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01-01 Cover Layout 1 17/06/2015 16:23 Page 1 - … historical works and the new Avrukh are reviewed Saunders on Chess.....58 John reflects on an unfortunate recent cheating scandal

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The Even More Flexible FrenchStrategic Ideas & Powerful WeaponsViktor Moskalenko 304 pages - £19.99When Viktor Moskalenko’s The Flexible French appeared in 2008, it caused a sensati on. It was hailed by reviewers from all over the world as eye-opening, full of new ideas, easy to read, sparkling, and inspirati onal. Seven years aft er its publicati on, Viktor Moskalenko has decided to fully revise, update and extend his modern classic. There are twelve new chapters on lines that have grown in importance, 28 more games, and throughout Moskalenko has found hundreds of improvements, alternati ves, new ideas and fresh weapons.NEW!

Finding Bobby FischerChess InterviewsDirk Jan ten Geuzendam 286 pages - £18.99A classic collecti on, fi nally available again. Dirk Jan ten Geuzendam’s gripping encounter with Bobby Fischer, a journalist’s dream come true, is the apotheosis of this collecti on of interviews, which were fi rst published in New In Chess between 1986 and 1992. Brimming with anecdotes and revealing insights these interviews bring together chess champions of past and present. Meet legends like Botvinnik, Gligoric, Porti sch, Spassky and Karpov, or modern stars like Kasparov, Anand, Kramnik and Judit Polgar.NEW!

Winning Chess ManoeuvresStrategic Ideas that Masters Never Fail to FindSarhan Guliev 240 pages - £18.99When a chess master fi nds a winning strategic idea it is seldom by accident. GM Sarhan Guliev presents a wide range of strategic manoeuvres that have been employed by great chess players. Aft er studying this book, ambiti ous amateurs will fi nd winning plans quicker and more oft en, not by accident or by relying on general rules or vague noti ons, but because they have built up a large stockpile of highly practi cal ideas.

NEW!

Taming Wild Chess OpeningsHow to deal with the Good, the Bad and the Ugly over the Chess BoardJohn Watson & Eric Schiller 430 pages - £19.99Provides club players with soluti ons to a huge selecti on of rarely-played or tricky chess openings. The authors concentrate upon ideas and strategy, with enough analysis to sati sfy the needs of practi cal play. They present a simple and safe way to approach the positi on, requiring litt le memorizati on and sti ll leading to a promising game. There is a lot of fun material in this book. Chess isn’t all main lines and 20 moves of theory!NEW!

A

available at the London Chess Centre - www.chess.co.uk/shop

www.chess.co.uk 3

ContentsEditorial.................................................................................................................4Malcolm Pein on the latest developments

60 Seconds with... ...........................................................................................7International Master and popular author Cyrus Lakdawala

Favourites to the Fore....................................................................................8Steve Giddins on the Grand Prix decider in Khanty-Mansiysk

A Lasting Legacy............................................................................................14Janis Nisii continues her report from the Gashimov Memorial

Through a 1600 Lens...................................................................................18David Gilbert enjoyed the World Amateur Chess Championships

Back to Basics .................................................................................................20Nick Ivell continues his tour of the most important rook endings

The Art of Attack ..........................................................................................21Some summer inspiration from two great attacking efforts

Forthcoming Events .....................................................................................23

The Korchnoi Gambit....................................................................................24Matthew Lunn shows why 1 d4 f5 2 h3!? is quite dangerous

Taiming the Taimanov...................................................................................26IM Erik Kislik kindly lets us into his acclaimed opening laboratory

How Good is Your Chess? ..........................................................................30Daniel King on FIDE transfers and Fabiano Caruana

Online Chess ....................................................................................................34Kanwal Bhatia takes a look at the main chess playing websites

Find the Winning Moves .............................................................................36Can you do as well as the GMs at the Russian Team Championship?

