Golden Arches
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

‘Fast-food chess”: That’s what the American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan calls tournament games in which the time-control is 30 minutes a player. That kind of rapid chess has now become immensely popular in Germany and France. Among other things, spectators appear to like it, perhaps because top players do not have time to search for deep ideas and instead make more readily understand able and conventional moves. Quality may suffer, but, like a Big Mac and French fries, it can be satisfying to consume.
At the just-concluded Mainz chess festival, a rapid-chess match between Viswanathan Anand and Alexei Shirov was won by Anand by a score of 5 to 3. The most beautiful moment in the match came in the seventh game, when Shirov failed to find an extraordinary combination.
SHIROV VS. ANAND
(white) (black)
King’s Indian Attack
1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.g3 Bc5 4.Bg2 d6 5.d3 h5! 6.h3 a6 7.Be3 Bxe3 8.fxe3 Be6 9.Nf3 Nce7 10.d4 Ng6 11.Qe2 Qe7 12.0-0-0 Nf6 13.Ng5 0-0-0 14.Rhf1 h4!
Black’s opening strategy was superb and he now obtains an advantage on the dark squares. 15.g4 Kb8 16.Kb1 Rdf8 17.Nf3 Nh7! 18.Nd2 Ng5 19.Nb3 Bxb3 20.axb3 c6 21.b4 Qc7 22.b3 Qb6 23.Qc4 Rc8 24.Kb2 f6 25.Ra1 Rhd8 26.Ra4 Rd7 27.Qd3 Rdc7 28.Rf2 Ne7
As a result of his lengthy maneuvering, black stands better but still has trouble breaking through. Now Anand misses a good moment to open the position: 28…Ne6! 29.Rd2 (Bad for white 29.d5 Nef4! 30.Qd2 cxd5) 29…exd4 30.exd4 Ngf4 31.Qf1 g5 with a clear advantage for black. 29.Rd2 c5?! But opening the position now is clearly wrong. It was preferable to continue maneuvering. 30.dxc5 dxc5 31.b5! Nf7?! This transfers the initiative to white. Anand had to open the c-file – 31…c4! 32.Rxc4 Rxc4 33.bxc4 Nf7 with good compensation for the pawn. 32.Qc4! Nd6 33.Rxd6! Qxd6 34.bxa6 Rd7 35.Bf1 Rcd8 Safer for black was 35…Rc6 36.axb7 Rxb7 37.Nd5 Nxd5 38.exd5 Rcc7. 36.axb7 Rxb7 37.Ra6 Rb6 38.Rxb6+ Qxb6 39.Qf7! Nc6 40.Qxg7 Nb4 41.Bc4 Rd2 42.Qf8+ Rd8 43.Qf7 Rd2 44.Nd5! Rxc2+ 45.Kb1 Qd6?
(See diagram)
Missing an opportunity to reach a draw after 45…Nxd5! 46.Kxc2 Nxe3+ 46.Qe8+ Shirov is a brilliant tactician, but he didn’t have a time to find an exceptionally beautiful winning combination – 46.Ba6!! Qc6 47.Bb5! Qd6 48.Qe8+ Kb7 (or 48…Ka7 49.Bc6! Nxc6 50.Qf7+ Kb8 51.Kxc2 Nb4+ 52.Kc3!) 49.Bc6+! The third and decisive sacrifice of the bishop. 49…Qxc6 (49…Nxc6 50.Qf7+) 50.Qxc6+ Kxc6 51.Nxb4+ cxb4 52.Kxc2 Kd6 53.Kd3 Kc5 54.Ke2 Kd6 55.Kf3 Ke6 56.g5 fxg5 57.Kg4 Kf6 58.Kh5 and white wins. 46… Kb7 47.Qb5+ And now it was possible to transfer the game to the previously mentioned winning line via 47.Qf7+ Kb8 48.Ba6!! 47… Ka7 48.Qa4+ Kb8 49.Ba6 Even here it was not too late to return to the winning path by means of 49.Qe8+ 49… Nxd5 50.exd5 Rh2 51.Qb5+ Kc7 52.Qb7+ Kd8 53.Qc8+ Ke7 54.Bb5 Kf7 55.Be8+ Kg8 56.Bh5+ Qf8 57.Qe6+ Kg7 58.d6 Qg8 59.Qe7+ Kh8 60.Qxf6+ Qg7 61.Qd8+
White is already not winning here. For example 61.Qe6 e4! 62.Qe8+ Kh7 63.Qxe4+ Kh8 64.Qe8+ Kh7 65.Qe7 Kh8 66.Qxg7+ Kxg7 67.d7 Rd2 68.Be8 Kf6 69.Kc1 Rd6 70.Kc2 Ke7 71.g5 Rd5 72.g6 Rg5 and the advantage passes to black.
61… Qg8 62.Qf6+ Nothing was promised to white by 62.Qe8 Qxe8 63.Bxe8 Rd2 64.d7 e4. 62… Qg7 63.Qd8+ Qg8
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