The Mating Game
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.

At the women’s chess Olympiad in Mallorca in October, the U.S. team came home with silver medals. One of its most impressive achievements was defeating the tournament winner, the Chinese mainland team. The best overall performance of the entire tournament was given by the American team leader, Susan Polgar.
Susan is the oldest of three famous chess-playing sisters. In 1996, she won the title of world champion among women. Following this achievement, she moved to New York from her native Budapest, stopped playing chess, and gave birth to two sons. This Olympiad was her first competition in eight years. In her game again Maya Chiburdanidze, she showed that her break from chess has not dulled her brilliant combinational vision in the least.
POLGAR VS. CHIBURDANIDZE
(white) (black)
English Opening
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3 6.Qxc3 c5 7.b4 b6 8.Bb2 d6 9.g4!?
Starting an attack on the king at a very early stage of the game. More conservative approaches are 9.g3 or 9.e3. 9… Bb7 10.g5 Nh5 11.Rg1 e5 12.Bh3 Nf4 13.Bf5 g6?
(See Diagram)
Permitting white to unveil a magnificent combination. Black would have been better off playing 13…Nc6 14.e3 Ng6 15.Be4 with a complicated position after 15…Qc7. 14.Nxe5! Nxe2 Of course, the white knight is untouchable. With both sides poised to ensnare the enemy king, white had to foresee black’s attempts to use the open e-file for counter play. Thus, after 14…Qe7 white had to see 15.Be4!! Bxe4 (or 15…dxe5 16.Bxb7 Qxb7 17.Qxe5 f6 18.Qxf4) 16.Nc6 winning the queen; in case of 14…Qe8 15.Be4! Bxe4 16.Ng4 Nd3+ 17.Qxd3! Bxd3 18.Nh6# there is an unfortunate checkmate. Black therefore tries an alternative defense. 15.Nxf7! A nice refutation. Not much is promised to white by 15.Kxe2 dxe5. 15… Nxc3 Losing immediately was 15…Kxf7 16.Qg7+ Ke8 17.Bf6! 16.Nh6+ Kg7 17.Bxc3+ Rf6 18.Bxf6+ Qxf6 19.gxf6+ Kxh6 20.Be6 Polgar misses an opportunity to finish the game immediately. After 20.Rc1! black lacks all defense against Rc1-c3-h3 and mate. Instead white simply starts to realize the extra exchange. 20… Nc6 21.Bd5 Rf8 22.f7 Nd8 23.Bxb7 Nxb7 24.Rg3 Rxf7 25.Re3 Nd8 26.b5 Rf4 27.d3 d5 28.Re7 dxc4 29.dxc4 Nf7 Or 29…Rxc4 30.Rd1 and the black knight is deprived of all squares. 30.Rd1 Ng5 31.Rxa7 Rxc4 32.Ra6 Rc2 33.Rxb6 c4 34.a4 Ra2 35.Ra6 Nf3+ 36.Kf1 Nd2+ 37.Rxd2 Rxd2 38.Rc6 Rc2 39.b6 1-0