Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Huffington Post, December 19, 2010

The HuffPost-ICC Holiday Chess Puzzles Contest

Today's puzzles consist of three parts: a trivia question, a chess problem and a chess study. The last two are often used by coaches to improve the chess skills of their students. They learn to think more precisely because they have to find a unique solution.

Try to solve all three puzzles and you can win a membership at the Internet Chess Club (ICC). Send your solutions to: icchuffpost@chessclub.com.

The overall winner will get one year, a runner-up 6 months and four others 3 months of free Internet Chess Club (ICC) membership. The winners will be announced on January 1, 2011.

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Trivia:

Name at least three world chess champions who played the King's gambit in serious competitions.

Problem:

Can you find how White mates in two moves? White to move first.

Study:

Can you find how White wins? White to move first.

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More than 30,000 members from all over the world regularly enjoy playing casual or tournament chess games against each other on ICC; watching others play, including hundreds of titled chess masters; and viewing a daily video service and live commentary of major tournaments on our Chess.FM service.

Today's puzzles consist of three parts: a trivia question, a chess problem and a chess study. The last two are often used by coaches to improve the chess skills of their students. They learn to thi...

Today's puzzles consist of three parts: a trivia question, a chess problem and a chess study. The last two are often used by coaches to improve the chess skills of their students. They learn to thi...

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Chess Puzzles #30 - Checkmate in 3 moves

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Chess Puzzles #31 - Checkmate in 3 moves

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Chess Puzzles #3 - Checkmate in 3 moves

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Huffington Post, December 15, 2010

Norway's Magnus Carlsen Fights and Wins in London Chess Classic

The second London Chess Classic, one of this year's major chess events, finished Wednesday. But many chess players may ask: Who actually won the all-grandmaster tournament?

Magnus Carlsen doesn't have to worry. According to the rules set up by the London organizers, the 20-year-old grandmaster from Norway finished first and will collect 50,000 Euros for his efforts. He benefited from the soccer scoring system -- 3 points for a win, 1 point for a draw and no points for a loss -- favoring players who fight and win. Carlsen scored 13 points, two points ahead of the world champion Vishy Anand of India and Luke McShane of England. It was a great recovery by Magnus who started with two loses in the first three games.

But ask the traditionalists, who for several centuries counted one point for a win and a half point for a draw, and they will tell you that in the year 2010 three players shared first place in London: McShane, Anand and Carlsen.

In the annals of chess history the final results will be noted as follows:

Carlsen, Anand, Luke McShane - 4,5 points in 7 games
Vladimir Kramnik (Russia) and Hikaru Nakamura (USA) - 4 points
Michael Adams (England) - 3,5 points
David Howell (England) - 2 points
Nigel Short (England) - 1 point

In 1851, Adolf Anderssen, one of the best attacking players of the 19th century won the first international tournament in London. The English capital attracted many great players ever since. Garry Kasparov played three world championships there. Some of the best came this year.

The fight for first place was anticipated between the world's top two rated players, Anand and Carlsen. But McShane played the role of the spoiler when he knocked Carlsen down in the first round and remained successful throughout the best tournament of his young chess career.

The game between Anand and Carlsen was a dramatic duel in the Breyer variation of the Spanish with many ups and downs. With a pawn sacrifice soon after the opening, the world champion tried to swing the chances to his side. It was risky, but Carlsen failed to find several good defenses and Anand had him on the ropes. Although the Indian grandmaster missed stronger continuations, he was able to come up with the winning setup in the end.

Anand - Carlsen
London Chess Classic 2010, Round 3

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.c3 0-0 9.h3 (The starting position of the Closed Spanish.) 9...Nb8 (Swinging the knight via b8 to d7 to protect the pawn on e5 is an idea of a talented Hungarian master Gyula Breyer. It dates back to 1920. At the end of the 19th century, the first world champion William Steinitz and his rival, Mikhail Chigorin, also protected the pawn on e5 with a knight, but they did it rather clumsily with the knight from f6.) 10.d4 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 Bb7

(We can see the elegance and flexibility of Breyer's setup: the knight on d7 protects the center, the bishop on b7 attacks it. The c-pawn is not hindered and can advance any moment. In addition, black may also strike in the center with d6-d5. ) 12.Bc2 Re8 13.a4 (White is at a crossroads. Swinging the knight to the kingside 13.Nf1 Bf8 14.Ng3 was the usual popular plan, but after 14...g6 white needed to open a second front and played 15.a4 c5 16.d5 and with the center closed, white can use his space advantage to prepare a combined attack on both wings. The first game between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1992 comes immediately to mind. Blacks later realized that after 15.a4 keeping the center flexible with 15...Bg7 16.Bd3 c6 is not a bad idea.) 13...Bf8 14.Bd3 c6 15.b4 Rc8!? (A new, good waiting move. Carlsen previously played 15...Nb6 against Anand, clarifying the matters on the queenside immediately, but after 16.axb5 cxb5 17.d5 white had the edge.) 16.axb5 cxb5 17.Bb2 (White is ready to close the center with 18.d5 and black has to react.)

17...d5! (And just like that black equalizes. After the pawns disappear from the center, black's pieces will be well placed.) 18.exd5 (After 18.dxe5 dxe4 19.Nxe4 Nxe5 20.Nxe5 Rxe5 21.Nxf6+ Qxf6 black has a slight edge.) 18...exd4 19.Rxe8 (After 19.Nxd4 Nxd5 the black pieces have a larger playground.) 19...Qxe8 20.c4 (By advancing the c-pawn Anand can eliminate all pawns on the queenside. Everybody expected a quick draw.) 20...bxc4 21.Nxc4?! (Anand gambles and sacrifices a pawn. After 21.Bxc4 Nb6 22.Bxa6 Bxa6 23.Rxa6 Nbxd5 24.Nxd4 Bxb4 there is not much to play for.) 21...Nxd5 22.Nxd4 Nxb4 23.Nf5 (Anand moves his knight to an aggressive position, hoping for some attacking chances. But the legendary grandmaster David Bronstein claimed that the bishop on f8 can defend well against the knight on f5. Let's see...) 23...Nxd3 24.Qxd3

24...Be4? ("A huge oversight," said Carlsen, but fork is a fork and it could be a choice of many club players since Anand's little combination is not obvious. Still, Magnus should have played 24...Qe6! 25.Ncd6 Rc5 26.Nxb7 Rxf5 with black's advantage.) 25.Qd4 Bxf5?! (Sacrificing the queen with 25...Qe6!? 26.Ncd5 Rb8 27.Re1 Bxf5 28.Rxe6 Bxe6 gives black good chances to hold.) 26.Nd6 (Forking the whole army of black pieces, Anand gets a strong pressure.) 26...Qd8 (After 26...Bxd6?? 27.Qxg7 mates; and after 26...Qe6 27.Nxc8 Nc5 28.Ba3 Qxc8 [or 28...Nb3 29.Qd8 Qxc8 30.Rd1! h5 31.Bxf8] 29.Rc1 Be7 30.Bxc5 white should win.) 27.Nxf5 (A critical position. White threatens 28.Nh6+!)

