e.endgame2

"Let's rejoin our selected game. To remind listeners, it's between the brilliant, still young, Russian Dmitri Serikov, who came second to the World Champion in the recent Bad Kissingen tournament, and the British outsider John Osprey. Serikov has White so we could have a short game, as he must be counting on a win to make up for his dropped half-point in round 1. Let's ask our resident grandmaster Ray King how the game is going. Ray?"

R:"Well, I don't know about a short game. The first few moves are routine, and played quickly enough, though things have slowed down sooner than we expected. It's a Lopez, or, as the Russians say, Spanish Game, but not one of those long-winded lines analysed up to the 25th move. The point of the Spanish is, as GM Bronstein wittily said years ago - unless I said it first - that it's a milch cow that you go to time after time as White and always with a slight advantage out of the opening. If Black wants to win he has to take risks, with the Marshall and suchlike, otherwise he'll be squeezed by the boa-constrictor. So I don't know why we chose to follow this game at all... there's a King's Gambit going on between Kellerman and Littlewood that looks much more interesting."

"Ray, we chose this game because of Serikov's brilliant reputation and the pressure on him to perform well. You agreed, remember?"

R:"Only joking. This time, I mean. Pay me to comment on this game and I'll comment on this game. Osprey has chosen the Steinitz Defence Deferred. Remember Steinitz?"

R:"Of course not. He died in 1900, or was it 1901? In America. The first world champion."

R:"Yes, and Kurt Landsberger has just published a whacking great biography of him. Kurt is a descendant, but not a chessplayer himself..."

R:"Ah. d2-d4. That poses Black a positional dilemma. It's the sort of problem that Serikov would want to pose to his weaker opponent. It threatens the black e-pawn."

R:"To take or not to take. If he takes he surrenders his pawn presence in the centre. If he doesn't take, how is he to avoid loss of a pawn? Supporting with his f-pawn is passive and takes away the best square from his own king's knight. What else is there?"

"Well, he's not even at the board. It's early in the game for him to be taking a coffee, I'd have thought, but that's what he's doing."

R:"Yes, from the machine at the side of the hall. Ah, he's coming back. Either with a coffee or something similar. Can't tell from here. And now he's spilt some. All of it, by the looks of things. And all on the board. He's apologising to Serikov. Serikov doesn't seem to mind - he's even smiling. There seems to be a general j'adoube situation going on."

R:"Did I say 'j'adoube'? That's what players are supposed to say when they want to adjust pieces on the board without committing themselves to moving a particular piece. Even the Russians use it. It's French. It should really be done only when your own clock is running. But it's original to say 'j'adoube' for mopping up coffee."

"Well, Osprey's clock is running. And they're still wiping up. The tournament controller is coming up."

R:"Serikov's an experienced guy, even if he is still young. He won't mind how much time they take so long as it's his opponent's clock running."

"The controller's happy and has disappeared. Osprey is looking at his plastic cup, looking at the board, he's hesitating. He's played his bishop out, pinning Serikov's knight against his queen. That's a good defence against the threat, isn't it, Ray?"

R:"Not positionally, it isn't. Black's sure to get doubled pawns, and then queens are going to be exchanged. The pawn set-up will be decisively to White's advantage in the endgame."

R:"No. Look, he's gone to the coffee machine again. He can't have got much from his first cup."

R:"And John's recaptured. And Serikov's exchanged queens. As I thought he would."

R:"Yes. But it's a foregone conclusion. Black's three queenside pawns are all isolated. It's terrible. Look at those holes. They're tailor-made for White's knights to occupy, White's bishops to support, and White's pawns to defend or control. It's all over, positionally speaking."

R:"No, the kind of position we're going to get is where White sets up a bind and Black doesn't have any moves. That frown on Osprey's face is going to get even more furrowed."

R:"Strategic considerations. He wants to develop his pieces on the right squares and in the right order. That's all he needs to do to win. Not to fall for anything snappy but anti-positional. He's in no hurry. He doesn't want to assist Black's development."