Penrose’s Rivals ..............................................................................................40John Saunders looks at the era dominated by Jonathan Penrose

Never Mind the Grandmasters................................................................44Carl enjoyed his Spanish holiday and visit to Castle Lorca

Studies with Stephenson............................................................................46Brian remembers his first meeting with the late Colin Crouch

Home News.......................................................................................................48Small tributes to Neil Carr, George Ellison and Joe French

Opening Trends...............................................................................................50The Reti Opening is extremely topical

Wei Yi Once Again..........................................................................................51The new Chinese Champion also won the Leon Magistral

Overseas News ...............................................................................................5214-year-old Jeffery Xiong triumphed at the strong Chicago Open

Solutions............................................................................................................54

New Books and Software...........................................................................55Three historical works and the new Avrukh are reviewed

Saunders on Chess ........................................................................................58John reflects on an unfortunate recent cheating scandal

Photo credits: Federació d'Escacs Valls d'Andorra (p.4), Entercard (pp.5-6), Albert Silver (p.6),Eteri Kublashvili (pp.8-12), Ray Morris-Hill (p.52), Janis Nisii (p.16), Brendan O’Gorman (p.19), Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (p.22, 53), Chess Magazine archive (pp.40-43), Carl Portman (pp.44-5), www.advancedchessleon.com (p.51).

ChessFounding Editor: B.H. Wood, OBE. M.Sc †Executive Editor: Malcolm PeinEditors: Richard Palliser, Matt ReadAssociate Editor: John SaundersSubscriptions Manager: Paul Harrington

Twitter: @CHESS_MagazineTwitter: @TelegraphChess - Malcolm PeinWebsite: www.chess.co.uk

Subscription Rates:United Kingdom1 year (12 issues) £49.952 year (24 issues) £89.953 year (36 issues) £125

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Rest of World (Airmail)1 year (12 issues) £722 year (24 issues) £1303 year (36 issues) £180 Distributed by:Post Scriptum (UK only), Unit G, OYO Business Park, Hindmans Way, Dagenham, RM9 6LN - Tel: 020 8526 7779 LMPI (North America)8155 Larrey Street, Montreal (Quebec), H1J 2L5, Canada - Tel: 514 355-5610

Views expressed in this publication are notnecessarily those of the Editors. Contributions tothe magazine will be published at the Editors’discretion and may be shortened if space is limited.

No parts of this publication may be reproduced without the prior express permission of the publishers.

All rights reserved. © 2015

Chess Magazine (ISSN 0964-6221) is published by:Chess & Bridge Ltd, 44 Baker St, London, W1U 7RTTel: 020 7288 1305 Fax: 020 7486 7015Email: [email protected], Website: www.chess.co.uk FRONT COVER:Cover Design: Matt ReadCover Photography: www.123rf.com US & Canadian Readers – You can contact us via ourAmerican branch – Chess4Less based in West Palm Beach, FL. Call toll-free on 1-877 89CHESS (24377).You can even order Subscriber Special Offers online via www.chess4less.com

Printed in the UK by The Magazine PrintingCompany using only paper from FSC/PEFC

suppliers www.magprint.co.uk

03-03 Contents_Chess mag - 21_6_10 17/06/2015 17:22 Page 3

As we reported in the May issue, the resultof the third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix left therelatively little-known Russian GM, EvgenyTomashevsky leading the series, and in the boxseat to secure a place in the 2016 Candidatestournament. Effectively, the final Grand Prixstage in Khanty-Mansiysk would come down toa battle between three players – Tomashevsky,Caruana and Nakamura – for two Candidatesplaces. For the rest of the 12-player field, itwas just a question of prize money, both in theevent itself and the overall Grand Prix. Tomashevsky got off to the best possiblestart, when a very suspicious position fromthe opening as Black against Jobavaeventually transformed itself into the fullpoint, after a collapse by the Georgian. Thenext day, Tomashevsky came close towinning his ‘Evergreen’ against Grischuk.

E.Tomashevsky-A.GrischukRound 2

King’s Indian Defence

1 d4 Ìf6 2 c4 g6 3 Ìc3 Íg7 4 e4 d6 5 Ìf3 0-0 6 h3 e5 7 d5 Ìh5 8 g3 Ëe7 9 Ìh2 Ìa6 10 Íe3 Ìc5 11 h4 a5 12 Íe2 Ìf6 13 Ëc2 c6 14 g4 Ìa6 15 g5 Ìe8 16 h5 Ìb4 17 Ëd2 cxd5 18 cxd5 Íd7 19 0-0-0 f5 20 Êb1 b521 hxg6 hxg6 22 f3 Ìc7 23 Îc1 Ìba624 Íd3 b4 25 Ìe2 Ìb5 26 Îc6 Îfb827 Îhc1 f4 28 Íf2 Íf8 29 Ìg4 Ëxg530 Îh1 Ëe7 31 Íxb5 Îxb5

