The Russian championship took place November 14-27 in Moscow with a good number of the most brilliant grandmasters in the universe. Garry Kasparov outshined the competition to take first place, finishing with a full 1.5-point lead. Finishing in fourth place was Alexander Morozevich, who had played on Russia’s first board in the just-concluded Olympiad in Mallorca, Spain. Morozevich, age 26, is a still rising star, but will he prove to be a supernova? In his game with the Armenian grandmaster Vladimir Akopian, Morozevich showed just how much gravitational force he is capable of exerting at will.

MOROZEVICH VS. AKOPIAN (white) (black) Ruy Lopez

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 d6 With his fifth move, Morozevich resuscitates a favorite line of the first world champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, from the last quarter of the 19th century.Throughout the 20th century, this variation was considered to be quite harmless. But Morozevich’s results with it have been stellar. In the second round of the recently concluded Olympiad, he defeated Viktor Korchnoi in a mere 13 moves! That game continued 5…b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5 Ng4 9.0-0 Na5 10.Bg5 f6 11.Bd2 Nxb3? 12.axb3 c6 13.Ba5 and Korchnoi turned his king upside down. 6.c3 g6 7.Nbd2 Bg7 8.0-0 0-0 9.Re1 b5 10.Bc2 d5?! This thrust unnecessarily weakens the c5 square. Two rounds later, Kaidanov improved upon black’s play in a game with Karjakin in the match USA-Ukraine: 10…Re8! 11.d4 exd4 12.cxd4 Nb4 13.Bb1 c5 with a complicated position. 11.a4 Rb8 12.b4! dxe4?! This makes black’s weaknesses more obvious. It was preferable to play 12…d4 13.axb5 axb5 14.cxd4 exd4 15.Ba3 Re8 with an unbalanced position. 13.dxe4 Nh5 The attempt to cover the c5 square 13…Qe7 14.Nb3 Nd7 15.axb5 axb5 16.Qe2 gave an advantage to white as well. 14.Nb3 Nf4 The endgame 14…Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Bg4 16.Nc5 is difficult for black. 15.Be3 Qf6 16.Bxf4! exf4 The pawn sacrifice after 16…Qxf4 17.Qe2 Rd8 18.axb5 axb5 19.Bd3 Bg4 20.Bxb5 Bxf3 21.gxf3 Ne7 22.Bc4 did not promise sufficient compensation. 17.e5! Qe7 18.Nbd4! The white knight changes its target from the c5 to the c6 square. 18… Nxd4 19.Nxd4 Bb7 20.axb5 axb5 21.Ra7 Rfe8 If 21…Qg5 22.Be4

(see diagram)

22.Bb3! Preparing the ensuing magnificent combination. 22… Bxe5 The other line is 22…Qg5 23.Rxb7! Rxb7 24.e6 f5 (or 24…fxe6 25.Nxe6 Rxe6 26.Rxe6 Kf8 27.Qd7 and mate is inevitable) 25.e7+ Kh8 26.Nc6. 23.Rxb7! Rxb7 24.Nc6 Qd6 25.Qd5! Qxd5 26.Bxd5 Kg7 27.Kf1! The final finesse of the combination. The immediate 27.Nxe5 Ra7 28.Kf1 Ra3 left some chances for black. Now white wins a crucial tempo. 27… Rb6 28.Nxe5 Ra6 29.Nc6! Rxe1+ 30.Kxe1 Ra1+ 31.Ke2 Rc1 32.Nd4 Rxc3 33.Kd2! Winning both black pawns on the queen side. 33… Ra3 34.Nxb5 Ra4 35.Kc3 Ra1 36.Kb2 Rf1 37.Nxc7 Rxf2+ 38.Kb3 Rf1 39.b5 g5 40.Kc2! g4 41.b6 f3 42.b7 f2 43.Bc4 1-0