CHESS Lubomir Kavalek

The king is gone, long live the king!

Garry Kasparov disappeared from this month's FIDE rating list, and the world champion Veselin Topalov became the top-rated player. But barely. The Bulgarian grandmaster has 2,804 points, just one rating point more than the Indian superstar Vishy Anand.

Last Thursday, Anand shared first place with Russia's Alexander Morozevich at the 15th Amber Blindfold and Rapid tournament in Monaco.

They scored 14 1/2 points in 22 games. Morozevich won the blindfold event with 9 1/2 points in 11 games; Anand excelled in the rapid play with eight points in 11 games.

In Rubinstein's Spirit

Alexei Shirov rebounded from a terrible slide at the beginning of this year and won the Seventh Karpov Poikovsky tournament in Russian Siberia last week. The Spanish grandmaster scored six points in nine games, a clear point ahead of his four nearest rivals, Ukraine's Ruslan Ponomariov and Russia's Evgeny Bareev, Alexei Dreev and Vadim Zviagintsev. The new U.S. champion, Alexander Onischuk, managed only seven draws and two losses. He finished next to last, a point ahead of Moldova's Viktor Bologan, who with six losses resembled a punching bag.

Shirov's most creative effort came during a tough victory against Russia's Evgeny Najer in the Four Knights Game. Two years ago against Russia's Alexander Motylev, Shirov as black followed a fabulous two-pawn sacrifice, played by the great Akiba Rubinstein in 1912. But Motylev unveiled an intriguing queen sacrifice for two knights and a couple of pawns that forced black's backpedaling. It was Shirov's turn to improve.

Najer-Shirov

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nd4!? (Akiba Rubinstein's annoying knight move.) 5.Bc4!? (Rubinstein considered this aggressive move, controlling the central square d5 and eyeing the pawn on f7, better than 5.Ba4.) 5...Bc5 6.Nxe5 Qe7 7.Nf3 (Rubinstein as black won a spectacular miniature against Zdzislaw Belsitzman at the 1917 Warsaw championship after 7.Nd3 d5! 8.Nxd5 Qxe4+ 9.Ne3 Bd6 10.0-0 b5! 11.Bb3 Bb7 12.Ne1 Qh4! 13.g3 Qh3 14.c3 h5 15.cxd4 h4 16.Qe2? [Losing blunder. After 16.Nf3! hxg3 17.fxg3 Bxf3 18.Rxf3 Qxh2+ 19.Kf1 0-0-0 20.Rf2!, white beats the attack.] 16...Qxh2+!! 17.Kxh2 hxg3+ 18.Kg1 Rh1 mate.) 7...d5! (This brilliant sacrifice of a second pawn is based on a powerful pin of the knight on f3.) 8.Bxd5 Bg4 9.d3 Nd7!? (Shirov's prepared novelty, leaving the sixth rank unobstructed for the black queen and covering the square d6 with the pawn on c7. In the game Bernstein-Rubinstein, Vilnius 1912, black played first 9...c6 10.Bb3 and only now 10...Nd7, threatening to reinforce the pin with 11...Ne5. The idea was revisited in a rapid game Motylev-Shirov, Bastia 2004, where white introduced a spectacular queen sacrifice after 11.Be3! Ne5 12.Nxd4! Bxd1 13.Nf5 Qf8 [After 13...Qf6 14.Bxc5 Bg4 15.Nd6+ and 16.d4 white's initiative is too strong.] 14.Bxc5 Qxc5 15.d4 with powerful pressure.)

10.Be3! (White has to challenge the knight on d4. After 10.Bxb7 Bxf3 11.gxf3 Qh4! 12.Bxa8 Ne5, the black knights handcuff white's position.) 10...Ne5 11.Nxd4 Bxd1 12.Rxd1 (More or less forced. Motylev's 12.Nf5 is met by 12...Qf6!; for example 13.Bxc5 Bxc2!; or 13.Rxd1 Bxe3 14.Nxe3 0-0-0!; or 13.d4 Bg4! 14.dxe5 Qb6 15.Bxc5 Qxc5 16.Nxg7+ Kf8 17.h3 Kxg7 18.hxg4 c6 19.Bb3 h5 are clearly in black's favor.) 12...Qf6 13.Nf5 Bxe3 14.Nxe3 0-0-0 15.0-0 (Can white's two light pieces and his pawn mass stop the black queen?) 15...h5 16.Bb3 Ng4 17.h3 Qf4!? (Playing Shirov is not easy. Just as you think you put out one fire, he starts another one somewhere else. Most of the time, however, he is looking toward the enemy king.) 18.g3 (White can't accept the knight sacrifice. After 18.hxg4 hxg4 19.Rfe1 Rh1+!! 20.Kxh1 Qxf2 21.Nxg4 Rh8+ 22.Nh2 Qg3 23.Kg1 Rxh2 24.Re2 Qh4! black mates soon.) 18...Qf6?! (Was Shirov trying to lure his opponent to take the knight? The more direct 18...Qf3!? seems better, for example 19.Ng2 h4! 20.Ne1 Qf6 21.hxg4 hxg3 22.Ng2 gxf2+ 23.Rxf2 Rh1+ 24.Kxh1 Qxf2 and black wins.)

19.Ncd5!? (After 19.hxg4?! Qf3! 20.g5 [or 20.Ng2 hxg4 21.Nh4 Rxh4 22.gxh4 Rh8 wins] 20...h4 21.g4 h3 22.Kh2 Rh4, threatening 23...Rxg4 and black wins.) 19...Qh6 (Now after19...Qf3 20.Nf5 Nxf2 21.Nde3 Nxh3+ 22.Kh2 Nf2 23.Kg1 white draws.) 20.Nf5 Qh7 21.Kg2 Nh6 (Black is driven back and has to find new ways to invade white's position.) 22.Nfe3 Rhe8 23.Rde1 Qg6 24.f4 Qd6 25.Nc4 Qc5 26.Nde3 g5 27.f5 h4 28.g4 b5 29.Nd2 Qe5 (A double-attack that wins a pawn.) 30.Rf3 Qxb2 31.Re2 c6 32.Nd1 Qa1 (Shirov ties up white's pieces, threatening to march with his a-pawn.) 33.Rf1 a5 34.a4 bxa4 35.Bc4 a3 (It was time to come back with 35...Qe5 celebrating the gains on the queenside and preparing to use the open b-file.) 36.Nf3?! (Closing the exit for the black queen with 36.c3 was preferable.) 36...Kc7 37.Ne3 Qb2 38.Bb3 a2 39.Ree1 Rxd3! (White's position collapses.) 40.Nc4 Qc3 41.cxd3 Qxb3 42.Rc1 Qxd3 43.Nxa5 Rxe4 44.Rxc6+ Kb8 White resigned.

Solution to today's composition by Y. Afek (White: Kb2,Rb6,Bf1,Nc4,P:a3,g4; Black: Kc5,Rf8,Bf3,P:a5,b5,g5): 1.Rxb5+! Kxb5 2.Ne5+ Ka4 3.Nd7 Be2! 4.Bxe2 Rb8+ 5.Bb5+!! (5.Nxb8 stalemates and 5.Ka2 Rb2+! draws.) 5...Rxb5+ 6.Ka2 and black has to lose the rook. Astonishing finale!