The Chess Classic and a Simpsons Simul
By Allan Beardsworth
My wife and I have a house in one of the prettiest valleys of the Lake District,
one of the most beautiful parts of England. The mantra for visitors to that
region, as for tourists everywhere, is “take only photos, leave only memories”.
And now, a week after the equally splendid London Chess Classic, all I am left
with is memories of my visit to the event. So this brief article is simply one
keen amateur’s perspectives.
Malcolm Pein receiving the Sport and Recreation Alliance’s Community
Sport and
Recreation Award from the Alliance’s President HRH Prince Edward Earl
of Wessex
First of all the chess world, and the English chess community in particular,
owe a massive vote of thanks to Malcolm Pein for the vision he had in setting
this tournament up; and Malcolm’s tireless energy in running such a mammoth
event. I hope that he finds time over the seasonal break to relax and celebrate
what he has achieved. To these thanks, should also be added thanks to the sponsors
and the team of officials without whom such events simply cannot happen.
Secondly, the elite players: to be in the packed commentary room, listening
for every nugget of insight; to hear the rapidity of explanations of lines seen.
Vishy’s explanation of the final
stages of his game versus Magnus, was a particular treat; and I would also
highlight Vlad who seems to make chess simple. As a parent myself (though, alas,
none of my children have any interest in chess) it is really nice to see all
the players willingly pose for photos with their young fans; the ability to
meet our heroes is key to perpetuating our game.
Postgame analysis by Vishy Anand with GM David Howell
Thirdly, and here I am lucky in being invited to the VIP room, as a donor to
English chess. The surprising, disappointing, revealing change this year was
that the GM commentators now routinely refer to chess engines – what does
Hiarcs say? Houdini? Stockfish? In all previous years, reference to engines
has been verboten, but now, the game is up. Nakamura-Anand was the
finest example of that; to me, it just shows that chess between two people,
even two elite players, is a different game, and not the worst for it, than
the analysis of engines.
Vladimir Kramnik and Nigel Short analysing in the VIP room
John Nunn showing Judit Polgar his latest software development for the iPad
Blitz in the VIP room: IMs Ali Mortasavi and Lawrence Trent are at it again...
... as are chess amateurs Alaa Gamal, former member of the Egyptian women's
team,
and Mihaly Szalontay, Managing Partner of Buran Venture Capital in Moscow
Veterans: Michael Stean and David Levy discussing, while Aronian listens
skeptically
I could add more comments, but for brevity will end with a game played at the
Closing Dinner
at Simpson’s in the Strand. The Classic players, during main course
and dessert (and this is key, after champagne, wine and port...) go round the
tables, making a move at each; with the amateurs consulting. It is light and
inconsequential, and I think Malcolm said that this year the score was 12-6
to the tables. But it was a fitting end to yet another tournament which shows
one of the great things about chess, gens una sumus: the fun and friendship
our games gives us all.
Dinner at Simpson's, with a tag simul given by the participants of the Classic
After dinner some players stay on for a few rounds of blitz
Levon Aronian playing GM David Norwood, with Magnus Carlsen looing on
The simul at the Simpsons
There are apparently six degrees of separation, and there are also Fischer
or Kasparov or now Carlsen scores: I have beaten Nigel Short (alas, last time
thirty something years ago, in the days we were at Bolton School together);
he has beaten Garry, so my Kasparov score is Two. As of 10 December 2012, my
Carlsen-score, Kramnik-score, Aronian-score, Nakamura-score, Adams-score, McShane-score,
Jones-score and Pein-scores are each One, having beaten them all, together,
at the London Classic closing dinner at Simpson's in the Strand. (Judit Polgar
didn't play a move, and true to my accountant self, my Luke score is actually
One, if Internet blitz is included). Or maybe, and probably more honestly, my
score against the Classic players is actually fractional, since it was in collaboration
with (retired) GM Michael Stean, Terry Chapman, Tony Stewart, Alex Greg and
Andrew McQuillan on table 17.