"What development? None of his king's side pieces is developed at all. It's going to take ages for Black to castle."

R:"If he ever gets around to it. Mind you, b4 wouldn't be a bad square for the dark bishop, if it pinned a knight, so Serikov might not want to allow that."

"Is he afraid that Black will take the knight he already pinned a move or two ago, to double ®MDITﾦhibar;White®MDNMﾦhibar;'s pawns?"

R:"No, I don't think so. The doubled pawns wouldn't be isolated, like Black's are on the c-file, and opening the g-file for a white rook would be good news for White rather than for Black. And Black would be left with his poorer bishop, running on the same colour as his static central pawns."

R:"Exactly. Ah, Serikov's come out with his second knight, but not allowing the pin I warned him against, and supporting his first knight."

"All very positional and logical, then? It even prevents the doubling of pawns we were talking about."

R:"Yes, and it renews the attack on the e-pawn, since there's no longer the mate on d1. So, although it's a developing move it's development with tempo. Always a good thing. Good play. And that's not all. The knight is already eyeing those holes in Black's position that we were talking about."

R:"Well, as expected, Black's had to move his f-pawn after all, and White has occupied the solid strong point c4 with his knight. Can you see the positional plan emerging?"

"Yes, I think so. White has unblocked his bishop, which can move to cover another strong point, and as there are no weak points in White's position he holds all the cards. Is that your evaluation too, Ray?"

R:"I'm a good teacher, aren't I? What you won't know is that this kind of bind that White is setting up is one reason why practically all players of Black have abandoned the Steinitz Defence Deferred. It's too passive."

R:"You shouldn't ask questions like that about moves by weak players. Who knows why? OK, it attacks Serikov's loose knight, but so what? It's not a developing move and the knight can either move or be supported."

R:"Look how harmoniously White's pieces cooperate. There are squares for them all. Converging on those queen's side holes that Black can do nothing about. Give it another eight moves or so and the bind will be quite unshakable. A total armlock."

R:"Advancing a rook into a den of minor pieces and pawns is asking for trouble. We might have a short game after all."

R:"Not when your opponent is bound to lose even more time. Look, if Black develops his bishop to its 'best' square, the one that creates a pin (it would have been check before, but it isn't now) it allows a vicious pawn fork, and all because of that foolhardy move of the black rook. Lack of experience, that's all you can say."

"But that's exactly what John has done. With his other bishop. Has any of this happened before, in other games?"

R:"Of course not. Not at the top level. I seem to recall Lutikov recommending something of the sort..."

R:"Can't recall anything happening to him. Except that he died. But Serikov's taken one of John's doubled pawns and is threatening the rook and practically everything."

R:"Help! No. I don't believe this. Extraordinary. Unbelievable. Serikov's been mated. It's the upset of the tournament. Mate on move 15. By Black. In the Steinitz Defence Deferred of all openings."

"Serikov's smiling. They're shaking hands. They've just put the final position up on the demonstration board. I can see Ray is lost for words. What about you, Carol?"

C:"I'm no chessplayer, but I must say it looks beautiful to me. There's that arrow of black chessmen running down from the top right corner. There's a pair of Marble Arches of five white chessmen on the left and right flanks - almost a Nash Terrace. There's another black arrow, a twin of the first, running at right angles down to where the rook is giving the checkmate, I think. And the two white knights out on a limb linked by a king move - but there's no king. And the three other black men, the black king and two pawns, on a knight trajectory - but there's no knight. It's pure heraldry! And an Englishman has done it! And that's still not all. It's just been pointed out to me that if Serikov had side-stepped with his king instead of capturing Osprey's bishop, he would still have been mated, but with all three involved chessmen standing on squares of the opposite colour. I'm goggling."

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 d6 5.Bxc6+ bxc6 6.d4 Bg4 7.dxe5 dxe5 8.Qxd8+ Rxd8 9.bNd2 f6 10.Nc4 Be6.

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