation has changed. With the exchange of pieces over the past few moves the World's King is relatively secure, so there is no need to go in for a trade. In fact, Garry would very much like to exchange Queens as that would allow his Rook into the game; and the passed h-pawn would grow in stature. The position is still extremely tense. Over the next few moves I think we can see Garry attempting to bring his Rook to a more active position, and the World must remain as solid as possible to prevent any incursion. I'll be discussing the situation in more detail in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10 pm London) today. See you then! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 26 Voting Results f5-f4 42.61% d4-c5 42.14% c6-a5 3.34% e7-e6 2.06% c6-e5 1.91% KRUSH MOVE 26 COMMENTARY f4 to Kasparov's Qb3 SUMMARY I recommend the World plays the move 26…f4 (Pawn on f5 to f4).
With 26.Qb3, the World Champion has taken prophylactic measures against Black's queenside counterplay (advance of the Black passed b-pawn). In turn, I believe it is necessary to initiate our own preventive measures against White's kingside counterplay (advance of the White passed h-pawn) with the move 26…f4. <<Make a separate page for the following text, and hyperlink the above SUMMARY to the separate page.>> ANALYSIS SECTION - I RECOMMEND 26…f4 Finding no way to overpower the Black position with a straightforward advance of his passed h-pawn (i.e., a "race" of passed pawns), the World Champion has chosen the prophylactic move 26.Qb3. White takes into account Black's counterplay associated with the advance of the passed b-pawn. Originally, I considered 26...Bc5, freeing the d4-square for the knight, to coordinate pressure against White's kingside, while preparing to advance the b-pawn - a plan that fared very well in many tactical lines initiated by White. On further reflection, I decided that I did not like the White POSITIONAL PLAN initiated by 27.Qb1!? intending to coordinate White's remaining forces (Queen, Rook, and Bishop) prior to advancing the White h-pawn. White's plan, in part, includes returning his Bishop to e3 in order to EXCHANGE our powerful Bishop. This is an insidious positional plan by Kasparov that cannot be taken lightly. Here are some sample lines that demonstrate the effectiveness of White's idea (after 27.Qb1): A) 27...Qe6 28.Re1 Qg6 29.Be3, and White is for choice as Black's queenside counterplay cannot start. B) 27...Qxb1 28.Rxb1 d5 (with the idea e7-e5, followed by Kd7-e6) 29.h4! e5 30.h5 Ke6 31.Kf1 Kf7 (after 31...d4 32.Rb3 Kf7 33.Rf3 f4 34.Rh3, White has ACTIVATED his rook and stands better) 32.Ke2 b5 33.Be3, and White has an advantage. C) 27...Qd5!? 28.Rd1 Qe6 29.Re1 Qd5 30.Be3, and White is for choice. He has coordinated his forces, held up Black's b-pawn counterplay, and can prepare to advance his h-pawn. However, there is a certain harmony in chess - White took a time-out from his own kingside aspirations by taking PREVENTIVE MEASURES against Black's dangerous b-pawn. In turn, I believe it is now necessary to take prophylactic measures against White's strength - by devaluing his kingside PAWN STRUCTURE. I believe this can be achieved with the move 26...f4!? (my thanks to Peter Spiriev, whose analysis formed a key element of my own findings). The move 26...f4!? prevents the immediate return of the White Bishop to e3, where it would hope to exchange our "tower of power" on d4. I have looked at three CANDIDATE MOVES and possible continuations for White: A) 27.Qf7 Be5 28.h4 (28.Qb3 Bd4 would simply repeat the position, while the self-imposed weakening with 28.f3?! would allow 28...Qe3+ 29.Kh1 b5, and Black has excellent counterplay with his b-pawn) 28...b5 29.h5 Qc4! with good play for Black - Spiriev. B) 27.Qb1 is unlikely as after 27...Bxf2+! Black can just about force a draw, and I do not see Kasparov accepting such an outcome under such circumstances: 28.Kh1 (28.Rxf2? loses to 28…Qxb1+; 28.Kxf2? Qe3 mate) 28...Qxb1 29.Rxb1 e5 30.h4 Ke6 31.Rf1 Bg3, forcing White to "perpetual" the Black pawns after 32.Rb1 (32.h5 Kf5 33.h6 Kg6 34.Kg1 Nd4, wins for Black) 32...Bf2 33.Rf1 Bg3 (Black can try to play for more with 33...Bd4) 34.Rb1 Bf2, with repetition. C) 27.Qd1 f3! (this timely advance degrades White's pawn structure, and somehow seems consistent with the course set by 18...f5), and now: C1) 28.gxf3 Qf5 29.Be3 (if 29.h4?! Qh3! with good play for Black, for example: 30.f4 Qg3+ 31.Kh1 Bxf2 32.Rxf2 Qxf2 33.Qg4+ e6 34.h5 Nd4, and Black has a clear plus, illustrated with the variation 35.Bf6 Nf3 36.Qg7+ Kc6 37.Qg2 Qe1+, and mate next move) 29...Bxe3 30.fxe3 Qxh3, with level chances - Spiriev. C2) 28.Qxf3 Qxf3 29.gxf3 b5 30.Rb1 b4, and Black is OK. Play may continue 31.Bd2 Bc3 32.Bxc3 bxc3 33.Rxb7+ Ke6 34.Rb1 (34.Rb3 loses to 34…Nd4) 34...Nd4 35.Kf1 (35.Kg2 Kd5 36.Rc1 Kc4, and Black wins) 35...Kd5, and Black's CENTRALIZED King and Knight combine with the powerful passed c-pawn to hold the balance. For example, after 36.Rc1 Kc4 37.h4 Nf5 38.h5 Kd3 39.Rd1+ (not 39.Ke1 c2 40.Ra1 Kc3! and Black wins) 39...Kc4 40.Rc1 (Black wins after 40.Ke2 c2 41.Rc1 Kc3) 40...Kd3, with a draw. C3) 28.g4 appears too loosening. After 28...Qe5 29.Bh4 Qh8 30.Bg3 Qxh3 31.Qxf3 b5, Black has good counterplay.
C4) 28.Re1 is the most critical continuation. After 28...Qf5, I believe Black has good play, for example: C4a) 29.h4? loses to 29…fxg2, because of the weakness of f2. C4b) Similarly 29.Bxe7? loses to 29…fxg2. C4c) 29.Bh4 fxg2 30.Qg4 Qxg4 31.hxg4 b5 (31...Ne5 32.Kxg2, favors White) 32.Kxg2 b4, when Black is probably slightly better, as in this endgame his b-pawn is already advancing and meanwhile he must contend with a less dangerous g-pawn. C4d) 29.Be3 Bc3!? 30.Qb1 (after 30.Rf1 fxg2 31.Kxg2 b5, Black has good counterplay, while after 30.Bd2 Bxd2 31.Qxd2 fxg2, Black is OK) 30...Qe5!? with good play for Black, for example: 31.Qxb6 (not 31.Bd2? Qg7! winning for Black) 31...Bxe1 32.Qxb7+ Ke6 33.Qxc6 fxg2 34.Kxg2, with equal chances. So, I recommend 26…f4. Irina http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/ Check out Irina's SMART-FAQ (Up-to-date analysis and downloads for the World Team) http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/SmartChessOnline/archive/MSNKasparov/the_game.htm PAHTZ MOVE 26 COMMENTARY Bc5 to Kasparov's Qb3 I would play 26....Bc5. This move closes the c-line and makes the King safer. Also the square d4 will be free for the Knight, and with a Knight on d4 Black can play b6-b5. FELECAN MOVE 26 COMMENTARY Bc5 to Kasparov's Qb3 My next recommandation is 26...Bc5. It is very hard to find a good move for Black because we have to be exact, more than ever and we have a lot of interesting possible moves. One of them is 26...f4 but here White has a very strong move with 27.Qf7 forcing Black to play 27...Be5 28.h4 d5 (28...b5 doesn't have much of a future with a White Queen on b3) 29.h5-d4 30.h6 d3 31.Qh5 d2 32.h7 Qd4 33.Rd1 Na5 (trying to defend on d2) 34.Bxe7 Kxe7 35.Rxd2 with a winning attack for white. Another interesting moves for Black are 26...Ne5 and even 26...Qe6 emerging into a complex endgame. I prefered 26...Bc5 because it creates a safe place for the black king on the "c" file, it still attacks on f2 and it liberates the d4 square for the Knight. The drawbacks are that we are not controling the long diagonal a1-h8 anymore, thus we are allowing more play for the Rook and we have to make another move in order to stop the "h" pawn. At our 26...Bc5 White has two main options: 27.Be3 trying to trade our active pieces so our attacking chances are severly diminished, or 27.h4 forcing Black's counterplay to be precise. At 27.Be3 Nd4 and\or Kc7 should be enough and at 27.h4 we have to see if 27...Nd4 is sufficient; if not we have Kc7!? followed by d5!? as an additional resource. Good Luck! BACROT MOVE 26 COMMENTARY Bc5 to Kasparov's Qb3 White's threat is 27.Be3, so I recommend The World to play the prophylactic move 26...Bc5 with the idea 27.Be3 Nd4.
DANNY KING MOVE 26 COMMENTARY 'Prudent' is how I would describe the last two moves. On its previous square, b2, the World's Bishop was unprotected, but now that it has moved to d4, it is supported by the Knight and the Queen. MINOR PIECES (that is, Bishops and Knights - yet more chess jargon) NEED SOLID PROTECTION, otherwise they will be vulnerable to short-term threats. The Bishop has found an excellent central square, protecting the pawn on b6, but eyeing up White's pawn next to the King. That means the Rook can't roam too far, for fear of allowing a 'hit' on the f2 pawn. With his last move 26 Qb3, Garry slams on the brakes. Instead of indulging in a mad race of passed pawns on opposite sides of the board, he has chosen to prevent Black's dangerous b-pawn from advancing. Moreover, the Queen rejoins its comrades. She was in danger of being isolated from her fellow pieces, and a divided army is a weak army. Now the position takes on a quieter character. We are unlikely to see passed pawns being hurled down the board over the next few moves. I expect Garry to do some re-grouping first, perhaps attempting to activate his rook. He will also be looking to exchange Queens if possible, for the endings are mostly favourable for White. What is important here is that Black should maintain a SOLID, WELL-COORDINATED POSITION. Call in to the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10 pm London) to see my specific recommendations! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 27 Voting Results d4-e5 85.59% f4-f3 2.88% c6-e5 1.90% b6-b5 1.71% c6-d8 1.71% KRUSH MOVE 27 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7 I recommend the World plays the move 27...Be5 (Bishop on d4 to e5)
Black's last move (26...f4) vacated the f5-square as a potential abode for the Black Queen - creating ideas of Qe4-f5 chasing down the White Bishop on g5, and/or Nc6-e5 (eyeing the d3-square) increasing Black's central build-up. The World Champion played in the most direct fashion and returned with his Queen to f7 to a) guard the f5-square; b) pressure the e7-point and thus prevent Nc6-e5 ideas, and; c) attack our f-pawn. Now the immediate pawn sacrifice with 27...f3!? is not enough in my view, as after 28.gxf3 Qe5 (with the idea of 29...Qg3+), White can begin to consolidate with 29.Bf4 Qe2 30.Bg3. I am recommending the defense of our f4-pawn with 27...Be5, reserving the possibility of a disruptive pawn sacrifice with f4-f3. Furthermore, Black maintains his Bishop on the a1-h8 DIAGONAL, and in some variations a maneuver with Nc6-d4 can help reinforce an advance with f4-f3. On e5 the Black Bishop eyes the White King's "LUFT" square on h2. White's main continuations appear to be 28.h4 and 28.f3. http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/
PAHTZ MOVE 27 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7 Black has to protect the pawn, so 27....Be5 is the only move. FELECAN MOVE 27 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7 In the given position I think the best move for black is 27...Be5 to defend the "f" pawn and to make room for a timely Nd4 while advancing the "b" pawn. Black's position is not great but white should play very precise after 27...Be5 in order to avoid trouble. The next move for black is an obvious pawn advance combined with a queen maneuver. In the case of queen trading I think black has enough to hold the position comfortably because of our more active king(well placed for the ending) and the two passed pawns, which are a very powerful force to deal with. Good Luck! BACROT MOVE 27 COMMENTARY Be5 to Kasparov's Qf7 We have no choice, we must protect the pawn f4 with 27...Be5 DANNY KING MOVE 27 COMMENTARY It's happened again! Just when I thought the game was settling into some quiet manoeuvering in tune with my holiday mood, the World has chosen a sharp continuation, initiating complications. Oh well; looks like the beach will have to wait. On the World's last turn three out of the four analysts were recommending the solid move 26...Bc5. I believe this would have left White with slightly the better chances, though it would still have been a hard task for the World Champion to make progress. Instead, the World chose to go with Irina's ambitious recommendation 26...f4. The principle aim of nudging the pawn forward is to lock the bishop on g5 out of the game. This prevents the bishop returning to e3 initiating an exchange which, on the whole, would have been favourable to White. But now just compare the bishops. Which one is the stronger piece? The centrally placed bishop on d4 controls many more squares than its counterpart on g5. If White should attempt to march the h-pawn down the board, then Black's bishop controls the final queening square; and at the same time it is able to shepherd its own b-pawn down the board; moreover the bishop casts a threatening eye down to the f2 pawn next to White's king. Look at White's bishop stuck out on g5. It attacks the pawns on f4 and e7, but they can both be taken care of. Apart from that, its scope is limited: with Black's pawn on f4 the bishop can only operate on one side of the board.
Let's take a look at Garry's move. He has moved the queen back from where it has just come from! Why? For a start, he doesn't lose any time in making this move as Black has to take a moment to defend the pawn on f4. From f7, the queen keeps up the pressure on the f4 pawn, but also the e7 pawn, preventing the knight moving. In moving the f-pawn forward, Black opened the b1-h7 diagonal, giving White additional resources in a pawn race. In some cases, if Black's queen were to move away from e4, then White's queen could occupy that diagonal and control the queening square on b1. But that is all just supposition for the moment. Let's take it one step at a time. First Black must do something about the threatened pawn on f4. Good luck! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 28 Voting Results b6-b5 86.39% f4-f3 4.06% d6-d5 1.98% c6-d8 1.95% d7-c8 1.27% KRUSH MOVE 28 COMMENTARY b5 to Kasparov's h4 I recommend the World plays the move 28...b5 (Pawn on b6 to b5) A "pawn race" has begun. Black's COUNTERPLAY in response to the advance of White's passed h-pawn is the advance of its b-pawn. PAHTZ MOVE 28 COMMENTARY b5 to Kasparov's h4 With the move 28....b5 we first advance our b-pawn and then we can move our queen to c4. FELECAN MOVE 28 COMMENTARY b5 to Kasparov's h4 Since the other possible pawn move 28...d5 weakens the king's position without accomplishing anything, because it is harder to
protect and push, we have to try our best with the "b" pawn. The most probable move for white is 29.h5 to keep ahead in the raceand black is happy to respond with 29...Qc4 when a queen trade is almost inevitable. Sooner or later, white has to trade queens because our queen and bishop are a lot stronger than white's queen and bishop; the "h" pawn will benefit from this because black's control is weakened on h8, but without queens on the board we can push the "d" pawn ahead. It will be very interesting to see how both sides play since we are heading into a complicated endgame. BACROT MOVE 28 COMMENTARY b5 to Kasparov's h4 The position is difficult. White will now push its passed pawn "h". I recommend playing 28...b5 29.h5, after which Black will have two possible lines: -29...Qe2 30.Qf5+ Kc7 31.Bxf4 Bxf4 32.Qxf4 Qxh5 with an advantage for White. -29...Qc4 30.Qf8! (30.Qf5+ Qe6) Qe2 31.Bxf4 Bxf4 32.Qxf4 Qxh5, after which White is better off. Even if Black is worse off after either of these two lines, I think they represent our best chance to fight for a draw. DANNY KING MOVE 28 COMMENTARY Garry has finally launched the h-pawn on its long journey towards the other side of the board. CHARGE! Remember, if it gets to the eighth rank it will become a queen, quite enough to decide the game in his favour. Are we scared? Well, perhaps just a little bit. Of course, it is not a straightforward task to march the pawn all the way down the board. At the moment the World's bishop is superbly placed in the centre of the board, controlling the 'queening square' (h8); and while White is pushing the h-pawn, Black can get some counterplay on the other side of the board by pushing his own passed b-pawn. This is a highly unusual and extraordinarily complex position. Let's take just one aspect of it. Many people have been asking me in the Zone theatre chats why Garry hasn't developed his rook on f1. Good question. By this stage in most games the rook would have been activated, but those 'normal' rules have to be taken with a pinch of salt here. White's rook simply doesn't have a safe and useful square to move to, so, for the moment, it does best to stay protected by the king, guarding, at the very least, the potentially vulnerable f2 square. The rook must bide its time, but its moment will eventually come. No, normal rules cannot be applied here, each position must be judged on its merits. I suspect we will see a unanimous recommendation from the analysts on this next turn. Try to work out what that move will be before looking down the page: the World desperately needs counterplay against the march of White's h-pawn. How exactly? At the moment Black's queen and bishop are optimally placed in the centre of the board, the knight cannot move because the pawn on e7 needs protecting, so what is left...? If you have questions on the position - or more general chess questions join me in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10 pm London). xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 29 Voting Results xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx xxxx KRUSH MOVE 29 COMMENTARY Qc4 to Kasparov's h5 SUMMARY With 29…Qc4, Black opposes the Queens - for if White acquiesces to an exchange with 30.Qxc4, Black's queenside pawn structure is repaired and enhanced in value after 30…bxc4. Therefore White is far more likely to avoid an exchange of Queens in this position before he continues with his plan of advancing the White h-pawn. Our analysis on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board suggests that White's most critical responses to 29…Qc4 are 30.Qf5+ and 30.Qf8. The analysis section provides some more details for 29…Qc4 (and other candidate moves for Black). ANALYSIS After 29.h5, three CANDIDATE MOVES for Black have captivated our attention on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, namely 29…b4, 29…Qe2, and 29…Qc4. The work presented here represents a collaborative effort by many World Team members both on and off the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. The Variation 29…b4 After 29...b4 30.h6 Qc2 (or 30...Qd3), White can play 31.Bxf4, virtually forcing the following line of play: 31…Nd8 32.Qh5 Bxf4 33.h7 Be5 34.Qxe5 dxe5 35.h8=Q Nc6. In my opinion, this endgame without Bishops offers Black fewer prospects for counterplay, and Black can easily drift into a position where the Black b-pawns are blockaded and the White g-pawn proves unstoppable. This is an inferior version of an endgame derived from the 28.h4 b5 29.h5 Qe2 30.Qf5+ Kc7 31.Bxf4 Bxf4 32.Qxf4 Qxh5 variant Black's pawn structure is worse in this situation. The Variation 29…Qe2 After 29…Qe2, play may proceed 30.Bxf4 Bxf4 31.Qxf4 Qxh5 (as indicated by GM Bacrot), or 30.Qf5+ Kc7 31.Bxf4 Bxf4 32.Qxf4 Qxh5. Also this endgame, following an exchange of Bishops offers Black fewer prospects for counterplay, and Black must be wary of the long-term potential of the White g-pawn. It should be noted that in such positions the Black Knight will be hard pressed to both assist in the advance of Black's b-pawns and cooperate in a defense against the advance of White's g-pawn.
In the lines with 29…b4 and 29…Qe2, Black's Bishop soon departs the board. I do not believe we should so willingly allow the exchange of Black's powerful Bishop. As GM Ilya Gurevich noted, the strategic aim of 26…f4 was to cross White's plans to exchange off this "monster". The Variation 29…Qc4 - My recommendation to my teammates After 29...Qc4, White can play 30.Qf8. [If 30.Qf5+ Qe6 31.Qxe6+ (alternatives are ineffective) 31…Kxe6, with an endgame that has been analyzed to a draw with correct play by Black. Instead 30.Qxc4 bxc4 favors Black. If 30.Qg6, then 30…b4 31.h6 b3 32.h7 b2 33.Qf5+ e6 34.Qf7+ Kc8, transposes to a satisfactory variant from 30.Qf8, as analyzed on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board - see later note] After 30.Qf8, play may continue 30...b4 31.h6 [If 31.Qa8 Kc7 32.h6 b3! and Black is better; If 31.Qf5+?! Qe6 32.Qxe6+ Kxe6, Black is a tempo up on the endgame resulting from 30.Qf5+ Qe6 31.Qxe6+ Kxe6, which is at least a draw] 31…b3, and now: A) 32.h7 Qc2, or 32...b2!? leads to a satisfactory position for Black. B) 32.Qf5+ e6 33.Qf7+ Kc8, and now: B1) 34.h7 b2 with balanced chances - a position which may also arise from 30.Qg6 (see above). B2) 34.Qe8+ Kc7 35.Qf7+ (35.h7 b2 36.Qg6 Nd4 37.Re1 Qc2! is good for Black) 35...Kb6 36.Qg6 Nd4 37.h7 Ne2+ 38.Kh2 f3+, when the complications will reduce to a level position. B3) 34.Bf6 b2 35.Qg8+ Kc7 36.Qh7+ Kb8 37.Bxe5 Nxe5, which analysis has shown leads to a draw. After 29…Qc4 30.Qf8 b4 31.h6 b3 32.Qf5+ e6, play continues to be lively and balanced. Further details on these variations (and others) which include exhaustive analysis by the World Team can be reviewed in the FAQ. Therefore my recommendation is 29…Qc4. PAHTZ MOVE 29 COMMENTARY Qc4 to Kasparov's h5 With this move the b-pawn can go to b3 without being taken, because the White queen must move away from the diagonal a2-g8. If White plays 30.Qf5+ then Black can answer with Qe6. FELECAN MOVE 29 COMMENTARY Qc4 to Kasparov's h5 My next recommendation is 29...Qc4 because we have to prepare the way for the "b" pawn. It is the only way to play against White's "h" pawn; after 29...Qc4 White has two options: 1). Keep the queens on the board and push the pawn while trying to take advantage of Black's weakened position, or 2). Trade the queens and play the complicated ending resulting from it, while picking up the pawn on f4. Probably, the best line for White it is the last one, when Black's "b" pawn should hold enough compensation for the loss on f4.
BACROT MOVE 29 COMMENTARY Qc4 to Kasparov's h5 I recommend The World to play 29...Qc4. Now I think 30.Qf8 is the best choice for the World Champion (On 30.Qf5+ Black is not afraid of the possible endgame Qe6 31.Qxe6 Kxe6) 30...Qe2 31.Qf5+ Kc7 32.Bxf4 Bxf4 33.Qxf4 Qxh5 and White is in a better position. Today I will play my first game in the Rrench Championships 99 which takes place in Besançon, an old French town near the mountains. Joël Lautier, who just arrived from Las Vegas. is ranked No. 1 in this event. .I am ranked N°2. Unfortunately it will be difficult for me to help The World in the game against Kasparov until august 29. I hope The World will hold a good position until then. I want very much to finish the Game of the Century with The World. Good luck to The World.. In Besançon we are waiting for prestigious visitors. The 12th World Champion, Anatoly Karpov, will come here on August 27 and 28 for the closing ceremony. But a fews days before (August 23) the 13 th World Champion will preceed him. Our opponent, Garry Kasparov, will be here in person! People are saying that he will give an explosive press conference and a crushing simultaneous match demonstration. DANNY KING MOVE 29 COMMENTARY The tension builds once more in this extraordinary game. We find ourselves in the middle of a pawn race: both Black and White are aiming to advance their pawns to the other side of the board to get a new queen. It's a double-edged business. Pawns are the weakest pieces on the board, but they have the potential to become the strongest, so on their march they are suddenly accorded the status of VIPs, shielded by the most important members of their army. This is a crucial moment in the game. On this turn a decision must be made which will have a profound effect on the course of the game. Even after studying this position for many hours I cannot say for certainty what Black's best path is - though I do have a strong intuitive feel for which move to make. Let's go through Black's major options one by one: It is possible just to push the b-pawn again with 29...b4, but then White pushes on with 30 h6, and now Black is presented with a problem: he cannot advance the b-pawn any further because the next square is covered by White's queen. To make progress he must take time out with the queen, 30...Qd3 for instance, but that leaves the f-pawn unguarded. Black has resources even here, but I do not believe they are sufficient to hold the balance. Next, 29...Qe2. This was suggested by Etienne Bacrot in his analysis on the previous turn. Black seeks counterplay with his queen - ...Qg4 would be the next move if, for instance, White pushed the h-pawn again. White's best response is just to capture the pawn on f4 (perhaps after first checking on f5 with the queen) 30 Bxf4, which forces the following moves: 30...Bxf4 31 Qxf4 Qxh5. The dangerous h-pawn has been snatched, but White has been able to exchange off the bishops, robbing Black's position of its dynamism (remember a few moves ago how Black played ...f4 specifically to prevent the exchange of those bishops?) This is a very difficult position to assess. White will get nowhere by trying to attack with queen and rook as Black's king position is rock solid, so if he wants to win White must push the g-pawn down the board to try to get another queen. However, this would mean that White's king which, until this point, has been quite secure, would become exposed. And Black does still have some counterplay with the b-pawn. There is also a third move for Black: 29...Qc4, aiming to knock White's queen out of the way, clearing the path for the b-pawn. White cannot
seriously consider exchanging queens as that would give Black connected passed pawns on the queenside, but he can keep playing for the attack with 30 Qf8, maintaining the pressure on the e7 pawn. This is the most double-edged continuation of all. It could go horribly wrong for Black, but - so far - no clear method has been found for White to get the advantage. As I see it, you have a choice between two quite different continuations: the solid 29...Qe2, leading to a position giving Black drawing chances; or a leap of faith with 29...Qc4, leading to random complications (though here I would also say that Black cannot hope for more than a draw). See you at 2pm PST (10pm London) today in the Zone theatre chat room and I'll let you know which move I favour! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 30 Voting Results c4-e6 88.86% d7-c7 4.23% e7-e6 4.04% d7-e8 0.94% c6-d4 0.62% KRUSH MOVE 30 COMMENTARY Qe6 to Kasparov's Qf5 I recommend that The World play 30...Qe6 (Queen on c4 to e6) With 30.Qf5+, the World Champion avoided an exchange of Queens on c4 which would have been in Black's favor, and stayed away from the sharp continuation 30.Qf8 b4! 31.h6 b3, which gave Black strong COUNTERPLAY. After 30.Qf5+ it is necessary for The World to play 30...Qe6, and once more offer an exchange of Queens. We cannot play 30...e6? as after 31.Qf7+ Kc8 32.h6 b4 33.h7, White is well ahead in the "pawn race" and will win. Therefore my recommendation to parry Kasparov's Queen check is 30...Qe6, after which White may play 31.Qxe6+, and after 31...Kxe6, we reach an ENDGAME that has been studied in detail on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. PAHTZ MOVE 30 COMMENTARY Qe6 to Kasparov's Qf5 After 30....Kc7 31.Qf8 The World would be in a bad position. So The World must play 30....Qe6.
FELECAN MOVE 30 COMMENTARY Qe6 to Kasparov's Qf5 In this position the best move for The World is 30...Qe6 because White's queen occupies a very strong position on f5, controlling the b1 square - the transformation square for our pawn - and at the same time it supports the 'h' pawn on its way to transformation. With 30...Qe6 we are offering a queen trade, while we are strongly decreasing White's chances of attacking and we are moving our king toward his passed pawn. If White declines the queen trade with moves like 31.Qd3, The World can be happy that White's queen moved from the f5 square and it can further push the "b" pawn with 31...b4. Anyway, The World can be proud of making the 30th move into a complicated position with good chances for both sides. Keep up! and you still need a lot of Good Luck! BACROT MOVE 30 COMMENTARY Etienne is participating in the French National Championships, so we will have a temporary break in his coverage of the Kasparov event. BACROT MOVE 30 COMMENTARY Etienne is participating in the French National Championships, so we will have a temporary break in his coverage of the Kasparov event. DANNY KING MOVE 30 COMMENTARY The World is in check from Garry's queen. Time to panic? Not at all! Just work through the alternatives one by one to find the best way out. Let me just point out one rather extraordinary line which was discussed in my Zone theatre chat the other night. In this position after 30 Qf5+, someone recommended moving the king out of check with 30...Ke8. I didn't trust the move because it leaves the king open to more checks, but off the top of my head I couldn't refute it. I tried 31 Qc8+, but 31...Nd8 was a good reply, safeguarding the king, and offering an exchange of queens which, in this case, would be fine for Black. So instead of 31 Qc8+ I tried 31 h6, but after 31...Nd4 Black's pieces were very active, 32 Qg6+ could be met by 32...Qf7, and again, Black was doing fine. But, looking at this position once more, it occurs to me that instead of 32 Qg6+, White may play 32 Qxe5, giving up the queen for the bishop, but allowing the h-pawn to roll home: 32...dxe5 33 h7, and Black is unable to stop the pawn marching to the eighth rank to become a new queen. White would then be winning as he has an extra rook. Very tricky! Of course, there is a stronger way of getting out of the check for Black - which I believe our analysts will all recommend. In fact there is only one decent move here - but it is good enough. We are about to enter into the critical final phase of the game. It is going to be an exciting conclusion! Join me tonight in the Zone theatre chat room if you would like to discuss this position, or if you have any other chess questions.
Garry Kasparov Calls MSN World Challenge "One for the History Books" World Chess Champion Says Interactive Match Is One of the Best in His 17-Year Career LONDON — Sept. 2, 1999 — Has Kasparov finally met his match? At a press conference in London’s Home House, world chess champion Garry Kasparov today admitted that the "Kasparov vs. The World" online chess match, hosted by the MSN™ network of Internet services, is more challenging than he expected and that he is thrilled and surprised by the World Team’s performance. The match, now in its third month and 37th move, still shows no indication of a winner. In fact, despite being in the midst of what followers are calling "a hotly contested endgame," the match could continue for as many as 60 moves and extend into the fall. Spectators and players alike are encouraged to log on to http://www.msn.com/, click on "games" and join the world team in its quest to defeat the world champion. "This experiment on MSN.COM proves that collaboration over the Internet can raise the quality of play remarkably," Kasparov said. "Throughout the match, the World Team has consistently performed at a level that far surpasses what you would expect from anyone rated less than a grandmaster." Microsoft and Kasparov are using the technological innovation of the Internet to bring people together from around the world in this unique, collaborative competition. Since June 21, MSN.COM has received more than 15 million page views, and "Kasparov vs. The World" is now rated the largest interactive competition in history. People from more than 79 countries have logged on to The MSN Gaming Zone and joined the World Team, which is open to chess fans of all skill levels.
"It seems to me that the World Team has a distinct advantage here, and I don’t envy Kasparov’s position," said Yusuf Mehdi, director, Consumer and Commerce Group at Microsoft. "Unlike playing one on one, where you might guess what your opponent is thinking, Kasparov is up against the collective brain power of tens of thousands of people, whose moves have been unpredictable and quite savvy."
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MOVE 31 Voting Results d7-e6 98.23% d7-e8 0.64% d7-c7 0.54% d7-d8 0.23% c6-d8 0.12% KRUSH MOVE 31 COMMENTARY Kxe6 to Kasparov's Qxe6+ I recommend the World plays the move 31...Kxe6 (King on d7 captures Queen on e6) The World Champion was forced to exchange Queens. In turn our move is FORCED - we must recapture his QUEEN. PAHTZ MOVE 31 COMMENTARY Kxe6 to Kasparov's Qxe6+ The World must take White's queen. FELECAN MOVE 31 COMMENTARY Florin Felecan's recommended move and commentary will appear here soon. BACROT MOVE 31 COMMENTARY Etienne is participating in the French National Championships, so we will have a temporary break in his coverage of the Kasparov event. DANNY KING MOVE 31 COMMENTARY Shouldn't be too difficult to find the next move! I am rather surprised we have found ourselves in an endgame - I had expected Garry to keep the queens on in the hope of getting an attack, even though I was confident that Black's resources were sufficient. Anyhow, let's be objective and deal with the current situation. After Black recaptures the queen, the material balance will still be equal: Black has a knight and two pawns (3 + 2) against White's rook (5 points). Black has so-called 'doubled' b-pawns (generally a disadvantage), though even the lame one on b7 provides the knight with a stable square on c6. There are plenty of 'positives' about Black's position. The knight and bishop are both
actively placed, and well protected; and the king is well placed in the centre of the board, ready to hinder White's passed h-pawn, or support its own passed b-pawn. In the endgame it is essential to use the king actively. Now that the queens have been exchanged the king will not come to any harm in the middle of the board; in fact, it is now far better placed than its counterpart languishing on g1 - what a turnaround in fortunes. But what really decides an endgame is whether one side or the other can force a pawn to the eighth rank to get a new queen. Garry has a PASSED PAWN on h5, and the World has its own on b5, far from White's king - making it rather dangerous. (Remember, if a pawn is described as 'passed' it means its path to the eighth rank is unhindered by an enemy pawn in front or to the side of it.) The remainder of this game is going to be devoted to the attempt by both sides to force a pawn to the queening square. I am travelling again today, so I won't be able to host the Zone theatre chat tonight, but I will be back on Sunday evening, same time, same place. Hope to see you then! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 32 Voting Results f4-g3 72.67% f4-f3 19.06% e6-f5 3.79% c6-d4 2.31% b5-b4 1.00% KRUSH MOVE 32 COMMENTARY fxg3 to Kasparov's g3 I recommend the World plays the move 32...fxg3 (Pawn on f4 captures Pawn on g3) With the move 32...fxg3, we meet the World Champion's threat to capture on f4. Black exchanges his potentially overextended f-pawn for a valuable White kingside pawn, and limits White's options. The dubious alternative 32...f3?! meets with 33.Rb1! b4 (Instead 33...Kf5 34.Bd2 Nd4 35.Rb4! wins for White) 34.g4! and White has established a dangerous duo of CONNECTED passed pawns, while placing Black's counterplay with the passed b-pawn under firm observation, for example 34...Kf7 (34...Kd5 35.h6 Kc4 36.Be3 b3 37.g5 Kc3 38.g6 b2 39.g7, is winning for White) 35.Bc1! Bc3 36.Kh2, and White has a clear advantage after 36...Ne5 37.Kg3, or 36...Be5+ 37.Kh3. Therefore, I recommend 32...fxg3 for Black. http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/
Check out Irina's SMART-FAQ
(Up-to-date analysis and downloads for the World Team) PAHTZ MOVE 32 COMMENTARY
f3 to Kasparov's g3 With the move 32.g3 white wants to play Bxf4 next move. Exchanging bishops would then be bad, because the black bishop controls the square h8. So we have after 32.g3 two possibilities: 32....fxg3 and 32....f3. The move 32....fxg3 is bad, because it opens after 33.fxg3 from white the f-file. So we must play 32....f3. FELECAN MOVE 32 COMMENTARY fxg3 to Kasparov's g3 My recommendation for black's 32nd move is fxg3. The pawn on f4 has a very good position but black cannot keep this square under control anymore. The other choices as 32...f3, 32...Kf5 and 32...Nd4 are interesting because they keep the "f" file closed and white's rook inactive, though it seems that we are not making harder for white to develop his kingside pawn majority. With 32...fxg3 we are trading one more pawn and we are weakening white's pawn structure; the downside is that white's rook suddenly becomes very active. The most probable reply for white would be 33.fxg3-since at 33.f4 black has 33...Kf5!-- when our king's access to the "h" pawn via f5 or f7 is forbidden. We can compensate for that by switching our king back to the queenside to provide support for the "b" pawn(s) while maintaining a B+N blockade for white's dangerous pawns: 33...b4, Kd5, Bd4 and Ne5. BACROT MOVE 32 COMMENTARY Etienne is participating in the French National Championships, so we will have a temporary break in his coverage of the Kasparov event. DANNY KING MOVE 32 COMMENTARY Ever since the World played the enterprising move 10...Qe6 in the opening, Garry Kasparov has had a problem: Black's pieces have been far more active than White's. With this bold and radical move, 32 g3, the World Champion is addressing this issue. He is quite prepared to give up a pawn if it means that his bishop is once more connected with the other side of the board, and his rook comes into the game. Moreover, his king can also enter the fray - crucial in this phase of the game when there are so few pieces on the board. The World should think very carefully before snapping off the pawn on g3 with 32...fxg3 33 fxg3 Bxg3. Winning a pawn would be very nice, but I would examine the consequences very carefully before doing so. For a moment Black would be distracted from his real aim in the endgame of pushing his PASSED PAWN on the b-file; and Garry would win time for advancing his passed h-pawn. One capture might be alright, but I am not so sure about the second. Anyway, these are Black's options: 32...fxg3; or 32...f3, in both cases doing something about the threatened pawn on f4; and 32...b4, a more radical attempt, pushing the b-pawn but giving up a pawn. It is amazing how complex the position has remained throughout the game, even after the queens have been exchanged. Clear calculation is the only way to determine which is the best move to play. If you are struggling with that, check out what the analysts have to say; and for more interactive advice, join me in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) where I will be discussing the position and fielding any other chess questions. Danny Moderator Danny King will be in the MSN Gaming Zone's Theater Chat Room on World Team voting days. When you see the voting tool, head over to the Chat Room at 2 P.M. Pacific Time (10 P.M. GMT) and talk about the event. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 33 Voting Results b5-b4 72.15% e5-g3 18.95 c6-d4 2.94 c6-d8 2.28 e5-d4 1.72 KRUSH MOVE 33 COMMENTARY b4 to Kasparov's fxg3 I recommend the World plays the move 33...b4 (Pawn on b5 to b4) Black has only two possibilities for consideration. I gave serious consideration to the alternative 33...Bxg3 (accepting the pawn sacrifice). After 34.h6 Be5 35.h7 Bg7 36.Rf8 b4 37.h8=Q Bxh8 38.Rxh8, Black is compelled once and for all to sacrifice his Bishop for the remaining White pawn, reaching a complicated N + 4P v. R + B endgame. This ENDGAME cannot be dismissed out of hand as it offers drawing chances by reaching certain kinds of FORTRESS positions in which Black has an active King and works to advance his central pawns. Variations emanating from this sequence are intricate - and some of the lines we have examined are not necessarily forced in nature. The line is interesting and has generated intense discussion and application of "computer power". From a practical viewpoint I appreciate the potential danger in this line, for should we be wrong there can be no recovery for Black. The move 33...b4 is consistent with the strategy of generating COUNTERPLAY with the speedy advance of the Black b-pawn. When the Black b-pawn reaches b2 (supported by Black's Bishop on the a1-h8 diagonal) it will limit the scope of White's Rook. Meanwhile, Black's intention is to coordinate the powers of his King, Bishop and Knight to counteract the advance of White's pawns while threatening to PROMOTE the b-pawn. Therefore, based on my current understanding and the evaluation of the analysis by my teammates at this juncture, my recommendation is for Black to play 33...b4. I believe 33...b4 is the best way for Black to proceed. PAHTZ MOVE 33 COMMENTARY b4 to Kasparov's fxg3 I think we must advance our pawn. So I would play b4.
FELECAN MOVE 33 COMMENTARY b4 to Kasparov's fxg3 The best available move for black in this position it is , in my opinion, 33...b4 because black is not losing precious time to capture the pawn on g3, even though it is an interesting (but insufficient)option. Our "b" pawn(s) should be the equivalent of white's "h" pawn; firstly, a good idea for black is to push this pawn as far as possible in order to generate counterplay. Secondly, black should find a better square for the knight, to guard white's pawns or to support the pawn advance. With this two ideas materialized, black should have, at least an equal game. BACROT MOVE 33 COMMENTARY Etienne is participating in the French National Championships, so we will have a temporary break in his coverage of the Kasparov event. DANNY KING MOVE 33 COMMENTARY Garry's move 32 g3 was most efficient. It forced the World to exchange pawns on g3 resulting in this position where, magically, White's rook, without moving, is wonderfully placed, and the bishop on g5 can connect with the other side of the board. Let's take a look at the rook's position more closely. One of Black's defensive possibilities was to move the king over to block White's PASSED H-PAWN. But now, with the opening of the f-file, the king cannot cross through the line of the rook. In chess jargon, we say that the rook is CUTTING OFF the king. Restricting the king in this manner is a common theme in endgames. You may have noticed that Black is able to capture the pawn on g3 with the bishop. In my last Zone chat this move was the subject of some debate: it seemed like everyone wanted to take that pawn. I don't know whether this was just natural human instinct to grab a free lunch, or if this was just the recommendation of the average computer (they can be quite materialistic too!) Possibly both. Whatever the case, this would be like trying to steal a gold tooth from a crocodile's mouth: the prize isn't worth the risk. White's h-pawn would rapidly run towards the eighth rank and, although the bishop, along with the knight, could come back to try to defend, White would have tremendous play. As I mentioned above, it is significant that, with the position of White's rook, Black's king is unable to move across to block the pawn. My gut instinct says that capturing the pawn on g3 would lose for Black and, on closer examination, my head agrees. It is important to keep in mind the basic aim in the endgame: to get a new queen. To do that you have to push your passed pawns. Go to it! See you in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) if you would like to ask about the position, or if you have any other general chess questions. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 34 Voting Results e5-d4 87.03% e5-f4 3.29% b4-b3 3.13% c6-d4 1.61% e5-f6 1.49% KRUSH MOVE 34 COMMENTARY Bd4+ to Kasparov's Bf4 I recommend the World plays the move 34...Bd4+ (Bishop on e5 to d4 check) The World Champion is offering to exchange Bishops - a trade we must absolutely DECLINE. Our beautiful Bishop radiates energy on the a1-h8 LONG DIAGONAL where it serves the DUAL purpose of helping control the advance of White's passed pawns while aiding the advance of Black's PASSED b-PAWN. Therefore we must move our BISHOP. There is only one suitable move - in fact our move is FORCED - we must play 34...Bd4+ giving CHECK to the White King. After Kasparov moves his King (most logical is 35.Kg2), Black will be able to continue with his plan of advancing his pawn rapidly to b2 in order to limit the action of the White Rook. What is the purpose behind Kasparov's move (34.Bf4)? He is using the threat to exchange our Bishop in order to initiate a plan of CENTRALIZING his King. If White's King were to complete a MANEUVER with Kg1-g2-f3-e2/e4-d3-c2, Kasparov could once more engineer a challenge to our Bishop with the MANEUVER Bf4-d2-c3, while at the same time using his King to contain Black's COUNTERPLAY on the Queenside. Although White apparently loses a TEMPO with 34.Bf4, he shall regain it when the Black Bishop must ultimately vacate the d4-square for other duties. Notice that there is no logical alternative to 34...Bd4+. For example, if 34...Bh8? White will quickly drown the Black Bishop (on h8) with pawns after 35.g4! b3 36.g5! and White's position is overwhelming. After 34...Bd4+ 35.Kg2, Black should continue with his Queenside counterplay with 35…b3, and after the logical and obvious centralizing move 36.Kf3, Black must play the direct and logical CENTRALIZING move 36...Kd5! (depriving the White king of the e4-square). In the ENDGAME, the King becomes a more powerful entity, and can be used in the fight for squares - we will threaten to use OUR King to assist the advanced
Black b-PAWN in its goal of reaching the PROMOTION SQUARE on b1. Irina http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/ Check out Irina's SMART-FAQ (Up-to-date analysis and downloads by and for the World Team) http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/SmartChessOnline/archive/MSNKasparov/the_game.htm PAHTZ MOVE 34 COMMENTARY Bd4+ to Kasparov's Bf4 I would play 34....Bd4+, to lose no time. FELECAN MOVE 34 COMMENTARY Bd4+ to Kasparov's Bf4 In this position Black's only move may be 34...Bd4+ to preserve the bishop and to save a "tempo" for the "b" pawn. I thought of 34...b3, to allow White to trade our bishop and in exchange to give us an extra "tempo", but Black would not be able to hold the position anymore; his advanced "b" pawn would be very weak and White's pawns would be unstoppable. White's reply at 34...Bd4+ should be 35.Kh2!? instead of the usual 35.Kg2 which allows, in some lines a knight check: 35.Kg2 b3 36.g4 b2 37.g5 Nb4 38.h6 Nd3, with the threat of 39...Nxf4+ or 39...Nc1. BACROT MOVE 34 COMMENTARY Etienne is competing at the French National Championships, so we will have a temporary break in his commentary. DANNY KING MOVE 34 COMMENTARY I must admit, I hadn't foreseen this last move from Garry. I was concentrating my analysis on 34 Kf2 (with the idea of bringing the king across to halt the b-pawn) but all that is by the by. In fact, retreating the bishop with 34 Bf4 partially serves the same purpose. After, for instance, 34...Bd4+ 35 Kg2, White's king might still wander over to the other side of the board to stop the b-pawn, but its route will be via f3-e4-d3 and c2 - but don't worry, Black gets a few moves in between! That is just a plan for White. Anyhow, I am racing ahead. Let's look at the move 34 Bf4 in more detail, and Black's possible responses. Garry is offering to trade bishops. Should Black go in for this? I would strongly advise not to. The bishop on e5, magnificently situated on the longest diagonal of the board, is the pride of the World's position. Throughout the game it has been a thorn in the World Champion's side (and middle for that matter). In this endgame the bishop performs a special role: it guides the b-pawn down the board, and covers h8, the queening square for White's h-pawn. After the exchange, with Black's king CUT OFF by the rook from the side of the board, the h-pawn would run through to the eighth rank. In other words, moving the bishop is advisable. As I see it, there are two basic options: 34...Bd4+, as I gave above, gaining a little time by checking so as to push the b-pawn forward; or moving the bishop back to h8, getting well out of the way of White's pieces and pawns. As Black can avoid the exchange of bishops so easily, there has to be
another reason behind Garry's move 34 Bf4: to clear the way for the g-pawn to advance, of course. He can see that, on its own, the h-pawn won't make it to the finishing post, so Garry is enlisting the support of its comrade the g-pawn. Such CONNECTED PASSED PAWNS (pawns standing on adjacent files with a free run to the queening square) are a force to be reckoned with, though they are still some way from their goal. All very tense! For a detailed discussion of the position I'll see you in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 35 Voting Results b4-b3 89.49% c6-e5 2.87% e6-f5 1.85% e6-d5 0.75% c6-d8 0.70% KRUSH MOVE 35 COMMENTARY b3 to Kasparov's Kh1 I recommend the World plays the move 35…b3 (Pawn on b4 to b3) SUMMARY The World Champion has played an apparently paradoxical and seemingly correct King move - the possibility of which was first pointed out to me by IM Kenneth Regan. My analysis reveals to me that this move by Kasparov (35.Kh1!?) is both brilliant and venomous in nature. The most natural-looking move for White, in my opinion, was 35.Kg2, but it seemed to me that Black had sufficient resources for counterplay after 35.Kg2 b3 36.Kf3, with 36…b2 37.Ke4 Bh8!? So why did the World Champion play this alternate King move? It must be directed against Black's plan of COUNTERPLAY with b4-b3 and Nc6-b4. I am now recommending the move 35…b3. I hope that the analysis I am presenting will shed some light on my opinion on how Black should conduct his counterplay. ANALYSIS SECTION THE VARIATIONS 35…b3 36.Bh6? and 36.h6 After 35...b3, White cannot play: A) 36.Bh6? as after 36…b2 37.Bf8 Na5 38.h6 Nb3, Black is winning, or;
B) 36.h6, when Black can play 36…b2!? with counterplay or the interesting pawn sacrifice 36...Kf7!? THE VARIATION 35…b3 36.g4, with 36…b2? and 36…Nb4?! and 36…Kd7? To me it seems that the most dangerous idea for White is to quickly run his g-pawn: C) 36.g4, and now: C1) 36...b2? is bad, in my opinion, because of 37.g5, for example: C1a) 37...Na5 38.g6 Nc4 (38...Nb3 39.h6 Nc1 40.g7, and White wins) 39.h6 Na3 40.g7, winning for White. C1b) 37...Ne5 (or 37...Nb4) 38.g6 Nd3 transposes to 36...Nb4 37.g5 b2 38.g6 Nd3 - variation C2a, which is good for White. So what about our other idea with Nc6-b4? C2) 36...Nb4 (?!) - This is the very plan that 35.Kh1 appears to be aimed against. If the following analysis is correct, then Black cannot play 36...Nb4. White plays 37.g5, and now: C2a) 37...b2 38.g6 Nd3 (38...Nc2 39.h6 Na3 40.g7 Kf7 41.Be5+, and White wins) 39.h6 Nxf4 40.g7 Kf7 41.Rxf4+ Bf6 42.Rf1 Kg8 (42...d5 43.Rg1 Bg5 44.g8=Q+ Kxg8 45.Rxg5+, winning for White) 43.Rg1 (a point of 35.Kh1 is revealed) 43...Bg5 44.h7+ Kxh7 45.g8=Q+ Kxg8 46.Rxg5+, and White wins. C2b) 37...Nd3 (We can see another point to Kg1-h1 - as pointed out by IM Kenneth Regan - in that Nd3xf4 will NOT be check, and if the White king had been on h2 with 35.Kh2 there is never a possibility of a Bd4-e5 pin), and now White has the strong 38.h6, for example: C2b1) 38...b2 39.g6, with: C2b1a) 39...Nc1 40.g7 b1=Q (40...Bxg7 41.hxg7 Kf7 42.Be5+, wins for White) 41.g8=Q+, winning. C2b1b) 39...Nf2+ 40.Kg2, and White wins. C2b1c) 39...b1=Q 40.Rxb1 Nxf4 41.Re1+! (41.g7? Bxg7 42.hxg7 Kf7, and Black is OK) 41...Be5 42.g7 Kf7 43.Rg1, and White wins - and we see a significance to 35.Kh1. C2b1d) 39...Bf6 40.g7 Kf7 41.Rg1 Bxg7 42.hxg7 (not 42.Rxg7+? Kf6 43.Rg1 Nxf4 and Black may hold) 42...Kg8 43.Bh6 Nc1 44.Rf1 b1=Q 45.Rf8+ Kh7 46.Rh8+ Kg6 47.g8=Q+, winning for White. C2b2) 38...Nxf4 39.Rxf4 b2 40.Rf1, and now: C2b2a) 40...b1=Q 41.Rxb1 Kf5 42.Rb5+ (not 42.Rxb7? Kxg5 43.h7 Kg6 44.Rxe7 Bg7, and Black is OK) 42...Kg6 43.Rd5! Bh8 (43...e5 44.Rxd6+ Kxg5 45.Rxd4 exd4 46.h7, winning for White) 44.Kg2, and I think White should win. C2b2b) 40...Be3!? (IM Kenneth Regan's idea to lure the White h-pawn forward) 41.h7 Bd4 (41...Bc1 42.h8=Q b1=Q 43.Qc8+ Kd5 44.Rd1+, wins for White) 42.Kg2 b6 (42...Kd5 43.Rd1 Kc5 44.Rxd4 b1=Q 45.h8=Q Qb2+ 46.Kg3 Qxd4 47.Qxd4+ Kxd4 48.g6, and White wins as the Black King is out of the square of the White pawn) 43.Kh3 b1=Q 44.Rxb1 Kf5 45.Rxb6, and now: C2b2b1) 45...Kxg5 46.Rb8 Kf4 47.h8=Q Bxh8 48.Rxh8 d5 49.Kg2 Ke3 50.Re8 d4 51.Rxe7+ Kd2 52.Kf2, and White wins. C2b2b2) 45...Kg6 46.Rb7 Kxh7 47.Rxe7+ Kg6 48.Kg4, and this endgame should be winning for White. C3) What if Black plays a paradoxical King move of his own after 35.Kh1 b3 36.g4, with 36…Kd7(?), intending counterplay with e7-e5.
