G2: Diversions: The king and I

The Guardian – United Kingdom; Jun 08, 2006
NIGEL SHORT

Kirsan Ilyumzhinov was re-elected FIDE president in Turin by 96 votes
to 54.

As a member of Bessel Kok’s defeated Right Move campaign, I suppose I
should, with my trademark stoicism and magnanimity, congratulate our
adversary on his success. Instead I find myself dwelling on some
rather odd stories generated by the election: the senior federation
official seen wandering around with large amounts of cash; the
delegates who found it necessary to photograph their completed ballot
papers and SMS the pictures to their colleagues before depositing
their votes; and the delegate who chose to deliver his proxy to the
fiercely pro-Kirsan Georgian delegate rather than voting in person
himself.

Of course, there may not have been any shenanigans. Elections,
however, must not only be clean, but be seen to be clean, and it is
high time to appoint an independent authority to ensure this.

As to the Olympiad itself: Armenia were worthy winners, but no thanks
to England. Daniel Gormally, our fourth board, punched Levon Aronian
in the eye at the traditional Bermuda party in a rage of
love-jealousy. He then had to be restrained by grandmaster Yasser
Seirawan. To say that the Armenians were unamused at having their
national hero attacked would be an understatement. Allan Beardsworth,
the England captain, was forced to apologise to their delegation and
Gormally was sent home – partly for his own protection.

England finished 19th – not a bad result in itself. It was John Nunn
who accurately identified the causes of the inevitable decline of
English 15 years ago. Essentially, we are living on a dwindling stock
of capital. Without a shake-up in the game, the rot will continue.

Michael Adams and I both scored plus five. Michael’s performance was
by far the more praiseworthy as he faced much stiffer opposition on
board one. Here is his elegant victory over the leading Iranian.

Adams, M (2720) – Ghaem Maghami, E (2584), 37th Olympiad, Turin,
3/6/2006 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Be7
7.0-0 0-0 8.c4 Nf6 9.Nc3 dxc4 10.Bxc4 Nc6 11.h3 Bf5 12.GBP3 Ne4 (A
time-consuming way of reducing the tension through exchanges) 13.Re1
Nxc3 14.bxc3 Qd6 15.GBP4 Qg6 (Intending Bxh3) 16.Kh1 Rae8 17.Bf4 Bd6
18.Qd2 Rxe1+ (An unnecessary concession of the open e-file) 19.Rxe1
Bd7 20.Ng5! Nd8 21.Ne4 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Qc6 (The weakness on c7 requires
urgent attention) 23.Bb5 Qd5 24.Re3 (Threatening 25.Nf6+! but it was
stronger to play the direct 24.Bxd7 Qxd7 25.Nc5! as Qd6 fails to
26.Qxd6 cxd6 27.Nd7 winning) f5 25.Bxd7 Qxd7 26.Nc5 Qf7 27.d5!
(Penetration on the seventh rank is more important than pawn
structure.) b6 28.Nd3 Qxd5 29.Qxc7 Ne6?! (Maghami, an aggressive
player by nature, tries to activate when the position does not warrant
it. It was better to try and hang on grimly with Qb7) 30.Qe7 Rd8?!
(Juggling pieces, but they soon come crashing to the ground) 31.Ne5!
Nf4? (Hopelessly optimistic. It was essential to jettison some
material by Qd1+ 32.Kh2 Qd6 pinning the White knight) 32.Rg3
(Simultaneously defending against mate in one and threatening it) g6
DIAGRAM 33.Nf7! (The coup de grace) Qd1+ (The queen is overloaded)
34.Kh2 Black resigns. The rook is attacked and the king is menaced
with mate in two (starting Nh6+).