Miniatures 14

IN this occasional series I am going through my decisive games of 20 moves or fewer.

David Ratcliffe (154 BCF) - Spanton (151 BCF)

North London Autumn Major 1989

Queen's Fianchetto Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 b6!? 3.Nf3

Possibly best is 3.Nc3 Bb7 4.Qc2, as Euwe and Teichmann played against Alekhine.

3...Bb7 4.e3 e6 5.Nc3 Bb4

This position, which occurs 4,285 times in ChessBase's 2025 Mega database, could easily arise from a Nimzo-Indian or Queen's Indian move-order

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6.Bd3 Ne4 7.Qc2 f5 8.0-0 Nxc3

Alekhine played 8...Bxc3 in a 1920 game, but nine years later Capablanca preferred the text.

9.bxc3 Bxf3 10.gxf3 Bd6!?

The engines reckon this is better than Capablanca's 10...Qg5+.

11.f4 Qh4 12.f3 g5?!

Black should castle, or play ...Nc6 and then castle (kingside), according to the engines.

13.fxg5 h6 14.Qf2?

Murtas Kazhgaleyev (2578) - Arystanbek Urazayev (2446), Kazakhstan Championship (Almaty) 2019, went 14.g6 Rg8 15.e4 Nc6 16.exf5 exf5 17.Bxf5, when Black does not seem to have enough for two pawns (1-0, 27 moves).

14...Qxg5+?

The engines reckon Black has the upper hand after 14...hxg5 15.Qxh4 Rxh4.

15.Kh1 Nc6 16.e4 Qh5 17.e5 Be7 18.f4 Bh4?

This loses a piece, although the engines reckon White is positionally winning anyway after the better 18...Rg8.

19.Be2! Qg6

Or 19...Bxf2 20.Bxh5+ Kd8 21.Rxf2.

20.Qxh4 1-0

LESSON: improving on Capablanca is all well and fine, but of little value if a piece is dropped a few moves later.

I Am #1! (part three)

THERE is a silly but fun pastime at the end of a college football season in the United States where boosters of even the lowliest university set out to prove that their school is really number one or, as it is usually written, #1!

For example, in 2022 the national championship game was won by the team I support, Georgia Bulldogs.

But during the season they lost to Alabama Crimson Tide, who in turn had lost to Texas A&M, who lost to Mississippi State, who lost to Memphis Tigers, etc, etc.

Eventually the chain leads to one of the lowliest teams in the land, which can thus make a claim to be #1!

It is possible to play a similar game in chess, by which you trace your wins up to a victory over a reigning world champion, thus putting yourself in position to claim, however far-fetched the claim may be, to be #1!

The third link in my chain comes from round five of the 1951 Wertheim Memorial, New York.

Max Euwe - Larry Evans

Queen's Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qc2 Nxc3 9.Qxc3

There are 4,629 examples of this position in ChessBase's 2024 Mega database

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9...f5

This is the commonest move in Mega24, narrowly ahead of 9...c5.

10.Ne1!?

But this invitation to exchange light-square bishops is only sixth-most popular in Mega24. It seems to have been introduced into master play at Carlsbad 1929 by Karl Glig against Euwe.

10...Bxg2 11.Nxg2 Bf6

Euwe played 11...Qe8, drawing in 31 moves.

12.Be3 d6!?

This seems to have been a novelty, and makes no other appearance in Mega24, but seems reasonable.

13.Qc2 Qc8 14.Nf4 c6 15.Qb3 g5!? 16.Nh5 Be7 17.c5!? d5!? 18.cxb6 axb6

How should White proceed?

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19.f3!?

After 19.Qxb6!? c5 20.dxc5 Nc6 Black's queenside pressure, combined with White's out-of-play knight, gives more than enough compensation for two pawns, according to Stockfish16 and Komodo14.1. However the engines reckon White should prefer 19.Rac1 or 19.a4, slowing Black's queenside play.

19...Nd7

Black is at least slightly better after 19...c5, according to the engines.