After 36…Kd7, White has the deadly 37.Bh6! to which I can find no defense, for example: 37...Nd8 (37...b2 38.g5 Na5, is too slow: 39.g6 Nc4 40.g7 Bxg7 41.Bxg7 Nd2 42.Bxb2 Nxf1 43.h6, winning for White) 38.g5 Ne6 39.g6 Ng7 40.Bxg7 Bxg7 41.Kg2 b2 42.Kf3 Ke6 43.Ke4, and White should win. If this analysis holds up - and we certainly have TIME to find some improvements for Black, it means that after 35…b3 36.g4, Black cannot play 36…b2, 36…Nb4 or 36…Kd7. THE VARIATION 35…b3 36.g4 Kd5 So after 35…b3 36.g4, how does Black continue? Stepping back for a moment, we realize that Kasparov has eschewed the plan of King centralization, and interfering with our ambitions for our b-pawn (with his King). By playing 35.Kh1, he wants to further his own ambitions with his passed pawns, and to neutralize certain avenues of Black counterplay. In doing so, we can see that he will have less influence on events in the CENTER, and in my opinion, it is here - in the center - where we must direct our counterplay. C4) I believe Black can continue after 35.Kh1 b3 36.g4, with 36…Kd5, to initiate counterplay with e7-e5. For example: C4a) 37.g5 e5, and now: C4a1) 38.Be3? Bxe3 39.h6 Ne7 40.h7 Ng6 41.Rf6 b2, and Black is winning. C4a2) 38.Bh2 e4 39.g6 Ne7 40.Rb1 (40.Kg2 Ke6!? looks unclear) 40...b2, with counterplay. C4a3) 38.Bd2 e4 39.Kg2 e3 40.Be1, and now 40...b2, or 40…e2!? with counterplay. C4b) 37.h6 b2 38.g5 e5 39.Bd2 Ne7 40.Kg2 e4, and Black has counterplay. C4c) 37.Rd1 Ke4 38.Bg5 (not 38.h6? Kxf4 39.Rxd4+ Nxd4 40.h7 b2 41.h8Q b1Q+, and Black wins) 38...b2, with counterplay for Black C4d) 37.Bh6 (the move which seems to demolish 36…Kd7) 37...b2 (not 37...Na5? 38.g5 b2 39.g6 Nc4 40.g7 Bxg7 41.Bxg7 Nd2 42.Bxb2 Nxf1 43.h6, and White wins), and now: C4d1) 38.Bf8, when Black may have two ways to play: C4d1a) 38...Na5, and now: C4d1a1) 39.Rd1 Nc4 40.Bg7 Ne3! 41.Bxd4 (41.Rxd4+ Kc5 42.Rb4 Kxb4 43.Bxb2 Nxg4, and Black is better) 41...Nxd1 42.Bxb2 Nf2+! 43.Kg2 Nxg4 44.Kf3 Ne5+, with a plus for Black. C4d1a2) 39.g5 Nb3 40.Rb1 Nd2 41.Rxb2 Bxb2 42.g6 Ke6 43.h6 Kf6 44.Bg7+ Kxg6 45.Bxb2 Kxh6, and Black wins. C4d1a3) 39.h6 Nb3 40.Rb1 (not 40.Bg7? Nc1, winning for Black) 40...Nd2 41.Rxb2 (41.Bg7? Nxb1 42.Bxd4 Nc3! and Black wins) 41...Bxb2 42.Bg7 Ne4 43.Bxb2 Ng5 44.Bc1 Nf7 45.g5 Nh8 46.Bb2 e5, and Black should at least hold. Or the possibility: C4d1b) 38...Bf6 39.h6 (Black wins after 39.g5 Bxg5 40.h6 Bc1) 39...Ne5 40.Bg7 (40.g5 Bxg5, and Black wins) 40...Nxg4 41.Bxf6 Nxf6 42.Rb1 Ke6 43.Rxb2 Kf7 44.Rh2 (44.Rxb7 Kg6 45.Rxe7 Kxh6, with a drawn endgame) 44...Kg6, with the idea Kg6-h7, followed by Nf6-g8xh6, eliminating White's last pawn for a draw. C4d2) 38.g5, with: C4d2a) 38...Be3 39.Rb1 Bc1 40.Bg7 Ne5 (40...e5 loses to 41.Bf6!) 41.h6, and White wins. Better is, C4b2b) 38...Nd8 39.g6 Ne6, with counterplay for Black. My conclusion at this time is that Black must play 35…b3, and after 36.g4, continue with 36…Kd5. We have TIME to refine and more fully explore these ideas.
PAHTZ MOVE 35 COMMENTARY b3 to Kasparov's Kh1 I would advance my b-pawn b4-b3. All other moves lose time. FELECAN MOVE 35 COMMENTARY b3 to Kasparov's Kh1 In this position I recommend 35...b4-b3 for The World as being the move which continues the best our plan. An early blockade try with 35...Kf5 fails to 36.Bh6+( 36.Bxd6? because of 36...Kg5 and the "h" pawn is lost) followed by g3-g4-g5. After black's 35...b3 White should advance his pawns, too with 36.g4 when the next line is possible: 36...b2 -same argument as for the previous move; The World is trying to keep white's rook pasive, continiously preocupied with defending the 1st rank- 37.g5 Kf7!?-taking advantage that white's bishop is on f4 black is moving his king toward the dangerous pawns-38.Be5+!?-since no other check is more efficient(38.Bxd6+ wins a pawn for white but after 38...Kg7 Black doesn't have much of a problem) white is trying to keep the Black king out of the play as much as possible- 38...Kg8 39.Bxd4-trading black's powerful bishop- 39...Nxd4 40.Rb1-if 40.g6? then 40...Ne2, or 40.h6 Kh7-40...Kh7 41.Rxb2 Ne6 42.g6+ -42.Rg2? b5 43.Kg1 b4 44.Kf1 b3 45.Ke1 b2- 42...Kh6 43.Rxb7= BACROT MOVE 35 COMMENTARY b3 to Kasparov's Kh1 I recommend the world to push its passed pawn 35...b3. Dear chess fans, I am back affter my 1,115 days of silence. During this time I took part in the French national championships. And finally I won first place! After winning the Grandmaster tournament in Bermuda in January, the Lausanne Young Masters in May, the French Championship title is my third victory this year. In Besançon, I had the chance to meet The World's prestigious opponent, Garry Kasparov. People there were very enthusiastic about his appearance in France. He played a simul and won all 25 games, in true World Champion's form. DANNY KING MOVE 35 COMMENTARY Garry moves his king into the corner: what a shocker! This goes against accepted wisdom that one should use the king actively in the endgame. Early in the game when the mud is flying, the king should be hidden away, but, with fewer pieces remaining, his majesty isn't going to be checkmated in the middle of the board, and actually becomes a mighty piece. So what exactly is the World Champion doing by playing the king into the corner? (Most of us had been looking at playing the king forward to g2, with the idea of marching it across to stop the b-pawn.) This is a very deep idea. There is one crucial variation where it suits White to have the king on h1 rather than g2, or h2. It gets rather complicated but bear with me, it is fascinating! First let me give you the variation, and then I will attempt to explain it:
35...b3 36 g4 b2 37 g5 Nb4 38 g6 Nd3 39 h6 b1(Q) 40 Rxb1 Nxf4 41 Re1+ Be5 42 g7 Kf7 43 Rg1, with a winning position for White!! Let's go from the very beginning. Black plays 35...b3 - as we know the aim in the endgame is to try to get a new queen by pushing the pawn to the eighth rank. White answers with 36 g4, and Black pushes the pawn on again with 36...b2. White pushes on again, 37 g5. Now Black cannot get a queen because White's rook covers the promotion square b1. So the knight is thrown in to assist: 37...Nb4. White pushes on again, 38 g6. Black moves the knight in with 38...Nd3, attacking the bishop, but, instead of moving the bishop, White stays cool as a cucumber in a cold salmon sandwich, ignores the threat, and pushes again with 39 h6. Only at this point is it possible to see why Garry has moved the king into the corner. If Black wins the bishop according to the variation I gave above with 39...b1(Q) 40 Rxb1 Nxf4, because the king stands on h1, instead of g2, White is NOT IN CHECK, so therefore has a 'free' move to force the pawns home, and this he can do with the clever 41 Re1+ (this is the difficult move to see at the start of this sequence). Whichever way Black gets out of this check he is lost. For instance, moving the king away to d7 moves too far from the pawns; and 41...Kf6 loses to 42 g7 Kf7 43 Rxe7+. While 41...Be5, as I gave above, loses to 42 g7 Kf7 (the only way to prevent White queening); but now 43 Rg1 does the trick as 43...Kg8 loses to 44 h7+. This is the justification of moving the king into the corner. IF the king were on g2, in one variation Black would capture the bishop on f4 WITH CHECK, losing one vital move for White. The more perceptive of you might be asking, 'Wouldn't it do just as well for the king to be on h2?' (as Florin suggested yesterday). Here's the critical variation which shows that it would not have been as good as playing the king into the corner: 35...b3 36 g4, and now, instead of 36...b2 as I gave above, Black could try 36...Nb4, and if 37 g5 Nd3. The knight arrives a move earlier, but White ignores it: 38 g6 Nxf4 39 Rxf4 b2 40 Rf1, and Black has no decent defence to the advance of White's pawns. The point is that IF White's king had been on h2, then Black could have played 39...Be5, pinning the rook to the king, and winning. Nevertheless, Florin was certainly on the right lines when he was looking for a square which avoided a check on f4. Normally, I would not go into such detail. In this case, however, it is necessary. First, because in order to explain Garry's move, it needs a detailed treatment. I don't think I should hide that chess IS a complicated game. Second, because I believe the World is moving onto the critical list. The variations I have given above need to be improved on or Black is going rapidly downhill. I certainly do not present the lines above as forced, but I am sure they are what Garry has in mind. So, this is your task: you need to find a defence to the inexorable advance of White's pawns, and you need to find it quickly.
See you in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) for a full discussion of the position. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 36 Voting Results e6-d5 37.69% b3-b2 37.11% c6-b4 14.34% c6-e5 3.61% e6-f6 1.10% KRUSH MOVE 36 COMMENTARY Kd5 to Kasparov's g4 I recommend the World plays the move 36...Kd5 (King on e6 to d5) SUMMARY The World Champion has played the most direct and forcing move 36.g4. I am now recommending the move 36...Kd5, ACTIVATING the Black King. Black's King vacates the e6-square (and the e-file), in preparation for e7-e5 (or perhaps e7-e6!?) followed by Nc6-e7. One idea is to generate counterplay (e7-e5-e4, and b3-b2) while coordinating our Bishop and Knight to either BLOCKADE the White passed pawns, or even possibly sacrifice a piece to KILL the White passed pawns. Additionally, Black is menacing with his advanced b-pawn (a charged particle that will cost White material when the Black King threatens a march on the LIGHT SQUARES to a2 or c2 in support of a Black pawn on b2). Once again, we have TIME to explore and refine these concepts - it is the moment for the human/computer parallel processor of the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board to kick into overdrive! Irina http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/ Check out Irina's SMART-FAQ (Up-to-date analysis and downloads by and for the World Team) http://www.smartchess.com/SmartChessOnline/SmartChessOnline/archive/MSNKasparov/the_game.htm ADDENDUM
Welcome back, Etienne. Felicitations sur ta victoire dans le Championnat de la France. My congratulations and my thanks are extended to the following (in no particular order) who contributed so brilliantly to analysis sessions both on and off the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board during the weekend. My apologies in advance for any important omissions or misspellings: "IM2429", "HC BSB", Ken Regan, Brian McCarthy, GM Chess School, Duncan Suttles, Ross Amann, "Spy49", "steni", "Oystein", Otto ter Haar, Michel Gagne, Computer Chess Team, David Koval, Giorgi Kacheishvili, and Ron Henley. Their work (and many others) towards the "World Team" concept help me to make my recommendations with confidence (and a sense of relief!). My additional "thank you" is extended to someone who wishes to remain anonymous - who cancelled his vacation in order to maintain the World Team's "SMART-FAQ". INTERVIEW WITH VISWANATHAN ANAND, WORLD’S No. 2 CHESS PLAYER Viswanathan Anand, the world’s No. 2 chess player, spoke with Art Fazakas, writer for the Kasparov vs. The World Web site. Mr. Anand is a two-time Chess Oscar winner (1997 and 1998) and the only Asian to win the Chess Oscar. Among the many honors and awards in Mr. Anand’s brilliant career are the following: • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Indian National Junior Champion, 1983-86. Asian Junior Champion, 1984-85. Youngest Asian to become an International Master (at age 15), 1985 First Asian to become World Junior Chess Champion, 1987. Joint Champion, Triveni International Super Grandmasters Tournament, New Delhi, 1990. Gold Medal, Asian Zonal Chess Championship, 1990 Champion, PCA Grand Prix, Moscow 1994 Champion, World Championship Candidates Cycles, Linares, Spain (and New York event), 1994 Finalist, World Championship, New York, NY, 1995 Champion, Credit Swiss Rapid Chess Grand Prix, Geneva, 1996 (defeated Garry Kasparov) Runner-up, FIDE World Chess Championship, Lausanne, Switzerland, 1998 British Chess Federation Book of the Year Award for his "My Best Games of Chess," 1998. Doctorate Honoris Causa, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University of Hyderabad, for his leadership role as India’s greatest chess player.
KvW: Mr. Anand, have you been following the Kasparov vs. The World event, and if so, what is your overall impression? VA: Oh, yes, I am following it with great interest. It is a very good medium for the promotion of chess, it is very good publicity for the game. KvW: Would you say something about the analysts’ commentary? VA: Well, I do my own analysis of the game, so I am not studying the commentary closely, but it is an excellent way to level the playing field, since everyone can check the recommendations from four of the brightest young players. KvW: Are you pleased with the way in which chess has grown over the past decade, given the prevalence of chess computers in the study and practice of most serious young players? VA: Indeed, I am very happy with the way chess has grown, and I think computers and chess are an excellent match. Computers have raised the overall level of the game. KvW: And the Internet? VA: Chess and the Internet are a great combination. It is very good for chess. KvW: How much time do you spend analyzing positions and practicing chess? VA: That depends on how things are going; if I have some chess problems to solve, I can spend 8 to 10 hours a day with Fritz or with my associates. But if I have no particular difficulty at hand, I might spend very little time. It also depends on whether I am preparing for a tournament. [Ed. Note: Fritz 5.32, released in December, 1998, is a 32-bit chess program made by ChessBase of Hamburg, Germany. It offers a highly tactical playing style developed by the Dutch computer expert Frans Morsch.]
KvW: Did you think that The World Team would last over 50 moves against the World Champion? VA: Absolutely! The World has done a great job, with the help of the analysts, and I think the Queen maneuver early on changed what was initially a slow game to a much faster-paced, more interesting one. I fully expected that it would go on this long. KvW: Would you like to be featured in an event like Kasparov vs. The World? VA: Yes, certainly, but I have not given it serious consideration. The subject has come up occasionally, but I have been too busy with other chess pursuits. KvW: What are your plans for the rest of this year and the winter? VA: The only event on my calendar at present is the annual Hoogovens Chess Tournament at Wijk aan Zee, Holland from January 13-31. It is known as "Wijk aan Zee" and it’s a very big event. KvW: Garry Kasparov meets many talented young players at tournaments around the world and plays chess with some of them to measure their talent. For example, he met Bacrot after the recent French Open, and was instrumental in Elisabeth Pähtz’s winning a stipend from the German Federation last year. Do you also meet and encourage young players? Can you name a few of your favorites? VA: Absolutely, all the time. I meet gifted young players everywhere, and I follow the careers of a number of very talented ones. Three of my favorite opponents under 20 years of age, all of whom are in the world’s top 20, are Peter Leko, Peter Svidler and Alexander Morozevich. I am especially interested in promoting young Indian players. KvW: What city is home for you? VA: Madras, now called Chennai. I spend considerable time there, of course. KvW: Any final comments about the event? VA: Fantastic job by the producers. This will be a big boost for chess, thanks to Garry and the World Team. KvW: Thank you very much for your time. It was a pleasure talking with you. VA: My pleasure as well. ---Art Fazakas PAHTZ MOVE 36 COMMENTARY Nb4 to Kasparov's g4 36....b2 is losing after 37.g5 Nb4 38.g6 Nd3 39.h6 b1Q 40.Rxb1 Nxf4 41.Re1+ Be5 42.g7 Kf7 43. Rg1 (Danny King). But I think The World can play 36....Nb4 37.g5 Nd3 38.g6?! Nxf4 39. Rxf4 b2 40. Rf1 Bg7 41.Kg2 Kd5 and now White has two possibilities: 42.Rb1 Ke6 43.Kg3 Kf5 with equality or 42.Kg3 Kc4 43.Kg4 Bh6 leaving The World better off. I think White must play 38.h6 instead of 38.g6, then it follows: 38....Nxf4 39.Rxf4 b2 40. Rf1 Be3 41.h7 Bd4 42.Kg2 with White in a better position. FELECAN MOVE 36 COMMENTARY b2 to Kasparov's g4. My next recommendation is 36...b2 because we are further advancing our passed pawn forcing white's rook to play defensively. This move is combined with king's maneuver e6-f7-g8 in order to stop white's pawns from queening; I do not like the other option, of moving the king on the queenside to support the passed pawn(s) and hope to sac the knight for white's passed pawn(s) because if something goes wrong after white's 37.h6 black position would be lost immediately and without a chance. BACROT MOVE 36 COMMENTARY
b2 to Kasparov's g4 The World must push the pawn on b3 to b2. After Kasparov's next move, there will be many possibilities. But today, there is only one. DANNY KING MOVE 36 COMMENTARY It's crunch time. Garry's second passed pawn rolls up the board, joining its comrade in the march to the eighth rank. If Black isn't careful, the peasants will have their day. Before we look into the World's options, it is worth noting again the significance of Garry's amazing move 35 Kh1. All is revealed in the following variation: 36...b2 37 g5 Nb4 38 g6 Nd3 39 h6 Nxf4 40 g7 Bxg7 41 hxg7 Kf7 42 Rxf4+ Kxg7 43 Rb4 Kf6 44 Kg2 and White wins. Now let me try to explain! Black pushes with 36...b2, getting a step closer to the queening square. 37 g5. Garry pushes his own pawn. The b-pawn cannot move forward because of White's rook, so Black needs to bring the knight in to provide support, therefore 37...Nb4. White pushes the pawn again with 38 g6, and Black throws the knight in with 38...Nd3, threatening the bishop. This is the critical moment. White's bishop is attacked, but, instead of moving it, he just advances a pawn again with 39 h6, and when the knight captures 39...Nxf4, the pawns shuffle on (40 g7) and White is winning. IF White's king had been standing on g2 in this variation, then Black would have captured the bishop with CHECK. White would have had to waste a move to get out of check, and Black would have been winning. So, to avoid a check, thus gaining one move in a critical line, Garry played his king into the corner a couple of moves ago rather than to the predicted g2. Subtle and deep. Now, let's consider Black's possible options. Not the line above, that is clear (I believe 36...b2 is simply losing). I have been considering two possible moves: 36...Nb4 or 36...Kd5. First 36...Nb4. In my commentary two days ago, I gave the line 37 g5 Nd3 38 g6 Nxf4 39 Rxf4 b2 40 Rf1 as winning for White. On closer examination, however, I find it is not that simple. Black starts with 40...Bg7 to stop the pawns. White advances the king up the board to support the pawns: 41 Kg2, and now it all depends whether Black can set up some kind of blockade to hold a draw. Needs careful examination. However, this may all be irrelevant as 38 h6 looks better than 38 g6. In that case it isn't so easy to blockade the pawns. Alternatively, there is 36...Kd5. It looks slightly mad to move the king away from White's advancing pawns, but if it cannot cross the line of the rook on f1 to hinder them anyway, then why not? The king might support the b-pawn, and also makes way for Black's e-pawn to advance. That's the theory anyway. This has been much discussed on the bulletin boards, but, in my opinion, it doesn't quite hang together. Perhaps you can find a way to make it work...? To sum up, these are the options as I see them: 36...Nb4, or 36...Kd5. It's your choice. I do not exaggerate when I say that the World is fighting for its life. Make the wrong decision here and the game could be over. See you in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) where I will be discussing the position as well as answering more general chess questions.
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MOVE 37 Voting Results e7-e6 54.56% e7-e5 35.44% b3-b2 4.20% c6-d8 1.43% c6-b4 0.85% KRUSH MOVE 37 COMMENTARY E6 to Kasparov’s g5 I recommend the World plays the move 37…e6 (Pawn on e7 to e6) SUMMARY As expected, the World Champion has played the aggressive 37.g5. The position is complicated and difficult, and in this instance, I believe that the move 37…e6 is our best chance. Alas, overnight analysis sessions suggest Black will have severe difficulties even with this move. Black intends the MANEUVER Nc6-e7-f5. The move 37…e6 does not block the a1-h8 LONG DIAGONAL with the e-pawn (as would be the case with the inferior 37…e5), and thus the mobility of Black's important DARK SQUARED BISHOP is NOT impeded. The alternatives 37…b2 or 37…e5 have been shown to practically LOSE BY FORCE. In my Analysis Section, I will present a synopsis of the fine work completed by many World Team analysts on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. If you are only a casual visitor and voter during the "Kasparov versus The World" match, I would strongly urge you to every so often pay a visit to the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. There you will be able to witness for yourself the remarkable fusion of ideas and analysis that make that arena arguably our most important resource in this battle. The World Team Strategy Bulletin Board is a cauldron of creativity unparalleled in the history of chess, and participation in that forum been the highlight of this event for me. ANALYSIS I am posting this analysis created by the World Team, as I feel it is fitting that its incredible efforts on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board should not be forgotten. A) 37…b2 LOSES The move 37...b2 (with the idea of stopping the maneuver Bf4-c1 by White), LOSES.
After 38.g6 (38.h6 Nd8 39.g6 transposes) 38...Nd8 (if 38...e5 39.Bg5, or 38...Ke6 39.h6 b1=Q 40.Rxb1 Kf6 41.g7 Kf7 42.Rxb7, or 38...Ke4 39.h6 b1=Q 40.Rxb1 Kxf4 41.g7, and White is winning) 39.Be3 (39.h6 Ne6 40.Be3 Be5 transposes) 39...Be5 (Forced) 40.h6 Ne6 41.Bg5 (A move which so often breaks the back of the Black blockade) 41...Ng7 (A spectacular idea to hinder the advance of White's dynamic duo - conceived on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. Sadly, this remarkable concept just falls short of holding Black's position. If instead 41...Ke4 42.Bxe7 Kd3 43.Bf8 Kc2 44.g7 Nxg7 45.Bxg7, and White wins) 42.hxg7 (42.h7!?) 42...Bxg7 43.Bxe7, and now: A1) 43...b5 44.Kg2, with, A1a) 44...b4 45.Kg3 Kc4 (45...b3 46.Kg4, wins for White) 46.Bxd6 b3 47.Ba3, and White wins. A1b) 44...Kc4 45.Bxd6 Kb3 46.Kf3 Ka2 47.Ke4 b1=Q+ 48.Rxb1 Kxb1 49.Kf5 Kc2 50.Ke6 Kd3 51.Kf7 Bd4 52.Bf8 Ke4 53.Bg7, transposing to the winning endgame for White shown in Variation A2. A2) 43...Kc4 44.Bxd6 Kb3 45.Kg2 Ka2 46.Kf3 b1=Q 47.Rxb1 Kxb1 48.Ke4 Kc2 49.Kf5! Kd3 50.Ke6 Ke4 (50...Kc4 51.Be5 Bh6 52.Kf7 b5 53.Bf4, and White wins) 51.Kf7 Bd4 52.Bf8 b5 (or 52...Kf5 53.Bg7 Be3 54.Bc3 Bh6 55.Bb4 b5 56.Ba3, winning for White) 53.Bg7 Bxg7 54.Kxg7 b4 55.Kf8 b3 56.g7 b2 57.g8=Q b1=Q 58.Qh7+, winning by skewering Black's new Queen. A brutal albeit elegant finish. B) 37…e5 LOSES While at first glance 37...e5 may look more appealing (as Black quickly mobilizes his passed e-pawn) Black is LOST after 38.Bc1! For example: B1) 38...e4 39.g6 e3 (39...Ne7 40.Bg5, or 39...Nb4 40.h6, win for White) 40.h6 e2 (40...Ne7 41.g7 b2 42.Bxe3, and White wins) 41.Re1 Ne7 42.g7 b2 43.Bxb2 Bxb2 44.Rxe2 Bxg7 45.hxg7 Ng8 46.Re8 Nh6 47.Rh8, and White wins. B2) 38...b2 (Here, White sacrifices his Bishop to eliminate the Black b-pawn, and then forces through his kingside pawns) 39.Bxb2 Bxb2 40.h6 e4 (or 40...Ne7 41.Rf6 e4 42.h7 Bxf6 43.gxf6 Ng6 44.f7, and White wins. 40...Ke6 loses to 41.Rf6+, and 40...Nd8 fails to 41.g6) 41.g6 Ne7 42.g7 e3 (or 42...Ke6 43.Rf8! - winning for White) 43.Rf7 Bxg7 44.Rxg7 Nf5 45.h7 e2 (45...Nxg7 46.h8=Q e2 47.Qg8+ and White wins) 46.Rg1, winning for White - another variation that highlights Kasparov's fiendish 35.Kh1. B3) 38...Ne7 39.Rf7! Ke6 40.Rf6+, and now: B3a) 40...Kd5 41.h6! b2 (or 41...e4 42.h7 Bxf6 43.gxf6 Ng6 44.f7, splicing the Black Knight and winning) 42.Bxb2 Bxb2 43.h7, winning for White. B3b) 40...Kd7 41.Ba3 b2 42.Rf1, and now: B3b1) 42...Be3 43.g6 Bc1 44.Bxb2! Bxb2 45.g7 Ke6 46.Rf8, wins for White. B3b2) 42...Nf5 43.Kh2! Ke6 44.h6 e4 (44...Ne7 45.Rf6+, and 44...Ne3 45.Rb1 Nc4 46.Bxb2! Nxb2 47.g6, win for White) 45.Rb1 Kf7 46.Bxb2 Kg6 47.Kh3, and White wins. B3b3) 42...e4 43.Rb1 Nf5 44.h6 Nh4 45.Bxb2 Bxb2 46.Rxb2, and White wins. C) 37…Ke4 LOSES The move 37...Ke4? loses to 38.g6 Nd8 (or 38...b2 39.Bg5, and White wins) 39.h6 Ne6 40.Bg5, winning for White. D) 37…e6 (My Recommendation to My Teammates) - BLACK'S POSITION IS DIFFICULT Black's idea with the move 37…e6 is to relocate his Knight on c6 to the f5-OUTPOST (via e7 - a square cleared by the move 37…e6). From f5, the Knight can assist in BLOCKADING the enemy passed pawns, or in some eventualities offer itself in sacrifice to stop the White passed pawns. On d5, the Black King remains close to the precious passed pawn on b3, and is ready to assist in the creation of threats to PROMOTE the Black b-pawn (with MANEUVERS such as Kd5-c4-b3-a2, or Kd5-c4-b3-c2, or Kd5-c4-d3-c2, for example). Even so, the most recent analysis on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board indicates that Black's position is very difficult, as we have unearthed more of Kasparov's deep preparation.
PAHTZ MOVE 37 COMMENTARY e5 to Kasparov's g5 I would play e7-e5. Then the knight on c6 can move to e7 and stop the White pawns. FELECAN MOVE 37 COMMENTARY e6 to Kasparov's g5 The best available move for The World in this position is 37...e6! to move the knight on the kingside and at the same time to keep the long diagonal a1-h8 open for the bishop while providing a strong post for the knight on f5. Black's plan is to sack his knight for the most dangerous (advanced) White pawn and afterwards to run his king on c2 to queen his "b" pawn. If The World will complete this plan entirely, it should be able to maintain an equal, balanced game; but if The World fails to either sack his knight at the right time or to queen his pawn, White's rook will cruise between a bunch of weak Black pawns. Right now The World's position is promising, but it can dramatically change in a matter of moves.
BACROT MOVE 37 COMMENTARY e6 to Kasparov's g5 I recommend that The World Team play e6. The main two lines after that would be: 38 g6...Ne7 39 e1...b2 40 Bxd6...b1(Q) 41 Rxb1...Kxd6 42 Rxb7...Nf5 43 Kh2...Ng7= and: 38 g6...Ne7 39 Bg5...Nf5
40 Kg2...b2 41 h6...Nxh6 42 Bxh6...Kc4 43 g7...Bxg7 44.Bxg7...d5=
DANNY KING MOVE 37 COMMENTARY Instead of advancing the b-pawn again, the World chose to play the king forward to d5. This has the merit of freeing the way for the e-pawn to advance, which in turn clears the e7 square enabling the knight to hop over to the kingside to try to blockade the h and g pawns. In reply Garry nudged the g-pawn forward again. Those connected passed pawns look menacing. Anyone remember an old video game called Space Invaders? I spent an alarmingly large chunk of my youth attempting to stop those little critters from shuffling down the screen to destroy me. Now the Champ's pawns have brought the horror of it back. What can be done to prevent their advance? As I see it, it is a bit late to play 37...b2 now; it will have to wait for a move or so. In that case White's pawns would just creep forward again, and that would be that. I think there are only two serious options for the World: 37...e5, or 37...e6. Both clear the way for Black's knight to come to e7, delaying the advance of White's pawns on the kingside. Determining which option is best requires seriously deep calculation. If you aren't up for that, then check out the analysts' recommendations: you might be surprised at their conclusions. I won't be in the Zone theatre chat room tonight as I'm returning to London, but I will be there on Friday, same time, same place, so see you
then!
