To be a titled grandmaster in a major chess power these days is to be a pretty big fish in a pretty crowded aquarium.
The very first FIDE list of grandmasters, issued in 1950, listed just 27 players, including just two — Sammy Reshevsky and Reuben Fine — from the United States. By contrast, Russia alone boasts 256 grandmasters in the latest FIDE rating guide, the U.S. has just over 100, and 17 countries have more than the 27 from that first listing. (Globally, there are now more than 1,700 players who can put “GM” before their name, an increase of over 6,100% compared to 1950.)
Then again, despite the game’s global reach, the wealth is not spread equally. By my count, some 63 national federations do have either a grandmaster or international master on their rolls, including such sizable countries as Ethiopia, Thailand and Saudi Arabia.
All of which is roundabout way of mourning the passing Feb. 7 of Belgian GM Luc Winants, a longtime, well-liked fixture on the European chess scene and for many years his country’s only native-born grandmaster. (Today the country boasts nine GMs, which, like the U.S. roster, contains a healthy complement of emigres.)
Winants, just 60, played on a record nine Belgian Olympiad teams, typically holding down first board paired against the Kasparovs and Anands of the world and scoring a highly respectable 48% over his career. One of his most memorable wins, at least in retrospect, was a victory at a European team event in late 2003 over a 13-year-old Magnus Carlsen, just months before the Norwegian prodigy would earn his own grandmaster title and a decade before Carlsen would win the world championship and attain the highest official rating in history.
In a Trompowsky, the impetuousness of youth costs Carlsen after 12. Nc3 Qf6 13. Nge2 (play is balanced, and Black can proceed quietly with 13 … Be7 or more adventurously with 13 … g5) Nxf2?, a clever tactic with disastrous positional consequences after 14. 0-0! (Kxf2 g5 15. Rhf1 Bg7 16. Kg1 gxf4 is likely what Black was hoping for; it turns out that losing his f-pawn only accelerates White’s attack, while the Black knight’s rash little foray loses precious time) Ng4 15. h3 Nge5 16. Na4 Nc4 17. e4!, opening up central lines while Black is still trying to develop and organize a defense.
On the game’s 19. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 20. Kh1 Qxe4, Black snatches another pawn and, once again, only manages to open attacking lines for Winants’ pieces: 21. Rae1 Qg6 22. Rc1 (b5 was also strong, threatening 23. c6+ bxc6 24. bxc6+ Kxc6 25. Rb1, winning) Ke8, 23. Rxc4! dxc4 24. Qxc4 is an exchange sac that almost begs to be played: Carlsen’s only semi-useful defender is eliminated and the center opens up on the exposed Black king.
Black’s game collapses after 24 … e5 (Be7 25. Nb6 Rd8 [Ra3 26. c6] 26. Qb5+ Kf8 27. Nd7+ Kg8 28. Bc7 Rc8 29. Ne5 Qh5 30. Qd7 and wins) 25. Nb6 Ra3 26. Bxe5 (threatening, among other things, 27. Bf6! gxf6 28. Qb5+ Ke7 29. Qd7 mate) Qe6 27. Re1 Be7 28. Qb5+ Kf8 (Kd8 29. Rd1+) 29. Bxg7+ Kxg7 30. Rxe6 fxe6. Carlsen actually has two rooks for a queen and two pawns. Unfortunately, his position remains a mess and White cleans up in style.
It’s over on 31. Qd7 Kf6 (Kf7 32. Nc8 Re8 33. Nd6+) 32. Qd4+ e5 33. Qh4+ Kf7 34. Qh5+ Kg7 35. Nd5, and Black resigns in the face of lines such as 35 … Bf6 36. Qg4+ Kf7 37. Qf5 Ra6 38. b5 Re6 39. Nxf6 Rxf6 40. Qd7+ Kg6 41. Qxb7, and the queenside pawns are overwhelming.
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Belgium may not be one of the game’s powerhouses, but it still boasts a rich and colorful chess history.
Edgard Colle was one of the most promising players of the years after World War I, his career tragically cut short by illness before his death in 1932 at the age of just 34.
Colle’s legacy, and the Queen’s pawn opening system he refined into a flexible and powerful opening system for White, would be carried on for decades by the charismatic, Antwerp-born George Koltanowski. “Kolty” was a four-time Belgian champion whose work upon emigrating to America — as a chess popularizer, blindfold exhibition specialist, tournament organizer and daily chess columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle for an astonishing 52 years — earned him the nickname the “dean of American chess” before his death in 2000 at the age of 96.
