CHESS

The German chess composer Richard Steinweg (1860-1943) was a member of the Berlin Schachgesellschaft, the oldest chess club in Berlin, for more than half a century. In 1893, he created a chess problem (White: Ke5,Qb1,Bh7,Ne7; Black: Kh8,P:e6,g7) with white mating in two moves. (Solution next week).

Wisdom of the Champions

It is always fascinating to read what the world champions have to say about their clashes with other strong players and about chess in general. Last year, Russell Enterprises published two classic tournament books, using figurine algebraic notation. In "St. Petersburg 1909" the world champion Emanuel Lasker comments on all the games of the event, in which he shared first place with Akiba Rubinstein. Alexander Alekhine's "New York 1924" has been hailed as one of the best tournament books. It was another triumph for Lasker, in which he finished ahead of Jose Raul Capablanca and Alekhine. The book is valuable for its deep verbal annotations with variations left to a minimum. There is no attempt to improve on the analysis in the two books, presenting them as they were written. In his monumental five-volume work "My Great Predecessors," Garry Kasparov revisited the lives of the world champions and their contemporaries, using computers to analyze their games.

New In Chess recently published Mikhail Botvinnik's work "Botvinnik-Smyslov, Three World Chess Championship matches: 1954, 1957, 1958." It is not only a great historical document, presenting 69 deeply annotated games between two giants, but it also reveals the secret notes Botvinnik made in preparation for the matches played in 1957 and 1958. The contest in 1954 ended with a 12-12 tie, but at one point, with eight consecutive decisive games, it resembled a slugfest. Smyslov won the world title in 1957, defeating Botvinnik 12½-9½. The former world champion Max Euwe was impressed: "Smyslov plays moves that everybody plays. The only difference being: he wins with them." The 1958 rematch went to Botvinnik. The patriarch of Soviet chess won 12½-10½. Smyslov later explained it this way: "I treated the match lightly, and I am also not one of those players such as Fischer or Kasparov who pursue their goals in chess fanatically."

The King's Indian Struggle

I began playing chess a few months after Botvinnik and Smyslov finished the first match in Moscow in 1954. They influenced my generation and we tried to imitate them. As black, we played the French defense and also the King's Indian, a defense Smyslov specifically prepared for the match. His incredible novelty in the 14th game has withstood the test of time. After 1954 Smyslov abandoned the King's Indian for several decades. Here is the memorable game.

Botvinnik-Smyslov

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 0-0 5.Nc3 d6 6.Nf3 Nbd7 (Preparing to play in the center with 7...e5. In the 1960s I often played the system 6...c6 7.0-0 Qa5, generating counterplay on the queenside. The game Smyslov-Kavalek, Polanica Zdroj 1968, continued 8.d5 Qb4 9.Nd2 Bd7 10.a3 Qb6 11.Rb1 Rc8 12.Nde4 Nxe4 13.Bxe4 Bh3 14.Re1 Bd4 15.e3 Bg7 16.Bd2 Nd7 17.Bg2 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 Qa6 19.Qe2 Nb6 and black had strong pressure. However, Smyslov was able to equalize and we drew.) 7.0-0 e5 8.e4 c6 9.Be3 (Smyslov had analyzed this move at home and played his next three moves rather quickly.) 9...Ng4! 10.Bg5 Qb6 11.h3 (It seems that the black knight on g4 has to retreat, but Smyslov had prepared an unpleasant surprise.)

11...exd4! (A temporary piece sacrifice, creating a chaotic situation on the board.) 12.Na4 Qa6 13.hxg4 b5 (Winning the knight back.) 14.Nxd4 (Botvinnik thought that white had no choice but to go for the win of the exchange. Smyslov claimed that after 14.cxb5 cxb5 15.Nxd4 bxa4 16.e5 Bb7 black has the edge. Later on, improvements were sought after 14.Be7 Re8 15.Bxd6 bxa4. In the game Yusupov-Kasparov, Linares 1992, white tried 16.e5, but black held his own with 16...c5! 17.b4!? [17.Nxd4 Bb7 18.Nb5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Bxe5 is good for black.] 17...cxb4 18.Qxd4 Bb7. After 16.Nxd4, the leap 16...Ne5! gives black rich play. In the game Drozdovsky-Golubev, Odessa 2008, white played 16.c5, but after 16...a3 17.bxa3 d3 18.e5 black should have tried 18...Qxa3 with a playable game.) 14...bxa4 15.Nxc6 (Accepting the challenge. According to Smyslov, after 15.b3 Ne5 16.Be7 [or 16.f3 d5!] 16...Bxg4 17.f3 Rfe8 18.Bxd6 Rad8 white's position is difficult, for example 19.c5 Nd3 20.Nxc6 Bxa1 21.Nxd8 Bd4+ 22.Kh2 Bd7 with black's advantage.) 15...Qxc6 ("Only here did Smyslov start to play more slowly. It is not hard to conclude that all of the preceding moves were part of his home analysis," writes Botvinnik.)

