CHESS

Alexei Troitzky (1866-1942) is regarded as the founder of the modern art of study composition. Since his debut in 1895, the Russian composer created more than 1,000 studies, many of them valuable to practical players. In 1911, Troitzky produced a little gem (White: Kg7,Bf1,P:c5,d6; Black: Kf5,Rd5,P:g5,h7). White draws with a stunning play. How? (Solution next week.)

U.S. Championship

While the team FIDE World (Vishy Anand, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexei Shirov and Sergei Karjakin) trounced Azerbaijan 21½ to 10½ in a rapid match in Baku last weekend, the 2009 U.S. championship got underway in St. Louis. Both the top-rated GM Gata Kamsky and defending champion Yury Shulman started fast, winning the first two games. By contrast, two former U.S. champions, Boris Gulko and Alexander Shabalov, began with two losses. In one of the games, 14-year-old Roy Robson, the youngest participant, defeated Gulko, who at 62 is the oldest in the field of 24 players. The nine-round U.S. Championship can be followed at the official Web site: www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009.

The Day Kasparov Fumbled

Chess lost its soul 12 years ago today. That was the perception of the general public when reigning world champion Garry Kasparov succumbed to the IBM computer Deep Blue in New York on May 11, 1997, in the match "Man vs. Machine." It was inevitable that one day machines would outclass humans, but when the day came and the machine won 3½-2½, it was still shocking.

Kasparov, not a graceful loser, blamed his defeat on human interference. The machine made "human moves," he claimed. There is no evidence that Deep Blue was manipulated during the play, but the machine was fed with contemporary opening theory during the preparation for the match by a team of American grandmasters.

Kasparov's loss in the final sixth game was based on a gamble. He deliberately took a chance in the Caro-Kann defense and lost.

Deep Blue - Kasparov

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nd7 (Before he switched to the sharp Sicilian defense, the young Kasparov played the solid Classical variation of the Caro-Kann with 4...Bf5.) 5.Ng5 (Efim Geller's idea. Black has to be careful with his pawn moves.) 5...Ngf6 6.Bd3 e6 (After 6...h6 7.Ne6! white gets a bishop pair.) 7.N1f3 h6? (The moment of truth! While human grandmasters were careful and played 7...Bd6, Kasparov's advisers convinced the world champion that kicking the knight is playable against the machine. After all, none of the computer programs they tested dared to sacrifice the knight, they claimed. They did not know that a team of four American grandmasters was feeding the current opening theory into the IBM machine.)

8.Nxe6! (Deep Blue is not backing off and Kasparov gasped for air. The knight sacrifice gives white a powerful attack and the statistics were disastrous for black. "I punched it myself into the machine during the preparation for the match," GM Nick de Firmian told me during Kasparov's simultaneous exhibition near Baltimore, shortly after the match was over.) 8...Qe7? (Kasparov commits an error, making the development of his kingside pieces difficult. Accepting the sacrifice immediately with 8...fxe6 was playable, for example 9.Bg6+ Ke7 10.0-0 Qc7 11.Re1 Kd8 and black still lives.) 9.0-0 fxe6 10.Bg6+ Kd8 11.Bf4 b5?! (Black has difficulties, but by trying to establish a good post for his knight on d5, he helps white to open lines against the black king.) 12.a4! Bb7 13.Re1 Nd5 14.Bg3 Kc8 (Keeping the position relatively close with 14...a6, with the idea 15.axb5 axb5!, was a better move.) 15.axb5 cxb5 16.Qd3 Bc6 17.Bf5 (White is winning the pawn on e6 and the black position collapses. Kasparov makes the last desperate attempt to stay in the game, sacrificing the queen.) 17...exf5 18.Rxe7 Bxe7 19.c4! (With his king exposed and his other pieces uncoordinated, Kasparov stopped the fight. His position is in ruins, for example after 19...Nb4 20.Qxf5 bxc4 21.Ne5, threatening 20.Qe6 and white wins.) Black resigned.

Miroslav Filip (1928-2009)

One of the most successful Czech grandmasters, Miroslav Filip, died on April 27 in Prague. A two-time candidate for the world championship, Filip competed in the Candidates tournaments in Amsterdam in 1956 and in Curacao in 1962. A three-time Czechoslovakian champion, Filip played in 12 consecutive Chess Olympiads, from 1952 to 1980. He also played the top board for his country at four Student Olympiads and was the main force behind the team's gold medal in 1954. After Curacao, Filip lost confidence in his play and devoted his time to writing. He was the editor-in chief of the monthly Ceskoslovensky Sach. He was also an arbiter during six world championship matches.

Filip was a solid player, difficult to beat. He supported his active positional style with a deep knowledge of openings and endgames. His victory against the Ukrainian grandmaster Igor Platonov from the 1970 Dutch tournament in Wijk aan Zee is an instructive example of how to play against the Modern Tarrasch defense. The queen maneuvers at the end are remarkable.

Filip - Platonov

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.d4 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e3 Nc6 7.Bd3 Be7 8.0-0 0-0 9.a3 cxd4 10.exd4 Bf6 11.Be4 Nce7 12.Qd3 (Forcing black to weaken the black squares around the king, but 12.Ne5, as played in one of the Smyslov-Ribli games, does the same job. It continued 12...g6 13.Bh6 Bg7 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Rc1! b6 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Bxd5 Qxd5? [17...exd5 was necessary] 18.Rc7 Bb7 19.Qg4 Rad8 20.Rd1 a5 21.h4! with powerful pressure. White won in 42 moves.) 12...g6 13.Bh6 Bg7 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Ne5 b6 16.Qd2! (Aiming for the weak dark squares around the black king.) 16...Bb7 17.Rfe1 Rc8 18.Rac1 Rc7?! (Black had to shore up the holes in his position with 18...f6 19.Ng4 Qd7 for a playable game.) 19.Ng4! Kh8 20.Nxd5 Rxc1 21.Rxc1 Nxd5 (21...Bxd5!? was preferable.)

22.Qh6! (White's pieces descend on black's position, threatening to win with an astonishing combination: 23.Rc7!! Nxc7 [or 23...Kg8 24.Bxd5 Bxd5 25.Rd7! wins] 24.Nf6! Qxf6 25.Qxf8 mate.) 22...Rg8 23.Ne5 Qe7?! (Defending the seventh rank with 23...Rg7 was mandatory.) 24.Bxd5 Bxd5? (Loses by force. Black had to play 24...exd5, although after 25.Re1 white is better.) 25.Qf4! Kg7 (Black has no time to chase the knight back. After 25...f6 26.Rc7! Qxc7 27.Qxf6+! Rg7 [on 27...Qg7 28.Nf7 mates] 28.Qf8+ Rg8 29.Nf7+ wins the queen.) 26.Nxf7! Qf6 (After 26...e5 27.Qxe5+ Kxf7 28.Rc7 wins.) 27.Qh6+! (A pretty ending. After 27...Kxf7 28.Rc7+ Ke8 29.Qxh7 wins.) Black resigned.

Solution to Last Week's Puzzle

May 4: Mate in two by Umre Niels Hoeg (White: Kc4,P:a7,c7; Black: Ka5): 1.c8N! and 2.a8Q mate.