Battles with Basman

by Jonathan Speelman
11/6/2022 – Today’s column is dedicated to the memory of Michael Basman, who sadly passed away on Wednesday, October 26th, at the age of 76. It’s one of the great joys of the chess world that we provide a relatively safe environment for eccentric talent, and Basman was as engaging and eccentric in person as in his wonderful creations on the chessboard. | Pictured: Joel Benjamin facing Michael Basman (Lloyds Bank Open 1978)

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Engaging, eccentric

[Note that Jon Speelman also looks at the content of the article in video format, here embedded at the end of the article.]

Today’s column is dedicated to the memory of Michael Basman, who very sadly passed away on Wednesday, October 26th, at the age of 76.

It’s one of the great joys of the chess world that we provide a relatively safe environment for eccentric talent, and Basman was as engaging and eccentric in person as in his wonderful creations on the chessboard.

Michael BasmanBorn into a world in which chess was still pretty much ruled by orthodoxy (remember that the King’s Indian was a big deal in the 1950s), Basman initially played fairly normal chess but gradually developed his own utterly idiosyncratic style. He was an excellent tactician, but I believe that he really disliked having his king attacked and this informed the lines in which he kept his majesty barricaded in the centre behind a wall of pawns rather than castling him to the flanks which could give way to the dangers of standard attacks against the castled king.

To begin with it was the St. George Defence (1.e4 a6), with which Tony Miles famously beat Anatoly Karpov at the European Team Championships in Skara 1980 (I was there playing Efim Geller, but sadly didn’t see Tony make his first move and Karpov’s reaction to it). Later it was the Grob and the Borg and sometimes a very early ...b6 too. While by my final classical game against him, he had shifted for a time to playing 1.h3 and 2.a3!

I know that there’s already been a column here and indeed I'm reusing the two games there with my own notes: my own famous loss to the ‘Borg’ (Grob reversed) and what I sometimes call the ‘Immortal Bulls**t Game’, in which Basman provoked the preternaturally cautious Ulf Andersson beyond bearing.

I’m also looking at Basman’s famous draw with Mikhail Botvinnik in Hastings 1966 – just three years after Botvinnik lost the world championship to Tigran Petrosian.

The remainder comprises the five remaining games (apart from the Borg) I played against Basman — four classical and one rapidplay. We always had fierce tussles, and his provocation also upended me one more time in a surprisingly normal position: an IQP middlegame in which my attack missed.

Basman’s last tournament was as recently as May in this year’s edition of David Norwood’s annual blitz tournament in the famous King’s Head pub in Bayswater, and he qualified from his group before losing to Will Watson in the last 16. I also played him there a couple of times. I don’t remember the games of course, but he generally outplayed me positionally — he was an excellent positional player — though my despicable swindle mode tended to carry the day thereafter.

We start with my take on the ‘Immortal Bulls**t Game’.

 
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1.Nf3 b6 2.g3 Bb7 3.Bg2 e6 4.0-0 d5 5.c4 Nf6 6.d4 Be7 7.Nc3 0-0 8.Ne5 h6 9.Bf4 a6 10.Rc1 Ra7 11.cxd5 exd5 12.Qb3
12...Ba8 In this Queen's Indian line, Black would normally like to break with c5 if possible but if 12...c5 13.dxc5 bxc5 13...Bxc5 14.Na4 14.Rfd1 with a clear advantage so Basman began to temporise. 13.Rfd1 Kh7 14.h3 Kg8 15.Kh2 Kh7 16.g4 This very unUlf-like move is still perfectly fine, of course. Kg8 17.Bg3 Bb7 18.e3 Ba8 19.a3 Bb7 20.f4 20.h4 20...Ba8 21.Rd2 Qd6 22.f5 Qd8 23.Bf4 Bb7 24.Rg1 c6 25.Bf3 Nh7 26.Rc1 26.Na4 b5 27.Nc5 would have gained a nice square for the knight. 26...Bd6 27.Na4 Bc7 28.Kg3 Nf6 29.h4 Nfd7
30.Nxd7 Engines still like 30.Qc3 but it's becoming very messy, and Ulf, who hates advancing his pawns too far, must have already been very uncomfortable. 30...Nxd7 31.Re2 Re8 32.Kh3 Bxf4 33.exf4 Rxe2 34.Bxe2 Qe7 35.Bf3 b5 36.Nc5 Bc8 36...Nxc5 was perfectly playable, but by now Basman surely scented blood. 37.Qd3
37.h5 would have kept his kingside intact. Nxc5 38.Rxc5 Bd7 39.Qd1 37...h5! 38.gxh5? 38.Nxd7 Bxd7 39.Kg3 was still playable - if ugly! 38.g5?? Nxc5 39.Rxc5 g6 38...Qf6 39.Kg3 Nxc5 40.Rxc5 Bxf5 The culmination of the "Great Bulls**t Game" The fan is now bespattered and Basman jumps out to kill his opponent. 41.Qc3 Bd7 42.Qd3 Ra8 43.Rc1 Re8 44.Qc3
44...c5?! Apparently this execution doesn't quite work. Simply 44...a5 kept a very nice advantage. 45.Qxc5 45.dxc5 It seems that (or rather my engine tells me) d4 46.Qd2 Qf5 47.Kf2! defends, since if Qh3, there is Rh1, but it certainly looked as though something would give. Qh3? 47...Qf6 48.Kg3= 48.Rh1 45...Qf5 46.Qxd5 Qh3+ 47.Kf2 Qh2+ 48.Bg2 Qxf4+ 49.Bf3
49...Bg4! Even stronger than taking the rook. 50.Rc3 Qh2+ 51.Bg2 Qxh4+ 52.Kg1 Re1+ 53.Bf1 Bh3
Brilliant provocation by Basman! 53...Bh3 54.Rf3 Qg4+! is even cleaner than winning the bishop. 54...Rxf1+ 55.Rxf1 Qg3+ 56.Kh1 Bxf1 wins, so Andersson resigned. 55.Kh2 Re2+ 56.Bxe2 Qg2#
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Andersson,U-Basman,M-0–11974E18Hastings 747511
Botvinnik,M-Basman,M-½–½1966A29Hastings 66678
Basman,M-Speelman,J-0–11972B02British ch1
Speelman,J2490Basman,M24050–11980B00BCF-ch9
Speelman,J2500Basman,M23901–01984B00BCF-ch10
Speelman,J2535Basman,M23950–11986D42BCF-ch3
Basman,M2370Speelman,J26100–11990A00BCF-ch Eastbourne
Basman,M-Speelman,J-½–½2014A00London Classic Rapdiplay9
 

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The Closed Sicilian offers White a set of easy-to-understand plans, the chance of a kingside attack and little danger of being outgunned by tactics in the opening.


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Jonathan Speelman, born in 1956, studied mathematics but became a professional chess player in 1977. He was a member of the English Olympic team from 1980–2006 and three times British Champion. He played twice in Candidates Tournaments, reaching the semi-final in 1989. He twice seconded a World Championship challenger: Nigel Short and then Viswanathan Anand against Garry Kasparov in London 1993 and New York 1995.

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