Soviet team edged 12 other stars, but Korchnoi had no complaint
An interesting event took place in London this summer in which leading masters from the Soviet Union defeated an all-star team from the rest of the world by a score of 21-19. The format consisted of four rounds, contested on 10 boards. Although each team was allowed two reserves or substitutes, all 24 players competed in at least one game, with most of the top boards for each side playing in every round.
The leading scorer in the event was Soviet Grandmaster Alexander Beliavsky, who beat Yasser Seirawan of the United States twice and Bent Larsen of Denmark once on his way to amassing 31/2 points. World Champion Anatoly Karpov and contender Gary Kasparov each won one game and drew three, against Ulf Andersson (Sweden) and Jan Timman (Netherlands), respectively.
For the rest of the world, Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland), on third board, had the pleasure of defeating a Soviet star, Lev Polugaevsky; Korchnoi also had three draws. His victory in Round 2 was a scintillating demonstration of impeccable technique and was perhaps the finest game of the match.
USSR W-L-DAnatoly Karpov 1-0-3Gary Kasparov 1-0-3Lev Polugaevsky 0-1-3Vassily Smyslov 0-1-0Vladimir Tukmakov 1-0-1Rafael Vaganian 0-1-3Alexander Beliavsky 3-0 -1Mikhail Tal 1-0-2Yuri Razuvaev 0-0-4Artur Yusupov 0-0-3Andrei Sokolov 1-2-1 Oleg Romanishin 0-1-2
Rest of the world W-L-DUlf Andersson (Sweden) 0-1-3 Jan Timman (Netherlands) 0-1-3 Viktor Korchnoi (Switzerland) 1-0-3 Ljubomir Ljubojevic (Yugoslavia) 1-1-2 Zoltan Ribli (Hungary) 1-0-3 Yasser Seirawan (United States) 0-2-0 Jonathan Nunn (England) 0-1-2 Robert Hubner (West Germany) 0-0-4 Anthony Miles (England) 1-0-3 Eugenio Torre (Philippines) 2-1-0 Murray Chandler (England) 0-0-2 Bent Larsen (Denmark) 0-1-1
Reti Opening Korchnoi Polugaevsky 1. N-KB3 N-KB3 2. P-KN3 P-Q4 3. B-N2 P-B3 4 . O-O B-B4 5. P-Q3 P-KR3 (a) 6. P-B4 P-K3 7. B-K3 (b) B-K2 (c) 8. Q-N3 Q-B1 (d) 9. N-B3 O-O 10. QR-B1 B-R2 11. PxP KPxP 12. N-K5 B-Q3 13. B-Q4 B-B2 (e) 14. P-K4 PxP 15. PxP N-R3 16. N-B4 N-Q2 17. P-QR4 N(R)-B4 18. Q-R3 N-K3 19. B-K3 N-N3 20. N-Q5! (f) NxN(B) 21. RxN Q-Q1 (g) 22. NxB QxN 23. P-QN4 Q-K2 24. Q-B3 KR-Q1 25. P-B4 P-B3 26. P-N5 PxP 27. PxP R-Q2 28. R-B8 ch (h) RxR 29. QxR ch N-B1 30. Q-B4 ch Q-K3 31. QxQ ch NxQ 32. BxP N-Q5 33. B-R3 N-K7 ch 34. K-B2 R-Q7 35. K-K3 R-N7 36. B-K6 ch K-R1 (i) 37. R-Q1 P-N4 38. R-Q8 ch K-N2 39. B-QB5 (j)
A. The system of defense involving P-QB3, B-KB4, and P-KR3 for Black is called the London System, a practical sequence whereby Black attempts to solve the problem of developing his QB and also tries to blunt the activity of White's fianchettoed KB.
B. This, however, is a new and interesting idea. Korchnoi beat me 20-odd years ago with the more usual 7. P-QN3; 8. B-N2 setup.
C. Too complaisant, and the cause of Black's future difficulties. He should play 7.... B-Q3, and if 8. Q-N3, then Q-K2, with satisfactory play. Normally the development of the Black bishop at Q3 is suspect, as White has trumps with a possible P-K4, K5. But with the White bishop obstructing his KP, this is not to be feared.
D. Since the ''normal'' move of 8.... Q-N3 is not possible, Black has problems in defending his QNP. The queen will be uncomfortable on the QB file.
E. This artificial maneuver (prepared by his last move) seems to be necessary to meet White's threats of 14. NxQP or 14. N-N5.
F. This admirable move sets off White's advantage and emphasizes his spatial dominance.
G. The toughest defense. If 21.... PxN, then 22. PxP, N-N4 or N-Q1; 23. KR-B1 wins for White.
H. White will add the QRP to his list of assets.
I. No better is 36.... K-B1; 37. B-B5 ch, K-K1; 38. R-QR1.
J. Here Black played 39.... B-N3 as he lost on time. White could have replied with 40. B-B8 ch, K-R2; 41. R-Q7 ch, K-R1; 42. B-N7 ch, K-R2; 43. BxBP ch.
International Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier is a former US champion, has won or shared the US Open title five times.
After this week, the chess column will be scheduled for the first and third Wednesday of each month. The next column will appear Aug. 15.