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MOVE 38 Voting Results c6-e7 90.80% e6-e5 3.94% b3-b2 2.17% c6-e5 1.06% c6-b4 0.31% KRUSH MOVE 38 COMMENTARY Ne7 to Kasparov's h6 I recommend the World plays the move 38...Ne7 (Knight on c6 to e7) The World Champion has advanced one of his PASSED pawns (38.h6), inching it nearer to PROMOTION. Without delay, we must play 38...Ne7, to relocate our Knight to the BLOCKADE SQUARE on g6. From its OUTPOST on g6, the Black Knight impedes both of White's passed pawns - it blocks the path of White's g-pawn, and covers the h8-square (the promotion square for White's h-pawn). Black must not delay in establishing this blockade. Once again, the World must resist the temptation of falling into the trap of too rashly pushing its b-pawn to b2, for after the blunder 38...b2?? White wins easily with 39.g6 Ne7 (too late!) 40.g7. Therefore, our move 38...Ne7 seems FORCED. PAHTZ MOVE 38 COMMENTARY
Ne7 to Kasparov's h6 This is the only move we should make in this position. Our knight must try to stop the White pawns. From the square e7 the knight controls the square g6. FELECAN MOVE 38 COMMENTARY Ne7 to Kasparov's h6 After White's 38th move, The World is virtually forced to play 38...Nc6-e7 in order to stop the move g5-g6 from being played. Black is following the plan started at Move 36, where the king moves to the queenside to support the "b" pawn while the knight is directed to the kingside to keep White's pawn(s) from queening. BACROT MOVE 38 COMMENTARY Ne7 to Kasparov's h6 The World Champion pushed the right pawn 38.h6! ,so now we have to block White's passed pawns by 38...Ne7. The game might continue in this way: 39.Rd1...Ng6? 40.Bxd6...b2 41.Ba3...Ke4 42.Rb1, winning for White. OR: 39...b2 40.Bxd6 b1=Q 41.Rxb1...Kxd6 42.Rxb7 with a big advantage for White. OR: 39...e5 40.Be3... Kc4 41.Bxd4... exd4 42.Kg2 b2 43.Kf3... Kc3 44.h7... Ng6 45.Ke4... Kc2 46.Rh1... d3 47.Kf5... d2 48.Kxg6... d1=Q 49.Rxd1... Kxd1 50.h8=Q b1=Q+ 51.Kh6, with very good winning chances for White even withone pawn less, because White's g pawn is very far along. The best chance in this line is probably 48...b1=Q 49.Rxb1... Kxb1 50.h8=Q... d1=Q, after which White is in a better position. DANNY KING MOVE 38 COMMENTARY For the last three moves all Garry has done is push those pawns down the board. Is this turning into an obsession for him? Well, if it meant that at the end of the march one of those pawns were to become a queen then you would focus on that task too! An extra queen would give White an overwhelming superiority in forces. The situation has become critical for Black. Although the bishop on d4 is doing an excellent job, two connected pawns is too much for it to handle. It needs some support if those pawns are to be stopped and there is only one way to do that. If you are not sure how, then take another close look at Black's last move, 37...e6; that should provide a big clue. And, if all else fails, check out the analysis of the World coaches. I believe we are going to see unanimity today. Yesterday, here in London, Garry gave a press conference to report on progress in the game so far. He was understandably reluctant to go into detail on the current position for fear of giving his ideas away, but he made the intriguing comment that 'Mathematically it is impossible to prove a win for White, but at the same time it is impossible to prove a draw for Black...' In other words, World, there is everything to play for! We have confirmation from the horse's mouth that White has the better chances here,
but there is still a long way to go, and, if Black plays accurately, a draw might be achieved. That, I believe, would represent a tremendous success for the World. If you are interested in hearing more of Garry's comments and views from the press conference, then join me in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) where I will also be discussing the current position. Danny King xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 39 Voting Results e6-e5 82.11% e7-g6 6.91% b3-b2 4.79% e7-f5 2.74% d5-e4 1.59% KRUSH MOVE 39 COMMENTARY e5 to Kasparov's Rd1 SUMMARY With his last move (39.Rd1), the World Champion places our powerful Bishop on d4 in a PIN, and exerts pressure on our pawn on d6 (along the d-FILE with his Rook on d1, and along the f4-d6 DIAGONAL with his Bishop on f4). I am now recommending the advance of our e-pawn to e5 (this is Black's only good move in this position), attacking White's Bishop on f4 (thus neutralizing White's pressure along the f4-d6 diagonal aimed at Black's d6-point). Depending on White's reaction to this attack on his Bishop, we will then determine the best method of how to deal with the pin on our Bishop. ANALYSIS SECTION There are a number of weaker (and losing) continuations for Black in this position. Let's DISPOSE of them, one by one: A) 39...b2? White has two ways to play, both of which give him a clear winning advantage: A1) 40.Bxd6 b1=Q (White wins after 40...Nf5 41.Ba3, or 40...Kxd6? 41.Rxd4+ Kc5 42.Rd1, etc.) 41.Rxb1 Kxd6 42.Rxb7 Ng6 43.Kg2! and White has a clear (probably winning) advantage, or;
A2) 40.Be3 b1=Q (40...e5 41.Bxd4 exd4 42.Rb1, wins for White) 41.Rxb1 Bxe3 42.Rxb7 Ng6 (42...Bxg5 loses to 43.Rb5+) 43.Rg7 Nf8 (or 43...Nh8 44.Rg8 Nf7 45.h7 Bd4 46.g6 Ng5 47.Kg2, and White wins) 44.Rg8 Nh7 45.g6 Nf6 46.h7, and White wins. B) 39...Ng6? White wins easily after 40.Bxd6 b2 41.Ba3 Ke4 42.Rb1. C) 39...Ke4? Unpinning in this manner fails after 40.Bxd6 Ng6, and now: C1) 41.Kg2 Be3 (41...Bh8 42.Rb1, wins for White) 42.h7, and White wins, or; C2) 41.Ba3 b2 (or 41...Be5 42.Rb1 Kf5 43.Rxb3 Kxg5 44.Bc1+, winning for White) 42.Rb1 Kf5 43.Bxb2 Bxb2 44.Rxb2 Kxg5 45.h7 Kh6 46.Rxb7, and White wins. Only pleasant choices for White in this variation. D) 39...Nf5? This continuation loses to 40.h7 b2 41.Be5! b1=Q 42.Rxb1 Bxe5 43.Rb5+ Kd4 44.Rxe5, etc. So we may conclude that 39…b2, 39…Ng6, 39…Ke4, and 39…Nf5, are all BAD (Analysis by the World Team). E) 39...e5 - My Recommendation to my Teammates With the move e5, the World accomplishes more than a mere one-move attack on White's Bishop. Black mobilizes his passed e-pawn to generate COUNTERPLAY, and clears the e6-SQUARE - reserving an option for a MANEUVER with Kd5-e6-f5 (as circumstances allow or dictate) when the Black King can participate in the blockade of White's passed pawns. Black also remains poised to penetrate with his King to the c3- or c2-squares to assist in the advance of his own passed pawn on b3. You may ask yourself why am I now advocating the advance of our e-pawn to e5 when only two moves ago, I recommended restraint with the move 37…e6 (instead of the very weak move 37…e5?)? Circumstances have changed - previously White's Rook stood on the f-file poised to infiltrate White's position at f7 or f8. Now with White's pawns on g5 and h6 (instead of g5 and h5), and the Black Knight relocated to e7, Black's kingside blockade plan is more well defined. White's Rook is now on d1 - assigned the task of limiting the scope of Black's active Bishop, and Black does not fear an immediate dangerous incursion by the White Rook along the f-file in conjunction with White playing Bf4-c1-a3 - the idea that was so deadly against 37…e5. So, my recommendation is 39…e5, after which the position remains in dynamic balance. PAHTZ MOVE 39 COMMENTARY e5 to kasparov's Rd1 If we stop the pawns with Ng6, Kasparov would play 40. Bxd6 and win a pawn, because after Kxd6, White can take the bishop on d4 (Rxd4). So we should attack the bishop with e6-e5 and after 40. Be3 we can follow with 40... Kc4 41. Bxd4... cxd4 42. Kg2... b2 43. Kf3... Kc3 and The World has a little hope in this unclear position. FELECAN MOVE 39 COMMENTARY e5 to Kasparov's Rd1 In this position The World has many options but few seem to be sufficient; one of them, the one that I like best, is 39...e5. This move eliminates White's threat of Bxd6, defends the bishop on d4 and advances another pawn. White's reply at 39...e5 may be either 40.Bf4-e3, to trade Black's powerful bishop or 40.Bc1 to keep the bishop guarding Black's "b" pawn; in both cases The World's best hope is a painful draw. BACROT MOVE 39 COMMENTARY e5 to Kasparov's Rd1
I recommend The World to go for a queen's endgame after 39...e5 40.Be3... Kc4 . The other line 39...b2 40.Bxd6... b1=Q 41.Rxb1... Kxd6 42.Rxb7 looks very difficult for The World. DANNY KING MOVE 39 COMMENTARY Having swung the knight over to BLOCKADE the pawns on the kingside, the World has achieved some temporary security. Garry must now think of a way to try to break that blockade, while at the same time holding up Black's passed b-pawn. Not an easy task. The World Champion's last move, 39 Rd1, is cunning. He is PINNING the bishop to the king; the jargon never stops! That means the bishop is unable to move as the king would be in check from the rook. White has an immediate threat: Bxd6, winning a pawn, as Black's king is tied to defending the bishop on d4. There is also the possibility of playing Be3, exploiting the pin to exchange off Black's superb bishop on d4. At first glance, The World has two ways to meet White's immediate threats: either 39...b2, so as to meet 40 Bxd6 with 41...b1 (Q) 42 Rxb1 Kxd6, and Black should draw. Or, 39...e5 to prevent the bishop capturing on d6. Throughout this complex game, it has been very difficult to go by general rules, and that is the case here. The only way to decide which move is best is by accurate calculation of variations - and you will find that you cannot always rely on chess-playing computers to give you that accurate answer. In London the other day, Garry described these computers as being a bit like babies: 'You have to feed them the right things', and that for a great deal of this game the RAW analysis they have produced has been 'rubbish' - it has to be refined with a human eye. Now there is food for thought! Join me today in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) where I will let you know which move I favour. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 40 Voting Results d5-c4 79.09% e7-g6 5.78%
e7-f5 4.31% d5-e4 4.12% b3-b2 3.33% KRUSH MOVE 40 COMMENTARY Kc4 to Kasparov's Be3 I recommend The World plays the move 40…Kc4 (King on d5 to c4) SUMMARY With his last move (40.Be3), the World Champion gave himself the option of forcibly exchanging Bishops. I am now recommending the move 40…Kc4, unpinning our Bishop. After 41.Bxd4, White will succeed in exchanging Bishops, but at a price. After 41…exd4, Black will obtain a passed pawn on the fifth rank to accompany his already advanced b-pawn. Our analysis reveals that, in essence, Black will be compelled to give up his Knight for one of the White passed pawns, while White will have to give up his Rook for one of the World's passed pawns.Subsequently, each side will PROMOTE one of their remaining advanced passed pawns to a Queen, creating a number of possible QUEEN ENDGAME scenarios. ANALYSIS SECTION Barring any surprises, it appears that the World Champion is leading us along a path towards some interesting queen endings. After 40.Be3 Kc4 41.Bxd4 exd4 42.Kg2 (42.h7 Ng6 43.Kg2 b2 44.Kf3 Kc3 transposes) 42...b2 43.Kf3 (43.h7 Ng6 44.Kf3 Kc3 transposes to Variation A) 43…Kc3, we reach a critical branch-point where White may continue with 44.h7 or 44.Rb1: A) 44.h7 Ng6, and now: A1) 45.Kg4 Kc2 46.Rh1 Nh8 47.Kf5 d3, transposing to Variation A4. A2) 45.Ke2 Kc2 46.Rd2+ Kc3 47.Rd3+ (if 47.Rxb2 Kxb2 48.Kd3 b5 49.Kxd4 d5! 50.Kxd5 b4 51.Ke6 b3 52.Kf6 Ka3 53.Kxg6 b2 54.h8=Q b1=Q+, with a theoretical draw) 47...Kc2 48.Rd2+ Kc3, with a draw by repetition. A3) 45.Rh1 Kc2 46.Ke4, transposing to Variation A4. A4) 45.Ke4 Kc2 46.Rh1 d3 47.Kf5, and now an important decision point for Black: A4a) 47...d2 48.Kxg6 b1=Q (48...d1=Q 49.Rxd1 Kxd1 50.h8=Q b1=Q, is another "unclear" queen ending which I shall designate as QUEEN ENDING E) 49.Rxb1 Kxb1 50.h8=Q d1=Q, transposes to QUEEN ENDING D (see below), which I think is a draw. As the current assessment of Variation A4b2 appears to be a draw, Black is not compelled to enter Variation A4a after 44.h7. A4b) 47...Nh8 (an important Black alternative to be considered in this situation) 48.g6 d2 49.g7 d1=Q! 50.Rxd1 Kxd1 51.gxh8=Q b1=Q+ 52.Ke6 Qe4+ 53.Kd7 Qa4+! and now: A4b1) 54.Ke7 Qh4+! 55.Kxd6 (Depending on where the White king goes, it is important to give check from the correct square, for example: 55.Ke6 Qe4+! or 55.Kd7 Qa4+! or 55.Ke8 Qa4+!) 55...Qf4+ 56.Kd7 Qa4+! 57.Kc7 Qc6+ 58.Kb8 Qd6+ 59.Kxb7 Qd7+, with a theoretical draw. A4b2) 54.Kc7 d5 55.Qc3 (if 55.Qe5 Qc2+ with a draw, or 55.Kb8 Qf4+ 56.Kxb7 Qb4+ 57.Kc6 Qc4+ 58.Kd6 Qa6+ 59.Kxd5 Qb5+, with a theoretical draw, or 55.Qg8 Qc6+ 56.Kb8 Qd6+, with a draw, or 55.Qb2 Qc6+ 56.Kb8 Qd6+ 57.Kxb7 Qd7+, draw) 55...Qf4+ 56.Kxb7 (Necessary, otherwise Black picks off the White h-pawn, for
example: 56.Kc8 Qf5+, or 56.Kb6 Qh6+, with a draw) 56...Qf7+ 57.Qc7 Qe8! with a critical queen ending (which I shall designate as QUEEN ENDING G) personally, I think this ending is a draw. B) 44.Rb1 d3, and now: B1) 45.Ke3 b5 46.h7 (or 46.Rxb2 Kxb2 47.Kxd3 d5! 48.Kd4 Ng6 49.Kxd5 b4 50.Ke6 b3 51.Kf6 Ka3 52.Kxg6 b2 53.h7 b1=Q+ 54.Kg7, with the same draw) 46...Ng6 47.Rxb2 Kxb2 48.Kxd3 d5 49.Kd4 b4 50.Kxd5 b3 51.Ke6 Ka3 52.Kf6 b2 53.Kxg6 b1=Q+ 54.Kg7, and the position is a draw. B2) 45.h7 Ng6 46.Ke4 (if 46.Ke3 d5 47.Rxb2 Kxb2 48.Kxd3 b5 49.Kd4 b4 50.Kxd5 b3, transposing to Variation B1 with a draw) 46...Kc2 47.Rxb2+ Kxb2 48.Kf5 (if 48.Kxd3 d5 49.Kd4 b5 50.Kxd5 b4 51.Ke6 b3 52.Kf6 Ka3 53.Kxg6 b2 54.h8=Q b1=Q+, with a theoretical draw) 48...d2 49.Kxg6 d1=Q 50.h8=Q+ Kb1, with an "unclear" and critical queen ending (QUEEN ENDING D). In this Queen ending, Black's essential counterplay appears to consist of ramming the d-pawn, clearing SPACE for the Black Queen - personally, I think this ending is a draw. Of paramount importance then is a study of QUEEN ENDING D (and perhaps to a lesser extent QUEEN ENDING E), which White can compel with 44.Rb1. If White avoids direct entry to QUEEN ENDING D and plays 44.h7, Black can then initiate entry to QUEEN ENDING D or QUEEN ENDING G. I have used the same designation for the different Queen endings as they are given in the SMART-FAQ. Analysis by the World Team. PAHTZ MOVE 40 COMMENTARY Kc4 to Kasparov's Be3 White will change our strong bishop on d4. We don't have to lose time with Ng6, the knight blockades the White pawns at this moment from e7also. The best try is Kc4. Then The World's king can assist the b-pawn with Kc3 and Kc2. If White then plays 41. Bxd4, The World will get another powerful pawn with exd4 and the position seems to be in a dynamic balance. FELECAN MOVE 40 COMMENTARY Kc4 to Kasparov's Be3 In this position The World should advance the king on c4 to cancel the pin on d4 and support the passed pawn(s). The game will most probably go into a queen ending after 41.Bxd4 exd4 42.Kg2 b2 43.Kf3 Kc3 where White is in a better position, but The World has a good chance for a draw. BACROT MOVE 40 COMMENTARY Kc4 to Kasparov's Be3 I recommend that The World move its king 40....Kc4 to help the "b" pawn move toward queening. DANNY KING MOVE 40 COMMENTARY Garry has played his bishop to e3, angling for an exchange. It cannot be
taken as Black's bishop on d4 is PINNED to the king by the rook on d1: it is simply illegal for the bishop to be taken as the king would find itself in check. Why has the World Champion played this move? Throughout the entire game Black's bishop, situated on the so-called 'LONG DIAGONAL', has had a profound effect on the game. (The long diagonal is the name of the diagonal running across the middle of the board. A bishop posted on this diagonal not only influences the centre, but two corners of the board as well). Black's bishop has been able to hold up White's PASSED PAWNS, while guiding its own b-pawn on the other side of the board. There is no comparison between the two prelates. White's bishop has been on an inferior diagonal for most of the game, moving in the shadow of its counterpart in the centre. For that reason the World Champion is anxious to exchange, and that is why he embarked on a pinning manoeuvre with 39 Rd1. Once the bishop exchange takes place, White's pawns will stand a better chance of making a touchdown. What should The World be doing in reply? Continuing with counterplay on the queenside. The most natural way to do that would be to push the b-pawn again, but that would fail: 40...b2 41 Bxd4 exd4 42 Rb1, and the crucial passed pawn is lost. That is an immediate effect of the bishop exchange. The b-pawn needs to be supported before it can advance again. There is only one sensible way of doing that. If you are not sure how, then check out the analysts' recommendations. I believe we are going to see unanimity again! See you in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) for a discussion of the position. Danny King xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 41 Voting Results e5-d4 97.52% e7-g6 0.97% e5-e4 0.42% e7-f5 0.28% b3-b2 0.19% KRUSH MOVE 41 COMMENTARY exd4 to Kasparov's Bxd4
I recommend the World plays the move 41...exd4 (Pawn on e5 captures Bishop on d4. Our move is FORCED - as we must recapture the Bishop. Irina PAHTZ MOVE 41 COMMENTARY e5xd4 to Kasparov's Be3xd4 This is the only move, we can do. We must take the bishop back. Elizabeth FELECAN MOVE 41 COMMENTARY exd4 to Kasparov's Bxd4 The World must take back the bishop on d4 and prepare for a queen ending after Kc4-c3-c2,pawn to b3-b2-b1Q and d3-d2-d1Q when white is better but The World still has its chance for a draw. BACROT MOVE 41 COMMENTARY exd4 to Kasparov's Bxd4 Of course, the world must take the bishop with 41...exd4 DANNY KING MOVE 41 COMMENTARY No choice here. The World must recapture the bishop with the pawn. Then we get into a situation where the objective for both sides is quite clear: Black is going to use his king to support the passed d and b pawns; and White will use his king to force one of his pawns home on the other side of the board. A pawn race is about to begin. The king becomes a powerful member of your army when there are fewer pieces on the board. It reminds me of a rampant elephant: its speed and therefore its scope is limited, but at short range it is a force to be reckoned with. At the moment, White's rook can prevent the pawns from queening all on its own; but when Black's king arrives on the scene the rook won't be able to put up much resistance. Likewise, White's king is going to cause Black's knight some problems. It will be a question of who gets there first. We are entering a transitionary phase in the game. I believe the next few moves are essentially forced - for both sides. If you would like to find out where all this is leading to, then join me today in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London). See you then. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 42 Voting Results b3-b2 88.08% e7-g6 4.09% c4-c3 3.41% d4-d3 2.18% e7-f5 1.03% KRUSH MOVE 42 COMMENTARY b2 to Kasparov's Kg2 I recommend the World plays the move 42...b2 (Pawn on b3 to b2) Finally, we can advance our passed b-pawn to b2. Black must prepare to force White to give up his Rook for one of our advanced passed pawns, as White is preparing to penetrate with his King and assist with the advance of his own passed pawns. Irina PAHTZ MOVE 42 COMMENTARY b2 to Kasparov's Kg2 With his move Kg2, Garry centralized his king and cleared the square h1 for his rook. With Rd1-h1 he want to support his h-pawn. So, we don't have to lose time. With b3-b2 our pawn is ready for promotion and we have chances to hold the balance. Elizabeth FELECAN MOVE 42 COMMENTARY b2 to Kasparov's Kg2 Right now, The World should advance the pawn with 42...b3-b2 in order to force White to give up his rook for the new queen. Afterwards, The World would get a queen from the "d" pawn as soon as possible, and play the resulting queen ending: 43.Kf3...Kc3 44.h7... Ng6 45.Ke4... Kc2 46.Rh1... d3. (45...b2-b1Q would have been too early, since the "d" pawn lacks the king's protection) 47.Kf5 and after 47...b2-b1Q White is forced to give up his rook. The position resulting from this line may be considered as equal,
though White's "g" pawn is more advanced than Black's "d" pawn. BACROT MOVE 42 COMMENTARY b2 to Kasparov's Kg2 Moves are still quite forced, and The World has to push 42...b2. DANNY KING MOVE 42 COMMENTARY Garry begins the steady advance of his king up the board ready to support his passed pawns. We have a race on our hands: Black’s king is doing exactly the same on the other side of the board. The prize at the end of the race is a new queen, the most powerful chess piece on the board, so whichever side gets there first will have an enormous advantage. Who is going to win this race? In such situations there is simply no substitute for exact calculation, guess work will not do. So let's begin with 42...b2, then White's king will advance, 43 Kf3, then Blacks king moves to support the b-pawn, 43...Kc3...Well, I don’t want to spoil anything for you... I'll let you continue the variation. Just remember one thing: every move counts, losing one move in the race could make the difference between drawing the game or losing instantly. Keep your eye on the main goal in the position, the promotion of the passed pawns. By the way, there was a comment in my chat the other day: why was Kasparov’s 35th move Kh1 such a great idea if he is just having to move the king out to g2 now? Hasn’t he lost a move? The point is this: he would never have got into the present situation if it hadn’t been for the brilliant move 35 Kh1. Moving the king to g2 at that time would have led the game down a completely different path, one which Garry felt would not have been as good as the current position. I'm rather busy this weekend, so I won't be holding the chat tonight: I'll be back there on Monday. Good luck! Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 43 Voting Results c4-c3 88.94% d4-d3 3.17% e7-g6 2.79% c4-b3 1.50%
d6-d5 1.12%
KRUSH MOVE 43 COMMENTARY Kc3 to Kasparov's Kf3 I recommend the World plays the move 43...Kc3 (King on c4 to c3). With the increased activity of White's King (43.Kf3), it is necessary to further involve our King in the effort to force through our passed pawns, therefore 43...Kc3 should be our move. PAHTZ MOVE 43 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) FELECAN MOVE 43 COMMENTARY Kc3 to Kasparov's Kf3 The World should advance its king with 43....Kc4-c3 in order to provide support for the "b" and "d" pawns. In this position, The World's next moves are very predictible because they are all forced moves (the king moves to c2, the "d" pawn arrives on d2 and the "b" pawn queens). It will be very interesting to see whether Garry has something new (and better!) in the queen ending which results after these consecutive forced moves, or if the game is going to end with a long and placid draw. BACROT MOVE 43 COMMENTARY Kc3 to Kasparov's Kf3. The series of forced moves continue, and now The World has to play 43...Kc3. Unfortuately, I may not be able to help you for the next three moves. I am playing a match with GM Alexander Beliavsky in Albert (France) from September 14 to 19. See you next week and Good Luck, World Team! DANNY KING MOVE 43 COMMENTARY The World's b-pawn is now just one square away from promoting to a queen. At the moment, however, it cannot do so safely as White's rook would simply take it, so the king needs to be brought up in support. White cannot prevent Black's plan, so he needs to concentrate on pushing his own pawns through. That's why Garry has advanced his king one square further. He is also going to use his king to support his pawns in the race to get a new queen. The World Champion calculated this race many moves ago, and he knows exactly where it is heading: to a queen and pawn ending. It is not these moves that he has been analysing over the past few days (though of course he must check them carefully), but rather a position about twenty moves down the line. We are watching his thoughts unfold in slow motion. But in the meantime, let's keep our eyes on the here and now. The World's task is to support the pawns with the king - go to it!
I'm back in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) today if you would like to discuss the position. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 44 Voting Results e7-g6 97.47% c3-c2 1.16% b2-b1Q 0.31% b2-b1N 0.11% d4-d3 0.11%
KRUSH MOVE 44 COMMENTARY Ng6 to Kasparov's h7 I recommend the World plays the move 44...Ng6 (Knight on e7 to g6). Our move is FORCED - to prevent White from immediately promoting his h-pawn to a Queen. Today, I am leaving for Armenia to compete in the World Women's Junior (U-20) Championship. If possible, I will try to relay my recommendations by Internet or dictate them by phone to my friends at SmartChess Online (depending on my schedule) who will keep apprised on the moves in the game. Due to my tournament commitments, I will be unable to spend any time on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board for about three weeks. PAHTZ MOVE 44 COMMENTARY Ng6 to Kasparov's h7 We must stop the White pawn from advancing. The only move for The World is Ng6. FELECAN MOVE 44 COMMENTARY Ng6 to Kasparov's h7 The World is forced to play 44...Ne7-g6 in order to stop the "h" pawn from queening. Next, The World's monarch will move to c2 and transform the "b" pawn. White's plan is to drive away the Black knight from g6 and then queen one of
his pawns; The World's plan is to set up to a queen endgame where White is unable to transform his second pawn because of the perpetual check threat. BACROT MOVE 44 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) DANNY KING MOVE 44 COMMENTARY Garry's passed h-pawn is just one square away from becoming a queen. What can be done? There is only one sensible option: the knight must move over to cover the queening square. The only other continuation worth considering would be to counter-attack with the king: 44...Kc2, but this loses immediately to 45 h8 (Q) Kxd1 46 Qxd4+, and the new queen storms into town to clean up the opposition. In other words there is only one playable move for the World here: 44...Ng6, to stop Garry's pawn. When the knight moves over, a path is created (via e4 and f5) for the white king to advance up the board, with the aim of dislodging the knight from its position. The World cannot prevent this; instead it must concentrate on forcing through its own passed pawns on the other side of the board. The race is in full swing! See you today in the Zone theatre chat room at 2pm PST (10pm London) if you would like to discuss the position. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 45 Voting Results c3-c2 89.31% d4-d3 4.73% b7-b5 1.47% b2-b1Q 1.44% d6-d5 1.22%
KRUSH MOVE 45 COMMENTARY Kc2 to Kasparov's Ke4
I recommend the World plays the move 45...Kc2 (King on c3 to c2) The World Champion revealed his intent with his last move (45.Ke4) - to break the blockade of his kingside pawns by marching his King to f5 to attack our Knight. With the move 45...Kc2, we in turn attack the White piece that has been delegated the responsibility of fighting against our passed pawns. PAHTZ MOVE 45 COMMENTARY Kc2 to Kasparov's Ke4 My move is 45...Kc2 I do not know another good move. The World can attack the rook on d1 with its king to win more time as we move toward a queens' endgame. FELECAN MOVE 45 COMMENTARY Kc2 to Kasparov's Ke4 Right now, The World shoud consider advancing its king on c3 to c2 in order to support the "b" pawn to queen, win tempo by attacking the rook and prepare the way for the "d" pawn. White is forced to move his rook before advancing his king on f5; so White's most probable move would be 46.Rh1 After that, The World could respond by pushing the "d" pawn further with 46...d3. After 47.Kf5... b1Q 48.Rxb1... Kxb1 49.Kxg6... d2 50.h8Q... d1Q the game will become a queens' endgame in which White's chances are slightly better than The World's because of his advanced "g" pawn. BACROT MOVE 45 COMMENTARY Our brilliant young Chess Analyst Etienne Bacrot, fresh from his stunning victory at the French National Championships, is now engaged in a match with GM Alexander Beliavsky in Albert (France). His struggle against one of the world's greatest players will last through Sunday. We send Etienne all our good wishes for the best chess that he can play. DANNY KING MOVE 45 COMMENTARY Garry's king steams up the board ready to dislodge the knight on g6, and so force through one of the pawns to the queening square. The knight has performed sterling work in holding the pawns, but it will not be able to defend when the king arrives on the scene. There is only one thing to be done for Black: keep going on the other side of the board. I find Garry's last move, 45 Ke4, intriguing from a psychological viewpoint. Let me try to explain why. For quite a few moves now, it has been clear that this race of the king and pawns will result in a queen and pawn ending; but along the route of this race, both sides have options which would give rise to slightly different kinds of ending. Let me give a couple of examples by continuing from the current position:45...Kc2 46 Rh1 d3 47 Kf5 Nh8 48 g6 d2 49 g7 d1(Q) 50 Rxd1 Kxd1 51 gxh8 (Q) b1 (Q) +. That is one possible queen and pawn ending at the end of the race: White has a far advanced h-pawn, Black must keep checking in the hope
that he can force a draw -or else White will get another queen. Returning to the current position, another possibility is 45...Kc2 46 Rh1 d3 47 Kf5 b1 (Q) - rather than 47...Nh8 in the variation above - 48 Rxb1 (Q) Kxb1 49 Kxg6 d2 50 h8(Q) d1 (Q). Another queen and pawn ending, but this time White has a g-pawn, which can shield the king from checks better than an h-pawn, but is not as well advanced. There are also other possible queen and pawn endings which can be reached, slightly different from these two. Note that it is The World which can make the choice here of which type of ending to go for. And that is why I find Garry's last move intriguing, because, if he had wanted to, he could have FORCED the form of ending in the last variation with 45 Rb1, instead of his move 45 Ke4. Does that mean he is dissatisfied with the 'g-pawn ending'? Whatever the reason, very shortly the World is going to be presented with the difficult decision of which kind of queen and pawn ending to play into. There are good drawing chances in most of them, but which one offers the best is hard to say. As we get nearer to that point, the choices will become clearer. For the moment though, support the b-pawn! Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 46 Voting Results d4-d3 88.84% b2-b1 8.35% g6-h8 0.95% b7-b5 0.45% d6-d5 0.39% KRUSH MOVE 46 COMMENTARY d3 to Kasparov's Rh1 I recommend the World plays the move 46...d3 (Pawn on d4 to d3) "Passed Pawns must be Pushed!" We should not waste any time in advancing our passed d-pawn in order to guarantee the acquisition of a (permanent)NEW Black Queen! Therefore 46...d3 should be our move. After 46...d3, White's most logical continuation is 47.Kf5 (attacking Black's Knight on g6), when the game could continue 47...b1=Q 48.Rxb1 Kxb1 49.Kxg6 d2 50.h8=Q d1=Q, with a complicated Queen ending (known as "Endgame D" in the SMART-FAQ).
PAHTZ MOVE 46 COMMENTARY d3 to Kasparov's Rh1 I would play 46...pawn to d3, but I think it will be difficult for The World to reach a draw. 46...b1(Queen) is a mistake, because White wins after 47.Rb1... Kb1: 48.Kd4. After 46...d3 follow 47.Kf5...b1(Queen) 48.Rb1...K:b1 49.Kg6... d2 50.h8(Queen)...d1(Queen) with better chances for White to win. (47...Nh8?! 48.g6...d2 49.g7... d1(Q) 50.Rd1... K:d1 51.gh8(Q)... b1(Q)+ and White should win. FELECAN MOVE 46 COMMENTARY d3 to Kasparov's Rh1. The best available move for The World right now it is 46...d4-d3; 46...b2-b1(Q) would be premature due to White's 47.Rxb1... Kxb1 48.Kxd4, and the ending would be very difficult for The World. The move 46...d4-d3 improves The World's position and waits for the right moment to queen the pawn(s). BACROT MOVE 46 COMMENTARY Our brilliant young Chess Analyst Etienne Bacrot, fresh from his stunning victory at the French National Championships, is now engaged in a match with GM Alexander Beliavsky in Albert (France). His struggle against one of the world's greatest players will last through Sunday. We send Etienne all our good wishes for the best chess that he can play. DANNY KING MOVE 46 COMMENTARY Over the last two moves, The World advanced its king to attack the rook; prompting Garry to send the rook out of harm's way into the corner. As I mentioned two days ago, Black's knight provides a temporary blockade to White's pawns, but no more, so it is essential to continue with the advance of the pawns on the other side of the board. The question you have to answer at this moment is, 'Which is better, the advance of the b or the d pawn?' This is one of those situations where there is no substitute for accurate calculation. Let's go through the process. There are two main moves for The World to consider: 46...b1 (Q) and 46...d3. Let's consider making a queen first: 46...b1(Q) 47 Rxb1 Kxb1 48 Kxd4 (the important move), and now, if you care to calculate the pawn race, you will find that White gets there first! Let me run through it quickly: 48...b5 49 Ke4 b4 50 Kf5 b3 51 Kxg6 b2 52 h8 (Q)- and White wins. In other words, 46...d3 is the only possible option for Black, as the alternative simply loses. Today's choice is easy, but in two days time the World is going to be faced with a very difficult decision indeed. I'll discuss that in detail when we get there. My next Zone theatre chat will be on Thursday 23rd September at 2pm PST. See you then if you would like to discuss the position. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 47 Voting Results b2-b1Q 73.62% g6-h8 15.03% d3-d2 8.31% g6-e7 1.09% b2-b1R 0.60% KRUSH MOVE 47 COMMENTARY b1=Q to Kasparov's Kf5 I recommend the World plays the move 47…b1=Q (Pawn on b2 to b1 with promotion to a Queen) SUMMARY After we promote our b-pawn with 47...b1=Q(!) White is forced to sacrifice his Rook for Black's new Queen with 48.Rxb1. The game should logically continue with 48…Kxb1 49.Kxg6 d2 50.h8=Q d1=Q, when we arrive at an endgame referred to as "Endgame D" in the World Team's SMART-FAQ. In this endgame, Black has a MATERIAL ADVANTAGE, but White's advanced g-pawn gives him enough COMPENSATION for his pawn deficit. Note that without Black pawns on the board, this position would be a theoretical draw - and so we must keep it in mind that in many circumstances it will be quite acceptable and correct for us to SACRIFICE our pawns to reach a theoretically drawn Q + P versus Q ending. That's right! We will literally dump the excess baggage (our pawns) to secure an increasingly OPEN board upon which our Queen can more readily give PERPETUAL CHECK to the World Champion's King - this idea forms a key element in Black's defensive strategy. In the game situation, White will seek to shelter his King from checks delivered by the Black Queen, while trying to advance his g-pawn further towards the g8 promotion-square. Also, in this endgame, Black has the important possibility of creating serious COUNTERPLAY with the advance of his d-pawn (and/or sometimes his b-pawn) - the threat to advance our own passed pawns can become the very catalyst required to make White eliminate our pawns while they are in transit, thus reducing the position to one that is theoretically drawn. Meantime, Black must be wary of attempts by White to improve the positioning and coordination of his King and Queen in order to shepherd the White g-pawn forward. Each and every move in this endgame must be played with the highest degree of technical precision. In the Analysis Section, I will demonstrate why I believe that alternative moves to 47...b1=Q are inferior. Remember: To vote for 47…b1=Q, you must use the drop-down menu located above the "Register Your Move" button ("b2 b1 Queen"). ANALYSIS SECTION Black has three main alternatives to "Endgame D" by playing different moves at move 47. However, I am NOT recommending these alternatives, as I think they are INFERIOR for Black. For example: "ENDGAME G") After 47…Nh8(?) 48.g6 d2 49.g7 d1=Q 50.Rxd1 Kxd1 51.gxh8=Q b1=Q+, we arrive at the Queen ending known as "ENDGAME G" in the SMART-FAQ. After, the forced continuation 52.Ke6 Qe4+ 53.Kd7! Qa4+ 54.Kc7 d5, White has the strong move 55.Qg7! which allows him to return his Queen to the action, and analysis shows that White obtains a clear and probably winning advantage in the endgame (kudos to Peter Karrer). The very recent analytical findings in this particular endgame could have easily been missed if a process (for example, like some ideas that were discussed on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board) for "speeding up" the game had been introduced. This experience should serve as a warning to those who might feel impatient or who are lulled into a false sense of security
by the at-first-glance "simplicity" or "boring nature" of the position! In chess, you must ALWAYS be on your guard, and we must strive to maintain our SENSE OF DANGER. "ENDGAME PSEUDO-D") After 47…d2(?!) 48.Kxg6 b1=Q (Queening the b-pawn first) 49.h8=Q! (This is better than 49.Rxb1 Kxb1 50.h8=Q d1=Q, which transposes directly to Endgame D) 49...d1=Q 50.Rxd1 Qxd1 - we have Endgame "Pseudo-D" which is similar to Endgame D, except that Black's King stands on c2 instead of b1, and I believe the Black King is placed WORSE on c2 than on b1 as the Black King is more exposed and it can hinder the Black Queen's mobility. "ENDGAME E") Alternatively, after 47…d2(?!) 48.Kxg6 d1=Q (Queening the d-pawn first) 49.Rxd1 Kxd1 50.h8=Q b1=Q+, gives the Queen ending known as "ENDGAME E" in the SMART-FAQ. My appraisal of this endgame for this analysis report is more subjective. I think at best this endgame would represent an inferior version of Endgame D, as the Black King looks more exposed on d1 and is further from the "distant" a1-corner. Based on my own study of Q + P vs. Q endings, it feels right to me for the Black King to be located in the area of the a1-corner (distancing itself from the White g-pawn). In summary, I do NOT recommend the moves 47…Nh8? or 47…d2?! - in my opinion these moves represent nugatory choices for Black. Analysis by the World Team. Therefore, I am recommending the World Team plays the move 47…b1=Q, leading directly to the ending known as "Endgame D" on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. In my opinion, this endgame represents Black's most desirable battleground on which to demonstrate equality. (Communicated in part from Erevan, Armenia) PAHTZ MOVE 47 COMMENTARY b1=Q to Kasparov's Kf5 I would play 47...b1(Q) Now we have a difficult Queen end game with bether chances for white. It follows 48.R:b1 K:b1 49.K:g6 d2 50.h8 (Q) d1(Q) I think our King and Queen have a bether position as the variant 47...d2 48.K:g6 d1(Q) 49.R:d1 K:d1 50.H8(Q) b1(Q)+ 51.Kh8 and now the white King has a better position for his B-Pawn. FELECAN MOVE 47 COMMENTARY b1=Q to Kasparov's Kf5 Right now The World should consider getting a queen with 47...b2-b1=Q, since White's king is too far away to get to the "d3" pawn in time. With 47...b2-b1=Q the game will follow three forced consecutive moves: 48.Rxb1... Kxb1 49.Kxg6 ...d2 50.h8=Q.. d1=Q where The World's position may be slightly inferior, but its chances to force a draw are undeniable. BACROT MOVE 47 COMMENTARY b1=Q to Kasparov's Kf5 Now The World has two equal possibilities: 47...b1=Q or 47...d2. Regardless of which one, the same position will arise: 47...b1=Q 48.Rxb1... Kxb1 49.Kxg6... d2 50.h8=Q... d1=Q. I consider this queens endgame to be better for White, despite his being down a pawn, because he has advanced his "g" pawn. But The World's chances to draw are not bad. Regarding my match against Grandmaster Beliavsky, my score was 3.5 to 2.5, losing the second game and playing five draws. I lost my chance for a comeback when I was up a pawn in the fourth game. DANNY KING MOVE 47 COMMENTARY
On this turn, you, as part of The World Team, must make one of the most crucial decisions of the game so far. I will do my best to explain the options available so you can make an informed choice. I hope you will bear with me, it is rather complex... Garry Kasparov has just advanced his king to attack the knight on g6. This leaves the World with these options: (1) Move the knight (but where to?); (2) advance the d-pawn; (3) promote the b-pawn. In order to determine the best option, we have to calculate each variation accurately, assess the resulting position, then compare all three possibilities. There is no substitute for a systematic appraisal. If you would like to skip straight to my conclusions, then go ahead (lazy!) For the rest of you, let's go to work: (1) MOVE THE KNIGHT Checking White's king with the knight would be incorrect, for instance, 47...Nh4+ 48 Kf6, and the h-pawn rolls through faster than Black's pawns. So the only possible option is 47...Nh8, and the following line represents best play for both sides: 48 g6 d2 49 g7 d1(Q) 50 Rxd1 Kxd1 51 gxh8(Q) b1(Q)+ . Queening with check is a lucky stroke for Black! With the pawn on h7, almost at the point of turning into a new queen, White is obviously better in this queen endgame, but the World would still have drawing chances with a possible 'perpetual check'. (2) ADVANCE THE D-PAWN With the following the line the most likely: 47...d2 48 Kxg6 d1(Q) 49 Rxd1 Kxd1 50 h8(Q) b1(Q)+. Another queen ending, but this time White has a g-pawn, and only on the 5th rank, so, for The World, not as dangerous as the far-advanced h-pawn in the previous variation. However, the g-pawn is able to cover White's king from checks. (3) PROMOTE THE B-PAWN With the following line forced after, 47...b1(Q) 48 Rxb1 Kxb1 49 Kxg6 d2 50 h8(Q) d1(Q). Once again, both sides have raced to get a queen. This is very similar to the variation in (2), with the difference that Black's king stands on b1 rather than d1. Does that make a difference? Yes, a slight, but subtle one. In these queen endings, one of White's tactics is to exchange queens using a check, and in the middle of the board (variation 2) the king is more vulnerable to this crafty idea. Phew! All three options lead to queen endings where The World is fighting for a draw, but it is very difficult to say for certain which offers the BEST drawing chances. Let me sum up the choices before us, and on that basis I will give you my opinion, at the very least.
CONCLUSION Moving the knight to h8 (option 1) leads to a queen and pawn ending where White has a far advanced pawn on h7. Promoting the b-pawn (option 3) leads to a queen and pawn ending with a White pawn on g5. This is a slightly superior version of option 2, so that one can be discarded at this stage. The choice is left between option 1 and option 3. I have to say that I would not enjoy defending against a White pawn on the 7th rank, ready to become a queen if I were to make just one mistake. Playing chess is stressful enough without an executioner's axe hanging over one's head. Moreover, a few moves ago, Garry could have forced option 3, but decided not to - he must have believed his winning chances were insufficient. Therefore, option 3, 47...b1(Q), would be my choice. It is going to be a long, hard, struggle to draw this game but, World, hang on in there! Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 48 Voting Results c2-b1 95.72% g6-h8 1.37% g6-e7 0.97% d3-d2 0.68% g6-h4 0.51% KRUSH MOVE 48 COMMENTARY Kxb1 to Kasparov's Rxb1 I recommend the World plays the move 48...Kxb1 (King on c2 captures Rook on b1). Our move is FORCED, as we simply must capture the Rook. PAHTZ MOVE 48 COMMENTARY Kxb1 to Kasparov's Rxb1 The World must take back a piece, so we have 48....Kxb1.
FELECAN MOVE 48 COMMENTARY Kxb1 to Kasparov's Rxb1 The World is forced to capture on b1 with 48...Kc2xb1; White most probably, will capture on g6 and on the 50th move both sides will have a queen. BACROT MOVE 48 COMMENTARY Kxb1 to Kasparov's Rxb1 The World has to take the Rook by 48...Kxb1. DANNY KING MOVE 48 COMMENTARY The World was first in the race to get a new queen (hoorah!) but it has been promptly hacked off by the World Champ's rook (howl!). There is only one decent response: to capture the rook with the king. (Instead, checking with the knight would allow White to make a queen a crucial move earlier, with fatal consequences for The World.). All is going according to plan. After the World captures the rook, Garry captures the knight, then it's a photo-finish to get the pawns to the eighth rank for a new queen. At that point the next phase of the game will begin: the queen ending. I'll look into that in detail when we arrive there, but, for the moment, the next few moves are forced. I'll be in the Zone theatre chat room tonight at 2pm PST (10pm London) if you would like to discuss the position. Danny
Danny King 9-23-99 Chat Excerpts +Moclips@zone> Hello everyone! Welcome to the Danny King chat for this afternoon! Hope you all are enjoying the Kasparov Vs. The World Event! allenc> If GK had this position in an over-the-board game, do you think he would offer a draw about now? Does he believe he can win the coming endgame without a blunder by the world? DKing@Chess> I am SURE that GK would NOT offer a draw in OTB chess. I think his winning chances would be greater in a practical game...For instance, there are many situations where to human eyes it is impossible to assess a position but with only 5 pieces, feed the position into a machine and BINGO. You know whether to head for it or not. Massive advantage in this format. Anyway, no draw offers in sight. kkwong2000> Should the world be focused in stopping the white g pawn or promoting our own 2 left pawns? DKing@Chess> Well, a bit of both! In some circumstances Black gains counterplay with either of the pawns. Sometimes, it is necessary to simply give them both up so as to get more room for the queen to check. In many cases the pawns are a hindrance, blocking the queen. kkwong2000> Does the world still have a winning chance? DKing@Chess> None at all! The World has been fighting for a draw for many moves now but it might be possible to achieve that, which really would be something. WaterTiger7> Danny, what are the rules regarding perpetual check as applicable to this game? DKing@Chess> When it becomes clear that one side cannot escape from checks, then a draw would be offered by Garry. That is the etiquette. Stronger player offers usually. The position would begin to repeat itself, and it would become clear to all concerned. But we are a long way from that yet! WaterTiger7> I take it this is the only chance the World has, for I see Gary exchanging queens with himself if a winning position with his advanced pawn, [is this] inevitable? DKing@Chess> No, there are other ways to make a draw. Sometimes both sides Queen and then trade everything. There are stalemate possibilities too -- a very common theme in queen endings. But yes, perpetual check is a possibility (but not yet!)
vjeschonnek> Hi Danny, today there has been a comment in the "The Week in Chess" that Kasparov now is close to winning. Do you agree? DKing@Chess> I do not. Whatever the result, we are not close to a decision yet! I still haven't found a clear win for White. I thought a few weeks ago that 51 Qh7 in a couple of moves time was killing, but good defences have been found. Blackwaters> Obviously, the World must attempt to draw, but it seems to me white has a murky win, if he can find it before 50 moves. What do you think, Dr. King? Will our somewhat poor pawn positions create opportunities for Kasparov to avoid the perpetuals? DKing@Chess> Let me clear up the 50 move rule. Each time a pawn is moved the count returns to zero, therefore the 50 move rule is irrelevant. Second, the poor pawn positions, they can hinder the black queen's mobility in some cases so often it is best just to give them up. Thunderduck007> Under the current rules, would someone like Judit Polgar ever be allowed to challenge Kasparov for the title, or is it strictly divided into male and female tournaments in the chess world? DKing@Chess> There is no divide between male and female chessplayers. Judit has always played against men. Women organise their own separate tourns and they have a right to do that, but women have never been excluded from tournaments. In other words, if Judit is good enough, she can challenge Garry! nightowl007> Looking ahead to Move 51, how much of an advantage does GK have, what move do you see? DKing@Chess> As I said above, for some time I have been analyzing 51 Qh7 which is a typical trick in queen and pawn endings to gain a tempo, and I am still not 100% sure of the assessment. I thought it was winning a couple of weeks ago, but 51..Ka1 is strong in my opinion. I have to check it again though! nightowl007> Do you feel your analysis might affect the outcome a bit more at this stage? DKing@Chess> I don't think so! nite> Danny, how do you think The World would do in Deep Blue vs The World? DKing@Chess> Quite well! It is more difficult playing the strongest human in this format than against a machine. The World can employ other machines, PLUS human instinct...while Garry K. was not able to do that at the board. rich_london> 2 questions -- in your opinion, is Kasparov the strongest player ever, and why hasn't he demolished us as easily as he does his simul opponents? DKing@Chess> This is a totally different situation to a simul, particularly as the World has organised itself so effectively. Is Garry Kasparov the greatest? I don't like to compare players from different ages but he has taken chess to a new level. So for the moment, he is the greatest, but most World Champions were the greatest until that point, so I see it as a moot point really. allenc> On draw etiquette, does the stronger player offer, or the player with the stronger position? It seems GK would be rude to offer if he was behind. DKing@Chess> It is still usually the stronger player who offers no matter what is happening in the position. Of course, it is more acceptable if the weaker player has a good position for them to offer -- but foolish! cchuck3> When are you going to resurrect the Channel 4 chess commentary team? It's been 5 years since we've had any chess coverage on British TV!! DKing@Chess> That would be fun. We all had a good time, but we all move on! Unfortunately no plans in the future, but I think the Internet is actually a better medium for chess than TV. There are pros and cons to both but there is more time for consideration on the Internet...and interactive too! Thanks to everyone tonight. Thanks for your patience! +Moclips@zone> Yes! Thank you all for coming and waiting for us to get going! SO, back here next Thursday, Danny? Same time? DKing@Chess> Indeed! +Moclips@zone> Great! See you then! Good-bye, all! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 49 Voting Results d3-d2 97.51% b1-a1 0.78% b7-b5 0.35% b1-c2 0.16% d6-d5 0.14% KRUSH MOVE 49 COMMENTARY d2 to Kasparov's Kxg6 I recommend the World plays the move 49...d2 (Pawn on d3 to d2) "Passed Pawns Must be Pushed" - We must not waste any time in advancing our passed d-pawn so that we can promote to a new Queen! Therefore 49...d2 should be our move. PAHTZ MOVE 49 COMMENTARY d2 to Kasparov's Kxg6 I would play 49...d2. It is the best move in this position. Other moves are not advisable. FELECAN MOVE 49 COMMENTARY d2 to Kasparov's Kxg6 The World should push the pawn with 49...d3-d2 BACROT MOVE 49 COMMENTARY d2 to Kasparov's Kxg6 The World must move its pawn on d3 to d2. There is no other move to consider. DANNY KING MOVE 49 COMMENTARY The game is following the predicted path: first The World hacked off the rook, then Garry Kasparov butchered the knight at the other end of the board. Having done away with those stout defenders, the way is now clear
for both sides to rush their pawns to the eighth rank for a hasty coronation. On this turn The World must push its pawn towards the queening square so as not to fall behind the World Champion. He is going to get a new queen on the next turn. Then, after Black also queens, we will be left with a situation where, in spite of the extra pawn, The World will be fighting for a draw as Garry's remaining pawn is already far advanced. More on this when we arrive at the queen ending. By any standards, this has been an extraordinary game. The turbulence of the past forty moves is about to subside into the relative calm of an ending with just a few pieces. It won't have the thud and blunder of the earlier stages, but what it lacks in that, it will make up for in subtlety. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 50 Voting Results d2-d1Q 97.89% d2-d1K 0.55% b1-a2 0.18% b1-c1 0.17% d2-d1R 0.17% KRUSH MOVE 50 COMMENTARY d1=Q to Kasparov's h8=Q I recommend The World plays the move 50...d1=Q (Pawn on d2 to d1 with promotion to a Queen). Our move is obligatory - we must make a Queen. Therefore 50...d1=Q. PAHTZ MOVE 50 COMMENTARY d1=Q to Kasparov's h8=Q I would play 50...d1=Q. There are no other possibilities in this position. Now we are in an interesting queen game with better chances for White. FELECAN MOVE 50 COMMENTARY
d1=Q to Kasparov's h8=Q The World Team has only one move to make: d2-d1=Q. Finally, after those virtually forced moves, the game arrived at this Queens' endgame. The World Team should hold with no difficulty, since almost all of the lines analyzed show an equal game with the World Champion. BACROT MOVE 50 COMMENTARY d1=Q to Kasparov's h8=Q There is only one possible to consider, which is d2-d1=Q. DANNY KING MOVE 50 COMMENTARY Fifty glorious moves against Garry Kasparov; well done World. That's the equivalent of going ten rounds with Tyson - and you are still standing. Over two weeks ago, the race began to get a new queen. With the help of their kings, both sides forced their pawns down the board to the eighth rank. The result: a dead heat. Garry has just 'promoted' a pawn (to use the chess jargon) and The World can do the same on this turn. Actually, it is in the rules of the game that you can promote a pawn to any piece you like: a knight, bishop, rook or queen. But in practice it is very rare that a player 'under-promotes' as the queen is by far the most powerful piece, combining the powers of rook and bishop. So, The World will get a new queen, and then what? We have arrived at a queen and pawn ending where, in spite of The World having an extra pawn, Garry still has the advantage. Why? The aims in this ending are the same as in others: to get a pawn to the eighth rank to get another queen. White's single pawn is already far advanced up the board, and supported by the king, to boot. Black's pawns, a long way from the queening square, isolated, and without proper support, do not represent a threat in the same way. Therefore, The World is on the back foot. How is The World to defend? There are two main ideas. (1) CHECKING The main weapon will be to subject Garry Kasparov's king to a barrage of checks. If the king is unable to escape the checks, then the game will end in a draw by 'perpetual check'. (2) ADVANCE THE PAWNS While Garry battles to advance his single pawn, The World should attempt to advance its pawns - for two reasons. Although Black's pawns are behind in the race, it does no harm to keep the pressure on; but, as well as that, those pawns can actually be a hindrance to Black, providing cover for White's king to shelter from the checks. Advancing them as far as possible removes that cover and makes it more likely that a 'perpetual check' will occur. That is a very crude outline of the strategy involved in this ending. Play is going to be extremely complex and subtle. For instance, moving the king one square in the wrong direction could make the difference between a draw
and a loss for The World. It is a bit like stepping through a minefield. However, I believe that with accurate play The World can hold the draw. Go to it! xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 51 Voting Results b7-b5 38.66% b1-a1 34.13% d6-d5 11.33% d1-d5 3.1% d1-c2 2.64% KRUSH MOVE 51 COMMENTARY Ka1 to Kasparov's Qh7 I recommend the World plays the move 51…Ka1 (King on b1 to a1) SUMMARY The World Champion's last move with 51.Qh7 seeks to co-ordinate White's remaining forces in preparation for the advance of the PASSED g-PAWN. I believe a good move for Black is 51…Ka1 (preventing White from coordinating his King and Queen by means of a discovered check). Please note that 51…Qc2+?? and 51…Qd3+?? are sickening blunders losing in a trivial manner to 52.Kh6, etc., and should therefore NOT even enter into consideration. In the Analysis section, I will look at my recommendation 51…Ka1 in a little more detail (along with a brief summation of my feelings about 51...d5, 51...Qf3, and 51...b5!?). ANALYSIS After 51.Qh7, I like 51…Ka1 from among Black's alternatives. Black maintains flexibility and leaves White the task of figuring which Black pawn will be set in motion. White is also given the task of finding a method of not only advancing his g-pawn, but also controlling one or even both of the Black pawns. Usually, White will need to take at least one of the Black pawns, when Black can quickly advance the other to secure counterplay. In some situations, Black can sacrifice both pawns to reach a theoretically drawn Q + P vs. Q ending. Despite the highly complex nature of this ending (I am not sure even months of analysis could resolve all of its intricacies), I think the following lines give a reasonable idea of the play that might arise after 51…Ka1: A) 52.Kf7 Qd5+ 53.Kg6 Qe6+ 54.Kh5 Qh3+ 55.Kg6 Qe6+, with level play. B) 52.Kf6 Qd4+ 53.Kg6 (Black is OK after 53.Kf7 Qd5+, or 53.Ke7 Qe5+) 53...Qd3+ 54.Kg7 Qd4+ 55.Kg6 Qd3+ 56.Kh6 Qh3+, with equal chances. C) 52.Kh6 Qd2, and now:
C1) 53.Qg7+ Ka2 54.Qxb7 d5 55.Kh5 Qe2+ 56.Kg6 (Black is OK after 56.Kh6 Qd2, or 56.Kh4 Qe4+) 56...Qe4+, with equal chances. C2) 53.Qxb7 d5 54.Kg6 d4 55.Kf5 Qf2+, is equal (Black sacrifices the b-pawn to enable his d-pawn to quickly advance). D) 52.Qxb7 d5, with equal chances. Again, because Black's d-pawn can be quickly advanced, Black is happy to sacrifice the b-pawn. E) 52.Qh8+ Kb1 53.Qh7 Ka1 54.Qh8+ Kb1, turns full circle, repeating the position. F) 52.Kg7 Qd4+ 53.Kh6 Qh4+ 54.Kg6 Qe4+, is equal. G) 52.Qg7+ Ka2, and now: G1) 53.Qxb7 d5 54.Kf6 Qd4+, with equal chances. G2) 53.Kf7 b5 54.Qf8 (54.Qc3 Qd5+ 55.Kf6 b4 56.Qxb4 Qe5+ 57.Kg6 d5, is equal) 54...Qh5+ 55.Kf6 Qf3+ 56.Kg7 Qc3+ 57.Qf6 b4, with equal chances. G3) 53.Kh7 d5 54.Qf7, and now 54…Qc2+, with the idea of 55.g6 b5!? transposing to the double pawn sacrifice idea mentioned in Variation G4b. G4) 53.Qf7+ d5 (A natural move, although 53…Ka3!? may be another option for Black - planning b7-b5-b4, or simply delaying the advance of the d-pawn - and it deserves some consideration. With 53…d5, Black creates a self-pin, but he does meet the goal of advancing his d-pawn. It does not appear that White will be able to make progress by leaving his Queen on the a2-g8 diagonal so Black can expect to be able to advance his d-pawn again), and now: G4a) 54.Kh6 Qd2 (an awkward diagonal pin on the g-pawn for White to deal with), when 55.Qxb7 d4, leads to equal chances (as Black's d-pawn has become a factor). G4b) 54.Kh7, when I like the idea 54…Qc2+ 55.g6 b5, offering the sacrifice of both Black pawns (56.Qxd5+ Ka1 57.Qxb5) to reach a theoretical draw. G4c) 54.Qxb7 d4, equal (here again, Black considers the b-pawn to be expendable). G4d) 54.Kg7 Qd4+, and Black is OK, for example 55.Qf6 Qe3 (55…Qc4!?), with equal chances. G4e) 54.Qf2+ (This move appears to me to be a critical and dangerous idea for White. In jockeying for position, both sides have improved their position slightly - the White Queen is more active on f2 than it was on h8, and Black has advanced his d-pawn with d6-d5 and d5-d4 is imminent) 54…Kb1, and now: G4e1) 55.Kf7 d4 56.g6 d3 57.g7 Qb3+ 58.Kf8 Qb4+ 59.Kf7 d2, is equal. G4e2) 55.Qf5+ Qc2 56.Kf6 d4 57.Qb5+ Kc1 58.g6 d3, equal. G4e3) 55.Kh6 d4 56.g6 d3 57.Qb6+ Kc1 58.Qxb7 d2 59.Qc7+ Qc2, equal. G4e4) 55.Kf6 d4! 56.g6 d3 57.g7 (Black has no problems after 57.Qf5 Qc2! or 57.Qg2 d2, or 57.Qb6+ Kc1 58.Qc5+ Qc2) 57…Qg4! (This is a completely forced move - not only does this cover the g8 square, but also very importantly the c8 square) and Black is OK (equal chances in the endgame with careful play). Now you may ask what does this strange little King move (51…Ka1) seek to accomplish in its own right? This is my take on the situation: First, Black does not commit a passed pawn immediately (and possibly prematurely, for example: 51…d5?!). Having said this, it is possible that 51…b5!? can be considered - I haven't come to a conclusion about this sharp continuation one way or another, and I haven't studied it in much detail, but it may be OK. Second, it is not yet clear to me where is the best post for Black's Queen (is it f3? d4? d5? or even h1 at some time in the future?). Black could try 51…Qf3, and after 52.Qf7, he must plan to hold the position with 52…Qc6 - it may be enough.