As in the two players’ game at the Tbilisi

stage of the Grand Prix, Grischuk has beenoutplayed in the Makagonov Variation of theKing’s Indian. Those who have ever watchedthe Russian at post-game press conferenceswill be aware that he has a sense of humourthat is ‘as dry as a Pommie’s towel’, as Iunderstand our Antipodean cousins are fondof saying. He showed that again after thisgame, commenting on his seeming inability toplay the King’s Indian: “Different people havedifferent skills. Some people can’t writesonnets. I can’t play the King’s Indian. Mindyou, I can’t write sonnets either...” With both players (especially Grischuk) nowin serious time-trouble, Tomashevsky foundwhat should have proved the decisive blow. 32 Ìxf4! Íxg4 32...exf4 33 Íd4 Íg7 34 Ìh6+ isdevastating: for example, 34...Êf8 (34...Íxh635 Îxh6 wins) 35 Ëxf4+ Êe8 36 Íxg7 Ëxg737 Ëxd6 Ìb8 38 Ìg4 with decisive threats.33 Ìxg6! 33 fxg4 exf4 is much less convincingwithout the dangerous knight on g4.33...Ëf6 34 Ìxf8 Îxf8 35 Îg1 Ëxf3?! Now it should be easy. 35...Îb7 is themost tenacious, but Black is still lost.36 Ëg5+ Êf7 37 Îxg4

White has a devastating attack, for nomaterial investment at all. However, both flagswere hanging (there was no incremental timecontrol in the GP), and something remarkablehappens over the next few moves. 37...Êe8 Avoiding 37...Ëxf2? 38 Ëg7+ Êe8 39 Îc8#.38 Ëg6+ Ëf7 39 Ëxf7+? 39 Ëxd6 is much stronger and actually forcesmate in 15, according to the computer. Nobodycould be expected to see that over the board,but the move itself is simple enough – after39...Îb8 just 40 Ëxe5+ wins the black queen.

July 2015

With two qualifying places in the Candidates tournament up for grabs, SteveGiddins reports on the action from the Grand Prix decider in Khanty-Mansiysk

Favourites to the Fore

8

Tomashevsky went in to the final Grand Prix event in first position and with a win in round one was looking likely to be heading to the Candidates tournament early next year.

However, after failing to win his ‘Evergreen’, Evgeny ultimately finished a disappointing 10th(+2, =6, -3), but by averaging 64 moves per game you can hardly blame him for not trying.

08-13 KhantyGP_Chess mag - 21_6_10 17/06/2015 17:26 Page 8

17-17 ZMFII advert_Layout 1 17/06/2015 16:24 Page 1

www.chess.co.uk29

Now Black intends ...b5 or ...0-0-0.17 Ëd2 With 17 a3, White intends Íe2 followed byg2-g4, but Black can equalise quickly with well-timed pawn breaks: 17...0-0-0 18 Êb1 (18 Íe2Íc6 19 Íf3 g5! gives Black active counterplay)18...Íc6 19 Íd3 d5 equalises for Black. Hecan consider ...Êb8 or exchanging on e4. 17...0-0-0 18 Ëxd6 Taking the pawn is the only idea thatmakes any sense.18...Ëxd6 19 Îxd6 Ìg6

20 Íc4?! This leaves White slightly worse. It wasessential for him to maintain his pawn structurewith 20 Ìe2!, intending Îg1 and Îd3. Blackdoes best to fight for direct compensation asquickly as he can: 20...Íc6 21 Îxd8+ Îxd8 22 e5 Ìe7 23 Îg1 Ìf5 24 g3 Íb5 (this winsback the pawn for Black, but most importantlyis not worse for White) 25 Ìc3 hxg3 26 hxg3Íxf1 27 Îxf1 Ìxg3 28 Îf3 Ìf5 29 Ìe4 andWhite holds the balance.20...Ìxf4 21 Îf1 Ìg6 22 Îxf7!? This may even be best and with correct playmay objectively lead to a draw. Instead, 22 Íe2Ìe5 23 Ìd1 Êc7 24 Îd2 Íc6 25 Ìf2 f6! 26b3 b5 is better for Black: structurally he issuperior and he can continue with ...a6-a5.22...Ìe5 23 Îfxd7 Îxd7 24 Íxe6 Êc7