27...f6? (Black can't recover after this mistake. Instead, Magnus had two possibilities to stay in the game:
A. 27...Qf6 28.Qxf6 Nxf6 29.Bxf6 gxf6 30.Rxa6 is unpleasant for black, but the material is reduced and there is hope, for example 30...Rc5 31.g4 [31.Rxf6 Bg7 =] 31...h5 32.Rxf6 hxg4 33.hxg4 Rc4 34.f3 Rc2;
B. The computers want to fight back with 27...Rc6 28.Nxg7 Qb6! forcing the exchange of queens.) 28.Rd1 Rc2 (Carlsen defends aggressively. He probably didn't like that after 28...Rc7 29.Qd5+ Kh8 30.Qf7 his pieces are pinned down.) 29.Nh6+! (It didn't take Anand long to claim a big advantage.) 29...gxh6 (After 29...Kh8 30.Nf7+ wins.) 30.Qg4+ Bg7?! ( Magnus should have made it more difficult for white with 30...Kh8 31.Rxd7 Qxd7 32.Bxf6+ Qg7 33.Bxg7+ Bxg7, although after 34.Qe6 Bf8 35.Qf5 Rc1+ 36.Kh2 Bg7 37.Qe6 Ba1 [37...Bf8 38.Qe5+ Kg8 39.Qg3+ Kh8 40.Qb8 Kg8 41.Qb3+ Kh8 42.Qb2+ wins the rook.] 38.Qe8+ Kg7 39.Qe7+ Kg8 40.f4 white has winning chances.) 31.Qe6+ Kh8 32.Rxd7 Qf8

33.Ba3? (A ghost of the famous game Botvinnik-Capablanca, AVRO 1936, where similar deflecting sacrifice was decisive. But here Anand floats away from a direct win: 33.Rf7! , for example:
A. 33...Qb8 34.Re7 Rc8 35.Rxg7 Qxb2 36.Qf7 Qa1+ 37.Kh2 Qe5+ 38.f4 Qxf4+ 39.Rg3 Qxg3+ 40.Kxg3 Rg8+ 41.Kh4 Rxg2 42.Qf8+ Rg8 43.Qxf6+ Rg7 44.Qe5! a5 [44...Kg8 45.Qe8 mate.] 45.Kh5 a4 46.Kxh6 a3 47.Qxg7 mate.
B. 33...Qc8 34.Qe7 Rc1+ 35.Kh2 Qb8+ 36.g3 Rc2 37.Bd4 Qg8 38.Qxf6! Bxf6 39.Bxf6+ Qg7 40.Rf8 mate.)
33...Qg8 (33...Qxa3 is not entirely clear, for example 34.Rd8+ Qf8 [On 34...Bf8 35.Qxf6+ Kg8 36.Qe6+ Kh8 37.Qf7 Rxf2 38.Kxf2 wins.] 35.Rxf8+ Bxf8 36.Qxf6+ Kg8 black can try to fight.) 34.Qxa6 (Black will have a hard time to protect the last two ranks and the f-pawn.) 34...Qe8 35.Qa7! Qg8 (Black is forced to defend passively. After 35...Qe1+ 36.Kh2 Qe5+ 37.g3 Qe8 38.Rxg7 wins.)

36.Be7?! (Anand could have cut off the black rook with 36.Bc5! and only after 36...Re2 37.Be7 threaten to win with 38.Rd8.) 36...Rc8 37.Qa6 Qe8 38.Ra7 Kg8 39.Qe6+ (But not 39.Bxf6? Bxf6 40.Qxf6 Rc1+ 41.Kh2 Qb8+ and black (!) wins.) 39...Kh8 40.Qa6 Kg8 41.Qe6+ (The time control is over and Anand can assess the position. Black's pawns on the kingside are shattered, but can white mount a successful siege of the pawn f6 and win it? The problem is that black can't do anything. Carlsen has to wait for Anand to demonstrate how to set up the pieces the best way.) 41...Kh8 42.Kh2 Rc6 (After 42...Ra8 43.Rc7 white keeps the pressure on.) 43.Qb3 Rc8 44.Bd6 Qg6 45.Qb7 Rd8 46.Bg3 Rg8 47.h4 Qf5 48.Qc7 Qd5 49.Ra5 Qe4 50.Qd7 Qc4 51.Qf5 Qc8 52.Qf3 Qd7 53.Bf4 Qf7 54.g3 Re8 55.Be3 Rg8 56.Ra6 Re8 57.Ra7 Re7 58.Qa8+ Qf8 59.Ra6 Re8 60.Qc6 Rc8 61.Qf3 Qf7 62.Ra7 Qe6 63.Qb7 Qg8 64.Bf4 Rd8 65.Qa6 Re8 66.Rc7 Ra8 67.Qc6 Re8 68.Be3 Rb8 69.Bd4

(Anand found the ideal position. White combines the attack on the pawn on f6 with the threats on the 8th rank.) 69...Qf8 (After 69...Rf8 70.Re7 Rf7 71.Re6 f5 [or 71...Rf8 72.Rxf6 Rxf6 73.Qxf6 wins.] 72.Qc3 f4 73.Bxg7+ Rxg7 74.Qe5 wins.) 70.Qc3 Re8 71.Rc6 (Picking up the pawns.) 71...Qf7 (After 71...f5 72.Rc7 wins.) 72.Bxf6 Rf8 (Black also loses after 72...Kg8 73.Bxg7 Qxg7 74.Qd2 h5 75.Rc5+-) 73.Bxg7+ Qxg7 74.Qe3 Qb2 75.Kg2 Qb7 76.Qxh6 Qf7 (After 76...Rc8 77.Qf6+ Kg8 78.Qe6+ wins.) 77.Rc2 Black resigned.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to follow the game.

The solutions to last week's puzzles:

Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to follow the game.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to follow the game.

We recieved this response:

Dear Lubosh,

I refer to Noam Elkies' Chess Puzzle. Chess Life 1985, solution to which you furnished today.

Did I find a cook? After 1.Bg6, what if 1...d4? So that if 2.e8Q+ Bg8 3.Bh7 Bc1+ 4.Kc2 (if 4.Kxc1 g1Q+) Kxh7 5.Qh5+ Bh6?

Warmest regards,
Elmer Dumlao Sangalang
Manila, the Philippine­s

Answer: Instead of 3.Bh7, try 3.Bf7. White wins. Thanks for your interest in this column.

