Chess: Gelfand breaks the deadlock

THE DEADLOCK in the match between Michael Adams and Boris Gelfand was broken in the fourth game by a brilliant attacking performance by Gelfand. The opening was an unusual Queen's Gambit Accepted (3. Nf3 or 3. e4 are more common than Gelfand's 3. e3) in which White's attacking chances compensated for the potential weakness of his d-pawn.

Adams's 15 . . . f5?] was a bold move, accepting weaknesses on the e-file to create a more dynamic position. Gelfand attacked imaginatively with 22. h4 and 24. Ng5] when 24 . . . hxg5 25. hxg5 regains the piece with considerable advantage. But a move like 24. Ng5 needs more justification than that.

Superficially, it was just a piece of gratuitous violence, with the possible idea of bringing the knight to e6 later. In the diagram position, however, Gelfand showed a far more venomous intent with the brilliant 26. Qxf5]]

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Since 26 . . . hxg5 27. hxg5 Bxd4 loses to 28. Qh3+, Adams took the knight with the bishop when 27. Qg6]] revealed the point of the combination. 27 . . . Bf6 now loses to 28. Bb1 Kg8 29. Qh7+ Kf7 30. Bg6 mate, and the same idea works after 27 . . . Bxc1 too. Adams could only head for an endgame a couple of pawns behind, and although he struggled hard, his position always looked hopeless. It can be dispiriting to lose brilliancies such as this, but Adams fought back powerfully in Saturday's fifth game. It was eventually adjourned in a position that gave him good chances of an equalising win. After three tentative draws at the start, this has turned into a match of very high quality indeed.

----------------------------------------------------------------- White: Gelfand ----------------------------------------------------------------- Black: Adams ----------------------------------------------------------------- 1 d4 d5 26 Qxf5 Bxg5 2 c4 dxc4 27 Qg6 Qf7 3 e3 e5 28 Qxf7 Rxf7 4 Bxc4 exd4 29 hxg5 cxd4 5 exd4 Nf6 30 cxd4 Bc4 6 Nf3 Be7 31 Re8+ Rxe8 7 0-0 0-0 32 Rxe8+ Kh7 8 h3 Nc6 33 Bb1+ g6 9 Nc3 Na5 34 gxh6 Nc6 10 Bd3 Be6 35 Be3 Re7 11 Re1 Nc6 36 Rc8 Bd5 12 a3 Qd6 37 Bd3 Nb4 13 Be3 Nd5 38 Be2 Be6 14 Qc2 Kh8 39 Rd8 Nd5 15 Rad1 f5 40 Bg5 Rd7 16 Bc1 Rad8 41 Re8 Bf7 17 Re2 Bf6 42 Rb8 Be6 18 Rde1 Bc8 43 Bf3 Rf7 19 Bc4 Nxc3 44 Rd8 Rf5 20 bxc3 h6 45 Bd2 Nf6 21 a4 b6 46 Ra8 g5 22 h4 Na5 47 Rxa7 Kxh6 23 Ba2 c5 48 Ra6 Nd7 24 Ng5 Ba6 49 a5 Rb5 25 Re6 Qd7 50 axb6 1-0 -----------------------------------------------------------------