Dutch Treat by Hans Ree Reconciliation The four-player quadruple round-robin tournament that was held in 1979 in the Dutch town Waddinxveen had an importance not confined to chess alone. Apart from World Champion Anatoly Karpov, the players were the Czechs Vlastimil Hort and Lubosh Kavalek and the Russian emigrant to the Netherlands, Genna Sosonko. Kavalek had left his country in 1969; Hort was still living in Prague. There had been a time when Soviet players refused to compete against people like Kavalek and Sosonko. This was a tournament of reconciliation. Distinguished guests were present at the opening ceremony. There was the Dutch prime minister Dries van Agt, wishing Sosonko well with the archaic eloquence that was his trademark. Encouragement came also from the Soviet ambassador to the Netherlands, who said to Sosonko: "Do your best, Leningrader!" which was remarkable, because this way the ambassador made it clear that Sosonko was no longer considered a traitor to the Fatherland, but rather an expatriate member of the family. And there was a real prince, Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, father of our present Queen Beatrix. Against him, Sosonko played an exhibition game to open the tournament officially. White: Sosonko Black: Prince Bernhard 1. e2-e4 c7-b6 This was a surprise for Sosonko, who realized that it would be in bad taste to answer with the brutishly normal 2. d4. However, a move like that of the Prince, moving out of the center and weakening the pawn structure, went against his chess instincts. So, as a compromise he played 2. a2-b3 Towards the center at least. But now Black came up with another surprise: 2...f7xe4 and having executed this move the Prince said: "Mr. Sosonko, by now you may have noticed that I am not the strongest of chess players. I offer a draw." Which was accepted of course. This line, called the Orange variation in honor of the Dutch Royal House, has not found its way into the books, but should be preserved for memory. Since then "Do your best, Leningrader!," has been the way we have encouraged Sosonko at the start of his games, and he himself, when asked if and when he would visit his homeland the Soviet Union, used to say that it would be when Leningrad was called St. Petersburg again, meaning never. Since the name of the city of his birth has indeed been changed to St. Petersburg, Sosonko has been a regular guest there, and at end of March he packed his bag for another visit. This time it was to be present at a match between two other former Leningraders, Viktor Kortchnoi, now Swiss, and Boris Spassky, now French. The meeting of these two greats could certainly be called another contest of reconciliation. The last match Spassky and Kortchnoi had played was the final of the candidates matches in Belgrade 1977. There Kortchnoi had done something that Spassky disapproved of. What exactly, became never clear; maybe it was just that Kortchnoi had won too many games in the early stages of that match. Spassky struck back with a spectacular disappearing act. He did not reflect on his moves at the table on the stage, but in a small room backstage, where a TV-monitor showed the actual position of the game. He only came out on the stage to actually execute the move, then disappeared backstage again. Kortchnoi complained that it gave him the feeling that he was a young kid again, playing in a simul against a master who only now and then popped up at his board. Spassky won one game after another during this stage of the match. But then Kortchnoi retaliated by imitating Spassky's