Independent Pursuits: Chess

GARY KASPAROV continued on his winning way in the third game of his match with Jan Timman with a victory just as crushing as that in game two, which I analysed on Wednesday.

Timman, a fine match player, should be able to put up a fight, if only he could get out of the opening alive. But despite his excellent team of the Swedish grandmaster Ulf Andersson and the Bosnian GM Ivan Sokolov, he has already twice come to grief against Kasparov's massive accumulated knowledge and instinct for the kill.

Kasparov this time employed his favourite 4 Qc2 variation of the Nimzo- Indian, with which he has scored many fine victories in the past. Timman is also very experienced in this line, though usually from the black side, and he countered with an interesting new idea in which Black allows doubled f pawns in return for the positional gain of isolating White's d pawn.

Interesting, that is, until Kasparov got his hands on it. The critical moment came in the diagram after Kasparov's excellent 13 Ne2! Timman's response of 13...Rd8 was clearly inadequate, but there were a number of other gruesome ways in which he could be cut down.

My first idea was 13... Ba6 to try to exchange off the bishops, but then 14 Nf4 is most unpleasant since the natural Qg5 loses the exchange to 15 Be4. I then turned to 13...Bb7 14 Nf4 when A) 14...Qg5 15 Qc7! leaves the bishop without a good square. B) 14...Qd6 looks sensible but runs into 15 Ba6!! when if Nxa6 16 Qg3+ Kh8 17 Ng6+ wins the queen. C) 14...Qd7 loses to 15 Bxh7+ Kxh7 16 Qh3+ Kg8 17 Qg4+ Kh8 18 Qh4+ Kg7 19 Nh5+ Kg6 20 Qxf6+ Kxh5 21 g4+! etc D) 14...Qd8! prevents the combination by defending f6 but White still has an excellent game after, eg, 15 Rc1. Instead of 14...Qxd4, 14...f5 also loses to 15 Be2 Bb7 16 Bf3 Qd7 17 Nh5. The rest was carnage. In the final position. if 26...Rc5 27 Na6 Ra5 28 c5! Rxa6 29 c6.

White: Gary Kasparov

Black: Jan Timman

Prague (third game) 1998

Nimzo-Indian Defence

jspeelman@compuserve.com

1 d4 Nf6

2 c4 e6

3 Nc3 Bb4

4 Qc2 0-0

5 a3 Bxc3+

6 Qxc3 b6

7 Bg5 c5

8 e3 d6

9 Bd3 cxd4

10 exd4 d5

11 cxd5 Qxd5

12 Bxf6 gxf6 .

13 Ne2! (see

diagram)

13...Rd8

14 Ng3 Qxd4

15 Be4 Qxc3+

16 bxc3 Rd5

17 Rd1! Bb7

18 Bxd5 Bxd5

19 Nh5 Nd7

20 c4! Bc6

21 Rxd7 Bxd7

22 Nxf6+Kg7

23 Nxd7 f6

24 Ke2 Rc8

25 Rc1 Rc7

26 Nb8 1-0