25 Îd5? Although this doesn’t look so bad at firstsight, it may be objectively losing for White.Correct was 25 Îxd7+! Ìxd7 26 Ìd5+Êd6 27 Íxd7 Êxd7 28 Êd2 Îf8 29 Êe2Êe6 30 Ìb4 h3 31 g3 Êe5 32 Êe3 Îf1 33

Ìd3+ Êd6 34 Ìf2 and White should drawbecause he can defend all of his weak pawns.25...Îxd5 26 exd5 Îf8 27 Ìd1 Îf1 28Êd2 Ìc4+ 29 Êe2 Îg1 30 b3 30 d6+ Ìxd6 31 Ìe3 b5 should win forBlack as well.30...Ìd6 31 Ìe3 b5 32 Êd3 Êb6 And here 32...Îa1! 33 b4 Îxa2 34 c3Êb6 35 Ìc2 Ìc4 36 g3 hxg3 37 hxg3Ìe5+ 38 Êd2 Îb2 appears to win for Black.33 Êd4 b4 34 c4 bxc3 35 Êxc3 a5

36 Êd4 A superior defence was 36 Íg4! Êc5 37 Íe2 Îc1+ 38 Êd2 Îh1 39 h3 a4 40 Ìc2 axb3 41 axb3 Êxd5 42 Íd3 Ìe4+43 Êe3 Ìc5 44 Íc4+ Êe5, which is betterfor Black, but offers White serious drawingchances in view of the limited material.36...Îa1 37 a4 Îb1 38 Ìc4+ 38 Êc3 Êc5 39 h3 Îc1+ 40 Êd2 Îa1 41 Êd3 Îa3 42 Êc3 Îa2 is winning for Black,but would have been a more stubborn defence.38...Ìxc4 39 Êxc4 Îe1?! This complicates the play unnecessarily,whereas 39...Îc1+! 40 Êd4 Îc2 41 d6Îd2+ 42 Êc4 Îxd6 is a simple win for Black.40 Íf5 Îe2? 40...Êc7! 41 h3! (or 41 b4 Îe5) 41...Îe2 42 b4 Îf2 43 Íh7 Îf4+ 44 Êc5 Îxb4 45 Íc2

g5 may be winning for Black, but is far from clear.

41 d6? Even after move 40, the position remainstough to play. Here 41 b4! axb4 42 Êxb4Îb2+ 43 Êc4 Îxg2 44 a5+ Êxa5 45 Êc5Êa6 46 Íe4 Îg1 47 d6 Îc1+ 48 Êd5 Êb649 Íf5 is an unbelievable theoretical draw.41...Êc6 42 d7? Not great, but White loses too after 42 Êd3 Îb2 43 Êc3 Îf2.42...Êc7 43 Íh3 Îe4+ 43...g5! was an easier win.44 Êd5 44 Êd3! Îb4 45 Êc3 Îf4 46 Íe6 Îf647 Íh3 g5 wins as well.44...Îb4 45 Êe6 Êd8 And at last Black won easily:46 Êf7 Îxb3 47 Êxg7 Îa3 48 Íe6Îxa4 49 g4 hxg3 50 hxg3 Îe4 51 Íf5Îe7+ 52 Êf6 a4 53 g4 a3 54 Íb1 Îe155 Ía2 Îe2 56 Íb3 Îb2 57 Íd5 Îd258 Íb3 Îb2 59 Íd5 a2 60 Íxa2 Îxa261 g5 Êxd7 62 g6 Êe8 63 Êg7 Îg2 0-1

Some scrap and what an openingvariation! 7 Ëf3 certainly packs a punch, butBlack should be OK after 10...Ìf6 or even7...Ìf6, as we’ll see next month.

