Independent Pursuits: Chess
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Your support makes all the difference.WE ARE told that top footballers make tens of thousands of pounds a week. Chess players, even world champions, have never been regularly remunerated on this scale - let alone the ten times as much mined by the top American baseball players. But Gary Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik will this weekend move temporarily to these stratospheric heights as they contest a 24-game blitz match for the princely sum of $1,000 per win or $500 each for a draw in each 10 minute (ie five minutes for each player) game.
The event, the first of it's kind on anything like this scale, is sponsored jointly by the Internet Chess Club (ICC) and the venue, the Kosmos Hotel, in Moscow.
There are 12 games on both Saturday and Sunday, play starting on each day at 5pm GMT. I realise that only a minority of readers will have access to the Internet at weekends. But those who do can watch the action live and see the commentary of grandmasters and other strong players by joining the ICC at http://www.chessclub.com ($29 for six months plus a surcharge of $16 for both days).
Although chess is generally experienced in the somewhat dessicated context of moves printed on a page, viewed live, even virtually, it is infinitely more interesting. The match should be a lot of fun, if demanding on people's phone bills, eyes and the patience of any civilians resident with them.
While I've never seen either of these great players play blitz for any extended period, I would certainly expect positional chess of a pretty high standard, albeit interspersed with the odd blunder. This game was their first blitz play-off after two Quickplay draws at the Moscow leg of the Professional Chess Players (PCA) Grand Prix - and the play over the weekend should be even better since they won't have undergone the transition from Quickplay to Blitz.
Kasparov obtained some pressure against the isolated d pawn after the opening but got into trouble after 29...g5! and 32...g4! when the threat of 33...Rh6! forced him to jettison the e pawn. Kramnik's technique then looked very smooth.
White: Gary Kasparov
Black: Vladimir Kramnik
Moscow PCA-Grand Prix 1996
Symmetrical English
1.c4 c5
2.Nf3 Nc6
3.Nc3 Nf6
4.e3 e6
5.d4 d5
6.cxd5 exd5
7.Bb5 cxd4
8.Nxd4 Bd7
9.0-0 Bd6
10.Nf3 a6
11.Be2 Be6
12.a3 0-0
13.b4 Qe7
14.Bb2 Rfe8
15.Nd4 Be5
16.Nxc6 bxc6
17.Na4 Bxb2
18.Nxb2 c5
19.bxc5 Qxc5
20.Nd3 Qd6
21.Nf4 Bf5
22.Bf3 Rad8
23.Qd4 Be4
24.Be2 Bf5
25.Bf3 Be4
26.Be2 Bf5
27.Qb4 d4
28.Qxd6 Rxd6
29.Rfd1 g5
30.Nh5 Nxh5
31.Bxh5 d3
32.Rd2 g4
33.f3 gxf3
34.Bxf3 Rxe3
35.Rc1 Re5
36.Kf2 Kg7
37.Rc4 Ra5
38.Rc3 Rb5
39.h4 h6
40.Ke3 a5
41.Kf2 Rd4
42.g3 Re5
43.Rc7 Ra4
44.Rc3 Bg6
45.Rb3 Rc4
46.g4 Rc2
47.Rb2 Rxd2+
48.Rxd2 f6
49.Kg3 Rc5
50.Kf4 Rc3
51.Rb2 Rxa3
52.Rb7+Kf8
53.Rd7 Ra4+
54.Ke3 f5
55.h5 Be8
56.Rxd3 fxg4
57.Be4 Bxh5
58.Rd6 Kg7
59.Rd7+Kf6
60.Rd6+ Kg5
61.Bc2 Ra3+
62.Kf2 g3+
63.Kg1 Bf3
White resigns
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