Photo by Frederic Friedel

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Huffington Post, December 11, 2010

Chess Puzzles: Imagination Breeds Creativity

How do chess players create beautiful games and compositions? Do they dig deep into their memory and retrieve ideas of others or do they use their own imagination? Obviously, it is a combination of both, because what they learn and remember and what they create themselves goes hand in hand. The art of creating is remembering and imagining.

Some years ago, I saw an interesting position in which only two pieces - queen and bishop - staged a successful attack on the black king. It was published in 1750 by Dominico Ercole del Rio, a lawyer from the Italian town of Modena, in his 110-page book on chess. As the title Sopra il giuoco degli scacchi osservazioni pratiche d'anonimo autore Modenese suggests, he was pretending to be an anonymous Modenese author.

Dominico Ercole del Rio Modena 1750

White wins

The solution: 1.Bg8! h6 2.Qe8 Qe5 (Or 2...g5 3.Bb3+ Kg7 4.Qg8 mate.) 3.Be6+ Kh7 4.Qg8+ Kg6 5.Bf7+ Kf5 (Or 5...Kg5 6.f4+ wins.) 6.Qh7+ Kg5 7.Qg6 mate.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to follow the game.

A few years later I saw a chess study in which del Rio's idea blossomed fully. The author was Noam D. Elkies and it was published in Chess Life in 1985.

Noam D. Elkies Chess Life 1985

White wins

The solution: 1.Bg6! Bc3+! (After 1...Bc1+ 2.Kc2! d4 3.e8Q+ Bg8 4.Bf7 wins.) 2.Kxc3 (After 2.Kc2? Bb1+ 3.Kxb1 g1Q+ wins for black.) 2...d4+ 3.Kb4! (The only square. We can see later why the white king can't go to the second rank.) 3...g1Q (After 3...Bf7 4.Bxf7 g1Q 5.e8Q+ Kh7 6.Qg8+ Kh6 7.Qh8+ Kg5 8.Qxg7+ wins.) 4.e8Q+ Bg8 5.Bh7!! (A marvelous coup in del Rio style! In addition, both white pieces prevent the black queen from any checks. It is now clear that either 3.Kb2 or 3.Kd2 would be refuted with 5...Qh2+.) 5...Kxh7 6.Qh5 mate.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to follow the game.

At that time, the 19-year-old Elkies had his brilliant career in mathematics ahead of him. At age 26, he became the youngest full professor at the Harvard University, surpassing by two years the record previously held by president Barak Obama's chief economic adviser, Lawrence Summers, and the law professor Alan Dershowitz. Exceling in music and chess compositions, Elkies also won the 1996 Individual World Chess Solving Championship.

At 44, he still likes to challenge himself. He saw Ladislav Prokes's work in which the white queen chases the black king counter clockwise around the board. By moving the black pawn from d7 to h5 and removing the pawn on g7 from the original work, Elkies was able to swing the windmill in an opposite direction as well:

Noam D. Elkies
Huffington Post 2010

White wins

1.f4+ Kg4 2.Qg3+ Kf5 3.Qg5+ Ke4 4.Qxe5+ Kf3 5.Qe3+ Kg4 6.Qg3+ Kf5 7.Qxd3+! (Preparing to spin the windmill the other way.) 7...Kg4 (After 7...Kxf4 white wins the black queen either with 8.Qg3+ Ke4 9.Qe3+ Kxd5 10.Qb3+; or with 8.Qe3+ Kg4 9.Qg3+ Kf5 10.Qf3+. Trying to escape with 7...Kf6 8.Qc3+ transposes to the main line two moves early.) 8.Qg3+ Kf5 9.Qh3+! Ke4 (Again 9...Kf6 10.Qc3+ Kf5 [On 10...e5 11.Qxe5 mates.] 11.Qe5+ transposes to the main line.) 10.Qe3+ Kf5 (After 10...Kxd5 11.Qb3+ wins) 11.Qe5+ Kg4 12.Qg5+ Kf3 13.Qg2+! Kxf4 14.Qg3+ Ke4 (On 14...Kf5 15.Qf3+ wins.) 15.Qe3+ Kxd5 16.Qb3+ wins.

Note that in the replay windows below you can click on the notation to follow the game.

The solutions to first two studies appears next week.

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Huffington Post, December 2, 2010

The Man With Too Much Chess Talent

Dragoljub Velimirovic used to be one of the world's most feared attackers, always looking for the impossible. His imaginative play was compared to the colorful world champion Mikhail Tal's razzle-dazzle. His playing style was unique, daring and often falling off the edge. He made risky moves and so many of them that you wondered how much punishment his chess pieces could take. He loved to create confusion on the chessboard, always believing he could find a beautiful escape from a bad situation. He had enough talent to pull it off, perhaps "too much talent " as Bobby Fischer once put it when we discussed the play of the Serbian grandmaster and champion.

At 68, Velimirovic doesn't seem to slow down. Still teasing and provoking, he took part in the Czech Coal Match in the spa resort of Marianske Lazne last month and was awarded a magnificent glass trophy for his entertaining play. He was a member of the veteran team that lost to the young ladies, the "Snowdrops," 14 to 18.

Velimirovic, who had opening lines named after him, always thrived on sharp play. For almost four decades, the Serbian grandmaster countered the Alekhine defense by charging his pawns forward as far and as quickly as they could go. They were like soldiers coming from the trenches in a big wave, huffing and puffing and dying one after another. He played the same way against the Lithuanian grandmaster Viktorija Cmilyte (pictured right), one of the world's top women players. When three from the Four Pawn Attack disappeared, Velimirovic used the last one to entomb the black king. Cmilyte refuted his reckless play with marvelous counterpunches and was expected to win. But in situations like that Velimirovic is always dangerous. Here is the dramatic game:

Velimirovic - Cmilyte

Veterans vs. Snowdrops, Marianske Lazne 2010

1.e4 Nf6 (It doesn't take much to provoke the Serbian grandmaster. Humpy Koneru played the Modern defense 1...g6 against him and Velimirovic immediately rammed it with 2.h4 d5 3.exd5 Qxd5 4.h5.)
2.e5 Nd5 3.c4 Nb6 4.d4 d6 5.f4 (Velimirovic was always fond of the Four Pawn Attack, a messy, chaotic line that suites his style.) 5...dxe5 (Richard Reti's 5...g6 is advocated by Tim Taylor in his recent book Alekhine alert - a repertoire for Black against 1.e4, published by Everyman Chess.) 6.fxe5 Nc6 7.Be3 Bf5 8.Nc3 e6 9.Nf3 Be7 10.d5 exd5 (Nearly 40 years ago, Velimirovic encountered the immediate 10...Nb4 11.Rc1!? f6 [After 11...exd5 12.a3 c5 13.axb4 d4 14.Bxd4 cxd4 15.Nxd4 Qb8 16.Qe2 Be6 17.c5 Nd7 18.Rd1!? Nxe5 19.Nxe6 fxe6 20.Qh5+ g6 21.Qh3! black is in trouble.] 12.a3 Na6