26-29 Qf3Taimanov_Chess mag - 21_6_10 17/06/2015 17:36 Page 29

series by Anand, Svidler and Hou Yifan.Spanish and German language videos arealso available. To me there seems little reason to subscribeto more than one of these sites, since there isa large overlap in terms of functionality and itis easy enough to spend too much time on just

one. All offer the ability to in some way ‘trybefore you buy’. With the ICC this is a two-week free trial, while the other sites offervarying levels of access for varying prices.Chess24.com also allows you to purchaseindividual videos series without registering (12hours(!) of Svidler on his beloved Grünfeld

costs 30 Euro). For those who like to play online and learnfrom videos, each of these websites provides auseful and fun resource. The decision willprobably come down to more subjective issueslike which videos you prefer or even whichinterface.

www.chess.co.uk35

British ChessChampionships

at the University of Warwick, CoventryFor more information - visit:

www.britishchesschampionships.co.ukor contact Kevin Staveley: [email protected]

Saturday 25th July - Saturday 8th August

ChessBase’s Playchess.com website has over 200,000 registered usersand the playing standard is much higher than the popular Chess.com.Unsurprisingly the site offers a lot of high-quality video from regular

ChessBase presenters Daniel King, Maurice Ashley and Yasser Seirawan.

The Internet Chess Club (ICC) is the granddaddy of chess websiteshaving first launched in 1992! The ICC recently partnered with theUnited States Chess Federation (USCF) to provide USCF-rated onlinerapidplay and blitz tournaments. It has recently upgraded its software

and now has one of the nicest looking playing interfaces

102N

D

34-35 Chess on the Web_Chess mag - 21_6_10 17/06/2015 17:39 Page 35

17-17 Quality Chess Advert_Layout 1 16/05/2015 20:25 Page 1

July 2015

About thirty years ago, back in the mid-1980s, I was playing in a weekend chesscongress – somewhere north of Sheffield if Iremember rightly. I was walking around thehall between rounds killing time when I spieda large, bearded man demonstrating someinteresting play on one of the boards to anentranced junior. I joined the pair and quicklyrealised that what was being shown was notfrom a game, but probably an endgame study. As an enthusiast of such myself, I asked thesmiling giant who had composed it. He replied,“I did”, which surprised me as I thought I knewall the study composers in Great Britain and Ididn’t recognise him. We quickly introducedourselves, and, as you have all probablyguessed, he turned out to be Colin Crouch. Iasked him if he had composed any other studiesand he showed me our first study, which at thattime had not been published. I well remember Colin’s delight as we slowlyplayed though the study, our young companionor myself suggesting the moves when we wereable. I was so impressed with it that I urged himto publish it and suggested a couple oftourneys then currently running. The computerhas subsequently found some flaws, but I thinkthat readers will enjoy it anyway.

Colin Crouch5th HM., Assiac Memorial Ty., 1988

White to play and win

1 Êf6 White starts by playing to keep the blackking in the corner, while also threatening mateby 2 Êf7 gxf4 3 Íxf4 h2 4 Íe5#.1...Êg8

The only way to avoid mate. Trying to playactively leads to an even quicker mate: forinstance, 1...gxf4 2 Êf7 g3 3 Íg1 and 4 Íd4#, or 1...g3 2 Êf7 gxh2 3 Ì4g6#.2 Ìd5! White offers a knight. After 2 Ì4g6? g3White’s best is to take a draw with 3 Ìd7 gxh24 Ìe7+ Êh7 5 Êf7 g4 6 Ìf5 Êh8 7 Ìf8 h1Ë8 Ìg6+ Êh7 9 Ìf8+, while Black promoteswith winning effect after 2 Ìd7? gxf4 3 Íxf4h2 4 Íxh2 g3 5 Íg1 b3 6 Íd4 g2 7 Êg6g1Ë+ 8 Íxg1 b2 9 Ìf6+ Êh8 10 Íh2 b1Ë+or 2 Ì4e6? g3 3 Íg1 h2 4 Íd4 h1Ë.2...g3 Blocking out the white bishop. Taking theoffered knight loses as the bishop comes into play:2...Êxf8 3 Íd6+ Êe8 (if 3...Êg8 4 Êg6 g3 5 Ìf6+ Êh8 6 Íf8 h2 7 Íg7#) 4 Êe6 Êd8 5 Íc7+ Êe8 (5...Êc8 6 Êd6 b5 7 Êc6 and matenext move) 6 Ìf6+ Êf8 7 Íd6+ Êg7 8 Ìxg4wins: for instance, 8...b3 9 Êf5 Êf7 10 Ía3.3 Ìd7

