Here are some events making the chess headlines as the year draws to a close:
Bobby Fischer's Icelandic saga continues. In 1972 he won the world title in Reykjavik. This month the Icelandic government offered him a permanent residency, to rescue him from a jail in Japan. Despite a warning from the United States not to do so, Iceland stands by its offer. The endgame could be decided next month.
Garry Kasparov won the Russian championship last month and continues to write about "his great predecessors." His second volume was nominated for the 2004 British Chess Federation Book of the Year award, but first place was snatched by Jeremy Silman and Pal Benko for their impressive biography "Pal Benko: My Life, Games and Composition."
The United States could have produced two 16-year-old U.S. champions at the 2005 U.S. Chessmaster championship this month in San Diego. Hikaru Nakamura, of White Plains, N.Y., did become the overall champion, but Tatev Abrahamyan of Glendale, Calif., lost her chance in a playoff and the women's title went to Rusudan Goletiani, a 24-year-old former Georgian junior star.
A Heroic Defense
Debates throughout the year on how to prevent short or prearranged draws did not bring a reasonable solution and most likely never will. But nobody could complain about a wonderfully fought draw between Alexei Shirov and the talented Czech grandmaster David Navara, 19. Shirov won the second game and the two-game match, played in Prague earlier this month. The notes to a theoretically important draw in the Four Knights Game are partly based on Navara's comments.
Navara-Shirov
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nd4 (the sharp Rubinstein variation) 5.Ba4 Bc5 6.Nxe5 0-0 7.Nd3 Bb6 8.Nf4?! (Navara chooses a sideline, where white is ready to play d2-d3 and on the first glance prevents 8...d5. In the Clarepedes line 8.e5 Ne8 9.Nd5 d6 10.Ne3, the usual 10...dxe5 is giving way to a more enterprising 10...c5!?, with good results for black.) 8...d5! (Shirov embraces a pawn strike analyzed by the legendary Paul Keres in the 1950s.) 9.Nfxd5?! (Rather risky. More logical was 9.d3, which could lead to a theoretical draw after 9...Bg4 10.f3 Nh5 11.fxg4 Qh4+ 12.g3 Nxg3 13.Ng2 Qh3 14.Nf4 Qh4 15.Ng2, repeating the moves.) 9...Nxd5 10.Nxd5 Qh4 11.Ne3? (Navara overlooked Shirov's next powerful move. The Czech champion suggested seeking balance with 11.d3, for example 11...Bg4 12.Qd2 Bf3 13.Nf4!? g5 14.Ne2! Bxe2 15.Qxg5+ Qxg5 16.Bxg5 Bh5 and although black is slightly better, white with three pawns for a piece can fight.)
11...f5! (Shirov is not losing time on capturing the e-pawn, but instead opens the game for his pieces.) 12.exf5 Bxf5?! (It is hard to blame Shirov for this natural developing move. But the exchange sacrifice 12...Rxf5! is stronger. It prevents short castling: 13.0-0? Rh5 and black mates soon. And white can't even accept it, since after 13.Nxf5 Bxf5 black's advantage is decisive either after 14.d3 Bg4 15.Qd2 Rf8; or after 14.0-0 Bg4 15.Qe1 Bf3 16.Bd7 Qg5 17.Bh3 Qh5! 18.d3 Ne2+ 19.Kh1 Qxh3 20.Rg1 Re8 and black wins.
(After 12...Rxf5 white's best defense is 13.Rf1, giving black a pleasant choice between 13...Ra5 and the central pressure with 13...Re5, for example 14.h3 Be6 15.c3 Nf5 with a strong pressure; or 14.g3 Qh3 15.c3 Bg4 16.f3 Nxf3+ 17.Rxf3 Bxe3 18.dxe3 Qxh2 19.Qb3+ Kh8 20.Qxb7 Qg1+ 21.Rf1 Rxe3+! and black wins.) 13.0-0 Rf6 (Although black's attack seems powerful, white can defend. After 13...Be4 white has to play 14.Qg4!, but not 14.f3 because of 14...Nxf3+ 15.Rxf3 Bxf3 16.Bb3+ Kh8 17.gxf3 Rf6; or 15.gxf3 Bxe3+ 16.dxe3 Qg5+ 17.Kh1 Rad8! 18.Qe2 Rxf3! 19.Rxf3 Qg4 and black wins.) 14.Nxf5 (The only move.) 14...Rxf5 15.Bd7! (Forced, but it seems to hold. The bishop runs to help the battered kingside.)
15...Nf3+!? (Shirov makes a practical decision and goes for a line where he has a draw in hand with some chances to play for a win.) 16.gxf3 Rh5 17.h3 Qg3+ 18.Kh1 Rxh3+ 19.Bxh3 Qxh3+ 20.Kg1 Qg3+ (Black does not have time to include the rook in the attack, for example 20...Re8 21.d4 Re6 22.Bg5 Rg6 23.f4 h6 24.Qd3! and the assault is thwarted.) 21.Kh1 Qh3+ 22.Kg1 Qg3+ 23.Kh1 Bxf2!? (After gaining time on the clock with move repetition, Shirov decides to explore whether there are winning chances.) 24.Rxf2 Qxf2 (With the black rook about to join the attack, Navara has to defend precisely and he does a formidable job.)
25.Qg1! (After 25.d4? Rf8! 26.f4 Re8 27.Bd2 Re2 black wins.) 25...Qxf3+ 26.Qg2 Qh5+ 27.Qh2 (After 27.Kg1 Re8 black's two heavy pieces prevail.) 27...Qd1+ 28.Qg1 Qh5+ (Playing for a win with 28...Qxc2 29.d3 Rf8 30.Bg5 Qxb2 is not clear, since Navara's pieces come to life.) 29.Qh2 Qf5 30.d3 Rf8 31.Qe2! (Prevents the rook lift because of Qe2-e8+. Shirov saw 31.Bh6 Rf6 32.Bxg7 Rg6 33.Rg1 Qf3+ 34.Rg2 Rxg7 and black wins.) 31...Qh3+ 32.Kg1 Qg3+ 33.Kh1 Qh3+ 34.Kg1 Qg3+ 35.Kh1 Qh3+ (After 35...h6 36.Bd2 Qh3+ 37.Kg1 Rf6 38.Qe8+ Kh7 39.Qe4+ Rg6+ 40.Kf2 the black queen alone can't mate.) Draw.
Solution to today's study by E. Pogosyants (White: Kb4,Qe4,Ne6,P:a4; Black: Kc8,Qf7,Nb6,P:a7): 1.Qc6+ Kb8 2.Qd6+ Ka8 3.Qd8+ Kb7 4.Qxb6+!! Kxb6 5.a5+ Ka6 (On 5...Kb7 or 5...Kc6 6.Nd8+ wins.) 6.Nc5 mate.
