Mega-chess competitions are special occasions for a worldwide audience of chess aficianados who take pleasure in seeing how the great and near great do it. An event like the World Chess Federation (FIDE) knockout tournament in Groningen, Holland (Dec. 8-Jan. 9), means a continuous and prolonged flow of games, reportage and color commentary via the Internet.
It has been a heady mixture–owing in part to a knockout-format which pitilessly hones down the original field of 98 players.
Two-game matches were the rule in the early stages of the tournament. An off-day or a poor move and a heavy favorite bit the dust. When two games at conventional speed did not produce a winner, added rapid games were played.
Although not always good for the equanimity of the players, the mini-matches were compelling drama and great fun for those following from near and afar.
Groningen started with a serious liability. Although it was billed as the FIDE “world championship,” Garry Kasparov–the planet’s strongest player–declined to play. Also unavailable was Vladimir Kramnik–arguably the second strongest–because of his unhappiness with the format.
At the end of the first week, Vassily Ivanchuk and Veselin Topolov–two of the three remaining top seeds–were also among the missing. They had been eliminated in the second round. The other, Viswanathan Anand had survived the third-round largely because of the bad nerves of his opponent Alexander Khalifman.
Although the knock-out competitition is an exceptional and desirable chess competition, it does not seem to be a convincing vehicle for determining the best chess player in the world.
Below is a win by ex-women’s world champion Maya Chiburdanidze from the simultaneously-held FIDE Women’s Candidates Tournament.
Chiburdanidze Nona Gurieli
1. d4 ………. Nf6
2. c4 ………. g6
3. g3 ………. Bg7
4. Bg2 ……… d5
5. cxd5 …….. Nxd5
6. e4 ………. Nb6
7. Ne2 ……… c5
8. d5 ………. e6
9. O-O ……… exd5
10. exd5 ……. O-O
11. N(b)c3 ….. Na6
12. d6 ……… Nb4
13. Be3 …….. c4
14. a4 ……… Bf5
15. a5 ……… Nc8
16. a6 ……… Nxd6
17. axb7 ……. Rb8
18. Bxa7 ……. Nxb7
19. Qxd8 ……. R(f)xd8
20. Ra4 …….. Nc2
21. Bxb8 ……. Rxb8
22. Rxc4 ……. Bd3
23. Rc7 …….. Bxc3
24. Rxc3 ……. Bxe2
25. Rc1 …….. Black resigns(a)
Note (a): If 25. . . . Nd5, then 26. Rc8ch Rxc8 27. Rxc8ch Kg7 28. Bxb7.