13.g4! -a deflecting pawn sacrifice - 13...Bxg4 14.Rg1 f5 15.h3 Bxf3 16.Qxf3 0-0 17.Rc2 Qd7 18.Rd2 Rae8 19.d6 cxd6 20.Qh5 Rc8 21.c5 Rxc5 22.Bxc5 Nxc5 23.Rdg2 g5 24.Bb5 Qd8 25.b4 Ncd7 26.exd6 Bf6 27.Ne2 Ne5 28.Nf4 Qxd6 29.Rxg5+ Kh8 30.Qxh7+! Black resigned, Velimirovic,D (2490)-Gipslis,A (2580)/Havana 1971)

11.Bxb6?! (Interestingly, neither Taylor nor Valentin Bogdanov in Play the Alekhine, published last year by Gambit Publications, mentioned this move.
The main line is 11.cxd5 Nb4 12.Nd4 and now:
A. In one of the shortest games in this line, black played the faulty: 12...Bg6? 13.Bb5+ Kf8 14.0-0 Kg8 15.Nf5 [15.d6! cxd6 16.e6 with powerful pressure is even better.] 15...N4xd5? 16.Nxd5 Nxd5 17.Qxd5 c6 18.Qxd8+ 1-0 Holas,J-Sajtar,J/Podebrady 1956.

B. 12...Bd7! 13.e6?! [13.Qf3 is more solid .] 13...fxe6 14.dxe6 Bc6 15.Qg4 Bh4+ 16.g3 Bxh1 17.Bb5+ [The theory established 17.0-0-0 0-0 18.gxh4 Qf6 as the most popular line with roughly equal chances.] 17...c6 18.0-0-0 0-0 19.gxh4 h5 20.Qg3 cxb5 21.Bg5 Qb8 22.e7 Re8 [22...Nxa2+! 23.Nxa2 Rc8+ is stronger.] 23.Rxh1 Qxg3 24.hxg3 Rac8 25.Kb1 a6 26.Ne4 Rc7 27.Nf5 Nc8 28.Rc1 Rxc1+ 29.Kxc1 Nd5 30.Ned6 Nxd6 31.Nxd6 Rxe7 32.Bxe7 Nxe7 33.Kd2 b6 34.Ke3 g6 35.Kf4 Kg7 36.Kg5 Nd5 37.Ne8+ Kf7 38.Nd6+ Kg7 39.Ne8+ Kf7 40.Nd6+ Kg7 draw, Velimirovic,D (2500)-Kovacevic,V (2555)/Yugoslavia 1984)

11...axb6 12.cxd5 Nb4 13.Nd4 Bg6 14.d6?! (Undeniably, Velimirovic's style - going after the black king. White creates a big mess, hoping that black trips somewhere. Objectively, it is too sharp. But after 14.Bb5+ c6! 15.dxc6 0-0! 16.cxb7 Rb8 17.Nc6 [After 17.0-0? Bc5! wins.] 17...Nxc6 18.Bxc6 Qc7 19.Bd5 Bc5 the white king still looks vulnerable.) 14...Bh4+ (Avoiding 14...cxd6? 15.Bb5+ Kf8 16.0-0 Kg8 17.e6 with white's big advantage.) 15.g3 (White is overextended and his king is in trouble.)

15...Qg5?! (Cmilyte probably got mixed up with the variation 15...0-0 16.a3 Qg5. Hiding the king is a good idea in general, but a great idea against Velimirovic. Anyway, after 15...0-0 16.a3 [Accepting the piece is disastrous: 16.gxh4? Qxh4+ 17.Ke2 Rfe8 18.Nf3 Rxe5+ 19.Nxe5 Bh5+ 20.Nf3 Re8+ 21.Kd2 Qf4 mate.] black has the following possibilities:

A. 16...Qg5 17.Kf2 [After 17.axb4 Bxg3+ 18.hxg3 Qxg3+ 19.Kd2 Qf4+ black has a draw at hand.] 17...Qxe5 18.Nf3 Qc5+ 19.Qd4 Qxd4+ 20.Nxd4 Bf6 21.Rd1 Nd3+ 22.Bxd3 Bxd4+ 23.Kg2 Bxc3 24.bxc3 cxd6 25.Bxg6 hxg6 26.Rxd6 Rxa3 27.Rxb6 Rd8 28.Rxb7 Rd2+ 29.Kh3 Rxc3 30.Rf1 f5 31.Ra1 Kh7 0-1 Carlsson,A-Kuehnrich,H/ICCF corr 1982

B. 16...c5 17.Nf3 Nc2+ 18.Kf2 Bg5 19.Bd3 Nxa1 20.Bxg6 hxg6 21.Qxa1 Bh6 22.Qa2 [22.Nd5! is better.] 22...Qd7 23.Qd5 Qf5 24.Re1 g5 25.Kg2 g4 26.Nh4 Qd7 27.Rf1 Rfe8 28.Nf5 Qc6 29.Ne7+ Rxe7 30.dxe7 Re8 31.Qxc6 bxc6 32.Na4 Rxe7 33.Nxb6 Rxe5 34.a4 Re4 35.a5 Rb4 36.Ra1 Rxb2+ 37.Kh1 Rb4 38.a6 1-0 Murey,J (2500)-Kovacevic,V (2560)/Hastings 1982)

16.d7+? (Velimirovic makes sure the black king stays in the middle, but he could have prevented black's castling with: 16.Kf2! threatening to win a piece with 17.Nf3 and after 16...Qxe5 [After 16...0-0 17.Nf3 wins.] 17.gxh4 [or 17.Qg4 0-0 18.Qxh4] 17...0-0-0 18.Nf3 Qc5+ 19.Qd4 white has the edge.) 16...Kd8 17.Kf2 Qxe5 18.gxh4 Nd3+! (Destroying white's coordination, the knight leap leads to a winning position for black.)

19.Bxd3 Qxd4+ 20.Kg2 (White can't protect the bishop. After 20.Ke2 Bh5+ wins. The game is virtually over, but for Velimirovic the fun only begins.) 20...Bxd3?! (A psychological slip. Velimirovic feels better with the queens on the board. Exchanging them with 20...Qxd3! wins comfortably, for example 21.Qxd3 Bxd3 22.Rad1 Bf5 and the d-pawn is doomed.) 21.Re1 h5 22.Kh1 Qd6 23.Qd2 Bc4 (Taking care of the d-pawn with 23...Bf5 was more advisable and better, for example 24.Qg5+ Qf6 25.Qxf6+ [25.Qg3 is met by 25...Qc6+ 26.Kg1 Qg6.] 25...gxf6 26.Nd5 Bxd7 27.Rad1 Bc6 and the pin wins it for black.) 24.Qg2 Qc6 25.Ne4 Bd5 (Computer engines come up with an elaborate, clever defense: 25...Rh6!? 26.Qxg7 Bd5 27.Qg5+ Kxd7 28.Rad1 Rd6 leading to a winning rook engdame: 29.Rxd5 Qxd5 30.Qxd5 Rxd5 31.Nf6+ Kd6 32.Nxd5 Kxd5 33.Re7 Kd6 34.Rxf7 Rxa2 and black wins.)

