Chess: Grandmasters throw a spanner in works

WHAT makes life difficult for the fancied runners in the Interzonal in Biel, Switzerland, is the presence of several grandmasters who have little hope of taking a top place, but whose aggressive styles threaten even the best. One such is the Australian Ian Rogers, who played the best game of round five.

In the Benko Gambit, which Rogers adopts here, Black usually finds compensation for his pawn along the Q-side files. White's 5. e3 and 7. a4 is designed to make that difficult, but allows another plan of central play. After luring the c-pawn to b5, it is natural to play e6 and exploit Black's central pawn majority; Rogers combines that idea with a K-side attack.

When White decided to fight for the initiative with 25. Nxc5 he immediately succumbed to a very neat mating finish. After 26 . . . Bxg2+] 27. Kxg2 Rxf2+] Black forces mate with Qg3+ whether the rook or king captures on f2.

After five rounds in Biel, the lead is shared by Anand, Bareyev, Gurevich, Salov and van der Sterren on 4 points. Jon Speelman has 31 2 .

White: Georgiev

Black: Rogers

----------------------------------------------------------------- 1 d4 Nf6 15 Rxa8 Rxa8 2 c4 c5 16 0-0 Nd7 3 d5 b5 17 b3 Nef6 4 cxb5 a6 18 Bb2 e5 5 e3 g6 19 Na4 Qb8 6 Nc3 Bg7 20 Qc2 Ne4 7 a4 0-0 21 Nd2 Nxd2 8 Ra3 Bb7 22 Qxd2 d4 9 Nf3 e6 23 exd4 exd4 10 dxe6 fxe6 24 Ba3 Be5 11 Qd6 Qc8 25 Nxc5 Bxh2+ 12 Be2 axb5 26 Kh1 Bxg2+ 13 axb5 Ne8 White resigns 14 Qd2 d5 -----------------------------------------------------------------

Anyone looking for chess book bargains should consider the relocation sale at the British Chess Magazine shop at 69 Masbro Road, London W14 (071- 603 2877) from 10.30am to 7.00pm this Saturday, 24 July.

For an unusual and fascinating view, however, you might try Chess and Education, a 48- page pamphlet by David Norwood, based on his Gresham College lectures on that subject. This is available from Gresham College, Barnard's Inn Hall, Holborn, London EC1N 2HH (071-831 0575).