CHESS

The Austrian chess composer Alois Wotawa (1896-1970) created more than 350 chess problems and endgame studies. He was famous for infusing his studies with calm, quiet moves in the middle of the storm, as in the following work from 1935: (White: Ka1,Ra6,Rb7,Bd2,P:a2,c2; Black: Ka3,Qf8,Bb6,P:a4,c7). White wins. (Solution next week.)

40-Something

Give or take a few years, the successful career of a professional chess player lasts roughly a quarter of a century and goes through four stages. From the time we pick up the game to the early 20s, we are learning how to succeed. Around age 22, things get serious. We decide how big a part chess will play in our lives, and chess professionals are born. In the next decade, the great players separate from the large crowd and champions emerge. From then on to the age of 40, we reach our peak. After 40 it goes down for those who let it slip; some players retire, others hang on and just enjoy the game. But, of course, there are exceptions.

The world champion Vishy Anand of India is going to be 40 later this year. He seems to take it in stride and enjoys playing. The former world champion Garry Kasparov, who retired from professional chess shortly before turning 42, thought that it is difficult to compete at 40 even for such a brilliant player as Anand. To which the Indian grandmaster replied: "I find it strange that in October 2008 [after Anand beat Vladimir Kramnik in the world championship match], when I was 38, Kasparov said I had a great future. In December, after turning 39, I was too old to continue for long."

A few years ago, the great Ukrainian grandmaster Vassily Ivanchuk panicked. He was approaching 40, and the prospect of not being invited to elite tournaments weighed heavily on his mind. Trying to wage a war on aging, Ivanchuk played everywhere, going from one tournament to another as if each were his last. Not surprisingly, he began to slip, losing many rating points. During the last several weeks, though, Ivanchuk has started to climb back, beating the Czech grandmaster David Navara in Prague and narrowly losing to Magnus Carlsen of Norway in the final in Leon, Spain.

Ivanchuk Wins in Bazna

Last Thursday, Ivanchuk excelled in the third Tournament of Kings in Bazna, Romania, proving there is life after 40. The Ukrainian grandmaster took first place in a double round robin six-grandmaster tournament with an incredible 7-3 score. He left behind the second finisher, the steady, experienced 41-year-old Israeli grandmaster Boris Gelfand, by a full point. Behind the two oldest players, others finished as follows: Teimour Radjabov of Azerbaijan and Alexei Shirov of Spain, each 5½ points; Gata Kamsky of the United States and Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu of Romania, 3 points each without a win.

Thumping the Sicilian

Alexei Shirov, soon to be 37, knows his best years are behind him. He would like to be more stable and play well, but he is still enjoying sharp, complicated lines. As a result, he can win strong tournaments as he did in Sofia last month, finishing ahead of Carlsen and Bulgaria's Veselin Topalov. But he can also flop, as he did in the Poikovsky event in Russia this month, finishing last. Shirov recovered in Bazna, producing a last-round masterpiece against Nisipeanu. In the Taimanov Sicilian, Shirov took the life out of the black pieces with an astonishing exchange sacrifice. Lacking coordination, Nisipeanu could not find the way out of the squeeze and had to wait for Shirov to find the final blow.

Shirov-Nisipeanu

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Qc7 6.Be3 a6 7.Qd2 Nf6 8.0-0-0 Bb4 9.f3 (The English attack is playable even against the Taimanov Sicilian.) 9...Ne7 10.Nde2 b5 11.Bf4! (The fight for the dark squares begins.) 11...e5 12.Bg5 Qb6 (Nisipeanu tries to improve a line that did not work well for black in the past. In the game Anand-Polgar, San Luis 2005, black got a worse position after 12...Bb7 13.Kb1 Ba5 14.Bxf6! gxf6 15.Qh6 Qb6 16.g3!, intending 17.Bh3. Last year against Sergei Karjakin, in the Ukrainian town of Foros, Nisipeanu protected the square h6 by playing 12...h5 and he almost equalized.) 13.a3 Bc5 14.b4! (Fighting for the weak square d6.) 14...Bf2 15.Qd6 Qxd6 16.Rxd6 Neg8 17.Ng3 h6 18.Nd1! Ba7 19.Be3 Bb8 (Black was hoping for 20.Rd2 d6 21.c4 bxc4 22.Bxc4 Be6, but that's not the way Shirov plays chess.)

20.Bc5! (A smothering positional sacrifice of the exchange, pinning the black king and the rooks to the back rank.) 20...Ne7 21.Ne3 Bxd6 22.Bxd6 Bb7 23.c4! (The pawn on e5 is not going anywhere. Meantime, white wants to establish superiority in the center and on the queenside.) 23...Bc6 24.Kb2 Ng6 25.Ngf5 Kd8 (Black can't protect the pawn on g7 with 25...Rg8 because of 26.Bc5! Kd8 27.Nd6, for example 27...Rf8? 28.Bb6+ Ke7 29.Ndf5+ Ke6 30.Nxg7+ Ke7 31.Nef5 mate; or 27...Kc7 28.Nxf7 Ne8 29.Nf5 and the squeeze is still on.) 26.Nxg7 (White has already picked up one pawn for the exchange and more are on the way.) 26...Ne8 27.Nxe8 Rxe8 28.Nf5 Re6 29.h4 h5 30.c5 Re8 (The attempt to bring the rook on a8 into play with 30...Kc8 backfires after 31.Ng7.)