Giving up the bishop and threatening 4 Êg6gxh2 5 Ì5f6+ Êh8 6 Ìe5 h1Ë 7 Ìf7#.3...gxh2 This time active play is better. Black cantry wiggling, but it still leads to mate: 3...Êh74 Êf7 Êh6 (or 4...gxh2 5 Ì5f6+ Êh6 6Ìg4+ Êh7 7 Ìdf6+ Êh8 8 Ìe5 h1Ë 9Ìg6#) 5 Ìe7 gxh2 6 Ìg8+ Êh7 7 Ìdf6+Êh8 8 Ìe7 h1Ë 9 Ìg6#, or 3...Êh8 4 Íg1h2 5 Íd4 Êh7 6 Êf7 h1Ë 7 Ìf8+ Êh6 8Íg7+ Êh5 9 Ìf6#.4 Êg6 h1Ë 5 Ì5f6+ Êh8 6 Ìe5 Ëb1+ The best way to stop the mate. After6...Ëe4+, for instance, 7 Ìxe4 mates in afew more moves: 7...Êg8 8 Ìd7 h2 9 Ìef6+Êh8 10 Ìe5 h1Ë 11 Ìf7#.7 Êh6 Ëh7+ A compulsory sacrifice.

8 Ìxh7

This threatens 9 Ìf6 h2 10 Ìg6# andnow we repeat the dance for the first time...8...Êg8 9 Êg6 h2 10 Ìd7 h1Ë11 Ìhf6+ Êh8 12 Ìe5 Ëb1+ 13 Êh6Ëh7+ 14 Ìxh7 ...and for a second time.14...Êg8 15 Êg6 b3 16 Ìd7 b2 17Ìhf6+ Êh8 18 Ìe5 White can also play 18 Êh6 here, and after18...b1Ë 19 Ìe5 we are back in the main line.18...b1Ë+ 19 Êh6 Ëh7+ 20 Ìxh7 Êg821 Êg6

The remaining h-pawn is too far back tojoin in the dance a fourth time, so White cannow mop things up.21...h3 22 Ìd7 White can also win with 22 Ìf7 h2 23 Ìh6+Êh8 24 Ìxg5 h1Ë 25 Ìgf7#, or 22 Ìg4Êh8 (if 22...h2 23 Ìgf6+ Êh8 24 Ìxg5 h1Ë25 Ìf7#) 23 Ìh6 h2 24 Ìxg5 h1Ë25 Ìgf7#.22...h2 23 Ìhf6+ The final dual win is 23 Ìdf6+ Êh8 24

46

Studieswith Stephenson

46-47 JulyStudies_Chess mag - 21_6_10 17/06/2015 17:47 Page 46

July 2015

The news story which caught my eye thismonth was the case of the cheat who neverwas. (An aside: I prefer the British noun ‘cheat’for the perpetrator to the US ‘cheater’, just incase any non-British readers were wondering.)I’ve no doubt Malcolm in his editorial will havereferred to the unfortunate Romanian womanplayer who was accused of cheating in theEuropean Women’s Championship in Chakvi. The finger was pointed at Mihaela Sandupurely and simply for scoring more pointsthan might have been expected for a playerof her comparative rating during the courseof half a dozen games. We should note thatshe was rated only 156 points below that ofthe eventual winner and her chief accuser,Natalia Zhukova. As others have rightly observed in theinterim, to accuse someone of cheatingwithout proof is as damaging to the game ascheating itself. But, before going any further,I feel it incumbent upon me to make aconfession: I once accused an opponent ofcheating, and I had absolutely no good reasonto do so. In mitigation I should point out thatI was aged about eight at the time. I can stillremember what was going through my head.I was playing my brother, who is seven yearsolder than me, so he was in his mid-teens. Big brother had taught me well and I wasalready quite proficient with the major pieces,but a bit neglectful of my pawns.Consequently I was already able to match himtactically during the middlegame, but, as theendgame developed, it eventually dawned onme that his advancing extra pawn(s) wouldbe conclusive. Cue, massive disappointmentand inevitable tantrum. I can rememberthinking: “How did he manage to do that?”. Itseemed akin to witchcraft to my infant mind.So it was that I blurted out my accusation –“You cheated!” – much to his mirth. I suppose this was my first experience ofchess paranoia. Though most of us grow outof these childish tantrums, hopefully beforewe even embark on formal competitive play, Iventure to suggest that some of our moreirrational feelings may still be lurking, albeitkept carefully under control. I’ve neveraccused an opponent of cheating since. Isuppose the fleeting thought that anopponent might be cheating has flickedacross my mind once or twice in the last fiftyyears. A typical case is where an opponentnever seems to be at the board anddisappears as soon as he makes his move. Buton calm reflection I doubt if any of thesevague suspicions were true, based as they