Third, White is prevented from rapidly coordinating his King and Queen by means of a discovered check. This is best understood in light of the alternative 51…d5. This is the very move (desirable under normal circumstances for Black) that Kasparov's 51.Qh7 seems to be directed against. After 51…d5, White plays 52.Kf6+! and now none of Black's moves appear totally satisfactory, for example: A) 52…Ka1 53.Qf5! d4 54.g6 d3 55.g7 Qb3 (55…Qg1? loses to 56.Qa5+ Kb1 57.Qb4+ Kc2 58.Qc4+) 56.Qf1+, and White wins (as 57.Qg2+ follows). B) 52…Kc1 53.Qc7+ Kb1 54.Qb6+! (ruling out defenses based on Qd1-d4+ by Black) 54…Kc1 55.g6 Qf3+ 56.Ke7 Qg3, and in this unclear position, I think White has the slightly better chances. C) 52…Ka2 53.g6! Qd4+ (53…Qf3+ 54.Ke7 Qe4+ 55.Kd8, looks good for White) 54.Kf7 Qf4+ 55.Ke8, and I think White's chances are better. All in all, 51…d5 makes me nervous. So Black has some possibilities in this position (51…b5!? and maybe even 51…Qf3), although 51…d5 seems a little risky for Black, but based on what I know of the position at time of writing, as I am only allowed to propose one move, I am recommending Black play 51…Ka1 in the game - avoiding the potential hazards of a discovered check (allowing White to co-ordinate his pieces effectively), and preparing to create counterplay with the advance of Black's d- and/or b-pawn. IM Ken Regan has created a resource that is the best overall outline on the Web for explaining the strategy for both sides in this Queen ending. I thoroughly recommend that my teammates acquaint themselves with this resource, as it complements and augments the analytical efforts of the SMART-FAQ. See: http://www.cse.buffalo.edu/~regan/chess/GK-ROW/wtstrategy.html PAHTZ MOVE 51 COMMENTARY b5 to Kaparov's Qh7 The World has to push its b-pawn forward because the b-pawn is farther away from the White King than the d-Pawn. After Kasparov's next move 52.Kf7+ or 52.Kf6+, The World will probably move 52...Kb2. It is the only useful plan to push one of The World's pawns forward, because The World cannot afford to lose any time in this position. FELECAN MOVE 51 COMMENTARY d5 to Kasparov's Qh7 Kasparov's move 51.Qh7 should not be a surprise for anyone, because only two moves were worth attention in this position: 51.Qh7(computer) and 51.Qh5 (human). The move Qh7 is better because it threatens to neutralize Black's material advantage while positioning to support the "g" pawn in its powerful advance. Now that The World has to play against Qh7, it must elaborate a plan starting with: A) First, The World cannot afford to push two pawns to the transformation squares since the White pawn on g5 is already dangerously ahead. B) Second, The World must choose which pawn has a better chance and cosequently support its advance as quickly as possible. C) Third, The World must stop, or at least slow down White's pawn advance by giving a lot of checks. In my opinion the "d" pawn has a better chance than the "b" pawn because it is already protected - there is no tempo wasted - so for these reasons I recommend 51...d5.
BACROT MOVE 51 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) DANNY KING MOVE 51 COMMENTARY Garry's last move, 51.Qh7, has been concerning me for some time. Such is the power of the move that, when I first looked at this position a couple of weeks ago, I felt that The World was actually lost here. However, on closer examination, I am sure The World is still fighting fit! Before I dive into the details of the position, let me give a brief summary of play over the past few moves. In the last two weeks, both sides raced their pawns to the other side of the board. The result: a dead heat, as they both got their new Queens within a move of each other. Now the next phase of the game begins: the queen and pawn ending. With so few pieces remaining on the board it is impossible to go for a mating attack, so the goal here must be the same as in other endings: to advance a pawn to the eighth rank to get a new Queen. That is precisely why Garry Kasparov still has the better chances in spite of being a pawn down: his remaining pawn stands on the 5th rank, just three squares away from becoming a new Queen, while The World's pawns are still just about on their starting blocks. Having said that, it is not easy for Garry to get his pawn rolling. He must first move his king out from in front of the pawn. That, however, is where the problems start. If the king moves out straight away, it will be checked right back to where it came from by Black's queen. That's why Garry's last move is so clever. He wants to be able to move the king away, uncovering a check from his queen on h7. Black's king must then move, when White has time to advance the pawn, or, even better, bring his queen to a square where it is able to shield the king from checks (f5 for instance) and only then advance the pawn. It is a subtle, but insidious threat. How should The World respond? Pushing either of the pawns to gain some counterplay is possible, and certainly a desirable strategy; but there is also the more subtle response 51...Ka1!?, first seeing where White's king is heading before committing to a pawn move. I have a definite preference here, but I am not going to make a firm recommendation (it is more my role to explain and describe, but sometimes I can't help myself!). As is the case in several positions in this game, there is probably not one best move, so enjoy working out your reply! Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 52 Voting Results b1-b2 41.70% b1-c1 39.67% b1-a1 9.69% d1-c2 4.19% b1-a2 1.84% KRUSH MOVE 52 COMMENTARY Kc1 to Kasparov’s Kf6+ I recommend the World plays the move 52…Kc1 (King on b1 to c1) SUMMARY The World chose a sharp and very interesting continuation with 51…b5!? and must now deal with the discovered check on its King (after 52.Kf6+). I strongly recommend the move 52…Kc1. With precision, Black has chances to hold the position and demonstrate the viability of 51…b5. If threatening to queen the b-pawn is part of Black's counter to the quick advance of White's g-pawn (the discovered check allows White to quickly organize the advance of his g-pawn), I think it is necessary to vacate the b-file with Black's King. In this regard, I do not recommend 52…Kb2 which blocks the path of the b-pawn, while 52…Ka1 (or 52…Ka2) exposes our King to checks in some variations that will either: a) make us block the path of our b-pawn again (as the King returns to the b-file) or; b) leaves our King awkwardly placed on a2 (White may queen with check on the a2-g8 diagonal). These alternatives all strike me as inferior to 52…Kc1. In my estimation, 52…Kc1 is essential. My analysis section will look at 52…Kc1 in more detail. ANALYSIS Here is a brief examination of possible lines, and my evaluation of play after 52...Kc1: A) 53.Qc7+ Kb2 54.g6 Qf3+ 55.Kg7 (55.Ke6 Qe4+, is equal) 55...b4 56.Qf7 Qc3+! 57.Kf8 Qh8+, and I do not see how White can evade the checks without eventually blocking his own g-pawn with his King (when we can push our b-pawn again), for example: 58.Ke7 Qe5+ 59.Kd7 Qb5+ 60.Kc7 Qa5+ 61.Kb7 Qb5+ 62.Ka8 Qc6+ 63.Kb8 Qb6+, and the checks continue on and on (equal). B) 53.g6 Qf3+ (also possible is 53...Qd4+!?) 54.Ke7 Qe4+ (also possible is 54…Qb7+) 55.Kd8 (55.Kd7 Qb7+ 56.Kxd6 Qb6+, is equal) 55...Qa8+ 56.Kc7 Qa7+ 57.Kc6 Qa6+, equal. In this variation, Black can keep checking, until out of frustration White ends up capturing the Black pawns with his King, but then a Theoretical Draw would remain on the board.
C) 53.Qe4 b4! (B is for Brave! This pawn sacrifice is very forcing, and Black SHOULD NOT fear the loss of his b-pawn), and now: C1) 54.Qc4+ Qc2 55.Qf1+ (55.Qxb4 Qf2+ 56.Kg7 d5 57.Qc3+ Kb1 58.Qb3+ Ka1 59.Qxd5 is a Theoretical Draw, i.e., White will NEVER win, despite his extra pawn) 55...Qd1 56.Qf4+ Qd2 57.Qc4+ Qc2 58.Qxb4 Qf2+ 59.Kg7 d5, and now: C1a) 60.g6 d4 61.Qc4+ Kb2 62.Kg8 d3 63.g7 (63.Qxd3 is a Theoretical Draw, as is 63.Qb5+ Ka1 64.Qxd3) 63...d2, with completely equal chances. C1b) 60.Qc3+ Kb1 61.Qb3+ Ka1 62.Qxd5 is a Theoretical Draw.
C2) 54.Qxb4 Qf3+ 55.Kg7 d5 56.g6 d4 57.Qxd4 is a Theoretical Draw. This line illustrates why Black SHOULD NOT maintain an illogical or sentimental attachment to his pawns! C3) 54.g6 Qf1+ (not 54...b3?? 55.g7 b2 56.g8=Q b1=Q 57.Qe3+, and Black loses) 55.Ke7 Qg1 56.Qc6+ Kb1 57.Qxd6 b3, equal. D) 53.Qf5 b4 (53...Qd4+!? is possible) 54.g6 (54.Qf4+ Qd2 55.Qc4+ Qc3+ 56.Qxc3+ bxc3 57.g6 c2 58.g7 Kb1 59.g8=Q c1=Q 60.Qb8+, with a dead draw) 54...b3 55.g7 b2 56.g8=Q Qd4+! 57.Ke7 Qa7+ 58.Kxd6 Qd4+ 59.Qgd5 Qxd5+ 60.Kxd5 b1=Q, with a draw. A note on Theoretical Draws: I have received e-mails, asking me what is meant by "Theoretical Draw". With respect to this endgame, we see a number of instances where White is left with a Queen and one pawn against Black's Queen. Very often, Black sacrifices his pawns in a SPECIFIC and CALCULATED manner to bring about such a position that with CORRECT play by Black CANNOT be won White. The drawing mechanism consists of placing Black's King on various "safe squares" in the a1-corner of the board, and subjecting the White King to an incessant barrage of Queen checks, or in certain circumstances immobilizing White's last pawn by pinning it against the White King. All Q + P vs. Q positions have been exhaustively retro-analyzed by computer, and a definitive endgame tablebase has been compiled for such positions and can be applied to ANY such instance as may occur in this game. Therefore, I strongly recommend 52…Kc1, with which I believe Black has excellent prospects of holding a draw. PAHTZ MOVE 52 COMMENTARY Kb2 to Kasparov's Kf6+ I would play 52....Kb2, because it is very important that Kasparov not be able to play Qf7+ after 52....Ka2 later in the game. Then the white queen on f7 would be placed much better then on h7. FELECAN MOVE 52 COMMENTARY Kb2 to Kasparov's Kf6+ As a reply to 52.Kf6+, I'm recommending 52...Kb2 as being one of the best available moves for The World in the given position. I like this move somewhat better than 52...Kc1 because the king moves closer to the pawns, so it can support-defend-them more easily. BACROT MOVE 52 COMMENTARY
Ka1 to Kasparov's Kf6+ This is the best move for The World Team. DANNY KING MOVE 52 COMMENTARY The World has voted for the most straightforward move, 51...b5. I think this is an understandable decision given that the pawn was threatened by Garry Kasparov's queen; and it is logical to join in the (next) pawn race. The only problem is that this gives Garry the chance to carry out a cunning manoeuvre, shuffling his king and queen into more favourable positions so as to assist the g-pawn down the board. The World Champion has responded with 52 Kf6+. The king moves out of the way, opening the queen's diagonal to the black king, putting it in check. In chess jargon this is known as a 'discovered check'. Black's king can get out of check very easily, but, White gains time to bring his queen to a more favourable square, perhaps f5, or e4 depending on Black's king move. On h7, the queen is poorly placed, exerting little influence on the board. In this kind of ending, it is well known that the queen should be centralised. From the centre she commands the greatest number of squares, not only giving more options, but forcing the opposing queen to a worse square. It is similar to a mediaeval battle field where taking the higher ground was of paramount importance. But first, The World must bring its king out of check. There are four possible options (blocking with the queen loses instantly: White exchanges, then pushes the g-pawn home). In my opinion this is one of the most difficult decisions The World has had to make since that knotty problem at move 18! To carry out an accurate analytical study of this position would take days. We have but a few hours to reach a verdict - though that is at least better than a normal game where just a few minutes would be available. It is possible that all four king moves are sufficient to draw, but that is no guarantee! Let me give you my preliminary thoughts: My gut feeling is that 52...Kc1 is incorrect as it is too exposed to checks, and having seen the variation, 53 Qe4... d5 54 Qf4+ (gaining an important tempo) Kb1 55 g6... d4 56 g7 my doubts were confirmed (obviously Black can do better than this, but still). In principle I also do not like 52...Ka2 because if White's g-pawn queens, it does so with check. That gives White a possible vital tempo in some variations. Therefore my choice would be for either 52...Ka1, or 52...Kb2. The king is at least shielded from checks along the diagonal by White's king. Unfortunately my deadline is approaching, so I can't go into more detail. Therefore I would strongly recommend that you look at the analysts' suggestions before you vote, and, if you have time, check out the bulletin boards where I am sure the debate will be raging! Good luck. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 53 Voting Results b2-a1 65.69% b2-b3 10.21% b2-c3 6.58% d1-e2 4.55% b2-c1 3.57% KRUSH MOVE 53 COMMENTARY Ka1 to Kasparov's Qh2+ I recommend the World plays the move 53…Ka1 (King on b2 to a1) SUMMARY In playing the slightly risky 52...Kb2!? the World exposed its King to this Queen check (53.Qh2+). At our expense, the World Champion is taking the opportunity to reorganize his remaining forces to prepare the advance of his g-pawn. Here, I recommend the move 53...Ka1, getting our King off the b-FILE to make way for and to greet our advancing PASSED b-PAWN - I think this move may, in fact, be forced. By placing our King firmly in the a1-CORNER, we minimize the risk of awkward checks on our own King, we defend the b1-square (the square on which we will threaten to queen our b-pawn) and we avoid creating a "traffic jam" on the board, so that our Queen will have plenty of SPACE to maneuver and pound Kasparov's King with a barrage of Queen checks. ANALYSIS I was out of contact for a while when travelling, but I was able to find out what the World had played last move by logging on to msn.com, and was able to prepare some ideas to meet 53.Qh2+ (which MSN notified me of some time later by e-mail). With the battery power in my laptop running on low, I was able to do a little work on the way home. Here are some ideas I found and how I think play might develop after my recommendation 53...Ka1. A) 54.Qf2 (to take the d4-square away from the Black Queen) 54...Qd3 55.g6 Qc3+ 56.Kg5 (if 56.Kf7 Qc4+ 57.Ke8 Qc8+ 58.Ke7 Qc7+ 59.Kf8 Qc8+ 60.Kg7 b4, with equal chances, as Black's b-pawn is making some noise) 56...b4, and Black is OK, for example, 57.Qf6 Qxf6+ 58.Kxf6 b3 59.g7 b2 60.g8=Q b1=Q 61.Qa8+, liquidates the position to a dead draw. Note that a draw is the BEST that Black can hope for in the current situation. Black's extra pawn is meaningless, as White possesses the qualitatively superior passed pawn (more advanced). B) 54.g6 (this hasty push allows the Black Queen to enter the game with full effect) 54...Qf3+ 55.Ke6 Qe4+ 56.Kf6 Qf3+ 57.Kg7 b4 58.Qxd6 b3, and the game offers equal chances. C) 54.Qf4, when I like the dynamic SPACE and TIME gaining PAWN SACRIFICE 54...b4! (54...Qd5 also seems possible, but I want to ram that pawn in), when the World Champion will have a dilemma to address: Should he: a) Take our pawn, and allow his Queen to be diverted from its nice post on f4, thereby allowing Black's Queen to jump into the action? or b) Should he ignore our b-pawn, at the risk of watching it advance further towards promotion?
Let's take a look. Option a) Garry takes our b-pawn with 55.Qxb4, and after 55...Qf3+ 56.Kg7 d5, suddenly our d-pawn becomes a menace! Now if 57.Qb7 Qc3+ 58.Kf7 Qf3+ 59.Kg7 Qc3+ 60.Kh7 Qh3+, with equal chances, and if instead Garry gets on with the business of advancing his own pawn with 57.g6, then we will spring a little trap on the World Champion with a second pawn sacrifice 57...d4! when our pawn is on the run, and threatening to advance further. If Garry takes this pawn with 58.Qxd4+, we will have trapped him in a Theoretical Draw. Option b) Garry ignores our "poisoned" b-pawn and advances his own pawn: 55.g6 b3 56.Qa4+ Kb2 57.g7 Qf3+ 58.Ke7 Qe3+ 59.Kf7 Qf2+, and the chances are equal. We must keep an eye on his passed g-pawn, but in turn he cannot ignore our counter-threats with our b-pawn. Therefore, I recommend 53…Ka1. I believe this is the correct strategic interpretation of this position. PAHTZ MOVE 53 COMMENTARY Kb3 to Kasparov's Qh2+ I suggest 53....Kb3 to protect the pawns. Another possibility is 53....Kc3, but this move closes the diagonal a1-h8. FELECAN MOVE 53 COMMENTARY Ka1 to Kasparov's Qh2+ In my opinion, The World should consider playing 53...Ka1, leaving White with no immediately checks, and therefore, saving some tempos for the pawn(s); also the black king should not impede any further pawn advancing. BACROT MOVE 53 COMMENTARY (No commentary for this move.) DANNY KING MOVE 53 COMMENTARY Garry Kasparov has given check and, once again, this presents The World with a difficult decision. Black's king is stepping through a minefield: one false move and the game could be over. Why is Garry checking Black's king when he could have just pushed his pawn? Checks in themselves do not achieve anything. He is doing this so as to gain time to re-position his queen: he would like to play his queen to f4 or f2 to shield his king from checks and only then push the g-pawn. Instead, if he had pushed the g-pawn straightaway, the queen on h7 would have been poorly placed to prevent Black's queen checks. As I mentioned in my commentary two days ago, queens function best nearest to the middle of the board, as they are able to control more squares. It is rather like an army on a mediaeval battlefield taking the higher ground. Where should Black's king move to? I do not like moving the king into the middle of the board giving White's queen more checking options, therefore I would rule out 53...Kc1 and Kc3. 53...Ka3 has received a lot of attention on the bulletin boards, but I am concerned about the line 54 Qg3+ Ka4 55 Qf4+ b4 56 g6, when, because of White's excellent queen position, Black has great difficulty in preventing the pawn from promoting, e.g. 56...Qa1+ 57 Kf7 Qa2+ 58 Kf8. No more checks. 53...Ka1 appeals to me the most (as usual!), with the following lines
possible: 54 Qf4 (to shield the king from checks), then 54...Qd3 (re-positioning so as to check White's king) 55 g6 Qc3+ 56 Kf7 Qc7+ with lots of irritating checks. Alternatively, 54...Qd5 is possible, (it is reassuring that in this line there are two plausible options to consider) 55 g6 b4, and if the pawn is taken, 56 Qxb4, the checks start again with 56...Qe5+. These are my preliminary thoughts; I present them as a starting point for your own analysis. It is a difficult decision so, once again, I would recommend that you check out the bulletin boards and examine the analysts' suggestions carefully before voting - if that doesn't add to the confusion! Good luck. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 54 Voting Results b5-b4 59.82% d1-d3 17.54% d1-d5 13.47% d6-d5 4.71% d1-a4 0.64% KRUSH MOVE 54 COMMENTARY b4 to Kasparov’s Qf4 I recommend the World plays the move 54…b4 (Pawn on b5 to b4) SUMMARY With 54.Qf4, the World Champion has activated and CENTRALIZED his Queen (with the maneuver Qh7-h2-f4). He has also managed to get his King out from under the feet of his passed g-pawn, and he is now ready to advance his g-pawn towards g8. For its part, the World has firmly placed its King in the "safe a1-CORNER" region of the board, distancing the King from the White g-pawn - as we understand is correct from Queen endgame theory. However, it is vital that Black activates his position immediately and generates COUNTERPLAY to combat White's simple but dangerous plan of advancing the g-pawn. I am recommending the DYNAMIC PAWN SACRIFICE 54…b4. This presents White with the dilemma of either taking our b-pawn and allowing the Black position to come to LIFE after 55.Qxb4 Qf3+ (planning an advance of our PASSED d-PAWN), or ignoring our b-pawn with 55.g6, when Black's pawn is just as FAST with 55…b3. This pawn
sacrifice (54…b4) would represent the second time we have sacrificed a b-pawn in this game, in order to clear the way for a PASSED d-PAWN! The move 54…b4 has been endorsed by the grizzled, battle-hardened veteran analysts in the trenches of the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, and has also been analyzed by Grandmaster Chess School, and I believe it is correct. After much work and worry, I believe the World is now in a position to bring about a WIN of our objective - to ACHIEVE a draw with the Black pieces against the most BRILLIANT CHESS MIND the world has ever known - a task that most analysts predicted would be impossible. The World Team has fought brilliantly and valiantly, with its backs against the wall for over three months as the World Champion has launched fire and fury against its best collective efforts. There is no holding back now, we must push 54…b4, sacrificing our b-pawn. If he captures our gallant foot soldier on b4, we will WIN the critical f3-SQUARE for our Queen, so that we can play to dominate the White King - driving it in front of his g-pawn. His g-pawn will be blocked by his own King, and meanwhile our PASSED d-pawn marches forward unimpeded. Sometimes I post on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board under the anonymous identity "Solnushka" - in this way my fellow analysts do not know who I am! Don't forget to visit the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board! http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/index.asp Check out Grandmaster Chess School! http://www.gmchess.spb.ru/ ANALYSIS Before we start, it is very important to understand this analysis in light of Black's goal. Black is playing for a DRAW. Why? Because, although Black has a material advantage, White's g-pawn (on White's fifth rank) is SUPERIOR to Black's b-pawn (on Black's fourth rank) and Black's d-pawn (on Black's third rank). In other words, White has full COMPENSATION for his pawn deficit. TIME is an important element in chess. In this position, Black's problem is his LACK of time - Black does not have the time to prepare the advance of either of his passed pawns to counter White's threatening advance of his g-pawn, and Black's Queen is passively placed. In science, we understand that matter can be converted to energy - for example, the basis of the Atomic Bomb. By analogy, in chess, matter can also be converted to energy (or initiative or time). In the current board situation, Black must energize his position by converting MATTER (a pawn) into ENERGY (tempo or time). Do you remember on Move 47, how we sacrificed our front doubled b-pawn to clear the way for the advance of our front doubled d-pawn? A similar situation appears before us - once again, we must seriously consider sacrificing our b-pawn, for the betterment of our d-pawn. Think of our b-pawn as a bomb, waiting to explode and energize Black's position. B is for Bomb! Let us look at my recommendation 54…b4 (an idea I had on the way home from Armenia, which has been stress-tested and fine-tuned on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board) in a little more detail. After 54…b4, we are clearly offering to sacrifice our b-pawn - after all, it is not defended when it reaches the b4-square. Our opponent has two basic choices: Should he:
a) Take our pawn, and allow his Queen to be diverted from its nice CENTRALIZED post on f4, thereby allowing Black's Queen to leap into the action? Or; b) Should he ignore our b-pawn, at the risk of watching it advance further towards promotion? WHITE takes the pawn (the bomb explodes) A) 55.Qxb4 Qf3+ 56.Kg7 (56.Ke7 Qe3+ 57.Kf6 Qf3+, is equal) 56...d5, and here is Black's point - our bomb has bought us the time we need to advance our d-pawn. For example: A1) 57.Qb7 Qc3+ 58.Kf7 Qf3+ 59.Kg7 Qc3+ 60.Kh7 Qh3+, equal. A2) 57.Qd4+ Kb1 58.g6 Qe4, and now: A21) 59.Qxe4+ dxe4, leading to a draw. A22) 59.Qb6+ Ka1 60.Kf7 d4 61.g7 Qf5+ 62.Qf6 Qd7+, and Black is OK. A23) 59.Qf2 d4 60.Kf6 d3 61.g7 Qc6+ 62.Kf7 Qd5+ 63.Kf8 d2, when Black's pawn is just as good as White's pawn, so the game will be a draw. A3) 57.g6 d4! (With the d-pawn in motion!) and now: A31) 58.Qxd4+ is a Theoretical Draw. A32) 58.Kh8 Qh5+! 59.Kg7 Qe5+, with a draw. A33) 58.Qa4+ Kb1 59.Qxd4 is a Theoretical Draw. A4) 57.Qa5+ Kb1 58.Qb6+ (if 58.Qb4+ Kc2 59.g6 d4 60.Qxd4, is a Theoretical Draw) 58...Kc2! (forced but good) and Black is OK. WHITE declines the pawn (but the bomb is still ticking) Now we look at the situation where White declines the pawn sacrifice, and tries to further the ambitions of his g-pawn: B) 55.g6 b3 56.Qa4+ (If 56.g7 b2! 57.g8=Q b1=Q, we obtain a rare endgame with four Queens on the board. This particular four Queen ending seems quite trivial as after 58.Qa8+ - White's only sensible check - Black plays 58...Qa2, with an equal position) 56...Kb2 57.g7 (57.Qe4 Qc2! is equal) 57...Qf3+ 58.Ke7 (if 58.Kg5 Qd5+ 59.Kf6 Qf3+, repeats the position with a draw) 58...Qe3+, and now: B1) White would lose after 59.Kd7?? Qg1! 60.Kxd6 Qxg7. This particular Q + P versus Q ending would be losing for Kasparov (in other words it won't happen). B2) 59.Kxd6?! is inaccurate, as after 59...Qg3+ 60.Kc5 Qxg7, it is White who must defend a Theoretical Draw. B3) 59.Kf7 Qf2+, and White (with his Queen out of play, and his King as the sole guardian of his g-pawn) cannot escape the Black Queen's checks - so the position is equal. A note on Theoretical Draws: With respect to this endgame, we see a few instances where White is left with a Queen and one pawn against Black's Queen. Very often, Black sacrifices his pawns in a SPECIFIC and CALCULATED manner to bring about such a position that with CORRECT play by Black CANNOT be won White. The drawing mechanism consists of placing Black's King on various "safe squares" in the a1-corner of the board, and subjecting the White King to an incessant barrage
of Queen checks, or in certain circumstances immobilizing White's last pawn by pinning it against the White King. All Q + P vs. Q positions have been exhaustively retro-analyzed by computer, and a definitive endgame tablebase has been compiled for such positions and can be applied to ANY such instance as may occur in this game. Such positions can be played with PERFECT PRECISION. Special thanks to "Alekhine via Ouija." In conclusion, I believe 54…b4 is both strategically (we gain time to activate our Queen, and we threaten to promote our b-pawn) and tactically (we have demonstrated the viability of the sacrifice if it is either accepted OR declined) justified. PAHTZ MOVE 54 COMMENTARY Qd3 to Kasparov's Qf4 I suggest 54...Qd3, First, by doing this we defend both pawns, and second, Qd3 will allow Qc3+ as well as protecting the square b4 for our advancing pawn. FELECAN MOVE 54 COMMENTARY Qd3 to Kasparov's Qf4 In this position, my recommendation for The World is 54...Qd3. I think this is a very important move since Black has to advance and promote his "b" pawn to a Queen at the same that White does. The idea of 54...Qd3 consists of re-positioning the queen on c3, so the "b" pawn can move quickly ahead. BACROT MOVE 54 COMMENTARY Qd5 to Kasparov's Qf4 I think this is The World's best chance to make problems for the Kasparov. The game might continue with 55.g6... b4 and then, for example, 56.Qxb4... Qe5+ leads to a draw. The World Champion has other possibilites for move 56: 56.Qf1+... Kb2 57.Qf2+... Ka3 58.Qg3+... b3 59.g7... Qg8, OR 56.g7... b3 57.Qf1+... Ka2 58.Qg1... Qe5+! (not 58...Qg8 59.Qa7, winning for White). It is difficult to predict whether or not this game will be a draw. DANNY KING MOVE 54 COMMENTARY Instead of advancing his pawn, Garry has chosen to re-position his queen. Why? If he had pushed the pawn straight away, his king would have been exposed to a hail of checks by The World's queen. By bringing his queen to this more central square, Garry Kasparov shields his own king from attack, and so prepares to give his pawn a smooth run down to the queening square. This is a serious threat. If the pawn gets to the 8th rank and promotes to another new queen, the game will be over. The only way for Black to defend against the threat is to bring his queen into a position where it can hassle White's king. As I see it, there are three possible ways of achieving this:
re-centralising the queen immediately with 54...Qd3, or 54...Qd5; or, more radically, sacrifice the b-pawn with 54...b4. In this last case, if White leaves the pawn, then the b-pawn steams down the board providing sufficient counterplay for Black. Alternatively, if the pawn is taken with 55 Qxb4, then White's queen will have been deflected from its excellent central position, and Black's queen steps in with a check: 55...Qf3+. To escape from the checks, the king would have to hide in front of the g-pawn, so hindering its progress towards the 8th rank. Good luck with your choice: we are still stepping through a minefield. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 55 Voting Results d1-f3 84.91% d6-d5 2.68% d1-d4 2.52% d1-e1 2.39% d1-a4 2.17% KRUSH MOVE 55 COMMENTARY Qf3+ to Kasparov’s Qxb4 I recommend the World plays the move 55...Qf3+ (Queen on d1 to f3 with check) SUMMARY It was necessary for White to accept our pawn sacrifice, but in doing so White's Queen is diverted from its CENTRALIZED and active post on f4. We must make use of the opportunity to ACTIVATE our Queen with TEMPO therefore 55...Qf3+. Don't forget to visit the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board! http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/index.asp ANALYSIS After, 55...Qf3+, we can expect the continuation 56.Kg7, where White is inconvenienced by once again finding his King blocking the advance of his own pawn. White cannot profit from avoiding 56.Kg7 by instead playing 56.Ke7, as after 56...Qe3+ (targeting the g-pawn) 57.Kf6 Qf3+, the position would repeat itself. After 56.Kg7, it is worthwhile pausing to examine Black's possibilities. The SMART-FAQ highlights two principal continuations at this point, and their relative merits require careful consideration in the short time we
have left to confirm our future course. After 56.Kg7, Black can play: A) 56...Qe3!? - delaying the advance of his d-pawn, and taking control of the d4-square. This move is quite logical, and should undergo the systematic process of CONCRETE ANALYSIS. If we decide that 56...Qe3!? does not meet our standards or expectations, we will instead play the principled move: B) 56...d5 - as I alluded to in my previous analysis report. Examine the position after 56...d5. It is ALMOST the same as the position we might have obtained after 52...Kc1 53.Qe4 b4 54.Qxb4 Qf3+ 55.Kg7 d5 - with the exception that Black's King is on a1, and not on c1 as in this particular 52...Kc1 variation. In that particular 52...Kc1 situation, we would have met 56.g6 with 56...d4 57.Qxd4 with an immediate DRAW, and we were safe in the knowledge that White had no useful Queen check (instead of 56.g6) that would improve his position. Therefore, after 56...d5 in the present, we are playing a SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT version of that particular 52...Kc1 defense (having given our opponent an additional option by playing Kb1-b2-a1 instead of Kc1-b1). This comparison is very important - it reveals to us White's additional options and (incidentally) the genesis of the b5-b4 pawn sacrifice idea (a simple application of our own accumulated knowledge). After 56...d5 in our current analysis, White has the option of 57.Qd4+ (Check! Remember our King is on a1 and not c1). This must be considered a critical continuation as it crosses Black's immediate plans to advance his d-pawn further and also the plan to sacrifice this last pawn to reach a simple Theoretical Draw, i.e., if White were instead to play 57.g6, we would be VERY HAPPY to play 57...d4! with an equal game (as even surrendering the pawn with check to 58.Qxd4+ is an immediate Theoretical DRAW). It is because of this move by White (57.Qd4+) it becomes worthwhile examining 56...Qe3!? as an option for Black. The critical continuation after 57.Qd4+ appears to be 57...Kb1 58.g6 Qe4 59.Qg1+ (59.Qxe4 dxe4, is a draw) 59...Ka2, for example: 60.Qf2+ Ka1 61.Kf6 (or 61.Kf7, or 61.Kh6) when Black must play 61...d4 (in the short-term this pawn on d4 will be pivotal to an important strategic objective - the closing of the a1-h8 diagonal and the opening of the h1-a8 diagonal), freeing up the d5-square and therefore a host of central light squares for use by the Black Queen. In fact, these positions after 61...d4 are deceptive - they are not at all simple, and with an opponent determined to make life as difficult as possible for us, we should not expect things to be simple. I believe Black is OK with accurate play - many variations will need to subjected to very deep human analysis, perhaps to as many as 20 or even 30 moves deep. Our defense is based on delivering PERPETUAL CHECK to the White King or SACRIFICING our d-pawn at an opportune moment to obtain a Theoretical Draw. If White allows his King to be driven in front of his pawn after the pawn reaches g7, Black will be able to play d4-d3 and draw by means of "simultaneous queening" or by forcing White to capture the runaway d-pawn (resulting in a Theoretical Draw). Our immediate task as a Team is, in my opinion, to play 55...Qf3+ and to thoroughly investigate the options of 56...Qe3!? and 56...d5 (after 56.Kg7). I believe our goal is in reach, but as always it requires a high degree of technical precision and deliberation in our play. We will be making yet another important decision on our next move. Special thanks to "IM2429", IM Ken Regan, and GM Ron Henley and their keen eyes for danger. PAHTZ MOVE 55 COMMENTARY
Qf3+ to Kasparov's Qxb4 I suggest 55...Qf3+ This is the only good Queen move in this position and it also supports the pawn in its advance toward promotion. But if we moved 55...Qf1+?! then the Queen would not have such a good range, and also this move would not support the pawn. FELECAN MOVE 55 COMMENTARY Qf3+ to Kasparov's Qxb4 Now that White's queen has taken The World's pawn on b4 and is unable to protect its King for a while, The World should start giving checks right away with 55...Qf3+ The most likely way for The World to achieve a draw against the World Champion is by using the method of perpetual check. BACROT MOVE 55 COMMENTARY Qf3+ to Kasparov's Qxb4 The normal move is queen check on f3 55...Qf3+ DANNY KING MOVE 55 COMMENTARY On the last turn The World gave up its extra pawn, a pawn that had already made good progress towards the queening square. What exactly is going on? This is a bold and clever sacrifice. Black has no winning chances - that was clear the moment the ending was reached 25 moves ago - so the b-pawn can be given up with a clear conscience. It is all about saving the draw, and this is a good way of going about it. With his last move, Garry Kasparov had to capture the b-pawn - it would have been too dangerous to allow its march to continue - but, in so doing, he has allowed his queen to be deflected from an excellent position where it was shielding his king from checks. This gives The World the opportunity to bring its queen into a better position from where it can hassle White's king, and so slow the advance of the dangerous g-pawn. In such endings, the position of the queen can make the difference between a win and a draw. The queen is the most powerful piece on the board, but if it does not get into a position where it can demonstrate that power, then its value is diminished. The World must now seize the chance to play the queen to a better position, beginning with a check to gain some time. There are only two available: 55...Qf1+ or 55...Qf3+. Before deciding which one to play, ask yourself where queens perform best... Good luck! Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 56 Voting Results d6-d5 87.38% Qf3-f6 4.75% Qf3-f5 1.56% Qf3-d5 1.35% Qf3-e3 1.2% KRUSH MOVE 56 COMMENTARY d5 to Kasparov's Kg7 I recommend the World plays the move 56...d5 (Pawn on d6 to d5) Having made the World Champion block the path of his passed pawn with his King, I believe it is now the time to mobilize our PASSED PAWN therefore I recommend 56...d5 as Black's best move here. Play may become quite forcing for the next couple of moves, for example, after 56...d5, the game may continue 57.Qd4+ Kb1 58.g6, when Black can consider 58...Qf5 (which, in my opinion, may be a better choice for Black than 58...Qe4). PAHTZ MOVE 56 COMMENTARY d5 to Kasparov's Kg7 We also have to advance our pawn, and with d5 the Queen protects it too. 56...Qe3 and 56...Qf5 are also interesting, but I think d5 is the more purposeful move. FELECAN MOVE 56 COMMENTARY d5 to Kasparov's Kg7 In my opinion, The World should try 56...d5, and I have at least two good reasons for this: 1) No other piece(king or queen) can significantly improve its position right now. 2) The pawn on d6 is very poorly placed - it enables White's king to find a shelter from Black's upcoming checks - and it has little , if any value (as soon as the pawn moves forward, it gains value considerably ). BACROT MOVE 56 COMMENTARY
(No commentary for this move.) DANNY KING MOVE 56 COMMENTARY The benefits of The World's pawn sacrifice on move 54 are already clear. Following the deflection of White's queen from its excellent central post, Black's queen was able to step into the action. Garry Kasparov's king has been driven in front of the pawn, so slowing its progress to the eighth rank. White's king had to find shelter. If it had gone the other way, to e7 for instance, then it would have been hit by another queen check, preventing progress. This pawn sacrifice from The World was all about improving the position of the black queen. But now what? As I see it, there is a clear choice between 56...d5; and 56...Qe3. 56...d5 activates the d-pawn, reminding the World Champion that The World also has the potential to make a new queen and, in some variations, enables the queen to move to the powerful central square e4. 56...Qe3 improves the queen's position again. It is nearer the centre, preventing White's queen from re-centralising, and prepares to give White's king some more checks from e5 or e7. It is a difficult decision. The consequences of both moves are very hard to resolve, even with reams of analysis. Do your best! Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 57 Voting Results Ka1-b1 85.25% Ka1-a2 12.58% Qf3-c3 0.53% Ka1-b2 0.33% Qf3-f5 0.23% KRUSH MOVE 57 COMMENTARY Kb1 to Kasparov's Qd4+ I recommend the World plays the move 57...Kb1 (King on a1 to b1)
This is the best move for Black - the alternative 57...Ka2?! is BAD as the Black King is VULNERABLE on the a2-square which lies on the a2-g8 DIAGONAL leading directly to the g8 queening square. Black was crudely threatening to immediately sacrifice his d-pawn with the advance d5-d4, and White's Queen check is aimed, in part, at crossing this Black threat. As we need to bring our King to c1 to support the advance of Black's d-pawn in some variations, I am recommending 57...Kb1 for our move. If White continues with straight-forward 58.g6, Black should react with the active 58...Qf5 (and not the dubious 58...Qe4?!). PAHTZ MOVE 57 COMMENTARY Ka2 to Kasparov's Qd4+ With his last move Garry improved the position of his queen. In the middle of the board she controls events and at the same time prevents us from sending our brave pawn home. However, I don't believe that Garry has enough to win the game. The time has come to offer the World Champion a draw. If he is in a good mood, he might accept, then we can happily pack up the chess-set and all go home! After Garry's last move 57 Qd4+ there are two possibilities: 57...Ka2 or 57...Kb1. I recommend 57...Ka2 as I feel that our king stands just a bit better there. FELECAN MOVE 57 COMMENTARY Kb1 to Kasparov's Qd4+ In this position only two moves are available for The World: 57...Ka2 and 57...Kb1. I'm considering 57...Kb1 superior to 57...Ka2 because Black has all the reasons to avoid the diagonal a2-g8 (g8 is the transformation square for White's pawn); therefore, I'm recommending 57...Kb1. BACROT MOVE 57 COMMENTARY Kb1 to Kasparov's Qd4+ I recommend 57...Kb1. The best square for The World's king is b1 because later, if White manages to take d5, it will be without a check. DANNY KING MOVE 57 COMMENTARY Having whipped off the pawn, Garry Kasparov re-centralises his queen, gaining time by giving The World's king a check. Let's just keep in mind what Garry is trying to do here: he is attempting to advance his remaining pawn to the eighth rank to get a new queen - which will win the game. At the moment his king blocks the pawn's path, but it had to run there to hide from the black queen's checks. A queen in the centre of the board controls more squares than at the side that's why Garry has re-centralised - and in so doing he is able to offer his king greater protection when it re-emerges to let the g-pawn advance. At the moment, the most crucial aspect of this endgame is the positioning of the queens. Garry has just re-positioned, and in a couple of moves The
World will have to do the same to get a better checking angle. In the meantime, The World must get its king out of check. Only two squares to consider, a2 or b1, but really, there is no contest. I imagine we are going to see unanimity from the analysts on this move. Make your own mind up and then take a look at their suggestions if you are not sure! Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 58 Voting Results Qf3-e4 49.19 Qf3-f5 44.24% Qf3-h1 2.56% Kb1-c2 .94% Qf3-b3 .68% KRUSH MOVE 58 COMMENTARY I recommend the World plays the move 58...Qf5 (Queen on f3 to f5). I believe that the active move 58...Qf5 is Black's best way to continue fighting for a draw. (Analysis has revealed severe problems with the alternative 58...Qe4 - and it looks bad for Black. I think 58...Qe4 is probably losing by force according to the latest analysis on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board). Therefore 58...Qf5 to give us our best chances. PAHTZ MOVE 58 COMMENTARY Qe4 to Kasparov's g6 I suggest the active move 58...Qe4. By moving the queen to e4, The World is able to give some checks, and at the same time force White's queen out of the way so it can advance the d-pawn. 58...Qf5 is also possible, but 58...Qe4 is more forcing as it attacks White's queen. A queen exchange in this position results in an immediate draw. FELECAN MOVE 58 COMMENTARY Qf5 to Kasparov's g6
In my opinion, The World should keep the balance with 58...Qf5; the Queen comes closer to the White king , further inparing its movement, it has a very active position from which it can give a lot of checks (perpetuals would be best!) BACROT MOVE 58 COMMENTARY Qe4 to Kasparov's g6 The natural move is 58...Qe4. 58...Qf5 is worth attention, too. It is impossible to give lines because in queen's endings they are too long. DANNY KING MOVE 58 COMMENTARY White's pawn advances, and the tension increases. Having brought his queen back to a superb central square, Garry Kasparov was able to push his pawn one square down the board, knowing that his king was safe from checks. Optically, White's queen on d4 is impressive. It controls squares on all sides of the board, and blocks Black's pawn on d4. This is the crucial difference between the two positions. Although material is even, Garry's pawn is further advanced towards the queening square, so he has the advantage. There is only one way for The World to prevent White's pawn from heading all the way down the board: Garry's king must be hassled with the queen. However, at the moment, The World is unable to give a sensible check with the queen, so on this move it is crucial to move her to a better square. There are two sensible options: 58...Qe4 and 58...Qf5. Both have the aim of showering White's king with a hail of checks - the only way to get a draw from this position. Play is extremely subtle at this point, so I would recommend you examine the analysts' suggestions carefully before voting; if you still can't make your mind up from that, then look into the bulletin boards for a colourful range of opinions. xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
MOVE 59 Voting Results Kb1-b2 54.3% Kb1-c2 44.27% Kb1-a2 1.5%
KRUSH MOVE 59 COMMENTARY SUMMARY I wish to thank the World Champion, MSN, and First USA for their gracious invitation and for extending me the privilege of participating in this event. I wish to thank my fellow analysts on the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board, GM Chess School and SmartChess Online for the privilege of being able to work with them. I do not have a specific recommendation for this move. However, in my Analysis section, I present the World Team's distilled knowledge about the position after 58...Qe4, and Kasparov's response 59.Qg1+. This analysis is a testament to the resolve, dedication and fighting spirit displayed by brilliant and enthusiastic analysts all over the world, whose imagination was captured by this intriguing event. I believe this analysis will guide you more effectively than my personal recommendation on this move (all of Black's options are indicated). ANALYSIS As I indicated in my previous post, which can be found in the Game History file, I believe the move 58...Qe4 is a losing move - in my opinion 58…Qf5 was necessary to continue the game. After 59.Qg1+, we can do a limited but exhaustive search of all of Black's options, as our King will reach one of eight squares (a1 through d1, or a3 through d3) after White follows up with 60.Qf2+. As we shall see, a common theme in these variations, is White's ability to play a quick Kg7-f6, followed by g6-g7. This maneuver would not have been possible after 58…Qf5 (maintaining watch along the f-file and in particular the f6square). Black is unable to maintain perpetual check in these variations, and therefore White wins as the pawn on g7 (about to queen) is much more powerful than Black's slower d-pawn. A) 59...Kc2 60.Qf2+, and now: A1) 60...Kd1 61.Kf6 d4 62.g7 Qc6+ 63.Kg5 Qd5+ (63...Qc5+ 64.Qf5 Qe7+ 65.Kg6, White wins) 64.Qf5, with: A1a) 64...Qg8 65.Qd3+ Kc1 (65...Ke1 66.Qxd4, White wins) 66.Qxd4, White wins. A1b) 64...Qg2+ 65.Qg4+, White wins. A2) 60...Kd3 61.Kf6 Qe8 (61...d4 62.Qf5, White wins) 62.g7 Qc6+ (62...Qd8+ 63.Kg6 Qd6+ 64.Qf6, White wins) 63.Kg5 Qe8 64.Qf5+, White wins. B) 59...Ka2 has no independent significance - after 60.Qf2+ we will transpose into lines from Variation C. C) 59...Kb2 60.Qf2+! and now: C1) 60...Kb3 61.Kf6 d4 62.g7 Qc6+ 63.Kg5 Qd5+ (63...Qe8 64.Qxd4, White wins) 64.Qf5 Qg2+ 65.Qg4 Qd5+ 66.Kf4 Qg8 (66...Qf7+ 67.Kg3 Qg8 68.Qf3+ Kc2 69.Qf8, White wins) 67.Qg6, White wins. C2) 60...Kb1 61.Kf6 d4 (61...Qb4 62.Qf5+ Kc1 63.g7, White wins) 62.g7 Qc6+ 63.Kg5 Qe8 (63...Qd5+ 64.Qf5+, White wins) 64.Qxd4, White wins. C3) 60...Ka1 61.Kf6! d4 (61...Qh1 62.g7 Qh6+ 63.Kf7 Qh5+ 64.Kf8, White wins; 61...Qb4 62.g7 Qd6+ 63.Kf7 Qd7+ 64.Kg6 Qe8+ 65.Qf7, White wins) 62.g7 Qc6+ 63.Kg5, with: C3a) 63...Qc5+ 64.Qf5 Qe7+ (64...Qc1+ 65.Kf6 Qc6+ 66.Qe6, transposes to 63...Qd5+ 64.Qf5 Qg2+ 65.Kf6 Qc6+ 66.Qe6 - Variation C3c - White wins) 65.Kh6 Qd6+ 66.Qg6 Qf4+ 67.Qg5 Qd6+ 68.Kh7 Qh2+ 69.Qh6 Qc2+ 70.Kh8, White wins. C3b) 63...Qc1+ 64.Qf4 Qc5+ 65.Qf5 transposes to 63...Qc5+ 64.Qf5 - Variation 3c - White wins. C3c) 63...Qd5+ 64.Qf5 Qg2+ 65.Kf6! Qc6+ 66.Qe6 Qf3+ 67.Ke7 Qb7+ 68.Qd7 Qe4+ 69.Kd6 Qf4+ (69...Qg6+ 70.Kc7 Qg3+ 71.Kc8 Qc3+ 72.Qc7 Qh3+ 73.Kd8 Qh4+ 74.Qe7 Qg3 75.Qa7+ Kb1 76.Qxd4, White wins) 70.Kc5 Qc1+ 71.Kb6 Qb1+ 72.Kc7! Qc1+ 73.Qc6 Qf4+ 74.Kb6 Qb8+ 75.Ka6 Qg8 76.Qa4+ Kb1 77.Qxd4, White wins. C4) 60...Ka3 61.Kf6 d4 62.g7 Qc6+ 63.Kg5 Qd5+ (63...Qe8 64.Qxd4, White wins) 64.Qf5 Qg2+ 65.Qg4 Qd5+ 66.Kf4 Qg8 (66...Qf7+ 67.Kg3 Qg8 68.Qf3+ Kb2 69.Qf8, White wins) 67.Qg6, White wins.
