Independent Pursuits: Chess
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Your support makes all the difference.CHESS PLAYERS tend to divide between the theoretical, who are well versed in and even enjoy studying opening theory; and more practical players who prefer to defer the struggle beyond the initial phase as much as possible.
Of the former category, one of the most striking - indeed perhaps the most striking representative in this country - is the Croatian grandmaster Bogdan Lalic.
Bogdan's theoretical knowledge is fearsome. A fortnight ago I happened to have breakfast with him on the Sunday of the first Four Nations Chess League weekend of the new season. I fear that I'm firmly in the latter category and just a few minutes over coffee and toast with him counted as serious refreshment for one of my more beleaguered opening systems...
Lalic was in action last weekend in Scotland's longest running weekend tournament, the Glasgow Congress at the Caledonian University. He romped away to 41/2/5 to take first prize ahead of four, including the Onyx Grand Prix leader grandmaster Keith Arkell (in search of further Grand Prix points, though his score of 4 proved insufficient), to whom he conceded his only draw.
This is the second of Lalic's four wins. One of the ways of defusing a theoretician is to play a "non-theoretical" opening against him, which is what Graham Morrison did. This proved quite successful, for Morrison seemed to get quite a reasonable game with a nice outpost for the knight on b5. 13 f4!? was somewhat weakening, but justified by the initiative it generated. But White started going backwards after 17... Ng4! forcing the exchange of knights and beginning to take aim at the e pawn.
After 27... f4! in the diagram, of course if 28 gxf4 Qg4+!. Although there's nothing instantly decisive in the final position. in which he presumably lost on time, White is busted.
White: Graham Morrison
Black: Bogdan Lalic
Glasgow 1998, Reti Opening
1 Nf3 d5
2 c4 d4
3 g3 g6
4 d3 Bg7
5 Bg2 e5
6 0-0 Ne7
7 Na3 0-0
8 b4 a5
9 b5 c5
10 bxc6 Nexc6
11 Nb5 Na6
12 Ng5 Qe7
13 f4!? h6
14 Ne4 Rd8
15 fxe5 Nxe5
16 Nf2 Nb4
17 Bb2 Ng4
18 Nxg4 Bxg4
19 Rf2 Re8
20 Qa4 Qd7
21 a3 Nc6
22 Qc2 Re7
23 Raf1 Rae8
24 Bd5 Be6
25 Be4 Bh3
26 Rb1 f5
27 Bh1 (see
diagram) ...f4!
28 Bd5+ Kh7
29 Rxf4 Rxe2
30 Qd1 R8e3
31 Re4 Bf5
32 Rxe3 Rxe3
33 Be4 Bxe4
34 dxe4 Rxe4
35 Qf3 Qe7
36 Rf1 Re2
37 Bc1 Ra2
38 Bf4 Qe6 0-1
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