ADDICTS' CORNER

Mike Fox and Richard James: four hands in harmony

New Year Honours

We are pleased to welcome our new FARCE Grandmasters:

R Bates
R Bennett
G Edwards (WAL)
S James
S Kubrick (USA)
A Martin
D Oldbury
J Robinson
AA Smith

If you see your name on this list, send us a large SAE and we'll send you your official GM Certificate.

For those of you new to the column, three mentions in these pages will qualify you for the prestigious FARCE GM title. Alternatively a loan at favourable rates will do just as well. Might we suggest £373,000?

Famous Names

Mikhail Botvinnik - Tigran Petrosian
Istanbul 1998
Grünfeld Defence
1. d4 Nf6 2. Nf3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. g3 0-0 5. Bg2 d5 6. cxd5 Nxd5 7. 0-0 c6 8. e4 Nb6 9. h3 N8d7 10. Nc3 h6 11. Qe2 Kh7 12. Rd1 e6 13. e5 Nd5 14. Ne4 Qe7 15. b3 b5 16. Bb2 a5 17. Rdc1 Bb7 18. Nfd2 a4 19. Nd6 a3 20. Bc3 b4 21. Bxb4 Ba6 22. Qg4 Nxb4 23. Bxc6 Nxc6 24. Rxc6 Nxe5 25. dxe5 Bxe5 26. Rd1 Bxd6 27. Ne4 Be5 28. Nc5 Rfd8 29. Rxd8 Rxd8 30. Nxa6 Qb7 31. Qc4 Rd1+ 32. Kg2 Rd6 33. Nb4 Rd4 34. Qc5 Rxb4 35. Kh2 Rb5 36. Qc4 Rb6 37. Rc8 Bg7 38. Qc2 Qd7 39. Rc7 Qd5 40. Rxf7 Rc6 41. Qe2 Rc1 0-1

No, we haven't made a mistake with the date or venue. Nor was it, like Korchnoi's game against Maroczy (any further news on this, anyone?) played with the aid of a medium. It really was Mikhail Botvinnik - Tigran Petrosian, played on Board 4 in the match between Israel and Armenia during the Children's Olympiad. Mikhail Botvinnik was born in 1984 in Belarus, and emigrated to Israel with his family. Tigran Petrosian, who lives in Yerevan, was born in 1983. Neither of them are related to their famous namesakes. Thanks to New in Chess for this.

The Wagenbach Concluded

We promised to let you have the latest state of play on the Wagenbach Gambit by publishing the highlights of some analysis sent to us by the great Janos himself. However, the author of the aforesaid analysis, Jonathan Tait, has written to us pointing out that his work (published in Chess Mail) is copyrighted. But do try the Wagenbach; it's a delight.

Jonathan also points out that Wagenbach's opponent in AC 752 is J Th Simmelink, not Siemerink, and that the game does not represent 'the cutting edge of theory'. In a previous column we also gave the name of the BCCA Magazine incorrectly as Chess Correspondent. This should have been Correspondence Chess.

At Stoke-on-Trent last year, Jonathan lost 90 points (2275 to 2185) in one 9-round event. Is this a record?, he asks.

Mark of Distinction

Classical music buffs will no doubt be aware that Phillips are in the process of issuing a major series of double albums entitled Great Pianists of the 20th Century.

Among the second batch issued at the end of last year was one featuring Lyubov Bruk and Mark Taimanov. Yes, THAT Taimanov. Lyubov Bruk was Taimanov's wife and piano duet partner, and between the late fifties and early seventies they were among their country's leading exponents of the two-piano repertoire. They had only just begun to tour in the West when they split up, both personally and professionally, in the early seventies. (Whether this had any connection with Taimanov's 6-0 loss to Fischer we don't know. We recall that Taimanov fell from favour with the Soviet chess authorities, not just because of his drubbing by Bobby, but also because he returned home with a copy of a book by Solzhenitsyn. "At least I still have my music" he said at the time, but, alas, not for long.)

The recordings date from between 1959 and 1968 and emanate from the Soviet Melodiya label. To the best of our knowledge they have not previously been commercially available in the West. Included on the discs are concertos by Mozart and Poulenc, and music for two pianos by Rachmaninov, Arensky, Poulenc, Milhaud, Busoni and Chopin. The Gramophone critic praised their 'distinguished music making' while finding 'the limitations of Soviet recording technology ... a serious obstacle to enjoyment'. But David Mellor in the same journal found it 'a revelatory release', praising their 'rare unanimity of vision, flair, and, when required, stunning virtuosity'. The BBC Music Magazine was also impressed, enjoying their 'irresistible enthusiasm, spontaneity and real togetherness'.

Rush down to your record shop tomorrow and ask for Philips 456 736-2PM2.

Prisoner 99432

We were sorry to read in the Daily Telegraph that one of the stars of our column, Claude Bloodgood, is in failing health. Claude, now aged 74, will be known to many of our readers as the author of The Tactical Grob, but is better known at Powhatan penitentiary, Richmond Va as Prisoner 99432, where he has been on death row for the past 30 years.

John Walker, from Burntwood, Staffs, has been playing postal chess against him for 28 years, and has written to President Clinton asking to go behind bars and play him in a face-to-face game. Bill, with other things on his mind at present, has yet to reply.

Internet

Both chess addicts are now on the Internet: our e-mail addresses are mikom@netcomuk.co.uk and rjcc@globalnet.co.uk. Do feel free to e-mail us anything which might be of interest for this column.

Meanwhile, we are busy surfing the internet and perusing our database of 1 million plus games. We'll let you know what we discover in future columns.

LASTBUR 97

+-mK-+n+p
p+-+-trp+
tr-+qzpp+-
nvlpzpl+-+
+pmk-+-+-
-+-+-+-+
+-+-+-+-
-+-+-+-+


Thanks to Sujit Kapadia Surbiton and David Williams Formby for sending us this diagram which has appeared in several papers recently with the caption 'black to win in as many moves as it takes'. David Williams wrote:

"Turn the board the right way round and it looks like Black to mate in half a move, as he's in the process of playing b1=N mate - until you notice that pawn on a8.

"So clearly the whole game has been played with the board the wrong way round, Black has just promoted on a1, and White has pointed out it's stalemate whatever he promotes to - or perhaps Black is trying to borrow a piece off the next board, as his box is empty."

The advert was for Demon Internet. We chose Global Internet instead.

Calum Smith Gosport writes to tell us that the video for Madonna's latest single features a chess board set up the wrong way round. Perhaps she noticed, as a few moments later she sweeps the pieces of the board.

The Things They Write

Kasparov's recent visit to London triggered off a glut of feature articles in the broadsheets.

The Observer's Gaby Wood was invited to play against the great man himself. "He has been world chess champion for a record 12 consecutive years", she gushed, oblivious to the claims of Emanuel Lasker. "He says 'no human' can beat him". "At 12, he played his first match against the then world champion Anatoly Karpov", she added, confusing, as journalists always do, games and matches.

Meanwhile, Daniel Johnson was writing in the Daily Telegraph about the campaign to have chess recognised as a sport. "The player with the best record against the champion, whom he has acknowledged as his most likely successor, is yet another Russian "K": Gata Kamsky." We think you've got the wrong K there, Daniel.

Congratulations

This column would like to send its congratulations to Murugan Thiruchelvam on becoming the youngest player to qualify for a national championship, and also to dispel rumours that he only wins his games because his opponents lose on time trying to write down his name.

We're still waiting for a journalist to notice that both Murugan and Luke McShane came through the same Junior Chess Club. Now there's a story for you.

More Sexism

Only one entry for our contest to find a suitable opponent for Ms Nakedi of Botswana (AC 765). Mabel Kincory draws our attention to A Behraas from the Austrian Grading List.