C5) 60...Kc1 61.Kf6 d4 62.g7 Qc6+ 63.Kg5 Qd5+ (63...Qe8 64.Qxd4, White wins) 64.Qf5 Qg2+ 65.Kh6, White wins. C6) 60...Kc3 61.Kf6 d4 62.g7 Qc6+ 63.Kg5, and now: C6a) 63...Qd5+ 64.Qf5 Qg2+ (64...Qd8+ transposes to 63...Qe8 64.Qf5 Qd8+ - Variation C6b - White wins) 65.Qg4 Qd5+ 66.Kf4 Qg8 (66...Qf7+ 67.Kg3 Qg8 68.Qf3+ d3 69.Qf8, White wins) 67.Qg6, White wins. C6b) 63...Qe8 64.Qf5 Qd8+ 65.Kg6, and now: C6b1) 65...d3 66.Qc5+ Kb3 (66...Kb2 67.Qb4+, White wins) 67.Qf8 Qb6+ 68.Qf6 Qg1+ 69.Qg5, White wins. C6b2) 65...Qd6+ 66.Kh5 Qh2+ 67.Kg5 Qg3+ 68.Kh6, White wins. Finally, we should not forget: D) 59…Qe1, when after 60.Qxe1+, White wins as Black's Queen has left the game. After 59.Qg1+, I am unable to find any defense for Black.
My final post to MSN Web-site Dear Mr. Kasparov: On behalf of myself and my friends at SmartChess Online, I would like to congratulate you on your victory in the "Kasparov vs. the World" match. While I should not presume to represent all of the other members of the World Team throughout the world, I have witnessed first-hand their camaraderie and good-sportsmanship during the event. Having worked with my teammates for nearly four months, I believe and hope they would not take exception for me to "shake your hand" on their behalf. I have great passion for the promotion and the integrity of the sport of chess. The chance to match wits with you in some small way was an opportunity of a lifetime for me. During the summer months, I incorporated this game into my own training regimen and it was of great benefit to me personally. On a continuous basis, you move-by-move posed our World Team the greatest challenges and the most difficult and intricate puzzles to solve - of course, we could not expect or wish for anything less. As a result you helped raise chess, as an art form, to a higher level in thousands of enthusiast's eyes. I thank you for your continued efforts to promote our sport in new and exciting ways, and you can be assured that I and my friends at SmartChess Online support your endeavors to help bring chess into the twenty-first century. I look forward to reading and studying your definitive analysis and commentary on this historic game. Sincerely,
Irina Krush Chessplayer PAHTZ MOVE 59 COMMENTARY Kc2 to Kasparov's Qg1+ There are three moves we can play. From these 59....Kc2 looks best. FELECAN MOVE 59 COMMENTARY Kb2 to Kasparov's Qg1+ My recommendation for The World is 59...Kb2; we have to avoid the diagonal a2-g8 as White's pawn transforms on g8, and the a1 square proves to be the safest square for the king. BACROT MOVE 59 COMMENTARY
Kb2 to Kasparov's Qg1+ This is the best possible position for The World's king. DANNY KING MOVE 59 COMMENTARY In response to 58...Qe4, Garry Kasparov has bounced down to the back rank giving check. The reason? He wants to manoeuvre his queen to the f2 square without losing any time. On this turn, Black's king must get out of check, then the queen moves to f2, again without loss of time as it gives check. On the f-file the queen will shield the king when Garry moves it out from in front of the pawn. If The World is unable to give checks for a move, then Garry's pawn will advance again leaving it just one square from becoming a new queen. Critical. On several occasions in this game the position has demanded a precise reaction, and this was another of them. Up till now things have worked out well. Unfortunately, I fear The World did not play the most accurate move on the last turn, and this time has stepped over the point of no return. I guess that is democracy. If this position is now a forced win for the World Champion, I would like to see it proved beyond any doubt, and that will take a few moves yet. In the meantime, let's explore every possible avenue looking for that last chance to hold the draw. Danny
Irina Krush:
I WAS GLAD TO BE A PART OF IT Irina Krush - official expert of the "Kasparov vs. the World" project. She managed to coordinate efforts of many strong GMs in order to make the game for the World Champion as hard as possible. World Team appreciated the activity of Ms.Krush and recognized her as their unofficial Captain. See also her official homepage Q.: How did you get involved in the project? Earlier this year, the public relations company working for Microsoft approached my friends at smartchess.com and asked if I would like to participate in the planned "Kasparov vs. the World" match. Apparently the World Champion had suggested that some junior players be involved in the event as World Team coaches. I was really excited to be invited! Q.: Your famous extra-long lines were very unusual if compared with other experts: how come did you decide to act in this way? After 10...Qe6 the game became really complicated and there were so many variations. It was necessary to look at many lines. I wouldn't feel happy about recommending a move without serious analysis behind it. The point is that if you have time and resources, why not use them? Of course you could glance at the position, suggest a move that looks reasonable, but after a few strong moves from Kasparov, you will realize that things are not so great (or reasonable!). Since I thought the position was interesting, I didn't want to spoil it, I didn't want us to lose in 30 moves. Why waste such a chance to play against Garry!? I was motivated to make a real game out of it, not just publicity event. And when I started to analyze, it seemed infinite, I couldn't do it all myself. So I had the idea to create the FAQ on smartchess.com that was run by Paul Hodges. This way there would be some organization, some structure! If I had some problems with the position "the world" could help to solve them! The MSN BBS was also a way for me to communicate with my teammates. GM Chess School became involved in game, so that was an additional source of
ideas (Khalifman's 18...f5, I love this move!). Otherwise in my opinion the game would've been totally random and there would not be that feeling of team spirit that happened when so many people worked together to fight Garry. Q.: Did you try to coordinate your work with other experts & Danny King? As an MSN analyst, I was informed that communicating ideas directly to the other coaches was not in the spirit of the competition, as MSN wanted independent recommendations. However, on one occasion I e-mailed one of my fellow coaches (Elisabeth) about my intention to propose the novelty 10…Qe6, which won the vote thanks in part to her support. Q.: How many hours per day did you spend for this job? How did you perceive it? On some days maybe just an hour or two. On some days, maybe 5-7 hours, and I had a lot of help from my friends, the staff at smartchess.com (Ron Henley, Paul Hodges, David Koval), which made my task more organized and efficient. Of course, we were matched against a champion who inspires determination in his opponents (everyone wants to try and beat Garry!) - I knew he would always play the best and most difficult moves, and I wanted our team to be able to give him our best effort. I thought Garry would want this, because he always takes on and accepts great challenges. Also, it wasn't really such a job, it was playing chess, and I enjoyed it. Q.: World team: do you like how they treat you? It was nice to be treated like the unofficial captain of the team (it's good to be the Boss!). Of course, the death threat at the beginning of the event was not so pleasant, but in general all my teammates were enthusiastic (both the amateurs and a few professionals!) and supportive. That made me very happy, that many people were involved in chess for the first time in their life, or in many years. I think this game was great because it gave the average person contact with chess, promoted chess, and it's good that we have a World Champion who is interested in doing this. I was glad to be a part of it. Q.: The voting rules: should they be modified for further events of the kind? Yes, my move should always win the vote! But seriously, although I think the entire concept of this match was very clever, a few technical problems need to be addressed, for example "vote-stuffing" - I am not a computer programmer, I don't know how to do this, but somehow it should be prevented, or at least made more difficult.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx MOVE 60 Voting Results Kb2-c1 30.72% Resign 23.28% Kb2-c3 21.87% Qe4-c2 13.24% Kb2-a1 3.8% KRUSH MOVE 60 COMMENTARY No analysis or recommendation received from Irina. PAHTZ MOVE 60 COMMENTARY Kc1 to Kasparov's Qf2+ I suggest Kc1. Many people say we have a losing position, but Garry has to show us that it is. FELECAN MOVE 60 COMMENTARY Ka1 to Kasparov's Qf2+ My recommendation for The World is 60...Ka1 which is ,unfortunately not enough to bring a draw long gone; too bad, probably next time! BACROT MOVE 60 COMMENTARY (No recommendation for this move.) DANNY KING MOVE 60 COMMENTARY
Garry Kasparov has continued as expected by checking with his queen on f2. Where ever Black's king moves to, White's reply on the next turn will be 61 Kf6. Then Black's queen is unable to give any checks, thanks to the perfect placing of White's queen, so the g-pawn will advance one square further. With the World Champion's pawn on the 7th rank one square from queening, the situation is desperate. In place of the option to offer a draw, an option for The World Team to resign is being introduced - that's how desperate. When the game does conclude, Garry Kasparov has promised to come online to answer questions, then we can all find out what was really going on in this extraordinary game. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx MOVE 61 Voting Results d5-d4 58.14% Resign 34.1% Qe4-e8 2.58% Qe4-c2 1.05% Qe4-g6 0.9% KRUSH MOVE 61 COMMENTARY No analysis or recommendation received from Irina. PAHTZ MOVE 61 COMMENTARY d4 to Kasparov's Kf6 I suggest d4 with the idea of giving repeated checks to the World Champion, while moving The World's pawn forward. FELECAN MOVE 61 COMMENTARY Resign to Kasparov's Kf6 I think it is only a matter of time until Kasparov will get his second queen on the board and win the game; for The World,the best way to continue this interesting game is to resign with a decent position on the board and not to spoil the beautiful (Microsoftian!) image created by the rest of the game. We have to accept our defeat thinking of how much popularity chess has gained in only a few months, thanks to this thrilling game, made possible by Microsoft and the World Champion. BACROT MOVE 61 COMMENTARY d4 to Kasparov's Kf6 The best move seems to be 61...d4, but after 62. g7... Qc6+ 63.Kg5 ...Qd5+ 64.Qf5 ...Qg2+, White has a pleasant choice between 65.Kh6 and 65.Kf6... Qc6+ 66.Qe6... Qf3+ 67.Ke7 ...Qb7+ 68.Qd7... Qe4+ 69.Kd8, winning the game. DANNY KING MOVE 61 COMMENTARY Garry Kasparov's king steps to the side to make way for the g-pawn to
advance. Thanks to the careful positioning of White's queen, Black is unable to give any checks (as well as the f-file, the d4 and h4 squares have craftily been covered). This is the problem. Without a check, The World will be unable to prevent White's pawn from advancing again, so that on the next turn it will be just one square from becoming a new queen. How can Black meet this? With difficulty; ultimately, resistance is futile. To put up the best fight the queen needs to hassle White's king with checks. Black could give the queen more room by playing 61...d4, so as to check on c6. Then Garry will push his pawn, ready to find a precise path with his king and queen through the maze of checks. Unfortunately, Black's d-pawn is just too far away from the queening square to provide sufficient counterplay. Even though the position is lost, the path to victory is delicate. And judging by the vote for the last move, there are still many players who would like to see the World Champion demonstrate his winning technique. Danny xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx MOVE 62 Voting Results Resign 51.01% Qe4-c6 32.08% d4-d3 5.19% Qe4-d5 3.17% Qe4-g4 1.95% KRUSH MOVE 62 COMMENTARY PAHTZ MOVE 62 COMMENTARY FELECAN MOVE 62 COMMENTARY BACROT MOVE 62 COMMENTARY DANNY KING MOVE 62 COMMENTARY End of Game FAQ This experimental event was created by combining the ancient game of chess with the powers of the Internet. Like any experiment, especially one conducted on the Internet with millions of people involved, some technical issues or unpredictability was inevitable. There have been many questions asked of us about how the event was conducted and particularly, about some of the final moves of the game. We have provided answers to the most frequently asked questions below. Move 58 Why wasn’t Irina’s move posted on move 58? On that day, all analysts except Irina sent The Gaming Zone their recommendations by the 6 a.m. PST deadline. We posted recommendations and began World Team voting as normal at 12 noon Pacific. Irina sent an e-mail of her recommendation at approximately 12:20 PT but it was not received by Gaming Zone e-mail until after 4:00 PST, over 10 hours late. After 4:00 p.m. we generally do not have resources to update the site unless an emergency occurs.
Are you blaming Irina for this situation? Not at all. This was an unfortunate situation where a unique combination of circumstances, including Internet latency, created an inability to post one analyst’s recommendation. As many World Team players may have noticed, there were numerous instances of other analysts failing to have their moves posted due to late receipt of their recommendation. Why was a Move 58 revote, with all recommendations posted, not taken? The Gaming Zone has remained completely objective throughout this event. Although we rooted for the WT to succeed, our goal was to create fair competition for both sides. To order a revote when there were no data abnormalities or because the winning vote may have been a losing vote would be completely contradictory to this objectivity. In order to maintain the flow of this complex event, Microsoft had to establish clear time deadlines and rules for everyone involved. Irina Krush is one part of this very intricate event. To order a revote because one of the analysts was late with his/her recommendation would be completely contradictory to these guidelines. Why did Irina not receive Garry Kasparov’s Move 58 information on time? We sent out e-mails to the coaches at 3:00 pm Wed., Oct 13, two hours ahead of the regular schedule. We have confirmed that the other three coaches received their moves on time. (All coaches have the phone numbers of Gaming Zone staff in case irregularities occur.) Move 59 On Move 59, the Gaming Zone found indication of quite significant ballot stuffing (improper ratio of votes to unique PCs) for the sacrificial move QE1. Due to rampant “ballot stuffing” which is the equivalent of “cheating” by World Team members, we disqualified this move from voting and recomputed the votes accordingly. Move 60 In response to the voices of many World Team members who expressed a desire to resign after Move 59, we immediately offered “Resign” as a voting option on the next move. On move 60 there was no significant “ballot stuffing” and the resign option received 28% of the vote. Ballot Stuffing In designing the game, The Gaming Zone created a voting system that would allow the most players worldwide to vote with the greatest ease, within the confines of a 24 hour voting cycle. We decided that for the game to succeed we would need to rely on the honor of the World Team members to play the game within the rules. That worked quite well, with the sole exception of Move 59. If we had created a more secure voting system, in an effort to reliably prevent possible vote fraud, participation in the game would have been much more limited. A more secure voting system would have required several email messages to be sent between The Gaming Zone and World Team members to validate particular votes. Many voters would not have been available at their computers throughout the 24 hour voting cycle to respond to multiple email messages from MS. We decided to create an “open” game with a more accessible voting system, which although not fool-proof, was successful for all but one of the 62 moves of “Kasparov v The World.” How do you know whether there is “ballot stuffing” going on? Throughout the game, we examined voting patterns and IP addresses whenever there was a close vote to be sure that no irregularities had occurred. As we have stated before, until Move 59, there was never any significant ballot stuffing, and no winning move had ever achieved first place as a result of vote fraud. Throughout the game there was evidence of a neglible level of “vote-stuffing,” albeit on a very minor scale. Conclusion We believe this game was helpful in positionning chess well for the 21st century. We are thrilled to have been the hosts for this event and we at The Gaming Zone worked diligently to create the best environment possible for this experiment.
Kasparov's End Game Analysis Garry Kasparov has provided an analysis of the endgame, and our event commentator, Danny King, has reviewed the analysis and added a few notes of his own. At the end of 124 days play, The World has done the decent thing and conceded the game. Coinciding with this decision, today Garry Kasparov announced a forced mate in 25 moves (!) after 62.....Qc6+ 63. Kg5. An emphatic way
to conclude the game. The main line runs: 63.....Qd5+ 64.Qf5 Qg2+ (64...Qd8 65.Kh6 is mate in 22) 65.Qg4 Qd5+ 66.Kh4! Qg8 (instead if 66...Qh1+ 67.Kg3 Qe1+ 68.Kf4 Qd2+ 69.Kf5 Qc2+ 70.Kg5 Qc5+ 71.Kh4 d3 72.g8(Q) Qf2+ 73.Qg3 Qf6+ 74.Kg4 Qd4+ 75.Kh3 Kb2 76.Qg2+ Kc1 77.Qh1+ Kd2 78.Qa2+ Ke3 79.Qe1+ Kf4 80.Qf7+ Kg5 81.Qd2+ Qe3+82.Qxe3 mate) 67.Qf4+ Kc2 68.Qf8 Qh7+ 69.Kg5 Qh2 70.g8(Q) Qg3+ 71.Kf5 Qf3+ 72.Ke6 Qb3+ 73.Kd6 Qb4+ 74.Ke5 Qe1+ 75.Kxd4 now it's mate in 12. For example: 75....Qa1+ 76.Ke4 Qa4+ 77.Ke3 Qa7+ 78.Kf3 Qb7+ 79.Kg3 Qc7+ 80.Qf4 Qxf4+ 81.Kxf4 Kd3 82.Qb3+ Kd4 83.Qb5 Kc3 84.Ke3 Kc2 85.Qb4 Kc1 86.Kd3 Kd1 87.Qd2 mate If Black deviates from this line, then checkmate arrives even sooner. A very "computery" variation! I would like to thank everyone involved in this event over the last four months for making it such a success, the four analysts, the World Team, all those at Microsoft who worked so hard behind the scenes, and the World Champion himself, Garry Kasparov, whose commitment to the game was total. -- Danny King Kasparov versus The World Game Overview By Danny King It was a remarkable struggle. Let's go from the beginning. By playing 3 Bb5+ against The World's Sicilian, Garry Kasparov was hoping for a small but persistent advantage. That strategy was blown out of the window by the outrageous and courageous 10....Qe6. Black's queen embarked on a daring guerilla raid, swiping a couple of crucial pawns, but giving up a rook in the corner. From that moment, Garry later admitted, "I was fighting for the draw." Although there was a dynamic balance in forces, Black's pieces were far more active than White's, in particular that fantastic bishop slicing across the entire board. To make things worse for The World Champion, the wall of pawns in front of Black's king made it impossible for him to start a meaningful attack. The pawn move 18.....f5 threw more fuel on the fire. It was by far the most aggressive of a complex set of options. Nevertheless, Garry Kasparov knuckled down to his task, found counterplay with his queen, and by move 28 could have forced a repetition of the position and a draw (28 Qb3). But by this stage his competitive hackles had been raised. He wanted to fight, and we can all be grateful that he did. The World Champion went in for a double-edged endgame where both sides had passed pawns screaming down to the queening square. My feeling at the time was that the tide had turned in Garry's favour, but Black was still doing fine with his active pieces. 34....Bh8 followed by 35....Nd4 was good enough to draw, for instance. Then came 35 Kh1. From nowhere. The World had not anticipated this devious king move, avoiding a potential knight check and so winning a move to force the pawns home. For a few days Black's position rocked. Inaccuracies were made (according to GK 35.....Ne5 36 Bxe5 dxe5! should be a draw) and Garry was convinced he was going to win -- as he announced to a press conference in London at the end of August. He was wrong. He had overlooked a resource in one crucial variation. Even so, The World's position was on the edge -- but the recovery was brilliant. Instead of pushing one of the passed
pawns immediately, by deft play the knight was brought round to the kingside to block White's passed pawns. There then followed a nervous couple of weeks while a pawn race took place to get to the queening square first. It was clear it was going to be a dead heat, but The World had to choose between transposing into several different queen and pawn endings: which one offered the best drawing chances? After much discussion, the correct ending was found. Garry had just queen and pawn against The World's queen and two pawns -- but those two pawns were actually a hindrance, preventing Black's queen from delivering a barrage of checks. The key to the ending was to give away those pawns in order to get a perpetual check. A draw was possible (51......Ka1 was the clearest) but just when it seemed within reach it gradually slipped away from The World's hand. Perhaps a little complacency set in. The World still had to play with great accuracy to split the point as Garry Kasparov's pawn was so far advanced. There were certainly mixed messages coming from the different analysts (I think I might have unwittingly added to the confusion at one point) and step by step The World slipped past the point of no return. By the time Garry had centralised his queen with 57 Qd4+ the game was already over. When The World resigned, Garry was just a couple of moves away from forcing his pawn home to get another queen, with a simple win. Just to put the icing on the cake, Garry announced "forced mate in 25 moves," having fed the position to one of the world's strongest chess computers "Deep Junior." It couldn't have been closer. Next time, next time.... --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The Kasparov vs. the World chess tournament started June 21st and finally finished on 23rd October 1999 with a victory for Kasparov. The event took place on the MSN network. The event finished controversially when accusations that some players had had multiple votes choosing moves that caused a critical position for the World to become definitely lost. (51. ...Ka1 was a clear draw but there were claims that one player voted for an alternative multiple times although MSN specifically deny this in a FAQ on their site) by move 57. Qd4+ The World was lost and subsequent controversies over the posting of suggestions had no real effect on the result of the game. See TWIC 258 news section for more of this story. Over 3 million visitors from over 75 countries took part in the event when after 124 days play the World voted to resign. The game was a fascinating one, much, much better than anyone had any right to expect, at least until the final stages. In the end Kasparov had analysis to the final position which showed a forced win for him (mate in 25!). Kasparov gave a press conference in London on September 2nd 1999
Kasparov vs the World virtually over The Garry Kasparov vs. the World chess tournament on the Zone part of the Microsoft Network. The event allowed ordinary players to consult in choosing which move is played against Kasparov. Players could vote for one of the suggested moves or for their own recommended move. The move with the most votes were chosen as the world team's move. There was a team of coaches Etienne Bacrot, 16, Florin Felecan, 19, Irina Krush, 15, and Elisabeth Pähtz, 14 who have aided the choice of moves and GM Danny King acted as moderator during the match. The experiment of this mass participation match has been a success producing a game of real complexity and interest. Kasparov and his team of helpers has put a lot of effort into the game and this has been matched by the coaches or at least one, Irina Krush. Krush has produced analysis of much greater depth than any of the other coaches and She was aided by several grandmasters, the St Petersburg Grandmaster Chess School, and most of all by the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov-team/ which is part of the official site. Krush became the unofficial team leader, and of the first 57 moves, her recommendation was played 53 times by "The World" (the exceptions were moves 3, 6, 51 and 52). Early in the game thanks to a fine novelty The World threatened to gain an advantage, but in recent weeks it has been clear that only Kasparov could win and The World was fighting for a draw. With so much effort being put in, its not really surprising that there is some bitterness and recrimination when the suggestions of the majority of the regular participants seem not to have been followed and as a result the game is now (according to everyone involved) a win for Kasparov. There will always be those who want to sabotage such events and
this is what is claimed happened on moves 51, 53 and to a lesser extent on move 58. It seems that Jose Unodos a BBS member claimed (http://www.maths.uq.edu.au/~rwb/kas/76220.txt) that he rigged the vote for move 51... b7-b5 (the recommendation of Elisabeth Paehtz) instead of Kb1-a1 that Krush and most others thought the best move. A claim tested by Martin Sims, who created multiple Zone IDs to vote about 250 times on move 53 for a move that no-one else would play - 53... Qd1-e2, giving the Black Queen away for nothing with check, which would never be played by a sane player. This move made it into the top five votes. Tempers were getting frayed at this time against the MSN's claims that vote rigging wasn't possible. When a definitely fatal mistake was made on move 58 of 58. ...Qe4 instead of 58. ...Qf5 (although it should be pointed out that it is reported that Kasparov has privately demonstrated a win against this try too) after Krush's suggestion was not posted due to an unavoidable delay on her part (although it should have been posted just a little later but wasn't) anger boiled over on the BBS (incidently two of the coaches suggested the losing 58. Qe4 showing the level of committment from them was not very high). As a protest many of the the BBS members agreed to post the absolutely losing and stupid 59... Qe1. As one said "In protest, many on the BBS voted ...Qe1, as a way of indicating that the game had gone very wrong. We do not want this former "greatest game in the history of chess" to go down in the books as another simple 1-0 for Kasparov. After move 51, maybe earlier, Kasparov was no longer playing the same opponent as before. " Microsoft deleted all the votes for 59.... Qe1 and the game has continued. Effectively I believe the regular players were saying we resign. I think its a bit sad the game has had to end this way. I do wonder what people like "Jose Unodos" get out of it. I can certainly sympathise with Microsoft in that they have organised a great event and are always the target of such juvenile attacks on their systems. It is a shame that if indeed move 51 was effectively played by the intervention of one player. Nevertheless many players have had an introduction to analysis and the complexity of chess that they would never have had any other way. So whatever the final controversy the event has been quite a success.
The following is by Richard Bean, Queensland, Australia. Starting June 19, 1999, an experiment in playing chess over the Internet was held at the Microsoft Network's Gaming Zone. The world's highest rated player, de jure world champion Gary Kasparov, was to play a game versus "The World" at a rate of one move every 24 hours. After Kasparov decided on his move, he would send it to four expert teenage analysts who would suggest moves for "The World" with analysis. Internet users were to vote for whichever move they preferred, with the move receiving the highest number of votes being played. Voting was by use of Microsoft Zone software or, later, simply authenticated by entering a valid email address. In the course of the game, it became obvious that the effort being put in by one analyst, US Women's Champion Irina Krush, far exceeded that being put in by the other 3 analysts (French Grandmaster Etienne Bacrot, US International Master Florin Felecan, and the German Elisabeth Paehtz). The quality of her work and the number of lines analyzed by her dwarfed anything the other analysts provided. She was aided by several grandmasters, the St Petersburg Grandmaster Chess School, and most of all by the World Team Strategy Bulletin Board. She became the unofficial team leader, and of the first 57 moves, her recommendation was played 53 times by "The World" (the exceptions were moves 3, 6, 51 and 52). At move 51, the play had been virtually forced since move 40, and the World Team Strategy BBS had determined that the best move was 51... Kb1-a1; this move was recommended by Irina and endorsed by the GM Chess School. However, 51... b7-b5, the recommendation of Elisabeth Paehtz, was played. A BBS member, Jose Unodos, claimed to have "stuffed the vote" simply by entering multiple different email addresses and voting repeatedly for the same move. To test whether this worked, another BBS member, Martin Sims, stuffed the vote about 250 times on move 53 for a move that no-one else would play - 53... Qd1-e2, giving the Black Queen away for nothing with check, which would never be played by a sane player. This move made it into the top five votes (search for d1-e2), proving that votestuffing was possible by another method - creating multiple Zone IDs while still using the same IP address. Previous Microsoft denials that vote-stuffing was possible became a change in policy - non-Windows users could not vote, as at the beginning of the game. On move 58, due to a problem with delayed e-mail, Irina Krush did not receive Kasparov's move until after 1am EST, when she had gone to bed. Due to school tests the next day she could not post her analysis until later. Microsoft was warned that her move recommendation would be delayed. It had been determined beyond doubt on the Strategy BBS that 58...Qf3-e4 lost and 58...Qf3-f5 was forced to retain drawing chances. (The endgame was too complicated to say for certain what the correct result should be - 6-piece endgame tablebases would determine it for certain but would require vast amounts of computer time & memory to generate.) Paehtz & Bacrot, who did not follow the BBS, recommended Qf3-e4, Felecan recommended Qf3-f5, and Krush's move recommendation was never posted. (Krush's recommendations were almost unanimously followed up to this point, even in the case of the other 3 analysts recommending one move and Krush recommending another. Hence, had her analysis been posted, Qf3-f5 would have been played, as it would have been a 2-2 split with Irina explicitly stating that Qf3-e4 was a losing move.) E-mail posted by Smartchess, Irina's corporate sponsor, demonstrated that her recommendation had been sent at 12:20pm PST. The submission was repeated at 5:10pm PST. The voting page at the Zone claimed throughout the voting period that "Irina's move recommendation will appear here shortly." Irina continued to post to the Microsoft
BBS, demonstrating that any network problem was not at Smartchess's end. After voting began, Microsoft corrected a mis-spelling of Kasparov's name on the Zone webpage without updating Irina's analysis. On previous moves, a similar message had appeared for other analysts' delayed recommendations, with the analysis being posted later. On move 58, with Irina's analysis not posted, the moderator, Grandmaster Daniel King, calling 58...Qf3-e4 a "sensible option", and the analysts 2-1 in favour of the losing move Qf3-e4, it won the vote and was played. Outrage ensued on the BBS, and in the live chat with Danny King, Microsoft representatives attempted to smooth over the furore. Acknowledging that Krush's move recommendation was sent at 12:20pm PST, Microsoft spokesman Eddie Ranchigoda, Marketing Manager for the MSN Gaming Zone, stated that it was "not received by MS e-mail till after 4:00 PT [after which] we generally do not have resources to update the site unless an emergency occurs." (Apparently, even though voting was a 24-hour international affair, no-one at Microsoft realised the importance of Irina's contribution or worked after 4pm.) Another spokesman, "Ben", implicity acknowledged that vote-stuffing was possible, stating that Microsoft "generally [relied] on the honor of the World Team members to keep the game on track" (without explaining how Kasparov could have been prevented from stuffing the vote with a second-best move himself). As a protest against what was seen as Microsoft incompetence and/or malevolence, and in an attempt to leave a lasting memorial of move 58 events, BBS members rallied together to vote for 59... Qe1, another move which gave the queen away for free with check. This won the vote with 66.27% of the votes. Despite this being a legal move with many members having voted for it exactly once, Microsoft "disqualified" the move by deleting all votes for it, due to alleged vote-stuffing, without explaining how it had been detected at that point and not before. The final tally of the modified vote-count added to 100.07%. The event showed that World Team discussion on the BBS, led by Irina Krush, and assisted by computers could provide a series of moves equal in quality to Kasparov's. However, due to the fact that an e-mail was delayed on Microsoft servers, and despite an advance warning that an analyst's move recommendation would be delayed, a losing move was played at move 58 due to Microsoft's failure to post Krush's analysis. On the next move, BBS users were deprived of their opportunity to protest the handling of move 58 due to the disqualification of votes for a perfectly legal move. International Master Ken Regan, an associate professor of Computer Science at Buffalo, among others, called for a Microsoft explanation of this failure in electronic democracy, which had not been delivered as of this writing. A newbot shows no major newspapers have yet covered the story; however, other accounts can be found at a Norwegian net newspaper and a German chess newsletter. (Note: The MSNBC BBS articles have a 48-hour expiry time and hence copies have been provided rather than the original links. The expiry time, as well as the 55-character column width making URLs difficult to include in text, was introduced as the game dragged on longer than expected.)
chat comments: There was definitely cheating going on. I saw the world kicking Kasparov under the table. Only Windows users can vote for moves? Isn't this giving an unfair advantage to Kasparov? ;-) Laugh it up, while you can. But someday it's going to be a game of Solitaire -- and then the Windows users will kick everyone else's asses. Hmmm, I'd be very careful of accusing anyone of cheating. I think that this is a simple cock-up, probably bought about by a simple "Not My Problem" attitude somewhere along the chain... Would this have been posted had been any other company than Microsoft running the show? I wonder... ----- I'm an INFP, what are you? This is definitely unfair on the part of Microsoft. At one point World held a won position (around move 50, I guess) but after that the moves were so lousy that anybody could have beaten them. M$ turns every chance into an opportunity to sell windows. Lousy idea leaving a very sour taste in the mouth. This from the company that makes NT? It looks like they didn't even require a unique IP address! Cheatproof, eh? Yet another attempt to enhance the Microsoft reputation gone horribly, horribly awry when the true quaility of their products and thought processes comes through. I wonder if there's a grandmaster out there who would agree to a chess tourney set up by a open-source community? I'm no chess freak, but something similar in concept to the Microsoft idea, but with a superior backend (think IP uniquing,
online expert recommendations, online what-if scenarios). Does anyone have the bandwidth and the know-how to succeed where Microsoft has failed? -- I'm omnipotent, I just don't care. It looked like a pretty interesting endgame when I last looked. It's a shame that in order to get MSN to admit to problems, an interesting experiment had to be ruined by forcing selection of second-best and irrational moves Neither Kasparov nor the World can claim true victory. And MSN isn't a winner either. Rematch? I'm sure the world wants it. I do not want to sound conspiratorial (if thats possible), or off-topic, but didn't Bill Gates claim in his BBC interview that MS, and more specifically himself could not change or alter content. He claimed that MS just provides the tools, it does not tell people how/when to use them. But it seems to me MS dictated exactly as they saw fit, and even excluded certain types of users (non-Windows) from participating in this World chess match, either through neglect or by choice. In a world that becomes more and more dominated by a single company (MSN, Windows, Web-TV, hotmail, etc.) I have become concerned how the content and delivery of information are controlled in the future. I'd like to see slashdot set up a gaming interface, perhaps Kasparov Vs. Slashdot (and we won't stuff votes!). Now, if we can't get Kasparov, let's start a Slashdot Vs. Slashdot game. One white team, one black team. Each turn wll be majority vote. Since slashdot accounts are limited to email addresses, vote stuffing would significantly be reduced. Power advertised, is power loss. Why do these things always assume that people only have 1 e-mail address? Funmail is an excellent mail service that allows you to have upto 20 e-mail addresses at any one time, and change them as often as you like (with 3,500 possible names after the @, and infinite possibilities before the @)! How can you combat that?! As for vote stuffing, reminds me of the time that Steps didn't win at some Brit music award thingy, of course they were miffed, the night before they had been ahead in the poll. But suddenly, a large number of votes came in for the hithertounrenowned Belle and Sebastian (Edinburgh popgroup). Apparently 12% of the votes had been from Cambridge and Edinburgh Universities in the last day. This is an example where all the e-mails were genuine, all the people voting were different, yet the poll was rigged. (Spam works). In another example, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year (a while back) noticed a huge number of votes coming in for a very unlikely candidate, Justin Fashanu, and disqualified him from the competition. But this was only because he stuck out like a sore thumb. If it had been a more likely candidate, chances are they might have got through this net. Got to come up with some other way of validating e-mail polls. Phone polls used to work quite well because people only have a few phone numbers and each call would run up a nice little bill, enough discouragement, and a lot of effort just for little impact. But here, with dynamic IP addresses, millions of potential e-mail addresses per person, and at little cost to the end user, how do you guard against it?! maybe i missed something.. but how would requiring a windows computer make ballot-stuffing any more difficult than not requiring one? were you required to be using some propeitary MSN voting program? even then, couldn't you just uninstall and reinstall the voting program? or have a script do it for you? or did they just assume those wild, open-source fanatic linux users and the tree-hugging hippie mac users would be the only ones unethical enough to ballot-stuff? would it really have been that difficult for microsoft to take the segfault.org strategy and just log IPs? sure, you could still ballot-stuff if you had a lot of shells or were in a computer lab or had a dynamic IP, but at least you'd be limited by the number of shells or computers or IPs available. as opposed to any other method, whereby ballot-stuffing would be nearly impossible to hinder.. please explain. Kasparov "Gazza" alias "Animal" has long been identified as the top GM in the post 80's era. HE has in the past also been involved in several controversial wins/draws... the most famous when he cheated against women Super GM Judit Polgar a couple of years ago and forced a draw. His skills in chess politicking as is his natural brilliance in the game have allowed him to remain at the helm for so long.This is clearly evident by his avoiding of world championship matches against the 2nd & 3rd best players in the world for the past couple of years.Even this year he postponed his match against the Speed king Vishy Anand. I would not see this opportunity of squirming a win with the help of MS
support beneath him. In any given group of humans, there will be a few smart people, a lot of average people and some incredibly stupid people. Now, smartness is of course relative. And here we are talking about chess. SO, there would actually be VERY FEW smart people, a LOT of low-end-average people and a LOT of incredibly stupid chess players. BUT ... we're still not taking into account that only WINDOWS users could vote. The average Windows user is dumber tha, say, average UNIX use. So we're talking about MOSTLY incredibly stupid people! When you get all these people together and ask them to vote on a chess move, what do you get? An incredibly stupid move, or an average move .. obviously. In the name of fairness, Kasparov should offer a draw. Obviously, what is transpiring is an insult to the noble game to which he has devoted his life. This would be a great opportunity for a Linux-related company (VALinux, RedHat, etc.) to approach Kasparov and try to persuade him to give this a second chance, with a more thought-out voting system, and an open adjudication process. It would be a heck of a PR coup for Linux, and a case study in debunking Microsoft's "Linux Myths". People seem to be forgetting that Kasparov vs. The World is really just a PR gambit. It promotes the MS gaming site "The Zone" (in MS's interests) and it promotes the game of chess (in GK's interests). It really wasn't set up as some sort of great test of "electronic democracy" -- ensuring the impossibility of cheating wasn't tops in the organizers minds. That notion is a construct of the tech and cyber heads who are making more of this than it was ever intended to be. People seem to want it both ways. First, this is a great test of "collective thinking" against the world champion, and then second, they get upset because the Krush/Kasparov duel got interrupted for technical reasons and they were forced to think for themselves. And the suggestion that Kasparov might cheat is ludicrous. As a separate aside, on the topic of whether this game "proves" that Krush and several grandmasters and lots of computer time can produce moves at Kasparov's level, I'll quote analyst commentary from move 3 about Kasparov's choice of move:
DANNY KING MOVE 3 COMMENTARY One of the old masters once said: "When I give check I fear no one!", but don't panic, we can get out of this one easily. Garry's own comment to his move is revealing: "It seems that young coaches are trying to force me to play against my favourite Najdorf! Due to forthcoming match with Vishy I have to refrain from public theoretical duel. So please forgive me for selecting unattractive 3 Bf1-b5+." Let me explain: In the latter part of the year, most likely October till mid November, there is a good chance that Garry Kasparov will be defending his World title in a match against the world no.2, Vishy Anand from India. At this moment both players will be beginning their intense preparation for the match, including research on their opening repertoires. It is therefore understandable that Garry wishes to reveal nothing of his future plans and so avoids the move which is generally accepted as the most critical - 3 d4 leading to an open game, rich in fighting possibilities for both sides - and turns to the bishop check, generally leading to a more closed position. The World Champion describes the move as 'unattractive', possibly because it could lead to the early exchange of pieces after, for instance, 3...Bd7, when ideally he would like to maintain as much tension as possible. So, yes, Krush and "The World" can rival Kasparov... as long as he isn't trying his hardest. -XDG
I can recall several points in my life where it was simply clear as could be that some sort of injustice was prevailing beyond hope. While it can be understood that the world is made up of individuals and people make innocent mistakes, one does hope that the freedom of information and the power of hyper-connectivity will ultimately bring about a more just environment for everyone. I do believe it has made significant strides in that direction. In this particular case, it appears that a number of mistakes have been made on the part of the moderators. If nothing else, it is not sufficient to withhold information when claiming that an investigation has been made. You simply cannot claim something in this day and age without providing enough information to back it up beyond a reasonable doubt. There is indeed a reason for conspiracy theory. It is the side effect of misinformation and lack of sincerity. It is an indicator that the public at large has doubts and that someday, there will be no excuses or toleration. Take heed! Revolutions occur daily. I hope that everyone can keep in mind that with increased scrutiny, it becomes more likely that mistakes will be found. Hence the reliability of open source software. There are certain psychophysical limits to how stringently you can apply open source ideals upon the behavior of the humans. People are not exactly robots. There is just too much fuzzy logic. Don't forgo compassion for logic. I have been following the game the whole time. I really for sorry for Irina Krush because she put forth so much effort and is now going to lose. If you go to the zone now you will see that she has posted no analysis. I'm sure this is because she feels she has been cheated. It could also be because no matter what move she recommends "the World" is going to lose. I personally don't like Irina Krush and I don't like the way she plugs her web site in her analysis on MSN. Her comments are usually longer than the others, but they are also harder to read. I think Etienne Barcrot is a much better end game player and I choose to vote for his moves over Irina Krush. This tournament isn't Irina Krush vrs Kasparov, its the World vrs Kasparov. So if Irina misses sending in her analysis, so be it. Its not cheating on Microsoft's part. Etienne missed several analysis while playing in the French Championship and I'm not complaining. Doesn't that sound a lot like the name of a Bond Girl(TM)? (No offense to the lady in question) Also, a quick perusal of the portaits of the analysts will show that Irina definately has the most professional-looking (and attractive) photo. Might I suggest that this may have played a role in her moves being selected almost every time? The picture of Mr. Felecan is just awful. Mr. Bacrot and Ms. Pätz look a bit better in their photo's, but I think that most would agree that Ms. Krush looks a lot more professional and attractive. In a game where experts of approximately equal skill disagree, it seems unlikely that 'The World' would have a clue who's move is really 'better'. I think it is more likely that the analysts charisma played more of a role in deciding who's move was selected than anything else. Also, if you take a peek at msn's main page, you will notice that while there was almost always a link to the match previously, there is none now. I found a link to it after a few minutes of clicking, but the match is definately no longer being played up as much as it was. Sounds like microsoft is trying to sweep it under the table and let this whole thing die a quiet death. If I wanted Kasparov to win, I'd exclude all the top competitors and effectively ban the input of the top opponent. If I were sexist, or elitist, I'd also eliminate the top woman chess player. Of course, MSNBC couldn't possibly be doing any of these things. They're -far- too mature and sensible. Honest! IMHO, this shows how emotional corruption is just as insidious and destructive as any other kind. Banning views contrary to their own is no way to run an open tournament. If that's how they want to play, why aren't they just entering their own moves? It would be more honest of them to do so! As far as ballot-stuffing is concerned, they are =QUITE= capable of preventing that. They have NO excuse, whatsoever. Even using cookies would limit it, though if they wanted to be a bit more thorough, they could be issuing browser-side certificates. A simple check for IP address, cookie and/or certificate, and rate of vote entry would effectively block most trivial forms of ballot stuffing. But, no! MSNBC insists that people play fair, unless they don't like the move, in which case it's cheating, and they'll insert their own preference instead. Sorry, but cheating by admins is just as unacceptable, in MY book, as cheating by anyone else. There can be NO exceptions. As for "but... but... our mail server didn't get the message!" - Quit the whining! First off, I don't believe that, in the least. MSNBC's mail system is perfectly adequate for the job, and mail queues are typically set to 30 minutes, not 3 hours. Secondly, if MSNBC's mail servers AREN'T capable of handling the load, it's their responsibility to upgrade them, and ensure that their systems can support their users, NOT the job of the users to compensate for the failings of MSNBC.
