Because the object of the game is to destroy your opponent’s army and kill his king, it’s always been a little bit odd that chess matches long have been organized to improve understanding and promote fellow feeling between rival schools, cities and nations.
The chess teams of Cambridge and Oxford square off every year. Moscow and St. Petersburg - the Yankees and Red Sox of Russian chess - this month revived their annual match after a five-year hiatus. The French Defense gets its name from its successful use by the Parisians in a correspondence match with London way back in 1834.
The Dalai Lama - the Dalai Lama! - has even bought into the idea, stopping by the inaugural Youth Chess Tournament for Peace, sponsored by the Canadian chess software company MonRoi, on the sidelines of this month’s Global Conference on World Religions in Montreal.
But if ping-pong and wrestling can be used to break down diplomatic barriers, why not chess? An interesting (and, if you follow the headlines, intriguingly timed) Friendship Match was held this month in Ankara for eight top players from Turkey and neighboring Iran. We can’t say if this game improved bilateral understanding, but young Turkish IM Olgucan Kanmazalp takes the measure of Iranian IM Pouria Darini, the 20-year-old star who nearly won his country’s national title earlier this year.
In a c3-Sicilian, the play is relatively balanced until Darini makes a fateful decision with 23. Rd1 Rxd1+ 24. Qxd1 Bxa3!? 25. Bxa3 Qxa3 26. Qd8+ Qf8 27. Qc7 Qa8 - Black has won a pawn but his queen is buried in the corner of the board. With White’s king poised to enter the fray, Black makes another momentous decision, giving back the pawn and heading into the pawn ending with 30. Kf1 Qe8!? 31. Qxb7 Qb5+!? (just as risky would have been 31…Qa4 32. g3 Qd1+ 33. Kg2 Qd3 34. c6 Qd5+ 35. Kh2 Qf3 36. Qc8+ Ke7 37. Qd7+ Kf6 38. Qd4+ Kg6 39. Qg4+ Qxg4 40. hxg4 Kf6 41. c7 and wins) 32. Qxb5 axb5 33. Ke2.
The protected passer on c5 would seem to give the Turkish IM an easy victory in the king-and-pawn ending, but things prove a little more touch-and-go than White might have thought. He must provoke a second weakness on the king side and in the ensuing pawn race, wins by just a single tempo after 36. g4 f6 37. g5! Kd7 (Black’s busted pawn structure tells in lines such as 37…fxg5 38. Ke4 Kd7 39. Ke5 Ke7 40. f3 h5 41. c6 h4 42. c7 Kd7 43. c8=Q+ Kxc8 44. Kxe6 Kc7 45. Kd5 Kb6 46. Kd6 Kb7 47. Kc5 Ka6 48. Kc6 Ka7 49. Kxb5) 38. gxf6 gxf6 39. Ke4! Kc6 40. Kf4!, making a beeline for the hapless Black h-pawn.
Black’s e- and f-pawns combine to force through a queen, but it arrives just a move too late, as the White c-pawn proves decisive once again: 51. h8=Q e1=Q 52. Qg7+ Kc7 53. Qg8+ Kc7 54. Qf7+ Kb8 55. Qf4+ Kb7 56. Kf5 Kc8 57. Qe4 Qf2+ 58. Ke6 Qa2+ 59. Kd6 Qd2+ 60. Qd5 Qxb4 (losing at once, but 60…Qh2+ 61. Kc6 Qc7+ 62. Kxb5 Qb8+ 63. Ka6 Qxb4 64. Qc6+ Kb8 54. Qb6+ Qxb6+ 66. Kxb6 Kc8 67. Kc6 Kd8 68. Kb7 is just a longer route to the same destination) 61. Qa8 mate.
Despite Kanmazalp’s efforts here, the Iranians handily won the overall match by a combined score of 21-11.
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No part of the world has had more tangled geopolitics in recent years than the Balkans, but it also is true that no region has a more vibrant and active chess culture, with Serbs, Croats, Bosnians and Slovenes regularly competing over the board. Croatian GM Ante Brkic recently won a strong open event in the Croatian city of Bol, helped along by a nice win over veteran Bosnian GM Bojan Kurajica.