[Event "Classic Dinner"] [Site "Simpson's on the Strand"] [Date "2012.12.10"]
[Round "?"] [White "Classic GMs"] [Black "Table 17"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"]
[Annotator "Beardsworth,Allan"] [PlyCount "76"] [EventDate "10.??.??"] 1. c4
{Gawain. I have not given this game a rigourous examination, and my checking
with Houdini 3.0 has been superificial; so forgive my errors. It was though
a perfect imbalanced game, with chances for both sides, very suitable to the
occasion.} Nf6 {.} 2. Nc3 {Magnus} c5 3. Nf3 {Hikaru} d5 4. cxd5 { Malcolm}
Nxd5 5. e4 {Gawain} Nb4 6. Bc4 {Luke} Nd3+ 7. Ke2 {Magnus} Nf4+ { Terry (Chapman)
influenced our choice of this line, saying it was theory of 30 years ago; Houdini
3.0, in 2012, prefers Nc1+} 8. Kf1 {Hikaru} Ne6 9. b4 {Luke} cxb4 10. Ne2 {Vlad;
our table all presumed Nd5, thinking this was the old theory; but we soon saw
the strength of the move played; supporting d4 and also en-route to f4.} g6
11. Bb2 {Gawain} Bg7 12. d4 {Levon "Taking the centre can't be bad"; our table
had more or less presumed Bg7; we discounted Be6 more or less without analysis,
thinking whichever visiting GM next arrived at our board would not want to simplify
the game. Houdini, after a bit of thinking, settles on (what to me at first
sight) looks odd, Qb1, but when its main line shows it being followed by h4-h5,
you see the engine's point.} (12. Bxe6 Bxb2 13. Bxf7+ Kxf7 14. Qb3+ {would have
resulted in a far less convivial game, so Be6 deserves a ?}) 12... O-O 13. a3
{Vlad; though the engine prefers h4, answered by h5, appraising it as equal.}
bxa3 14. Rxa3 {Luke; it was interesting to be part of our table's discussion
here; Terry and I preferred Nc6, thinking we could see our way through the tactics,
with the d4 pawn being pinned; but Michael (Stean) wanted to improve the knight
on e6; it was remarkable throughout the game that the author of one of my favourite
books, Simple Chess, showed clarity of thinking and judgement. Houdini after
a good think also prefers Michael's choice, but assesses Nc6 as more or less
equivalent. Terry and I, both strong amateurs, kept looking at more tactical,
complex lines; but we could often see the wisdom of what Michael said.} Nc7
15. h4 {Magnus (with a laugh). Houdini also recommends it, but not with a laugh,
or at least not to my knowledge.} Bg4 {Tony wanted to play ...b5, hitting the
bishop; but Michael explained that that would merely force it to a better square,
a2; on c4 it is tactically loose. Whilst ...b5 also permits Bb7, pressurising
e4, on balance we played for some control over h5. Houdini 3.0 is indifferent
between the two; though its suggestion after ...b5 is that the B retreats to
d3, a possiblity we didn't consider.} 16. h5 {Vlad (thumping the pawn down)}
Nc6 17. hxg6 {Gawain} hxg6 18. Nf4 {Magnus} e6 (18... Ne5 {was what Terry and
I considered, and Houdini thinks it is equal; but Michael was adamant that on
principle e6 should be played; Houdini's clear preference though is to protect
g6 by Qd6, which also has the advantage of taking some of the power out of a
d4-d5 advance.}) 19. Rd3 {Hikaru; though the engine prefers Qc1 or Qd2; its
preference is Qc1, which looks strange to my eye, but maybe it is protecting
c4 and discouraging b5 (after which, with the queen on c1, the Nc6 is loose).}
b5 20. Bb3 {Luke} a5 21. d5 {Gawain} Bxb2 22. dxe6 {Levon, and Houdini} Qf6
23. exf7+ {Mickey} Kg7 24. Qd2 {Vishy; our table's confidence was high here,
thinking, wrongly, that we had the advantage, with the extra piece and black
square control. We didn't properly assess the weaknesses. The keen readers of
John Nunn's books, knowing his acronym LPDO (loose pieces drop off), would notice
c6, c7, g4 and weaknesses on b2 and g6; let alone h6. We failed to appreciate
that the pathway to all these was d6.} Rh8 (24... Be5 {= per Houdini, as it
says is a4 25 Rh4 Be5; I don't think we considered trying to control d6 by Be5.
