CHESS | Lubomir Kavalek

The comeback man, Gata Kamsky, is stealing the spotlight at the elite double round-robin M-Tel Masters in Sofia, Bulgaria. The American grandmaster won three games in a row, and the surprising hat trick boosted him into the lead. After yesterday's fourth round, Kamsky had 3 1/2 points, a half point ahead of Vishy Anand of India. Peter Svidler of Russia scored two points, and the world champion Veselin Topalov of Bulgaria had 1 1/2 points. Last place is shared by Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine and Etienne Bacrot of France, both with one point.

In 1996, at the height of his powers, Kamsky lost a world championship match to Anatoly Karpov and decided to quit chess. He made an unexpected, brief appearance at the 1999 FIDE world championship in Las Vegas but was eliminated by the eventual winner, Alexander Khalifman. Kamsky reappeared in a few tournaments in New York about two years ago and since then played in two U.S. championships, the 2005 World Cup and in the elite Corus tournament in January. His opening play seemed rusty, but he was still able to display his excellent endgame technique and the will to win. But nobody could have predicted his amazing start in Sofia.

In the first round, Kamsky made a draw against Ponomariov from a slightly worse position. In the second game, Kamsky's great determination earned him a full point against Bacrot. He won in one of the oldest analyzed endgames -- rook vs. knight -- that can be traced to the 9th century. A player rated among the top 10 in the world should know how to make a draw in this endgame, but the Frenchman failed the test and Kamsky won in 103 moves. In the third round, Kamsky faced Anand, whom he beat in January. Some observers claimed that Kamsky was invited to Sofia to pave the way to victory for Topalov by stopping Anand. But the expected duel between Topalov and Anand, the world's top two rated players, is not happening. Anand's blazing start, two wins with the black pieces in the first two games, included a magical victory against Topalov. The Indian grandmaster, however, stumbled against Kamsky and lost to the American a slightly worse rook endgame in 57 moves.

Striking With Flair

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Yesterday, Kamsky's stunning victory over the four-time Russian champion Svidler took just 24 moves. In the Scheveningen Sicilian, Kamsky punished Svidler's careless knight move with a marvelous knight leap, performing a lesson on attacking power play.

Kamsky-Svidler

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Be2 Nf6 7.0-0 Be7 8.Be3 0-0 9.f4 e5 10.Nxc6 (Kamsky likes this move, although 10.Nb3 or 10.fxe5 are more popular choices.) 10...bxc6 11.Kh1 exf4 (Kamsky downed Khalifman at the 1999 world championship in Las Vegas after 11...Be6 12.Bf3 Bc4 13.Re1 Nd7 14.b3 Ba6 15.f5 Nf6 16.g4 h6 17.g5 hxg5 18.Bxg5 Nh7 19.Be3 Bb7 20.Rg1 Bf6 21.Rg3 and the pressure along the g-file was too strong for black and Kamsky won in 37 moves. However, Khalifman bounced back, won the match against Kamsky and later the world title.) 12.Bxf4 Be6 (The alternative is 12...Qc7, preparing to switch the knight to the square e5 via d7.) 13.Bf3 Qb6 14.b3 Rfd8 (Using the other rook 14...Rad8 was played previously and seems like a better choice.) 15.Qe1 Nd7? (This automatic knight move is a serious blunder.)

16.Nd5! (Sometimes you have to sacrifice the knight to make this popular leap in the Sicilian. Kamsky simply uses tactical weaknesses along the e-file, wreaking havoc among the black pieces.) 16...cxd5 (Black does not have many choices. After 16...Bxd5 17.exd5 Ne5 18.dxc6 Nxf3 19.Qxe7 Re8 20.Qb7 white wins.) 17.exd5 Bg4 (Trying to stay in the game by giving up a pawn. After 17...Bxd5 18.Bxd5 Bf6 19.Rd1! Rac8 20.c4 Ne5 21.Qg3, white's pressure on the kingside is unbearable, e.g. 21...Ng6 22.Bg5! Bxg5 23.Bxf7+ wins.) 18.Qxe7! Bxf3 19.Rxf3 (Threatening to win with 20.Be3.) 19...Nf6 (Svidler tries to defend the pawn d6 and block the attack on the pawn f7 at the same time, but runs into a simple refutation. After 19...Nc5 20.Rg3! white has a decisive attack, for example 20...Rd7 21.Rxg7+! Kxg7 22.Bh6+! Kxh6 23.Qf6+ Kh5 24.g4+ Kxg4 25.Rg1+ and white mates. After 19...Qd4 20.Qxf7+! Kxf7 21.Be5+ and 22.Bxd4 black's prospects are hopeless.)

20.Be3! (Preparing the exchange sacrifice on f6 that leaves the black king without any defender.) 20...Qa5 (After 20...Re8 21.Qxe8+ Rxe8 22.Bxb6 black is an exchange down.) 21.Rxf6! (Exposing the weak dark squares near the black king.) 21...gxf6 22.Qxf6 Re8 (After 22...Qxd5 23.Bd4! [Not 23.Bh6? Qe5!] 23...Kf8 24.Re1! threatens 25.Qh8 mate.) 23.Qg5+ (Avoiding black's last trick: 23.Bh6? Re1+ and black wins!) 23...Kf8 24.Bd2! (Pushing the black queen from the diagonal e1-a5 before finishing off the black king. After either 24...Qc5 25.Qf6 Re2 26.Qh8+ Ke7 27.Bg5+ Kd7 28.Qxa8; or 24...Qd8 25.Qh6+ Kg8 26.Bc3 Re5 27.Bxe5 dxe5 28.c4 white should win.) Black resigned.

Solution to today's problem -- mate in eight -- by S. Limbach (White: Kh8,Qf3,P;h7; Black: Kh1,Rg2,P:b2,e5,h2): 1.Qe4! b1Q 2.Qxb1+ Rg1 3.Qb7+ e4 (3...Rg2 4.Qe4!) 4.Qxe4+ Rg2 5.Qb1+ Rg1 6.Qb7+ Rg2 7.Qe4 Kg1 8.Qe1 mate.