White to move and mate in two. Solution to Problem No. 2,879: Q-N3 (Qb3). Congratulations to the solvers!
Britain's Nigel Short, 28, is the first non-Russian challenger for the world title since Bobby Fischer in 1972.A hard-fought victory over Holland's Jan Timman, 41, earned Short $124,000 plus the right to play for the world championship against kingpin Gary Kasparov, 30, who will defend it for the fourth time since 1985.
"It will be short," Kasparov was quoted as saying with a yawn when asked to predict the outcome of their best-of-24-match that will begin Sept. 7 in London.
He noted that he had won 10 games, drawn four and lost only one game of their previous 15 tournament games.
There is reported to be plenty of bad blood between the two. "Kas-parov is a very nasty guy - he is one of the most unpleasant people in the chess world," Short has fumed.
"The sooner he gets beaten the better!"
"Nigel Short: Chess Prodigy," a collection of his best games, was published before he was 12 years old. By 15 he achieved a 2,500 rating - a feat matched in modern times by Hungary's Judit Polgar, Brazil's Henrique Mecking and Fischer.
Yet Short's rise was not meteoric. At 2,655 he still is not ranked in the world's top 10.
Short was runner-up to Kas-parov at the World Junior in 1980. Two years later he turned professional at 17. But Short had to watch others surpass him and hog the limelight until he won the Fifth Euwe Memorial at Amsterdam ahead of Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov in 1991.
Later, when he upset Karpov in a match, Short became an overnight hero in England.
Kasparov is still a big favorite, though overconfidence could trip him. In 1986 he had a close call against ex-champ Karpov by blowing a 3-point lead with three straight losses before pulling it out. In 1987 he saved his title on a 12-12 tie only with a miracle win in the 24th and final game.
At San Lorenzo de Escorial in Spain, Timman netted $76,000 for losing a bloodthirsty match with plenty of decisive games.
The lead changed hands until Short surged ahead in Game 9, the turning point, to tally 71/2-51/2 in 13 tough games (5 wins, 3 losses, 5 draws).
- THE WINNAH! - Latvian grandmaster Aleksandr Shabalov, 25, won the Hudson International Tournament at the Pace University Campus Center in Pleasantville, N.Y., late in April.
He topped one of the strongest fields in an American tourney by scoring 61/2-21/2 in the 10-man invitational event. He was awarded the $2,000 first prize.
Grigory Kaidanov, a Russian emigre who lives in Lexington, Ky., took second place with 6-3.
Joel Benjamin, a Manhattan grandmaster and a former U.S. Open Champion, and Alexander Wojtkiewicz, the current Polish champion, shared third place with 51/2-31/2.
In terms of quality, Kaidanov's games were considered by the experts pre-eminent. Indeed, he was the early leader until he lost to Benjamin with two rounds to go.
The final standings:
1. Shabalov 61/2 points
2. Kaidanov 6
3-4. Benjamin, Wojtkiewicz 51/2
5. Yermolinsky 5
6-7. Edelman, Ehlvest 4
8-9. Goldin, Hellers 3
10. Sherzer 21/2
- POSITIONAL CHESS - The evaluation of a given position falls under two headings: quantitative and qualitative.
The former involves the simple counting of pieces and pawns and, as such, is fairly straightforward and objective.
The latter is concerned with more abstract concepts, such as mobility, control of space, color complexes, key squares, open lines, coordination and the like. It involves the judgment and weighing of several elements.
What are weaknesses? How are they provoked? How are they avoided? What is an ideal situation?
How does one go about capturing, or controlling, squares, diagonals, files?
In what positions is it desirable to seek exchanges? In what positions is it best to eschew them? How can you ensure the proper coordination between pieces?
All these, and others, are the sort of positional questions that one must consider carefully.