Chess: The battle continues
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.THE BATTLE between the International Chess Federation (Fide) and the breakaway Professional Chess Association (PCA) continues this month with the PCA world championship qualifier in Groningen, the Netherlands. The total prize fund of dollars 230,000 has attracted 14 of the top 21 players on the new Fide rating list, with Karpov, Ivanchuk, Salov and Gelfand - all in the top 8 - the most notable absentees.
The two top seeds are Viswanathan Anand and Vladimir Kramnik, both of whom have already won through to the last 16 of the Fide world title. Both won their opening games on Sunday. The two British players, Michael Adams and Julian Hodgson, were less successul: Adams drew with Vladimir Tukmakov, while Hodgson lost to Jeroen Piket.
Of all the young players who might topple Kasparov and Karpov, Kramnik has been looking the most impressive. Aged only 18, he is already ranked 4th in the world and has hardly had a setback in his career. His win against Oleg Romanishin at the recent Belgrade grandmaster tournament was a brilliant demonstration of effective attacking play.
In the opening, Black delayed Bxc3 until he was ready to follow up with Qa5, but Kramnik's 9. b4] must have come as a surprise. For the pawn, White obtained a long-lasting initiative which turned into a venomous attack with 17. g4] After 20. Nb5, such possibilities as 20 . . . Rd8 21. Nc7 Nxc7 22. Bc6 mate convinced Black to give up his rook, and Kramnik played the endgame to perfection.
White: Kramnik
Black: Romanishin
1 Nf3 Nf6
2 c4 e6
3 Nc3 Bb4
4 Qc2 c5
5 a3 Ba5
6 g3 Nc6
7 Bg2 Bxc3
8 Qxc3 Qa5
9 b4 cxb4
10 axb4 Qxb4
11 Qxb4 Nxb4
12 Nd4 d5
13 Ba3 Nc6
14 Nb5 Kd7
15 Nd6 Rf8
16 Rc1 b6
17 g4 Ne7
18 g5 Nfg8
19 cxd5 Nxd5
20 Nb5 Ba6
21 Nc7 Bb7
22 Nxd5 Bxd5
23 Bxd5 exd5
24 Bxf8 Rxf8
25 Rg1 Ne7
26 Rg3 Nc6
27 Rgc3 Rc8
28 Rh3 Rh8
29 Rhc3 Rc8
30 d4 a5
31 f3 Ne7
32 Kd2 Rxc3
33 Kxc3 b5
34 Kb2 Nf5
35 Rc5 Ke6
36 Kc3 Nd6
37 Kd3 a4
38 Kc3 a3
39 Rc6 Kd7
40 Ra6 Nc4
41 Kb4 1-0
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments