chess
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Your support makes all the difference.Vladimir Kramnik, 20, won the Dortmund grandmaster tournament with the fine score of 7 out of 9. Winning five and drawing four games in a very powerful field, he enhanced his credentials as one of the men most likely to succeed Kasparov and Karpov.
Anatoly Karpov will not be too dissatisfied with his second place, half a point behind Kramnik. He too was undefeated, and his tally of 61/2 points will even have gained him a few rating points.
The biggest surprise of the tournament, however, was Peter Leko's share of third place. Rated well below almost all the other contestants, the 15-year-old Hungarian played with impressive maturity.
Final scores: Kramnik 7; Karpov 61/2; Ivanchuk and Leko 5; Lautier 41/2; Short and Piket 4; Bareyev and Belyavsky 31/2; Lobron 2.
Nigel Short recovered from a bad start to end with a respectable score. He also won the most startling game of the tournament.
White's 4.exd5 in this French Defence variation has a harmless reputation, but seemed to take Belyavsky completely by surprise. His 7...Qf6?! had the intention of exchanging bishops with Bf5, but Short's 8.Rb1! left him dithering fatally.
Not wanting to lose his b-pawn or weaken his Q-side pawns by playing b6, he kept his bishop at home, but 9...Ng6 was a poor move, encouraging White to play 11.f4! After that, Belyavsky could find no defence to the destructive rush down the board of the f-pawn.
At the end, 18.Nf6+ is strong, but 18.Qg4! is fatal. With 18...Qe7 demolished by 19.Bg5 Rg6 20.Bxe7 Rxg4 21.Bf8!, and 18...Nb6 met by 19.Rxb6! axb6 20.Nf6+, Black was defenceless.
White: Short Black: Belyavsky
1 e4 e6 10 0-0 0-0
2 d4 d5 11 f4 Bf5
3 Nc3 Bb4 12 Bxf5 Qxf5
4 exd5 exd5 13 Ng3 Qd7
5 Bd3 Nc6 14 f5 Nge7
6 a3 Bxc3+ 15 f6 Nc8
7 bxc3 Qf6 16 fxg7 Re8
8 Rb1 Nge7 17 Nh5 Re6
9 Ne2 Ng6 18 Qg4 resigns
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