Michael felt strongly that Rh8 needed to be played on principle; to exchange
off one of White's active pieces. In fact, he was wrong in his assessment, and
control of d6 was the most important requirement.}) ( 24... a4 25. Nd5 Nxd5
{was one line the table looked at, thinking that maybe we could survive the
complexities (for instance after 26 Qh6+ Kf7 is possible, since the N on d5
blocks the Bb3's protection of f7); Houdini seems to concur that a4 is possible,
though Michael's safety first choice swung the vote at this late stage of the
evening; wine and safety being the watchwords.}) 25. f8=B+ $6 {Gawain. The !
for the underpromotion (and, promoting to a bishop is also Houdini's third choice,
so maybe not showing that it has a sense of humour)., though it is not anywhere
near as good as the underpromotion of the tournament, Luke's knight promotion
versus Levon. The ? because Rh8 is far stronger, winning.} (25. Rxh8 {9} Rxh8
26. Rd6 $18 {It is interesting that none of us appreciated the level of danger
we actually were in. Here, we are simply lost.}) 25... Raxf8 26. Rxh8 {Vlad
(to Levon) "this position has the stamp of Gawain on it". Levon (to Vlad): "more
than a stamp".} Rxh8 27. Rd6 { Levon} Rh1+ (27... Bxf3 28. gxf3 Bc3 {was one
alternative we looked at, but we thought checking was preferable, if only because
it frees h8 for the king. We were unsure who had the advantage, and Houdini
suggests it is equal.}) 28. Ke2 {Gawain} ({We felt that} 28. Ng1 {was far stronger,
and the engine confirms this: equal; but that does not mean drawn.}) 28... Nd4+
29. Ke3 {Luke; from now on, the GMs wondered whether it was time to resign,
but played on whilst there was a bit of doubt.} Bc1 (29... Qxd6 30. Qxb2 Bxf3
{was preferable.}) 30. Qxc1 {Magnus} Rxc1 31. Rxf6 {Mickey} Kxf6 32. e5+ {Luke}
Kg7 33. Nxd4 {Luke} a4 34. Bc2 {Vlad} Re1+ 35. Kd2 {Magnus} Rxe5 {Michael's
last pearl of wisdom was, when one of our table was worried about losing the
g6 pawn, was not to worry, because then "the knight is out of the game". The
game, of course, being the queenside pawns, which are ready to rush.} 36. Nxg6
{Malcolm} Rd5 37. Ke3 { Mickey} a3 38. Nf4 {Gawain} Rxd4 {Levon resigned.} 0-1
The game will be one of my memories of another superlative Classic, for which
so much is owed to Malcolm Pein, his team, and his sponsors. Nigel Short, commenting
to the audience during the last round, recounted a witticism by IM Bill Hartston,
that chess was a contributor to net human unhappiness, since the pleasure of
victory is greatly exceeded by the pain of defeat. Yes, Nigel, I agree, having
fallen for an outrageous cheapo against him in three minute blitz during the
last round, our first game together since childhood, when for a good dozen moves
or so the crowd were about to witness a GM kill. Nigel's Re2 mate will forever
be etched on my mind.
However, my abiding memory of this tournament is in fact the throngs of school
children who visited the Classic. The venue was heaving with the future of our
game; ample reason why the UK charity, Chess in Schools and Communities, and
similar ones in other countries are to be supported: for chess, with its victories
and defeats, can give a lifetime of friendship, challenge and pleasure.
| Allan
Beardsworth, 50, (here pictured not at the Simpson's but on a
holiday in Turkey) was a strong junior chess player. Learning the game
because of Fischer-Spassky, his first clubmate was Nigel Short, three
years his junior. Nigel followed Allan to his senior school, and a lifetime
of friendship has been the result, including playing for England Juniors
together. In 2004 and 2006 he captained the England’s mens’
teams in the Olympiads.
Allan is now a tax partner at Deloittes, Manchester, and with the demands
of work and family is now only a keen internet blitz player and follower
of chess: His 2012 rapidplay rating was 227 (UK, equivalent to 2466 FIDE),
though this is an example of “lies, damn lies and statistics”,
because it is based on only the one tournament he plays each year. Allan
suspects his true current rating is a couple of hundred points lower.
For many years he has sponsored chess in the UK. His biggest fear in chess
now is not knowing how strong (or rather, weak) he will be when he retires
and finally has time to resume playing over the board.
Finally Allan is a friend of the ChessBase news page – hardly a
day goes by when we do not receive a message from him, correcting typos
or even the tiniest of errors that have crept into our stories. |
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