20.g4!? Qa6 21.Qc2 Qc4!? 22.Qxc4 dxc4 23.f4 fxg4 24.fxg5 Rxf1+ 25.Kxf1 b5

How would you assess this ending?

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It looks a mess, and it may well be the players were unsure who stood better, but the engines give Black the upper hand.

26.Kg2 Nb6 27.Kg3 b4 28.Kxg4 b3 29.d5?

Activating the bishop, but at too high a cost. The engines suggest 29.a4, or retreating the bishop to d2 or c1.

29...Nxd5 30.Bd4 bxa2 31.Nf6+ Bxf6 32.gxf6 Nb4

White is busted

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33.Kf4 Kf7 34.Be5 Nc2 35.Rd1 a1=Q 36.Rd7+ Ke8 37.Re7+ Kf8 38.Rxh7 Qf1+ 39.Kg3 Qf5 0-1

Champion Of Champions (part 15)

HERE is the tournament bracket ahead of the final.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals          Semi-Finals                      Final
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)
                                    v................................Tal
8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal (+79.5)
9.Petrosian
                                                                      v.....................................Botvinnik
6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik (+18.5)
11. Fischer
                                    v.................................Botvinnik (+406.5)
13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)
                                                                                                             v...........................
3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik (+118)
14. Kramnik (+12)
                                     v................................Kramnik (+13)
5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)
                                                                       v.....................................Kramnik
7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov (+11.5)
10. Spassky
                                     v................................Smyslov
15. Anand
v----------------------------Lasker
2. Lasker (+50.5)

Botvinnik reached the final by beating Fischer, Alekhine and Tal; Kramnik reached the final by beating Capablanca, Karpov and Smyslov.
Who had the tougher route? Hard to say, but Botvinnik's margins of victory were, in general, more convincing.

Final
Game One
Mkikhail Botvinnik - Vladimir Kramnik
Nimzo-Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd3 c5
Kramnik has played this eight times in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, compared with five times for 5...d5.
6.a3

This is as far as we can go as Kramnik has not faced 6.a3

The analysis engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 are divided over this position, with the former liking Black but the latter narrowly preferring White.
Their averaged evaluations give Kramnik a score of +25.5 - a commanding position since he has the white pieces to come.

Game Two
Vladimir Kramnik - Mikhail Botvinnik
Queen's Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.0-0 0-0 7.Re1 d5 8.cxd5

As far as we can go - Botvinnik did not face 8.cxd5

The engines give White an averaged advantage of +11.
Here is the final tournament bracket.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals          Semi-Finals                      Final
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)
                                    v................................Tal
8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal (+79.5)
9.Petrosian
                                                                      v.....................................Botvinnik
6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik (+18.5)
11. Fischer
                                    v.................................Botvinnik (+406.5)
13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)
                                                                                                             v.............................Kramnik
3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik (+118)
14. Kramnik (+12)
                                     v................................Kramnik (+13)
5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)
                                                                       v.....................................Kramnik (+36.5)
7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov (+11.5)
10. Spassky
                                     v................................Smyslov
15. Anand
v----------------------------Lasker
2. Lasker (+50.5)

The Champion Of Champions: Vladimir Kramnik.

Champion Of Champions (part 11)

HERE is the tournament bracket after the first two quarter-finals.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals          Semi-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)
                                    v................................Tal
8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal (+79.5)
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik (+18.5)
11. Fischer
                                    v.................................Botvinnik
13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik
14. Kramnik (+12)
                                     v................................
5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov
10. Spassky
                                     v................................
15. Anand
v----------------------------Lasker
2. Lasker (+50.5)

Semi-Finals
Match Three: Kramnik v Karpov
Game One
Vladimir Kramnik - Anatoly Karpov
Queen's Indian
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6
Karpov was well-known for preferring the Queen's Indian ver transposing to a Queen's Gambit Declined with 3...d5.
4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 c6 8.Bc3 d5 9.Ne5 Nfd7 10.Nxd7 Nxd7 11.Nd2 0-0 12.0-0 Rc8 13.e4 c5 14.exd5 exd5 15.dxc5 dxc4 16.c6 cxb3 17.Re1 b2
Karpov has played 17...b2 and 17...Bb5 twice each, scoring a win and a loss with the text but just a draw with 17...Bb5, so 17...b2 is chosen on tiebreak.
18.Bxb2 Nc5 19.Nc4 Bxc4 20.Qg4 Bf6

Kramnik has not faced 2...Bf6, but we have reached a new record for depth in this tournament

Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 agree the position is very good for White, giving Kramnik an averaged score of +111.5.