P.S. To whom it may concern - a typo is an emergency, but an entry by the most successful panelist is a mere triviality? You wouldn't be planning on running for Congress, would you? I was following the game on a day by day basis. Things I learned: 1) Given a good leader, the world put up a damn good fight. I'm not sure how many positions were analized but it was really a good group effort. Even deep blue would have been in trouble. 2) Style is everything. There where several points in the game where the world could play offensively or defensely. For the most part, the world played offensively almost with reckless abandon. 3) MS sucks. They really tryed their hardest to put the world at an disadvantage. Only one of the anylists was allowed to follow the discussion board, and they where not allowed to talk to each other. 4) Trolls suck. The discussion board was full of garbage posts and flamebait - it was a wonder that anything got done. On top of that, any Joe that came along could vote what he liked without even discussing the alternatives. 5) I want a replay. PR stunt or not, most of us in the know learned a ton of stuff from GK. My rateing probally has tripled since the start of the game. The slow pace was nice, kind of like a school class. I'd like to see more games played (or at least followed) this way. The answer to the question is: 37 Since the Kasparov v. World game has several fundamental flaws (Windows only voting, insecure balloting, champion directed moves, arbitrary ballot disqualification, etc), this game should be considered moot. I doubt Kasparov will be lured into another one of these games. Instead, it would be a much more interesting proposition to have a World v. World match to investigate the Many_Minds_Cooperating = Greater_Intelligence proposition. Suggestions for a World v. World match: - Give each participant a unique registered voter ID - Set up a move market exchange instead of pure voting for moves, ala the Foresight Idea Exchange - Do not allow mixing between sides. Market exchange is split into two seperate exchanges. - Restrict players to only one side. No spying. (Q: how to implement to eliminate spying and sandbagging? This is a problem analogous to secure credit-card transactions, only worse.) - Have GrandMasters do a postmortem analysis of the game, but no live analysis of moves. when a democratic society has certain necessary features. The fundamental reason democracy works better than tyranny is that the best solution for any given problem is more likely to come from the minds of 250 million individuals than from one. No matter how smart the tyrant is, the odds are seriously balanced such that someone else in the masses has had an experience or an insight that makes his opinion on the issue at least equally relevant. However, there are also 249,999,999 people in that mass who don't know the best solution. Therefore the one person who knows must be free to speak his mind, and the others must have the minimum level of intelligence necessary to recognize his contribution. This is critical because the main thing masses are good at is shouting loudly; quality of thought, not quantity, is the key to successful democracy. Microsoft's online democracy tried to emulate this successful paradigm, and came very close; apparently IK was a pretty good match for GK when assisted by the other panelists, powerful computers, and the lack of time constraints. Unfortunately, the system was flawed in such a way that the voice of reason was not heard from at a critical time... and the match was lost. Democracy qua Microsoft fails miserably. A better test of democracy qua Democracy as an allegory for our civilization would have been Gary Kasperov vs. the World in a multi-competition consisting of Chess, Backgammon, Parcheesi, and Quake. Possibly with some other skills such as metalworking, water skiing, lion taming or French cooking thrown in. While GK may be the greatest chessmaster in the world, I have a feeling Thresh is a better cook. Scudder I'm just wondering if Mr. Kasparov would agree to a rematch held outside of the bounds of the Microsoft Network, i.e., fully held on the World Team Strategy BBS. From the transcript, it seems like the consensus (such as it was w/o
Microsoft forcing the vote) was giving him a pretty good game. I also feel sorry for Kasparov. It seems like he's being forced to do "stunts" just so he can get a decent game. Playing the world, playing Deep Blue, etc. If there aren't any grandmasters on the verge of genius, I might humbly suggest Ms. Krush be the next opponent for Mr. Kasparov. It almost makes me want to get my board out again... _____ The antidote to bad speech is not censorship, but more speech. Subject: From: Host: Date:
A variation of Schlechter's letter (German) Slaughter trafsrv-ffm2-qfe1.roka.net Sun Oct 17 10:50:38
Skandal beim Internet - Schachkampf Weltmeister Kasparov - Weltteam Sehr geehrte Redaktion, seit 20. Juni dieses Jahres läuft im Internet das "größte Schachspiel des Jahrhunderts" (Zitat: Garry Kasparov). Jeder, der einen Internetanschluß besitzt, kann eine Stimme für den "Zug des Tages" abgeben. Der Link zu dieser Seite ist http://www.zone.com/Kasparov/TodysMove.asp. Auf dieser Seite geben 4 junge Schachanalytiker, von denen jeder deutlich unter 20 Jahre alt ist und deren Rating zumindest 400 Punkte unter dem Garri Kasparovs liegt, ihre Zugempfehlungen ab. Nur eine aus dem Kreis dieser jungen Schachsterne, die 15-jährige amerikanische Jugendschachmeisterin Irina Krush, engagierte sich allerdings mit voller Kraft für dieses Spiel und erwies sich im Strategiezentrum der Weltmannschaft als Hauptstütze (siehe http://bbs.msnbc.com/bbs/kasparov). Im 10. Zug wurde eine völlige Neuerung von Krush eingeführt (10.... De6), und aufgrund dieses Zuges wurde das Spiel zu einer unerhörten Herausforderung für Kasparov. Im 51. Zug verlor das Weltteam eine wichtige Zugabstimmung. 51.... Ka1 hätte nach Ansicht der führenden Analytiker zu einem nahezu gesicherten Remis geführt, aber der meistgewählte Zug war überraschenderweise 51.... b5. Das führte - auch aufgrund einer "Selbstanzeige" eines Spielers auf dem Message-Board - zu Spekulationen über Manipulation. Einige Mitspieler entdeckten, daß mehrfache Usernamen und Paßwörter auf einem Computer kreiert werden konnten, ohne daß das zu irgendwelchen Schwierigkeiten führte. Von nicht aus dem Hause Microsoft stammenden Betriebssystemen aus konnte man gar beliebig viele Züge absenden und erhielt jedesmal die Zusicherung, der Zug sei als Votum für das Weltteam gewertet worden. Vom Zutreffen dieses Sachverhalts habe ich mich selbst überzeugt. Martin Sims, Raimondo D'Ambrosio und andere votierten so mit hohen Vielfachheiten für völlig absurde Züge, die normalerweise keinerlei Chance gehabt hatten, nennenswert in Erwägung gezogen zu werden, und dennoch lagen ihre "Nonsensezüge" am Ende in der Liste der 5 meistgewählten Züge, was ausreichend demonstrierte, daß eine Manipulation der Stimmen möglich war. Im 52. Zug wurde erneut eine zuvor lange analysierte und zum
Unentschieden führenden Variante (52.... Kc1) nicht gewählt. Der unerwartet meistgewählte Zug wurde 52.... Kb2, was zu stärkeren Spekulationen einer Manipulation des Ereignisses führte. Es ließ sich der Eindruck nicht mehr von der Hand weisen, bei der Bestimmung des Zuges des Weltteams gehe es nicht mit rechten Dingen zu. Bis zum 58. Zug blieben die Chancen des Weltteams trotz alledem gewahrt, dieser war jedoch (was ebenfalls lange vorher bereits analysiert war) absolut entscheidend: Der Zug 58.... De4 war längst als eindeutiger Verlustzug analysiert worden, 58.... Df5 hingegen ließ gute Chancen auf ein Remis offen. Wie in der gesamten Partie waren auch hier die sorgfältigen Analysen der Weltmannschaft jedermann in beliebiger Ausführlichkeit einsehbar. Die vier Analytiker des Weltteams erhalten für gewöhnlich den Zug Kasparovs am Abend, bevor er veröffentlicht wird und die Votierzeit für das Weltteam zu laufen beginnt. Irina Krush erhielt durch einen (ihren) Serverabsturz ihre Email nicht und konnte nicht länger als bis 4 Uhr morgens (russischer Zeit) darauf warten, weil für sie am nächsten Tag Tests in der Schule anstanden. Kasparovs Zug wurde um 12:00 (amerikanischer) Ortszeit veröffentlicht, und Irina Krush sandte ihre Empfehlung 20 Minuten später an Microsoft. 18 Stunden bleiben dem Weltteam bis zum Ende des Votums, und während all dieser Zeit versprach MS, Irina Krushs Vorschlag "in Kürze zu veröffentlichen", was aber nicht geschah. Ohne diese wichtige Empfehlung gewann 58.... De4 (aufgrund der argumentationslosen Empfehlung von 2 der drei verbleibenden Analytiker, die den Verlustweg nicht erkannten) mit ca. 44% zu ca. 49%. Das Wissen um den FORCIERTEN VERLUST war auf der BBS-Seite (Strategieseite, link siehe oben) und anderen nahen Schachlinks seit zwei Tagen vorhanden gewesen. Das mehrheitliche Nichtbefolgen der durch Analysen gehärteten Zugempfehlung steht in so krassem Gegensatz zu dem Verhalten des Weltteams im bisherigen Partieverlauf, daß man die Ursache nur in der zurückgehaltenen Empfehlung von Irina Krush vermuten kann, sofern man im übrigen eine reguläre Abwicklung unterstellt; immer gab es nämlich zahlreiche Votierende, die mangels eigener analytischer Sicherheit schlicht einem der 4 jugendlichen "Prae-Analytikern" folgten, wobei dem - gerade hier fehlenden Vorschlag Irina Krushs besondere Bedeutung zukam. Microsoft hatte die Mittel, aber offenbar nicht den Willen, diese wichtige Information von Irina Krush zu veröffentlichen. In der Vergangenheit waren z.B. die Züge des Analytikers Etienne Bacrot mehrmals verspätet aufgeschienen, aber seine Empfehlungen waren dennoch nie übergangen worden! Auch wenn Weltmeister Kasparovs Zug einmal zu spät eintraf, wurde nicht etwa Zeitüberschreitung festgestellt (was bei jedem "gewöhnlichen" Sterblichen die Folge gewesen wäre), sondern man ging zur Tagesordnung über. In der Nacht vom 15. auf den 16. Oktober wurde auf der Strategieseite der Konsens erreicht, daß Microsoft die Fairness des Spiels in Frage gestellt hatte und darauf eine effektive Antwort gefunden werden mußte. Irina Krush zog sich mit dem gestrigen Tage vom Spiel zurück; ihre offizielle Begründung war ein anderes Turnier in Spanien.Viele Spieler, darunter ein beträchtlicher Teil der analytischen Stützen der vergangenen Wochen,
entschied sich daraufhin, für den die Dame einstellenden Zug 59..... De1 zu votieren, um einen Protest gegen die Vorgehensweise von Microsoft zu äußern. Auf einer Umfrageseite (http://msmusic.hypermart.net/chess ) erhielt dieser Zug 70% der Stimmen gegenüber 19% für 59.... Kb2 und 5% for 59.... Kc2, wobei für diesen Test 105 Stimmen abgegeben wurden. Das gewollt miserable 59.... De1 war ein absolut legaler Zug, bei dem es um die Aufmerksamkeit gegenüber den Kommentatoren, Schachhistorikern, -analytikern und der Presse ging, die über einen solchen offensichtlichen Verlustzug Interesse an den vergangenen Ereignissen gezeigt hätten.Mit diesem Wissen warteten die Spieler auf den heute gewählte Zug. Das Ergebnis ist unglaublich: Es waren ALLE STIMMEN für 59.....De1 IGNORIERT worden. Dabei darf man sicher sein, daß De1 viele Stimmen erhielt. Die Umfrageseite zeigte eine eindeutige Tendenz, und viele Teilnehmer äußerten eine gleiche Entscheidung auf der Strategieseite. Noch nie zuvor ist es vorgekommen, daß ein so vielfach geplanter Zug nicht einmal in der Resultatsmitteilung auftrat! Hätte ein anderer Zug gewonnen, wäre 59.... De1 wohl nicht aus der Liste der Züge verschwunden. Seine Abwesenheit dagegen deutet darauf hin, daß der Zug in der Tat die meisten Stimmen erhielt. Microsoft tut einfach so, als wäre nichts gewesen. Dieses 50 Züge lang auf allerhöchstem Niveau geführte Spiel ist durch Machenschaften zur Farce geworden. Dem Weltteam wurde sogar eine Aufgabe des Spiels verweigert, weil Microsoft keinen wie auch immer gearteten Protest gegen die offensichtliche Manipulation des Spieles gelten lassen wollte. Da es um große Geldsummen geht, verlor offenbar die Fairness jede Bedeutung. Hochachtungsvoll
Special Feature!! Garry Kasparov's Chat Excerpts!
On June 21, 1999, World Chess Champion Garry Kasparov visited the chat rooms at msnbc.com. The chat was well attended and we found out a lot about Garry and the chess world in general. Kasparov: Hi everybody, joining us on this live chat. I'm very happy to see the interest generated by the event on MSN.COM. Question from Heather ann: What is the driving force behind a mastermind like yourself? Kasparov: It's determination; it's your ability to concentrate at a crucial moment, persistence, and of course talent, which is primary to every success. Question from maxine:
Do you find it hard to keep your concentration for such a long time, and do you view Chess as a "game of war"? Kasparov: I would think Chess is a type of psychological warfare because you have to dominate your opponent, intellect vs. intellect. Concentration is difficult for me to go on for so many years, because any loss for a World Champion is more painful for anyone else. It's boring to be #1 and win all the events for so long, but so far I have been able to keep this level of concentration and have diversified interests in life! Question from Jose Guerreiro (from Portugal): What [do] you think about the Internet and computers; and the Internet in Chess? Kasparov: I believe that Chess has a great future on the Internet, because unlike any other sport, it can be taught and discussed on the net, and played interactively. If it is well-presented and well-built, it will have a secure place in the Millennium. It will bring millions of Chess fans together and create the right atmosphere for anyone with a slight interest to be involved. Question from Andromeda: Who or what is the most challenging opponent you have ever faced? Have you ever come in contact with Bobby Fischer? Kasparov: I never met Bobby Fischer. I was 9 years old when he won his title. He was a role model for me and other young players. Unfortunately, we've never met. The most serious match or series of matches was with my closest rival from '84 to '99 -- Anatoly Karpov. Question from Thomas.Richards: Were you very good at Chess club at school? (If there was a Chess Club) Kasparov: Yes, as you can guess, I was pretty good at an early age and my talent was discovered. I was sent to the Chess group in my native town. I visited this class once a week for three years and made progress. At age 10, I was already a very strong Chess Club player. Question from Arthur: Zdravstuite Garry Kasparov, I live in Illinois and play for my high school, and I would like to know what are three main (important) things it takes to be a great player like you? Bolshoe Spacibo. Kasparov: [It takes] talent, determination, and [the] ability to stand enormous pressure. Question from Katy: Hi Garry I'm Katy. Your trainer was actually my Chess trainer so I sort of know you. Why did you even want to start playing Chess? What made it exciting? Was it the challenge? Kasparov: I learned Chess from my parents at age five, and I have been very successful from the beginning. I like the game; I liked winning, competing, fighting, and the learning process. It was very natural for me. I was lucky to discover the game, and I was the best. Nobody had any doubts that Chess could be big in my life. Question from Stunod7: I watched several of your matches against "Deep Blue" on the Internet and I went out of my way to catch them. I was wondering if there were any plans for a rematch at any time. If so, when? Kasparov: Deep Blue was dismantled. IBM decided not to proceed with the project and I don't think there is any chance of any company stepping in with a super computer. Question from: What, if anything, have you learned about Deep Blue's program? Do you still think the programmers cheated you somehow? Kasparov: There was nothing to learn from this program since IBM refused to publish print outs or run conferences on the decision making processes of the machine. We have no information to verify how decisions were made. From a scientific point of view, the value of the experiment was zero. Question from mochasundae: Chess is known as a highbrow game, how do you think you can change that image? Or should it be changed? Kasparov:
Chess has had the wrong image for a long time, and one of my targets as a World Champion is to bring it back to the mainstream. [I want to] give it the respect it deserves, because millions of fans are not joining clubs because of this image. Using the Internet, we will be able to construct the right atmosphere for the clubs that will unite the millions of fans worldwide. And that is the goal of my Web site that is being developed right now. Question from 80proof: What is your favorite food? Kasparov: I don't have very strong preferences; I like high quality food. I'm comfortable with good French and Italian food, and I like Japanese. Question from Elton: If you weren't playing Chess, what would you be doing? Kasparov: I think that is a highly speculative question. Everything else is secondary (education) because in Chess I can exercise my abilities at the highest rate. I have an interest in history, philosophy, and analysis. But only Chess gives me the best shot at the combined power of my talents. I liked reading books and I concentrated on Chess since it was very easy for me in school. Question from Rajiv: Have you ever thought of setting up an online Chess academy? The idea seems too futuristic but worth the efforts. What do u think? Kasparov: One of the key areas of my Web site will be online teaching and soon there will be several types of lessons available. One-on-one as premium service, lessons for schools, etc. My participation will be a key success for my Web site. I will be on the net often. Question from H. N.: When will you defend your championship title? Kasparov: I think that will take place at the end of October. It will be matched against Anand. The venue of the match is yet to be determined. In the next month, we'll hear more from the organizing committee. Question from 80proof: How often do you study per week to maintain the level of your Chess? Kasparov: I try to spend an hour a day on analyzing certain Chess positions. The main training period is when I do everything on Chess, and at this period, I spend 6-7 hours a day. That is how I maintain my Chess strength. Question from Chessbot9000: How many chessboards do you own? Kasparov: Very few. None of them are of unique quality. I think somewhere there is an old chessboard, but I'm not sure where it is. My Mother kept it. Question from Joseph: How will your preparation for this game differ from your tournament games? Will the relatively slow pace of the game hamper you in anyway? Kasparov: There is no specific preparation. I take it on a day by day basis. I am very curious to see the pattern of choosing the moves by my opponents because there is a lot we can learn about crowd psychology when they have to vote for the move to choose. For me, it will be a difficult challenge because I have to do this while doing other things too. I will not be able to afford to lose concentration because my opponents will be well equipped with computers and software. Each of my moves has to be of exact quality to avoid any damage. I will have to concentrate at the given point I feel is crucial, and I feel a decision by me will affect the game. Question from hyper_ness1: At what age did Chess seem to "CLICK" for you? Kasparov: At age 14, I was quite confident that I would be the World Champion.
Question from Eric E: First of all, good luck against us all. How much sleep do you get in the average night? Kasparov: When you play Chess or any other competitive sport, it's important to get good sleep. As long as I am able to sleep at the necessary time, I feel invincible. Seriously, I need 7-8 hours of good sleep per night to be fully recovered for the next challenge. Question from Mary: Do you have any suggestions for how to learn to play Chess? My brother just says to watch him play games against my Dad and I'll pick it up. But I'm having trouble and I really want to learn how to play! Kasparov: I don't think that watching two amateurs playing the game will help. It is important to have a good book. There is a lot of software that run learning programs. Very soon, you'll be able to have professional lessons from my Web site. Question from The_Drunken: Do you have a special student (protege) you teach your secrets to, or are you saving them to pass them along to your lineage (son)? Kasparov: I have certain professional secrets. I don't have confidence that my son or daughter will play Chess at a competitive level. At some point, these secrets will be released because there is no need to keep this to the end. Most likely, I will do these on my Web site. Question from Harris Nizel: Why do you feel it's so difficult to attract corporate sponsorship for Chess events? What action can Chess players take to [effect] that change? Kasparov: I think it's an excellent question. It reflects the difficulty of the game of Chess. Despite that the number of followers of Chess is no less than that of other sports, the difficulty of bringing in sponsorships relies on the highly political influence that is still in the world of Chess from the ages of Soviet domination. There are too many politics and not enough commercial influence. The Chess players don't have the courage or determination to do what was done by the tennis players. Question from Mark Rael: I read that you use a mental exercise over the board before a match to focus your attention, etc. What is this mental exercise? Kasparov: Nothing. I concentrate, period. I believe you can concentrate or not -- and there's no exercise to cure it. Question from hyper_ness1: What are you other interests: sports, mathematical, the arts, etc.? Kasparov: I love watching sports and I love physical fitness. I think it's part of my success. I love to read -- it's like breathing. I have to read on a regular basis.b> Question from Felix: If you could play any Chess player that lived, who would you want to play and why? Kasparov: I think the game against any of the great world champions of the past would be interesting. Of course, the quality of the game 50-100 years ago was quite different. That's why I don't think there is a match of the top player nowadays and the great champions of the early century. As for the personalities, I don't want to pick one name because it will be disappointing for Chess fans of other great champions. Question from Donna Schut (7 years old): What do you like best about playing Chess? Kasparov: It makes me happy and I know that if I play well, that shows that I am in good shape. If I do not play well, then something is wrong. It is always testing me and it helps me to keep myself in good shape. As I said -- it makes me happy still. Question from Averbakh: You're undoubtedly one of the greatest Chess players of our time, but how do you fare in other strategy games such as
Checkers, Go, or Backgammon? Kasparov: Also complicated games, but I think that Chess has a slight edge because it is equal chances at the beginning, so people who play Go would think otherwise. I would like to add that it's difficult to compare games with different cultural backgrounds. When you compare the cultural differences, you have to take in the strategies being recruited in our respected cultures. Question from [email protected]: Do you believe Chess, under its current rules, is close to being played out? If so, would you support the addition of an extra piece or enlargement of the board? Kasparov: I still think there [are] plenty of new moves to be discovered in the game of Chess. I believe it's important to take into account that Chess is a mathematically infinite game. One thing that may happen in the future is to shuffle pieces in the opening move, but even this measure won't be taken tomorrow. Question from Phil: What game was your best and why? Kasparov: There was a recent vote in a Chess publication about the best games (professional) and my game #16 in 1985 against Karpov was selected. It was an important game where I took a title from him. There was a game in '95, #10 in New York, that was also great. Recently I played a game that had a combination that is considered by many as the best in history against Popolov. Question from justin: I am an avid Internet Chess player. There are many concerns on the net about people using programs to win. Are there tricks to keep from using programs? Kasparov: I'm afraid not. I don't see any technical opportunity to eliminate the use of the programs. It's a matter of creating the right atmosphere for people not to cheat [against] each other. Question from nmkmpt: Garry, who do you see as your next challenger and why? Kasparov: I don't know. World Champion has no luxury, even to predict who will be his next challenger. From my point of view, it's irrelevant. Whoever is best will play me in October and I will have to wait another year and a half for my next challenger to appear. Question from Han Schut: How long do you think you will have the ENERGY to be the best with your willingness to win, your deep opening preparation, etc.? Kasparov: I have a target. I have to win the World Championship matches before my son understands what his father is doing. He is 2.5 years old, so I need about 4 more years. Question from Tanstai: At what age do you think kids should start learning Chess? Kasparov: I think six [is] a perfect age, but it could be five or seven. I don't think you should do it before. Question from Han Schut: How is your program "Chess in the Schools" progressing? Kasparov: We are making progress in Israel, where I started in order to make the blueprint to use worldwide. We are entering the schools in Tel Aviv and I hope that in a year we will come up with a general curriculum program to be used in any country where Chess is being adopted by the school. Question from Ed: Do you believe it's impossible to become a world champion if you start Chess "late," say, after 25? Kasparov: The average age of my opponents is below 30 now. That's why I think 25 is really late. Question from SomeGuy:
Do you think you will win vs. the world? Kasparov: I think I'm a favorite but I wouldn't underestimate the strengths of the opposition. I think the game could end in a draw and these two outcomes are equal in perspective in my opinion. Of course there is a chance I could lose, but it's highly unlikely. I believe that this game is just the first among many. It's a crucial experiment I am doing with Microsoft to understand how this mechanism can be employed. Question from Host Chris_MSNBC: What is the biggest challenge playing against the world? Kasparov: I wouldn't take this as my biggest challenge in terms of winning or losing. This match will benefit everyone who participates. For me, it is important to learn how to use the Internet to stage huge events. Anyone who joins me in this game will have a chance to know more about the game, improve his/her ability of playing Chess, and also will find out more about future options of being part of the Internet Chess arena. I'm looking forward to continuing this experiment and I would like to remind everyone that this is the first among many. Chess will be very strong on the Internet and into the Millennium. Thank you very much.
A unique project held in the Microsoft Game Zone ended in a victory of the World Champion. Who could ever think that this technological show would hold the attention of hundreds of thousands of people? For the World Champion, it turned out to be a severe test almost comparable to a championship match. 27-10-99
GARRY KASPAROV: "BESIDES, WE'VE LEARNT A LOT ABOUT THE QUEEN'S ENDINGS" Garry, what is the difference between your expectations at the beginning of the project and its realization? There were a lot of skeptics deeming that this game would be an easy ride for me. They said that the maximum the experts could do was to correct the obvious blunders, but the level of the game would be low. There were some extreme points of view, which are very popular in Russia, they said that the result of the match was predetermined (the logic of the journalist who got used to shuffling the letters in the matches like Karpov vs. the readers of “Komsomolskaya Pravda”). However, even those who presumed that this game would be complicated, did not even hope for what really happened. In the Internet era, it became possible to efficiently coordinate the efforts of people from different ends of the word. The game drew the attention of many strong grandmasters. The birth of a new strong team, which combined a high number of chess players with a high level of chess analysis, was quite unexpected for me. I pay tribute to Ron Henley, Irina Crush’s manager, who solved this difficult task and used the Smart Chess site to create such a machine. A team of grandmasters, that worked under the pseudonym of Irina Crush, was established. Certainly, she contributed a lot as well, but with all my respect to her hard work and desire to fight, I should note, that the level of analysis and game supervision was much higher than a 15-year old girl, even a most talented one, could demonstrate. Those grandmasters who took part in it are rather well known, the list of them was published in the Internet. Besides, I suppose there were many people who just preferred to remain in the background. In addition to the American players recruited by Henley there was a group of volunteers from St-Petersburg Chess Academy (a very strong reinforcement) guided by Alexander Khalifman. It is time to ask, what do you think about the …f5 move. I should note that every time the opposite team had to choose from several continuations, they always picked out the sharpest one. The first such moment was 10…Qe6, then Ne4. I was impressed with such a radical turn of the battle. F5 was an unexpected move, might be even the best one. Though it looks like Black could have played Bd4 as well – I don’t think that White had more than a draw – after the capture on f7 there certainly were many complicated lines, but it is a draw in the end anyway. But my opponents played for a win and in a way, they where right. A very interesting position emerged at the point where one would prefer to play on the black side, because it was difficult for White to develop the attack. Black’s favorable prospects in the endgame, on the other hand, were obvious. There were just a few moves that I could make to avoid unpleasant endgames. Black could have played Qd4, Qb4. These moves led to very hectic and complicated endgames, where Black's position was not any worse. After the Rook exchange, the game transformed into an unclear position. I was guided by the basic principle – there was something I had to trade, and something I had to leave on the board. It was just impossible to examine and calculate all the variations. I was surprised that my opponents did not consider the Queen exchange on e6 seriously. The only White’s chance was in making the Rook more active because it was very passive with the Queens on the board. Without the Queens, after the g3 move, my Rook got very active, and that was when the victory started swaying to my side. However the position remained drawn. Bh8 instead of Be4 drew easily, because the Knight took up the d4-square with a decisive effect. Did you feel excited?
I think that everybody was thrilled at some point. I had expected an absolutely different game. But the fact is that I really had to spend a lot of my and my assistant’s time and efforts. For this reason this game became an integral part of our life from the middle of July. At some point I just got eager to win. In other words you enjoyed it? There is no doubt about it. It was an incredible game, such a mixture of pleasure and irritation. This game consumed much time and energy, but on the other hand, it was an amazing fight. At some point I was sure I had outsmarted my opponents: i.e. after Kh1 they did not find the best defense (Ne5 Be5 de and a problem draw). It looked like the game was won. In private conversations before my press conference in London I sincerely believed that the game was about to end. But later on we found a phenomenal defense that led to a problem draw in the end game: the Rook with a pawn vs. the Knight and a pawn. I had to opt for an objectively drawn Queen ending. It was my reserve variation, but there was nothing better I could better. Besides, we've learnt a lot about the Queen's endings. Since these endgames do not happen very often, they are not known very well. Up till now Botvinnik’s analysis of his game vs. Minev and some Averbakh’s comments have been considered the top of chess wisdom. Certainly now, after the introduction of full databases on the five-piece endgame, Botvinnik’s comments seem to just scratch the surface. The initial concept that most of the positions are won turned out to be a false one. It was a very important discovery. We all thought that we would find a victory in the Queen's ending. It just did not occur to me that without the d6- and b7- pawns the position could be easily drawn. It turned out that the key was in the black King’s position. For example, had Black kept White’s pawn on h7 (one would think that Queen endgames with “a” or “h” pawns are mostly drawn), his King would have found himself on d1, which would have led to fatal consequences for Black. On the contrary, b1 position is almost an ideal one for the King. All Black had to do was to get rid of his pawns in order to provide the black Queen with more space for maneuvering. So you are glad that your opponents were better than you had expected. Why did they lose, anyway? I've beaten a very strong team. This game was a very energy-consuming one not only for us, but also for my opponent team, which included many strong grandmasters. It is even more important as they lost the game themselves. Qe4 was not their decisive mistake. I have a feeling that they realized it having found a zugzwang with the King on b1. I can’t rule out, that if I am right, then the scandal about the unsent move could well be orchestrated. Indeed, ten hours is more than enough to send a move. After all one could have phoned. The fact that the move was not send can be explained only by the absence of the desire to forward it, because communication with Microsoft’s technical staff was very well organized. They lost the game because they were off guard, because they did not think that accuracy was still required. The Kb2 move (instead of a correct Kc1) was recommended by chess players from St-Petersburg. This might have been a final mistake! Certainly it was very difficult to understand it at this point, because it seemed that Black would draw after Qf3. I spent most of the time exactly at this moment. I analyzed till 4am trying to choose between Qh2 and Qf4. It was almost impossible to calculate anything and I tried to figure out intuitively which move was better. I judged that after Qf4 White should win. It looks like I was right. I think that Qe3 (instead of d5) was Black’s best chance. In my opinion, after d5 Black’s position is hopeless, because the White Queen dominates on the d4-square. The d5-pawn is blocked, Black has no counter-play. I would not say that it was their cockiness that let the World team down. I'd rather say it was their slackness. The position was drawn. Khalifman and Krush with her assistants, as well as all the grandmasters, were fully aware of it. I would not say that they gave bad recommendations, but their recommendations were no longer firm. For 45 moves the World team obediently followed Irina’s lead (sometimes her recommendations prevailed by a narrow margin, but still they did, and it was fair, because they were the best). But all this “it-must-beplayed” vanished. The tone changed (now it was like “the best move is Kb1, but b5 looks good as well”). The Rest of the World team started “playing up” just a little bit, and that allowed me to gain a victory. Is there a possibility of a rematch? I think that the idea of another similar match is not as successful as the original. As for the tension and chess content, a new game will be just a parody almost for sure. I am afraid there will be no fight in a new encounter. In the game we were talking about, the positions, which were hard to calculate even by a computer and to evaluate by best players, emerged at the every stage. It is a very rare bird right now. It happens once in a hundred or may be even in a thousand games. However similar matches will be held in the future. And Club Kasparov is going to be engaged in such events. Will you continue your cooperation with Microsoft? I think, this match is Microsoft’s exceptional achievement. Despite all the problems (which are quite natural for such a grandiose experiment) there were no serious accidents. We encountered a few micro-problems but they were solved. This was a very fruitful cooperation and as for us, we would like to continue working together. As far as I understood, Microsoft expressed a similar desire, so I hope that in the nearest future we will join our efforts for mutually beneficial cooperation.
Interviews with Garry: In Frankfurt Garry Kasparov proved that he is the best in the world. This time - in active chess. Anand and Kramnik are right behind him in the world rating list. He also won in the important match with Karpov, his
former constant rival. the tournament, though, turned out to be more difficult than it was hoped to be. As the champion himself noted, the game wouldn't start for him for the first three days and it took him a great deal of strength to win again. At the same time a popular chess program Fritz was also successful in a parallel tournament. In accordance with a tradition in Frankfurt, the winner of the second round is invited next year to take part in the main round. Will the leaders of the world chess be able to stop the "silicone strive"?
GARRY KASPAROV: "THE ANGLE OF ATTACK EQUALS THE ANGLE OF REFLECTION" -
The victory in Frankfurt is your fourth this year. Did it have any special meaning to you? Many believed the Kasparov-Karpov opposition to be the main intrigue in the tournament…
I set a goal before myself – to win the tournament and considered Anand and Kramnik my main rivals. On the other hand, it was difficult to play with Karpov, since he treated everything sensibly enough, thinking that the fourth place is good enough for him and any higher place is great success. From the point of view of today’s checklist Karpov did not produce much interest, but the organizers thought it to be the main event. They turned us into participants of some historical event and not a true tournament. It depressed me in a way, it seemed, we were supposed to be in the background of the tournament and Anand or Kramnik were there to win. Frankly speaking, the persuasion that Anand and Kramnik were ahead of me very often (and it’s common not only in the internet but among the professionals too, as, for example, all contestants in the “SIEMENS Masters”) moves me a great deal. The true statistics are ignored. There have been, you know, 10 Grand Prix tournaments held by the Professional Chess Association (PCA), I won in three of them, Anand and Kramnik won two of them each. I did lose to each of them in 1996 but I doubt that it would be correct to say that Anand and Kramnik always beat Kasparov in active chess. Last year, of course, I lost in the SIEMENS tournament, though I consider my match with Ivanchuk one of the best in the history of active chess in means of quality. Vasily’s play was remarkable, but I still managed to beat him. The problem was that I could play full force only on the third day… By the way, the same story happened to me this time too – I did my best in the two last days. I played in the first part of the tournament better than last year, but still it was no better than satisfactory. It was a bit difficult in the beginning – everything that me and Karpov was pressing. The organizers violated the contract by announcing on the first day that two world champions were competing (it was very specifically noted in the contract that there is a champion of the world and a champion of the world from FIDE.). Actually, it was just my bad luck – in the casting of lots I got to meet up with Karpov in the first round. Kramnik got the upper hand – he played with Karpov all four days in round three. Still, I was able to overcome this obstacle, get in shape and get good results by beating all my rivals in the mini matches without a single loss. This outcome brings me satisfaction, though, I wouldn’t put it in the list of my last year’s major achievements. - Looks like you weren’t too satisfied with the way things were organized in that tournament. Is that so? The tournament was set up in retro style. The atmosphere of a chess club – old, fine, spacious. Just like back in the ‘60s or ‘70-s, that is, of course, without all the modern technology, on the whole, there was the spirit of “ Gens una sumus”. - How good or bad is it? The problem is that all of this leaves chess in the rear of public life. I’d like to mention that the grand opening was held in the city hall. The Mayor never came – some clerk from SIEMENS came instead, which was not enough in terms of his superiority. The press was lousy, couldn’t even ask a single proper question, the matches were held in some gigantic uptown gym lost amidst tennis courts. Here’s another marginal episode. I went for a walk and a young man came up to me and asked for an autograph, meaning he recognized me. He also asked me what I was doing in Frankfurt. Can you imagine, a person who knows chess has no idea of the tournament held in his town. The whole thing went without the local chess fans even knowing about it since it was held in such an atmosphere that resembled a club that everyone was happy to discuss their own problems. There were about 250 spectators, maybe 400 during the finals, while there were 5000 seats there. Modern technology was not being used in an effective way – the electronic boards were there, but
there was no on-line coverage, even the plastic watch looked kind of funny. There was room for improvement – for example, there should be large screens so that the spectators could see the faces of the contestants. The atmosphere of the empty hall was somewhat depressing. Ten of the best chess players and a computer were in the game, on the whole, they could make the public interested in the event, they, on their side, made it look like the tournament of the block among amateurs. The final press conference was literally scandalous. Most of the time about 40 people discussed something with the organizers in German. I couldn’t understand a word and nearly fell asleep. What amazed me later were the remarks saying, how come journalists hadn’t asked any questions! Malcolm Pein told me later that he was about to ask me something but they never let him open his mouth. -Which of your many victories do you consider to be the most important one? The one when I beat Kramnik in the third round, naturally! But let’s go in turns. The first day brought me an easy victory over Anand. He surprised me with his choice of the Qb3 line, while, as the first and third game proved, he didn’t know it too well. The Qb6 move confused him right away and he began to think for 6 minutes or so and he made the d6 move. That’s where I did better than Ivanchuk and made the Qc6 move which made it difficult for White to continue. The second day was horrible – I played so badly, I could lose all the three games. The game with Karpov was a so-so, the one with Kramnik was full of doubt and the most interesting part of it is that he offered we a tie – I still don’t know why. I made a lousy Rf8 move in the end, we had around 7,5 minutes left each, then I got lucky and Anand lost to Karpov. When the game with Kramnik ended with a tie I understood that it was ok. But after the second day the crisis ended and I cooled down. On the third day it was a miracle that Karpov kept standing and I made a clean sweep with Kramnik. It turned out to be a normally good game. In the end everyone was tired. I set a goal to make 2 ties and to beat Karpov. It all turned out real fine – I had +3, Karpov –3, the angle of attack equals the angle of reflection. - Did it take much strength? Yes, but in the long run I was fresh in and could play two rounds more – I just got into it by the time when everyone was already tired. If we kept on playing, it could’ve gotten worse. We couldn’t go on – I thought, Karpov was not in the shape to continue playing. - Three games a day sounds tiresome. Yes, Karpov even complained – he said, it must be 2 games a day. Three hours of such tension is worse than a six-hour game – three time troubles, three crises. Three games. Besides, the most unpleasant part is that the competitors kept changing. It would’ve been easier to play four games with the same one. But sport is about being tough, so we should play in any case. -What do you think about the time factor in active chess? Does it play an important role? This was important only for one player. No one had so much trouble with time as Karpov in the game with Kramnik. I believe, that the system that we had in my match with Kramnik in Moscow is perfect. If it had been used something could be different – for example, Karpov might not have lost to Kramnik. The paradox of the situation is that for a number of reasons most of the people who organize tournaments ignore the fact that there is a different format for active chess. Though, they did get interested in it in Frankfurt – maybe they’ll use it next year. - Are they thinking of changing the system? They have different ideas. First of all, by their rules they should include Fritz in the main tournament, since it won in the second tournament - Why was it "Fritz" playing there if "Shredder" is the champion? It is for the hosts to decide. Friedel, for example, thinks that there are 5 or 6 computer programs of the highest class – "Fritz", "Junior", "Hiarcs", "Schredder", "Ferret", perhaps "Nimzo-99". - Maybe it was all just about expanding the list of contestants? Can you see the difference between the first three and the rest? Why then should we ruin a good tournament? But, if "Fritz" is on the same list it becomes an almost equal balance of power. Shirov could compete, though, he’s not that good at active chess. - What about Ivanchuk? I think, he’s been out of shape lately. - Morozevich? Have you seen what place he took after the second round? - He would’ve played differently with you. But one shouldn’t take the seventh place if he wants to prove something! -What about Topalov? We played a match of active chess with Topalov last year. Remember how it ended? I still believe that the difference between the first three and the others in active chess is greater than that in classic chess. -What are your forecasts for the match with Fritz? I made one condition. If there is a machine to be playing in the tournament, then man should play either with another man or only with the machine. Games with machines should be held on a different day. It is very difficult to play active chess with them. Judith Polgar, after playing her match finally came to the conclusion I made a ling time ago. She said:” Now I understand, that any match goes down to tactics”. To her and Shirov’s styles of playing – let’s kick the
ball and then we’ll see - the computer is close to being deadly. Naturally, our tournament’s resistivity is higher. Anand, on his part, beat “Fritz”. I guess, no machine could never take first place in our tournament. - What do you mean never? In the near future. But actually, the results in active chess can always be foreseen. As I have said it many years ago, the computers superiority in active chess will soon be obvious. We do know that if one slows down the time it practically doesn’t change the computer’s ability to play. Now, of course, they will upgrade their computers and it will be able to work via 5-piece endings. They learned to connect them, to make a sort of a bridge. A program might work through an ending, say, a ten-piece one, splits it into halves and goes directly to the database. What Deep Blue could do some time ago is now possible for programs like “Hiarcs”. A computer calculates a line and knows that it can make a checkmate in, say, 93 moves. It is a big step ahead. Though, going through five – piece lines is not the end of it. It’ll be more difficult for them to handle six – piece lines. No matter how much more powerful you make a computer, it is hardly possible in the nearest future, seven-piece lines are even theoretically impossible to solve for a computer, no matter how powerful it is. - Why are six-piece lines impossible to reach for computers? Well, there are numbers we can write on paper but can not count. There are limits in the Universe. - So, we have to lose the unnecessary… No. The computers’ strength is in its memory where ALL endings are stored, all lines, absolutely everything. The machine doesn’t have to think. All six-piece lines are a great breakthrough if they can count pawns too. For now they can not work with lines with pawns and there are just too many of them. If they do get the whole database of six-piece lines they will have tremendous power…
A
fter his return to Moscow from the tournament in Sarayevo Garri Kasparov, in accordance with the established tradition, met with the staff of his internet site. He shared his impressions from the past events and told about the upcoming events. Naturally, the details of the upcoming match for the world title aroused most interest: - At length it was announced that there has been reached an agreement on your match with Vishvanatan Anand and that both of you have sighed contracts stating the format of your match, its approximate time and location, now all that’s needed to be done is to decide on the exact place, time and other technical details of holding the match. - Yes, they will be announced in Prague on July 10 at the opening of the match between Judith Polgar and Alexei Shirov. Though, we already know that the match will begin no sooner than October 20 and will be over by November 30 this year. - And so, the chess world is once again tempted to see the classical duel – a full scale match between two worthy rivals. There are 16 sets to be played in this tournament he wins who gets 8,5 or 9 points first. In case if both competitors get 8 points each, the champion keeps his title. In case of a loss the champion does not have the right for a revenge match. The official prize fund is 3 million dollars and will be divided: 2 million dollars to the winner and 1 million dollars to the loser. In case of a tie the money is to be divided equally. At the same time, we have stated that the beginning of the new millenium, the year 2000, will also be the time of the search for the new candidate for the title of the world champion in the next match in 2001. How can the new format of the match effect the course of the duel? - The match’s new format changes much, since there are not 24 and not even 20 sets to be played. The stakes for each point go up and by the time of the 12 set everything’s over! If before, say, in the match with Anand back in 1995 a player could allow himself to get into play slowly, go out with 8 ties, lose the 9-th, win in 10-th, knowing, that the second part of the tournament still lies ahead, now all’s finished by the 12-th set. In fact it’s not even the number of sets that’s important, 16, but the fact that the middle of this duel will be equivalent to the opening in the sets I played with Karpov, say, in the ‘80-s. Back then the 6-th and 7-th sets were only the beginning of the match, now it’s the middle! Besides, don’t forget the difficult timetable – 4 sets a week with no timeouts – will mean more physical and psychological stress, that before. Besides, the training is different: it is extremely important to chose the right strategy, for there will be no time to make corrections later. And all this on top of Anand’s seeming psychological coolness. Before he lost due to a great weight of authority – the need to win Linares, the need to win at home, in India, the need to beat Kamski, the need to beat Kasparov in New York... Anand can’t take the psychological pressing when there are just too many. Now he seems not to need anything. He doesn’t risk anything and it makes him extremely dangerous. It’s been four years, both Anand and I are different. The game of chess experienced some changes too. Absolutely, there are certain advantages in my present condition: the score of our matches in the past years rose to my advantage and it does not give Anand much confidence. Though, there is a big psychological drawback: if in 1995 the chess world really believed that Anand was ready for the world title, in ’99 everyone thinks he’ll just come to pick up his money and the duel for the title is just a formality. It doesn’t bother me much – he and Kasparov are 10 behind, he’ll come, lose with a minimum or play a tie, great! He’ll get his million, show his gleaming, a bit shy smile to everyone and – see you later. If he loses with great defeat, no problem: Vishi, we didn’t expect to anything like that from you, calm down, relax, prepare yourself for new clashes, Kasparov might get tired in about five years, maybe then you’ll get lucky. Actually, it’s all quite different. Anand has great chess power, he became more steady, his technical arsenal is now more varied and more refined. He can play almost any opening, he knows how to use computers in training. I’m
positively sure there will be no lack of volunteers to help! Besides, Anand is still the fastest chess player in the elite, he is quick to grasp the essence of the line and he plays with no breakdowns, he studied all advances made by the Soviet school of chess. I know I’ll have to meet up with a finely prepared rival – he is young, full of strength, with spiritual equipoise in a happy marriage, with no problems in life, but one – to play chess. That is why I’d like to warn my fans not to be too optimistic. The match for the world champion title is a very difficult test. Besides, even if Anand does concede anyone in the ability to gain maximum effect from new technologies, it’s me. I’m up for tough training, I will have my usual team, any new people may come from the ones I dealt with when setting up CLUB KASPAROV. - Do you plan to participate in any tournaments before the match? - There’s no time for playing in any meaningful tournament in the circle system, this is a serious problem. Our match will take place sometime in October –November. Getting into another tournament is impossible. The tournament in Tilbourg stands too close to our match in . terms of time frames. Moreover, if I do play in Tilburg, I have to win and that takes much strength, showing new ideas, things that one should not do before the match for the world champion title. Thus, I will try to find a good partner for the training matches. I’ll have to forget about all tournaments for now. - Can the so called tournament of the giants in quick chess in Frankfurt that opens June 29 be one of the stages of training? The partners seem to be appropriate – Anand, Kramnik, Karpov!? - The best part of it is that Karpov and I have never played quick chess our routes have crossed twice in this event in Paris in 1991 and 1992 (we were seeded 1-st and 2-nd). But Karpov didn’t reach the finals twice and we never met. Too bad, there’s no time to prepare for the tournament, it means that it would take a lot of what I have now. The nearest event is the great experiment that kicks off June 21. It will be a chess match set up in the literally boundless computer network Internet by the company MICROSOFT Kasparov vs. The rest of the world. We are expecting a truly tremendous audience, there are 5 million people usually surfing in the games section of the company’s site. The organizers are setting up the utilities that would allow 1 million players to participate. Then again, I personally believe, that there will be only 200 to 300 thousand people playing. In any case, it’s too early to make any plans. Let’s live and see. Theoretically, even a million people can play against me. - How will you carry out this virtual match against hundreds of rivals and their computers they will undoubtedly use in a technical sense? - The process will go as follows: I will have 12 hours to make my move. I can make it sooner, but not later. Anyway, I’m playing White and I’m sending my move via the Internet to the head office in Seattle. From there on it will be sent to four experts chosen by MICROSOFT. They, too, will have 12 hours at their disposal (maybe more if I play faster). These experts assess the situation on the board and propose their move to the Internet audience. They should also explain why they propose this or another move. After that all proposals go to the screen and the host or the moderator, the British great master tells the public in the Internet about the received proposals. In the next 18 hours the world discusses which of the proposed moves to chose. Then in the next 6 hours they vote. As a result, the whole cycle – my move, the discussion, the voting and their answer should take about 48 hours. We assessed that, given there will be about 40 moves and given we stick to the 48 hour timetable, we hope that the whole match should take about 3 months. - Who was invited to be the experts? - We’ll have 4 juniors about 20 years old. At first we waned prominent great masters, because the players might shy away when they hear the well-known names. Thus, we decided to invite talented Juniors. They’re pretty good chess players. Microsoft decided to stop at Irina Krush, female champion of the USA, who has recently tied a match with the champion of the world among young people in 1997 great master Tal Shaked, at the highest ranking American Juniors Florin Felecan, French great master Etienne Bakrot who recently won in a strong tournament of young great masters in Switzerland and at a girl from Germany Elisabeth Paehtz, I played a demonstrative match with her in Frankfurt, she already knows her way around the lines, though she doesn’t have much experience yet, her father is a great master who will always be by her side. Besides, Chess Base will be watching over her, and I suspect that Chess will help Elisabeth make her decisions. Actually, any Internet surfer can send his variant to MICROSOFT’s site and Daniel King would tell everyone about it. But I think there will not be many of them. In any case, a simple vote would resolve it. - Is the voting going to be secret or open? - It’ll all look like normal elections: first the move will be announced, then the results of the results of the votes, in order to exclude the influence of factor of counting the votes. My guess is that the procedure of counting votes will be no less interesting than the game itself. It will be very fascinating! For example, it will be the first time that the depth of the chess audience will be measured to the accuracy of one user. Even when we had the match with IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer it was impossible to get the data, since there is no knowing why a user came to the site – to have a look around or he’d like to know about the match. It’s another story here. If a person votes, he plays, he becomes a part of a gigantic collective mind, that makes its contribution into reaching a common goal! I wouldn’t want anyone to be deceived by the young age of the experts and their not too impressive ratings. All of them will have computers and different chess programs that play really good, especially when the game is directed by man. Besides, I take it, the experts’ older assistants will not stand aside. To me winning the match is no problem. If I’m not able to mesmerize my counterparts with a novelty in the opening, a long play would give both parties almost equal chances. I should not relax, not for a second! They wouldn’t miss anything, all of them have CDs with the best chess programs that can turn the search into a professional mission and lead to 2 or 3 variants. Besides, King, the experiences moderator, would, I assume direct the audience in the right direction. If it does happen I’m in for months of difficult play.
