Chess - The Scotsman 24/04/13

Question: How does White win?

EIGHTY-THREE years ago, the great Russian world champion Alexander Alekhine had one of the most remarkable runs of success ever seen.

At the Italian Riviera resort of San Remo, Alekhine won 13 and drew two to obliterate a field that included potential title challengers such as Akiba Rubinstein, Efim Bogoljubov and Aron Nimzowitsch. Hard to believe now, but Alekhine’s credentials had been questioned following his upset victory over the Cuban Jose Raul Capablanca to win the world crown three years earlier – but the San Remo streak quickly dispelled any doubts about his legitimacy.

Alekhine and Capablanca were not only great rivals but they also became sworn enemies who couldn’t even bear to sit across the board from each other – and Alekhine helped fuel the animosity further by making sure a rematch between these two champions never took place.

So it’s with a certain amount of irony that even in death both are rivals, with memorial tournaments running concurrently: the 44th Capablanca Memorial (with a weakened field this year, headed by Russia’s Dimitry Andreikin) now under way in Havana, Cuba, and the Alekhine Memorial with its all-star line and split between the upmarket venues of the Louvre Museum in Paris and the Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg.

At the Alekhine memorial, UK No 1 Mickey Adams is enjoying a winning streak, taking the lead on a perfect 2/2 after beating six-time Russian champion Peter Svidler.

M Adams - P Svidler

Alekhine Memorial, (2)

Ruy Lopez

1 e4 e5 2 Nf3 Nc6 3 Bb5 a6 4 Ba4 Nf6 5 0–0 Be7 6 d3 b5 7 Bb3 d6 8 a3 0–0 9 Nc3 Bb7 10 Re1 Qd7 11 Ne2 Rae8 12 Ng3 Bd8 13 a4 d5 14 axb5 axb5 15 c3 h6 16 Be3 Re6 17 h3 Be7 18 Nh2 Ra8 19 Rxa8+ Bxa8 20 Qf3 Na5 21 Ra1 Ra6 22 Ng4 Bb7 23 Bxd5 Nxd5 24 exd5 Bxd5 25 Nxe5! Qe6 26 Qf5 Bd6 27 Qxe6 fxe6 28 Nf3 b4 29 Ne4 bxc3 30 bxc3 Bb7 31 Nd4 Bf8 32 c4 c5 33 Nb5 Nb3 34 Rxa6 Bxa6 35 Nbd6 Bxd6 36 Nxd6 Kf8 37 f3 1–0