liver the killer blow: its influence
has
been
felt through the whole game without it ever coming into direct contact with the opposing forces - until now. If 36 ... lbf7 37 ..,g6+ and ..,xg8 mate; likewise 36 ... lt:)xh6 37 .. g6+ �h8 38 .. xh6 mate, soShort resigned.
A splendid game from Kaspar ov. He played the first part
in
the style of his arch-rival Karpov, pa tiently manoeuvring and building up an attack, and finished it off like the old Kasparov with a dy namic and unexpected pawn sac rifice, which unmasked a lethal attacking potential in his forces.Kasparov has now won three
Ruy Lopez games in very similar style: a slow build-up from the opening, outmanoeuvring Short in the middlegame, then turning on the heat between moves 30-40. Although one cannot talk of Kas parov's brilliant opening prepara tion - he is still avoiding a theoretical discussion on the Marshall Gambit - it is becoming clear that he has analysed Short's entire style and pin-pointed cer tain weaknesses. He even hinted at this in the Channel 4 interview after the game: 'Nigel does not feel comfortable when he has no clear plan, when he has to ma noeuvre his pieces on the back rows.'
Game S
Short-Kasparov
Sicilian Najdorf
The morning of Thursday, 23 September, opened with a sensation. Short had lost his chief coach, Lubomir Kavalek, who had decamped in mysterious circumstances to the United States. Michael Stean, Short's manager, sought to reassure everyone: 'He has gone home for family reasons and he will be back.' Kavalek himself was quoted as saying: 'I have no plan at the moment to return to London, but eventually I might.' Both statements were greeted with scepticism in the press room, where it was generally believed the two had fallen out over Short's con duct of the match. There was also a persistent rumour, never con firmed, that there had been a disagreement over money. Kavalek had told someone after the seventh game: 'I feel very sorry for
him.
The match should not have been like this. It didn't need to be so bad.'Kavalek, who had escaped to the United States from Czechoslovakia after the 'Prague Spring' had been crushed by Soviet tanks, was cred ited with putting backbone into Short for his matches against Karpov and Timman. He had introduced more aggression into his play and a healthy dislike for Russians. The effect on the challenger of losing the man who had been described as his 'Svengali' at such a crucial time was incalculable.
It then became known that Short had been struggling on in secret without his chief mentor since the third game. The Spanish arbiter, Carlos Falcon, had noticed that Short appeared distressed when he shook hands with him before the fifth game and had passed on the tra ditional greeting: 'I wish you good luck from your second, Lubosh Kavalek.' This had evidently bothered Short at the time and the arbiter was asked not to repeat the greeting.
Short must have been seriously inconvenienced by Kavalek's depar ture. His other main supports were the German grandmaster, Robert Hubner, who had once played Kasparov in a match himself, and Jon Speelman, who was busy writing about the match and appearing on television as a member of the Channel 4 commentary team. Kasparov, in contrast, had his full set of coaches, including formidable former So viet grandmasters of the calibre of Alexander Belyavsky and Zurab Azmaiparashvili.
The champion had had mysterious problems of his own with his coaches in previous matches against Karpov, when suspicions arose as to whether one of them had supplied some of his opening plans to his opponent. Now, however, all seemed to be running smoothly at the Re gent's Park house he was using as a training camp.
After the news about Kavalek it was possible to look back at Short's disastrous fourth game defeat and understand why he had played so badly. His skilful preparation for the fifth game also had to be seen in a new and even more surprising light. In former world championship matches it would have been possible for him, in a situation like this, to call a time-out to put his house in order. The rules for this match, how ever, with the tightly organised television schedules and ticket sales, made this impossible.
With the news of his coach's departure breaking to the media on the eve of the eighth game, it must have been very hard for Short to play. In the event, he did well enough to draw, albeit playing with the white pieces. At a key moment in the game, when Kasparov took an hour over move 14, a grandmaster commented on Nigel's response: 'He looked as though he had been shot.' In the event, he survived, but he was now los ing by six points to two, taking the champion half-way, in less than three weeks, to retaining his title.
1 e4
c5
2 lLlf3
d6
3 d4
cxd4
4 lLlxd4
lLlf6
5 lLlc3
a6
B"oth players are prepared for a fight: Short feels most comfort able with double-edged, attacking positions where his objectives are clear, while Kasparov enjoys the counter-attacking possibilities which will present themselves.
6 i.c4
e6
7 i.b3
lLlbd7
8 f4
lLlc5
So far, everything is the same as game 6, but now Short varies from his previous 9 ffi.
9 e5
This aggressive thrust was first played and analysed by the Ukrainian grandmaster Adrian Mikhalchishin, so it must be well known to the Kasparov camp. The idea is to open up lines against Black's king with great speed, hoping to catch it with a quick attack, particularly as Black has hardly any pieces de veloped. The drawback is that af ter ...
9
dxe5
10 fxe5
White's e-pawn is isolated from the rest of its pawn chain, and could tum out to be a weak ness. So, the battle-lines are drawn: White must hope that his