Chess

The young Russian grandmaster Peter Svidler showed considerable maturity in defeating Garry Kasparov at the Tilburg tournament. Luring his opponent into unfamiliar territory in the opening, Svidler gained the advantage but then had to stay very cool as Kasparov tried to bewilder him with complications.

Against White's slow opening set-up, 5 ... b6 and 6 ... Bb7 is designed to hold back the advance of the white d-pawn, but Svidler accepted the challenge with the bold 8.d4! Black grabbed the e-pawn, but after 11.Ng5 he had problems. 11 ... Bb7 12.Bc4 or 11 ... Bd5 12.Bf3 both give White a dangerous attack. As the game went, both kings looked dangerously exposed, but White's pair of bishops gave him the advantage.

After 16 ... a6, White had to resist the temptation of 17.Bc6? which is met by 17 ... Qc7 18.Bxd5+ e6.

Between moves 19 and 23, White safeguarded all the weak points in his position, leaving Black with the weakness on g5. At move 25, he could have taken the pawn, but 25.Bc2! was considerably stronger, forcing Black either to weaken his position further or allow Bf5 trapping the rook on h3.

Kasparov sacrificed the exchange - partly desperation, partly bluff - and developed some sort of attack, but Svidler avoided all the traps and maintained his extra material.

In the final position, 37 ... Kf6 is met by 38.Qh8+ Ke6 39.Rxe5+ Qxe5 40.Rg6+ Kf5 41.Rg5+ winning the black queen. White's accuracy and unflappability must have given Kasparov an unpleasant reminder of his games with Deep Blue.

White: P Svidler

Black: G Kasparov

Sicilian Defence

1 e4 c5 20 Qd2 Qd6

2 Nf3 d6 21 Rf2 Rah8

3 c3 Nf6 22 Rg2 Rh3

4 Be2 Nbd7 23 Rf1 R8h4

5 d3 b6 24 Bc2 Nh5

6 0-0 Bb7 25 Bf5 Nf4

7 Nbd2 g6 26 Bxh3 Nxh3+

8 d4 cxd4 27 Kh1 Qf6

9 cxd4 Nxe4 28 Rg3 Qf5

10 Nxe4 Bxe4 29 Bxg5 Nxg5

11 Ng5 d5 30 Rxg5 Qh3

12 Bb5 Bg7 31 Rg2 Bf6

13 f3 Bf5 32 Qd3 Rxd4

14 g4 h6 33 Qg6+ Ke6

15 gxf5 hxg5 34 Qe8 Rc4

16 fxg6 a6 35 Qd8 Qf5

17 gxf7+ Kxf7 36 Re1+ Be5

18 Ba4 Rh5 37 Qb8 resigns

19 Be3 Nf6