Game Two
Anatoly Karpov - Vladimir Kramnik
QGD
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6
Kramnik has played the text 78 times in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database, 11 more than 4...Be7.
5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3
Karpov has played this 28 times. seven more than 7.Be2.
7...0-0 8.0-0 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b5
Kramnik has played this and 9...a6 five times each, but scored much better with the former.
10.Be2 Bb7 11.a3
Karpov has played this and 11.Rd1 twice each, but scored much better with the former.
11...a6 12.Rd1 c5 13.dxc5 Nxc5 14.b4 Nce4 15.Nxe4 Bxe4 16.Qd2 Be7 17.Bb2 Rc8 18.Qxd8

This position was agreed drawn in Karpov (2710) - Kramnik (2751),  Siemens Giants Rapid (Frankfurt) 1999

The engines agree the position is very even, giving Kramnik an edge of +6.5, cementing his match victory.
Here is the updated tournament bracket.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals          Semi-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)
                                    v................................Tal
8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal (+79.5)
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik (+18.5)
11. Fischer
                                    v.................................Botvinnik
13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v----------------------------Kramnik (+118)
14. Kramnik (+12)
                                     v................................Kramnik
5. Euwe
v----------------------------Karpov
12. Karpov (+11.5)

7. Smyslov (+18)
v----------------------------Smyslov
10. Spassky
                                     v................................
15. Anand
v----------------------------Lasker
2. Lasker (+50.5)

Champion Of Champions (part four)

HERE is the tournament bracket after three matches.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v--------------------------
4. Alekhine

3. Capablanca
v--------------------------
14. Kramnik

5. Euwe
v--------------------------
12. Karpov

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Now for the match-up I have been eagerly anticipating.

Round of 16
Match Four: Kasparov v Alekhine
Game One
Garry Kasparov - Alexander Alekhine
Queen's Indian
1.d4
Favoured over 1.e4 in Kasparov's games in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database by 691 to 639.
1...Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.a3!?
Twenty-six games with this move compared with 25 for 4.Nc3 and 20 for 4.g3.

Alekhine never faced 4.a3!?

Well, that was an anti-climax. The engines Stockfish11 and Komodo11.01 are not impressed with White's play, giving Kasparov an averaged advantage of just +4.
I hope game two will be more interesting.

Game Two
Alexander Alekhine - Garry Kasparov
Sicilian Najdorf
1.e4 c5
I am intrigued to see how Alekhine will deal with Kasaprov's Najdorf.
2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3
Only just - there are four Alekhine games in Mega20 with the text and three with 5.f3!?
5...a6

As far as we can get - Alekhine never faced 5...a6

Another anti-climax. The engines's averaged evaluation gives Alekhine a score of +25.5, meaning he wins the match with a score of +21.5.
Here is the updated tournament bracket.

Round of 16               Quarter-Finals
1. Steinitz
v----------------------------Carlsen
16. Carlsen (+102.5)

8.Tal (+8.5)
v----------------------------Tal
9.Petrosian

6. Botvinnik (+66)
v----------------------------Botvinnik
11. Fischer

13. Kasparov
v----------------------------Alekhine
4. Alekhine (+21.5)

3. Capablanca
v--------------------------
14. Kramnik

5. Euwe
v--------------------------
12. Karpov

7. Smyslov
v--------------------------
10. Spassky

15. Anand
v--------------------------
2. Lasker

Note that the older generation has won three of the four matches in the top half of the bracket.