CHESS: Lubomir Kavalek

The Latvian-born grandmaster Alexei Shirov, who now lives in Spain, is an attacking genius. At times, his chess seems from another planet -- too deep to understand, too confusing to imitate. His astonishing and penetrating attacking masterpieces are quoted in many books.

Don Quixote of Chess

Shirov is also an uncompromising fighter and sometimes pays for it. In Jan Timman's fine new work "On the Attack," a splendid collection of 33 games by 11 leading modern grandmasters, plus 33 attacking fragments, Timman calls Shirov creative but capricious. The Dutch grandmaster writes that Shirov sometimes launches his attacks in dubious circumstances, but "there is something infectiously enthusiastic about the way he plays his attacks." The following victory in a rapid game against an Azerbaijani master, Farhad Tahirov, would make a great addition to Timman's book. It helped Shirov win this month's Villa de Cañada de Calatrava chess festival in Spain. Shirov made a wonderful knight sacrifice early in the English opening, creating dangerous threats with his raging pieces while the white kingdom was still asleep.

Tahirov-Shirov

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 (Shirov loves this line against the English opening. He often plays it with reverse colors against the Sicilian.) 3.Qc2 Nf6 4.a3 Bxc3 5.Qxc3 Nc6 6.b4 0-0 7.e3 (After 7.b5 Nd4 8.e3 Re8! black is better developed and can strike quickly, for example 9.Qb2 d5! 10.exd4 exd4+ 11.Kd1 Ng4 12.Nh3 [12.Qxd4 Re4!] 12 . . . dxc4 13.Bxc4 Ne5 14.d3 Nxc4 15.dxc4 Bxh3 16.gxh3 Qf6 and the white position is in disarray.) 7 . . . d5! 8.cxd5 (Forced. After 8.b5 d4! black wins the fight for space in the center.) 8 . . . Qxd5! (The queen is watching the pawn on g2, making it difficult for white's light bishop to move.) 9.b5?! (White is only pushing his pawns and wanders with the queen. Something has to give. After 9.Bb2 Re8 10.Nf3, as played in the past, white gets at least some pieces into the game.)

9 . . . Nd4!! (An astonishing knight sacrifice, opening the e-file and taking advantage of white's underdeveloped forces. It is more common in the Sicilian with the reverse colors, but I have not seen it made so early with the black pieces.) 10.exd4 (Accepting the gift leads to a powerful attack for black. Ignoring the knight on d4 limits white's development, for example after 10.Bb2 Re8! 11.Rc1 Bd7 12.a4 Rac8, threatening to break with 13 . . . c6, black has a clear advantage.) 10 . . . exd4 11.Qc4 Re8+ 12.Kd1 Qh5+! 13.Be2 (White hopes to gain time by forcing the black queen to move. Other moves are inadequate: After 13.Kc2 Be6! 14.Qxd4 Qd1+!! 15.Kb1 [Or 15.Kxd1 Bb3 mate.] 15 . . . Qxf1 wins. After 13.Ne2 Be6! 14.Qxd4 Rad8 15.Qf4 Ne4!, threatening 16 . . . Bb3+ 17.Ke1 Nc5, white can't stop the decisive 18 . . . Nd3+. And finally, after 13.Nf3 Be6! 14.Qa4 Ne4 15.Kc2 d3+ 16.Kb1 Qc5 17.Bb2 Rad8! white is tied up.) 13 . . . Qg6 14.Nf3 (After 14.g3 or 14.Qd3 the knight leap 14...Ne4! is strong.) 14...Be6! 15.Qc2 d3! (An amusing deflection, smothering the white king on the first rank. A similar combination was possible after 15...Bf5!? 16.d3 Rxe2!! and black wins either after 17.Qxe2 Bxd3 18.Qb2 Qxg2; or after 17.Kxe2 Qxg2, threatening 18...Qxh1 and 18...Re8+.) 16.Qxd3 (16.Bxd3 is simply met by 16...Qxg2.) 16...Bf5 17.Qc4 Rxe2! (Nailing the victory.) 18.Nh4 (After 18.Qxe2 Bd3 19.Qe3 Re8 20.Ne5 Bc2+ 21.Ke2 Qh5+ 22.f3 Rxe5 black wins.) 18...Qh5 19.Qxe2 Bc2+ 20.Ke1 Re8 21.Qxe8+ Nxe8 (After 22.Nf3 Bd3 the white king is pinned down to the first rank and black wins, e.g. 23.Bb2 Qg4 24.Rg1 Qe6+ etc.) White resigned.

Solution to today's composition by V. and M. Platovs (White: Kh4,Rb5,Ne5,P:f4; Black: Ka1,Nd4,P:f2,f5): 1.Ra5+ Kb1 2.Nf3! Nxf3+ 3.Kg3 f1Q 4.Ra1+! Kxa1 stalemate.