26.Rad1 Bxe4?! (Bringing the rook into play and protecting the bishop with 26...Ra5! left black with good winning chances, for example 27.b4 Bxe4 28.Rxe4 Rf5; or 27.Rd4 Bxe4 28.Rdxe4 [Black also wins after 28.Qxe4? Re5!; or after 28.Rexe4 Qc1+ 29.Qg1 Qxg1+ 30.Kxg1 Rxa2.] 28...Kxd7 29.Qxg7 Rd8! 30.Rd1+ Rd5 31.Qxf7+ Kc8 32.Rxd5 Rxd5 33.Qe8+ Qxe8 34.Rxe8+ Kd7 and the endgame is clearly in black's favor.) 27.Rxe4 Ra4?! (One square too far. 27...Ra5!? was still the best choice. It can transpose into previous note after 28.Rde1 Kxd7 29.Qxg7 Rd8 30.Rd1+ Rd5 31.Qxf7+ Kc8 etc.;
On the other hand, after 27...f5 28.Qg5+ Qf6 29.Qxh5! g6 (29...Rxh5? 30.Re8#) 30.Re8+ Rxe8 31.dxe8Q+ Kxe8 32.Re1+ Kf8 33.Qh6+ white should equalize.) 28.b4 (Keeping the black rook out of play.)

28...b5? (The game slips out of black's hands. It tends to happen in Velimirovic's games. When you thought you had him finished, he turned around and escaped. Still, black could have equalized after 28...f5! 29.Qg5+ Qf6 30.Qxh5 g6 31.Re8+ Rxe8 32.dxe8Q+ Kxe8 33.Re1+ Kf8 34.Qh6+ Kf7 35.Qh7+ Kf8 36.Qh6+ [or 36.Qxc7 Qc6+=] 36...Kf7=;
Cmilyte perhaps thought she could get away with 28...Rxa2, but white has two ways to refute it: A. 29.Qg5+ Qf6 [or 29...f6 30.Qg6!] 30.Qe3 Qc6 31.b5 wins.
B. 29.b5 Qc2 [29...Rxg2 30.bxc6 Ra2 31.cxb7 wins] 30.Qxc2 Rxc2 31.Ra4 Ke7 32.d8Q+ Rxd8 33.Re4+ wins.)
29.Qg5+ (White also wins after 29.Rde1 Kxd7 30.Qh3+! Kd8 31.Rd1+.) 29...Qf6 (After 29...f6 30.Qg6 threatening 31.Qe8+, wins for white.) 30.Qd5?! (The dance with the queen was unnecessary. White wins immediately with 30.Qe3! .) 30...Qc6 (30...Qd6 31.Qg5+ Qf6 32.Qe3 wins.) 31.Qe5 Qe6 32.Qd4 Qd6 33.Qg1 Qc6 34.Qg5+ Qf6 35.Qe3! (The white queen finally lands on the right square, threatening 36.Re8+.) 35...Qc6 36.Kg1 Qg6+ 37.Kf1 Qf5+ 38.Ke1 (Leaving black without good checks.) 38...Qxe4 39.Qxe4 Ra6 40.Qxb7 Black resigned.

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A Napoleon Forgery

The fighting defense 1.e4 Nf6 was named after the world champion Alexander Alekhine in the 1920s, although it appeared in the chess literature already at the beginning of the 19th century. Two recent books cover the opening well. In Play the Alekhine, Valentin Bogdanov uses his experience spanning more than three decades and concentrates on the main lines.

Tim Taylor's Alekhine alert offers a complete repertoire against 1.e4. Although he mentions the popular trends, his recommendations include mostly exciting offbeat lines. It is clear that he loved writing the book and could not resist including a story about a game that was allegedly played in Paris in 1802.

Madame de Remusat - Napoleon I

1.e4 Nf6 2.d3 Nc6 3.f4 e5 4.fxe5 Nxe5 5.Nc3 Nfg4? (5...d5!) 6.d4 Qh4+ 7.g3 Qf6 8.Nh3 (8.Bf4 wins) 8...Nf3+ 9.Ke2 Nxd4+ 10.Kd3 Ne5+ 11.Kxd4 Bc5+ 12.Kxc5 Qb6+ 13.Kd5 Qd6 mate.

Had Taylor done his database research well, he could have found the same game with the same mate, but with reversed colors. I have added a few notes.

Napoleon I - Madame de Remusat

1.Nc3 e5 2.Nf3 d6 3.e4 f5 4.h3? (Digging trenches is not in Napoleon's style. The game switched to the Philidor defense, but Napoleon missed the near-refutation: 4.d4! fxe4 5.Nxe4 d5? 6.Neg5 h6 7.Nf7!! Kxf7 8.Nxe5+ and white should win.) 4...fxe4 5.Nxe4 Nc6 6.Nfg5? ("Accident, hazard, chance, whatever you choose to call it, a mystery to ordinary minds becomes a reality to superior men," de Remusat quoted Napoleon. The move drops a piece.) 6...d5 7.Qh5+ g6 8.Qf3 (Threatening 9.Qf7 mate.) 8...Nh6? (A turnaround. The emperor was on the verge of defeat: After 8...Bf5 black would win a knight. White wins now, hunting madame's king to mate.) 9.Nf6+ Ke7 10.Nxd5+ Kd6 11.Ne4+! Kxd5 12.Bc4+! Kxc4 13.Qb3+ Kd4 14.Qd3 mate.

This time Napoleon Bonaparte allegedly played the game in 1804 at Malmaison Chateau, where he resided with his wife Josephine. Napoleon's opponent, Madame de Remusat, was Josephine's "dame du palais" or lady-in-waiting. There is no doubt that the two played chess against each other. "He did not play well, and never would observe the correct moves," de Remusat disclosed in her Memoirs.

Both games were later revealed to be the creation of a clever hoaxer who has been fooling the chess world for some time.

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Photo of Viktorija Cmilyte by Vladimir Jagr

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Huffington Post, November 19, 2010

Chess: Remembering Larry Evans

Larry Melvyn Evans (1932-2010), one of the most prominent American grandmasters, prolific writer and commentator, died in Reno, Nevada, on November 15 at the age of 78.