were on purely circumstantial evidence. And,as someone who prefers to think well ofpeople in general, I like to think that cheatingis actually very, very rare indeed.

But chess paranoia is real enough. Despitethe rational nature of the game we play, wechessers are as irrational and twitchy as therest of humanity, and can get spooked by allsorts of little things that happen during play. Afew years ago Shakhriyar Mamedyarovprovided a good example, when he wasfreaked out by a lower-rated (albeit still verystrong) opponent thrashing him on the board,but spending an inordinate time away from it.He leapt to the wrong conclusion and accusedhis opponent of cheating. It transpired that hisopponent was a chain smoker and popped outto feed his addiction after each move. An evenhigher profile example of an uncorroboratedaccusation was Toiletgate. (Google the term ifyou don’t know the reference.) So far, so understandable: competitive chessputs people under huge pressure andsometimes they crack, saying or doing stupidthings. But what isn’t forgivable is the lack of anapology or official action afterwards, and it isthis lack of consequences that is mostdisappointing about all of the above incidents.

FIDE’s part in this has been feeble, not just infailing to bring the non-apologising accusers tobook, but in feeding the paranoia in the firstplace. I’m thinking of the superfluous verbiageabout mobile phones and body searches forelectronic equipment now being hard-codedinto the laws of chess. These clauses are reallyonly relevant to top-level events which need(and can afford) to implement competition-specific regulations. For the rest of us theyrepresent a massive overreaction to anoverblown problem. FIDE probably imaginesthat, by including these clauses into the laws,they create a ‘ring to bind us all’, but in fact theyexpose their own weakness and incompetenceas organisers of minor competitions are forcedto turn a blind eye to the unworkable legislationthat has been foisted on them. One other aspect of the Chakvi affairdepressed me: the almost fundamentalist faithin ratings shown by the accusers. The kangaroocourt could not see past the accused’s ratingand concluded that she couldn’t be playingfairly. However, surely we all know that amyriad of factors can contribute to a lowrating: for example, illness, bereavement, along layoff, etc. In the same way a suddenlyimproving rating can often lead tounsubstantiated tittle-tattle about cheating,ignoring the fact that a player may previouslyhave had little time to study and is now takingthe game more seriously, or receiving formalcoaching... and I don’t mean during the game.But somehow some players consider a ratingdisparity to be damning evidence of mischief initself. That is just plain bonkers. Let’s bear in mind that Chakvi was atypicaland turn to something positive. A week or soago I took part in a memorial tournament forChris Clegg, who was a loyal member ofKingston Chess Club all his life. There was agood turnout of all standards of player, frompatzer up to grandmaster. Chris would havebeen thrilled to know that the tournamentheld in his honour was won by someone asexalted as John Nunn, with the chiefexecutive of the national federation giving uphis Sunday to hand out the prizes. Chris was aquiet, self-effacing man, but chess was a sortof sanctuary for him, as it is for many of us. One of the great joys of chess is itsinclusivity, as exemplified by FIDE’s mottoGens Una Sumus (thankfully, this wording isone which the world federation hasn’t tinkeredwith recently). The Kingston tournament wasa heart-warming reminder that we value ourpawns as highly as our kings. So let’s just trustone another and play chess.

58

Saunders on ChessFollow me on Twitter: @johnchess or email: [email protected]

WGM Mihaela Sandu was ridiculouslyaccused of cheating at the recent EuropeanWomen’s Individual Championship in Georgia.

58-58 SaundersJuly_Chess mag - 21_6_10 17/06/2015 17:56 Page 58

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