We plan to use in our club’s site all the novelties seen in the match. We found good financial partners in Israel and we are now standing on the brink of a gigantic leap in the club’s work, since we plan to have events similar to the Microsoft experiment. We agreed with the company that we’d have all the needed information about the match. I’d like to know how the Internet audience would react to the moderator’s actions. It is very important to for us to receive the information on the preparatory work. On the whole, this event will have great impact on the future of chess. The Internet can help them compete with the most popular sports. Just think of the huge audience, the different time zones: I’ll be making my moves at 3 p.m. standard European time, it’ll be 9 a.m. in New York, 6 a.m. in San Francisco, 5 p.m. in Moscow! And the whole tremendous Internet fraternity begins to think, to send its proposals to Seattle, hundreds of thousands of people all over the world will be playing chess simultaneously. Now isn’t that amazing?!
C loser to the end of the century, a nearly one hundred year old tradition of holding World Championships comes to its end: unfortunately, the way things have recently been does not inspire optimism. A lot of people are now trying to end this organizational deadlock, and in the beginning of last autumn, a well known businessman and chess organizer Bissell Kok (who has lately been one of the directors of the International Grand Master Association) made a most constructive and serious suggestion. The essence of the latter was to organize the title match between the current World Champion Garry Kasparov and a winner of the FIDE championship as a challenger. Mr. Kok expressed his readiness to attract 3 million dollars to the prize fund of such a match. Soon afterwards Kasparov has publicly showed his interest in Kok's offer (see interview to John Henderson (TWIC)). However, there was no official reply from FIDE. Before Garry left for Holland, we had asked him to comment on the situation.
GARRY KASPAROV: "ANAND HAS TO DECIDE IF HE WANTS TO PLAY A REAL TITLE MATCH WITH ME OR NOT." - What are the perspectives of Bessell Kok's offer and are there any other ways to solve the problem? - FIDE answered no, and did it via Amuku on the telephone. They did not even condescend to answer in written form. It is very characteristic, how much disposition of the chess world changed to the worse after Ilyumzhinov came. Even in the times of Campomanes, or FIDE war with GMA and PCA, certain civilized norms, some sort of convention, were regarded - for example, everyone knew, that one should not take time off another tournament - not because they loved each other, these were just the rules of war operations. I do not know if the tournament in Las Vegas will take place or not (as it was announced several days ago, FIDE World Championship is postponed due to the refusal of Las Vegas organizers). However, the interesting fact is that FIDE has simply foiled the tournament in Frankfurt with no guarantees of holding the championship in Las Vegas whatsoever. In Germany it was a very serious sponsor "Siemens", which has started to finance chess only recently. The organizers of the tournaments were slapped in the face, which means that "Siemens" was slapped as well. The rule, which has so long existed, was broken, and definitely, it will not bring any positive results. It is obvious that now every organizer would like to hold something parallel with FIDE event, as the calendar turned out to be completely ruined. December was a dead month because there should have been the announced World Championship in Las Vegas: all the others have stepped aside, but nothing happened and there are no tournaments. Ilyumzhinov's FIDE leads dead policy - they are not interested if there are tournaments or not. Besides, Bessell Kok's offer was undoubtedly worth written response from FIDE president, especially considering Bessell's position in the world of chess and the swift of the offer. Trying to get rid of it by means of Amuku's oral answer is another proof of the fact that Russian bandit style is already spreading into the world of chess, which still had some rules previously. Bessell's offer was one of the ways out, but it is no longer topical, as Las Vegas has fade away, was postponed till summer, and is likely not to take place at all. It was based on presupposition that FIDE should have chosen a challenger. Another logical supposition today, considering that the match with Shirov can not take place due to the absence of money (no one wants to grant any money for such a match), is going back to the practice of direct challenge of the candidate to the World Champion. The idea that Anand is likely to challenge me directly was expressed during my meeting with journalists in London, in December. It is quite obvious that today Anand is chess player number 2 in the World in any criteria, and besides, we should take into consideration that reach Indian communities, including those in London, can be interested in holding such a match. The value of this mach undoubtedly exceeds that of any other match today: I am sure that we are talking about 2 million dollars and more. There are all sorts of reasons to hold this match: moral, chess, political, and material. If Anand is psychologically ready to do it, I think it to be quite real. The only question now is whether Anand really wants to play me or not. - Under the aegis of what organization?
- No organization, I don't care about the organization! A title match under the same aegis that covered the match between Capablanca and Alekhin, does anyone remember under which cover they played? Nobody does, at least it does not matter now. We are now coming back to a very important question, which has recently been discussed in London - there was a whole team of my very severe critics, such as Bill Hanston, for example. They claimed that FIDE established the rules of holding the championships in 1948, but this is not true. FIDE did not establish the rules in 1948, in 1948 FIDE stamped the rules, which were dictated by the World Champion Botvinnik. We all know who wrote these rules. Actually, FIDE kept old traditions after the war, but an organization which legalized the rules of World Champions appeared. FIDE rejected the demands of the World Champion only once, in 1975, a well-known story with Fischer. But to begin with, a powerful Soviet Federation was then against him, and secondly it was the first time when the Champion wanted to make the conditions of the match much worse for the candidate. Then we come across the Karpov era again, and again we witness a talented diktat of the world champion: do you remember how much FIDE opposed to my initiative? In the whole, we can claim that FIDE never opposed to World Champions all through its history. Even now Karpov is able to dictate his conditions for four years running, and this it already funny. - What will happen if the World Championship will take place, and will be won by some other chess player, for example, Adams or Svidler? - Time when FIDE was a union of federations is now over. Today FIDE is not an organization, but one man, who finances it. If we suppose that status quo will be preserved, i.e. that Ilyumzhinov will stay in office and will go on financing FIDE in the way, then we of course, are likely to have another FIDE champion, who can be proclaimed anyone. I presume that FIDE champion will do his best to play me on Bessell Kok's conditions, and financial profit will not be the only reason. As my chess strength is still weighty in the world of chess, a desire of any FIDE champion to play a match with me will be inevitable, not matter which papers Ilyumzhinov will give them to sign. - Do Bessell Kok's conditions stay the same? - I reckon that until it is drawn up legally, Bessell will need much more time, as unlike Ilyumzhinov he does not draw money out of state sources, and he therefore needs time to collect it. This is not an easy process, moreover, the end of 1999 will be full of most serious chess events. And still the ideal variant today would be Anand's direct challenge. It would also be the easiest, as it would let us solve a lot of problems, and at the same time would end up the history of FIDE championships once and for all, because it will be a laughing-stock then. Anand needs to define if he wants to play a real title match with me or not. It is obvious that there will be no problems with either money, or public support. If he claims his responsibilities or his contract once again - God is his judge, I can not answer for him, but I think that a lot will become definite in Wijk aan Zee. - Or in Linares? - I reckon, in Wijk aan Zee. I think, Anand will play there with a challenge in his pocket: a lot depends on which place he will take there.
On April 22, 1999 Garry Kasparov spoke at "LIMITS OF PERFORMANCE" Symposium at Stanford University. This is a full text of the lecture. Read also story by Olga Ardulov
Stanford Lecture:
Limits of Human Performance 22-4-1999
Limits of endurance. It intrigues mankind as we have been striving for centuries to do better and better. There were always people who pushed to the limits of the believable. In past times the great achievers were explorers and navigators. Today I believe that sport represents the best field for studying this topic – limits of performance. There are many reasons and one of them is that sport gives a unique opportunity to study human actions in extreme conditions. Obviously, there are many other fields where human output in these extreme conditions and human reactions and ability to cope are tested. But while in aviation or in space or in some similar area, situations that demand total mobilization of human ability are not supposed to happen (of course they happen very often but they are not supposed to), in sports they are programmed, programmed by definition. Of course, I am talking about professional sports - sport of the highest level. Studying world records in many different sports, we can get very useful information about the ability of human organism and the nervous system to adjust to very difficult conditions. In fact, we can try to look at the constant development of the human body, at the constant increase of our strength, speed of reaction, flexibility, and all other qualities that are required in professional sports. If we look at the results of world records of the 30-ies, 40-ies, 50-ies,
even 60-ies, and compare them with the today’s results, we are amazed at the unbelievable improvement demonstrated by sportsmen. Today some of these old world records are simple ordinary results. And some of the great achievements that caused public euphoria in the past today would be laughed at even in junior competition. I think that a careful analysis of this data could help us predict the future increase of human strength and give us an idea of how far we can go in improving our bodies. Deviating briefly from the main topic, I would like to share my observations about the development of the human race, which to me does not look very consistent if we try to analyze a much longer period of the past. For instance, we know from historical sources about the ability of the ancient Greeks or Romans to show great results and to carry an enormous amount of weight. Edward Gibbon in his famous book “The decline and fall of the Roman Empire” described ammunition that Roman soldiers had to carry nearly two thousand years ago. "Besides their arms, which the legionaries scarcely considered as an encumbrance, they were laden with their kitchen furniture, the instruments of fortification, and the provision of many days."(Vol.1, chapter1). And he came to the conclusion that a modern soldier of his time (that was the end of the 18th century) was not capable of carrying such weight. It brings us to a very strange conclusion that at one point, the human race retrogressed in its ability to cope with physical problems. We can see a gradual decline from these athletes of the Greek-Roman times to weak bodies and small chests of people depicted in famous pictures of the Renaissance. It took quite a lot of time for us to come back to the ability to carry similar weights and to show great results, and to my mind, it does not quite coincide with our knowledge of human organism and human potential that is backed by a perfectly documented history of last three or four hundred years. But of course no matter how interesting the analysis of this problem is, or this phenomenon, is far beyond the limits of our discussion today. In professional sport we have a very interesting combination of two kinds of stresses. These are, obviously, physiological and psychological stresses. And this combination very often causes interesting and significant results. Of course, physiological stress is normally characterized by similar stereotyped reactions shown by most people, while psychological stress is marked by a personalized reaction of a given individual. It differs from one person to another even in similar situations. These kinds of stress situations, to my mind, bring chess into the forefront of professional sports. Many people do not rank chess as a true sport, and I think it is a great mistake because if we evaluate the pressure a chess player suffers during long events, we see that it is at least as difficult to cope with it as in any other professional physical sports. Although it‘s mental, psychological stress but very often it shows itself in some biological or physical terms. For instance, one can have some sort of weakness or sickness or any other problem with one’s organism, and in my personal case, I have very often had fever on my face, or during tough events, I sometimes experienced a type of allergies and dental problems. I know that many other players show a variety of different symptoms and it is a very clear reaction from our body to enormous psychological stress. I also think from my own experience that psychological stress is far more dangerous than physiological because it always leads to physical weakness and different physical problems, while physiological stress can happen on its own. During my entire chess career I always paid serious attention to my physical condition and every summer, during my big training sessions, I spend at least two hours a day working hard on my body. I had different preferences in different periods of my life, and now I am trying to avoid active games like tennis because I want to exclude a playing element from my physical training. That is why I prefer training in a gym, and in summer I like swimming and rowing and all sorts of training that, as I have said, do not inspire any gambling reactions or do not raise any emotions. I’m sure that my recent successes against much younger players partly depend on my physical superiority and my ability to stay focussed during long tournaments. And here we also have to pay attention to the difference between chess and other sports. Obviously, chess seems to be a very passive and quiet game where people are sitting for hours just moving pieces at the chessboard, and nothing is happening. And from an amateur point of view, there is no comparison between this kind of games and tough physical sports like soccer or tennis. But a careful look will prove otherwise. Chess is a long game and a professional chess player must stay put for this period. It is not only the four, five or six hours of one game, but chess tournaments are also very long. You can play nine, ten, or eleven rounds, sometimes thirteen rounds, and of course, the ultimate test in chess is a World Championship match, which in the past consisted of 24 games. That means that the pressure on you does not disappear even at the end of each game. In many sports you need a burst of your energy in one event. It could be two days, a week or couple of weeks like in tennis with big breaks between the rounds, but in chess you have to go on, and on, and on, and if you look at the extreme situation of the World Championship match, it could be nearly two months. But trying to analyze a top tournament of eleven or thirteen rounds, which normally last for fifteen or seventeen days, one has to realize that the pressure always stays with a chess player, because it exists not only at the game of chess but also during your preparation for the game. And in chess, unlike some other sports, you are not aware of what is going to happen, you are preparing something but your opponent can make a different choice. That is why your mind (and here again I am speaking about myself as other players may feel different) but in my case it is a very tough challenge. I always want to play a perfect game, to show my best preparation. Most of the players today have a selection of openings that is why a chess player’s memory should store a lot of information. Today’s opening theory is a very detailed one. Many analyses checked with computers are very long and extremely complicated and if you did not repeat this line just before a given game, then it is very hard to reconstruct all the variations you analyzed, even a week ago. Now, this kind of pressure is always on your mind. Moreover, it is very difficult to get rid of the impressions of the game that has just finished, because it is not very often that a chess player is capable of playing a perfect game.
Sometimes there are mistakes and in big tough tournaments there are even more mistakes, and if the result of the game was dictated by one mistake and in- stead of winning you got a draw or even a loss, that’s a huge pressure on you. I know that it is very difficult to cope with sometimes I even felt physical pain when losing a game that I could have won. Upon finding my mistake I have tortured and punished myself mentally and very often I wake up at night dreaming of this mistake. Of course, when you play the next game, you have new impressions, but chess tournaments are long and require a strong character and stable nervous system and the ability to isolate yourself from previous negative impressions in order to play at the highest level. Many great chess players have not been able to carry this tension. In chess we have a very important time factor. Professional chess games are played with chess clocks. That is why you have to manage to make a certain number of moves during the given amount of time and a chess player very often finds himself in a time-trouble. Human reaction to time-trouble is also quite an amazing thing to watch. It is amazing for public, though it is not a great experience for the chess player, who has to manage to make a certain number of moves in a very limited amount of time, and obviously, a number of mistakes dramatically increases in such circumstances. Every time trouble causes severe damage of the nervous system. Today a professional chess game lasts for seven hours (if it goes the full distance), and it has three time controls. One is after 40 moves, you have to manage these moves in two hours; another one is after next twenty moves, it is another hour for each player; and then if the game is not decided, you have half an hour to complete all the moves, which becomes a “sudden death” game. It is after two timetroubles, after two time controls, that you have to play extremely well and careful to finish your match, while having just a few minutes left to complete all the moves. And, of course, if you do not complete all the moves in this amount of time, you’ve lost. Chess is a very cruel game. No matter what kind of position you are in on the board, the time factor is decisive: if lose on time – you’ve lost the game. Here I also have to mention different kind of chess, the so called “rapid chess”, which is 25 or 30 minutes for the whole game, or “blitz chess” where you have only five minutes to play the whole game. This kind of chess is very attractive for the public. With modern computer equipment demonstrating games on big boards and catching every move made in a second or within a fraction of a second, whilst public enjoys it, it is really tough on the chess players. The pressure on the players during rapid chess or blitz chess is simply incredible. In rapid chess, in 25 minutes, you may try to keep some quality but basically you play with your instincts. Normally you play 3 or 4 games a day. That's why if you made a mistake, lost the game, or drew a winning position you have 15 minutes or half an hour before next round starts, to get rid the ghosts from the previous game. And again, it depends on the strength of your nervous system, whether you are able to isolate yourself and to concentrate on a new challenge or not. I have actually mentioned world championship matches, and that is an area where I have a very wide-range of experience, since I have been playing these kind of matches from 1984. And as I have already said, the world championship match is an ultimate challenge for a chess player’s ability to fight. It’s changing now, and obviously, due to the pressure from the mass media and from public demand, we are trying to reduce the number of games and to play more games a week, but in the old good days this match consisted of 24 games and it could last as long as 10 weeks. We played three games a week, and there were adjournments at that time, the game could be adjourned and played the next day. Every player used to have three time-outs to be called when they found it necessary even without medical permission. Once it was even a longer event. When I played with Anatoly Karpov in 84-85 the match was unlimited. That meant the draws were not counted and one player had to win 6 games. And this match lasted from September 10th of 1984 to February 15th 1985. It is 159 days. That was quite an event! Obviously, there were many time-outs taken by both players, there were even technical timeouts taken by the organizers. This event was quite unique because it was a first time chess players had to fight for such a long time. I’m still very proud that despite the very unfortunate circumstances of this match (I was losing 4:0 after game 9, and 5:0 after game 27) I managed to stay on. And when the match was closed down at the game 48, I was trailing only 5:3 having won the last two games, 47 and 48. Again, it is not a subject of today’s discussion, the match was closed according to official statement released by the FIDE president Mr. Florencio Campomanes and Soviet Sports Officials, saying that both opponents were exhausted and could not continue playing further. It was half-true. As I said, this match was a challenge and I am still curious how I managed to stay on for so long, while losing so badly and never appearing to have a real chance to win the match. Regarding the preparation for the World Championship Match. It does not really matter how long the event is. It could be 24 games like in the past or 16 games which is considered to be right length today the preparation still involves a great deal of time. It is the ultimate price that is very high, your entire career is at stake, and that is why one can not ignore even smallest detail. I spend at least three months working hard at my own openings, analyzing my opponent's games, improving my physical condition because during the event you have to be mentally, psychologically and physically fit. A champion never knows how much effort it will take. A World Championship defense is always pushing me to my own limits of performance. Playing WCM against Anand in 1995, I found that my opening preparation did not work well and I did not have enough energy to play with the same determination as before. Obviously, there were several reasons, and I would say that a painful divorce procedure was quite damaging for my mental state. But a professional player has to mobilize himself for the crucial moments, and when I lost game 9 after eight consecutive draws, it was a very clear signal that it was time for me to mobilize all my resources.
Unlike many other players, I am used to work hard during the tournaments or during World Championship matches. Normally I work at least three hours a day even if I play a serious game. During the rest day, I am trying to work at least the same amount of time to keep fit. Also I believe that the ability of my brain is more effective during the event because all the senses are very sharp. And working on several lines that Anand used to play in this match, I found a great Rook sacrifice in his favorite opening. I believe, it could happen only during such a match and only under such dangerous circumstances. The match was not going my way - it was not only losing minus 1, just the fact that I could not win a single game during first 9 games. And that why I believe the 10th game was the decisive game of the match. Anand collapsed after this rook sacrifice, which proved to be total refutation of the whole Black’s strategy. And having won this game, I badly wounded my opponent psychologically and, eventually he could not recover. He lost game 11, and game 12 was draw, and then he lost games 13 and 14. The match was over by game 14, he was trailing minus three, and we made a few more draws, and that was it. Every match has this kind of moment, where two wills are confronted, and the winner of this crucial battle very often emerges as the winner of the event. And I know that I am still capable of throwing an enormous amount of energy at these crucial moments, and that is why I am prevailing so far. I have no doubt that in chess, as probably in other sports, first of all you lose psychologically and then it actually happens on the board or on the field. The psychological pressure is always with you and the first moment of weakness is always decisive. Let us look at some other highlights of my chess career. One of them is the match 84-85. After Karpov won game 27 and the score became 5:0, everybody saw it was just a matter of time, in fact very short time, when Karpov would finish me off by winning game six. And he was very close in game 31. When I entered the stage before the beginning of this game, I saw a very celebrated situation: all Karpov’s people were preparing for a big event, Karpov looked determined, he took his first hair cut during the match, and the whole atmosphere was telling me that the end of the match was just around the corner. Karpov played well, he achieved a good position, where I had to sacrifice a pawn to get some counter chances and then “suddenly something changed in the air”. I felt released, and thought “OK, it is probably the end but let’s try all the chances”. I played very confidently, and, it was Karpov who became nervous fearing that a 6:0 victory was sleeping through his hands. He became hesitant; missed a good moment to increase his advantage, and I got real counter chances by threatening his King. At the end Karpov got himself into time trouble. And when I felt that the situation was really complicated, I offered him a draw, and after very few seconds he accepted it because he recognized that the game was going in the wrong direction. It was game 31, and the psychological effect of this game was so strong that I won game 32, and that was my first victory in the match. The first game I beat Karpov, and this game 32 marked the change of the whole trend of this event. After game 32, despite the fact that the score still was 5:1, I firmly took the initiative in my hands. Another big challenge was the next match that we played in 1985. This was the match when I eventually took the title from him. After 23 games the score was 12:11 in my favor, and according to the rules of the match, in case of a tie 12:12, the world champion could retain his title. I had a really big advantage in the second half of the match and if it were not for my hesitations in game 21 and serious mistakes in game 22 and game 23, I would have probably avoided game 24. But I was also shaking and nervous, the dream of the World title was so close, and that is why the match lasted to game 24. That was a big game and there was a really tough moment. Karpov played aggressively, not his typical style, but anyway he got a good opportunity. And here, at one point, he decided to make a quiet move and it was also interesting. He made his quiet move demonstrating that his threats were still very serious and I found a paradoxical ugly response, which from that time became a typical defensive resource for Black in these types of the positions. And I remember when I made this move and Karpov glanced at the board, I realized that he had realized: his threats were no longer that strong. The position was still very complicated but the whole character of the game had changed. He had pushed too hard to win but I think it was out of desperation, and eventually he lost his crown. That was in 1985. In 1987, in two years, the roles had been reversed. Before I beat Karpov in another match in 1986, in rematch, quite convincingly, but in 87 the challenge was much tougher. I was quite tired of all these matches and the necessity to defend my title again within a short period of time. It was an equal fight, first Karpov was one point ahead and then I took a lead. And after Karpov won game 16, the score was equal. Then we had six draws and I remember that I just wanted to make 12:12 to finish the match to retain my title. I wanted to get rid of this competition, and obviously, this mood is not very productive when you face such a strong and determined opponent as Karpov. But I probably played better than he did, that is why I managed to save a couple of difficult positions, despite the fact that I did not put any real pressure on him with White pieces in game 22 or in game 20. And game 23 (which was the last difficult challenge for me, as I thought before the beginning of this game) was the last real chance for Karpov, who had White, to try to win the match. If I could draw the game, I had a comfortable position in game 24 with White pieces, because it is not very difficult to hold your opponent for a draw. There are exceptions but normally it is not very complicated. (I could also remind game 24, when we played in the next match in Leon in 1990, I was leading 12:11, I had White pieces in the last game and at the end I offered a draw in completely winning position by just fixing my victory 12.5:11.5.) Now, I had to defend myself in game 23, I did quite well but then I made a mistake, and Karpov got an advantage. The adjourned position was not very good for me. If Karpov would have sealed the right move, but he did not find it. Now it seems like an anachronism that players once sealed the moves, put them in the envelope, the referee kept the secret. But I was lucky,
Karpov's move was not the best, and I escaped from serious trouble. Unfortunately, when we were both running into time-trouble I lost my mind and tried a combination, which was refuted in my home analysis in a similar position. I tried it out of desperation, though the position was nearly equal. I could repeat the moves and there was no way for Karpov to improve. Of course, Karpov found an winning response even in the time-trouble and I had to resign. At this moment according to conventional wisdom I should have lost my title because nobody had ever been able to win the last game in such circumstances. It is hard to describe my feelings after this loss, for quite a long time I broke in tears and my feelings were that I saw the bottom of the abyss. But I managed to keep myself fit, I managed to forget game 23, and I knew I had only one chance: I had to win game 24. This chance was not a good but it was a chance. I told myself that if there was a chance and I did not use it, I would not forgive myself for the rest of my life. I played a long card game with my coaches, and then made my best move – I managed to get some good sleep at night. There was not much we could analyze. We looked a little bit at the chess board, and I decided to play a very quiet opening, not to push very hard, understanding that Karpov would try to simplify the position himself. And maybe he would give me some chances if he tried to do it too quickly. And this strategy worked perfectly well. I got a slightly better position, then I improved my position, increased the advantage. Karpov tried to exchange too many pieces and it was wrong, and eventually he got in a very serious time-trouble and made a decisive mistake. I could win with a forced combination. But now it was my turn to make mistakes, I did not find the decisive blow, and Karpov could make a draw by force but he also missed his chance. I don't want to think about this possibility but it could have been an immediate draw in one move. However, Karpov has missed it. I was lucky, but we ended up with an endgame, which in my opinion, was 50/50: I had an extra pawn and good winning chances. But there was no way to tell that the position was won. I would think that it depended on the mood of the players and their determination and ability to fight. Black could make a draw, White could win, but again there is no way to predict the result. I have analyzed the game and there were some ways of improving White's position, but Black always had defensive resources. I appeared at the stage slightly ahead of Karpov, and when I saw him coming to the stage a couple of minutes later, I looked at his eyes and realized that he did not believe that he could save the game. Undoubtedly, it gave an enormous boost to my confidence. Two moves later Karpov made a very responsible positional choice. In fact, after creating these weaknesses, I think his game was lost. And it is quite amazing that this kind of mistakes was a part of his home analyses because he wanted to fix the position. But by eventually fixing the pawn structure, he created a decisive weakness, which I used convincingly. I won the game even much sooner then people would think. As I have briefly said in the beginning of my observations , when reminding you of people's reactions on this kind of pressures, it sometimes shows fever or allergy, and very often I saw the overlap of these reactions during great games that I was lucky to play in different matches or tournaments. One of the tournaments I can think of is the World Cup Tournament in Barcelona in 1989, when I had a very poor start, 3 out of 6, I lost one game, I won one game, 4 draws, not impressive draws. I was in the middle of the field, and I felt sick, even got a temperature. It was a traditional fever but in stronger form and it probably was the beginning of the chess recovery because I guess that my organism and nervous system were sending all these impulses and signals to mobilize all resources. And despite my sickness, I not only managed to stay in the event, but I also won four games out of the next five making only one draw and came back to the top of the list. I eventually managed to tie first-second by winning two more games at the end of the tournament And it was not the only case where these kind of signals demonstrated to me that all my senses were ready for a really great game. One of the recent experiences was at the tournament in Wijk aan Zee in Holland. Before round 4, when I played a Bulgarian grandmaster Veselin Topalov, I was quite tired and yet excited because after I had made a draw in the first round, I won games 2 and 3. In between we had a blitz tournament, there were 14 players, and I have already described how tough blitz tournaments are. But I won it very convincingly: 1.5 points ahead of Anand and Ivanchuk, and I have beaten both of my nearest rivals in our encounters. All this excitement led to another form of allergy and slight fever but something told me that I was about to play a really great game. And as all chess commentators agreed, the game that I played against Veselin Topalov that day in a small Dutch village of Wijk aan Zee was probably the best game ever played in the history of chess. Obviously, it was the best game I have ever played with an amazing combination where I could see all the lines very clearly 15 moves ahead. 15 moves, not just one line but many different lines, and this mixture of human intuition, determination, and calculation proved to be decisive and helped me to create a really beautiful game. In fact, what helped me in that game, as well as in many other games, that I have recently won, was what I call an ability to think geometrically, that's what I got from working with a computer. Because when you analyze with the help of chess software on a powerful PC, it helps you to go through many lines. To some point, it also helps you to think along the lines with the computer. And I discovered that I could see the geometry of the board with almost computer-like precision. Computers are usually much stronger in the very complicated positions, where pieces are hanging or they have many opportunities to attack each other, and this geometry is often too difficult for human mind to cope with. Now I feel very comfortable, of course, not as comfortable as a computer, but much more comfortable than all my opponents do. Naturally, having mentioned this situation, I have to say a few words about the most publicized chess event that I was involved; I mean my matches against IBM super computer Deep Blue in 1996 in Philadelphia, and in 1997 in New York. Then Garry Kasparov used some abstracts from his Oregon lecture.