Evans began playing chess in New York City. He quickly progressed and in 1951, at age 19, won his first U.S. championship ahead of Sammy Reshevsky. He would win four more U.S. titles as well as four U.S. Opens.

With steady play, Evans was a calm presence on the U.S. olympiad teams. In his first olympiad in Dubrovnik in 1950, Evans scored an impressive 9 points in 10 games. In 26 years, from 1950 to 1976, he played 100 games in eight olympiads and scored 64,5 points, winning gold, silver and bronze medals for his individual efforts. I had the privilege to play next to him at the 1976 olympiad in Haifa, when the U.S. team won the gold medals. He was an excellent positional player, a tough-minded counterpunching defender who didn't mind grabbing pawns and taking risks. He was hard to beat.

Evans wrote more than 20 books and his syndicated chess column was read in 50 newspapers. He made a large contribution to Bobby Fischer's classic "60 Memorable Games." He was a good friend of Fischer, helping him to prepare for his world championship drive in the early 1970s.

In the match USA vs. USSR in 1954, Evans was one of the Americans with a winning score, beating Mark Taimanov 2,5 to 1,5. The other one was Robert Byrne who smashed Yuri Averbakh 3-1. They showed that the mighty Soviets can fall. "The most thrilling game of my career featured an inspired defense after I walked headlong into a prepared variation against the Soviet champion Taimanov in our rubber game with the score tied 1,5-1,5. Tension rode high. At move 18 he had used only two minutes on his clock, while I consumed close to an hour," Evans wrote in the introduction to his memorable game.

Taimanov - Evans

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 (The Mar del Plata variation of the King's Indian defense.) 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.f3 (The most precise move order 11.Bd2 Nf6 12.f3 f4 13.c5! with a quick lineup along the c-file, came up later. In the game Najdorf-Gligoric, Mar del Plata 1953, white tried the slower 13.b4 and came quickly under furious attack 13...g5 14.c5 h5 15.Nf2 Ng6 16.Rc1 Rf7 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.a4 Bf8 19.a5 Rg7 20.h3 Nh8 21.Nb5 g4 22.fxg4 hxg4 23.hxg4 a6 24.Na3 Bd7 25.Nc4 Rc8 26.Nb6 Rxc1 27.Bxc1 Be8 28.Ba3 Nf7 29.Qc2 Nh6 30.g5 Rxg5 31.Rc1 Rg3 32.Bb2 Nfg4 33.Nxg4 Nxg4 34.Bxg4 Rxg4 35.Qf2 Bg6 36.Rc4 Qe7 37.Bc3 Qh7 38.Qe2 Rh4 39.Kf2 f3 40.Qe3 Rf4 41.gxf3 Qh2+ 42.Ke1 Qh1+ 43.Ke2 Bh5 44.Kd2 Rxf3 45.Qg5+ Bg7 46.Kc2 Rf2+ 47.Bd2 Qd1+ 48.Kc3 Qa1+ and white resigned.
The first encounter between Evans and Taimanov in New York 1954 did not go well for the American grandmaster: 11.exf5 gxf5 12.f4 e4 13.Nf2 Nf6 14.Be3 Kh8 15.Kh1 Rg8 16.Rg1 c5 17.h3 Ng6 18.g4? fxg4 19.hxg4

19...Nh5!! 20.gxh5? (20.Qd2!) 20...Qh4+ 21.Kg2 Nxf4+ 22.Kf1 Bh3+ 23.Nxh3 Qxh3+ 24.Kf2 Raf8 25.Bf3 Nd3+ 26.Ke2 Rxf3 27.Qd2 Rxe3+ 28.Qxe3 Qxh5+ 29.Kd2 Bh6 30.Rxg8+ Kxg8 31.Nxe4 Bxe3+ 32.Kxe3 Qh3+ 33.Kd2 Ne5 34.Rg1+ Kf8 35.Rg3 Qh5 and Evans resigned.) 11...f4 (Preventing Taimanov's favorite line 11...Nf6 12.Be3.)
12.Bd2 g5 13.Rc1 Rf6 (The idea of floating the rook along the sixth rank creating attacking chances along the h-file and defending the pawn on d6 at the same time, belongs to David Bronstein and it was also used by Boris Spassky. However, the Yugoslav grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric realized in Mar del Plata in 1953 that the rook belongs to f7 to cover the square c7 (see the above game Najdorf-Gligoric), making white's invasion more difficult. It led to his set-up 13...Nf6 14.c5 Ng6 15.cxd6 cxd6 16.Nb5 Rf7.)

14.c5!? (A positional pawn sacrifice. After 14.b4 h5 15.c5 Rg6 black has good kingside chances. - Evans.) 14...Nxc5 15.Nxc5 dxc5 16.Na4 b6 17.b4 cxb4 (Interestingly, when this position was reached this year at the European Women's championship in Rijeka, black played: 17...Rh6?! 18.Rf2 [After the cool 18.bxc5! Qe8 19.h3 Qh5 20.Bc4 Bxh3 21.gxh3 Qxh3 22.Kf2 the white king walks away.] 18...Qe8 19.h3 Bd7 20.Nb2 Ng6 21.bxc5 Nh4 22.Bf1 Rg6 23.Qb3 Kh8 24.Be1 h5 25.Rfc2 Bf6 26.c6 Bc8 27.d6 cxd6 28.Bxh4 gxh4 29.c7 Bxh3 30.Qd5 Rc8 31.Qxd6 Qg8 32.Nd3 Qg7 33.Kh2 Rg8 34.gxh3 Rg1 35.Qxf6 Qxf6 ½-½ Lomineishvili,M (2385)-Sandu,M (2277), Rijeka 2010.) 18.Bxb4

18...Bf8?! ("The text was considered a clever trap, but I must confess that White's reply took me completely by surprise," Evans admits. Commenting on the game, GM Igor Bondarevsky asked what compensation does white have for a pawn. He didn't like Evans's move and preferred 18...c5, trading the weak c-pawn, 19.dxc6 Qxd1 20.Rfxd1 [20.Bxd1 is met by 20...Nxc6 21.Bb3+ Kh8 22.Bd5 Bd7.] 20...Nxc6 21.Bd6 white is better developed, but he can't accomplish too much. For example, 21...Bb7 [Not 21...Nd4 22.Bc4+ Be6 23.Bxe5 with white's edge. After 21...Bd7 22.Bc4+ Kh8 23.Bb5 Rc8 24.Bxc6 Bxc6 25.Bxe5 Rff8 26.Bxg7+ Kxg7 27.Nc3 Rfd8 the chances are equal.] 22.Bb5 [After 22.Bc4+ Kh8 23.Bb5? Nd4! black wins.] 22...Rd8! 23.Bxc6 Bxc6 24.Rxc6 Bf8 is better for black. Of course, these variations don't exhaust all possibilities, but they help to get some sense of the position. With his knight on a4 out of play, white doesn't seem to have a compensation for the pawn." - Bondarevsky.
Today, after 18...c5 white would reshuffle the pieces, for example 19.Bc3 Ng6 20.Nb2 Bf8 21.a4 with pressure on the queenside.)

