Chess - The Scotsman 04/06/12

THE euro crisis has seen a deluge of comments from financial experts in the world’s media. One caught my eye recently from an old acquaintance, Kenneth Rogoff, Professor of Economics at Harvard University, who said: “They are playing Russian roulette in Europe and I’m not sure how many bullets are in the gun.”

Rogoff should know a thing or two on the subject. He worked at the World Bank, was a chief economist at the International Monetary Fund, and also served on the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

But any talk of endgames, middle-games and stalemates in the present crisis could well be a reminder to him of his first love – chess.

Rogoff, 59, was formerly a precocious and high-ranked American player who earned the grandmaster title in 1978. He was one of his country’s most promising players, finishing second in the national championship of 1975 to earn a spot in the highlight of his career, the Interzonal Tournament in Biel, Switzerland, a year later, an important qualifier on the road to a place at the world championship.

But in 1980 he stopped playing competitively for a life in academia and economics. “I think about chess all the time,” he recently told the magazine New in Chess.

“I’m not thinking about it with any depth, but I think part of my brain is hard-wired to play chess. I’ll think about it in boring meetings or just if I’m walking along. It’s something I do to relax.”

K Rogoff – J Smejkal

Biel Interzonal, 1976

English Opening

1 c4 Nf6 2 Nc3 c5 3 g3 g6 4 Bg2 Bg7 5 e3 0–0 6 Nge2 Nc6 7 0–0 d6 8 d4 cxd4 9 exd4 Bf5 10 h3 h5 11 Bg5 Qd7 12 Kh2 e5 13 d5 Nd4 14 Nxd4 exd4 15 Nb5 Rfc8 16 Rc1 Nh7 17 Bf4 g5 18 Bd2 a6 19 Na3 g4 20 hxg4 hxg4 21 b4 Bd3 22 Re1 Qf5 23 Kg1 Bf6 24 c5 Ng5 25 Bxg5 Bxg5 26 Nc4! Rd8 27 Nxd6 Rxd6 28 cxd6 Bxc1 29 Qxc1 Rc8 30 Qd2 Kh7 31 d7 Rd8 32 Re7 Kg6 33 d6 Kf6 34 Qh6+ Qg6 35 Qh4+ Kg7 36 Re8 1–0