Chess
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Your support makes all the difference.ALTHOUGH I'VE not been uncritical of the Fide world champion Anatoly Karpov in this column, I still think it a shame that, divested of the manifest advantage that he was granted last time by being seeded to the final, he's declined to defend his title.
The definite news was broken, as so often happens, not on Fide's own site but rather at Kasparov's (http://www.club kasparov.ru). Four players - Karpov, Zsuzsa Polgar (who is in dispute with Fide over the world women's title, of which they have now stripped her since, having recently had a baby, she naturally doesn't wish to defend it immediately), Morozevich and Velimirovic failed to respond. They are being replaced by Lautier, Ulf Andersson, Dreev and Milov.
While I certainly wouldn't have expected Karpov to fight his way all the way through from round two to retain his title, the tournament will be the poorer without him; he remains formidable, as you can see from today's game. Meanwhile those with Internet access can speculate on the results of the remaining players at "Fantasy Chess" (reachable on http://www.angelfire.com/ hi/hdcachess/tourn5.html).
Karpov was in Barcelona on Monday for a two-game rapidplay match with the Spanish champion and easily the strongest Catalan player, Miguel Illescas. It was held in memory of the Catalan arbiter Carlos Falcon, who died last year (he officiated, among others, at countless Linares tournaments), and drew a crowd of 500. There was commentary by the grandmasters Amador Rodriguez and Felix Izeta.
Illescas got some slight initiative in the first game - a Petroff Defence - but was repulsed and later had to defend himself a little before drawing.
In the second, a Slav, below, Karpov got one of those niggling advantages he likes so much and are so unpleasant to defend against him. Illescas ceded the two bishops and then bailed out into an opposite bishop endgame with 39 ...a4 but the lifeboat turned out to leak and when Karpov created passed pawns on both wings he had to surrender.
White: Anatoly Karpov
Black: Miguel Illescas
Queen's Gambit Slav
1 d4 d5
2 c4 c6
3 Nc3 Nf6
4 e3 e6
5 Nf3 Nbd7
6 Qc2 Bd6
7 Bd3 0-0
8 0-0 dxc4
9 Bxc4 a6
10 Rd1 b5
11 Be2 Qc7
12 Ne4 Nxe4
13 Qxe4 Be7
14 Bd2 Bb7
15 Rac1 c5
16 Qb1 Qb6
17 dxc5 Nxc5
18 Bc3 Be4
19 Qa1 Rac8
20 Bd4 b4
21 Ne5 Rfd8
22 f3 Bd5
23 b3 f6
24 Nc4 Bxc4
25 Bxc4 Kh8
26 e4 a5
27 Bf2 Rxd1+
28 Rxd1 Rd8
29 g3 Rxd1+
30 Qxd1 Qd6
31 Qe2 Qe5
32 Kg2 g6
33 Be3 Qc3
34 Qd2 Qxd2+
35 Bxd2 Kg7
36 Be3 e5
37 Kf2 f5
38 exf5 gxf5
39 Ke2 a4
40 Bxc5 Bxc5
41 bxa4 e4
42 fxe4 fxe4
43 Bd5 e3
44 a5 Kf6
45 Bf3 Ke5
46 Kd3 h6
47 h4 Kd6
48 Ke4 Ke6
49 a6 Ba7
50 g4 Bb6
51 Be2 Ba7
52 Bc4+ Kd6
53 Kf5 Kc5
54 Bf1 Kd4
55 g5 hxg5
1-0
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