Black’s 3. Nc3 Qd6 is the trendy way to handle the Scandinavian these days, but White shows the positional drawbacks to the idea. Already well ahead in development, Brkic strikes early with 17. Qxf3 Nc6 18. Nxf7!? Rae8 (see diagram; 18…Rxf7 19. Bxe6 Nde5 20. Bxf7+ Nxf7 21. Bxc5 also favors White) 19. Nd6! and White will pick up a boatload of material for his lost queen: 19…Rxf3 20. Nxe8 Qf4 21. Nxg7 Nde5 22. Nxe6 (and not 22. gxf3?? Nxf3+ 23. Kg2 Nh4+ 24. Kg1 Qg5+ 25. Kh2 Qg2 mate) Qf6 23. Bb2 Rf5 (the rook escapes, but White’s next move wins more material) 24. f4! Nf3+ 25. Rxf3 Qxb2 26. Nd4+ Kg7 27. Nxc6, and White has a rook, knight, bishop and two pawns for his queen.
White’s queenless army swarms down the board, quickly running Kurajica’s king to ground: 34. Re7+ Kf5 35. Bd5 g5 36. Re6 g4 (White threatened 37. Ne7 mate) 37. Ne7+ Kg5 38. Rg6+, and Black resigned as mate in coming after 38…Kh4 (Kh5 39. hxg4+ Rxg4 40. Rh3+ Rh4 41. g4 mate) 39. R3xg4+ Rxg4 40. Rxg4+ Kh5 41. Bf7+ Kh6 42. Nf5+ Kh7 43. Rh4+ Qh6 44. Rxh6 mate.
Kanmazalp — Darini, Turkey-Iran Friendship Match, September 2011
1. e4 c5 2. c3 d5 3. exd5 Qxd5 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 Bg4 6. Be2 e6 7. 0-0 Nc6 8. h3 Bh5 9. Be3 cxd4 10. Nxd4 Bxe2 11. Qxe2 Be7 12. Rd1 0-0 13. c4 Nxd4 14. Bxd4 Qc6 15. Nd2 Rfd8 16. Nf3 Rac8 17. Ne5 Qa6 18. b3 Qa5 19. a3 Nd7 20. Nxd7 Rxd7 21. Bb2 Rcd8 22. Rxd7 Rxd7 23. Rd1 Rxd1+ 24. Qxd1 Bxa3 25. Bxa3 Qxa3 26. Qd8+ Qf8 27. Qc7 Qa8 28. b4 Kf8 29. c5 a6 30. Kf1 Qe8 31. Qxb7 Qb5+ 32. Qxb5 axb5 33. Ke2 Ke7 34. Ke3 Kd7 35. Kd4 Kc6 36. g4 f6 37. g5 Kd7 38. gxf6 gxf6 39. Ke4 Kc6 40. Kf4 Kd7 41. Kg4 Ke7 42. Kh5 e5 43. Kh6 e4 44. h4 Ke6 45. h5 Kd7 46. Kxh7 f5 47. Kg6 f4 48. h6 e3 49. fxe3 fxe3 50. h7 e2 51. h8Q e1Q 52. Qg7+ Kc8 53. Qg8+ Kc7 54. Qf7+ Kb8 55. Qf4+ Kb7 56. Kf5 Kc8 57. Qe4 Qf2+ 58. Ke6 Qa2+ 59. Kd6 Qd2+ 60. Qd5 Qxb4 61. Qa8 mate 1-0.
Brkic — Kurajica, Bol, Croatia, September 2011
1. e4 d5 2. exd5 Qxd5 3. Nc3 Qd6 4. d4 Nf6 5. Nf3 g6 6. Bc4 Bg7 7. 0-0 0-0 8. h3 a6 9. a4 b6 10. b3 c5 11. Ba3 Nfd7 12. Qe2 e6 13. dxc5 bxc5 14. Rad1 Qc7 15. Ne4 Bb7 16. Nd6 Bxf3 17. Qxf3 Nc6 18. Nxf7 Rae8 19. Nd6 Rxf3 20. Nxe8 Qf4 21. Nxg7 Nde5 22. Nxe6 Qf6 23. Bb2 Rf5 24. f4 Nf3+ 25. Rxf3 Qxb2 26. Nd4+ Kg7 27. Nxc6 Qxc2 28. Rd7+ Kh6 29. Bg8 Qc1+ 30. Kh2 Rxf4 31. Rxh7+ Kg5 32. Rg3+ Kf5 33. Rf7+ Ke4 34. Re7+ Kf5 35. Bd5 g5 36. Re6 g4 37. Ne7+ Kg5 38. Rg6+ 1-0.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
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