Transsexual

We learn from an article by Jules Welling in the latest issue of Kingpin (we liked the new format) that a Dutch player with a rating of 2100+ is in the process of becoming a woman. Her rating will put her in the Dutch Women's top 20, making her eligible for the semi-finals of the Dutch Women's Championship.

Neither the Royal Dutch Chess Federation nor the International Olympic Committee could give a ruling on whether transsexuals would be able to take part in women's events. Can anyone help? Have there been any other transsexual chess players? (We heard a rumour, years ago, that a certain female player who had recently appeared on the scene was a transsexual, but received no confirmation of this. The player concerned soon dropped out of chess.)

Gremlin

Congratulations to Clive Blackburn (CHESS Dec 98 pp42-43) for spotting our contributions to the July Winning Moves. We can now reveal that the Editor lets us loose from time to time to throw a proverbial spanner in the works. Clive, and other perceptive readers, will surely have seen our effort at the bottom of p6 of the December issue.

Penguin

We fear Jack Speigel's memory may be playing tricks on him (Letters, November). According to Ray Keene in Becoming a Grandmaster it was the Mad Green Monkey, not the Shamble Maniac, who donned a penguin suit to play Botvinnik at Hastings (1966-67). And, by the way, the Editor apologises to Jack for misspelling his name.

 
 
 
Garry's Oversight

Michael Oppenheim, an American living in Paris, came into the London Chess Centre recently and pointed out a 'refutation' to a Kasparov suggestion.
xABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+k+(
7+p+-+-zp-'
6p+q+pzP-+&
5zP-zpr+-+-%
4-+N+-zPQsn$
3+PzP-+-zp-#
2-+-+-+-+"
1+-+-tR-mK-!
xabcdefghy

Ray Keene's book Kasparov vs Short relates how Kasparov demonstrated to Short the only correct move: 37... g5. Keene analyses 28. Rxe6, 38. Qxe6+, 38. fxg5 and 38. Ne3, all winning or better for Black. But, asks Michael, what about 38. Qxg3!, when it is White who wins.

No one at the London Chess Centre can find anything wrong with Qxg3 - how about you?

Underpromotion

Paul Kelly London sends us an example of misguided resignation:

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-+-+(
7zpl+-+-+p'
6-zp-+p+-+&
5+Pzp-mk-zPL%
4-+P+pzp-+$
3+-+-zP-+-#
2P+-+-zPKzP"
1+-+-+-+-!
Xabcdefghy

This position arose in Kotzian Ewald - Paul Kelly, Cleveland Open November 1998. Play continued: 29. Kh3?? f3! 30. Bf7 Bd5 31. Bg8 Bxc4 32. Bxh7 Bd5 33. Kg4 c4 34. Kh5 c3 35. g6 Kf6 36. Kh6 c2 37. g7 e5 38. Bxe4 c1Q 39. Bxd5 Qg1 and White resigned because of 40. g8Q Qxh2#. But he could have drawn by an underpromotion: 40. g8N+ Kf5 41. Ne7+ Kf6 (41... Kg4 loses to 42. Be6+ Kh4 43. Ng6+) 42. Ng8+

 
 
 
 
Name That Piece

Dave Stuttard Warrington asked his five-year-old niece Emily what the names of the pieces were. Her answers:

N - A horse
K - A steeple with a cross on top
Q - A tower with a bucket of cement with a cherry in the middle
B - A whistle
R - A chimney

Any similar contributions will be rewarded with the usual FARCE norm.

Through the Hoop

I (RJ) didn't recognise my opponent in a recent Thames Valley League match but thought his name sounded familiar. While updating the index for the New Year Honours I discovered why. Robert Fulford, who appears to have moved from Colchester to Surbiton, is one of the country's leading croquet players.

Here's the game. I can only apologise to my opponent for playing so boringly. My excuse is that I was recovering from flu.