19.Rxc7? ("I literally broke out into a sweat! The eyes of over a thousand spectators, it seemed, were focused on our wallboard. It didn't take very long to calculate that the upstart rook could not be captured," Evans describes this critical moment of the game. Yet, it is a wrong combination. Taimanov overlooks Evans's splendid reply. Increasing the pressure with 19.Qb3! was better.)

19...Nf5!! (A beautiful counterpunch, leaving many white pieces hanging. The knight is headed for e3. Evans came up with this startling counter stroke while analyzing the line 19...Ng6 20.d6 Bxd6 21.Qd5+ Kh8 but here after 22.Rc6! Bb7 23.Rxd6 Bxd5 24.Rxd8+ Rxd8 25.Rd1 white still has the advantage.
Taimanov was counting on 19...Qxc7 20.d6 Rxd6 [Or 20...Qd7 21.dxe7 Bxe7 22.Bxe7 Qxe7? 23.Qd5+ wins.] 21.Bxd6 Qc6 22.Qb3+ Kg7 23.Bxe5+ Kh6 24.Bb5 with white's edge.) 20.Bxf8 (Taimanov decides to sacrifice two exchanges after discarding 20.d6 Ne3 21.Qd3!? [Or 21.Qa1 Bxd6! - not 21...Nxf1? 22.Qxe5! and white wins - 22.Bxd6 Qxd6 23.Rfc1 Bd7 24.Nb2 g4! with black's upper hand.] 21...Bxd6! 22.Rc6 Be7! with clear advantage to black.
After 20.exf5 Qxc7 21.d6 Qf7 black should win.) 20...Qxc7 21.Ba3 ("White prefers to sacrifice a second exchange rather than ruin his pawn structure by 21.exf5 Kxf8 " - Evans.) 21...Ne3 22.Qc1 Qg7! (Rather than winning more material, Evans attacks. After 22...Qd7 23.Qb2!? [23.Nb2? Nxf1 24.Bxf1 g4 is no good.] 23...Qxa4 24.Qxe5 Rf5 25.Qe7! Qd7 26.exf5 Qxe7 27.Bxe7 Nxf1 28.Kxf1 h6 29.f6 white is still kicking.) 23.Rf2 (After 23.Bb2 Rg6! wins.) 23...Bd7 ("An ideal developing move which gains time by the attack on white's misplaced knight." - Evans) 24.Nc3 g4! 25.Bb2 g3! (Breaking through.)

26.hxg3 Qxg3 (The direct attack 26...Rh6 also wins, for example 27.g4 Qg5 28.Bf1 Bxg4! 29.fxg4 Qh4 30.Rf3 Nxg4 31.Rh3 Qf2+ 32.Kh1 Rxh3+ 33.gxh3 Qh2 mate.) 27.Bf1 Rc8 (Again, 27...Rh6 28.Rc2 Rh2 threatening 29...Qh4, was quicker.) 28.Qe1 b5 (The straightforward 28...Rh6 29.Re2 Qh2+ 30.Kf2 Rg6 31.Rxe3 Bh3! gives black an unstoppable attack.) 29.Ne2 Qh4 30.g3 ("Desperation. Otherwise black mates with 30...Rh6." - Evans) 30...fxg3 31.Nxg3 Nxf1! (Simple, but it was possible to call white's bluff with 31...Qxg3+!? 32.Rg2 Nxf1 33.Kxf1 [33.Rxg3+ Nxg3 34.Bxe5 Rc1! wins.] 33...Qxg2+ 34.Kxg2 Rc2+ 35.Kh1 Rxf3 36.Bxe5 Bh3 and black wins.) 32.Nf5 (Black wins also after 32.Rg2 Rg6 33.Qxf1 Rxg3 34.Bxe5 Rg6!) 32...Rg6+ 33.Kxf1 Qh1+ 34.Ke2 Rc2+ 35.Kd1 Qxe1+ 36.Kxe1 Rg1+ (After 37.Rf1 Rxf1+ 38.Kxf1 Rxb2 black wins.) White resigned.

Solutions to the last Puzzles are here

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Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Huffington Post, November 15, 2010

Chess Puzzles: A Disappearing Act

The winner had no name. The 1978 Women's Singles Wimbledon final was reported as "Chris Evert lost 2-6, 6-4, 7-5," but nobody was fooled by the censors back in Czechoslovakia. The whole nation knew that Martina Navratilova won her first Wimbledon title.

In 1975 at the U.S. Open, Navratilova asked for political asylum and became persona non grata at home. Her name disappeared from the press. It was a game the communist establishment liked to play. The censors axed your name and the people learned how to read between the lines.

I met with similar fate after I left Czechoslovakia in 1968. Chess tournaments in which I participated were not reported or appeared without my name. The same year Martina left, a book of chess puzzles by two Czech grandmasters, Vlastimil Hort and Vlastimil Jansa, was published in Prague. The publisher Olympia printed 18,000 copies and when it was done, some censors discovered my name attached to one of the games. They did something unbelievable: they cut out the page with my name, printed a new one without my name and glued it back in the book. They did it page by page, book by book --18,000 times.

They erased our names, but at least we lived. During the Great Terror of the late 1930s many people were executed by the Soviet secret police just because they said something wrong. Talented chess composers such as Sergei Kaminer, Arvid Kubbel, Mikhail Platov, Petr Moussoury and Mikhail Barulin lost their lives. After Stalin's death, they were posthumously rehabilitated, but it was too late.

Today's puzzles, published in their memory, were composed when the families were still together and the sacrifices were made only at the chessboard.

Arvid Kubbel (1889-1938), an older brother of the well-known composer Leonid Kubbel, was sent to Soviet gulag for sending his compositions to foreign "bourgeois" newspapers. He died a year later. Leonid published the following stunning work in Sovremenoye Slovo in 1917.

Leonid Kubbel

White wins

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The Latvian-born Mikhail Platov (1883-1938) was the younger and lesser-known of the famous Platov brothers. He died in a forced labor camp, where he was sent for making a derogatory remark about Stalin. The brothers teamed up in a remarkable study, published in Sydsvenska Dagbladet Snallpost in 1911, in which some pieces disappear and others are born in a whirl of surprising moves.