On April 20, 1999 Garry Kasparov Garry Kasparov participated in Annual CONFERENCE on HIGH SPEED COMPUTING in Oregon as a banquet speaker . This is a full text of the lecture. 20-04-1999
Oregon Lecture
CHESS, POLITICS & COMPUTERS Good evening ladies and gentlemen. I'm delighted to be here tonight speaking to you. As some of you may know the area of my professional interest is stretched from chess to the computers and the Internet. Since Al Gore said he invented the Internet, I was about to tell you that I invented chess. But because the beginning of the game is lost in the dark ages you would find it difficult to take my word on that. If I sometimes appear distracted while up here please keep in mind that I'm a chess player - so when making a speech I'm always thinking 5 or 6 pages ahead. I was born in Baku on April 13, 1963. Baku at that time was a typical multinational city, where everybody spoke Russian. My father who died when I was 7, was Jewish, my mother is Armenian, they were both engineers. This blood combination, called in Russia "an explosive mixture", obviously helped to create a talent, which was very useful in my chess life. My father was from intellectual Jewish circles in Baku, and my mother had roots in the mountain area of Karabakh in Azerbaijan. Those qualities were extremely important in building a strong character to resist the pressure that I have experienced throughout my life. I learnt how to play chess at the age of 5. My talent was discovered immediately. And at the age of 7 I was sent to the chess group in The Pioneer Palace in Baku and my first successes came very quickly. At 10 I was already a "candidate master" and one of the best young players in my native republic of Azerbaijan. In 1976 and 1977 I won, two consecutive Soviet under 18 Youth Championship. In 1979, I made my first Grandmaster norm. At that time, it was very clear to anyone who knew anything about chess that I would become the most dangerous challenger to Anatoly Karpov, who was not only the World Champion but also the darling of the Communist system, a native Russian who was very close to many Soviet top officials. Problems with Soviet officials appeared quite soon. In 1981, after I won my first Soviet Championship, the chief of the chess department of the Soviet Sports committee bluntly told me: "we have one champion and we do not need another one". Anyway, soon I won my right to challenge the World Champion. Some of you, who follow chess may remember this dramatic event in 1984. I was not psychologically ready to take on Karpov and obviously, underestimated him, thinking that it would be as easy as it had been to win previous candidate matches. I probably need to remind you that it was a match without limits and it had to continue indefinitely until one player would have won six games. The draws were not counted. It was 4:0 in Karpov's favor after nine games, and everybody thought that the match would be over very soon. Then after many draws Karpov won game 27 and the score became five to nil. And here the miracle happened. I wonder, whether I could do it again. It was and it is a total miracle for me how I played so well after game 27 being down zero to five. I did not give him many chances and for the next three months (yes, three months!!), during 21 games, Karpov was not able to win this decisive 6th game. Instead he has lost three games- games 32, then 47 and 48two last games of the match. The score became 5:3 and Karpov was looking very vulnerable. At this moment the match was suddenly closed down by the FIDE, International Chess Federation, President, Florencio Campomanes, a Philippino, who was elected with full support of Soviet officials and, some say, the KGB. He was very helpful to Karpov when he beat Korchnoi in their match in the Philippine in 1978. In 1985 he made his historical decision, taking full responsibility by closing the match down because "both players were exhausted". Karpov was leading but obviously, he was not in a good shape at all to continue the match. This is considered the most infamous moment in chess history. With this controversial decision Florencio Campomanes would have been qualified to be a judge in the recent Holyfield-Lewis match! We played a new match in September 1985, and I won the title. Then we played in 86, in 87, and in 1990 with the same result: I always retained my title, which I'm proud to hold until today! I recognized quite soon that this fight with FIDE and the Sports Committee of the Soviet Union could not be separated from the fight against the Communist system. The whole Soviet system created a climate for corruption, favors and oppression of those who had different opinions. When the changes were on the horizon in the 80-s, with Gorbachev's Perestroika, I joined the Democratic Movement with no hesitation, thinking that my example would be extremely important for millions of Soviet people who had no experience of protesting actively against the regime. And to see someone like Garry Kasparov protesting could make a big difference for them because if I were passive, that would be a very bad message, while my active stance would be a sort of encouragement. I have to admit that my World Champion title gave me a certain protection, and of course, it was not as dangerous in the
80-s as it had been before, but still I was quite proud of my actions at that time. However, the results of this activity, mine and of many-many others, are not very encouraging today. The good news is that the outrageous Soviet regime is no longer in place, and I continue to hope that what we are seeing now is nothing but the last gasps of our terrible past. As the Soviet Empire came to an end, the Communist Government made a last attempt to retain overall control by instigating national clashes and riots. And one of the bloodiest conflicts started between the Armenians and the Azerbaijanis over Nagorny-Karabakh. Tragically this territorial dispute did not stay within the limits of arguments and confrontation but resulted in genocide of the Armenian people in few major cities of Azerbaijan ending in the capital city Baku. It was quite an experience for me too save some of my relatives and friends, plus some other families, by chartering a plane and leaving Baku, January 17, 1990. That was the last time I visited the city and it is a great pity that I have not had a chance to come back to the place where I was born, and where my father, two grandfathers, and a grandmother are buried. Some expected me to leave the Soviet Union completely after this terrible experience, but I believe that the country, where one can accomplish the most, is the country of one's native language. I am Russian by language, by education, by culture, from my birth and that is why I decided to move to the capital of the Russian Empire. That empire has shrunk, it lost its national provinces, but I belong to the country where everybody speaks Russian, and unless I would be forced to leave I will stay in. Undoubtedly I have a very strong affection for Armenia and Israel, and I did my utmost to help the Armenian people to fight for their just cause in Nagorny Karabakh, and I still continue my support in all forms to the people of the state of Israel. My fight with FIDE has not been all that easy, because the world of chess was not ready for changes. Unfortunately, FIDE which was on the verge of a total disaster in early 90-s, was saved by a miraculous appearance of Kirsan Iliumzhinov, the head of the province of Kalmykia, a Russian Federation. He is the president of this province, and someone who is the best representative of corruption and political degradation of the Russian state today. I am sure some of you have read about this region and its infamous president. He was able to make enormous amount of money by taking it, one way or the other, from the state treasury, organizing fake companies or initiating fake projects. He was slick enough to establish very close relations with many top Russian officials and eventually decided that he and his partners would need a safe bank account and headquarters outside of Russia, and chess was a very good choice made by him. For an insignificant amount of money (I say "insignificant" because if he wanted to take over tennis or golf federations, that would be ten or a hundred times more expensive), for x-million of dollars, he was able to get a headquarters in Lausanne and a bank account far away from Russian prosecutors. Arguably, this is one of the channels for IMF and World Bank money to find its way back to the West! It is worth noting that someone who has appeared from the ashes of the Soviet regime is now running FIDE, whose strength was based on the full support of the Soviet Union. You can read many articles describing the miserable situation in Russia today. Endemic corruption is destroying every effort to build a normal democratic society. Many commentators including myself compared the criminal situation in Russia today with a similar situation in America at the end of 20-s and mid 30-s. There is, as I mentioned in one of my articles in WSJ, a negative difference. Russia has many Al Capones and Lucky Lucianos but does not have its own Thomas Dewey or Eliot Ness on the horizon. The reason that the Russian state is not able to cope with growing criminal activity, is because the Russian mob today is an integrated part of the system. By cleaning up the mess created by the Al Capones', US police could help the state to restore law and order. To the contrary, in Russia a complete elimination of the criminal element will lead, probably, to a lawless society. Today, the state - the corrupted, ineffective, overbureaucratic State, inherited from the Soviet Union - can not even support a normal functioning legal society. That is why in Russia today the Mafia plays an important "positive" role. If you have a problem you are more likely to go to them rather than to the police or the courts. This outrageous situation serves Russian bureaucracy very well, because it can impose unofficial "taxes" on medium and small-size businesses. According to an unofficial report more than $6bn a year is being spent in Russia on bribes to support these businesses, and to give these businesses a chance to survive. Obviously, in this situation no one could expect steady growth and a normal environment. Also the crisis in Yugoslavia has shown that the mindset of Russian political leaders does not differ much from the old Soviet's. It is quite unusual to see in a democratic country that the whole parliament is united in condemnation of socalled "naked aggression". With the exception of Andrei Kozyrev, Russian ex-minister of foreign affairs, dismissed at a time from this position for his pro-Western views, no one in the parliament, no one on TV had enough courage to take a stand, saying that Serbian atrocities in Kosovo following those in Bosnia and Croatia, had to be stopped and there was no other way for NATO to stop it after numerous warnings. Russian politicians are showing a dramatic unity, from Gaidar to Zuganov, all condemning NATO and the United States. And this nationalistic hysteria, of course, opens the doors for a new spin of the Cold War. It is, a great pity, because, as I argued in one of my articles in 1993 in the "Wall Street Journal", Russian-American cooperation could do a lot of good for future development in the World, and also it could effect or stabilize the world in creating a normal environment for safety and prosperity. Sadly it is not happening! It does not seem realistic any more but I still hope that the problems, which Russia is facing today, are mainly generational. With a generational sweep of Yeltsin's, Primakov's and Luzhkov's we will open the door for other people, who are not rooted in the dark past of Soviet times. And it will help to change the attitude of the majority in my country towards cooperation with the West While waiting for this lucky turn, the West must be firm. There is no way to appease communists, ultra-nationalists, or fascists. From world history we know that all these attempts failed badly, and only a
demonstration of strength will eventually force the dubious regimes to back off. I should remind you of the situation in 1956, when the West blinked in Hungary letting Soviet troops crush the revolutionary independent movement. Almost at the same time the West stopped its actions in Egypt, after direct threats from the Soviet Union to the United Kingdom. I think this sign of weakness led to the terrible crisis of 1962, when the Soviet leadership believing that the West would give up again, decided to place nuclear missiles at Cuba. The operation was aborted only as the result of the strong stand taken eventually by President Kennedy. Detente in the 70-s ended up with the invasion of Afghanistan. I have no doubt that only the strong position taken by President Reagan (who dared to call the Soviet regime what it was - "an evil empire"), and the announcement of SDI (which caused panic among Soviet bosses because they could not live in a world where someone was superior in military terms), led to Perestroika and to democratic changes under Gorbachev. Suddenly Soviet leaders discovered that the scientific gap between the communist countries and the free world was huge, and the military race was about to be lost. As a matter of fact, they have recognized that the "slaves" would not be able to build powerful personal computers. That is why, I believe that one of the greatest contributions to the victory over communism was achieved by scientists of the free world, who demonstrated to the communist leaders that their philosophy was bankrupt. However, we still live in a dangerous world, and the cure is not automatic. That is why there are plenty of things to be done by the West, and especially by the US, to guarantee that the general trend in the World will not change, and that all countries will move in the right direction. I think that the West should be gracious towards Russia and not to go for petty revenges, but at the same time not to make strategic concessions. Russia has to recognize that it can only join the civilized world on terms equal for everybody, and I think it will be very good for my country, for my generation, for other generations that are coming after us, and for the rest of the World. This world today, unfortunately, still needs a policeman, a psychiatrist, and a babysitter, and who else but US and NATO can execute these roles. I know that many in the world are not comfortable with this view but if we would like to live on a planet that is safe for everybody, we need these functions to be taken seriously. And they should be made abundantly clear that those who need a demonstration of force, psychiatric treatment, or nursing, will be effectively provided with these services by the Free World. Let me return to chess and my fight with FIDE. I have to emphasize that one of the key elements of this fight is my strong disagreement with the official FIDE position that they are in control of the World Chess championship. The world championship history started in 1886, many years, before FIDE was formed in 1924. As a point of reference, it was ten years before the first Olympic games were held in 1896. No one in the world of chess ever denied the validity of the title created at that time. I believe that the World Champion is in the position to control it, and his only obligation is to arrange good conditions for potential challengers to have a shot on the title. FIDE took over the organization of the event from 1948, after the 4th World Champion Alexander Alekhin died unbeaten in 1946. The first 25 years of these events up to 1972 the World Championship was an internal Soviet affair and FIDE had nothing to do with it. Then, when Bobby Fischer appeared in 1972, and later, when Karpov played Korchnoi, and I played Karpov, FIDE proved its inefficiency as a commercial entity, and was always heavy politicized to undertake necessary changes. I would like to continue this fight, though it will obviously take a lot of my strength. I believe chess must be professional, and it should be done by bringing sponsorship and advertising dollars, and creating conditions in chess that have been created in tennis and golf at the end of 60-s. And I also believe chess has to move into the educational system, where it could do a lot of good for improving conditions for the kids. It was proven in many places in the world that one year of chess lessons help kids to develop better concentration, application, a sense of logic, self-discipline, self-respect, improved behavior and generally to take responsibility for their own actions. As I know, there are many places around the world where chess is being taught but not on a centralized basis. And when I opened my chess academy in Tel Aviv, I aimed to work out a blueprint for the whole country, for the state of Israel, which could be used for the rest of the world. In Israel, with strong Jewish chess roots, there is very good soil for the introduction of this program in schools. I think that many other countries will have respect for the accomplishment of the educational system of the state of Israel. And it will be easier to bring this type of curriculum to many other places, especially where it is already being taught. For instance in the state of New Jersey, the governor will just have to look at hundreds of schools that are already teaching chess privately. The blue print, which I am going to produce within the next 18 months, will help educational boards in different places to have a standardized, system take it under control and to have united lessons that, in my opinion, will be a very good contribution to education generally. And it will also help the game of chess to move into the main stream of public attention, where I believe it belongs to. But of course, nothing makes chess more popular than matches like the one I played with the IBM super computer Deep Blue. In 1996 and 1997 phenomenal publicity following these two matches and proved my assessment made earlier that the Man versus Machine contest would be one of the most exciting social and scientific experiments at the end of the 20th century. 72 million hits during 6 games of the match in New-York represented higher density than Internet coverage of the Olympic games in Atlanta in 96! In fact, now, I think, the experiment will last for some time into the 21st century, because it has, except for all its scientific importance, enormous social impact on people's view on future cooperation between humans and machines. This kind of competition brings to the scientists the best field for investigation and comparison between human intuition and creativity and the brute force of a machine's calculation. Here is a short history of chess-playing computers and my views on their playing characteristics. In 1769 the Hungarian engineer Baron Wolfgang von Kempelen built a chess playing machine, for the amusement of his Queen Maria
Theresia. It was a purely mechanical device, shaped like a Turk. Naturally its outstanding playing strength was supplied by a chess master cleverly hidden inside the device. The machine was a fake. It is an amazing fact that the first chess program was written before computers that could execute the program were invented. It was written by a visionary man who knew that programmable computers were coming and that they would be able to play chess. The man was Alan Turing who led the project group that broke the German "Enigma" code and so helped decide the outcome of the war. He was very interested in chess, but in spite of having a brilliant intellect and putting a lot of effort into it he remained a fairly weak player. Soon after the war he wrote the instructions that would enable a machine to play chess. Since there was as yet no machine that could execute the instructions he did so himself, acting as a human CPU and requiring more than half an hour per move. One game is recorded in which Turing's "paper machine" lost to a colleague of his. Around the time of Turing, another great mathematician, Claude Shannon of Bell Laboratories, was thinking about teaching a computer to play chess. He realized that the problem would be the very large number of continuations, so he differentiated between an "A-Strategy" which looks at all continuations and a "B-Strategy" which cuts off certain lines. Today we differentiate between "brute force" and "selective" programs, although all strong programs belong more or less to the former category. Next move in chess computing was made in the…nuclear labs of Los-Alamos! When in 1950 a giant machine called "MANIAC 1" was delivered, instead of immediately getting to work on the bombs the scientists first experimented with the machine. And one of the first things they did was to write a chess program. They did this for a 6 x 6 board without bishops. In spite of this restriction the program needed twelve minutes to search to a depth of four ply (with the bishops it would have required three hours). In the mid-fifties the program played three games. The first was against itself (White won), the second against a strong player who spotted it a queen. The game lasted ten hours and the master won. Finally it played against a young lady who had learnt the game a week earlier. It won the game in 23 moves, the first time a human had lost to a computer in a game of intellectual skill. The main problem of chess programming is the very large number of continuations involved. In an average position there are about 40 legal moves. So if you consider every reply to each move you have 1600 positions. This is after two ply (half-moves), which is called one move in chess. After two moves there are 2.5 million positions, after three moves 4.1 billion. The average game lasts 40 moves. The number of all potential positions is in the order of 10128 (10 to the power of 128), which is vastly larger that the number of atoms in the known universe (a pitiful 1080). It is clear that no computer or any other machine will solve the game by looking at all possible continuations. But human beings are also imperfect players. It is only a question of what depth of search is required to match human strategic skill. Early computers were able to generate and evaluate about 500 positions per seconds, or 90,000 in three minutes (the average time per move in a tournament game). This means they could search only three ply (one and a half moves) deep. That led to very weak play - the level of a chess novice. To go one ply deeper required about 15,000 positions per second, a thirty-fold increase. But even four ply is very shallow. So it seemed unlikely that computers would ever play master-level chess. The first breakthrough came in 1958 when three scientists of the Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh (Newell, Shaw and Simon) made an important discovery. You can chop off large parts of the search tree without effecting the final results. They called this the alpha-beta algorithm and it is purely mathematical, i.e. works without the use of any chess knowledge. This is roughly how alpha-beta works: if you have finished evaluating a move and start working on a second move. As soon as a single line shows that it will return a lower value than the first move we can immediately terminate the search. We do not need to know exactly how much worse the move is, we will definitely prefer the first. Suddenly the early computers were able to look five and six ply ahead. In the seventies the world's fastest computers (e.g. the CDC Cyber series) were able to search seven ply deep and had achieved a respectable playing strength. But even with alpha-beta you need a five-fold increase in speed to go one ply deeper. Ken Thompson, the creator of Unix and the computer language C couldn't wait for the million-dollar super-computers to become five or twenty-five times faster in order to get stronger at chess. He and a colleague at the Bell Laboratories decided to build a special purpose machine out of many hundreds of chips, worth about 20,000 dollars. They called it "Belle" and it could only play chess. But it was able to search at about 180,000 positions per second (the supercomputers were doing 5000 positions). Belle could go down eight to nine ply in a tournament game, which enabled it to play in the chess master category. It also won the world computer chess championship and all other computer tournaments from 1980 to 1983, until it was superseded by giant Cray X-MPs costing a thousand times more. In the middle of the eighties Prof. Hans Berliner, a computer scientist of the Carnegie-Mellon university who had also been world correspondence chess champion, picked up where Ken Thompson had left off. Berliner built a hardwaredriven machine called "HiTech". He and his graduate students Carl Ebeling developed a hardware move generator chip. With 64 chips in parallel "HiTech" narrowly missed winning the world computer chess championship in 1986 (it was won by a Cray). Soon after that Berliner's students Murray Campbell and Feng-hsiung Hsu developed their own machine called ChipTest and later Deep Thought. It cost about 5000 dollars and ran at 500,000 positions per second. Hsu and Campbell subsequently broke with their teacher and joined IBM. Together with Joe Hoane they built IBM's current "Deep Blue". The machine I played against in Philadelphia and New York consisted of an IBM SP/2 server equipped with a large number of special-purpose chips, which do the fast calculations. Each chip is capable of processing two to three million
positions per second. By using over 200 of these chips the overall speed of the program could be raised to 200 million positions per second. In this connection we should remember that it was the chess chips that were generating the speed, not the host SP/2 machine, although IBM like to suggest otherwise. It is as though a Honda Civic, equipped with two Pratt & Whitney jet engines, breaks the world land speed record on the Salt Lake flats, and then the manufacturer claims that the Honda makes the fastest car in the world!! What does a speed of 200 million positions per second imply in a chess machine? Ken Thompson conducted some very interesting experiments in the 80s to correlate depth of search with increase in playing strength. Thompson played Belle against itself with one side computing progressively deeper. On an average a single ply of search depth translated to around 200 Elo points - at four ply Belle was playing around 1230, at nine ply it had reached 2328 Elo points. By extending the curve, which flattens at the top end, one could conclude that a search depth of 14 ply is required to achieve world championship strength (2800). Fisher attained a career high of 2785, Karpov was at 2775 and I'm the only one traversing 2800+ universe. The conclusion of the experts: you need to build a computer that runs at one billion nodes per second (and searches 14 ply deep) if you wish to challenge the human world champion for his title. Deep Blue comes close, but isn't there quite yet. Naturally the quality of programming also plays an important role. Today's top PC programs like Fritz, Virtual and Junior run at up to 600,000 positions per second on the fastest available hardware, and realistically have a playing strength in classical chess of over 2600. They are a match for all but the top 100 players in the world, in rapid forms of chess only the top dozen or so humans can compete. An important role in the strength of computers is played by the extensive opening books that are used. The collective knowledge and experience of many generations of human masters can easily be stored on a hard disk and accessed during the opening phase of the game. Even the micros know tens of millions of openings positions, and have access to full statistics for each of them (which moves were played, with what success, by what caliber of players, etc.). Very often a program will play fifteen or more moves of a game before it begins to compute for the first time. Without the benefit of this human knowledge in the openings the programs would be considerably weaker. While computers are gaining a substantial advantage from the vast amount of opening knowledge that has accumulated in the history of chess, they also profit from research at the other end of the game. Once again it was naturally the ubiquitous Ken Thompson who pioneered this development. In the 80s he began to generate and store all legal endgame positions with four and five pieces on the board. A typical five-piece ending, like king and two bishops vs. king and knight, contains 121 million possible positions. With a pawn, which is asymmetric in its movements, the number rises to 335 million. Thompson wrote programs that generated the positions and worked out all forcing lines that are possible in each endgame. He also compressed the resulting data in a way that allowed one to store about 20 endgames on a standard CD-ROM. Using these endgame databases a computer will play them absolutely perfectly ("like a God"). In any position with the given material on the board it knows instantly whether it is a win, draw or loss and in how many moves. Often it will announce a win or mate in over fifty moves. On the losing side it will defend optimally. Deep Blue was using Thompson's endgame databases in its search, and even the PC program Fritz has now implemented them in its search tree. Some of the five-piece endings are notoriously difficult or even impossible for human beings to master (a prime example is queen and pawn vs. queen, in which no human has the slightest chance against a computer). But they are tictac-toe compared to the six-piece endings, which Thompson is currently generating. In some six-piece positions you need to play over 200 accurate moves to win. Often it is impossible for the strongest players in the world to even tell what progress has been made after 100 moves, which the computer tells us, are absolutely essential. Naturally the development of hardware is working in favor of the computers. Thompson's six-piece endings, which contain 8 to 20 billion positions each, can be compressed to fit nicely on a DVD. Luckily the two ends - opening research and endgame database - will not meet. That's why it is highly unlikely that anyone will ever see a computer, which plays 1.e4 and announces mate in 40. Although it is probably only a matter of time before a computer will prevail in the game of chess. But above any scientific recognition was the best prize for any programmer - the scalp of the World Champion! I was willing to participate in this kind of experiment and it is worth recalling the event of 1989 when Deep Thought, the prototype of Deep Blue, made by Berliner's pupils was tested against the World Champion. Then it was not such a mysterious atmosphere because their machine played against other grandmasters, and the records of the games were available to me. Since this team has joined IBM, and the machine has been developed in IBM labs, nobody could see any games of Deep Blue and Deep Blue did not play any official games before it actually met me in Philadelphia, in February 1996. The success of the match was phenomenal and it was partly due to the fact that the machine could use my mistakes in Game 1, and won this game. That was a sort of explosion, because the machine was able to beat the World Champion in a serious game of classical chess. With great effort I managed to turn the event in my favor, beating the machine by 4 points to 2, but it was quite a close fight. Obviously, it proved that at that level of calculation, with that speed, and with that kind of accumulated knowledge of chess, the machine was able not only to resist but also to threaten the human domination in chess. The offer of the second match came immediately from IBM and I did not hesitate for a moment to grab it. And that is a telling difference between the behavior of an individual and the behavior of the corporation, because in a similar situation fifteen months later, after some PR hesitations, IBM refused to satisfy
my request for a third tie-breaking series. Already in Philadelphia I felt that all conditions were set in favor of the machine rather than for a human player. The subsequent match in New York has proven this case more than convincingly. Also I could not have a proper preparation for the event because no games were available. And for a chess player, the lack of information about the opponent makes the task very difficult. We are not used to meeting strong players without collecting certain information about their style, weaknesses, and preferences. They had all my games and I had none of theirs! Everybody knows the outcome of that match and many of you heard about certain discussions and criticism that came from me. The press played it down partly because they were not keen to criticize me as a poor loser, but mainly not to aggravate a giant advertiser such as IBM. When IBM announced that it had dismantled Deep Blue it seemed perfectly OK to the public - IBM had won the event and decided not to pursue this project further. In the contrary, I believe that this decision was extremely unfair because there was a mutual understanding from the very beginning that we were about to start a long chain of events. Under no circumstances could one match prove anything about the strength of a human player visavis a computer. Also the continuation of the experiment would be extremely useful because I believe that Deep Blue's involvement in chess could give us valuable information and show at what point, at what depth of calculation, a machine's decision-making process could produce the same result as human creativity and intuition. I am a supporter of the view that artificial intelligence should not be presented in the form, similar to the way our brain is working. We should rather judge by the net result, and if at the end of the day the machine comes up with the same conclusion using 5% of judgement and 95% of calculations, versus our 95% of judgement and 5% of calculations, I think it's absolutely fine. It proves, in my opinion, that we were witnessing some sort of a weird form of artificial intelligence. Some of you in this room will agree and some will strongly disagree, but this view has a lot of common sense. I think, that's what chess could contribute to the computer science field, because only in chess do you have this very thin and subtle balance between creativity and calculation. In literature you have a misbalance on one side and in mathematics a similar misbalance on another side that is why chess is really ideal field for this form of comparison. When you have a match between such different opponents, you have to look at the different strengths and weaknesses of both sides during the competition. Playing against a chess computer means facing something that doesn't have any nerves - similar to sitting across the table from an IRS agent during a tax audit.// It's quite clear, what the weaknesses of a human being are - primarily our vulnerability to an outside interference. We could catch a cold, be easily distracted, and so on. Obviously, we are not in the position to calculate as deep as the machine, but we can compensate for it with other factors. It's less clear what are the weaknesses of the machine, but for a computer specialist or a chess specialist, it is not difficult to indicate them either. I believe that the number one problem that can not be fixed or taken away in the nearest foreseeable future is the lack of flexibility. Under this term I mean the set scale of priorities that are built into every machine. And this scale, everybody knows, can not be changed during the game. It is very difficult to change it even during the match of six games, since any major change always requires heavy testing to check possible damage to the whole system. And that is why, if the machine believes that King's safety is number one on the list, it will always try to put it on the top and other factors that could be far more important in the concrete situation, will not be taken as seriously. No one was ever able to create a moving scale of priorities; no one was able to teach the machine how to change its priority list due to a changing course of the game. And of course, on the top of any evaluation in machine's rank, we always see the material. It always tries to translate quality and time factors into the numbers that are representing the mathematical balance of the material. As you understand, it self-proposes the best strategy for a human being to go after. And my idea to play the match was quite simple, and I have to admit that I did not pay enough attention to my preparation, hoping that my good form and a clear mind would be more than enough to win the match. As for the opening strategy, which is quite a dangerous part of the game now, since there is too much of theory and many lines, that can be exploited further by the GM-team supporting the machine. My choice was either to have a very heavy work protecting my main lines (using another computer in order to see whether there are any potential weaknesses), or simply to avoid the main lines and to accept inferior position after the opening, hoping that outside of the theoretical routes the machine would lose its horizons and would start making positional mistakes. The negative side is that such a strategy dramatically limits your active opportunities, which totally contradicts my aggressive chess style. Anyway, I decided to opt for this strategy, and it worked perfectly well in Game 1, when after very quiet opening which I played very slowly on purpose, the machine totally lost its track. Since there was no active interference of pieces from both camps, the machine, as far as I understand, could barely notice opponent's pieces. And of course it made several positional mistakes, which gave me a serious positional advantage. In fact, the machine weakened its King without big hesitation, and it is important to remember that after the match the Deep Blue team claimed that they had created a scale of priority where the King's safety was highly evaluated. But when we look at Game 1, we can see that the machine simply destroyed its King's pawns' protection and did not pay much attention to the King's safety before it was too late. There is no doubt that game one was a clear demonstration of the machine's weaknesses and also its strength because in a difficult position the machine found a way to complicate the situation. Then I found an interesting exchange sacrifice. And despite the fact that I was denied an opportunity to look at the printouts, I could sense from the machine's anticipation, that it valued its position better. I don't know whether much better or simply better, but it understood that it was loosing when it was really too, too late. And it spent a lot of time in vain looking for an escape. What is a lot of time for the machine? It's more than three minutes, which was a minimum fixed amount of time allocated per a move by the programmers in Game1.At the end of the game the machine spent nearly six minutes,
before resigning in a couple of moves. It is quite significant that the danger was discovered too late. And it is also significant that when the machine discovered the danger, it spent more than a fixed minimum amount of time allocated for a move. I will not go on analyzing the whole match because, in my opinion, everything was decided in Game 2. I got into quite a dubious position after the opening in accordance with my general strategy, because I believed that in this kind of configuration the machine would not play well. Naturally, I expected the machine to do certain things that any other machine would do. In fact, Deep Blue's software and its understanding of chess are inferior to other top chess software in the world. But suddenly, when you look at the game played by this machine, you discover that the strategy of the steady increase of the pressure looked very similar to the strategy of a human player. It is hard to believe that one could predict this kind of development and to prevent the machine from opening the file and taking control of that file, preferring instead to wait for a better moment. So, the machine played very well and it forced me to consider a material sacrifice in order not to be squeezed from a lack of space. And here we come across a crucial moment, because suddenly the machine that played very quickly (in this game it was four minutes allocated for a move, as, more than fifteen moves in the main theoretical line had been made by the machine in a few seconds), spent fifteen minutes considering a line which could lead to a big material advantage. The machine could win three pawns by force. And here we should pay attention, because today there is no computer in the world that could resist such temptation. By winning these three pawns, the machine could under no circumstances lose the game. It would lead to the position where Black had some counterchances, but I repeat that under no circumstances could you indicate that Black's threats were decisive. I was not sure about the outcome but I saw that my pieces would be activated and my threats would be good enough to hold the balance. But this human evaluation has nothing to do with the machine's calculation. And when the machine spends 15 minutes, it means that it sees a lot of drops in the evaluation and it goes for "panic time", i.e. it has to find a better move, where these drops in evaluation would be not so dramatic. But fifteen minutes is well above the four minutes allocated for a move. When the machine made a move, I replied instantaneously, as it was the only move - I had to take the machine's Bishop. And now one expects that the machine would not spend more than 4 minutes, but it had spent seven minutes, and made a move that any machine would most likely reject. It has eventually led to the position, where White refused to win material but retained enormous strategic pressure. It is a very good solid decision that would be made by a professional player, not necessarily a very strong player - a good master or a weak GM. You do not have to be a top-top player to recognize potential dangers that White would face in case of winning three pawns. But the machine does not have the ability to recognize the "danger". The machine thinks in pure mathematical terms, and it always goes after three pawns, unless it sees that there are dangers that will eliminate such huge material advantage, which is evaluated as +300. A small segment of the printouts published by IBM in New York Times showed that the machine ended up with a line that gave, according to the machine's calculation +49. What I wanted desperately to hear from IBM for the last two years was the explanation to chess and computer specialists, what kind of positional disadvantages added one to another came up with -252. As that is the number to be reached by these disadvantages to avoid winning three pawns.// Following the game experiments were made with many small computers and they ran the position after winning three pawns. And these machines ran for hours starting from the position so much further on - 8 ply deeper. However, no machine came up with a clear conclusion that Black had a real compensation for the material losses. Any machine, any good chess software program run on Pentium II for hours and started 8 plies deeper than Deep Blue, is definitely not worse than Deep Blue working on the position for 15 minutes. The most amazing thing is that the whole combination of these 15 minutes-deep-thought and next 7 minutes, aborted with a big blunder in the main log. (I am still quoting the segment published by IBM in New York Times). The appearance of such a blunder did not make sense for anyone who is familiar with the way chess machines are contemplating the moves. It is very hard for me to argue about what has actually happened in this game. I have very strong views which you can easily anticipate from what I am saying now, but the main point is that IBM had a duty and still has a moral obligation to give the chess world access to the printouts. Because this is the only way our match could gain any scientific importance, or the result of the match could have any sporting value. Any world record in sports is always followed by a drug test; any scientific discovery should be supported by the scientific data available for anyone who has an interest. Nothing was done. It was a very quiet celebration in the scientific world. IBM collected several scientific awards from universities or different kinds of scientific institutions without disclosing any data to prove that it was a real machine, and that the machine solely played a great match. Also IBM rejected to consider the option a tie-breaker and, as I have indicated, a new match could be played only under strict fair conditions, where the machine is properly supervised by an independent panel of specialists, who would guarantee that one move would go in the machine and one move would go out of the machine. Also I believe that the machine should be cut from any assistance during the game and if it crashes, the game should be forfeited. In February of this year I wrote an article for Forbes ASAP, where I mentioned that the machine crashed a few times during our match in 1997 in New York. It happened in the eyes of the public and also was not hidden from me, but it is quite funny to note that upon being asked by the editors, IBM rejected this claim and said that the machine never crashed, and it was just a "programmed halt". An amazing confession, because a crash was allowed by the rules of the match! But today, IBM's PR department decided that for the reputations of SP-2, which they are trying to identify with Deep Blue, it would be better to deny any crash and to sell the story of the "programmed halt". I do not want to go into
legal details; I do not want to waste money for the lawyers, but something tells me that the "programmed halt", which clearly represents human intervention was not fully legal according to the rules that we have signed. Strangely enough this PR twist with the "programmed halt", to some extent, proves my suspicions of the human interference, at least during Game 2. That was the decisive game that for the first time in my career threw me out of my stride. But this is history now. I have decided not to pursue this case as my interest is to go ahead with the scientific experiment. And the reason I am telling you the story is not to wake up some old ghosts or to tell how badly IBM behaved. But I think that IBM committed a sort of "crime" against science, because by claiming the victory in the manversus-machine contest, which was not accomplished, IBM dissuaded other companies from entering the competition. We are just wasting our precious time, while new machines with new very sophisticated software could come up with a better challenge against human players and could give us more valuable information, both for the chess players and for the computer specialists. But since the public believes that the event proved the computer's superiority- the result is that no corporation is willing to contribute millions of dollars to fund such a complicated project. By the way, during the 2 weeks of the New York match, IBM shares increased by 22%. But for some reason, Lou Gerstner did not invite me to the next IBM shareholders meeting to take a bow. Thank you again for inviting me. And I wish you well for the reminder of the conference. (c)1998 WEB-studio InterEcoDesign HTU
UTH
OXFORD LECTURE OF GARRY KASPAROV November 1997
I t was very important that my opponent was not only sitting at the chessboard, but it was also the organiser, the referee, was also the PR, it was everything. And obviously, the conditions which were created at this match were very far from those created at a match, where the opponent is a very vulnerable human being. I am happy with my nervous system, but I was facing something that didn't have any nerves. I think that this kind of experience is quite frightening and I would like to discuss it. It's quite difficult, as there are many things I would like to talk about. But let me start with the following point. As the outcome of this match was quite surprising, most experts were mystified about the outcome of the Kasparov vs. Deep Blue match, moreover, very few had predicted a victory for the computer. Furthermore, nobody expected it to come about the way it did, and certainly no-one had seen me lose a game the way I lost game six. Obviously, such a loss has very little to do with chess skills. OK, I was accused by some chess players and chess journalists of being paid huge sums of money. Somebody indicated $40 million - it's a good amount to throw a match. And these accusations can be backed by the fact that IBM gained a lot, at least a quarter of a billion dollars in free publicity, but I think it was even more because the news caught nearly every front page of any major newspaper. Also, during the two weeks of the match, from the end of April to May 13th, IBM shares jumped 22% in price. Indeed, it was a substantial win. I know that trying to explain the reasons of the loss after the match often sounds like the excuse of a loser, but I believe that this match covered more than my relations with IBM, that it was more than a match between Garry Kasparov and a new superpower computer, it affected future relations between man and computers. And I want us to understand whether my opponent in this match was a computer or not, as nobody today can guarantee it. Let's make sure: nobody has seen the machine, nobody had any access to the machine, this machine was better protected than any national secret in Pentagon. Nobody could check what was being done in the hotel opposite the New York Equitable, where the match was held. In the Hotel Michaelangelo just across the street, there was a second terminal. That was accepted by IBM. IBM never denied this fact. It was in the second terminal where Deep Blue was run and at least a few Grandmasters were sitting. There is no factual evidence of human intervention, which we will discuss a bit later, but what we know is that this machine, i.e. my opponent, was covered was covered with enormous secrecy. Whether it had caused my loss or not, it is another story. It's not even about the machine making some moves which I didn't expect, it's not about the machine doing something which is today well above the ability of any computer. It was about my own confidence, because obviously, facing something which I could neither feel, nor see, nor had I any idea of its games or preparation, made me, at one point, scared. And I believe that the loss of confidence led to the ultimate disaster. A player competing at the top level of chess always, without any exception, knows something about his opponent. In my entire professional career I had never played a serious game against someone I didn't know. Usually, you see somewhere about 20, 30 and hundreds of games of your opponent before the actual match. You form a battle strategy on the basis of these games, and it is, as I have discovered, very unnerving to play against an opponent you know absolutely nothing about. At the same time, you are aware that your opponent knows every single game you ever played in public (many thousands in all), and every scrap of analysis that has ever been published about them. This asymmetry bothered me during the first match, but after taking the lead I decided that it could be ignored. That was a very serious mistake, since it played a much more decisive role in the second match. I am absolutely sure that if I could have seen 20 or even 10 games played by the computer under match conditions, I would have been able to play with an entirely
different level of confidence. As a matter of fact, before the first and the second matches IBM denied any access to any game played by Deep Blue. The provision was very simple: I could see all games Deep Blue played in public, but obviously all the games Deep Blue played were in the lab, and therefore, I was not allowed to see them at all. We know that before the second match, Deep Blue played many games in normal tournament conditions against strong American players. These games were never allowed for public to observe. I would like to stress that it is not just lack of information but an extraordinary and unnatural psychological situation that throws you off. And in a match of six games where every legal aspect matters, such inconvenience for human psychology could be decisive, as it was. In both matches the machine was completely invisible to me: neither I nor any member of my team was allowed anywhere near its location, we were never allowed to be within the view of the terminal. The machine was completely sacrosanct and was treated like a vital national secret, as I've already said. No questions I ever asked about it were ever answered. It was an atmosphere of ploy. I couldn't have profited from any scraps of information I received, but I felt that I'd been stripped of some basic right: to know and see my opponent. I went into this match with positive feelings, thinking I was participating in some important experiment and I came out feeling I had encountered an invisible and deeply hostile force - Deep Blue. The game situation was very similar, I will describe it briefly: normally, I'm at the stage and when we play a game of chess we are cut from the rest of the world. I'm here, you can see me, I have a referee and the referee watches every step. I cannot communicate with anybody. And I can very well remember how very upset I was in the middle of Game five. The machine was hanging. Moreover, it was hanging thrice in this match. Which means they had to restart the machine. If you look from the pure sports point of view, in case a machine is hanging, it's a sort of heart attack, the game is over. If I had a heart attack, it's bad luck for me and for the game. So, they tried to restart the machine. You know, it was a very, very small tournament hall, in fact, it wasn't a tournament hall at all, it was a very small room on the 35th floor. In this very small room, where only six or eight people could sit, there were only top officials, and my mother, and my coach. I addressed my mother saying "what are they doing?" I didn't say a word, I just pointed at them, and the referee pointed at me saying "Wait a second, Mr. Kasparov, you cannot talk to your team." I said "Yes, but they are talking to their guy." Now let me point out that the machine was hooked up to phone lines, had access to other computers, it could consult opening and end-game databases with all the trillions of moves and positions stored in them. If anything went wrong, people could type instructions into a keyboard and correct the errors. The only assurance we could get after a great deal of bargaining, was that nothing untold would happen. And there was one neutral computer expert watching a slave monitor, who told us at the end of the game that he had seen nothing unusual. So, they had one year to fix the machine after the first match. The point here is: the human being is subjected to the strictest of controls, the computer and its operators must be trusted blindly, without any questions. I don't think these are fair conditions for a match, as long as the result matters. In the first match it was ACM who sponsored the organisation and arbitration, and it was Corporate IBM in the second. During the match in New York, whenever I had any request or need, I had to go and ask my opponent. Psychologically it was a very precarious situation, and certainly, one that never arises in normal chess matches. I must admit that I totally underestimated the impact it would have on me. In any future match there must be a neutral organiser to take care of the needs and requests of both sides in a balanced fashion. Also it was a grave mistake on my part not to ask for a rest day after each game, as the pressure of the match was tremendous. Moreover, since I was playing against technically an extremely dangerous opponent, I could not let down my guard for an instant. And add to this the pressure of mass media attention, which was completely overwhelming. Naturally, my opponent was subject to none of this. There was a number of other factors, but the above-mentioned will suffice to illustrate my point. If I had been outplayed by the machine, then the above reasons might indeed be interpreted as lame excuses. But when a professional chess player with years of experience collapses psychologically the way I did, we must ask ourselves whether we need to redefine human rights in these confrontations with machines. I have experienced it first hand and it was a frightening experience. Others will have similar encounters in other fields, more and more in the future. Either they will have a far better nervous systems than I do - good luck - or they will suffer a similar traumatic fate. I would like to say a few words about Game two, the crucial game of that match. The preparation for the match was very simple: I was confident that before this match I played the best chess ever in my life, I played a lot with computers. I was sure, the machine would not out-calculate me and, in fact, it didn't during the match. The machine never outcalculated me in those complications that occurred in Game four or Game five of this match. My only concern was the opening, because today chess has progressed to the level where opening theory is deep, very deep in many directions. We have many lines where you can make 15, 20, sometimes 25 moves without thinking, just following the experience of other players, following the games that have already been played. Obviously, all these games must be checked very carefully in order to find whether there are any mistakes or not. But it is very difficult to memorise all these lines. If you want to play a very sharp, tactical, complicated line you have to be sure that your memory will not betray you. However, when I play an opponent - when I play Karpov, I play Anand, play Kramnik - I can easily narrow down the field of openings I have to memorise before the game. I know what kinds of games these guys have played before, I know their preferences, and I know their so called chess portraits, their psychological portraits. But before this match, I had to take on an opponent, as I said, with zero information. Normally, I play e4, I mean that's my favourite move that won most games. But it leads to very sharp openings. It's impossible for me to memorise all this stuff. I had to go and
play an opponent without even knowing what would be the first or the second move, or what openings it would select. What I know, is that it had a very strong team of grandmasters preparing it for some main lines, and obviously they would try to drag me into the lines where memory and tactical calculations will be decisive. As I discovered before the match, the situation was not easy, and that's why my strategy was very simple: with white pieces I was not looking for an advantage, I played a very quiet game. When I play White, I would like to put my pieces on the third rank; when I play Black - on the sixth rank, in order to play quiet chess, avoiding complications at an early stage, trying to force the machine to make some mistakes. As the machine can scarcely notice its opponent before any pieces of the two sides come into contact. It makes some moves, but before the contact starts, billions and billions of moves per minute will mean very, very little, because nothing is actually happening. I hoped that during a quiet development of the game in the beginning, at an early stage, I could allocate certain positional advantages and then, when the conflict starts, I would have enough positional advantages to enter the complicated phase. I was sure, that my tactical abilities would not betray me, and this was brilliantly proven in Game one. A very slow opening, then the machine made some very strange moves: my position was better but the machine found a way to complicate the game. I had to take a challenge: I sacrificed an exchange. I sacrificed material - that was something deadly against the machine, because it played with material advantage, it had an extra exchange. Now it had to combine material and quality, and it couldn't. And what was very important: the machine played according to its schedule. Another important thing is that in these matches, in serious tournament games, they always have special time limit for each move. In this match Deep Blue was playing either three or four minutes per move. It's important to know this before we go to Game two. Providing nothing happens, the machine spends three to four minutes. It could play faster. While I am thinking, the machine is also looking at the number of moves. If it is my move, the move which is actually made by me, then it is on top of the agenda of the machine and the machine spends less than four minutes, deducting the time, as it considers this move to be the best. That's the way it works. There's only one situation where the machine "by itself" extends the time limit per move. It's called the mechanism of "panic time". We never had a chance to find out what is the panic time mechanism because it was never explained. What we could imagine was: it's a moment in which the machine suddenly sees the drops in judging the position. When the fluctuation is too big, there is a signal of danger, and that's why the machine automatically extends the time spent per move, trying to find more stable lines. Probably, they programmed it in such a way that certain fluctuations are considered dangerous for evaluation. Obviously, everybody understands that in some positions with material advantage the machine can easily overlook long-term consequences, and if there are sudden fluctuations, it is better to add extra time. The paradox is that the machine never spent more than three minutes in Game One. However, it spent six minutes at the moment when the position was completely lost. It's interesting because any human being would have felt danger. Indeed, the position was quite dangerous. Despite extra exchange the machine was in a grave danger. So what has actually happened? It spent three minutes for every move, and when the game was completely over and probably many humans would have resigned, it spent six minutes just to confirm that the game was over. And also the last move of the game was quite funny: the machine made a move which led to an immediate disaster, I pushed my pawn and the machine resigned. Any human being would make a different move, which would lead to a longer game. I was very surprised by the fact that the machine wouldn't go for this move, because the game could have lasted for 20 or 25 moves more. It was absolutely obvious that the machine lost, but the game could continue. The move the machine made led to an immediate disaster - the game lasted only one move more. When we got back, we put the position on our computer and I just recognised: the machine actually saw within 10 or 11 moves that as it was a forced line, it saw that it would be forced to lose playing this move. It decided to go for a move which led to an immediate disaster, because the operator resigned. But the final evaluation of the position was slightly better, something like minus 4 versus minus 7. So, there is no understanding of psychology - it is simply decided on the basis of numbers, in accordance with the theory. And we all believed it was just the case. And here comes Game two. I have to admit I didn't play the game well. It was an awful opening, but again I was too confident in myself. I thought I would find to escape. And if you ask any chess experts to show you several games played by machines and humans and tell which is which, ten out of ten will tell you "this game was played by a human being." Ten out of ten, if I am not mistaken. There is not a single person in the world that could ever recognise that this game was played by a computer. But now we are not arguing about the whole game - it was a good game, I was outplayed, the machine played very good, quiet moves. I have some personal questions about the machine's decisions, in fact about the way IBM team was trying to explain these decisions. Now we came to a crucial position, where I found my last chance. I was sacrificing three pawns, three pawns is +300 according to machine's calculation (each pawn is a +100). In exchange I could get very good tactical chances against the machine's king. The machine played at the speed of four minutes per move as in the opening there were many moves from the book. Four minutes. For the first move of the critical position the machine spent 15 or 16 minutes - I think 15 minutes 50 seconds. This is an eternity for the machine, 15 minutes 50 seconds is nearly the end of the world. A machine doesn't spend so much time. Nearly 16 minutes, four times the limit. Obviously the panic time mechanism was switched on. What for? The machine discovered dangers. Then the machine took my knight; I immediately took the bishop, which means that the machine could make the next move in four minutes. Four minutes should have been enough, but no, the machine spent another seven minutes, and it changed its mind. The only thing we know is that the machine didn't take my pawns, but decided to play a positional game. It's a very interesting point. That's really a milestone in the development of computer technology, if it is true. But if it is, it could
be proven easily - with printouts. Printouts. You have to show us how the machine changed its mind. As we know, three pawns would mean +300. And what we know, i.e. the only piece of information released by IBM, is a very small printout of a part of the move, which says that the machine decided to play a line with an advantage of +49. I want to know, how they were able to explain to the machine that the value of different positional consequences, positional disadvantages was that of -251 points. Show me. All the crap about good bishops and bad bishops, about weak pawns, the endangered king does work. You have to show me exactly how all these important factors could reach -251 points. It's impossible from my point of view. It's impossible from any computer expert's point of view. Computers cannot yet compare material and quality, especially in the long-term calculation, because the line we are talking about was a long line. If the computer had taken my pawns, it would have made four full moves, eight plies. Which means that Deep Blue, the machine which is probably a thousand times faster than any other hardware today on the planet, can run a chess programme, and saw all these consequences starting from ply eight. What we did (none of us had access to Deep Blue but we all had computers, they are weak computers in terms of computing power, they are much better in positional understanding) was that we ran this position starting from ply eight. It means we have saved eight plies and then ran the position. Unfortunately, neither in a day, nor in one week, nor in two weeks had any machine on the planet managed to understand what was wrong with taking these three pawns. There is no rational factor. Probably, it was good for Black, probably Black would have survived, though it's nothing but human intuition. Any human player will say: "no, no, no, don't go there, it's too dangerous." Obviously, why should you do it, if you can keep a solid positional edge without giving any chances to your opponent? But this is not a machine's way of making decisions. What I wanted to see, what everybody wants to see, were printouts. Now, today is November 7th, the match was over six months ago. Six months ago, at the final press conference, the Deep Blue team promised us the printouts in an appropriate time. I think six months is an appropriate time. I want to see the printouts, I want these printouts to be studied, and I want us to understand how these guys made it possible. Maybe they deserve a Nobel Prize. Maybe. But no awards can be given without justification. It was really a shame to hear that some solid scientific foundations were throwing awards at IBM not asking for justification of this great accomplishment of human mind. If it is done, if they could do what I saw in Game two, that's probably the greatest accomplishment of the end of the Century. But none of us could see the printouts. IBM bluntly denied all requests for the printouts. The only piece that they showed, that very small piece, contains something that most computer specialists couldn't even believe: in the main log of the calculation (it was the only shown line, the rest was in numbers) there was a possibility to blunder. The machine didn't do it. Something happened, we may never know what. In theory, there could simply have been a human player with a small red button, which says, "don't go there." Now many people ask me, "Oh, listen, Garry, what does it mean, you know, even if they had strong grandmasters, what can they do to harm you?" It's a very big misunderstanding. Even one opportunity to interfere during a game, by cutting a main line, by saying, "stop, don't go there, just trash that line", will enormously improve the computer's game. Because my whole strategy is based on the assumption that the machine will make a mistake, a positional mistake. I built my strategy. I am played a very strange kind of chess, not the chess I used to play, therefore, trying to use our mankind's - advantages over those of a machine. If my main advantage is devoid of me, I'm doomed. And when this game was over, it shattered my confidence. I couldn't recover to the very end of the match. I think that eventually Game two was the decisive game in the match, because it had one more accident. In the end, my position was strategically lost; I found that out quite quickly. I thought about this crucial moment in the game, when the machine threatened my queen. And I saw that I was losing in the main line and decided to resign not even looking at a piece sacrifice. I could sacrifice a piece but - what for? The machine had, obviously, calculated everything. So I resigned. And what has actually happened, was that I resigned in a position, where I could force a draw. This is very funny. Yes, I could force a draw. And it was my fault, as I should have fought to the very end of the game. Until the clock's stopped, the game is not over; I know that. You cannot lose your will to resist. All these words are right about any human player, but what about the machine? How could this ingenious machine, which saw the consequences of move 10 or 12, or 20 ply an hour ago, not see elementary danger at ply 10 an hour later? Maybe it was exhausted, I don't know, but IBM said that the machine couldn't see the whole line to the end. The machine decided it was winning. Wait a second! Starting from ply eight the white king was at check because Black was losing. The queen was trying to check White's king to escape with a perpetual. The machine doesn't stop the calculations when the king is in check. Now, show me the printouts, show me at what point the machine stopped this calculation. Unfortunately, this request was denied, as well as the request to show me the printouts of the middle of the game. And then, what in my opinion was the most troubling point in our relations, they tried to explain the things to the general public and they made two claims. And you may judge the reliability of these claims. Claim one: If we run the same position again, we empty the machine. There is no information, you just recreate identical conditions for the machine. There is no guarantee that the machine will make the same move. I don't know whether you'll buy it. I won't. Maybe-yes. That would be another very important move forward in our understanding of computers. Fine. By the way, it's very interesting to run this experiment. Claim two: as I told you, there are print-outs, and the print-outs show the main log, which is the main line that the machine is preferring at a given moment. And the rest are the numbers that show the groups of processors. As Deep Blue is a combination of processors, each chip calculates nearly 2.5 million positions a second, and they are combined in groups and all report to the top. That's why you see the main log with the main line at the top. Other processors are
calculating something which you don't see something which you don't see in the print-out. But if the machine's decision has changed, this signal can come from any group of processors. And it is not visible in the print-out, which are normally delivered after the game - which they didn't deliver after this game in fact. The IBM team claims that if the machine changes its mind as a result of a signal from one of the lower groups of processors, they are not able to find the reason. Which means that during the preparation time they are not able to check what kind of information is produced by different groups of processors. They could see only the main log. Again: you buy it? I don't. I think there are ways. Due to these "explanations" I have a very strange feeling that these people have something to hide. I hope I'm wrong, but I cannot understand what's wrong with these guys, why don't they give us the printouts. I don't know what's wrong with these guys, but after this tremendous success of human science, they avoided any public dispute, any public debate, haven't published a single article in major scientific magazines, and refuse to answer any questions in big interviews. I don't know what's wrong with them. I would imagine that after such success you would like to trumpet it all over the world, and to show the great minds that are working inside IBM. Though, it didn't happen. As you probably know, when the match was over I challenged IBM for a third match. I believe that I had a right to do so, because when they had lost and challenged me, I agreed. I believe that the new match has to be organised by a neutral organiser, it has to be played under different conditions. I have only one demand: I will see my opponent, all of you will see my opponent. It will be man versus machine. It will be Garry Kasparov at one side of the stage versus Deep Blue, or Deeper Blue, or whatever Blue, at the other side of the stage. And independent specialist will check this machine. We have enough companies - Sun Microsystems, Intel, Microsoft - that would love to ensure that the IBM program is playing on its own. Every wire should be checked. The machine receives only one signal: move in; and there is only one signal, which it gives: move out. And it is cut off from the rest of the world. They can do whatever they want before the game and after the game, but when the game is played it is man versus machine. And then we can see whether we really are inferior to a silicon mind. Personally, I doubt it. And again, unfortunately, IBM is silent. IBM is not saying a word. IBM announced that they quit. They decided to quit the programme. I believe that everybody, who has any interest in science - not only in chess - and in our future, should demand that IBM at least communicates. It is better to play another match, but at least to communicate, and to answer these questions. As they are a public company, they tremendously benefited from public attention. They benefited on the stock market, they benefited from publicity, and they benefited because they ran this match as an experiment. If they had a commercial event, they would not have been given rights for free publicity. But it was a very big experiment for all of us. It was a big show. And whatever aspect is important for you, as long as it is science, it should be the justification of any big discovery. Suppose it's a sport event, so what would be the first obligatory procedure for anybody who breaks a world record? Doping control. You go to a room and you must give your blood test. A printout is a blood test for computer. Where are the printouts? I believe that scientific community should put more pressure on IBM. They must communicate. And I would like them to play the match. But again, unfortunately, Deep Blue is disassembled. It's not difficult to assemble it back. But when I found out that they had disassembled Deep Blue, my instant human reaction was very simple: "They've killed the only witness that doesn't lie." You can buy my arguments, you can deny them; you can also say it's just a lame excuse. I was really shocked by the outcome of this match, but I have a strong belief in human abilities. I don't think that we were desperate and doomed, as many people would like to see the outcome of the match. Give us the chance to fight a computer. And as a result, I would like to quote one book I like very much - a sort of fantasy written by a Czech writer (...). "The War With Salamanders." When people dealt with these creatures, they were scared. They had to negotiate with them and expected some horrible creatures, which didn't live according to the same rules, to appear. Suddenly, they saw that those, who represented salamanders in these negotiations were lawyers, in nice suits. They were just well paid people, who represented the case of those, who threatened human race. Now, the danger doesn't come from computers. The danger comes, in my opinion, from those, who do not care at what price they achieve their results.
Questions: Q. Donovan Bailey and Michael Johnson are two of the fastest men on Earth, but no-one ever stops to think twice about the fact that a Ferrari or a Porsche should destroy them at the 100m. So machine beats man. Eventually, computers are probably going to beat us, in fifty years, at chess. Why should we worry? A. I think it deals more with psychology. But there is a difference. Running is not our top priority; a big animal can run faster. But with regard to the mind, we believe we are superior to anything on this planet. But I would also like us to understand or just to define these terms. A machine beats a human player. Do you mean in the match, or in each game? Because I believe that until the machine wins every game we are still in the contest. And I don't think it will happen soon, maybe not even in fifty years. Q. You say you smelled fear when you actually played Deep Blue. Some people say that they have smelled fear when they've played you. So psychologically have you now felt that you can understand how people feel when they play you? A. Yes, this is true, but they probably smelled fear because there was too much energy, but it was generated by me. I smelled fear because I couldn't understand where the danger comes from. Uncertainty, that's the biggest danger for any human mind. I think those two kinds of fear are absolutely different. Q. I apologise for being trivial, but do you know how to play Star Trek chess? A. No. I have a limited, very limited knowledge in other versions of chess. I mentioned Japanese or Chinese chess, but
probably I am narrowed to only our version of chess. Q. Mr Kasparov, do your fellow Grandmasters know about your feelings about this IBM chess match, and if they do, what do they think about them? A. Many of them were very happy that Garry Kasparov eventually lost the match. The fact that my opponent was not flesh and blood didn't reduce the joy of some of them. But those, who are not actively competing today, share my views. Q. Mr Kasparov, many of your critics have said that if you were really eager to challenge IBM again, you should place your position - your title as World Champion - to make the challenge attractive to IBM. Would you be prepared to do so in a third match? A. Yes. [interruption: applause] I can only add that if somebody is trying to suspect that I'm going after another huge chunk of money, then I propose to play this match on condition "winner takes all." (c)1998 WEB-studio InterEcoDesign HTU
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