16.e5 Qxc4 17.Bxa8 Nxe5 ("Black has a nice play for the exchange. White's pieces are scattered, vulnerable to an attack," writes Smyslov, and Botvinnik concurs: "White has a difficult position. His pieces are uncoordinated, black controls the center, and the white kingside is clearly weak.") 18.Rc1 (18.Qxd6 is best met by 18...Be6 19.Bg2 Qxg4 with good play for black.) 18...Qb4?! (After 18...Qb5 Botvinnik suggests 19.Be7 Bxg4 20.Qd5, but after 20...Qd7! 21.Bxf8 Bf3 22.Bc6 Qh3 23.Qxf3 Nxf3+ 24.Bxf3 Kxf8 black has the edge.) 19.a3 (Both Botvinnik and Smyslov praised this move. After 19.Be7 Bxg4 20.Bxd6 black can play 20...Qb6 21.Qd5 Bf3! 22.Qc5 Rxa8 23.Bxe5 Qe6! 24.Qe3 [On 24.Bxg7?? Qh3 mates.] 24...Bb7 25.Rc5 Rd8, for example 26.Bxg7? Qh3 27.f3 Qxg3+ 28.Kh1 Rd1!! 29.Rxd1 Bxf3+ and black wins.) 19...Qxb2 20.Qxa4 Bb7! (Fighting for the long diagonal.)

21.Rb1? ("Having successfully conducted a difficult defense, white now fails to find an elementary continuation, despite thinking for 20 minutes," Botvinnik admits. He didn't see the line 21.Bxb7 Qxb7 22.Rc3! h6 23.Bf4 Nf3+ 24.Rxf3 Qxf3 25.Bxd6 Rd8 26.Bc5 Rd5 27.Bxa7 Be5 28.Re1! Bxg3 29.Qe4! equalizing.) 21...Nf3+ 22.Kh1 Bxa8! 23.Rxb2 Nxg5+ 24.Kh2 Nf3+ 25.Kh3 Bxb2 ("White's position is hopeless because he cannot defend against the mating attack. Smyslov conducts the concluding stage of the game excellently," writes Botvinnik.) 26.Qxa7 Be4 27.a4 Kg7 28.Rd1 Be5 29.Qe7 Rc8 (Bringing the rook into the attack spells the end.) 30.a5 Rc2 31.Kg2 Nd4+ 32.Kf1 Bf3 33.Rb1 Nc6 (After 34.Qc7 Bd4 35.Qxd6 Rxf2+ 36.Ke1 Re2+ 37.Kf1 Rh2 black wins.) White resigned.

George Washington Open

The Sixth Annual George Washington Open, played in Sterling, Va., finished on June 14 in a five-way tie for first place among GM Larry Kaufman, IM Oliver Barbosa, IM Oladapo Adu, FM Tegshsure Enkhbat and Darwin Li. Each scored 4½ points in five games. The event attracted 117 participants. The TD Mike Atkins provided the information.

Solution to Last Week's Puzzle

June 15: White wins by Leonid Kubbel (White: Kh7,Rc5,Ne4,P:a2,d3,e5; Black: Kf8,Qa8,P:a7,d7,e5): 1.e6! dxe6! (After 1...d5 2.Rc2 dxe4 3.Rg2 wins.) 2.Rg5 Qc6 (After 2...Qb7 3.Rg8+ Kf7 4.Nd6+ exd6 5.Rg7+ wins.) 3.Rg8+ Kf7 4.Ng5+ Kf6 5.Nf3! (Threatening 6.Rf8 mate.) 5...Qxf3 (White wins after 5...Kf7 6.Ne5+; or after 5...e5 6.Rg6+.) 6.Rf8+ wins the queen.