Vassily and Mikhail Platovs

White wins

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Shaw's show
Puzzle books are getting more and more sophisticated. In his recent Quality Chess Puzzle Book, the Scottish grandmaster John Shaw reveals that one of his favorite books is The Best Move by Hort and Jansa. This is the English version of the above-mentioned Czech book, published by RHM Press in 1980. Not only was my name reinstated but the book was translated by my wife. It became an instant classic and its format was used by other authors.

The Czech grandmasters presented their puzzles on the right-hand side. Turn the page and you find the solution. Simple and easy. They also rewarded the readers with points for correct solutions. Igor Khmelnitsky, another writer influenced by The Best Move, went even further in his successful books Chess Exam and You vs. Bobby Fischer, adding ratings to the points.
This is a hard thing to do, but Khmelnitsky was often accurate.

Shaw does not use any points and presents only well-explained solutions to the 735 puzzles. He points out that the book is a collective work of Quality Chess team with a lot of work done by Jacob Aagaard. The material is fresh and 700 puzzles are taken from games not older then 10 years. A special tribute is paid to Vassily Ivanchuk and one of the 15 chapters is devoted to his mastery. Each chapter is introduced by wonderful game-fragments relevant to the theme. Missed opportunities, puzzles with two solutions and defense strategies are not often found in puzzle books, but they flourish in Shaw's extensive work. It is a rare and original contribution, chartering new territory. I would recommend it to tournament players.

Bauhaus-style piece set

Bauhaus-style piece set: Joseph Hartwig chess sets 1922-1924
http://books.google.com/books?id=VEmZRkK2aDoC&pg=PT147#v=onepage&q&f=false

Lubomir Kavalek

International Chess Grandmaster

Huffington Post, October 31, 2010

Chess World of Karpov and Kasparov

Standing next to each other, side by side, Anatoly Karpov and Garry Kasparov made a last minute effort to sway the FIDE elections their way. One day before the vote, during the press conference in the Siberian town of Khanty-Mansyisk, they were trying to explain how they will change the chess world. Karpov was running for the FIDE presidency and Kasparov supported him. They still had a small chance to win. In the last six month they criscrossed the world, talking about the wonderful game of chess and what could be done to make it more popular. The next day, Sept. 29, the FIDE delegates re-elected Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, who promptly announced that he defeated two world champions. What happened?

In 1982, during the chess olympiad in the Swiss city of Lucerne, Florencio Campomanes bribed his way to the FIDE presidency and the World Chess Federation lost its innocence. The Icelandic grandmaster, Fridrik Olafsson, who was up for re-election could only say:"I haven't seen anything like it." Campomanes, a great manipulator known for his ornate speeches, turned the FIDE elections into farce. Money changed hands, threats were made and the delegates always voted his way. There is no doubt, he did many good things for chess, but he also ran FIDE slowly into bankruptcy.

In the past, Kasparov and Karpov were not standing on the sidelines and they usually took opposite sides during the FIDE presidential elections. There was a paradox: Kasparov fought Campomanes most of the time, but in 1994 in Moscow he helped to get him re-elected. Karpov, in turn, introduced Ilyumzhinov to FIDE a year later. Ilyumzhinov replaced Campomanes, but made him an honorary FIDE president. Last month, Karpov tried to defeat the man he initially brought in, but couldn't. Campo's legacy was too entrenched and the Kremlin leaders, noticing Kasparov on Karpov's side, threw their support behind Ilyumzhinov.

Watching Kasparov and Karpov fight together for a common goal was an unusual sight, not seen too often. Kasparov writes again about their rivalry in his book On Modern Chess, Part Four: Kasparov vs Karpov 1988-2009, recently published by Everyman Chess. During this period, the Grandmasters Association (GMA) was born and established itself with a high-level competition called the World Cup. Kasparov and his manager Andrew Page were interested in organizing it, but other grandmasters saw it as a conflict of interest and called me. I was appointed organizational director and later promoted to GMA's executive director. The World Cup, a series of six Grand Prix tournaments, was a very important competition and had to happen. "The first time in history that a tournament championship of leading chess players on the planet had been held," writes Kasparov. I signed contracts with six organizers within a few months and the World Cup was ready to go.

The centerpiece of Kasparov's absorbing book is his last world championship match against Karpov in 1990. Split into two cities, New York and Lyon in France, the match produced many dramatic moments. The highlight was the 16th game with 102 moves, the longest win in the history of the world championships. It lasted four days.

During this game I made a trip to Boris Spassky's house above Grenoble in the French Alps. When Boris picked me up at the Lyon airport, Kasparov just took a time-out. The adjourned position was tricky and even the best computers were unable to find a win for him. When we looked at it with Boris, we realized that the narrow path to victory lay in a mysterious square Kasparov's rook had to trace. The next day I flew to Barcelona and Boris showed the magical square to the spectators during the adjournment long before Kasparov could perform it on the chessboard.

Kasparov - Karpov Lyon, 1.- 4.12.1990

To win the game, Kasparov has to walk his king to the (red) square d8. He can only do it by having his rook moving around a magical square.

89.Ra7! (Drawing one side of the square.) 89...Bg4 90.Kd6 Bh3 91.Ra3! (The second side of the square is born. But why has the rook land on the square a3? It prevents the black knight from jumping to the square g3.) 91...Bg4 92.Re3! (The rook draws the third side of the square, preparing the white king's journey to d8.) 92...Bf5 93.Kc7 Kf7 94.Kd8 (The king's journey is over and white pushes the black king from the f-file.) 94...Bg4 95.Bb2! (Kasparov makes an important bishop move precisely in the moment when the black knight can't move. It opens the road for the rook to come back to the square e7.) 95...Be6 (After 95...Nf4 96.Re7+ Kf8 97.Ba3 black loses one of his pieces.) 96.Bc3! Bf5 (96...Nf4? is met by 97.Rf3 and white wins.) 97.Re7+ (Returning where it all began, the rook finishes the square journey.) 97...Kf8 98.Be5 (The domination is complete: the knight at the edge has no moves. White can easily force the black king to the corner.)

98...Bd3 99.Ra7 Be4 100.Rc7 (Kasparov is looking for a free square on the 8th rank for his rook. It was possible to play directly 100.Bd6+ Kg8 101.Ke7 Ng7 102.Be5 and white wins.) 100...Bb1 (After 100...Bf5 101.Bd6+ Kg8 102.Ke7 wins.) 101.Bd6+ Kg8 102.Ke7 (After 102...Ng7 103.Rc8+! Kh7 104.Be5 Nf5+ 105.Kf8 black has no defense against 106.Rc7+.) Karpov resigned.

Kasparov ends his book with the 2008 rapid and blitz match in the Spanish port of Valencia. It is a symbolic place where modern chess began: around the year 1485, the lazy, slow piece next to the king turned into a beautiful, fast-running, mad queen. And it was the place of the last duel between Karpov and Kasparov, their swan song.

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• World Cup 2010