Brilliancy prize goes to a defense usually used for drawing
Paul Albert Jr., of South Salem, N.Y., donated $300 for the most brilliant game of the US Championship, and it was my privilege to select the winner. Considering the great number of high-quality games, this was not an easy task, and I divided the prize between Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan and International Master Nick deFirmian.
Seirawan's win against International Master Jack Peters titillates, in that it features Black forging the Caro-Kann - usually thought of as a drawing weapon - into a fearful attacking gambit.
On another subject, the current world championship match in Moscow between titleholder Anatoly Karpov and challenger Gary Kasparov naturally occupies center stage among chess enthusiasts at this time. The first two games were draws, and Karpov won the third. At this point it looks as though it will take several months before one player wins the six games needed to take the match.
An analysis and the moves of the third game will appear as soon as possible in this column, and we will continue to present other decisive games as the match progresses.Table -
Peters Seirawan Peters Seirawan1. P-K4 P-QB3$4. NxP N-B3 2. P-Q4 P-Q4 5. NxN ch NPxN 3. N-QB3 PxP 6. P-QB3 B-B4 7. N-K2 N-Q2 24. K-B1(f) Q-N2 8. N-N3 B-N3 25. R-KR2 P-N4(g) 9. P-KR4 P-KR4 26. B-K2 NxB 10: B-K2 Q-R4 27. NxNB-K511. P-N4 (a) Q-B2 28. P-B3 B-Q6 12. NxP P-K4(b) 29. K-K1(h) B-B5 13. N-N3 O-O-O 30. Q-B2 R-Q6 14. P-R5 N-R2 31. P-R6 Q-Q4 15. Q-N3 N-N3 32. P.R-7 R-Q1(i) 16. P-N5(c) P-QB4 33. B-N5 B-N6 17. PxBP BxP QxR QxQ 18. P-R4 KR-N1 35. P-R8=Q RxQ 19. P-R5 N-Q4 36. RxR ch K-N2 20. P-N6(d) PxP 37. B-Q2 B-B5 21. P-R6 PxP 38. N-N3 P-K5 22. Bxp ch K-N1 R-KR5 B-Q3 23. B-QB4 N-B5(e) White resigns(j) P-QB3 2. P-Q4 P-Q4 3. N-QB3 PxP 4. NxP N-B3 5. NxN ch NPxN 6. P-QB3 B-B4 7. N-K2 N-Q2 8. N-N3 B-N3 9. P-KR4 P-KR4 10. B-K2 Q-R4 11. P-N4 (a) Q-B2 12. NxP P-K4 (b) 13. N-N3 O-O-O 14. P-R5 B-R2 15. Q-N3 N-N3 16. P-N5 (c) P-QB4 17. PxBP BxP 18. P-R4 KR-N1 19. P-R5 N-Q4 20. P-N6 (d) PxP 21. P-R6 PxP 22 . BxP ch K-N1 23. B-QB4 N-B5 (e) 24. K-B1 (f) Q-N2 25. R-KR2 P-N4 (g) 26. B-K2 NxB 27. NxN B-K5 28. P-B3 B-Q6 29. K-K1 (h) B-B5 30. Q-B2 R-Q6 31. P-R6 Q-Q4 32. P-R7 R-Q1 (i) 33. B-N5 B-N6 34. QxR QxQ 35. P-R8 EQUALS Q RxQ 36. RxR ch K-N2 37 . B-Q2 B-B5 38. N-N3 P-K5 39. R-KR5 B-Q3 White resigns (j) A. The great Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen prefers Black's chances after this move; he feels that White's loose game and pawn structure are not worth the purloined pawn. B. Striking at the center and preventing 13. N-B4. C. This is a bad move, as it enables Black to pry open the queen file. D. Probably White's best chance at counterplay. I judge the position already lost for White in view of Black's threat of 20. ... P-K5, which presents White insuperable problems, among them 21. ... RxN, 21. ... BxP ch, and 21. ... P-K6. E. This strong move signals the beginning of the end. F. If White castles, he loses his Knight to 24. ... RxN. G. And this is a real haymaker, since 26. QxP, R-Q8 is mate and 26. BxNP, B-Q6 ch is almost as bad. H. Black threatened 29. ... QxP ch; 30. PxQ, R-N8 mate. I. Threatening mate on Q8 and effectively answering White's desperate attempt to queen his rook pawn. J. A logical and powerful game of Seirawan's. International Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier is a former US champion, has won or shared the US Open title five times, and has captured virtually every other major tournament in this country at least once during more than three decades of competition.
