CHESS Lubomir Kavalek

On Saturday in Bonn, Germany, world champion Vladimir Kramnik began a six-game match against the computer program Deep Fritz. The first game of the Man vs. Machine World Chess Challenge was drawn in 47 moves. Kramnik enjoyed a typical endgame advantage from the Catalan Opening, but the computer defended well. The match ends Dec. 5. The commercial version of Kramnik's opponent, Fritz 10, was just released by Chessbase. It is expected to challenge the top program on the market, Rybka 2.2, invented by Vasik Rajlich, an American International Master living in the Hungarian capital of Budapest.

Notable Books

The English Chess Federation Book of the Year award was a surprising choice. It went to Ger C. van Perlo's "Endgame Tactics." This extraordinary collection of 1,000 endgame positions is educational, funny and refreshing, and anybody can enjoy it. It came ahead of Jonathan Rowson's "Chess for Zebras" and the latest volume of Garry Kasparov's "On My Great Predecessors," covering the careers of Viktor Korchnoi and Anatoly Karpov. Kasparov did not include the duels with Karpov, planning to publish them separately. Among other interesting books about world champions, Igor Stohl's two volumes of "Garry Kasparov's Greatest Chess Games" contain penetrating analyses of the maverick champion's games, and Andrew Soltis's "Why Lasker Matters" dispels some myths about the second official world champion.

The opening theory is moving fast. It is like a runaway train and even experienced writers have a hard time keeping up. Opening books can be outdated by the time they appear in bookstores. An example is an ambitious new book by the International Master John Watson, "Mastering the Chess Openings," issued by the Gambit Publications. It promises to unlock the mysteries of modern opening play, and as usual Watson is great in explaining the fundamentals and the basic ideas. But one has to be careful about his evaluation of some specific opening variations. A resurrection of old, forgotten lines can suddenly appear out of nowhere, challenging the author's opinion.

For example, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's favorite line with the black pieces in the Breyer Spanish was developed only in the last few months. After 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 Nb8 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7 12.Bc2 Re8 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 g6 15.b3 d5 16.Bg5 h6 17.Bh4 Watson says that International Masters Malcom Pein and Andrew Martin tore into the line 17...g5 18.Nxg5 hxg5 19.Bxg5 exd4 with huge complications ultimately favoring black. "Notice how the modern Breyer seems to do best when Black can successfully implement the 'blow it all to bits' strategy as opposed to the 'cleverly shift around' method of defense," Watson writes. But after the forced continuation 20.e5! Rxe5 21.Rxe5 Nxe5 22.cxd4 Nc6 23.Qd3 Nb4 24.Qf3 Be7, David Navara's improvement 25.Bf5! leaves black in dire straits.

Another example is Teimur Radjabov's new way of playing the sharp line in the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian: 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.e5 (Watson gives preference to 10.f5.) 10...dxe5 11.fxe5 Nfd7 12.Ne4!? (Watson only covers 12.Bc4.) 12...h6 13.Bh4 Qxa2 (The game Radjabov-Anand from this year's world championship in Rishon LeZiyyon, Israel, finished quickly: 13...Qa4 14.Be2 Nc6 15.Nxe6 g5 16.Nf6+ black resigned.) 14.Rd1!? and now the game Radjabov-Karjakin from a rapid knockout in Cap d'Agde, France, ended: 14...Qb2 15.Qe3 Bc5 16.Be2 Nc6 17.c3 Qa3 18.0-0 0-0 19.Nf6+! Nxf6 20.Bxf6 Nxd4 21.Rxd4 Bxd4 22.Qxd4 gxf6 23.exf6 Qa5 24.h4 Kh7 25.Bd3+ Qf5 26.Re1 Rg8 27.Kh2 a5 28.g4 Qxd3 29.Qxd3+ Kh8 30.Re5 Rxg4 31.Rh5 Rg6 32.Qd8+ Kh7 33.Qe7 and black resigned.

From other opening books I like works by authors who specialize in one particular approach. Mikhail Golubev's "Understanding the King's Indian" or Alex Yermolinsky's "Chess Explained: The Classical Sicilian" come immediately to mind. All the above books belong in any serious player's library.

Local Chess Bonanza

Two major events will occur a few blocks apart in Washington Dec. 27-30. The 2006 Pan-American Championships, with teams from North, Central and South America, will take place at the Renaissance Hotel, 999 Ninth St. NW (at Massachusetts Avenue and K Street). It includes the Pan-Am intercollegiate team championship, called the World Series of College Chess, and the Pan-Am scholastic team individual and team championships for students in grades 1-12. The top individual scholastic winner will be offered a four-year scholarship at the University of Maryland Baltimore County. More information is at http://www.umbc.edu/chess/Pan-Am2006.

Also the 33rd annual Eastern Open, a traditional eight-round Swiss tournament, will be played at the Wyndham Washington hotel (1400 M St. NW). It is organized by the U.S. Chess Center, a top scholastic organization that promotes chess among D.C. area children. See http://www.chessctr.org.

Solution to today's problem by J. Fritz (White: Kh1,Qc8,Rf7,Bf1,P:b7,c7; Black: Ka7,Bb8,P:a5,c6): 1.Qf8! Nxf8 or Kb6 2.c8N mate; or 1...Bxc7 2.b8Q mate.