“Kolty” loved to trot out his compatriot’s Colle System for simultaneous events, and we have a rare specimen with a local angle on offer today. His opponent here was a promising teenage expert named Hans Berliner, who would go on to win the District of Columbia city title four years later and, most famously, become the first American world correspondence chess champion.
White’s 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. 0-0 is the classic Colle set-up — with simple, low-risk moves, White sets his pieces up for the e3-e4 break. It looks innocuous but Black can get into deep trouble if he doesn’t react appropriately, one reason Colle’s system remains a favorite of club players — and a few elite GMs — everywhere. Black’s 8 … Bd6 9. 0-0 cxd4?! is already a small positional concession, giving White exactly what he wants from the opening, and the decision to castle long sets up Black’s king as a game-long target.
After 13. Ne5 (establishing a central stronghold, but 13. b4! Kb8 14. a4 may have been even better) Nd7 14. f4 f6!? (weakening the e-file even more, but the White knight was too strong to ignore) 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Qxe6?! (better was the patient 16. Nb3 Bf7 17. Rf1 Bg6 18. c4, with an advantage, as now Black nearly wriggles out of his grasp) Bxf4 17. Nf1 Bd6 18. Be3, Berliner could have climbed back into the fight with 18 … Bg6! 19. Bxg6 hxg6 20. h3 Rhe8, with equality. Instead, Black sees another way to evict the queen, but misses a neat trick.
Thus: 18 … Kb8?! 19. Bf2 Nf8 (see diagram) 20. Qxe8! (Qe3? Bf7 21. g3 Ne6 is fine for Black) Rxe8 21. Rxe8+ Kb7 22. Rae1, and though White gets only a rook and bishop for the queen, his dominance of the e-file splits Black’s position in two. The rest is a rout: 22 … g6 (Ng6 23. Bxg6 Rxe8 24. Bxe8 and wins) 23. Bg3 h5 24. Bxd6 (removing the critical defender preventing an invasion via e7) Qxd6 25. R1e7+ Kb6 26. Rf7 (locking down the kingside; Black can hardly move as White prepares the final assault) g5 27. Ree7 Qb8 28. a4 Qc8 29. Rxa7 c5 30. a5+ Kc6 31. Ra6+, and Berliner could honorably resign right about now. Eight moves later, he did.
(Click on the image above for a larger view of the chessboard.)
Winants-Carlsen, European Club Cup, Rethymno, Crete, October 2003
- d4 Nf6 2. Bg5 Ne4 3. Bf4 d5 4. e3 c5 5. Bd3 Nf6 6. dxc5 Nc6 7. Bb5 e6 8. b4 Bd7 9. c3 a5 10. Qb3 axb4 11. cxb4 Ne4 12. Nc3 Qf6 13. Nge2 Nxf2 14. O-O Ng4 15. h3 Nge5 16. Na4 Nc4 17. e4 Nd4 18. Bxd7+ Kxd7 19. Nxd4 Qxd4+ 20. Kh1 Qxe4 21. Rae1 Qg6 22. Rc1 Ke8 23. Rxc4 dxc4 24. Qxc4 e5 25. Nb6 Ra3 26. Bxe5 Qe6 27. Re1 Be7 28. Qb5+ Kf8 29. Bxg7+ Kxg7 30. Rxe6 fxe6 31. Qd7 Kf6 32. Qd4+ e5 33. Qh4+ Kf7 34. Qh5+ Kg7 35. Nd5 Black resigns.
Koltanowski-Berliner, Simultaneous exhibition, Washington, D.C., 1945
- d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 c5 4. c3 Bg4 5. Nbd2 Nc6 6. Qa4 Bd7 7. Qd1 e6 8. Bd3 Bd6 9. O-O cxd4 10. exd4 Qc7 11. Re1 O-O-O 12. Qe2 Be8 13. Ne5 Nd7 14. f4 f6 15. Nxc6 bxc6 16. Qxe6 Bxf4 17. Nf1 Bd6 18. Be3 Kb8 19. Bf2 Nf8 20. Qxe8 Rxe8 21. Rxe8+ Kb7 22. Rae1 g6 23. Bg3 h5 24. Bxd6 Qxd6 25. R1e7+ Kb6 26. Rf7 g5 27. Ree7 Qb8 28. a4 Qc8 29. Rxa7 c5 30. a5+ Kc6 31. Ra6+ Qxa6 32. Bxa6 cxd4 33. cxd4 Nd7 34. Bb7+ Kxb7 35. Rxd7+ Kc6 36. Rf7 Rb8 37. Rxf6+ Kd7 38. Rb6 Ra8 39. b4 Black resigns.
• David R. Sands can be reached at 202/636-3178 or by email at dsands@washingtontimes.com.
• David R. Sands can be reached at dsands@washingtontimes.com.