Chess
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 oddest annual event in the chess calendar is the Veterans v Ladies match organisation by the Dutch Association Max Euwe and sponsored by the businessman Joop van Oosterom. To judge from the many events that Mr Oosterom has supported, he has three strong beliefs about chess: that it should be played in the most comfortable conditions possible; that the elder statesmen of the world of top grandmasters should be accorded a high level of respect; and that women's chess deserves encouragement.
The annual Young Ladies v Old Men match satisfies all these criteria. Each year it is played in a different city and named after a national dance of the host country. Recent events have included the Polka tournament in Prague and the Foxtrot in London; this year it was the Hostdance in Copenhagen.
The results have reflected the continuous improvement in women's chess in recent times. In its early years, the men usually won, but the women gradually overhauled their lead and had won three of the first five matches. In Copenhagen, however, the men's team, led by former world champions Boris Spassky, 60, and Vassily Smyslov, 76, won by 27-23 to level the series. Smyslov made the best score with 61/2 points out of 10.
Boris Spassky lost two games and conceded seven draws, scoring his only victory in the final round to deny his opponent the grandmaster norm that she could have achieved by beating him. Black's calm defensive play on the Q-side, combined with a slow advance on the other wing, was good strategy, but the key to his victory was the temporary piece sacrifice with 33...Qxa4! Black's queen not only regained the material but was able to squeeze behind White's defences to launch a mating attack.
White: Ketevan Arakhamia
Black: Boris Spassky
1 e4 e5 22 Qc2 Rxb3
2 Nf3 Nc6 23 Qxb3 Ra7
3 Bb5 a6 24 Qb6 Rb7
4 Ba4 Nf6 25 Qa5 h6
5 0-0 Be7 26 Rb1 Rxb1+
6 Re1 b5 27 Nxb1 Nf4
7 Bb3 0-0 28 Bf1 g5
8 c3 d6 29 Nbd2 Neg6
9 h3 Bb7 30 Nh2 h5
10 d4 Re8 31 Bc1 Bf6
11 Nbd2 Bf8 32 Qb6 Kg7
12 a4 Qd7 33 Qb8 Qxa4
13 Bc2 g6 34 Qxc8 Qd1
14 d5 Ne7 35 Qxa6 Qxc1
15 b3 Bg7 36 Qa5 Ne2+
16 c4 c6 37 Kh1 Qe1
17 Ba3 Nh5 38 Nhf3 Qxf2
18 Bd3 bxa4 39 Bxe2 Qxe2
19 bxa4 c5 40 Qb6 Nf4
20 Rb1 Reb8 White resigns
21 Rb3 Bc8
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments