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Time
Out
Time factor Chess
Interestingly, tournament chess
has undergone big changes over the years as far as time on
the clock is concerned. It is no longer a 40 moves in two
hours affair with one hour added to your time for the next
20 moves. Adjournment has also been discarded to make it a
shorter, livelier contest. The result is that very often two
games are played a day. Today professional masters are playing
in many more tournaments than they did in the past. It's really
hectic business! Players need a lot more physical fitness
and stamina to be in top 'running condition' throughout the
year. This is all the more true about the players who tend
to get upset, both mentally and physically, after losing a
game. We have quite a few 'bad losers' here in Bangladesh!
How
do these developments influence the game itself? Well, adjournment
analysis was a fine art that modern players do not have to
learn any more. Their ability to analyse a position very accurately
must have been affected by the absence of adjournment sessions,
which often dragged a game beyond six hours. That has also
reduced the importance of play in the ending, as longer games
invariably meant more end games which were a real test of
a player's technique. Not that the players are finishing their
opponents off in the middlegame all the time, but the stress
often is on a thorough opening preparation and a sharp fight
in the middlegame.
The
introduction of incremental timing is another noteworthy development.
You have 90 minutes on your clock to play the game and 30
seconds are added to the time for every move you make! Sounds
a bit unfamiliar? But that is how the game is played these
days. It is not an innovation without merit. You will never
lose a game due to time trouble in a winning position, as
you can gain extra time for making your moves. Obviously,
the time pressure addicts now find it easier to win a game
with virtually no time left on the clock.
Here
is a game that elevated Asian chess to a new height. The Filipino
Grandmaster outplays the world champion in a double-edged
position.
White-Anatoly
Karpov
Black-Eugenio Torre[B67]
Manila, 1976
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 d6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2
a6 8.000 Bd7 9.f4 b5 10.Qe1 Nxd4 11.Rxd4 Qb6 12.Rd2 Be7 13.Bd3
b4 14.Nd1 Bb5 15.Nf2 h6 16.Bh4 g5 17.fxg5 hxg5 18.Bg3 Nh5
19.Ng4 Nxg3 20.hxg3 Rxh1 21.Qxh1 Rc8 22.Kb1 Bxd3 23.cxd3 Qd4
24.Qd1 a5 25.Nh2 g4 26.Nxg4 Bg5 27.Rc2 Rxc2 28.Kxc2 a4 29.a3
b3+ 30.Kb1 d5 31.exd5 Qxd5 32.Nf2 Qxg2 33.Ne4 Be3 34.Nc3 Qc6
35.d4 Qc4 36.d5 e5 37.Qh1 Qd3+ 38.Ka1 Bd4 39.Qh8+ Kd7 40.Qa8
Qf1+ 41.Nb1 Qc4 42.Qb7+ Kd6 43.Qb8+ Kxd5 44.Qd8+ Ke6 45.Qe8+
Kf5 46.Qd7+ Kg6 47.Qg4+ Kf6 48.Nc3 Qf1+ 0-1
-PATZER
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(R) thedailystar.net 2004
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