behaviour. Bewildered spectators were looking for hours at an empty stage where only now and then a chessplayer (alternately from the left and the right) appeared to make a move, like a trumpeteer in an old glockenspiel who pops out at fixed hours. In a later game Spassky escalated the hostilities by putting on goggles. Kortchnoi won the match and at the closing dinner a Dutch visitor found Spassky alone at his table, trembling with rage. Spassky said then that he would write a book about what had happened and apparently he did start working on it, but it has never been published. But see and rejoice how time heals the most bitter wounds. At the end of March the old rivals played a friendly ten-game match celebrating the 275th anniversary of the founding of St. Petersburg University. The players each had an hour thinking time for the whole game. Again Kortchnoi won; this time the result was 6-4. White: Kortchnoi Black: Spassky, sixth game 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. f2-f3 d7-d5 4. c4xd5 Nf6xd5 5. e2-e4 Nd5-b6 6. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 7. Bc1-e3 0-0 8. f3-f4 The old move. Kramnik played 8. Dd2 in his match against Shirov last year. Now Spassky started thinking. 8...c7-c6 9. Ng1-f3 Bc8-e6 10. Qd1-c2 Nb8-d7 11. Bf1-e2 Be6-c4 12. g2-g4 e7-e6 13. h2-h4 Qd8-e7 14. h4-h5 (See Diagram) It is not often one sees such an impressive broad front. 14...c6-c5 15. e4-e5 Rf8-c8 16. h5xg6 h7xg6 17. d4xc5 Nd7xc5 18. Be3-d4 Bc4-d5 19. Ra1-d1 Rc8-d8 According to commentator Khalifman from the Russian GM School website, Black should have tried for counterplay with 19...Ne4 20. Nxd5 exd5. 20. Nc3xd5 Rd8xd5 21. Ke1-f2 21. f5 at once was very strong too. 21...Ra8-c8 22. Qc2-b1 Rc8-d8 23. b2-b3 Nc5- a6 24. Qb1-e4 Na6-b4 25. f4-f5 e6xf5 26. g4xf5 g6xf5 27. Qe4xf5 Rd5xd4 28. Rd1-g1 A nice move to finish it. Black resigned. With the next exciting game Kortchnoi took a decisive 5-3 lead. White: Kortchnoi Black: Spassky, eighth game 1. d2-d4 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 c7-c5 3. d4-d5 b7-b5 Spassky, being a point behind, chooses a sharp opening. 4. c4xb5 a7-a6 5. b5xa6 g7-g6 6. Nb1-c3 Bc8xa6 7. e2-e4 Ba6xf1 8. Ke1xf1 d7-d6 9. Ng1-f3 Bf8-g7 10. g2-g3 0-0 11. Kf1-g2 Nb8-d7 12. h2-h3 Ra8-a6 13. Rh1-e1 Qd8-a8 14. Bc1-g5 h7-h6 15. Bg5-d2 e7-e6 16. d5xe6 f7xe6 17. Qd1-c2 g6-g5 18. a2-a4 g5-g4 Commentator Khalifman himself had played 18...d5 in three games, and thought that stronger. 19. h3xg4 Nf6xg4 20. Bd2-f4 d6-d5 21. Nc3-b5 Plunging into to incalculable complications. 21...e6-e5 22. Nb5-c7 Qa8-a7 23. Nc7xa6 e5xf4 24. e4xd5 After 24. Qd3, to protect the Knight, comes 24...c4 25. Qxd5 Rf7 and f2 hangs. 24...Qa7xa6 25. Re1-e6 Qa6-b7 26. Re6-e7 f4xg3 A strange position where both players have a strong kingside attack. 27. Qc2-g6 Qb7xb2 28. Ra1-a2 Again the sharpest move. Also possible was 28. Qxg4. 28...Ng4-e3+ 29. Kg2-h3 g3xf2 30. Ra2xb2 (See Diagram) 30...f2-f1Q+ Who wouldn't have done that in time trouble, promoting to Queen and giving check? But it is the decisive mistake. Commentators Svidler and Khalifman indicated that with 30...Rxf3+ 31. Kh2 Rh3+ 32. Kxh3 f1Q+ 33. Kh2 Qf4+ Black could have drawn by perpetual check. 31. Kh3-h2 Ne3-f5 33. Rb2-g2 Now White is winning. 32...Qf1xg2+ 33. Kh2xg2 Nf5xe7 34. Qg6-e6+ Rf8-f7 35. Qe6xd7 Ne7-f5 36. Qd7-c8+ Bg7-f8 37. Nf3-e5 Rf7-g7+ 38. Kg2-h3 Nf5-d6 39. Qc8-e6+ Kg8-h7 40. Ne5-d7 Bf8-e7 41. Nd7xc5 Black resigned. This column first appeared in the Dutch newspaper NRC-Handelsblad April 3, 1999. Copyright 1999 Hans Ree, All Rights Reserved.