Richard James - Robert Fulford
Thames Valley League 1999
King's Indian Defence

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 d6 3. Nc3 g6 4. Nf3 Bg7 5. Bg5 h6 6. Bh4 Bf5 7. e3 g5 8. Bg3 Nh5 9. Bd3 Nxg3 10. hxg3 Qd7 11. Qc2 Bxd3 12. Qxd3 Nc6 13. a3 e5 14. d5 Ne7 15. e4 f5 16. exf5 Qxf5 17. Qxf5 Nxf5 18. g4 Nd4 19. Nxd4 exd4 20. Nb5 Kd7 21. 0-0-0 Rae8 22. Nxd4 Re4 23. Nf5 Rxc4+ 24. Kb1 Be5 25. f3 c6 26. dxc6+ bxc6 27. Rxh6 Rxh6 28. Nxh6 Ke6 29. Nf5 ½-½

Correction

Apologies to Ronald Turnbull, the composer of the Progressive Chess problem in AC778, for misspelling his name.

Short and Sweet

Thanks to those nice people at the British Postal Chess Federation for continuing to send us copies of their quarterly magazine to display at the Richmond Rapidplays.

Herewith some games:

PK Trussler - D Hardy
BPCF Club Championship 1995
King's Indian Defence

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 0-0 5. Be2 e5 6. dxe5 1-0

It seems that Black was so disgusted by this that he resigned their other game as well, after five moves of theory.

D Hardy - PK Trussler
BPCF Club Championship 1995
Vienna Game

1. e4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. f4 d5 4. fxe5 Nxe4 5. d3 Nxc3 0-1

RHK Mann - G Pugh
BPCF Club Championship 1995
Latvian Counter-Gambit

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 f5 3. Nc3 fxe4 4. Nxe4 d5 5. Nxe5 Qe7 6. d4 dxe4 0-1

S Guy - P Marshall
C&DCCC Division 2 1995
Modern Defence

1. e4 g6 2. d4 Bg7 3. Nc3 d6 4. f4 c6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be3 Qb6 7. Qd2 Bxf3 8. gxf3 Nd7 9. 0-0-0 Qa5 10. f5 b5 11. Kb1 b4 12. Ne2 Rb8 13. h4 Nb6 14. Ng3 Na4 15. h5 Nc3+ 0-1

And some games from the latest issue of Dragon:

Stuart White - Martyn Goodger
Chorley 1997
King's Gambit

1. e4 e5 2. f4 exf4 3. Nf3 g5 4. h4 g4 5. Ne5 Nf6 6. d4 d6 7. Nd3 Nxe4 8. Nxf4 Be7 9. Qe2 Ng3 and White resigned a move or two later.

The next game was played on New Years Day. White had been celebrating rather too strenuously. By the way, we're looking for sponsors for a proposed match between Jonathan Mutton and Harry Lamb.

 
 
Simon Williams - Jonathan Mutton
Hastings Challengers 1998
English Opening

1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nc6 3. Nf3 f5 4. d4 e4 5. Ng5 Bb4 6. e3 Qxg5 7. h4 Qe7 8. Bd2 Nf6 9. Nd5 Nxd5 10. cxd5 Bxd2+ 11. Qxd2 Nb4 12. Bc4 b5 13. Bb3 Bb7 0-1

Black must have been celebrating before this game as well, taken from Webmaster John Saunders' ongoing series on Cambridge University chess in the early seventies.

John Saunders - NN
BUCA Birmingham 1974
Two Knights Defence

1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bc4 Nc6 4. Ng5 d5 5. exd5 Qxd5 and White won a few moves later.

 
 
Finally, from Paul Kelly London, a game inspired by Aaron Summerscale's new video.

Paul Kelly - David Everitt
Hampstead U150 1998
Colle-Zukertort System

1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 Nc6 6. a3 Bd6 7. Bb2 0-0 8. Nbd2 Re8 9. Ne5 Nd7 10. f4 f6 11. Qh5 Nf8 12. Bxh7+ Nxh7 13. Qf7+ 1-0