Russians snub Olympic Village accommodation
BY the time you read this members of Bermuda’s Olympiad team will either have already arrived in Turin, or will be on their way. We look forward to finding our accommodation in the Winter Olympic Village — early enthusiasm has been slightly doused by the discovery that the Russian team, after some early reconnaissance, have decided to check into a nearby hotel.
However, those chaps have come to view themselves as akin to rock stars, so probably the humbler delegations will find little to complain about.
Meanwhile, the big event in the chess world is the M-Tel Masters tournament taking place in the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, in which six of the world’s very best players are competing in a double-round all-play-all event.
The field includes the two pre-eminent tournament competitors of the past year, the Indian Vishy Anand and local hero Veselin Topalov. There has been much fighting chess, and so far fewer than half of the games have ended in draws.
Of course, this does inevitably mean that some mistakes have been made — as Anand put it diplomatically in one of the post-game press conferences, “you can have good chess or you can have interesting chess”, adding that Sofia had witnessed much interesting chess!
By far the lowest rated participant is the American Gata Kamsky, who is still trying to regain his peak form after ten years away from the game. According to the player’s ratings, his expected score was only 3|0xbd| points from ten games, and some commentators felt that he might struggle to achieve this target.
Well, it is safe to say that his rating will not suffer in Bulgaria, since he leads the tournament after four rounds, and has already gained three wins and a draw.
His victory over the Russian top board, Peter Svidler, must have seemed too easy to be true.
White: G. Kamsky
Black: P. Svidler
1. e4, c5 2. Nf3, e6 3. d4, cxd4 4. Nxd4, Nc6 5. Nc3, e6 6. Be2, Nf6
By a slightly roundabout route we have reached the Scheveningen Variation of the Sicilian Defence. This line has a long history and a solid reputation, but notably Svidler never seems to have played it before in a serious game.
7. 0-0, Be7 8. Be3, 0-0 9. f4, e5
See Diagram 1. This is an old-fashioned plan for Black, which has, however, never been refuted.
10.Nxc6
10. Nb3 is considered more aggressive.
10. . . . bxc6 11. Kh1, exf4 12. Bxf4, Be6 13. Bf3, Qb6 14. b3
Both players continue to play normal moves, and indeed they are still following a recent game, from the 2006 Women’s World Championships, so you have to assume that Svidler, at least, has considered this position in advance.
14. . . . Rfd8
Here he deviates from the earlier game, in which 14. . . . Rad8 was played and White went on to win.
15.Qe1
See Diagram 2 for this critical position, and remember that we are at most one move out of Black’s opening preparation.
15. . . Nd7??
An incredible oversight from a top grandmaster. Svidler admitted afterwards that he was still thinking strategically (hoping to transfer this knight to an excellent post on e5), and simply didn’t consider any tactics. It is all the more sad given that the straightforward 15. . . . d5 appears to give easy equality.
16.Nd5!
If I were to play this move I would probably decorate it with at least two exclamation marks, but for a master it really should be routine. Needless to say, Svidler had spotted it the moment he made his previous move, and fully realised that in Diagram 3 he was not merely losing a pawn, but was completely sunk.
16. . . . cxd5 17. exd5, Bg4
There are other moves, but none is any better.
18. Qxe7, Bxf3 19. Rxf3, Nf6 20. Be3, Qa5 21. Rxf6!
21. Bd4 also won, but this exchange sacrifice is the most efficient kill.
21. . . . gxf6 22. Qxf6, Re8 23. Qg5+, Kf8 24. Bd2
Don’t forget that the local club will be closed for the next three weeks, while so many of its regular competitors are away in Italy. The next meeting will be on Tuesday, June 13.
